Actually, I think foreign suppliers are being very kind to us. Silks are still a very good buy. But US dollars are of little value to foreign producers when there are no US goods to buy with US dollars.

It will be very important for the new Congress to return opportunities to make things in America and move the emphasis from being a consuming nation to a producing nation.

Cost isn't value. What is your act worth?

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

Hard to do since they closed the factories and sent the work to other countries years ago.
Just try to buy something in the USA that wasn't made in China.

Posted: Dec 8, 2010 12:46am
PS --- You know we are not in the top 30 nations for health care anyway? Smart money goes overseas for medical care too. There is a program in Florida now where MDs can take a few classes and trade their MDs to be RNs without the liabilities MDs must accept. Classes are full. This tells a sad story about the availability of MDs in America in the VERY near future. Smart Doctors are leaving too!
[/quote]
They will then perhaps be suprised to find RN's are there last safety net in most nursing environments and can also be sued. The insurance is less expensive though.

Just axe me, I R a Nurz.

Yes, it's a sad state that we live in now. I can't imagine how much worst it can get.

It can continue to get worse as we continue to send our jobs to China.
In return they continue to send us produts tainted with lead , illegal antibiotics and toxic additives.

Take hope. January could change a lot. First is to just get control of the US spending and backing our dollar with honest work and products that are valued by others. We cannot borrow our way out of debt or by printing dollars without backing. We need to get functional people back into leadership and to work. Even our natural resources are a way out that beat becoming slaves of a creditor nation.

Living within our means is a major first step. We cannot afford everything we want. Earning them is a very honest approach. America forgot that! We have no way to make silk but grow cotton when the government allows it. The government competes with us on many items like grain. We will need to get real. If the government limits the cotton, ultimately you have to buy jeans made elsewhere. If the government artificially raises the price of corn $2.00 and "saves" oil, we pay $1.80/lb more for meat and eggs. Who are we fooling? The real enemy has landed! There is no free lunch! To profit in the world economy you have to produce a surplus of something valued by others and trade it for their surplus. Otherwise you are just a consumer. Increasing consumption ONLY increases consumption. When the savings (of others) is squandered and the stock of inventory is gone we starve. Think Production rather than Consumption. We do indeed STILL need a change in the Executive Office. I can see 2012 from my house too!

Production is the key. We are not incapable. It is simply discouraged. Smart money goes to where there is opportunity to produce. Quit encouraging smart money to leave. Reward productivity and production. Then there will be a reliable supply of something to consume HERE!

I'll have to admit that as of Christmas week, the latest dreaded huge drop in the US dollar has not been announced in world markets. But we are certainly no longer considered preferred customers or contributors in world commerce or among world governments. We need a coach who understands the game before all of our resources are gone.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

Buy jeans elsewhere? The last American jean company pack up Years ago. There isn't a single jean factory in the US. American jean brands yes, but All manufactured in 2nd and 3rd world countries and of course,China.

On the bright side, the value of your existing silks is increasing.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/jeans.htm

Ok, I'm Wrong.
Now look to see where the Good jeans are made. Levi Strauss and Wrangler.

It looks like China might just have to lower the value of its currency.... I wonder what effect that this will have on prices in the near future.

Bob, I thought of you and this post on Sunday as I was reading the newspaper. I was reading an article ( http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime......ngs.html ) referring to a cruel murder back in 1926. I thought of you as I came to a section in the article that described the high price/value of silk and an increase in crimes dealing with thefts and robberies involving silk.

"Though it may seem unimaginable today, a century ago silk was among the most precious commodities a thief could lay his hands on - worth nearly as much as gold. Silk crime became a scourge in New York as World War I wound down. Well-heeled women cocooned themselves in the ravishing fabric, from their unmentionables to dresses to cloaks and hats. Thieves fenced the stolen stuff in a thriving black market of unscrupulous clothiers eager to buy spools of silk thread or bolts of woven fabric at deep discounts to supply the fashion demand. New York police counted more than 1,000 stickups, break-ins and thefts involving silk during a single 18-month stretch in 1917 and '18. Cops grew so peeved by unrelenting pressure from the Silk Association of America that for a time they simply stopped reporting silk crimes to the press. Silk shippers, mills and manufacturers guarded their stock around the clock. And more than a few watchmen, like the napping William Young, gave their life for silk. In that era, a bank robbery might net a few thousand dollars. But silk heists could be worth $150,000, with single bolts valued at $10,000 or more. Silk was an irresistible crime temptation."

The article also briefly described the transport of silk, "Raw silk thread, harvested in China from mulberry-munching moths, was shipped across the Pacific, then loaded onto special trains - known as "Silks" - with cushioned cars to coddle the dear cargo and hired guns to protect it. The Silks had special rail right-of-way. Even passenger trains were sidetracked to allow Silks to whisk by, traveling coast-to-coast in 90 hours. Much of the precious product was delivered to the many mills in Paterson, N.J., nicknamed Silk City. There the thread was woven into shimmering sheets and shipped to New York for use as clothing, umbrellas and ribbons."


Jimmy

They actually tried to do a silk factory here by me in Kent, Ohio. It just never worked out though.

Richard

There have been several attempts at manufacturing silk in the Americas. some more successful than others. But in the end it all boils down to this".

“Silk cannot be grown by the highly paid labor of the United States in competition with such meagrely (sic)
rewarded Oriental drudgery, nor can household hand labor compete here with other industries in which most of
the energy is furnished by power and most of the work done by machinery.”

From http://www.textilehistory.org/SilkinAmerica.html

A nice article on the silk Trains here http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMag......-031.pdf

Seems like a cool article on the silk trains, Payne. I just read the first couple of pages and going back to reading the rest of the article. Thanks for posting that link.

Jimmy

Today, even Wal-Mart announced on FOX News the concern over the huge price increases in all textile products coming into America. The price increase are not Magic!

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander