Personally, I think avoiding them all year is a good idea. This story on Air America's website is based on the book:The Blue Pages: A Directory of Companies Rated By Their Politics And Practices. It's quite interesting in the information it gives you, like the following:

The Children's Place. There are supposedly NO redeeming qualities about this corporation. They get their goods from countries noted for their human rights and labor violations, not to mention they were hit with a 1.5 million dollar fine from the SEC for misrepresenting the company. Also worth noting: Two of the CEO family members did jail time for monkeying around with clothing import documents.

Hanes.Besides the usual "being sued by workers" and "works with countries with widespread, well-documented human and labor rights abuses," Hanes went the extra step to be cited for "egregious labor violations." And while most companies at least try, it has no nondiscrimination policy covering sexual orientation or gender identity.

JCPenney. Settlements for sweatshop practices and racial discrimination. D- on Green America's scorecard and a D+ from the NAACP. On the other hand, it tries harder than Hanes on the sexual orientation issue. Has a written nondiscrimination policy and has insurance coverage for domestic partners.

Limited Brands Inc. They own brands like Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works among other well-known stores. There's a pending lawsuit that claims that the company fired people based on disability and sexual orientation, although that seems at odds with a pretty good LGBT discrimination and insurance policy. The now scarily common "sourced from countries with widespread, well-documented human and labor rights abuses" rears its head here as does a 23 out 100 score on "The Climate Counts Company Scorecard Report."


Albertson's grocery chain. This company isn't as nationally well known as some of the others, but, man, is it involved with some bad stuff. Unpaid overtime, punishing employees for opposing their discrimination policies, and violations of California anti-trust laws. Intimidates workers into refusing unions and, always a classic, allows its pharmacists to refuse to fill morning after pill prescriptions.

L'OREAL.  There's not a lot bad about this company, really. But it does raise eyebrows that they've been accused of using chemicals banned in some countries and tried to hide that fact. And that it has no policy against animal testing.

Target. This one really hurt. But it has a D+ on Green America's score card and an F on the 2006 NAACP Economic Reciprocity Report Initiative report, besides which it had to settle a racial discrimination lawsuit. And of course: "sourced from countries with widespread, well-documented human and labor rights abuses."

Chiquita. Everything is contaminated. They've threatened unionized workers and have been accused of using pesticides which the U.S. has banned. And were involved in the awesome E. coli spinach recall of 2007. Despite that, has been pretty good about doing outreach and assisting in disaster relief.

So, read this and weep..especially if you frequent some of them like I do. I was unaware of Victoria's Secret's connection to the Limited Brands Inc umbrella. I also was not aware of how smarmy Target had become. The Ball n' Chain™ loves to grocery shop at Albertson's. I am gonna love explaining to him why I will no longer shop there for anything, regardless of how 'great' the deals are.

Hanes really surprised me..and I so like their female underwear line..damn it.

Corporations make conscious decisions to buy from specific countries, knowing full well how the garments are being made. For me, there is also no excuse for using animals to test makeup. I know some will not agree with me, but I refuse to give my money to corporations that inflict pain and agony on animals just so women can look good.

Seriously..I really thought Palin would be smart enough to stay away from the birther bullshit.

Apparently I gave her way too much credit. Friggin nutter and major publicity whore.




Oh, and don't forget to bring your wallet as she now charges for a picture of her. 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Ball n' Chain™ is a type 2 diabetic. He is also a diabetic that doesn't pay attention to his disease. A couple of weeks ago, I got to sit in on one of his doctor appointments. He never lets me go, and I stopped asking a long time ago.

I was there because I was going to get my flu shots, but they were out of them. When they called the BnC's name I just followed him into the examination room. His doctor is my doctor but Dr. Miller will not discuss the BnC's health with me due to one of those laws that protects patient confidentiality. I can tell him things about the BnC but he can't tell me.

Anywho..the Doc took the opportunity to drop the bomb that the BnC needed to go on insulin injections. The BnC became agitated and said no way no how, he has a phobia of needles. I then took the opportunity to tell him, quite loudly and in front of the Doc, that if he didn't do what he had to, to say alive and somewhat healthy, I would be permanently relocating my ass somewhere else in the world besides Bakersfrigginfield. 

I was not going to watch him slowly die. Nope, I wouldn't. He already is fighting glaucoma because he doesn't take care of himself and his disease.

This made the Doc and the BnC sit up and take notice. The Doc said we could give it the old college try, meaning a strict diet and...cough..exercise for three months and see if that made a difference in his blood sugar levels.

So, we enrolled in some expensive classes that our insurance actually pays for..Wellness classes for diabetics.

