Does Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg believe he is a Virtual god?

December 6, 2010

With amazement, I read a post written by Doug Caverly, a staff writer for WebProNews, about Facebook’s goal to trademark the word “face”.

Doug explains that if Facebook gains control of the use of the word “face” it would only apply to the realm of [t]elecommunication services.  Go to Doug’s original post (use link above) for details.

In my opinion, this is a sign of paranoid megalomania on the part of Mark Zuckerberg.  How can Zuckerberg look at his “face” in the mirror each morning as he attempts to own a word (at least the virtual use) in the English language?

What’s frightening is the “Untied States Patent and Trademark Office sent Facebook a Notice of Allowance, indicating that it doesn’t take issue with the idea,” Doug says.

Are federal government employees in the US that stupid or are they just brain dead?

 

Sunil R. Nair defends Mark Zuckerberg (on another issue) at India’s Business Blog, Trak.in.  Nair’s conclusion says, “In defense of Mark Zuckerberg, I can say that if I had to do all of what he did to build a great company I could do it without regret and in the same manner that he did.”

I wonder if Sunil still feels that way since Zuckerberg’s move to own the virtual use of the word “face”.

In fact, face is a concept that has been part of Chinese civilization for several thousand years, is still in use today, and has been mentioned on the Internet. The concept of “face” to the Chinese is complicated and is part of China’s culture.  If anyone should own the use of “face”, it should be the Chinese—not Facebook.

Mark, you may have gone too far — again.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

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3 Comments | America, business, capitalism, China, government | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Ugg Boots – Where they come from

December 4, 2010

I bought a pair of Ugg boots a few years back at Big 5 for less than $30 to keep my feet warm.

I didn’t consider where the boots were made, and I never intended wearing them to go shopping or outside. Since I work at home and save money by leaving the heat off on cold days, my feet get cold so it made sense to wear a pair. (I just Googled Big 5 and saw Uggs on sale for $39 a pair).

Uggs do not appear designed for outdoors, yet I see many young American women looking sharp shopping in Ugg boots. It seems to be the latest fad.

Curious, I did a bit of research to learn more about this popular fad.

I learned from Business Gather.com “Make no mistake about it: Ugg boots are not just for girls. Sure, they may look cute and snuggly, but with football quarterback Tom Brady on board as the brand’s new spokesperson, Ugg boots are poised to attract hoards of manly men all around the world.”

Then I wanted to know where Ugg boots came from and what it costs to make a pair.

I discovered this video on YouTube of a factory in China where the material and labor come together to make Uggs. The conclusion of the description below the video says, “These boots are the most cheap and excellent quality boots in the world.”

The New York Times recently reported “The salaries of factory workers in China are still low compared to those in the United States and Europe: the hourly wage in southern China is only about 75 cents an hour.”

Chinese factory workers often work overtime as long as sixteen hours a day for six days weeks.

However, in 2009, the US federal minimum hourly wage was $7.25, which pays about $15,000 a year for a full time job not counting hidden benefits, which don’t exist in China.

In China, the Ugg factory workers in that video are probably earning less than $3,700 (US) annually and working twice the hours to keep those Ugg prices down so American women and men may buy a cheap pair to look stylish while shopping.


This is a video explaining how to detect fake Ugg boots

After I watched this video, I checked the Ugg boots I bought from Big 5.  They were fake. Does that mean they weren’t made in China?

Who makes a profit from the real Ugg boots? Deckers Outdoor Corporation holds the Ugg trademark in more than 100 countries worldwide and reported sales of 689 million US dollars under the Ugg brand in 2008 and sales were up in 2009. Source: Source: Wiki.Ugg Boots

How many Americans would be willing to pay four or five times the price for a pair of Ugg boots so those low paying minimum wage jobs would come to the US?

Then, how many Americans are willing to work for the federal minimum wage without benefits? Not many since there are about eleven million illegal aliens in the US working those jobs.

So, if you live in the US, next time you hear political ads or someone bashing China for stealing jobs from Americans, look in a mirror.

Update:  After I wrote this post and up-loaded it, The Walking Company sent me an e-mail advertising “Zealand” slippers (another “Ugg” type product) on sale at 70% off.  Instead of paying $65 a pair, I paid less than $20. I stocked up and bought four pair and was surprised when the shipment arrived to discover that the “Zealand” product line is made in China instead of New Zealand.

Discover The India, China battle to eliminate poverty and illiteracy

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

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7 Comments | America, business, capitalism, China, cultural differences, economy | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Letting China In

November 23, 2010

When I wrote the post about The Economist’s cover for the November 13 issue, The Fear of Mao Buying the World, I had not yet read the feature story the cover represented.

