tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72126649382914667162024-03-05T01:46:16.399-08:00Go Figure...Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198689517878201943noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7212664938291466716.post-37982446972690918282014-11-02T13:52:00.004-08:002014-11-02T13:53:22.171-08:00Dia de Los Muertos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198689517878201943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7212664938291466716.post-23089946999913063712014-11-02T13:51:00.002-08:002014-11-02T13:51:16.078-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I know... it is often hard to get inspired by the choices, as the actions blur-- but I was taught this in High School & it has been a useful philosophy-- <i><b>Vote against the candidate you think will do the most harm</b></i>.<br />I have had to *hold my nose* to vote-- voting against the worst of the choices.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> Not voting, is akin to voting for the worst candidate. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">People fought long & hard to have the right to vote, lets honor them & keep the worst of the lot out of office.</span></div>
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<br />Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198689517878201943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7212664938291466716.post-37398651235304405742014-06-03T22:21:00.000-07:002014-06-03T22:21:07.973-07:00Rest in Peace Maya Angelou<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Rest in Peace, Dr. Maya Angelou</span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #898f9c; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">THE OBITUARY OF DR. MAYA ANGELOU<br />Dr. Maya Angelou was born to Vivian Baxter and Bailey Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928. She passed to her Heavenly Reward quietly on May 28, 2014 in her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She is survived by her son, daughter-in-law, two grandsons and two great-grandchildren, a nephew, a niece, grandnieces, great-grandnieces, grandnephews, great-g<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">randnephews and a host of beloveds.<br /><br />From the time she was a child, Dr. Angelou proved that she was a unique individual with amazing commitment and focus. The birth of her son when she was seventeen did not prevent her from continuing in pursuit of her dreams for a creative career. From her start as a singer in San Francisco’s Purple Onion and Hungry I in 1953 to the installation of her portrait in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. in 2014, she was continuously on a dramatic, musical or political stage.<br /><br />She was a dancer, a singer, an actress, a poet, a writer, a magazine editor, a playwright, a film director as well as a college lecturer, full Professor and a fearless, outspoken activist. She never let her various vocations inhibit her activism or her willingness to speak out against injustice and inequality. She performed in a number of major productions. She was in both the 1954 International Touring Company and the subsequent movie of Porgy and Bess. She was also in the 1977 television series of Alex Haley’s Roots and in the 1995 film How to make an American Quilt. She was in too many other productions to name. She directed the films Georgia, Georgia and Down in the Delta.<br /><br />Her first book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, was published in 1970. She went on to write thirty-three other books including autobiographies, poetry and essays. A number of her works were best sellers and were published in number of languages.<br /><br />Throughout her life Dr. Angelou’s activism never flagged or waned. In 1959, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, she headed the New York office of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Next, she worked for the Arab Observer News Magazine in Cairo, Egypt, which was the premiere English language magazine in the Middle East. Later she moved to Ghana and met Malcolm X. She returned to the United States to work for him, but he was assassinated four days after her arrival in New York. She continued to be voice of humanity, speaking out against anything that fettered the human spirit. Her life and her body of literary work trumpet the importance of love, tolerance and forgiveness. She was a warrior for truth, justice and love.</span></span></div>
Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198689517878201943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7212664938291466716.post-23600891679132140372013-11-22T20:45:00.001-08:002013-11-22T20:45:47.686-08:00Buy Nothing Day<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PhLamcJeJRU" width="459"></iframe><br />
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A favorite of mine.... even though a rerun.Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198689517878201943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7212664938291466716.post-76683787133804664652013-11-10T11:57:00.000-08:002013-11-10T11:57:36.378-08:00Don't go there!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198689517878201943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7212664938291466716.post-35224080365229807042013-05-26T11:24:00.001-07:002013-05-26T11:24:25.635-07:00March against Monsanto<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198689517878201943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7212664938291466716.post-81557282092169956472013-01-05T13:43:00.001-08:002013-01-05T13:47:01.288-08:00Peace Already<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If humanity were all a grand experiment here on this planet, I'd say we've experimented enough with chaos & destruction. My wish for the New Year is we'd ban guns, bombs, ammo & spend our time figuring out how to get along.<br />
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I love these photos. In the heat of an armed confrontation this 180º turn around. Humanity in the midst of the shield and cold metal of guns- flowers & a hug. The iconic 60's photo & a 21st century version, with riot police in full riot gear.</div>
