THIS AFTER GUM GRAFTS…? OY…!
0959 by Jeff HessThis evening at 10:30 (I’ll be asleep so I’ll have to listen tomorrow) she who Writes Like She Talks will be the inaugural guest on Women Count, broadcast via BlogTalkRadio.
4 June 2009
3 June 2009
WALMART WEDNESDAY…
1830 by Jeff Hess
It’s been a busy week in Wally World: the Universe’s source of cheap plastic crap. On The Writing On The Wal — the blog USA Today says should be on its readers’ radar — Jonathan Rees, Robert Feinman and I continue our work dedicated to drawing back the curtain on the Bentonvile Behemoth’s corporate disinformation and other flackery.
WALMART TOYS ARE LOSS LEADERS…? Walmart vehemently denies Toy Directory Monthly”s story that it plans to reduce the amount of space given in its toy department as part of its attempt to make the stores faster, friendlier and cleaner. You can read the whole story at TD Monthly. Keep reading…
WALMART HAMMERED WITH MAXIMUM FINE… Well, hammered is probably too strong of a word. Now this is no fault of Walmart, it will pay the maximum OSHA fine allowed in the the Black Friday trampling death of Jdimytai Damour, but a $7,000 fine is grossly out of proportion in an death-causing event. Keep reading…
ALDERMAN OPTS FOR HANGING SEPARATELY… Politics may make strange bedfellows, but it doesn”t seem to do much for relationships in the light of day given Chicago Alderman Willie Cochran”s example. Cochran is happy to kick Chicago residents not-in-my-ward to the curb for a Walmart superstore. Keep reading…
WALMART BEST PRICE, YES? NO? MAYBE…? [Update — 0731, 30 May: Best Price opened. And from Dow Jones: Bharti Wal-Mart Pvt. Ltd. will open 15 wholesale stores in the next three years with an investment of up to $7 million in each store, a Bharti Enterprises executive said Saturday. Bharti Wal-Mart has signed up with 30,000 clients for its wholesale business and will buy goods from 800 local suppliers, Managing Director Rajan Mittal told reporters at the launch of its first store in the northern Indian city of Amritsar.] On, off, on again opening of Walmart”s Best Price Modern Wholesale outlet in Amritsar, India, may be opening in a few hours (Saturday local time) or it may not. Local riots (not related to Walmart) earlier put the opening on hold. Keep reading…
THIS COULD BE GOOD… Virginia”s Richmod Times-Dispatch asks the question: Are you a Wal-Mart hater who finds yourself shopping at the discount retailers now that money is tight? Remember, it”s OK. Just don”t buy your toothpaste there. Keep reading…
WALMART INSIDER”S BUYING UP STOCK… It”s not insider trading. Neither is there any hint of illegal activity. But Forbes reports that Insider Score has tracked two large buys by Walmart insiders – Director Jame Breyer and Executive VP Susan Chambers – after a long period of sell-offs. Keep reading…
WALMART TOYS ARE LOSS LEADERS…? [UPDATE] Walmart continues to claim that it does not intend to shrink its toy departments chain wide, but writer Lutz Muller stands behind his original story, saying his: example relied on measurements which I personally took… To allege that this was an isolated case is silly. Keep reading…
WALMART GETS OFF EASY… AGAIN… If the penalty for speeding was a penny per mile per hour over the speed limit or a parking ticket would set you back a quarter, what might a reasonable person expect the real world result to be? So why fine Walmart $85 million? Keep reading…
THREADED REPLIES AT WRITING ON THE WAL… Those writing comments will notice that, thanks to our web sorceress, we now have threaded replies. This means that regardless of the time a reply is posted, it will appear immediately beneath the comment you reply to. This will be a great boon for me, at least. Keep reading…
A CONSEQUENCE OF HIGH TURNOVER… In high school and college I worked discount retail in hard goods plus drugs/small appliances. I knew every employee on sight and probably knew the names of 80 percent of the people I worked with. Still, chutzpah is chutzpah. Keep reading…
WALMART POCKETING SALES TAX… As I”ve noted in Texas and Arizona, Walmart is building its billions two cents at a time at the register. A class-action suit filled in Illinois seeks redress on another penny-at-a-time accounting scheme that benefits, wait for it, Walmart. Keep reading…
3 June 2009
AN INTELLIGENT CONVERSATION… JUST WOW…
1708 by Jeff HessVisit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
3 June 2009
3 June 2009
TRANSPARENCY, TRANSPARENCY, TRANSPARENCY…
1233 by Jeff HessFrom Haaretz:
The Israel Defense Forces has declared the area around the West Bank city of Nablus a closed military zone, in order to prevent left-wing activists from entering the area, Army Radio reported on Wednesday.
According to Army Radio, Head of the Central Command General Gadi Shamni
issued the closure after receiving numerous complaints from soldiers who said the activists were interfering with their security duties at area checkpoints.The IDF said singled-out activists from “Machsom Watch” (checkpoint watch) as being the subject of the most complaints.
The IDF issued a statement Wednesday saying that the closure applies to all Israelis, regardless of ideology.
The Human Rights Organization “Yesh Din” on Wednesday slammed the decision to declare the area a closed military zone, saying only in totalitarian countries are humanitarian organizations banned from areas where there is friction between the military and the civilian population.
And his point is?
