Our CCC (Cheap, Chicken, Chinese) coffee maker of nominal Italian brand gave up the ghost the other day. Its crummy little plastic basket latch broke. The lovely and gracious Mrs. C proudly brought home a genuine Black and Decker replacement from the supermarket. You guessed it, made in China. Without opening the box I volunteered to go find a coffeemaker, that while certainly foreign made, would be of non-communist manufacturer. I walked into Wally World with a big smirk, knowing I could find a Thai or Taiwanese coffeemaker. There were the following brands to choose from: Black and Decker, General Electric, Hamilton Beach, Mr. Coffee, Presto, Rival, Sunbeam, West Bend, and Westinghouse. Also the Dutch brand, Philips, was there. ALL OF THEM WERE MADE IN RED STINKING CHINA. That's a whole lot of American factory workers on welfare, they surely didn't get retrained into computer experts. That job is being outsourced to India. I did salvage a pitiful little "victory" by buying a $9.34 Chinese Sunbeam and returning the Chinese Black and Decker. If all the choices are commie, I'll go for the cheapest one. I don't blame the Chinese for this situation, they are only trying to make a buck and take over the world. Nor do I blame American consumers, they are only buying what they can find. No, it's American politicians, American "manufacturers," and American retailers, whoare enjoying unprecedented prosperity. I think it was Lenin who said that when it comes time to hang the last capitalists, they will compete for the privilege of selling us the rope. Vladimir was a little off-we'll BUY the rope from the communists and hang ourselves.There's an ironic little sidebar to the coffeemaker saga. The troika of big politics, big manufacturing, and big retailers in this country are forever reminding us that the wonderful foreigners give us great value because they are more "globally competitive." Remember when coffeemakers came with two or three filters to get you started? Not any more! curmudgeon