Friday - April 04, 2008

Poison Toothpaste story gets PC filtering

Recently, Detroit-based Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided a warehouse full of smuggled counterfeit merchandise in suburban Detroit’s Oakland County. The merchandise is sold at cut-rate prices to operators of dollar stores throughout the Detroit area who then pass on the phony stuff on their customers, mostly poorer people looking for a bargain in a tough Michigan economy.

But the merchandise is not only phony, it’s poisonous. That includes toxic toothpaste containing “Diethelen Glycol [which] can cause paralysis of your facial muscles and cause brain swelling and can make your kidney’s fail.”

This is pretty bad. The counterfeit toothpaste to look out for is made to look just like Colgate, but you have to read the carton closely to spot the fake. If you see “South Africa” anywhere, it’s a phony. Colgate does not import toothpaste from South Africa.

But once again we have a story within a story. Debbie is reporting on the reporter, Bob Ellis, a guy she went to school with. He did a good investigative piece (watch the video) which lead to the ICE raid, but he left out certain basic details.

the most important things in reporting were “The Five Ws"--Who, What, Where, When, and Why. So, why is Ellis’ operation now omitting the first “W"--the “Who"--a basic tenet of objective journalism?

Well, apparently because--in the mainstream media, especially Detroit’s media--two other letters, P and C, too frequently trump that W.

I’m not going to tell you who was behind the counterfeiting ring, you’ll have to go and read her article. And to see how she ties it in with several other counterfeiting busts. But it won’t surprise you much. I’ve been hearing similar stories for several years now, where certain small business owners are making a lot of cash selling phony merchandise, or selling cigarettes illegally ... and the allegation that the profits somehow appear to be making their way overseas to a certain sandy area southeast of the Mediterranean.

Many many years ago, Lenin said “The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.” It looks like somebody has learned that lesson really well.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/04/2008 at 10:45 AM   
Filed Under: • Crime • RoPMA •  
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