The AM Forum

For some photos of downtown Skowhegan, Maine, check out the story that appeared on the NPR's All Things Considered on 03 July.  Click on the link below for the photos, and then click on "listen" to hear the archived audio feature.

Just in case there is ANY reader here not familiar with Skowhegan, ME, it's the QTH of WA1HLR.

Disappointingly, none of the photos include a shot of HLR Mountain, nor is there any mention of WA1HLR in the audio clip.

Former Mill Town Struggles to Stay Afloat (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11609640)

Good thing Tim has a steady woman now. :)

Quote: The town is plagued by high rates of teen pregnancy, drug abuse and domestic violence, according to Mary Jane Clifford.

I don't Know......
I just tried to get a map because I need to go see tim and Mapquest told me I can't get there from here?

Geez,

I had no idea that Skowhegan looked anything like that!!
With a BIG river flowing through the middle of town!!

WOW!

Idiots saying "turn the factory into condos"!!

ARE THEY COMPLETELY OUT OF THEIR MINDS??

THAT's MEGAWATTS OF FREEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeee POWAH!!!

C'mon!

They couldn't "compete"?? Something wrong with the picture. Badly wrong.
I understand it is the same story everywhere in the country, but most other places do NOT have Freee POWAH!!

What would I have done? Bought the factories, the tooling, the machines, and run the plants not to make profit for shareholders elsehwere, but as a 'co-op' intended to A) make quality AMERICAN product(s) and; B) to provide an income for the residents and stability for the town!!

WTF are people thinking about?? (maybe not thinking at all?)

Arrrgh!

WAKE UP SHEEPLE!!

            _-_-bear

Connect hydroelectric generators to the falls, build a factory-floor-sized 75 meter transmitter in the old mill, and strap the world?

Pretty much the story of Maine, there are really two "Maines".

The coastal region is doing very well, thanks to affluent retirees that move into the area, and buy or build big homes on the water. You also get the weekend refugees from Boston, who want a "weekend place" on the Maine coast. This is especially true of Portland and south, although the forces of development have now moved up the coast to my small town of Wiscasset. Old cabins and camps on the water, many without heat or insulation, are now worth half a mil or more, or worse yet are torn down to make way for fancy new homes. Its a boon to folks in the building and service industries, who take care of those with the deep pockets, but a real hardship for the traditional waterfront users like fisherman and those who lobster.

The other part Maine is struggling, old industrial towns like Skowhegan, Lewiston, Auburn, and Waterville. The "old line" business of garments, shoes, and wood products is largely gone, leaving in its wake wonderful but empty old buildings. Buildings that cost a mint to keep up, and a class of good citizens lacking the skills or training to earn a living in other fields of employment. The high instances of teen pregnancy, illegal drugs, and other social ills come from former hard-working folks and their kids trying to adjust to the new reality. Of course this not unique to Maine, its being played out across America, in Detroit, Buffalo, Allentown and Cleveland.

It is really sad to see, and I'm not certain it can be easily corrected without losing a generation or two. All too often the young people leave the state for higher education, and don't return because of the lack of suitable employment. I chuckled at the mention of fancy shops and condos, the average resident of "Skowtown" does not have the disposable income to spend on that, nor would most be inclined to do so. And most folks "from away" want to be by the lakes or ocean...a hard sell indeed. Condos and artist lofts work fine in Boston and NYC, but the "landed gentry" are few and far between once you get 10 or more miles inland.

Even L.L. Bean, once the iconic image of all this is Maine, now largely sells garments, footwear, and many other items built, assembled, or otherwise manufactured "off shore". And the quality is not the same, it just costs less to make. But its not just L.L. Bean, take a look at Wal-Mart, Target, or any of the other large big box stores, "Made in China" is now the rule, rather than the exception. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I do believe that most Americans, if properly informed, would prefer to buy domestically, given equal quality. Of course, explaining the underlying logic behind a "price vs. value" cost analysis is not a Wal-Mart marketing strategy, nor is it in their best interest to educate customers. Sadly, and perhaps ironically, it is the very patrons of said store who are the ones most adversely affected by the "Made in China" syndrome.

