Our good friends the Chinese are making headlines for proving the old axiom: It's easy to build a trade surplus when you're selling nothing but crap and the whole world is buying.

It appears the Chinese manufacturing industry's modus operandi is to take pictures of stuff other countries produce, and then make Chinese stuff that looks just like it. Without worrying about what's underneath. This is a relatively harmless practice when it involves gravel or even "Welcome" mats for the front porch. It's not so great for pharmaceuticals or car tires.

Or barbecues, which just breaks my heart.

Those of you who really, REALLY need to move on in your regular travels around the blogosphere may recall that seemingly glorious day two years ago when we acquired the most wonderful barbecue of all, which had us teetering on the brink of idolatry.

Well, last week after dinner, when the barbecue had cooled off we closed it up and put the cover on, as we always do. Later that night, like around 2:00 am, I was letting the puppy out and happened to put my hand on the barbecue, and it was warm. Turns out, the left side burner had managed to re-light itself and would in fact not turn off. I frantically reached below and turned off the propane tank valve, breathed a sigh of relief that I had happened to go outside and touch the grill before our house burned down, and then cursed the Chinese at the top of my lungs.

That's the Surefire Sonoma Grill from Costco, folks. It only cost $499 while comparable U.S.-built models would run well over $1000. And as an added bonus it will eventually blow up your house. Frankly, I would not buy any of the Chinese-made grills at Costco or anywhere else. In fact, I strongly recommend that we all make an effort to avoid buying ANY Chinese-made crap anywhere in the world. (See below for more background information on Chinese made crap.)

To kick off this important movement, I propose the following "Buy American" themed attire, which is all U.S. made, and gently chides the Chinese for their dangerous, donkey-sucking industries.

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