The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: Teresa Heilevang on November 26, 2011, 11:35:50 AM
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I know that this piece is quite long but.... It's about you, your family, your kids, grand-kids... so get ready because... CHANGES ARE COMING... and there is is probably NOTHING you can do about it!
1. The Post Office.
Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably noway to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.
2. The Check.
Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.
3. The Newspaper.
The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.
4. The Book.
You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading music from iTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.
5. The Land Line Telephone.
Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they've always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes.
6. Music.
This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalog items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. Older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies."
7. Television.
Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they're playing games and doing lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV. Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it. It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.
8. The "Things" That You Own.
Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in "The Cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "Cloud Services." That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet Cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the Cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the Cloud provider.
In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Think about that!!! Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical??? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD or DVD case and pull out the insert.
9. Privacy.
If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7, "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. And "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again.
All we will have that can't be changed are Memories.
10. Facts About The Deindustrialization Of America That Will Blow Your Mind.
The United States is rapidly becoming the very first "post-industrial" nation on the globe. All great economic empires eventually become fat and lazy and squander the great wealth that their forefathers have left them, but the pace at which America is accomplishing this is absolutely amazing. It was America that was at the forefront of the industrial revolution. It was America that showed the world how to mass produce everything from automobiles to televisions to airplanes. It was the great American manufacturing base that crushed Germany and Japan in World War II in three years and eight months!.
But now we are witnessing the deindustrialization of America .... Tens of thousands of factories have left the United States in the past decade alone. Millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost in the same time period. The United States has become a nation that consumes everything in sight and yet produces increasingly very little. Do you know what our biggest export is today? Waste paper. Yes, trash is the number one thing that we ship out to the rest of the world as we voraciously blow our money on whatever the rest of the world wants to sell to us. The United States has become bloated and spoiled and our economy is now just a shadow of what it once was.
Once upon a time America could literally out produce the rest of the world combined. Today that is no longer true, but Americans sure do consume more than anyone else in the world. If the de-industrialization of America continues at this current pace, what possible kind of a future are we going to be leaving to our children and our grand-children???
Any great nation throughout history has been great at making things. So if the United States continues to allow its manufacturing base to erode at a staggering pace how in the world can the U.S. continue to consider itself to be a great nation? We have created the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world in an effort to maintain a very high standard of living, but the current state of affairs is not anywhere close to sustainable. Every single month America goes into more debt and every single month America gets poorer.
So what happens when the debt bubble pops?
The de-industrialization of the United States should be a top concern for every man, woman and child in the country. But sadly, most Americans do not have any idea what is going on around them.
For people like that, take this article and print it out and hand it to them. Perhaps what they will read below will shock them badly enough to awaken them from their slumber.
The following are 19 facts about the de-industrialization of America that will blow your mind....
#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001. About 75 percent of those factories employed over 500 people when they were still in operation.
#2 Dell Inc., one of Americas largest manufacturers of computers, has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.
#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in November. Approximately 900 jobs will be lost.
#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cell phones were sold worldwide. So how many of them were manufactured inside the United States? Zero.
#5 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.
#6 As of the end of July, the U. S. Trade deficit with China has risen 18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.
#7 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000.
#8 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008, employment at the foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30 percent to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American multinational corporations declined 8 percent to 21.1 million.
#9 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.
#10 Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul, Minnesota. Approximately 750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global" manufacturing strategy.
#11 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.
#12 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services.
#13 The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
#14 In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.
#15 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.
#16 Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different products. Asia now produces 84 percent of them worldwide.
#17 The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States .
#18 One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.
#19 The U.S. Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of poor Americans in the 51 years that records have been kept.
So how many tens of thousands more factories do we need to lose before we do something about it?
How many millions more Americans are going to become unemployed before we all admit that we have a very, very serious problem on our hands?
How many more trillions of dollars are going to leave the country before we realize that we are losing wealth at a pace that is killing our economy?
How many once great manufacturing cities are going to become rotting war zones like Detroit before we understand that we are committing national economic suicide?
The de-industrialization of America is a national crisis. It needs to be treated like one.
