''Fantasies are more than substitutes for unpleasant reality; they are also dress rehearsals, plans. All acts performed in the world begin in the imagination.'

Barbara Grizzuti Harrison
Author and Publicist"

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all."

Dale Carnegie
1888-1955, Author and Trainer

Sponge Homer is rung out! Just arrived from China. About 23hrs total travel time. Lots of memories and a lot of new ideas!

In view of what I've seen in China this quote is very true:

"In times of change the learners will inheirit the earth, while the learned will find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exist."

Eric Hoffer from the True Believer

China is the final fronteir and it happens to be 1billion people strong. As I've said just about any consumable product American mfgs can be made in China for less.
Today I go back to the new complex trade area which is about 3mil sq ft of trade show, one end of the center is about 1 mile long, about 10,000 vendors there.

GuangZhou is a city of about 6 million in the industrial region of China just abotu 2hrs train ride from Hong Kong. As labor is needed it is moved here from all over China. The western area of China supplies an abundance of workers who migratge here for work. Workers live in communal factories and make everything from shoes to high-tech devices here. The area total population is around 20million. GuangZhou is the epicenter of the trade fairs in China. All the manufactures come here twice a year to show their products.
Today I go to a second trade facility to view new products.
The weather is very nice.
Food is typical Chinese, duck and pork with lots of rice.

As my friend and I walked through the Chinese Commodities Fair in GuangZhou China yesterday we saw what is the reason for the collapse of American Manufacturing now and in the future. Product after product that we once made in America have now been made in China for less and with as good of quality.

Greetings from Hong Kong China! We arrived at 12midnight after a 2 hr testing of a monitoring device in Tokyo Japan. I never complain about technical difficulties being checked out before one is airborne neither should you when you fly. The trip was great. I think Northwest fed us at least 8 times. One certainly gets his/her monies worth in food. I had a most interesting conversation with a fellow traveler who just returned from Iraq. What insight he has on the ground zero situation. He visited ancient Babylon and might send me a photo of it. I can't wait.
The day today is filled with meeting our guide at his office, exchanging ideas, getting to know them. Our contact Richard and Michael met us at the airport last evening with a sign: Jeff & Homer. And with great hospitality showed us to our hotel and presented us with a nice drawn out schedule. What a great welcome to China we had.
I've been awake about 30hrs with the exception of a few "cat" knaps. So today about 3pm I'm sure I'll crash.
All the best to you on the other side of the world.
China awaits you someday. Marco Polo did it and so can we,
Sponge Homer

I'll be posting from China to the 5th graders at Thomas Elementary as soon as I arrive.

Today I spoke to 2 classes of 5th graders at Thomas Elementary school about my trip to China tomorrow. As I was speaking I thought and told them how China would impact their lives. In fact most wore shoes, cloths and jewelry made in China. The future products may be: Cars, appliances, computers "made in China". When a billion people start producing products there's only one market big enough to buy them: USA. The world they will work in will be totally different than the one we see now.

statesman.com Next time your at Wal-mart or a major
retailer count the "made in China" tags and you'll see why this is an issue. There's really
nothing they can't make cheaper in consumer goods.

News: "Further complicating the issue, the Senate amendment contains the rider that the loan could be reconverted into an outright grant if Iraq's foreign creditors, including France, Russia and Germany, agree to forgive 90 per cent of official debt, around $130bn, run up by Saddam Hussein's regime. But this only increases the risk that assistance for Baghdad will become entangled with the thorny question of Iraqi debt and war reparations. The White House argues that it will give foreign governments indirect control of a key US policy. " I had heard it was closer to $200bln but its mucho mula Iraq owed.

Yahoo! News - Senate, House Pass $87 Billion for Iraq
There's one problem with making this a loan to Iraq as I see it. Germany, France, Russia
had over $200billion in loans to Iraq. Check their credit. They never paid G,F,R.
It's not hard to understand why they are reluctant to start offering money and
help. You'd understand that if someone burned you for a couple of hundred billion?

Here's something deep to think on for a few days?

When the primacy of love is subordinated to
doctrinal correctness and orthodox exegesis, cool
cordiality and polite indifference masquerade as
love among theologians, biblical scholars, and
faculties across the land. When absolute control
and rigid obedience pose as love within the
family and the local faith-community, we produce
trained cowards rather than Christian persons. -
Brennan Manning

Today is Boss' Day, Ronda got a nice bouquet of flowers from wonderul employees. I wonder if they have a Boss-i-ness day? Wouldn't it be a real hit?

