THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING AND THE AMERICAN WORKER.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
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PDF What's the administration's specific aim in bailing out GM? I'll give you my theory later.
For now, though, some background. First and most broadly, it doesn't make sense for America to try to maintain or enlarge manufacturing as a portion of the economy. Even if the U.S. were to seal its borders and bar any manufactured goods from coming in from abroad -- something I don't recommend -- we'd still be losing manufacturing jobs. That's mainly because of technology.
When we think of manufacturing jobs, we tend to imagine old-time assembly lines populated by millions of blue-collar workers who had well-paying jobs with good benefits. But that picture no longer describes most manufacturing. I recently toured a U.S. factory containing two employees and 400 computerized robots. The two live people sat in front of computer screens and instructed the robots. In a few years this factory won't have a single employee on site, except for an occasional visiting technician who repairs and upgrades the robots.
Factory jobs are vanishing all over the world. Even China is losing them. The Chinese are doing more manufacturing than ever, but they're also becoming far more efficient at it. They've shuttered most of the old state-run factories. Their new factories are chock full of automated and computerized machines. As a result, they don't need as many manufacturing workers as before.
Economists at Alliance Capital Management took a look at employment trends in 20 large economies and found that between 1995 and 2002 -- before the asset bubble and subsequent bust -- 22 million manufacturing jobs disappeared. The U.S. wasn't even the biggest loser. We lost about 11 percent of our manufacturing jobs in that period, but the Japanese lost 16 percent of theirs. Even developing nations lost factory jobs: Brazil suffered a 20 percent decline, and China had a 15 percent drop.
What happened to manufacturing? In two words, higher productivity. As productivity rises, employment falls because fewer people are needed. In this, manufacturing is following the same trend as agriculture. A century ago, almost 30 percent of adult Americans worked on a farm. Nowadays, fewer than 5 percent do. That doesn't mean the U.S. failed at agriculture. Quite the opposite. American agriculture is a huge success story. America can generate far larger crops than a century ago with far fewer people. New technologies, more efficient machines, new methods of fertilizing, better systems of crop rotation, and efficiencies of large scale have all made farming much more productive.
Manufacturing is analogous. In America and elsewhere around the world, it's a success. Since 1995, even as manufacturing employment has dropped around the world, global industrial output has risen more than 30 percent.
More after the jump.
--Robert Reich
THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING AND THE AMERICAN WORKER.
[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]
THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING AND THE AMERICAN WORKER.
[Source: Market News]
THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING AND THE AMERICAN WORKER.
[Source: News Article]
THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING AND THE AMERICAN WORKER.
[Source: The Daily News]
THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING AND THE AMERICAN WORKER.
[Source: Daily News]
THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING AND THE AMERICAN WORKER.
[Source: Advertising News]
THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING AND THE AMERICAN WORKER.
[Source: Market News]
THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING AND THE AMERICAN WORKER.
posted by 77767 @ 9:49 AM,
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Security stepped up at abortion clinics in US after killing of Dr George Tiller
PrintEmailPDF Controversy sharpens as man arrested in connection with shooting revealed to have links to rightwing militias
The US ordered increased security for abortion doctors and clinics todayas details emerged of close links between the man held for the murder of one of the country's most prominent abortion ?doctors and rightwing militias with strong anti-government views.
The killing of Dr George Tiller at his ?Kansas church on Sunday, and the arrest of 51 year-old Scott Roeder as he fled the scene, has added fresh impetus to the abortion debate shortly before congressional hearings begin for Sonia Sotomayor, Barack Obama's nominee to the supreme court, at which she is certain to be pressed for her views on the issue.
In Washington the attorney general, Eric Holder, ordered the US marshals service to step up protection of abortion doctors and their clinics, many of which have routine protection after years of being ?targeted by extremists and mainstream anti-abortion groups. Nine abortion ?doctors, clinic workers and others have been murdered in recent years. Tiller was wearing a bulletproof jacket when he was shot in the head, and frequently travelled with bodyguards after he was wounded in an earlier assassination attempt.
Obama denounced the killing. ?"However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence," he said.
But some prominent anti-abortion activists came close to justifying it. ?Randall Terry, founder of the largest anti-abortion group, Operation Rescue, issued a statement that fell short of condemning the murder and tried to shift attention to the political fight by warning that Obama would now use it to pressure organisations which describe themselves as "pro-life".
"George Tiller was a mass murderer.We grieve for him that he did not have time to properly prepare his soul to face God," he said."I am more concerned that the Obama administration will use Tiller's killing to intimidate pro-lifers into surrendering our most effective rhetoric and actions. Abortion is still murder. And we still must call abortion by its proper name: murder."
Dave Leach, editor of an anti-abortion newsletter, Prayer and Action News, to which Roeder occasionally contributed told the New York Times he had once met the alleged killer. "To call this a crime is too simplistic," Leach said. "There is Christian scripture that would support this."
Roeder's family said in a statement they were "shocked, horrified and filled with sadness at the death of Dr Tiller". "We know Scott as a kind and loving son, brother and father who suffered from mental illness at various times in his life," the family said. "However, none of us ever saw Scott as a person capable of or willing to take another person's life."
Others painted a picture of a more extreme man. Roeder has been identified as the likely poster of questions about Tiller on Operation Rescue's website. Among other things, a man with his name suggested going to Tiller's church to confront him and other members of the congregation over his work.
