Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
George Orwell's novel of a totalitarian future society in which a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love.
"You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won't have it, is that clear? You think you have merely stopped a business deal - that is not the case! The Arabs have taken billions of dollars out of this country, and now they must put it back. It is ebb and flow, tidal gravity, it is ecological balance. You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations! There are no peoples! There are no Russians! There are no Arabs! There are no Third Worlds! There is no West! There is only one holistic system of systems, one vast and immane, interwoven, interacting, multi-variate, multi-national dominion of dollars! Petro-dollars, electro-dollars, multi-dollars, reichmarks, rins, rubles, pounds and shekels! It is the international system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things today. That is the atomic, and subatomic and galactic structure of things today. And you have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and you will atone! Am I getting through to you, Mr. Beale? You get up on your little twenty-one inch screen and howl about America and democracy. There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM, and ITT, and AT and T, and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon - those are the nations of the world today. What do you think the Russians talk about in their councils of state - Karl Marx? They get out their linear programming charts, statistical decision theories and mini-max solutions and compute the price-cost probabilities of their transactions and investments just like we do. We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies, Mr. Beale. The world is a college of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable by-laws of business. The world is a business, Mr. Beale. It has been since man crawled out of the slime, and our children will live, Mr. Beale, to see that perfect world in which there's no war or famine, oppression or brutality. One vast and ecumenical holding company, for whom all men will work to serve a common profit, in which all men will hold a share of stock, all necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused. And I have chosen you to preach this evangel, Mr. Beale."
The Ministry of Truth is at it again. "Presidential election season has always started on Labor Day."
Well, yeah-- Labor Day IN THE YEAR OF THE ELECTION was generally when the public got serious about it. Back before the Presidential election was fixed, and NH held its primary in March, we didn't spend a year and half on it. But this is the latest piece of unchallenged BS being pushed by the same liars that brought us Iraq.
it's time to hand bush, cheney, rumsfield, gonzalez rice and most all of the bush adminsitration over to the world court in nuremberg, germany and let them try them
for all the crimes they have committed against humanity.
we should just round them up as enemy combattants, for which they all surely are. they only deserve the same treatment they have showed the American citizens, the US Constitution and all the international laws and treaties we have agreed to abide by.
bush and his band of bastards have disgraced the American citizens and all that our country stands for.
it's time to hand bush, cheney, rumsfield, gonzalez rice and most all of the bush adminsitration over to the world court in nuremberg, germany and let them try them
for all the crimes they have committed against humanity.
we should just round them up as enemy combattants, for which they all surely are. they only deserve the same treatment they have showed the American citizens, the US Constitution and all the international laws and treaties we have agreed to abide by.
bush and his band of bastards have disgraced the American citizens and all that our country stands for.
"You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won't have it, is that clear? You think you have merely stopped a business deal - that is not the case! The Arabs have taken billions of dollars out of this country, and now they must put it back. It is ebb and flow, tidal gravity, it is ecological balance. You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations! There are no peoples! There are no Russians! There are no Arabs! There are no Third Worlds! There is no West! There is only one holistic system of systems, one vast and immane, interwoven, interacting, multi-variate, multi-national dominion of dollars! Petro-dollars, electro-dollars, multi-dollars, reichmarks, rins, rubles, pounds and shekels! It is the international system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things today. That is the atomic, and subatomic and galactic structure of things today. And you have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and you will atone! Am I getting through to you, Mr. Beale? You get up on your little twenty-one inch screen and howl about America and democracy. There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM, and ITT, and AT and T, and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon - those are the nations of the world today. What do you think the Russians talk about in their councils of state - Karl Marx? They get out their linear programming charts, statistical decision theories and mini-max solutions and compute the price-cost probabilities of their transactions and investments just like we do. We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies, Mr. Beale. The world is a college of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable by-laws of business. The world is a business, Mr. Beale. It has been since man crawled out of the slime, and our children will live, Mr. Beale, to see that perfect world in which there's no war or famine, oppression or brutality. One vast and ecumenical holding company, for whom all men will work to serve a common profit, in which all men will hold a share of stock, all necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused. And I have chosen you to preach this evangel, Mr. Beale."
Where is that sign? Somewhere in the "real" world... or in photoshop?
Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Is this for reals or shopped?
Either way though, I applaud whoever is responsible.
I'd say shopped based on this link http://www.hmdb.org/Results.asp?State=Ohio. Perhaps not. But bluegal seems to enjoy playing games with people. So I think the former.
I used to work for one of those big box thingamajiggers. I was there just long enough to realize how the machine truly works. It's depressing trying to talk sense into managers who know you are telling the truth but can't do anything about it, because they control us, and are controlled by them, who are controlled by they, who are...
I read an article recently by a former Microsoft employee talking about how the only way they can keep people from leaving is to convince people they can't do things on their own. Wal-Mart is similar to that. They convince the people who work for them that this is the only way to keep things working properly. Every store follows a strict financial budget, which is why you never see enough people working, and the ones who are, are over worked and under paid. However, they don't leave, because when they do, they can't get a job reference and leave only knowing how to do it one way. They are also always under a carrot on a string due to Profit Sharing.
They are the most brilliant and sickening company in existence. And its all our fault.
it's time to hand bush, cheney, rumsfield, gonzalez rice and most all of the bush adminsitration over to the world court in nuremberg, germany and let them try them
for all the crimes they have committed against humanity.
we should just round them up as enemy combattants, for which they all surely are. they only deserve the same treatment they have showed the American citizens, the US Constitution and all the international laws and treaties we have agreed to abide by.
bush and his band of bastards have disgraced the American citizens and all that our country stands for.
it's time to hand bush, cheney, rumsfield, gonzalez rice and most all of the bush adminsitration over to the world court in nuremberg, germany and let them try them
for all the crimes they have committed against humanity.
we should just round them up as enemy combattants, for which they all surely are. they only deserve the same treatment they have showed the American citizens, the US Constitution and all the international laws and treaties we have agreed to abide by.
bush and his band of bastards have disgraced the American citizens and all that our country stands for.
Sun, 09/02/2007 - 23:49 — Angry One (not verified)
On Sunday, the New York Times detailed Bush biographer Robert Draper's stunning portrait of the President asleep at the switch as the disastrous May 2003 decision to dissolve the Iraqi army moved forward. Now, Tuesday's New York Times suggests that Coalition Provisional Authority viceroy L. Paul Bremer indeed told Bush that he planned to disband Saddam's military and that the President casually - and unquestioningly - went along for the ride.
for you who aren't familiar with live leak dot com, i wanted to give you a heads up to it. it has vids from all over. there are always video made by u.s. soldiers and just awhile ago i was looking at some made by an australian guy.
...the only way they can keep people from leaving is to convince people they can't do things on their own. Wal-Mart is similar to that. They convince the people who work for them that this is the only way to keep things working properly...
Sounds like the ol' TINA (There is No Alternative) justification for the dehumanizing aspects of capitalism. Thank you Mrs. Thatcher and Mr. Reagan for convincing us that suicide is our only option.
I feel very guilty, we've most recently tried to update our mission furniture decor with a black leather ottoman and chaise lounge (Chinese). If we don't die of toxicity from either piece or from the guilt, I'll stop buying anything (but water chestnuts, because you can't get them from an American manufacturer) else from China. As much as that sounds half assed, China should certainly not retain most favored trade nation status. They should not have had that favored position for the last 25+ years considering their human rights record. That's a real sign somewhere by the way, or my name is Lolita Hasbeen and I'm a PhotoShop newb!.
Mon, 09/03/2007 - 01:06 — King of Mean (not verified)
I think "BIG BOX" stores are great... and I could care less how much the union CRY-BABIES moan... they are PAID TOO MUCH MONEY... DON'T THEY GET IT? Why on earth shouldn't I be able to buy something cheaper? Why not ask Congress, who takes bribes from Chinese companies... the same assholes YOU PEOPLE ELECT have done nothing for you. You're all paid TOO MUCH, and China is going to set you straight, cause your own people and government won't do it for you.
God Bless cheap products from China, Mexico, SE Asia, India, etc. Those workers don't get paid vacations, 40 hour work weeks, and now YOU'RE complaining that you should be paid MORE for doing LESS than they do. Puh-leese.
China is going to BURY the U.S., and you're all guilty. How many of you drive gas-guzzling, TERRORIST-FRIENDLY S.U.V.'s, yet complain about high prices? And India is right on China's ass for #2 position to BURY the U.S.
And you think John Edwards, Hillary, Barak, or any of the Republican assholes are going to do anything different?
Why is it that China is allowed to export into the US with virtually NO TARIFFS? Who elected the people that wrote the laws that ALLOW that?
And go to China... you'll see thousands of sparkling state-of-the-art SKYSCRAPERS going up all over. When was the last time they built even a single new skyscraper in YOUR American city?
Welcome to your hell. And sorry to disappoint you, but no one cares about the "mom and pop" people that lost their jobs cause Wal-mart, Costco, or anyone else moved in to sell better and cheaper. Are you enjoying your new lower wages? Go thank the politicians YOU elected. They are LAUGHING and LAUGHING at you.
Make a point of not going to the local Wal-Mart even though it doesn't really matter at this point because where ever you shop you don't find "Made in USA" too often.....
A while back my washer machine was acting up and I changed out the water pump on it to fix it....
I was so happy the box the part was in said "Made in the USA"...
So I told a bunch of people....
After a closer look I checked the actual part (the pump) purchased and it was stamped "Made in Italy" (actually a surprise).....
Only the box was "Made in the USA"....
I didn't have the heart to let the people I told what actually happened....
(By the way the washing machine is working great -cross fingers- and there is nothing a desperate woman can't do when a damn washing machine isn't working).
Make a point of not going to the local Wal-Mart even though it doesn't really matter at this point because where ever you shop you don't find "Made in USA" too often.....
A while back my washer machine was acting up and I changed out the water pump on it to fix it....
I was so happy the box the part was in said "Made in the USA"...
So I told a bunch of people....
After a closer look I checked the actual part (the pump) purchased and it was stamped "Made in Italy" (actually a surprise).....
Only the box was "Made in the USA".....
LOL, that's probably the only thing we can actually make anymore. . . boxes. As John Couger pointed out in that Bill Mahr interview. "What do we actually make anymore?" The government wants to impose terrifs on China over trade practices but what can we actually trade with them . . . cardboard boxes?
Fact! The outsourcing of jobs to China doesn't lower prices.
fact! The outsourcing of jobs to China allows CEOs and investers to make higher salaries and dividends.
Precisely! It's all about short term profits and inflated stock prices, and ignoring the damage that is being done to their own economic environment. Globalization WILL level out the economic playing field. Not by raising the standard of living world wide, but by lowering the standard of living in the worlds most developed nations.
> LOL, that’s probably the only thing we can actually make anymore. . . boxes. As John Couger pointed out in that Bill Mahr interview. “What do we actually make anymore?” The government wants to impose terrifs on China over trade practices but what can we actually trade with them . . . cardboard boxes?
Someone else made that point previously, probably a AAR host. Said like "All we export to China is cardboard boxes. So they can send their crap over here in."
Fact! The outsourcing of jobs to China doesn't lower prices.
fact! The outsourcing of jobs to China allows CEOs and investers to make higher salaries and dividends.
Precisely! It's all about short term profits and inflated stock prices, and ignoring the damage that is being done to their own economic environment. Globalization WILL level out the economic playing field. Not by raising the standard of living world wide, but by lowering the standard of living in the worlds most developed nations.
Reality is, they are not raising the standard of living for those in other countries. They are raising the standard of living of their executives and mgrs of the factories, but not the laborers.
As others have mentioned above, the near slavelabor wages paid to chinese or Mexican or Indonesian or Saipanese (thanks Tom Delay/Jack Abramov) doesn't mean cheaper prices. It means more profits to the companies that caree so little for their own country that they are willing to impoverish it in order to increase their own profits. They tout savings for consumers or just staying in business, but when has any company ever passed on any savings to their customers or given anything back to the communities they either trashed by leaving or trashed by invading? It hasn't happened. Those companies have enjoyed savings. Big ones. But those savings have only been passed onto the rich.
Add to that many of those companies like Stanley Tools (good American sounding name, right), Haliburton and so on. Have multiplied their screwing of the country by moving their headquartersout of country. They do this in order to avoid paying taxes or, like Haliburton, to avoid eventual criminal prosecution. They are now foreign companies who sell into the US without paying duties or taxes and who can expatriate all of their earnings(flight of capital). Worse, many of the megarich mega corporations have, through the congress roaches they have purchased, been able to enjoy negative tax rates. They earn profits, and get tax refunds on those profits. We have mega-large businesses that now enjoy sovereign rights that were previously reserved for states(good to be the king, isn't it?).