If you disagree with this article, I have a direct challenge for you. If anyone can explain how a de-industrialized America has any kind of viable economic future, please do so. (I won't hold my breath on this one).
America is in deep, deep doo-doo, folks.
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This is why we have a "rust belt". The greatest manufacturing base in the world after WWII has become a wasteland of 10's of millions of square feet of empty buildings littering Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania etc.... It's been going on for the last thirty years and yet, most of these states continue to elect the same lame-ass politicians!
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Hi;
The one thing that I believe that you missed was UNION's. At one time they were good things to belong to. Now they are in my opinion anti-worker political fund raisers. 1 local electrical union will not do a job unless it is over $250,000. I thought they were about keeping workers working and providing "skilled" labor in the process.
If the union could keep 2-3-4 guys working all year long on those "low" dollar value jobs - is that not better than to have the workers work 9 months out of the year and idle for the other 3 ?
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Hi;
The one thing that I believe that you missed was UNION's. At one time they were good things to belong to. Now they are in my opinion anti-worker political fund raisers. 1 local electrical union will not do a job unless it is over $250,000. I thought they were about keeping workers working and providing "skilled" labor in the process.
If the union could keep 2-3-4 guys working all year long on those "low" dollar value jobs - is that not better than to have the workers work 9 months out of the year and idle for the other 3 ?
No "skim" on the small jobs, no kick backs and no way to hide the "no show" jobs for relatives and friends.
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No "skim" on the small jobs, no kick backs and no way to hide the "no show" jobs for relatives and friends.
it didn't use to be like that. Atleast locally, now what did happen alot is if a builder didn't pay, he had several hundred union members looking for them. when found, they either paid or were found dead.
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Damn, Teresa...you're starting to sound like me!
Michael B
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!
Gee Thanks... :'(
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The one thing that I believe that you missed was UNION's. At one time they were good things to belong to. Now they are in my opinion anti-worker political fund raisers.
Very true. Another is the lack of today's young people to have the desire to learn a trade. I've been a Moldmaker / CNC Aerospace Machinist all of my life. In 1971 I started my Apprenticeship. It took a total of 5 years to complete working 10 and 11 hour days, while going to school 2 nights a week. When I completed my training I received a certificate from the United States Department Of Labor which is on file in Washington D.C.
Within 2 years after I completed it, the Federal Apprenticeship Program was halted. From that point on skilled machinists became harder and harder to find. Today there are few if any coming into the trade. The average age of the tradesmen in my shop is in the mid to late 40's. There was an article about a shop that had openings for well over 100 machinist jobs. The owner had to hire from the Asian overseas job market because he couldn't find anyone here capable to do the work. In another few years this is all that will be out there for US companies to hire. If we wanted to make anything, how could we with idiots like these?
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HMMM, BOSS LADY. SOUNDS LIKE YOU NEED TO RUN FOR PREZ!!! SO SAD YET SO TRUE. THE ARGUEMENT AGAINST ALL THOSE NEW-FANGLED GADGETS & TECHNOLOGY IS WHEN YOU LOSE THE POWER GRID, YOU LOSE YOUR GADGETS!!
THAT'S WHY I REPLACED MY PELLET STOVE W/ A WOOD STOVE & I WILL KEEP ALL MY REAL BOOKS & MAGS. EVEN THO' MY KIDS & GRANDKIDS GIVE ME A HARD TIME! ::) ::) :-[
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Very true. Another is the lack of today's young people to have the desire to learn a trade. I've been a Moldmaker / CNC Aerospace Machinist all of my life. In 1971 I started my Apprenticeship. It took a total of 5 years to complete working 10 and 11 hour days, while going to school 2 nights a week. When I completed my training I received a certificate from the United States Department Of Labor which is on file in Washington D.C.