"Blaess (sic) everyone for attending and praying in May to bring justice to Tiller and the closing of his death camp," he wrote. "Sometime soon, would it be feasible to organize as many people as possible to attend Tillers church (inside, not just outside) to have much more of a presence and possibly ask questions of the Pastor, Deacons, Elders and members while there?"
In 1996, Roeder was convicted over the discovery of explosives and bomb-making equipment, along with a military rifle, gas mask and ammunition, in his car and sentenced to two years in prison. But his conviction was overturned on appeal on the grounds that the police had illegally searched his car.
The FBI identified Roeder as a member of the anti-government Freemen group, which described itself as made up of Christian patriots, whose leaders were sentenced to prison terms after a three month armed stand-off with law enforcement forces in Montana 13 years ago.
The Kansas City Star newspaper quoted a man identified as commander of the Kansas Unorganized Citizens Militia in the mid-1990s, Morris Wilson, as saying he knew Roeder at the time. "I'd say he's a good ol' boy, except he was just so fanatic about abortion," Wilson said. "He was always talking about how awful abortion was." Operation Rescue denounced the killing as "vigilantism" and cowardly.
It said it instead wanted to see Tiller "brought to justice" for what it regards as the murder of the unborn.
guardian.co.uk ? Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Security stepped up at abortion clinics in US after killing of Dr George Tiller
[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]
Security stepped up at abortion clinics in US after killing of Dr George Tiller
[Source: 11 Alive News]
Security stepped up at abortion clinics in US after killing of Dr George Tiller
[Source: Wb News]
Security stepped up at abortion clinics in US after killing of Dr George Tiller
[Source: Television News]
Security stepped up at abortion clinics in US after killing of Dr George Tiller
[Source: La News]
Security stepped up at abortion clinics in US after killing of Dr George Tiller
posted by 77767 @ 9:08 AM,
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Now It's The UK's Turn For Some Bogus Piracy Stats
PrintEmailPDF There are plenty of instances of misleading and otherwise bad stats being used by anti-piracy groups, like the recent BSA numbers from Canada that were basically made up. Now, a group from the UK is saying that piracy costs that country's economy tens of billions of pounds. It makes the same mistake as plenty of other studies before it: counting every instance of piracy, or perhaps even just the availability of copyrighted material on file-sharing networks, as a lost sale. It's fallacious to assume that every single person that downloads a piece of content, or simply has access to it for free, would pay for it if the free version wasn't available. Furthermore, any study like this that says an entire economy is being harmed by X amount of money because of piracy is pretty much bogus. This money that's supposedly being lost because of piracy isn't being lost by the economy, as undoubtedly it's being spent elsewhere. It's not being flushed down the toilet or turned into ether, it's just not ending up in content companies' bank accounts.
Carlo Longino is an expert at the Insight Community. To get insight and analysis from Carlo Longino and other experts on challenges your company faces, click here.
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Now It's The UK's Turn For Some Bogus Piracy Stats
[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]
Now It's The UK's Turn For Some Bogus Piracy Stats
[Source: Home News]
Now It's The UK's Turn For Some Bogus Piracy Stats
[Source: Channel 6 News]
Now It's The UK's Turn For Some Bogus Piracy Stats
[Source: Boston News]
Now It's The UK's Turn For Some Bogus Piracy Stats
[Source: News Herald]
Now It's The UK's Turn For Some Bogus Piracy Stats
posted by 77767 @ 8:49 AM,
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Daniels Ends 2012 Speculation
PrintEmailPDF Said Daniels: "I've only ever run for or held one office. It's the last one I'm going to hold."
Daniels Ends 2012 Speculation
[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]
Daniels Ends 2012 Speculation
[Source: State News]
Daniels Ends 2012 Speculation
[Source: State News]
Daniels Ends 2012 Speculation
[Source: Boston News]
Daniels Ends 2012 Speculation
[Source: China News]
Daniels Ends 2012 Speculation
posted by 77767 @ 8:22 AM,
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Ron Gilbert to present keynote speech at PAX 2009
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The summer game-pop culture convention season is in full swing in the US and it will end on Labor Day weekend with Penny Arcade Expo 2009. Today the organizers of the largest video-PC game convention in the US announced that legendary game creator Ron Gilbert will be making the keynote speech at PAX 2009 in Seattle, Washington.Gilbert is best known as the main designer behind the classic LucasArts adventure games Maniac Mansion and the first two Monkey Island games (the latter of which is being revived). Currently he is a design director at Hothead Games (the same folks who created the first two episodes in the Penny Arcade Adventures downloadable titles) where he is working on the long-in-developnment game Deathspank. PAX 2009 will be held Sept 4-6.
Ron Gilbert to present keynote speech at PAX 2009 originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read�|�Permalink�|�Email this�|�CommentsRon Gilbert to present keynote speech at PAX 2009
Ron Gilbert to present keynote speech at PAX 2009
posted by 77767 @ 8:15 AM,
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Mental Health Break
PrintEmailPDF Giving a classic some new - and trippy - pop:
Mental Health Break
[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]
Mental Health Break
[Source: Accident News]
Mental Health Break
[Source: Duluth News]
Mental Health Break
posted by 77767 @ 7:56 AM,
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