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Tacking Right - Governing Left
Author: m-hadley    Date: 06/29/2008 12:19:27

Tacking Right – Governing Left

First thing I would like to say this Sunday morning is that I am thinking of Velveeta Jones and her Aunt Azalea and hoping that they are both doing okay. We miss Velveeta here at FourFreedomsBlog and we know that Aunt Azalea misses Velveeta too. We all hope that they are each safe and warm (although not muggy :D). And now on to the post that I have the honor to write in Velveeta's stead.

I have been mulling over the political moves, statements and actions that Senator Barack Obama has made over the last week or so and I think I’ve made some kind of peace with myself and with him about the various stances that he has taken. He is no doubt tacking to the center (some may even accuse him of going to the right, but I think that that is little bit of hyperbole). Here are the statements that have caused me concern over the last week: First, Obama’s response to the Supreme Court's only decent ruling at the end of this term – the one that ruled that the death penalty was not appropriate for child rapists. I agreed with this opinion, primarily because I am not in favor of the death penalty in any circumstances and even if I were, I think that children are notoriously unreliable witnesses, and are so malleable and easily influenced that little stock can be put in their testimony. So I was truly disappointed that Barack Obama came out with a statement critical of the Court’s decision. Obama said that he thought that the Court had gotten it wrong and that the decision as to whether a crime qualified as a capital crime should be left up to the states. The old "states' rights" gambit is often heard on the right when those on the other side of the political aisle feel that the Federales have interfered too directly in a right that they value (abortion and education come to mind here, although I also must point out that the “states' rights” argument doesn’t seem to apply when a state votes for assisted suicide or medical use of marijuana).

That was the first sign that Obama was looking for issues onto which he could take a more conservative stand and hopefully slide under the radar of his progressive base. But we are watching vigilantly and we notice just about every move our candidate makes, and although few of us faulted him for foregoing public campaign financing, some of his other stands of late have us shaking our heads. For instance, he not only challenged the Supreme Court decision on the Death Penalty, but he also (and I believe that this is a much more troubling stand) reneged on his promise to filibuster the FISA bill that offers retroactive immunity to telecom companies that have by all accounts broken the law.

But as Jason Rosenbaum wrote at HuffPo in an article entitled The Obama Problem:

“But the only way to hold a Presidential candidate in the general election accountable once the general election season comes around is to work for their defeat or otherwise endanger their victory. For most of us, given the alternative of four more years of deadlocked government and a stubborn, hyper-aggressive President McCain, that is not an acceptable option. I see occasional commenters writing about not lifting a finger to help Obama now that he's screwed us on FISA or other issues, but I don't think very many of us in the progressive movement are there. Am I bummed, am I pissed that Obama and most of our Democratic leaders caved in on FISA? Absolutely, and there's nothing wrong with saying so. But am I going to "hold Obama accountable" for this action? Well, no, frankly. I don't think there's a way to do that without doing something far worse. It's the nature of the American political system: winner take all, no instant runoffs, no fusion voting (except in a few states). In the months before a Presidential general election, I can't think of another alternative re the Presidential race other than doing everything I can do to help Obama win.”


So be it an unwelcome lesson in pragmatism or a cold slap in the face, we must stand by our candidate for the alternative is so horrible that we cannot or will not imagine it. I will not live in a country that continues the horrendous policies of the current Bush/Cheney administration. I could not abide the election of John McCain, so I will fight my heart out for Barack Obama and hope against hope that he is a practical person, too. And that once he gets into office he will lead again with his good heart and his fine mind and get this country back on track. It seems to me our not our only but also our best hope. Viva Obama. Si se puede! Yes, we can and we must. Peace out, everybody.
mfaye
 

118 comments (Latest Comment: 06/30/2008 04:28:40 by livingonli)
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Comment by trojanrabbit on 06/29/2008 12:21:18
Good morning mfaye.



Since I got the comment so late in yesterday's thread, here's the NYT article on Obama supporters taking the Hussein name, with Stephanie's comment.





Comment by trojanrabbit on 06/29/2008 12:24:54
The best way to show Obama is wrong on his stand on FISA is to elect enough congresscritters who believe otherwise.



Nothing is going to happen unless that magic number of 60 is reached in the Senate.

