Rage's Tom Morello leads protest at NAMM Show

[Cruznolfart]

"Tom Morello, guitarist for Rage Against The Machine and Street Sweeper Social Club, likes to stir things up. Hot off the heels of his stunning win for the No. 1 Xmas single in the UK with Rage's Killing In The Name, the modern-day Pete Seeger is looking to throw the 2010 NAMM Show for a loop."

 

image is link

 

[cwness]

Let's see first it was buying illegal Rosewood and now it's sweat shop workers

in the Epi factory oh and let's not forget them being one of the worst places

to work in the US. Makes you think WTF is going on.

 

 

CW

[Corrosion of conformity]

Seems to be a just cause. I hope this helps the workers.

[Cruznolfart]

Let's see first it was buying illegal Rosewood and now it's sweat shop workers

in the Epi factory oh and let's not forget them being one of the worst places

to work in the US. Makes you think WTF is going on.

 

 

CW

 

I think there have always been activist-musicians; it serves both ends well. And, if the cause if legitimate, rather than just pandering, I say more power to them. You often don't have to scratch too deep to find the hypocrisy, though.

[ChanMan]

I dunno man. The paint fumes thing notwithstanding, it sounds like they are grousing about having to show up early for shiftwork, occasionally being required to work overtime to meet specific deadlines, keeping personal information private (like pay raises) and giving different workers different raises.

 

All of that happens here and is perfectly legal. Salaried employees are sometimes required to work non standard work weeks in order to meet deadlines. I was required to be on a conference call for IBM for 36 hours straight... welcome to the world of IT. My dad had to report to work an hour before his shift started at Ford Glass so they could make sure everything transitioned smoothly, and worked seven days a week for years on end. Xerox Corp. routinely screwed after hours callout and on-call pay in favor of the bottom line. The local management was caught more than once fudging the numbers they fed their employees to make things seem far more dire than they were. Not ethical, but not illegal, either. Let's face it, not everyone works with the same degree of expertise, so raises will vary. How many folks do YOU know at work who suck, and yet think they are God's gift to the company? I've known loads...

 

Everything else I've read from the employee testimony is either poor health care... and I mean the doctors suck, which is not really the company's fault... or the employees are ignorant, which is also not the company's fault. They also mentioned the Union... so where was the Union while all these "helpless" employees were being "spoken meanly to" and "moved to other production lines"?

 

While I'm certain there were violations, the employee testimonials the CORT ACTION website provides are almost laughable at times. I think I'll take a pass unless I hear something more substantial than "there are no windows in the plant".

 

 

I'm not being Trollish here... I went to the "good guys" website and read THEIR testimonials, and formed an opinion. I'd suggest you do the same, as well.

 

 

[Cruznolfart]

I dunno man. The paint fumes thing notwithstanding' date=' it sounds like they are grousing about having to show up early for shiftwork, occasionally being required to work overtime to meet specific deadlines, keeping personal information private (like pay raises) and giving different workers different raises.

 

All of that happens here and is perfectly legal. Salaried employees are sometimes required to work non standard work weeks in order to meet deadlines. I was required to be on a conference call for IBM for 36 hours straight... welcome to the world of IT. My dad had to report to work an hour before his shift started at Ford Glass so they could make sure everything transitioned smoothly, and worked seven days a week for years on end. Xerox Corp. routinely screwed after hours callout and on-call pay in favor of the bottom line. The local management was caught more than once fudging the numbers they fed their employees to make things seem far more dire than they were. Not ethical, but not illegal, either. Let's face it, not everyone works with the same degree of expertise, so raises will vary. How many folks do YOU know at work who suck, and yet think they are God's gift to the company? I've known loads...

 

Everything else I've read from the employee testimony is either poor health care... and I mean the doctors suck, which is not really the company's fault... or the employees are ignorant, which is also not the company's fault. They also mentioned the Union... so where was the Union while all these "helpless" employees were being "spoken meanly to" and "moved to other production lines"?

 

While I'm certain there were violations, the employee testimonials the CORT ACTION website provides are almost laughable at times. I think I'll take a pass unless I hear something more substantial than "there are no windows in the plant".

 

 

I'm not being Trollish here... I went to the "good guys" website and read THEIR testimonials, and formed an opinion. I'd suggest you do the same, as well.

 

 

 

 

I thought I had expressed my opinion. And, in re-reading my post I see that, indeed, I did.