They are accumulating power, because they have corrupted and co-opted the processes of government. They have done it, and are further doing it by destroying the middle classes of the countries which they parasitize. These are self-defeating practices, which contain the seeds of certain failure at some point in the future. It is a pity that this is so, because when these psuedo-sovereign houses of neofeudal aristocracy fail, it is going to collapse the global economy and bring down governments in the process.
The thing is, none of these guys have any kind of inate or inherent power. None of this could have happened absent a culture of self-indulgent apathy or the dumming down of society that has been brought about by a long process of nurturing materialism. It will be stopped if people decide to wake up.
It may be Quixotic, but this is one reason why I will never vote for a corporatist candidate. Regardless the party the corporatists belong to, they are part of a cancer that is consuming the country and the world.
If the corporatists are the politicians, it can safely be said that politics offers no solutions to any of the problems that beset the country or the world.
A better time, a better place. Before Wal-marts, before America outsourced, and a time when President's lies were small, and most people believed they were working for the better of mankind.
Mon, 09/03/2007 - 03:29 — Union Hand (Ret) (not verified)
I don't care if it's Photoshop, or not. It speaks the truth. I'd rather pay a little more (to keep my good neighbor here) than less (to send my good neighbor to the poorhouse). That's what America is supposed to (used to) be about.
I don't care if it's Photoshop, or not. It speaks the truth. I'd rather pay a little more (to keep my good neighbor here) than less (to send my good neighbor to the poorhouse). That's what America is supposed to (used to) be about.
Sure. What nonsense. It's every easy on this anonymous board to act all sanctimonious, but the reality is you would NOT be willing to pay even one cent more. You shop at all the "big box stores", like all of us do. Puh-leese. And American is NOT "supposed to be about" that. America is about making money, making profit. Nothing else. Sorry, it's the cold, hard reality.
Here is an example of the ineffectiveness of the blog'o'sphere.
Huffington censures comments on their site rather heavily to protect the egos of bloggers and make their site attractive to advertisers.
What are the chances of the blog'o'nometrium developing any heat on this subject. (My personal guess is that the blog'o'masters have better things to do than read comments).
I suspect no blog'o'meter with asperations of greatness would risk the wrath of huff.
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Our money isn't going to the Chinese who earn 25 cents per hour. Five of the ten richest people in America are Sam Walton's children.
Wally-world's prices are not the lowest. Careful shopping will find the same products elsewhere at lower prices.
I agree !!! Grenwald's movie on Walmart shows how bad they really are...I have never shopped there and never will. I have a friend who used to work for a small dress manufacturer who had their contract canceled because they refused to make their product to Walmart's specification. Walmart thought the clothing had too long of a wear life, they didn't want it to last more than two or three years, now that's quality.
I don't care if it's Photoshop, or not. It speaks the truth. I'd rather pay a little more (to keep my good neighbor here) than less (to send my good neighbor to the poorhouse). That's what America is supposed to (used to) be about.
Sure. What nonsense. It's every easy on this anonymous board to act all sanctimonious, but the reality is you would NOT be willing to pay even one cent more. You shop at all the "big box stores", like all of us do. Puh-leese. And American is NOT "supposed to be about" that. America is about making money, making profit. Nothing else. Sorry, it's the cold, hard reality.
Who is making that "profit"? not your average American. I do not shop at big box stores when I have an alternative (never at Walmart) and there are many out there. You may save a few cents but in the long run you lose. Just Ask Levi's or Valasick Pickels or any third world nation how rich they get from dealing with big box mentality.
"(China) should not have had that favored position for the last 25+ years considering their human rights record".
Guess what? From now on, the rest of the world will be denouncing the U.S. for ITS human rights record: Torture, habeus corpus, Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, Katrina, infrastructure, no health insurance, persecution of gays., and on and on. WE are now the global pariah, WE are the world's biggest terrorist, WE are the bullies of pre-emptive war against non-threatening sovereign nations, WE have made the world more dangerous, WE have undermined our constitution and laws, WE have threatened the value of our currency. All that will not disappear overnight once Hillary takes over. Try the rest of your lifetimes. At least gays can't marry, and Israel is protected. That's all that counts, isn't it?
You can start with my cheap-ass roommates about Wal-Mart. I used to work with the Unions, as a Union Member and as a Union Steward, and when those women out in California got fired by Wal-Mart for attempting to start a union to protect themselves against gender discrimination and sexual harassment, Wally-World fired them. They just got a fat settlement from the Walton children to make that whole shyt go away.
When we all moved here to DC, the first place my roommates went was Wally World. For EVERYTHING. Nothing I said (including showing that Robert Greenwald documentary on Wal-Mart; where the Waltons are worth 5 billion, yet gave only $6,000 in charitable contributions) convinced them that shopping there were putting businesses in bankruptcy, and people out of work.
At least Target has a UNION. And their prices are competitive with Wally-World, plus they sell quality merchandise, especially the clothes, because designers like Issey Miyake have started to market their clothing lines there, like Jaclyn Smith and Martha Stewart do with K-Mart.
Sam Walton was a rat bastard, and he passed that trait on to his kids...now you see what we got.
Send Bill Clinton and Barack Obama thank-you notes as well; Clinton for being bankrolled by Wal-Mart back in 1992 in his Presidential Campaign, and Obama because he helped shepherd in Trade Agreements like CAFTA, which sent the manufacturing jobs to China to begin with.
And someone needs to ask Hillary about her tenure on Wal-Mart's Board - additionally, up until this summer, Michelle Obama was also collecting a check as a Wal-Mart Board member (and I admire Mrs. Obama more so than MR. Obama), so someone needs to be in Barack's grill about that (even though she resigned when it came to light in the course of his campaign).
America wasn't founded on the principle of help thy neighbor. It's founded on the principle of capitalism, and that's the way the Government has always operated. Neither stock market crash (1929 and 1987) or any other economic disaster that has happened, or is waiting to happen, has taught our government officials shyt, and we need to stop looking for them to do anything about it.
You want socialist ideology? Better campaign for it yourself...
A simple search on newsmeat.com shows that the Walmart family are one of the major reasons why Bush got "won" in 2004. Each family member contributed hundreds of thousands to organizations such as the RNC, Swiftboats, etc. Thanks Walmart!
The person who made that sign should go into business selling those signs to all the people who find themselves likewise shut out. It should be considered practically mandatory for failed storefronts to post something like that. I think we all know the frustration of trying to convince friends and relatives to avoid the super-stores. How short-sighted we've become!
Lest we forget, the beginning of the end of American manufacturing began during the Reagan administration, when he didn't lift a finger to help the dying US steelmaking industry, and thousands of jobs went overseas. The next big thing will be the Chinese car, made with Chinese steel, and what sort of jobs will any Americans be able to drive them to?
P.S. Love the sign.
I don't care if it's Photoshop, or not. It speaks the truth. I'd rather pay a little more (to keep my good neighbor here) than less (to send my good neighbor to the poorhouse). That's what America is supposed to (used to) be about.
Sure. What nonsense. It's every easy on this anonymous board to act all sanctimonious, but the reality is you would NOT be willing to pay even one cent more. You shop at all the "big box stores", like all of us do. Puh-leese. And American is NOT "supposed to be about" that. America is about making money, making profit. Nothing else. Sorry, it's the cold, hard reality.
Speak for yourself. In MY case, you certainly do.
I guess we should all just let the wealthy and powerful do whatever they want. The rest of us will just chalk it up to inevitable destiny and do nothing . . . no matter how badly we're hurt.
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
George Orwell's novel of a totalitarian future society in which a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love.
http://tv-links.co.uk/listings/4/6769
I start teaching that very novel to my seniors TODAY. Always an honor and a privilege to do so.
"There are several Unions that insist on buying American made uniforms including shoes.
Police, Firemen, LetterCarriers etc buy from American Companys."
This isn't something to be admired or encouraged. These companies are all publically funded, which means they don't give a rats ass about cost effectiveness, efficiency, or progress. The consumer is a SECOND class citizen with these people. That's why they haven't advanced for well over 50 years. They are still using the same methods, because the money they make is stolen and not voluntarily given. Thus, these people can AFFORD to pay higher prices for American made goods. It is NOT because they are more "moral". They can say to the country "look, we are buying American goods because we care about Americans!", meanwhile they are providing outdated service, causing higher government spending and more of a burden on the average American than any superstore that bankrupted a Mom and Pop store could ever be.
Hey, as long as the free market is working for YOU in the NEAR term, right? If I had an "invisible hand," I would introduce it to your Compassionate Conservative mouth.
"There are several Unions that insist on buying American made uniforms including shoes.
Police, Firemen, LetterCarriers etc buy from American Companys."
This isn't something to be admired or encouraged. These companies are all publically funded, which means they don't give a rats ass about cost effectiveness, efficiency, or progress. The consumer is a SECOND class citizen with these people. That's why they haven't advanced for well over 50 years. They are still using the same methods, because the money they make is stolen and not voluntarily given. Thus, these people can AFFORD to pay higher prices for American made goods. It is NOT because they are more "moral". They can say to the country "look, we are buying American goods because we care about Americans!", meanwhile they are providing outdated service, causing higher government spending and more of a burden on the average American than any superstore that bankrupted a Mom and Pop store could ever be.
Hey, as long as the free market is working for YOU in the NEAR term, right? If I had an "invisible hand," I would introduce it to your Compassionate Conservative mouth.
I went into JC Penney and asked if they could show me shoes that I could buy made in America. Every single brand was made in China.
They just don't make anything most consumer goods in America anymore, so even if you wanted to buy American...you can't!
There are several Unions that insist on buying American made uniforms including shoes.
Police, Firemen, LetterCarriers etc buy from American Companys.
Drama King:
Are you offering a solution this a.m. or just venting?
The Corporatocracy...welcome, to the end of human civilization.
When profit, greed, excess consumerism, & the quest for the most dominates the destiny of individuals in power.....those that are not in power will die fast, die slow....
Why does this planet have to go through WWWIII, catastrophic environmental disasters, or aliens landing....before we'll change the way we think, act, & live????
Why do we always have to have the frying pan to the face...before we WTFU???
"The National Coalition of American Nuns is impelled by conscience to call you to act promptly to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for ... high crimes and misdemeanors."
- http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173352587402&path=!living&s=1037645509005
Religion Briefs Coalition of nuns calls for impeaching Bush and Cheney
THE REPUBLICAN DEFINITION OF 'HARD WORK' on full display GWBUSH RECORD SETTER: Bush on track to become the vacation president - http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/mason/5042364.html
"The presidential vacation-time record holder is the late Ronald Reagan, who tallied 436 days in his two terms. At 418 days, and with 17 months to go in his presidency, Bush is going to beat that easily."
WHICH IS A GREAT SEGUE to this Corporate Feudalist story: The Vanishing American Vacation - http://www.alternet.org/workplace/61122/
Compared to people in other developed countries, Americans don't ask for more vacation time, don't take all the vacation time their employers give them and continue to work while they are on vacation.
In the other developed countries...they live longer...live healthier....and there's a direct correlation...sit on that free marketists, corporatists...
"In 1882, New York clamored for an appearance by the champion of laissez-faire capitalism, Herbert Spencer, who provided Charles Darwin with the phrase, "Survival of the fittest."
Spencer agreed to meet the captains of American industry, but his appearance was a disaster.
Spencer told the assembly they didn't understand his ideas, for he disapproved of American capitalism.
Americans, he claimed, are pathologically obsessed with work.
Overwork risks their mental and physical health and they need a "revised ideal of life" that includes relaxation.
"Life is not for learning, nor is life for working," said Spencer, "but learning and working are for life."
Almost 125 years later, Americans still haven't gotten the message."
Busheviks Guilty of Criminal Negligence Fallout: L. Paul Bremer Confirms a Key Contention in "No End in Sight." According to the Sep. 4 NYT: "A previously undisclosed exchange of letters shows that President Bush was told in advance by his top Iraq envoy in May 2003 of a plan to “dissolve Saddam’s military and intelligence structures,” a plan that the envoy, L. Paul Bremer, said referred to dismantling the Iraqi Army. Mr. Bremer provided the letters to The New York Times on Monday after reading that Mr. Bush was quoted in a new book as saying that American policy had been “to keep the army intact” but that it “didn’t happen.”...Mr. Bremer indicated that he had been smoldering for months as other administration officials had distanced themselves from his order." Of course, as "No End in Sight" confirms, Bush doesn't read key National Intelligence Estimates, Reports, Important Letters, Etc. His Note to Bremmer was Probably Written for Him to Sign.
