Thursday, September 13, 2007
Anyone for Chinese?
Alrighty, then...according to stories I saw on the news recently, China has agreed that products it manufactures for sale in the U.S. will now comply with U.S. safety requirements. WOW! However, they still will not allow inspections of their factories. So here is a list of questions I thought of pretty quickly:
- Just what is going on in these factories that they don't want anyone to see? I'm sure they aren't using small children, or slave labor. Right?
- Um...isn't compliance with U.S. product safety requirements be required of ANY products made for sale in the U.S.? Is this really a big favor to ask...that the goods you send us not kill us?
- Why in the world would any company want to send their production to another country where they can't see the production methods? Seriously, you're not giving away trade secrets if the people who want to see the plant are the same people who DESIGNED the product in the first place.
- Why have we coddled China for so many years in the first place? We've basically given them a free pass on human rights abuses for decades. Anyone remember Tianenmen Square? The Chinese government apparently doesn't, as they have insisted for nearly two decades that nothing unusual happened there in 1989. By the way, this special treatment of China knows no politics in this country. It has continued through several administrations of both parties, as well as Democratic and Republican Congresses.
- Why do we cut off economic and diplomatic ties with Cuba, based on the fact that it is a Communist country run by a ruthless dictator who oppresses the 11.5 million people who live there, but embrace economic and diplomatic ties with China, a Communist country run by a small, ruthless oligarchy that oppresses 1.3 billion people?
Oh, yeah...enjoy the Olympics next year.
Labels: politics economics China
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
More Idiots in the Workplace
Remember the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition? Rule #255: No good deed goes unpunished.
Well, there's always someone ready to prove this true. Here is yet another. In short, a restaurant employee came to the rescue of a woman who was being carjacked, and as a result, he was fired. Happily, though, the man is receiving job offers from people who were either impressed with his character or outraged by his former employer's actions.
Follow-up: I found the original story about Canales' firing, which also mentions that he is a former convict himself. Let's hope his experience doesn't discourage him, or anyone else, from doing the right thing.
Well, there's always someone ready to prove this true. Here is yet another. In short, a restaurant employee came to the rescue of a woman who was being carjacked, and as a result, he was fired. Happily, though, the man is receiving job offers from people who were either impressed with his character or outraged by his former employer's actions.
Follow-up: I found the original story about Canales' firing, which also mentions that he is a former convict himself. Let's hope his experience doesn't discourage him, or anyone else, from doing the right thing.
Labels: news hero work stupidity
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Eh....what's up, Google?
We all know that there are different versions of Google for different languages. But here is a special version you may not be familiar with.
Labels: funny Google cartoons
