Mc $h!t....globalization gone wild.

McFree since 1998! I been avoiding/boycotting McDonald's for 8 plus years and people from Austria to South Africa to the US have wondered why. Some of my happiest years were when I lived in Mozambique, which as of yet has not fallen victim to McTrash. KFC has "colonelized"...uh I mean colonized Maputo after coming across the border from South Africa but so far Moz has remained McFree. If there is talk of moving there I will be at the front of the protest line against this multinational corporate giant that is more concerned with profits than people and promoting globalization over protecting the planet. You might say well it tastes good, their regulations ensure healthy food and it tastes the same wherever I go. But to me variety is the spice of life and I can’t see the reason of traveling in Europe, South America, etc. and stopping at McDonald's along the way just to satisfy your craving and passing up the “traditional/local” dishes wherever you may be.

If you haven’t seen Morgan Spurlock’s brilliant movie “Super Size Me” I would highly recommend that you do. Some of you will look on the internet and find dissenting views to Spurlock’s such as Wikipedia’s* article on Super Size Me which lists objections and alternative views on Spurlock's experiment. Also of note is an article published just last week in the Guardian Unlimted called “Only another 5,500 calories to go ...” which tells of another recent experiment conducted in Sweden with interesting results.

Even with those that are against Super Size Me, I would still recommend that you see it. I have provided you alternate viewpoints so that you know that I have done my research and know that there is not always one side to a story. There are some other websites that are interesting to visit and read. First, is McSpotlight.org which highlights some of the underhanded and unethical things that McDonald's has done over the years. This site was born in part out of the infamous McDonald's Restaurants v Morris & Steel popularly known as the McLibel trial. I especially recommend looking at this page of Mc Spotlight to see how McDonald's is not alone as a multinational abusing the rights of the people and the planet.

Also, at Harpers.org you can find out more stories written over the years on McDonald's. For some fun go to play this McDonald's game and see how you too can contribute to global warming, globalization and world domination.

Finally, read this article from The Nation to see how the US treats Frenchmen who don’t agree with US politics or McDonald's tightening grasp on society. Read the following for a taste of what you will find.

“Jose Bove's Not Welcome in Bush's USA

Few figures have contributed more to the debate about corporate globalization than Jose Bove, the French farmer whose dismantling of a McDonald's restaurant that was under construction near his sheep farm was something of a "shot-heard-round-the-world" in the struggle against the homogenization of food, culture and lifestyles.”

* I am well aware that Wikipedia is a potentially dangerous and unreliable site on the internet due to being "open source", yet it seems to be a good place to start ones research.