Surveillance

Well, there are more surveillance stories percolating back into the news here and there, and what I have to say about it is the following: the higgle-dee, wiggle-dee, piggle-dee poo........one went up and said to you....parsnikkety, wickedly, pickely too...for to have a prumplefish pie......

China Syndrome

China is once again at the center of another crisis of its own making. Within the past two months it has exported toxic toothpaste, toys and other products containing unsafe levels of lead, tainted food and adulterated chemicals. Worse, these are just the items that have made recent headlines. How many shipments of substandard products have slipped out unnoticed and undetected? How many people have been unknowingly impacted? China is the center of manufacturing just about anything imaginable. Unfortunately, it is also contains bastions of corruption and a government more interested in money and self-importance than in being a good world citizen. Instead of looking inwards to see how it can fix the rampant corruption and lax laws that allow for hazardous products to be exported, the Chinese government continually claims these are isolated incidences perpetrated by a few individuals. I have no doubts that some of these cases might be the result of a few greedy men. However, the vastness of some of these violations indicates something more insidious. The type and magnitude of these egregious violations could not happen in a vacuum. The problems are of such a large and pervasive nature that they can only be the result of a government that turns a blind eye or worse, provides a wink and a nod. China is quickly approaching the manufacturing equivalent of a China syndrome. Dangerous products are breaching the minimal (or non-existent) safe guards and are leaking out to poison the world. Until China learns that it has a duty to act responsibly it will never achieve its great potential and the world class manufacturing empire it is working so hard to build will collapse.

Japan, Inc. Part II

As the various triggers for a recession align themselves together once again here in the West, it is useful I think to remember the strange inverse relationship that our economies have with Japan. For the last ten years or so of expansion, growth and success in the US and European economies, Japan has languished in a recession. That's right, for all the time that we have had these good times, the Japanese have had bad times. Conversely, back in the 1980s, when the US and Europe struggled with serial recessions, the Japanese economy boomed and seemed on its way to becoming a new standard for all industrialized economies. So now the question is, as we slide into a recession, does that automatically mean that Japan Inc. will suddenly thrive and grow again? Let's keep an eye on it.

The Russians Want to be Santa Claus!

I say we all reject it. The North Pole can't belong to a country of people who think that sinking a flag in a titanium capsule on the North Pole makes it theirs.

Wa[r]ter Over the Bridge

With the collapse of the 35W bridge in Minnesota, the aging infrastructure of the US has been brought to the forefront. The major roads and bridges of this country have been neglected for way too long. Anyone can see the decay by simply driving to work or the grocery store. To make matters worse, the roads and bridges were not meant to be used so long nor were they built to handle the size and weight of current cars and trucks. That means the infrastructure is being worn down at a pace unimagined when most were first designed and built decades ago. As with most things, maintenance is required to keep them in good condition. Maintenance, of course, costs money. Lots of money. Therein lies the issue. Whereas in the past the American public has been told there is no money for the maintenance of our basic infrastructure, there always appears to be money to spare for other “projects”. Our bridges and roads which have been rated and found wanting are left to rot and decay year after year. Yet somehow the President and Congress finds money to wage wars that not only the US public but the world at large finds ill conceived and poorly run. To add insult to injury, the money that is sent to foreign countries to help rebuild what is being destroyed almost as fast as it is being constructed is being siphoned off to private individuals, politically connected corporations or just plain lost. Why is it that the Republicans can continually find funds to pay for unwinnable wars in distant lands yet cannot find the money for pay for basic domestic projects? Perhaps this recent tragedy will help open the eyes of our leaders that they must remember that the needs of the citizens of this country must be attended to at least as well as those of the countries to which we send troops and money.