Employee Feedback Database

This mischevious rodent has wondered of late if it would be viable to set up an internet site or blog that would serve the local/national community with the following purpose:

• People would anonymously leave posts that rate how good (or how bad) it is to work for their various past and present employers, and/or typical ethical practices at these companies
• Example 1: Mrs. S would leave a message about how Company X is very amenable to allowing their employees to work flex-time, even though this is not stated in the employee handbook
• Example 2: Mr. X, Company Y's accountant, would post something outlining how Company Y tends to underpay its female employees
• This could be used for potential new employees of companies to see if anything exists regarding their prospective employer- both good reviews and bad reviews
• It may be a way to keep track of a company's reputation and possibly shame them into improving poor behaviour

Obviously it would be very difficult to ensure that the content is reasonably accurate when it is subjective and written anonymously. Alternatively, to increase its viability, the site could keep a secure registration database of people who post so it could be confirmed that they actually worked for the company. If these issues could be sorted out, it would be an interesting tool for job searchers, and for corporate watchdogs. Maybe something that could be integrated into Workopolis or Monster.

If anyone out there has any ideas about this wacky scheme, I'd love to hear it!

The Evil Mermaid's Empire

Over the last year, my wife and I have started to frequent a new community coffee shop in our neighborhood in Lynn Valley, The Sugarsuite Cafe. It offers healthy, organic fare and really excellent coffee. In fact, I'd have to say their coffee is much better than those other guys, SBs, across the street. Maybe this is why SBs is getting so nervous in neighborhoods and strip malls across the continent: people are realizing that their offer of ersatz-culture and hip coffee is so disingenous while alternatively there are so many grass-roots, community-driven shops with better servings.

However, when big corporations like SBs get nervous about the little guys, they do strange things. Rumour in our neighborhood has it that just as Sugarsuite started up, SBs started bribing municipal officials—er, I mean offering the district special "charitable donations"—to expand their business license so that they would be considered an actual full-service restaurant, not just a coffee house. Hmmmm. Interesting....Starbucks a full-service restaurant? Although Sugarsuite offers soup, salads, grilled sandwiches and serves them to you at a table with real cutlery, I doubt many SB patrons have had that experience. Nonetheless, I bet you can guess which establishment here in Lynn Valley gets hassled about seating restrictions, because it is not licensed as a full-service restaurant.
Furthermore, because Sugarsuite promotes community art, rather than the latest generic jazz CD, "neighbors" have voiced complaints to the municipality about the noise generated by their poetry and acoustic musical nights. Strangely, none of the actual residential neighbors seem to be bothered by it because they are actually participating at the cafe. I wonder who these annoyed neighbors could be? Hmmmmm.

Some good news, though. We just got back from a morning coffee at Sugarsuite, and the place was packed. Again. This is starting to happen more and more, so it looks like people are rallying around the community-based business, with the better product, and without the specially purchased license. If only this trend continues into other areas of local versus big business...

It is very disturbing that big corporations like Starbucks, or Walmart, or HomeDepot, etc. can undermine the wants and needs of real communities, over and above the wants and needs of the exhorbitantly rewarded CEOs of these transnationals. When will members of communities stand-up for themselves, and send the big-boys packing?

For more on the evil empire of Starbucks see Reverend Billy's site on the matter:
http://www.revbilly.com/revsite/Sbucks/old/sbucks_flyer.html

Nukular Dubya

Isn't this great!
(Kudos to Northstar and a blogger named Wlyd Card: Sharpening our wits on the grindstone of Life: Don'cha just love this guy?)

A Sporting Revolution: The Parecon Hockey League (ZNet Blog)

A Sporting Revolution: The Parecon Hockey League (ZNet Blog)

This is a fun fantasy involving professional sports and the Participatory Economics principles of Michael Albert.

Juvenile Origins - Adult Ambitions

The Marmot Liberation Organization was founded in 1985 by three teenage boys during a highschool social studies class at Rutland Senior Secondary in beautiful British Columbia. When asked to form a political party as a class exercise, we came up with one based on the democratic rights of marmots, an endangered species in our area at the time. We generated a lot of interest, silliness, and plain confusion with our juxtaposition of rodent rights and politics.

After we graduated, went to college, and became responsible, employed citizens, we suddenly realized that the democratic rights of people were practically equivalent to those of rodents, and we extended our cause to include human citizens.

I hope to make this blog a fun, entertaining, yet interesting forum for those interested in issues of social justice and democracy in our consumer-driven, corporate culture.