The lie is in pretending that we are not just as bad.  We are dealing with crooks without borders.

by John Hanks (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1760 comments [39 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Apr 20, 2008 at 9:15:41 AM

  (0+)

That, too, JH.

by Sandy Sand (198 articles, 0 quicklinks, 227 diaries, 1548 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Apr 20, 2008 at 9:34:07 AM

  (0+)

For  those of you who think chinese are too sensitive, just replace china with isreal and chinese with jews and imagine the responses he'd get.

It's always easy when the racial target are others...

by Andrew Li (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Sunday, Apr 20, 2008 at 10:03:28 AM

  (0+)

You should have said "Replace China With Israel, and Chinese with Israelis" not "Replace China with Israel and Chinese with Jews".

I'm sure this was an honest mistake, right?

by Steven Leser (255 articles, 58 quicklinks, 38 diaries, 2147 comments [63 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Sunday, Apr 20, 2008 at 10:14:49 AM

  (0+)

It is a popular notion that the Chinese own us 'lock, stock' and whatever but China holds only half the US debt that Japan holds.

What also seems to be lost in this piece is putting some responsibility on the US and other companies that do manufacturing business there. It is only a short step back in the history of US companies to recall that they moved manufacturing out of the US to acquire cheaper products and those products would be cheaper because of lower labor costs and the absence of environmental and health-related oversight and other expenses they would have incurred had they kept the manufacturing in the US.

The process of gutting the FDA of inspectors and funds that began with President Reagan and was made into an art form under the Bush Administration. So themantle of responsibility falls on the US government along with the US companies.

The Chinese government has no responsibility to the US consumer but the companies having these products made in China do (or certainly should). They appear not to be taking that responsibility as evidenced in the import of dangerous foods and goods and that should not be a surprize. After all, they are manufacturing there to avoid that responsibility in the first place.

Cafferty made another scatter shot on this one by ineffectively targeting the Chinese government over US companies and the US government. In Chinese, the language that the Chinese government speaks, Americans are known as 'Mei Guoren' - Beautiful people.

by Robert McElroy (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 15 comments) on Sunday, Apr 20, 2008 at 10:36:36 AM

  (0+)

Cafferty is right, our relationship with China is just like a married mans relationship with a two dollar whore. The two dollar whore has sweet kids who need monetary support so you can justify his actions if you like.

America has in the last few years become obsessed with cheap labor and has become willing to ignore its own laws and principles to obtain near slave labor. Big business has fell in love with the cheap labor and lack of regulations in China because they can fatten their off shore bank accounts considerably. Millions should be marching on Washington protesting any trade at all with China.

by Gary Denson (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 283 comments) on Sunday, Apr 20, 2008 at 10:39:03 AM

  (0+)

 I stumbled on an article some months ago that stated that a critical component of our cruise missile ,the crystal in the guidance system, was no longer made in the US, by a small company in Indiana. The company was put out of business by the brainiacs at the DOD, who awarded the contract to a Chinese company. A small item but  what if we need to lauch a missile at a bonafide enemy. I am sure the Chinese are assuring the accuracy of one of our first line defense weapons. Has everyone lost their minds or just me. Or is a crystal just a crystal and need no speicifications.  Some one help me and get more information on the out sourcing of our ability to defend ourselves.

by cluelessfl (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 188 comments) on Sunday, Apr 20, 2008 at 11:30:26 AM

  (0+)

Thank all the gods that be!  If it weren't for truth-telling Jack Cafferty and Keith Olbermann, there wouldn't be anyone we could turn to for the unbiased facts.  It is so refreshing when these gentlemen appear on their respective programs, and we can relax and actually get the truth about what is going on in our world.

Unbelievable that we now are force-fed republican garbage by the five networks that are wholly owned and controlled by said republicans.  Anyone who believes, or practices, Freedom of Speech - had better have his armor- plated underwear on. 

by lucydavis (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 88 comments) on Sunday, Apr 20, 2008 at 12:51:14 PM

  (0+)

...Wolf Blitzer is the anti-hero, and Jack doesn't come on at the same time ever hour, so he's pretty hard to catch.

by Sandy Sand (198 articles, 0 quicklinks, 227 diaries, 1548 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Apr 20, 2008 at 6:40:16 PM

  (0+)

Give me your rejects, your waste and your left-overs

American companies who should know better having been dumping stuff onto uneducated and unsuspecting markets for years ...

Want proof?

CIGARETTE SALES TO JAPAN JOLTED

By SUSAN CHIRA, SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: June 4, 1987

LEAD: The disclosure that 16,000 cases of Winston Lights cigarettes shipped to Japan contained illegally high levels of a herbicide could threaten a major effort to sell American cigarettes in Japan.

The disclosure that 16,000 cases of Winston Lights cigarettes shipped to Japan contained illegally high evels of a herbicide could threaten a major effort to sell American cigarettes in Japan.

