September Sundry

So the writer pulls together a few things and tries to unite them in something that one generation calls a potpourri, and another a mash-up.
In other words, someone’s run out of gas.
The tank’s far from empty here, especially with the credit-market capers dominating financial news as this issue of Stone Business goes to print. We’ll deal with that one later; for now, there are several pots on the boil that need attention.

HEY, YOU …..
It’s the nature of magazines that someone out there doesn’t like what you print. Occasionally, I don’t hear much about these, although two efforts in July – my column on immigration and the annual Import Trends article – raised a few hackles. Most of the objectors didn’t care to have their name in print (and, to be honest, I don’t blame them), but they also made fair points.
The objections to my objections on the current immigration debate pointed out that businesses using cheaper undocumented (okay, illegal) labor put businesses using fully legal workers at a disadvantage. The objectors also argue that there are large social costs with illegal immigrants in this country. And they wonder if I’d feel differently if I was in a job that could be replaced by cheaper foreign and/or illegal labor.
My main point in pointing out the fallacies of the current immigration laws is that it’s still a crap shoot for many employers. A reliance on a paper trail to ensure an employee is legal is an open invitation – as it’s been in the past – to create an underground industry of fake documentation that an employer won’t know about but will end up taking the fall if something’s wrong.
I also think it’s the wrong attitude to believe that, if we just enforce our current laws, everything will be fine. What we have are laws that couldn’t be effectively enforced almost from their inception, unless we created a massive bureaucracy (and we know how well those work) and nothing less than a standing army on the U.S.-Mexico border. And I can’t say that our federal government is currently up to taking on a stepped-up effort at this point.
The social-cost argument isn’t exactly something of vital interest in the fabrication shop, but I still think the effect is overblown. We’ve been dealing with bilingual-education challenges for a long time, and well before the current debate. And the only revenue shortfall created by illegal aliens is the lack of income-tax payments, and it’s a good bet that most of those workers would be paying a bare minimum, if anything.
By the way, I can be replaced by cheaper labor. A Pasadena, Calif., community newspaper tried to outsource its local government coverage to freelancers in Mumbai who would've watched meetings via the Internet. Outsourced attendance at trade shows can’t be far behind.
The ill feelings from our coverage on the import trade is that we possibly give too much credit to stone coming into the country; foreign stone’s share of the market is way too high at an estimated 90 percent.
My answer: You’re right, but it’s a numbers game. Specifically, import numbers are precise, and domestic dimensional-stone quarrying is virtually anybody’s guess. It’s not an exaggeration that the last thing many owners of small and productive U.S. quarries want to see is the government taking a keen interest in their businesses.
It’s why I don’t blame those taking issue with immigration and import trends from not wanting their names in print. I have the U.S. Constitution to keep the government out of most of my business, but I’m not about to press other people’s luck in the bargain.

BEST OF HOME
Maybe it’s been a hot summer and things are moving slow, but the entries for our annual Best of Home competition are trickling in at a lazy pace. I know there are plenty of great jobs out there that deserve a look – but we need to get entries to consider them.
It costs nothing to enter. The terms are simple, and included on our entry form that’s available at www.stonebusiness.net – or, if you prefer, e-mail me and I’ll send you one pronto.

6+ AND COUNTING …
… and there still is no permanent national memorial dedicated to the memory of the events and the victims of the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. It’s something that doesn’t age well.
Efforts in New York at the World Trade Center site are barely underway, as various groups argued about design and delayed construction. A completion date for the memorial is nowhere to be seen at the official Website; the cost for the minimalist design, in nominal dollars, may actually come close to the cost of constructing the original Twin Towers.
A full memorial at the Pentagon in Virginia is faring better. Construction began last June, and it should be completed by this time next year.
The efforts in Shanksville, Pa., for United Airlines Flight 93 may see final dedication in 2011, after it hit a snag at the start with a major design controversy. It’s still well short of its goal of $30 million in private donations. Meanwhile, the unofficial, volunteer-driven memorial for Flight 93 in Union City, Calif. (“Remembering the Valiant,” Stone Business, May 2007) should be dedicated this month.
Everyone involved with the can-do Union City effort should be congratulated, and the Pentagon effort deserves a salute. The lack of progress in New York and Pennsylvania is disheartening and a disservice to the heroes and patriots of 9/11.