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Do you struggle to turn around all the negative and inhumane acts swirling about worldwide, to try to infuse sanity & decency to the mix?</div>
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<br /></div>Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198689517878201943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7212664938291466716.post-39821102481677041762011-11-27T10:32:00.000-08:002012-04-07T11:06:34.496-07:00We are the many<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xq3BYw4xjxE" width="560"></iframe></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Ye come here, gather 'round the stage</span><br />
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The time has come for us to voice our rage<br />
Against the ones who've trapped us in a cage<br />
To steal from us the value of our wage<br />
<br />
From underneath the vestiture of law<br />
The lobbyists at Washington do gnaw<br />
At liberty, the bureaucrats guffaw<br />
And until they are purged, we won't withdraw<br />
<br />
We'll occupy the streets<br />
We'll occupy the courts<br />
We'll occupy the offices of you<br />
Till you do<br />
The bidding of the many, not the few<br />
<br />
Our nation was built upon the right<br />
Of every person to improve their plight<br />
But laws of this Republic they rewrite<br />
And now a few own everything in sight<br />
<br />
They own it free of liability<br />
They own, but they are not like you and me<br />
Their influence dictates legality<br />
And until they are stopped we are not free<br />
<br />
We'll occupy the streets<br />
We'll occupy the courts<br />
We'll occupy the offices of you<br />
Till you do<br />
The bidding of the many, not the few<br />
<br />
You enforce your monopolies with guns<br />
While sacrificing our daughters and sons<br />
But certain things belong to everyone<br />
Your thievery has left the people none<br />
<br />
So take heed of our notice to redress<br />
We have little to lose, we must confess<br />
Your empty words do leave us unimpressed<br />
A growing number join us in protest<br />
<br />
We occupy the streets<br />
We occupy the courts<br />
We occupy the offices of you<br />
Till you do<br />
The bidding of the many, not the few<br />
<br />
You can't divide us into sides<br />
And from our gaze, you cannot hide<br />
Denial serves to amplify<br />
And our allegiance you can't buy<br />
<br />
Our government is not for sale<br />
The banks do not deserve a bail<br />
We will not reward those who fail<br />
We will not move till we prevail<br />
<br />
We'll occupy the streets<br />
We'll occupy the courts<br />
We'll occupy the offices of you<br />
Till you do<br />
The bidding of the many, not the few<br />
<br />
We'll occupy the streets<br />
We'll occupy the courts<br />
We'll occupy the offices of you<br />
Till you do<br />
The bidding of the many, not the few<br />
<br />
We are the many<br />
You are the few</div>
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Figures mainstream media did not report on this event. </div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><strong style="text-indent: 0px !important;">APEC World Leaders Dinner Gets Occupied</strong></span><br />
Within secure zone, musician sings on behalf of the many</div>
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<a href="http://www.yeslab.org/blog#video" style="color: #00aedb; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px !important;">Video and photos below</a><br />
<a href="http://www.yeslab.org/blog#lyrics" style="color: #00aedb; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px !important;">Lyrics</a></div>
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Honolulu - A change in the programmed entertainment at last night's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gala left a few world leaders slack-jawed, though most seemed not to notice that anything was amiss.</div>
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During the gala dinner, renowned Hawaiian guitarist <a href="http://makanamusic.com/" style="color: #00aedb; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px !important;">Makana</a>, who performed at the White House in 2009, opened his suit jacket to reveal a home-made “Occupy with Aloha” T-shirt. Then, instead of playing the expected instrumental background music, he spent almost 45 minutes repeatedly singing his <a href="http://bit.ly/we-are-the-many" style="color: #00aedb; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px !important;">protest ballad released earlier that day</a>. The ballad, called “We Are the Many,” includes lines such as “The lobbyists at Washington do gnaw.... And until they are purged, we won't withdraw,” and ends with the refrain: “We'll occupy the streets, we'll occupy the courts, we'll occupy the offices of you, till you do the bidding of the many, not the few.”</div>
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Those who could hear Makana’s message included Presidents Barack Obama of the United States of America, Hu Jintao of China, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, and over a dozen other heads of state.</div>
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“At first, I was worried about playing ‘We Are The Many,’” said Makana. “But I found it odd that I was afraid to sing a song I’d written, especially since I'd written it with these people in mind.”</div>
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The gala was the most secure event of the summit. It was held inside the Hale Koa hotel, a 72-acre facility owned and controlled by the US Defense Department; the site was fortified with an additional three miles of fencing constructed solely for the APEC summit.</div>
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Makana was surprised that no one objected to him playing the overtly critical song. “I just kept doing different versions,” he said. “I must’ve repeated ‘the bidding of the many, not the few’ at least 50 times, like a mantra. It was surreal and sobering.”</div>
