According to a January report from the Commerce Department, counterfeit electronics in the defense industry are on the rise. In 2005, there were 3,868 incidents detected, compared with 9,356 in 2008, according to the report. (Navy Times)
Poisoned food, toxic drywall, and now shoddy fake electronic components that go into our national defense hardware. Cyber spying, cyber warfare, suborning LORAL to turn over advanced missile technology during the Clinton administration. They forced down one of our USAF surveillance planes in 2001 when Bush was president, and we stood by powerless, a hapless nation with a hapless president.
In an earlier age, any one of these deliberate actions would be considered an act of war.
Why don’t we tell China to back off and shove their toxic crap where the sun don't shine? Why are we taking this from them? Oh yeah... we’re in hock to them to the tune of trillions… And we don’t make stuff in this country anymore. We need them.
Our profligacy has put us in mortal danger, and our government has done its damnedest to make the USA a terrible place to do business. Because we’ve lost control of ourselves, our spending and our jobs, we’ve also lost control of our destiny. We are a pauper nation at the whim of our creditors. We are Greece without all the naps and the smoking.
We are a walking brain dead zombie nation, more concerned about millionaire men who play with balls and their billionaire owners than we are about national defense and fiscal sanity. We are reaping what we have sown.
"In every democracy, the people get the government they deserve" -- Alexis de Tocqueville
27 comments:
Both political parties are complicit in allowing China to take over our economy.
Frankly, I don't see a solution for solving the problem with our GDP.
It started with the unions putting increasing pressure on the Golden Goose to lay more golden eggs, while deliberately neglecting the care and feeding of the all-important Goose -- the Provider of All Good Things.
The Laborites and the Marxists, who have wanted from the Beginning to achieve World Domination by toppling the productive, profitable, comfortable Christian Capitalist Establishment, did everything possible to aid and abet these ends.
In self-defense the entrepreneurs, Investors and executives were virtually forced by the excessive demands of Labor to export jobs in order to continue making profits.
Labor in the West priced itself out of existence.
As a result Big Business was effectively forced to do three things:
1. Export jobs
2. Open up markets in underdeveloped countries
3. Move farther and farther away from supporting the best interests of their Mother Countries -- countries who, because of advancing Cultural Marxism and Socialism, made themselves more and more inhospitable -- nay downright hostile -- to business interests.
This led to the increasing "globalization" of business and to the sad phenomenon of Captains of Industry, the International Bankers who finance them and the Owners and Suppliers of Raw Materials having no loyalty to any particular nation -- no sense of patriotism whatsoever -- but only to "The Bottom Line."
Having accrued tremendous Wealth and Power by taking these initially defensive steps Big Business and Big Banking gradually took over the government -- made it a Partner -- and have finessed their responsibility to the citizenry.
Result? All people are now viewed as nothing more than potential pawns to used and abused at will -- on a GLOBAL scale -- by the triumvirate comprised of Big Business, Big Banking and Big Brother (i.e. government).
Some dismiss this as mere "conspiracy theory."
I see it much more as a NATURAL PROGRESSION resulting from undue government interference in the Natural Order of things. And how could it be dismissed as mere theory when it has been an Established Fact for several decades?
"Good laws lead to the making of better ones; bad ones bring about worse. As soon as any man says of the affairs of the State, 'What does it matter to me?' the State may be given up for lost."
~ Rousseau (1712-1778)
By taking a long series of wrong turns in embracing Collectivist Doctrines for the supposed benefit of the sainted Working Class, we have wound up casting them into the Street and onto the Bread Lines only to face a future as Slaves of Central Command after the International Power Elites have dissolved American Sovereignty and put us under the yoke of World Socialist Dictatorship run by a de facto Oligarchy made up of ruthless, utterly selfish monsters.
Think it can't happen here?
IT ALREADY HAS.
~ FreeThinke
The triumvirate of big labor,political elite statist and big corporatist have worked hand-in-hand for years to destroy free market capitalism in this country. Is it any wonder that we are geopolitically weak?
and now Obama's over in Australia cozying up for support against China. Man, THAT'll scare the Chinese military out of their wits, huh? :-) That made even ME scared; are we THAT POWERLESS? Then wait until we gut the military$$......
man.
And Bill Clinton sold us out time and again. Its hard to believe that his wife cares one bit more for our interests. What is more of a puzzle is that they have a daughter who will live out their actions.
