Working Life

Gee, scratch your head. Hundreds of people die in a horrific garment factory fire in Bangladesh. Then, just yesterday, 120 people die in a poultry factory in China. Is there a connection? Of course.

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I personally don’t need anything more to be outraged about the murder of hundreds of garment workers in the Bangladesh factory collapse. But, in these situations, a little something can trigger more outrage. I lost it after reading this.

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I’ve written a ton about phony so-called “free trade” and, a close cousin, the whole system of Generalized System of Preferences, which basically is a sham run by the World Trade Organization to open up countries to be plundered by big corporations. But, since the system exists right now, it’s a point of leverage to move a bit of safety into the lives of the garment workers in Bangladesh.

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I’ve never been a fan of the New York governor. I guess it was subtle when I coined him “the poodle for the rich”. And so, no surprise, he’s giving out goodies again.

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For a very long time, I’ve been critical of the unwillingness of the government to put bankers behind bars. Unless some of these guys end up in jail, another crisis will happen because fines — ultimately paid by shareholders and customers — are not a deterrent to the big boys.

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Can you imagine the hushed and panicked calls going back and forth today between the wealthiest, their lawyers and other sycophants who had to read about a deal that has got to scare the shit out of them?

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So, Henry Kissinger is 90 years old. I wonder how many of the survivors of the millions of people he helped kill want to wish him a Happy Birthday? That is all.

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When I wrote about Apple’s tax dodge, some people responded, and I saw other similar comments, that Apple was just doing what was legal and you can’t fault a company for taking advantage of the tax code. Which sort of missed the point.

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Is there a website for corporate-speak slogans that are simply covers for robbery? Must be. If not, there should be — and AT&T’s “administrative fee” has got to take an honored place on the list.

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The dead have been pulled out of the rubble of the garment factory in Bangladesh. And while many of the retailers in the U.S. are trying to avoid any new regulations, the survivors are coping with a very brutal future.

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