9 April 2008
9 April 2008
9 April 2008
WAL-MART WEDNESDAY…
1000 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, Peter Sayles and I continue our work dedicated to drawing back the curtain on the Bentonvile Behemoth’s corporate disinformation and other flackery.
SHANK OR THE INTERVIEW: WHICH WAS FIRST…? All of us involved feel good right now because we forced Wal-Mart to blink. Not because we convinced it that taking Debbie Shank”s money was bad, but because it understood that keeping her money would have a negative effect on its share holder value. Keep reading…
HIS COMMUNITY IS GONE… Blogger Neath feels the loss of his community from the micro level of his neighborhood to the macro of his nation. Change is always traumatic for someone but the standard I adhere to is ask the question: how many benefit, how many lose. Keep reading…
AT THE WALLY PLEX… There are sound stages on Hollywood”s back lots smaller than Bentonvile”s behemoths, so it”s no surprise that budding video talent has been sneaking cameras in at odd hours. And now for the midnight show at the Wally Plex featuring 25thHourDVD3. Keep reading…
WAL-MART MOMS…? John McCain”s campaign manager Rick Davis believes Wal-Mart moms are a key demographic in the presidential race. Go to Wal-Mart and stand next to the greeter for 20 minutes. Go see the voters we”re targeting. If you see them, you”ll understand them.
Keep reading… HEAD COPY. Keep reading…
CALLING ALL TAGGERS… I look at the facade of this abandoned Wal-Mart in Hemet, California, I think, what a great opportunity for politically motivated taggers. That big block of blue is just begging for a message. And with our recession, there are going to be a lot more canvases out there. Keep reading…
A CONVERSATION WITH LEE SCOTT… Last week I quoted Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott in an interview excerpt from the Financial Times. Yesterday, the paper published an edited, but more extensive, version of that interview. I”ve interviewed Fortune 500 CEO”s and I give Scott a lot of credit. Keep reading…
WAL-MART AS COMMODITY BROKER…? Organically grown cotton can cost twice or even three times the price per pound of cotton grown using traditional methods. Cotton is a resource intensive crop. It sucks nutrients from the soil that must be replaced by fertilizers or crop rotation. Keep reading…
PICK UP TRASH, PLAN A PARTY, WHATEVER… The story of former Wal-Mart executive Thomas Coughlin may be in the running for the longest Wal-Mart story ever. We first reported on Coughlin here nearly three years ago, but his actions keep putting him back in the news. Keep reading…
9 April 2008
FROM MY DAD…
0830 by Jeff Hess
I could never bring myself to forward all the email jokes, cartoons and other Internet comedy that land in my inbox. But then I started posting the ones my dad sends me. Judging from my comments and emails, my dad has become one of my greatest blogging assets. So for your morning blog wow I present: From My Dad.
9 April 2008
FROM MY CHAPBOOK…
0230 by Jeff HessFound in my electronic chapbook.
To admit that your will is sometimes ineffective is terrifying. p. 7
From The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer”s Block and the Creative Brain. by Alice W. Flaherty.
8 April 2008
GOOD MORNING MYANMAR…
2030 by Jeff Hess
The Irrawaddy asks the question: if the National League for Democracy wants the citizens of Myanmar to vote no on the constitutional referendum next month, how will it deal with the consequences of such a vote almost guaranteed to result in a new round of violence?
From The Irrawaddy:
Which way is Burma heading? Straight to a new confrontation it seems. And when the dust settles, the customary winners: the Burmese army.
Now that the National League for Democracy has asked the people to publicly vote “No” in May”s referendum, it is more likely that the constitution will be rejected.
Maybe there will be fresh demonstrations. But one needs a very vivid imagination to envision that a new public outcry will persuade the military leaders to ditch their uniforms. Most likely there will be more violence, no new constitution and no democratic changes at all.
This cannot be what the opposition wants. In an earlier contribution, [“An Inconvenient Truth”; The Irrawaddy online; February 14, 2008] I wrote about a more pragmatic and visionary stance. By stepping over its own shadows the opposition would at least be able to get a small result out of all of this, as opposed to the total absence of results in the past and the collision course the opposition is on right now, which will only bring more pain and misery. Continue Reading »
8 April 2008
MY COMMENTS…
1847 by Jeff Hess8 April 2008
MUCKING OUT THE BLOGPILE…
1430 by Jeff Hess
I’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is Feeling Stuck? 100 Ways to Change your Life
8 April 2008
FROM MY DAD…
0830 by Jeff HessI could never bring myself to forward all the email jokes, cartoons and other Internet comedy that land in my inbox. But then I started posting the ones my dad sends me. Judging from my comments and emails, my dad has become one of my greatest blogging assets. So for your morning blog chuckle I present: From My Dad.
And you thought Cleveland’s sink hole was big?
8 April 2008
FROM MY CHAPBOOK…
0230 by Jeff HessFound in my electronic chapbook.
To give a simple instance, many writers who hate themselves every winter for their sluggishness and lack of productivity could be aided not my more motivation, but by bright, full-spectrum light for a half hour every morning to treat their brain”s seasonal response to the shortened days. p. 6
From The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer”s Block and the Creative Brain. by Alice W. Flaherty.
