land of hope and glory

From: David Icke.com

"Long-term unemployed workers say they were bussed to London to act as stewards for the Queen's Jubilee, told they would be paid for the work and cared for while in town. When they arrived, they were told they wouldn't get paid (this was 'work experience' not a job), and were made to strip down and change into uniforms in public, pitch tents in the rain, sleep under a bridge, and left without toilet facilities for 24 hours. They were told that if they didn't accept this 'training,' they wouldn't be considered for work during the Olympics."
— Cory Doctorow, bOING bOING
Read more...

clean lines; dirty hands: the dilemma of the fetish object

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

"In the wake of a spate of suicides at Foxconn factories last summer, workers were asked to sign a statement promising not to kill themselves and pledging to 'treasure their lives.'" Read more...

Here's what Foxconn says:
"[...] Today, Foxconnian SER Policy has evolved into a broad coverage of issues that focus on environmental protection and energy conservation, the health and safety of communities around the world, education and employee empowerment, social harmony and equality and arts and culture." Read more...

See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn
and:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_24/b4182035750226.htm