Dollar has more value vs Colombian Peso

[utopiacowboy]

All of the Toyota Tundras are made in San Antonio and now all of the Tacomas will be too. They were sharing production with Tijuana but my wife told me that will end.

[robert angel]

I didn't see any mention of the Delta Motors Corporation in your post. They assembled Toyotas in the Philipines and produced their own "Mini Cruser", a miniaturized Toyota FJ 40 jeep. They were exported to very few countries but oddly one of them was Colombia and I see them now and then. Getting old though because the last were produced in the 80s.

Hey--you got me there!--> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Motors_Corporation  Interesting read--for me anyway--but I grew up surrounded by cars and the global auto industry.

My Filipino father in law has--although it hasn't run in years, a vehicle I 'think' is known as one of 'The Country Buggies' ---in the Philippines they were marketed as the Sakbayan. You might recall the USA sold 'Volkswagen 'Thing" which still has a cult following, collectability value to it.

But the Volkswagen 'Thing" as known in the USA  and thought to be extremely crude and primitive, was like a luxury boulevard cruiser compared to whatever it was my in law used out there in the province. My John Deere tractor has more options. Before it gave up the ghost, I helped him outfit the roll up windows (the only 'luxury' item that beast had) with vise grip pliars to replace the long gone handles, helped beef up the suspension, making it last a little longer, etc. I think I was especially endeared to them because I kept that thing going with duct tape, bolts, rivets and carburetor spray, among other things. Nowadays, folks with money there want Mitsubishi Pajeros or if they have more money--Ford Expeditions.

But a lot of cars exported to the Philippines have little things deleted from them--like air bags, steel safety guard rails in the doors, disc brakes, etc. I hear they add a device to the car horns on taxis, where when they beep the horn, the meter jumps.

My Father does a lot more work with the US, Canadian and Mexican railroads nowadays on new car assembly  transportation matters, covering the North American nations--basically for fun on his own schedule for stupid silly high pay from his home office. But for decades, he helped set up a lot of GM assembly operations all over the world--Asia, Europe, South America, etc. He helped GM buy the licensing rights to the Wankel (Rotary) engine before Mazda ran with it, (we seriously considered a rotary engine--mid engine placed Vette at one time) He helped picked up a 49% ownership stake in Japan's Isuzu--also got in with Suzuki and a number of other manufacturers on either assembly or rebadging operations.

He just found the business climate in the Philippines impossible to deal with. Thailand, Russia, Korea, Egypt, Vietnam, Japan--even those sneaky Chinese pricks--all those nations were also challenging, but he managed to push through factories, many that still build GM cars and trucks today. Also a number of  assembly operations in S. America, where he was always worried about those nation's potential political upheaval and 'nationalizing' the factories. He was gone a lot when I was a kid!

But the pinnacle of his career was the NUMMI plant, in Fremont California, where Toyota and GM built cars in the same plant, with the same workers side by side, making GM and Toyota brand vehicles. The Japanese always respected him immensely--and my Dad's as humble as the day is long--not some big brass bravado kind of guy--he wears a rubber wrist band Timex watch and off the rack suits--but it got to the to the point where they would never say 'no' to him--not even Mr. Eiji Toyoda, nor his successor son Akio---they'd respectfully avoid any appearance of insulting him with a negative answer--some one else of lesser stature would have to get and deliver the news. That slowed things down sometimes. They would've pissed on Lee Iacocco before dealing with him--Iacocco rubbed a lot more people wrong than we'll ever know. And boy oh boy--did the Japanese eventually piss Iacocco off later on.

The Govt and corporate world said two giants like General Motors--then the biggest company on earth, and Toyota, would never get that past the US Federal Antitrust and Federal Trade Regulation Depts.--(his original employers) Ford and Chrysler about had cows when the US and Japanese Govts and the World Trade Commission approved. It wasn't weeks after that before Ford and Chrysler made closer alliances with Asian automakers--more typically rebadging vehicle products than true joint ventures. But Iacocco was the first to yell and cry and then the first to concede.

