Can we talk about motorbikes again? I completely understand but also quite saddened that a benelli is not made by 6 guys sipping grappa at lunch and talking about football ( the round one ) . A made in China MV just sounds wrong , affordable yes , just seems like a bottle of champagne now made in the Qing Dong province .
- The supply chain being totally mucked up right now has been an eye opener for companies who want to manufacture on the cheap on the other side of the world and just put it on a ship to get here "just in time". Except when it doesn't get here in time. And then their manufacturing grinds to a halt costing them waaaaay more than they saved versus making those essential items closer to home.
- China's economy is in a slow motion collapse. And I think a lot of western nations are about to seize on the opportunity, all things considered right now.
Edit: Sorry Crank, but this is a topic near and dear to my heart - China doesn't deserve our money.
I would encourage people to read labels and to avoid anything grown or processed in China due to basic food safety concerns. China is becoming a powerhouse of cheap food supply due to low labour costs. Netflix has a food related series "Rotten" covering a range of products / issue. Interesting series in itself and time and time again China comes up with dubious food processing issues. Don't ask who and how your peeled Chinese garlic is prepared.........
Any RFP document that results in a lowest priced, but substandard, product or service is poorly written or poorly executed. Steel to be used in construction can be tested and trees or other such products should have been covered by a minimum warranty period of one year, just like everyone gets when you buy from a nursery. Many government RFP documents are prepared by generalists who know nothing about the product / service they are procuring. As a result of this the procurement process is completed satisfactorily, but the product / service fails in use and the taxpayer is left holding the bag with zero accountability accruing back to the procurement department. Think new license plates that you can't see after dark and the world's most expensive and poorly performing transit fare system(Presto) etc......
It's up to people and government to put proper inspection processes in place for Chinese products, to limit dumping and to prohibit importation of products manufactured or processed by criminal and political prisoners.
Actually regarding the trees, in business to business/institutional transactions as long as the specifications were met the warranty is, "they were alive when you got them."
As for the steel it's not the issue of being within spec or not, it's about an underutilized domestic industry and subsidized competition. Say what you like about Buy American type policies, or non-tariff barriers (and they DO advantage one side over the other) but I certainly see the point AND value in supporting/favoring domestic industries regardless of the country.
A few years ago I chatted with our AG. Canada inspector (now CFIA) regarding food imports from China. For example, the packaged snow peas that never seem to go bad in the refrigerator are already about 8 weeks since being harvested when they arrive here in Canada. As a comparison the edible pod peas from my garden go limp in the refrigerator after a little more than a week or so.
If you think you can rely on the Canadian food import regulation/inspection system to protect you then you have a much higher risk tolerance that me or the inspectors I've met.
Actually regarding the trees, in business to business/institutional transactions as long as the specifications were met the warranty is, "they were alive when you got them."
As for the steel it's not the issue of being within spec or not, it's about an underutilized domestic industry and subsidized competition. Say what you like about Buy American type policies, or non-tariff barriers (and they DO advantage one side over the other) but I certainly see the point AND value in supporting/favoring domestic industries regardless of the country.
A few years ago I chatted with our AG. Canada inspector (now CFIA) regarding food imports from China. For example, the packaged snow peas that never seem to go bad in the refrigerator are already about 8 weeks since being harvested when they arrive here in Canada. As a comparison the edible pod peas from my garden go limp in the refrigerator after a little more than a week or so.
If you think you can rely on the Canadian food import regulation/inspection system to protect you then you have a much higher risk tolerance that me or the inspectors I've met.
Haha. On a similar note, I know people that work for suppliers that will not buy food from the bins at bulk stores. Apparently (and probably not unexpectedly) there is measurable quantities of urine and fecal coliform in the bins from previous shoppers.
Haha. On a similar note, I know people that work for suppliers that will not buy food from the bins at bulk stores. Apparently (and probably not unexpectedly) there is measurable quantities of urine and fecal coliform in the bins from previous shoppers.
Yikes!
By the same token, my wife and I threw out all the opened dry goods because there were tiny moths in the cupboard. After googling I found that they reproduce by laying eggs in stuff like rice, flour, beans etc. consuming it as larvae. While making rice one day I found a floater moth. Since the wife was away I ate the rice anyway. Tossed the moth though.
