Wet market or act of war, the Chinese Communist Party Coronavirus has shown the true nature of the regime when their propaganda arm openly threatened to cut off medical supplies from American company built factories there.
If the New York Times made such a threat, it could be ignored, as they don't represent any official position besides freedom of speech. No one would ever think they are stooges for Trump.
When the owned and operated Chinese official press speaks so, it's policy.
It will be very interesting if protesters carefully standing ten feet apart are gathered by unmasked police into crowded prison buses, stripped of protective face masks, to be shoved together into a cramped jail cell without legal rights to marinate in each other's bodily fluids.
As an aside, is this going to change laws against wearing masks aimed at Islamic women's oppression?
And, there's NO reason we can't do it here at home.
We have the resources. We have the workforce. We have the facilities. We CERTAINLY have the know-how.
Bag all this "globalist" crap, we need to ensure our OWN safety and productivity.
As you know, I've worked in sales for the last 15 years. Price, price, price, price, price.
Prime example: "How much is this RV?". Answer (illustration), $30 grand. "Oh no, we only want to spend $20k". "OK, let me show you a $20k model". "No, you don't understand - we want THIS model, and we want to spend $20k".
Breathe...
"OK, what I need to explain to you is, this is not a $20k coach. This...is a $30k coach. THAT, over there, is a $20k coach. The reason you like the $30k coach is it has dual a/c, it has tankless hot water, it has a power tongue jack, it has a power awning, it has bluetooth, it has solid surface countertops, and it has three slideouts. All those items have VALUE. I understand you only want to spend $20k, but if that is the case, this is not the right coach for you."
Shows like - unfortunately, because in the beginning I almost liked the show - but shows like American Pickers have ruined us as a culture. Price, price, price, price, price. How cheap can I get it. You want what? I'll give you half that. We'll end up somewhere in the middle and that's the way it works. Right?
WRONG.
Items (and people, and jobs, and processes) have VALUE. It's not all about price. Sometimes things are cheap because they just suck. Which is just about anything out of China - they ripped off our I.P., cut a ton of corners in materials and production, and got us addicted to the low price / disposable (use it up, throw it out, buy another one just as cheap and crappy) process, instead of simply buying ONE well-made, long-lasting item.
Do it right...or do it over. And over. And over.
Buy a quality item, once...or buy a cheap one. Again. And again. And again.
Yeah; but then you go over to fleaBay to buy a used muffler and see one for $74.99 + free shipping (a reasonable price). You keep looking and see one in worse shape for $199.99 + $42.83 shipping. Sometimes the asking price is set by a greedy c***sucker who has no problems gouging you. That's the other side.
Haggling has always been an art. I'm no good at it, but I admire those who are.
Used items are a completely different story. Yes, a used item is worth what a person will pay for it based on age, condition, etc. I'm talking about NEW items - the only "quality" question is that of assembly, and materials - not maintenance, wear and tear, cosmetics, stuff like that.
OK; so I want to buy a new Roadster. I go online and see that MSRP is $11, 495.00. Then I go to a dealer and the salesman says it'll be $12, 999.00. I know that I'm getting screwed, so why shouldn't I try to talk him down? If I don't buy from that shop, I'll have to shop around until I find a dealer who will sell it for MSRP. or at least explain why I'm not getting reamed on the price.
If I'm committing to spend serious money on a vehicle, I'd like to think I'm getting good value for what I'm spending. When a dealership wants to screw me, I think it's only fair that I should be able to screw back.
Like I said, I'm pretty bad at haggling, but I see no reason why it's wrong. In many places, it's not only acceptable, it's expected.
OK, $11,495 is base MSRP, black, no security option, no ABS option (and back in the day, no EFI option). Color? Upcharge. 2-tone? Upcharge again. Security? Upcharge. ABS? Upcharge. Wheel option? Upcharge. Freight/setup? Upcharge. All listed - line by line - in the brochures. Dealers tend to add them together for a single-line price depending on how the bike is optioned.
That said...many HD dealers do still have the mentality that demand allows them to charge whatever they feel like. Fact is, they're over-producing bikes and there are more bikes than buyers right now. But their entitlement attitude hasn't changed.
And...this still isn't what Court and I were talking about. I know *I* (and I believe he, as well) was talking about items like...oh...a shower curtain. Curtain A, made in China, $2.99. Curtain B, made in the USA, $3.99. Instead of spending $1 more to get a product that was made here, by us, in our facilities by our workforce, to better production quality standards...people cheap out, and buy junk for a dollar less.
And then wonder why we can't control inventory of N95 masks, because 3M's total production is...in China. And we may not be able to get medicine, because pharm giants have farmed out all THEIR production...to China, and China is threatening to embargo the rest of the world when it comes to medicine.
Because they can.
Because we were STUPID enough to give them that capability.
I dug fairly deep into 3M documents to understand the locked horns over the DPA and the possible unintended consequences of being forced to commit ALL the 3M China production.
First the Chinese, in a tit for tat move, wouldn’t allow it out of the country.
Also 3M wanted (and needed) some concession to fulfill commitments to their two largest markets, Latin America and Canada.
But we have damn sure become a cheap disposable minded folks. I’ve looking at adding 4 guitars and still refuse to buy anything, and there are some dandy ones, not bearing MADE IN USA.
Some folks here recall when Irwin announced the we’re moving the production of Vise-Grips to Mexico and China..... I high tailed it to Home Depot and bought all the MADE IN USA units I could get.
I emphatically disagree that I need or desire more respect for selfish corrupt rich public servants. If anything I want less respect given to those who think service really means they are our masters. Far less.
French Revolution less, perhaps. But I'm going to make some coffee before I embrace the disregard for individual lives that entails.
Sounds like they want a war to get Trump out. China owns Just Joe, although he might forget they loaned his family a few billion.
Just Joe will have to chose a running mate, and the currently traditional choices, picking a minion that makes your enemies terrified of your assassination, may not apply here. But they might! AOC, for example.
Someone like Andrew or Hillary makes me want to bet on Just Joe not surviving past 2022. All those stairs!
Andrew would violate Just Joe's promise to pick a female running mate, but he's probably forgotten that minutes after making it. And he can count on Media Amnesia to not mention that, although the right leaning pundits who aren't Never Trumpers sure will.
In any case, Just Joe or a candidate decided in smoke filled Zoom meetings, China and Iran have every reason to support a lying lefty like themselves over the Running Dog Capitalist that is out to punish their terrorist regimes.
I disagree! Leftists have a long continuous record of wanting their enemies dead. That's why they are a leading cause of death for over a century. They don't just wish you were dead, https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM
1:08 "They don't want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking, they don't want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking, they're not interested in that, that doesn't help them, that's against their interests."