But after the NUMMI deal, many other industries saw that globalization and working more with competitors (in some realms) rather than against them, was the wave of the future. Today, it's not just cars of course--Apple and Samsung just for one example, share common components made by each other in their respective products, all the while suing the sh!t out of each other--it's a silly game really, but for better or worse, that NUMMI deal was a game changer for the way the whole planet does business today.

The NUMMI Plant eventually closed and GM failed to learn some valuable lessons from Toyota. The overall GM corporate culture just wasn't as flexible and open to change as they should've been. Toyota showed them how to build better cars and trucks, using less workers in a smaller plant. GM and the UAW wasn't willing to make such changes in their other plants. I remember working on GM assembly lines and watching the trains pull in and we'd unload auto parts, only to have to 'cull' out up to 25% of the parts as defective, storing them until it was time to for me to help load them back on the trains. Toyota basically tells its suppliers--"You sort through your quality--if you can't give us 100% quality parts ready to build, we'll find somebody who will"

It's ironic that now Tesla is taking over the mothballed old NUMMI plant. I wish them well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NUMMI

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a5514/4350856/

[utopiacowboy]

The frigging UAW killed the NUMMI plant for Toyota. Instead of letting them fire people who are chronically late or don't show up etc. the union defends them. You can't run a plant like that with guys who don't show up. The union guys are busy in San Antonio too. My wife had to fire a guy who was a UAW organizer which was a shame because she said the guy was a great worker. The stories she tells me - there was one time they came within two hours of shutting down the line because they didn't have the interior dashboard parts. Another time they sent someone off to the ER because they had a mishap with one of the robots. It's all about safety and the kaizen method so they hate it when stuff like that happens.

[vikingo]

The SOFASA plant in Envigado started production of the Renault 4L in 1969 and continues producing Renault models including my Duster today. In 1991 that plant also made Toyota Land Cruisers and the next year Hilux pickups. Toyota production continued until 2008. Both makes (Renault and Toyota) were exported to Venezuela and Ecuador for many years. The history of automotive assembly in Colombia over the years is bizarre and includes makes from about ten different countries. A popular taxi for a while was the Dodge Dart made at a plant in Bogotá.

Regarding the crappy work I think they call that "chapecería" or something like that up there in Barranquilla.

The word is 'chapucería' - Trabajo hecho sin técnica ni cuidado.
'Botchery' in English. (a botched job, careless workmanship)

[buencamino2]

The word is 'chapucería' - Trabajo hecho sin técnica ni cuidado.
'Botchery' in English. (a botched job, careless workmanship)

I never saw it spelled just heard it used. My phonetic spelling. Haven't been up there for quite a while.

[fathertime]

Holy Moses! The dollar back over 3200-1. 

Fathertime!

[robert angel]

The frigging UAW killed the NUMMI plant for Toyota. Instead of letting them fire people who are chronically late or don't show up etc. the union defends them. You can't run a plant like that with guys who don't show up. The union guys are busy in San Antonio too. My wife had to fire a guy who was a UAW organizer which was a shame because she said the guy was a great worker. The stories she tells me - there was one time they came within two hours of shutting down the line because they didn't have the interior dashboard parts. Another time they sent someone off to the ER because they had a mishap with one of the robots. It's all about safety and the kaizen method so they hate it when stuff like that happens.

I started out as a 'floater'--absentee relief on the 'jungle line'--white metal chassis, body and on really hot days--the paint shop. But really, they could assign me anywhere--it was just sure to be the worst jobs in what was then the worst auto plant in the USA--maybe the world.  It was in Tarrytown NY and was the oldest plant still in existence at the time, going back to 1896, when the Stanley Steam Car company opened there.


I was in the kind of shape a pro boxer was, but the first day always wracked my body--forcing it to stay in the contorted position you get when you have to work two or even three spot welding gun jobs on each car--each gun suspended from above for ten hours most days. Robots do that mostly now--but I was a 'monkey' on the 'jungle line'--that really what they called me and I was damn good at it.. By the second day, I was coming back a bit physically--hurting less and more limber. I was fine by the third day--then they'd give me a whole new sh!t job that racked totally different body--muscle groups. If you couldn't schedule your piss or craps, you did it in your uniform.

