Made In America?

[Amanda_931]

The AFL-CIO (not exactly an unbiased souce, but they could be right here) has a paper out saying that the big importing retailers' association is fighting hard against greater port security--it would mean that their containers would have to be inspected/screened at least randomly, both at the port of origin and the U.S. port.

So part of our throwaway economy is fed by lowered security at the ports.  And we raised a fuss about an American subsidiary of a Dubai (but not its predecessor British) conglomerate running the day-to-day operation of the ports--not, incidently, including port security.

Yep, they're mostly aiming this at Wal-Mart, but the association is RILA, the Retail Industry Leader's Association, and it probably includes a handful of big box stores, and probably some wannabees as well--.pdf alert.

http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/walmart/upload/walmart_unchecked_0406.pdf

[PEG688]

 
 Just thinking Pegg, maybe we are not so far apart on welfare after all. I'll have a chew on that tonight and maybe have a go at clarifying my thoughts in another post in the next day or two.

 [size=12] Hey Jonesy  You chewed on this long enough to share your thoughts ?  

 Mind ya I'm not rushin ya  :)just curious  

 Have a great day mate  

PEG

   [/size]  

[jonsey/downunder]

Sorry Pegg,
I did start working on that project but it started to turn into a book, I need to whittle it down a bit but I'm afraid that won't be soon. Visits to the computer and forum have been and will be fleeting over the next month or so. The cockies around here will insist on breaking the tractors and it would seem that I'm the only one that can fix them. Don't know what they are going to do when I finally kick the bucket, the whole place will probably come to a screeching halt.

[glenn kangiser]

You and I mate-- seems the world revolves around us.  You can be the next closest planet, PEG.

[Amanda_931]

There's a big crafts fair in Nashville this weekend.  First of three.  A handful of people selling furniture type stuff--some boxes (from roughly a 4" cube to something 6 feet tall) with stained garden gnomes or nymphs holding up chests of drawers (they may come to the fall one)--some bark-on willow--chairs and such--and some fine wood/fine finish/generally nice design pieces.

I don't know how they do.  Well enough that they keep coming.  And especially the people in the last category are very happy to hand out their cards for future reference.

[water8]

I was thinking about this the other day.  Do you remeber when Walmart was all "Made in America" and had banners all over the store - "American Made!"...I wonder where those banners are.  I don't see them anymore.  But what I do notice about my neighborhood Wallyworld, is that there is a lot of plastic junk in there that falls apart.  A little while back I bought an anniversary clock, that even looked like plastic, but said on the box - "metal base, porcelin face"...and lo and behold when I opened it t was all cheap plastic.  The batteries didn't even fit, and I scraped it up trying to jam them in - before I finally took it back and demanded my money back.  But...cheap is cheap.  Why did I buy it in the first place?  Why would I rather spend $20 at Walmart, than $80. at the craft shop in the village?  Hmmm.... Do you really think people are going to pay MORE for the same product?  Of course, my point was, it's not the same product.  It's of a lower quality, for sure...but....most people won't be able to get over the fact...it is CHEAPER! And how on earth can we compete with that??  Do any of you want to trade places with a worker who makes .60 cents an hour?  Would you help your boss fight against foriegn imports by taking a drastic paycut?  I'm sure Walmart sold millions of those plastic clocks last Christmas.  And I'm sure they had a few hundred returned.  But they sold MILLIONS.

[Amanda_931]

Not one of my favorite places.  Haven't been in one for years, in fact.

Although I think they are the poster child for lousy retailing operations.

There are other places nearly as bad, some of which we probably all go to.  

I do keep forgetting to go to our local merchants, some of whom do a pretty good job.  (but we don't have a bookstore!, so I go places that do)

[Sassy]

I had a hard time deciding whether to put this link in the "National Debt" thread or this one... I guess it could go both places.  
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12977.htm

[glenn kangiser]

When we were flying to Mexico about 8 years ago, the Air Traffic Controller was earning $.50 an hour.  No wonder we cant keep a job here.  Our Corporations will go wherever they can to maximize profits, so don't feel bad if all you can afford on your earnigs is foreign made stuff.

You should have seen the nice state of the art Motorola plant in Chihuahua.  :-/

[Amanda_931]

Fuel prices will take care of some of that.  

Also, last I heard containers were stacking up on the west coast--i.e., one sort of has to factor in dead-heading the containers back to Asia.  Won't apply as much to Mexico, though.

(remind me not to fly to a country where air traffic controllers earn that little--especially if, and it may well be true, that the personality traits I found in the ex-PATCO people are what make good air traffic controllers)

(PATCO = Professional Air Traffic Controllers union--the one that Reagan disolved--the people who didn't go back were pretty interesting.  Actually I buy bells from one of them--another used to wear his "Give PATCO and Hinkley another chance" t-shirt into what he hoped were Reagan lovers bars)

[Texan lost in cali]

Amanda,
I have looked at many of those containers stacking up as a good thing, Cheap housing! There are many ideas available out on the web to make use of them and they are already engineered structures, too bad this is Southern ( communist) California were nothing cheap can be done because there is no one that would be able to pull cash out of your pocket if you made it with cheap materials.  

[Amanda_931]

True.  And I know some people who had their stuff brought in one when they moved from California--after a year, it may have been cheaper than renting a mini-storage.

But then they have to be manufactured and delivered as new containers to the Asian ports.