Monthly Archives: November 2009

“Washington is doing everything in their manpower, capability, to destroy U.S. manufacturing.”

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Bloomberg reports that there are consequences to U.S. regulations:

Emerson Electric Co. Chief Executive Officer David Farr said the U.S. government is hurting manufacturers with regulation and taxes and his company will continue to focus on growth overseas.

“Washington is doing everything in their manpower, capability, to destroy U.S. manufacturing,” Farr said today in Chicago at a Baird Industrial Outlook conference. “Cap and trade, medical reform, labor rules.”

Emerson, the maker of electrical equipment and InSinkErator garbage disposals with $20.9 billion in sales for the year ended September, will keep expanding in emerging markets, which represented 32 percent of revenue in 2009. About 36 percent of manufacturing is now in “best-cost countries” up from 21 percent in 2003, according to slides accompanying his speech.

The ultimate insult in the Kelo v. New London saga

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Susette Kelo and her neighbors’ land was taken in New London, Connecticut as part of a redevelopment plan to allow Pfizer to expand their offices. But Pfizer has now  announced that not only are they not expanding their offices, they are closing up shop in New London. The Hartford Courant reports:

Pfizer Inc. will shut down its massive New London research and development headquarters and transfer most of the 1,400 people working there to Groton, the pharmaceutical giant said Monday.
The move comes in the wake of Pfizer’s recent merger with Wyeth, and is part of a global consolidation of the two companies’ research operations. Groton will be the biggest of the company’s five major global research sites, the company said. The move from New London to Groton will take place over the next two years.

Not only is Susette Kelo and her neighbors’ land vacant today, Pfizer is leaving. Nice work New London.  A couple months ago my wife and I stopped by New London and took some pictures. Here’s what the view from Susette Kelo’s house looks like today:

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The Darksword Trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

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imageWhen I was a teenager, I liked the Dragonlance books by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Recently I noticed that Weis and Hickman are still writing books together. Because it’s been a while since I read one of their books, I decided to re-read their Darksword Trilogy. I read the trilogy when it came out, but I couldn’t remember if I like it or not.

I give the first book a B+. I thought it was pretty fun, but the series went downhill from there. I give the second book a B and the third book a C. I disliked the ending of the series for two reasons. First, I disliked the choices the authors made in concluding the series. Their conclusion just wasn’t satisfying. But I admit that reasonable people can disagree about those choices. Second, the the hero’s motivations weren’t clear and the decisions he made at that book’s climax seemed like a whim. The series builds to the climax in the third book and the hero makes a decision on a whim? Did he understand what his actions would cause?  Why did he do what he did?

Because I didn’t like the third book much, I can’t recommend the series. The first book was fun, but in the end I was let down. 

I’m already missing baseball…

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After the World Series, I’m always reminded of this by A. Bartlett Giarmatti:

It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops.