Big Brood

… when you get out of your car, you feel like you’ve seen this at the circus before.

In found this article on the population problem for small towns and rural areas. In this article Charles Wheelan discusses how the rural American population is shrinking while the U.S. itself is growing due to farming productivity, a skills-based economy and farm subsidies.

A few things in this article really bother me. First, the fact that the author thinks that one can’t work in a skills-based workforce and also live in rural America. Since I live in rural American and work in a skills-based job, I’m not sure I buy his argument. In fact, I think that the rise of telecommuting may play a role in increasing the population of some rural areas in the future.

I’m also concerned about the truth that farms are growing larger and more corporate and that our farm subsidies are going to these large profitable corporate farms. We’re not supporting the family farmer with these subsidies anymore. We’re paying corporations to make a profit.

This also makes me wonder we will continue to be able to buy locally. If the family farmer is being squeezed out, who will grow the food for our farmer’s markets?

Do you see effects of corporate farming in your farmer’s market? What do you think about the loss of population in rural areas?

… you’ve ever heard: “You know how that happens, don’t you?”

Are you starting a softball team?  Have you ever heard that question before?  I have, even though we’re nowhere close yet (just a basketball team, so far).

This family of 11 kids, however, can answer: yes!

I think this sounds like a lot of fun to see all those kids working and playing together, especially for a cause.

Have you ever had a family team like this?  Did you find it fun or frustrating to play with your siblings or kids?

In this article, we see Lawrence Dillon talking about how being the last of 8 has helped to inform his artistic direction as a composer but didn’t help him so much with dental hygiene.

Do you have any budding composers in your house?  Do you see your goslings art effected by their older siblings?

While changes in grocery and fuel prices will naturally lag behind the price of commodities, they are linked. In an article at kiplinger.com, we see that the commodity prices may be a bubble about to burst.

What’s the takeaway? Commodity prices are inflated due to speculation (ie: people wanting to make a quick profit). This speculation is further driven by lower returns in most other areas of possible investment.

ETFs are allowing more and more investors to jump in and out of the commodities market, increasing volatilty and adding to the market. The dollar is falling, which inflates prices as foreign suppliers try to compensate to maintain profits.

In the end, we’ll hopefully see a drop in some of these commodity prices in the summer but not that much as supply is still low compared to demand.

 Have you seen these price increases recently?  Have you changed any of your habits because of them?

… whenever you look at cars passing on the road, you’re silently tallying the number of seats.

… every once-in-a-while you walk into your living room and think to yourself: Hey, where did all these kids come from!?

… you go out to a buffet, they ask you “How many kids?” and it’s a hard question for you to answer.

Looks like the new CEO for Eli Lily offers his big family as inspiration for many of the skills that got him to the top.

A large family taught Lechleiter how to negotiate, cooperate and get along with others. It also taught him the importance of education. He tore through high school, taking advanced chemistry, physics and calculus classes.

I’ve certainly seen a lot of negotiation happen around here. Too often it’s the “Take it or leave it” negotiation tactic, but I’ve often seen some wonderfully giving moments between my children that make me feel ashamed for my own “It’s MINE!” attitude that I have sometimes.

How about you? Do you see any budding CEO’s in your brood? What kind of “business skills” do you think your goslings are learning?