CEDARHILL

Dupont Street

With alittle time on my hands, I've delved back into my passion for researching the Chinese history of the area. This has led to many hours on the internet researching the history of Chinese-Americans, "paper sons and our history of immigration laws. I can hardly put it to rest. What started as a simple trial of a local chinese businessman in Globe, accused of "smuggling" illegal paper sons into Globe has turned into a full-time research project. 

This image is from Dupont Street in San Fran where our hero's Uncle lived and ran a successful trading business. It was shot in 1909 AFTER the devastating  2906 earthquake.

Researching the resilience of the Chinese immigrants to this country gives me pause to consider my own station in life as an American.   What is it exactly that makes us American? A love of freedom? A willingness to work hard? An appreciation for the rule of law? (something we call democracy).
They had these things when they came to work in this country and yet, their history is full of  hateful  discrimination. And yet.... they survived and thrived. The Chinese in this Country are very american in their perseverance.

  

Simply Sarahs

Sarah opened her store on November 1....just like she said she would. This time the store has more of an international feel with some of the finest from all over the world. She has Thai cookbooks, Hand stitched crewel jackets from india, fine china from....China.

...

She has something for everyone whether you have a new baby or a pampered pet. Whether you are a book lover or a textile lover.      

I Love my iPod Shuffle

I got my first iPod Shuffle this year and marvel now at how i ever got along without one. These things were made for people like me. I am the person who goes through their CDs in a year because I take them along with me everywhere: in the car, out jogging ,working in the yard, or kayaking down the river. And lo and behold,somewhere along the line they get so badly scratched that even I have a hard time patiently listening to the skips, smears and bumps which streak through my favorite songs. 

I admit to having about 100 CDs - only half of which are still playable. (I still have a hard time discarding these CDs. I guess I'm leaving them on the shelf to heal. Hoping that with time, those scratches will mend themselves.) 

So! Along comes iPod technology and I can now load all these songs into a CHIP which is encased in a little thing no bigger than a Bic lighter, and I have access to about 200 songs. Don't ya love technology? I do!    Which brings me to an article in Salon on iPod technology and the Global World which produces them. See: http://cedarhill.typepad.com/informed/

Poker Generation

Au, I am chewing on Friedman’s book these days:"The World is Flat" and everyday I see examples of what he is saying - in my own back yard.    I was talking to my friend yesterday and she was concerned that her 8 year old had shifted his sights from being President of the United States someday to being a World Tournament Poker Player.

We laugh at that and smile knowingly. He will change his mind.

But it may be too late for the United States when he does. 

Do you remember that movie several years back?  "The Perfect Storm"? It was a phenomenon associated with meteorological events in October 1991 in which …”a powerful weather system gathered force, ravaging the Atlantic Ocean over the course of several days, and caused the deaths of several Massachusetts-based fishermen and billions of dollars of damage. Meteorologists observing the event emphasized…the unlikely confluence of conditions…in which multiple factors converged to bring about an event of devastating magnitude.

We have just such a convergence happening in the United States, and the first BIG PROBLEM in this mix is this: We are not producing the engineering and science talent in this country which has been responsible for America's position in the world in the last 50 years.The last time the Country was energized about science and technology was JFK and the Space Program. Today, 40% of Nasas' engineers are over 50 and we're not replacing them as they take early retirement.

...there is a saying at Microsoft regarding the talent coming out of their new research facility in Beijing ( the most sought after place to work in all of China). Being "one in a million (talent), means there are 1,300 other people just like you."

The competition in countries like China and India to succeed through education ensures  pedal-to-the-metal focus,dedication and effort of each individual. Can we say our kids have the same drive?r

Universities in both China and India are graduating MIT-level brains in science and technology-and it is no longer a given that they will use their talent here. These countries are a primary talent pool for the world at large, and what Friedman and others who are on the front line of this (ie: intel,Cisco,Microsoft) seem to say is this: If we don't re-invest our energies as a country into jazzing up our own science and technology education for our kids, they will not beable to compete on the playing field.

Lets at least give them a chance to compete on a level playing field.

You know what we do here? We put the coach in charge of teaching science, or debate Creationism...and cut the National Academy of Sciences by $100,000.

Our own premier technology companies are going "offshore" to find talent. NOT the low end,low wage manufacturing labor - but hi-tech brains. As Friedman says, The Chinese and Indians are not racing us to the bottom - but the top)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

And finally, a few other observations from the week regarding this issue. I was traveling over the 4th and read about a new charter school opening up in a community. They were going to teach "outdoor appreciation" and the new headmaster?... He had 4 years Phys Ed education under his belt.

Can you say CAKEWALK? The world at large is going to have a Cakewalk when they go head to head with our kids. Poker and outdoor appreciation are sexy,fuzzy,and well....fun. What's there not to like about that?  Maybe the Bronze Medal.

"You could find no better metaphor for the way the rest of the world can now compete head-to-head more effectively than ever with America than the struggles of the U.S.Olympic basketball team in 2004. The American team, made up of NBA stars, limped home to a bronze medal after losing to PUERTO RICO,LITHUANIA, and ARGENTINA. Previously, the United States Olympic basketball team had lost only one game in the history of the modern Olympics"

"Close games for the Americans were rare in previous Olympics, but now it appears to be something the Americans should get used to"  from Aug. 17.2004  AP article.

Think about THAT.

Walmart

No one represents the global world in our own back yard better than Walmart. I hear Walmart ruined the downtown area when they came in. The other merchants just  couldn't compete with the worlds largest supply-chain retailer and closed their doors. Did you know the company moves 2.3 billion cartons of general merchandise a year? When an item is scanned here and put in your cart, a little blip lights up in China and informs the manufacturer of what sold, from which store and when a restocking order must be shipped. (Today's technology at work for you. Right in your own back yard)

There are no middle men with Walmart; and no inventory carrying costs. That allows the company to operate on a miniscule margin of profit - and make it up on sheer volume. Hard to compete with that kind of heft.  But as Friedman says, "We all suffer from multiple personality disorder." While the citizen/merchant in us may regret the loss of our own hometown stores, low wages, no health care, and a homogenized product offering, the consumer in us can't get enough those things Walmart brings to our door (from a Global supply chain) at pennies on the dollar.

And that includes toilet paper,dog food .. and  27" TVs for $219.  It makes life affordable.

As Friedman clearly explains: While Walmart may be the innovator and leader of the pack in Supply Chaining, others are quickly catching on...and up. Walmart is no longer unique or unusual. We EXPECT this type of sourcing and delivery now. Home Depot, Fry's Electronics,Best Buy,Target,Costco... So what is YOUR "good neighbor policy" when it comes to shopping locally?

(i'll close with an arcane walmart factoid: Did you know people buy more pop-tarts and beer during a hurricane?  So, when the meterologists  tell headquarters a hurricane is bearing down on Florida, its supply chain automatically adjusts to a "hurricane mix" in the Florida stores...and MORE beer and pop-tarts arrive post haste)

Comments on this post welcomed.

The World is Flat

It's easy in Globe to think the issues discussed in 'A Flat World", don't affect us :the outsourcing of jobs, the competition for engineers and others educated in the sciences, the proliferation of a computer world where communication is seemless; whether you are in Bangalor, India or Boston.

We are insulated here in our little community where less than 10% of the population  is wired (OK! so I'm guessing on the number in Globe-Miami. Am i right?), and our problems seem more related to a lack of jobs, too many drugs, not enough restuarants etc. But are we really insulated?  This section will look at how Globe is affected by things GLOBAL.