THE MORNING RANT: Amazon’s Unconscionable Counterfeit Problem; Help is on the way thanks to (Trump’s) tariffs on de minimis Chinese imports

My wife got scammed by a counterfeit product sold through Amazon. Shame on her, I suppose, for being the kind of person who trusts prominent corporations not to be party to consumer fraud, but shame on Amazon for relying on the sale of counterfeit products as part of its business model.

If you look at headlines regarding the problem of counterfeit goods being sold online, Amazon has been engaged in a “war on counterfeiters” going back more than a decade. At this point it would appear that Amazon has little interest in actually wining this war. Like with the “war on homelessness,” there’s a great deal of money to be made in perpetuating the war on counterfeiting rather than putting an end to the problem.

Amazon makes a generous commission from products sold through its “Third Party Marketplace,” whether those products are counterfeit or not. Confusingly, the counterfeit products remain prominently displayed among non-counterfeit items on the main page of an Amazon search. Only by drilling in can you find the small print identifying it as a product being sold by a third-party seller. But Amazon allows you to add the product to your cart from its main page, without presenting any disclosure that it’s from a questionable third-party seller.

This is little different than if you went into a Whole Foods (owned by Amazon) to buy some avocado oil, but counterfeit avocado oil from a “third-party seller” was on the same shelf as the authentic product, and the phony product only had a small disclaimer in fine print on the back of the bottle.

Beyond the inherent consumer fraud of marketing counterfeit products, it puts consumers in danger, especially when it comes to products that are ingested or topically applied.

As documented in this Men’s Fitness piece from May 2025 titled “The Hidden Dangers of buying Supplements from this Popular Retailer”:

Fake supplements have been found to contain everything from harmless fillers like rice or flour to dangerous ingredients, including hidden pharmaceuticals, allergens, and heavy metals.
Brands like Now Foods and Fungi Perfecta have discovered multiple counterfeit versions of their supplements sold on Amazon, sometimes by dozens of different storefronts.

Even worse, counterfeit items sold by third-party sellers have found their way into the “Sold by Amazon” bins at distribution centers. Verifying that Amazon itself is the seller - not a third-party - still hasn’t been a reliable way to ensure that Amazon isn’t selling you a counterfeit product.

When you order a supplement on Amazon, you might assume it’s coming from the seller you picked. But with co-mingled inventory, Amazon ships the nearest unit in stock—even if it came from a different seller. Even items listed as “sold by Amazon” can be impacted if co-mingled inventory is involved.

Amazon recently made another promise to try to stop selling commingled counterfeits in its “Sold by Amazon” channel. Perhaps this time they finally mean it. But nothing about that promise changes the fact that counterfeits sold by third-party sellers are still abundant on Amazon’s website, and listed just as prominently as authentic(?) goods.

No one seems to know just how bad the problem of online counterfeiting is, but some recent tests indicate that the problem is extreme:

“Over 65% of Cosmetics Sold on Online Marketplaces Are Fake” [The Times – 7/24/2025]

More than two thirds (67 per cent) of products bought from online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, TikTok Shop and Vinted were likely to be imitations of the advertised brands, according to consumer rights company Which.

“I Hired a Lab to Counterfeit-Test a Dozen Suspicious Beauty Products I Bought Online; Every Single One Had a Problem” [NY Times 3/02/2026]

Through a combination of lab testing and expert assessment, we concluded that all 12 of the beauty products I’d purchased from third-party sellers on Amazon, eBay, Shein, and Walmart were either not what they claimed to be or questionable for reasons beyond their authenticity. Johnson went farther, explicitly stating that they were all “definitively identified as counterfeits.”

Amazon’s success in becoming the dominant online retailer was similar to how Google became the dominant search engine – both were the very best at what they did. Puzzlingly, both companies have decided to sabotage their success by not providing their customers the product they want. Google has degraded its search functionality such that oftentimes will not provide you the link you request and Amazon is prospering by hoodwinking customers into buying counterfeit products.

Of course, much of the counterfeit junk being sold on Amazon comes from China. Almost incomprehensibly, this junk has been exempted from duties if the cost was under $800.

The good news is that President Trump just won a battle at the U.S. Court of International Trade, and if Amazon wants to keep allowing itself to be a “marketplace” to sell counterfeit goods, those goods are going to be tariffed, making it less cost effective to undercut the genuine products being copied.

"For years, Foreign Shippers could send packages worth up to $800 into our Country, DUTY FREE, NO TARIFF, far less scrutiny. It became a giant loophole for TARIFF Cheats... So, we CLOSED IT." - President Donald J. Trump �� pic.twitter.com/49ulsRKmNm
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 13, 2026

Circling back to the counterfeit product my household just bought on Amazon, my wife read about a product she wanted to try by the name of MoreLess Protein Gummies, so she bought a package online from Amazon. It came in this mailer from China.

My wife then contacted MoreLess and received this response: “Can you tell me where you ordered from? If it was Amazon (especially through a third-party seller rather than our official storefront), there’s a decent chance what showed up isn’t actually ours – counterfeits have been known to pop up there. If that’s the case, I’d steer clear of taking them.”

On Amazon, I checked the reviews of the product and seller we inadvertently bought from, and I screen-grabbed it (immediately below). Amazon subsequently removed this seller and these reviews:

This is what the actual product looks like from MoreLess’ own website:

Despite the specific third-party retailer that sold us a counterfeit product being removed, Amazon is still offering several obvious counterfeit versions of this product. Even the product on the right with almost identical packaging is likely a counterfeit, as it ships from “sichuanzhongchuangqifuxinxikejiyou xianongsi.”

Whenever I criticize a large corporation, I get accused of being a socialist or a “Bernie Bro” by the libertarian, “free-traders” who conflate corporatism with capitalism. They tell me if I don’t like a corporation engaging in consumer fraud or otherwise behaving unethically, I can take my business elsewhere. That’s true, taking my business elsewhere is excellent advice, and buying from brick-and-mortar retailers is good for communities. I’ll do more of that.

But when a major corporation winks at its platform being used for the counterfeit sale of legitimate small businesses’ products, there is not a “magic hand” of supply and demand at work. Rather, it is a form of theft from the legitimate small businesses.

For those of us who advocate for a free market in an economically sovereign United States, we see the threat that arises from corporations engaging in willful blindness to counterfeiting and consumer fraud, especially when it benefits foreign adversaries.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Sponge!

Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:00 AM (77rzZ)

2 FIRST!!!!!

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:01 AM (2YhKe)

3 Yessss!!!!!

I'll cull the otters.

Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:01 AM (77rzZ)

4 Otter status: Culled.

Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:02 AM (77rzZ)

5 Sorry, Sponge. But at least it was me and not Elric.

Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:03 AM (77rzZ)

6 Tariffs ftw. More please.

Posted by: x-ray jeff at August 17, 2026 11:04 AM (SrVFR)

7 Where is everyone this morning?

Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:04 AM (77rzZ)

8 Since when have you advocated for a free market?

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 17, 2026 11:04 AM (jPziU)

9 And they're almost always from Guangzhou. Must be a major manufacturing hub in CHY-na.

Posted by: But but but MUH FREE TRADE at August 17, 2026 11:05 AM (TbWk/)

10 I got some Chinese gummies for low T and now I'm sporting a mohawk and a hankering for gold chains.

Posted by: fd - I forgive you for the mistakes I made at August 17, 2026 11:05 AM (MWfyi)

11 Sorry, Sponge. But at least it was me and not Elric.
Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:03 AM (77rzZ)

Anyone claiming a first other than Sponge is peddling counterfeit goods.

Posted by: Doof at August 17, 2026 11:05 AM (S0M0K)

12 We purchase less and less through Amazon because of this problem. It's really blatant too.

Posted by: Smellslikevictory at August 17, 2026 11:05 AM (2Xrky)

13 Whenever I criticize a large corporation, I get accused of being a socialist or a “Bernie Bro” by the libertarian, “free-traders” who conflate corporatism with capitalism.

The libertarian, “free-traders” who conflate corporatism with capitalism are pretty bad at libertarianism also since it's always been recognized that combating fraud is a legitimate activity for the state and, consequently, corporations, large or small, should be punished for failing to rein it in.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 17, 2026 11:05 AM (ExV1e)

14 It’s all fake and gay.

These are just trans-products. How dare you question their identity, bigot.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at August 17, 2026 11:06 AM (h8SbW)

15 I had my boss order a $100 CNC benchtop lathe.
Unheard of.
$100?
Mostly so I can CSI it and see what actually shows up.

Posted by: Reforger at August 17, 2026 11:06 AM (7ADiS)

16 How long until a federal judge tells Trump he's not allowed to do this?

Posted by: NR Pax at August 17, 2026 11:06 AM (OPGS/)

17 My first clue should have been the brand name. "I Pity The Fool".

Posted by: fd - I forgive you for the mistakes I made at August 17, 2026 11:07 AM (MWfyi)

18 Thx Buck, sorry to hear about the fraud.
A question: has anyone ever shown by scientifically valid tests, that supplements, including vitamins actually work? I take a multivitamin every day but who knows?

Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 17, 2026 11:07 AM (rp63B)

19 It's got electrolytes. Plants love it.

Posted by: Brawndo at August 17, 2026 11:07 AM (2Ez/1)

20 I order my viagra online from some shadeball prescription website.

It always comes in a plain brown envelope with the return address 6899 Chao Ngo Road, Municipal 2, Ban Phai, Khon Kaen, 2nd Floor Balcony Stairs, 40110, THA.

Very legitimate.

Posted by: Old Fart With A Boner at August 17, 2026 11:07 AM (cfHWy)

21 eff, amazon can't even get stuff shipped on time, expecting anything higher-level is just optimism (in its perjorative sense).

also, they increasingly seem to be using vibe-coded slop in their own storefront application - things that used to work don't anymore.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at August 17, 2026 11:07 AM (VyBeY)

22 For those of us who advocate for a free market in an economically sovereign United States, we see the threat that arises from corporations engaging in willful blindness to counterfeiting and consumer fraud, especially when it benefits foreign adversaries.

Amazon gets away with a lot because I think most people assume an outfit as big as theirs is beyond cheating, but it is not so. There is an almost perfect parallel to Jason Arday and Cambridge (really all elite universities), who proomise superior academics but provide counterfeit garbage. Both involve a willful suspension of disbelief.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 17, 2026 11:07 AM (Riz8t)

23 The avocado oil is also counterfeit.

https://tinyurl.com/yez6y33c

Posted by: 29Victor at August 17, 2026 11:07 AM (0MjtC)

24 It’s all fake and gay.

These are just trans-products. How dare you question their identity, bigot.
Posted by: sniffybigtoe at August 17, 2026 11:06 AM (h8SbW)

Trans-OEM parts are REAL OEM PARTS!

Posted by: I identify this product as authentic. It's my truth. at August 17, 2026 11:08 AM (TbWk/)

25 Imma get a linear amplifier for mah CB laptop for every first snd blow yer doors off. Teeyun four.

Posted by: Hokey Pokey at August 17, 2026 11:08 AM (wxsGM)

26 This is about me, isn't it?

Posted by: Expensive urine at August 17, 2026 11:08 AM (2Ez/1)

27 Next you bigots will be calling trans women, counterfeit women.

Wait, I kinda like that. I think will start doing that.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at August 17, 2026 11:08 AM (h8SbW)

28 “sichuanzhongchuangqifuxinxikejiyou xianongsi.”