In the end, this is nothing new. Once great names like Johnson, Heathkit and National have been replaced with Icom, Kenwood and Yaesu. Same thing, just with a different product. With that said, an understanding of the situation is not the same thing as being pleased by it. Aside from the profound human costs, I'm deeply concerned about the loss of American manufacturing from a strategic, national security, standpoint.


73 Bruce W1UJR

Was that a nod to John Edwards?  ;)  Joking.  :D


I could not agree more.  But money talks.  And those who do not have the money find it harder to have a say.  It's not impossible to have a say (recent evidence Senate Illegal Immigration Amnesty Bill), but it is harder for those without the green.

...how big is skowhegan?..population, area, etc....
..seems this is a common thing, happening...i do know of a town, creemore ontario, that revitalized with the introduction of a brewery...creemore springs beer is highly sought after, and now there are alot of shops, etc., that were not there before...alot of "city people" come up to this place, to see the brewery, and spend money in the various businesses that are in town....as far as young people, i've read that alot of the crystal meth labs, and problems, are more evident in rural areas, as compared to larger cities, etc....tim...

In a lot of ways, what I have seen of rural Maine reminds me of rural Tennessee.  About the same level of poverty, less than high school education, unemployment, welfare, lack of dental care, etc., and many of the houses and mobile homes are in a similar state of disrepair.  And yes, we have the crystal meth labs too. But at least we don't have the black flies or the freezing cold weather and seemingly endless winters.  Many of the country people down here could never survive a Maine winter.

But we have a hell of a lot more QRN than they do in Maine and the rest of New England, plus hot, nasty, poison ivy laden summers with the air so thick and heavy it feels like you could cut it with a knife.

...don, sunday was dreadful here...abt 95*f, humidity near 100 percent....was like that all day, no breeze,and finally late in the day, t-storms, hail,lots of rain, (which we need),and a twister reported abt 6 miles from me...summer in southern ontario can be very uncomfortable...and u r right, cut the air wid a knife...same wx today, beer sales are way up...tim....sk..

Hi Don, 

The dismal views of rural Maine expressed  here are biased by a basic misunderstanding of these people.  Rural Mainers have always been highly resourseful people who are amongst the most talented, clever workers in the world.  They survived the depression with very little problem.  They are widely misunderstood by the "Volvos" as the suburban minded transplants are often called.  It's funny to note that people move here for the lifestyle and to get away from CT, MA etc but their first reactions are usually to try to recreate where they come from and their second reaction is to try to stop all further development.  My Dad was a codes inspector after retirement and he called it the "burn the Kittery bridge syndrome." as so many newcomers were completely against development.    They were constantly on him about getting the natives to "tidy up" their yards so it looked more like where they came from. Where I live in South Portland near Cape Elizabeth people have lost most of their accents and its pretty much a New England culture more so than Maine.   Don't worry too much about rural Mainers, its not all bad and they are not some second class of people. 

Ed

ayeuuhh, 'sright....

My folks were children living in rural Maine during the depression. Their respective families were already fairly poor so the collapsed economy had little impact on their lives. Dad said that everyone had a vegetable garden, some hens, a couple pigs and perhaps a milk cow. Food was never a problem. In fact he fondly remembers sharing meals with some of the guys who were riding the rails that ran by the old family farm. They would often stop there willing to lend a hand with some of the chores for a bit of food.

The newcomers to the state often bring with them some interesting attitudes. I clearly recall the young lawyer who lived next door to my folks trying to enlist my dad's help in coercing Tony, the BIW welder who had lived there longer that anyone, to get rid of his old travel trailer and other offending junk that resided in this yard. Needless to say he didn't get any help with that project. I'm not sure how these same people reconcile  their disdain for American made goods, with their concern for the loss of the skills and infrastructure needed to keep heavy manufacturing alive in this country. Perfectly serviceable, high quality products are still produced here but they are all too often rejected for products perceived to be more upscale, imported from Europe and Japan.

Maine natives of French Canadian origin have related that during the 30's and 40's as children, they were forbidden to speak French at school, even amongst their peers on the playground, outside of class.  Every school  had its  "snitches" who would report to the teacher kids who were observed speaking French to each other, and those kids would be punished.  A similar thing happened with the Cajuns in Louisiana.

