Product Position

A sign of the Economy–Picture Tube TVs are enjoying a comeback, as plasma endured a slide behind the Picture Tubes in the First Quarter. Unit Sales for Flat Screens dropped 36% between Christmas and First Quarter readings, much heavier than expected, though a traditional occurrence. The economic climate might have been sour for Consumer Spending, but I still would bet that 70% of the Foreclosures since the start of the Year, had a Big Screen TV sitting in the Living Room. RCA though is enjoying a revival for its Tubes, now that it belongs to China’s TCL. As an aside, I will state that digital television had better get it together; I have suffered successive Outages of Service from my Cable network.

Do We use Food Crops or Weeds for biofuel production? The invasive species planned for use tend to escape and damage, and Scientists claim the biofuel industries hurry to Production too rapidly, without adequate controls. Second-Generation biofuels take less Care than Food Crops, and can be grown on marginal farmland unusable for high intensity Crops. The also cost less in the Fuel Exchange of Energy Gain in Farming, but take about as much Water and potentially even more Fertilizer mix–though raw Sewage could be utilized. The estimate of damage from invasive species of $1.4 trillion must be considered a vast overreach, as negligent agricultural practice produces almost half of such loss.

This article informs why Trade Agreements are foolhardy at best. Japan maintains the domestic Rice Price basically to keep domestic suppliers on the farms, preventing an outsize migration to the Cities. Other Rice Growers have insisted Japan import 700,000 tons of Rice per year, and Japan has finally found a viable utilization for the Rice. The Rice Growers are outraged at the practice, though no one expects the Gift of Rice to needy Countries to affect World Rice price more than marginally. The article does not mention that foreign Rice invasion of Japan’s domestic market will not raise the World Rice price either, though it will destroy the stability of Japanese Rice farmers. It is also not a necessary expansion of World Rice markets, as the major Rice Growers can easily sell their Product. The final element states that if the Poor in the Philippines and Africa have to pay the World Rice price for their Rice, then they will be malnourished. Trade Negotiators do not know when to keep their mouth shut! lgl