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Mike,

How I agree with you when it comes to people not learning to cook properly these days. I know many people who freely admit to not being able to boil an egg, and one fellow in particular who, at the age of 27, can't even make a sandwich of all things and gets his mum to do it for him. The fact that they laugh about it when admitting these things is what gets me. I'm sorry, but I don't think this is funny; it's sad, and they ought to be downright ashamed.

Not saying *everyone* should feel confident in cracking out a 3-course meal for 20 guests (I certainly wouldn't), but there's absolutely no excuse for not being able to feed oneself properly.

I took domestic science lessons at school, in fact our class was 75% male, and had a wonderful teacher who taught us the basics of making good, honest family food. Not just the cooking side of things, but also costing and budgeting (hence "Home Economics") and the nutritional aspects too.

Also very lucky here to have parents who are good cooks, with my father spending 20-odd years serving in the Navy as a head chef. My brother and I were encouraged to cook and experiment in the kitchen from a very early age, therefore we see it as something to be enjoyed rather than just a chore. Living on convenience food is my idea of hell, I would rather make ice cream from scratch, bake my own bread and stuff my own sausages so I know what's going into them, and have fun in the process!

Kirk
 
One of my friends got an advert in the mail hawking a new company that you can make "homemade meals" - you go into their kitchen studios and prepare them yourself. All the ingredients are provided, measured, chopped/diced and ready to add to the dishes on the menu. There are 12 different meals you make in one evening and take them home, ready to freeze. You don't even have to do the dishes, they take care of everything. The cost? $179. It sounds like all you need to be able to do is operate a spoon, a roll of aluminum foil and your oven thermostat.

What a boon for those families whose children have learned their table manners in the back seat of the car!
 
Greg, we have one of those places in Killeen. I went with some co-workers one evening just for grins. Everything on the menu that night for the month had one ingredient that rendered the food unable for me to eat due to my food cautions. And people ahead of us used wayy too much of a certain ingredient and the last group, us, didn't get to make what they wanted. The packaging does have heating instructions. The result is, you have a home cooked meal with the assistance of someone else, although you assemble. All ingredient planning/purchase is done for you. But a family can actually sit down to a real meal. IN the end, it's too expensive for me. I can make my own less expensive.
 
Takeover approved!

Whirlpool's $1.68 Billion Takeover of Maytag Approved
Bloomberg March 29 2006

Whirlpool Corp. can complete its $1.68 billion takeover of Maytag Corp., the U.S. Justice Department decided as it rejected concerns from its own lawyers that the combination might hurt competition.

The acquisition, approved without any required divestitures, will create the world's largest appliance maker. It was the first merger decision by Thomas O. Barnett since he won Senate confirmation on Feb. 10 to head the Justice Department's antitrust division.

``I'm stunned,'' said Mirko Mikelic, a senior portfolio analyst with Fifth Third Bank in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with $21 billion assets including Whirlpool bonds. ``I thought they would need to do at least something to appease the Justice Department.''

Shares of Maytag surged $4.73, or almost 28 percent, to $21.81 at 4 p.m. in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Whirlpool rose $6.38, or 7.1 percent, to $95.95.

``The proposed transaction is not likely to reduce competition substantially,'' the Justice Department said in a statement. ``Large cost savings and other efficiencies that Whirlpool appears likely to achieve indicate that this transaction is not likely to harm consumer welfare.''

Government lawyers who investigated the combination had raised concerns that it would lead to higher prices for washing machines because Whirlpool and Maytag together control more than 70 percent of the U.S. market, said antitrust lawyers familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the transaction.

Foreign Competition

Whirlpool, argued that growing foreign competition from makers such as China-based Haier Group Corp., LG Corp. of South Korea and Sweden's Electrolux AB would constrain its ability to raise prices.

The Justice Department said in its statement today that it is convinced the combined company can't raise prices because of competition from General Electric Co. and Electrolux AB's Frigidaire line. It also noted that foreign-made products sold by such companies as LG and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. ``have quickly established themselves in recent years.''

The Justice Department also cited competition from Sears Holdings Corp.'s Kenmore brand, which is manufactured by Whirlpool.

Whirlpool said its production of the Kenmore brand shouldn't be counted as part of its share of the washing machine market because Sears sets prices and promotes its own appliances.

Fourth-Quarter Loss

Whirlpool, based in Benton Harbor, Michigan, outbid Ripplewood Holdings last year for Maytag, which reported a fourth-quarter loss of $75 million, or 93 cents a share. Maytag's loss widened from $14.1 million, or 18 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.

Haier withdrew its preliminary bid of $16 a share for Newton, Iowa-based Maytag after Whirlpool bid $17. Whirlpool then raised its offer three times to $21 a share before Maytag's board agreed to the deal.
 
we did it to ourselves

One of the reasons I will NOT be teaching when I return to the 'States is because of all the restrictions the christians and politically correct have placed on the truth. My students in Germany are actively encouraged to think for themselves and rewarded for researching and arguing points of view which differ from the "everyone knows" position.
My friends in Colorado, Wyoming and Kansas who teach write to me with one horror story after another.
Fundamentalism - whether p.c. or the christians, is doing in eductation in the US. The dumbing down is an inevitable result.
Not that Europe is doing any better at answering the challanges posed by China and India. Case in point: In Germany, Chinese students are welcomed with open arms. Once they have completed their studies (frequently summa cum laude) they MUST then leave the country. We wouldn't want them sullying our labor market with their initiative, creativity or industriousness. The Italians (who are great engineers, whatever their quality problems may be) are losing the battle for the cheap end of the appliances market because China, Pakistan and India produce better quality for less money. Instead of raising their quality, they are trying to have import restrictions imposed.
I am not even going into the human rights issues here - let's just leave it at this: Even if I did want to teach in the 'States, as a gay man I have no chance of being hired.
The middle class is dying, the rich get richer by not investing their profit into the productive economy...and the biggest issue facing the "West" is who will win American Idol or Deutschland sucht dem Superstar...
 
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