Los Angeles Times

choi

(1) Tiffany Hsu and David Pierson, In-N-Out vs CaliBurger: Double-Double Trouble in Shanghai. In-N-Out sued when a rival seemed to copy its signature burger. The menu names have changed, but not the drive for a California-style fast-food foothold in China. LA Times, Feb 10, 2012
http://www.latimes.com/business/ ... ble-double-20120211,0,551948.story

Quote:

"The burger battle is just the latest skirmish over intellectual property in China, where pirated movies and merchandise are giving way to knockoff services and retail businesses.

"CaliBurger uses Australian beef instead of American meat because of import restrictions, chef de cuisine Wong said. The company imports Land O' Lakes cheese and frozen French fries from the US.

Note:
(a) In-N-Out Burger
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-N-Out_Burger
(Founded in 1948 by Harry Snyder and his wife Esther, establishing the first In-N-Out burger in Baldwin Park[, a city in California] and headquartered in Irvine, California)
(b)
(i) Double-Double is the double cheese burger in the left.
http://www.in-n-out.com/menu.asp
(ii) Animal Style (registered trademark)
http://www.in-n-out.com/secretmenu.asp
(c) CaliBurger
http://caliburger.asia/

Click "About CaliBurger" in the top horizontal bar.
(c) Shanghaiist made fun of CaliBurger.

CaliBurger Bringing 'Patented' In-N-Out Knockoffs to Shanghai This Fall. Oct 26, 2011
http://shanghaiist.com/2011/10/2 ... patented_in-n-o.php
("CaliBurger is launching its first restaurant in Shanghai, China in Fall 2011"; CaliBurger's 48RMB DoubleDouble and 28RMB Bourbon-spiked milkshakes)

Quotation 2 explains why the menu is so expensive, even for Americans.
(d) Hercules, California
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules,_California
(e) Dairy Fairy, Pizza Huh and Jambo Juice are travesty of Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut and Jamba Juice, respectively.

Jamba Juice
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamba_Juice
(headquartered in Emeryville[a small city bracketed by Berkeley and Oakland], California; founded in 1990 by Kirk Perron)
(f) Grab-N-Go Burger
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=137571036290019
(at Aberdeen, Maryland)
(g) banquette (n; French, from Old Occitan banqueta, diminutive of banc bench): "a long upholstered bench"
www.m-w.com

The "cream-colored banquettes and chessboard floors" decor (mentioned in web page 2) can be foound in the photo (in web page 1 of the report).
(h) rip-off (n; First Known Use 1969):
"1: an act or instance of stealing : THEFT; also : a financial exploitation
2: a usually cheap exploitive imitation"


(2) Ronald D White, California Sets New Export Record, Eclipsing an 11-Year-Old Mark. LA Times, Feb 10, 2012.
http://www.latimes.com/business/ ... rnia-trade-20120210,0,4167926.story

Quote:

"The US trade deficit increase substantially last year, but one bright spot in the mix was California. * * * California's $159.35 billion in exports in 2011 was an 11.2% increase over the $143.27 billion recorded the year before. Adjusted for inflation, it also topped by 2% the old record set during the dot-com boom in 2000. Economists said it was a sign of the state's strong recovery and economic resilience.

"Also encouraging was the fact that the exports were led by sales of high-technology goods such as electronics products, industrial machinery and medical equipment, the Beacon report said.

"As a group, manufactured exports were up 7.3% to $102.11 billion in 2011 compared with the previous year. Non-manufactured exports were up 15.9% to $20.21 billion. The latter category includes items like raw materials and agricultural produce.

"Mexico was California’s leading export market last year, followed by Canada, China, Japan and South Korea, the report said.

(3) Adriana Leon and Chris Kraul, In Latin America, Chinese Cars Are Gaining Buyers. Chinese brands, with their low prices, are selling like hot cakes as Latin America's consumer class expands amid rising incomes. LA Times, Feb 10, 2012
http://www.latimes.com/news/nati ... china-cars-20120210,0,4792228.story
(a two-year warranty; Chery, Great Wall, JAC, Brilliance and Sinotruk)

Quote:

"Chinese cars were introduced in Peru in 2006 and now one in six new cars sold here is a Chinese make.