Farmers around here survived the Depression with no problem, if they had clear ownership of their land and had no debt, or if they "sharecropped" with an honest landowner who wasn't in debt.  They raised their own food, made their own clothes, did their own house repairs and mechanic's work, etc.  They may have had little or no cash on hand, but the family never went hungry.  Neighbours knew each other and helped each other out.

People who lived in cities suffered, as jobs dried up.

Those who lived through the depression brought with them a  strong ethic that many have retained to this day, of "waste not, want not".  They still never throw away anything that might be useful.  I have heard old timers telling about tearing down buildings for the materials, even saving the nails, straightening them with a hammer, and re-using them.

I think maybe a little bit of that mentality exists out of necessity within the AM community, as we keep our old equipment going despite lack of availability of new parts and tubes.

Sadly, the descendants of long time inhabitants of many areas of the country are being driven off their land by "gentrification".  As affluent newcomers move in and buy up land to "develop", property taxes in the area become unaffordable to the "natives" who are forced to sell out and move elsewhere, where affordable housing still exists.  That is a problem around cities like Nashville, and is one of the reasons why it is so hard to find unrestricted property these days, within commuting distance of work, where you can erect antennas without violating zoning laws and/or enduring the wrath of HOA nazis.

       " As affluent newcomers move in and buy up land to "develop", property taxes in the area become unaffordable to the "natives" who are forced to sell out and move elsewhere, where affordable housing still exists.  That is a problem around cities like Nashville, and is one of the reasons why it is so hard to find unrestricted property these days, within commuting distance of work, where you can erect antennas without violating zoning laws and/or enduring the wrath of HOA nazis. "

And then complain that the cost of labor is so high.... ..    klc

and the answer to all problems is to raise taxes to drive the poor without good jobs out making way for the classless yuppie.

That seems to be a common situation in tourist areas.

Here in Colorado, the cost of living in mountain towns like Aspen and Vail has gotten so outrageous that ski industry workers, cops, firefighters and teachers can't afford to live anywhere near where they work, unless they want to live 5 to an apartment ;-)

All I can say is Rant Rant Rant because the board nark will bust me.

i grew up in maine. my grandparents were poor, did the depression thing
and saved ever penny, waste not want not. the money has moved in some
older towns near portland, along with the higher taxes, HOA, and the no tresspassing signs.  I am amazed at the wealth of the average people coming up out
of NJ, CT etc. on the islands you have multimillion dollar homes, inland the
natives live in trailers.  but the rich folks bring opertunities for restaurants,
stores, trades, services to serve them

True Dean but the pay is so low the service workers can't afford the gas.
 

Sometimes it`s the same down here, though. I had some neighbors
who grew up in the 80`s of all "affluent" times, they were so poor,
two would eat dinner and wash, then the next two, then the last.
They only had two sets of utensils. The big problem as we know, is
waste. As the talking cricket says in the book, "Pinnocchio",
(title`s spelling approximate), "Puppet, I feel sorry for you not because
you are tired and hungry but because you have a wooden head!".
-The puppet picked up a hammer and  cried, "Hush you incessant croaker!"
and smashed the cricket to the wall. The cricket, dying, had only enough
breath to cry, "cree, cree, cree", then expired.
Two things come to mind at present: Altho` I am usually against making
things "illegal", If power landscaping were made illegal, that would do a lot
of obvious good. Also, if power demolition were made illegal too, that
would also do some good, even tho` you`d have to think hard about
what good it is, and I want you to think. Certainly, those who would argue
about emergencies right now are the people who would put cotton in
our mouths and ignite it.

dont kid yourselves, most of this so called "prosperity"is based off of debt. You can drive a Benz and be b as poor as a house mouse, bu the average guy would never know - and the guy driving the benz is too stupid o know hat if he just got a chevy he would have such payments an could get in front.

Banks and credit card companies, combined with the "reform" of he bankruptcy laws ( which were written by the industry's lawyers and introduced into state houses and Congress, by paid for legislatures) have turned it into a debt based economy.