Comment by m-hadley on 06/29/2008 12:30:24
Thanks Trojanrabbit,

You're up awfully early for a Sunday morning, no? I meant to look up that NYTimes piece yesterday, but got busy, went to an Obama rally in the heart of Inhofe/Coburn country and was pleased to see a fairly good turn out - even a few republicans who are backing Obama. So I'm hanging on to the hope I have. Hope you have a great Sunday - any big plans? Take care.

Cheers,

mfaye

:heart: :hug:

Comment by capt on 06/29/2008 12:56:20
Good morning and Good post!



Just one take - There is no other option.



Obama or bust!



I, for one, can't think of ANYTHING Barack could do that would make him a wrose candidate than McCain (or ANY GOPer)



There is no way to know how Barack will preside but he is our only option. It is possible that once in office Barack turns or turns on us. He is still our only chance.







Comment by BobR on 06/29/2008 12:58:38
Morning - thanks for the great blog post Faye! :coffee2:

Comment by capt on 06/29/2008 13:05:45
Taped the SNL - just started it . . . .



Memories, eh?





Comment by trojanrabbit on 06/29/2008 13:06:12
mfaye, I've been trained to get up at near Insane O'Clock since I have to be at work by 7AM and it's a 1 hour + commute. I'm usually up at 4:30. And it doesn't really matter any more what day it is.



Mrs Rabbit & I have already been out to breakfast and I'm getting ready to start constructing my AM transmitter. I had a really nice soldering station that I lost track of when I moved to this condo 6 years ago, so I stopped off at RadioShack yesterday on the way home from work and bought a cheapie iron. Now I'm in the cellar clearing out a space to work and guess what I found? My old soldering station. Oh well, it's nice to have a cheapie when you don't want to lug around the good stuff.



I tried to find the article yesterday but had no luck, until I visited Fark.com this morning and that was one of the topics.



Their headline - Weird non-muslim white kids are using "Hussein" as their middle name, something even BO won't do

Comment by trojanrabbit on 06/29/2008 13:08:50
Quote by capt:

Taped the SNL - just started it . . . .



Memories, eh?







Morning capt



I've got the SNL season 1 boxed set. Old enough to remember the show and also old enough to start forgetting.



Comment by capt on 06/29/2008 13:13:28
Were they or we ever that young?







Comment by m-hadley on 06/29/2008 13:18:01
Quote by BobR:

Morning - thanks for the great blog post Faye! :coffee2:


Mornin' everybody,



BobR,

I cross-posted this piece on my own blog - I hope that that is okay. I can only come up with an original post every few days and needed something new on my blog. please let me know if it is okay. Here's a link to the post Thanks mucho. What are you and Raine up to today?

Cheers,

mfaye

:heart: :hug:

Comment by capt on 06/29/2008 13:26:02
The Guardian in U.K. Gets Obama right





[...]



Michael Tomasky says "Obama must compromise his liberal principles in order to get elected."



Take for instance his position on the child rape Supreme Court case involving an African-American man. Tomasky can imagine the attack ads that "could be made against Obama if he'd taken the positiiion here some liberals wanted him to take. An image of Kennedy appears on the screen, photoshopped to make him look terrifying. Sinister music swells. The voiceover intones: 'Barack Obama wants criminals like Patrick Kennedy to have a chance to go free so they can rape children again.' And so on."



Tomasky continues: "That one ad, aired repeatedly in the right states, could in my view change the election. We know that ads like that have worked wonders for the GOP in the past." Tomasky does not think things have changed much in our election since Dukakis ran. The memory of Willie Horton attack ads seem burned in his memory as they are ours who lived through them.



Tomasky also explains Obama's stand on the FISA bill. I find that one easier to accept: national security trumps telecom immunity. (My view, not the particulars Tomasky points out.) Obama cannot seem to appear wear on national security. It is the one area Americans seem to think McCain is better on--heaven only knows why!



Tomasky ends his column with this statement: "People will naturally disagree on which compromises are necessary and which ones aren't. What people shouldn't disagree on is that some are. The man's not running for president of Hyde Park."



*****



This piece abuot that other piece gave me some encouragement and or perspective . . .