We have attended two, two hour, classes this week. I have learned so much about his disease and sadly..so has he. Sad because he should of known some of those things, but like I said in the beginning..he never gave a shit because he thinks if you take a pill or two..or ten, then you can do whatever you want and the med's take care of what ails ya.

He really jumped into the program with both feet. I am so proud of him..the old bastard actually walked for 15 minutes..uphill!

Baby steps..it's all about baby steps.

Because I love that fat old bastard like you wouldn't believe, and he worships my leftwing ass. These changes will affect my life too, but it's worth it. It will actually be good for me to eat better and all the things that go along with taking better care of one's self.We actually have a good reason to spend quality time together, discussing his meter readings and how to attack this disease that can slowly take his life.

I know..it's not a political post..but fuck it. I wanted to praise the BnC so that everyone that reads this tripe knows he is making the effort after years, hell 15 years of neglecting his disease. And we will succeed. Because I hate to lose. And I refuse to lose this grand old fucker who actually is a good human being, former republican and a lazy, stubborn Okie.

 Where do you think his speech was on the Bullshit Meter? Off the fucking charts.

Well, what did you think of his plan man? Same shit, different President.

Did ya think he sold it to the majority of Americans? Oh hell no.

Do ya think it's a war worth fighting for another eight fucking years? Not only no but fuck no.

Do ya think he sounded like an eloquent used car salesman who is trying like hell to sell ya a piece of shit yet he makes it sound like the best deal out there? Yep, that sums it up.

I know he told us that he would continue to fight this war, but for the love of Buddha..why prop up another fucked up regime with billions borrowed from China? Don't ask me I am just a pissed off voter..nothing more and nothing less. And there are millions just like me, Dems, Repubs and Indy's alike.

I personally do not consider this news a good thing. The main reason is that Comcast is run by assholes that are nowhere near the center politically. Comcast has been known to consider left of center groups as the enemy and refused to allow their emailings to get to Comcast customers. From the NYT:

Under the current outlines of the agreement between G.E. and Comcast, NBC Universal would be put into a new joint venture, between the two giants. Comcast would pour billions of dollars in cash and its own cable channels for a 51 percent stake, while G.E. would hold an initial 49 percent and contribute about $12 billion in debt.

G.E., which has owned NBC for more than two decades, is expected to eventually sell its ownership interest to Comcast over the next several years.

This sale does not make me feel warm and fuzzy. Not by a longshot.

Once the Canadian Walmart employees unionized, the Quebec Walmart shut it's doors permanently. The former employees then sued Wally World under the Quebec labor code. From Jurist;

 The Supreme Court of Canada on Friday upheld the right of Wal-Mart Inc., the world's largest retailer, to close its operations in Jonquiere, Quebec, shortly after a union attempted to organize employees in 2005. In a 6-3 decision, the court held that there was no law or precedent that forced an employer to stay in business. The suit was filed by laid off Wal-Mart workers who claimed that the retailer violated labor laws by shutting down its operations while negotiations were taking place for a collective agreement. The former employees also alleged that Wal-Mart had a history of being anti-union and that the closure of the store was a direct attack against the employees being involved with the union. The former employees brought suit under section 17 of the Quebec Labour Code, which states that an employee may not be sanctioned for exercising any right under the Code. The court indicated that the former employees could have brought suit under section 12 instead, noting that:

A claim under s. 12 is logical because the essential thrust of the appellant's position is not that he alone or with some colleagues was singled out for discriminatory treatment but that Wal-Mart targeted generally the rights of all employees at the Jonquiere store (and elsewhere). Jobs were lost not only by union supporters but by others who were indifferent about the union or who were altogether against union representation.

Wal-Mart claims that it closed the store due to poor financial performance coupled with demands by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union to hire more employees pursuant to the first collective agreement. Wal-mart won both at the Quebec Superior Court and the Quebec Court of Appeals. This was the first North American Wal-Mart to become unionized.

Ain't that some shit?  Kinda makes you go hmmmm...I knew Wally World was staunchly anti-union...but to close a store? And do NOT tell me it was closed for business reasons because that is total horseshit. Walmart closed a meat dept in a TX store because they unionized under the meat cutters national union:

The world's largest retail chain has fiercely and successfully resisted unionization attempts at its 3,600 stores in the United States. Its closest call ended in Texas in 2000 when the store eliminated its meat department after 11 meat cutters voted to join a union. United Food and Commercial Workers is mounting a fresh campaign to organize Wal-Mart workers in the United States, a push it says has been given impetus by recent legal action and a former company vice president's contention that he surreptitiously organized anti-union activities.

Fuckers...Sam Walton and his relatives can take a long walk off a very short pier. I know..Sam is dead but his smarmy 'vision' remains intact.