Within 2 years after I completed it, the Federal Apprenticeship Program was halted. From that point on skilled machinists became harder and harder to find. Today there are few if any coming into the trade. The average age of the tradesmen in my shop is in the mid to late 40's. There was an article about a shop that had openings for well over 100 machinist jobs. The owner had to hire from the Asian overseas job market because he couldn't find anyone here capable to do the work. In another few years this is all that will be out there for US companies to hire. If we wanted to make anything, how could we with idiots like these?
Very true, ever since the 80's I have always been one of the younger guys in every machine shop or sheet metal shop I've worked in.
About the video, he was dumb to have his foot up there, but I don't understand what happened.
The spindle was off when he started to tighten the chuck, and he wasn't even on the same side of the machine as the power switch ??? Unless he hit it with the wrench ???
Or had it turned on with just the brake applied, but then he could not have moved the spindle with the wrench. ???
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I'm not a machinist and I don't play one on TV but I've worked with tradesman and experienced machinists for years. One company I worked for recently was buying high end machining equipment and allowing unqualified people to try and figure out how to use them. The machine work wasn't difficult by any stretch of the imagination but it still caused lots of problems.
We were making parts for gas turbines from Hast-X, Inconel, HS-188, L605, etc....the stuff is really hard on tooling and expensive as all get out. It made for some really expensive mistakes.
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Same thing at my last employer, vertical mill with high precision ceramic sleeves instead of bearings, inexperienced operators screwed with the program, it zigged, when it should have zagged and the machine was down for 4 months while the head was sent back to Korea to replace the $50K ceramic sleeves that shattered.
So they put that operator on the brand new horizontal mill by the same company where he proceeded to crash about once a week for several months.
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for 9 years I was allowed to use a brush, and only a brush to paint EVERY THING with it. just like it was back when being a union painter actually ment something. I have little doubt that is what tuaght me how to actually paint and attention to detail.
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HMMM, BOSS LADY. SOUNDS LIKE YOU NEED TO RUN FOR PREZ!!! SO SAD YET SO TRUE. THE ARGUEMENT AGAINST ALL THOSE NEW-FANGLED GADGETS & TECHNOLOGY IS WHEN YOU LOSE THE POWER GRID, YOU LOSE YOUR GADGETS!!
THAT'S WHY I REPLACED MY PELLET STOVE W/ A WOOD STOVE & I WILL KEEP ALL MY REAL BOOKS & MAGS. EVEN THO' MY KIDS & GRANDKIDS GIVE ME A HARD TIME! ::) ::) :-[
Very True. While I'm a big Kindle fan and user, I try to keep a hard copy of any reference or technical material.
The gadgets might last for awhile with alternative power sources, but sooner or later they are gonna go....but then so is paper....and you aren't gonna pack a 300 book library anywhere.
some type of micro-fiche type of storage for documents and a natural light reader might be a solution.
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some type of micro-fiche type of storage for documents and a natural light reader might be a solution.
Wait just a darn minute....
I have my Great-Grandfathers School books, from the turn of the 19th and 20th century, I also have numerous books, including my Grandfather's Bluejackets Manual from WWII.
I have a lithograph silver plate album shot with gunpowder flash from 1871 of my family in Sapulpa, OK. These and numerous books on American Literature, Almanac's, Encyclopedia's, etc,... shall not fall from my family.
Even my Norman Rockwell. These pages will be cared for to the bitter end. If for some reason, they cannot be, the foundation of my families Bible will have to do.
The history, and legacy of this country will not be on microfiche CD-ROM,, or slides,...but in the hands of citizens, that kept hard-bound books.
They are like gold. Keep your books at all costs. It will matter going forward.
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some type of micro-fiche type of storage for documents and a natural light reader might be a solution.
Wait just a darn minute....
I have my Great-Grandfathers School books, from the turn of the 19th and 20th century, I also have numerous books, including my Grandfather's Bluejackets Manual from WWII.
I have a lithograph silver plate album shot with gunpowder flash from 1871 of my family in Sapulpa, OK. These and numerous books on American Literature, Almanac's, Encyclopedia's, etc,... shall not fall from my family.
Even my Norman Rockwell. These pages will be cared for to the bitter end. If for some reason, they cannot be, the foundation of my families Bible will have to do.