Comment by m-hadley on 06/29/2008 14:00:10
Quote by capt:

The Guardian in U.K. Gets Obama right





[...]



Michael Tomasky says "Obama must compromise his liberal principles in order to get elected."



Take for instance his position on the child rape Supreme Court case involving an African-American man. Tomasky can imagine the attack ads that "could be made against Obama if he'd taken the positiiion here some liberals wanted him to take. An image of Kennedy appears on the screen, photoshopped to make him look terrifying. Sinister music swells. The voiceover intones: 'Barack Obama wants criminals like Patrick Kennedy to have a chance to go free so they can rape children again.' And so on."



Tomasky continues: "That one ad, aired repeatedly in the right states, could in my view change the election. We know that ads like that have worked wonders for the GOP in the past." Tomasky does not think things have changed much in our election since Dukakis ran. The memory of Willie Horton attack ads seem burned in his memory as they are ours who lived through them.



Tomasky also explains Obama's stand on the FISA bill. I find that one easier to accept: national security trumps telecom immunity. (My view, not the particulars Tomasky points out.) Obama cannot seem to appear wear on national security. It is the one area Americans seem to think McCain is better on--heaven only knows why!



Tomasky ends his column with this statement: "People will naturally disagree on which compromises are necessary and which ones aren't. What people shouldn't disagree on is that some are. The man's not running for president of Hyde Park."



*****



This piece abuot that other piece gave me some encouragement and or perspective . . .











Thanks mucho Capt,

I added the link to my own blog post that basically replicates this post with a few more extras (photos and links). Hope you are having a great Sunday.

Cheers,

mfaye

:peace:



Comment by capt on 06/29/2008 14:05:55
Having a great day so far - I hope you are too!





Comment by m-hadley on 06/29/2008 14:19:31
I also must recommend the excellent piece by Frank Rich in this morning's NYTimes. It very elegantly muses on the Rovian ploy of playing the terror card. I think Mr. Rich is a brilliant writer, just mho.

Cheers,

mfaye

:peace:

Comment by Random on 06/29/2008 14:26:13


Comment by capt on 06/29/2008 14:28:04


Comment by Random on 06/29/2008 14:29:03
My loyal subject capt...good.

*throws a cookie*

Comment by capt on 06/29/2008 14:34:48
Mmmmmmmmmm



Cookies!!





Comment by Random on 06/29/2008 14:41:44
Good servent Capt.

Comment by Shane-O on 06/29/2008 14:45:00
Quote by Random:

My loyal subject capt...good.

*throws a cookie*
Aw! I was SO hoping for cake...



A Sunday morning muse: I am not very happy that This Week put Ralph Nader on for about 6-7 minutes. Why did they give him air time? Because of his outrageous Obama "talking white" comment.



Obama's response was that Nader was looking for attention because his campaign hadn't gotten much traction. BINGO!



So the result of Nader's comment was more free press. Gee, I wonder if we can expect more crazy comments from the perenial presidential candidate since it worked so well the first time? --- COUNT ON IT!



Comment by Random on 06/29/2008 14:47:56
Quote by Shane-O:

Quote by Random:

My loyal subject capt...good.

*throws a cookie*
Aw! I was SO hoping for cake...





Well, Shane-O Capt gets a cookie because he paid homage.

But i will make exception this once because you gave me a sound bite...

*gives a whole cake*

Comment by Shane-O on 06/29/2008 14:57:53
Quote by Random:

Quote by Shane-O:

Quote by Random:

My loyal subject capt...good.

*throws a cookie*
Aw! I was SO hoping for cake...





Well, Shane-O Capt gets a cookie because he paid homage.

But i will make exception this once because you gave me a sound bite...

*gives a whole cake*
Well, I'll try to make it last then, cuz ain't no homage comin' any time soon my friend! Just friendly convo.



Maybe I should try some audicons for all the 4F members. Will take time to think of the right ones, however.



Comment by trojanrabbit on 06/29/2008 15:00:31
Sometimes I REALLY question my sanity.



I just spent the last hour checking the 100+ parts in this kit to make sure everything is here, just like the instructions say. Now I'm installing the resistors that are color coded and I'm checking off the checklist as I'm mounting the parts to the board. There's a part "missing" WTF? The missing part isn't on the bench, it's not on the floor, it's not already on the board. Fortunately I have a stash of parts in bins so I can replace it, but I just don't like how useless this brain of mine seems to be becoming.



