February 2012 - Page 5 of 6

Do you know how your iPad is made?

Winifred C. Chin February 10, 2012 Winifred C. Chin

Recent revelations about the deplorable working conditions at an Apple factory in China provide a cautionary tale about globalization and consumerism.

On Jan. 26, the New York Times ran a front-page article that exposed some of the facts of life within Apple’s Foxconn Technology factory in Chengdu, China. These include underage and underpaid workers, excessive overtime, seven-day workweeks, overcrowded dorms and dangerous conditions.

One day last May, a fire broke out in one of the buildings where employees polished thousands of iPad cases a day. “Two people were killed immediately and over a dozen others injured,” the story said. read more

Attacking Iran Will Not Repeat History: It Will Destroy the Future

Ramzy Baroud February 10, 2012 Ramzy Baroud

If history ever repeats itself, it does so only when we fail to learn its important lessons. Israel might be prepared to take such chances, but why should the rest of the world?

The Occupy Effect: Big News on Bank Transfers

Brooke Jarvis February 8, 2012 Brooke Jarvis

Source: Yes Magazine

The Occupy effect? In the last 3 months, Americans switched banks at three times the normal rate.

Two summers ago, at the U.S. Social Forum, I attended a panel discussion about ways to expand the use of credit unions as alternatives to the “too big to fail” banks whose risky investments had helped tank the economy. Each of the speakers—people involved in credit union leadership or advocacy—expressed confusion and frustration that they hadn’t already seen a post-crisis shift away from corporate banks and toward credit unions (which have the advantages of being not-for-profit, owned and governed by their depositors, far more likely than big banks to lend to small businesses, and not responsible for any global economic meltdowns). read more

Egyptian Women: Half of Society But Still a Minority

Dina Sadek February 8, 2012 Dina Sadek

Once Mubarak was driven from power, we saw that the “Republic of Tahrir” did not magically change everything. Women have continued to play a vital role in the protests and in many of the new political parties but their participation falls on deaf ears.

The Apple Connection: Globalization and Outsourcing

Walden Bello February 7, 2012 Walden Bello

Transnational corporations and their practice of outsourcing jobs are front-and-center when it comes to the current economic crisis.

Fisk: An attack on Tehran would be madness. So don’t rule it out

Robert Fisk February 7, 2012 Robert Fisk

Source: The Independent

After invading Iraq over weapons of mass destruction, we plan to clap as Israel bombs Iran

If Israel really attacks Iran this year, it – and the Americans – will be more dotty than their enemies think. True, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a crackpot, but then so is Avigdor Lieberman, who is apparently the Israeli Foreign Minister. Maybe the two want to do each other a favour. But why on earth would the Israelis want to bomb Iran and thus bring down on their heads the fury of both the Lebanese Hezbollah and Hamas at the very same moment? Along with Syria, no doubt. Not to mention sucking the West – Europe and the US – into the same shooting match. read more