I watched the episode of Anthony Bourdain’s excellent “Parts Unknown” that was shot in Puerto Rico literally a few weeks before the island was annihilated by Hurricane Maria. One of the gobsmacking things discussed by the locals is that they no longer produce any of their own...erm...produce, because indigenous farmers cannot compete with the prices of goods imported from the US mainland.

I heard the same story when I was in Hawaii, which used to grow much of the world’s supply of sugar, but now everything is turned over to tourism – service jobs – because there’s no money in anything else. The joke there is that the lovely piece of fish you’re having for dinner probably arrived on the same flight you did. They don’t even grow pineapples there any more; they all come from Mexico now. You drive right by the derelict Dole canning plant on the way out of Honolulu.

The problem for people is that capitalism moves much faster than we can adapt. Even China – which attracted manufacturing jobs away from much of the western democracies – is expected to see a drop in production volumes as it loses work to cheaper, less developed venues. China’s middle class is exploding, meaning they want nice things and they want the jobs/salaries to make that happen. Those jobs aren't ones making iPhones. Manufacturers see this inevitable shift in China’s cost-benefit analysis, and immediately move on to new, more economically beneficial locales.

Just as there's always a bigger fish; there's always a cheaper place to get your s*** made.

We don't do possession; we do defense and attack. Everything else is just wa**ing with a football.

The f***ing Independent. Dear me. And people moan about the Daily Mail.

One idiot out of numerous half wits in this country and they make a big headline out of it.

Yeah, very responsible reporting.

Stirling? Reality?

edited to hold off a yellow

Edited by Kermit8 (23 Nov 2017 1.26pm)

Big chest and massive boobs

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^^^^

noooo - quickly dilute my quote too

Big chest and massive boobs

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The Independent is a little better in terms of integrity journalism than the Daily Mail (unless either has changed much in the last five or six years). Certainly, its bias does show, but it did lack the overt tabloid style of the Daily Mail in its news reporting.

When it comes to columns and opinion pieces, most newspapers are on a par in terms of bias and lack of objectivity - But then I never understood why people would want to read other peoples opinions in a newspaper anyhow.

Looking through most newspapers now, they seem more like lifestyle magazines, which also have some news coverage in.

Traditional broadsheets, as a generalisation, tend to have better news coverage, and more depth to their stories - But I wouldn't be surprised to find out that everyone has sold out to a rush to the bottom.

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
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