[ChanMan]

I think there have always been activist-musicians; it serves both ends well. And' date=' if the cause if legitimate, rather than just pandering, I say more power to them. You often don't have to scratch too deep to find the hypocrisy, though.[/quote']

 

 

I thought this was rather neutral, as in not one one side or the other...

 

May I assume your opinion is "neutral" then?

 

 

I could respect the hell out of that in this particular scenario

[Cruznolfart]

I thought this was rather neutral' date=' as in not one one side or the other...

 

May I assume your opinion is "neutral" then?

 

 

I could respect the hell out of that in this particular scenario

 

Ambiguity is an American tradition. Neutrality comes from hearing an offsetting amount of fertilizer from both sides of a real issue. I can do both equally well.

[ChanMan]

For some reason, it reminds me of this:

 

 

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

Can't quite put my finger on it.....

 

 

 

 

and for you Rush fans who were bumming about the end of that video like I was....

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTD1QW3SM60&feature=related

 

 

[Cruznolfart]

I'm a tree guy. I thank them when I cut them down for firewood or lumber. I love 'em. I hug 'em and talk and sing to 'em. This is more of what I believe.

 

http://music.princeton.edu/~hfaa/mp3s/The_Maples_Lament_(Lewis).mp3

 

The Maple's Lament

 

 

(Laurie Lewis/Spruce and Maple Music)

From "Restless Rambling Heart" (Flying Fish 406)

 

 

When I was alive the birds would nest upon my boughs

And all through long winter nights the storms would 'round me howl

And when the day would come, I'd raise my branches to the sun

I was the child of earth and sky, and all the world was one

 

 

But now that I am dead the birds no longer sing in me

And I feel no more the wind and rain as when I was a tree

But bound so tight in wire strings, I have no room to grow

And I am but the slave who sings, when master draws the bow

 

 

But sometimes from my memory I can sing the birds in flight

And I can sing of sweet dark earth and endless starry nights

But oh, my favorite song of all, I truly do believe

Is the song the sunlight sang for me while dancing on my leaves

[MojoRedFoot]

That kinda stinks considering Korean made guitars (at least all the ones I own/owned) are very well built. My Korean LTDs are real solid, I had a Korean made BC Rich that was great. Next to Japan, they are the best guitars to come from Asia. Guitars manufactured in China suck (not just the counterfiets), Indonesia, meh.

[Cruznolfart]

That kinda stinks considering Korean made guitars (at least all the ones I own/owned) are very well built. My Korean LTDs are real solid' date=' I had a Korean made BC Rich that was great. Next to Japan, they are the best guitars to come from Asia. Guitars manufactured in China suck (not just the counterfiets), Indonesia, meh.[/quote']

 

Welp, I can't argue with the fact that Korean made instruments are generally of a higher quality than the same ones made in other Asian countries aside from Japan. And I guess I can understand how the Korean workers would feel the international forum is the place for their arguments, as opposed to a local campaign. And, while I do empathize with anyone having to work under unsafe conditions, as well as some of the other conditions to which the workers alluded, I can't help but wonder about how most Americans will feel. Some of those jobs that the Koreans are complaining about used to be in America. They were moved because it was more profitable for the stock-holders due to less stringent demands from labor, as well as a lower standard of living. For better or worse, from whatever specific point-of-view you may hold, it's an interesting turn of events to say the least.

[Rocky4]

Jeremiah 17.9

[MojoRedFoot]

Welp' date=' I can't argue with the fact that Korean made instruments are generally of a higher quality than the same ones made in other Asian countries aside from Japan. And I guess I can understand how the Korean workers would feel the international forum is the place for their arguments, as opposed to a local campaign. And, while I do empathize with anyone having to work under unsafe conditions, as well as some of the other conditions to which the workers alluded, I can't help but wonder about how most Americans will feel. Some of those jobs that the Koreans are complaining about used to be in America. They were moved because it was more profitable for the stock-holders due to less stringent demands from labor, as well as a lower standard of living. For better or worse, from whatever specific point-of-view you may hold, it's an interesting turn of events to say the least.[/quote']

 

Agreed. First time guitar buyers always ask me what they are paying for. I tell them "Labor."

[guitargreg1993]

tom morello is a ***. jus' sayin. ;)

[Cruznolfart]

tom morello is a ***. jus' sayin. :-

 

And that is relevant...exactly how? ;)

[guitargreg1993]

And that is relevant...exactly how?