Moot point anyway. My dad just called and said his PC's not working and he tried to do a system restore and it won't accept the restore disks, so that's where I'm headed in a few minutes. I think someone's trying to tell me something, like I need a good stiff drink or two or three.

Comment by m-hadley on 06/29/2008 15:03:54
Quote by Shane-O:

Quote by Random:

My loyal subject capt...good.

*throws a cookie*
Aw! I was SO hoping for cake...



A Sunday morning muse: I am not very happy that This Week put Ralph Nader on for about 6-7 minutes. Why did they give him air time? Because of his outrageous Obama "talking white" comment.



Obama's response was that Nader was looking for attention because his campaign hadn't gotten much traction. BINGO!



So the result of Nader's comment was more free press. Gee, I wonder if we can expect more crazy comments from the perenial presidential candidate since it worked so well the first time? --- COUNT ON IT!





Mornin' Shane-O and Master Random,

I too am sorry that any show gave a minute or more to Ralph "The Spoiler" Nader - ugh I also would like an entrance audiocon - how about something from the late great Janis Joplin, Shane-O??? Just a suggestion.

Thanks mucho as always for your amazing work, Shane-O. How is Random doing today?

Cheers,

mfaye

:peace:

Comment by Random on 06/29/2008 15:07:50
Quote by Shane-O:

Quote by Random:

Quote by Shane-O:

Quote by Random:

My loyal subject capt...good.

*throws a cookie*
Aw! I was SO hoping for cake...





Well, Shane-O Capt gets a cookie because he paid homage.

But i will make exception this once because you gave me a sound bite...

*gives a whole cake*
Well, I'll try to make it last then, cuz ain't no homage comin' any time soon my friend! Just friendly convo.



Maybe I should try some audicons for all the 4F members. Will take time to think of the right ones, however.



Oh, that's be spectacular.

Comment by Shane-O on 06/29/2008 15:16:15
Quote by m-hadley:

Quote by Shane-O:

Quote by Random:

My loyal subject capt...good.

*throws a cookie*
Aw! I was SO hoping for cake...



A Sunday morning muse: I am not very happy that This Week put Ralph Nader on for about 6-7 minutes. Why did they give him air time? Because of his outrageous Obama "talking white" comment.



Obama's response was that Nader was looking for attention because his campaign hadn't gotten much traction. BINGO!



So the result of Nader's comment was more free press. Gee, I wonder if we can expect more crazy comments from the perenial presidential candidate since it worked so well the first time? --- COUNT ON IT!





Mornin' Shane-O and Master Random,

I too am sorry that any show gave a minute or more to Ralph "The Spoiler" Nader - ugh I also would like an entrance audiocon - how about something from the late great Janis Joplin, Shane-O??? Just a suggestion.

Thanks mucho as always for your amazing work, Shane-O. How is Random doing today?

Cheers,

mfaye

:peace:
Do you have a particular song in mind? Or a specific line from a song? -- I'd be happy to do it... ;)



Comment by livingonli on 06/29/2008 15:33:01
Mornin' everyone. Another sleep-in Sunday for me.



Good column there mfaye. At least my hope is that we have a repeat of the FDR scenario where he ran in 1932 as a moderate but once in office out of the necessity of the depression, he enacted many changes. And considering that Bush could be leading us into another Great Depression, it looks like we are about to hit that same scenario again.

Comment by BobR on 06/29/2008 15:33:16
Hey rabbit - did you used to do electronic repair? That was my gig for about 10 years before I migrated to software. I have a decent (but pretty beat-up) Weller soldering station with digital temp readout. I was trained to solder to MIL-spec from my first real job way back in the day...



Comment by BobR on 06/29/2008 15:35:06
Quote by m-hadley:



Mornin' everybody,



BobR,

I cross-posted this piece on my own blog - I hope that that is okay. I can only come up with an original post every few days and needed something new on my blog. please let me know if it is okay. Here's a link to the post Thanks mucho. What are you and Raine up to today?

Cheers,

mfaye

:heart: :hug:


of course it's okay - I'm surprised you felt like you had to ask. I know I have trouble coming up with something substantive 2 times a week...



