posted on October 29, 2004 07:50:02 AM new
There is an article in the news this morning about the port gridlock on the west coast so I'm posting a link here as this may affect some ebay sellers who will not get their goods on time for Christmas sales.
This could be the year that gridlock steals Christmas. That's the fear among toy and clothing retailers who are sweating about 86 massive ships carrying thousands of containers that are either being unloaded or are lined up waiting offshore the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports.
Docks are overstuffed. There aren't enough workers to unload them. Machinery used to unload ships is scarce and old. Even after container ships finally tie up at the dock, it takes more than 10 days to get them unloaded, rather than the usual three to four.
A six-day rolling delay may not sound like much, but it throws a wrench into the delicate supply chain that feeds retailers - and not just on the West Coast. Retailers around the nation rely on these ports in Southern California, which are the busiest in the USA and the entry point for nearly half of the USA's imports. And considering that retailers do at least a third of their business in the last three months of the year, there couldn't be a worse time for the logjam.
If anyone is concerned about the trade imbalance that is happening, perhaps they should take time to read this about the gridlock at the port as it talks about the 'Walmartization' of North America.
On CNN Lou Dobbs he recently mentioned that for every single container of goods that the US exports worldwide, they receive seven back just from China.
posted on October 29, 2004 08:28:27 AM new
Good read Kiara. It is only a matter of time before we make China the new economic powerhouse as they are well on their way now.
I still shake my head about how we are building up a Communist government at our expense as we're heading to be a third world banana republic in thirty years if this keeps up.
There is nothing free enterprise about this. Given a few years, Walmart will be running for president and winning.
posted on October 29, 2004 01:49:32 PM new
There is an exclusive pre-K and elementary school here in S. Florida and guess what the second language taught is. "Chinese". Not Spanish or French but Chinese. The reason given is because of commerce between China and the rest of the world.
posted on October 29, 2004 08:24:27 PM new
In the morning I will get right down there and start Directing Traffic, YOU! pull over there! whiisssstle,,,,HEY YOU! Yes you! Get back in line,,,,No favors! We''ll,,,,is anyone L@@king?,,,,$5000.00! Ok. back it up buddy, this ones coming through,,,,BUT! But my azz,,,,ya got $$$$$? Hey!!Big BOY where do You, think yer going? But,,,,,sick of all these Buts,,,,,cash talks BS sails....lack of workers ya say,,,,Joe! Get over to the Home Club Hardwarwe Store, The parking lot is FULL of day Laborers,$8.00 buck and hour and Happy as Hell to get it..,,,,,Equipment Outdated? Get to the Swapmeet in the morning all that equipment we wrote off as surplus (nothing was wrong with it in the first place, we got some BIG Corporate TAX write off on it merely for junking out BRAND NEW CRANES) is being sold there CHEAP!....
10!!!!!! days!!!!!! No way! snaaaaaappppp! craaaaaaaaaaack! Move people! MOVE! yes'm Boss....get on yer crews and WORK those card holding Longshoremen,,,,,they signed up to WORK, not sit on their cans and collect those OUTRAGIOUS paychechecks.......
Anything else need be fixed?
Now THIS, is the way ya run a Company!
The GOOD,the BAD and the UGLY. The so so and the Oh well,,,,,,,
posted on October 30, 2004 11:27:46 AM new
and the U.S. is doing the waking up. The entire building from my last real job has been moved to china, highly sensitive technology. We are complete idiots
posted on October 30, 2004 12:12:03 PM new
Leave that garbage on the ships and send them home. If we are real lucky it will put Walmart out of business.
posted on October 30, 2004 12:39:44 PM new
I've been waiting for an item shipped from Europe about 3 months ago (I assume it was sent surface). I've been suspecting their might be port gridlock.
posted on October 30, 2004 01:45:35 PM new
Toolhound...I agree, except it would be a waste of fuel. Just dump the Chinese junk in the ocean. That would clear up the gridlock really fast. The sooner the U.S. starts putting realistic tariffs on this crap, the sooner the appeal of outsourcing will dim.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on October 30, 2004 02:20:20 PM new
It's a nice dream, sparkz. However it's not going to happen in our lifetime as long as the government is the best friend of big business. They like them so much that they pay them with huge tax credits and incentives to move the jobs overseas.
The only way this will ever change is if the consumer demands better quality and wants things made in our country again. There is no reason for the Communist government to change when they have their cake and get to eat it too.
posted on October 30, 2004 07:05:10 PM new
Oh please- do you people really believe that only Walmart is buying from China? If you really feel so strongly, perhaps you should go thru you home and get rid of everything not made in the US. That means unless you have an older Zenith you'll have to get rid of your TV (parts are from Asia, assembly is in Mexico), then there is your computer, monitor, probably a great deal of your cookware, linens, chances are at least 50% of your clothing, cabinetry, fixtures, silver jewelry, kitchy knicknacks, oh yeah, don't forget to check all of your greeting cards since most are now printed overseas, and I hope none of you with children intend to give them toys this year. Next time you are in the China & Giftware depatments of your favorite high end department store, check out where all of the products are coming from. It's not just Walmart boys and girls... China is providing products people want and at a price which when you figure in rent, utilities, the costs associated with employing sales people, etc is still affordable to the common man.