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Makana’s new song is inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has taken root in cities worldwide. Last Saturday, eight protesters were <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/police-make-arrests-among-occupy-honolulu-protesters-on-first-night-of-planned-demonstration/2011/11/06/gIQA7T6orM_story.html" style="color: #00aedb; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px !important;">arrested</a> when they refused to leave the Occupy Honolulu encampment at Thomas Square Park. Occupy Honolulu has joined other groups, including <a href="http://moananui2011.org/" style="color: #00aedb; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px !important;">Moana Nui</a>, to protest the APEC meeting, and while Makana performed, <a href="http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/apec2011/apecstories/20111113_Protesters_have_their_say_with_noisy_peaceful_march.html?id=133765228" style="color: #00aedb; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px !important;">hundreds of people protested outside</a>.</div>
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After facing <a href="http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2011/11/06/13583-a-look-back-at-past-anti-apec-protests/" style="color: #00aedb; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px !important;">large-scale protests</a> in South Korea, Australia, Peru, and Japan, APEC moved this year's event to Hawaii, the most isolated piece of land on earth. In preparation for the meeting, homeless families were<a href="http://www.khon2.com/news/local/story/Homeless-being-asked-to-move-out-of-Waikiki/a3AzA-hSqkeoXlS-rs5Okg.cspx" style="color: #00aedb; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px !important;">moved</a> out of sight and millions of taxpayer dollars were spent on security—including <a href="http://www.civilbeat.com/posts/2011/09/26/12961-honolulu-police-load-up-on-taser-ammo-pepper-spray-bean-bags-for-apec/" style="color: #00aedb; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px !important;">over $700,000</a> on non-lethal weapons for crowd control. In a bitter twist, the multi-million dollar security plans backfired when a local Hawaiian man was <a href="http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/555247/Funeral-set-for-man-shot-in-Waikiki.html?nav=5031" style="color: #00aedb; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px !important;">shot and killed</a> by a 27-year-old DC-based federal agent providing security for dignitaries.</div>
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Makana’s action was assisted by <a href="http://www.yeslab.org/" style="color: #00aedb; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px !important;">the Yes Lab</a> and <a href="http://www.occupytheboardroom.org/" style="color: #00aedb; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px !important;">Occupy the Boardroom</a>. In recent weeks, Occupy protesters have been showing up at corporate events, headquarters and even on the doorsteps of those in power. “Makana really raised the bar by delivering the Occupy message inside what is probably the most secure place on the planet right now,” said Mike Bonanno of the Yes Lab.</div>
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“My uncle taught me to feel out the audience and play what my heart tells me to,” said Makana. “That’s what I did tonight.”</div>
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Way to go Occupy Honolulu!</div>
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Thank you Yeslab</div>Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198689517878201943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7212664938291466716.post-25098898732418219382010-12-20T23:58:00.000-08:002010-12-20T23:58:36.738-08:00Apple's Dirty Big Secret- 21st Century Slavery<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Oh damn it to hell. I hate to relay this story, because I have been a long time Apple and all "i-things" fan, but alas the story needs to be told.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The reason: The husband was thinking about getting me an i-thing gift item, but then heard this story on NPR about the suicide rate of the Chinese Apple i-pod, i-pad, i-phone mfg facility.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I came across this article, in the UK web site "DailyMail"- here are some excerpts:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Revealed: Inside the Chinese suicide sweatshop where workers toil in 34-hour shifts to make your iPod</span></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b></b></span><br />
<b><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Yet, amid all the fanfare and celebrations this week, there was one sour, niggling note: reports of a spate of suicides at a secretive Chinese complex where Jobs's iPhone, iPod and iPad - Apple's new state-of-the-art slimline computer - are built and assembled.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">With 11 workers taking their lives in sinister circumstances, Jobs acted swiftly to quell a potential public relations disaster.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Stressing that he found the deaths 'troubling' and that he was 'all over it', the billionaire brushed aside suggestions that the factory was a sweatshop.</span></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">For, as Apple's leader was taking a bow on the world stage, the Mail was under cover inside this Chinese complex. And we encountered a strange, disturbing world where new recruits are drilled along military lines, ordered to stand for the company song and kept in barracks like battery hens - all for little more than £20 a week.(31.48 U.S. Dollars)</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">In what's been dubbed the 'i-Nightmare factory', the scandal focuses on two sprawling complexes near Shenzhen, two decades ago a small fishing port and now a city of 17 million people.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">This is the epicentre of operations for Foxconn, China's biggest exporter, which makes products under licence for Apple using a 420,000-strong workforce in Shenzhen. They have 800,000 workers country-wide.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">And as Jobs was speaking in San Francisco, new measures were being secretly introduced at Foxconn to prevent the suicide scandal from worsening and damaging Apple sales globally.