Chris Daly's green beads of shame
The "true believers" who follow Chris Daly are instantly recognizable by their wearing of strands of green Mardi Gras beads. While on a superficial level, one might associate green beads with the Green movement (or environmental awareness in general), beads also have very San Franciscan "flower-power" associations, and thus are a perfect way for Daly's flock to identify themselves. The Daly campaign even pushes its green beads on children, in a rather tasteless display of using kids who are too young to know anything about politics, for political gain.
What is not known to any of the children, not known to most of Daly's adult supporters, and certainly not admitted by Daly's campaign is that -- far from being symbols of political correctness and progressive values -- their green Mardi Gras beads carry a shameful legacy. In fact, just about all of the Mardi Gras beads that are sold in the US come from one factory in China, the Tai Kuen Ornament Company.
There, in the prison-like factory complex in Fuzhou, in the southern province of Fujian, hundreds of women as young as 14 work in a envirnment that can only be described as "Dickensian". Their days of laboring with the plastics, dyes and threads that go into making Mardi Gras beads, last for 14 to 20 hours, and leave their hands stained and often bleeding. For their labor, they are paid the princely sum of 10 cents per hour, although their pay will be docked if they are caught speaking with their co-workers, as the owner enforces a policy of silence.
The deplorable working conditions of the women in these sweatshops were recently documented by independent filmmaker David Redmon, in his recent film "Mardi Gras: Made in China". Take a look at the film's trailer and see for yourself where the Daly Campaign gets their green beads.
The next time you see a "true believer" in their Daly beads, ask them if they know where their beads came from, and if they care that their political symbols were made by girls working for 10 cents an hour in a sweatshop.
posted by the clicker at 6:56 PM
7 Comments:
Daly's "true believers". I guess you're talking about this guy.
The "true believers" are drinking the kool-aid more than ever. Witness their support for Daly as he backs Prop F and Prop G on this November's ballot. One is unanimously anti-small business (F) and is opposed by many of the city's small business associations. The other one - in Chris Daly's words - is “the Small Business Protection Act”.
A guy like that should have his head checked out.
Daly's "true believers". I guess you're talking about this guy.
The "true believers" are drinking the kool-aid more than ever. Witness their support for Daly as he backs Prop F and Prop G on this November's ballot. One is unanimously anti-small business (F) and is opposed by many of the city's small business associations. The other one - in Chris Daly's words - is “the Small Business Protection Act”.
A guy like that should have his head checked out.
Martha Bridegam said...
Quick, who made your pants? Where? Under what conditions?
And what have you or Rob Black done to defend the sweatshop workers right here in District 6?
I hate to break it to you Martha, but every article of clothing I own was made before 1975; I prefer vintage clothing to new, and I can't afford new clothes. Besides that, I'm a vegan, so even if I did like modern clothes and could afford them, I wouldn't buy anything new made of animal products, which rules out most new clothing and shoes.
As for "what has Rob Black done to defend the sweatshop workers right here in District 6?" --that's an asinine question. Perhaps you've forgotten, but Rob Black hasn't been in charge of District 6 for the past 6 years. That honor goes to Chris Daly. So if there are sweatshops in D6, then it's yet another example of how Daly has failed his constituents.
It's even more asinine since The Daly Show does not endorse Rob Black, or indeed, any other candidate. Its focus is on the failures of Chris Daly (see above).
martha is obviously a troll.
Martha - do you offer coffee to men passed out on the street? At all hours? Really, all by yourself?
Do you call an ambulance?
Where were your clothes made? Non-sweatshop labor? Do you run around and tell all your friends to buy t-shirts at the gap to show their support for you?
your non-sequitor questions for tendernob's posts belies your adolescent understanding of how politics, cities and even human beings actually work.
Perhaos you are not aware of this, but some people would rather starve to death or die rather than accept charity or beg. even in Mexico, the government encourages you not to give children money (which they obviously desperately need) because it encourages parents to send them out begging rather than attend school.
you can draw a parallel here. the awesome social services that we all enjoy tend to attract some very visible con artists who want to work the system for as much money as they can. by allowing it to continue, we participate and enable the suffering of many people - including chronic drug addicts and the mentally ill. we are not doing people a favor by allowing them to smoke crack, pass out and piss on the streets. It just so happens that we are not doing ourselves a favor either.
Just because we don't like to see it does not mean that we are mean people. do you get that? do you get that human suffering needs to be addressed not only individually, but by a system that is equipped to handle the violence, the suffering and the long-term care that many people require?
compassionate individuals see the need for this effort.
Compassion does not mean looking the other way. Compassion does not require offering a drunk a cup of coffee. I think you are mistaking compassion for chronic enabling. you and Chris Daly seem to have that in common.
I'm surprised to be called a "troll" when I'm the only speaker here using my own full real name and hence verifiably a voter in the district.
Now, I'm going to repeat a link that the editor of this site did not allow to appear when I submitted it here Saturday. It is a direct on-topic response to the "Green Beads" post at the top of this thread. Here's the link:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2004/07/25/16901161.php
And this isn't about me, but, well, over the last sixteen years I really have called a lot of ambulances around here. Also cops when necessary. What I wonder is, when the other posters here see a crisis that is a job for the paramedics, do they call the cops instead?
Thanks for publishing the link, but as published the end of it was cut off. The full link is http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2004/07/25/16901161.php , ending in the characters "...16901161.php" and it depicts Chris Daly making an appearance in support of Ben Davis garment workers.
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