That town looks more depressing than the my little city of New Castle Pa. I bet those water falls make a lot of noise. Yup, they should make POWAH and send three phase lectricity to WBCQ.........ha! One of the board operators up there told me that three 50KW transmitters sucking on a 220V single phase source makes for some hot wires. They use extra fat 00000 awg wire, I bet. They (Some dump of a N.E. Electric company) had to install a regulator station so the lights wouldn't dim in Monticello when Allan hits the Plate On switch. They will not run three phase wires one mile to the transmitter site.
Fred

I was born in Bangor, Maine; lived in Old Town, Maine until age 14, then moved to Albion, Maine. I worked at WTOS (when it was still) in Skowhegan as well as many jobs in Augusta, Rockland, Bangor, Waterville and others, and am acutely familiar with the different issues facing different regions of this beautiful state.

Skowhegan, like many cities in Maine, was originally a mill town. Logs would be floated down the Kennebec River to be milled in Skowhegan. The same was true of my home town of Old Town, just a different river.

Over time, the focus shifted from logging to paper; again, like many cities in Maine. Pretty much every city or town founded on logging grew a paper mill eventually.

Well, the paper industry is dying. Some would say this is a good thing, but those people didn't come here to see how vital the industry was for this state for so many decades. As a result, the lumber and rail industries are vanishing from this state. All that's left for income is farming and tourism. The fishing industry is much smaller than you might expect.

Farming doesn't pay squat, and the only people capitalizing from tourism are the ones who can afford the heavy tax burden one incurs in tourist-rich areas. Since that area is restricted to about 2/3 of Maine's coastline, the few fishermen who aren't already selling their catch in Massachusetts are finding themselves hard pressed to continue living where their families have fished for generations.

Since uttering "big business" is a major faux pas in this state, the end result is akin to keeping the living room spic-n-span and stocked with caviar while the children starve in filth in the back bedroom. Many consecutive administrations: democrat, republican, and even an independent, have kept the government's primary focus on promotion of tourism. This means locking the infrastucture into a static state (no improvements, no acommodation for growth, only repairs) to keep the people driving over the Piscataqua River Bridge every year to peer in amusement at all the adorable little poor people.

Drugs? Crime? Teenage pregnancy? Ayuh, welcome to Maine: The Way Life Never Was. The only hope we were ever born with was changing the linens of the rich and famous, or moving the hell out like most of my generation has. Careless sex, crime, and substance abuse are the end products of a lack of hope; be it in the urban jungle, or in rural Maine. Skowhegan is no better or worse than any non-coastal (or extreme eastern coastal) community in Maine.

So please, come to Maine and visit some time. Eat a lobster, buy some chintzy pinecone souvenir, and enjoy yourself. Just remember: we're the ones paying for it all.

It's a beautiful place to visit, but you don't want to live here.

--Thom
Kilimanjaro Africa One Zulu Goat Cheese

My last time in Portland was back in the 70's just as it was being geared up for the tourist industry, and it was being turned into "convention city".

I recall seeing signs in many of the windows that read "Stop Neighborhood Destruction", as entire blocks were being levelled to build hotels and other attractions designed to bring in "the money".

Tom,
Sounds like you need imports who will work cheaper than locals to increase profits.
Yes when there is no hope everything falls apart.
You can always join the Army.....

The sooner you realize that the "imports" (imported people)
aren`t worth it anymore, the sooner you get onward. When
they get to America, there`s a limit how many things they
can stick in their mouths at the same time and not get very
sick. The same sways true in their original lands and is
happenning. It`s often not helpful to us to be excessively
pitying or angry at the time. Here`s a self- contained plan.
Start a club at a local High school. Get an entire Sophomore
or Junior class interested in a production line of work. After
school they do the work. No two or three shift manufacturing
but good enough. Many of them will do fine until they`re
almost retirement age and want to retire at the same time.
Don`t try it with the Senior class; they`ll think they`re
going to afford college until they find themselves sleeping
(or rather, living) under cars and in pigeon coops.
Note that the government will fight this plan tooth and nail.

Wasn't it government supposed ot serve the people Irb.
I don't have a problem with federal taxes but local tax is extortion.
(but then there is the unlimited cred card limit)
HTF does a school cost 30 mil and a mile of flat road a mil.