- http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/washington/04bremer.html?_r=2&hp=&adxn...
(Paul Bremer's)Envoy’s Letter Counters Bush on Dismantling of Iraq Army (exposes lie 2,003,456,897)
If the Searingly Detailed Documentary "No End in Sight" Were Presented to a Grand Jury, No Doubt Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Rice, and L. Paul Bremer Would be Indicted for Criminal Malfeasance in the Post-Invasion Conduct of the Iraq War
- http://www.buzzflash.com/store/items/752
The definitive authority & guide to the worst 'decision' ever made by a sitting president....
America's 'Left' is Almost Always Right and the 'Right' is Always Wrong - http://www.progressivedailybeacon.com/more.php?page=opinion&id=1656
"The simple truth of the matter is that America's Liberals have almost always been right and the Conservative Republicans have always been wrong which, if one thinks about it, is pretty amazing. It is amazing because, as the cliché goes, even a broken watch is right twice a day. The reality, however, isn't that Republicans are that stupid - they simply choose to support ideas and causes that they know to be fraudulent from the start."
"According to Conservative Republican logic, one always listens to the person who is always wrong ... which explains a lot about the United States today."
Its simple ideas, slogans, soundbytes that grab the American public (attention span of a gnat)...that is where we must beat them...they'll get simple & stupid, we need short & thought provoking...
A year before they choose a new government for the post-Bush era, Americans are desperate to change the country's course. Most lean left, a U.S. population more liberal than at any time in a generation, hungering to end the Iraq war, turn inward and use the federal government to solve problems at home.
- http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/19378.html
WANT TO KNOW WHY DETROIT'S BIG 3 ARE GOING INTO THE TOILET: Dirty Secret: Green Cars Automakers Won't Sell You - http://autos.msn.com/advice/article.aspx?contentid=4024974>1=10365
Its not the 'unions'...its the LACK of strategic business decisions and vision (the auto industry shift to fuel efficiency will have to bankrupt these morons before they'll budge....and I could care less....stupidity begets stupidity)...those companies & their Big Oil counterparts are all Republican, all the time...
Who killed the electric car: http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/ RENT IT!
The WAL-MART SCAM...CORPORATISM AT ITS 'FINEST': Always low prices' end up costing dearly - http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/column/214014
In just the past few weeks, we've witnessed what outsourcing to countries with the lowest wages has done to our toy companies, forcing Mattel and others to recall millions of toys tainted with lead paint and other chemicals. There's been a.jpgreeze in toothpaste. Outsourced pet food has killed dogs and cats.
Sadly, much of all this can be blamed on the pressure our own companies are making on foreign manufacturers to hold costs to a minimum to ensure low prices while still turning sizable profits.
In the US, class war still means just one thing: the rich attacking the poor - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2161252,00.html
"In the US, class war still means just one thing: the rich attacking the poor" 57% of all bankruptcies are from medical costs....61 percent of those cases....owned their homes & had attended college....how many PHDs can't get work in this country and are forced to move to Europe, Asia, etc...to find JOBS....WTFU PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!
THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A con-servative & A LIBERAL: One wants to see a better future & change for the betterment of humankind....while the con-servatives...want their 70' Inch Plasma run on seal's blood & and an oil rig in your backyard...so they can be stubborn, stupid, and try to f@ck the future...we all know how that turns out, right Enron???
Right Wing Heritage Foundation is Running Bomb Iran Scenarios for Cheney and Bush. One Major Goal: To Make Sure That Oil Prices Don't Spike. Can Someone Arrest All These Dangerous Nut Cases? - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/02/wiran102...
Blood for Oil....its a Republican mantra....sick, twisted, & evil....those that vote for them....just as bad, if not worse...their ignorance is killing us all...
Another Giuliani staffer forced to resign in shame another sex scandal: A St. Petersburg organizer for a Rudy Giuliani presidential event plans to step down amid revelations of his arrests for allegedly extorting an FSU student in a sex case and his conviction for dealing in stolen state computers.
- http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/222410.html
Vote republican...they have more sexual issues than you....really....they really, really, really do....
Don't believe the hype: The deficit is much bigger than you think. - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR2007090300880.html?hpid=sec-business
Who Knows What to Make of This Report? Propaganda or Truth. If It's True, Bush has Failed Our National Security Once Again, In a Very, Very Big Way: "The Chinese military shut down the Pentagon’s computer network for more than a week during an unprecedented cyber attack, according to leaked reports of an internal investigation." - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=VB24X0HUZWGVLQFIQM...
According to the Sunday Times of London, the Pentagon has drawn up plans “for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate the Iranians’ military capability in three days.” Well now, isn’t that special. - http://www.lastchancedemocracycafe.com/?p=1010 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2369001.ece
Terrorist attacks against US interests would increase across the globe. Meanwhile, oil prices would go through the ceiling, with the global economy taking a nosedive.
All you moron right wingnuts that are all for this....YOU NEED TO STFU...about Oil prices & Terrorism...your evil driven stupidity and enabling of bizzaro world moron 'logic' is going to destroy the entire world....but then again...you're a cult of death anyway...
Drama King, just wait until you become a victim of capitalististic takeover, depletions of your 401Ks and all your stock become worthless pieces of paper thanks to goons like Wal-Mart.
I bet we won't see your ass on this blog crying about how badly you have it, and if you do, one of us will make a point of digging up your past posts, while asking you, "How's Bush's policies working for you know, dipshyt?"
The Corporatocracy...welcome, to the end of human civilization.
When profit, greed, excess consumerism, & the quest for the most dominates the destiny of individuals in power.....those that are not in power will die fast, die slow....
Why does this planet have to go through WWWIII, catastrophic environmental disasters, or aliens landing....before we'll change the way we think, act, & live????
Why do we always have to have the frying pan to the face...before we WTFU???
Because humans are the dumbest mammals on the planet.
For the love of mike there are some who think that a translated 2000 yr old story book has all the answers for everything that they could ever need and BASED on that are waiting for the world to end. How fucked is THAT?
Cheap crap is 'cheap' for a reason. I don't mind paying more for the better quality product. And I'd much rather shop at Mom & Pop stores. Superstores are what's forcing small towns off the map. I despise every friggin' shopping area looking the same, with the same stores in each. More often than not I've found things at Mom & Pop stores that those so-called superstores don't carry because "there isn't much call for it". It's been my experience that Mom & Pop are more willing to order an item they don't normally carry, in order to keep your business, than some 'superstore'. Superstores don't care if they keep your business or not... there's always another customer right around the corner.
Mom & Pop are trying to "put food on their family" the same as you. I'd much rather have actual service from Mom & Pop, than shop at some brand-name store who tosses your purchase in a plastic bag and tosses the bag on the counter. Hell, they can't even hand you the bag for pete's sake. If you can't treat me as a person, I won't be coming back. And I've actually gone to the 'service' desk and said as much, then returned my purchase. And if that makes me a bitch, than it's a name I proudly wear.
Have to say I get a little tired of people ragging on people that drive SUV's. The Nissan Titan I drive was built in the USofA, which means American workers made a decent wage assembling it. The Canadian company I bought it from paid the salesperson decent wages.
Dramaking@60 you said,
"It is the CONSUMERS who dictated which stores would be around, NOT the “monopolistic” superstores. It is the CONSUMER who makes the choice WHERE to shop. They are not forced to go to the “monopolistic” superstore. They do so because it is BETTER for them."
Sure, it's always fun to be able to buy what was once unattainable for many budgets. A lot of us are aware of what has happened as a result of easier availability. We no longer produce anything in this country as a result. Don't look down because there's nothing there supporting us. Not farms, not manufacturing, the things we built our country upon have or are in the process of vanishing.
Our comforts are temporary unless we're in the upper 3%.
For you meat-on-the-hoofer big mouths on this thread, the life you save is probably your own.
"Drama King [AKA Private Freedom-Sitemonitor], just wait until you become a victim of capitalististic takeover, depletions of your 401Ks and all your stock become worthless pieces of paper"
Umm...if that's your defence then I think you are wrong. If your hatred is derived from others indifference, you need to rethink your position.
"thanks to goons like Wal-Mart."
OK, here you are mistaken. Wal-Mart is causing stocks to become worthless pieces of paper. The Federal Reserve ensures that for you. If the Fed didn't exist, it would be mathematically impossible for an entire country to "lose money". Hence, investing an a country that didn't have a central bank would result in positive gains year after year no matter what happens in people's minds.
Your hatred is misguided (me, Wal-Mart, etc). You should blame those responsible.
"I bet we won't see your ass on this blog crying about how badly you have it, and if you do, one of us will make a point of digging up your past posts"
As only business hating people would. Waste. Of. Time. You won't EVER see me crying because I know what the problem really is. People cry when they do not know what happened to them, like children cry when they are punished for reasons they do not understand.
If you want to cry, be my guest, but I won't. So if I won't, does this mean you think I am right? Or do you still think I am setting myself up for a requiem? If so, why do you care?
It's the language, the pointless thuggery. The frequency of the use of the words "hatred" and "crying". Garden variety asshole.
personally i believe much of this made in china crap belongs at bill clintons feet, it may have been a republicans idea but clinton had it done by getting nafta passed , i remember ross perro remarking if nafta gets passed what youll hear is a giant sucking sound , and people laughed at that statement ,well listen that roaring noise you hears not a hurricane , its your job being sent to china india or mexico, my belief is that clinton was allowed by the repigs to win the presidency just to get the treasury filled with money just so the next bastard wich was a bush could once again steal and bleed this country dry, and clinton was in on it and his old ladys just another repig in democrat drag, notice bill out golfing with poppy bush ,birds of a feather, clinton gave us 8 yrs of peace and prosparity only to hand all that off to the assholes who were appointed to profit from nafta and cafta, enjoy them benifits bill gave us , swhooooooose!
i was talking to an australian guy a couple of weeks ago and when i told him i was retired from an auto plant, he laughed and said he didn't think we made anything anymore. i laughed and say gosh no i know lots of people who..."wait, it was a japanese auto plant now that you mention it." so we both had a big sad laugh...he was retired from ford in australia.
The costs of "owning" is now an exercise in being eaten up to the shoulder. My brother in Westchester NY has a $1,000,000 house for sale on a beautiful street where 5 other homes are also up for sale. His retouching business, passed down from my father which he started in 1940 abandoned. Credit cards maxed, 2 years ago was a regular face at Christie's.
Myself, I've given up having a car, cable television because I can work at home, walk or ride a bike. Paying $60 a month for television is absurd when Netflix spares us pap "REality shows" and the ugliness of the insane doublespeaking garbage mouthed hydra-heads (like a coupla zombies on this thread).
I haven't set foot in Walmart in 6 years, buy brand-name seconds on the net and shop locally owned stores.
Still, with the taxes I pay and the monstrous demands of out-of-pocket medical by corporations and government interest rates, I'm being eaten alive anyway.
personally i believe much of this made in china crap belongs at bill clintons feet, it may have been a republicans idea but clinton had it done by getting nafta passed , i remember ross perro remarking if nafta gets passed what youll hear is a giant sucking sound , and people laughed at that statement ,well listen that roaring noise you hears not a hurricane , its your job being sent to china india or mexico, my belief is that clinton was allowed by the repigs to win the presidency just to get the treasury filled with money just so the next bastard wich was a bush could once again steal and bleed this country dry, and clinton was in on it and his old ladys just another repig in democrat drag, notice bill out golfing with poppy bush ,birds of a feather, clinton gave us 8 yrs of peace and prosparity only to hand all that off to the assholes who were appointed to profit from nafta and cafta, enjoy them benifits bill gave us , swhooooooose!
Totally. Did anyone else notice Hillary's silence in the last two dem debates at the mention of NAFTA by Kucinich? The cameras missed a few beautifully telling closeups of that dried up humorless Clinton kisser blinking with disdain.
... I know a few places to put it around town ... let's see the mom and pop grocery store, the mom and pop furniture store, the mom and pop handware store, etc. etc. etc.
ya ever notice how republicans give all priase and lip service to the small business people and then give all the breaks to the big box, large corporations that come in and ruin the lively hood of the small business people???
I read an article recently by a former Microsoft employee talking about how the only way they can keep people from leaving is to convince people they can't do things on their own. Wal-Mart is similar to that. They convince the people who work for them that this is the only way to keep things working properly.