Gesundheit. Maybe you should see a doc, Buck.

Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:08 AM (77rzZ)

29 Ipitidaful
Do not take Ipitidaful if you are allergic to Ipitidaful.

Posted by: Reforger at August 17, 2026 11:09 AM (7ADiS)

30 lol, fd, I thought that was gonna be about a guitar!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at August 17, 2026 11:10 AM (VyBeY)

31 The libertarian, “free-traders” who conflate corporatism with capitalism are pretty bad at libertarianism also since it's always been recognized that combating fraud is a legitimate activity for the state and, consequently, corporations, large or small, should be punished for failing to rein it in.

A free market assumes the participants have perfect information about the product. If a company is pushing fraudulent products, you don't generally have that information, and can't make informed decisions.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 17, 2026 11:10 AM (Riz8t)

32 Even the “genuine” product is suspect. What are you buying, and where was it manufactured? Contaminated baby formula and dog food some years back should have raised red flags. Everyone learns at their own pace I guess.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:11 AM (Vsbiz)

33 When I hear, “protein gummies”, i immediately think of horse hooves.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at August 17, 2026 11:12 AM (h8SbW)

34 linear amplifier for mah CB laptop
_-_
Watch where you put the antenna - boil the liquid inside yer eyeball, it will...

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 17, 2026 11:12 AM (J4Alq)

35 it is really all the same people and the same wilful stupidity all the way down, innit, Archimedes? good comparison.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at August 17, 2026 11:12 AM (VyBeY)

36 You should reverse the arrow on "counterfeit" logo so it goes from "f" to "o."

Posted by: DinsdalePiranha at August 17, 2026 11:12 AM (EjK1h)

37 Next you bigots will be calling trans women, counterfeit women.

Wait, I kinda like that. I think will start doing that.
Posted by: sniffybigtoe at August 17, 2026 11:08 AM (h8SbW)

Counterfeit woman -- stay away from mee-eee.
Counterfeit woman - cuz you stand when you pee-eee.

Posted by: Doof at August 17, 2026 11:12 AM (S0M0K)

38 also, they increasingly seem to be using vibe-coded slop in their own storefront application - things that used to work don't anymore.
Posted by: sock_rat_eez at August 17, 2026 11:07 AM (VyBeY)

Interestingly, when I go to their website it pegs one of my CPUs at 100% but, when I go to the website in incognito mode, it does not. It doesn't appear to be either reading or writing to disk and my memory isn't increasing so it's just burning cycles over nothing.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 17, 2026 11:13 AM (ExV1e)

39 had my boss order a $100 CNC benchtop lathe.
Unheard of.
$100?
——-

The “Submarine” I ordered from the back of the comic book was pretty underwhelming. Cardboard! Those fuckers.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:14 AM (Vsbiz)

40 almost always from Guangzhou. Must be a major manufacturing hub in CHY-na."

Port city....

Posted by: man at August 17, 2026 11:14 AM (cGjQu)

41 They used our bought-off government to set up a CCP listening post less than a block away from the White House.

Do you think these same """American""" """authorities""" will Crack down on their paymasters for selling knockoff GoPros?

*rolls eyes*

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 17, 2026 11:14 AM (BI5O2)

42 I used to get a 96 count box of a variety of Community Coffee's offerings via Amazon. 4 different blends. They stopped carrying it last year. It was sort of a weird package; plain box with loose K-Cups; 24 each.

They were post "sell by date."

Not that I could tell the difference, but...

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 17, 2026 11:15 AM (2Cry5)

43 When I hear, “protein gummies”, i immediately think of horse hooves."

J -E- llo!

Posted by: man at August 17, 2026 11:15 AM (cGjQu)

44 The problem with Amazon is that the benefits it gains from what it does does not equal the costs, risks, and externalities to itself. They take a cut from merchants for being a platform for selling, even for fraudsters. But the cost from selling fraudulent items isn't really borne by them. They got their money upfront.

The same issue is with all the telecommunication companies that allow spam and scam calls on their phone lines, along with faked Caller ID data. Scammers could (still can?) literally call your phone number, with your own phone # as the ID. Or fake real numbers to try and improve the scam (hurting the true and real people owning those #'s).

Even if the phone companies made a fraction of a cent per call to connect them to you, how many millions of scam calls were going on in a single day? Doesn't matter to them if your aunt or grandmother became penniless because of scammers. They got their fraction of a penny. All the benefits, but no cost for the phone companies. Why would they improve the system, add proper security, when that would only add cost... and lower revenues, thanks to less fake calls they would get paid for?

Posted by: Another Anon at August 17, 2026 11:15 AM (4h45B)

45 The “Submarine” I ordered from the back of the comic book was pretty underwhelming. Cardboard! Those fuckers.
Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:14 AM

You are definitely 29.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 17, 2026 11:17 AM (bFu5X)

46 How many items at brick and mortar stores are fake?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at August 17, 2026 11:17 AM (Cqx++)

47 The “Submarine” I ordered from the back of the comic book was pretty underwhelming. Cardboard!

I really liked my x-ray specs until I stumbled into a DSA meeting. Yikes!

Posted by: Archimedes at August 17, 2026 11:18 AM (Riz8t)

48 was sort of a weird package; plain box with loose K-Cups; 24 each."

Yeah. Kidlet bought a spool of braid fishing line with a "similar" brand name. First time he used it the color washed off the line onto his hands...

Posted by: man at August 17, 2026 11:18 AM (cGjQu)

49 The “Submarine” I ordered from the back of the comic book was pretty underwhelming. Cardboard! Those fuckers.
Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:14 AM

And the sea monkey queen was definitely not as hot as advertized.

Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:18 AM (77rzZ)

50 > The “Submarine” I ordered from the back of the comic book was pretty underwhelming. Cardboard! Those fuckers.
Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:14 AM
---------
Yea, about those Sea Monkeys. They don't look anything like "monkeys."

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 17, 2026 11:19 AM (2Cry5)

51 Chinee drywall filled with caustics and poisons was 25 years ago. They been poisoning us ever since.

Posted by: Ching Chow at August 17, 2026 11:19 AM (JM9I6)

52 dangerous ingredients, including hidden pharmaceuticals, allergens, and heavy metals.

Anyone else remember melamine in Chinese milk? (It was 18 years ago.)
The contaminated drywall was 20 years ago.

Here's Brave AI's synopsis of the last couple of years:
Recent reports from 2025 and 2026 highlight ongoing scandals involving bleached chicken feet, smelly insoles used in snacks, and foreign objects like human teeth found in sausages.

Admittedly, that last one isn't just a Chinese problem. (Amy's, I'm looking at you.)

Posted by: GWB at August 17, 2026 11:19 AM (kU0PQ)

53 The “Submarine” I ordered from the back of the comic book was pretty underwhelming. Cardboard! Those fuckers.
Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:14 AM

Yoo-hoo!

Posted by: Sea Monkeys at August 17, 2026 11:20 AM (2Ez/1)

54 Bezos builds rockets that look like cock.

He doesn't care as long as he gets more of your money.

This is obvious.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:21 AM (2YhKe)

55 Lead paint in kids toys, lead in dog food.....

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at August 17, 2026 11:21 AM (d9FiM)

56 The “Submarine” I ordered from the back of the comic book was pretty underwhelming. Cardboard! Those fuckers.
Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:14 AM

The x-ray glasses didn't work either.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:22 AM (2YhKe)

57 bleached chicken feet, smelly insoles used in snacks, and foreign objects like human teeth found in sausages
_-_
Ach! I think I'll go see what I have in my garden...is it rabbit season yet? No? Have to wait for a freeze, huh?

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 17, 2026 11:22 AM (J4Alq)

58 Are you saying I was a disappointment?

Posted by: The X-Ray Glasses at August 17, 2026 11:22 AM (2Ez/1)

59 The Gormogons
@Gormogons
58m
GP Tax burrito wealth, starting with the evil Chipotle family which cornered the burrito market and is holding Americans hostage.

No salsa, no peace!
Aug 17, 2026 · 1:50 PM UTC

Posted by: Kindltot at August 17, 2026 11:22 AM (rbvCR)

60 The “Submarine” I ordered from the back of the comic book was pretty underwhelming. Cardboard! Those fuckers.
Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:14 AM (Vsbiz)

I'm excited in exactly the same way. A known let down.
What I need it for will tolerate loose tolerances though.
As long as it can make them close enough and not have to stand there and turn each one it's a win.
If it's worth a damn I may order one for my shop.

Posted by: Reforger at August 17, 2026 11:23 AM (7ADiS)

61 In response to last thread's shorts controversy:

https://tinyurl.com/4749tdp5

Posted by: rickb223 at August 17, 2026 11:23 AM (AzRNx)

62 Imported Rawhide chew toys for doggies poisoned many as well.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:23 AM (Vsbiz)

63 Did anyone order a subscription to Grit?

Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:23 AM (77rzZ)

64 The “Submarine” I ordered from the back of the comic book was pretty underwhelming. Cardboard! Those fuckers.
Posted by: Common Tater

F'n sea monkeys didn't look like monkeys!

Posted by: rickb223 at August 17, 2026 11:24 AM (AzRNx)

65 I mean, c'mon... the Chinese don't even have to bother with the formal niceties of embassies and consulates, or the less-formal skullduggery of agents in various businesses to cover their agents anymore. We'll just sell a multi-story suite right in the heart of our capital to their agents, in the clear.

A bought-off flag officer in this country, the top one, in fact, recently wrote a book bragging about the fact that he had a higher loyalty to Peking than to his own troops.

They're more a part of our government than we are anymore. The idea that the Chinese would have to comply with consumer protection regulations is laughable, my dude.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 17, 2026 11:24 AM (BI5O2)

66 When I hear, “protein gummies”, i immediately think of horse hooves."
J -E- llo!
Posted by: man at August 17, 2026 11:15 AM (cGjQu)

Boiled down hagfish skins, my friend.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 17, 2026 11:24 AM (rbvCR)

67 Even the product on the right with almost identical packaging is likely a counterfeit

One thing to consider on what packages look like: companies change their packages. And you might be looking at a new package, or (perhaps) an old package that has been sitting in a warehouse for a long time. Or, it might just be a different version of a product - say, the 20mg version instead of the 50mg version, or the European market product instead of the US market one.

Having to try and figure that out is part of the problem.

Posted by: GWB at August 17, 2026 11:25 AM (kU0PQ)

68 A bought-off flag officer in this country, the top one, in fact, recently wrote a book bragging about the fact that he had a higher loyalty to Peking than to his own troops.

YD, was that Milley?

Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:25 AM (77rzZ)

69 Beware of any liquid claiming to have fiber - and also many "nutrition" supplements.

Because more often than not it's liquid fiber ie cheapass gut busting inulin (not insulin) aka chicory root fiber.

If you see that in the ingredients, steer clear. More than once in the past I thought I was in a Crohns mini-flare only to find I had been eating something with inulin or chicory root. Stuff is straight from hell, and they are putting it in everything.

