Ford's elves are mostly Mexican

Today on TV, I saw an ad for the "Ford Year End Celebration."  The premise of the ad is that the Ford Focus and Ford Fiesta are on display in a store in a mall, and mall customers are oohing and ahhing over them.

During the commercial, one of the customers asks, "Are these made here?" and the spokesman responds "Right here in this store.  A small group of elves come in."  Yuck yuck yuck.  Very holiday themed.  Very cute.  And it also ignores the question.  I'm not one to put much stock in the "buy America," thing, but "where is this car made?" is a legitimate question.

The real, elf-free answer can be found at Wikipedia's List of Ford Factories -- the Ford Fiesta is made in the AutoAlliance Thailand Plant in Pleukdang, Thailand, the Azambuja Assembly Plant in Azambuja, Portugal, the Bahia Plant in Camaçari, Bahia, Brazil, the Valencia Body and Assembly in Valencia Spain, the Valencia Assembly in Valencia Venezuela (I don't know if or why Ford has a special fondness for places named Valencia), the Cologne Body & Assembly plant in Cologne Germany, the Cuautitlán Assembly in Cuautitlán-Izcalli, Mexico, the Ford India plant in Tamil Nadu, India, the Ford Lio Ho Assembly plant in Chung Li, Taiwan, and the Ford Motor Company of South Africa plant in Silverton, South Africa.  The Focus is made in the Azambuja Assembly Plant in Azambuja, Portugal, the Valencia Body and Assembly in Valencia Spain, the Ford Motor Company Philippines plant in Santa Rosa, Laguna, Philippines (though that plant is closing this month), the Ford Motor Company ZAO plant in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Ford Vietnam Hai Duong Assembly plant in Hai Duong, Vietnam, the Hermosillo Stamping & Assembly in Hermosillo, Mexico, the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan (though the list specified the 2012 Focus--so they may not make it there anymore), the Pacheco Stamping & Assembly plant in Buenos Aires, Argentina (this plant only makes the Focus II), and the Saarlouis Body & Assembly plant in Saarlouis, Germany.  I strongly suspect that the Fiestas made in the Cuautitlán Assembly in Mexico and the Focuses made in the Hermosillo Stamping & Assembly in Mexico and the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan are the ones sold in the U.S.  The exact context of the line in the commercial, the question was either about the Focus, or about both the Focus and Fiesta. The answer to the customer's question , however, was, "No, they're mostly made in Mexico."

(As an interesting--and somewhat creepy--aside, as I was writing this post, I got a spam message advertising a Ford Clearance sale.  One wonders what I triggered with my search for information on Ford.)

Some thoughts on one movie rating...

I haven't seen the new "Winnie the Pooh" movie. However, I do have a question about its rating. According to Jay Leno's Headlines, and also seen in this link to a movie review, "Winnie the Pooh" is rated G for "(violence, profanity)." This begs the questions:

1. Exactly how much violence and profanity can a G-rated movie have?

2. Isn't it really rated G for everything? Obviously not "Winnie the Pooh," but, if a movie only has G-rated violence and profanity and several shots of full-frontal nudity, it's rated R for the nudity. (Then again, Winnie the Pooh doesn't wear pants, and I don't think Tigger or Eeyore wear anything.)

3. Exactly how much violence and profanity has there ever been in "Winnie the Pooh?" Is somebody misunderstanding words like "Pooh" and "heffalump?"

(OK, I know I'm making way too much out of what's almost certainly an editing mistake, but the idea of a movie rated G for violence and profanity still amuses me.)

Ramdom thoughts on the Atlas movie...

Usually, I'm not too particular about when I see movies that I want to see. Often, as long as I see it on the big screen, whenever will be fine. The movie "Atlas Shrugged, Part 1" is different--knowing how much stock Hollywood puts into opening weekend returns, I want to see the movie this weekend; I'd have seen it opening night if the mall weren't a madhouse on the weekends. Ever since I heard about it, it's been at the top of my list for upcoming movies.

What I'm trying to figure out is why I want to see the movie so badly when I've already read and reread the book. For movies where I haven't read the book, the movie is a quick and easy way to experience the story. However, my enthusiasm in this case seems more difficult to explain.

I suppose it's possible that it's a quick way to experience the book again. As with the books where the movie is the quick way to see what's it about for a first time, it could also be a quick way to experience it again.

Somewhat going against that idea, though, it occurs to me that seeing the movie is a way to see the book as others envision it and get new perspective on it.

A third idea is that the simple idea that a good novel would represent a solid start on the way to making a good movie. This one may apply a bit less to the "Atlas Shrugged" movie than most cases--the movie was made by an entrepreneur who has never produced a movie before, the director has little experience, and I've never heard of most of the stars, and the budget is small by Hollywood standards. So, while I like the actress who's playing Dagny, I have some apprehensions about how the movie will come out.