The plant was filthy and full of toxins--cuts and injuries were the norm. I'd wear thick socks and heavy work boots and the welding sparks could somehow still shoot all the way down into my boots to my toes--still have scars to prove it.


 As I recall, the near 100 acre site on one of the primest spots along the Hudson River in otherwise scenic Sleepy Hollow, NY--in tony Westchester County, was so polluted when GM closed it down, that it was estimated it would cost near a quarter of a billion dollars (decades ago) to clean it up. But by later claiming bankruptcy, GM got out of it.

The guys I was filling in for would pick the hottest days from the worst jobs and take a few days off, go to some Dr. 'Feel Good' MD, who'd --and all for free--gratis of the UAW--the visit--the dope--everything---give him a script of narcotic pain relievers--even enough to bring back to take on the job. But everything was already there if you wanted to buy--heroin, pot--hallucinogens, etc.

I'd see guys take their half eaten lunch, throw it in the car, then drop the back seat in and bolt it down on top, spot weld holes in panels, otherwise sabotage cars in many ways. The Labor Union--UAW wanted me---the company wanted me as non union management, the drug dealers wanted me to move their dope, to run numbers (gambling) --I had a job after my shift bartending at the bar closest to the plant--the owner--a 'made' Mafioso, liked me a lot--even gave me a gold Delta 88 convertible to cruise around in. Straight out of the movie 'Goodfellas'. Everybody was grooming me for something 'bigger and better'--but working for 'them'--I was their 'boy'..

So I was making huge money, but like the old black guys would tell me : "Quit before you get used to the money and become an animal--I used to be a human being, now I am a mother f---ing  animal and a slave to GM --with my so called 'skills', I couldn't make half of my wages anywhere else and I HATE GM--my family hates GM--but I can't quit--YOU go back to college".

I went back to college--but those summers in the plant--no air conditioning either, gave me an education like nothing, nowhere else. I can't thank those old guys enough.

Years later, when the Ford Dearborn, Michigan plant first opened up to build the F150 truck series, I toured it and almost wanted to cry. It's so clean you can eat off the floor in a lot of places. If there's an problem--quality issue--you can stop the line and they fix it. Before, I couldn't stop the line--if I was even able to and tried, they would've found a way to crucify me. I eventually would've had to choose between GM, the UAW and/or the mob--as organized crime had a big hand in there too.

[Awesome]

I eventually would've had to choose between GM, the UAW and/or the mob--as organized crime had a big hand in there too.

Is there really that big of a difference between the three?

[Awesome]

The Govt and corporate world said two giants like General Motors--then the biggest company on earth, and Toyota, would never get that past the US Federal Antitrust and Federal Trade Regulation Depts.--(his original employers) Ford and Chrysler about had cows when the US and Japanese Govts and the World Trade Commission approved.

Hmm, interesting...  Corruption at the highest level.

[robert angel]

Holy Moses! The dollar back over 3200-1. 

Fathertime!

Yea--it's going to highs in a lot of places. My wife's been living pretty large the last few weeks in the Philippines, taking the family out to resorts, nice places to eat, while the exchange rate's up there. And unlike when she was there year before last, prices haven't risen as much for the locals--for a while, everything from basic food stuffs and up was always going up in price there.

The dollar against the Japanese yen is real strong. I bought a couple high end quality JDM Seiko (Japanese Domestic market only) mechanical watches to have exported to here. Never seen lower prices. Can't read the instructions, but they're really beautiful and accurate!

[robert angel]

Hmm, interesting...  Corruption at the highest level. 

Nah--if they were price fixing--working in collusion or if it had been structured as a straight up formal 'merger'--those things would've been illegal--no way it would've gotten past US Antitrust or Fed Trade Regulators. Believe me, Ford and Chrysler tried to stop it--it was totally transparent and closely scrutinized.

For good or bad, it's simply the way business is done in the USA. And with in weeks, Ford and Chrysler were in bed with their own Japanese partners--they were just too slow to the dance and didn't get Toyota --the best dance partner available at the time.

