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To: whoever; noone; SOMEONE; pluto; saturn; Mars; moon

Chinese pirates batter German toys

By Ray Furlong
BBC News, Seiffen, east Germany


Volker Flath's workshops are a hive of Christmas activity.
In one corner, he turns out Christmas trees that are each just a few centimetres tall, while nearby a colleague works on a noisy lathe producing parts for a Christmas pyramid.

Elsewhere, an employee sits furiously painting hundreds of Santa Claus figures in minute detail.

It is like this every year for the woodcarvers of Seiffen, a village of just 2,000 people, which has around 100 producers of wooden toys and ornaments.

"We've got three generations working in our business," says Mr Flath.

"My father still works here, I do, and my son is an apprentice. The training period lasts three years."

Seiffen has been home to the woodcarving industry since the tin mines were exhausted in the 18th Century.

Now though, the tradition is coming under threat from cheap Chinese imitations.

Government campaign

"It's a problem.

"These imitations cause huge losses to the toy-makers, and the customers now don't know what they're buying," says Mr Flath.

"I can only say: be careful! Check what you buy has a certificate of authenticity, and buy it from a specialist shop.

"There are ways to tell the difference."

The problem has been taken head-on by one of the region's largest manufacturers, KWO.


It has recently won a seven-year legal battle to prevent the import of just one particular product.
Sitting in an Aladdin's Cave of elaborate music boxes, pyramids and "smokers" - ornaments of men smoking pipes, in which incense can be burned - export manager Lennart Brauser-Jung says he is expecting more litigation, from Germany and abroad.


"The German importer is no longer allowed to import and sell this product, an imitation Smoker, to Germany.

"But we think it's still being produced in China and sold to other countries like the United States," he says.

"The imitations look very similar but they're not as good as the original.

"For example, they use different paints, the body has stains on it, and on parts of the figurine you can see glue."

Cut-price imports

Chinese products now account for more than half of all German toy imports, so it is no surprise the woodcarvers of Seiffen should also fall prey to them.

The German government has just launched a campaign warning of safety problems with many of the toys.

Klaus Piepel, from the German charity Misereor, recently visited Chinese workers in Shenzhen - and says they work under sweatshop conditions.


"The factories are mostly staffed by migrant labourers who get 50-60 euros (£35-£42) a month.
"They work 14-hour days, seven days a week, without breaks," he says.


"Traditional handcrafted wooden toys are also being reproduced in this way, and at such a low cost that the German manufacturers can't compete."

But the issue is especially important for Seiffen, and the Erzgebirge mountain region where it lies.

The local unemployment rate is 20%.

So the industry and the tourists it attracts are a crucial boost for the economy.

Also, the small family-run businesses often lack the resources of large toy-makers to fight the competition, on the market or in court.

It is a cruel irony that the local toy industry was first successful because of its low prices.

The former miners turned their hands to making first utensils, then toys and ornaments.

Preserving traditions

And soon they were exporting to the whole of Europe.

Their success seemed in no doubt for generations.

"We remained a family business even under the communists, like many in Seiffen," says Volker Flath.

"They needed us for getting hard currency from the West."

As we spoke, a light snow was falling outside.

Tourists were drinking mulled wine on the village's chocolate box main street, illuminated by multi-coloured Christmas lights.

In the evening, a mouth-organ choir held a concert at the village's unique, octagonal Baroque church, another tourist attraction.

Even here, there are hand-carved wooden toys on the walls.

The whole region lives from traditions that it is now fighting to preserve.

90 posted on 12/24/2004 6:16:31 PM PST by restornu (KNEEL TO HEAVEN WITH IT ALL!)
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To: restornu; everyone

Goodnight Resty,...all. We had a wonderful evening. Talked to the kids, and all my extended family, and had a wonderful time listening to new CD's and eating some good food.

Merry Christmas to all.. and to all a Goodnight!


91 posted on 12/24/2004 6:54:29 PM PST by grannie9
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To: mysterious; grannie9; lodwick; prairiebreeze; Sundog; fanfan
Huygens' campaign will begin on Christmas Day, when Cassini is due to fire retaining bolts holding down its 319kg passenger.

NEW PROB ON CHRISTMAS

The Huygens spacecraft is about to begin the final leg of its journey to Saturn's enigmatic moon Titan.

____________________________________________________________






Revelation 13: The English King James version Bible code - Part 12a - Is there Life outside Earth in our Solar System - on Mars, Europa, or Titan?


****


Pseudepigrapha
... of Enoch (1968); GW Nickelsburg, Jewish Literature between the Bible and the ... mould,
Uranus becomes Noah; Shem, Ham, and Japheth are Saturn, Titan, and Japetus ...


***


Titans will return to Earth, as in the past. They'll claim to be from Saturn's moon Titan. It's the only planet or moon in our system with a substantial atmosphere. It's covered by a thick cloud that conveniently blocks our view of the surface. And the timing of all this fits with the Cassini probe mission to Saturn/Titan in 2004. Having a hard time believing NASA would have anything to do with Masonic symbolism? Go to www.enterprisemission.com and look at the facts outlined there. I'll let you decide for yourself as I did.


I am an investigator by nature and look for clues to understanding history and things from the pass even if it is to peek in on someone elses gathering pieces I need not agree with their interpretation only gather knowledge

Con't

***

How the Hellenes were created


The second generation Titan Prometheus was initially not punished, as his relatives such as Atlas who participated in the Titanomachy, a fight with the father of all Gods Zeus. Prometheus was asked of forming man from water and earth, which he did, but in the process, became fonder of men than Zeus had anticipated. Zeus didn't share Prometheus' feelings and wanted to keep men from having power, especially of fire. Prometheus cared more for man than for the wrath of the increasingly powerful and autocratic Zeus, so he stole fire from Zeus' lightning, concealed it in a hollow stalk of fennel, and brought it to man. He also stole skills from Hephaestus and Athena to gave to man.

The Worship of Saturn


CONNECT THE DOTS....TITAN...SATURN...PAGAN ....NASA.....BIBLE....SATURNALIA....CHRISTMAS.... ETC. CONNECT THE DOTS OF HISTORY!

93 posted on 12/24/2004 7:35:43 PM PST by restornu (KNEEL TO HEAVEN WITH IT ALL!)
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