Have you heard of the Make it in America Plan?  How do you think this will affect you?

From the Huffington Post:

For the Strength of Rosie the Riveter: Make It in America
by Leo W. GerardInternational President, United Steelworkers

Rosie the Riveter defiantly rolls up her blue work shirt to show off a brawny bicep. She’s a symbol of American strength.

She worked in a manufacturing job, one of millions that constructed the defense machine that won World War II for the Allies. She said, “We can do it.” And America did.

Now, however, shuttered U.S. factories and off-shored manufacturing are sapping American strength. The nation has lost more than 40,000 manufacturing plants and one-third of its manufacturing jobs, nearly six million, over the past dozen years. China is on the verge of overtaking the U.S. in manufacturing output. And Americans know it. Late in April, 58 percent of 1,000 likely voters told pollsters they believed America’s economy no longer led the world.

They also told pollsters they supported enacting a national manufacturing policy to promote resurgence of domestic production — a return to the days of a robust Rosie the Riveter and a country that could secure its independence with dynamic manufacturing capability.

Democrats in Congress heard that message. They’ve created a program called “Make It in America.” They plan to pass a series of bills to create an environment in which both Americans and American manufacturers make it.
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I don’t usually post racing stuff here, but check this out from Miller… and note that the driver is Elaine Larsen:

Elaine Larsen has over a decade of drag racing experience and is the driver of Miller’s Jet Dragster and the Embry-Riddle Jet Dragster. She has always had a love of racing and a need for speed. Twenty years after seeing her first Jet Funny Car, she was in the driver’s seat on the track…..CHECK OUT HER  BIO–>

AND check out the BUILD of this super slick dragster–>

Excited for the new Iron Man 2 movie coming out this summer?  Well, while you’re waiting, why don’t you check out this new IronMan 230 All-in-One MIG Welder from Hobart Welders?  It has everything you could want in a MIG machine — we only wish it had a bit more in common with its namesake (flying while welding anyone??)

Hobart Introduces IronMan 230 All-in-One MIG Welder with Superior Arc Quality and Greater Precision
Jon Crowley | Jan 14, 2010

Hobart Ironman 230

The IronMan™ 230 is a total redesign of the full-size MIG platform, outperforming the competition on arc quality, voltage control, duty cycle and value. It delivers 30-250 amps of pure power in a heavy duty cabinet. The arc of the new IronMan™ 230 is optimized to deliver a flawless weld, making spatter and post-weld cleanup almost non-existent. The IronMan™ 230 easily runs aluminum – just add the optional Hobart DP-3545-20 spool gun and you’re ready to weld aluminum from 18 gauge to 1/2″.

For improved feedability with aluminum wires or for extended reach with other wires add the Hobart 3545-20 spool gun with its 20 ft. cable length.

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Crazy Germans and their sausage.  And I fully mean that as a compliment, because we here at Arc-Zone.com were all amazed and highly entertained by what happened next.

German welders + sausage + welding machine = Electric grill for men??

Adventurous Germans Grill Sausages with an Industrial Welder

“Eventually, the tube was so hot that the arc had to be shut down because the fat was on the verge of spontaneous combustion.”

By Vin Marshall  Posted 03.22.2010

Barbecue grills don’t typically require eye protection, but then, they’re typically not made from a giant TIG welder and an industrial sausage positioner either.

That’s something these Germans set out to change with the “Electric Grill For Men.”

What would you do if you needed to endurance-test a large industrial welding power supply?

You’d probably rig up something like the apparatus pictured here, in which a TIG welding torch draws a continuous arc along a slowly rotating piece of aluminum tubing mounted in a work positioner normally used for pipe welding.

As the long weld bead is laid down, the power supply is tested to verify that it can maintain its rated output and duty cycle without melting down. In the process, a great deal of heat is generated.

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A new program on the Lummi Reservation is offering the equivalent of full scholarships to ten aspiring Native American welders for an intense 16 week welding course.  They qualify as second-year union apprentices at the end of it!

New program teaches welding to Native Americans
JOHN STARK – THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

LUMMI RESERVATION – Ten Native American men are getting an intensive course in welding that they hope will enable them to get better jobs, even in a sluggish economy.

The students train 10 hours a day, six days a week for 16 weeks, under a program through a new partnership among the U.S. Department of Interior, Lummi Indian Business Council, United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, and Native American Fabricators Welding School, a private welding school that operates on Lummi Reservation.

Art George, a welder and former chairman of Nooksack Tribe, started the school in 2008 with his wife, Rebecca.

He said the demand for trained welders remains brisk at refineries, boat builders, construction sites and shipyards as the older generation of welders retires.

Students who complete the intensive program qualify for hiring as second-year union apprentices, with pay starting at about $20 an hour.

After four years, they could qualify for journeyman welder status and make more than twice that, George said.

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