Nambé

Well, another loss for artisan craftsmanship and the US economy - Nambe has moved to China.

Being from New Mexico, I have always had a sort of local pride about the distinctive quality and beauty that is Nambe. It started out in the 1950s in a little village outside Santa Fe, and now the pieces have made it into world-class museums: from MOMA, Taiwan, Prague to Tokyo. I myself have three bowls and a pair of candlesticks. The fluidity and modernity of the design have always appealed to me.

According to their website, Nambe "is a company recognized worldwide for its award-winning designs and admired for its dedication to both artistic integrity and everyday functionality. Since the early '70s, gifts of Nambé have been given by our governors and statesmen as symbols of New Mexico's heritage. Nambé is still selected by the U.S. Department of State as gifts for foreign dignitaries and heads of state." And now, this beautiful New Mexican company born in the mountains near Los Alamos by Native American artisans has been outsourced to China. HUH???

Two years ago I read a book that really gave me a reality check, "A Year Without Made in China: One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy" by Sara Bongiorni. She, frustrated by the headlines of jobs being shipped to China and lead paint nonsense, decided to have her own boycott of all things made in China for an entire year. This book was an amazing read, and surprisingly funny. Having two small children, it was almost impossible to find shoes for them. She had to order custom made ones from Brazil - still outsourcing, but not to China. Need a toy to give for a child's birthday party? LEGO became her stand-by, but one must read the box carefully because only about 50% are manufactured in Europe - the rest? China. Her vacuum broke. Uh-oh! Impossible to find a new one made anywhere but China. Solution? The vacuum repair man! Oh, yeah! They are still around, and need business, right?!

I am so frustrated by this little piece of news. I do not know how Nambe could let this happen....

Octo-Mom

I am tired of the publicity swirling around Nadya Suleman - in my opinion she is an unfit mother and should have all of her 14 children placed in Child Protective Services. I am not a psychiatrist, I only have a cursory knowledge of Psych 101 and a dabbling of Dr. Philisms, but I can tell that this woman has some major issues.

I am not for limiting reproduction; that can get dicey (it calls to mind Communist China and their limit to one child per couple.....), but there has to be guidelines for IVF to guard against a single mother, still in college ($50,000 in debt with student loans), living with her parents in a 3 bedroom home, on Welfare (!!!), with six other children at home (two of which are disabled), from being impregnated with eight children. That is insane. If she were an applicant to adopt or foster these children there is absolutely no way she would be accepted. I saw on Dr. Phil yesterday that even as a daycare, the State of California only allows six infants in the home. She's bringing home eight!

I am a little biased against a Welfare state, however. My father, after retiring from an illustrious career in the US Navy, took a job for the State of the New Mexico investigating Welfare fraud, waste and abuse. Some of the stories he would come home with would just make your head spin. Teenagers dropping out of school and becoming baby-makers (essentially) and living off of the State; food stamp recipients asking to buy other people's groceries with their EBT card in exchange for cash so they can go buy cigarettes, alcohol, drugs.....

But, I am off topic. Nadya Suleman is out of touch with reality. She is majoring in Psychology, and yet she cannot see the mess that is staring back at her in the mirror. I really hope that the State of California steps in at some point; those poor infants are innocent and did not choose their fate. I feel bad for them; and I pity their mother.