Seven Killed in Bangladesh Garment Factory Fire

Dhaka, Bangladesh (CNN) -- At least seven people died in a fire in a clothing factory in Bangladesh's capital late Wednesday, police and the factory's general manager said. Details here.

Should Capital Punishment be Applied in the Bangladeshi Garment Tragedy?

by Larry Powell

I don't believe in capital punishment. Never have. 

But maybe now is the time for me - and the rest of society- to step back, take a deep breath, and take another look.

The profound evil which has been at play in the recent, horrific collapse of the garment factory in Bangladesh - killing hundreds of innocent workers - sinks to such depths of depravity in every aspect, such a re-assessment seems suddenly appropriate.

And I'm not sure I'd stop at the owners of the building. Western multinational corporations  have blood on their hands, too, by using such despicable sweatshops to make their clothing, cheap - Wal Mart, Sears, Loblaws (the latter through its "Joe Fresh" clothing line in Canada and the 'States) - they've all filled their boots with more than their share of guilt. And the history of such things, steeped in blood as it has already become over the years, offers no way out for these heartless entities, to somehow claim ignorance of what is going on. 

Perhaps its time to round up the CEOs, and ship them all off for trial before the ICC. I'm not even sure whether the death penalty is within that court's mandate. If it is not, perhaps it should be! Let the court assess their guilt, or degree thereof, and make its judgement.

For they are just as surely guilty of neglect, criminal negligence and, yes, even murder, as the buildings owners/managers who forced those poor (in more ways than one) souls, into that building when they apparently knew full well it was not safe. There, hundreds died horrible and sometimes slow deaths over several agonizing days.

Whether they be corporate entities, individual executives or even shareholders, whether they be in my country, the US or abroad, I can feel no more sympathy for them than I do for terrorists or pedophiles. And what about the millions of consumers, who expect to buy clothing dirt-cheap without giving a thought, or caring whether they are creating consequences down the line? Should they be considered blameless? I'm sure many are just plain ignorant - or don't give a thought - as to what happens in the world around them. Does that render them innocent? 

I wonder.

Having said that, I am under absolutely no illusion that what I suggest here, will happen. Thanks to hollow, greedy people and their spineless enablers, our lawmaking politicians, our world has now fallen under such complete domination by the globalists and free marketeers, all hope for justice or even for vengeance, is indeed nothing more than a pipe-dream.

While, by writing this, I may have succeeded in getting something off my chest in some superficial way, it will be cold comfort indeed to the families of the innocents whose lives have been so needlessly and senselessly taken from us.

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Related article:  Battling for a Safer Bangladesh

Bangladeshi Outrage - Will Anything Change?

• P in P: Will the outrageous tragedy involving the collapse of a garment factory in Bangladesh change anything with regard to workers' rights? Of course not. Wasn't it just the other month when a horrific fire claimed over a hundred lives at another similar factory in that same country, with workers locked inside? That sure changed a lot of attitudes and practises, didn't it?
• While cute little kids dance on Canadian TV, advertising Joe Fresh clothes which are made in these horrific sweat-shops, there is plenty of blame to go around. But greedy, soulless, heartless corporations like Joe Fresh, Walmart and Disney, including their hollow, despicable shareholders, surely must remain at the top of the blame-list. 
• Instead of improving working conditions and pay for the world's poor, thus allowing them to buy clothing, ethically made in places which pay decent, livable wages, human society is on a downward escalator, on a relentless race to the bottom.
• As long as cowardly lawmakers there and here at home run from their obligations, as long as the world continues to worship at the altar of capitalism, greed, free markets and globalization, nothing will change.
• Below are a couple of interesting comments which have just appeared on the Joe Fresh Facebook page;
• Bex L Alex Until Joe moves it's manufacturing operations to North America, takes financial and legal responsibility for worker's rights and safety, I will not be shopping there. Also, a Bangledeshi worker's life is worth more than a $250 settlement. Do the right thing. Stop being greed-driven, exploitive parasites. Own up, pay out and end exploitational practices. 
  
• Naomi Clement I agree Bex, but we as consumers need to do our part as well, and stop expecting a t-shirt to cost less than $10.

Related: Should Capital Punishment be Applied in the Bangladeshi Garment Tragedy? 

Why Would Anyone Celebrate the Death of Margaret Thatcher? Ask a Chilean

The Nation

Never have I witnessed a gap between the mainstream media and the public quite like the last twenty-four hours since the death of Margaret Thatcher. Details here.

We Are Bradley Manning

Chris Hedges - TruthDig

I was in a military courtroom at Fort Meade in Maryland on Thursday as Pfc. Bradley Manning admitted giving classified government documents to WikiLeaks. Details here.

