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Showing posts from June, 2019

Another China Grandma paying only $100 in rent

I'm currently deep in the throes of another post, taking a bit longer than I hoped. Alas, I had to drop it to quickly get this out.  Yet another exasperating moment for me; My inlaws used to have a HUD apartment.  For those outside America, a HUD apartment is government sponsored housing for poor people. And as I found out, one does not have to be an American citizen to be granted permission to live in a HUD apartment.  However, one does need to at least be a Green Card Holder. HUD apartments in America are in many places full of people that don't speak English, or certainly weren't born here.  I will come out and say I think in this situation HUD should be for American Citizens first, and GC holders next.  They do have a right, as they do pay taxes(supposedly). However, while it is designed for poor folks, the loophole in the system is that one's children can be filthy rich. I give you as an example the poor, lonely lady I insisted we take out for dinner last

The Ugly Woman with the Smile

I went to a factory just out of Ningbo a few years ago.  And while in Guangzhou last month I came across this factory yet again.  The product of the factory isn't worth mentioning.  Nor is their lack of innovation.  Rather, this company sells about one million units a month to one of America's super cheap, bargain chains.  The ones that brag every item is a dollar or less.  I met the CEO of course, because people like him rarely get to speak to barbarians in their own language.  While there I had the privilege of meeting his daughter, and his son.  They actually manage the customers.  The son drives a very nice chocolate brown Benz.  The daughter, well I don't recall what she drives.  But I do recall she is very ugly, with a fair smile.  Not a nice thing to say, but that is how I remember her.  (Men can be that way.  I have other ways of remembering other women, too.) While in Ningbo, she mentioned her husband works in the factory as well.  And just on cue as we b

What do WE want to accomplish?

What is our goal? Is it as a Western Civilization to keep China down? Or are we ready to openly come out and admit we wish to contain China? How does one keep water flowing downhill? As you all know, the Chinese are here in force. It should be America's goal, (and your countries' goal!) to liberate as much money from China's wallets as possible.  Through hook or crook.  Every embezzled dime. Every inherited Yuan.   The Chinese government just warned its citizens to be careful of America.  To proceed with caution when travelling here.  Seriously?  Methinks the Chinese in China have long since already heard from their cohorts in California what an...ok place this be.    It’s a bit too late for slogans and dire omens of an ill wind coming.   But I ask, what is it we wish to accomplish in our current dealings with China?  Who do we wish to punish? Is it the officials?  The peasant workers cum tooling expert?  The foreign trade sales lady at the factory?

Chinese Money

The past few months have been unbearably busy.  I also understand now, looking into the rear view mirror, that I quite simply needed a break from the blog.  It was a perfect storm.  It really was. School activities, children events, my April trip to China, my family vacation.  That is all water under the bridge now. It feels good to me to be able to write.  I see now on Youtube there are quite frankly a plethora of videos about China.  Fair enough. I'd rather write.  It makes me think more concisely.   Though I admit having to edit my work before publishing sucks.  Grammar Review is such a time suck. This will be another brief post.  The days of 2000 word posts(nearly all of my posts up to this year were about that length) are perhaps behind me. I went with my family to Yellowstone National Park.  Best vacation I ever spent with my family.  Sure the family upon occasion argued, but the highs were far more than the lows.  And I want to tell you about it. You see, I just

A scary thought

In the 1860's America, in the midst of an expensive, protracted and quite bloody Civil War, began building a railroad across the continent.  The Western part of this railroad was the more difficult, as it had to transverse mountain passes.  Labor was at a premium.   Eventually a bunch of scrawny guys with no concept of human rights, labor organizing or the simple concept of bitching were brought in, and in short time, the labor "problem" was solved. The Irish, long the predominant group used, were supplanted.  The reasons were simple:  The Chinese were quiet, had no concept of their rights, didn't always threaten to strike, and worked well as a team.  Not being able to speak English, nor having read Thomas Paine (The Rights of Man) was probably their biggest asset.   They were quick, efficient, and perhaps in their world, well paid. And just like that, the seeds of discontent towards the Chinese were planted, and continuously nurtured.  So well preserved wer