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Hi!

I'm working on an interesting question; A question that should be of interest to all of us. Where does our food, in this instance particularly our meat, come from? An investigative feature in the New York Times peaked my interest and a recent visit to the local Metro grocery store put my google-fingers in motion.

What I am finding is interesting.

Come back in a few days and maybe I'll have posted some questions. If you are looking for something interesting on food production, and you haven't read my take on pig farming and swine flu, check out my post.

Cheers,
Rockinon

p.s. My take on pig farms has been hit hundreds of times and continues to get a small, but constant, number of hits. These hits come from all over the world.

The Mean Decade: 2008 - When the financial world crumbled

Sun Media reporter Thane Burnett has written a series on the past decade in which he found very little good to report. When it came to 2008, the article carried the headline, "The Mean Decade: 2008 - When the financial world crumbled."

Many of us, who have been saving for retirement and rode out the truly frightening 2008 correction of historic proportions, are kicking up our heels with glee. In the end, it was a good decade.

2008 was bad when you think about investments, but it was not anywhere near as bad as the media would have one believe. Everyone did not buy at the peak and dump their stock when all bottomed out. The story is far more complicated than that. Let  me give you an example.

If you had put $10,000 in a simple fund, say the TD Monthly Income on Jan. 1, 2000, you would have had $18,024.49 at the end of 2008. When growth like that is being achieved, saying the financial world crumbled as Burnett claimed, is the all-too-common shallow media response to a complex story.

If you had left the money in the TD MIF until the decade ended, you would have had $23,552.99 for an increase of 135.5% during the "mean decade." The financial story is not over but as the decade ended, the story was hitting some very positive notes.

I, by the way, owned a lot of TD MIF until early this year when I dumped about 75 percent of my holdings for CIBC Monthly Income. The CIBC offering has not performed as well as the TD one but it did not drag my portfolio down either, just put a gentle brake on its growth. A little less volatility offered the benefit of a better night's sleep. I'm not upset about my decision.

Like many investors, I found 2009 an amazing year, giving portfolio growth in the 30 percent range. If the 2008 crash chopped  a fast 20% to 25% off your balanced, diversified portfolio, 2009 may not have pulled you free of the financial hole dug a year earlier, but you are sitting in a very comfortable position.

A $100 thousand dollar RRSP portfolio could easily have been cut to a $75 thousand dollar portfolio in 2008. But that $75 thousand could easily have regain most of its losses in 2009. (100 X .75 X 1.3 = 97.5)

If you had had the nerve to buy into the market in the spring, there are lots of ETFs and inexpensive mutual funds that would have paid handsomely.

It is a rich, complex world. If someone tries lumping ten years together, a whole decade, one has to ask a few questions. The first question is, "Why is the Sun Media reporter not asking more questions?"

And they (Sun Media and other media folk) wonder why newspaper sales are slumping.
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I also looked at this silliness on my other blog, Rockin' On: Money.

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

Wishing you a happy New Year!

Not to worry. No jobs are in danger.

Are the multitude of factory closings across the width and breath of North America really a necessary part of a healthy capitalist system? Or has something gone wrong? Has our system jumped the rails?

It snowed last night, as it has done in the past and will do again in the future. A Champion grader cleared the snow as it has done in the past, but its days are numbered.

The Champion plant in Goderich, Ontario, a beautiful little town just over an hour north of London, was acquired by the Volvo Construction Equipment Group in 1997. Volvo CE closed the plant this past June.

According to the Champion Antique Grader Club:

"For nearly 125 years, Champion graders built and maintained roads around the world. In 1875 Champion built the first horse-drawn grader. Since then, the innovations have been revolutionary within the grader industry.

The first self-propelled grader and, later, the first all-hydraulic grader, was a Champion . . . Champion motor graders were shipped to 97 countries."

As Champion Road Machinery Ltd. the company lasted 122 years. Under Volvo the plant was boarded up, closed, in a dozen. Why?

It was 1997 when then President and Chief Executive Officer, Art Church, announced the sale of Champion. He said, the sale would allow the company to tap into an international network of sales, distribution, advanced technology, research and development.

The new owner, Volvo CE, would continue to manufacture road-building equipment under the Champion name in the community of Goderich.  But, not to worry. No jobs are in danger, he assured the workers.

Some of the manufacturing of its road-building equipment was soon moved to Brazil.

