Watering Hole: October 3, 2011 – If I Had The Money

Several months ago, I did a search on “shoes made in USA”.  Here is what I found:

Work boots

Rubber shoes

Some sneakers for men and women by New Balance

And these industrial shoes made in Wisconsin.

With a few exceptions (some New Balance and some Converse), most sneakers are made in China.  It doesn’t matter that the Chinese person making those sneakers gets paid about $8.00/day, we will still have to pay a bundle to purchase those sneakers.  The same goes for shoes.  My favorite shoes are Merrells because they feel good on my feet and I like their styles.  I recently purchased some new shoes.  When I read the label inside, my Merrells were “Made in China”.    

I said all that to make this point.  If I had the money, I would start a shoe factory in the USA.  The building would be eco-friendly and whenever possible, the shoes would be made from renewable sources such as bamboo and hemp and the soles would be made from recycled rubber.  Some shoes would need to be made with waterproof materials.  The most important feature of the shoes would be this… the shoes would feel good on a person feet.

The shoe factory would not become a Wall Street corporation and the owner would be limited to 5 times the salary of the lowest paid employee and every employee would be paid a fair, living wage which is greater than the minimum wage.  There would be profit sharing for the employees where a percentage of the profit gets re-invested in the shoe factory and the employee then becomes a partial owner.

I would like to see MORE shoes made in the USA.  At the prices we pay for shoes that are made in China, it wouldn’t cost any more for shoes made in the USA.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the money.  This is just a pipe dream.

And this is our Open Thread.  If you had the money, what would you invest in?  Speak Up!

Sunday Roast, Sunday, October 2nd – Relax, Everyone, It’s Sunday

Missy gets comfy

For most of my life, Sunday meant relaxing, watching This Week With David Brinkley, slowly reading the Sunday papers, the comics, working on the NY Times crossword puzzle. Sunday dinner in the fall was always scheduled around the football games.

My dad would sit in ‘his’ chair, I would sit on the couch with my feet up on the arm of dad’s chair; during the football games, dad would sometimes tell me about some of the players who he had been following from their college careers, and his hand would hold and warm my feet as he kept my attention. Mum and I would trade the crossword puzzle back and forth throughout, as each of us would get stumped by a word now and then. The aroma of Sunday dinner would permeate the house until we couldn’t wait to eat.

What are YOUR Sunday memories?

This is our Sunday open thread. What’s on your mind today?

Sometimes a great notion

From the novel by Ken Kesey, a movie was made starring Henry Fonda, Paul Newman and Lee Remick. This is the house that was built for the movie, situated on the banks of the Siletz River in Oregon. Now a private residence, it backs up to the Siletz River Natl. Wildlife Refuge. As at least one of you may have guessed by now, I’ve flown the coop and landed in the Pacific Northwest, where I’m presently salmon fishing, exploring, and enjoying the good graces of the Zookeeper at the little house on the hill. I’ve made some new friends down on the bay as well…

…sometimes a great notion indeed.

The Watering Hole: October 1 – Cloning

A Sand Dollar larvae clones itself in order to insure the survival of its DNA in the gene pool.

A Sand Dollar Cloning Itself(Credit: Dawn Vaughn)

This basically doubles its chance of survival of its DNA and is triggered by the mucous from predatory fish. This represents a case where DNA outshines the individual where the individual is defenseless.

Is this a facet of self sacrifice in human beings and other animals? With humans, self sacrifice is more common within tribes or clans than it is within nations. Makes one wonder.

This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to offer your thoughts, whether germane or not.