One example of automation being replaced by manual labor is in warehouse and distribution centers. The dominant logistics paradigm of the previous generation was towards ever more increasing automation. Eventually, the point of diminishing returns was reached, when these automated systems became so unweildly that they were more trouble than they were worth. It was common to see tall, narrow aisles stacked to the ceiling with shelves and trays, with huge robot cranes riding up and down, picking trays and bringing them to the packers.

People eventually realized that this method was very burdensome- between first-cost, down-time, maintenance and energy consumption. This approach was largely abandoned in favor of semi-automated human beings, made possible by portable, lightweight wireless computer terminals and hand-held bar-code scanners.

It hurt to realize that you bet on the wrong horse, but sometimes you have to rethink the problem at hand. Sometimes, technology isn't the answer.

Now, the smart money appears to be on this technique- resulting in a higer rate of low-skilled employment, and the work gets done better, faster, and cheaper.

I will echo the sentiment of a few others here- while I often find your posts irritating- largely because of our widely divergent world views, I am nonetheless impressed with your intelligence and erudition when you decide to be thoughtful and rational.

I am referring to your previous post whereby you admitted that, even as a self-professed abortion moderate, you nonetheless think Roe v. Wade causes more problems than it fixes. (paraphrasing mine)

Regarding my position on abortion, I am of the "Safe, Legal and Rare" persuasion. I am also not a legal scholar, and am unable to articulate the particular legal implications behind Roe v. Wade.

Would you be willing, for our benefit, to explain as succinctly as possible, the legal problems in Roe v. Wade, while telling us what you would imagine to have been a more helpful outcome?

Can you also suggest the most helpful legal structures for which we "Safe Legal and Rare" types ought to strive?

I see this as a learning opportunity, and I would be grateful for your input. Thanks.

...the fact that chickens are the only animals we eat before they are borm, or after they're dead?

Dr. Tiller was on his way into church when he was murdered. Of course it was a Lutheran church, not Southern Baptist, so in Drake's mind, perhaps being a Lutheran doesn't count as being a Christian.

Heh.

Well, on every corner in my little Southern towm, there are three Baptist churches, and every Sunday, they are all 2/3 empty because each one thinks that the other two are doing it wrong.

any stories planned on the murder of the US soldier in Arkansas by a muslim terrorist?

Any? Doesn't your sense of journalistic smell alert you to the signifigance in light of other recent events?

Other recent events, indeed!

Ah, thank you for noticing the same story I read this morning in USAToday. For those of you who missed it, one Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhannad (born Carlos Bledsoe of Little Rock) allegedly shot two soldiers outside an Arkansas recruiting station, killing one this past Monday.

"Police Chief Stuart Thomas...said Muhammad would be charged with first-degree murder, plus 15 counts of committing a terroristic act. He said those counts result from the gunfire occurring near other people.

Looks like Wichita, KS, site of the recent murder of Dr. George Tiller, could use a chief of police like Mr. Thomas. He sure knows a domestic terrorist when he sees one.

Yes, there should most definitely be a story about this on Salon. Thank you for your vigilance and sense of fair play.

Joan, are you listening?

...but be careful what you wish for.

Hey Koppleman, where is the story about the US serviceman killed by a muslim terrorist yesterday?

Where, indeed?

Thank you for noticing the same story I read this morning in USA Today. For those of you who missed it, one Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhannad (born Carlos Bledsoe of Memphis, TN) allegedly shot two soldiers outside an Arkansas recruiting station, killing one this past Monday.

"Police Chief Stuart Thomas...said Muhammad would be charged with first-degree murder, plus 15 counts of committing a terroristic act. He said those counts result from the gunfire occurring near other people."

Looks like Wichita, KS, site of the recent murder of Dr. George Tiller, could use a chief of police like Mr. Thomas. He sure knows a domestic terrorist when he sees one.

Yes, there should most definitely be a story about this on Salon. Thank you for your vigilance and sense of fair play.

C'mon Alex, how about a story for me and my new pal Farragut?

It's hard to come up with any equivalent Republican obstreperation. Certainly no Democrat Supreme Court nominees recent memory have been treated as offensivley as have the Republicans since Bork.

Could it be, perhaps, that no Democratic Supreme Court nominees in recent memory have been as ill-suited for that bench as Bork?

Just sayin'

So you think Obama is cool? Hold on there, liberal mushhead, Mussolini was cool too.

It is rumored that a tall, thin black man wearing a Grouch Marx fake nose, mustache and glasses was recently spotted purchasing a whiffle-ball bat and a bottle of Purepac castor oil in an Arlington Walgreens while a large black limousine idled nearby the front door.

And for many rightwingers, I think they are addicted to the rush they get from being afraid of everything.

Proving that Brevity is, indeed, the Soul of Wit.

Thank you for that.