The history, and legacy of this country will not be on microfiche CD-ROM,, or slides,...but in the hands of citizens, that kept hard-bound books.
They are like gold. Keep your books at all costs. It will matter going forward.
How far can your family carry them on their back in the rain if need be?
Not saying they should be burned or buried, but a portable reference library might come in handy.
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Well,,...your right Solus...They cannot be carried in a bug out situation. That being said, the situations leading up to that point matter.
When the Waffen SS burned books in Jewish neighborhoods, they were already disarmed. Damn shame. But not this time.
There were no duplicates in Pompeii either, so you have a point.
If it comes to that, in this country, we will be re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic....
Have a plan.
Resist the best you can.
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The Dead Sea scrolls lasted 2000 years stored properly.
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The Dead Sea scrolls lasted 2000 years stored properly.
While this is true, they wouldn't have been much use to folks if they contained needed "day to day" information.
Preserving books long term tends to limit their active use and while I am a fan of the Kindle and the convenience of having 3000 books of all sorts that can be carried in a cargo pocket, I realize the technology might not always be available for books with critically needed information.
The only compact, fairly durable and non-technology dependent media I am familiar with is micro-fiche. It can be read with any light source and a magnifying glass.
Yeah...it's a major SHTF and TEOTWAWKI but if building a library that will withstand that is relatively painless, why not?
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Not really arguing the point, just saying.
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Read Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451!
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The Dead Sea scrolls lasted 2000 years stored properly.
And that "Shroud thingy" wouldn't even wash out with new, improved Tide! ;D
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Home CD's & DVD's are supposed to degrade over time. Flash drives, on the other hand, probably will last much longer. The price on flash drives is pretty good for a "permanent" media. Now, how long will they last I dunno. Two generations would probably be enough.
Also, the decline in the US will continue until the "workers" revolt against the parasites. Will it happen? When? Who knows, but this class warfare stuff the liberals are putting out everywhere may be the catalyst...2012 will be an interesting summer and may foretell future direction. Despite all this, even in a communist regime educated professionals live better than peasants and knowing how to work and actually self-motivating one's self to work has some enhanced value even in a worker's paradise. I think the bottom line is to raise children with good work ethics and education so they can do well on whatever is on the other side.
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Marshall'ete wrote:
#10 Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul, Minnesota. Approximately 750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global" manufacturing strategy.
I bet that Ford Ranger would sell if it came with a 4 cylinder diesel standard and got close to 50 MPG.
I am really jones'ing for a Volkswagen, probably a Jetta with the TDI . I am tiring of feeding my F-150 which gets somewhere between 13 and 16 MPG.
I would really like to try to make my own bio-diesel out of french fry grease, but that is a thread for another time.
as far as getting away from checks, in general, I think there is a move away from cash anyway....keeping everything electronic makes it easier to tax.
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Ford is no longer producing the Ranger after 2011. They're retiring the little truck after three decades because the F150 gets nearly as good MPG or better in a full size truck. It's probably too costly for Ford to re-tool the plant to produce something else. They will still make them for other foreign markets but it makes no sense to make a truck in MN that's going to Oz...
Of the Big Three, I think Ford is doing it's best to produce more domestically for our domestic market.
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I did some Christmas shopping yesterday (Yes I know it is New Years, but everyone is shopping on Christmas Eve, so I moved our family Christmas to December 30th) and all I did was get frustrated. I was looking for just a few special things for the wife, daughter and s-i-l. This is never an easy task, but on a couple of the items I also wanted made in the USA.
If you want an irritating day, try to purchase a made in USA fishing reel. I went to one mom and pop bait shop and two big box stores. It is no surprise that the results were the same, because everyone carries the same products.
I know that there is a lot of blame of our own governments (local, state and federal) for why business is leaving, there is also a lot of bottom line drive by business itself, but how many of us as consumers are driving this. How many of us are more concerned about low price than where it is made. Or should I phrase it in a more personal way - We are more concerned with paying the lowest price than we are about our neighbors and friends have good, well paying jobs.