I think the main reason I'm looking forward to the movie so much, however, is that it's a way to celebrate the book. It's a way of going out and saying, "this is a great book--pay attention!" One reason why I tend to lean most heavily on this theory is that I've been trying to urge Donald to see the movie--alas, it seems, to no avail. I also tend to think this is the case because I really want to see it opening weekend so it'll have good returns in the way the movie industry seems to care about, and have them despite the limited release.

Regardless, though, I'm glad to finally see that Atlas Shrugged will make it to the big screen.

Until the cows come home...

My dad recounted a story from his days as a banker the other night: He once asked a prospective dairy farmer if he knew anything about raising cows. The farmer replied that he didn't, but the cows knew.

Old English/New Mistake

"Monday on 'Good Morning Jacksonville,' the works of Shakespeare were done in Old English, but one performance troupe has found a way to translate it into hip hop."

The above quote is from a commercial that aired during Saturday's "Jeopardy!" I caught one grammatical error (the antecedent for "it" is "the works of Shakespeare") and one factual error (Shakespeare wrote in Early Modern English). I don't think I can deal with journalism such as this at 6AM on Monday.

Out of season springs to mind.

We're waiting on the AC repairman. So I'm answering the phone more quickly than usual, and generally trying to keep the line clear. (Of course, this trip online is an exception to that, but we'll let that pass.)

We got a call from a telemarketer. Female voice--99.999% sure she was recorded--selling satellites. I hung up, and them I had a "did she just say..." moment.

She said (I believe), "we're calling to promote our new spring packages." [Emphasis mine.]

Is once a quarter too often to change the recording? It hasn't been spring in several weeks. Or they're way early.

License to promote government websites

Today was the day for the trip down to the tax collector's office to get a new license plate for the Camry.

I would note: I live in Florida. I do not live in myflorida.com; that's not even a state. If the State of Florida is going to promote their website on license plates, they ought to pay car owners for the advertising; the $37 check that changed hands did not go from the county to me.

As long as I'm griping, two other points. First, what genius decided that Floridians need a new license plate every five years? Is the aluminum lobby in Tallahassee that strong? I mean--it's not like the old plate wore out. Second, I note that Florida's website is a .com. The .com domain was intended for PRIVATE companies. Florida is a state; it should have a .fl.us domain.

Dis-charging

My dad and I ate tonight with a friend at the restaurant where he works (so I don't want to mention his name or that of the restaurant here). We picked up the check as usual--it was $52 and change not counting the tip. I handed the waiter our charge card. He comes back with a receipt reading, "DECLINED: Amount Cannot Be Less Than One Dollar" (sic--I don't know why they capitalized each word). I asked the waiter to run the card again, and the same thing happened again. We finally had to pay with a different card.

Two thoughts crossed my mind: that we were less than $1 from the limit, or that the code might have been a euphemism used for suspect charges. So, I called the credit card company. We're more than $10,000 below the limit (which shocked me, since I thought that card had an $8000 limit), and the charges the lady read off were all legitimate ones. Further, the credit card company didn't even know there had been an attempt to run the card.

Have you ever heard about something like that before?

Sweet, new Chinese food?

I stumbled on a blurb on a local news website about Dunkin' Donuts opening its first franchise in mainland China. Buried deep in that story (well, as deep as possible in a seven paragraph blurb) was the comment, "The shops also will serve items customized for local tastes such as green tea and honeydew melon doughnuts..."

I can't speak for the local tastes of Shanghai, but I for one would like to try honeydew melon doughnuts--those sound good!

HMS Falcon--a strange bird?

Today I saw something of a Halloween Trick in a parking lot--a pick-up truck with a sticker (or magnet or some other type of decoration) on the tailgate reading "H.M.S. Falcon" and "Royal Navy 1776," with a Union Jack (sans the diagonal red stripes) between the lines of text.

Without an opportunity to speak with he truck's owner, I'm left scratching my head. This sticker commemorated an enemy warship. OK--it was two centuries ago, so the wounds are healed, making the sticker considerably less offensive than one reading "Panzer Division," "Viet Cong," or "Taliban." Nonetheless, it seemed odd that someone was celebrating a British warship from the time of the Revolutionary War.

A Google search didn't reveal much useful information. A sloop called the Falcon fought in the Revolution, off North Carolina in May and September of 1776. In 1790, William Bligh (of Bounty fame) served as a commander on the Falcon. It occurred to me that the Falcon might be a museum, but searching for "Falcon" with "museum" finds a museum dedicated to World War II gliders and a couple of websites dedicated to falcons, as in birds. A visit to the Royal Navy's website illuminated absoutely nothing. I even asked friends if they had heard of the ship. Again nothing.

Sometimes, I'm just left to wonder...

