What do you mean by somewhat pornographic? Is that like, I sort of cheated on you honey? Or like, I am not fat, I am full-figured?
576 karma · joined June 18, 2008
Charney doesn't deny taking part in any of the activities described in the article.
How is it an allegation when the guy himself admits it was true?
And sorry but your argument is typical straw-man. Of course I don't claim that all apparel ever manufactured disappears out of existence now that we found out about AA's lack of ethics. What's the point of assigning me a clearly retarded point of view just so you can refute it?
Obviously I don't think that it would invalidate an entire branch of mathematics if I found out that my calculus teacher was a pedophile. However, I would strongly object to an article profiling a him as ethical and using him as an example for others to follow, which is what the original post is doing.
I agree with you that the models are not technically underage. Moreover, I know from previous articles about AA that they make the models sign releases confirming they are of age. However, I think that makes it worse and I'd like to explain why.
We already know that what constitutes porn is in fact subjective and was "officially" defined as such by the Supreme Court:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobellis_v._Ohio
So what I'd like to point out is that the very reason that AA needs that little signature is because they know they are (1) making pornographic ads and (2) using models that look underage. If either of those two were untrue, the free-wheeling, open-minded people at AA would surely not resort to legal means to cover their ass.
As far as not providing evidence, what is harder evidence than actual photos of AA ads? I don't see how it's relevant what website they are posted on. Photos are photos.
But hey, I am happy to link to more. If you don't think these are prime pedophile material, I don't even know what to say... you must be one "open-minded" dude.
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2006_07_10_9.jpg http://www.wasuvi.com/images/scan0004.jpg http://www.adrants.com/images/the_tap_panty.jpg http://www.mediabistro.com/agencyspy/original/aaad.jpg http://www.jenisfamous.com/uploaded_images/leggings-720878.j... http://www.trendhunter.com/images/phpthumbnails/21343_1_230....
burger king workers - unhappiest people you'll see anywhere... excepting teens and other temporary situations, completely unemployable outside the fast food industry
street vendors - mostly cash income, probably make more than reported $15/hour, probably have other jobs to support them through the cold winter months
bus workers - unionized, make up to $70k/year
broadway ushers - mostly volunteers or actors who only work until they "make it" and only to network with other theater people
busboys - mostly illegal mexicans with little other choice, excepting some high end restaurants where they make more than $15/hour and do it as an apprenticeship to better paying jobs
I think most people who say that $15/hour in a major city like New York or LA is pretty good would not themselves concede to subsist on that little while working that hard... and I know what I am talking about, having done some of those hard-labor jobs when I first immigrated into the US. It only works in temporary situations such as students or apprenticeships, or as a means to support higher artistic aspirations.
I would bet all of my money that not a single person on here (including those 6 who upvoted your comment) would choose a career of a $15/hour laborer for themselves, and I think it's a little patronizing to say that it's ok for others.
You said yourself that AA workers could not get the same money anywhere else... surely you don't think it's acceptable for Charney to ask his employees for sex in a situation where (according to you) he has so much power?
In general, I think good/legal vs. bad/illegal behavior is not just a simple sum of its parts where, say, 3 good deeds outweigh 1 rotten deed by 2. After all, when your neighbor turns out to be a child predator, are you going to say, oh well, that's ok because he's been a good church-going fella for the past 30 years?
First, I am choosing to live in New York to exactly the same degree that those immigrant workers are choosing to live in LA, second, I am an immigrant worker myself, and third, as I pointed out, cost of living in LA is very similar to NY.
If you want to argue on facts, let's hear something other than "you are spoiled and don't know what you are talking about".
Yes, the clothes are manufactured in LA and the workers get above minimum wage. However, at $25,000/yr that doesn't put them anywhere near a livable wage, and the fact AA makes and promotes what is essentially child porn far outweighs any benefits.
This guy said it best (with actual photos):
http://www.cracked.com/blog/american-apparel-ads-make-me-wan...
What's also interesting though is who initiates divorce. I believe in the US, roughly 70% of divorces are initiated by women, while in Russia the opposite is true.
Just wanted to mention something that you may not be aware of. In most russian cities, housing stock is in very short supply (thanks to the legacy of centralized city planning) and people often stay together because otherwise they would have nowhere to live. I believe this skews the statistic in favor of the US, i.e. I believe that the russian divorce rates would be even higher if more people were able to live separately.
I also grew up in Russia (25 years between Siberia and Moscow) and have lived in the US for the last 12 years. From my experience, the typical Russian attitude of moral superiority (Americans = materialistic, Russians = spiritual) could not be farther from the truth.
Perhaps I am reading into your comment a bit, but it seems to me that you were essentially trying to assert the above, even if you phrased your assertion as a question. Unless you are very, very young or very, very naive, I doubt that you were truly simply curious to find out whether every single woman in the entire country is a cold-hearted bitch who would kick her husband out when he can't find work, especially based on just one man's story.
