I wandered into Forever 21 and they had some cute clothes and very cheap. Sweatshops, I thought. It turns out they have definitely been taken to task for subminimum wage. Supposedly they cleared this up after a lawsuit. They are from the LA area and have 300 or so stores in the US and the stores are huge. $8 for a yellow snakeskin pair of shoes, $1.50 for a whole bunch of colored hair bands. Pants too small for most women but that will fit skinny teens or maybe women in some of the Asian countries they sell to. I read that they had been sued by Diane von Furstenburg, Anna Sui and Gwen Stefani for ripping off designs.
What's interesting is that (per Wikipedia), the owners are "deeply religious" and so much so that they proselytize on their shopping bags. Their yellow and black bags say "John 3:16" near the bottom. Free with any purchase.
Forever 21 is owned by a Korean-American who wants to use his profits for high-pressure Christian death cult brainwashing around the world.
Of course, Forever 21 breaks every labor law and copyright in the books - very par for Korean-Americans. But then, remember that this is the community that uses foreign slush funds to rewrite American laws.
Their "President" (more like a Republican colonial governor) will meet Obama tomorrow in London. Obama better kick his ass HARD.
Posted by: El Salvador del Norte | April 01, 2009 at 10:54 AM
More on the South Korean Republican governor...
My contacts in Seoul now tell me that the governor is pretty much determined to outlaw any traces of left-wing thought and any dissent of his policies, under the penalty of death. Sure, death penalty hasn't been carried out in South Korea in the past 12 years, but that was before the Republicans got in.
In 1987, South Korea got a democratic constitution after several bloody uprisings dating back to 1960. Democracy, however, is now officially history thanks to the Republicans.
I said it before elsewhere, but I felt far more free under the Chinese flag in Hong Kong than I ever did in Seoul. Democracy and dissent are well tolerated and respected in Hong Kong even today. And back when I was spending time in Hong Kong and Seoul, the South Korean Republicans were just starting to form their police state, so it must be even worse now.
The Republicans want to destroy democracy both at home and in the US (and they even funded those who wanted Obama lynched). They must be stopped at any cost. The bad news is that the Republicans own the Christians and the Korean-Americans - enough to make Forever 21 prosper (Forever 21 now has a huge flagship store in Seoul's main fashion district), and get gay marriage banned in California. The good news is that we do have the vast majority of the everyday South Koreans on our side. I'll continue to buy influence in Seoul, if only to keep up with the Moonies stateside.
Posted by: The Republican Colonial State of South Korea | April 01, 2009 at 11:25 AM