Fast Food Globalism

Gary Arndt at EverythingEverywhere has an interesting post on McDonald’s around the world. He writes:

Many people flip out with the idea of western restaurants in non-western countries. They lament “globalism”, which is usually defined as elements of western culture in non-western countries. Whereas non-western cultural elements in western countries is considered “diversity”. It isn’t quite that simple.

Just because you have McDonald’s and Starbucks doesn’t mean a country’s culture has been destroyed, any more than Chinese restaurants destroy American culture. (and it should be noted that there are more Chinese restaurants in the US than there are McDonald’s, Wendys, KFC and Burger King COMBINED). You can add elements from another culture and still keep what is essential to your own.

(Thanks to @ AuthenticCoast for sending the link)

Some random thoughts on fast food while traveling:

* In Bangladesh Dalton told me that the reason Bangladesh didn’t have a McDonald’s was because the country’s meat didn’t meet their quality standards. I’ve since (tried to) become a vegetarian in countries that don’t have a McDonald’s.

* Matador travel recently had a great piece about Burger Kings new ad campaign Whopper virgins. BK travels the world finding people that have never eaten a hamburger and conduct taste tests between their burgers and McDonald’s. Regardless of which the taste tester chooses I would like to see what they think of the burgers a few hours later. Don’t know about you, but if I haven’t eaten fast food in a few months and splurge on a burger my plumbing takes a pretty good punch. https://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/12/27/whopper-virgins-how-burger-king-looks-at-people-worldwide/

Meet the people who made your clothes on Neatorama

I did a guest post on Neatorama.com today that features a few of the workers I met. Make sure that you checkout the comments and add your two cents.

A big Thanks to Alex at Neatorama for allowing me to contribute.

Interviewed on The Advertising Show

The other day I snuck away from the hospital for a phone interview (and a nap) with the Advertising Show. Hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens were a lot of fun to talk with. Listen to the interview (I’m on about a third of the way into the show).

NY Times’ Kristof buys two girls for $353 in Cambodia

A few years back Nicholas Kristof bought two prostitutes from their pimp for $353. She actually gave him a receipt as proof that they were now his property. He owned them and returned them to their villages.

Today Kristof updates us on the two girls progress, and advises that the best way to end sex slavery is to think like a brothel owner:

Sexual slavery is like any other business: raise the operating costs, create a risk of jail, and the human traffickers will quite sensibly shift to some other trade.

Make sure you watch the video embedded in the piece, too.

On WHAM-TV in Rochester

I rolled off the couch this morning at the hospital and phoned in an interview. The video loads on the top right. Give it a watch.

Introducing Harper Willow Timmerman

Annie and I are proud to announce the arrival of our first child - Harper Willow Timmerman. She arrived on 1-6-09 at 8:33 PM after nearly 24 hours of labor. (Annie was a trooper, although I must admit, I did a heck of a job running down cups of ice chips and counting to ten.) Harper weighs in at a healthy 7lbs 10oz and measures 22 inches long.

In related news…my heart melted.

(More photos on Flickr)

Pardon my absence for the next few days…

My wife is in labor!

Now’d be a great time to buy a copy of my book “Where Am I Wearing?” This way I can tell my daughter, “Sweetie, on the day you were born, your dad sold more books than Joe the Plumber.”

To which she’d respond,”Who’s Joe the Plumber?”

Creator of the Hawaiian shirt dies

From the International Herald:

Alfred Shaheen, a pioneering textile manufacturer credited with creating the modern Hawaiian garment industry, has died at age 86.

As tourists from the mainland flocked to Hawaii after World War II, many began to bring home colorful but cheesy looking shirts and sundresses that would be cause for much amusement among friends.

The great thing about a Hawaiian shirt is that when you’re wearing one life is good. It’s about the happiest garment there is. You’d never wear a Hawaiian shirt to a boring business meeting or a funeral. (Actually, come to think of it, I think I have wore a Hawaiian shirt to a funeral in Key West.) Still, most of the time life wearing a Hawaiian shirt is peaches ‘n’ cream.

Aloha, Alfred.

(courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons by princessrica)

Will economic struggles reverse gains in labor rights?

Maybe.

Here’s a report from the Philippine’s Business World newspaper:

Business leaders — particularly Messrs. Schumacher, Valenzuela, and Young — also called for flexible labor rules.

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines has called for the temporary suspension of a provision in the Labor Code which prohibits lowering the amount of benefits an employee receives. The Joint Foreign Chambers, meanwhile, plans to stage talks with the Labor department, labor groups, and firms on options such as job rotation, forced leaves, and shorter work hours to avert layoffs.

“Labor policies must … not take away from the competitiveness of our industries,” Mr. Young said.

CONTEST: X-mas tag Bingo

Be honest, did you look at the tags on all of the clothes you received for Christmas this year?

Whether you did or not, you’re eligible for the 2nd Annual Where Are YOU Wearing? Christmas Contest of Destiny. This year we’ll be doing something a bit different.

Like last year’s contest, you’ll gather all of the clothes you got for Christmas and inventory what you got and where it came from (country and brand) and post it in this comment thread. But this year we’ll be playing Bingo.

Here’s how to play

I’ve created a Bingo card with 16 countries and regions (a sample is below), if your list gets you four in a row, you have a chance to win.

Once the final card is posted (to be announced later), the first two people who get four in a row and email me “BINGO” will be declared the winners.

What do you win?

You can choose any one T-shirt on Rizzo Tees or Snorg Tees or an autographed copy of Where Am I Wearing?

Sample BINGO card:

For Christmas I received:

1 - pair of shoes Made in China
2 - Collared shirts Made in China
1 - blue jeans Made in Turkey
1 - T-shirt Made in Mexico
1 - Boxer Made in Honduras
6 - socks Made in USA

Given this list, I would have four in a row diagonal from top right to bottom left.

(note: this is just a sample: the final card will have the countries and regions in a different order)