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Ford is no longer producing the Ranger after 2011. They're retiring the little truck after three decades because the F150 gets nearly as good MPG or better in a full size truck. It's probably too costly for Ford to re-tool the plant to produce something else. They will still make them for other foreign markets but it makes no sense to make a truck in MN that's going to Oz...
Of the Big Three, I think Ford is doing it's best to produce more domestically for our domestic market.
Yep. A few weeks ago Pres BHO was on 60 Minutes bragging about how he saved the auto industry and saved the U.S. economy with that move. The next day the big news - the news that dominated our local print and airwaves for two weeks - was the closing of the Ford plant in St. Paul. After nearly a century a plant that has cranked out several models and that generated its own electricity through hydro is no more, and the good jobs that came with it are gone. Good save Mr. President >:(
To compound this travesty, the local government is taking the lead on "developing" the property. Are they looking to bring in new industry? Hell no!!! They want to turn it into a "model community." They want it to have housing, shopping and recreation all confined with in a small footprint. How many of the tax dollars they just lost to a foreign country are they counting on to pay for this joke?
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I did some Christmas shopping yesterday (Yes I know it is New Years, but everyone is shopping on Christmas Eve, so I moved our family Christmas to December 30th) and all I did was get frustrated. I was looking for just a few special things for the wife, daughter and s-i-l. This is never an easy task, but on a couple of the items I also wanted made in the USA.
If you want an irritating day, try to purchase a made in USA fishing reel. I went to one mom and pop bait shop and two big box stores. It is no surprise that the results were the same, because everyone carries the same products.
http://www.ardentreels.com/index.asp
Never tried them Mike. I use Garcia and Shimano myself for the most part. There might be several US Reel companies out there but you won't find them at Dick's Sporting Goods. Try Cabelas or Bass Pro, you'll have better luck.
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I know I always say this when the "buy American" subject comes up, but I believe it's an important factor.
For many it is a choice between affording the foreign made item and not affording the US made item.
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I know I always say this when the "buy American" subject comes up, but I believe it's an important factor.
For many it is a choice between affording the foreign made item and not affording the US made item.
I agree that often it is about "affording." However, many times it is about stuff we don't need so much of anyway. There are also enough of us with disposable income that we can afford to support our local economies and friends by paying for the benefits. The key to this is that they actually produce a product that justifies this (there is made in the USA stuff that is just as bad as made in China, but there is also made in the USA that is far better and a far better value).
I think everyone needs to watch the Made in the USA segments on ABC and start shopping accordingly. I have seen a couple of these, and they are eye opening!
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I bet that Ford Ranger would sell if it came with a 4 cylinder diesel standard and got close to 50 MPG. I am really jones'ing for a Volkswagen, probably a Jetta with the TDI .
I had a 1979 Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel that got an honest 50 MPG. It was not turbo charged, and really lacked power. I got rid of it before we moved out here to Arizona because it didn't have A/C. A/C wasn't offered in the Diesel Volkswagens until the 1980 models.
I looked into a new Jetta TDI but I backed off because there appears to be an issue with the fuel injection system in the newer models. It's a $7,000.00+ repair if it happens out of warranty. Several people have had problems. My 1979 Diesel ran perfectly for over 120,000 miles. I think if I was going to get a new truck today I would go with a Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel. I co-worker has one that gets 28 MPG on the highway, and has close to 200,000 miles on it with zero issues. 28 MPG in a full sized truck with great towing power is a good tradeoff.
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I had a 1979 Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel that got an honest 50 MPG. It was not turbo charged, and really lacked power. I got rid of it before we moved out here to Arizona because it didn't have A/C. A/C wasn't offered in the Diesel Volkswagens until the 1980 models.
I looked into a new Jetta TDI but I backed off because there appears to be an issue with the fuel injection system in the newer models. It's a $7,000.00+ repair if it happens out of warranty. Several people have had problems. My 1979 Diesel ran perfectly for over 120,000 miles. I think if I was going to get a new truck today I would go with a Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel. I co-worker has one that gets 28 MPG on the highway, and has close to 200,000 miles on it with zero issues. 28 MPG in a full sized truck with great towing power is a good tradeoff.