China has not gone to war against us. That is a misconception.
We have gone to war against ourselves.
How and why we've done it is pretty well outlined in FreeThinke's first post.
Worrying about the Clintons -- or even The Black Knight -- is a waste of time -- a matter of "straining our gnats while swallowing camels."
Unless and until we clearly identify the elements fundamentally responsible for our decline, and do whatever it take to reduce their power significantly or neutralize them altogether, we really are headed for an existence as Galley Slaves in Space Ship Earth.
The USA used to be a refuge for all the "tempest tossed" of the world. Now that our nation has decided to emulate her inferiors, her ascendancy has stopped, and she is plummeting fast into the ash heap of history.
Earth is fast becoming one giant Gulag from which there will be no hope of escape, except by death.
Just remember:
WE DID IT TO OURSELVES.
~ FreeThinke
Always On Watch said...
"Both political parties are complicit in allowing China to take over our economy.
Frankly, I don't see a solution for solving the problem with our GDP."
Nor with our GOP either, I'm afraid, AOW.
It's one mellova hess, isn't it?
~ FreeThinke
Thank you, conservativesonfire, for reiterating what I said more tersely.
It's always reassuring to find even a small bit of agreement and understanding.
~ FreeThinke
I am of the belief the Elite in the 1960's decided to open up China. They used Nixon, then massaged laws in Congress to ensure businesses went to Mexico and China - to business startups they controlled.
Clinton was just a profiteer. Once the ball got rolling, many came to the aid of China not because the Elite told them to, but to make a quick buck selling out the US.
OSHA, Dept of Labor, and the EPA are constructs to discourage manufacturing here in the US, nothing more. Don't believe their holy drivel about helping and protecting the "worker". It's all about harassment of the business owner. I know - I run a manufacturing business.
Yup! It sure looks like that is exactly what happened, Mr. No Name.
We think alike, but we are not the same person -- just in case anyone was starting wonder.
Many just don't want to believe there could be such an entity as "The Elites." Insufficient proof that would stand up in a court of law, you know. I guess opinions formed from the results we must live with from machinations made by "someone" are not evidence. But whatever "it" is that has us by the short hairs "it" sure looks like a "duck" to me.
Not a conspiracy -- just a logical progression -- a chain reaction -- starting with our determined change of direction toward the left.
If anyone has a more plausible theory of how we got where we are, let's hear it, please.
~ FreeThinke
The superior intellects we have in Congress are just now re-considering the 4+millon that we GIVE China in renewable energy aid. We can't buy a friend anywhere in this world...When will they learn?
The Chinese need the west more than we know it unfortunately.
"Because we’ve lost control of ourselves, our spending and our jobs, we’ve also lost control of our destiny."
The funny thing is, people see more concerned about electing a well styled leader, as if one puts on the best suit, perfumes and a what before settling down to get the budget in order.
"We are a pauper nation at the whim of our creditors."
Sometimes i wish those creditors would call in the debts, make us pay or else. It's almost magical to watch those who squander freely come to their senses when their ass gets a good, firm kick.
"Why don’t we tell China to back off and shove their toxic crap where the sun don't shine? Why are we taking this from them? Oh yeah... we’re in hock to them to the tune of trillions… And we don’t make stuff in this country anymore. We need them."
That about sums up the nightmare our wonderful government has done to every single American.
I honestly don't see a solution to help us out of this sink hole.
I have to disagree with your characterization of these incidents as acts of war.
I am familiar with the counterfeit part issue as well as DoD countermeasures.
I think the first time I heard about this was two years ago. The parts are no more specifically targeted against the DoD than fake Rolex watches are. As far back as 1997 counterfeit parts were a 200 billion dollar industry.
It's a trademark/patent issue not a military one. There have also been American companies caught counterfeiting other companies parts.
The vast majority of equipment procured today is what is known as COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf), equipment is seldom built specifically for the military and even when it is, like the F-22 it is composed of custom as well as COTS equipment.
This stuff gets into the market via unscrupulous or simply ignorant third party retailers. It is just as likely that there is something in your house (TV, Stereo, Computer,Car, etc) that contains counterfeit parts as it is to be found in DoD COTS equipment.
The parts generally work, the issue arises from higher infant mortality rates and a higher MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) due to lower manufacturing standards and/or poor quality control.
