You Give Justice a Bad Name
When workers complain about being overworked, many don’t expect to have their employers hammer nails and metal objects into their bodies. That’s exactly what happened to Lahadapurage Daneris Ariyawathie on August 27, 2010.
Sadly, Ms. Airyawathie is not alone as there are other reported cases of Sri Lakan nationals and other migrant domestic workers being mistreated by their Saudi Arabian overlords.
“The abuse suffered by this woman is not an isolated incident, but one of countless cases of abuse and exploitation of migrant domestic workers,” said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The government should address the systemic problems made possible by Saudi laws that put all power in the hands of private employers and allow them to abuse their workers with no fear of consequences.”
Other incidents involve a woman who suffered injuries after her employer pushed “her off a third-floor balcony in an attempt to kill her.” Fortunately, a swimming pool saved her life.
There is also the story of an employer who had beaten up her employee without pay for “one-and-a-half years” or an employer’s son who had raped a domestic worker or a woman who was severely beaten and locked “in a cellar with almost no food for a month,” which resulted in “amputations of some fingers and toes” after she developed gangrene or a domestic worker was “severely burned by her employers.”
It’s not all the employers’ faults as there is plenty of blame to spread around. Employers are getting away with this abuse because the justice system that is supposed to protect these women is the very same one that is failing them. The women’s complaints seem to be falling on deaf ears as police ignore rather than investigate the charges. Maybe this type of abuse shows why power that is concentrated in the hands of a few isn’t always the best thing. Who is going to help these women if the ones who have been given the power to do so won’t help them? To borrow a phrase from Bon Jovi, the police are giving justice a bad name.
Minority Report
As most people who aren’t living under a rock know right now, the economy isn’t exactly that healthy. Even though some companies have been hiring, the unemployment rate has increased. How is that possible you ask? It’s quite simple; the number of people seeking jobs has increased at a faster rate than the number of jobs created.
It appears that even though private companies added 67,000 jobs in August, the unemployment rate increased from 9.5 percent to 9.6 percent.
So why is the supply of labor increasing at such a high rate? One possible explanation comes from the results of a new study from the Institute of Policy Issues “shows that CEOs who fired the most workers during the recession took home the highest pay.”
“According to that study, the CEOs of the fifty corporations responsible for the biggest layoffs were paid an average $12 million—42 percent more than the average pay for the Standard & Poor’s 500. The study covered the period from November 2008 to April of this year. For 72 percent of companies, mass layoffs were announced during periods of profit and high CEO salaries.”
For example, according to Sarah Anderson, the study’s lead author, Mark Huard, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard “laid off more than 30,000 workers” as he was “earning more than $20 million a year” during his reign.
I guess the other minority — you know, those of the privileged, wealthy elite — wanted some security for themselves, so it made sense to sacrifice thousands of people’s jobs and livelihoods in order to buy that extra yacht and/or caviar that they don’t really even consume but instead really use to show off to their other rich friends. To hell with all those workers who really could have used those ever-important paychecks to support themselves and their families.
An Open Letter to T-Mobile
Dear T-Mobile,
I have been a customer of yours for two years, so I was a little concerned when I read that you along with several other European-based firms were being accused of undermining US workers’ rights.
T-Mobile itself was said to have “characterized employees’ ‘talking about rights’ as dangerous activity to be reported immediately to management.”
I’m confused. As a telecommunications company, aren’t you supposed to promote individuals from talking freely? Although I’m not an employee, do you find it dangerous if I talk about human rights on the phone with my friends? After all, I am using your services to engage in this type of activity.
Among the violations documented in the report are practices of forcing workers into “captive audience” meetings to hear anti-union harangues while prohibiting pro-union voices, threatening dire consequences if workers form unions, threatening to permanently replace workers who exercise the right to strike, spying on employee organizers, and even firing workers who support organizing efforts at companies.
I have read your response to Human Rights Watch, and how you “will abide both by the letter and the spirit of the U.S. National Labor Relations Act” and that it is “ultimately the employees’ decision whether to support or not support a union.”
I sincerely hope that statement wasn’t just public relations fluff to put us at east and that T-Mobile will not dissuade or influence its employees on whether to join a union or not; that should ultimately, as you have put it, be the employees’ decision.