Around here Diesel is several cents more than gasoline.
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Around here Diesel is several cents more than gasoline.
It fluctuates a great deal here. Sometimes it's around the same as Premium, other times it's several cents a gallon more. It seems to be more in the Winter months because of the home heating oil market. It is very similar to Diesel in the refining process.
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It fluctuates a great deal here. Sometimes it's around the same as Premium, other times it's several cents a gallon more. It seems to be more in the Winter months because of the home heating oil market. It is very similar to Diesel in the refining process.
Diesel here as Tom said is high and is close to the home heating oil prices. You can burn diesel from the pump in your home heating system but you pay taxes at the pump, not on the heating oil! It's close to four bucks now!
We use kerosene, it's a bit cheaper but needs an additive to prevent gelling.
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I mentioned it here before a while back, and not to derail this thread but I met a guy at a party who made his own biodiesel for 62 cents a gallon.
yeah, before I would buy any new car or truck I would look for an internet forum for it and read up on potential problems.
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I mentioned it here before a while back, and not to derail this thread but I met a guy at a party who made his own biodiesel for 62 cents a gallon.
yeah, before I would buy any new car or truck I would look for an internet forum for it and read up on potential problems.
Please stop apologizing for thread drift! It's the norm and expected around here! :D
For a thousand dollars, you can make bio-diesel without too much trouble. They make entire kits to start production then you get all the restaurants in your area to save their crud and start to brew! Soon, your diesel will smell like burritos or french fries when it's running.
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We use kerosene, it's a bit cheaper but needs an additive to prevent gelling.
That's strange. When I ran my VW Diesel during the Winter in Illinois, I would add Kerosene to the Diesel to prevent it from gelling??
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That's strange. When I ran my VW Diesel during the Winter in Illinois, I would add Kerosene to the Diesel to prevent it from gelling??
It's something my father in law started, I don't know that it actually does anything at all. It's not my house, I just do what I'm told!
;D
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when I bought my mig (wire welder) I got or do get a free welding class with it, not that I think I need a class on wire welding. So I have been thinking to just skip ahead to a tig class. I had my old gas fired water heater crap out on me. It rusted through. I was thinking it would be great to build a stainless tank for a water heater. I figured I could use my new found stainless tig skills to build a stainless biodiesel "refinery". the guy I talked to at this party said he used an old water heater to make his biodiesel...something about trickling water through the oil got the contaminants out. then he titrated it with something....I can't remember now.
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Google "Dirty Jobs" with Mike Rowe. They did an entire hour episode on biodiesel production in some guys shed!
I know nothing more about the process nor would I bother myself! I'm getting lazy in my elder years!
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Kerosene does not need an additive to prevent gelling. Aviation jet fuel is kerosene. Diesel needs and additive to prevent gelling. It is added at the refinery when the winter season starts around November.
When I was in the USAF I was in fuels at Randolph AFB Tx. In 1979 there was an extreme cold snap before the additive was put in the base diesel tanks and every vehicle on base that ran on diesel stopped. I was in charge of supplys and had to get a drum of the additive which was over $500 for a 55 gl drum. It was 2 days before everything got thawed out and running.
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Kerosene does not need an additive to prevent gelling. Aviation jet fuel is kerosene. Diesel needs and additive to prevent gelling. It is added at the refinery when the winter season starts around November.
When I was in the USAF I was in fuels at Randolph AFB Tx. In 1979 there was an extreme cold snap before the additive was put in the base diesel tanks and every vehicle on base that ran on diesel stopped. I was in charge of supplys and had to get a drum of the additive which was over $500 for a 55 gl drum. It was 2 days before everything got thawed out and running.
Thanks but try and explain that to my sister in law!
;D
I just do what I'm told like I said! I'm sure it's some gimmick that the Oil company talked my father in law into, it adds about 10 bucks to a 100 gallons. I've never used kerosene before, in fact, the northeast is about the only part of the country NOT using natural gas to heat their homes.