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Astonishingly, this involves forcing all Foxconn employees to sign a new legally binding document promising that they won't kill themselves.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">The document, a copy of which has been obtained by the Mail, states that all employees (or their dependants) must promise not to sue the company as the result of 'any unexpected death or injury, including suicide or self torture'.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">The owner of this massive, highly controlled iPad and iPhone factory has also decided to install something he's dubbed 'ai xin wang' - which translates literally as 'nets of a loving heart'</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">In reality, these 'loving hearts' are 10ft high wire fences on the roofs and 15ft wide nets at the base of all buildings. The human traps are to prevent people jumping to their deaths and smashing themselves on the pavements below.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Alongside such physical impediments to suicide, hundreds of monks have been flown in to the plant to exorcise evil spirits. Shaven-headed and wearing long robes, groups of monks have been seen chanting and praying amid baffled, exhausted workers.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">More than 2,000 social workers are also being recruited and emergency helplines set up. Anyone appearing mentally ill or stressed is being identified by a special 'spotters' team set up to keep tabs on the workforce.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Workers who fail to respond to the chanting monks or the entreaties of social workers are secretly shipped to Shenzhen Mental Health Centre, a private facility where there are several wards crammed with Foxconn employees.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">With the complex at peak production, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week to meet the global demand for Apple phones and computers, a typical day begins with the Chinese national anthem being played over loudspeakers, with the words: 'Arise, arise, arise, millions of hearts with one mind.'</span></div><div class="clear" style="border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; clear: both; float: none !important; font-size: 0px !important; height: 0px !important; line-height: 0 !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; width: auto;"></div><div class="clear" style="border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; clear: both; float: none !important; font-size: 0px !important; height: 0px !important; line-height: 0 !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; width: auto;"></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">As part of this Orwellian control, the public address system constantly relays propaganda, such as how many products have been made; how a new basketball court has been built for the workers; and why workers should 'value efficiency every minute, every second'.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">With other company slogans painted on workshop walls - including exhortations to 'achieve goals unless the sun no longer rises' and to 'gather all of the elite and Foxconn will get stronger and stronger' - the employees work up to 15-hour shifts.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyj2C0soIHUDoRaV7dJprxUKb-8qnGPhyU58qqtLkC8wSGvleS-dsOH0AWXIqWh1ttJoqGBp76R8fk-UjquaSTgzxc4a3IAn2Su2Hddg73ud_7bRw_ObpgwcoQ9_HMGWwcJ1WHGLIqdWo/s1600/article-0-09CFCA98000005DC-444_636x838.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #104965; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyj2C0soIHUDoRaV7dJprxUKb-8qnGPhyU58qqtLkC8wSGvleS-dsOH0AWXIqWh1ttJoqGBp76R8fk-UjquaSTgzxc4a3IAn2Su2Hddg73ud_7bRw_ObpgwcoQ9_HMGWwcJ1WHGLIqdWo/s640/article-0-09CFCA98000005DC-444_636x838.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 0px 0px 20px; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: black; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(198, 198, 198); border-bottom-left-radius: 0px 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px 0px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(198, 198, 198); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(198, 198, 198); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(198, 198, 198); border-top-left-radius: 0px 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px; position: relative;" width="483" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;"><br />
</span></div></span></span></b></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Down narrow, prison-like corridors, they sleep in cramped rooms in triple-decked bunk beds to save space, with simple bamboo mats for mattresses.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Despite summer temperatures hitting 35 degrees, with 90 per cent humidity, there is no air-conditioning. Workers say some dormitories house more than 40 people and are infested with ants and cockroaches, with the noise and stench making it difficult to sleep.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">After details of the Chinese suicides leaked out, and Jobs promised he was 'all over it', his Chinese partner announced that his workers would receive a generous-sounding 30 per cent pay rise, raising the basic wage from £90 to £120 a month.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Yet human r ights groups denounced this as a public relations sham, saying that the legal minimum wage was being raised by the Chinese authorities in any case.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Lu Bing Dong, 22, helps produce 21,000 iPhones daily in his workshop alone. 'The pay rise is actually stopping us making more money because now they are strictly controlling overtime,' he says.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">'Foxconn are very smart - they say it's a pay rise, but we actually earn less. It's meaningless. They will increase the daily quotas [of products made] to make up for lost time.'</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">As we left the sprawling Foxconn complex, workers were putting cages on one dormitory block with balconies - yet another measure to keep workers from killing themselves.