A couple of questions for the American type people.

1) On an episode of Buffy, The Vampire Slayer (and, no doubt other telly shows) i have heard a character say "Don't Bogart the chips/fries/chicken/etc, i guess they refer to Humphrey Bogart, but why?

2) Also heard on the telly, a character might say "I'm Jonesing for some chips/fries/chicken etc, meaning "I really need some blah blah blah", why Jonesing, who the hell is Jones?

Cheers Nick. :)

In the UK John Thomas is a slang word for the Penis.

Just thought you'd like to know. :p

And speaking of getting fired. I've noticed far too often (enough to make me think that this may be true) that a boss or employer can just fire someone for no apparent reason. This sort of thing would never happen in Australia without the unions getting involved and/or an unfair dismissal case in court.

2. bogart
To keep a spliff to oneself to oneself, especially while hanging from your mouth. From actor Humphrey Bogart's trademark cigarettes, held in lips or hand, but rarely actually smoked.
Hey, Bogart! Pass the joint.

Agreed, though I've heard it more as a verb, than as a nickname, as in, "Don't bogart that jay, my friend!"

Depends on how heavy your non-American accent is.

In the US, yes it happens all the time. See my earlier post about "at will" employees.

"Jonesing" came from a Grateful Dead song "Casey Jones". The line was in the chorus "driving that train, high on cocaine, Casey Jones you better watch your speed".

Casey Jones was a train engineer I believe in the 1800's who stayed with the engine trying to stop it rather than jump and save himself when he was about to crash into another train. It was something we learned in elementary school history.

Regarding Coca-Cola in WWII, the US military considered it important enough for troop morale that the company would build bottling plants at military bases as American troops advanced. Here's an article about it: http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-food/coca_cola.htm

America generally operates under "at-will" employement laws which means that you can let someone go for any non-illegal reason you want.
I can't imagine things functioning any other way. How can a company function without the ability to hire and fire as it see fit?

Some professions are heavily unionized like teachers and the car industry, while others are totally non-union. Most small business do not have unions.

Unions are a complicated and touchy subject in America due to their influence on politics and reputation for driving up costs and protecting members (or rather union executives) and making things a pain in the ass for non-members to do business.

For example, many film and animation studios have shipped jobs overseas to cut costs since minimum film union rates on pre-production and production effects work average around 1500 to 2000 per week/per person. You can hire the same person in India for 1/8th that cost. I work in computer games currently, but I know from buddies (and my wife) who are in various film-related unions that the unions go to great lengths to prevent non-union guys who are qualified from getting work.

Unfortunately you can't just join that film union when you want since the union tries to keep people out because existing members are threatened by new guys. It's a screwed up situation and so many directors and studios have just gotten fed up with unions and strikes etc. and left for cheaper waters. I worked on one film as a non-union guy but that was up in San Francisco, away from the influence of the LA unions.

I guess it generally comes down to if you are an owner, or an employee, when it comes to unions or at-will work laws. Where you stand depends on where you sit, as the expression goes.