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That's strange. When I ran my VW Diesel during the Winter in Illinois, I would add Kerosene to the Diesel to prevent it from gelling??
I always regarded kerosene to be high-grade diesel. We used JP-4 in lieu of diesel offshore to power our diesel crane engines...but that's like 50-50 kerosene & gasoline. It ran fine in the crane engines and they had less maintenance required than with regular diesel.
The federal government placed an additional tax on diesel right after or just before we bought an Excursion back in 2003...obstensively to pay for heavy over the road vehicle wear on highways (right, I really believe that....). Before that it was a cheaper fuel. I think government taxation is a good example of killing a great technology....the new and smaller turbo diesels have plenty of pep, are sippers not drinkers and enjoy an overall long life if you change the oil regularly and air filters regularly.
Our Excursion (7.3 liter) has 263k miles on it now and runs fine. The diesel's have a higher initial cost, maintenace when you need it costs more, but the longer life pays out for us. If you drive in town the diesel would not make sense to me. We also have the F250 with a 6.0 liter and 155k+ miles on it. I have a friend who produces and uses biodiesel....it is a messy and time-consuming process which requires methanol....but it makes sense if you have a source of cooking oil and time to process the fuel.
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Just to throw my two cents in on the matter...
The USPS is one of the worst government services they have ever tried to provide. The people at my local post offices are rude and about as smart as a dull spoon. If they loose a package or deliver to the wrong address that is your problem not theirs. There is no accountability withint the USPS so I spend my money with Fed Ex and UPS proudly.
Checks are an anitquated system. I'm not going to go off into a long tree hugging hippy rant but the bottom line is paper is a consumable. Yes we can grow more but why have anymore interference with nature than need be.
If both checks and the USPS would go away there would be no junk mail, or flyers arriving daily and no need for entire regions of the rainforrest to be nothing but an organic paper factory.
Add the newspaper to the list of items that needlessly waste paper and add to the fact that nothing in paper is even close to the truth these days. Walter Conkite did the American people a huge dis-service when he gave his opinion that the Viet Nam Conflict was "un-winnable". From that moment on I feel that the American press has taken the liberty to provide us with their opinions. If I wanted the opinion of a hollywood, left coast socialist I'd just ask George Clooney. The American News Paper would be just fine if they reported the actual news, just the news, with no slant and all of the facts. As it stands I wouldn't waste a free second or a wooden nickle on that garbage they call a news paper.
TV as far as I'm concerned is in the same boat. The News is just an opinion, the shows are the same stuff over and over again. With the exception of niche networks its all trash and I haven't paid for it in three years. I watch shows online and the occasional movie on Netflix. I wish the outdoor channel would move to an internet venue I could enjoy the programs a lot more.
I don't see things like hard drives going away. I think the idea behind the cloud is that you could provide people with low incomes a way to access the interenet. For people who want to own their content the hard drive computer is going to be around for a long time.
As for the industry section.
I have worked in industry for 6 years now. Those who last are those who can adapt to an ever changing market, who can provide total customer saticfaction and those who can keep their employees happy enough to keep out the unions while still being able to be competitive. I don't believe anyone can hold all of the fault on this, but I would say that not being competitive with the rest of the world is not an option and many of companies learned that lesson far to late.
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I always regarded kerosene to be high-grade diesel. We used JP-4 in lieu of diesel offshore to power our diesel crane engines...but that's like 50-50 kerosene & gasoline. It ran fine in the crane engines and they had less maintenance required than with regular diesel.
The federal government placed an additional tax on diesel right after or just before we bought an Excursion back in 2003...obstensively to pay for heavy over the road vehicle wear on highways (right, I really believe that....). Before that it was a cheaper fuel. I think government taxation is a good example of killing a great technology....the new and smaller turbo diesels have plenty of pep, are sippers not drinkers and enjoy an overall long life if you change the oil regularly and air filters regularly.