Oh God yes .. and that also goes for the customers, they get sort of brainwashed (think the South Park episode) that they can only get low prices, etc. at Wal-mart. I fell into that, where the first and ONLY place I'd think to shop is Walmart. But I broke free and now boycott Walmart. (I only shop there once a year and that's because it sells something I can find no where else that I like).
Actually now the store gives me the heebie jeebies to when I walk into it. There's a lot of stores around here where I'd rather spend my money (and I do save). But even as a customer, there is a "programmed" mind set you need to break.
June 24–November 4 , 2007
Exhibition Reception: Sunday, June 24, 2007; 3 to 5 pm
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is located in one of Connecticut’s oldest historic districts, full of people, places, and things to remember; making the Museum a perfect venue for Norm Magnusson to present his recent series of historical markers in an exhibition entitled On This Site Stood.
Historical markers have traditionally offered glimpses into the extraordinary array of people and events that have shaped history in a particular region. Some refer to tangible reminders like a covered bridge or historic house, others designate sites of significant events that passed and left no trace, like a battleground. Playing off the familiar format of a typical state historical marker, Magnusson has created a series of cast aluminum sculptures that cleverly focus attention on contemporary social and political issues by simply stating the concerns of individual Americans who “on this site stood.” Magnusson’s work, which is part of the Museum’s ongoing Main Street Sculpture Project, will be installed along Main Street and in The Aldrich’s Cornish Family Sculpture Garden. The artist is creating new markers especially for this installation, one of them directly inspired by the Museum’s historical building.
As others have mentioned above, the near slavelabor wages paid to chinese or Mexican or Indonesian or Saipanese (thanks Tom Delay/Jack Abramov) doesn't mean cheaper prices. It means more profits to the companies that caree so little for their own country that they are willing to impoverish it in order to increase their own profits. They tout savings for consumers or just staying in business, but when has any company ever passed on any savings to their customers or given anything back to the communities they either trashed by leaving or trashed by invading? It hasn't happened. Those companies have enjoyed savings. Big ones. But those savings have only been passed onto the rich.
Add to that many of those companies like Stanley Tools (good American sounding name, right), Haliburton and so on. Have multiplied their screwing of the country by moving their headquartersout of country. They do this in order to avoid paying taxes or, like Haliburton, to avoid eventual criminal prosecution. They are now foreign companies who sell into the US without paying duties or taxes and who can expatriate all of their earnings(flight of capital). Worse, many of the megarich mega corporations have, through the congress roaches they have purchased, been able to enjoy negative tax rates. They earn profits, and get tax refunds on those profits. We have mega-large businesses that now enjoy sovereign rights that were previously reserved for states(good to be the king, isn't it?).
They are accumulating power, because they have corrupted and co-opted the processes of government. They have done it, and are further doing it by destroying the middle classes of the countries which they parasitize. These are self-defeating practices, which contain the seeds of certain failure at some point in the future. It is a pity that this is so, because when these psuedo-sovereign houses of neofeudal aristocracy fail, it is going to collapse the global economy and bring down governments in the process.
The thing is, none of these guys have any kind of inate or inherent power. None of this could have happened absent a culture of self-indulgent apathy or the dumming down of society that has been brought about by a long process of nurturing materialism. It will be stopped if people decide to wake up.
It may be Quixotic, but this is one reason why I will never vote for a corporatist candidate. Regardless the party the corporatists belong to, they are part of a cancer that is consuming the country and the world.
If the corporatists are the politicians, it can safely be said that politics offers no solutions to any of the problems that beset the country or the world.
The "slave labor" you refer to are not slaves, but rather people who don't have much of a choice... but they are not forced to take those jobs... So what if the investors are getting richer, I believe that is correct, but no one is forcing anyone to buy those products.
The PROBLEM, and it's the ONLY problem, are the CROOKS AND LIARS that you people continue to reelect, over and over, both democrat and republican, that ALLOW all this ONE WAY trade with China, Mexico, Indonesia, etc.
There should be a law that makes Governors attend ribbon-cuttings and photo ops as these are unveiled around the country. Probably get some action on trade policy.
We recently bought a locally made couch. Paid about 4 times more for it too.
We recently bought a locally made mattress, box spring and a shaker made headboard paid about $400 more...got a better quality bed and put money back into the local economy....a double bonus as far as I'm concerned. btw we are working class and did not buy on credit.
1. A huge reason why a lot of companies use third world or foreign labour is because of Wal-Mart forcing costs down. Even that bad documentary against Wal-Mart didn't cover the fact that Wal-Mart will goto a product maker and say, "I want THIS at THIS PRICE". Sometimes this price can be lower than the cost to make the product. If the product maker says no, Wal-Mart will just pull their product from the shelves. If they say yes, they have to find new ways to make their product, and going for a country that makes it for cheaper is the easiest route. I've seen stores stop selling Columbia-Tri Star DVD's, Pepsi products and more. Putting pressure on the product makers is a good thing, but pushing them to the point where they are selling at cost or less is disgusting.
2. I am not much of a Union supporter. I think the fact corporations have to get unions tells me that the government doesn't do a good enough job monitoring their people and companies. If I am being under paid or overworked, I should be able to goto my government to change it. However, like we seen in Chicago, going through the government to make changes, no matter how originally supported, will get overturned in the end due to greed. Unionizing Wal-Mart is extremely hard, extremely risky and extremely questionable. First, you have to remember that Wal-Mart has convinced associates that if a Union comes in, you lose your benefits and nothing they try to fight for will get done. You also have to remember that you are dealing with under-paid employees, and unless you got some millionaire backing you, most won't sit out in the cold for free when they are already behind bills. Second, negotiation. Wal-Mart is trained in ensuring that they fight you at every step and convince you things about them you didn't know(which are not true), such as their budget restraints being the actual money they make, or that you can't force them to hire more people. Finally, there is a high potential Wal-Mart will just shut you down. In Quebec, near Montreal, a store snuck in due to a technicality an old Union from the Wolco store it used to be. When Wal-Mart learned the ruling would stand, they stopped sending trucks to the store. This meant there was no longer merchandise to put on the floor, and soon, Wal-Mart was able to claim that the store was not making enough money since the Union came in and closed it, leaving a good 250 people out of a job. The only way Unions will succeed is if a Union independent of the Food Unions forms in multiple stores at the same time. Wal-Mart can shut a store down anywhere, but shutting ten stores down in the same region they won't. Even to prove a point. Getting the troops together is more than just one store, you need to unify stores.
3. Anti-Mom and Pop. Yes, there are serious flaws to mom and pop stores. Just goto a variety store and see that just about everything is overpriced by at least 50 cents. Here in North America, we have a "One Stop Shop" attitude to us, unlike Europeans like the Germans who like quality and building relationships with their retailers. We like to park our car, get everything in one trip, and leave. It takes a special person to even comparison shop. To be honest, it isn't mom and pop's I'm worried about. It's good competition. Wal-Mart gets unfair advantages over its competitors in Canada and the United States. They do it both intelligently and sinfully. The sad truth is that when Wal-Mart claims when they come in, employment goes up, its because Wal-Mart coming signals the arrival of other big box stores, who usually build on the farm area that Wal-Mart is near. Therefore, everyone has to drive outside the city to get a deal, and comparison shop. When they do, its specific, like getting electronics at Best Buy or toys at Toys R Us. Anyone with the knowledge to open up a small business selling clothes is going to have to sell them at a higher price than they got them, and with all of the taxes in buying anything not local that a small business has to deal with that a Big Box doesn't, its impossible to compete.
If Wal-Mart employed 25% more and paid 25% more to those employed, they wouldn't lose 25% of their profits. They would still make solid gains, and it would make Wal-Mart a much better place to shop. Working there for almost two years between two different stores and becoming a team leader (semi management) in receiving, dealing with ammonia spills and pool chemical agents with little chemical safety training, I can't tell you not to shop there or that shopping there makes you bad. So, I'll ask this (and this is why I agree with penn and teller on yelling at those two pieces of shit who decided to insult all wal-mart associates and customers): When you see a guy working and he seems lazy, don't go off on him. You don't know his story. You don't know how long hes had to bust his ass with a fake smile and you caught him at the one point where hes ready to collapse. When you see some welfare family come in buying as much as they can, don't judge. We're all victims of a company who was smart enough to take advantage of the system. Just realize that this is not the vision that Sam Walton wanted (He wanted the company to stay 100% american).
We recently bought a locally made couch. Paid about 4 times more for it too.
We recently bought a locally made mattress, box spring and a shaker made headboard paid about $400 more...got a better quality bed and put money back into the local economy....a double bonus as far as I'm concerned. btw we are working class and did not buy on credit.
Now, that's how to bring manufacturing back home! Support local business owners in our towns and cities.
Tell WAlmart to stuff it. Building business on the backs of the poor in horrible working conditions, what swine.
As others have mentioned above, the near slavelabor wages paid to chinese or Mexican or Indonesian or Saipanese (thanks Tom Delay/Jack Abramov) doesn't mean cheaper prices. It means more profits to the companies that caree so little for their own country that they are willing to impoverish it in order to increase their own profits. They tout savings for consumers or just staying in business, but when has any company ever passed on any savings to their customers or given anything back to the communities they either trashed by leaving or trashed by invading? It hasn't happened. Those companies have enjoyed savings. Big ones. But those savings have only been passed onto the rich.
Add to that many of those companies like Stanley Tools (good American sounding name, right), Haliburton and so on. Have multiplied their screwing of the country by moving their headquartersout of country. They do this in order to avoid paying taxes or, like Haliburton, to avoid eventual criminal prosecution. They are now foreign companies who sell into the US without paying duties or taxes and who can expatriate all of their earnings(flight of capital). Worse, many of the megarich mega corporations have, through the congress roaches they have purchased, been able to enjoy negative tax rates. They earn profits, and get tax refunds on those profits. We have mega-large businesses that now enjoy sovereign rights that were previously reserved for states(good to be the king, isn't it?).
They are accumulating power, because they have corrupted and co-opted the processes of government. They have done it, and are further doing it by destroying the middle classes of the countries which they parasitize. These are self-defeating practices, which contain the seeds of certain failure at some point in the future. It is a pity that this is so, because when these psuedo-sovereign houses of neofeudal aristocracy fail, it is going to collapse the global economy and bring down governments in the process.
The thing is, none of these guys have any kind of inate or inherent power. None of this could have happened absent a culture of self-indulgent apathy or the dumming down of society that has been brought about by a long process of nurturing materialism. It will be stopped if people decide to wake up.
It may be Quixotic, but this is one reason why I will never vote for a corporatist candidate. Regardless the party the corporatists belong to, they are part of a cancer that is consuming the country and the world.
If the corporatists are the politicians, it can safely be said that politics offers no solutions to any of the problems that beset the country or the world.
The "slave labor" you refer to are not slaves, but rather people who don't have much of a choice... but they are not forced to take those jobs... So what if the investors are getting richer, I believe that is correct, but no one is forcing anyone to buy those products.
The PROBLEM, and it's the ONLY problem, are the CROOKS AND LIARS that you people continue to reelect, over and over, both democrat and republican, that ALLOW all this ONE WAY trade with China, Mexico, Indonesia, etc.
Such offhand, dismissive use of the word, YOU reelect and "allow".
FYI, our elections have been stolen since 1999.
Our constitution and traditional democracy is no more.
The united states is bought and sold and our societal protections GONE.
Our country thieved by corporatist murderers.
Privacies GONE.
Friend, the power in the u.s. is no longer by choice as you so maddeningly put it. Our country has been stolen out from under us as we await the final collapse and weigh factors against us that before have existed in other fascist countries.
We are viewed as an "inconvenience" to the gov't so corrupt it would rather cull the u.s. population as we have seen and will continue to see each time a segment of the country has an emergency like Katrina.
The u.s. gov't is no more than a parasite of it's citizens.
do not expect anything different if you vote for corporate whores , made in chinas all youll get from them, hillery , obamma are a good example of that, both are loosers , and a waste of your vote, its plain to see who this government fears its guys like kucinich who they cant dig up dirt on and whos telling it like it is,as i said before about ross pero , its the little guys with big ears that you wont vote for because they dont have that brad pitt look, whats wrong with voteing for a guy that tells you naftas pure crap? and wants to get rid of these crappy trade deals, can you be any worse off ? were not gaining any jobs from them , only buying crap from china thats poisoned in one way or another, think its going to get better with any of these guys who think all you got to do is tweek thoes programs a little, no you got to get rid of them then punnish the corporations for outsourcing thoes jobs to china , no products that used to be made in america should be allowed back here, let them sell thier shit to the chinese who make them, wed be better off selling and buying among ourselves things made here , were allready a third world country anyway thanks to nafta and the corporate thugs,
Oh yes. "Those people" are not forced to take those jobs. Love those lumpkin statements.
