8 June 2009
7 June 2009
ROLDO RIGHTS…
1630 by Jeff HessMark Puente is certainly having a wonderful time tilling the rich corrupt soil at Cuyahoga County and Cleveland public offices. May his garden grow and grow.
The young Plain Dealer reporter is digging in fertile soil. You have to wonder where reporters who have covered Cuyahoga County for the last decade or more have been. They certainly haven”t been looking very carefully.
Anyway, Puente came at just the right time. Former Sheriff Gerry McFaul thought he was God and could dump on employees while he fattened the salaries of friends and relatives. People do talk when that happens.
They talked and Puente listened.
Now, Puente in today”s Plain Dealer set his sights on Earle Turner, the hapless Cleveland Clerk of Courts. Continue Reading »
7 June 2009
7 June 2009
CAN THIS BE TRUE…?
1007 by Jeff HessFrom The Associated Press:
Anti-psychotic drugs were the top-selling group of prescription medications in the U.S. last year with sales of $14.6 billion, according to the health care analysis firm.
And from the final paragraph of the story:
Schizophrenia affects about 2.4 million Americans and is characterized by hallucinations, delusions and social withdrawal, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. About 5.7 million Americans experience bipolar disorder, which causes rapid mood swings and shifts in energy.
7 June 2009
WHAT THEY SAY…
0750 by Jeff HessPerhaps the larger lesson is a very empowering one: success depends less on intellectual endowment than on perseverance and drive. As Professor Nisbett puts it, “Intelligence and academic achievement are very much under people”s control.”
Or, as Woody Allen reminds us:
Eighty percent of success is showing up.
6 June 2009
ROLDO RIGHTS…
0803 by Jeff HessDeath is the great equalizer. Even multi-millionaires have to participate.
It is not optional, as Woody Allen once said, Americans seem to believe.
Dick Jacobs was well-regarded in Cleveland because he helped the Cleveland Indians win a couple of American League pennants and go to the World Series. For that, many believe he was “good for the town,” as they say. He gave it some spirit when it needed it.
He was a tough and smart businessman. When he wanted Italian marble for Jacobs Field”s loges, he got marble despite warnings they would break. They did break.
A very rich man, he once told a City Club crowd that baseball player salaries were “obscene.” He was right, of course. But he neglected to mention the profits of owners. They could be even more obscene.
I called him a Socialist for his comments that day. The proof. What he said. Continue Reading »
6 June 2009
WHAT THEY SAY…
0742 by Jeff HessNetanyahu is in a terrible spot: He must preserve, at all costs, Israel’s strategic relationship with Washington; on the other hand, he has right-wing coalition partners who are myopically obsessed with the status of the Neve Manyak outposts.
Something is bound to break, and when it does, the Netanyahu government collapses. Which doesn’t mean that Netanyahu is out of power. It means that he then shares power with Tzipi Livni’s centrist Kadima Party. If I were an American policymaker, that’s the Israeli coalition I would hope for: Netanyahu-Barak-Livni, rather than Netanyahu-Barak-Lieberman. You watch: It’s coming.
6 June 2009
I REALLY HOPE THIS IS HORRIBLE TIMING…
0730 by Jeff HessFrom ABC News:
A pastor in Kentucky is redefining the tradition of wearing your Sunday best to services by encouraging his congregation to strap on holsters and bring their weapons to church.
Pastor Ken Pagano of New Bethel Church in Louisville, Ky., says that he organized an “Open Carry Celebration” to promote responsible gun ownership.
And, of course, he’s raffling off a pistol.
6 June 2009
TIM RUSSO MAX BLUMENTHAL IN JERUSALEM…
0714 by Jeff Hess
But the greater point about this style of “journalism,” is made by this headline which I came across–“Drunk Americans=Israeli Public Opinion.” Man listen, hand me a fifth of Henny, a video camera, and an hour, and I’ll show you Negroes claiming that God’s messenger lives in a space-ship orbiting the earth.
The Henny is for me. The Negroes can be found, sober, saying anything. As can all people. That’s the point. Bigotry is human. Why would the blacks and Jews be any different?
5 June 2009
MY COMMENTS…
1923 by Jeff Hess5 June 2009
5 June 2009
ONE REASON WHY I DON’T HAVE AN MFA…
0818 by Jeff HessCreative-writing programs are designed on the theory that students who have never published a poem can teach other students who have never published a poem how to write a publishable poem. The fruit of the theory is the writing workshop, a combination of ritual scarring and twelve-on-one group therapy where aspiring writers offer their views of the efforts of other aspiring writers.
People who take creative-writing workshops get course credit and can, ultimately, receive an academic degree in the subject; but a workshop is not a course in the normal sense-a scene of instruction in which some body of knowledge is transmitted by means of a curricular script.
The workshop is a process, an unscripted performance space, a regime for forcing people to do two things that are fundamentally contrary to human nature: actually write stuff (as opposed to planning to write stuff very, very soon), and then sit there while strangers tear it apart.
5 June 2009
4 June 2009
4 June 2009
WHAT THEY SAY…
1821 by Jeff Hess[A] GM staff economist, red-faced (literally), accosting my prof to castigate him for inviting me. During the prior couple of years, or prior 5 or 6 years (?), GM’s market share had dropped from 45% to 36%. I had said that GM had “lost 20% of its market share in the last X years”-obviously accurate. (That is: 9/45 = .20.) This guy went on and on (and on!) about having “only” lost 9%. He was right in absolute terms-obviously. (Yes, 45 – 36 = 9.) And I was obviously right in relative terms.
The memory this morning is of this little-trivial “moment of denial” (dear god, 9% is awful) which, alas, has been characteristic of the last 30 years of GM’s history. The depth of the GM malaise, of course, is why we the taxpayers are highly unlikely to get much or any of our $50 billion plus back that we are about to “invest.”
You got to love an economist who can’t do math.
4 June 2009
4 June 2009
WHAT THEY SAY…
1719 by Jeff HessI hate writing this–it’s such a sinister frame, and it distorts how black voters actually think about issues. It flattens us out–like we don’t care about the economy, or foreign policy. I guess I can only speak for myself. I voted for Obama because of the speech he gave today, because I think he is the best soldier for our side that I’ve seen, because he has a deliberative mind, because he can walk and chew gum, because he is ruthless politician.
4 June 2009
THE SPEECH OF THE CENTURY…?
1020 by Jeff HessI think so. And here’s the full transcript.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
4 June 2009
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.
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…
