Holy fuckin' damn -- Is this Rana Plaza illustration accurate??

[Blue_Tires]

http://www.bdtoday.net/english/newsdetail/detail/31/5292

[cali]

1. it fits what I've read so far

except that I've read there were over 3,000 people inside.

[Renew Deal]

2. How is this not bigger news?

The pictures that I have seen online so far are as bad as any collapse or war I've seen when it comes to the number of casualties.

[1-Old-Man]

3. A couple of days ago

[Blue_Tires]

4. It brings up difficult, uncomfortable truths most people don't want to confront

on just HOW those shirts/jeans/shoes/whatever make it to the local J.C. Penney

[Renew Deal]

5. Is JC Penney one of the companies?

[Blue_Tires]

6. I don't know -- Just mentioning a random chain from the top of my head

[cali]

7. I don't know that they were buying products from any company in Rana Plaza

but yes, they contract with sweatshops in Bangladesh.

[snagglepuss]

14. All clothing manufacturers use sweatshop labor. That means high end desginer labels.

Focusing on the fact that low end labels mainly used this factory lets off the all the others. FTR Benetton has clothing made at this factory.

[leftynyc]

15. The corporations that run

the media are protecting the corporations that are directly to blame for this.

[Blue_Tires]

16. +1

[jollyreaper2112]

8. Hah

If they were white and blown up with a bomb, holy shit! But even if they were white and blown up by capitalist indifference, we don't give a duck.

[Newest Reality]

26. ++GOOD The social strata decide liberty and justice for a few! Dare it be said?

[Quantess]

9. "floors from 5th to 8th built... without any supporting walls"

What does that mean, I wonder? It doesn't mean it was open as shown in the diagram, I hope..?
Sorry, it sounds like a dumb question, but I'm not a construction worker.

[Blue_Tires]

12. No, it just means there were no "internal" walls on those floors

so the lower floors and "outer" wall essentially bore the weight of the entire building...That plus the huge masses of workers, equipment, the construction of a NINTH(!) floor and a shaky foundation was a disaster in the making (maybe someone who knows construction better than I will chime in)

here is a simplistic diagram for houses, but you get the idea:

[Quantess]

13. Thanks for the info. (no text)

[JHB]

23. This is what it looked like before the collapse:

Top one is dated Dec. 2010, the lower one August 2011.

[Canuckistanian]

24. And they fit 2000 people in there?

That's astounding

[librechik]

10. regulation free industry $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

the death/wealth cult can't live free anywhere else. Because, let's face it, they are murderers (by proxy at least) and thieves. They belong in prison, not in the Forbes 500.

[treestar]

11. Now now, making that building safer for the workers would have

cost money and cut profits!!!!!!!!!

[uponit7771]

17. Nah, we don't need no gosh darn regulations!!

[Sheepshank]

22. Smaller Government!!!!

isn't that the hue and cry from the Right, Libertarians and Texas?



Except when in comes to the uterus...then all bets are off.

[malaise]

18. Guess how many others buildings are in the same condition?

Ask the politicians and their chamber of commerce cronies.

Only markets and profits count - fuck the dispensable poor people.

[MineralMan]

19. Poor construction is common in many places.

Either through corruption or neglect by local building authorities, builders cut corners and build poorly-designed and executed structures. When I was stationed in Turkey in the late 1960s, a four story apartment building was erected just off the small base where I was stationed. As I watched it being built, one of the striking things I noticed was that they were using the excavated dirt from the site as part of the aggregate for the concrete being used. Very bad practice.

[Blue_Tires]

20. you were Air Force?

Based on some of the other stories I've heard from airmen who were there, that story doesn't surprise me in the least...Still, overall most of the people I've known have had wonderful experiences over there

[MineralMan]

21. I was. Stationed in Samsun in 67-68.

I enjoyed my time in Turkey very much.

[sabrina 1]

27. Except in cases like this the Western nations whose Corporations use these factories

could do something to prevent these horrible tragedies. They could demand through legislation eg, as has been suggested before, with bills introduced which went nowhere, that any US Corp is required to follow our own standards when it comes to employee safety or forfeit any benefits they receive from this government, such as tax breaks, subsidies and of course if they violate those laws, be subject to criminal prosecution in an event like this and/or heavy fines.

The ONLY reason Walmart et al use these factories is because of the cheap labor, the cheap and dangerous overhead and the huge profits they make by ignoring human safety and welfare.

That might discourage them from taking American jobs overseas of course if they had to pay even the miserable minimum wage they would have to pay here. And they might have to live on a billion or so less than what they are accustomed to. But in exchange, standards of living around the world might improve. At least the hundreds of dead, poor people would be alive.

We can't influence someone in India building a house, but we certainly could contribute to preventing major disasters such as this.

We also need to raise our own labor standards.

[MineralMan]

28. I was simply describing poor construction practices that

are common in some places. I wasn't commenting in any way on anything else.

Yes, close oversight by companies buying stuff from these companies would help prevent disasters like the one in Bangladesh. However, I doubt that the construction of that building was even known by any of those companies, and may have taken place long before they contracted with whomever was running those facilities.

The problem with poor construction methods is that they are often invisible, once the building is completed, and only become known when the building fails.

I was not talking about anything but building construction practices outside the US. The rest is another matter, not addressed in my post at all.

[Ron Green]

25. This is one of the many

failures of capitalism.

[justiceischeap]

29. This is just one of the many reasons for US companies to hire help overseas

I don't know for a fact but I'm guessing India may not have the same codes that would need to be followed in the US. Not only can the workers be had for little to no money (in comparison), they don't have to worry about regulations.

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. This is in Bangladesh.

By comparison India has stringent safety rules... I wish I were kidding Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world.