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And The Left Beefs About WalMart?

1K views 25 replies 7 participants last post by  Dzerzhinsky 
#1 ·
Bill Clinton Helps Launch Search Engine

By DESMOND BUTLER, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - Former president Bill Clinton (news - web sites) on Monday helped launch a new Internet search company backed by the Chinese government which says its technology uses artificial intelligence to produce better results than Google Inc.

"I hope you all make lots of money," Clinton told executives at the launch of Accoona Corp., which donated an undisclosed amount to the William J. Clinton Foundation.

The Chinese government, one of several large backers, has granted Accoona a 20-year exclusive partnership with the China Daily Information Co., the government agency that runs an official Chinese and English Web site.

The deal gives Accoona data on some 5 million Chinese companies, which Accoona sees as a lucrative opportunity as U.S. businesses seek to do business in China ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games (news - web sites) in Beijing.

The new company's executives include chairman Eckhard Pfeiffer, the former chief executive of Compaq Corp., and Stuart Kauder, a former business development director at online advertising company DoubleClick Inc.

Accoona takes its name from the Swahili phrase, "accoona matata," for "no worries," popularized by Disney's film, "The Lion King."

The company seeks to distinguish itself from Google, Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) and growing list of other search engine players by using artificial intelligence to make the results more relevant, said Pfeiffer. Unlike traditional search engines that seek specific "keyword" matches, Accoona will access Web pages that may have no exact keyword matches but are still relevant to the query, he explained.

"Accoona's artificial intelligence technology will elevate search engine performance to a new unprecedented level, allowing the most relevant search available today," Pfeiffer said.
 
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#2 ·
Well, this lefty's beef with WalMart is the same as much of my beef with Mr. Bill. This news item only validates it. The Selling of America really accelerated under Mr. Bill's watch, and Bush is ensuring that we will be able to shop until curfew.

I would strongly suggest that you put on your "things to do" list taking a tour of an American factory. I don't know how much longer you'll be able to do so.
 
#4 ·
Dzerzhinsky said:
Well, this lefty's beef with WalMart is the same as much of my beef with Mr. Bill. This news item only validates it. The Selling of America really accelerated under Mr. Bill's watch, and Bush is ensuring that we will be able to shop until curfew.

I would strongly suggest that you put on your "things to do" list taking a tour of an American factory. I don't know how much longer you'll be able to do so.
OK, what would you lefities be willing to do to make factories stay here, or better yet return?

What is your program for manufacturing jobs, Smeg?
 
#5 ·
Custer said:
What is your program for manufacturing jobs, Smeg?
There's a reason why I call myself a lefty, not a liberal. One thing I've thought of is quite radical. That's why they call us radicals:

Around the turn of the 19th century we had figured out that monopoly capitalism wasn't good for capitalism. It had produced some good results - without Rockerfeller's monopolization of the American oil industry I don't know that it would have become rationalized or not. But it fairly soon thereafter became evident that the monopoly capitalism contained the seeds of its own destruction, and Teddy Roosevelt began his trustbusting campaign and Rockerfeller's Standard Oil was ordered to self-destruct and reorganize as a number of smaller separate corporations (Standard Oil, Chevron, Exxon, etc., etc., etc.).

That was monopoly capitalism at the production level.

A hundred years later we're facing monopoly capitalism at the retail sales level, a new phenomenon. The result has been large corporations gaining larger and larger shares of the market, WalMart and Target being the two prime examples. WalMart is now in the position that it has the fiscal resources equal to those of some nations, and is able to command that goods be provided it at costs domestic production simply cannot beat.

My vote is that trustbusting be expanded to the mega-retailers.

My other vote is that individual Americans begin to demonstrate this weird trait called "patriotism" and purchase US-made products whenever possible.

As an aside...

I noticed on a product I bought yesterday that nowhere on the product, nor on the labelling, could I find where it was made. It did have a red-white-and-blue American flag on the packaging, but that doesn't mean diddly squat*. Are packaging/products no longer required to state where they were made? Wondering if that requirement disappeared with some trade agreement. Anyone know?

* Some time ago I bought an item with packaging like this, and when I got the item itself out of the blister pack I found it had been made in China. I not only returned it, but raised hell with the store manager and demanded that the items be either clearly labelled as made in China, the US flags be removed, or the item be removed from display. Otherwise I would look into what legal remedies there were for dealing with a retailer who blatantly falsely advertised. I was quite proud of myself, actually - they removed the items from display; I suspect they had been subject to the same false advertising themselves and had though the product was US-made, and hopefully they raised hell with the wholesaler.
 
#6 ·
As far as I know, there is no requirement for US made products being sold in the US to state such. There is a requirement that US made products slated for export be labeled "Made in USA".
All imported items must be labeled with country of origin. Many of the US products we see labeled "Made in USA" are also exported abroad, so the munufacturer just labels them all. It's also used as a marketing ploy to increase sales as well. Things assembled in USA with foreign parts must be labeled as such as well.
 
#7 ·
That is a nice history lesson, my friend. Slanted but that's ok.

However, like most lefties there is not one ounce of practical, do this tomorrow advice. Lefty programs are about hamstringing business and when the jobs don't materialize, and in fact disappear, they simply rearrange the deck chairs on the Titantic.

I have to run a factory. Sell steel. Fab it. Install it. It is not easy to do this with the cuumlation of programs heaped upon business in the last 40 years.

Sorry, Smeg but if your suggestions are government policies, no wonder we have so many people working at Walmart.