Time for another tea party

Don't confuse letting your neighbor take responsibility for themselves with not caring.

Steve you have missed the point because in many cases the cards are stacked against many people due to the policy thrust upon them.
The laim excuse is lack of responsibility.
Many times it is lack of opertunity.

I know a guy who works in construction and he is very good at what he does. He was born with a framing hammer in his hand. He knows all the tricks and does beautiful work. Now he has to compete with illegals for work. How is that his fault?

As for your carpenter friend, you're right, that's not his fault Frank.
Some on my side of the aisle may say that is capitalism at work, but I don't buy that.
Its the fault of the Federal government for not enforcing our laws, and protecting national sovereignty.

I believe what Steve was referring to was the concept that those who work should pay for, or subsidize, the health care for those who do not.
America is the land of opportunity, if one does not like one's station in life, and the benefits, or lack thereof, that said station entails, then they need to better themselves, make responsible choices, and improve their lot in life. The burden for such should not fall on you or I do so for them.

I feel the ultimate act of compassion is when you teach your neighbor to fish, rather than do the fishing for him.

  Well ask the ones who hire. I recently had to do repair work to my roof due to storm damage. I called to company who did my roof 22 years ago to do the job. When he showed up the first time 22 years ago he had all locals doing the job. I knew all of them. This time was all "legals" who did the job. They did do a FB job but when I asked what happend to the local kids he use to hire for the summer outdoor work the reply was "I coulden't find anyone who wanted the work and besides these guys do the same job faster and cheaper". I was a bit yellafied with that. I have no problem with people trying to earn a living but I felt the answer was a half truth. I know lots of locals looking for work and just cant find it. The fishing industry here is all but kapoot so there is a lot of idle hands. This company just hired the cheaper ones.

Bruce I understand and agree with the concept and also understand the party line excuse.
It is very easy to sit back and tell others to better themselves when you have it good.
Ed's story is the prime example of a system gone bad because someone else isn't doing their job which effects others lower on the food chain.

now before I bring out the board narks I'll eat my bag of strawberries.

Hi Frank,
Guess I am unclear on your point, doesn't the customer really determine the outcome/wage scale?
Well, would Ed be willing to pay more for someone to do the job?
Without getting too far into politics of it, isn't the free market what this is all about?
In America, you can chose to deal, buy from, or sell to who you want to, right?

For example, for the last two years at my home and office I have employed a lawn care firm who
does an excellent job, but charges me almost twice what my previous company did.
But its worth it to me as they do a much better job, don't run into things, we frequently receive compliments on the
landscape, etc. I know that the owner pays his employees much better than his competition, they are polite, well groomed,
well spoken, and through. So isn't that just the free market working, the price is set with the perceived, or in this case real, value?

By the way, Peter did an excellent job handling the Gray Hair Net last night!
The static was severe, but he handled it like a pro!
With the static, I missed some things, did he get his ham ticket?
I was busy getting the Rollins rig on the air, a pair of TZ-40s.

-Bruce

PS - Hope those strawberries were not harvested "off-shore" or with the aid of "illegal aliens"?  :o

Bruce,
I tend to agree and pay more. When I buy a tool I first look at the name then where it was made. I just paid almost double for a tool to get made in the USA and was glad I did.
Now if I try that with a pair of shoes I would be making sandles with an old tire and a hunk of rope. I have no control over that market.
This is an example of things that happen out of the little guy's control.
Many times cheap laybor doesn't decrease price but does increase profit. I don't feel we have a free market anymore for many items. This puts a lot of middle class people out of work which bums me out.

Pete likes to hang out in the shack and I let him operate the big switch last night. I had him taking meter readings for me while working on a rig. I figured it was the TZ40 rig but the static monster was killing you. Actually a good test night for the SDR which was no better than the stock Racal. The Flex sync detector was driving me crazy breaking lock and relocking while the racal sync stayed on the signal.
I finally went back to straight AM. I do like the cool display so find myself running both and getting used to the slight delay. 

This is  getting further and further off the original topic, but now that the subject was raised...


