Not long ago I was guided to a particular website that essentially was a Chinese form of eBay. I looked around, but it quickly became shockingly obvious that something was amiss on this site.
For example, $80 iPod Phones. $200 “American Made” Custom Stratocaster guitars. Ah yes, counterfeit merchandise…all at the touch of your sinful little fingertips!
I even had a chance to see one of the gadgets up close from a co-worker who was quite proud of his “iPhone” aquisition. On the surface, it was a total copy right down to the Apple logo. The interface however, was complete crap. The icons were way off, the touchscreen unresponsive unless you applied Hurculean pressure, and the ability to sync with iTunes non-existent. Just forget about the App Store. That didn’t seem to bother the purchaser though because it was a “deal”. In a way I feel bad for him because he never saw a real iPod touch. If he had he’d probably throw his fake through a window.
And yet another person is buying a guitar. Being exceedingly talented at making barely tolerable music on guitar myself, I was intrigued. After all, why wouldn’t I want a EVH MusicMan or Custom Fender Strat for a fraction of retail? Can’t be THAT bad right?
Then I woke up out of my fantasy. It certainly can be.
It’s bad enough that our jobs are leaving the country, but I find it unfortunate that we’re selling out our local businesses to instead buy a knockoff of shockingly inferior quality. That counterfeit iPhone is not from Apple. Those cheap glasses frames do NOT look like the real ones. And the closest that Fender guitar is to a real one stops at the fake logo. The vertically mounted pickups in the picture may also be a slight giveaway!
And oh yeah…don’t forget the warranty. As in you’ll get none.
People who argue the dark side argue for cost. I counter with 2 points: quality and loyalty. Quality in the product and loyalty to ones economy. It doesn’t cost much more to get the real deal when you think of what you’re actually getting.
I’m still saving up for my Made in America Stratocaster, and someday when my playing reaches a point where people no longer cover their ears in horror, I shall reward myself accordingly! It will cost a bit more, but it will be the real deal. And above all it will be made by an employee in my economy.
Where possible, save a job next door.







If I had to say one thing about books by “Parenting Experts”, it’s how easy it is to be an expert AFTER the fact. And even then, only on your own kid. Fifteen years from now I could write my own book about raising kids in society. I think I’ll call it, “What are YOU Lookin’ At JackAss?”. I can already smell the money rolling in… But while I must concede that 
Heretics! Deceived by Satan! Heathens! Catholic dogs! Well, I made that last one up. A Jehovah’s Witness called me that once and I’ve been dying to use it for years. But wow…when you do a search on amillennialism, you certainly get strong opinions!
Ironically, the most aggressive criticism comes from the likes of Hal Lindsay and Jack Van Impe…individuals who should be the LAST people anyone should get advise from regarding prophecy!
Whether the shortage of H1N1 vaccine is real or artificial, the ultimate outcome is still good for the drug companies. People begin to “panic buy”, and demand increases. Cha-ching.
A few weeks back me, my family and many co-workers were dropped with a nasty flu. It is quite likely that we had H1N1 seeing as it making it’s way around these parts. I took a couple days off work, relaxed, read a book and was able to get back in the saddle after some rest. Another touchdown for the immune-system!
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invite us over as we might as well ask for a plate of Eucalyptus leaves and juice from a pomegranate to wash it all down. The me of 15 years ago would look at my current self and think what an insufferable high-maintenance pain I’ve become! Plus if I eat chocolate my face transforms into a horrid puss-ridden mess that would make Doctor Doom recoil in horror.
I can’t go ten minutes without hearing about it. H1N1. It’s a total pandemic alright…a pandemic of absolute irrational panic! My goodness, out of 5 Billion humans there must be…hundreds of cases. Truly, we are doomed.
And the media has done it to itself too. Meaningless stories, and “reporters” who are as relevant as a gnats fart in a hurricane are constantly trying to work against an ever increasing and much deserved public skepticism. Investigative journalism is now nothing more than using an internet search engine.
Surprise! Obama gets a Nobel Prize. I certainly hope I’m not the only person asking the eternal question…
One, Dave eventually did the right thing. He came clean. Granted, he had little choice given the extortion plot by
To quote the Bible, “your sin will find you out” 