Comment by m-hadley on 06/29/2008 15:39:40
Quote by Shane-O:

Quote by m-hadley:

Quote by Shane-O:

Quote by Random:

My loyal subject capt...good.

*throws a cookie*
Aw! I was SO hoping for cake...



A Sunday morning muse: I am not very happy that This Week put Ralph Nader on for about 6-7 minutes. Why did they give him air time? Because of his outrageous Obama "talking white" comment.



Obama's response was that Nader was looking for attention because his campaign hadn't gotten much traction. BINGO!



So the result of Nader's comment was more free press. Gee, I wonder if we can expect more crazy comments from the perenial presidential candidate since it worked so well the first time? --- COUNT ON IT!





Mornin' Shane-O and Master Random,

I too am sorry that any show gave a minute or more to Ralph "The Spoiler" Nader - ugh I also would like an entrance audiocon - how about something from the late great Janis Joplin, Shane-O??? Just a suggestion.

Thanks mucho as always for your amazing work, Shane-O. How is Random doing today?

Cheers,

mfaye

:peace:
Do you have a particular song in mind? Or a specific line from a song? -- I'd be happy to do it... ;)



Shane-O,

How about the refrain "Come on, come on, come on, and take it" from Piece of my Heart Whenever you get around to it - no hurry or pressure. Thanks mucho. Have I told you that you ROCK :D

Cheers,

mfaye

:peace:

Comment by capt on 06/29/2008 15:41:13
We took all the cable news-o-tainment channels off of our line up years ago. We think we are actually better informed and anything worth a darn ends up as a "clip" so I still get the good stuff.



It is no longer "mass media" it is more mass manipulation.



Multinational war-profiteers posing as "Defense Contractors" own the message and the medium. No surprise the war is so going well they never have to mention it or show any pictures of dead bodies - that blood and guts stuff is so passe' and actually hurts the sale of weapons systems so . . .



If Nader decided to wear black face and sing "mammy" to Barack THAT will get coverage 'cause THAT is the real news .













Comment by livingonli on 06/29/2008 15:43:14
And we could be in a depression now;



Store Closings: Symptoms of A Depressed Economy



Donald H.

June 07, 2008



1. Ann Taylor closing 117 stores nationwide A company spokeswoman said the company hasn't revealed which stores will be shuttered. It will let the stores that will close this fiscal year know over the next month.



2. Eddie Bauer to close more stores - Eddie Bauer has already closed 27 shops in the first quarter and plans to close up to two more outlet stores by the end of the year.



3. Cache closing stores - Women's retailer Cache announced that it is closing 20 to 23 stores this year.



4. Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines closing 150 stores nationwide The owner of retailers Lane Bryant , Fashion Bug , Catherines Plus Sizes will close about 150 underperforming stores this year. The company hasn't provided a list of specific store closures and can't say when it will offer that info, spokeswoman Brooke Perry said today.



5. Talbots, J. Jill closing stores - About a month ago, Talbots announced that it will be shuttering all 78 of its kids and men's stores. Now the company says it will close another 22 underperforming stores.



The 22 stores will be a mix of Talbots women's and J. Jill, another chain it owns. The closures will occur this fiscal year, according to a company press release.



6. Gap Inc. closing 85 stores - In addition to its namesake chain, Gap also owns Old Navy and Banana Republic. The company said the closures - all planned for fiscal 2008 - will be weighted toward the Gap brand.



7. Foot Locker to close 140 stores - In the company press release and during its conference call with analysts today, it did not specify where the future store closures - all planned in fiscal 2008 - will be. The company could not be immediately reached for comment



8. Wickes is going out o f business - Wickes Furniture is going out of business and closing all of its stores, Wickes, a 37-year-old retailer that targets middle-income customers, filed for bankruptcy protection last month.



9. Goodbye Levitz - The furniture retailer, which is going out of business. Levitz first announced it was going out of business and closing all 76 of its stores in December. The retailer dates back to 1910 when Richard Levitz opened his first furniture store in Lebanon , PA. In the 1960s, the warehouse/showroom concept brought Levitz to the forefront of the furniture industry.



The local Levitz closures will follow the shutdown of Bombay.



