Comment

Comment by Jeff on December 13, 2009 at 3:24pm

Tweek, it's not the government that needs to change first, it's you, and by you making the needed changes the government will have no choice but to change. Change starts with you.

Comment by Jeff on December 13, 2009 at 3:22pm

Shopping locally for groceries and NOT BUYING stuff will go a long way towards altering the overall corporate perspective that permeates the political agenda. NAFTA and GATT have a deleterious effect on manufactured products like clothing, televisions, cars and other purchased items. Not buying these items is the ultimate answer to make the necessary changes in the corporate and thus the political environment. The consumer ultimately has all of the power. The fact that American consumers fail to use this power is the problem, NOT the fascist policies of the government, which would be quickly altered if we didn't buy the products that they made available to us. It's the responsibility of the consumer to tell the manufacturers what we want. By purchasing products at Wal-Mart we're telling them that we want those products.

It's as much our own fault as it is the fault of the government and the corporations behind the government, more so ours. Stop buying their stuff and they would have no choice but to change their methods of manufacturing. Keep shopping at Wal-Mart and similar stores like those in malls and the message you're sending is clear.

I want cheap stuff made overseas.

We can't have it both ways and we have the power to make the needed changes.

Comment by Anti Oligarch on December 10, 2009 at 4:06pm

Local farmers are your best friends.

Comment by Marklar on December 9, 2009 at 8:15pm

Well, I don't think we can save it by any means but we can work towards softening the blow a bit.

Comment by youhavetoforgiveme on December 9, 2009 at 6:09pm

Me? I try to buy American ;) For two years I served in (what was) West Germany. Two years....I saw MAYBE a dozen American made cars. And some if not most of them belonged to GIs who brought their cars over to "look cool" and drive the autobahn, then ship them back home.... I know that it's not that simple but: "And we wonder why we can't get our economy back on track."

Comment by Marklar on December 9, 2009 at 4:10pm

Of course it matters Tweek. You seem to think that because we will fall into third world status there is nothing to be done, but mitigating such a fall can be the difference between life and death, literally. It may be a differance that seems academic to you now but a bag of rice and a pot full of beans for the month can mean the difference between starving and getting by.

No matter how far we fall sitting back and doing nothing because your head is full of gloom and doom can only make things worse.

Comment by youhavetoforgiveme on December 9, 2009 at 10:35am

Which post Tweek?

Comment by Marklar on December 9, 2009 at 6:52am

Unfortuanately this info has been circulating for years and is woefully incorrect. The UPC prefix indicates where the bar code was assigned NOT the country of the product's origin. If a Chinese company has a branch office in Oregon for sales and distribution it is a simple matter to have it's UPC code for it's Chinese made goods assigned with a "US" prefix. So a "0" code may have a SOMEWHAT better chance of being an actual US/Canadian product but it is by no means definitive.

The whole reason for this prefix to the UPC code is to keep different UPC authorities around the world from assigning duplicate numbers without having to constantly share data. With a different prefix for each office codes cannot be duplicated as long as the office's internal database is in order.