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A new shopping center is preparing for its grand opening in Nanjing, China.
So what, you ask?
 | Apparently Chinese fraud-repreneurs were tired of reproducing item look-a-likes. Each of the stores in this mall is a knock-off of a popular national franchise - "a McDonalds look-a-like burger bar called McDnoald’s, a Starbucks-style coffee shop called Bucksstar Coffee, and a wannabe Pizza Hut called Pizza Huh." (Read more...) |
Merchandisers for the Beijing Olympics 2008 are frustrated by the availability of unauthorized apparel and souvenirs being produced by merchandise pirates.
Authorities had investigated about 80 commercial and personal Web sites selling fake Olympic merchandise, or lacking licenses to sell the legitimate product. "The supply channels on these illegal Web sites are chaotic," Xie Funing, a spokesman with the Olympic E-commerce Operation Centre, was quoted to say.
The Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy, called the illicit trade "a global epidemic reaching a scale now too great for individual governments, industry sectors or companies to solve."
China is the largest supplier of counterfeited merchandise worldwide. It is estimated to cost legitimate manufacturers $50 billion in sales.
Tags: [Beijing 2008] [Fake Merchandise] [China]
[Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting]
It's August. Bittersweet.
Summers' door is closing behind us. In just weeks, a new school year will begin.
Families begin the march to the malls; the tradition of back-to-school shopping must be maintained. Bags containing new shoes, stylish sportswear or pristine uniforms are proudly toted. The bags with the pencils, pens, protractors and paper are dragged. Something about this bag elicits whining and requires a slower pace.
Kids want the Five Star Sound binder, so they can connect their mp3 players in class. Parents consider the item's practicality, novelty, style and value in the purchase process.
Boston parents Mike Pelonzi and Joe Curran want their backpack, My Child's Pack, to be among your back-to-school necessities.
The backpacks, which will cost $175, have a super-lightweight bullet-proof plate sewn into the back which weighs no more than a bottle of water. Pelonzi said the material used is a secret.
That's right. A bullet-proof backpack. According to Pelonzi, "during a three-year testing phase, [the backpacks] stood up to bullets as well as machete, hatchet and Ka-bar knife attacks."
Kevlar for kindergartners. Flak jackets for freshmen.
Tags: [Bulletproof Backpacks] [Mike Pelonzi] [Joe Curran]
[Back-to-School Shopping] [Flak Jackets] [Bulletproof]
I don't shop at Wal-Mart. There are many reasons.
I don't like the way they do business. Here's how my relationship with Wal-Mart started:
| When Wal-Mart came to Canada, it initiated a campaign to convince shoppers the merchandise in its stores was Canadian merchandise. It looked to me like Wal-Mart was disguising the truth. Sure, it buys merchandise from a warehouse located in Canada. That warehouse receives goods from an offshore supplier. The shipment was ordered and arranged by Wal-Mart. A Canadian truck delivers the cartons to the final destination. I know a little about Canadian content and I wasn't buying their claim. Wal-Mart hadn't demonstrated enough Canadian content for me. |  Bryan Adams' album Waking Up the Neighbors was deemed ineligible for Juno award nomination in 1992. The CRTC concluded that the album did not meet Canadian Content (can-con) criteria.Amid tremendous controversy in 1991, Adams, his management and A&M Records convinced the CRTC to amend its criteria for Canadian content to include a Canadian artist who has collaborated with a non-Canadian and receives at least half of the credit for both music and lyrics. All about Bryan Adams Tags: [Bryan Adams] [Bruce Allen] [CanCon] [Juno Awards] [CRTC] |
The government in Mexico is concerned that Wal-Mart is exploiting local customs to increase the retail giant's profitability.
Wal-Mart is behaving a little badly? I'm shocked!
Thousands of adolescents work as unpaid baggers in Wal-Mart’s Mexican stores.
(Joseph Contreras, Newsweek, July 31, 2007)
Wal-Mart's Global Code of Ethics prohibits work without compensation.
(Click Picture to Read Excerpt)
When a company recruits teens to be volunteers, doesn't that make those teens employees?
"Wal-Mart de Mexico reported net earnings of $1.148 billion in 2006 and $280 million in profits in the second quarter of this year." Federal District Labor Secretary Benito Mirón Lince points out 'Wal-Mart has the capability to pay the minimum wage [of less than $5 a day], and this [unpaid baggers] represents an injustice.'
Wal-Mart explains that the company complies with the International Labor Organization's guidelines that prohibit employing youth under the age of 14. (At least since 2005, when "Wal-Mart agreed to pay the U.S. Labor Department $135,540 in civil money penalties to settle charges of 24 child-labor violations.")
A volunteer is "a person who performs a service willingly and without pay." Wal-Mart provides accident insurance to its volunteer baggers, and pays bonuses for academic achievement. Once you pay a volunteer, he is no longer a volunteer; he is an employee.
The government of Mexico doesn't like it, but is nervous to push Wal-Mart to change. Wal-Mart is the largest private company employer in the country. Mexico simply can't afford those 150,000 workers to be out of work.
I'm usually quiet about my preference to shop elsewhere; but I consider this too outrageous to ignore.
