Fur Free Friday in San Francisco @ Neiman Carcass

Someone should go to Benetton too. That store has a long-term marketing strategy United Colors of Benetton which makes it seem like buying their clothes supports multiculturalism, but really, they took a huge tract of land in the patagonia region of Argentina to raise sheep and are just bumping the Mapuche indian group off their land that they've lived on for a long time. The government illicitly sold it to Benetton. The Benetton family also is involved in water in Italy and had shady dealings there too.

As the animal lib page is new, I think we should make a point of ignoring people who are obviously here to stir up conflict with no interest whatsoever in discussing the issue in any substantive way. Ignore them and they will go away. Make their sad little hobby no more fun for them. I've gleaned from the negative comments on many of the animal liberation stories that it's pretty much just one or two people saying the same inciteful nonsense. They're probably either cointelpro-esque FBI agents, or more likely just sad little people at home alone wishing someone would talk to them, so they have to sublimate it through indy media webpages.

If those of you posting the nasty comments are interested in discussing the issue, we'd all be more than happy to discuss. We animal activists are not afraid of debate, and are pretty confident that we are correct on most if not all of the issues. If you disagree, by all means, bring it on. but please do so in a constructive way. I assume that you're reading indy bay because you're at least somewhat sympathetic to the plight of the oppressed. You may disagree that "the oppressed" includes animals, but this vitriolic nastiness to those who should be your allies is certainly unbecoming to the Left.

Again, I encourage the animal liberationists here to not give the haters the attention they so desparately crave. Ignore ignore ignore. As someone else posted, don't feed the trolls.

just to clarify: the last post was not referring to the person's comment on benneton. that sounds like an interesting issue.
i was commenting on some comments that were just anti-animal nonsense. it looks like those comments have been removed.

Well, I don't mind anyone making a fuss in front of Neiman Marcus. Have you ever walked around in there and looked at prices? It is totally more upscale than Macy's and other fairly upscale places. It's different if it is for people who are economically constrained. I did feel angry the other day when I listened to liberal Bernie Ward and he was yelling at a caller who said they shopped at WalMart. Even if shopping at Walmart props up the system of nearly unpaid workers in China making products sold by nearly unpaid Walmart salesclerks here, many or most Walmart (or Taco Bell) shoppers are at the bottom of the system where we have a permanent percentage of people kept unemployed via our economic policy and the Federal Reserve Bank, so that another percentage of people are kept in min wage jobs or using credit to keep afloat.

Anyway, here is a Benetton -Mapuche link. Do you remember when Benetton had lots of ads acting like they were leading the fight against HIV in the early 90s? This is ridiculous how they really act behind their advertising: http://www.mapuche.nl/english/benetton190404.htm
"In Sheep’s Clothing
Benetton is color blind, except when it comes to its profits
By Pauline Bartolone | 4.19.04

In exchange for the Mapuche’s land, Benetton built a museum to “narrate the culture of a mythical land.”
Italian-owned Benetton Group became the largest landowner in Argentina in 1997 when it bought Compania Tierras del Sur Argentina S.A. and took over 2.2 million acres and 280,000 sheep to produce wool for its international clothing line. Despite advertisements promoting racial harmony and diversity, Benetton made enemies with the native Mapuche population—and this dispute has turned into a lawsuit over property.

Atilio Curinanco and his wife Rosa Nahuelquir requested permission in early 2002 to start a family business on a seventeen acre plot called Santa Rosa in front of one of Benetton’s properties. Because Benetton’s land is well fenced in other areas and Santa Rosa was known among Mapuche to be unoccupied, the family believed the plot was available.

As is customary, the couple contacted the Instituto Autárquico de Colonizacion (IAC), a government-managed real estate agency that tracks whether property is available and notifies prospective landowners of its status. After receiving verbal confirmation from IAC that the land was available, the family moved in and began raising animals and crops.

“We went to the land without harming anyone,” Curiñanco says. “We didn’t cut a fence. We didn’t go at night. We didn’t hide ourselves. We waited for someone to come to let us know if it bothered them.”

Two months later, Benetton claimed the land, and IAC seized the property and the belongings of the Curinanco-Nahuelquir family. Santa Rosa remains unoccupied today as the family seeks to win legal rights to the land. The case, brought by Benetton for land usurpation, opens April 14.

Across the dusty highway from Santa Rosa, other Mapuche are threatened with eviction. In 1992, Benetton purchased land surrounding Leleque, a village of eight families who worked for the Argentinean railroad company loading wool, leather and other goods for transport. In exchange for the land Mapuche had occupied for 13,000 years, Benetton constructed the Leleque museum to “narrate the history and culture of a mythical land.”