[Awesome]

Nah--if they were price fixing--working in collusion or if it had been structured as a straight up formal 'merger'--those things would've been illegal--no way it would've gotten past US Antitrust or Fed Trade Regulators. Believe me, Ford and Chrysler tried to stop it--it was totally transparent and closely scrutinized.

For good or bad, it's simply the way business is done in the USA. And with in weeks, Ford and Chrysler were in bed with their own Japanese partners--they were just too slow to the dance and didn't get Toyota --the best dance partner available at the time.

I'm not saying the actual deal was shady, I'm saying the fact that your dad got the deal approved by the very same government office that he used to work for is a conflict of interest.


Of course I'm not a federal judge so what I say doesn't mean squat but any time you have a glaring conflict of interest such as the one you describe it's hard to claim everything was 100% "ethical".  But then again when the hell is anything done 100% eithically when it comes the corporate world?

[Calipro]

The frigging UAW killed the NUMMI plant for Toyota. Instead of letting them fire people who are chronically late or don't show up etc. the union defends them. You can't run a plant like that with guys who don't show up. The union guys are busy in San Antonio too. My wife had to fire a guy who was a UAW organizer which was a shame because she said the guy was a great worker. The stories she tells me - there was one time they came within two hours of shutting down the line because they didn't have the interior dashboard parts. Another time they sent someone off to the ER because they had a mishap with one of the robots. It's all about safety and the kaizen method so they hate it when stuff like that happens.

What your wife did sounds illegal....hope the guy can afford an attorney. Americans fought and died for the right to organize.


I work in a union shop.....people get fired all the time....some come back if the employer can't prove their case. Nobody has to employ people that don't come to work or do their job....but you can't be a lazy ass supervisor and not document it and then fire them and think the union won't get them back.


The arbitrators are picked by both the union and the company so they can't show too much favoritism either way or they won't get picked again.

[robert angel]

I'm not saying the actual deal was shady, I'm saying the fact that your dad got the deal approved by the very same government office that he used to work for is a conflict of interest.


Of course I'm not a federal judge so what I say doesn't mean squat but any time you have a glaring conflict of interest such as the one you describe it's hard to claim everything was 100% "ethical".  But then again when the hell is anything done 100% eithically when it comes the corporate world?

People in these sectors commonly move back and forth, but FWIW, it was 25 years after he left the Justice Dept. that the 'really big' deal went down and the political party, not to mention the political and business climate were hugely different. Believe me, having worked with the late Bobby Kennedy when he was US Attorney General didn't help much later with the Reagan Administration!

In terms of 'ethics' I remember a lot of companies and other individuals would send us all kinds of 'gifts' around the holidays especially--a lot of fully loaded baskets of fruits, chocolates, various swag--golf bag sets, even toys for me and my siblings--trying to get an 'in'. Every frickin time, my old man would send them back--he never accepted a damn thing. We would all but beg him to let us have some of that stuff, but he'd say "I don't want to feel obligated in anyway just because I accepted a gift or favor". He treated the guys in the garage who GM insisted park his car, the custodians, the guys who worked in the executive dining room--the same way he treated CEOs, Governors, Senators and Congressmen.

Actually, he treated them better probably--if they needed help with paperwork--a mortgage, tax issues--a lot of things, Dad took the paperwork home and saw that it was handled right--legal and proper. He still does pro bono work for a lot of people who would otherwise get screwed--a while back it was a waiter who had a tow truck company totally screw up his car--but all kinds of stuff--some of it funny, some of it sad--99% I'll never know about. But just like with the big shots--he never ever expected anything more back than the same respect he offered others. He's still that way today--same old Timex watch---wish I could get him to stop buying his house slippers at K Mart and wearing them raggged--but he says they're the most comfortable.

