John Adams

I was an adolescent way before the Internet era and I found every bit of nudity I could when I was 12. The highlight was that I delivered papers to an apartment building that had a paper recycling bin (way rare for the 80s). A buddy and I used to dumpster dive into the recycling and come up with porn mags. The yield was low--maybe one of every 50 dives was successful...but we sure as hell tried! I also heard of paperboys snagging the paper-wrapped magazines of the day (that brown paper was a surefire way to ID Playboy and the like). Of course, I never disrespected the mail like that. There isn't a 12 year old boy not spanking to the Internet. I don't worry about that. What I worry about are the interactive websites, webcams, voice connections, emails, photos, etc. Big line gets crossed there.

There are a million and for most kids, they are not that easily bypassed by the average 12 year old although they are clearly bypass-able. As far as the dangerous stuff, it's good to install what you can. If he's 12, he's doing what 12 year old boys do.

You are talking past me. Manufacturing productivity--by all three of our links--is down...but not catastrophically so, especially when you consider that in the last 40 years, we averaged something like 23% of world manufacturing output and now we're at 21%. I've now said this 3 times. And my point is that despite the MASSIVE rise in manufacturing in the Pacific Rim countries (excluding Japan), the USA is still a very strong manufacturing presence and the sky is not falling. I apologize for accusing you of being a "sky is falling" kind of guy. I can't imagine where I got that from. Now, As I'm reiterating a second time, I separated the conversation about productivity from jobs. Well-paying manufacturing jobs are certainly on the decline in the USA. That's partially because of automation (need fewer people). Partially the demise of the unions (wages can be set at a fair level). Partially because manufacturing has gone from requiring more experienced people to less experienced (wages). Jobs have gone overseas (less jobs). Partially a strong dollar (at least compared to many currencies). This will likely remain the case for a long time. Those jobs are history but they are ****ty jobs. If people want jobs in America, they need to get smarter. That's our challenge.

Unemployment nationally is 10%. It will likely be this high for a long time. Before the 2009 crash, we were probably overemployed. Most companies laid people off and their profits are now back to normal. It's a strange thing but true--the people they fired weren't helping them make more money...so there's no way they are going to hire now. I won't comment on your wife's situation because I know nothing about it. People are hiring but maybe not in your area.

If you take away Hello Kitty merch alone, US manufacturing jumps 1%.

Your theoretical numbers don't jibe with the real ones that I've now quoted 3 times: "U.S. workers produce 21% of all factory goods made globally, or about $1.7 trillion worth per year. That's significantly lower than the peak of 28% in 1985 but only slightly below the long-term average of 23% for 1970 through 2006." Furthermore, US manufacturing has been INCREASING since 1990. You can keep making your argument that US manufacturing is on the decline when going back to 1985 and it is--but not nearly as much as you argue. And you're wrong: manufactuing in the US is not going in the "wrong" direction anymore. It's increasing of late. There's no need to Dwight Drane everything. We have a lot of problems but not everything in the US economy is a black hole of doom. If the point is that high-paying low skill jobs in manufacturing are not available like they were in the 1930-1960s, that's true but those peachy jobs have been gone for almost as long as they were here. When I chimed in with manufacturing statistics, I was responding to the myth that the US doesn't "make" things anymore and that everything is made elsewhere. That is just not true.

I wouldn't sweat it. Murra doesn't strike me as a real poster.

Yeah, so? No one in the USA wants my uncle's job these days. Most would not want to sit at a bench for 8 hours for 30 years but the lowest earners. People B word about "no jobs" but what they really mean is that there are fewer high paying jobs anymore for positions that require no-to-little skill. And that's probably true.

The numbers are "U.S. workers produce 21% of all factory goods made globally, or about $1.7 trillion worth per year. That's significantly lower than the peak of 28% in 1985 but only slightly below the long-term average of 23% for 1970 through 2006." In addition, US manufacturing is UP since the 90s. The US manufacturing dialog that we're all so used to aping is wrong.

You know the facts and posted the link, taking away people's choice not to look. Look in the mirror.

I googled something and found this because I know I'd read a WSJ article about the myth of the decline of US manufacturing. I found several articles http://blogs.forbes.com/china/2010/05/24/t...acturing-power/ http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Inves...rys-demise.aspx The truth is that we don't value those jobs (with salaries) the way we used to. Why? I'll look to an anecdote about my great uncle. He work in manufacturing for GE for most of his life. He made a comparative fortune.But all he did was put (for the most part) the same parts together day in and day out. That is a low level labor job and nowadays, there are a million people who can do it so we don't pay a premium for it. My other grandfather worked on a factory floor driving a forklift--he also had a great lifestyle but again, driving a forklift isn't rocket science and nowadays, that's not a high-paying job.

MAybe it was an accident. Seems like there's mounting evidence on many fronts that BP was careless in its safety measures. And certainly it had ZERO plan in pace in the event that this happened, as the last month has shown. Again, I believe in blame when something preventable happens. I blame BP in this case, knowing full well that it could have been Exxon, Citgo, etc. It's not like there was an earthquake and this happened. This appears to have been preventable and the closure could have been better thought out so that we're not trying to stop a massive ecological mess by drawing ideas up on the backs of napkins.

So the complaints aren't "Where has US manufacturing gone" but "Where have all the high salaries for manufacturing jobs" gone? That's an entirely different discussion.

Defending it? Arrest you too.

"We" don't own China and Brazil at last check. This spill however, is our mess. Murra says this is no big deal and we have nothing to be upset about. Glad he can be so flip about this. I am sure BP feels the same.

This issue is a bit of a red herring. The US still produces something like 20+% of all manufactured goods in the world. That makes us by far the biggest manufacturer in the world.

That's fine. The point is that a pistol is not a really accurate thing to fire. When you fire it, you have to go into it believing that the target will die. You can't aim for a fricking arm or leg on a moving target. That's movie BS.

Not trying to be a wiseass but what law is violated by doing this? I don't like the sound of it and it sounds fishy but is it breaking a law to offer someone a job that would get them out of running for office?

Who could possibly care. If it gets full blown legalized in 2 states, I suspect the DEA will breath a sigh of relief and ignore weed more than it already does. Weed is way down my list of substances I give a **** about controlling and no, I don't and have never tried it. But I could care less if people do.

Ayup. Pass the buck. I do find it amazing that no one had ever thought of how to do this before. I understand that you can't practice this but still: Not having some real contingency plans in place makes BP (and every other offshore driller...just happens that BP got the first big collapse) look absurd. It's not like it's hard to imagine this happening.

Thank you Google.

They must think Onyewu's improving enough that he'll be valuable at some point. Sure didn't look it last night on the first header. He moved well but not great.

Way to avoid responding. Did the Haiti quake affect you? No? Then I assume you didn't care. Do you regularly walk past litter because it's the next guy's problem? Do you throw out all plastic because "who cares" about recycling? Do you walk by a neighbor's car when his lights are on and laugh because it's not yours? Be it little or big, things outside your small sphere of life do matter.

When an officer pulls his gun--a rare occasion--and when they fire it--an even rarer occasion--they are doing so to stop a suspected dangerous criminal. They stop that person by aiming at the biggest part of the person they can see, ie, the torso. That's all the rule should be. When a cop fires his gun, his job should be to hit his target. That's it. "Aim for the arm or leg" is absurd.

Arrest you too.