 

idk. i just dont like tom morello. thats why i said "jus' sayin." duh.

[Cruznolfart]

idk. i just dont like tom morello. thats why i said "jus' sayin." duh. :-

 

This is one of those generational things; isn't it? Really; who cares who you or I like? I mean my generation was taught that if you had nothing good to say about someone it was best just to say nothing at all. But if you had a bad experience with someone or knew something relevant about them' date=' I could understand you're bringing it up.

 

Did you have a bad experience with Tom Morello?

[milod]

Okay, here's the problem... I happen to like Korea. A lot.

 

My first trip there in 1987 you could get a nice wool hand-tailored suit for iunder $100 from a top-end shop. In 1995, my last trip, forget it The price tripled or more.

 

Why? The Korean economy was booming because, among other things, people worked darned hard and wanted a better life and they were unwilling to be a third-world mess.

 

Ah, but there's the rub. As they wanted to keep working at X, Y or Z jobs, it became obvious they also wanted paychecks to live as "first world" folks did.

 

So the factories, as they did in the U.S. when they moved to Japan, then Korea, now China and heaven knows where else, left the country for places where they could pay lower wages and make higher profits.

 

The low-wage countries liked it because there were better jobs; the high wage countries - like the U.S., then Japan, then Korea, then??? Don't like it 'cuz it means unemployment for skilled workers.

 

Hey, the same thing happens everywhere. India may soon be "the" headquarters for Microsoft, the way it looks.

 

It's a vicious circle and frankly I'm not sure there's an answer to it. The wheels say, "retrain the workers," but as we've seen in the US, it's far easier said than done - and it's far easier to retrain people than to have "value added" production once production went off shore.

 

Heck, nobody buys made in the US shirts any more, nor shoes... The jobs went where overall expenses, including taxes, are less. Period. And folks, it already happened here and it's still happening.

 

Don't blame Gibson or Fender as corporate entities. It seems to happen every time there's a company too big for a single family ownership.

 

And it's gettin' worse.

 

m

[guitargreg1993]

Did you have a bad experience with Tom Morello?

 

lol

[jaxson50]

I wonder if Tom Morello wears shoes made in a sweat shop in China? Like Nike or New Balance etc?

[Cruznolfart]

I wonder if Tom Morello wears shoes made in a sweat shop in China? Like Nike or New Balance etc?

 

I couldn't say' date=' but I'd be willing to bet someone here knows if his feet stink!

[milod]

Hey Jax...

 

I was pretty happy with my Ariat boots I bought a cupla years ago until I noticed...

 

"Made in China."

 

Say what?

 

BTW, I had a pair of buckaroo boots made for me in Seoul. The city guys don't get it, so they didn't put a spur ridge on the heel. The one and only pair I had made there, I'll tell yah. They thought it was a variation on an English riding boot, so it just plain didn't make it at all.

 

But boots are one of the few things one might buy for apparel that's made in North America. I think Wrangler jeans are made in Mexico, but that's at least on the continent and helps neighbors across the border if not in Texas ... so I have mixed emotions on that one...

 

I'm reminded of asking a German ag ministry guy why his country doesn't buy as much US wheat as it used to. The answer was that if American farmers went broke, they couldn't walk to Germany to get into the welfare system... Hmmm.

 

My background makes me see the world as shrinking and the economy joined, but I think there are problems when Americans find it difficult to find anything made in this country. And for that, yeah, I tend to blame government that helps encourage such tax and other stuff to the point there's almost a disdain shown U.S. business.

 

And Jax... Yeah, kinda like the ladies who protest against wearing fur while wearing leather shoes. <grin>

 

m

[jaxson50]

Milrod.

I don't have a problem with stuff made in China as long as (a) I know it was made there and ( it is priced accordingly.

Ariat boots are not cheap and I bet the company didn't lower the price when they shifted production to China and their production cost went down considerably.

That being said I do not trust food products from China, and yes there are food stuff's from the US I wouldn't eat either! I know what goes into hot dog's, and it ain't going into me.

When I was a kid growing up on the Calif. Mexico border we would go across the border a few times a year to visit a saddle maker my family had known for many years. He would measure our feet with strings, first string toe to heel, second string across the ball of the foot tying it to the first string, then a string across the heel, tying it to the first string.

A week later we would return to pick up our shoes, hand made fit like a glove and they would last one whole school year! The saddles this man built were a work of art. Craftsmanship can be found all over the world. That is what I fear we will lose.

[Murph]