But he did refuse some assignments, nixed some projects and bucked the system in his own way--I remember he splurged (for him anyway) buying a Mazda Miata when they first came out. Not too popular with the GM 'brass' lol. But then, as a company car, he could have any GM model he wanted, but he always went with Pontiacs or Oldsmobiles, as he didn't want to seem 'pretentious'. Sometimes the guys would do maintenance on the company car and they'd tell him --"Sorry Bob--but this is the only thing we've got in the meantime"--one time it was Pontiac Transam--6.7 liter, 455 HO engine monster they decided to try a supercharger on--a 'one off' another time, it was an Oldsmobile 'Vista Cruiser"  station wagon that had---as a chassis & drive train--the full blown set up from the legendary Old's '442' super car--those kinds of things were the only way they could show their appreciation. Those guys from the garage still call him too.

He heavily contributed on a book that very matter of factly explained exactly to what extent GM and other USA companies assisted Hitler and the Third Reich before WWII really broke out and that ruffled some feathers.

People didn't realize GM's involvement-with Opel and other industrial operations that had long been in Germany, or that Henry Ford--a great admirer and supporter of Hitler early on--in July 1938 before the outbreak of the war, the German consul even awarded Ford on his 75th birthday, the award of the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, which is the highest medal Nazi Germany could bestow upon a foreigner.

But needless to say, GM didn't see that as great publicity, but my Dad felt the company needed to come clean.

To sum it up--one time when we had dinner in DC and powerful people I'd seen on TV were coming up and saying 'hi'--I had no idea at that time that he knew 'those' people. Leaving, I said "Gee Dad--it must be nice to be important". He's a super quiet, laid back guy--but deep and no patsy. But he pretty much snapped as quick as light and said : "NO!--"It's important to be NICE".

He tried (anyways) to make sure none of us got or acted like we were 'too big for our britches'-and he always made sure that no matter how demeaning--that we worked for our own spending money---cutting lawns, shoveling snow, flipping burgers, etc. We had always had to work--no silver spoon, no fancy clothes. Pissed us off too, because we'd see other kids who worked under my Dad wearing fancy duds, driving nice cars, but we had to save and pay for our own, well used cars too. Other than two nice homes and a lot of traveling on great vacations, you'd peg him  for a High School English Teacher.

[robert angel]

What your wife did sounds illegal....hope the guy can afford an attorney. Americans fought and died for the right to organize.


I work in a union shop.....people get fired all the time....some come back if the employer can't prove their case. Nobody has to employ people that don't come to work or do their job....but you can't be a lazy ass supervisor and not document it and then fire them and think the union won't get them back.


The arbitrators are picked by both the union and the company so they can't show too much favoritism either way or they won't get picked again.

It's true--guys did die--the Pinkerton private police busted a lot of heads too. But the Unions got too big for their own britches and basically screwed themselves. Even up north nowadays, the courts don't grant them much sway anymore. That's why most of the foreign Automakers--Toyota, Hyundai, Benz, BMW etc, build cars in the south. And like the USA--in Mexico. In Georgia---it's actually illegal to form what up north is remotely viewed as being a Union. Even organizing  and merely acting along such lines is illegal. I don't agree with a lot of it, but I can see why.

My Father wasn't in the UAW--when GM went bankrupt, he lost half his pension. They also gutted his health insurance and other benefits. Ironically, they felt he was so valuable that they waived the mandatory retirement age for him. Had he retired when he could've, he would've kept all his 'chips'.  The UAW guys got a much better deal, although obviously a lot of their jobs moved to non union states.

[Awesome]

RA, I remember you mentioning that you're half Irish and half Italian.  Which side is your father the Irish side or the Italian side?  I'm only asking because I've lately been reading up on Irish American history.  I imagine your mother's family and father's family went to the same catholic church.  Living in Texas I've noticed that while latinos don't always marry other latinos, many times they still stick to marrying other catholics such as Italian Americans or Philipino Americans and it's because of the connection of being part of the same religion.

[Calipro]

It's true--guys did die--the Pinkerton private police busted a lot of heads too. But the Unions got too big for their own britches and basically screwed themselves. Even up north nowadays, the courts don't grant them much sway anymore. That's why most of the foreign Automakers--Toyota, Hyundai, Benz, BMW etc, build cars in the south. And like the USA--in Mexico. In Georgia---it's actually illegal to form what up north is remotely viewed as being a Union. Even organizing  and merely acting along such lines is illegal. I don't agree with a lot of it, but I can see why.

