I need a break, let the mind rest, so...
...I hit the crossfit blogs to form in my head a workout for the day. I start with the mainpage, then go to Crossfit Football (in case the Cowboys call, I need to stay in shape), then Sealfit (in case the SEALs call, I need to stay in shape). If I see something I like, I plan my workout.
...so I started reading that.
"...two economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, did a study showing that only 2.7% of U.S. consumer purchases have the “Made in China” label. Moreover, only 1.2% actually reflects the cost of the imported goods. Thus, on average, of every dollar spent on an item labeled “Made in China,” 55 cents go for services produced in the United States. So the study trumpets the finding that China has only a tiny sliver of the U.S. economy...
...So no problem, right?
Well, not exactly. The tiny sliver happens to be the sliver that matters...
...In the same way that cost accounting and short-term corporate profits don’t reflect the true health of corporations, the economists’ reckoning of the impact of outsourcing production overseas misses the point. Americans are left with shipping the goods, selling the goods, marketing the goods. But the country is no longer to compete in the key task of actually making the goods...
...So the decline of manufacturing in a region sets off a chain reaction. Once manufacturing is outsourced, process-engineering expertise can’t be maintained, since it depends on daily interactions with manufacturing. Without process-engineering capabilities, companies find it increasingly difficult to conduct advanced research on next-generation process technologies. Without the ability to develop such new processes, they find they can no longer develop new products. In the long term, then, an economy that lacks an infrastructure for advanced process engineering and manufacturing will lose its ability to innovate..."
by Steve Denning
Now . . . angry...ready for my workout.
5 comments:
The class warfare scenario (effective politically) puts nails in the lid of progress and technical advancement to much of smaller business efforts in America where everything depends on a profit motive. There are leaders in this country who are not concerned about the health of the nation.
When I was in the Teams there were guys who ran in the fours - mile after frigging mile. The standard morning run from Glorietta Bay down the coast and back was a ten mile stretch and there's absolutely no way I could keep a 15 mph pace indefinitely. But other guys did. When I had to explain myself, I said that my body was 'built for sex, not speed'. The morning swim, after the run to shake out the cob webs started in Glorietta bay, rounded NAS North Island and came back to NAB Coronado on the sea side. Another 12 miles. Then a 5,000 calorie breakfast to compensate for the cold water and workout. (the genuine SEAL aerobic workout)
Could I do that today? No, I'd seize up half way and they'd have to toe tag me. Time is a relentless foe.
I have never been in shape like that for long distance (over 100m) stuff. I did a 4.5 40 yards, and a 5.2 fully geared up, but anything longer than that...
Now that I'm older, people think I'm in great shape...My age and fitness level must have intersected.
When you push your body too hard, things break when you get older. I tell people that (who are younger) and they laugh. People my own age give me a knowing smile.
Two mile walk in 26 degree temperatures this morning.
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