…an undercover Observer investigation in the back streets of New Delhi, reveal a tragic consequence of the West’s demand for cheap clothing. It exposes how, despite Gap’s rigorous social audit systems launched in 2004 to weed out child labour in its production processes, the system is being abused by unscrupulous subcontractors. The result is that children, in this case working in conditions close to slavery, appear to still be making some of its clothes.
Oh, that’s why the factories hated to see me coming. Now I get it. I thought that maybe I had bad breath, something in my teeth, or some other hygiene related issues. Here it turns out that journalists are bad news for factories that employ child labor.
I raided my photo archive from the WAIW? trip and set it to Gary Jules’ Mad World and U2’s Yahweh. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get either one of them to play for me so I had to do it myself. Don’t worry, I don’t sing. This is more of a beginner guitar player’s shot at spoken word.
In 2003 I spent the night alone in Castle Dracula and it has kind of become a blogging tradition that each Halloween I share the experience. You can READ THE STORY YOURSELF or…I’LL READ IT TO YOU. (Warning: I perform my own music and sound effects!)
Geoff Hassing also did a cartoon to accompany the story:
Welcome to the USA, where, according to this bit of propaganda commissioned by the State Department and produced by Disney, everybody smiles. But really, what’s wrong with that?
The main issue tends to be that Horseshoe Falls of Niagara Falls, which appears for about a second, is pictured and it belongs to Canada. The shot is from the Canadian side overlooking the falls with the USA in the background. The only thing more ridiculous than owning a waterfall is owning half a waterfall.
Yes, the particular half pictured is owned by Canada, but seeing how this is Tourist propaganda and Niagara Falls is a popular destination for…
I took a similar trip aboard the “Ostrich,” a paddle boat when I was in Bangladesh. I’ve yet to write much about it, which is a reminder that I’ve got loads of material that deserves my attention. Anyhow, what most surprised me in the introduction of the feature was this passage:
The risk of attack from pirates is slight, but it is real.
I had no idea there were pirate attacks. I’m not questioning the BBC reports on this (although, I do question their…
Everybody needs cartoons in their life. Geoff Hassing the cartoonist who drew my Where am I wearing? shirt has joined the blogosphere and I’m pretty excited about it. Geoff’s work is hilarious. He’s always exploring new characters and ideas and I expect he’ll feature quite a few of them on his new blog.
For a good Geoff sampler check out his Film @ Eleven series….
I described my individual items of clothing to Geoff Hassing and he brought them to life. He came up with the idea of doing the the circles that zoomed in on the tags.
Apparently it’s time for me to renew by subscription of National Geographic Traveler. I received an offer in the mail that if I renew I can give a free subscription to someone else.
You could be that someone else!
HOW TO WIN A FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO NGT
Give me your best you might be a “You might be a Touron if…” Go here for examples. Whoever makes me think or giggle the most gets the subscription.
Off the top of my head, here’s a few that I could use from my time in Bangladesh:
If you aren’t allowed to stay in Dhaka’s “Hotel Tourist” because you are a tourist, you might be a touron
If you’ve ever paid $1,200 for a plane ticket to visit the factory that made your underwear, you…
Don’t know about you, but I would pay NOT to run a marathon. I got an email the other day from a fella that’s running the NYC marathon while collecting money for one of my favorite charities, Casa Guatemala. (Note: If donating to orphans doesn’t do it for you, support this guy for his name alone – Egbert. How cool is that? It’s as if he finally escaped Dilbert’s strip and Dogbert’s rule. Keep on running Egbert. Keep on running.)
Dear friends,
What do the New York City Marathon and Casa Guatemala have in common? Well, they’re both sponsored by ING (my employer). About 4 years ago ING granted me a sabbatical to volunteer in Casa Guatemala, an orphanage located on the banks of the…
…
