Dell complaints

[Nighthawk]

Many may be aware that XPS technical support is being moved from Ottawa, Canada to Pasay, Philippines. Until I discovered this recent information I will post here I didn't really have too much problem with it - hey Phillippino's deserve jobs too, right? Yeah but a responsible corporate global citizen should not be removing business from a humanitarian free-world country like Canada & moving it to a country whose leader at the very least turns a blind eye to military assassinations of activist farmers & journalists (or anyone else) either. But hey - it's all about money, right?

http://www.pinoypress.net/2008/05/15/satur-slams-arroyo-for-killing-of-davao-peasant-leader/

Originally found this out from the Oread Daily at http://oreaddaily.blogspot.com/ (scroll down to FARMER ACTIVIST LEADER IS LATEST POLITICAL MURDER IN THE PHILIPPINES to read more)

FARMER LEADER KILLED

Two gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead the spokesman of the KMP (Farmers Movement of the Philippines) in Davao, in southern Mindanao. Celso Pojas, who was also chairman of the Farmers Association of Davao City (FADC), was shot three times at around 6:30 a.m this morning outside his office. “He was killed for his opposition to the militarisation of peasant and lumad communities in the southern Mindanao region”, said the KMP leader Rafael Mariano. Pojas’s colleagues say that his killing is part of a military campaign to silence all critics of a government proposal to arm farmers to fight the communist rebellion in the region. “Since President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came to power in 2001, over 1,000 people have been victims of extra-judicial killings, 105 were KMP members”, continued Mariano. The government’s failure to take any substantial action in face of the long string of political killings, mainly targeting extreme left activists, farmer association leaders, but also many civil society representatives and journalists, is among the most controversial aspects of Arroyo’s presidency. An independent fact-finding commission headed by the former Supreme Court judge Jose Melo last year drew up a report attributing a majority of the killings to “military elements”, calling on the President to take the necessary measures.
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Fixin' puters fer a livin'

[FallenAngel]

Since when did lowballing become a political statement?

No offence, but what does assassinations and blind eyes have to do with selling systems or supporting them?

[Nighthawk]

I personally don't feel comfortable supporting a company that would remove business from a relatively human-rights respecting nation and transferring it to one that has had the UN condemn "the Arroyo regime for the series of extrajudicial killings in the country."

As a conscientious consumer I object to it and feel less likely to endorse Dell on this political ground. If it doesn't matter to you that's fine. But I'm sure others would be interested so I post it.
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Fixin' puters fer a livin'

[FallenAngel]

I was just curious seeing as how everyone knows Dell gets much of their product from China and we all know just as well how good things are going over there, and that doesn't seem to dissuade people from supporting the company?

[Nighthawk]

Yeah. That's a good point, actually. I suppose this is relatively tame, old news in comparison. But it was news to me - I previously had no idea the Philippino government was so heavy-handed (even if it is child's play relative to China)
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Fixin' puters fer a livin'

[Mele20]