The Players Corner Archive

I don't mind that people are worried about the economy and their lives because of this act against us. What I do mind however is how many companies are taking advantage of people in this position.

Recently a friend of mine went to a local Chevrolet dealer to purchase a new Camero under the 0% interest figuring he needed and wanted a new car and this was a great cause. Support American made items.

So he purchases the car and is so proud he has it. Shows it off to friends and neighboors for a few weeks. Then recently we got snow here in minnesota. And he decided he wanted to wipe down the insides of his doors so the salt and sand mix wouldn't get all over his car untill he had put a coat of winter wax on his car. To his surprise on the tag on the door it said. Product of Canada.

He was pretty upset by this so he returned the car and demanded one made in USA. They told him they didn't have one. So he switched models and went to a corvette. Opening the door inside on the same tag it said Product of Canada.

He ended up not purchasing anything from Chevy and getting his old car back, which says Made in the USA on the door.

I have seen a recent trend with this as well. People wanting to buy computers from company's such as HP, Compaq, and Dell.

Only to find out they are made in Mexico. One person wanted to buy a Phillips lightbulb. Luckily that said made in the USA, so he then decided to purchase a Monitor and a TV from Phillips. To his surprise it says on the back Made in Mexico.

The trend keeps getting more bothersome I think. Recently I had to purcase several sets of Dockers for work. When I got them there were two different sets of tags in them. One said simply Made in Mexico. The new tags all said Assembled in Mexico from material from USA.

Is that supposed to make me feel any better?

So just for kicks I started to look around at items I had purchased. I purchased a couple American flags to put up in my house. They all said Made in China.

I looked at clothes I had bought because I assumed they were American brands, and most of them said Assembled in Mexico just like my pants did.

Hell even my Mustard is a product of Canada.

Now for the kicker. A school by my house recently approved a walkway over a major road to connect the two campuses. The walkway is waiting to be finished because we are importing steel from Japan.

What the hell happened to American Steel?

My luggage...American Tourister is made in Korea.

Oh yeah and my Microsoft keyboard, mouse, and packagaing are all made in China.

The only thing within the past month that I have purchased that I thought would be from an American company was some pens for work and paper for my printer.

Also recently there was a scam with a company that was selling American flags. At the end of the call they would offer you a free gift. it turns out if you don't cancel this gift you get charged for it monthly.

Maybe it is just me, but when I have to look for hours for something made in the USA and the best I can come up with is a ball point pen, and parts of my clothes I think we need to be more concerned with making things here in the states to keep us rolling, and not dropping interest rates on all these foreign products being sold under our name tags.

Just my rant for the day.

Buckwheet reg

- Lord Kranar, human Archwizard reg

I manage a database at a company called Children's Crusade for Children here in Connecticut. It's a non-prof that benefits kids. Here's how it works:

They set up bins similar to the Salvation Army and Goodwill bins, and collect only clothing. The bins are emptied and sorted here in New Haven, and then shipped overseas to third-world countries.

The countries pay for the clothing by the pound, and distribute them to the poor of those countries. Some give them away, some charge by the bag, which could clothe a family of 10 for a year for the cost of a loaf of bread.

The money Children's Crusade gets is then divided into actual expenses (the chairman and founder takes 0%) of truck and warehouse maintenence and driver wages (thus keeping otherwise jobless poor working) and 100% of the balance goes to whichever educational fund the drop-off location chooses. The schools are *not* allowed to use the money to pay for teacher salaries or other administrative expenses. The children *must* benefit directly from the proceeds. Often this means art supplies, balls and other gym equipment, band uniforms, etc.

So yeah there are companies who pay slave wages to Mexican workers for producing things sold in the USA. But then there's companies like Children's Crusade, which benefits children - directly - while ALSO benefitting countries filled with people who can't afford to buy clothes or shoes for their families. And the last part is that it employs over a dozen men, a few of whom have regained a sense of dignity and contribution to society after getting off welfare and back to work.

R
reg

I encourage foreign countries to invest in the U.S. They should buy buildings, land, and other things.

When push comes to shove we just end the game and say sorry but that is ours again.

America is a new economy based on service and management. I like the idea we are using up resources of another country and not our own. What is money anyway without some foundation?

I have personally spent years of my life watching people who are nomadic in nature literally blow countless billions on nothing.

"You can't polish a turd"

Huge palaces with full stadiums inside planted in the middle of a dry wasted desert is still a hunk of rock in the middle of nowhere.

Hiway - buy what you want, they'll make more. reg

Well just some things I throw together about foreign products.

Lord Deprav reg