Of course the Republicans are ignoring libertarians...

Recently, I've seen two columns regarding the brush-off the libertarian wing of the Republican Party has been getting. Steven Greenhut, a columnist I enjoy and respect (despite what I see as a misplaced affinity for the Republican Party), lamented how a many of the speakers at a convention he attended seemed enamored more with power than with liberty. Then, on Monday the 29th, Shellie Sullivan called it "baffling" that prominent conservatives are ignoring Ron Paul.

I have long held that the Republican and Democratic Parties have no meaningful difference--that both parties are dedicated to the expansion of their own power before all other goals or ends.

With that assumption, it's hardly surprising that most Republicans are embracing some very authoritarian positions despite their need for libertarians to help vote them into office. It's even less surprising, despite his strong poll and fundraising results (including, interestingly, the most donations from military personal and veterans, despite as staunch an anti-war record as you could hope for), that Ron Paul--a principled libertarian--is being as marginalized and ignored to the extent the Republicans can get away with it. Libertarians and their ideals don't support the expansion of power; for a party dedicated to the expansion of its power, that is an unforgivable sin.

Tall Texas Tale?

I pride myself in knowing more than average about U.S. geography. I might forget the odd city of 20,000 here or there, but I know the major cities. So imagine my surprise when I was looking up something on city-data.com, and found the closest city with a population of more than 1,000,000 was Northeast, TX.

That seemed hard to believe. That population would make Northeast the 7th largest city in the country. It would be the second largest city in Texas--behind Houston alone--and the largest city in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. (Or should that be the Northeast-Dallas-Ft. Worth area?) However, it's not so incredible that I could dismiss it out of hand. After all, the third largest city in the country once disappeared--when Brooklyn, NY, was consolidated with New York City. If several suburbs and unincorporated areas consolidated, it's not impossible that they could become larger than the parent city. (It wasn't consolidation so much as growth in that area; but I'd note that San Jose is now larger than San Francisco.)

However, I am more inclined to believe that the truth is that I found glaring a mistake. Infoplease doesn't list Northeast in their list of 50 largest U.S. cities, though they do note a consolidation involving Louisville, KY. It's always possible that there was a consolidation after 2005, but it seems less likely. Also, Wikipedia seems to know nothing about this: their article "Northeast Texas" is about northeastern Texas--that is, the northeast corner of the state not the city. Their page on "Northeast" doesn't mention the town, either. Further, their article on the "Dallas/Ft.Worth Metroplex" doesn't even list Northeast among area cities--even those under 10,000!

One wonders how something like this could have slipped through. Did they slip it in to combat plagiarism? Did a city booster change the population to get attention? Could it be a typo? If it's a deliberate hoax, I'd think Wikipedia would be the first page to alter. I'm left to ponder.

Cato goes unconstitutional...

Well, I now have a small problem. When I previously cited the U.S. Constitution in my blog, I linked to the Cato Institute's online version. That version disappeared sometime in the past few weeks--the links now direct to a page selling hard copies of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. There are several government websites that have it, but I'll probably go with either the Cornell University Law School or the Emory Law School online versions. Not sure yet where I'll go for the Declaration of Independence.

Someone's blowing the hurricane prediction...

I'm not a weatherman, but I play one on this blog...

When this active hurricane cycle began, meteorologists had said that active cycles last between 10 and 30 years.

Last year, hurricane predictions were dire, but the season wasn't particularly bad. (After 2004 and 2005--it seemed like a breeze, but it was really average.) El Niño was blamed. The forecasters changed their tune, and were saying it was going to last 10-30 more years. The predictions for this year forecast another pounding.

I'm hoping/wondering if the recent active cycle may have just been a short one. And/or maybe global warming will mean fewer hurricanes. In either case, I'm making a bold prediction: this year's hurricane season will be average. I lack firm data, so don't plan your insurance based on this prediction, (and even light seasons can be bad in their way--Andrew was the only named storm in 1992,) but I suspect the doom and gloom may represent more agenda than science. Only time will tell.

Something fishy? Is a sponsor all wet?

I just note the irony: ABC's "20/20" last Friday (April 20) was all about the environment in honor of Earth Day. One of the problems they mentioned, albeit very briefly, was overfishing. One of the show's sponsors (at least locally) was Captain D's--a seafood restaurant.

Does global warming mean FEWER hurricanes?

Conventional wisdom had been that global warming would mean warmer ocean temperatures, and therefore more hurricanes, although there is some doubt as to whether or not this is happening.