I recall one incident in which the part was discovered to be counterfeit because it was more reliable than the real thing. Investigation into the low failure rates exposed the counterfeit.
Cheers
In a statist nation like China, these things don't happen without official approval.
Starting back with Papa Bush, we've been taking way too much crap from that country
Oh I don't disagree with you there SF, I just think its more about profit than military advantage.
From DVDs to ICs...the little communists are capitalists at heart
Anyway, I've always thought the Communist Party - China was more about power than the protelariat. Which in my opinion is why communist regimes have always been about oppression and not liberation.
Cheers!
Cheers!
Yep there is an equal amount of blame for Democrats and Republicans for selling us down the river to China. I was harping on Bush I and then NAFTA as deals that were going to hurt our manufacturing capability.
But believe it or not, even Taiwan is exporting much of its manufacturing to the mainland, despite the almost daily threats the Reds make against them. Simply put, they can get their stuff cheaper from the mainland than doing it themselves. I've learned this first hand.
Madness is not an exclusive American trait after all.
We deserve what we tolerate.
I for one welcome our Chinese overlords........
bah. America is in a sad state. If only there was an alternative party to our two big government parties: The Democrats and the RINOs.
FreeThinke,
The outsourcing of our GDP has brought our nation down to a position lower than a world economic power.
Yes, we did it to ourselves.
Frankly, I don't blame only various Presidents. In fact, I blame Congress more!
And the American people -- for snoozing at the wheel.
Maybe not snoozing so much, AOW, as stupidly letting ourselves be persuaded that our rank and file members of society can get -- and deserve -- the elements of a comfortable, carefree existence for FREE from "the rich."
That's a poisonous mentality at best. Envy is one of the deadly sins, and the collectivist approach is predicated on envy, spite and malice towards those who are perceived to have more and live better.
Envy corrodes the lives of the envious. That's why it's a sin.
~ FreeThinke
AOW,
You said:
"Frankly, I don't blame only various Presidents. In fact, I blame Congress more!"
We all should do so. For some reason, along the lines, we have attributed way too much power and influence to our Presidents, when it is indeed Congress that we should be more interactive with as the American people.
We don't need a "rock star President" whom the liberal media performs verbal fellatio upon. We need a President who knows his role according to the US Constitution, and a Congress that does the same.
I have fallen prey to this erroneous mentality, blaming this President or that President for the actions of the few who populate the halls of Congress.
You brought up a good point, AOW. I am realizing I need to refocus my attentions on the real power in America.
"I just think its more about profit than military advantage."
Replace "profit" with "power," Finntann, and then you have it.
Oliver Wendell Holmes said:
"The only prize much cared for by the powerful is power. The prize of the General is not a bigger tent, but command."
I believe that's true. After a certain point those who have achieved great wealth are rarely content just to enjoy the benefit of their hard work and good fortune -- and almost never disposed simply to share it graciously with family, friends and those in need. Instead they will risk losing what they have in the hope of gaining more and more -- OR -- they go into politics.
Now why would a rich man go into politics?
Other than to protect and enhance his own interests he longs to possess the authority to push other people around and make them dance to his tune.
As Orwell said in Nineteen-Eighty-Four, there is no reason for this other than perverse enjoyment of the Sadistic thrill of exercising dominion -- the illusion that one can play God -- and get away with it.
~ FreeThinke
People will always pay homage and give allegiance to whatever force delivers the goods at a cheaper price.
It certainly works that way in the competitive world of business -- but even more so in government where the mere promise of "freebies" can get you elected or appointed to positions of god-like power.
Covetousness is at the virus that has infected our society with fatal illness.
Disobeying those Commandments inevitably bears dreadful consequences.
~ FreeThinke
~ FreeThinke
The FED actually just surpassed China as our major holder of debt. I think that may be even more scary...GLOBALISM anyone?
It needs to be remembered also that China is an imperialist power. Why did it take Tibet? Because it wanted to. Rapaciousness and greed, that's all. A version of "Manifest Destiny"... an expansive and aggressive ideology that the US had in the 19th century but doesn't have any more at all, because it is immoral.
Yet, China still has it. Look at its constant threats to destroy and conquer the nation of Taiwan.
Anon said: "People will always pay homage and give allegiance to whatever force delivers the goods at a cheaper price."
It's not just cheaper. A better version of this would be "...a better deal".
A higher quality product for the same price as a lower quality one wins out just as well as the better-priced options of the same quality.
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