Unless you are ready to start spending 4 times as much for everyday goods, stop complaining.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on October 30, 2004 09:05:47 PM new
I keep thinking of that image of Potsie and Ralph Malph coming back from their gig as longshoreman with their stevedore hooks straightened out....
Kiara if it's on the web, I know you will find it!
posted on October 30, 2004 09:58:54 PM new
"Richie comes into Arnold's in his rain jacket, and Ralph and Potsie come in wearing new coats and hats for their new summer jobs working on the docks (they will work weekends until school starts). Fonzie brings his bike (with a trophy) into Arnold's because of the rain. Richie asks Fonzie to fix up Al with a date. Fonzie sets up Al with Anna, a meter maid with a three-wheeler motorcycle. Al and Anna hit it off and have a date for the awards ceremony. Chachi is applying for a job at Arnold's as an assistant manager for the summer. Ralph and Potsie quit their jobs by mutual consent, and they think about being lifeguards at the pool."
posted on October 30, 2004 10:38:56 PM new
Actually manufacturers worldwide are heading to China. I was reading on several sites about Waterford Wedgwood making a bid for Royal Doulton as the companies are in trouble because of a declining market.
Royal Doulton is the only manufacturer of bone china left in the Potteries region of England. Now it is said they are likely to have some of the products manufactured in China.
I've noticed the quality of bone china items made in England has already declined in the past few years so I’m wondering what it will be like when made in China.
posted on October 30, 2004 10:47:42 PM new
Just flip the plate over and when you read,Made in China,,,,,you'll just give it a flip back into the swapmeet pile, crack! cruch, splatter....now if it had read,made in occupied Japan, OR,made in ENGLAND, Hey how much is this ole dangling plate? Give us a dollar....Swooooop.the collectors would be SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, Happy! Reads China,,,,,junk! the NAME is the GAME......
oh well,,,
The GOOD,the BAD and the UGLY. The so so and the Oh well,,,,,,,
posted on October 31, 2004 01:15:02 PM new
If everyone who abhors what is being done to this country by foreign imports, would just stay away from WAl Mart for a month, it would get someone's attention. Also, if we made it a practice, we would find we would have more money in our pockets. We might get out of the habit of spending money when it is not necessary. We buy a lot of junk in this country.
My son told me about an interesting article he had read concerning the use of gasoline or oil. They blame American automobiles for the oil prices. This article stated that 50% of the oil used was used in the manufacture of plastics. Now some plastics are necessary, but just look at the plastic geegaws that China sends over here to waste our money and trash our country.
China has become one of the world's great petroleum consumers.
posted on October 31, 2004 02:58:27 PM new
Hello,
I have not bought ANYTHING in Wal Mart in over 3 years.. Yet my wife who works for Radio shack constant hears "I can get it cheaper in Wal Mart" What is odd is about 70% of Radio Shacks stuff is from China!!
This country is falling and the "Who cares Crowd is to blame"
It is sick when all we have to vote for is a manic who has killed 1/2 of all who died in 9/11 or anothor who with Jane Fonda sold us out
It is disgusting and I am so glad I have only a few years to live. America as I knew it is gone caused by voters who don't care.
posted on October 31, 2004 08:34:11 PM new
LOL!! Kiara!
The one episode punch line I still get a kick out of!
Regarding China, the door was opened with Nixon and it's still swinging wider. There are historical documentaries from the 70's when China was sure it would have massive starvation by the '90's. They were limiting childbirth etc.
Now they opened the door to captilism and ironically it is not massive starvation, but an increasing poverty divide: miners, farmers and other rural poor are really losing out. That huge hydroelectric dam they put in is just the seed crystal to the industrial infrastructure they are building. Irony? They don't have an EPA to keep simple stuff like water, air, food supply and ecosystems safe.
All in search of the cheapest version of a consumer item.
Read "Born to Buy" by Juliet Schor, it will awaken you to the notion that we are not just oversold, but our children are being lined up as targets by advertisers just the way we line up iraqi insurgents.
There is precious little education on what it takes to bring the latest "britney googaw" to market, who makes it, what countries labor laws are like and yet advertisers bank on children as a commodity, not a sacred trust.
China is just a middle man.
Mark this: As soon as chinese middle class grows enough to increase wages, factories will move. That is what has happened to Taiwan.
I suppose unless people stop and think if it is ethical to buy a widget manufactured by a political prisoner (probably a democracy protestor...think about that for a second!) then the US won't fuss too much about what keeps the retailers chubby.
Okay, soap box ended.