As irrational as any goon like yourself can muster. I won't even attempt to reason with you.
do not expect anything different if you vote for corporate whores , made in chinas all youll get from them, hillery , obamma are a good example of that, both are loosers , and a waste of your vote, its plain to see who this government fears its guys like kucinich who they cant dig up dirt on and whos telling it like it is,as i said before about ross pero , its the little guys with big ears that you wont vote for because they dont have that brad pitt look, whats wrong with voteing for a guy that tells you naftas pure crap? and wants to get rid of these crappy trade deals, can you be any worse off ? were not gaining any jobs from them , only buying crap from china thats poisoned in one way or another, think its going to get better with any of these guys who think all you got to do is tweek thoes programs a little, no you got to get rid of them then punnish the corporations for outsourcing thoes jobs to china , no products that used to be made in america should be allowed back here, let them sell thier shit to the chinese who make them, wed be better off selling and buying among ourselves things made here , were allready a third world country anyway thanks to nafta and the corporate thugs,
Watch the ones who say nothing about the primary factors causing the death of u.s. manufacturing and farms.
That would be the silence of Hillary and Obama.
Edwards, Kucinich and Gravel face it head-on. The two most heavily financed ones have nothing to say in the dem debates. Hillary and Obama are whores and buying into this assumption they are the top contenders is buying into spin so beloved by the Pukes having righteous sex with children.
do not expect anything different if you vote for corporate whores , made in chinas all youll get from them, hillery , obamma are a good example of that, both are loosers , and a waste of your vote, its plain to see who this government fears its guys like kucinich who they cant dig up dirt on and whos telling it like it is,as i said before about ross pero , its the little guys with big ears that you wont vote for because they dont have that brad pitt look, whats wrong with voteing for a guy that tells you naftas pure crap? and wants to get rid of these crappy trade deals, can you be any worse off ? were not gaining any jobs from them , only buying crap from china thats poisoned in one way or another, think its going to get better with any of these guys who think all you got to do is tweek thoes programs a little, no you got to get rid of them then punnish the corporations for outsourcing thoes jobs to china , no products that used to be made in america should be allowed back here, let them sell thier shit to the chinese who make them, wed be better off selling and buying among ourselves things made here , were allready a third world country anyway thanks to nafta and the corporate thugs,
Watch the ones who say nothing about the primary factors causing the death of u.s. manufacturing and farms.
That would be the silence of Hillary and Obama.
Edwards, Kucinich and Gravel face it head-on. The two most heavily financed ones have nothing to say in the dem debates. Hillary and Obama are whores and buying into this assumption they are the top contenders is buying into spin so beloved by the Pukes having righteous sex with children.
Vote against incumbents, and continue to vote against incumbents.
Start in the primaries, cross party affiliation to vote against Repug Incumbents.
Safe Congressional Districts are a festering wound to OUR Democracy,vote against the safe Incumbent in both Primaries and General Elections.
Do not allow the 1% to control your voting habits. Think for yourself. Keep churning the pot.Change is good.
Vote for YOUR government not THEIR government!
The Wal-Mart talk aside, how do we know that Hillary and Obama are being used by the Media to drown out Edwards, Kucinich and Gravel, because KKKarl Rove wants either Hillary or Obama to actually get the nod, and then they trot out "Hollywood Fred" smelling of English Leather and cigar (the way Chris Matthews likes) to take on Hillary or Obama and give the White House to the ReThugs for another four years?
I think we need to focus on getting more seats in the House and Senate to vote out Reid, Pelosi, Hoyer, Levin, maybe even Conyers, from their Leadership positions, and get leaders who can actually facilitate party line caucuses on legislation like keeping out Leslie Southwick from a Circuit Court appointment.
The Wal-Mart talk aside, how do we know that Hillary and Obama are being used by the Media to drown out Edwards, Kucinich and Gravel, because KKKarl Rove wants either Hillary or Obama to actually get the nod, and then they trot out "Hollywood Fred" smelling of English Leather and cigar (the way Chris Matthews likes) to take on Hillary or Obama and give the White House to the ReThugs for another four years?
I think we need to focus on getting more seats in the House and Senate to vote out Reid, Pelosi, Hoyer, Levin, maybe even Conyers, from their Leadership positions, and get leaders who can actually facilitate party line caucuses on legislation like keeping out Leslie Southwick from a Circuit Court appointment.
fucking Ah-men to both of your posts. Taking it further with a shopvac to the Bluedogs ruining the dem party.
Late for some by the next election. Get in as many progressives as possible in ALL elections now thru 2012.
Not so sure about "hollywood Fred". He's too lazy to change his underwear, let alone the drive to make it all the way. If he's nominated, the election stolen again, he'll probably not bother to govern with that vinyl doll of a floozy he's got for a wife as first lady. Nah, the excitement will kill him.
I went into JC Penney and asked if they could show me shoes that I could buy made in America. Every single brand was made in China.
They just don't make anything most consumer goods in America anymore, so even if you wanted to buy American...you can't!
Sorry, but I know of only one manufacturer left in the US who still makes shoes here: New Balance . Last I knew, they had a factory right in Lawrence, MA. but am not sure how much total production is still based in the US.
I recently did the final assembly and packing of 500 electrical ballasts for GE fluorescent lights here in Rochester, N.Y.
According to the boxes and labels, it was all "made in China"! No way at all for the consumer to tell that part of the purchase price went to support this American's
base wage, profit sharing, paid time off, health insurance, 401K, and income taxes.
Well, at least I know I can compete with those poor slaves in China on occasion, but WHAT THE HELL ????
click for larger
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The Wal-Martization of America.
fuck walmart
Showtime
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
George Orwell's novel of a totalitarian future society in which a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love.
http://tv-links.co.uk/listings/4/6769
Where is that sign? Somewhere in the "real" world... or in photoshop?
woid @ 4:
Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Is this for reals or shopped?
Either way though, I applaud whoever is responsible.
From the film 'Network'
"You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won't have it, is that clear? You think you have merely stopped a business deal - that is not the case! The Arabs have taken billions of dollars out of this country, and now they must put it back. It is ebb and flow, tidal gravity, it is ecological balance. You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations! There are no peoples! There are no Russians! There are no Arabs! There are no Third Worlds! There is no West! There is only one holistic system of systems, one vast and immane, interwoven, interacting, multi-variate, multi-national dominion of dollars! Petro-dollars, electro-dollars, multi-dollars, reichmarks, rins, rubles, pounds and shekels! It is the international system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things today. That is the atomic, and subatomic and galactic structure of things today. And you have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and you will atone! Am I getting through to you, Mr. Beale? You get up on your little twenty-one inch screen and howl about America and democracy. There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM, and ITT, and AT and T, and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon - those are the nations of the world today. What do you think the Russians talk about in their councils of state - Karl Marx? They get out their linear programming charts, statistical decision theories and mini-max solutions and compute the price-cost probabilities of their transactions and investments just like we do. We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies, Mr. Beale. The world is a college of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable by-laws of business. The world is a business, Mr. Beale. It has been since man crawled out of the slime, and our children will live, Mr. Beale, to see that perfect world in which there's no war or famine, oppression or brutality. One vast and ecumenical holding company, for whom all men will work to serve a common profit, in which all men will hold a share of stock, all necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused. And I have chosen you to preach this evangel, Mr. Beale."
The Ministry of Truth is at it again. "Presidential election season has always started on Labor Day."
Well, yeah-- Labor Day IN THE YEAR OF THE ELECTION was generally when the public got serious about it. Back before the Presidential election was fixed, and NH held its primary in March, we didn't spend a year and half on it. But this is the latest piece of unchallenged BS being pushed by the same liars that brought us Iraq.
it's time to hand bush, cheney, rumsfield, gonzalez rice and most all of the bush adminsitration over to the world court in nuremberg, germany and let them try them
for all the crimes they have committed against humanity.
we should just round them up as enemy combattants, for which they all surely are. they only deserve the same treatment they have showed the American citizens, the US Constitution and all the international laws and treaties we have agreed to abide by.
bush and his band of bastards have disgraced the American citizens and all that our country stands for.
dadams @ 8:
ditto
unrepentant expat @ 6:
"But why me?" "Because. You're on TV, Dummy."
Globalization cannot accomodate the American middle class.
you know what wal mart can go to hell and all the politicians that have anything to do with it (hi hillary) should be ashamed
Gavin @ 5:
I'd say shopped based on this link http://www.hmdb.org/Results.asp?State=Ohio. Perhaps not. But bluegal seems to enjoy playing games with people. So I think the former.
I used to work for one of those big box thingamajiggers. I was there just long enough to realize how the machine truly works. It's depressing trying to talk sense into managers who know you are telling the truth but can't do anything about it, because they control us, and are controlled by them, who are controlled by they, who are...
I read an article recently by a former Microsoft employee talking about how the only way they can keep people from leaving is to convince people they can't do things on their own. Wal-Mart is similar to that. They convince the people who work for them that this is the only way to keep things working properly. Every store follows a strict financial budget, which is why you never see enough people working, and the ones who are, are over worked and under paid. However, they don't leave, because when they do, they can't get a job reference and leave only knowing how to do it one way. They are also always under a carrot on a string due to Profit Sharing.
They are the most brilliant and sickening company in existence. And its all our fault.
dadams @ 8:
Got a rope?
Scott in Chicago @ 15:
$4.86 at Wal-Mart
On Sunday, the New York Times detailed Bush biographer Robert Draper's stunning portrait of the President asleep at the switch as the disastrous May 2003 decision to dissolve the Iraqi army moved forward. Now, Tuesday's New York Times suggests that Coalition Provisional Authority viceroy L. Paul Bremer indeed told Bush that he planned to disband Saddam's military and that the President casually - and unquestioningly - went along for the ride.
For the details, see:
"Bremer Letters Show Bush OK'd Disbanding Iraqi Army."
for you who aren't familiar with live leak dot com, i wanted to give you a heads up to it. it has vids from all over. there are always video made by u.s. soldiers and just awhile ago i was looking at some made by an australian guy.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a56_1188843301
I went into JC Penney and asked if they could show me shoes that I could buy made in America. Every single brand was made in China.
They just don't make anything most consumer goods in America anymore, so even if you wanted to buy American...you can't!
Fact! The outsourcing of jobs to China doesn't lower prices.
fact! The outsourcing of jobs to China allows CEOs and investers to make higher salaries and dividends.
Mark @ 19:
I buy at Goodwill whenever I can. At least China won't get any $. Got a phone for $3.50 that works great.
Lone Rogue @ 14:
Sounds like the ol' TINA (There is No Alternative) justification for the dehumanizing aspects of capitalism. Thank you Mrs. Thatcher and Mr. Reagan for convincing us that suicide is our only option.
I feel very guilty, we've most recently tried to update our mission furniture decor with a black leather ottoman and chaise lounge (Chinese). If we don't die of toxicity from either piece or from the guilt, I'll stop buying anything (but water chestnuts, because you can't get them from an American manufacturer) else from China. As much as that sounds half assed, China should certainly not retain most favored trade nation status. They should not have had that favored position for the last 25+ years considering their human rights record. That's a real sign somewhere by the way, or my name is Lolita Hasbeen and I'm a PhotoShop newb!.
Sad thing is that the sign is made in China as well. I picked myself up two at Wal-mart for $9.97.
nsr -
> I buy at Goodwill whenever I can. At least China won’t get any $. Got a phone for $3.50 that works great.
"Don't go making phoney calls"!!!! Oh, you're "nsr", not "nsa", I don't have to worry about you. "Never mind." :-)
Ron is correct.
Our money isn't going to the Chinese who earn 25 cents per hour. Five of the ten richest people in America are Sam Walton's children.
Wally-world's prices are not the lowest. Careful shopping will find the same products elsewhere at lower prices.
I think "BIG BOX" stores are great... and I could care less how much the union CRY-BABIES moan... they are PAID TOO MUCH MONEY... DON'T THEY GET IT? Why on earth shouldn't I be able to buy something cheaper? Why not ask Congress, who takes bribes from Chinese companies... the same assholes YOU PEOPLE ELECT have done nothing for you. You're all paid TOO MUCH, and China is going to set you straight, cause your own people and government won't do it for you.
God Bless cheap products from China, Mexico, SE Asia, India, etc. Those workers don't get paid vacations, 40 hour work weeks, and now YOU'RE complaining that you should be paid MORE for doing LESS than they do. Puh-leese.