3 June 2009
MEN HAVE IT SO EASY…
1224 by Jeff HessA man’s gray hair makes him distinguished looking. A wrinkled face gives a man character. Even being short and chubby doesn’t disqualify a man from being considered sexy. And on Nerve’s list of the 20 Sexiest People Ugly People, I wasn’t surprised to see only five women on the list.
Who else would be No. 1 on the list but Keith Richards (Mick didn’t make the cut) but following behind him were:
No. 2 Sandra Bernhard
No. 4 Courtney Love
No. 7 Tilda Swinton
No. 16 Amy Winehouse
No. 20 Daisy De La Hoya
By what feckin’ standard could any of these women be classified as ugly?
3 June 2009
3 June 2009
THE WAR ON DOMESTIC TERROR…
0645 by Jeff HessWould these predominantly conservative officials, commentators and writers be comfortable if President Obama declared two or three extremist pro-lifers as “enemy combatants”? Should Pres. Obama have the prerogative to order the waterboarding of these uncharged, untried detainees? Should he be able to listen in on phone conversations originating from evangelical churches where suspected abortion extremists hang out? The answer is probably that different “War on Terror hawks” – anyone have a better term for this? – would react differently, but as a matter of law, it seems to me that if they”d gotten their way during the Bush Administration, President Obama would have the power to take all those steps and more
2 June 2009
2 June 2009
MY COMMENTS…
1947 by Jeff Hess2 June 2009
ROLDO RIGHTS…
1940 by Jeff HessSteve Litt had to swerve and swivel in writing about the Opportunity Corridor – the road Cleveland”s Establishment now finds irresistible. The reason: His boss.
Litt, the Plain Dealer”s architectural critic, did well in being honest about a touchy issue for a Plain Dealer writer. However, he had to tread lightly in Sunday”s article.
After all, Terry Egger, his boss, is co-chairing the panel put together by the Greater Cleveland Partnership to push the “Opportunity Corridor.” Egger is publisher of the PD.
Why he would put himself into this situation can only be read as a need for power. Don”t see it any other way. Continue Reading »
2 June 2009
2 June 2009
A VERY GOOD QUESTION, JOSEPH…
1146 by Jeff Hess2 June 2009
2 June 2009
ROLDO RIGHTS…
0644 by Jeff Hess[Update — 0717 (From Roldo):
What the hell. Who threw the party and didn”t invite me.
George Forbes. That”s who.
More after the jump.]
Brent Larkin is receiving some deserved attention as he leaves one of the most powerful positions in our city – the Plain Dealer editorial page director.
We can”t allow him to leave the stage so easily.
Larkin – likeable and knowledgeable – has been boss of the editorial page since the early 1990s. He had wanted to be the PD”s sports editor at the time he was given this crucial and powerful job.
Here”s how someone who worked with him at the time described him:
“I think there is little question that Brent had the institutional memory of the PD and editorial board. Plus, Brent remained a reporter even as editorial director. He broke more stories than anyone in the news room. Brent works the phone like no one I know. They joked about him having two phones in his ear.”
He was a political junkie. Continue Reading »
1 June 2009
1 June 2009
TA-NEHISI GOES THERE…
1225 by Jeff HessOne argument, I guess, is that a moral prohibition against all murder guides the pro-life movement. Hence taking a life, to save a life is just as wrong. Of course we know that many pro-lifers don’t actually believe that, because that would require religious conservatives to be both pro-life and anti-death penalty.
But once you accept that there is a such thing as justifiable murder, how much distance is there between that position and the killing of abortion doctors? One could argue for fealty to the law, but to a law that condones the murder of children? In that context, why does law even exist?
What I suspect is that many pro-lifers may well believe that a fetus is a “life,” but in their heart of hearts, they actually have a qualitative range. I don’t know that they actually believe that aborting a three month old fetus is exactly the same as murdering a three month old baby. “Abortion is murder” seems like a slogan meant to whip up your own, and attract attention. But in truth, do pro-lifers really believe it? Can they truly morally maintain that all abortion, all the time, is murder? If so, I don’t know how you really condemn someone for killing George Tiller.
1 June 2009
A TOO RAPID RESPONSE…?
0735 by Jeff HessFrom an I See Invisible People reader:
You know what I just realized?
Operation Rescue had an immediate statement ready, with just the right mix of violence-rejection to cover their asses and not-backing-down-abortion-is-murder brimstone to let us weak-kneed liberals know that they aren”t going to let some negative attention shift their rhetoric or tactics. They knew something like this was going to happen, and they don”t care.
1 June 2009
MY COMMENTS…
0728 by Jeff Hess31 May 2009
ROLDO RIGHTS…
1615 by Jeff HessThere may be a depression but the Tax Collecting County Commissioners are still deep into Cuyahoga taxpayer pockets. Deep, I mean.
We have the monthly update on the tax cost via the Med Mart sales tax increase, the Browns Stadium sin tax and the Arts & Culture cigarette tax.
The Med Mart May sales tax – a quarter percent to 7.75 in Cuyahoga County – produced $3,018,629.56, up from $2,974,836.56 in April.
The total take for the proposed Med Mart from Cuyahoga taxpayers: $58,682,893.71 since January 2008. (The PD recently reported incorrectly that the tax has generated $82.76 million.)
The PD did report that Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. of Chicago, picked by the County Commissioners to build and operate the Med Mart and Convention center, had already been paid $333,333. Continue Reading »