Like it or not, we already do that anyway. Medical facilities generally are required to provide essential care for those unable to pay.  But they recuperate their losses with a slight (or substantial?) increase in the rates they charge paying patients for services rendered.  Patients' costs are usually covered by insurance, but the insurance companies in turn recuperate their loss by increasing your premium.   

The way insurance works is that everyone pays a calculated "average" cost of recovery from fire, natural catastrophe, illness, etc. into a pool.  Money is taken from that pool to compensate, or subsidise recovery for individual losses, plus a private insurer skims off a little extra as profit.  It's basically a gambling operation.  You bet the insurer that you will suffer a loss, and the insurer bets that you will not.  If you "lose" the bet by suffering no loss, then the insurer wins by not having to pay you anything, and you are only out the cost of your insurance premium, and everyone is happy.  OTOH if you "win" the bet by suffering a loss, the insurer pays out of the pool to finance your recovery.  You are still only out the premium, so you are happy.  The insurer may not be happy about having to dip into the pool, but that's what they agreed to do when they took your bet.  The technical term for this is actuarial.

Medical care, like fire and police protection and K-12 education, should be treated as a public utility, since it has become essential for survival while costs have spun beyond the personal resources of most individuals.  It isn't free in the sense that everyone with an income pays into the system (places a bet that they might get sick or hurt), but no-one should be forced into bankruptcy because of unavoidable illness.  What we would pay in taxes for universal health care would end up being about the same as what we (and our employer) already pay in the form of insurance premiums, but everyone would be covered.

We pay taxes for fire and police protection whether we ever need those services or not.  We pay for public education even if we don't have kids in school.

 
Or better still, I always keep my eye out for older, used top-of-the-line tools at flea markets and yard sales.  Much of what is made in USA these days is about the same low quality as what is produced offshore. But the black hole that hovers around my place is particularly fond of old, high quality tools.  The more irreplaceable and the higher the quality, the more likely they are to vanish off the face of the earth when not in use (and there is no-one around here to steal them - they just disappear).

Don, Right on. I've paid medical incurance for years and only used it once when I blew out my back. I'm sure the day I retire I will need something and won't be able to afford it.
Of course those who have the cradle to grave deal will tell us to better ourselves.
The Civilized world can manage it while we become the third world of excuses.
 

 Frank, this contractor use to go to the High School carpentry shop each spring with a sign-up sheet for those interested in work for the summer to help shingle roofs and help with framing etc. Good experiance for a decent living for the future. My brother workeed for him for a summer. My only guess is he had to have workmans comp insurance and had to at least pay the minimum to his workers. Had I known I think I may have looked elsewhere but Im also guessing this has become a common practice.

sure win win. No insurance to pay and higher profit margin.
And nobody has to worry about getting busted because homeland security is looking out for us.

Getting back to the topic at hand:


That would make the problem worse instead of better, Frank.

The trouble with living in the state of Maine is not a lack of profits. Not by a longshot. It's a lack of decent paying jobs for those who live here.

The mentality at the state government level (both executive and legislative) is to structure the government to allow tourism to flourish. Unfortunately, the tourist zones make up a ridiculously small percentage of the landscape.

One thing that is (falsely, IMHO) considered to be a discouragement for tourism is large companies whose employees are well-paid, fully insured, and well taken care of. The tax code in Maine is so completely lopsided that any business bigger than a general store gets the living bejesus taxed out of it, and those businesses pack up and move to Massachusetts. I don't blame them.

Then the state government sets up task forces (or focus groups, or whatever verbarrhea they call it now) to try and figure out how to keep our youngsters from moving out of state. Not once have they come up with allowing the large corporations we all left to work for set up shop here. Nope, that might intimidate a tourist, and we don't want anything marring the landscape of The Great New England Poverty Amusement Ride.

So, towns with all the money they need as a result of tourist spending get even more funding from the state, and the rest of us get shafted.

This is why Skowhegan, like many central, northern, and western Maine towns, looks like a trash heap with sidewalks. As far as anyone in Augusta is concerned, any town that fails to attract tourists is just a liability. The sooner towns like Skowhegan self-destruct, the happier the Maine state government will be.