Posted by: ... at August 17, 2026 11:25 AM (rJIHE)

70 I got some Chinese gummies for low T and now I'm sporting a mohawk and a hankering for gold chains.
Posted by: fd - I forgive you for the mistakes I made at August 17, 2026 11:05 AM (MWfyi)

So, you just assumed they misspelled "more" on the package when it said "Mr T"?

Posted by: GWB at August 17, 2026 11:26 AM (kU0PQ)

71 Stuff is straight from hell, and they are putting it in everything.
Posted by: ... at August 17, 2026 11:25 AM (rJIHE)

I still think you need to explain your sudden cock obsession......

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:27 AM (2YhKe)

72 What I want to know is the increase in food or recalls increasing or is that just the perception.

There is almost a new recall daily it seems. One thing I used to have was high trust in our food distribution system and FDA oversight. No longer.

Posted by: purple hair fat chick at August 17, 2026 11:27 AM (bvDnE)

73 A free market assumes the participants have perfect information about the product. If a company is pushing fraudulent products, you don't generally have that information, and can't make informed decisions.
Posted by: Archimedes

Most modern libertarians outside of the von Mises faction are grossly deficient in actually knowing economic theory as well as political theory. They are a flavor of leftism that like to take drugs, be perverts, and other anti social behavior. Do as Thou Wilt basically.

Posted by: whig at August 17, 2026 11:27 AM (E4rtv)

74 YD, was that Milley?
Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:25 AM (77rzZ)

Yes.

He bragged that he kept a back channel to the CCP so that he could warn them in real time if Trump ordered military action against China - IOW, when his own forces were being deployed.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 17, 2026 11:27 AM (BI5O2)

75 The little green Army men didn't have any cool vehicles or weapons either.

And they were flat. And the gun barrels were all bent.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 17, 2026 11:27 AM (2Cry5)

76 Supplements are tricky, and I wouldn’t risk them from Amazon unless directly sold though Wholefoods and they are a brand you know. I get free things all the time to try and they hope pitch on my instagram or in studio. Somethings really are better than others, and if I am going to continue with something that was outstanding, I just order directly from the manufacturer site.

Posted by: Piper at August 17, 2026 11:27 AM (ZdaMQ)

77 How long until a federal judge tells Trump he's not allowed to do this?
Posted by: NR Pax at August 17, 2026 11:06 AM (OPGS/)

Anyone want to put money on "By the time Ace's first post shows up"?

Posted by: GWB at August 17, 2026 11:28 AM (kU0PQ)

78 Chicory can be used as a substitute for coffee, no?

Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:28 AM (77rzZ)

79
He bragged that he kept a back channel to the CCP so that he could warn them in real time if Trump ordered military action against China - IOW, when his own forces were being deployed.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 17, 2026 11:27 AM (BI5O2)

Seems treasonous........

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:28 AM (2YhKe)

80 Chicory can be used as a substitute for coffee, no?
Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:28 AM (77rzZ)

If you desire exploding diarrhea, it seems.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:29 AM (2YhKe)

81 78 Chicory can be used as a substitute for coffee, no?
Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:28 AM (77rzZ)

It does not taste like coffee. I like it in coffee, but you definitely taste it. Some people like it, others do not.

Posted by: Piper at August 17, 2026 11:29 AM (ZdaMQ)

82 Even if the product is made in U.S.A., the ingredients oftentimes are not. No telling what they might be adulterated with.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:29 AM (Vsbiz)

83 Supplements are tricky, and I wouldn’t risk them from Amazon unless directly sold though Wholefoods and they are a brand you know. I get free things all the time to try and they hope pitch on my instagram or in studio. Somethings really are better than others, and if I am going to continue with something that was outstanding, I just order directly from the manufacturer site.
Posted by: Piper at August 17, 2026 11:27 AM (ZdaMQ)

I use Swanson brand supplements. No, not the TV Dinner company. Swansonvitamins dot com.

Get my NAC from them along with a few other things.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:30 AM (2YhKe)

84 The little green Army men didn't have any cool vehicles or weapons either.

And they were flat. And the gun barrels were all bent.
Posted by: Martini Farmer

My neighbor ordered those. They were the rejects from the injection molding plant.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at August 17, 2026 11:30 AM (d9FiM)

85 GP Tax burrito wealth, starting with the evil Chipotle family which cornered the burrito market and is holding Americans hostage.

If only making a burrito didn't require billions of dollars worth of high-tech burrito robots.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 17, 2026 11:30 AM (ExV1e)

86 You're all making me paranoid. And I made a comment on yesterday's FWP thread about being amazed I could get pretty large KitKat and CoffeeCrisp bars for $0.99 Can at the dollar store.

Heh. Some guy just won an 8 or 9 foot tall Bigfoot statue on 'The Price is Right.' $5489 Dang.

Posted by: Stateless - keeping 15 year Ralphy happy and alive. Puppy at heart at August 17, 2026 11:30 AM (Sco7b)

87 72 What I want to know is the increase in food or recalls increasing or is that just the perception.

There is almost a new recall daily it seems. One thing I used to have was high trust in our food distribution system and FDA oversight. No longer.
Posted by: purple hair fat chick

You can't have that because a) globo homo wants to source cheap so they can maximize profits and if cheap means hiring illegals for food processing that don't have a culture of basic hygiene, so be it. And b) they buy off regulators and politicians to protect them from the inevitable consequences.

In the case of Big Pharma, they buy off the media too by running insipid ads on TV--it is not so much to drive consumer demand but rather is a cudgel to keep the media from taking the side of the people rather than the corporate Pharma assholes.

Posted by: whig at August 17, 2026 11:30 AM (E4rtv)

88 Anyone want to put money on "By the time Ace's first post shows up"?
Posted by: GWB

To be honest, I'm surprised no court has ruled Trump's existence is a constitutional violation yet.

Posted by: NR Pax at August 17, 2026 11:31 AM (OPGS/)

89 One thing to consider on what packages look like: companies change their packages. And you might be looking at a new package, or (perhaps) an old package that has been sitting in a warehouse for a long time. Or, it might just be a different version of a product - say, the 20mg version instead of the 50mg version, or the European market product instead of the US market one.

Having to try and figure that out is part of the problem.
Posted by: GWB

Sam's is on their third packaging revamp in less than a year of their real bacon pieces. Makes it hard to find when you are looking for an old package.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 17, 2026 11:31 AM (AzRNx)

90 Off woke sock

Posted by: polynikes at August 17, 2026 11:31 AM (bvDnE)

91 so it's just burning cycles over nothing.
Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 17, 2026 11:13 AM (ExV1e)

It's burning cycles putting cookies on your machine.

Posted by: GWB at August 17, 2026 11:31 AM (kU0PQ)

92 Bottom story of the day:

How will SNAP be impacted by a penny-less world?

Posted by: The ARC of History! at August 17, 2026 11:31 AM (aD4fx)

93 If you see that in the ingredients, steer clear. More than once in the past I thought I was in a Crohns mini-flare only to find I had been eating something with inulin or chicory root. Stuff is straight from hell, and they are putting it in everything.
Posted by: ... at August 17, 2026 11:25 AM (rJIHE)

It is cheap and easy to get, no other use for it really, and surprisingly most North American "native root crops" are full of it. It will make you swell up like a toad and fart yourself inside out if you are not one of the lucky ones who can tolerate it. Most probiotics use it as an ingredient because it is very good media for growing gut bacteria and even such high end probiotics like Pendulum use minute amounts.
Just Thrive has a Pre-Biotic fiber that doesn't use it, that they suggest to go along with their probiotic, and it doesn't have any inulin.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 17, 2026 11:31 AM (rbvCR)

94
To be honest, I'm surprised no court has ruled Trump's existence is a constitutional violation yet.
Posted by: NR Pax at August 17, 2026 11:31 AM (OPGS/)

Workin' on it......

Posted by: Lord God King Boasberg at August 17, 2026 11:32 AM (2YhKe)

95 Chicory is not really a substitute for Coffee, it doesn’t contain Caffeine. I guess it might be an alternative though not a very good one. Civil War ersatz, because of the Union blockade. The Rebs were forced to try and roast acorns and crap like that.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:32 AM (Vsbiz)

96 still think you need to explain your sudden cock obsession......

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:27 AM (2YhKe)

I *never* explain a joke but also it was "meta commentary" on how upset people get about other people's opinions.

Let's say I like to brush my teeth with super glue. Someone comes along pounding their fist, "these god damn super glue tooth brushers!!! Fuck them!!!".

Honestly who gives a shit. Like why would I give a fuck what you or anyone thinks. I don't need you to "accept" my way of brushing teeth? I don't give a fuck.

Equally... you got a tattoo? Great. Did you REALLY think no one was gonna have an opinion on it? Is it really someone else's business? Well kind of. You made a statement. Own it. It's just like my adoration of a nice healthy engorged cock.

Posted by: ... at August 17, 2026 11:32 AM (rJIHE)

97 82 Even if the product is made in U.S.A., the ingredients oftentimes are not. No telling what they might be adulterated with.
Posted by: Common Tater
=======
Completely natural fillers like melamine, arsenic, ground glass, and the ever popular cellulose.

Posted by: whig at August 17, 2026 11:33 AM (E4rtv)

98 The best toy soldiers were made of lead.

Posted by: Burton's Line of the Gums at August 17, 2026 11:33 AM (JM9I6)

99 You dear sweet summer child, you are not the customer

Posted by: It's not just a river in brazil at August 17, 2026 11:33 AM (hmdkN)

100 Remember when the Chinese killed a bunch of American dogs because they didn't know you couldn't use melamine in the dog food product/process.

Posted by: Lemmiwinks at August 17, 2026 11:33 AM (3CbjC)

101 The “Submarine” I ordered from the back of the comic book was pretty underwhelming. Cardboard! Those fuckers.
Posted by: Common Tater
~~~~~

And that Treasure Chest full of little green army men...Yeah, they were two dimensional.

Posted by: IrishEi?! at August 17, 2026 11:33 AM (3ImbR)

102 Chicory can be used as a substitute for coffee, no?
Posted by: Bulg

It was during the civil war, when supply lines were disrupted.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 17, 2026 11:33 AM (0U5gm)

103 Or fake real numbers to try and improve the scam
Posted by: Another Anon at August 17, 2026 11:15 AM (4h45B)

The ones I've gotten for the last almost year have mostly been 800 range numbers. I just cleared 20 voicemails, of which 15+ were from 800 numbers. None of which I can see have been repeated.

Posted by: GWB at August 17, 2026 11:34 AM (kU0PQ)

104 Workin' on it......
Posted by: Lord God King Boasberg

I'm sure there are a lot of people who would squeal like Japanese schoolgirls if that happened.

Posted by: NR Pax at August 17, 2026 11:34 AM (OPGS/)

105 It's just like my adoration of a nice healthy engorged cock.

Posted by: ... at August 17, 2026 11:32 AM (rJIHE)/i]

Whell, you go enjoy that cock...Imma go have a beer.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:34 AM (2YhKe)

106 Being in Chipotle is like being inside a tin can with a bunch of people yelling. I can make a better burrito at home for less than tree-fiddy anyway...

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 17, 2026 11:34 AM (J4Alq)

107 102 Chicory can be used as a substitute for coffee, no?
Posted by: Bulg

It was during the civil war, when supply lines were disrupted.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 17, 2026 11:33 AM (0U5gm

We use it here still in our coffee, same with LA.

Posted by: Piper at August 17, 2026 11:34 AM (ZdaMQ)

108 Chicory is not really a substitute for Coffee, it doesn’t contain Caffeine. I guess it might be an alternative though not a very good one. Civil War ersatz, because of the Union blockade. The Rebs were forced to try and roast acorns and crap like that.
Posted by: Common Tater

Community Coffee with Chicory has entered the chat.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 17, 2026 11:35 AM (AzRNx)

109 I'm still a thing.

Posted by: Snake Oil at August 17, 2026 11:36 AM (2Ez/1)

110 The “Submarine” I ordered from the back of the comic book was pretty underwhelming. Cardboard! Those fuckers.
Posted by: Common Tater
~~~~~

And that Treasure Chest full of little green army men...Yeah, they were two dimensional.