BP Pleads Guilty, Pays Record $4.5 Billion Over Gulf spill; 3 Employees Charged

Winnipeg Free Press. Details here.



PLT: You don't suppose BP will simply write this off as "the cost of doing business" and carry on as before, do you? Naaaah!

Attack Against Offices of Vía Campesina

Editor's note - It's worth noting that Canada has actually been making excuses for this stinking coup! Please express your solidarity with "Via Camp!" l.p.
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Action Alert from the Vía Campesina in Tegucigalpa, Honduras - August 12th 2009

Last night at 11:23 pm, during curfew which began at 10pm, unknown individuals driving a cream colour Toyota, fired bullets at the office of Vía Campesina in Tegucigalpa, Honduras which is coordinated by Rafael Alegría.

Above, the kind of people ViaCamp
represents - women working in the field
with a child! Obviously a subversive
organization deserving of being shot at!
The act was a clear attack against our social organizations and leaders who are part of the National Front Against the coup.
In addition to the recent attack on Vía Campesina, a bomb capable of killing 15 people went off in the building of the Beverage Workers Union (STIBYS, by its Spanish initials) on July 26th 2009. Both organizations are part of the National Front Against the Coup. We condemn this incident given that the activities of Vía Campesina and the National Front Against the Coup are completely peaceful. It is important to mention that during curfew only police are permitted to be in the street. Vía Campesina of Honduras calls for support from national and international human rights organizations to remain attentive and to continue following attacks taking place not only against these organizations and their leadership, but also against the human rights of the entire Honduran people and all those who have been protesting in the streets against the coup for the last 46 days.

Rafael Alegría comments, “People's rights are being violated and it's a truly unfortunate situation at the moment. People have been wounded, jailed and killed.” According to a preliminary report from lawyers assisting the National Front Against the Coup today, hundreds of people were wounded and more than forty people detained following violence occurring after a peaceful mass mobilization in the capital city on Tuesday. The group of lawyers is seeking the liberation of those arrested through Habeas Corpus. The leadership of the Front insists that the disturbances were carried out by people who were not part of the protest, but rather infiltrators interested in provoking confrontations and disparaging the peaceful protests that the Front has been mobilizing. The people detained are accused of rebellion, terrorism and treason among other crimes. Alegría emphasizes that “The National Front Against the Coup is not responsible for these incidents. On principle the front supports peaceful marches, peaceful demands and peaceful mobilization. At no point do we use or call for violent acts. It appears that these incidents are the responsibility of groups interested in ruining the social mobilization and they have taken it upon themselves to provoke this situation for which we categorically deny any responsibility.” Given what has taken place in the last 24 hours, Vía Campesina of Honduras calls out to the entire Vía Campesina network, social movements, as well as national and international human rights organizations to send messages or delegations in solidarity with the resistance against the coup and for the defence of human rights in Honduras, and to assist in bringing about an end to so much injustice and violence against the Honduran people. Please send complaints and messages of solidarity to the following addresses:

State Secretary of Public Security
Coronel Jorge Rodas Gamero
Fax: (504) 237-9070/ 220-55-47
E-mail: sseg.06@hotmail.com

Special Prosecutor for Human Rights in the Attorney General's Office
Lcda. Sandra Ponce
Fiscal Especial de Derechos Humanos
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Fax: (504) 221-3656
E-mail: ponce10s@yahoo.com.ar

Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CODEH)
President Andrés Pavón
E-mail: andres@codeh.hn, codeh@codeh.hn

The Committee of Relatives of People Detained-Disappeared in Honduras
(COFADEH)
Coordinadora Bertha Oliva
E-mail: mail@cofadeh.org

Vía Campesina of Honduras
E-mail: laviacampesina@cablecolor.hn

Comunicaciones Via Campesina en Honduras
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International Operational Secretariat
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La Via Campesina - International Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV No. 5 Jakarta Selatan, Jakarta 12790 Indonesia
Phone : +62-21-7991890, Fax : +62-21-7993426
E-mail: viacampesina@viacampesina.org, Website: http://www.viacampesina.org

Farm Suicides Turn Children Into Farmers

Published on Wednesday, June 10, 2009 by Inter Press Service
by Jaideep Hardikar. Click on headline for complete story.
Please also read related story..
http://earthkeeperfarm.blogspot.com/2009/05/corporate-agriculture-to-blame-for.html

Fawzan Husein for the New York Times

Peruvian Army Moves Into Amazon After Tribes Blockade Rivers and Roads

Published on Monday, May 18, 2009 by The Guardian/UK

Ecology and culture at stake say environmentalists, as government plans to exploit rainforest for oil, gas and timber.
Read more here....

Eds. note - Another shameful chapter in the shameful war by criminal corporations, aided by their criminal accomplices in government, against ordinary people, guilty of nothing more than wanting a place to live! l.p.