Now I know that Ken Cuccinelli is a radical conservative hack. He’s a Tea Party darling and is positioning himself to run for governor of Virginia. He launches unnecessary investigations using the Virginia treasury as his own piggy bank to go after President Obama’s policies. But would he actually investigate a corporation selling mean spirited merchandise? You know, something that really pertains to his job?

The Hiller Armament Company of Virginia has been selling "Trayvon Targets" for shooting practice, complete with a black hoodie, Skittles, and an ice tea.

It is utterly vile AND potentially illegal. Virginia law "Prohibits the unauthorized use of a person’s name, portrait or picture for advertising or trade purposes. The right continues for 20 years after death."

You can sign the Change.org petition to Cuccinelli here.

Today I got this comment on an ongoing thread tied to a post I wrote years ago about Guardsmark. It seems this corporation hasn’t changed a bit.

Padraig’s Ghost wrote:

Guardsmark just took over my former employer’s account and displaced fulltime security officers and receptionists, who on average had over 20 years with the company and were making 20 plus dollars an hour with 13 dollar an hour idiots. The account manager will make $50,000 a year. The average security officer made more than that! Also they are requiring detailed information from anyone wanting to stay in violation of their HIPPA rights! I have forwarded this information to the SEIU local for urgent action! I am a conservative person, but unions have their uses and this is a case were they are badly needed!

Of course unions have a use! That’s all they’re trying to say! Their use is to stand for people who work and represent them the best that they can. I hope that SEIU local can help him organize.

I suppose I should say that I did not come up with this and am merely promoting it. I found it on Facebook.

Now, with all due respect to Her Majesty the Queen; monarch of the United Kingdom, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, the constitutional monarch of the Commonwealth realms and head of the Commonwealth of Nations; from the House of Windsor–I have but one request.

My request is that you be the queen that your people need in these times, not the queen that the coalition government thinks you need to be. Your majesty, you are being ill served. Your people need you–go to them! Go into the working class neighborhoods and listen to your people tell you how difficult austerity is making their lives. Let them tell you that you cannot balance the books of the kingdom on the backs of its people.

I realize that they limit your power and authority. They have some control over where you go and what you say; I’ve heard as much is the case for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. But to this I say do not let them use you! Do not let them put words into your mouth. Take a stand and side with the millions of your people who are suffering right now.

– From some silly American

Especially since the tech bubble got going. It’s startling how much stock prices went vertical in the late 1990s. The same, of course, is true of housing prices a decade later. It’s hard to fathom how historically large these two bubbles have been — bubbles that have benefitted the top 0.1 percent enormously. And, of course, this has all coincided with an era of declining taxation on capital. We’ve cut capital gains taxes from 28 percent in 1986 to 20 percent in 1997 to 15 percent in 2003.

via The Rise and Rise of the Super-Rich – Matthew O’Brien – Business – The Atlantic.

It all comes down to setting things back the way they were. Why was Glass-Stegall overturned? Why have we let so much of the New Deal be overturned?

The Wall Street Journal reports today that Democratic National Committee officials have backed away from a promise not to accept corporate contributions at President Obama’s nominating convention in Charlotte, North Carolina this summer.

via Democrats’ Fund Taps Corporate Donors for Convention | Common Dreams.

It’s a shame but I guess they have no choice now. When you hold a convention in a right to work for less state; you’re not going to get union support that’s for sure. Furthermore, we all know North Carolina is an even more disgusting state as per their latest ballot initiative to block gay marriage.

There are people slaving away in the global floral industry.

From the International Labor Rights Forum:

Colombia is the second largest exporter of flowers, after the Netherlands. 75% of Colombia’s flower exports are destined for the United States. Women in the Colombian flower industry don’t earn enough to support their families, suffer sexual harassment, and are fired when they try to organize to improve wages and conditions. As you’ll see in these short videos created by our partner organization Corporación Cactus, their children are also burdened by the industry.

It’s a sour smelling rose if you ask me. Visit ILRF’s youtube page to check out new videos about Colombian flower workers.

A recent report by San Francisco ABC affiliate KGO-TV, which sparked media attention across the country, alleged that some restaurants might use meat glue to mold lower quality cuts of meat together and pass them off as a single, higher-quality, more expensive cut.

via Meat Industry Defends ‘Meat Glue’ as Safe, No Secret.

From what I’m reading the so called "meat glue" might be safe per FDA regulations, but the above quote shows how the U.S. food industry can manipulate the marketplace. I would say that one now has to be vigilant as a consumer and look at where you by your meat, fish or poultry.

All of this comes on the heels of the pink slime news fist reported by ABC. They say that 70 percent of ground beef sold in the United States contained pink slime.

At a campaign event last week hosted by the Tea Party Express, tea party activist Scott Boston uttered the harsh language as Steelman and her son, Deputy Campaign Manager Sam Steelman, stood nearby.

“We have to get Claire McCaskill out,” Boston said. “We have to kill the Claire bear, ladies and gentlemen. Can someone offer up some sort of care bear or something? Really an evil monster.”

via Video shows Tea Party activist saying ‘We have to kill’ Sen. Claire McCaskill | The Raw Story.

In the aftermath of the Gabby Giffords shooting you would think that these fools in the Tea Party would know better. Obviously their hate for a sitting U.S. Senator is so great that they literally want to start murdering people. This kind of rhetoric should not be welcome on the right or the left.

EPA chemist Dr. Cate Jenkins, who had worked for the agency for more than 30 years, was the first official to sound the alarm on the dangers dust posed to firefighters and First Responders. But the EPA head at the time claimed there was no health hazard.

via EPA Whistleblower on Dangers of 9/11 Toxic Dust Reinstated to Job | Common Dreams.

Dr Jenkins just got reinstated to the EPA after being terminated in 2001. She is also getting back pay. This whole 9/11 WTC dust debacle was a stain on the agency during the tenure of Christine Todd Whitman. Because Whitman lied and said that the air was safe to breathe, hundreds of workers were put at risk and some of them have died after getting sick. It’s an injustice of the highest order.

Two thousand shrimp workers from Cambodia and Myanmar, who suffered human rights abuses and indentured servitude at the hands of department store giant Walmart, recently protested at a shrimp supplier in Thailand. This was yet another case highlighting the severe worker abuse perpetuated by the retail chain.

via Shrimp workers exploited and enslaved at Walmart warehouse » peoplesworld.

We’re starting to see a lot of stories about the abuse of warehouse workers coming to light. Whether it be Amazon.com or Wal-Mart there are some serious workplace violations going on.