OT: Great Wal-mart story!

they will, living in china.

What's a "local gun shop??"

We haven't had that around here in years. To put that in perspective, the last one closed about 20 years ago. Walmart's been around for maybe five.

Without them, it would be mail-order for ammo.

Jim

I'm all for "support the locals", but there comes a point when reality has to set in. I can't justify going to the gun shop and paying literally twice as much for the same box of ammo - Not if I want to keep shooting for very long.

What? I'm supposed to bankrupt myself on their prices to keep them in business?

To my knowledge, there's been no such expert in the area since years before I arrived, so that's pretty much a non-issue..

Yeah, I know, and to a degree, agree with, the "I hate wal-mart" stance. But like I said, I can only do so much to keep "mom-n-pop" going before I start cutting my own throat.

By *beating* them to death? I would say that would expose the beaters to a high probability of contracting rabies.

Wouldn't it be easier to simply shoot them? And more humane as well?

Jim

I do most of my shopping at Costco. Good prices and they treat their employees well. Of course, you're at the mercy of what they want to stock and when. I agree with you about the "mom-n-pop" stores. Quite often they were plagued by a know it all attitude combined with poor product knowledge and ridiculous markups.

Not as good as Costco.

That's why Costco gets all the hot babes. LOL

Yes, yes, with all those guns the Chinese populace is allowed to keep and bear.

Besides, a 9mm round costs an hour's wages.

If you eat with sticks, it's no stretch to euthanize with sticks.

Ya don't need a nine to kill a dog. A .22 rimfire round costs less even in Chinese wages than the time it would take to beat a dog to death with a stick.

Blades also work.....

Websters defines euthanasia as a "painless and easy death" I don't believe what occured meets that definition, in fact it would appear that the opposite occured.

With the trade surpluss China is currently holding perhaps they could take a venture into the modern world and invest some capitol in health care, Perhaps start with rabies vaccine.

China is a country that is supposed to be more desireable to have relations with than Cuba? Really.........how so?

ED

The difference between clubbing an animal to death quickly and relatively painlessly and "beating" it to death is perhaps up to the writer and subject to translation issues.

They've apparently lost around 2,700 people to rabies; so culling some dogs to save people might seem reasonable, especially where the disease appears to be rampant. They've just lost 16 more people to rabies from dog bites in villages around Shandong and they're culling dogs within 5km of each affected village. This could likely never happen in the big cities where pet dogs are pampered (and the license fees are exorbidant), but in the backwaters like Yunnan it's possible.

They've also sent 200,000 shots of vaccine and checked 116,000 pets in the area, ordered that dogs be kept inside and shut down sales of pet dogs. Apparently the vaccine is only 85% effective, at the best of times, and (this being China) they've seized 40,000 *boxes* of fake vaccine after two young boys, who should have been protected, died of rabies.

China lets foreign corporations in under generally favorable terms, and they can make huge, and growing, profits. Cuba generally does not (natural resources and some tourism related stuff are exceptions). Follow the money...

That was my thought. Probably quicker and less chance of infecting the "vet."

Jim

I'd like to hear about it. Would you mind saying more about the automotive industry?

Jeff P.

GM took out a local contract drafting company a few years back.....simply refused to pay. Said they knew if it went to court they would have to pay but they made more sitting on it than it cost to defend. Little guy tried and got tied up with GM lawyers until it ate him alive.

koz

snipped-for-privacy@rgs.uci.edu wrote in article ...

AutoZone has been trying for several years to develop a POS - or Pay On Scan inventory program wherein the vendor owns the product on the shelf until it is scanned into the sales computer.

This relieves AZ of the responsibility of sales forecasting, placing it squarely on the vendor's shoulders.

It would also free up millions of dollars that AZ has tied up in inventory.

OTOH, it could, easily, drive a number of their vendors out of business.

The entire industry is watching closely. If AZ can pull it off, you just know NAPA and Carquest will not be far behind.

Problem is that tha vendors will have to be ultra conservative in planning inventories, and it could mean a delay in getting parts due to an increased number of "factory" or "warehouse" orders for items not on the shelf.

And, I just read in Counterman magazine that we can expect an increased number of New parts on the shelf taking the place of parts that are customarily "rebuilt."

American Rebuilders, Inc (ARI) just filed FChapter 11 and quickly moved into Chapter seven.

ARI owned Automotive Caliper Exchange, Inc. (ACEI), American Driveline, Inc. (ADI) and Ohio Caliper (OCI).

They rebuilt, obviously, brake cylinders and calipers and half-shafts.

The cost of handling cores was one big issue. ARI claims to have lost more than nine million dollars worth of cores.

Many of the losses were attributed to the fact that sometimes two cores are needed to produce one rebuilt unit, but core management complaints by their customers - the parts stores - was also a big issue.

Along comes our Chinese friends who offer brand new components taht, for the most part, are just slightly worse than the rebuilt units BUT do not carry the burden of core management.

So, NAPA goes with A1 Cardone's new Chinese line, AZ goes with Fenco's Chinese line, a nd Advance sources its line directly from Chinese manufacturer Guansheng Auto Parts Manufacte Co.

Yup! More corporate greed for profit.

No more core management - a saving.

New parts that can be bought a little cheaper than the rebuilt stuff..

And, another large US manufacturer is placed into Chapter Seven after a ciourt refused to intervene and order financing assistance from ARI vendors with the instantaneous loss of 1600 jobs at 2 p.m., November 21, 2005 when funding ran dry.

An unwillingness by its customers to assist supplier ARI manage its core investment certainly contributed to its demise.

And, that's why you'll find more and more "NEW" calipers, alternators and other parts and fewer "rebuilt" units - and, since it is a "NEW" item, you will, eventually, pay more for the perceived "value" of new versus rebuilt, when an American built OEM product rebuilt in America with American labor to American tolerances with American parts was actually a much better-built product.

Just one more chapter in the Book of Greed whose final chapter sees us speaking Chinese.

Snipped the interesting stuff--

In summary I would anticipate wally world having a sales promotion fittingly titled "Help us Beat the Dog Days of August" with huge savings on leashed--slightly used --some stains.. I can see it now.

ED

"Ol' Roy" baseball bats?

No - don't mess up the meat. Dogs are food in some countries...

Martin Martin H. Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net NRA LOH & Endowment Member NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member

D> >

The trouble is that companies HAVE to do it to stay competitive. Good intentioned businesses will fold. I think the trade laws suck. Free trade is not fair trade! What asshole gave China "Most Favored Nation" status?