Now that I have seen China buys up the world, And the world should stay open for business, I’m not sure who designed the cover but I don’t believe it was the same person that wrote the feature.

This may have something to do with the unique way The Economist does business.

The Economist describes itself as “a political, literary and general newspaper.… Articles … are not signed, but they are not all the work of the editor alone.… Nowadays, in addition to a worldwide network of stringers, the paper has about 20 staff correspondents abroad.”

In the Western media, I’ve read a few pieces about China that were well done and many that sounded as if someone suffering from Sinophobia wrote them.

This feature in The Economist comes from someone that seems to know China well.

He or she says that the world should not lock China out from buying up businesses in other countries. As is, China owns just 6% of global investment in international businesses compared to both Britain and America that have owned about 50% (Britain in 1914 and the US in 1967).

The Economist says that creating hurdles for China’s state-backed firms from buying companies outside China would be a mistake because most of China’s state-owned companies compete at home and their decision-making is consensual rather than dictatorial.

In fact, I’ve said that “most” decisions in China were consensual and that China is not a dictatorship by definition. The Chinese just make decisions differently than “most”.

However, what does “consensual” mean when doing business?

When doing business, consensual means with permission, without coercion, arriving at a decision or position by mutual consent, involving the willing participation of both or all parties, performed with the consent of all parties involved.

The Economist also says, “not all Chinese companies are state-directed. Some are largely independent and mainly interested in profits.”

The conclusion to the feature demonstrates a rare genius, “As it (China) invests in the global economy, so its interests will become increasingly aligned with the rest of the world…”

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

The Fear of Mao Buying the World

November 22, 2010

The cover of The Economist’s November 13 issue plays on fear to sell magazines.

I haven’t read Buying up the world, The coming wave of Chinese takeovers yet, which is the feature piece. I’ll probably write another post about that once I do.

Instead, I’m writing about the magazine’s cover, which is taking advantage of the West’s PTCSD (Post Traumatic Chinese Stress Disorder) that has roots in the “history” of a fear of the word “Communist”, the Korean Conflict and the Cultural Revolution.

I’m sure most Sinophobes that see this cover will have flashbacks of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the rest of China dressed in drab Mao jackets marching across the world to take possession of everything China buys.

However, Mao isn’t the proper man to adorn The Economist’s cover.

Deng Xiaoping or one of China’s recent presidents (there have been four since the 1982 Constitution) would have been more appropriate.

Why? Because after Mao died in 1976, Deng Xiaoping and his allies rejected Maoist Revolutionary thought and embraced CAPITALISM in a very big way.

In fact, surviving Maoists consider the Party that rules China today to be traitors to Mao and the revolution.

Do you remember the 1980s, when wealthy Japanese spent billions buying property in America then a real estate bubble burst, Japan lost a lot of money, and its economy has been limping since?

If anyone should be afraid, it should be the Chinese fearing spending habits in the US, Canada and Europe where debt and plastic rule.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Tiger Woods smiles big while golfing in China

November 21, 2010

Lisa Mason shows a gallery of photos of Tiger Woods smiling big at the WGC-HSBC Champions at Sheshan International Gold Club in Shanghai, China on November 3, 2010.

She says, “He looks truly happy in these photos. Maybe he is finding some happiness again.”

China is building golf courses and China’s growing middle class is taking up golf.

The Golf Travel Gurusays that Hainan Island in the South China Sea is China’s answer to Hawaii and is one of Asia’s finest golfing destinations, with several world-class courses.

Golf Todaysays the first thing one notices about golf in China – after marveling at the game’s sudden popularity – is how many players seem to have decent swings.

In fact, Golf Today says, golf is the latest fashion in Beijing and it is estimated there are 100,000 golfers in China.  “The number should double in five years,” T. K. Pen, a Taiwanese-American investor says.

Meanwhile, officials in China are being careful. Golf Today says there are so manygolf courses in China the government is losing count.

Golf courses take up a lot of land. With more than 1.3 billion people to feed, the central government has declared a moratorium on course construction.

However, Slate says, “Almost all of the nation’s 600 or so completed golf courses are illegal in some way.”

Since China grows food on about 10% of its land, turning croplands into golf courses may not be the best way to make a profit.

Discover the Winemaker from Shanxi Province to learn how others are using farmland in China.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the lusty love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

#1 - Joanna Daneman review posted June 19 2014

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