7 April 2008
GOOD MORNING MYANMAR…
2030 by Jeff HessRising oil is leading to rising rice; a staple for nearly one-half of the world’s population. Rice is not like corn or potatoes in the West. It has cultural and historical significance far beyond simply being a source of food. It is good that Myanmar is able to export so much rice, but I have to wonder how the nation’s hungry are faring in this crisis.
From Lanka Everything:
Sri Lanka will receive 50,000 metric tons of rice from Myanmar shortly. Minister of Trade, Marketing Development, Cooperative and Consumer Affairs, Bandula Gunawardena who is now in Myanmar entered into an agreement with the Myanmar government yesterday to provide 50,000 MT of rice to Sri Lanka immediately.
The ministry said that Myanmar had agreed to provide rice at the very favourable price of 400 US dollars per MT.
Sri Lanka will also receive two shipments totalling 32,000 MT of rice from India and Pakistan shortly.
According to the ministry cost of transport had badly affected the price control of rice in the market. The ministry said price of rice is lower in out side but the city prices remain high.
Too many people? Too few resources? Where in the gestalt lies our solutions?
7 April 2008
HOWS YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT…?
1431 by Jeff Hess
Super Barista and her caffeine-maniacal minions are out to save the planet one cup of coffee at a time. Paying for travel mugs that you quickly leave on the roof of your car and then back over in the parking is frustrating. But blowing your environmental cover by asking for the expanded polystyrene foam cups is hazardous to your carefully crafted greenness.
Welcome the $3 travel mug. Sturdy enough to keep, inexpensive enough to prevent you from pulling out much needed hair when you trash or lose the cup.
And you get to fill it with Phoenix coffee.
Life is good.
7 April 2008
MUCKING OUT THE BLOGPILE…
1430 by Jeff HessI’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is 10 Tips to Change Yourself From a Dedicated Couch-Potato to a Gym Enthusiast.
7 April 2008
FROM MY DAD…
0830 by Jeff HessI could never bring myself to forward all the email jokes, cartoons and other Internet comedy that land in my inbox. But then I started posting the ones my dad sends me. Judging from my comments and emails, my dad has become one of my greatest blogging assets. So for your morning blog head scratch I present: From My Dad.
1. Concentrate on the four small dots for 30 seconds.
2. Turn your gaze to a blank wall.
3. Blink your eyes.
7 April 2008
FROM MY CHAPBOOK…
0230 by Jeff HessFound in my electronic chapbook.
Medicalization tends to lead to pathographies of artists: El Greco”s elongated figures are explained away as mere stigmatism, Dostoevsky”s writing as nothing but epilepsy. Pathologizing the process of writing could make us see creativity as abnormal or even dangerous. Yet affliction is everywhere, perhaps especially in writing. Suffering has driven great writing, and problems with writing, notably writer”s block, have caused great suffering. p. 5-6
From The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer”s Block and the Creative Brain. by Alice W. Flaherty.
6 April 2008
GOOD MORNING MYANMAR…
2030 by Jeff HessAmericans like to fight. Not American leaders, American citizens; in large numbers. I saw a little of that during my own service, but our history is filled with men who, in times of our own peace, sign up to fight other nation’s wars. Some sign up for a noble cause. Other ship out to feel alive.
American Thomas Bleming sees himself as the new Karen liberation fighter, but does anyone else?
“Let me tell you about the army. The army is some guy you don”t know, sending you out to wack some other guy you don”t know.”
Al Pacino, “Donnie Brasco”
Mercenary, soldier of fortune, fast-gun for hire, even the job title sounds awesome. “The Magnificent Seven,” “The Dogs of War,” and most recently, “Blood Diamonds,” mercenaries have been the subject of so many great action movies that appeal to teenage boys.
I remember on my twelfth birthday thinking, “I wish I was half as cool as Han Solo and half as tough as Charles Bronson.” Sadly, my dream came true. I am only half as good as either of those movie characters.
If the movies are to be believed, mercenaries are shadowy blokes, lurking around bars in exotic places, like Biafra, East Timor, or Mae Sot. They are hard drinking, hard fighting men who will soldier for anyone, if the price is right.
Sixty-two year old Thomas Bleming, a Vietnam War veteran, the latest in a string of Americans who have shown up on the Burma border to fight for free, is one of the loudest mercenaries in history. He holds press conferences, gives interviews, and appears in several youtube videos. Continue Reading »
6 April 2008
MUCKING OUT THE BLOGPILE…
1430 by Jeff HessI’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is A Review of “New Day Revolution.”
6 April 2008
FROM MY DAD…
0830 by Jeff HessI could never bring myself to forward all the email jokes, cartoons and other Internet comedy that land in my inbox. But then I started posting the ones my dad sends me. Judging from my comments and emails, my dad has become one of my greatest blogging assets. So for your morning blog head scratch I present: From My Dad.
6 April 2008
FROM MY CHAPBOOK…
0230 by Jeff HessFound in my electronic chapbook.
Beauty drives copies of itself, whether in art, or when we want to make children with someone we love. p. 4
From The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer”s Block and the Creative Brain. by Alice W. Flaherty.