New products coming!

Hearing RF in your head is a very real possibility with this implated device.

Orthodontic appliance audio receiver
Abstract
An orthodontic appliance audio receiver injects sound into the head and ear cavities of the wearer using vibration, e.g., mandibular (or skull) vibration. Using mandibular vibration, the wearer hears the audio source noiselessly, effortlessly, and without disturbing others, yet provides themselves with entertainment or other audio information. The orthodontia metalwork may be used to form an antenna. Hearing audio (e.g., music) by `feeling` vibrations from the orthodontic appliance audio receiver encourages a patient to wear their prescribed orthodontia, improving and/or expediting the overall orthodontic therapy. A wireless (or even wired in low cost applications) audio signal receiver is built-in to a retainer, together with a transducer and a power source such as a battery, allowing unlimited transfer of information directly into the wearer's head through their mouth. An appropriate RF transmitter device worn or carried by the user may include a local point-to-point transmitter or a local wireless network device (e.g., a BLUETOOTH piconet), in combination with any audio source (e.g., CD player, cassette player, digital fixed medium player such as an MP3 player, etc.). Alternatively, the RF transmitter may relate to a conventional radio station transmitter.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inventors: Reiss; Lori K. (Allentown, PA)
Assignee: Lucent Technologies Inc. (Murray Hill, NJ)
Appl. No.: 614513
Filed: July 12, 2000 "

This would be neat if I had a remote to change everyone's station from time to time? Or can you imagine the interruptions this could create?

I'm reading the book: The Next Big Thing is Small about nanotechnology. Very interesting ideas about changing substances at the molecular level. All materials are up for grabs in the future. The author points out in about 2005 we will start seeing product impact of this revolutionary science. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter. For example the dot on the "i" in this sentance is approximately one million nanometers. If that doesn't work 1 nanometer is to an inch what one inch is to approximately 16,000 miles.

One would think Mr. Hu unleashed a trend like of like the movie Jack Ass of people doing this kind of stuff. But it didn't.
Only in America does it work like that!

Yahoo! News - China Becomes Only Third Nation to Put Man in Space: "China invented gunpowder and legend has it that a Ming dynasty (1368-1644) official named Wan Hu attempted the world's first space launch. He strapped himself to a chair with kites in each hand as 47 servants lit 47 gunpowder-packed bamboo tubes tied to the seat. When the smoke had cleared, Wan was apparently found to have been obliterated. But the dream survived. "
One of those days at the office when you have more ideas about the potential of gunpowder than you can ever put to a test. Surely Mr. Hu made the company newsletter with this new application of gunpowder technology? One will never know of his impact?

News
Is American Democracy in trouble? With recounts, recalls and remaps, I say, Yes there's a shift taking place. Here's an article from an outsider.

I listened to Rush's substitute after his confession of addition to pain killers on Friday and he admitted himself to a dryout facility immediatly. I was amazed at how much sympathy the guy tried to enlist on Rush's behalf. He stated that he didn't want the show to be about Rush and his problems. The guy struggled to open the show--how do you put in words what has happened to the man who has,"talent on loan from GOD" or "one hand tied behind my back to level the playing field". How much sympathy is he due--the one who relentlessly day by day spued out negative about elected officials.
Can you imagine Rush laying off Bill Clinton one second.
He said that the EIB listeners are some kind of family----I thought, "family"?
Why I listen to Rush? Rush saved AM radio. AM radio was struggling and when he came a long it was revived. He will be remembered for that--I'm sure!

I'm changing the name of my blog to Sponge Homer! Have you ever watched Sponge Bob?
I like the guy!

Just back from a week of attempting to build a fence around our place in Fredericksburg, Texas. Well it rained the whole week. As I was cutting through briars one day with rain dripping down my glasses the thought struck me: I'm no fence builder! I did have a couple of ideas while attempting to be a fence builder. If someone could genetically engineer briars to grow horizontally that would substitute well for barb wire. Some day a natural alternative!