That's why I left here 8 years ago, and why I'm leaving again as soon as the opportunity arises. I'm not the only one: the population of the state of Maine has remained mostly static for well over 20 years. That means for every child born in Maine, someone is moving out of Maine.

Yep, there are tons of smart people born here every day. That's why they don't live here anymore.

--Thom
Killer Album One Zappa's Greatest Compositions

On this we agree, Tom. My kid with his freshly minted college degree has elected to remain in the Midwest even though he would much prefer living here.

Wow. You guys sure can read a lot into a simple statement. Carry on with your stuck in the box, party line thinking. It's quite amusing.

Holy cow Tom!  

I'll grant that I'm from the coast and probably can't fully appreciate life in the inland but do you really think its that bad? Like a lot of folks I could get a big raise if I moved to NYC, and I know I bucked the trend when I moved back to Maine after grad. school but to me it doesn't seem that bad.  In fact I want to be here.  I'm an evil shoe importer.  Those of you who want shoes made here again belly up to the bar and pay the 40% premium for U.S. shoes, with 98% import penetration I'll tell you that you will have a hard time finding them.  My wife used to teach up in Mexico and we lived in Auburn so I'm definately not one of those folks that never has spent time inland but I think there are opportunities here in the state for sure.  Those guys in the trades don't seem to suffer anyplace (plumbers, electricians etc) and on the coast they live like kings.  By way of disclosure I grew up in Bath which is a very blue collar place with some of the best jobs in the state (Bath Iron Works) so it's not like I'm throwing a Cape Elizabeth spin on the state.  By the way,  I was in Bar Harbor 10 days ago and half of the tourist workers I saw were either East Europeans or Russians (young people).   

On the Ham Radio side of this,  I'd say there is no danger of the yuppification of our hobby in Maine or MA.  I don't know what it is like in CA.  Can't think of anything much less yuppified than a hamfest.  

73 de Ed

go see mr moore sicko movie, if you want a peek at healthcare. its
my biggest issue, I pay $650 a month out of my own pocket.  If you
watch his movie, you see if you buy your own health insurance and
have to fill out a disclosure statement watch out. if a big claim comes
along,they have staff to through and nit pick anything to deny you
coverage. a woman didn't declare a yeast infection, and got denied
for a huge bill.  docs get bonuses for denying procedures. review
panels get bonuses for denying big health claims. aetna, cigna, humana, keiser
wonderful companys.

Hey Ed,
I gladly pay an extra 40% for shoes make here. China shoes hurt your feet and have no arch support. I had bad toe in camber as a kid and need to wear quality shoes. I have a chink pair or 2 work boots and they are crap!

Check in the tongue down about an inch or on the heel counter for country of origin marking, they are probably not made here because almost nobody still manufactures shoes in the U.S., the main exceptions being government contracts and some specialty items.  They're are a couple athletic manufacturers hanging in here in the states.  It's incredibly labor intensive as the average high quality shoe can have over 200 small operations to make.  You can get all levels of QC in China and it might surprise you that our QC guys have told me that the quality in China often surpasses Italy today.  The Maine shoe-making generation is mostly no more but Maine had the best genuine handsewns in the world when it was active as the workforce is phenomenal.  There was a time when there was a shoe factory in many towns but no more because the average person won't pay extra and the average 10% duties don't touch the cost differential. Maine factories all did the same thing, optimized manufacturing in hopes to compete,  switching to imported uppers when that wasn't enough and eventually shutting down U.S. operations when they could no longer compete or realized that they were losing what they made with imports by trying to keep U.S. operations afloat.  Brazil and Italy are going through the same process now.  I don't disagree that it would be great to see a revival of U.S. shoe manufacturing but I doubt we'll see it anytime soon. Seriously, start check the country of origin of goods when you buy and you won't see much made here.   Best,  Ed

For your information we do not have Hillbillies up here in New England, we have Swamp Yankees.

Some guy in a funny jacket comes up to the fam and stats settin up geah.

I go out and sez - "hey what ya doin?"

He says that he is a "suveyin" and thinks hes' found that I'm not in maine tall, that I'm actually in New Hampha!

I sez thank gawd - I dint think I could take anothua Maine winta...

Mike WU2D