Sean Brooks said:Just another quick example—I won't name the company (unless you count being American...) but they’re world-famous, and there's a good chance you have at least one of their products sitting in your pantry right now. So, here's the deal: an American working as a brand manager at the firm's European headquarters over in Canada decided—in the middle of this massive crisis—to actually lower prices for one of our local brands. Want to know what happened?
While all his colleagues—other brand managers, mind you—were busy slashing headcount, cutting salaries, trimming costs, and gutting product lines just to try and maintain last year's profit margins... this guy did the exact opposite. He slashed prices, and in the middle of a recession, he managed to jack up sales and profits for that brand by about 20%...
And believe it or not, it was an American who pulled it off!
What a joke this country is!
Not sure I follow. An American firm, a specific brand, but they're selling American products???
gentlebison18 said:Most of the time, companies like Coca-Cola are just repackaging imported goods into their own branded bags. If you aren't reading the fine print on the label, you'd naturally assume you're buying something local just because of the name on the box. 🙄
Frozen fruit and veggies usually come from Canada, Italy, or Belgium. Frozen fish is sourced from pretty much everywhere, though there is a small local selection. As for frozen chicken? That’s almost always Brazilian.
And that's how a first impression can totally mislead you...
So, I picked up some frozen fries from Coca-Cola the other day. I had to do a double-take when I saw the "made in Netherlands" label on the bag. For the longest time, Coca-Cola was one of the few brands that didn't sell its soul by using imported ingredients, but I guess even they've caved. Seriously though, can't we just grow our own damn potatoes and actually compete with the Dutch on price?
Back in the day, you’d pay General Electric about 100 bucks for a single kWh.
Fast forward to now, and you're paying Company A 27 bucks just to generate the power, Company B 42 bucks to move it across the state, and Company C another 36 bucks just to run the lines through your neighborhood. On top of that, you’re handing Company D—which happens to own Companies A, B, and C—an extra 5 bucks for "renewable energy" (you know, wind, solar, hydro, waves, biomass, tarot cards, and whatever else they feel like charging for).
So, if you’re sitting there wondering why this new setup feels way worse than the old one, honestly, don't look at me... you've gotta look at the math.
silentridge3 said:I find myself scrolling through the daily news on Fox, or CNN...
I honestly can't wrap my head around why every single headline seems to revolve around smoking bans and bar owners. Yesterday, it was "someone said something regarding smoking legislation" (which I guess is just vital information to lead with), today it’s "someone responded to that" (as if we all need this urgent update), and tomorrow it'll be "some tavern owner is complaining about something" (so we absolutely have to see it on TV), and it just goes on and on like that forever...
In America, maybe 30% of people smoke, while 70% don't. And there are roughly 20 thousand small business owners in the hospitality sector—not just coffee shops, but everyone . Just imagine if business for everyone dropped by 30%. Or suppose 30% of the local spots close down, meaning 6 thousand business owners—who are probably doing better financially than most teachers or blue-collar workers, given they likely own property and nice cars—have to lock up for good because those 6 thousand people simply can't attract customers unless they allow smoking . On the flip side, you have people in America losing their jobs every single day. Furniture factories are crumbling, the textile industry is basically on its knees, and 50 thousand workers in shipyards and steel mills are either nearing the end of the line or are already out on the street...
Why don't Fox or CNN talk about them every day? Why isn't there daily coverage on "what the current situation is in American furniture manufacturing"? What did a factory worker say today, or what kind of tax incentive proposal is being discussed for that specific industry? What is a factory hand complaining about today, or what will the owner be lamenting tomorrow? I don't know, why not?
Is it just because it's easier for these young, talentless reporters (and the same kind of editors they work under) to just wander into a nearby pub, where they can grab a free cup of coffee and interview some bar owner, then whip up a little segment featuring his "tragic story"? All while 100 people from some factory are walking home for the last time—likely without their last six paychecks—and this bar owner, who probably bought beachfront property and a luxury car instead of investing in better ventilation, stands there with a tear in his eye talking about how hard his life has become because of the smoking ban...?