Our Excursion (7.3 liter) has 263k miles on it now and runs fine. The diesel's have a higher initial cost, maintenace when you need it costs more, but the longer life pays out for us. If you drive in town the diesel would not make sense to me. We also have the F250 with a 6.0 liter and 155k+ miles on it. I have a friend who produces and uses biodiesel....it is a messy and time-consuming process which requires methanol....but it makes sense if you have a source of cooking oil and time to process the fuel.
Jet A, military JP8 is all kerosene based and works fine as an alternative to diesel. JP4 which was discontinued around 1999 or so was a Naptha based fuel. The flashpoint of it was minus 40 degrees as opposed to jp8 which is about 125 degrees. The best thing the military ever did for aviation fuel was to switch from jp4 to jp8. The navy still uses jp5 for its' acft when at sea.
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I've got a couple comments on JdePietro's post, but to keep my train of thought on track I will add them in the quote.
Just to throw my two cents in on the matter...
The USPS is one of the worst government services they have ever tried to provide. The people at my local post offices are rude and about as smart as a dull spoon. If they loose a package or deliver to the wrong address that is your problem not theirs. There is no accountability withint the USPS so I spend my money with Fed Ex and UPS proudly.
It's the Govt, what do you expect ? but it is a constitutionally mandated duty of the G. One of the biggest problems with the USPS is that it is unionized. Therefore poor performing workers can not be fired, and unneeded Post offices are hardly ever closed.
I could detail 4 of those off the top of my head but it would only make sense to a local resident.
Checks are an anitquated system. I'm not going to go off into a long tree hugging hippy rant but the bottom line is paper is a consumable. Yes we can grow more but why have anymore interference with nature than need be.
The part that irritates me is it was banks who pushed the use of checks but now they are reluctant to honor them unless you have ID, an account, and the secret decoder ring. I do not use checks, and the only ones I except are my employers payroll checks.
If both checks and the USPS would go away there would be no junk mail, or flyers arriving daily and no need for entire regions of the rainforrest to be nothing but an organic paper factory.
Paper manufacturing has nothing to do with the "rainforest". Huge swathes of the northern US and Canada are dedicated to the production of pulp wood that is harvested with exactly the same care and management as any other cash crop.
As examples, the northern 1/3 of NH, and the northern 1/2 of Maine are owned and maintained by paper companies and have been for more than 100 years.
When a section is not being actively harvested it serves as out door recreation land and wild life habitat.
The best hunting, fishing, snowmobiling and gold prospecting are in that same northern 1/3 of NH, and the northern 1/2 of Maine.
And unlike State and national parks they do not charge any fees.
Add the newspaper to the list of items that needlessly waste paper and add to the fact that nothing in paper is even close to the truth these days. Walter Conkite did the American people a huge dis-service when he gave his opinion that the Viet Nam Conflict was "un-winnable". From that moment on I feel that the American press has taken the liberty to provide us with their opinions. If I wanted the opinion of a hollywood, left coast socialist I'd just ask George Clooney. The American News Paper would be just fine if they reported the actual news, just the news, with no slant and all of the facts. As it stands I wouldn't waste a free second or a wooden nickle on that garbage they call a news paper.
TV as far as I'm concerned is in the same boat. The News is just an opinion Propaganda, the shows are the same stuff over and over again. With the exception of niche networks its all trash and I haven't paid for it in three years. I watch shows online and the occasional movie on Netflix. I wish the outdoor channel would move to an internet venue I could enjoy the programs a lot more.
I don't see things like hard drives going away. I think the idea behind the cloud is that you could provide people with low incomes a way to access the interenet. For people who want to own their content the hard drive computer is going to be around for a long time.
As for the industry section.
I have worked in industry for 6 years now. Those who last are those who can adapt to an ever changing market, who can provide total customer saticfaction and those who can keep their employees happy enough to keep out the unions while still being able to be competitive. I don't believe anyone can hold all of the fault on this, but I would say that not being competitive with the rest of the world is not an option and many of companies learned that lesson far to late.
I've been in manufacturing for nearly 30 years and pretty much agree with your last 4 paragraphs, (except for that one little change )