Posted by: IrishEi?!

Don't get me started about the "X-Ray Glasses"...

Posted by: Brother Tim (102mm/W59), Keeper of the Tim Continuum at August 17, 2026 11:36 AM (OUMaO)

111 Chicory can be used as a substitute for coffee, no?
Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:28 AM (77rzZ)

It is an additive to "stretch" coffee, but Cafe du Monde has it as an ingredient, and it gives it a nice bitter taste that goes well with Vietnamese food, I have found. Especially the high garlic-high chili foods. Nom.

WWII German re-enactors love it because the German coffee ration had lots of chicory in it, and supposedly you can "moderate" the bitterness by hanging it in a canvas bag under shelter from the rain for a week or two

Posted by: Kindltot at August 17, 2026 11:37 AM (rbvCR)

112 Does. Chicory have caffeine? If not it's of no use as a substitute.

Posted by: polynikes at August 17, 2026 11:37 AM (bvDnE)

113 Shake it, Shake it, Chicory!

Posted by: Rejected Dead Lyrics at August 17, 2026 11:37 AM (JM9I6)

114 Chicory can be used as a substitute for coffee, no?
Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:28 AM

Cafe du Monde ftw!

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 17, 2026 11:37 AM (bFu5X)

115 Remember when the Chinese killed a bunch of American dogs because they didn't know you couldn't use melamine in the dog food product/process.
——

Baby formula as well.

It is not that they “didn’t know”, far from it, Melamine spoofs electronic detector probes into indicating bulk shipments have a higher percentage of protein than it really does. Gets a better price that way.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:37 AM (Vsbiz)

116 100 Remember when the Chinese killed a bunch of American dogs because they didn't know you couldn't use melamine in the dog food product/process.

___

The Chinese government executed 10 management level employees for the fiasco. The Americans involved in importing the deadly dogfood only took a hit to their stock portfolio.

Posted by: Lemmiwinks at August 17, 2026 11:38 AM (3CbjC)

117 Related Amazon problem: I search for a specific brand item, and Amazon refuses to show it to me, even though I know they sell it. Instead I get endless Chinese knockoffs that are "sponsored." I hate it.

Posted by: NCDave at August 17, 2026 11:38 AM (VQC/c)

118 I still order my Bag O' Glass and General Trahn's Secret Police Confession Kit from Mainway Toys outta Chicago.

Posted by: Irwin Mainway, President and CEO at August 17, 2026 11:38 AM (mqEfo)

119 Being in Chipotle is like being inside a tin can with a bunch of people yelling. I can make a better burrito at home for less than tree-fiddy anyway...

My family has learned that I will not eat at restaurants with the "louder is better for some reason" approach. It absolutely baffles me. Yes, it's nice to convey that other people think the restaurant is great, and noise suggests business, but there's a limit.

If I can't hear the person next to me, I'll go elsewhere.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 17, 2026 11:38 AM (Riz8t)

120 New Orleans style Community Coffee coffee & Chicory:

https://tinyurl.com/48m3p74w

Posted by: rickb223 at August 17, 2026 11:38 AM (AzRNx)

121 How many people right now are logging into Amazon and looking up the number of hits they get when they search for snake oil?

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 17, 2026 11:38 AM (0U5gm)

122 We got chicory growing all over the place here in NoVa. Very common weed.

Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:38 AM (77rzZ)

123 Whell, you go enjoy that cock...Imma go have a beer.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:34 AM

Vintage Eddie Murphy. Nice.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 17, 2026 11:39 AM (bFu5X)

124 There is a guy on Youtoob who makes his shop tools from designs in old Popular Mechanics magazines.
Some of the stuff is pretty cool. I'm going to someday do the 20 ton arbor press I saw him do.

Posted by: Reforger at August 17, 2026 11:39 AM (7ADiS)

125 The only thing not tool related I have ever bought from Amazon was a Kambucha SCOBY that I used for a number of years before I gave up making Kambucha at home.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at August 17, 2026 11:40 AM (fqnOq)

126 noise suggests business
_-_
I have always thought they did that to get people out faster. Hadn't thought about the angle you mentioned.

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 17, 2026 11:40 AM (J4Alq)

127 I'm not normally big on federal regulation, but by god, there should be a federal law that all online retailers doing business in These United States must identify both a product's and a "seller's" country of origin, and MUST have a filter available to screen out products for both factors.

And I mean rammed down the throats of Amazon, Walmart, Target, and their ilk.

Posted by: Tex Lovera at August 17, 2026 11:40 AM (wtvvX)

128
Vintage Eddie Murphy. Nice.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 17, 2026 11:39 AM (bFu5X)

*fistbump*

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:40 AM (2YhKe)

129 Community Coffee with Chicory has entered the chat.
——

Well, it can walk right back out. It’s a flavoring at best, by itself it is of no use. Coffee that doesn’t do what Coffee does. It’s a fucking weed that grows in the ditches.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:41 AM (Vsbiz)

130 We got chicory growing all over the place here in NoVa. Very common weed.
Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:38 AM (77rzZ)[p/i]

Essentially it is "endive", like Brussel Sprouts are Cabbage

Posted by: Kindltot at August 17, 2026 11:41 AM (rbvCR)

131 The Chinese government executed 10 management level employees for the fiasco. The Americans involved in importing the deadly dogfood only took a hit to their stock portfolio.
Posted by: Lemmiwinks

sigh You're making the Chinese out to be good guys and I don't like that.

Posted by: NR Pax at August 17, 2026 11:41 AM (OPGS/)

132 Seems treasonous........
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:28 AM (2YhKe)

I have an extremely low opinion of our government. Virtually nothing surprises me. Bottomless perfidy is the name of the game in DC.

But Milley's public, unprompted disclosures about his Chinese loyalties - which he called routine communications! - shocked even my jaded sensibilities.

So brazen, because he knew it was SOP in the Pentagon, and that Congress understood it too, and IC opinion makers like NYT and WaPo would give him air cover.

It's all fucked up.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 17, 2026 11:42 AM (BI5O2)

133 Most probiotics use it
Posted by: Kindltot at August 17, 2026 11:31 AM (rbvCR)

I try not to do "pro-biotics."
I try to eat actual biotics. Sauerkraut and yogurt (tzatziki, specifically) in particular. I need to make some more fermented slaw and sauerkraut.

Posted by: GWB at August 17, 2026 11:42 AM (kU0PQ)

134 Next you bigots will be calling trans women, counterfeit women.

Wait, I kinda like that. I think will start doing that.
Posted by: sniffybigtoe at August 17, 2026 11:08 AM (h8SbW)

I have used that term for some time, right here.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 17, 2026 11:42 AM (1z8ji)

135 Did anyone ever get one of those mail order puppies that could fit in a tea cup?

Always wanted one of them...

Posted by: IrishEi?! at August 17, 2026 11:42 AM (3ImbR)

136 114 Chicory can be used as a substitute for coffee, no?
Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:28 AM

Cafe du Monde ftw!
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August

Try Mississippi Mud Coffee or Orleans Roast for a better experience.

Posted by: Piper at August 17, 2026 11:42 AM (ZdaMQ)

137 I used to get chicory coffee occasionally when in the swamp, I don't understand the demand, as it makes the coffee bitter. Then again, I have always had my coffee black with no sugar, and I am sure cream and sugar covers it up. I assume it is just traditional, going back to the unpleasantness.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 17, 2026 11:42 AM (0U5gm)

138 coffe smells good

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at August 17, 2026 11:43 AM (vOxCS)

139 The CCP knows exactly what they're doing.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at August 17, 2026 11:43 AM (d9FiM)

140 Community Coffee with Chicory has entered the chat.
Posted by: rickb223 at August 17, 2026

***
I have that at their coffee shops in town, but their ground coffee has gotten pricey. For somebody who remembers when RT brand coffee with chicory was about $2.00 for 12 oz. (ca. 1989), CC's $12 is ridiculous. I buy Cafe El Morro espresso-style at Aldi, 8.8 oz. for $3.60, so a little more than a pound for just over $7.00.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 17, 2026 11:43 AM (wzUl9)

141 Probably 1/3 to 1/2 of all "branded" merchandise sold online -- and probably a lot at retailers, too -- is counterfeit.

It's very easy to copy a famous brand and logo, slap in on some Chinesium, and sell it online. That's basically what the actual licensed sellers do anyway, except they pay for the license.

The odds of getting caught are low, and if you do, you just close shop and open up under a different name.

Posted by: Elric The Blade at August 17, 2026 11:43 AM (iFTx/)

142
Try Mississippi Mud Coffee or Orleans Roast for a better experience.

Posted by: Piper at August 17, 2026 11:42 AM (ZdaMQ)

I miss Muddy Mudskipper........

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:43 AM (2YhKe)

143 117 Related Amazon problem: I search for a specific brand item, and Amazon refuses to show it to me, even though I know they sell it. Instead I get endless Chinese knockoffs that are "sponsored." I hate it.
Posted by: NCDave
=======
Someone tired of that as well came up with an extension to the web browser that screens out that crap. I think you can find it by search engines but caveat emptor to any software install or extension.

Posted by: whig at August 17, 2026 11:43 AM (E4rtv)

144 My family has learned that I will not eat at restaurants with the "louder is better for some reason" approach. It absolutely baffles me. Yes, it's nice to convey that other people think the restaurant is great, and noise suggests business, but there's a limit.