The cigarettes, which contained higher levels of dicamba than are permitted by United States law, were not sold to Japanese consumers, although 45,000 packs were distributed to retailers as samples. R.J.

Reynolds Tobacco International, the distributor of Winston Lights, said that dicamba presented no health hazards.

Other tobacco companies and some consumer groups, however, are concerned that the publicity could shake Japanese confidence in the quality and safety of American tobacco just as sales of imported cigarettes are on the rise.

American tobacco companies have fought for years to break into the Japanese market. Two years ago, Japan ended the monopoly of the Government-owned Japan Tobacco Inc., but high tariffs still frustrated the
exporters.

Then last October, American manufacturers won an important victory when Japan agreed to eliminate tariffs of more than 20 percent on imported cigarettes, effective in April. In the last year, imports of foreign cigarettes have increased by 54 percent, with 80 percent of them coming from the United States.

But there is concern that Japanese consumers, famous for their attention to quality and their wariness of imported products, might now shy away from American cigarettes.

How about this one ....

Kodak, leading producing of film products had been involved in doing business in Japan since 1889. Yet it did not translate their box labels into Japanese until 1989.

Or this ...

GM didn't offer right hand drive vehicles in the Japanese market until 1997!! Not a significant technology but took them that long to get around to it!

And more recently (from New York Times)...

Japan Again Suspends Shipments of Beef From U.S.

By VIKAS BAJAJ
Published: January 21, 2006

Barely a month after it eased a two-year ban on United States beef imports, the Japanese government suspended the shipments yesterday after finding backbone, which is prohibited under a trade agreement, in veal sent by a Brooklyn meatpacker.

Don't just point the finger at China .. it seems to be the practice of greedy US companies too... and ...

If you have ever lived in a country outside the US, you find American products with contests and sweepstakes (only American residents can enter clearly marked on the box) with an expiry of less than six months on store shelves. It's actually a form of dumping - the contest is over in the States so we better sell it in a country that can't read the box!!

The point is one gets the feeling tha what can't be sold in the US gets sold or dumped elsewhere. So who's not playing fair???

by H Lee (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Sunday, Apr 20, 2008 at 12:57:33 PM

  (0+)

New Member, Lee...

More than happy to place blame where blame is due, but talking about one country's control over its manufacturers at a time is enough for one article. 

by Sandy Sand (198 articles, 0 quicklinks, 227 diaries, 1548 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Apr 20, 2008 at 5:29:58 PM

  (0+)

Of course, you already knew that...

BTW, did you ever get around to reading Cafferty's It's Getting Ugly Out There?

As always, keep up the good work!

-Bid

by C.Bid (0 articles, 7 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 739 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Apr 20, 2008 at 4:35:01 PM

  (0+)

It wasn't the Chinese people who brought the low paying jobs to their country, it was the multinationals that were looking for cheaper labor and to circumvents U.S. environmental laws. China happened to begin its transition at a convenient time for this offshoring to commence.

The examples that the media, this article included only focus on is .02% of the total imports the U.S. receives from China. The Chinese can point a finger at U.S. beef imports, as one example of casting stones in glass houses.

The U.S. consumer demands lower prices; which suppresses the living standard in China, and having Chinese companies resort to using supplies that are inferior. Companies have to make a profit whether they be Chinese or American. Who makes more on the transaction? I'll tell you that U.S. markups of 500% before retail are common.

Blame China all you want for currency manipulation, which is simply not true when the average Chinese family live on less than $800.00 per year. Most foreigners who visit China only see the largest cities and popular tourist sites, that represent a small fraction of the 1.6 billion population.

Mr. Cafferty should be reminded that the U.S. government of Bu$h & Co. are doing everything to its own citizens that he and you accuse the Chinese government of doing to theirs.

The whole "Free Tibet" issue is absurd when you consider the history of China-Tibetan relations go back over 1000 years. The entire U.S. history is one of illegal occupation based on lies, mass-murder of innocents, and subjugation of a native lands inhabitant's.

Why can't we all just get along?

by Stanimal (2 articles, 226 quicklinks, 38 diaries, 1254 comments [233 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Sunday, Apr 20, 2008 at 7:41:31 PM

  (0+)

This whole Tibet thing has really brought out the racism in people hasn't it?

It's not the Chinese people who are doing anything wrong, they're no different than anyone else. They're not the ones putting anti-freeze in toothpaste, they're not the one filling toys with lead products. It's all capitalism greed and a handful of sleazy Chinese CEOs who are responsible for all of that, yet the internet is so quick to slander 1/7th of the entire world's population.

I thought the internet was suppose to be non-bias and free from propaganda crap, I guess that's a non-issue. People in China are upset because you're slandering their country and ruining a great moment in their history. Wouldn't anyone be? Not to mention that the boycott of the Olympics is completely stupid. It won't affect the Chinese government, they don't give a ****. So what if countries decide to boycott the Olympics, they're not gonna lose out. But the people, your average joe on the street's gonna lose out big. And they're mighty upset and they have every right to be.