"'What makes Chinese cars so much cheaper? Start with labor,' Vildozo said, noting that a typical Chinese autoworker makes $300 to $400 a month, a fraction of the $2,000 to $3,000 in wages that Mexican workers make or the $5,000 to $7,000 a month that U.S. auto workers average. Another price advantage, said Jian Sun, a partner with AT Kearney business consultants in Shanghai, stems from the 'reverse engineering,' or design and mechanical imitation, that many Chinese carmakers use in competing models to save them the expense of designing new models from scratch.

"The expanding new-car market is what attracted Chinese automakers, who see Latin America as a proving ground for its plan to conquer the world car market in coming decades. According to AT Kearney, China exported 800,000 cars last year * * * The Latin focus is also explained, AT Kearney's Jian said, by the fact that Chinese manufacturers are not yet prepared to tackle the U.S. and European markets, which are more demanding in quality and emissions standards. The competition is less intense and the regulatory restrictions are lower in emerging markets, he said. China and these regions share similar road conditions, emission controls and safety standards.

Note: crummy (adj):
"1 obsolete : CRUMBLY
2: very poor or inferior : LOUSY <crummy weather> <has a crummy job>"


(4) Henry Chu, Scotland Likely to Hold a Vote on Independence From Britain. LA Times, Feb 10, 2012.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nati ... dependence-20120210,0,4050615.story

Note:
(a) Stirling
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling
(The origin of the name Stirling is uncertain)

Quote:

"The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth. Historically it was strategically important as the 'Gateway to the Highlands,' with its position near the boundary between the Scottish Lowlands and Highlands, and its crossing of the Forth, the nearest to the river mouth.

"Major battles during the Wars of Scottish Independence took place at the Stirling Bridge in 1297 and at the nearby village of Bannockburn in 1314 involving William Wallace and Robert the Bruce respectively.

(b) Braveheart
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braveheart
(a 1995 film; Wallace leads his army to victory [against King Edward I of England, nicknamed Longshanks] at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, as well as the sacking of the city of York. All the while, He seeks the assistance of Robert the Bruce)

(i) Battle of Stirling Bridge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stirling_Bridge
(in the First War of Scottish Independence; On Sept 11, 1297)
(ii) First War of Scottish Independence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_War_of_Scottish_Independence
(1296-1328; The First War of Scottish Independence lasted from the invasion by England in 1296 until the de jure restoration of Scottish independence with the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton in 1328. De facto independence had been established in 1314 at the Battle of Bannockburn)
(iii) Wars of Scottish Independence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_Scottish_Independence
(Second War of Independence: 1332–1357; The wars were important for other reasons, such as the emergence of the longbow as a key weapon in medieval warfare)
(iv) longbow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longbow
(section 1 History)


(5) Nita Lelyveld, The Fleeting Memories of Angel Island. People who immigrated to the U.S. through Angel Island as children share their memories 72 years after the station in the San Francisco Bay was closed. LA Times, Feb 9, 2012
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-angel-island-20120209,0,1157744.story
("'We as Japanese didn't have to suffer like the Chinese people did,' [Marye] Kimoto said. 'We just ran around and had a good time'"

Note:
(a) The report has this to say about Marye Kimoto

"The two sisters, Kimoto and Saito [then 5 and 6 years old; arriving in early 1930s], were born in California. Their family had returned to Japan for several years, but the girls and their father were on their way back to California for good when Bess got chicken pox on the boat trip. They stayed on the island only about a week while she was quarantined."

(i) Presumably they got better treatment because the sisters were US citizens, and their father had lived in US. At the time of their 1930s arrival, National Origins Act of 1924 was in effect. See next.
(ii) Chinese Exclusion Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Exclusion_Act

Quote: "the Chinese Exclusion Act did not address the problems that whites were facing; in fact, the Chinese were quickly and eagerly replaced by the Japanese, who assumed the role of the Chinese in society. Unlike the Chinese, some Japanese were even able to climb the rungs of society by setting up businesses or becoming truck farmers. However, the Japanese were later targeted in the National Origins Act of 1924, which banned immigration from east Asia entirely. In 1891 the Government of China refused to accept the US senator Mr Henry W. Blair as U.S. Minister to China due to his abusive remarks regarding China during negotiation of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

(b) United States Immigration Station, Angel Island
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Immigration_Station,_Angel_Island
(Angel Island, "the Ellis Island of the West"; 1910-1940; section 2 Immigrant perspectives)