notes for regular readers

I've moved to a new location.  Here I hear the hum of machines and the noise of traffic.  That is not disturbing.  The noise of voices coming through the wall, women shouting in the hall, heels striking an uncarpeted hall---all those noises are disturbing and strangely intimate.

In my classes I've been commenting upon the textbooks claim that enterprises move to places where labor is cheap and production is "efficient".  It would appear that Apple and other manufacturers do not merely employ Chinese labor because it is cheaper, but also because laws are weaker or not enforced---laws to do with workplace safety.  And I've told students of the famous USA tragedy---"tragedy"???, Shouldn't I say crime?----- , the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire


And, how odd that the recent fire in a Bangladesh factory is so similar.......the exit doors were locked....http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/27/bangladesh-factory-fire-started-believe


Is it also a "law" of economics that factory owners must lock the exit doors? Or, is it a law of economics that companies which use aluminum cannot have proper ventilation?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html?pagewanted=all