If I can't hear the person next to me, I'll go elsewhere.
Posted by: Archimedes at August 17, 2026 11:38 AM (Riz8t)

My comment about such places are that, "fortunately the restaurant has turned the sound system up so it won't be drowned out by the noise of the diners trying to talk to each other"

Posted by: Kindltot at August 17, 2026 11:43 AM (rbvCR)

145 ***My wife got scammed by a counterfeit product sold through Amazon
--

Now do medicine from them.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at August 17, 2026 11:44 AM (vOxCS)

146 It's simple. If it's a small business, like an Amish store selling raw milk, the government will confiscate it all and dump it, even if it tests clean and there have been no reported health issues. If it's a big corporation, with multiple recalls for health issues, they will be allowed to keep selling it and to stay in business.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at August 17, 2026 11:44 AM (bkuEU)

147 I used to get chicory coffee occasionally when in the swamp, I don't understand the demand, as it makes the coffee bitter. Then again, I have always had my coffee black with no sugar, and I am sure cream and sugar covers it up. I assume it is just traditional, going back to the unpleasantness.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 17, 2026

***
There's a small chain here called French Truck. I had some coffee w/ chicory at one of their coffee shops. Even sweetener and cream couldn't keep it from being vicious.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 17, 2026 11:44 AM (wzUl9)

148 If it’s from a 3rd party on Amazon it’s either a scam or a Temu piece of shit knockoff. I thought everyone knew this.

Posted by: Kray at August 17, 2026 11:45 AM (dKrJA)

149 126 noise suggests business
_-_
I have always thought they did that to get people out faster. Hadn't thought about the angle you mentioned.
Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 17, 2026 11:40 AM

That's why I like Panera Bread. Not for the food. I just get some coffee and use it as a hang out and use the WiFi with my laptop space.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at August 17, 2026 11:45 AM (2Ez/1)

150 I got some Chinese gummies for low T and now I'm sporting a mohawk and a hankering for gold chains.
Posted by: fd - I forgive you
-----

Tats?

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 17, 2026 11:45 AM (XeU6L)

151 It's simple. If it's a small business, like an Amish store selling raw milk, the government will confiscate it all and dump it, even if it tests clean and there have been no reported health issues. If it's a big corporation, with multiple recalls for health issues, they will be allowed to keep selling it and to stay in business.
Posted by: Notsothoreau at August 17, 2026 11:44 AM (bkuEU)

Well, the Amish have a way of proving to the world that everything government shoves down your throat is pure bullshit, so there's that.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:45 AM (2YhKe)

152 In 1989 they hadn’t gotten all faggy yet with those oh so twee 12.347 ounce “pounds” of Coffee.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:46 AM (Vsbiz)

153 Yang Poon.

Posted by: Reforger at August 17, 2026 11:46 AM (7ADiS)

154 got some Chinese gummies for low T and now I'm sporting a mohawk and a hankering for gold chains.
Posted by: fd - I forgive you

Feather earrings and fear of flying, too.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at August 17, 2026 11:47 AM (d9FiM)

155 I saw Yang Poon open for Wang Chung at Arcadia in '95.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:48 AM (2YhKe)

156 you just close shop and open up under a different name.
Posted by: Elric The Blade at August 17, 2026 11:43 AM (iFTx/)

Most of them in China don't even bother with the "close up shop" step. They just change the signage.

Posted by: GWB at August 17, 2026 11:48 AM (kU0PQ)

157 There's nothing particularly free market about defending Amazon, or really any company. Or person, for that matter. There really is a need to regulate trade because fraud and fraudsters is a thing and one of the most important roles of government is to settle disputes among individuals.

I've shifted some of my buying away from Amazon. It's too hard to find, well, anything in particular because they've made the search so useless. If getting a particular thing actually matters, like buying repair parts for appliances or small engines or whatnot, I now tend to go to a specialized vendor. I haven't moved all of my spending to other places, because on-line shopping is a quagmire, but I am pretty quick to look elsewhere if it seems appropriate.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at August 17, 2026 11:48 AM (Zst8M)

158 The godless Chinese will steal, copy and sell anything for cheap, and Amazon will market it, apparently. I've looked a power equipment on Amazon that looks a whole lot like Dewalt or Stihl, but is neither, nor is the price like Dewalt or Stihl. Take your chances, but buyer beware, as the saying goes.

Posted by: Ex Rex Reeder at August 17, 2026 11:48 AM (QaH55)

159 I try not to do "pro-biotics."
I try to eat actual biotics. Sauerkraut and yogurt (tzatziki, specifically) in particular. I need to make some more fermented slaw and sauerkraut.
Posted by: GWB at August 17, 2026 11:42 AM (kU0PQ)

My problem is that I seem to have killed of some important strains in my gut with antibiotics, and kimchi and kraut were not helping things enough. Just Thrive does, and I take another brand that has Clostridium butyricum to try to offset issues that statins have on my blood glucose levels.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 17, 2026 11:49 AM (rbvCR)

160 Most of them in China don't even bother with the "close up shop" step. They just change the signage.
Posted by: GWB

The Learing Center - Minneapolis

Posted by: rickb223 at August 17, 2026 11:49 AM (AzRNx)

161 There's a small chain here called French Truck. I had some coffee w/ chicory at one of their coffee shops. Even sweetener and cream couldn't keep it from being vicious.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere

I think you like it or you don’t, but I also think when the balance of chicory to coffee is off, like they are trying to be too cute with it, it ruins what it should be. I am in the like it camp, but I don’t like it from PJs. At all.

Posted by: Piper at August 17, 2026 11:49 AM (ZdaMQ)

162 There's a small chain here called French Truck. I had some coffee w/ chicory at one of their coffee shops. Even sweetener and cream couldn't keep it from being vicious.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

You should've gone with the pumpkin-spice chicory...

Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:49 AM (77rzZ)

163 There's a small chain here called French Truck. I had some coffee w/ chicory at one of their coffee shops. Even sweetener and cream couldn't keep it from being vicious.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 17, 2026 11:44 AM (wzUl9)

At least it wasn't called French Tuck. *ahem*

Posted by: GWB at August 17, 2026 11:49 AM (kU0PQ)

164 Who else remembers the poster selling cheap rolexes here.

Fuck it most of the legit luxury good are also made in Gyna.

Posted by: Paul at August 17, 2026 11:49 AM (CbXI9)

165 This country could use a man like Joe McCarthy again. We're well past due for a Yellow Scare.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 17, 2026 11:49 AM (BI5O2)

166
You should've gone with the pumpkin-spice chicory...
Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:49 AM (77rzZ)/i]

According to the last thread, you can wipe your ass with it, too!

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:49 AM (2YhKe)

167 "Did anyone order a subscription to Grit?"
Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:23 AM (77rzZ)

Selling that newspaper was my first job. Didn't pay squat.

Posted by: NCDave at August 17, 2026 11:49 AM (VQC/c)

168 Somewhere in the neighborhood of 70-75 pct of what Amazon sells is made in China, they would be out of business if you could filter and exclude by country of origin, plus you probably wouldn't be able to find what you were intending to buy.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at August 17, 2026 11:50 AM (fqnOq)

169 Is good if good for China!

Posted by: Chinese Economic Philosopher at August 17, 2026 11:50 AM (J4Alq)

170 GRIT is a free OTA TV channel that runs westerns 24/7.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:50 AM (2YhKe)

171 Prolapse Paul!

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at August 17, 2026 11:51 AM (d9FiM)

172 It's very easy to copy a famous brand and logo, slap in on some Chinesium, and sell it online. That's basically what the actual licensed sellers do anyway, except they pay for the license.

The odds of getting caught are low, and if you do, you just close shop and open up under a different name.
Posted by: Elric The Blade at August 17, 2026 11:43 AM (iFTx/)

It depends, too. The shops making the originals may well be making the counterfeit as well. It is China after all, and "honesty and fair measure" was one of the other Four Olds the cultural revolution got rid of.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 17, 2026 11:51 AM (rbvCR)

173 FWIW, advertising is now one of the biggest profit centers for Amazon and makes more net profit than it does from retail. And the margins are far higher.

So Amazon destroyed its own search algorithms in order to sell ads to vendors for product placement. Same as grocery stores sell the best shelf space to big food companies. That makes you have to bend over, reach way up high, or other stunts to get what you want in a grocery store. In Amazon's marketplace, their virtual shelf though is crammed full of the same company under different shells selling the same exact slop under different names. That allows IP theft, fake shit, and other means of putting the crapola products in the prominent position and the buyer ending up never being able to find what brand they actually want that is genuine.

That is also why you see some name brand companies no longer selling to Amazon at all directly--they are tired of getting the blame for phony products sold by shitty Amazon vendors. That in turn is where the small business shady types buy out of date name brand products and flog them via Amazon.

Posted by: whig at August 17, 2026 11:51 AM (E4rtv)

174 That's why I like Panera Bread. Not for the food. I just get some coffee and use it as a hang out and use the WiFi with my laptop space.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at August 17, 2026

***
I used to go there. Then they got all Nazi with the face diaper crap, and I haven't been in there more than twice in the last six years.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 17, 2026 11:51 AM (wzUl9)

175 Who else remembers the poster selling cheap rolexes here.
-----

Cheap rolexes? How much were they?

Posted by: ... at August 17, 2026 11:51 AM (rJIHE)

176 I think you like it or you don’t, but I also think when the balance of chicory to coffee is off, like they are trying to be too cute with it, it ruins what it should be.

*IPAs have joined the chat*

Posted by: Archimedes at August 17, 2026 11:51 AM (Riz8t)

177 The godless Chinese will steal, copy and sell anything for cheap, and Amazon will market it, apparently. I've looked a power equipment on Amazon that looks a whole lot like Dewalt or Stihl, but is neither, nor is the price like Dewalt or Stihl. Take your chances, but buyer beware, as the saying goes.
Posted by: Ex Rex Reeder

That's usually not a problem. The "Ryobi" batteries for half price or better than Ryobi are obviously not Ryobi. Half price is usually a dead giveaway.

True counterfeit is when they make it look identical to Ryobi.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 17, 2026 11:52 AM (AzRNx)

178 One can search for a specific brand name product, and not get it to show in the first three pages on Amazon. There is a filter on the left side where you can limit the search to the specific manufacturer, but even that only filters the first page or so of hits. It is ridiculous.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 17, 2026 11:52 AM (0U5gm)

179 Posted by: Paul at August 17, 2026 11:49 AM (CbXI9)

You DICK!!!!

Posted by: Jeff Spicoli at August 17, 2026 11:52 AM (2YhKe)

180 kimchi and kraut were not helping things enough.
Posted by: Kindltot at August 17, 2026 11:49 AM (rbvCR)

I can understand that and sympathize. (I did the kraut thing after a bout of sinus infection that required heavy anti-biotics.) I hope you can get to a point where you don't need the supplement, though, and can handle it with just eating good food.

Posted by: GWB at August 17, 2026 11:52 AM (kU0PQ)

181 Does King Harv sell chicory coffee?

Posted by: I gotta ask at August 17, 2026 11:52 AM (2Ez/1)

182 If you put anything you buy on Amazon into your body you should have your fucking head examined.

Posted by: ballistic at August 17, 2026 11:53 AM (oqH4h)

183 168 Somewhere in the neighborhood of 70-75 pct of what Amazon sells is made in China, they would be out of business if you could filter and exclude by country of origin, plus you probably wouldn't be able to find what you were intending to buy.
Posted by: Thomas Bender
=========
I see fake products being diversified from China now. Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh, India are also getting in on it. Sometimes simply stamping their own made by country name on Chicom goods to avoid tariffs.

Posted by: whig at August 17, 2026 11:53 AM (E4rtv)

184 The Gormogons
@Gormogons
58m
GP Tax burrito wealth, starting with the evil Chipotle family which cornered the burrito market and is holding Americans hostage.

