Made In China = Infected

Remind me again, why we are buying anything manufactured in China? From poisoned pet food and toothpaste, now we have poisoned electronic gadgets. The AP story posits a very plausible explanation for why iPods and other plug-and-play devices become infected: sloppy IT practices allowing a testing computer to become infected with malware. Sloppy oversight seems to be the norm in China, as it was in the case of the toothpaste sold in South America, which had a similar sounding chemical mixed in, instead of the industry standard. Unfortunately, that similar sounding chemical only happened to kill people by the dozens. Oopsy!

Sloppy oversight in China also means bribery and corruption, where illegal liquor distilleries can pop up "overnight" and pollute the river water which is used in making the national brand. Sure, it's cheaper to send manufacturing overseas, and, for awhile, the quality liability was well worth the profit. But when liability begins to creep in to your profit margin, maybe those higher manufacturing costs in the West will look a little more attractive. Hey, come back to America! Our currency is dirt cheap too!