Walmart is not part of the problem: they are the leader in the problem. Big box and cheaper is putting medium sized businesses down. Small towns get soooo messed up by their predatory nature, even against themselves.
posted on October 31, 2004 10:48:25 PM new
::It is disgusting and I am so glad I have only a few years to live. America as I knew it is gone caused by voters who don't care.::
Sorry baby but this country has lousy leaders because of the public as a whole, not just the small percentage that vote. The best and the brightest are smart enought not to explose their lives and their families to the carniverous tastes of the american people and the press. How many times have you turned in for the dirt and tuned out the good? From the tone of your post I have a funny feeling that you are just as much to blame as anyone else today. You made your bed...
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on November 1, 2004 09:52:07 AM new
Yes, it is the fault of all of us. Our problem is we can't get together on anything - except spending, watching TV, sports, etc. - nothing that really matters.
The federal government has literally taken away most of the freedoms we have - except they have left us some money to spend. If we would use that money to our advantage, this country would turn around in a short time. But we had better get with it and soon.
Just heard last night that if this election is a fiasco, "the federal government may have to step in and take the elections away fromt he states."
Factories are leaving Mexico for cheaper labor - now that they have lured the MExicans from the interior to the border towns - then it is just a hop, skip and a jump across the nasty trickle that once was the Rio Grande, or across that rancher's land, and they are here for the free food, housing, medical care, education, - what's not to love about this country!!!!!
Vote, if you must, but with the 'no paper trail' computerized voting machines from Diebold, it seems like a waste of time. The head of Diebold has said he will do anything to get PRes. Bush re elected. Hmmmmmm!!!!!
Couple that with the fact that you are voting for the lesser of two evils or the evil of two lessors.
posted on November 1, 2004 10:10:15 AM new
Goodness, I don’t see the import problem like any of you.
There was a time when there was a reason for unions, but no more. IF Unions would
stop driving up salaries, the US “might” be able to produce something at a competitive price. I have always lived in a non-union state and in all three, there was industry incoming much of the time. Leaving the high cost of labor in the north, and moving to the free South and Southwest.
If parents didn’t think their children needed every unique, piece of junk that comes down the pike, including high cost sneakers, families might have enough money to makes ends meet, and
then some..
~"It does not matter what I think, it does not matter what you think. The only thing which matters is: What is the TRUTH!"~
posted on November 1, 2004 10:19:27 AM new
God forbid families have living wages!
Consumerism or anti consumerism needs education and emphasis on LESS television and media influence.
You really should pick up Juliet Schor's book, you would be veeeery enlightened.
posted on November 1, 2004 12:20:48 PM new
::IF Unions would stop driving up salaries, the US “might” be able to produce something at a competitive price.::
Well we all know that will never happen.
This time last year California grocery workers went on strike because the stores were increasing the employee contribution amount on their health insurance. It was about $5 extra week they were asked to pay. Instead of paying it, they gave up five months worth of work while the stores trained replacement workers and went on with business as usual. When the strikers finally returned to work, most found they were coming back to lower positions and less hours.
Don't think anyone learned a lesson from this one though.... The exact same scenario is about to replay itself in Colorado and I believe one of the industrial states.
The union leaders have completely lost touch with reality.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on November 1, 2004 12:33:32 PM new
Personally, I feel that some Union, or government, telling a store owner, or owner of any type of business, what to pay and when, THAT is the Employer’s business. If folks don’t want to work for someone – no one makes them. Bottom line, telling me how much to pay someone, is stealing from me, and forcing me to give it to someone else. (That is called Communism).
~"It does not matter what I think, it does not matter what you think. The only thing which matters is: What is the TRUTH!"~
posted on November 1, 2004 12:57:03 PM newIF Unions would stop driving up salaries, the US “might” be able to produce something at a competitive price
Let's see, union membership in the US is the lowest it has ever been, around 15%, and it is gets lower each year. So how is it the union's fault ? BTW the lion's share of that 15% is now government workers, most of whom can not even strike.
The sharpest rise in the standard of living in the US and the explosion of the middle class coincided with the height of union membership, how could that be ?
American workers are competing with 1 billion new workers who will work for wages lower than an American homeless person gets from collecting bottles and cans.
It is not just union jobs leaving either, it is also high paid and highly trained jobs leaving as well as low level non-union jobs.
Unless our leaders come to their senses and start managing international trade instead of just allowing unbridled globalism, there is even worse economic trouble on the horizon.
posted on November 1, 2004 05:05:55 PM new
You can do your part.
BUY AMERICAN ........when you can.
There are entire categories of products that you CAN'T buy made in America- TV's, Stereo gear, most everything elctronic, most clothes, shoes, etc.
BUT, there ARE categories where you CAN buy American - cars being the most obvious. HALF the price of the average car is wages, to the assemblers, the makers of the components and materials, the transporters of those components and materials. Add in engineers, designers, and all the white collar personnel at the big 3 and you add up with a lot of Americans employed at decent wages - and you can keep them working.
I'd rather my money go to people named Fred and
Carol,Susan,Bill and Frank than Ito,Sessue or Fuk Yung; people who will then have money to keep ME employed.
Apply this concept to other products you need and you can help save someone's job- which ultimately may save YOURS.
for talking COMMON SENSE and FACTS as opposed to SPEW!
