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It's up to usPosted Wednesday, August 8, 2007, at 9:01 AM
What are we doing?
Why do we keep buying products from a country that wants us dead? I have a hard time understanding why America keeps recieveing shipments from China and distibuting them to us? First it was the dog food. That was bad, but maybe it might have been a freak mistake. Then the toothpaste warning came along. Toothpaste, something that we use (or should use) every single day contained an antifreeze component. Next came the contaminated seafood. Now I can't trust that the toys that my daughter plays with isn't coated in lead paint! I admit, I might not know exactly what I am talking about all the time. I don't know all the ins and outs of Terrorism and I pretty much know nothing about how goods are shippied from China, or how they end up on the shelves at my house. I left all of that up to the good ole' US gov't. But it appears to me that I am going to have to take care of the safety of my family myself. It's time to stop depending on the people that are being paid to keep us safe. I don't know about you, but the whole China thing looks like terrorism to me. Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] |
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It does seem that way doesn't it. I am not sure how you an American consumer would have much control on what is in your products you buy unless you took to making your own products which would be a task very hard for most of us. You never know what is in that jar of peanut butter or the cup of coffee we just have to take their word that they are checking these products for our safety. And these days that is a scary thought.
I'm more worried about things like this than about bad dog food .. but that's just me, I guess.
Who was it that said that we would sell our enemies the very rope we'd be hung with?
Hmm ... it didn't post the link. Sorry
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jh...
I'm not offering any opinion one way or another, but we got this press release today from the state:
NASHVILLE, TN -- August 8, 2007 -- The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development today announced a broad cross section of business, education and health care leaders will be joining Governor Phil Bredesen and Commissioner of Economic and Community Development Matt Kisber for a 9-day trade mission to develop new markets for Tennessee companies in China. The trade mission will also focus on an exchange of ideas between health care experts in China and Tennessee on improving access to care in rural communities.
"I'm very pleased by the cross section of Tennesseans who have stepped up to participate in this important initiative," said Governor Bredesen. "Doing business globally is a complex undertaking, but we hope the groundwork we're laying will yield results for Tennesseans and for Tennessee companies."
As part of the mission, Governor Bredesen will officially open the Tennessee-China Development Center in Beijing on October 18, 2007. The office will serve as a clearinghouse for information about business opportunities in China for Tennessee companies and will raise Tennessee's profile among Asian companies seeking to invest in the U.S. market.
"We'll be sharing the message that Tennessee is among the most attractive business locations in the U.S.," said Commissioner Kisber. "Ultimately, the goal is to create high skill, good paying jobs for Tennesseans by connecting existing industry to customers in China and by convincing Chinese business leaders Tennessee is a good place to invest."
Tennessee is listed by the U.S.-China Business Council as having the fastest growing trade relationship with China among U.S. states over the past five years. During that period, Chinese purchases of Tennessee products grew 1,103%. Chinese customers purchased $1.8 billion dollars worth of Tennessee products in 2006, ranking the Asian nation 3rd behind Canada and Mexico. In May 2007, Governor Bredesen joined Chinese Ministry of Commerce officials in Memphis for the signing of $500 million dollars in contracts for the future purchase of 350,000 metric tons of cotton from Tennessee companies.
