Wow, been a long time with really not much to say. At least nothing that was worth sharing. Until now.
Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai is a Mumbai-born and U.S.-raised entrepreneur with a PhD in biological engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In a video posted on Twitter this weekend, he claimed that the United States has been "at war, politically" as a result of the novel coronavirus.
"As an MIT PhD in biological engineering, it's my view that the fear-mongering is really being used to suppress dissent, it's being used to support mandated medicine, and it's being really used to support crashing this economy," Ayyadurai alleged.
My sister-in-law was as, far as we can tell,shadow banned on a popular social media site that won't be mentioned, but rhymes with Lacehook, for posting this video. This entry is as much a rage against the machine as helping her out, but here is the video.
If the embedded video doesn't work, here is the direct link:
Just saw this ad put out by the Clinton campaign featuring the New England Shirt Company.
You can watch it here, but the pertinent portion is below.
"Donald Trump’s brand of shirts come from China, his suits from Mexico, his coats from India. Trump’s products have been made in 12 other countries because he says there’s no place in America that he can make them.
Well, there is. You know, Donald Trump says he’ll make America great again while he’s taking the shirts right off our backs.”
Before going on, let me say that it's great that New England Shirt Company was able to bring some manufacturing back to Fall River, Massachusetts, and that, as of this writing, approximately 70 people have jobs.
But before playing the "100% Made in America" card, maybe they shouldn't advertise the imported fabrics used on their website, or show the use of Brother brand sewing machines. For those wondering, Brother is a Japanese company whose sewing machines are produced in China. Oh, the irony!
Now let's take a closer look the "Made in America" shirts. A Bing search for New England Shirt Company gave me this in the advertisement section:
That's one-hundred fifty dollars. Per shirt. Going to their website (as of this writing) does show one shirt on sale for the deep-discount price of eighty dollars. The average person either cannot afford, or is unwilling to pay, this much for a shirt. I'm above average, and I won't pay that much for a shirt.
Comparatively, going to Trump's web site gives links of the Donald J. Trump Collection to Amazon.
Huh. Nothing in a shirt over seventy dollars.
Just for a lark (or because I was bored), I took a look at my own clothing. Here is a rundown of the different countries I found:
Bangladesh
China
Honduras
Indonesia
Korea
Lesotho
Mexico
Viet Nam
and one (count 'em, one) shirt made in U.S.A. But made with imported materials.
Maybe the true context should be "Trump’s products have been made in 12 other countries because he says there’s no place in America that he can make them competitively." After all, the entire purpose of a business is to make money, and a great way to make money is to have market share at a competitive price. How much of a market share do you think would be gained at one-hundred fifty dollars?
But let's face it. Globalization of manufacturing is here. The trend has been that way since the 90's, and as sad as we may think it is, it isn't going to go away.
So instead of spending our time worrying over where our shirts are made, let's be good stewards of our resources, and get the best ones we can afford. See you at JCPenney's!
Hi. I have never done this. Ever. In fact, I'm reluctant to even be typing this.
But, times are changing, and getting more interesting (possibly in a Chinese curse sort of way).
You likely made it to this blog post because you clicked on a link promoting my girls' college fund.
These are the daughters in question. Kailyn, our oldest, is entering college this fall (2015) to become a teacher. Our youngest, Kaci, will be going to college fall of 2021. Kaci says she wants to be a teacher, but Robin and I don't think she has the temperament for it. She does, however, have the makings of an engineer. And she loves Star Trek and Doctor Who, so there you go! ;)
The end result is that for the next ten-to-twelve years, we're pretty much hosed... LOL
We are honored and blessed that you have taken the time to read this blog. If I've helped you out in any way, please consider making a free-will donation to the fund by clicking on the "Donate" button below. I call it free-will because:
you don't have to donate if you don't want to.
you can donate whatever you wish. No minimums. You want to donate $5.27? Well, you can!
Again, thanks for taking the time to read this! Blessings!
