You know, i really don't know. When Walmart says they weren't making money, it's probably the case they weren't making ENOUGH money. As far unions go, I'm all for them but they can go too far sometimes as far as wage claims go and add to inflation, which is the bogey-man for most economies these days. Unions and governments dont seem to have the power they use to have in the current global environment. Multi-nationals, I think, have too much bargaining power these days. I basically see these kinds of things in pretty simple terms: The poor are trying to raise their wages. The rich are trying to pay as little as possible, and I think they hold the upper hand as far as bargaining position is concerned these days. They really have a lot of leverage as far as putting downward pressure on wages is concerned. I'm all for profit, but excessive greed and profit I don't like, just like I don't like dirt cheap third world wages either. There has to be a balance somewhere, but at the moment it's a free for all, very competitive, with Big business holding the upper hand. You might want to get "THE COROPORATION" out on dvd. It's pretty interesting. I'm not sure they have the right answers, but it is interesting. It's left wing!
Posts by Zep
-
35Is Walmart right or wrong?
by JH inhere in quebec, walmart decided to close a walmart store because the 190 employees wanted to become unionized.
walmart said that they weren't making money at that store, and that's why they are closing.
we all know that the real reason why walmart wants to close is because the employees want to be unionized.. in this day and age, do you think that walmart is right, or the employees?.
-
-
-
7
Free trade, Globalization, good or bad?
by JH insince many years now, we hear alot about globalization.
i know that many jobs went to china and india because they work at small wages compared to here.. personally, i don't like globalization and free trade.
i t think that many jobs were lost because of it.
-
-
Zep
ITS GOOD. TRADE IS GOOD. The division of labour is good. Self sufficiency is not possible for smaller populated countries like Australia. They have to specialise and then trade to get other goods. Trade with other countries also results in cheaper goods for industrial countries. That means more money in the pocket of the consumer to direct in more efficient areas and create more jobs. ITS BAD when rich countries are able to use their superior bargaining position to basically force poorer people to work for very unfair wages. They are faced with a stark choice of either starve or work for a crappy wage with crappy conditions. In end it is both GOOD AND BAD. It idea of trade is a very good democratic idea, and should be pursued, but it can have big problems that need sorting out. Its a complex issue.
-
8
So what was your New Year's resolution?
by ozziepost in.
now all the partying is done with and you've had time to get back into the swing of things, what do you hope to attain this year?.
what's the thing you'd most like to do this year?
-
-
Zep
OZZIE:Don't go much on new years resolutions but..I hope to get my plans for an accounting degree in full swing. Improve my guitar playing. Do some bushwalking, to Federation Peak maybe. And...relax, de-stress, find inner peace haha.
-
62
Could some-one please explain American football to me!
by Zep ini get all that stuff about downs and 10yards, and about kicking the ball through the goals and all.
but, having never played gridiron/american football, there is one thing i just dont get everytime i watch the bleedin' game.
i have played australian football(aussie rules) and rugby league.
-
-
Zep
UNDER74: The guy who throws the ball is the quater back, I think. He throws it to a running back(the guys who always tries to score a touch down)????. WHY doesn't the running back pass the ball a little more? IS it against the rules, or bad strategy, or is the running back just ball hog(greedy)?
-
38
Charles and Camilla to marry
by Fe2O3Girl in.
about time!.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/monarchy/story/0,2763,1409742,00.html.
-
-
Zep
You know it's all nice and cute and all and I hope they are happy, since everyone deserves to be happy. But really, everytime I see the Royal family on TV I just wish they would walk off a cliff or something. The kind of public priviledge they recieve is just a joke. Being an Australian, I hope we soon off this Royality BS and become a republic. I mean, what is the Royal family good for other than cutting ribbons and selling crappy magazines. Who gives a hoot about these people, REALLY!
-
62
Could some-one please explain American football to me!
by Zep ini get all that stuff about downs and 10yards, and about kicking the ball through the goals and all.
but, having never played gridiron/american football, there is one thing i just dont get everytime i watch the bleedin' game.
i have played australian football(aussie rules) and rugby league.
-
-
Zep
I get all that stuff about downs and 10yards, and about kicking the ball through the goals and all. But, having never played gridiron/American football, there is one thing I just dont get everytime I watch the bleedin' game. I have played Australian football(aussie rules) and Rugby league. In these two games there is a lot of passing; you get the ball and you pass it, more often than not, rather than get tackled. BUT in American footy, a guy on the line of scrimmage gets the ball and throws it through his legs to another guy who then throws it to another guy who never ever passes it. I'm always sitting there and wondering why this guy never passes it off to someone running passed or to someone on his own who could run it in for a try. Is it against the rules to pass it more than 2 times or something...
-
46
Is Global Warming just a load of BS...
by Zep ini get the impression that a lot of the industrial countries really dont give a sh*t. recently there seems to be a lot of people saying man has nothing to do with it.
or, that its really not that bad.
govenrnments dont seem to care too greatly either, i'm thinking of australia and the usa at the moment.