However, I began to privately question that aspect of the theory last summer. Something I'd heard on the Weather Channel last summer made me put together facts I hadn't considered in relation to each other--though I should emphasize that I don't believe it was an idea of theirs as such. Global warming theory predicts that northern Africa will get drier. However, storm systems coming off of Africa are what ultimately form Cape Verde hurricanes. It seems logical to me--though no one else has said this, to my knowledge--that if Africa is drier, there should be fewer storm systems, and, ultimately, fewer Cape Verde hurricanes. It's worth pointing out that that not all hurricanes are Cape Verde systems, many severe storms are. (Gloria, Hugo, Andrew, Frances, and Ivan are notable, recent Cape Verde storms.)

It seems I'm not alone in thinking that global warming doesn't mean more storms are certain--though my Cape Verde-African drought hypothesis is not what the scientists thought of. There are some scientists who think global warming may increase wind shear--which could counteract the effects of warmer ocean temperatures.

If you've read my blog, you'll know I'm cautious on the issue of global warming--both on Earth and other planets. These new questions about the hurricane predictions of global warming theory undercut one of the most alarming aspects of the theory. The bottom line here is what I've always been saying--panicking about global warming is counterproductive. Environmental policy should be based on facts, not alarm.

Travel as a citizen or fly like a turkey.

“You ride a train because you can get on a train as a citizen. You can only get on a plane as a subject of the government.”

Those are the words of Kirk Thompson of Montana, as quoted in an online Missoulan article about activism for a new Montana train route.

It's not completely true--after all, passenger trains are heavily subsidized.

It's also partly true for cars--there's a freedom to driving, but I at least always get a little uneasy when I see a police car on the road--second guessing my driving decisions and actions for the past few blocks when one appears.

All that said, I enjoy flying, but I so hate and fear airport security so much that it's a no brainer for me--if I can, I stay on the ground when I travel.

Police Radar and iPod FM Transmitters?

When I was coming home tonight, I was crossing the Buckman Bridge and something interfered with my iPod's FM transmitter. It was the same kind of interference I get when I get a call on my cell phone. Anyway, I got off the bridge, I saw that the car right behind me was a police car. (The transmitter was on 90.3 FM--if that means anything.)

My guess is that the cop was using the radar gun on me, and that's what was interfering with the iPod. Anyone know if my guess about what was going on is right? Has anyone else observed this phenomenon? I'd wonder if it's reliable enough to serve as a stand-in for a radar detector (one that would be legal in places where radar detectors are illegal). It also make me wonder about the safety of police radar--though I do tend to think most of the fears about cell phones, radar, and related EM emitters strikes me as baseless technophobia.

Konsumer protection at its dumbest

I had dinner at Koko's (a favorite local Japanese restaurant) tonight, and, as usual, ordered sushi. When I looked at the menu, my usual imitation crab was labeled "Krab stick." This struck me as very odd, since it was previously spelled correctly. Thinking they redid the menu and had a typo, I pointed it out to the waitress.

After my meal, she informed me that the restaurant indeed intended to spell it that way--it seems the state of Florida prohibits using the proper spelling of "crab" for imitation crab. Hence "krab."

Not wanting to dupe consumers is all well and good, but I think most people would not assume misspelling meant that the product was artificial or imitation on that basis alone. "Lether" wouldn't make me think "plastic," "golde" wouldn't make me think "less than 10K, if not zero gold," and "Teevo" wouldn't make me think "DVR but not TiVo." If I thought the crab stick were crab, "krab" wouldn't make me think otherwise.

Of course, "crab stick" is--at least at the restaurants I've been to--sushi code for the imitation crab, anyway. Changing "crab stick" to "krab stick" doesn't make that clear to someone who doesn't know what a "crab stick" is to begin with. And, in any case, the waitress didn't know why it was misspelled until she asked someone else--if the whole point was to call attention to the fact that it was imitation crab, the misspelling wouldn't have done the trick, since I only found out why it was "krab" when I had already eaten the sushi and was about to pay the check.

News flash to the state of Florida, department of health or whatever: insisting that imitation crab be called "krab" does not protect consumers--it needlessly makes innocent Japanese restauranteurs look illiterate. Don't state inspectors have better things to do than meddle with orthography?

Because what the world really needed was fish-flavored orange juice?

OK. I normally drank Tropicana's Healthy Heart orange juice. It tasted good and it had extra calcium and potassium.

Someone, however, recently thought it was a good idea to add Omega 3 fatty acids to the orange juice. If you don't know the term, that's fish oil. The carton even says in fine print on the back "Contains tilapia, sardine and anchovy"--and don't ask me how they made that selection--because I'd think sardines and anchovies would be among the more potent, flavorful fish--and they'd want something with less flavor. When I heard about the change, I was concerned.

So, I finally tried the new formula with the Omega 3. It does NOT taste like fish. It doesn't taste like it used to, either. I can't quite place what the new ingredient tastes like. Maybe a bit like it's watered down--but that's not completely accurate. It is not an improvement, however. While I try to place the new flavor, I'll be looking for a new brand of OJ..