Monday, December 12, 2011

christmas cheer

"This Christmas, remember one thing: there is a mass of plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean. It's twice the size of Hawaii. A gigantic churning mass of chemical death. These broken down plastics end up in the stomachs of marine wildlife. Marine wildlife ends up in our stomachs. The damage to the food chain is irrefutable, and irreversible. This chemical slurry grows everyday, shows no signs of stopping, and can't be cleaned up. Happy Holidays!" -- David Dunham

"unless you are profoundly christian, christmas is a consumer holiday celebrating the alienation and post-ecological triumph of modern capitalism. in reality the party's been over since the 70s, so christmas feels like we're at the wake of our own funeral. happy holidays, everyone" -- qzh

"With Christmas fast approaching, try to keep this in mind: the death toll of the Mexican drug war is almost 60,000 people. That's over a five year period. The Mexican government claims that 90% of the dead are members of the cartels, but evidence is mounting that a large percentage of those killed are innocent men, women, and children. Discoveries of mass graves of up to 70 decapitated bodies are routine. And all of this is happening within a 25 minute drive of sunny San Diego CA. The apocalypse is here...it's in Mexico. And all there is to stop it from spilling into the southern US is the longest, least defended and most porous border on the planet. Tidings of comfort and joy!" -- David Dunham

"Dear North America.. Happy Christ Mass / Mithras Mass / Dionysus Mass / Attis Mass / Osiris Mass / Saturnalia / Victory of the Sun God Festival… & every other form of December 25th Sun worship ritual used to control the unthinking masses for the last 3,000-4,000 some odd years… celebrated in recent times by a New(er) Testament of consumerism and unfettered opulence, as best symbolized by the Coca Cola commissioned Santa Claus painting by Norman Rockwell. And uhhh.. stockings, pine trees, eggnog, virgin births, and a little baby manger god. Tender. & mild." -- Lee Reed

"IT'S THE HOLIDAY SEASON, and there ain't nothin' more fun than a new iPhone under the tree on Christmas morn, right? Well, as you transfer your contacts and start taking pictures of your food, keep this in mind: electronic components for Apple products are made in China, at factories run by a company called Foxconn. Since 2009 nearly 20 workers have committed suicide, 14 in 2010 alone. They walk up to the roofs of their worker dormitories and jump off. Foxconn has dealt with the problem by installing netting around several of the dormitories and forcing all employees to sign a "I will not kill myself, boss" pledge. Why are they killing themselves? Maybe because they're not allowed to talk as they stand for their entire 12-hour shift, or because they're routinely forced to work almost 100 hours of overtime in a month. Or perhaps it's because they live at the factories, 24 to a room, some only leaving to see family once a year. It might be because "badly" performing workers are systemically humiliated in front of their peers. And all for about $8 a day. So, as you hurdle over your fourth homeless person in your race to grab that new iPad, take comfort in the knowledge that Steve Jobs is currently in Hell, getting phone-dumped by his 10th grade girlfriend whom he loved with all his heart, on a Motorola Rokr E1 with a shitty connection, for ALL ETERNITY. Season's Greetings!" -- David Dunham