And please, don't talk about "Oh, we can produce better quality crap here in America or Canada, we don't need your cheap stuff" because that, is just utter nonsense. Of course we can produce better crap, but our better crap costs a lot of money. Have you seen stuff in tourists shops? Like Made in America sweaters, or coffee mugs? I've seen those sweaters sell for $60-$70 in shops, yet just a generic one made in China would cost half of that. So before you all go yelling about how you'd prefer homemade goods, think about it. Do you really want to pay that much, and not only that, but who's gonna work in the factories? You? Do you think any one here would rather have a factory job, standing in front of a machinery pressing buttons and making sweaters? Or would they rather have a nice desk job at an IT company? There's a reason why factory jobs are being shipped off to outside countries, it's because there's a dwindling trades force in first world countries. Very few people are taking trades in university and college, everyone's going for Business and Computer Science degrees.

Sandy: that computer screen you are staring at was made in China, and the clothes on your back were made in China. Unless you decide to get rid of them and everything else in your home that has "Made in China" stamped on it, I really don't see how you can criticize an entire country without being a hypocrite.

by Tracy McGrady (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Monday, Apr 21, 2008 at 2:31:57 AM

  (0+)

No one is learning trades in this country because all the manufacturing jobs have gone overseas. The numbers of students in computer science classes at American universities have also dropped precipitously, because IT jobs have also gone overseas.

I have heard interviews with families who have had generations work in various manufacturing plants in the US, only to have their jobs go abroad and their communities struggle. They would be delighted to have high-paying factory jobs once again.

by Lynn Hirshman (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 41 comments [6 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Apr 21, 2008 at 11:41:27 AM

  (0+)

Sandy: I’m sorry but I have to say that your article is too shallow to convince anyone who can think; furthermore, you seem convinced by Jack Cafferty without any forward thinking.  Let’s ask, who in fact design, “quality control” the junks we’re importing?  Who profit from this indeed?  The cheap labors in China?  Is everything we import from China junks? (think your beloved Coach bag made in China.) Why “our government allows us to be injected with them”? Jack Caffery didn’t tell you anything about these but diverting the anger towards the Chinese with his classic crowd-pleasing trick: calling them names, making fun of them, to make the majority viewers feel good.  Does it make you feel better if you throw an egg to your rival who just defeated you? Sure, it does. There are a lot of angry people out there in the US.

Jack Cafferty is neither an activist, nor an economist. He is rather a tacky TV celebrity who likes to flaunt and ridicule with a bad mouth, and a lot of times, illogical thinking.  He is often conceited with prejudice and acts as a bad Donald Duck. Sadly, we learn the world by overly watching the television and movies. The information received is often distorted or dramatized. 

Sandy, you don’t want to be a political comedian like Jack. You want to become a fine columnist. Make sure to validate your assumptions by asking some questions.

by Jerome Hunter (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Monday, Apr 21, 2008 at 2:34:04 PM

  (0+)

as high-paying factory jobs, that's why these jobs were off-shored in the first place. All I ever hear people complain about is how China "Stole" these jobs, which is simply not true.

Put the blame where where it belongs, with the multinationals, which think a CEO's pay & perks are the only thing that produces a profit for a company. There are few ethical standards for business where the CEO can make only 10x more than the lowest paid worker. What ever happened to profit sharing, medical insurance and a pension that's not raided by management?

These are days past, in the USA, and 13,000,000 manufacturing jobs left China last year for Indonesia, Thailand and India, where people like "Freidman" think they welcome these same jobs that most of America came to despise. I can assure you that the same feeling applies to these Indonesian's, Thais, and Indian's who do these jobs today while their environment is trashed from lack of environmental standards.

Since Americans demand lower prices, and the only way to achieve it is by finding the worker who's willing to be paid the lowest and live in toxic squaller while western CEO's lavish themselves with the immoral gains.

White collar workers of IT, Accounting & Financial Services and Architecture & Engineering, are also jobs now being out-sourced and off-shored as the developing world taps its raw newly educated labor pool. Which is only going to put more pressure on a already badly hemorrhaging US economy.

You can thank the US administrations since the 1970's who have slowly dismantled the New Deal of the 1930's which the greedy privileged few despised.

Get ready for a living standard equivalent of Mexico, as the SPP accords are signed and the consolidation of the North American Union continues. the $ will further depreciate with the illegal occupation of Iraq as Bu$h & Co. prepare to do the same with Iran.

I think Jack Cafferty's remarks apply to American official's more when you see how mis-guided US foreign policy has bankrupt the country and "Terrorized" the world.

by Stanimal (2 articles, 226 quicklinks, 38 diaries, 1254 comments [233 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Monday, Apr 21, 2008 at 3:08:19 PM

  (0+)