Buy American out of patriotism? Good grief. Most of the policy makers on the left hate the idea of "patrotism". Not all, but many hate the US and hate the US businesses until they want to hit the stump and pander to the very factory workers displaced by their harmful policies.

And last I checked, no one was herding those people into the arms of the Walmart greeter.
 
#8 ·
And what if I don't mind supporting the American workers but have a real problem supporting the unions that represent those manufacturers, and that are joined at the hip with the political party that stands for the things I so strongly oppose? Well I buy the best "value" I can find and if it happens to be made by Americans then good, but if it is made somewhere else then that's good for me too.
 
#9 ·
Custer, Grendeljaeger, I wish folks would realize the literal truth of the statement that "Freedom isn't free." and would be willing to shell out a bit more money at the checkstand in exchange for getting to remain free.

Never happen, though. It'll remain but a slogan that folks like to say to make themselves feel self-rightously patriotic.

And I am shocked, shocked I tell you, to find that Custer doesn't think that subjecting retailers to the same trustbusting governmental control that producers are already subject to would be an appropriate maneuver.

In the meantime, we have become what we began as - a colony.

We used to be a British colony, exporting raw materials to England and importing British finished products. We now export raw materials to China and import Chinese finished products. That trade pattern is the classic trade pattern of imperialism, the classic relationship between imperial power and colony. Funny, in a sad sort of way, that despite all the ranting from the left about American imperialism what in fact is happening is that America is becoming subject to Chinese imperialism.
 
#10 ·
Monopoly arguments are losers especially if that is what passes for economic policy.
It's ain't one.

Within in my adult career, this country was calling GM a monopoly. IBM a monopoly. Many others if I put my mind to it. Years and millions spent to rein them in and break them up. Feds gave up. Market took over and eventually they all fall on themselves.

Sears was the big dog. Then it was K-Mart. They both fall on hard times. Now they merge.

Every dog has its day when it is free enterprise. So will WalMart.

They only success trustbusters have is when they break up monopolies the government itself created such as AT&T and power companies.
 
#11 ·
Custer said:
...They only success trustbusters have is when they break up monopolies the government itself created such as AT&T and power companies.
Aren't you rather conveniently forgetting Standard Oil, which controlled 90% of domestic oil production at the time it was ordered to break up?
 
#14 ·
MS will go like IBM a lot of money and nothing of value. More rich defense lawyers, top government careers made and great training for hordes of young government lawyers to get experience and parlay it into a good private sector job with the next corporate victim.

The beat goes on.

We have allowed oil mergers since 1917 so the US can have some clout, especially in the last 10 years. Just as we have allowed auto mergers and retail store mergers.
Wide ties, thin ties. Fashion changes and so does the gubmint's approach but one thing never changes...despite the gubmints games, the market eventually prevails.

It is all a sham but everyone was taught about evil monopolies in school and the valiant trustbusters....

Some might wish we we had a Standard Oil to fight OPEC.
 
#15 ·
Custer said:
...It is all a sham but everyone was taught about evil monopolies in school and the valiant trustbusters....
I actually agree with you about that one, Custer. Trusts are presented as unequivocal evils. Without trusts the oil, electirc power, telecommunications, and railroad industries could simply never have developed - no small corporation or individual entrepeneur could ever have the capital requried.

Although, as a lefty, I do gotta note that we're talking about precisely the industries that are the first to be nationalized after a socialist revolution - and why. The huge amounts of capital requried dictate that it be the government or Amalgamated Megalithic Industries, Inc., at the helm.

Alas, I trust neither.
 
#17 ·
You are a victim of old Marxism. No need to nationalize those crappy, low ROI industries. Regulate them until you force them to come to you on their knees for handouts.

Modern Marxists nationalize all levels of education. That's where the money is and the action.
 
#18 ·
Strange Destiny said:
This has gotten really deep, guys. I just shop there to save money.
:confused:
Well, then I've gotta remind you, Strange Destiny, that "Freedom isn't free." It's up to each of us to decide whether it's worth the cost of shopping elsewhere.
 
#20 ·
Custer said:
But, you will buy Wolf ammo and other foreign brands, right Smeg?
Yep. I generally will purchase products from any nation that we are not at risk of being economically overwhelmed by.

But your point is well-taken: When I buy Swiss chocolate I contribute to the trade deficit just as much as I would by buying Chinese chocolate.

In my defense, I can say that I generally do have a priority list:
1. US made
2. Foreign made other than China
3. Chinese
4. Made in Texas

Wolf ammo actually raises a true-stuff scenario I often am faced with. You may recall my Quixotic search for a US-made spatula some time ago (finally found one!). I have a SAR-3, and like many SAR-3's it has short headspace. Accordingly, I fire only steel-cased ammo in it. And no domestic steel-cased ammo exists, so I gotta buy Russian steel-cased ammo.
 
#24 ·
Custer said:
I remember your search quite well.

I have not been able to find you a US made spatula yet, although I have seen job applications from US born women named Spatula.

How about a US made speculum instead?
I found him a US made spatula, but he didn't seem interested in buying it. In fact, I've got one - it's a Lamson.
 
#25 ·
Strange Destiny said:
A speculum would more of a girl toy, than a boy toy. Unless, you are really, really, really, naughty. :naughty::naughty::naughty:
Let's just say that one can never be checked for colon cancer too often. Especially if the doc is cute.
 
#26 ·
Pogo said:
I found him a US made spatula, but he didn't seem interested in buying it. In fact, I've got one - it's a Lamson.
I was trying to remember who had turned me onto a mail-order US-made spatula. So it was you? Sorry, must have forgotten to thank you. Anyway, I finally did find one at a small local hardware store.
 
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