From SGT “Roy Batty”: There is a Chinese proverb we all know: “Be careful what you wish for.” Apparently the action gods are familiar with this homily, have been listening to my complaints about boring combat patrols, and last night decided to pay up, in spades. We were scheduled to do another night patrol, assessing the various checkpoints in Eastern Baghdad…

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.

WILL WAL MART LAUNCH A CRIME WAVE…? In economics there is not greater monster than the one labeled Unseen Consequences. Timothy J. Bowers of Columbus, Ohio, may be an example of how Wal Mart”s work rules could end up costing society even more that Wal Mart”s health insurance policies.. Keep reading…

MILKING IT FOR ALL IT”S WORTH… Later today Wal Mart will host yet more press conferences in 14 states to flog its $4/month program for some 124 generic drugs. So why all the drawn-out drama? Because Wally World executives are drooling over all the positive press.. Keep reading…

A DEAFENING APPLAUSE… In the “80s I edtited a magazine that covered the automotive aftermarket. It was a time of explosive growth for the industry and saw the emergence of what I dubbed Mega Chains that gobbled up local autoparts stores like mechanics” cashews.. Keep reading…

NOTE TO THE WALL STREET JOURNAL… What”s good for the goose is good for the gander. The Wall Street Journal (page A20) thinks that paid critics are only a good thing when they are domesticated and neutered groups like Wal Mart”s Paid Stooges For Wal Mart or cough Walmarting Across America cough.. Keep reading…

GOOGLEWASHING REVISITED… One of the interesting observations made about Wal Mart”s flog – Wal-Marting Across America – was that it might have been intended to sanitize the term walmarting, a pejorative for destroying what is special in our communities, in Google searches.. Keep reading…

WAL MART THINKS CAPITALISM IS BAD… One of the basic tenets of Capitalism is buy low, sell high and enjoy the fruits of the difference in the form of profit. But the Capitalists at Wally World think that is a bad idea; when they don”t get to collect the profits. From the Associated Press this morning:. Keep reading…

HEALTH CARE FIGHT IN MARYLAND NOT OVER… Earlier this year Wal Mart successfully opposed in Federal court a Maryland law that would have required it to pay its own way and stop sucking on the public teat to supplement its health insurance costs for its employees.. Keep reading…

WAL MART BUY INTO DARWINISM…? Well not in a way that would threaten it”s standing with supporters and shoppers who think the world was created in seven days some 5767 years ago, but Mark Gilbert thinks that the Bentonvile Behemoth must buy into the concept.. Keep reading…

EDELMAN FESS”S UP ON TWO MORE FLOGS… No working families and no anti-paid critics. Mega public relations firm Edelman has caved in under the relentless pressure of bloggers and admitted that both Working Families For Wal Mart and Paid Critics blogs are fakes.. Keep reading…

EDELMAN THROUGH THE BUZZ MACHINE… Everytime Jonathan thinks he”s done with the Edelman story, something else crops up. While he may have the occasonal second thought, I, for one, am proud that he wrote that first letter to Jim and Luara and opened the blogger flood gates that got this story rolling.. 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 river777.. Keep reading…

WHY WAL MART IS BAD FOR ROSELAND… Philip Beard comments today in Roseland, California”s Press Democrat that three issues on which opening a Wal Mart in Roseland turn are bogus and that the Bentonvile behemoth doesn”t make sense for his community.. Keep reading…

WHAT IS IT WITH WAL MART”S MONEY…? Question: how does a dangerous industrial cleaner get into a money bag? Answer: maybe they wash money bags (I doubt it, but hey, it”s possible) and forgot the rinse cycle. I don”t know, but it”s definitely a question that Wal Mart will be answering.. Keep reading…

PULLING APART PULLMAN… Last week a judge in Whitman County, Washington, rejected an appeal by citizens to block the construction of a Wal Mart in Pullman. The Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development hasn”t given up. Two objections appear in this morning”s Daily Evergreen:. Keep reading…

GOD BLESS MY DAD… My regular readers at Have Coffee Will Write know that my dad is a major contributor to my writing, sending me several pieces a week that I pass along to my readers. Today he passed along this email alert from the American Family Association.. Keep reading…

SHOPPING SMART AND SMALL… First there was one, then there were 15. Yet 35 remain. Will they join the rolls sometime before 7 November, election day? I think the chances are good. In fact I expect the announcement to come on Thursday, 2 November.. Keep reading…

UPSCALE, SCHMUPSCALE… I”m sure that my co-bloggers are going to have lots to say over the next few days about the cowing of the Bentonvile Behemoth by Wall Street analysts in New York City this week. One note that struck me was this from the Los Angeles Times this morning:. Keep reading…

My name is Jeff Hess and I’m a biblioholic. I own hundreds of books. Not valuable books, mostly Science Fiction paperbacks and text books, tomes rescued by the bag from library book sales. A few years ago, in the interest of not burying myself, I began reading more books from the library and taking notes. My electronic chapbook was born.

This is a passage I copied from The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life by John Daido Loori.

“When the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art.” Leonardo Da Vinci. p. 29

Rush Limbaugh has commented on the Michael J. Fox ad in support of senatorial candidate Claire McCaskill. Words cannot describe the shameless behavior of this clown. I stated when I saw the ad, I was commenting to you about it, that he was either off the medication or he was acting. He is an actor, after all.

