Apple Labor Abuses Cause Blast of Petitions
Hundreds of millions of people worldwide purchase PCs, Macs, Windows Phones, iPhones, and Android devices each year. But for many, there's a reason they are so cheap: the labor.
Apple employs Foxconn to make Macs, iPods, and iPhones. This has gone pretty smoothly for Apple for years: pay the workers $17 a day, sell the products for hundreds of dollars, and make a massive profit. There have been a few hitches for Apple, like the suicide of a few workers, but what the heck - this is Apple we're talking about. It's so heartless that its' CEO Steve Jobs routinely parked his multi-hundred-million dollar BMW across two (!) handicapped spaces.
It may seem surprising that Apple pays its' workers $17 a day to work 13 hours a day and 7 days a week in brutal conditions where workers routinely lose their hands, but some customers don't care. People have tried to say "Oh, I bet HP and Microsoft and Dell make all their stuff like this too!" Well, I've got news for them: The only things Microsoft makes in China are a few mice and keyboards. And they make them ethically. The screen I'm using to type this on now was made by well-paid workers in Houston, Texas. Where workers work 5 days a week. Where workers don't lose hands. Where workers are paid above minimum wage. Where workers aren't 15. Where workers don't commit suicide to escape their horrible lives.
But now, says the Apple fan, "But the workers are choosing to work! Apple is giving them a favor by giving them jobs!" Well, that's blatantly false. Before Foxconn - the company Apple makes the iPhones with - most of the workers now in the factories were living on farms. But after Apple's invasion, the factory made the region too polluted for farms - and then workers had no place to go but Foxconn. Now, what was once peaceful farmland is now workers working as hard as they can to not starve or be fired.
Apple has been aware of this for years, however. They send inspectors to the factory, the inspectors tell Apple how messed up the factory is, and Apple tells the inspectors to shut up before sending them back a half a year later. Not just Apple, but everyone else was also turning a blind eye to the problems. It was the perfect setup for Apple: pay underage workers almost nothing to work in a factory with fatal chemicals and not even get a tiny bit of bad press for it.
But now, things are starting to get ugly for Apple. Hundreds of thousands of angry customers signed petitions, promising to not use Apple products until Apple improves. Legions of once-Apple supporters said that they wouldn't touch Apple again with a 10-foot pole.
Apple has responded by lying and claiming that nothing bad is happening. However, that's not going to work. Apple needs to change, and now. No company can expect to pay underage workers almost nothing to work in a factory with fatal chemicals and lose no business - even a company as big as Apple.
Apple employs Foxconn to make Macs, iPods, and iPhones. This has gone pretty smoothly for Apple for years: pay the workers $17 a day, sell the products for hundreds of dollars, and make a massive profit. There have been a few hitches for Apple, like the suicide of a few workers, but what the heck - this is Apple we're talking about. It's so heartless that its' CEO Steve Jobs routinely parked his multi-hundred-million dollar BMW across two (!) handicapped spaces.
It may seem surprising that Apple pays its' workers $17 a day to work 13 hours a day and 7 days a week in brutal conditions where workers routinely lose their hands, but some customers don't care. People have tried to say "Oh, I bet HP and Microsoft and Dell make all their stuff like this too!" Well, I've got news for them: The only things Microsoft makes in China are a few mice and keyboards. And they make them ethically. The screen I'm using to type this on now was made by well-paid workers in Houston, Texas. Where workers work 5 days a week. Where workers don't lose hands. Where workers are paid above minimum wage. Where workers aren't 15. Where workers don't commit suicide to escape their horrible lives.
But now, says the Apple fan, "But the workers are choosing to work! Apple is giving them a favor by giving them jobs!" Well, that's blatantly false. Before Foxconn - the company Apple makes the iPhones with - most of the workers now in the factories were living on farms. But after Apple's invasion, the factory made the region too polluted for farms - and then workers had no place to go but Foxconn. Now, what was once peaceful farmland is now workers working as hard as they can to not starve or be fired.
Apple has been aware of this for years, however. They send inspectors to the factory, the inspectors tell Apple how messed up the factory is, and Apple tells the inspectors to shut up before sending them back a half a year later. Not just Apple, but everyone else was also turning a blind eye to the problems. It was the perfect setup for Apple: pay underage workers almost nothing to work in a factory with fatal chemicals and not even get a tiny bit of bad press for it.
But now, things are starting to get ugly for Apple. Hundreds of thousands of angry customers signed petitions, promising to not use Apple products until Apple improves. Legions of once-Apple supporters said that they wouldn't touch Apple again with a 10-foot pole.
Apple has responded by lying and claiming that nothing bad is happening. However, that's not going to work. Apple needs to change, and now. No company can expect to pay underage workers almost nothing to work in a factory with fatal chemicals and lose no business - even a company as big as Apple.
National News: Donald Trump Endorses Romney Before Nevada Vote
In early 2011, billionaire Donald Trump attracted a lot of attention when he informed the country that he was considering a bid for the 2012 Republican Nomination for President of the United States. But when he started to talk about forcing President Obama to release his birth certificate, Obama did just that, causing Trump to drop out of the race in May. But, Trump did not drop out of the news, still running his TV show Celebrity Apprentice, and in January 2012, considering running again as a third party candidate if the candidate he planned to endorse did not become the nominee.
