Slog - Comments on Made in China http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china Mattel, the world’s largest toy company, today announced its second major recall in a month of Chinese-made toys contaminated with lead paint. Nokia, the world’s biggest cellphone maker, warned consumers yesterday that 46 million of its handsets contained defective batteries made in China that could in rare cases overheat and even dislodge during recharging. Toothpaste distributed in some luxury hotels is being recalled because it contains a chemical usually found in antifreeze. This is the third time this summer that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued such a toothpaste recall. As in the other incidents, this toothpaste was... Copyright 2008 Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:15:27 -0800 Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:12:42 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Dianna Am I the only one surprised by none of this?

]]> Dianna http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783195 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783195 News Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:16:29 -0800 Comment by Cato the YY You know what can you expect from 8 year old factory workers?

]]> Cato the YY http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783197 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783197 News Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:17:24 -0800 Comment by Cato the YY Seriously though, the workers in China are nothing more than slaves to the American consumer. The conditions they live and work in are deplorable (no matter what our corporate execs or China's government want us to hear) and at some point people under those conditions are going to take it out anyway they can.

In Denmark workers who felt their livelihoods being destroyed by the machine threw there wooden shoes called "Sabots" into the workings of the machine: Hence Sabotage. I think we maybe seeing something similar happening.

]]> Cato the YY http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783203 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783203 News Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:22:28 -0800 Comment by Gitai @3 No, I think it's much simpler than that. They simply have no enforcement of any safety standards, and a manufacturing sector that's far, far, far too widely distributed (meaning that while an American manufacturer may have seven suppliers, a Chinese one will have seventy, even with the same amount of production), and greedy bastards in charge of the factories.

Also, they wouldn't get the cultural context of the swastika. In East Asia, the swastika maintains its pre-war connotations of good luck.

]]> Gitai http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783208 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783208 News Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:29:17 -0800 Comment by monkey 5 pts goes to Cato the YY for his Star Trek 6, Kim Cattrall quote.

]]> monkey http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783209 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783209 News Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:30:37 -0800 Comment by Original Andrew I wouldn't say it's sabotage; it's just extreme greed and a total lack of any kind of effective regulatory apparatus.

There's also an epidemic of corruption in China right now at the public and private level, where bribes and shoddy workmanship are just the cost of doing business. The problem is so serious, it’s why they have the death penalty for public and private officials who are caught.

It's like the Industrial Revolution over there times 1000. Eventually, the Chinese people are going to have to demand fair labor and environmental laws as workers have in North America and Europe.

]]> Original Andrew http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783213 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783213 News Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:32:27 -0800 Comment by mr. ryan reason #89,421 that I'm glad I don't have children.


Although I am aware of the economic implications or whatevs.

]]> mr. ryan http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783230 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783230 News Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:45:08 -0800 Comment by Dianna Although I am aware of the economic implications or whatevs.

Ha!

]]> Dianna http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783236 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783236 News Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:51:42 -0800 Comment by Gordon Werner I blame Wal-Mart and the "entitlement" culture it has created ... does no one remember the adage "You Get What You Pay For?"

]]> Gordon Werner http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783266 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783266 News Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:20:49 -0800 Comment by monkey I blame corporate greed.

]]> monkey http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783270 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783270 News Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:24:29 -0800 Comment by Kirk G OK, so why can't we get a master list of just which Hotels have been passing out this stuff? I've just completed 2 weeks in upscale Alaskan hotels and used some toothpaste from them in almost everyone. AM I AT RISK? HOW DO I KNOW? Help us please! Post a list!

]]> Kirk G http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783284 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783284 News Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:48:06 -0800 Comment by D. A few months ago a little girl asked her mother what color n----- brown was, because that was what was printed on the label of their couch. Made in China.

]]> D. http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783295 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783295 News Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:56:40 -0800 Comment by KENTUCKY KERNEL OF TRUTH But can't you see we need these Wal-Martian Chinese-produced goods, people? We just need them, and forget that silly concept of the Chinese adapting OSHA mentalities. They will do whatever they must to succeed and a few bodies in the mines, a few kids run over by tanks, a few squatters crushed by bulldozers is small ricecakes. As Napoleon once allegedly said, albeit in French: "China is a sleeping giant. When she awakes the world will tremble." Begin trembling right about....now.

]]> KENTUCKY KERNEL OF TRUTH http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783384 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783384 News Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:10:35 -0800 Comment by Dave Coffman Yeah and an additional kernel of truth: Not a single person on SLOG or probably in Seattle is Chinese Product free.

]]> Dave Coffman http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783431 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783431 News Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:56:07 -0800 Comment by Gitai @14 Of course not. How could we be?

]]> Gitai http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783475 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783475 News Tue, 14 Aug 2007 19:46:43 -0800 Comment by Orv @11: Unless you swallow your toothpaste I imagine the risk is probably low. The fatal does for ethylene glycol in human adults is about 100 grams.

]]> Orv http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783478 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783478 News Tue, 14 Aug 2007 19:56:07 -0800 Comment by ShanghaiDidact I really hope that Americans can manage to separate our impressions of Chinese manufacturing from our impressions of the Chinese people. We're often too quick to conflate things...(admittedly, in the same way that the Chinese often conflate U.S. government policies with the American people).

]]> ShanghaiDidact http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783663 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c783663 News Wed, 15 Aug 2007 02:23:33 -0800 Comment by JessB As I've said before, what can you expect from a culture where their word for "honesty" means gullible.

]]> JessB http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c784025 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/made_in_china#c784025 News Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:12:42 -0800