-
-
Zep
ABOVE ARTICLE SAID: "Under the Kyoto Protocol, undeveloped Third-World nations – including China, India, Brazil and Mexico – will be free to produce whatever they want. Yet 82 percent of the projected emissions growth in future years will come from these countries. This is why many critics see is global wealth redistribution scheme rather than a real plan to improve the environment."...................................... "The wealth of the United States is, and has always been, the target," ............................................................................This is a very interesting. The flip side of this is that although these countries will account for 82% percent of projected emissions growth (note it isn't saying they will increase world emissions by 82%)I mean, developing countries tend to initially have a higher rate of economic growth than developed nations until it eventually levels out around the 3% mark as they become more developed, big deal. The biggest polluters as far as Greenhouse gas emmisions, would, I bet, still be, Western developed countries. They have been using fossil fuels far longer and in greater quantities than any developed nation has yet to do. They have reaped enormous benefits technology wise from their use. They themselves, if you believe global warming is real and caused by man, have largely used up the green house credit limit of the earth all by themselves. It is therefore just not fair for the developed world to say to developing world: "Hey, we caused this problem, we benefited greatly from the uninhibited use of greenhouse gases, you now have to shouldler the same burden as us in reducing them, you shouldn't be allowed to profit like we did"...................................................Kyoto, acording to Lomborg(author of the sceptical enviromentalist meantioned earlier), won't put a dent in the Global warming problem, the cuts in emissions are not enough. This is nothing new, Scientists and politicians, HELL, the Green movement have been saying the same thing for ages. Why they still want to implement the accord(as opposed to Lomborg), as far as I understand, is that it gives the world a foot in the door to work collectively on the problem of Global warming, it's a start not an end. Future discussions and agreements would eventually happen. These future agreements could involve cut backs in the emissions of developing countries, FOR THOSE STINGY INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE CONCERNED THAT DEVELOPING COUNTRIES MIGHT USURP U.S. MARKET DOMINANCE THROUGH THE KYOTO PROTOCOL. WHAT BULLSH*T!
-
46
Is Global Warming just a load of BS...
by Zep ini get the impression that a lot of the industrial countries really dont give a sh*t. recently there seems to be a lot of people saying man has nothing to do with it.
or, that its really not that bad.
govenrnments dont seem to care too greatly either, i'm thinking of australia and the usa at the moment.
-
-
Zep
SATANUS (apologies for lack of paragraphing, I'm using a different browser(Opera) that doesn't work too well on this site).................................................................................I just read what you wrote about the ocean acting as a carbon sink. You make it sound like there is no problem, that the ocean has almost an infinite ability to absorb carbon dioxide. Thats probably not what you meant, but thats how I'm reading what you just wrote. Is that what your implying? I looked at one of the sites you posted, the PLANKTOS site. They certainly dont seem to believe that the ocean has an almost infinite ability to absorb C02. I refer you their homepage, and just one quote from it: "...the ocean ecology is so delicately balanced it is already showing devastating change due to rising atmospheric CO2 levels.".................................. .................................................................... In a previous post I said that some scientists are saying we might have to migrate to Nuclear technology in order to avoid the effects of global warming caused by increased burning of fossil fuels. The source of that claim was an interview of scientist James Lovelock. From what I read, he actually works in this area of science dealing plankton and the marine evironment. The interview can be seen here: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2004/s1222553.htm. In it he says that basically the ocean has a tipping point where it will no longer be able to act as a carbon sink, where the plankton will begin to die due to warming of the ocean that si already happening. This is along similar lines to what PLANKTOS seem to be saying on their homepage.
-
46
Is Global Warming just a load of BS...
by Zep ini get the impression that a lot of the industrial countries really dont give a sh*t. recently there seems to be a lot of people saying man has nothing to do with it.
or, that its really not that bad.
govenrnments dont seem to care too greatly either, i'm thinking of australia and the usa at the moment.
-
-
Zep
FOUR QUESTIONS TO ASK A PERSON WHO DENIES MAN HAS ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR GLOBAL WARMING: "If ever you meet one of these people[people who deny man has any responsibility for global warming], I suggest you ask them the following questions: 1. Does the atmosphere contain carbon dioxide? 2. Does atmospheric carbon dioxide influence global temperatures? 3. Will that influence be enhanced by the addition of more carbon dioxide? 4. Have human activities led to a net emission of carbon dioxide? It would be interesting to discover at which point they answer no – at which point, in other words, they choose to part company with basic physics." http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2004/04/27/the-fossil-fools/
-
26
NWO descends on iraqi farmers
by Satanus in"as part of sweeping "economic restructuring" implemented by the bush administration in iraq, iraqi farmers will no longer be permitted to save their seeds, which include seeds the iraqis themselves have developed over hundreds of years.
instead, they will be forced to buy seeds from us corporations.
that is because in recent years, transnational corporations have patented and now own many seed varieties originated or developed by indigenous peoples.
-
-
Zep
Yeah, this is happening in India too. There is a huge protest movement on over there dealing with this issue. The documentary THE CORPORATION deals with some of this patenting of genes and WTO free trade stuff. If you aint seen it, you gotta. I like the story about how some South American country tried to to re-finance its public water company through the world bank. The World trade organisation required it privatized as a condition of the loan. People were forced to pay exorbitant amounts of money to brectel just for water. THE PEOPLE WERE EVEN FORBIDDEN TO COLLECT RAIN WATER. A huge protest movement kicked out brectel which subsequntly got a 25 million dollar payout via a WTO hearing. It's profiteering off the poor. It's immoral.