I heard you hit the floor in the BMV. The sound you made turned everyone’s head. The woman who dropped you gave you a glance over her shoulder as she walked away. Apparently you weren’t worth her time.
I won’t lie; I pitied you.
You’re smaller than a penny, but worth more. Yet no one collects you.
You don’t buy squat – not balls of gum or ones that bounce or even a sticker.
You used to have stores named after you, but now it takes ten others like you to be worth a store’s name. Heck, it takes five of you to be worthy of a rapper’s name.
So, there you were, wobbling to a stop.
I picked you up, but you…
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Travel Editor Zach Dunkin writes:
Roam with Muncie author Kelsey Timmerman and learn about the people in Honduras, Bangladesh, Cambodia and China who made his clothes and probably some of yours. Among other adventures, he posed as an underwear buyer in Bangladesh to see the child labor industry in action, as part of his search to understand the real issues and the human costs of globalization.
To read his other recommendations, read the whole article….
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This weekend over at the CANOW (California National Organization for Women) blog, I explored the subject of whether or not the garment industry empowers women in developing nations.
Go read it and leave a comment, so I don’t look like a big loser….
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This morning I read an editorial by the editorial board of the Muncie Star Press, my local paper:
It’s up to us consumers to save the day by shopping our way out of this recession as we have shopped our way out of many recent economic downturns. And, by shopping wisely and taking advantage of the terrific bargains out there, you’ll at least have something to show for it.
And then I went to my office and read an exact opposite Op-Ed piece in the NY Times by Stephen Roach, chairman of Morgan Stanley:
A decade of excess consumption pushed consumer spending in the United States up to 72 percent of gross domestic product in 2007, a record for any large economy in the modern history of the world. With…
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Things aren’t looking too bright in Cambodia.
This story from Alibaba.com is filled with unpromising phrases such as : “…the once vibrant garment industry” and “appealed to workers to call off their strikes to tackle the crisis which was snowballing out of control.”
An excerpt:
The Prime Minister Mr. Sen appealed to the labour unions to call off all the strikes as this was not the right time to strike but to ensure that their kitchen hearths were kept warm and helped companies tackle the crisis and cautioned them by saying that these strikes would lead to a loss of orders and result in possible closure of units they were working at.
The Chairman of the forums Industrial Relation’s Sub-Committee, Mr Sothy said that till date in the current year there have…
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As a member of the ONE Campaign to end poverty, I received a pretty awesome email today from space.
Dear ONE Member,
My name is Lt. Colonel Shane Kimbrough and I am on the International Space Station orbiting 200 miles above the earth.
During the 90 minutes it takes us to circle the earth, we do not see borders or boundaries. From up here, the task of solving the world’s biggest problems seems less daunting. But when our shuttle lands next Sunday, we will return to a world where border disputes and financial crises lead the nightly news. Those challenges define our world and their solutions will define our future.
A few years back when I attended a local writer’s conference, a small publisher that was in attendance encouraged attendee’s to make a…
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The U.S. accounts for 25% of Bangladesh’s garment exports. Their industry is bracing for the effects of our economic crisis, which will likely have a big impact on the country, the industry, and worker’s rights. Any time a company who already only pays its employees $25 per month talks about reducing costs, it ain’t good.
Fibre2Fashion recently interviewed a major player in the Bangladeshi industry. Here’s what he had to say:
“The effect will be very high in Bangladesh, because after the current orders in hand are completed and we try to get new orders we will have to face big problems of pricing etc. So the coming months are going to be very crucial for the industry at large.”
“… the whole industry has put on their…
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President-elect Obama isn’t the only one making selections these days. I’ve recently made my first as a newly-appointed assistant author. (Note: Oreo is the head author. All appointments are made with her approval.)
Today, I would like to announce the selection of long-time WAIW? reader and real-life friend, Melissa, to the position of WAIW? Special Ambassador to Purdue University.
Basically, I asked Melissa if she knew anyone at Purdue that would be interested in doing an author’s event or two. And apparently she knows everyone at Purdue. So – with Oreo’s permission – I brought her on board.
Do you think you’ve got what it takes to be a WAIW? Special Ambassador? All you need to do is setup an event with a university, organization, book…
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