Made in China ?

[Bodeen]

Well it appears (after RubyRed enlightened me) that the nation has a BUNCH of Government Bond and Treasurey Bill holders (I've found many of these are not individuals but Mutual funds etc, but regardless) so currently a bit more than half of our debt is owned by US bought parts of it. The rest is Foreign owned with China holding the largest percentage of that group and growing.

But at the present rate of advancement on the loan, I think I will just keep my MetLife Bonds. Course if it all goes default it probably ain't gonna matter who owns the bonds LOL

So by all means, keep buying those Chinese parts and Pakistan leather products. C'mon, thats funny.

That beer you say your gonna buy me, it better be imported beer!


Bodeen

 

[R_W_B]

That beer you say your gonna buy me, it better be imported beer! Bodeen

Well since you bought both my wife and my lunch last year the least I could do is buy your lunch and an imported beer. Don't know if they have imported at that place on Lake Wier though. My Bud lite bottle there was I believe $4 or $5 can't remember for sure.

Maybe I will call ahead and see if they can get some of that Pakistany Beer :lolrolling Just kidding, I can hear you now, saying that old Redneck is gonna buy me some cheap stuff. :bigsmiley11:

 

[kemo]

Was that Gator Joes on Lake Weir. It is a great place to have lunch and a couple of cold ones.
Ken

 

[R_W_B]

Was that Gator Joes on Lake Weir. It is a great place to have lunch and a couple of cold ones.
Ken

Yep that would be it. Went there a few weeks ago with a couple guys for lunch. Fantastic place. We plan to eat there for lunch on the October Florida Ride.

 

[TarzanT]

R W B - Wish I could make the ride, but I'm going to be out of the country (do that a lot now a days). I was looking at Daytona Bike Week in March - just hope I'm here! Keep me in mind if you set up another ride - I'm a little ways from Ocala (like the Panhandle!) but that's what road trips are for!

One thing that I have noticed... As I mentioned, I spend a lot of time in other parts of the world. Almost universally, products made or designed in the US are the gold standard. They are highly desired and a status symbol. Not just Levi's and Oakleys, but US brand food brings premium prices. KFC and McD's are often the most popular restaurants - I've seen Business School graduates cooking fries and proud of it! Funny thing though, in Pakistan, they don't want to buy those gloves either but they don't have any choice -their import tariffs make it stupid expensive for any other options. A buddy in Norway wanted to buy a Dodge truck (not sure why - didn't say he was all that smart either!). Import duty was 150% of purchase price plus annual registration fees equal to 20% of the value of the vehicle. Hard to compete when the deck is stacked!

I'm crawling off the soap box now...

 

[oldhippie]

Was in a local Cycle shop the other day and bought some fingerless gloves. Nice set, had gel padding and cool enough for summer riding. I happened to look inside and it said..... Made in Pakistan.

So I looked at a few rain suits. Nice looking suits, mesh interior liners, heat pads on the legs, pockets etc. Looked inside and it said... Made in Pakistan

Looks like China has some serious competition.

With the exception of our gauntlet gloves (which are made in Winnipeg Canada) our gloves and jackets were made in Pakistan. The last pair of gloves I bought the store owner told me the manufacturing went over to Pakistan from Canada and the US because of the processes used to dye the leather. The chemicals were supposedly banned because of their effect on the workers here. I guess it's Ok to mess up a Pakistanies health rather than keep the jobs on this side of the pond.

 

[Alamo]

175th Alamo Anniversary Bowie Knife. Made in Pakistan. Contracted by Colt Manufacturing USA. No company makes this knife in the USA. Or I would have bought it. Viciously attacked on another forum because I bought it. It is beyond my control where it or any thing else is made. HD has been using Japanese parts on their bikes for decades. Does it really matter anymore?

 

[shaker]

My thought is that there is absolutely nothing wrong in buying products made in other countries. As a wealthy nation, we should be spreading our money around. This helps everyone. The issue here is to be informed - decide what's ok for you personally and what is not.

 

[Bodeen]

175th Alamo Anniversary Bowie Knife. Made in Pakistan. Contracted by Colt Manufacturing USA. No company makes this knife in the USA. Or I would have bought it. Viciously attacked on another forum because I bought it. It is beyond my control where it or any thing else is made. HD has been using Japanese parts on their bikes for decades. Does it really matter anymore?

Yes, it matters. Just like being dependent on foreign oil. We are selling our souls and are becoming dependent on everything and everyone. Our purchasing power no matter how it shakes down or gets spun will keep and create jobs here where we need them. Otherwise we might as well let China hold our debt.

Bodeen

 

[R_W_B]

R W B - Wish I could make the ride, but I'm going to be out of the country (do that a lot now a days). I was looking at Daytona Bike Week in March - just hope I'm here! Keep me in mind if you set up another ride - I'm a little ways from Ocala (like the Panhandle!) but that's what road trips are for!

One thing that I have noticed... As I mentioned, I spend a lot of time in other parts of the world. Almost universally, products made or designed in the US are the gold standard. They are highly desired and a status symbol. .. .. .. .. .. ..
I'm crawling off the soap box now...

Thanks for the input TarzanT, oldhippie, Alamo, and shaker. It is something that is multi-faceted and has been going on for so long it's pretty difficult to pin down the exact place or product to buy or not to buy. However as Bodeen says on Foreign Oil then it's a no brainer there since they have us over a barrel (pun intended) on that. The biggest problem with us drilling our own oil now is environmental issues or non comunication thereof.

But Tarzan if you can't make the October ride, don't worry HOPEFULLY there will be others, and also Bike Week next spring as you said. These keyboards are fun (especially for old laid off Rednecks) but we should all get out from behind the keys as often as possible and actually meet up and ride and socialize in person. It just kicks the whole relationship up a knotch. My wife has a medical condition that could at any time restrict her ability to come along with me so we try to jump at every chance we get while she is still able, if I don't have some part time work come along from time to time.

I'm really a kind of laid back guy. Well my wife might call me on that one. But seriously I only talk about opinionated subjects for spreading awarness, or for my own education and sometimes purely for recreation. The latter being on subjects that we really have no power to do anything except talk. The forum is a great place for such on separate threads. But I rarely bring up or even respond to such stuff in a public setting since it is counter productive. Most times when friends get together there are more fun things to do than talk about futile subjects with no end.

But we should all coordinate and have as many group rides as possible even if we split up into smaller radius groups. Bring along friends, they don't even have to belong to the forum, but maybe they will join. Young, Old, Longhaired, Bald, Redneck country folk or City Slickers, it's all fellow bikers.