China is going to BURY the U.S., and you're all guilty. How many of you drive gas-guzzling, TERRORIST-FRIENDLY S.U.V.'s, yet complain about high prices? And India is right on China's ass for #2 position to BURY the U.S.
And you think John Edwards, Hillary, Barak, or any of the Republican assholes are going to do anything different?
Why is it that China is allowed to export into the US with virtually NO TARIFFS? Who elected the people that wrote the laws that ALLOW that?
And go to China... you'll see thousands of sparkling state-of-the-art SKYSCRAPERS going up all over. When was the last time they built even a single new skyscraper in YOUR American city?
Welcome to your hell. And sorry to disappoint you, but no one cares about the "mom and pop" people that lost their jobs cause Wal-mart, Costco, or anyone else moved in to sell better and cheaper. Are you enjoying your new lower wages? Go thank the politicians YOU elected. They are LAUGHING and LAUGHING at you.
You haven't seen the price of Nikes go down yet.
(a) Republican't -
> ... How many of you drive gas-guzzling, TERRORIST-FRIENDLY S.U.V.’s, ...
I think there are very few here (other than right-wing trolls and lurkers) that drive S.U.V's. Myself, I drive a economy car.
Stanley Rosenthal @ 25:
National Security Rebop
Make a point of not going to the local Wal-Mart even though it doesn't really matter at this point because where ever you shop you don't find "Made in USA" too often.....
A while back my washer machine was acting up and I changed out the water pump on it to fix it....
I was so happy the box the part was in said "Made in the USA"...
So I told a bunch of people....
After a closer look I checked the actual part (the pump) purchased and it was stamped "Made in Italy" (actually a surprise).....
Only the box was "Made in the USA"....
I didn't have the heart to let the people I told what actually happened....
(By the way the washing machine is working great -cross fingers- and there is nothing a desperate woman can't do when a damn washing machine isn't working).
ticktock @ 31:
Thx. That sparked a dark chuckle or two.
ticktock @ 31:
LOL, that's probably the only thing we can actually make anymore. . . boxes. As John Couger pointed out in that Bill Mahr interview. "What do we actually make anymore?" The government wants to impose terrifs on China over trade practices but what can we actually trade with them . . . cardboard boxes?
Ron @ 20:
Precisely! It's all about short term profits and inflated stock prices, and ignoring the damage that is being done to their own economic environment. Globalization WILL level out the economic playing field. Not by raising the standard of living world wide, but by lowering the standard of living in the worlds most developed nations.
> LOL, that’s probably the only thing we can actually make anymore. . . boxes. As John Couger pointed out in that Bill Mahr interview. “What do we actually make anymore?” The government wants to impose terrifs on China over trade practices but what can we actually trade with them . . . cardboard boxes?
Someone else made that point previously, probably a AAR host. Said like "All we export to China is cardboard boxes. So they can send their crap over here in."
Stanley Rosenthal @ 29:
I want this car, myself. ;)
Wraith D'Ethereal @ 34:
Reality is, they are not raising the standard of living for those in other countries. They are raising the standard of living of their executives and mgrs of the factories, but not the laborers.
Karen -
> I want this car, myself.
Cool.
As others have mentioned above, the near slavelabor wages paid to chinese or Mexican or Indonesian or Saipanese (thanks Tom Delay/Jack Abramov) doesn't mean cheaper prices. It means more profits to the companies that caree so little for their own country that they are willing to impoverish it in order to increase their own profits. They tout savings for consumers or just staying in business, but when has any company ever passed on any savings to their customers or given anything back to the communities they either trashed by leaving or trashed by invading? It hasn't happened. Those companies have enjoyed savings. Big ones. But those savings have only been passed onto the rich.
Add to that many of those companies like Stanley Tools (good American sounding name, right), Haliburton and so on. Have multiplied their screwing of the country by moving their headquartersout of country. They do this in order to avoid paying taxes or, like Haliburton, to avoid eventual criminal prosecution. They are now foreign companies who sell into the US without paying duties or taxes and who can expatriate all of their earnings(flight of capital). Worse, many of the megarich mega corporations have, through the congress roaches they have purchased, been able to enjoy negative tax rates. They earn profits, and get tax refunds on those profits. We have mega-large businesses that now enjoy sovereign rights that were previously reserved for states(good to be the king, isn't it?).
They are accumulating power, because they have corrupted and co-opted the processes of government. They have done it, and are further doing it by destroying the middle classes of the countries which they parasitize. These are self-defeating practices, which contain the seeds of certain failure at some point in the future. It is a pity that this is so, because when these psuedo-sovereign houses of neofeudal aristocracy fail, it is going to collapse the global economy and bring down governments in the process.
The thing is, none of these guys have any kind of inate or inherent power. None of this could have happened absent a culture of self-indulgent apathy or the dumming down of society that has been brought about by a long process of nurturing materialism. It will be stopped if people decide to wake up.
It may be Quixotic, but this is one reason why I will never vote for a corporatist candidate. Regardless the party the corporatists belong to, they are part of a cancer that is consuming the country and the world.
If the corporatists are the politicians, it can safely be said that politics offers no solutions to any of the problems that beset the country or the world.
"Where the Echoes Go."
A better time, a better place. Before Wal-marts, before America outsourced, and a time when President's lies were small, and most people believed they were working for the better of mankind.
It's not a chump, it's a choice?
The Running Man - by Yoshiaki Kawajiri (in 2 parts)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXGyGQ2zubI&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LT_1nsnfUs&mode=related&search=
I don't care if it's Photoshop, or not. It speaks the truth. I'd rather pay a little more (to keep my good neighbor here) than less (to send my good neighbor to the poorhouse). That's what America is supposed to (used to) be about.
Union Hand (Ret) @ 44:
Sure. What nonsense. It's every easy on this anonymous board to act all sanctimonious, but the reality is you would NOT be willing to pay even one cent more. You shop at all the "big box stores", like all of us do. Puh-leese. And American is NOT "supposed to be about" that. America is about making money, making profit. Nothing else. Sorry, it's the cold, hard reality.
Here is an example of the ineffectiveness of the blog'o'sphere.
Huffington censures comments on their site rather heavily to protect the egos of bloggers and make their site attractive to advertisers.
What are the chances of the blog'o'nometrium developing any heat on this subject. (My personal guess is that the blog'o'masters have better things to do than read comments).
I suspect no blog'o'meter with asperations of greatness would risk the wrath of huff.
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Big-Box Stores ::
Enough said this day after Labor Day: H/T to crooksandliars.com....
Bubba @ 26:
I agree !!! Grenwald's movie on Walmart shows how bad they really are...I have never shopped there and never will. I have a friend who used to work for a small dress manufacturer who had their contract canceled because they refused to make their product to Walmart's specification. Walmart thought the clothing had too long of a wear life, they didn't want it to last more than two or three years, now that's quality.
King of Mean @ 45:
Who is making that "profit"? not your average American. I do not shop at big box stores when I have an alternative (never at Walmart) and there are many out there. You may save a few cents but in the long run you lose. Just Ask Levi's or Valasick Pickels or any third world nation how rich they get from dealing with big box mentality.
China gives us a real-life Live Free or Die Hard scenario.
Gavin @ 5:
This sign is part of a series located outside of the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Here is a link to a larger set of pics from that exhibit
http://www.aldrichart.org/exhibitions/magnusson.php
"(China) should not have had that favored position for the last 25+ years considering their human rights record".
Guess what? From now on, the rest of the world will be denouncing the U.S. for ITS human rights record: Torture, habeus corpus, Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, Katrina, infrastructure, no health insurance, persecution of gays., and on and on. WE are now the global pariah, WE are the world's biggest terrorist, WE are the bullies of pre-emptive war against non-threatening sovereign nations, WE have made the world more dangerous, WE have undermined our constitution and laws, WE have threatened the value of our currency. All that will not disappear overnight once Hillary takes over. Try the rest of your lifetimes. At least gays can't marry, and Israel is protected. That's all that counts, isn't it?
I feel so dirty.
That is a great sign.
You can start with my cheap-ass roommates about Wal-Mart. I used to work with the Unions, as a Union Member and as a Union Steward, and when those women out in California got fired by Wal-Mart for attempting to start a union to protect themselves against gender discrimination and sexual harassment, Wally-World fired them. They just got a fat settlement from the Walton children to make that whole shyt go away.
When we all moved here to DC, the first place my roommates went was Wally World. For EVERYTHING. Nothing I said (including showing that Robert Greenwald documentary on Wal-Mart; where the Waltons are worth 5 billion, yet gave only $6,000 in charitable contributions) convinced them that shopping there were putting businesses in bankruptcy, and people out of work.
At least Target has a UNION. And their prices are competitive with Wally-World, plus they sell quality merchandise, especially the clothes, because designers like Issey Miyake have started to market their clothing lines there, like Jaclyn Smith and Martha Stewart do with K-Mart.
Sam Walton was a rat bastard, and he passed that trait on to his kids...now you see what we got.
Send Bill Clinton and Barack Obama thank-you notes as well; Clinton for being bankrolled by Wal-Mart back in 1992 in his Presidential Campaign, and Obama because he helped shepherd in Trade Agreements like CAFTA, which sent the manufacturing jobs to China to begin with.
And someone needs to ask Hillary about her tenure on Wal-Mart's Board - additionally, up until this summer, Michelle Obama was also collecting a check as a Wal-Mart Board member (and I admire Mrs. Obama more so than MR. Obama), so someone needs to be in Barack's grill about that (even though she resigned when it came to light in the course of his campaign).
America wasn't founded on the principle of help thy neighbor. It's founded on the principle of capitalism, and that's the way the Government has always operated. Neither stock market crash (1929 and 1987) or any other economic disaster that has happened, or is waiting to happen, has taught our government officials shyt, and we need to stop looking for them to do anything about it.
You want socialist ideology? Better campaign for it yourself...
A simple search on newsmeat.com shows that the Walmart family are one of the major reasons why Bush got "won" in 2004. Each family member contributed hundreds of thousands to organizations such as the RNC, Swiftboats, etc. Thanks Walmart!
The person who made that sign should go into business selling those signs to all the people who find themselves likewise shut out. It should be considered practically mandatory for failed storefronts to post something like that. I think we all know the frustration of trying to convince friends and relatives to avoid the super-stores. How short-sighted we've become!
....
Lest we forget, the beginning of the end of American manufacturing began during the Reagan administration, when he didn't lift a finger to help the dying US steelmaking industry, and thousands of jobs went overseas. The next big thing will be the Chinese car, made with Chinese steel, and what sort of jobs will any Americans be able to drive them to?
P.S. Love the sign.
King of Mean @ 45:
Speak for yourself. In MY case, you certainly do.
I guess we should all just let the wealthy and powerful do whatever they want. The rest of us will just chalk it up to inevitable destiny and do nothing . . . no matter how badly we're hurt.
L.A. Confidential @ 3:
I start teaching that very novel to my seniors TODAY. Always an honor and a privilege to do so.
[Deleted. Banned-Sitemonitor]
No they do it because it's cheaper.
It is the down grading of Americans.
Mark @ 19:
There are several Unions that insist on buying American made uniforms including shoes.
Police, Firemen, LetterCarriers etc buy from American Companys.
[Deleted. Banned-Sitemonitor]
We recently bought a locally made couch. Paid about 4 times more for it too.
Private Freedom, sneaking around @ 65:
Hey, as long as the free market is working for YOU in the NEAR term, right? If I had an "invisible hand," I would introduce it to your Compassionate Conservative mouth.
BlueKnuckle @ 67:
Mark @ 19:
There are several Unions that insist on buying American made uniforms including shoes.
Police, Firemen, LetterCarriers etc buy from American Companys.
Drama King:
Are you offering a solution this a.m. or just venting?
The Corporatocracy...welcome, to the end of human civilization.
When profit, greed, excess consumerism, & the quest for the most dominates the destiny of individuals in power.....those that are not in power will die fast, die slow....
Why does this planet have to go through WWWIII, catastrophic environmental disasters, or aliens landing....before we'll change the way we think, act, & live????
Why do we always have to have the frying pan to the face...before we WTFU???
Daily Reading pt 1...
"The National Coalition of American Nuns is impelled by conscience to call you to act promptly to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for ... high crimes and misdemeanors."
- http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173352587402&path=!living&s=1037645509005
Religion Briefs Coalition of nuns calls for impeaching Bush and Cheney
Reagan Aide: Impeach the President - http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Former_Reagan_aide_says_Congress_must_0903...