No salsa, no peace!
Aug 17, 2026 · 1:50 PM UTC

A reminder to all why burritos are expensive (but they aren't $20)
https://spencerpratt.substack.com /p/bombs-burnt-beef-and -the-big-20-burrito

Posted by: FeatherBlade at August 17, 2026 11:53 AM (C0Nlv)

185 On Alibaba (basically China's Amazon but sells a ton here) you can literally buy counterfeit US currency.

It's gold and silver Eagle coins, made to look exactly like the real thing. So shops can defraud people.

Can you imagine what would happen to a US corporation if it was selling counterfeit Chinese currency to Chinese people? It would be shut down within seconds.

China really does whatever the hell it wants, I thought after Covid things would change, but seems even stronger.

Posted by: Sharpie at August 17, 2026 11:53 AM (CmWt8)

186 Most Avocado oil is mixed with other seed oils. My niece produces Marianne’s avocado oil, it was the only off the shelf Avocado oil certified 100% pure by U.C. Davis. Much like olive oil most common brands are mixed oil.

Posted by: Nevada Dave at August 17, 2026 11:53 AM (e61sa)

187
*IPAs have joined the chat*
Posted by: Archimedes at August 17, 2026 11:51 AM (Riz8t)

Meh. I know an IPA is going to be ass going into it, so I never order one.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:54 AM (2YhKe)

188 Did anyone order a subscription to Grit?"
Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:23 AM (77rzZ)

Selling that newspaper was my first job. Didn't pay squat.
Posted by: NCDave at August 17, 2026 11:49 AM (VQC/c)

It was still a pretty cool newspaper. Had some excellent short stories in it.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at August 17, 2026 11:54 AM (g8Ew8)

189 Most people who're semi aware know the Chinese are "in" everything here; government, industry, infrastructure, education, business, etc. All of America has been infiltrated. Every. Last. Bit.

They have personal info on every citizen, not just certain demographics. They have their own police stations. Man entire recruiting offices for our military. Own many a member of Congress.

We screw with each other on the international scene as if it was some sort of sitcom on TV.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 17, 2026 11:54 AM (2Cry5)

190 Cheap rolexes? How much were they?

Posted by: ...

Last time I was in China, I was offered the opportunity to purchase a nice Ralux watch for approximately $50 US.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 17, 2026 11:54 AM (0U5gm)

191 GRIT is a free OTA TV channel that runs westerns 24/7.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026

***
And Zorro on Saturday mornings! Technically it's not a "Western" in the way we think of it, but it's set in California and has horses and the occasional single-shot pistol as well as Don Diego's sword work, so why not.

Movies! is another OTA with classic and sometimes fairly recent films. I think they're uncut, but you have to deal with commercials. Still, they have great stuff.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 17, 2026 11:54 AM (wzUl9)

192 There's a chain of overstock/lot stores on the east coast called "Black Friday Daily Deals". Its gimmick is that it stocks a bunch of troughs with boxed junk on a weekly basis, charges $10 a box/item on Friday, then drops the price on items daily until it's just $1 on Wednesday. Thursday they close and restock.

Most of the junk there is still in Amazon packaging with some sort of delivery slip or content label. Not sure how much of the pile is made of returned items. But it's a big pile. And notably, those labels tend to be in Chinese.

Posted by: Another Anon at August 17, 2026 11:55 AM (4h45B)

193 ... there is not a “magic hand” of supply and demand at work.

---------------

"Little Known Fact: The Heart song "Magic Man" was a tribute to Adam Smith."

/The Invisible Hand

Posted by: ShainS at August 17, 2026 11:55 AM (b0PnQ)

194
I buy Cafe El Morro espresso-style at Aldi, 8.8 oz. for $3.60, so a little more than a pound for just over $7.00.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

In a package that looks just like Café Bustelo.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at August 17, 2026 11:55 AM (Cqx++)

195 GRIT is a free OTA TV channel that runs westerns 24/7.
Posted by: Sponge
-----

I watch it from time-to-time, and play a mental game of Name the Actor. A lot of regulars in those old movies. A couple of years ago they ran the entire Gunsmoke series. Something like 420 episodes.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 17, 2026 11:56 AM (XeU6L)

196 Who else remembers the poster selling cheap rolexes here.
Posted by: Paul at August 17, 2026 11:49 AM (CbXI9)

When on deployment to third- or second-world nations, all the aviators and aviator-adjacent folks bought the knock-offs from the street vendors, just to have one.

Rolexe, Britling, Brietling, Roolex, even the occasional Cassio.

Everyone thought it was a lark for $30 of your per diem.

Posted by: GWB at August 17, 2026 11:56 AM (kU0PQ)

197 I buy Cafe El Morro espresso-style at Aldi, 8.8 oz. for $3.60, so a little more than a pound for just over $7.00.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
*
In a package that looks just like Café Bustelo.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at August 17, 2026

***
That's right. Dollar Tree used to carry it in the days when everything in the store *was* a dollar, but not any more.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 17, 2026 11:57 AM (wzUl9)

198 Café Bustelo.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at August 17, 2026

I had that once.

It was terrible.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:57 AM (2YhKe)

199 We could use a man like JJ Angleton, for that matter.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 17, 2026 11:57 AM (BI5O2)

200 I try to discourage my wife from buying generic products all the time. She says "but it's all the same." To which I say if it's all the same, it wouldn't be "generic." Sometimes I win, and sometimes I don't. Marriage...

Posted by: Ex Rex Reeder at August 17, 2026 11:57 AM (QaH55)

201 I have problems telling what legit products are when it's a market segment I've never bought from before.

Take headphones. $40 pair of ONN bone conducting headphones from walmart, decent sound quality, excellent mobility, broke 2 weeks in, in such a way that they won't hold one of the speakers in the correct position.

Look for replacement on Amazon, just so see what they have.
Replacements range from $14 to $150 and I have absolutely no clue what the names of legit manufacturers even are, because none of them are Sony or Phillips or Maxell or Bose. (yeah, that's how old I am)

Posted by: FeatherBlade at August 17, 2026 11:58 AM (C0Nlv)

202 We could use a man like JJ Angleton, for that matter.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice

Even Alan Dulles and J. Edgar were afraid of Angleton.

Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:58 AM (77rzZ)

203 And Zorro on Saturday mornings! Technically it's not a "Western" in the way we think of it, but it's set in California and has horses ...
------
Glad you noticed.

Posted by: Tornado at August 17, 2026 11:58 AM (XeU6L)

204 What USA need is good 75 cent egg roll.

Posted by: Xi Jinping, President PRC at August 17, 2026 11:59 AM (wVcYX)

205 I watch it from time-to-time, and play a mental game of Name the Actor. A lot of regulars in those old movies. A couple of years ago they ran the entire Gunsmoke series. Something like 420 episodes.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 17, 2026

***
Name the Actor, and its spinoff, How Many Actors in This Movie Would Also Be on Star Trek or U.N.C.L.E.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 17, 2026 11:59 AM (wzUl9)

206 Try Mississippi Mud Coffee or Orleans Roast for a better experience.
Posted by: Piper at August 17, 2026 11:42 AM

Noted, thanks! I'll look for them.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 17, 2026 11:59 AM (bFu5X)

207 I try to discourage my wife from buying generic products all the time. She says "but it's all the same." To which I say if it's all the same, it wouldn't be "generic." Sometimes I win, and sometimes I don't. Marriage...
Posted by: Ex Rex Reeder at August 17, 2026 11:57 AM (QaH55)

Always wanted my dad to pick up a 6-pack of BEER when roaming the store, but he never did.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 11:59 AM (2YhKe)

208 What USA need is good 75 cent egg roll.
Posted by: Xi Jinping

Wawa eggrolls are fantastic.

Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 12:00 PM (77rzZ)

209 > 15 I had my boss order a $100 CNC benchtop lathe.
Unheard of.
$100?
Mostly so I can CSI it and see what actually shows up.
Posted by: Reforger at August 17, 2026 11:06 AM (7ADiS)

From TEMU?

I got an email blurb from them a while back about a "big lathe sale" or something to that effect.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at August 17, 2026 12:00 PM (IG3/x)

210 Drink Walmart coffee.

Complete colon cleanse.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at August 17, 2026 12:00 PM (d9FiM)

211 Café Bustelo.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at August 17, 2026

I had that once.

It was terrible.
Posted by: Sponge
--------

Concur.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 17, 2026 12:01 PM (XeU6L)

212 I try to discourage my wife from buying generic products all the time. She says "but it's all the same." To which I say if it's all the same, it wouldn't be "generic." Sometimes I win, and sometimes I don't. Marriage...
Posted by: Ex Rex Reeder at August 17, 2026 11:57 AM (QaH55)

You must decide. Do you want to be right or do you not want to sleep on the couch?

Posted by: Count de Monet at August 17, 2026 12:01 PM (wVcYX)

213 190 Cheap rolexes? How much were they?

Posted by: ...

Last time I was in China, I was offered the opportunity to purchase a nice Ralux watch for approximately $50 US.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 17, 2026 11:54 AM (0U5gm)
- - - - - - - - - -
I'm reminded of the "bum" guy in UHF that bought a Rolex for a penny.

To be fair, that specific penny "[...] was worth a fortune!"

Posted by: Another Anon at August 17, 2026 12:01 PM (4h45B)

214
From TEMU?

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at August 17, 2026 12:00 PM (IG3/x)

This is about me, isn't it......

Posted by: Hakeem Jeffries at August 17, 2026 12:01 PM (2YhKe)

215 Even Alan Dulles and J. Edgar were afraid of Angleton.
Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:58 AM (77rzZ)

Right or wrong, he did what he did for G-d and country, and never apologized for it. He was loyal. A good man, even if you don't like him.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 17, 2026 12:01 PM (BI5O2)

216 China really does whatever the hell it wants, I thought after Covid things would change, but seems even stronger.

Posted by: Sharpie
-----
They are definitely weaker in some respects--basically corporations and businesses are moving away from them. Even Microsoft has finally given up on the idea that they can make bank in China (saw the news article this week describing the withdrawal). But momentum continues for a bit until divestiture occurs. And the decoupling is occurring, just not nearly as fast as we would like it.

Difficult for the US to detangle the relationship in part because so many domestic GOP and Dem politicians, institutions, and key political donors are embedded in keeping China market access. The donors are beginning to fade, the institutions like universities are beginning to retrench, and the pols are being replaced.

We are in the half empty half full with Trump right now.

Posted by: whig at August 17, 2026 12:01 PM (E4rtv)

217 Lot of stuff done already. Let's see if anything stupid or infuriating is going on. Actually, if I can't control it, I let it go...

CBC - Trump tariffs. Bring the pimp hand until the country as a whole are less bastards. And stop polluting your air.

CNN - Trump tells troops to tough it out. If onky he was as caring as the Clintons...

FoxNews - Outnumbered - Mom's angry with Big Tech

MS Now - Blanche has their panties in a bunch. The men too.

Posted by: Stateless - keeping 15 year Ralphy happy and alive. Puppy at heart at August 17, 2026 12:02 PM (Sco7b)

218 Cheap rolexes? How much were they?
Posted by: ... at August 17, 2026 11:51 AM

Twenty bucks. Same as in town.