Wal-Mart squeezes the labor force in the name of low prices. Squeezing Lower Prices
Mexico Labor Report 2006
Tags: [Wal-Mart] [Walmart de Mexico]
[I.L.O.] [Newsweek] [Joseph Contreras]
My Dad asked me if I knew how to control problem chipmunks. My parents have an acre of beautiful gardens and ponds that is being destroyed by the out-of-control chipmunk population. They have considered calling in an animal psychologist to discover why so many of these rodents are committing suicide each night.++ You see, each morning, my parents fish several drowned chipmunks out of the pool.
I asked around and searched the web. Many message board tips suggest using large pails of water to drown the chipmunks. Another site informs of the product Sweeney's Poison Peanuts. Toxic products may affect secondary wildlife, i.e. the animal that eats the dead chipmunk that was poisoned. Besides, I have an allergy to peanuts.
A reputable garden center gave me the real deal: Mange killed off coyotes and foxes in Ontario a couple of years ago. The species have not been able to repopulate yet to a number that can control the populations of small wildlife. The solution to my parents' problem, I was told, is to spray coyote urine all over the property. The chipmunks will think that coyotes are nearby and leave.
"Do you sell coyote urine?" I asked.
"No," the agriculturalist answered.
I told my Dad what I had learned. He didn't want to ask around for coyote urine, so I suggested a remedy that I know works to rid gardens of other invasive wildlife.
Then I found it! Coyote Urine, 2 -16 oz bottles for sale.
If that isn't crazy enough, the description states "We are very proud of our urine. I am personal friends with our supplier and know of the great care that they put into producing quality urine. I know their animals..."
The seller has a great feedback rating and he does offer insured shipping...I'm not sure what the duty charges would be... Is coyote urine a hazardous material?
Tags: [Nuisance Chipmunks] [Wildlife Control] [Coyote Urine] [ACME Products] [ebay™]
[Wile E. Coyote] [Mange]
++ This joke used without permission or credit. Unless acknowledging that it's not my joke counts as giving credit.
It's a conspicuous silence when I'm not updating the sites, sending email, or offering more than a few lines in response to an email I receive. I'm grateful to have you checking up on me. Nothing and everything is happening:
I have been suffering with symptoms of low iron for a month, which, I can track back to be almost one year, to the day, of when we started arranging iron infusions last year. Until my levels improve, my energy is low. When I stop 'doing' and pause my mind and body, I fall asleep. Never for very long, but basically, when I stop and relax, I drift off to sleep. Guess I wasn't into the conversation around the dinner table this evening...stood up, rolled the IV to the couch, laid down, went to sleep.
We are lucky to know terrific people. A couple of weeks ago, I put a call out asking friends to drive the afternoon carpool for me one day each week. Together they implemented a plan whereby Kathy, Shari, Gloria or Arlene is driving the after-school carpool for us three days each week. These guys are no slackers! Each wears the hat of Professional/Mother/Sports Fan/Daughter/Sister/Wife/Neighbor/Friend throughout her day. They've got it all under control. More proof that when something needs to be done, just ask a busy person to help out. Thank you. Really, truly.
I can sleep right through the IV Pump alarms, but the dog's snoring is pretty disrupting. Before we check him out for apnea, we've got to try a nasal strip or something!
I am beginning to notice that Christmas is approaching. No, the house isn't decorated. No, the shopping's not done. Obviously, no presents are wrapped. I do not wish to discuss Christmas baking, thank you very much. We kind of have a plan to get everything taken care of. Fourteen days can be a lot of time. Especially if we skip that whole baking thing.
Part of The Plan: John and I spent the day together to shop for Christmas. One problem: Medication did not reach the correct temperature to infuse before we left. Nature of the day was stop and go, so running it in the car wasn't going to work. Just moved ahead.
Another problem: John and I shop alike. We look for the present that you didn't know you wanted/needed. We know what we're looking for, we just need to find it. We ran into Kari and caught up a bit. We found some unique stores, but after several hours we had 2 raffle tickets, 1 gift card and something on hold at a different location. We saw a lot of the same same-ness in a hundred stores.
Shortly after we arrived at the new location, we had a bag to carry! We hunted around a little more.
Another problem: I don't need to stop to eat. I don't get hungry. My stomach doesn't growl. I was still nursing the same drink from when we left the house. I didn't deny John the opportunity to refuel...It's just that I sometimes forget that other people eat.
Unresolved problem: THE GIFT is out of stock...everywhere...across the country...I hesitated and missed the chance to scoop it online. It's gone from there, too.
Andrew has almost completed his shopping. We committed to hitting a few places in particular tonight to try to wrap it up. Andrew is a great shopper. Last year, on the Saturday before Christmas, we went to Sherway together (yes, on the Saturday before The Big Day) and, using his eagle-eye, we quickly found everything we were looking for (and you didn't know you wanted).
It's a two-part process to subscribe to this blog. You enter your email address in the box in the sidebar, verify the letters on the screen and then a confirmation email is sent to you. The reader clicks the link in the email and Presto! You're in. My Mom hasn't confirmed her subscription...I'm going to need therapy.
Speaking of...my Mom, not therapy...We spent yesterday together. She stopped me as I was about to get into her car. "Wait. The phone," she said, referring to her Nokia 2100 floor-mounted car phone, circa 1987. "It interferes with your pacemaker."
"Ma! I don't have the pacemaker anymore, remember?"
We think we'll survive without the ooey-chewy-double-chocolate cookies we make each year, but are we ready to give up the fudge?
Make fudge or take up knitting? Fudge.