In 2004 Volvo CE sold the compact motor grader business to Champion LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina, a company organized by Gary Abernathy. Abernathy had been manager of the Goderich business under its previous owner and had continued in that position after the sale. The Charlotte, NC, company acquired the compact motor grader product line and after July 1, 2004, they were to carry the Champion name. (Abernathy kindly posted some pictures of the old plant. Follow the link.)

Today Gary Abernathy is President of Champion LLC in Charlotte and Bryan Abernathy is executive vice president. If you go to their site you will read their story: "Champion built the first horse-drawn grader in 1875 and later the first motor-driven grader." They like to say, "Today, Champion Motor Graders has returned to its roots as a family-owned business . . . " Read Bryan Abernathy's comment below to understand why an NC company makes this claim and backs it up.
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I am a blogger and not a paid journalist. I do this for pleasure and not profit. (But, please don't let this stop you from clicking on an interesting ad. I do get a penny or two.)

I received this comment and I think it is important to slide it into my post and not to simply bury it as a comment that may go unread. I may be blogging now and not working at a paper, but I do strive for accuracy and fairness.

Bryan Abernathy said... 

 

“Quite an interesting piece and a good chunk of Goderich history … I would like to clarify one aspect of the Champion history in Charlotte NC. The compact grader line was originally founded in Charlotte by the Lee/Abernathy family in 1980. Gary Abernathy actually designed and hand built the first unit. The brand from 1980 to 1993 was "Lee". (not to be confused with LeeBoy) Champion, in Goderich, purchased the Abernathy business to expand the Champion product line, with Gary Abernathy continuing to manage the compact grader operations. The original Champion ceased being a family business when it was sold by the Sully family in 1988. When Volvo took over Champion in 1997, it acquired the compact graders business as part of the package. Eventually, Volvo decided to divest the compact line and sold it back the Abernathys. By then, Volvo had dropped the Champion name, but Gary and his people were very proud of their connection to the Champion legacy and the town of Goderich. They bought back the Champion name from Volvo as part of the deal. So, as the new Champion website states, the Charlotte grader factory actually did return to its “roots” as the Abernathy family business, operating again under the Champion banner since 2004.”

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Despite the loss of the Champion name, the Goderich workers were assured by Volvo product and communications manager Brian Lowe that the sale would not affect the Goderich employees in any way. Not to worry. "No jobs are in danger," he reportedly promised.

And for awhile it looked as if the promises were true. In 2006 the Goderich plant produced the new G900 series motor grader. Volvo Motor Graders Ltd. President and CEO, Patrick Olney, believed the company had completed the most significant product development in the history of the plant.

Construction Equipment Magazine recognized the G900 series as one of its Top 100 New Products of the Year. This was the second time for the Goderich plant to be so honoured; In 2002 they were honoured for the G700B Series Grader.

The political leaders in Goderich at the time thought Volvo CE, "commendable." I wonder what they think today?

Fast forward to December 2009. According to the Goderich Signal-Star:

"With little fanfare and December lake-effect flurries whipping across the parking lot, two Volvo G960 motor graders were loaded onto TTK Transport Inc. flatbeds and rolled out of town Tuesday, Dec. 15 . . .

Sadly, it represented the last time that road graders would be seen leaving the town limits of Goderich. The final two graders were on their way to Egypt.

With many of the industrial park buildings now vacated, or sold, the company is winding down its operation in Goderich and General Manager Alan Ball said, 'We are going into the final phase of our existence here and the bulk of the materials and equipment from the plants is gone.'

Last week the company announced it will close its Asheville, North Carolina facility, a move that will affect 228 employees. The production from Asheville will be moved to other existing Volvo CE locations.

The cab production from Asheville will move to Shippensburg, while production of wheel loaders will move to Arvika, Sweden and excavators will be produced in South Korea."

Patrick Olney, Executive VP, Global Operations, said after the sacrificing of hundreds of Asheville jobs on the alter of profitability, “Although the decision was necessary from a business standpoint, we fully understand that the affected employees – who in the current downturn are already going through challenging times – will face additional difficulties.”

The workers in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, are being assured that this decision will have no impact on the ongoing significant investments in Shippensburg. Not to worry. No jobs are in danger.
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Addendum:

Although a downturn in the construction equipment market resulted in 94 Shippensburg workers being laid off shortly before the original story was posted, for workers in Pennsylvania this story has a happy ending.

As of mid 2012 a $100 million U.S. expansion of the Penn plant is underway. The customer-demonstration center in North Carolina was being closed and moved to Shippensburg. If all goes according to plan, Volvo’s Americas operations will be consolidated in Shippensburg.

