Outis

iPod sweatshops

“We have to work too hard and I am always tired. It’s like being in the army. They make us stand still for hours. If we move, we are punished by being made to stand still for longer.”

The charges sound deplorable, in that they could reveal the sad truth that Apple is not unlike any other successful global company that relies on cheap labor in poor countries to produce its machines. It might particularly shock the relatively wealthy customers whose attractive little iPod packages proudly proclaim that they are “Designed for Apple in California.”

Foreign Policy’s Passport blog:

It’s a little surprising that these information technology companies haven’t been more prepared for all the complications that come from doing business in China. I mean, they trade in information. In China. It’s not soft drinks or hamburgers, folks.

That was one of the stories from today’s Morning Edition on NPR. The gist: it’s hard to get enough Mandarin teachers to meet the demand in elite circles.

The closing “shot” describes a third grader, blonde, reciting some Chinese. My response: why bother trying to find teachers to teach these white kids Chinese?

Just adopt more kids from China — the software is preloaded. Bundled, even.

Erlier today I found out about Chinlone.com via MetaFilter.

When I showed it to my friend Federico, a big soccer fan, he remarked that it was interesting they were wearing soccer uniforms — or variations thereof.

It wasn’t until I showed it to Ana that I realized that the ball they’re using is not the size of a soccer ball. In fact, the odd thing is that it’s decorated like a soccer ball, at all. It could be any color or pattern. That it does look like a soccer ball is not a coincidence.

If anything, this sport — and art — is more like footbag than futbol. So why the references to the latter?

Well, if you’re planning to export the traditional “non-competitive sport” and dance of Myanmar to a global aduience, you’d best package it in the universal language of soccer.

Emily Wax, East Africa bureau chief for The Washington Post has written this excellent and important summary: 5 Truths About Darfur. This is just a taste — she provides the background.

1 Nearly everyone is Muslim
2 Everyone is black
3 It’s all about politics
4 This conflict is international
5 The “genocide” label made it worse

(via Passport)