My Father wasn't in the UAW--when GM went bankrupt, he lost half his pension. They also gutted his health insurance and other benefits. Ironically, they felt he was so valuable that they waived the mandatory retirement age for him. Had he retired when he could've, he would've kept all his 'chips'.  The UAW guys got a much better deal, although obviously a lot of their jobs moved to non union states.

Yeah my Dad worked for a company that moved almost all their plants to Mexico....paid the workers 8 bucks a day....their should be laws against that.


Trump is right...NAFTA is unfair.....companies that moved their plants to the South should be paying an import tax if they want to sell their products in the US.


Their are no no union states....just right to work states that make it hard to organize and collect dues. But it can still be done....you can't outlaw the right to organize and negotiate a livable wage. Get rid of food stamps and let people go hungry on minimum wage and then maybe we will see some blood in the streets and workers standingup for themselves instead of having the government subsidize their wages with economic assistance.

[utopiacowboy]

Yeah my Dad worked for a company that moved almost all their plants to Mexico....paid the workers 8 bucks a day....their should be laws against that.


Trump is right...NAFTA is unfair.....companies that moved their plants to the South should be paying an import tax if they want to sell their products in the US.


Their are no no union states....just right to work states that make it hard to organize and collect dues. But it can still be done....you can't outlaw the right to organize and negotiate a livable wage. Get rid of food stamps and let people go hungry on minimum wage and then maybe we will see some blood in the streets and workers standingup for themselves instead of having the government subsidize their wages with economic assistance.

Texas is a right to work state and they can fire you for anything or nothing. I don't know why the UAW even bothers with the Toyota plants here - those workers would not organize if their lives depended on it. They all hate unions.

[robert angel]

Funny how global business has been for a hundred years now and still is. Yesterday I read that Samsung has been ordered to pay Apple 548 million dollars in damages. 

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/samsung-to-pay-apple-548-million-in-patent-dispute/?_r=0

But guess who's making 75% of the A9 processors going in the upcoming iPhone 7? Who else--just like they did with other iPhones--Samsung.

They make a lot of the parts that go into Apple products, including all the retina display screens in their iPads.Apple Watch, iPhone, iPod Touch, Macbook, MacBook Pro, iMac, memory modules --a whole lot of different stuff in Apples is Samsung made.

It's weird though, because I don't think Samsung has any Apple components in their products. But they do have handsome profits made from selling theirs to Apple.

I gotta hand it to Apple though--they can take a bunch of parts that when you test them one by one, don't seem so great, but like alchemists tried to take tin and copper or brass and make gold, but failed--Apple seems to do the trick, by taking lesser parts and making the sum whole greater than parts would indicate being logical.

And I hate to admit it, but their computers and phones do tend to last longer than PCs and Android devices, proportionately more than justifying their higher initial expense.

But hey--Sony's Bravia TV engine gets a better picture on the top Sony TVs, using a Samsung screen than Samsung does on their own TVs.

Not that Apple really needs the cash about now--they're already sitting on 206 Billion dollars in cold, liquid cash in the bank. That's several times more cash reserves than a number of 'first world' nations have.

They sue each other like crazy--then have lunch together--it's almost like a silly sport---No--"It's not personal--it's strictly business"--->       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo7zkd0kRS4         


http://www.businessinsider.com/global-cash-reserves-companies-nations-2014-4 (Old data--Apple's got lot's more now)

[fathertime]

Yea--it's going to highs in a lot of places. My wife's been living pretty large the last few weeks in the Philippines, taking the family out to resorts, nice places to eat, while the exchange rate's up there. And unlike when she was there year before last, prices haven't risen as much for the locals--for a while, everything from basic food stuffs and up was always going up in price there.
 

Hey Robert, I'm sure I could look it up, but I'd rather hear from you;What is the current exchange rate in the PI verses what it has been historically, and what are the typical prices for such things as food, gas, rent...you know some of the basic expenses a person might encounter if travelling there.


Thanks,
Fathertime!   

[Calipro]

Funny how global business has been for a hundred years now and still is. Yesterday I read that Samsung has been ordered to pay Apple 548 million dollars in damages. 

