..........things that boggle my mind.

Many things boggle my mind - mathmatics, teenagers, the willingness of others (regardless of age) to work and play well together, American politics, and American business practices just to name a few. I want to address a couple of those.

I watched a local news report the other day out of Charlotte, and one of the stories was another plan closing. I say, "another plant closing" like it is common place any more. Well, it is. American manufacturing is not going well at all, in the traditional means we are used to. But wait, our economy is great! There are no problems with our economy. The Dow Jones Industrials are over 12,000 points, the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 make gains all the time. Why would anyone question our economy? Well, plant closings are a big part of that "question". Why are there so many plant closings with the economy going so well? Big business is making money and keeping those economic reporting scales high. They are keeping the scales high by sending jobs overseas where labor is cheap and profits are high. I have two examples of my discontent with our overseas business practices. 1) I recently went to a local hardware store that I knew carried bulk steel. I wanted a 2" wide x 2' - 0" piece of this steel. It was $8 per foot! I couldn't believe it! We make steel here in the US, don't we? That whole thing in Pittsburg with the steel mills, etc. No, the steel came from China. I stood there with my mouth wide open in disbelief. Americans import bulk steel from China. What about US Steel and other companies that made America what it really is - uh, was? I was also informed that this store would no longer be carrying bulk steel because it was to expensive. 2) This one really blew my mind. Per my local newscast; another furniture plant will close in January. The plant is located in Lenoir, NC - the furniture capital (former capital) of the world. It is the last of their plants to survive in Lenoir - the name - Broyhill. The Broyhill Company announced last week that they can no longer make the necessary profits to keep the plant open - the result - Broyhill will move their operations overseas, and displace another 500 American workers! This makes me so mad that I can hardly tolerate myself. We, the people, have let this happen. We have not bought into the whole "buy American" thing enough to make a difference. We have not told our government to stop this either. We have supported idiot economic programs like NAFTA to the extent that we are self-destructing. By the way, I don't dispute the efforts of Democrats like Bill Clinton in pushing the whole NAFTA program along. There are thousands of Americans out of work and trying to figure out what to do next because of big business and weak government action on trade with idiot countries like China. But, the economy is good - just look at the figures each night on the national news. Big business depends on high profit margins for stockholders and their corporate administrators. To keep these profits high, they must outsource and go overseas. I don't respect this practice in the least, and damn them all for doing it to America's workers and our economy. Have we not learned anything from oil? Evedently not. When we are dependant on other countries for our wellbeing, we are being held over a barrel, and we become a weaker society.

On to other stuff. The report on the strategies in Iraq come to the President today. All indications are that change for success is necessary. This comes from both Republicans and Democrats alike. The news folks can't distort the facts of the report. The fact is, we made a huge mistake because of "old school" thought and arrogance! What the hell is up with "Operation Iraqi Freedom"? Words do mean a great deal. I really don't care if the Iraqis are free or not. If they wanted to be free, they would have staged a revolt themselves. We have not been told the true reason for the war, and the real reason will never be admitted. I think Tammy Wynette said it best in, "Stand By Your Man". Well, that's exactly what our leaders did - they stood by "our man" - to help free the Iraqi people??? We are 2,900 soldiers dead, and now we determine that our mission is flawed. Are we safer as a result of Operation Iraqi Freedom - who knows? If the feedom of all who are opressed is such a big concern for us, why are our troops not heavily concentrated in Africa? Mass killings are going on daily all over the African continent with no end in sight. Why are we not there? Our foreign policy (to include our business interests) is making the entire world hate us to the point of killing us when the opportunity arrises. Yes, it does make a difference if everyone hates you and no one wants to be your partner when crisis comes. I'm sorry, but the British don't constitute enough support to help in a global struggle. We have got to make peace with some of our old friends and come to a compromise to have the world help us fight terrorism. It can be done; but, we may have to make some concessions. ........arrogance, arrogance, arrogance!!!

I think there are many reasons to question our leadership. I know we are not doing what is right for America in letting business go abroad and run with little or no restraint. Average, hard working Americans are suffering as a result. I know that the Iraq War is going poorly, and more Americans will die, and for what? I'm frustrated and angry, and I apologize if I offended anyone with this post. I love America, but I fear for her. Oh, and I really do like, but don't understand the teenagers. I hate mathmatics!!!