THE REPUBLICAN DEFINITION OF 'HARD WORK' on full display GWBUSH RECORD SETTER: Bush on track to become the vacation president - http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/mason/5042364.html
"The presidential vacation-time record holder is the late Ronald Reagan, who tallied 436 days in his two terms. At 418 days, and with 17 months to go in his presidency, Bush is going to beat that easily."
WHICH IS A GREAT SEGUE to this Corporate Feudalist story: The Vanishing American Vacation - http://www.alternet.org/workplace/61122/
Compared to people in other developed countries, Americans don't ask for more vacation time, don't take all the vacation time their employers give them and continue to work while they are on vacation.
In the other developed countries...they live longer...live healthier....and there's a direct correlation...sit on that free marketists, corporatists...
"In 1882, New York clamored for an appearance by the champion of laissez-faire capitalism, Herbert Spencer, who provided Charles Darwin with the phrase, "Survival of the fittest."
Spencer agreed to meet the captains of American industry, but his appearance was a disaster.
Spencer told the assembly they didn't understand his ideas, for he disapproved of American capitalism.
Americans, he claimed, are pathologically obsessed with work.
Overwork risks their mental and physical health and they need a "revised ideal of life" that includes relaxation.
"Life is not for learning, nor is life for working," said Spencer, "but learning and working are for life."
Almost 125 years later, Americans still haven't gotten the message."
Daily Reading pt 2...
Busheviks Guilty of Criminal Negligence Fallout: L. Paul Bremer Confirms a Key Contention in "No End in Sight." According to the Sep. 4 NYT: "A previously undisclosed exchange of letters shows that President Bush was told in advance by his top Iraq envoy in May 2003 of a plan to “dissolve Saddam’s military and intelligence structures,” a plan that the envoy, L. Paul Bremer, said referred to dismantling the Iraqi Army. Mr. Bremer provided the letters to The New York Times on Monday after reading that Mr. Bush was quoted in a new book as saying that American policy had been “to keep the army intact” but that it “didn’t happen.”...Mr. Bremer indicated that he had been smoldering for months as other administration officials had distanced themselves from his order." Of course, as "No End in Sight" confirms, Bush doesn't read key National Intelligence Estimates, Reports, Important Letters, Etc. His Note to Bremmer was Probably Written for Him to Sign.
- http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/washington/04bremer.html?_r=2&hp=&adxn...
(Paul Bremer's)Envoy’s Letter Counters Bush on Dismantling of Iraq Army (exposes lie 2,003,456,897)
If the Searingly Detailed Documentary "No End in Sight" Were Presented to a Grand Jury, No Doubt Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Rice, and L. Paul Bremer Would be Indicted for Criminal Malfeasance in the Post-Invasion Conduct of the Iraq War
- http://www.buzzflash.com/store/items/752
The definitive authority & guide to the worst 'decision' ever made by a sitting president....
Noam Chomsky: Cold War II - http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=11&ItemID=13629&
"Only George W. Bush could bring back...the cold war"
America's 'Left' is Almost Always Right and the 'Right' is Always Wrong - http://www.progressivedailybeacon.com/more.php?page=opinion&id=1656
"The simple truth of the matter is that America's Liberals have almost always been right and the Conservative Republicans have always been wrong which, if one thinks about it, is pretty amazing. It is amazing because, as the cliché goes, even a broken watch is right twice a day. The reality, however, isn't that Republicans are that stupid - they simply choose to support ideas and causes that they know to be fraudulent from the start."
"According to Conservative Republican logic, one always listens to the person who is always wrong ... which explains a lot about the United States today."
Its simple ideas, slogans, soundbytes that grab the American public (attention span of a gnat)...that is where we must beat them...they'll get simple & stupid, we need short & thought provoking...
Daily Reading pt 3...
Organic farming is gaining traction: More farmers reap green by growing premium produce, meat - http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-organic_03sep03,1,7696527.s...
A year before they choose a new government for the post-Bush era, Americans are desperate to change the country's course. Most lean left, a U.S. population more liberal than at any time in a generation, hungering to end the Iraq war, turn inward and use the federal government to solve problems at home.
- http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/19378.html
WANT TO KNOW WHY DETROIT'S BIG 3 ARE GOING INTO THE TOILET: Dirty Secret: Green Cars Automakers Won't Sell You - http://autos.msn.com/advice/article.aspx?contentid=4024974>1=10365
Its not the 'unions'...its the LACK of strategic business decisions and vision (the auto industry shift to fuel efficiency will have to bankrupt these morons before they'll budge....and I could care less....stupidity begets stupidity)...those companies & their Big Oil counterparts are all Republican, all the time...
Who killed the electric car: http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/ RENT IT!
The WAL-MART SCAM...CORPORATISM AT ITS 'FINEST': Always low prices' end up costing dearly - http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/column/214014
In just the past few weeks, we've witnessed what outsourcing to countries with the lowest wages has done to our toy companies, forcing Mattel and others to recall millions of toys tainted with lead paint and other chemicals. There's been a.jpgreeze in toothpaste. Outsourced pet food has killed dogs and cats.
Sadly, much of all this can be blamed on the pressure our own companies are making on foreign manufacturers to hold costs to a minimum to ensure low prices while still turning sizable profits.
In the US, class war still means just one thing: the rich attacking the poor - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2161252,00.html
"In the US, class war still means just one thing: the rich attacking the poor" 57% of all bankruptcies are from medical costs....61 percent of those cases....owned their homes & had attended college....how many PHDs can't get work in this country and are forced to move to Europe, Asia, etc...to find JOBS....WTFU PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!
THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A con-servative & A LIBERAL: One wants to see a better future & change for the betterment of humankind....while the con-servatives...want their 70' Inch Plasma run on seal's blood & and an oil rig in your backyard...so they can be stubborn, stupid, and try to f@ck the future...we all know how that turns out, right Enron???
Right Wing Heritage Foundation is Running Bomb Iran Scenarios for Cheney and Bush. One Major Goal: To Make Sure That Oil Prices Don't Spike. Can Someone Arrest All These Dangerous Nut Cases? - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/02/wiran102...
Blood for Oil....its a Republican mantra....sick, twisted, & evil....those that vote for them....just as bad, if not worse...their ignorance is killing us all...
Daily Reading pt 4...
Another Giuliani staffer forced to resign in shame another sex scandal: A St. Petersburg organizer for a Rudy Giuliani presidential event plans to step down amid revelations of his arrests for allegedly extorting an FSU student in a sex case and his conviction for dealing in stolen state computers.
- http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/222410.html
Vote republican...they have more sexual issues than you....really....they really, really, really do....
Don't believe the hype: The deficit is much bigger than you think. - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR2007090300880.html?hpid=sec-business
Who Knows What to Make of This Report? Propaganda or Truth. If It's True, Bush has Failed Our National Security Once Again, In a Very, Very Big Way: "The Chinese military shut down the Pentagon’s computer network for more than a week during an unprecedented cyber attack, according to leaked reports of an internal investigation." - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=VB24X0HUZWGVLQFIQM...
According to the Sunday Times of London, the Pentagon has drawn up plans “for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate the Iranians’ military capability in three days.” Well now, isn’t that special. - http://www.lastchancedemocracycafe.com/?p=1010
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2369001.ece
Terrorist attacks against US interests would increase across the globe. Meanwhile, oil prices would go through the ceiling, with the global economy taking a nosedive.
All you moron right wingnuts that are all for this....YOU NEED TO STFU...about Oil prices & Terrorism...your evil driven stupidity and enabling of bizzaro world moron 'logic' is going to destroy the entire world....but then again...you're a cult of death anyway...
Drama King, just wait until you become a victim of capitalististic takeover, depletions of your 401Ks and all your stock become worthless pieces of paper thanks to goons like Wal-Mart.
I bet we won't see your ass on this blog crying about how badly you have it, and if you do, one of us will make a point of digging up your past posts, while asking you, "How's Bush's policies working for you know, dipshyt?"
right wing hater @ 69:
Because humans are the dumbest mammals on the planet.
For the love of mike there are some who think that a translated 2000 yr old story book has all the answers for everything that they could ever need and BASED on that are waiting for the world to end. How fucked is THAT?
Cheap crap is 'cheap' for a reason. I don't mind paying more for the better quality product. And I'd much rather shop at Mom & Pop stores. Superstores are what's forcing small towns off the map. I despise every friggin' shopping area looking the same, with the same stores in each. More often than not I've found things at Mom & Pop stores that those so-called superstores don't carry because "there isn't much call for it". It's been my experience that Mom & Pop are more willing to order an item they don't normally carry, in order to keep your business, than some 'superstore'. Superstores don't care if they keep your business or not... there's always another customer right around the corner.
Mom & Pop are trying to "put food on their family" the same as you. I'd much rather have actual service from Mom & Pop, than shop at some brand-name store who tosses your purchase in a plastic bag and tosses the bag on the counter. Hell, they can't even hand you the bag for pete's sake. If you can't treat me as a person, I won't be coming back. And I've actually gone to the 'service' desk and said as much, then returned my purchase. And if that makes me a bitch, than it's a name I proudly wear.
Have to say I get a little tired of people ragging on people that drive SUV's. The Nissan Titan I drive was built in the USofA, which means American workers made a decent wage assembling it. The Canadian company I bought it from paid the salesperson decent wages.
[Deleted. Banned-Sitemonitor]
Dramaking@60 you said,
"It is the CONSUMERS who dictated which stores would be around, NOT the “monopolistic” superstores. It is the CONSUMER who makes the choice WHERE to shop. They are not forced to go to the “monopolistic” superstore. They do so because it is BETTER for them."
Sure, it's always fun to be able to buy what was once unattainable for many budgets. A lot of us are aware of what has happened as a result of easier availability. We no longer produce anything in this country as a result. Don't look down because there's nothing there supporting us. Not farms, not manufacturing, the things we built our country upon have or are in the process of vanishing.
Our comforts are temporary unless we're in the upper 3%.
For you meat-on-the-hoofer big mouths on this thread, the life you save is probably your own.
Private Freedom, sneaking around @ 78:
It's the language, the pointless thuggery. The frequency of the use of the words "hatred" and "crying". Garden variety asshole.
"Right," said Fred
personally i believe much of this made in china crap belongs at bill clintons feet, it may have been a republicans idea but clinton had it done by getting nafta passed , i remember ross perro remarking if nafta gets passed what youll hear is a giant sucking sound , and people laughed at that statement ,well listen that roaring noise you hears not a hurricane , its your job being sent to china india or mexico, my belief is that clinton was allowed by the repigs to win the presidency just to get the treasury filled with money just so the next bastard wich was a bush could once again steal and bleed this country dry, and clinton was in on it and his old ladys just another repig in democrat drag, notice bill out golfing with poppy bush ,birds of a feather, clinton gave us 8 yrs of peace and prosparity only to hand all that off to the assholes who were appointed to profit from nafta and cafta, enjoy them benifits bill gave us , swhooooooose!
i was talking to an australian guy a couple of weeks ago and when i told him i was retired from an auto plant, he laughed and said he didn't think we made anything anymore. i laughed and say gosh no i know lots of people who..."wait, it was a japanese auto plant now that you mention it." so we both had a big sad laugh...he was retired from ford in australia.
The costs of "owning" is now an exercise in being eaten up to the shoulder. My brother in Westchester NY has a $1,000,000 house for sale on a beautiful street where 5 other homes are also up for sale. His retouching business, passed down from my father which he started in 1940 abandoned. Credit cards maxed, 2 years ago was a regular face at Christie's.
Myself, I've given up having a car, cable television because I can work at home, walk or ride a bike. Paying $60 a month for television is absurd when Netflix spares us pap "REality shows" and the ugliness of the insane doublespeaking garbage mouthed hydra-heads (like a coupla zombies on this thread).
I haven't set foot in Walmart in 6 years, buy brand-name seconds on the net and shop locally owned stores.
Still, with the taxes I pay and the monstrous demands of out-of-pocket medical by corporations and government interest rates, I'm being eaten alive anyway.
The good old USofA is eating us alive.
tyree @ 82:
Totally. Did anyone else notice Hillary's silence in the last two dem debates at the mention of NAFTA by Kucinich? The cameras missed a few beautifully telling closeups of that dried up humorless Clinton kisser blinking with disdain.
Stinging satire
http://www.uclick.com/client/nyt/bs/
... I know a few places to put it around town ... let's see the mom and pop grocery store, the mom and pop furniture store, the mom and pop handware store, etc. etc. etc.