Posted by: Come on, people! at August 17, 2026 12:03 PM (2Ez/1)

219 Hayden Panettiere died. 36 years old. My mom liked one of the shows she was on years ago.

Odds are it was an OD or possibly suicide.

Posted by: Elric The Blade at August 17, 2026 12:04 PM (iFTx/)

220 While not a fan of Amazon, I have to say, because of their speedy delivery service my local companies are offering faster delivery times. Certain Black folks still need to get a better attitude when servicing white folks.

Posted by: sidney at August 17, 2026 12:04 PM (Uy/WF)

221
Odds are it was an OD or possibly suicide.
Posted by: Elric The Blade at August 17, 2026 12:04 PM (iFTx/)

They're saying cardiac arrest from drug OD.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 12:04 PM (2YhKe)

222 It's simple. If it's a small business, like an Amish store selling raw milk, the government will confiscate it all and dump it, even if it tests clean and there have been no reported health issues. If it's a big corporation, with multiple recalls for health issues, they will be allowed to keep selling it and to stay in business.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at August 17, 2026 11:44 AM (bkuEU)

---------------

The foundation of many Covid PsyOps writ ~~large~~worldwide.

Posted by: ShainS at August 17, 2026 12:05 PM (b0PnQ)

223 Excellent, Buck.

Fooled twice.

Had a period of ice and snow the past winter and couldn't find deicer locally. Ordered from Amazon, and that wasn't a good idea. Because it was cheap, tossed it out rather than the hassle of returning it at that time. I guess that's how the scammers make their profits.

A variety of fake products come in from Hong Kong advertised under Google Discovery, etc. I got caught up in the spring ordering something cute for a garden that was supposed to be from North Carolina craft persons. It turned out to being expensive junk from a NYC warehouse.

However, the supplier had to be tracked back to Hong Kong within 2 weeks from time of receipt for a refund.
The process to track the real supplier, its address, and then return the small package legally ($35+) was a hassle & costly. In the end, the supplier didn't pick it up from the Hong Kong drop point & two weeks later, the package worked its way back to me. I wasn't reimbursed the out-of-pocket for shipping the junk to Hong Kong.

I've put a complaint in to the BBB over the ads but there are so many identical complaints, I don't see how it can address them without federal government help.

Posted by: L - No nic, another fine day at August 17, 2026 12:05 PM (NFX2v)

224 Jfg Coffee, Ground, Med Dark, Bonus Blend 30.6 Oz
price:$14.48

Posted by: Mike Hammer, not a coffee snob at August 17, 2026 12:05 PM (XeU6L)

225 Odds are it was an OD or possibly suicide.
Posted by: Elric The Blade at August 17, 2026 12:04 PM (iFTx/)

They're saying cardiac arrest from drug OD.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 12:04 PM (2YhKe)
___

I'm shocked, shocked!

Posted by: Elric The Blade at August 17, 2026 12:06 PM (iFTx/)

226 Hayden Panettiere died. 36 years old. My mom liked one of the shows she was on years ago.

Odds are it was an OD or possibly suicide.
Posted by: Elric The Blade

Happened here in Greenville. All over the local news.

She had problems.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at August 17, 2026 12:06 PM (d9FiM)

227 Community Coffee with Chicory has entered the chat."

Ah. Nectar of the gods...

Posted by: man at August 17, 2026 12:06 PM (cGjQu)

228 Right or wrong, he did what he did for G-d and country, and never apologized for it. He was loyal. A good man, even if you don't like him.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice

Always wondered why his middle name was "Jesus," as that's a name that no American would give their child. Turns out, his mother was Mexican, so it was "Jesús."

Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 12:06 PM (77rzZ)

229 221
Odds are it was an OD or possibly suicide.
Posted by: Elric The Blade at August 17, 2026 12:04 PM (iFTx/)

They're saying cardiac arrest from drug OD.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 12:04 PM (2YhKe)

Yeah, she was a mess. Her poor daughter has to deal not only with her mom giving up custody, but now her mom killed herself. I am hopeful her dad is solid, he is Ukrainian boxer.

Posted by: Piper at August 17, 2026 12:06 PM (ZdaMQ)

230 Cheap rolexes? How much were they?
Posted by: ... at August 17, 2026 11:51 AM (rJIHE)

I picked up 2 in the tourist market right near the cruise pier in Nassau / Bahamas. $100 cash total after "negotiating". Years ago. They work great.

Posted by: Doof at August 17, 2026 12:07 PM (S0M0K)

231 Facebook has a number of people selling counterfeit stuff. Some are at least honest about it and market the stuff (clothing, jewelry, shoes, accessories) as knockoffs.

Others don't. A couple people on FB make an "honest" living off of selling fake shit to the masses. Some of it, like certain purses or the like are so close to authentic that it takes a keen eye to know what to look for.

Issues crop up from time to time with certain companies getting more than a bit agitated about it and take legal action to halt the sales.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 17, 2026 12:07 PM (2Cry5)

232 I've read that Amazon will also engage in IP theft by appropriating products to be sold under the "Amazon Basics" label.

Posted by: Halfhand at August 17, 2026 12:07 PM (2vEgU)

233 215 Even Alan Dulles and J. Edgar were afraid of Angleton.
Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:58 AM (77rzZ)

Right or wrong, he did what he did for G-d and country, and never apologized for it. He was loyal. A good man, even if you don't like him.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice

None of us are in a good position to evaluate spooks--they have the power to classify their misdeeds and have their own pet scribes to release stuff they think makes them look fabulous.

What goes in their heads is even less available to us especially over a distance in history.

Like ouroboros in Midgard, we get glimpses of the scaly monster of the Deep State and its apparatchiks but cannot comprehend the complete picture lest it destroy us.

Posted by: whig at August 17, 2026 12:08 PM (E4rtv)

234 he is Ukrainian boxer.
Posted by: Piper

Hah! Leaving out the article, just as a Ukrainian speaker would! Well done!

Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 12:08 PM (77rzZ)

235 Cheap rolexes? How much were they?"

Bought a gen u wine rolex and pair of "okeley" sunglasses from a guy at Times Square.
He was putting on such a show...

Posted by: man at August 17, 2026 12:08 PM (cGjQu)

236 CNN - Trump tells troops to tough it out. If onky he was as caring as the Clintons...

Is this that idiocy with the video of the "shocking" bathroom on a Navy ship?

Posted by: Ian S. at August 17, 2026 12:08 PM (2ocoG)

237 The “Submarine” I ordered from the back of the comic book was pretty underwhelming. Cardboard! Those fuckers.
Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:14 AM

You are definitely 29.
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 17, 2026 11:17 AM (bFu5X)

Oh, yeah? At least my genuine X Ray glasses worked!!

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy at August 17, 2026 12:08 PM (hmYU4)

238 You must decide. Do you want to be right or do you not want to sleep on the couch?

Posted by: Count de Monet at August 17, 2026 12:01 PM (wVcYX)

----------------

You're allowed a couch at least?

/ShainS in The DogHouse

Posted by: ShainS at August 17, 2026 12:09 PM (b0PnQ)

239
Hah! Leaving out the article, just as a Ukrainian speaker would! Well done!
Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 12:08 PM (77rzZ)

We will pretend that was on purpose. 😂

Posted by: Piper at August 17, 2026 12:09 PM (ZdaMQ)

240 Hayden Panettiere died"

The cheerleader, right?

Posted by: man at August 17, 2026 12:10 PM (cGjQu)

241 The “Submarine” I ordered from the back of the comic book was pretty underwhelming. Cardboard! Those fuckers.
Posted by: Common Tater

You are definitely 29.
Posted by: RedMindBlueState

Charles Atlas "How to not get sand kicked in your face" book.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 17, 2026 12:10 PM (AzRNx)

242 Did anyone order a subscription to Grit?"
Posted by: Bulg at August 17, 2026 11:23 AM (77rzZ)

Selling that newspaper was my first job. Didn't pay squat.
Posted by: NCDave at August 17, 2026 11:49 AM (VQC/c)

It was still a pretty cool newspaper. Had some excellent short stories in it.
Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at August 17, 2026 11:54 AM (g8Ew

Oh, I agree. I just didn't make any money selling it. Possibly my lack of sales skills...

Posted by: NCDave at August 17, 2026 12:10 PM (VQC/c)

243 Oh, yeah? At least my genuine X Ray glasses worked!!

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy at August 17, 2026 12:08 PM (hmYU4)

----------------

See-Though (Girls' Clothing) Glasses FTW ... NOT!

Posted by: ShainS at August 17, 2026 12:10 PM (b0PnQ)

244 Is this that idiocy with the video of the "shocking" bathroom on a Navy ship?

Posted by: Ian S. at August 17, 2026 12:08 PM (2ocoG)

Not sure.

I'm just giving the headlines. Probably.

Posted by: Stateless - keeping 15 year Ralphy happy and alive. Puppy at heart at August 17, 2026 12:11 PM (Sco7b)

245 Hayden Panettiere died"

The cheerleader, right?
Posted by: man

Actress. Life imitates art.
Played a strung out druggie singer on Nashville.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 17, 2026 12:11 PM (AzRNx)

246 The cheerleader, right?
Posted by: man at August 17, 2026 12:10 PM (cGjQu)

Malcolm's babysitter!

Posted by: far cry at August 17, 2026 12:12 PM (fmbc9)

247 Etsy has this problem too. People buy from their site thinking they're getting handcrafted goods and the prices usually reflect that. But they have had a huge uptick in resellers buying stuff from Temu and selling them on Etsy for 3x, 4x, or even 5x increase in price. Sometimes they even use pictures from other sellers to hide what they're doing.

Posted by: bonhomme at August 17, 2026 12:12 PM (mkw2N)

248 we need about a hundred Angletons these days, each one with the backing of a platoon of Marines deputized as federal marshals.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at August 17, 2026 12:12 PM (VyBeY)

249 Odds are it was an OD or possibly suicide.
Posted by: Elric The Blade at August 17, 2026 12:04 PM (iFTx/)

They're saying cardiac arrest from drug OD.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 12:04 PM (2YhKe)

Yeah, she was a mess. Her poor daughter has to deal not only with her mom giving up custody, but now her mom killed herself. I am hopeful her dad is solid, he is Ukrainian boxer.
Posted by: Piper at August 17, 2026 12:06 PM (ZdaMQ)
____

Wlad Klitschko. Was a major boxing talent, although could never really take a punch. Ditto his brother Vitali.

My best guess is Wlad took one too many punches to the head, but he's gotta be in better shape than she was.

Posted by: Elric The Blade at August 17, 2026 12:12 PM (iFTx/)

250 The “Submarine” I ordered from the back of the comic book was pretty underwhelming. Cardboard! Those fuckers.
Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:14 AM

You are definitely 29.
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 17, 2026 11:17 AM (bFu5X)

Oh, yeah? At least my genuine X Ray glasses worked!!
Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy at August 17, 2026 12:08 PM (hmYU4)

My remote-contolled ghost didn't. White balloon, white trash bag, and 5 ft of kite string.

