Another horror story...

Well, here we go again, folks. I have nothing against Chinese people but, if they really want to be a leader in the world and to favorably influence people, they're sure as heck going about it wrong!

This latest fiasco involves coating a bunch of decorative beads with the date-rape drug. It can kill our kids, turn them into mumblety pegs for life, and other horrors. That's in addition to all the lead painted toys and so on from China. I'm wondering when our safety watchdogs are going to start testing some of the kitchen items that are just about all we can find around here that come from China.

We just had to go gluten-free and thusly replace many items for the kitchen and bath...and majority of them say 'Made in China'. I don't know about anyone else but I'm getting a lead test kit and testing all the new items from China. I'd rather do without than poison my family.

I already returned a mixer that warned you to wash your hands after handling the lead impregnated cord (in miniscule, light, type on the bottom of the mixer). What if it touched food or containers for food much less one's hands?
READ labels and inserts...you might be amazed at what you find!

If I had any children I was purchasing something for Christmas or just because...I'd make sure it was NOT Made In China. It has nothing to do with the outsourcing or other economic factors or even labor factors and everything to do with safety and survival.

We've been down this road once before when Japan was the offending party until they did a massive clean up and regulation of all exports from Japan. This time it's China. Will we never learn?

Sandi Bowman

Thanks Sandi,

Excellent post and info on a Serious problem...

Hope you don't mind...

And of course all kinds of ways to turn Lemons into Lemonade...

Lead testing kits and testing... All kinds of Specialty products and Services that can be offered...

There's definitely a bunch of Hotsheet(s) idea(s) with lots of backend product possibilities in this one...

When all the Pet Food Problems started awhile back...

Smart Pet food companies and Marketers took action...

And Cashed in nicely and are "twisting" some Great reoccurring Revenues out of Problems that just seem to Keep on continuing to Happen...

Just use the News links and bits & pieces to Presell...

Phil

Sandi,

Thanks for mentioning the Chinese Issue.

There was some Interesting stuff in our Major Daily the other day. It purported to be Facts about the China Stuff as going on down here. Stuff like...

Only 10% of the recalled toys had lead issues. The rest were Design Faults from Mattel.

The formaldehyde in cloths which exceed limits was given the wrong test... not a test to detect formaldehyde but something else, and the reading Mistaken for formaldehyde. The clothes were actually In Limits.

I'm not giving China a pass. After all, lead paint in toys is just not on in any percentage.

I do agree. The China thing does remind me of Japan when they started to emerge as a Producer of Goods. China is likely to follow suit and clean up their act.

Of other interest... according to an article in our Major Daily, China aims to bring on line 500 new coal power electricity plants in the next ten years. That's like one a week. Some Major building going on over there.

Michael Ross

They are really shooting themselves in their foot over this issue. I will really hurt them in the international trade market.

They have so many USD that it probably doesn't matter.
I saw somewhere some astounding percentage of Chinese goods in stores. Something like 60% or more.
Given the insatiable American appetitie to spend everything they have and more, China will be the supplier of choice for a long time.
Although poor quality and unsafe products is very bad, there is something even more ominous to the US.
I saw that they're holding over $1 Trillion in dollar reserves. With the dollar falling like a rock, China is looking to convert some of that.
They will soon be buying up US assets and will soon control our economy.
Larry Foster

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by Larry Foster

They have so many USD that it probably doesn't matter.
I saw somewhere some astounding percentage of Chinese goods in stores. Something like 60% or more.
Given the insatiable American appetitie to spend everything they have and more, China will be the supplier of choice for a long time.
Although poor quality and unsafe products is very bad, there is something even more ominous to the US.
I saw that they're holding over $1 Trillion in dollar reserves. With the dollar falling like a rock, China is looking to convert some of that.
They will soon be buying up US assets and will soon control our economy.

It's true that China holds a heck-uv-a-lot of US bonds (in US dollars)...

China has "threatened" to dump its dollar holdings if the US tries to push too hard to get any kind of "trade parity" with China. That would send the dollar plunging - for the average consumer, it means the price of anything that's imported would skyrocket (that includes oil)...

Some say China is already slowly selling its US dollar reserves - or if it's not China, then some other countries which hold US dollars are. According to some, they may be buying gold - the price of gold is going up...

Is it a good time to buy gold, to preserve the value of your assets? I'm not an expert in these things, but it's something to think about and maybe research further...

Here's an article on this topic (from a couple of months ago)...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/mai...cnchina105.xml

Go here to see the price of gold... Scroll down on the page to see the 6-month and 1-year charts...

http://www.kitco.com/charts/livegold.html

- Dien

China has "threatened" to dump its dollar holdings if the US tries to push too hard to get any kind of "trade parity" with China. That would send the dollar plunging - for the average consumer, it means the price of anything that's imported would skyrocket (that includes oil)...

Some say China is already slowly selling its US dollar reserves - or if it's not China, then some other countries which hold US dollars are. According to some, they may be buying gold - the price of gold is going up...

Is it a good time to buy gold, to preserve the value of your assets? I'm not an expert in these things, but it's something to think about and maybe research further...

From my trip to the bank yesterday, I see many fellow Canadians are buying up American currency. Who knows? Might be as good as gold...

History shows countries involved in wars typically go through a period of prosperity after the war, so if/when the exchange rate goes back to what it was in 2000/2001, owning currency in American dollars could be beneficial.

Regards,
Steve MacLellan

[GordonJ]

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

Is it a good time to buy gold, to preserve the value of your assets?

- Dien

Imagine your in New Orleans right before Katrina hit...and you have assets...say, gold coins...a heavy bag of them.

Consider this, you can put ONE diamond in bag and travel anywhere in the world and get an exchange. The equivalent gold might cause a hernia...or draw attention to your assets.

Plus, they are a "girl's best friend"... you won't go through the "doldrums" alone...HA!

gjabiz

PS.

On the mention of CAD/USD...

It's been just Great shopping online in the US these days...

Of course there's always Negatives & Positives on both sides of the coin...

The Solution is to Buy... Sell & Market a variety of specialty products in both currencies independently from wherever you are or live...

You can Never go wrong with having Multiple currency bank accounts...

Keep a close Eye on the Currency game and carefully Track the Buy now buttons & the News...

The noon exchange rate for the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar is calculated to reflect the trades that take place between 11:59 a.m. and 12:01 p.m. ...
http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/rates/exchange.html

Greenback worth nothing in terms of American pride
Decline seen as issue on Wall St., not Main St....
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/275023

Phil

[Ankesh]

It may not be the best time to buy diamonds as investments right now.

The diamond industry is going through some revolutionary changes. Synthetic diamonds is going to become huge - which may convert the diamond industry into another pearl industry.

I would rather buy stocks than diamonds - from an investment perspective.