I really, really, want this sign
ya ever notice how republicans give all priase and lip service to the small business people and then give all the breaks to the big box, large corporations that come in and ruin the lively hood of the small business people???
Private Freedom, sneaking around @ 73:
Oh, oh. It's the hater again! The boredom is mutual, which leads to the logical question, why are you still here?
Bill Murray for Congress!
Lone Rogue @ 14:
Oh God yes .. and that also goes for the customers, they get sort of brainwashed (think the South Park episode) that they can only get low prices, etc. at Wal-mart. I fell into that, where the first and ONLY place I'd think to shop is Walmart. But I broke free and now boycott Walmart. (I only shop there once a year and that's because it sells something I can find no where else that I like).
Actually now the store gives me the heebie jeebies to when I walk into it. There's a lot of stores around here where I'd rather spend my money (and I do save). But even as a customer, there is a "programmed" mind set you need to break.
Penn and tellers Bullshit episode about wal-mart
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v343737c6dfyCb8?confirmed=1
ysbaddaden @ 86:
Ysbaddaden! Pitch-perfect.
But tone it down. Drama King was turned on and had to relieve himself.
they forgot "communist". Seems the Reich wing is always against communism unless it helps out their greed and materialism.
Why isn't there any such thing as a chain of Dairy Kings?
Leave it to the sociopatholgically selfish to claim others are selfish.
If one is going to use familial metaphors it's the parents who have to get the kids to share.
http://tinyurl.com/2dcnuu
June 24–November 4 , 2007
Exhibition Reception: Sunday, June 24, 2007; 3 to 5 pm
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is located in one of Connecticut’s oldest historic districts, full of people, places, and things to remember; making the Museum a perfect venue for Norm Magnusson to present his recent series of historical markers in an exhibition entitled On This Site Stood.
Historical markers have traditionally offered glimpses into the extraordinary array of people and events that have shaped history in a particular region. Some refer to tangible reminders like a covered bridge or historic house, others designate sites of significant events that passed and left no trace, like a battleground. Playing off the familiar format of a typical state historical marker, Magnusson has created a series of cast aluminum sculptures that cleverly focus attention on contemporary social and political issues by simply stating the concerns of individual Americans who “on this site stood.” Magnusson’s work, which is part of the Museum’s ongoing Main Street Sculpture Project, will be installed along Main Street and in The Aldrich’s Cornish Family Sculpture Garden. The artist is creating new markers especially for this installation, one of them directly inspired by the Museum’s historical building.
Great how the zombies skit skat like siamese cats when 'ya shine a flashlight in the basement.
Paul @ 40:
The "slave labor" you refer to are not slaves, but rather people who don't have much of a choice... but they are not forced to take those jobs... So what if the investors are getting richer, I believe that is correct, but no one is forcing anyone to buy those products.
The PROBLEM, and it's the ONLY problem, are the CROOKS AND LIARS that you people continue to reelect, over and over, both democrat and republican, that ALLOW all this ONE WAY trade with China, Mexico, Indonesia, etc.
There should be a law that makes Governors attend ribbon-cuttings and photo ops as these are unveiled around the country. Probably get some action on trade policy.
hadenuf @ 66:
We recently bought a locally made mattress, box spring and a shaker made headboard paid about $400 more...got a better quality bed and put money back into the local economy....a double bonus as far as I'm concerned. btw we are working class and did not buy on credit.
A few things to remind everyone:
1. A huge reason why a lot of companies use third world or foreign labour is because of Wal-Mart forcing costs down. Even that bad documentary against Wal-Mart didn't cover the fact that Wal-Mart will goto a product maker and say, "I want THIS at THIS PRICE". Sometimes this price can be lower than the cost to make the product. If the product maker says no, Wal-Mart will just pull their product from the shelves. If they say yes, they have to find new ways to make their product, and going for a country that makes it for cheaper is the easiest route. I've seen stores stop selling Columbia-Tri Star DVD's, Pepsi products and more. Putting pressure on the product makers is a good thing, but pushing them to the point where they are selling at cost or less is disgusting.
2. I am not much of a Union supporter. I think the fact corporations have to get unions tells me that the government doesn't do a good enough job monitoring their people and companies. If I am being under paid or overworked, I should be able to goto my government to change it. However, like we seen in Chicago, going through the government to make changes, no matter how originally supported, will get overturned in the end due to greed. Unionizing Wal-Mart is extremely hard, extremely risky and extremely questionable. First, you have to remember that Wal-Mart has convinced associates that if a Union comes in, you lose your benefits and nothing they try to fight for will get done. You also have to remember that you are dealing with under-paid employees, and unless you got some millionaire backing you, most won't sit out in the cold for free when they are already behind bills. Second, negotiation. Wal-Mart is trained in ensuring that they fight you at every step and convince you things about them you didn't know(which are not true), such as their budget restraints being the actual money they make, or that you can't force them to hire more people. Finally, there is a high potential Wal-Mart will just shut you down. In Quebec, near Montreal, a store snuck in due to a technicality an old Union from the Wolco store it used to be. When Wal-Mart learned the ruling would stand, they stopped sending trucks to the store. This meant there was no longer merchandise to put on the floor, and soon, Wal-Mart was able to claim that the store was not making enough money since the Union came in and closed it, leaving a good 250 people out of a job. The only way Unions will succeed is if a Union independent of the Food Unions forms in multiple stores at the same time. Wal-Mart can shut a store down anywhere, but shutting ten stores down in the same region they won't. Even to prove a point. Getting the troops together is more than just one store, you need to unify stores.
3. Anti-Mom and Pop. Yes, there are serious flaws to mom and pop stores. Just goto a variety store and see that just about everything is overpriced by at least 50 cents. Here in North America, we have a "One Stop Shop" attitude to us, unlike Europeans like the Germans who like quality and building relationships with their retailers. We like to park our car, get everything in one trip, and leave. It takes a special person to even comparison shop. To be honest, it isn't mom and pop's I'm worried about. It's good competition. Wal-Mart gets unfair advantages over its competitors in Canada and the United States. They do it both intelligently and sinfully. The sad truth is that when Wal-Mart claims when they come in, employment goes up, its because Wal-Mart coming signals the arrival of other big box stores, who usually build on the farm area that Wal-Mart is near. Therefore, everyone has to drive outside the city to get a deal, and comparison shop. When they do, its specific, like getting electronics at Best Buy or toys at Toys R Us. Anyone with the knowledge to open up a small business selling clothes is going to have to sell them at a higher price than they got them, and with all of the taxes in buying anything not local that a small business has to deal with that a Big Box doesn't, its impossible to compete.
If Wal-Mart employed 25% more and paid 25% more to those employed, they wouldn't lose 25% of their profits. They would still make solid gains, and it would make Wal-Mart a much better place to shop. Working there for almost two years between two different stores and becoming a team leader (semi management) in receiving, dealing with ammonia spills and pool chemical agents with little chemical safety training, I can't tell you not to shop there or that shopping there makes you bad. So, I'll ask this (and this is why I agree with penn and teller on yelling at those two pieces of shit who decided to insult all wal-mart associates and customers): When you see a guy working and he seems lazy, don't go off on him. You don't know his story. You don't know how long hes had to bust his ass with a fake smile and you caught him at the one point where hes ready to collapse. When you see some welfare family come in buying as much as they can, don't judge. We're all victims of a company who was smart enough to take advantage of the system. Just realize that this is not the vision that Sam Walton wanted (He wanted the company to stay 100% american).
The sign is not "official," but part of an artist's work.
Damn that's mighty sad and scary.
patty @ 101:
Now, that's how to bring manufacturing back home! Support local business owners in our towns and cities.
Tell WAlmart to stuff it. Building business on the backs of the poor in horrible working conditions, what swine.
King of Mean @ 99:
Such offhand, dismissive use of the word, YOU reelect and "allow".
FYI, our elections have been stolen since 1999.
Our constitution and traditional democracy is no more.
The united states is bought and sold and our societal protections GONE.
Our country thieved by corporatist murderers.
Privacies GONE.
Friend, the power in the u.s. is no longer by choice as you so maddeningly put it. Our country has been stolen out from under us as we await the final collapse and weigh factors against us that before have existed in other fascist countries.
We are viewed as an "inconvenience" to the gov't so corrupt it would rather cull the u.s. population as we have seen and will continue to see each time a segment of the country has an emergency like Katrina.
The u.s. gov't is no more than a parasite of it's citizens.
do not expect anything different if you vote for corporate whores , made in chinas all youll get from them, hillery , obamma are a good example of that, both are loosers , and a waste of your vote, its plain to see who this government fears its guys like kucinich who they cant dig up dirt on and whos telling it like it is,as i said before about ross pero , its the little guys with big ears that you wont vote for because they dont have that brad pitt look, whats wrong with voteing for a guy that tells you naftas pure crap? and wants to get rid of these crappy trade deals, can you be any worse off ? were not gaining any jobs from them , only buying crap from china thats poisoned in one way or another, think its going to get better with any of these guys who think all you got to do is tweek thoes programs a little, no you got to get rid of them then punnish the corporations for outsourcing thoes jobs to china , no products that used to be made in america should be allowed back here, let them sell thier shit to the chinese who make them, wed be better off selling and buying among ourselves things made here , were allready a third world country anyway thanks to nafta and the corporate thugs,
Oh yes. "Those people" are not forced to take those jobs. Love those lumpkin statements.
As irrational as any goon like yourself can muster. I won't even attempt to reason with you.
That sign is in front of the Aldrich Museum, a wonderful modern art museum in beautiful, bucolic Ridgefield, CT...where we have no Walmarts.
tyree @ 107:
Watch the ones who say nothing about the primary factors causing the death of u.s. manufacturing and farms.
That would be the silence of Hillary and Obama.
Edwards, Kucinich and Gravel face it head-on. The two most heavily financed ones have nothing to say in the dem debates. Hillary and Obama are whores and buying into this assumption they are the top contenders is buying into spin so beloved by the Pukes having righteous sex with children.
Might I add the positioning of the dems in the debates as well. I bought into the psych-fuck myself with the ordering and time allowed to speak.
The ones telling the truth are marginalized. Gawd, humans are hopeless.
crazylove @ 110:
Vote against incumbents, and continue to vote against incumbents.
Start in the primaries, cross party affiliation to vote against Repug Incumbents.
Safe Congressional Districts are a festering wound to OUR Democracy,vote against the safe Incumbent in both Primaries and General Elections.
Do not allow the 1% to control your voting habits. Think for yourself. Keep churning the pot.Change is good.
Vote for YOUR government not THEIR government!
The Wal-Mart talk aside, how do we know that Hillary and Obama are being used by the Media to drown out Edwards, Kucinich and Gravel, because KKKarl Rove wants either Hillary or Obama to actually get the nod, and then they trot out "Hollywood Fred" smelling of English Leather and cigar (the way Chris Matthews likes) to take on Hillary or Obama and give the White House to the ReThugs for another four years?
I think we need to focus on getting more seats in the House and Senate to vote out Reid, Pelosi, Hoyer, Levin, maybe even Conyers, from their Leadership positions, and get leaders who can actually facilitate party line caucuses on legislation like keeping out Leslie Southwick from a Circuit Court appointment.
The Political Junkie @ 113:
fucking Ah-men to both of your posts. Taking it further with a shopvac to the Bluedogs ruining the dem party.
Late for some by the next election. Get in as many progressives as possible in ALL elections now thru 2012.
Not so sure about "hollywood Fred". He's too lazy to change his underwear, let alone the drive to make it all the way. If he's nominated, the election stolen again, he'll probably not bother to govern with that vinyl doll of a floozy he's got for a wife as first lady. Nah, the excitement will kill him.
Mark @ 19:
Sorry, but I know of only one manufacturer left in the US who still makes shoes here: New Balance . Last I knew, they had a factory right in Lawrence, MA. but am not sure how much total production is still based in the US.
I recently did the final assembly and packing of 500 electrical ballasts for GE fluorescent lights here in Rochester, N.Y.
According to the boxes and labels, it was all "made in China"! No way at all for the consumer to tell that part of the purchase price went to support this American's
base wage, profit sharing, paid time off, health insurance, 401K, and income taxes.
Well, at least I know I can compete with those poor slaves in China on occasion, but WHAT THE HELL ????
crazylove, your meds are calling.
Alex @ 118:
Let's see. The red one or the blue one. I'll take the red one.
The photo is real, and it's been posted here without a credit to the source. Please acknowledge where you found it!
Hey - you posted that photo without permission! Acknowledge where you found it!!
It is TEH rudeness not to acknowledge the source of a photo! You know better than that. Please acknowledge your source!
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