This blog will focus on political images I have found all around the Internet, though I will intersperse some commentary and quotes that I find interesting.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Friday, February 27, 2015
Shameful American Democracy Ranks 45th In The World In Electoral Integrity
By: Rmuse
Thursday, February, 26th, 2015, 5:31 pm
.
If a person possesses the quality of being honest with strong moral principles or "moral uprightness" they are regarded as having integrity. In American politics, particularly Republican politics, integrity is not only in short supply, it is by all estimations non-existent. Between the preponderance of outright lies and deliberate deception, the hallmark of Republican politics, it is little wonder America's electoral process lacks integrity; particularly in states controlled by Republicans. In fact, despite being a so-called free democratic society with specific constitutional amendments guaranteeing all citizens the right to vote, Democrats have officially endorsed yet another constitutional amendment establishing the right to vote.
.
Now, it appears there may be a good reason for yet another voting rights amendment according to a new report placing America's "electoral integrity" on par with Colombia and Bulgaria at 45th among the world's democracies. Those nations are arguably not shining examples of democratic Utopias, so America's being in their company is not a very encouraging statistic to anyone except Koch-Republicans. It is reasonable that their goal has been eliminating anything resembling "electoral integrity" for over a decade and doubtless the celebrated America's pathetic ranking.
.
According to a report last year from the BradBlog, researchers at Harvard and the University of Sydney reported that after assessing the 2012 General Election, America ranked number 26; one step higher than Mexico and one below Micronesia. So in the course of one election America's electoral integrity declined and should surprise very few Americans. It is another world ranking embarrassment for the nation that conservatives claim is exceptional, and a telling narrative about the pathetic state of this once storied example of democracy compared to the rest of the world. It is likely that there are not many Americans who would even use the term "electoral integrity" in the same sentence with American democracy.
.
Continue reading...
Thursday, February, 26th, 2015, 5:31 pm
.
If a person possesses the quality of being honest with strong moral principles or "moral uprightness" they are regarded as having integrity. In American politics, particularly Republican politics, integrity is not only in short supply, it is by all estimations non-existent. Between the preponderance of outright lies and deliberate deception, the hallmark of Republican politics, it is little wonder America's electoral process lacks integrity; particularly in states controlled by Republicans. In fact, despite being a so-called free democratic society with specific constitutional amendments guaranteeing all citizens the right to vote, Democrats have officially endorsed yet another constitutional amendment establishing the right to vote.
.
Now, it appears there may be a good reason for yet another voting rights amendment according to a new report placing America's "electoral integrity" on par with Colombia and Bulgaria at 45th among the world's democracies. Those nations are arguably not shining examples of democratic Utopias, so America's being in their company is not a very encouraging statistic to anyone except Koch-Republicans. It is reasonable that their goal has been eliminating anything resembling "electoral integrity" for over a decade and doubtless the celebrated America's pathetic ranking.
.
According to a report last year from the BradBlog, researchers at Harvard and the University of Sydney reported that after assessing the 2012 General Election, America ranked number 26; one step higher than Mexico and one below Micronesia. So in the course of one election America's electoral integrity declined and should surprise very few Americans. It is another world ranking embarrassment for the nation that conservatives claim is exceptional, and a telling narrative about the pathetic state of this once storied example of democracy compared to the rest of the world. It is likely that there are not many Americans who would even use the term "electoral integrity" in the same sentence with American democracy.
.
Continue reading...
McDonald's Faces Investigations And Lawsuits Across The World
[It's rare, but sometimes our corporate overlords get their just desserts. - Bozo]
by Alan Pyke
Posted on February 26, 2015 at 1:43 pm Updated: February 26, 2015 at 3:38 pm
.
.
The threats to the company take two very different forms and come from separate continents. Unions asked European tax officials to investigate McDonald's on Wednesday over its alleged exploitation of a tax shelter in Luxembourg. And in Brazil on Tuesday, another group of unions filed a suit over alleged worker abuses including wage theft and poor working conditions.
.
The company's alleged misdeeds in Brazil have a very human face. The suit alleges "unwholesome and unsanitary working conditions, time-clock fraud and failure to pay mandatory unemployment and retirement insurance…below legal or contractual minimum wages, forced double-shift work without breaks, forced workers to take in-restaurant lunch breaks with employer-supplied food and failed to make mandatory severance payments," according to Reuters.
.
Some of those violations hint at how much more robust worker protections are in Brazil than in America, but others - timecard manipulation and wage theft in particular - echo key complaints from U.S. frycooks and burger-slingers. The suit purports to show that Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. - or Golden Arches Holdings, in English - has been conducting such abuses for 30 years. If the suit succeeds, the company could be barred from opening new stores in Brazil until it proves it has ended the abuses, and Arcos Dorados could be fined nearly a third of its total profits.
.
See photos and read more...
by Alan Pyke
Posted on February 26, 2015 at 1:43 pm Updated: February 26, 2015 at 3:38 pm
.
Labor unions in Europe and Brazil are asking their governments to help put a stop to McDonald's alleged hamburgling of worker wages and government tax revenues.
.
As McDonald's struggles to weather years of labor unrest and increasing government scrutiny of its treatment of workers in America, its international operations are now coming under similar pressures that could ultimately force the company to revamp its relationship with workers around the world..
The threats to the company take two very different forms and come from separate continents. Unions asked European tax officials to investigate McDonald's on Wednesday over its alleged exploitation of a tax shelter in Luxembourg. And in Brazil on Tuesday, another group of unions filed a suit over alleged worker abuses including wage theft and poor working conditions.
.
The company's alleged misdeeds in Brazil have a very human face. The suit alleges "unwholesome and unsanitary working conditions, time-clock fraud and failure to pay mandatory unemployment and retirement insurance…below legal or contractual minimum wages, forced double-shift work without breaks, forced workers to take in-restaurant lunch breaks with employer-supplied food and failed to make mandatory severance payments," according to Reuters.
.
Some of those violations hint at how much more robust worker protections are in Brazil than in America, but others - timecard manipulation and wage theft in particular - echo key complaints from U.S. frycooks and burger-slingers. The suit purports to show that Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. - or Golden Arches Holdings, in English - has been conducting such abuses for 30 years. If the suit succeeds, the company could be barred from opening new stores in Brazil until it proves it has ended the abuses, and Arcos Dorados could be fined nearly a third of its total profits.
.
See photos and read more...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)