...As you have probably heard by now, the toy [Thomas] trains are manufactured in China, and one of the factories that makes them has been using lead paint for the last couple of years...[This] is about the realities of offshoring…Secrecy…keeps competitors from finding out tricks of the trade…and it prevents activists from criticizing a company for the working conditions in a factory where its products are made. The companies get the cost advantages of outsourcing without the publicity disadvantages…[refers to RC2, HIT Entertainment, Walt Disney, Nickelodeon (part of Viacom), and Nike]