Joining the trade mission as official members of the Tennessee delegation will be:
Governor Phil Bredesen
First Lady Andrea Conte
Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey
Speaker of the House Jimmy Naifeh
Commissioner Matt Kisber, Economic & Community Development
Commissioner Dave Goetz, Finance & Administration
Commissioner Reagan Farr, Revenue
Dr. John Peterson, University of Tennessee
Dr. Melvin Johnson, Tennessee State University
Dr. Shirley Raines, University of Memphis
Dr. Loren Crabtree, University of Tennessee
Mayor Bill Haslam, Knoxville
Mayor Claude Ramsey, Hamilton County
Mayor John E. Piper, Clarksville
Mayor A C Wharton, Shelby County
Mayor Jo Ann Graves, Gallatin
Mayor Allen Barker, Humboldt
Mayor Trent McManus, Halls
Sandy Dickey, FedEx
Jim Spears, AT&T
And all of this is not even beginning to scratch the surface. With the fruit and vegetables that come from other countries (mainly central and South American) we have no idea what sort of things they're putting on or into their produce. My wife and I have pretty much decided that we're going to try to find a farmer's market around here that we can go to for our produce. Also, does anyone know of an Amish community in Mid TN? I know you can go to those and get the majority of what you need food-wise and it's healthy (although not nearly as convenient as Wal-Mart). It's a really sad thing that Sam Walton isn't still around. His kids have totally destroyed the American community with his stores buying all of this crap from China. As far as the toothpaste, you can look into this, but I'm pretty sure Crest is ONLY made in the U.S.A. I'm going to try to go through my house and make a list of all of our consumables and see if we can try to find other brands that are only produced domestically and then maybe we can make our home a little more safe. Then maybe if enough people did this, we could send a message to these companies that we are willing to spend a little bit more, for products that are produced here and are safe for our families to consume. Unfortunately I think you're probably going to find it difficult to find any toys that kids nowadays will play with that aren't made somewhere else.
Outsourcing is contagious, and most corporations love cost cutting...
Any time you have a complaint with a service or product, many businesses outsource their customer service to India... Then becomes the issue of identity theft. No wonder identity theft is so rampant.
I hate to say it, but the vast majority of "Made in the USA" products are also by-products of China, even most AMERICAN FLAGS are made there...The only way to solve this issue is to demand work be brought back to this country, then expect to pay even higher prices. We want low prices, INCLUDING ME, and the only way to get that is to pay CHEAP LABOR... Companies, like Nissan and Toyota, though are moving MANY facilities to America, Nissan has two major plants in Tennessee...
Meanwhile American auto companies, can't cut cost enough here, so a huge majority of their parts are made in other countries... WHY? they are CHEAPER!!! And the quality usually lacks too!
I don't think that our health and safety should in any way be compromised though just because we want cheaper products. In reality, the real issue, is that government can only do much. I am not a complete conspiracy theorist, I promise.. But when you have billions of products being shipped on both coasts and from the southern border everyday, it is nearly impossible for the government to adequately check all of that. Where as Food is concerned, you' be shocked to know that half of the ingredients that are approved, can make you more sick than products that are banned...
And I have ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS wanted to know why The FDA is not divided up... SO that one agency can focus on FOOD while the OTHER focuses on DRUGS...
Why does that matter you ask? Perhaps because alot of the food we eat makes us sick, which means we need MEDICINE... ah ha... how do drug companies stay in business, BY KEEPING YOU SICK LONGER? If they cured you of anything, they'd be out of business... There are cures for a mulitidue of diseases and disorders, but what they can't patent they won't sell!
AMEN THOM... if we would ALL start buying ORGANIC foods then the price of Organics would go DOWN!!!!
It's simple math. And the Amish in Middle Tennesse or mostly in Lawrenceburg!!! I was just there recently. Most people don't realize that a majority of foods we consume are made with "formaldehyde" aka EMBALMING FLUID...
^^^^^ our food is made with the same stuff we preserve dead bodies with.. Now that is tasty!!! Even MILK is being produced by cows that are locked up cages with no room to graze, they are fed antibiotics, WHICH CAUSES PEOPLE TO BECOME IMMUNE TO ANTIBIOTICS, and GROWTH HORMONES which make them produce more milk, faster.. and what does the growth hormone do, IT MAKES US SICK AND FATTER!!!!!!
There is an Amish Community somewhere around Lynchburg isn't there? I know there use to be a large one at Raus but I do not believe they are there now..there is also one in Manchester.
Also in the Flat Creek area and up on Chestnut Ridge. There is a Mennonite family with an apple orchard and they used to have veggies, I don't know about now since so dry because I don't know if they water them or not, and flowers in the spring for sale.....