We have no choice but to be fixated on the elections, Iraq, al Qaeda, gas and water shortages, the economy and our own bank accounts. But as we keep our eyes on all of that, we're missing something insidious coming in the back door.
It started here about a year or so with tainted dog food, moved to Europe, then to Indonesia, and then back to the U.S. again.
"It" is food made in China and tainted by melamine, which can be toxic in humans at certain levels. That it's popping up in more and more Chinese-manufactured foods makes one wonder: Is there a hidden Chinese agenda designed to have the dragon cripple the eagle?
The Chinese certainly have motive. With the implosion of the Soviet Union, China moved into second place on the Super Power scale, but they don't intend to stay there for long. They want to be number one, and they have some leverage to achieve that goal. If this tainted food problem is a test run for some concealed agenda, it's up to us, the people of the United States, to come to the eagle's rescue. That's because the government can't.
According to AP news, somebody in China fell asleep at the switch when melamine was added to baby formula, candy and an unknown number of other products. The baby formula wound up sickening 53,000 Chinese infants and killed four more.
The dog food fiasco of a year ago, which also involved too much melamine, led to some figurative decapitations and a shakeup in China. But so far, the Chinese government has doled out little or no discipline for the current melamine imbroglio. I don't know about you, but I find that very curious.
Only one bureaucrat has resigned, and that was a futile, inconsequential gesture in the scheme of things. And that scheme is spreading.
Under the cloud of the sick and dying infants in China , the well-known British candy maker, Cadbury, which has some of its candy lines made in China, decided to test its own products for melamine. Good thing they did. According to CNN.com, Cadbury found it in eleven categories of its candy.
In Indonesia, according to FoxNews.com, "high doses" of melamine were found in Chinese-made M&Ms, Oreo cookies, and Snickers bars.
Then, the Food and Drug Administration, the California Department of Health and San Mateo Public Health Department started testing White Rabbit Candy, which is also made in China and distributed in the U.S. by Queensway Foods Company Inc. The agencies found "high levels" of melamine in that brand. Queensway immediately and voluntarily yanked White Rabbit from some, but not all, store shelves.
Not all, because it's also begun to show up in Connecticut, according to wfsb.com. Jerry Farrell, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, told FSB, "We continue our work with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to help in the inspection and evaluation of imported food items that could contain milk or milk protein from China."
That's great, but I'd recommend widening the search to any and all Chinese made foods, and I'd look for more than just melamine. The implication is obvious. Every state department of consumer protection should be taking a long, hard look at any food product made in China.
Tainted food is but one disturbing checkmark on a list comprising a potential secret agenda. The second is a latent threat to our economy.
The proposed $700 billion financial bailout won't all come from U.S. taxpayers. As we all know, we have a huge budget deficit because we spend way more than the IRS coffers hold. So we have to borrow money. And guess which country owns the second largest number of Treasury notes (bonds we float to borrow that money): China. Only Japan owns more.
According to the blog, Discursive Monologue, "The Twin Towers of East Asia, Japan and China own so many claims against Americans that we might as well put our children in chains as they are born. No one will ever be able to pay them off. Who owns America? Everyone except Americans."
And that has people in the government reaching for antacids. We're being held hostage in an implied sort of way and the president and secretary of state have to tread very lightly when dealing with the Chinese.
That's why we haven't been more aggressive about advocating for human rights in China, why we treat mention of Taiwan as if it was a PC taboo, why it is we aren't buddy-buddy with the Dalai lama and vigorously supporting freedom for Tibet, and why we open our markets wide to the Chinese while accepting atrocious restrictions they put on our products sent to China. I've worked with an Asian importer, and the amount of paperwork required to get a product on Beijing's shelves is astounding.
According to the U.S. Census, which is one U.S. agency that keeps an eye on trade, from January through July of this year, the U.S. has exported $43,128.8 (numbers are in millions) to China, while the Chinese have exported $185,468.5 to our markets, which leaves us with a trade deficit of $142,339.7. But here's the kicker and what has everybody walking on eggshells: In the context of our current economic problems, if China decided tomorrow to cash in its Treasuries, our economy could very likely slip into a "China syndrome" meltdown, and that's what has the government's knickers in a knot.
Okay, so if our government can't act for fear of economic calamity, what can we do?
The answer is surprisingly simple, but the task somewhat difficult. We stop buying Chinese goods, plain and simple. But how do we know what's made in China for certain? Read the label.
I had no idea, for instance, that 50% of apple juice shipped into this country comes from China. Bet you didn't know that either. To me, apples, apple juice, apple pie, apple crisp, etc. are all considered 100% American icons grown in the good old U.S.A.
Why are we importing apple juice from China? Therein lies the rub. In some ways, we err through our own traditional beliefs. It's inconceivable to me that we need to import apple juice when we have so many apple orchards here.
Fortunately, though, Americans are starting to "get it." According to a USA Today/Gallup poll some 46 percent of people who participated are "very concerned" about the safety of food imported from China.
Good! So, how do we even the trade playing field and protect ourselves? Consider this, (it came from an accountant friend): If 20 million Americans took a pass on buying just $20 worth of Chinese-made goods, we'd actually reverse the trade deficit. To put it another way, we'd have a trade surplus with the Chinese.
But, there are a lot of Chinese products on our store shelves, and where they're made is not always easily identified. The best thing to do is scour the packaging. If it's made in China--and you'll be surprised by how many products are--put it back on the shelf--even if it's a name brand. If all you see is the name of a distributor and no "Made In...," play it safe and put it back. If they won't tell you where the product they distribute is made they're obviously covering it up.
We need our food to be safeguarded, and we can do that only by being vigilant in what we buy, not buying Chinese-manufactured food and by bringing jobs back to the U.S. and putting outsource victims back to work.
I would much rather pay more for U.S.-manufactured products I can trust than to pay less and become a victim of China's tainted goods.
Simply stated, pay close attention to packaging and don't buy Chinese-made products of any kind.
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