10 years from now? I thinks that already is already the dominant power in the easy, and a top international force as well.
A few things worry me about China.
Slowing growth and consolidating wealth makes it hard to keep the masses happy strengthens dissent and upheaval forces -- this leads to brutal crack down, as they cut the head off the snake. There's a reason they are becoming more brutal every day -- a rising middle class wants more say in their destiny. A totalitarian regime will have none of that, they will beat back dissention with force, they will collar anyone who builds influence over the population. Where is Jack Ma?
Increasing nationalism and military buildup. Nothing quells domestic unrest like a good nation engaging fight and China is certainly building resources in this area. First they increase national pride, then start antagonizing neighbours - Taiwan, India, even the USA. Finally they lash out, either through conquest or out of feat that their enemy might cause harm buy fueling dissent or by paralyzing economic moves.
Haha. On a similar note, I know people that work for suppliers that will not buy food from the bins at bulk stores. Apparently (and probably not unexpectedly) there is measurable quantities of urine and fecal coliform in the bins from previous shoppers.
To be fair, there's measurable quantities of both on probably all sorts of things we handle regularly. And bug parts in food we eat.
It's been that way forever. This is why we should wash our hands a lot. The bug parts? Kinda normal when you come to the realization that our food still grows in fields full of dirt - people are kidding themselves if they think somehow everything is magically 100% sanitized before it ends up in our mouths.
I never worry too much about the USA, they are the most resilient nation on earth, no matter how bad things get they have always recovered faster and stronger.
They gave had leadership issues for a while, and sadly sleepy Joe is one of them. Give them time, they will bounce back.
I never worry too much about the USA, they are the most resilient nation on earth, no matter how bad things get they have always recovered faster and stronger.
They gave had leadership issues for a while, and sadly sleepy Joe is one of them. Give them time, they will bounce back.
No, I am not concerned about the US currency crashing in the foreseeable future. In the longer term, their subpar education system, and foreseeable religious and political and economic pressures not aimed in a direction of improving it, does not lead in a good direction. That's not something that is easy to turn around. US companies will continue to do things and make money during the process of the US becoming an uneducated, crime-ridden, unhealthy place to live (more so than it already is - and yes, some parts more so than others, I realise that the whole country is not like that ... but too much of it is).
Maybe they can turn it around. Maybe they can somehow get two increasingly-divergent political parties to talk to each other. Maybe enough of the US population sees that populism is not a good political direction - maybe they'll see that you have to vote for someone to do a job, even if it is an unpopular job that needs doing. I hope so.
I would encourage people to read labels and to avoid anything grown or processed in China due to basic food safety concerns. China is becoming a powerhouse of cheap food supply due to low labour costs. Netflix has a food related series "Rotten" covering a range of products / issue. Interesting series in itself and time and time again China comes up with dubious food processing issues. Don't ask who and how your peeled Chinese garlic is prepared.........
Canadian consumers are not that cautious, many look at benefits and close their eyes to dangers if the price or marketing is good.
Years ago I ran a textile company, many of my clients were catering to new moms with baby products.
Hemp textiles were in high demand, I didn't make them due to the many issues with fibre production and finished material performance. Young moms drank myths propagated by a few importers like it was kooaid -- most continued demanding the stuff despite complaining their babies were suffering.
Huh, it's already here. Fast becoming the second language in BC and Ontario, probably outstripping French as a second language by now.
I routinely get automated messages on my phone in this language and have no clue how they think it's okay to just carpet bomb everybody, like throwing dynamite into the lake to catch fish, very effective but very insensitive to those stunned and floating to the top. I recently got a fortune cookie for real the other week and it said, and I'm not joking,"Learn Chinese as a second language", giving a word and it's English translation. Like I said, very much in your face and insensitive.
Thing is as time marches along, modern countries are supposed to learn from past mistakes.
China has changed from a communist state to a totalitatian surveillance state. Lately they have become increasingly brutal with its internal controls. Those things are not cool with their major trading partners.
I didn't realize big data was already this mature.
The ability for them to narrow down peoples home location and then track movement from there...damn..
Which agency uses this I wonder....because afaik only lawful intercept has access to Telecom networks..
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