Tour of Shera Technology

2103 6-2-10

Caught a ride with Trent and John (John is Chinese that's just his English name) and went to Shera Technology (ST) today for an orientation and a tour of the factory.  I think I enjoyed the car ride there and back more than I did the actual orientation.  Of course I might be a bit biased, I could actually understand what was being said in the car as oppose to the orientation.  Still overall a good experience, I got to see where things were manufactured and such.

The offices at ST are actually quite nice, much better than the ones at Blue Bamboo.  But the actual assembly part of the factory is really small especially compared to the textile one that Charlie showed us.  I'm really curious what would happen if Blue Bamboo suddenly got a huge order.  Probably end up just spacing it out over a long period of time or subcontracting some things out.  The factory workers also keep a rather large garden in the middle of the factory courtyard which I thought was rather swell.

Then after all that, which was from 9:30-15:45, I got back into the car with John and Trent to be dropped off at the airport with Trent (the airport is connected to the Line 2 subway which is the line to take if I want to get to work).  While walking around and on the subway Trent and I talked about growth/exit strategies for the company which was neat.  I hope my next batch of research will lead to greater insights for them.  I kind of had to be the bearer of bad news last time.

Sadly my stop came to soon and I had to get out in order to make a stop at Blue Bamboo to pick up my computer cord and then get back on the train in order to get home.  Pain.  On a positive note I was able to convince my cafeteria lady to put green beans on my dinner.  I like her, she's nice.

Let's talk for a moment about current events:

Japan's PM just stepped down to the outrage over keeping the US Military base in Okinawa.  I'm not entirely sure this means that they wanted the base completely gone or if they just wanted it relocated to another part of Japan, apparently though we were pretty insistent that it stay in Okinawa.  It'll be interesting to see what Japan's new PM will do (who hasn't been elected yet).

BP just made a successful cut into the oil pipeline that has been gushing oil for… maybe like two weeks now.  It is now officially the largest oil spill in history.  The cut is supposedly to help divert oil from gushing out at the end, allowing them to cap it and then repair the cleaner cuts.  At least that's what I'm assuming they're doing.  Right now BP is hanging at $36 on Wall Street, might be a good time to invest in the company if anyone has some gambling money lying around.

Texas has passed a text book … "revision."  The changes will reverberate throughout the country since Texas is one of the largest purchaser of textbooks, and textbook companies do not make separate books per state.  California though has immediately passed a measure that'll ban any form of the Texas textbook.  Some of the changes include:

1.       The Board removed Thomas Jefferson from the Texas curriculum's world history standards on Enlightenment thinking, "replacing him with religious right icon John Calvin."

2.       "Teachers in Texas will be required to cover the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation's Founding Fathers, but not highlight the philosophical rationale for the separation of church and state."

3.       Conservatives beat back multiple attempts to include hip-hop as an example of a significant cultural movement.  But country music is.

4.       The Board refused to require that "students learn that the Constitution prevents the U.S. government from promoting one religion over all others."

5.       "Other changes seem aimed at tamping down criticism of the right. Conservatives passed one amendment, for instance, requiring that the history of McCarthyism include 'how the later release of the Venona papers confirmed suspicions of communist infiltration in U.S. government.' The Venona papers were transcripts of some 3,000 communications between the Soviet Union and its agents in the United States."

6.       "They also included a plank to ensure that students learn about 'the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s, including Phyllis Schlafly, the Contract With America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association.'"
The Dallas Morning News noted that "high school students will learn about leading conservative groups from the 1980s and 1990s – but not about liberal or minority rights groups."

7.       "Board member Barbara Cargill, R-The Woodlands, objected to a standard for a high school sociology course that addressed the difference between sex and gender. It was eliminated in a 9-to-6 vote.  She worried that a discussion of that issue would lead students into the world of 'transvestites, transsexuals and who knows what else.'"

8.       "Members voted to polish up references to the American 'free enterprise' economic system and removed most mentions of 'capitalism,' a word that board member Ken Mercer, R-San Antonio, said has a negative connotation." This I find particularly interesting that a Republican would say that Capitalism has negative connotations.

9.       "Board members also rejected requiring history teachers and textbooks to provide coverage on the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy and new Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, while the late President Ronald Reagan was elevated to more prominent coverage."

10.   Numerous attempts to add the names or references to important Hispanics throughout history also were denied, inducing one amendment that would specify that Tejanos died at the Alamo alongside Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie. Another amendment deleted a requirement that sociology students "explain how institutional racism is evident in American society."

11.   Older students will have to "evaluate efforts by global organizations to undermine U.S. sovereignty" and, under an earlier change, analyze the "unintended consequences" of such programs as the Great Society and affirmative action.

Some of the amendments that were luckily defeated included:

1.       President Obama to be referred to as "Barack Hussein Obama."

2.       Rename the "slave trade" the "Atlantic triangular trade," a clear attempt to downplay slavery's horror and spread the blame.

Some of you may be thinking that none of these sound that bad.  But I contest that it indeed is.  The impact of these changes or lack thereof directly contradicts what history professors actually say should be taught and have a clear agenda in their amendments.  We should be trying to teach history exactly as it happened, not stressing individual cords to reflect our own personal agendas.  Political activist, conservative and liberals alike, should not be able to get their hands on our children's education tools.