I will continue to use your services because I like my favorite five account, but please do something about my reception. It is very poor sometimes. I thank you in advance for that.
Sincerely,
Trung
Counterfeiting Conspicuous Consumption
When I took Advanced Institutional Economics, I wrote a research paper suggesting that people could conspicuously consume via counterfeit products. For people who don’t have wealth, counterfeit products offer a cheap alternative to falsely display their wealth and income that don’t exist.
I argued that people who engage in this counterfeiting of conspicuous consumption get away with it because the technology involved in making counterfeit products has become very good, making it difficult — at first glance — to distinguish between real and fake products.
In addition to better technology, people aren’t “intimate” with products these days. They don’t know what to look for in a luxury item, so it’s easier to pass something off as a luxury product even if it’s not the real thing.
New research from three scientists suggests that there may be some psychological costs in wearing fake products though.
Notably, the women wearing supposedly counterfeit goods cheated even though the “fake” sunglasses were randomly handed out, suggesting that it was not something about their self-image going into the study that led them to cheat. To the contrary, it was the very act of wearing the so-called knockoffs that was triggering the dishonesty.
The entire paper isn’t posted, but from what I was able to read, wearing fake products not only makes you fake, it turns you into a dishonest, filthy cheater!!!
Between the Legs
Yesterday, the US Open began in Flushing Meadows, NY and during last night’s match between Roger Federer and Brian Dabul, we may have already seen the shot of the tournament. Take a look at Federer’s between-the-legs winner.
Có Phở?
A snowclone is “a type of cliché and phrasal template originally defined as ‘a multi-use, customizable, instantly recognizable, time-worn, quoted or misquoted phrase or sentence that can be used in an entirely open array of different variants.’”
An example of a snowclone is “X is the new Y” where you can replace X and Y with different words such as “Grey is the new black.”
Yesterday, I was eating phở at a Vietnamese restaurant when I happened to see an example of a famous snowclone which was written in the Vietnamese language.
One of the waitresses was wearing a t-shirt with the phrase “Có Phở?” on it, which is a snowclone of the “Got Milk?” phrase from the drink milk campaign. Now, where can I purchase one of these t-shirts?
Two Provinces Take Positive Steps Forward
Two provinces — one from China, the other from Russia — are taking positive steps towards tiger preservation by agreeing to “work together in establishing a tiger conservation protected area in both provinces, as well as partner to restore endangered species.”
Tigers aren’t the only species to benefit from this agreement. The Far East leopard, musk, deer and goral are among he beneficiaries according to Yu Changchu, who is director of the conservation department at the Jilin province Forestry Department.
And according to Dr. Zhu Chunquan, “the forest habitat and all the bio-diversity resources will also benefit from this protected area.”
Darfur Fail
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a humanitarian crisis taking place over in Sudan in the Darfur region. Darfur is experiencing catastrophes tantamount to genocide, which have going on for five years plus.
To add fuel to the fire, Kenya may or may not be allowing an international fugitive into its country when it signs its new constitution. Who is this fugitive? It’s Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.
Al-Bashir is subject to two arrest warrants issued by the ICC for atrocities committed in Darfur in Sudan. The first was issued in March 2009 on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The second was issued in July 2010 on charges of genocide.
So there you have it, Kenya. Don’t let al-Bashir into the country or you’ll be aiding and abetting a suspected international criminal; unless you arrest him.
Klingon Language
My good friend, Greg, sent me this link to an article about a Klingon opera. Why not? After all, we have Klingon boggle and a new way to tell someone “revenge is a dish best served cold.”
Justice for Troy?
I have written about Troy Davis here. Yesterday’s ruling by a Georgia judge is certainly a step in the wrong direction. An innocent man could be put to death for a crime he may have never committed. It seems harsh how the justice system works. When seven of the nine witnesses recant their original testimonies, that should be more than enough to cast some doubt about on how the case was first handled and an inquiry into it should be opened.
What happens if Mr. Davis is found to be innocent after he is executed? You cannot bring him back to life. It seems as if the state of George is comfortable with gambling with his life. Rather than seeking justice, it seems the court is more concerned with placing blame on anyone. It certainly shows the flaws in the legal system either way but by giving Mr. Davis his day of justice, it can end a horrible 20 years for him!