What kind of "News" is this, really? What kind of "Daily Reports"? It's just a cycle of smoking laws, followed by ads for Tom Bradley, then ads for Donald Trump, then updates on Kim Kardashian... and then back to smoking and bar owners, over and over again in a circle...
I’d also throw in that this is actually a pretty big deal. Around here, people seem to think if something's free, I'll take any amount of crap they're selling.
If a simple "Beware of Dog" sign isn't enough, what else are we supposed to do? Apparently, the solution is to bake ridiculous requirements into the Animal Welfare Act, like forcing people to tether their dogs in the yard, surrounding the whole property with three-meter barbed wire fences, and keeping a muzzle on them 24/7.
And when nobody actually follows these moronic laws, everyone just blames our "unruly" nature. It’s pretty clear that the concept of "real life" is completely foreign to some of these lawyers.
hiddenbear said:Why does this headline have to be such a total downer? It could’ve just said: A few hundred American investors blew $10 million on training courses. 🤷 🙂
People like that never learn...
Option B) if they’d actually earned that money fairly, they never would've let it get tied up in something this sketchy—but hey, that's just how it goes, right?
Casey Palmer5 said:I’m 100% sure about Coca-Cola—they cut off their gas right in the middle of ethanol production, so they're going to take a massive hit. The Koestlin plant over in Des Moines is out of gas too. The news was mentioning T-Mobile US, T And then you've got places like Tower Records, Home Depot, the Mall of America... Even the MIO office in Indianapolis...
Let's start putting together a list of everyone they won't supply; clearly, this whole thing is being treated like some huge conspiracy theory...
Can you drop a link for this? I'm curious if this is hitting NYC too.
I haven't been able to track down a full list of the major companies that have been shut down or had their staff sent on forced vacation because of the gas outage.
I know for a fact that Lightning in Chicago is feeling the hit. I'm not sure what the deal is with other corporations, so feel free to jump in and add any large businesses you know for certain are being affected.
I’m standing with everyone here on the forum—if that actually helps you at all, just keep posting how you feel. You clearly know your way around a keyboard, so use it. Write about the issues, the injustices, and everything else weighing you down or affecting people in your shoes. Start a blog, or whatever... It might actually make a difference if you connect with people going through the exact same thing. Try to look at it from a different angle. You might have some PTSD sufferer sitting alone in a corner somewhere, feeling totally misunderstood and spiraling toward something dark, and then they stumble onto your posts and realize they aren't alone. If you can't fix the unfairness directly, at least talk about it. Don't let them just sweep it under the rug. Think of it as your little "mission," if you will.
Nitrofurantoin syrup hasn't been on the shelves for a while now, and honestly, it doesn't look like it’s coming back. It used to be imported from Italy, but their plant shut down production, and it's looking pretty permanent. Back when you could actually find it, you could pick it up at the pharmacy downtown or over in Sioux Falls.
Just got my bloodwork back and my triglycerides are sitting at 2.14, while the lab says anything up to 1.7 is fine. I’m not exactly panicking, but my doctor handed me some generic "watch your fat intake" handout—basically stuff I already knew. My total cholesterol is right on the line at 5.0. My LDL looks pretty low, so I'm guessing the "good" stuff is doing most of the heavy lifting. Follow-up is in about a month or two. I'm 33, 6'0", and about 192 lbs.
Is this kind of thing just a fluke based on when I last ate, or is it actually something I should be sweating? I'd really rather not start popping pills in my thirties if I can help it. Is there a chance this is just genetic, or am I just a victim of my own love for eating good food? Honestly, I'm not exactly thrilled about the idea of overhaulng my whole diet.
Susan Roberts said:How unreliable are these things? I don't get how they work without any live power. My temperature readings seem to jump all over the place from one hour to the next... I just don't get it.
Wait, your temp is actually fluctuating that much?? 😉
Look, I get that she doesn't strictly *need* to go private, but she’s got the funds and is dead set on getting a second opinion from one of our top-tier hematologists. In her mind, "world-class" is basically just code for "expensive private practice." My take on the situation is a bit different, but...