As for Goderich, Ontario, there is no happy ending there. Jobs were lost and those jobs will never return.

I've Got A Girl Name Of Rama Lama Lama Lama Ding Dong

Sometimes the best gifts don't arrive at Christmas. Fiona arrived almost four months but I'm sure she made her mom and dad's Christmas the best ever. Make no mistake, a healthy, happy baby clearing every developmental hurdle right on cue is an absolutely priceless gift.

Fiona now holds her head up, smiles when seated at the table and laughs with enthusiasm. She imitates sounds; grandma taught her how to roll her r's. I think she is quite the bright little girl, even if she has shown a fondness for '50s and '60s doo-wop.

My wife can get some very nice smiles with a soft rendition of Who Put The Bop In The Bop Shoo Bop Shoo Bop by the Platters and I do nicely with I've Got A Girl Name Of Rama Lama Ding Dong.

But, before you damn me for my taste in music and for the irreparable damage I'm inflicting on this child, I am also sharing my art collection with her, as simple as my collection may be. The kid's got good taste and has learned to seek solace in viewing beautiful works of art and letting the beauty push life's irritations aside.

I do hope doo-wop isn't one of her life's irritations.

Update: At seven-months the little baby can really dance. She is quite partial to the sax in the middle of the Del Vikings song Come Go With Me.

It is usually night when my wife and I babysit. If we have her during the day, I'll try and shoot a video of her groovin' to doo-wop. Oh well, for now please enjoy the Del Vikings.

TMZ has a hoax and not a scoop

TMZ reported it had an aging black and white photo, old, cracked and faded, in its possession that some believed showed JFK relaxing on a yacht with four sun-loving women. Well that some didn't include the Smoking Gun which with a little hunting discovered the image is from a '60s Playboy pictorial. Oops!

Supposedly the photo was locked away for many years and was only discovered after the death of the collector. A good story but not true. It is not John F. Kennedy and TMZ has been punk'd.

Thank goodness that I didn't get all preachy about the picture. When I looked at it, I saw a man relaxing in the sun, with two women on a deck above and two others off to the side enjoying the water.

I thought all that this picture proved, if it should be shown to be legitimate, was that JFK was not prudish. Sun bathing and swimming sans suits was O.K on his yacht. (It would have been O.K. on my yacht, too, if I'd ever had the chance to give my approval.) Oh well, the hired male model in the picture is still a gentleman; No sideways, leering glances from this fellow.

Years ago I was editing some negatives at a newspaper where I worked when the daughter of a highly placed executive stopped in to to see what was happening in photo. It was an election night and she liked to wander about editorial keeping tabs on the unfolding stories.

As I worked, she asked me about my boat, a C&C 27. I mentioned that I liked to sail the North Channel and anchor in forgotten little coves. She said that she, too, liked dropping the hook in quiet little harbours. When boating in the Caribbean, she said, she and her friends liked to swim together in the altogether off the stern of the boat.

I never found out who "her friends" were. I was too prudish to ask. Maybe that is why no one swam nude off my stern; I was too much of a prude.

But, as I type this, I am beginning to recall lots of nude swimming stories. Yachts, quiet coves, and inviting waters seem to encourage nude recreation, even if I don't. And I can't think of anything salacious in a one of the stories.

This year's favourite gift...

The tag on the neck of the bottle read: " A pessimist sees a glass of water as being half empty; an optimist see the same glass as half full. But a giving person sees the water and starts looking for someone who might be thirsty."

The attached card showed a boy, in an obvious desert landscape, pumping water from a well while a robed, hijab wearing woman watches.

Inside the card was a note telling me, "884 million people lack access to safe water supplies. More than three-and-a-half million people die each year from water-related diseases. 98 percent of water-related deaths occur in the developing world."

The note reminded me that I was very lucky. I was born in a land where clean water was available at a turn of a tap. Or, for about a dollar a bottle, clean water is also available at the corner store.

For the price of about 50 bottles of  water, my daughter is helping to give a family of five access to a new water system providing a safe, reliable supply of fresh water to the family year-round.

She did this in my name, wishing me a Merry Christmas.

. . . and it was.
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After completing her research, my daughter decided to use Plan Canada for her ethical giving. Food, water, shelter and eduction can all be found on the Plan Canada gift shelf. The plan is a global movement for change, mobilizing millions of people around the earth.

(A mango tree can be planted in a school yard for just $12 and a young girl can be given a scholarship for a donation of $300.)

Plan Canada likes to say, "Join us and plan to change the world."