Nice

Applebees in China

Found someone who hates it as much as me:

http://shanghaiscrap.com/?p=326

Toy Shopping

So we to to the mall to walk around and look for stuff, and I partook in my ritual of looking for anything not made in China. It keeps me busy so I can avoid watching the hordes collect plastic stuff. Of course I am a hypocrite, as I have plenty of toys for me, and the kids have even more. Anyways, I started to look at games and puzzles, because cardboard is usually made in this country, being too cheap here to import. I picked up a Scrabble game just to look. It said "Made in USA with letters, bag, and board made in China." Think about that, isn't that everything except the box? What's the point? I guess there are lots of cardboard factories in the US.

We also got a KNEX toy that had some parts made in the USA and some in China, but was packaged over there. Again, does that mean they send some parts 10,000 miles twice?

I guess if I stick to cardboard stuff, I am ok....

Enough Said

Thoughts on the economy

Since I last wrote here, the US economy has had major issues and caused a setback in life it seems. People have lost 40-50% in their retirement funds, banks are closing, and good companies are laing off and closing facilities. I was trying to think about why and how, and it isn't so easy. What have the last few years been based on? Well, greed, stuff, and consumption. Everyone wants money for nothing, we don't make anything here, and I think the priorities of many people are out of whack. I have to admit I have definitely been part of it, friving a nice car, buying TVs, spending money like nothing, etc. But at least I have an honest job, support my family, and generally try to make people happy. This isn't really about me though. I wonder being a nation of overwieght, tv-addicted, money hungry slobs has something to do with it. Sure, there are some with values, but the percentages just aren't high enough.

Now I'm thinking of the real estate tailspin we are into now. Things were humming along, going up steadily with the population (I'm talking before the bubble), and generally stable. Then banks, real estate brokers, clever investors, and careless lazy people got together to ruin it. Prices shot up, houses flipped too often, lonas were sold off and shuffled, and the fuse was lit. Honest hard-working people struggled to get into houses they could barely afford, with prices being driven up by false demand and all of the aforementioned players participation. Once the country realized that it wasn't going to continue, prices fell, equity disappeared, and banks fell apart. Simple, huh?

Whats left? Millions who can't get that equity line to pay off debt (read: stop charging shit), banks absorbing property and uncollectable loans, and stockholders holding things they can't sell. Honest loans are hard to come by, property isn't moving, and credit cards are becoming the only place to borrow from. If we as a nation had manufacturing and services to fall back on, we could simply say that people should work harder, live within their means, and be happy with what they have.

I know both candidates preached lower taxes and more handouts, but how can that help? Being more in debt as a country seems like a bad place, yet it doesn't seem like anyone cares. I don't want higher taxes, but I do want equity. I actually had a totally unrealistic thougth on that. Probably woth another musing, so stay tuned

I wanted to conclude here, but I don't really think I said much. There is no advice that wors across the board, but my pretty simple conservative lifestyle, even with some luxuries, seems to work. I guess my one conclusion is that it is a hard problem to solve, I don't have the answer (of course), but at least I can offer my philosphy that keeps me afloat: work hard, think ahead, eat right, and pay attention. Maybe I will post again when I think I can make sense.....

Old Onion Post

This is an old article, but still pretty funny.

Article

Formula, Medicine, Food

What else? Now we are feeding our children and sick people food and drugs stamped out over there. Again, I'm sure it could be ok, but when they take all of the lead, nuclear waste, and hazardous stuff we discard and use it in their factories, along with not having strict rules about production, what do you expect? Think of all of the wrappings and seals on products here. Do they do that or care over there?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/magazine/02fda-t.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/world/asia/17milk.html

When you go to the toy store or any dollar store, take a look at the food aisle. Most of the candy is made in China, right beside the plastic that holds it or wraps it. Are you 100% confident that plastic there is produced without lead or mercury? I doubt it. For the added price, I'll take a Hershey bar any day. On Halloween, I sorted the candy and tossed the Chinese stuff. The only smart thing to do.