Away with Words

Moment to moment

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:25:01 +0100

Moment to momentLove divides,Bitten tongues,Bloodshot eyes. Moment to momentDreams collide,Moments...

Tomorrow

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:06:07 +0100

I am an impatient patient,Fraught with anxiety ancient,Waters too shallow for sorrow,Focused today...

Silence

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:18:56 +0100

Bullies in the playground,Bullies in the sky,Bullies never answerWhen you ask why.

As promised, here are some shots from our last day in the...

Sat, 25 May 2013 12:30:07 +0100

As promised, here are some shots from our last day in the studio.

Thanks to Joey Kenny, the multi-talented man behind the camera and the recordings.

The full gallery is here: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Conor-Ebbs-Lute-73-00036/8906613

Rage Circuit

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:32:17 +0100

Good men muse on murder,Bad men spill the blood.Evil feeds the flower,Beauty feeds the bud.

Cold

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:51:32 +0100

Love is all you need, Or so I have been told, Yet lovers often bleed, And sometimes end up cold.

Tedium

Sun, 12 May 2013 21:27:47 +0100

Harpist in the cotton clouds, Answer this for me: How do you bear the tedium Of immortality?

myjetpack: My new book of cartoons “You’re All Just Jealous...

Mon, 06 May 2013 17:55:19 +0100

myjetpack:

My new book of cartoons “You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack” is out now. Details are here.

Pawn

Sun, 05 May 2013 22:52:48 +0100

The wise never worship,No heroes they claim,No wish to play pawnIn a perilous game.

A Smile

Thu, 02 May 2013 19:50:11 +0100

FriendsA knock on the doorA smileShoes on the floor. TruthUnwise to withholdA lookStories...

Australian Property Bubble

Wed, 01 May 2013 17:55:01 +0100

After a conversation with a friend a few months ago, I started doing some research on property...

In Waste

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:25:44 +0100

Rejection of reasonIn favour of fervourSeasons each fruitWith a fictional flavour,Until every...

Star-eyed

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 21:56:00 +0100

It’s no surprise That eyes like ours Should see the skies Consumed by stars.

the-lone-pamphleteer: Bangladeshi garment factory collapses,...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:35:47 +0100

the-lone-pamphleteer:

Bangladeshi garment factory collapses, killing 96, and the media once again reports half of the story
April 24, 2013

Ninety-six people died (and over a thousand were injured) making our clothes in Bangladesh today when the factory in which they were working collapsed. The tragedy is the latest in a troubling series of Bangladeshi factory fires, including a January fire that killed several teenagers, a November fire that killed 112, and a December 2010 fire that injured over 100 and killed 27 in a factory supplying Gap clothes.

The factory owners apparently detected a dangerous crack in the building yesterday, but ignored the warning and allowed workers to enter the building for work today.

One fireman told Reuters about 2,000 people were in the building when the upper floors slammed down onto those below.

The world’s biggest garment producers and retailers, including Wal-Mart, Sears, and Disney, have succeeded in limiting their legal liability as well as public scorn by constructing elaborate supply chains that make the Western corporations appear only distantly connected to these third-world tragedies. Businesses in the building that collapsed today had names like Phantom Apparels Ltd., New Wave Style Ltd., New Wave Bottoms Ltd. and New Wave Brothers Ltd., (Ltd. meaning limited liability), but sell to major retailers including Benetton, The Children’s Place and Dress Barn, according to CBS.

The reality is that virtually all of the clothes we buy in America and Europe come from countries like Bangladesh (which is now the second largest exporter of garments due to its extremely low wages and dangerous working conditions). According to the U.S. Department of Labor, between five and fifteen million 10- to 14- year-old children work in garment factories in Bangladesh. Seventy-five to ninety percent of garment workers are women.

There is no paid leave for holidays, and salary is deducted if the child is absent, or for unproductive periods when the electricity in the factory temporarily goes out. Girls under 15 years of age are preferred in these factories, as they work for less, are more likely to be unmarried with no children or domestic responsibilities, and cause no labor problems.

Media coverage of workplace disasters abroad rarely make connections to these aspects of the average worker’s experience, nor do they interrogate connections to American and European companies that ultimately enjoy the profit margin on the goods produced. When those companies are mentioned, they typically decline to comment, as Wal-Mart did today, or deny that they have any official contracts with the local businesses, which is made easier by generally shoddy paperwork and little international enforcement of labor and trade regulations.

Every few months we see news of Bangladeshi factory fires and deaths. What are those in power doing to prevent the next catastrophe? And how often do we base our own consumption choices on the working conditions of people who actually sewed the clothes, cleaned the smartphone screens, picked the tomatoes, mined the minerals? As Americans, must we continue to live in perpetual guilt about the consequences of our daily behavior?

(Photo from Reuters)

The Role Of The Media In Propping Up Ireland’s Housing Bubble

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:40:38 +0100

“The overall argument is that the Irish media are part and parcel of the political and...

The Moral Life of Babies

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:58:39 +0100

The aspect of morality that we truly marvel at — its generality and universality — is the product of...

Anxiety

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:02:18 +0100

Anxiety: a disease of unease. Symptoms: racing heart, chasing mind, unrefined expressions,...

Stink

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:13:35 +0100

Democracy and tyrannyAre polls apart, you know,Don’t entertain conspiracy,It’s safer...

Sky Sketching

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 20:29:05 +0100

Seagulls in the wind,Black against the sky,Charcoal on the canvas,Sketching as they fly. Fool upon...

Soften

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:59:06 +0100

Time softens the skin,Death softens the glow,Life softens the mind,Love softens the blow.