Abilene Reporter News: State
Corralling Voters in West Texas
The quote of all quotes, "The people in Lubbock were happy to join the people of Abilene," said Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, a main Senate congressional redistricting negotiator. "We crafted a plan that not only preserves West Texas as a whole, but a district that makes sense. Some will be angry and I can’t blame them. While the West Texas configuration is not what I wanted, not what I was fighting for ... this configuration, if you look seven years to 17 years down the road, is a good configuration in this process.’’ But what about the people of Abilene? We are mad as hell over this, it delutes our voice and pairs us with interest not our own.

| House vote on redistricting plan Thank you Bob Hunter our State Rep. who voted against the
Delay Redistricting plan to divide Texans even more. We are in the midst of a health crises,
budget crisis, water in some areas and our elected leaders have been drawing maps to corral voters of
the majority party's Choice. Wasted time and wasted energy.
I commend Bob for going against his party and holding a solid NO vote.

My response to George Will's editorial:
I just read your column today on Arnolds ascension to power and the polictics around it. I could not agree more with it. I'm about a stones throw from Johnson City
Texas my wife & I have a second home in historic Fredericksburg, Texas. Today Tom Delay's Texas Mapist gave us a new set of boundaries for congressional
districts that I know has LBJ rolling over in his grave. The map can be seen at: www.statesman.com its hot of the press, its the most checker boarded attempt at voter corralling I've ever seen and trying to appease our state majority leader. Its sure to be contested by the courts. Why would our founding fathers allow career politicians to draw their own maps--corralling voters like cattle who can be rounded up and taken off to the polls? A non partisan group with no interest would be better. Texas has spent some 15mil dollars on this effort and it looks futile.
Vote herding as I call it!
I appreciate your thoughts/ideas everytime I hear you speak or read your work. I think you for being open and non biased as much as any of us can,
Also I blogged your article on my bog,
Blessings and good day,
Homer H. Hillis, Jr.
Abilene,Texas USA
was 17th Congressional District, now who knows.

statesman.com | George Will
George Will hits it head on about the California's rush to ride itself of all the bad
politicians of the past.

"The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation after generation."

Pearl S. Buck
1892-1973, Author, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize Winner

"Most great men and women are not perfectly rounded in their personalities, but are instead people whose one driving enthusiasm is so great it makes their faults seem insignificant."

Charles A. Cerami
Author

From Pitchforks to Proposition 13
David Kennedy put the current recall in historical perspective!

"To the extent that Californians — and Americans — subscribe to that view, they have confounded the predictions of countless theorists about the nature of democratic politics. Among those theorists, Alexis de Tocqueville is an exception, for he identified the peculiarities of the American case now so vividly manifest in California, that most American of states. The characteristic social class that American society nurtured, said Tocqueville, was composed of 'eager and apprehensive men of small property.' Though born in revolution, their country was unlikely ever again to undergo revolutionary upheaval. 'They love change, but they dread revolutions,' Tocqueville concluded, because 'they continually and in a thousand ways feel that they might lose by one.'
That social class of small property owners, and its attendant attitudes, are now ascendant in California, and perhaps in the nation at large. Their influence explains why the government from which Shays demanded relief, and the government that Johnson tried to place more firmly in the hands of the people, has now become the object of popular suspicion and hostility. Americans apparently prefer misgovernment that will leave them to their own devices to an effective government that might actually do something for them — or ask something of them.
We've come a long way from the Regulator to the Terminator."

Sept. 15, 2003 Ronda made a trip in 1987 to Israel with Mark Hamilton, he later attended Harvard and
moved to teach at ACU, Mark is a great guy with insite few are gifted with.

Last night I got to meet and have my picture taken with Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala of Crossfire at the anual Chamber of Commerce banquet. They did a great job.
I lean to Paul Ronda leans to Tucker. The best thing about America is great political Free debate, other countries you might get shot, here you have total Freedom to disagree and discuss openly.

Pictures of Hannah
Want to see what keeps me smiling all day? Hannah loves cookies/crackers and soon talking, can you believe she's a Hillis? Yes!

Four Big Trends Coming Our way on Planet Earth:

1. Nanotechnology - According to the book,
"The Next Big Thing Is Really Small," nanotechology
will be a trillion dollar industry in the next 10
years.
I ordered this book yesterday!

2. Alternative Health Care - According to the book,
"The Wellness Revolution," the wellness industry will
surpass the sickness industry and will be a trillion
dollar industry within the next 10 years.

3. E-Commerce - According to the book,
"DreamBiz.com," this will be a trillion dollar
industry within the next 5 years.

4. Expansion into Asia - the Chinese connection.
The Asian baby boomer phenomena will be 100
times bigger than the North American baby boom.