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/samsung-to-pay-apple-548-million-in-patent-dispute/?_r=0

But guess who's making 75% of the A9 processors going in the upcoming iPhone 7? Who else--just like they did with other iPhones--Samsung.

They make a lot of the parts that go into Apple products, including all the retina display screens in their iPads.Apple Watch, iPhone, iPod Touch, Macbook, MacBook Pro, iMac, memory modules --a whole lot of different stuff in Apples is Samsung made.

It's weird though, because I don't think Samsung has any Apple components in their products. But they do have handsome profits made from selling theirs to Apple.

I gotta hand it to Apple though--they can take a bunch of parts that when you test them one by one, don't seem so great, but like alchemists tried to take tin and copper or brass and make gold, but failed--Apple seems to do the trick, by taking lesser parts and making the sum whole greater than parts would indicate being logical.

And I hate to admit it, but their computers and phones do tend to last longer than PCs and Android devices, proportionately more than justifying their higher initial expense.

But hey--Sony's Bravia TV engine gets a better picture on the top Sony TVs, using a Samsung screen than Samsung does on their own TVs.

Not that Apple really needs the cash about now--they're already sitting on 206 Billion dollars in cold, liquid cash in the bank. That's several times more cash reserves than a number of 'first world' nations have.

They sue each other like crazy--then have lunch together--it's almost like a silly sport---No--"It's not personal--it's strictly business"--->       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo7zkd0kRS4         


http://www.businessinsider.com/global-cash-reserves-companies-nations-2014-4 (Old data--Apple's got lot's more now)

http://cosmosdocumentaries.blogspot.com/2014/07/inequality-for-all-hd-documentary-film.html


Best video I have ever watched to explain globalization and the plight of the middle class in America. It is interesting to see which countries get the bulk of the money from an iphone sale.


Under the trailer is a link to the full length documentary.

[buencamino2]

I shudder to think what the Chinese investment in Colombia must be by now. When I moved here in 2002 there wasn't a single brand of Chinese car on the market. Today I count around thirteen in the paper. When I went with the compañera to Nuquí in 2007 the plane had to land in Quibdó for an hour or so due to storm conditions. The airport was an ugly little hole in the wall. I think the only thing you could buy was a soda. I went back just a few years later and there was a brand spanking new (they told me it was a year old) airport about fifteen times bigger and with all the amenities...built by the Chinese. I had occasion to be out on the street in Buenaventura one morning at 5 am and to my surprise I ran into five Chinese joggers. That port city must be full of them. I suspect the Chinese comercial takeover in the US is just around the corner. Only today I saw that Buick announced that it's SUV will be made in China. Initially the Colombians were quite chary of Chinese vehicles but it didn't take long for them to start buying in droves. In Colombia "cheap" rules.

[fathertime]

  Initially the Colombians were quite chary of Chinese vehicles but it didn't take long for them to start buying in droves. In Colombia "cheap" rules.

I'd say 'cheap rules' here to.  Yesterday we hit the .99 cent store.  Got 3 bags of groceries and other items for $20.10...I suspect that same stuff in Colombia or PI would be double the price, maybe more.....I thought to myself what a great deal.  The benefit of all this international competition is inexpensive prices for our stuff.   


Fathertime! 

[utopiacowboy]

I'd say 'cheap rules' here to.  Yesterday we hit the .99 cent store.  Got 3 bags of groceries and other items for $20.10...I suspect that same stuff in Colombia or PI would be double the price, maybe more.....I thought to myself what a great deal.  The benefit of all this international competition is inexpensive prices for our stuff.   


Fathertime!

How much was made in China? I refuse to buy anything made in China and I don't care if I have to pay ten times as much for something. More Americans should boycott those Commie bastards.

[buencamino2]

I suspect some of China's own brands will be in the US soon. I said about thirteen in another post but that was just Colombia. It looks like twenty seven brands are being sold in Latin America: http://www.autos-chinos.com/marcas. Many in the older US generation have a hang up about Communist China and it's products but when those cars hit US shores the younger generation will be buying them up like hotcakes.