Sometimes he makes Anne Coulter look good.

[Update — 1643, 25 October — Sean Hannity comes to Rush’s defense. ]

From The Unknown: This is my first deployment to Iraq, and I am not afraid to say that I am scared to death every time we leave the wire. We got hit with an IED about three weeks ago. The powers that be “grounded” me for three days. Since I started going back on patrol, I have noticed that my nerves are more unsettled than they have ever been. Every time we go…

My name is Jeff Hess and I’m a biblioholic. I own hundreds of books. Not valuable books, mostly Science Fiction paperbacks and text books, tomes rescued by the bag from library book sales. A few years ago, in the interest of not burying myself, I began reading more books from the library and taking notes. My electronic chapbook was born.

This is a passage I copied from The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life by John Daido Loori.

Don”t try to make a photograph, but let your intuition indicate the right moment to release the shutter. If, after you”ve made an exposure, you feel a sense of completion, bow and let go of the subject and your connection to it. p. 17

From Kellie Coy: I’m standing in the checkout line with my eleven-year-old daughter, thankful that the twin ten-year-olds are not with me. I’ll have enough questions to answer due to the women in front of us. “I can’t believe we’re still over there,” the bleach blonde says to her friend. “It’s not doing any good! We should just get out!” My daughter, smarter for her age…

So it’s a question, how big is your ego?”
Some smile at this, other know
how cold the knife is, how his words
cut across our lives, our wish to live
each breath, see morning spread
across our lawn, our grandchildren’s faces.

From Leaning Together in a Storm by Larry Smith.

Part of being a good citizen of the blogosphere is visiting, reading and, most importantly, taking the time to leave a comment on other’s blogs. It’s all about the conversation. In the interest of setting an example I’ve decided to link to those blog posts that have compelled me to leave a comment.

1929 The Stealth Provisions of The Ohio Fair Minimum Wage
0655 The Hero’s Journey and Character Archetypes

My name is Jeff Hess and I’m a biblioholic. I own hundreds of books. Not valuable books, mostly Science Fiction paperbacks and text books, tomes rescued by the bag from library book sales. A few years ago, in the interest of not burying myself, I began reading more books from the library and taking notes. My electronic chapbook was born.

This is a passage I copied from The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life by John Daido Loori.

The most interesting aspect of the artless arts of Zen-the tea ceremony, bamboo flute, landscape gardening, Noh drama, ceramic arts and archery-according to D.T. Suzuki, is that they don”t exist for the sole purpose of creating a work of art, but they are rather a method for opening the creative process. They comprise means of training the mind and of living our lives. p. 5

The Findley, Ohio, Courier liked Ken Blackwell. It endorsed Ken Blackwell. But now, 18 days before the election, the paper has rethought it’s position and thinks that Blackwell is running such a horrible campaign for the post of next governor of Ohio, that it has taken the unusual step of withdrawing it’s endoresement of the candidate.

We’ve been following Ken Blackwell’s career for years. Our file on him is more than an inch thick. We’ve talked with him personally and come away impressed with his intelligence and commitment to change — both of which are much needed in this state.But while Blackwell may still get some of our individual votes, he’s lost our endorsement, for whatever it’s worth.

His total nastiness at the Monday debate with his opponent, Democrat Ted Strickland, has proven that he’s really not the kind of man we need as our next governor. Personal attacks of dubious accuracy should have no place in a political campaign. As Strickland said, “Mr. Blackwell, you should be ashamed of yourself.”

Ouch.

From Emergency Kindness: When you put in a request for help, the form is sent to San Cai’s email account. She alerts two of the Janes responsible for your region and depending on circumstances, we will rush-ship, hand-deliver, or arrange to meet you to give you your Emergency Contraception. We try to distribute assignments between Janes as evenly as possible….

You are in a river
flowing in and through you.
Take a breath. Reach out your arms.
You can survive.

      A river is flowing
            flowing in and through you.
           Take a breath. Reach out your arms.

From What You Realize When Cancer Comes by Larry Smith.

From Mike Guzman: I wonder if anyone back home in the US has any idea what is really going on here in Iraq. For some reason the media has to change everything to suit someone’s interests, and I wonder if they even care about us over here. On this past Memorial Day, one journalist and her cameraman died. CNN ran the story and did about a five-minute piece on her…

My name is Jeff Hess and I’m a biblioholic. I own hundreds of books. Not valuable books, mostly Science Fiction paperbacks and text books, tomes rescued by the bag from library book sales. A few years ago, in the interest of not burying myself, I began reading more books from the library and taking notes. My electronic chapbook was born.

This is a passage I copied from The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life by John Daido Loori.

In the Japanese art of the period we see the emergence of wabi, a sense of loneliness or solitude; Sabi, the suchness of ordinary objects, the basic, unmistakable uniquesness of a thing in and of itself; Aware, the feeling of nostalgia, a longing for the past; and yugen, mystery, the hidden, ineffable dimension of reality-qualities that have become synonymous with the Zen aesthetic. p. 5

This angry: Allow me to put into blunt terms how strongly I feel about this. If I had a time machine and could either go back to 2000 and keep Bush out of office, or I could go back three years to when my father was alive and see him one more time, I”d choose to get rid of Bush. THAT is how badly he is fucking up our country.