However, it still remained quite a mystery as to who Trump was actually planning to endorse. A day before he was to announce it, news companies were all predicting Newt Gingrich, after a Gingrich campaign official informed them that Gingrich would be endorsed by Trump. But on February 2, Trump instead endorsed frontrunner Mitt Romney, causing another disappointment in the already failing Gingrich campaign.
Like expected, Romney won in Nevada on February 5, and Gingrich came in a far second. It is unknown what would have happened if Trump endorsed Gingrich instead, but it would most likely not have changed much.
Many people think Trump’s endorsement will mean that he will not be running as a third party candidate. But Trump has stated that if who he endorsed - Romney - doesn’t get the Republican nomination, he would still consider offering people himself as a third choice.
In an interview on Meet the Press, Trump said: “It’s a very sad thing that is happening to the country, and I resonate with a lot of people, and that’s why they’d like me to run.”
For now, though, before the Republican Convention in Tampa, Florida this summer, the voting continues in primaries and caucuses across America without Trump in the race.
By Kevin Hybels
However, it still remained quite a mystery as to who Trump was actually planning to endorse. A day before he was to announce it, news companies were all predicting Newt Gingrich, after a Gingrich campaign official informed them that Gingrich would be endorsed by Trump. But on February 2, Trump instead endorsed frontrunner Mitt Romney, causing another disappointment in the already failing Gingrich campaign.
Like expected, Romney won in Nevada on February 5, and Gingrich came in a far second. It is unknown what would have happened if Trump endorsed Gingrich instead, but it would most likely not have changed much.
Many people think Trump’s endorsement will mean that he will not be running as a third party candidate. But Trump has stated that if who he endorsed - Romney - doesn’t get the Republican nomination, he would still consider offering people himself as a third choice.
In an interview on Meet the Press, Trump said: “It’s a very sad thing that is happening to the country, and I resonate with a lot of people, and that’s why they’d like me to run.”
For now, though, before the Republican Convention in Tampa, Florida this summer, the voting continues in primaries and caucuses across America without Trump in the race.
By Kevin Hybels
Japanese-Built Ferry Sinks off the Coast of Lae, in Papua New Guinea
On Thursday, February 9, a ferry named The MV Rabaul Queen. This vessel is owned by PNG (Papua New Guinea) -based Rabaul Shipping.
The ferry was going from the cities of Kimbe and Lae, a trip that the ferry had made weekly for 11 years without incedent. There were 350 passengers and 12 crew members on board the ferry. Officials say that the search for the missing, which are mainly university students, resumed at daylight.
So far, 246 people have been rescued, but fears are growing that the other 100 were trapped in the ferry. Rescuers found already-inflated life rafts with no one in them. The ship sank about 10 miles east of Lae.
Most of those who have been found have sustained minor injuries-mainly cold and misery-have been sent to a local hospital.
Now, the relatives of the passengers have been angered by the lack of information. They were throwing rocks at the Company's office in Kimbe on Thursday, Australian media reported.
The cause of the wreck remains unclear. Survivors told media that the ferry was hit by huge waves before it rolled and then sank. The survivors in the water said they had to cling to debris before being rescued by six merchant vessels that were alerted by Australian authorities to go to the scene.
THe Rabaul Shipping Company said that it believed that the Rabaul Queen had been consistently making radio contact with another vessels shortly before it sank, and showed no indication of distress.
The Japanese-built vessel had undergone a dry dock service in November 2011.
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said everything would be done to establish the cause of the accident.
"We will leave no stone unturned," he said. "We cannot afford to continue to lose our people's lives. Sea transport is one of the most important forms of transportation in the country."
By Jake McCoy
The ferry was going from the cities of Kimbe and Lae, a trip that the ferry had made weekly for 11 years without incedent. There were 350 passengers and 12 crew members on board the ferry. Officials say that the search for the missing, which are mainly university students, resumed at daylight.
So far, 246 people have been rescued, but fears are growing that the other 100 were trapped in the ferry. Rescuers found already-inflated life rafts with no one in them. The ship sank about 10 miles east of Lae.
Most of those who have been found have sustained minor injuries-mainly cold and misery-have been sent to a local hospital.
Now, the relatives of the passengers have been angered by the lack of information. They were throwing rocks at the Company's office in Kimbe on Thursday, Australian media reported.
The cause of the wreck remains unclear. Survivors told media that the ferry was hit by huge waves before it rolled and then sank. The survivors in the water said they had to cling to debris before being rescued by six merchant vessels that were alerted by Australian authorities to go to the scene.
THe Rabaul Shipping Company said that it believed that the Rabaul Queen had been consistently making radio contact with another vessels shortly before it sank, and showed no indication of distress.
The Japanese-built vessel had undergone a dry dock service in November 2011.
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said everything would be done to establish the cause of the accident.
"We will leave no stone unturned," he said. "We cannot afford to continue to lose our people's lives. Sea transport is one of the most important forms of transportation in the country."
By Jake McCoy