If I am mistaken and your question was really a question, then the answer is no, it is not really "this way" in the US. Believe it or not, even in big bad America there are people who understand love and other human feelings, just like "foreigners".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine#Overuse
The only difference is, modafinil is classified as a drug and so the negative effects are termed "side effects" while caffeine is classified as food and so the same exact negative effects are termed "overuse". It's an emotional/connotative difference. The list itself is almost identical: nervousness, headaches, insomnia, dry mouth, rapid heartbeat etc. In fact, I don't see caffeine's potential dangers of mania, depression and psychosis on the modafinil list. How's that for conservative?
There is, however, a way to save money that most people overlook. If you don't really need liability protection (say, you are a computer consultant doing projects so your clients can't really sue you for more than the project is worth anyway) you can always go to your city hall and get a DBA (doing business as). DBA's are cheap and usually have no filing requirements. The DBA will allow you to get a business bank account, which will in turn allow you to separate your personal income/expenses from your business, thus giving you the ability to deduct expenses, etc.
For example, incorporating in Indiana doesn't save you from New York fees if you do transactions in New York. Transacting has different definitions state by state, and may include anything from accepting orders to having remote employees who work in that state. Most importantly, having a physical office in a state always requires you to foreign-qualify, so registering in another state doesn't really work for companies that are not fully virtual.
Speaking of virtual... does anyone follow the development of Vermont Virtual Corporations? What are the advantages, limitations, etc?
The way the industry works is, there are a few (much fewer than you think) vertically integrated companies that makes all our clothing. Let me illustrate what I mean by vertically integrated by explaining what my husband's company does.
Basically, they make stuff such as men's shirts under every imaginable label from lower end such as private label at J.C. Penney to mid-market brands like Nautica to up-market brands like Thomas Pink. They own the process completely, from growing the cotton to making the fabric to putting the shirts together in Asia to shipping into warehouses in the US to saying when the shirts go on sale. Other than labels providing a license (e.g. Calvin Klein granting the exclusive rights to make shirts under their label) and Macy's providing the floor space (Macy's being the same company as Bloomingdales, Lord & Taylor, Filene's, Marchall Field's, etc), they do everything.
As you can imagine, when you have a few companies covering every fashion category sold at practically every store, you have almost perfect efficiency. The cost savings for vertically integrated, economies-of-scale companies like my husband's are enormous to the point where you could never get anywhere close to the low, low prices they are able to charge.
So what you are left with is selling your custom stuff at price points that put you in the same category as designer clothing (often accompanied by free alterations) and custom tailoring. And why would someone buy a slightly customized cheap shirt/jeans/whatever when for the same money, they can buy an upmarket designer item, or have it tailor-made?
I am not saying you can't have some niche categories where you do customization. Cafe Press does pretty good with t-shirts. I just don't think there is a positive answer to your question, "How can I give my designer friends the ability to do low-volume production cost-effectively".
You said your father has put you through college and has retired after 25 years. Presuming he started working at 25, we have him retiring at what, 50? Who pays for their kids' college and retires at 50? Investment bankers and plastic surgeons, that's who. The rest of the country works well into old age (most without adequate health insurance) and has their kids taking on student loans.
You opened your comment with anger, talking about your disgust, accusing crabapple of over-generalization and ignorance, and essentially dismissing all of us as moneybags who use hypothetical Denny's waitresses to degrade your family or ignore your hardship. (Read: shut up and fork over the money - or, pardon me, you stated that you are as of yet undecided whether it would benefit your family, so I guess we'll just sit tight and wait for your decision.)
You accuse me of zeal and psycho-analyze my anger but I am just reacting to the broad-daylight robbery that is taking place. People like you think that if they make a lot of noise and talk about their dads working their asses of for x number of years, we'll all get misty eyed and just hand over our money.
You are now getting a dose of your own medicine. I take your dad's 2-hour commute and raise you mine's World War II. Ridiculous, isn't it. When auto workers and their families stop blanketing the internet with their sob stories, we'll stop commenting on them. Over.
If you think your father had a rough life, you are truly a spoiled brat. My father almost starved to death as a teenager during World War II, almost died from tuberculosis as a young man, shared a small one-bedroom apartment with 5 people as an adult, and was forced to abandon even that little due to ethnic conflict. Your father on the other hand, had it so easy that he could afford to put his kids through college and still retire after just 25 years of work. Oh, excuse me, I forgot. Your dad had to endure a 2-3 hour commute because it would be so traumatizing for his kids to switch schools once.
Your father and his buddies are who needs to get off the high horse, my friend. They've worked in a little bubble with their cushy guaranteed pay and benefits for too long. It's about time they ventured out on their own into the big bad world that the rest of us happily inhabit.