Years ago, a friend and I were traveling through China and stopped in Xining in the highlands of Qinghai province.
My friend had just taken a long, bumpy ride in a vintage-era Jiefang truck from the mountainous areas of neighboring Sichuan province. It was a brutally-cold winter.
The driver had loaded the truck’s open cargo area with dead yaks – their skins were headed to market. I never asked whether this was permissible. The goal, especially for my friend, was to stay warm.
And, as my friend recalled, a ride in a vehicle out of the mountains was so coveted that people sat on top of the dead yaks for a ride to Xining.Â
After we met up, my friend and I went to a market when a Tibetan trader looked at my REI Novara waterproof jacket – it was the type that bicyclists wore, red and similar to this one - felt the material and realized its strength.
Through a translator, he asked whether I wanted to swap – my waterproof REI jacket for his long, fur-lined coat.
I respectfully declined. As I recall, his jacket had yak blood on it – and I probably didn’t want to tackle that at that moment. But at least, he suggested a trade of one jacket for another.
That wasn’t really the case when I received an email on Tuesday from a U.S.-based food supply company to write a blog post about its Web site and its section devoted to supplies for an Asian restaurant.
The idea of receiving something for free has been around for centuries. Certainly, I like the idea – and I’m not just talking about the free hug movement.
I mean: Who doesn’t like receiving something – say a new car or clothing -Â for free?
But the notion seems more fitting for an autonomous collective (especially one depicted by the British comedy group, Monty Python), where a group of people has agreed to provide labor and services for everyone’s well being with the exchange of money lower on the priority list.
This is a file photo of tofu from last year. Remember: Fresh tofu is always the best.
There is much news to digest these days – if you’re in the market for this type of information.
The U.S. Senate approved legislation to create jobs, Toyota has its automobile safety woes and Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke predicted the economic recovery will, um, be slow.
That Hummer deal - in which a Chinese company would buy the U.S. brand associated with military-like vehicles – has hit an obstacle has fallen through.
And consumer confidence in the United States has dropped after it did relatively better in the past months.
At TofuWatch, confidence is up (in terms relating to soybean cake) because, well, circular logic, albeit it with ventures into new territory, really can never disappoint.
Sir Richard Branson's new submersible, dubbed the Necker Nymph, received widespread media attention. The sleek watercraft is made by Hawkes Ocean Technologies. Image source: Hawkes Ocean Technologies
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I know it’s easy to call for innovation to drive economic growth at any point in history.
And the context of the times can always be sticky. If the United States was flush with venture capital or excess dollars in 2010, it would make the answers and next steps so much easier.
Of course, we are all familiar with the economic times.
The Economist, the august, market-oriented publication, recently reminded readers in the United States of words that always merit attention: Jobless recovery.
That said, innovation is continuing in this country – albeit not at the pace that many would like to see – as evidenced by Sir Richard Branson’s new, sleek submersible watercraft, the Necker Nymph.
The Federal Reserve building stands in Washington, D.C. Photo source: David Pollitt's blog, dpollitt.net
I remember the days when Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan had so much command of the U.S. economy – and respect - that journalists and observers would attend his speeches or Congressional testimony and parse every single word of his talk.
Did he just raise his eyebrow right after he stated that sentence? Was that a smile or a contemplative movement of the lip?
But when the times are tough (or tougher), questions intensify.
See article in The New York Times about the confirmation of Chairman Ben Bernake. Here’s a 2008 story about him from The New Yorker.
I should start by saying that the behind-the-scenes video from CBS News that you see above is from a bank failure in 2009 – and occurred outside Washington state.
But if you live in the Seattle area and didn’t see the news Friday night, Evergreen Bank has failed and Washington state regulators have closed its seven branches.
Not enough capital and bad loans were cited as the reasons, The Seattle Times reported. Umpqua Bank, based in Oregon, will begin operating the branches.
The Seattle Public Library and other systems are facing tighter budgets. But city governments and people are, too. Photo source: Seattle Public Library
Since I left my full-time job last year and became a father a few years ago, there is one place that I’ve truly enjoyed visiting: The public library.
My visits to libraries wherever I was have gone up and down, based on my age, interests and point in life.
But I’ve always gone back – even during an era when it’s easy to argue that information is at your digital fingertips with the Internet and especially hipster phones such as the iPhone.
There are many reasons why I’ve returned to libraries over the decades:
They offer a quiet place to read, reflect and study.
I’ve used libraries in Silicon Valley (as a kid), Guangzhou and Beijing (as a foreign language student), New York City (as a graduate student) and Seattle and its suburbs (as a parent and just ordinary person).
Yes, I’ve been fortunate enough to travel in the past.
Here’s a catch: Libraries need money to operate (meaning to stay open at the least)Â - and budget cutbacks have arrived.
But people who exhibit spending behavior which is not considered to be rational by any means are one important pillar of the U.S. economic recovery following the Great Recession – the worst in at least 50 years.
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