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">'It looks even more like a prison now,' said a weary Lu, 27, returning from a 15-hour shift.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">One can't help wondering how Steve Jobs, the billionaire Buddhist, manages to square Foxconn's activities with his belief in karma - that what you do in this life will be repaid in the next...</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><div class="clear" style="border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; clear: both; float: none !important; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 0px !important; height: 0px !important; line-height: 0 !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; width: auto;"></div><div class="explore-links" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><h3 class="social-links-title" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; display: block; font-size: 1.6em; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative;"></h3><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;"><b>When asked for its reaction to the suicides, Apple said: 'We are saddened and upset by the recent suicides at Foxconn. Apple is deeply committed to ensuring that conditions throughout our supply chain are safe and workers are treated with respect and dignity. We are in direct contact with Foxconn senior management and we believe they are taking this matter very seriously.' </b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Apple, Dell and Hewlett-Packard - who also use the Foxconn factories - said last week that they would investigate working conditions</span></div><br />
Read whole articles here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1285980/Revealed-Inside-Chinese-suicide-sweatshop-workers-toil-34-hour-shifts-make-iPod.html" style="color: #104965; text-decoration: none;">34 hour shifts</a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1285980/Revealed-Inside-Chinese-suicide-sweatshop-workers-toil-34-hour-shifts-make-iPod.html</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1282481/iPad-factory-suicides-China.html" style="color: #104965; text-decoration: none;">Factory Suicides</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1282481/iPad-factory-suicides-China.html" style="color: #104965; text-decoration: none;"></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1282481/iPad-factory-suicides-China.html</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127292959" style="color: #104965; text-decoration: none;">NPR story</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127292959" style="color: #104965; text-decoration: none;"></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127292959</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">My heart sank. this is the tech version of "blood diamonds". The second article states Dell & HP use the same manufacturer- so this issue is not Apple product specific. I suppose so many things manufactured in China, that have this set up-- company owned "dorms" that workers must live in-- the employee literally is owned by the employer. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Conditions so bad, suicide is rampant? They have done such a good job keeping this hushed, or people might not be lining up to buy stuff from any of these companies. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">In a perfect world, Steve Jobs the Apple CEO & the CEO's of Dell & HP, would all go spend a month living the same life as the average worker. </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm539tdwpTITOGObm6tLBaFM2zNVx_lgDq95kpHOzoiMCTn6RiU6NyU-dInsIBQljmpZrMqcfaSkqeJythup0hIuyxrJRd6EkSBRo2EzlDsMVBDUxiHnkoYhtf-j81D1badqFnGC8gkxc/s1600/bunk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #104965; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm539tdwpTITOGObm6tLBaFM2zNVx_lgDq95kpHOzoiMCTn6RiU6NyU-dInsIBQljmpZrMqcfaSkqeJythup0hIuyxrJRd6EkSBRo2EzlDsMVBDUxiHnkoYhtf-j81D1badqFnGC8gkxc/s320/bunk.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 0px 0px 20px; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: black; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(198, 198, 198); border-bottom-left-radius: 0px 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px 0px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(198, 198, 198); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(198, 198, 198); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(198, 198, 198); border-top-left-radius: 0px 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Let them sleep 44 to a room, in these bunk beds stacked 3 high. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Let them work 15 to 34 hour shifts. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Let them have a glance through the new steel mesh installed around the windows as a part of the "solution" to the suicide problem at the factory. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYK_ng59n1Vsmli_N_-2tDHNwtr90Wdo7EHQqig2yjUta4c0IsrXMZ4botBdPazKriR-se27G6EokjG_ho16YB3eIYwWaMd9CXRnRd88ZemaOytcevSnJKtRQNiUBIgHTvTquUYanzNPA/s1600/article-1285980-09FFD94F000005DC-523_636x359.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #104965; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYK_ng59n1Vsmli_N_-2tDHNwtr90Wdo7EHQqig2yjUta4c0IsrXMZ4botBdPazKriR-se27G6EokjG_ho16YB3eIYwWaMd9CXRnRd88ZemaOytcevSnJKtRQNiUBIgHTvTquUYanzNPA/s320/article-1285980-09FFD94F000005DC-523_636x359.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 0px 0px 20px; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: black; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(198, 198, 198); border-bottom-left-radius: 0px 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px 0px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(198, 198, 198); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(198, 198, 198); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(198, 198, 198); border-top-left-radius: 0px 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Let them walk the i-walk. </div></div></div>Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198689517878201943noreply@blogger.com0