Posted by: Count de Monet at August 17, 2026 12:12 PM (wVcYX)

251 Sponge gets me.

Posted by: ... at August 17, 2026 12:13 PM (rJIHE)

252 The GRIT newspaper hq was near my grandparents house. I think the building houses a heating and ac company now.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at August 17, 2026 12:13 PM (d9FiM)

253 But OrangeMan bad!!!!!

Posted by: (D)emocrats & The MSM at August 17, 2026 12:13 PM (ABp4D)

254 although whig @ 233 makes a good point, too ...

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at August 17, 2026 12:13 PM (VyBeY)

255 Seriously Georgia ? Ossoff is an ass hole...

Posted by: It's me donna at August 17, 2026 12:13 PM (ls9tU)

256 Someone tired of that as well came up with an extension to the web browser that screens out that crap. I think you can find it by search engines but caveat emptor to any software install or extension.
Posted by: whig at August 17, 2026 11:43 AM (E4rtv)

Thanks. I'll look for that.

Posted by: NCDave at August 17, 2026 12:14 PM (VQC/c)

257 Hayden Panettiere died

The cheerleader, right?

Yes. She was the cheerleader on Heroes. She was also the precocious little girl on Remember the Titans.

Posted by: bonhomme at August 17, 2026 12:14 PM (mkw2N)

258 The “Submarine” I ordered from the back of the comic book was pretty underwhelming. Cardboard! Those fuckers.
Posted by: Common Tater at August 17, 2026 11:14 AM

You are definitely 29.
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 17, 2026 11:17 AM (bFu5X)

Oh, yeah? At least my genuine X Ray glasses worked!!
Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy at August 17, 2026 12:08 PM (hmYU4)

My remote-contolled ghost didn't. White balloon, white trash bag, and 5 ft of kite string.
Posted by: Count de Monet at August 17, 2026 12:12 PM (wVcYX)
________

"Meh"

-- Sea Monkeys

Posted by: Elric The Blade at August 17, 2026 12:14 PM (iFTx/)

259 Sea monkeys

Posted by: L - No nic, another fine day at August 17, 2026 12:15 PM (NFX2v)

260 My remote-contolled ghost didn't. White balloon, white trash bag, and 5 ft of kite string.
Posted by: Count de Monet at August 17, 2026 12:12 PM (wVcYX)
________

"Meh"

-- Sea Monkeys
Posted by: Elric The Blade at August 17, 2026 12:14 PM (iFTx/)

My secret decoder ring was crap too

Posted by: Ralphie at August 17, 2026 12:15 PM (ls9tU)

261 I have a fun story involving Angleton.

If any of you are familiar with defense contractors, they often buy off military and intelligence officers with board positions.

I once worked for one such, and they brought in a couple of these guys, one of whose names most of you would know, and the other would be known to some small number of you.

They came in to this all hands meeting where most of the people were wary of, if not openly hostile toward the government, to assuage their fears.

At the end, they did this "ask us anything" segment. This was during the Snowden thing, so all the questions were about NSA culpability.

Except mine. I only asked "Was Yuri Nosenko a triple agent or not?"

It was the one question where the NSA guy said "we can't answer."

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 17, 2026 12:15 PM (BI5O2)

262 I think the building houses a heating and ac company now.

I enjoy all of the headlines from French media about air conditioning being "extremist right wing". We live in clown world.

Posted by: Ian S. at August 17, 2026 12:15 PM (2ocoG)

263 AP: After killing hundreds in boat strikes, US military expands campaign on land in Latin America

hundreds ?!?

Posted by: SMOD at August 17, 2026 12:16 PM (Urnar)

264 Yes. She was the cheerleader on Heroes. "

One of the early "streaming" shows...

Posted by: man at August 17, 2026 12:16 PM (cGjQu)

265 263 AP: After killing hundreds in boat strikes, US military expands campaign on land in Latin America

hundreds ?!?
Posted by: SMOD at August 17, 2026 12:16 PM (Urnar)

"hundreds" of innocent fishermen...

Posted by: It's me donna at August 17, 2026 12:16 PM (ls9tU)

266 Capper's Weekly was like the Pepsi to GRIT's Coke.

Anybody remember that one?

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at August 17, 2026 12:17 PM (IG3/x)

267 Speaking of GRIT, for a while I was a member of The Grange, and received their quarterly(?) newspaper. Interesting.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, not a coffee snob at August 17, 2026 12:18 PM (XeU6L)

268 255 Seriously Georgia ? Ossoff is an ass hole...
Posted by: It's me donna
========
He and Warnock were installed by the Big Cheat of 2020 and the state GOP governor and secretary of state were complicit.

Believed in part because both Kemp and Ratshitburger were deeply entwined with Chicom business interests and the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. Savannah is a big port on the East Coast now.

Posted by: whig at August 17, 2026 12:19 PM (E4rtv)

269 NOODlum.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 17, 2026 12:19 PM (2YhKe)

270 Except mine. I only asked "Was Yuri Nosenko a triple agent or not?"

It was the one question where the NSA guy said "we can't answer."
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 17, 2026 12:15 PM (BI5O2)

Heh! The concept of triple agent causes the wheels in my brain to spin wildly and smoke… it’s like I know that you know that I know that you know… etc etc

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at August 17, 2026 12:19 PM (sXOHS)

271 "Little Known Fact: The Heart song "Magic Man" was a tribute to Adam Smith."

/The Invisible Hand
Posted by: ShainS at August 17, 2026 11:55 AM (b0PnQ)
-------------------
Try to understand. Try to understand. Try Try Try. To Understand...

Posted by: Nancy Wilson, Educator at August 17, 2026 12:20 PM (B0NCh)

272 Hayden Panettiere was also in a Netflix show that I watched for some reason called Nashville. She played a rising country star. It was kind of like A Star Is Born, and surprisingly not woke.

Posted by: Ted Torgerson at August 17, 2026 12:20 PM (wGerL)

273 Two weeks ago bookmarked two computers. When back yesterday, they are no longer available and those that were close have half the memory, twice the price and bad reviews.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at August 17, 2026 12:20 PM (vOxCS)

274 I watched this YouTube video where these auto guys went thru the electronics of some Nissan automobile because the car would always start/stop.

After hours and hours, they looked at the old hood latch assembly that the owner had replaced on the car. Seems the Amazon replacement didn’t always send an obvious ‘1’ or ‘0’ with the signal somewhere in between. The car worked fine with the Nissan replacement, but not the Amazon.

Posted by: SMOD at August 17, 2026 12:21 PM (Urnar)

275 Except mine. I only asked "Was Yuri Nosenko a triple agent or not?"

It was the one question where the NSA guy said "we can't answer."
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice

One of my profs was a key Senate staffer on the Church Committee and had the clout to interview CIA directors (I had to transcribe them as a senior grad student). He was not a fan of Angleton because of the damage that Angleton's secret ops did to the overall functioning of the agency. There is a reason he got fired and it wasn't over the spy hunter nonsense that Angleton promoted.

Posted by: whig at August 17, 2026 12:21 PM (E4rtv)

276 201 and I have absolutely no clue what the names of legit manufacturers even are, because none of them are Sony or Phillips or Maxell or Bose. (yeah, that's how old I am)

i'm right here, you know

Posted by: bell & howell at August 17, 2026 12:22 PM (v3pYe)

277 199 We could use a man like JJ Angleton, for that matter.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 17, 2026 11:57 AM (BI5O2)

Yes! We need a drunk. A really good one.

Posted by: Reforger at August 17, 2026 12:23 PM (7ADiS)

278 273 Two weeks ago bookmarked two computers. When back yesterday, they are no longer available and those that were close have half the memory, twice the price and bad reviews.

you're welcome

Posted by: chatgpt, sucking up all the memory in the world at August 17, 2026 12:23 PM (v3pYe)

279 Cheap rolexes? How much were they?"

Bought a gen u wine rolex and pair of "okeley" sunglasses from a guy at Times Square.
He was putting on such a show...
Posted by: man at August 17, 2026 12:08 PM (cGjQu)

Friend of mine, coming back from his first business trip to China, thought it would be great fun to buy fake Rolexes and give them as gag Christmas gifts to his friends and families. Had ten of them on his arm when the US customs agent asked him if he had anything to declare.

Mike thought it he'd let the customs agent in on the joke and pulled up his sleeve:

Mike: "BAM!"

CA: (After an uncomfortably long pause) "Umm..I can't let you in with those."

Mike: (Sheepishly sliding his sleeve down) "You serious about that? I wuz gonna give em to my friends.."

CA: (Calculating the extra time required to have Mike in his life while paperwork was filled out) "Get outta here."

Posted by: Joe Kidd at August 17, 2026 12:24 PM (nbLIj)

280 Do this 15 second trick on your breaker box to save $$$

Posted by: SMOD at August 17, 2026 12:25 PM (Urnar)

281 It's a strange generation that orders consumable, perishable goods online. This is how you end up with explosive diarrhea.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at August 17, 2026 12:25 PM (tvdD1)

282 The best coffee I ever had was a Spanish Coffee at the Huber Cafe, the oldest restaurant in Portland, OR with a gorgeous old bar. Coffee, rum, kahlua and whipped cream that gets lit on fire.

And boy howdy, does your bartender put on a show when he makes it at your table.

Posted by: Tex Lovera at August 17, 2026 12:25 PM (wtvvX)

283 Matsushita

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at August 17, 2026 12:26 PM (vOxCS)

284 Heh! The concept of triple agent causes the wheels in my brain to spin wildly and smoke… it’s like I know that you know that I know that you know… etc etc
Posted by: LinusVanPelt
=========
Fun fact, look up the agent Tricycle-Dusko Popov. Triple agent of Yugoslav (IIRC) origin in WWII. He worked for Abwehr, MI-6, and Yugo Intel. Solid claims that he warned Hoover of specific interests of the Japanese in Pearl Harbor but Hoover discounted it because a) foreign, b) double agent spy perhaps a triple.

Posted by: whig at August 17, 2026 12:26 PM (E4rtv)

285 282 The best coffee I ever had was a Spanish Coffee at the Huber Cafe, the oldest restaurant in Portland, OR with a gorgeous old bar. Coffee, rum, kahlua and whipped cream that gets lit on fire.

And boy howdy, does your bartender put on a show when he makes it at your table.
Posted by: Tex Lovera

The bartender is combining two old methods to prevent food or drink from harming you--alcohol and flames. You should thank him/her for that.

Posted by: whig at August 17, 2026 12:29 PM (E4rtv)

286 Seems the Amazon replacement didn’t always send an obvious ‘1’ or ‘0’ with the signal somewhere in between.

Many such cases, and not just Amazon. Any non-OEM part you get at O'Reilly or whatever is probably Chinese and may or may not work. It's especially true of anything electrical like a sensor, but even purely mechanical parts sometimes just don't fit.

Posted by: Ian S. at August 17, 2026 12:30 PM (2ocoG)

287 Nood Swalwell.

Posted by: bonhomme at August 17, 2026 12:31 PM (mkw2N)

288 eBay FTW.

Posted by: creeper at August 17, 2026 12:31 PM (jl6TJ)

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