Dept. of Homeland Security Promotes Racist E-Verify on NPR
National Public Radio airs ads for E-Verify and draws sharp criticism.
The ad spots were purchased by the Department of Homeland Security and promote their E-Verify program, a controversial employee verification system. The ads run at the end of a segment and say, “‘Support for NPR comes from NPR stations, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), offering E-Verify, confirming the legal working status of new hires. At DHS dot gov slash E-Verify.” Read more
Hunger in America
Hunger in America seems to be excluded from general discussions, except during the holiday season when discourse focuses on appeals for individual donations to “those in need.” Little or nothing is said about complex nature of this issue. According to Feeding America last year 36.2 million Americans lived with food shortages, many of whom were working poor. Facing economic calamity, these numbers will increase creating a grim future for many more Americans. Including demographics of children, race and gender the picture becomes even more complex and worthy of comprehensive national discourse. Read more
Blog Highlight: Immigrants and Economic Crisis
Juan Tornoe over at AC360° blog recently posted on Latino immigrants and the economic crisis. His analysis was mainly directed towards marketers of Latino consumers, but he brought up some interesting points, saying:
“First, let’s get one thing out on the open, documented or not Hispanic immigrants came to America in search of a better future for them and their families that for whatever reasons their native country could not offer. For the most part, they bet all their chips on the United States believing it is The Land of Opportunity. So, the U.S. is going through a rough patch right now… Seriously, this is NOT a big deal if Read more
Bye Bye Black Friday
Black Friday is a perfect example of American consumerism gone awry. Shopping the day after Thanksgiving is a tradition for some that is more sacred than the holiday itself. But this year demonstrates once again that Black Friday needs to end. Read more
It’s Morning in America Again
I love those mornings!
You know the type of morning I’m talking about. The kind of morning when you wake up early and you have the whole day ahead of you. The sun is slowly rising in the east and your calendar is clear. You don’t have to work, your bills are paid (or at least up to date), there’s food in the fridge and no one gets to dictate what the day will hold for you. You can sit and quietly read the paper, take in the guilty pleasure of early morning TV, or surf the net without a care in the world.
Maybe you surprise the kids and take them to the park. Maybe you spend the time fishing, enjoying the quiet of the river. It’s not what you do that matters, but rather that the day is yours. These mornings are like a breath of fresh air that chase away the tension and stress of life. You savor the day, and at night when you close your eyes you know that it will be the memory of this day that will sustain you through the hard times. Read more
American Apparel Wages War on Failed Immigration Policies
If you’re under 30 you already know about American Apparel. If not, well, you probably know them best by some of their homemade-looking magazine ads featuring skinny non-models lounging around in underwear (very ambercrombie on heroin). American Apparel is the most successful clothing company in the United States. It has 200 locations worldwide and employs over 10,000 people, 4,500 in downtown L.A. factories alone.
Several years ago I read an interview with the company founder, Dov Charney, just as the company was embarking on their rapid expansion. He came off as quite a pervert, but there was no denying he was a radical and on to something with his socially aware policies. The company has great benefits, a decent hourly wage, tries to protect the environment and is even given a good grade by PETA for their “vegan-friendly” garments” (small miracle to get anything from PETA). Read more
Buying Local Food: Pros and Cons
These days it seems, the hippest things a person can do is grab their made-from-recycled-materials-travel-mug, fill it up with the “fair trade” blend at the coffee shop, go pick up the new bamboo flooring, throw it in the back of the Prius and bring it to their new ecologically-sound condo. Which is a good thing, considering that some consumers still opt for the paper to-go cup while buying cherry wood panels, and zooming around in a hummer. Luckily, more often than not it’s pretty clear which products will cause a lesser amount of harm to the planet. However, with all of the conflicting agendas and information available, it can be hard to make a decision. Read more
U.S. Economic Crisis Highlights Attack on American Identity
If you’re like me and millions of working people in the United States you’re pissed off and rightly so. For decades we’ve worked hard, raised our children and tried to leave our country a little better for the next generation. We have juggled the multiple responsibilities of paying rent, buying gasoline, putting clothes on our backs and food on the table. We have made sacrifices for our children in hope for a better life.
When times were economically tough and media pundits told us we simply weren’t taking enough personal responsibility we doubled both our efforts and our sacrifices. What we were not told was that our leaders supposedly looking out for our best interests were instead letting other folks play under a different rule – the rule of greed. Read more
The Grisly Truth Behind Soccer Ball Manufacturing
In a country like India where half of the population lives below the line of poverty, it seems to be pretty easy for big companies to exploit the inhabitants. Each year millions of soccer balls are produced and distributed to nations all over the globe, mostly from third world to first. Although India isn’t anywhere near being the primary exporter of soccer balls, it has still managed to draw a lot of attention to the industry. A recent report on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel exposed the brutal conditions children endure while producing this common sports item.
Soccer ball manufacturing generally starts at the contractor’s factory where the pieces of leather are printed and cut into small segments. Most of the time those materials are then assembled at the same factory, packaged, and sent to the retailer. However, in some cases the raw materials are packed and handed to middlemen who distribute them to local families, and this is when this situation becomes troublesome. Read more
Floods, Drought, & a Population on the Brink
Several years ago my Dad said something rather prophetic during a family conversation about living in California. A few of us were expressing our reservations about ever moving to a state that was a couple dozen earthquakes away from falling into the ocean. He said “Californians are going to sink themselves long before earthquakes do.” He was referring to the housing market there, where lenders were handing out mortgages like candy. Of course many who followed the financial markets knew what was coming, the writing, as they say, was on the wall. But ordinary Americans were blissfully unaware and lenders liked it that way. The bubble unfortunately hasn’t burst in one catastrophic moment, it seems to be bursting in slow motion, the devastation mounting with each passing month. Read more
The American Economy and the Greedy People
The federal government has now bailed out three major US financial institutions: Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and the American International Group. Some folks disagree with this decision. You hear people shout, “No More Big Government.”
The people who support the popular catch phrase, “Big Government,” believe that the free market can fix itself. Free market die-hards, like libertarians – Ron Paul’s Revolutionaries - believe that human beings are rational enough to fix the mortgage crisis and inflation (the rise of food and gas). Libertarians believe that a person’s financial interests will always supercede a person’s emotional desires, like greed.
Can the American Economy Recover?
While John McCain and Barack Obama hone in on their battle for the American presidency, both candidates’ economic plan becomes more similar or bipolar – depending who they’re speaking to and if they’re in Ohio or California. The sad part is that the majority of American voters don’t believe either candidate has what it takes to heal the American economy, according to a new national poll posted today in the Washington Post.
So what’s the problem? Have American voters lost read more
Birthday’s don’t Pay Like They Used To
I don’t know about you, but I’m a grandmaster of birthdays, well at least my birthday. If you happen to be one of those people who know me personally you probably know about my birthday. I celebrate my birthday for fifteen days straight. That’s seven days before and seven days after, just in case you’re doing the math. In light of all the recent studies showing a read more
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