10. Zales, Piercing Pagoda closing stores - The owner of Zales and Piercing Pagoda previously said it plans to close 82 stores by July 31. Today, it announc ed that it is closing another 23 underperforming stores. The company said it's not providing a list of specific store closures. Of the 105 locations planned for closure, 50 are kiosks and 55 are stores.



11. Disney Store owner has the right to close 98 stores The Walt Disney Company announced it acquired about 220 Disney Stores from subsidiaries of The Children's Place Retail Stores. The exact number of stores acquired will depend on negotiations with landlords.



Those subsidiaries of Children's Place filed for bankruptcy protection in late March. Walt Disney in the news release said it has also obtained the right to close about 98 Disney Stores in the U.S. The press release didn't list those stores.



12. Home Depot store closings - ATLANTA - Nearly 7+ months after its chief executive said there were no plans to cut the number of its core retail stores, The Home Depot I nc.ann ounced Thursday that it is shuttering 15 of them amid a slumping U.S. economy and housing market. The move will affect 1,300 employees.



It is the first time the world's largest home improvement store chain has ever closed a flagship store for performance reasons. Its shares rose almost 5 percent. The Atlanta-based company said the underperforming U.S.stores being closed represent less than 1 percent of its existing stores. They will be shuttered within the next two months.



13. CompUSA clarifies details on store closings Any extended warranties purchased for products through CompUSA will be honored by a third-party provider, Assurant Solutions. Gift cards, rain checks, and rebates purchased prior to December 12 can be redeemed at any time during the final sale. For those w h o h ave a gadget currently in for service with CompUSA, the repair will be completed and the gadget will be returned to owners. http://www.news. com/8301- 10784_3-9834177- 7html < http://www.news. com/8301- 10784_3-9834177- 7.html >



14. Macy's - 9 stores -



15. Movie Gallery - 160 stores as part of reorganization plan to exit bankruptcyThe video rental company plans to close 400 of 3,500 Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores in addition to the 520 locations the video rental chain closed last fall.



16. Pep Boys - 33 stores



17. Sprint Nextel - 125 retail locations New Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse appears to have inherited a company bleeding subscribers by the thousands, and will now officially be dropping the ax on 4,000 employees and 125 retail locations. Amid the loss of 639,000 postpaid customers in the fourth quarter, Sprint will be cutting a total of 6.7% of its work force (following the 5,000 layoffs last year) and 8% of company-owned brick-and-mortar stores, while remaining mute on other rumors that it will consolidate its headquarters in Kansas. Sprint Nextel shares are down $2.89, or nearly 25%, at the time of this writing.



18. J. C. Penney, Lowe's and Office Depot are scaling back



19. Ethan Allen Interiors: The company announced plans to close 12 of 300+ stores in an effort to cut costs.



20. Wilsons the Leather Experts - 158 stores



21. Pacific Sunwear will close its 154 Demo stores after a review of strategic alternatives for the urban-apparel brand. Seventy-four underperforming Demo stores closed last May.



22. Sharper Image: The company recently filed for bankruptcy protection and announced that 90 of its 184 stores are closing. The retailer will still operate 94 stores to pay off debts, but 90 of these stores have performed poorly and also may close.



23. Bombay Company: The company unveiled plans to close all 384 U.S.-based Bombay Company stores. The company's online storefront has discontinued operations.



24. KB Toys posted a list of 356 stores that it is closing around the United States as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. To see the list of store closings, go to the KB Toys Information web site, and click on Press Information



25. Dillard's to Close More Stores Dillard's Inc. said it will continue to focus on closing underperforming stores, reducing expenses and improving its merchandise in 2008. At the company's annual shareholder meeting, CEO William Dillard II said the company will close another six underperforming stores this year.





Comment by m-hadley on 06/29/2008 15:48:03
Quote by livingonli:

Mornin' everyone. Another sleep-in Sunday for me.



Good column there mfaye. At least my hope is that we have a repeat of the FDR scenario where he ran in 1932 as a moderate but once in office out of the necessity of the depression, he enacted many changes. And considering that Bush could be leading us into another Great Depression, it looks like we are about to hit that same scenario again.






Good Point Livin,

I'm glad you got to sleep in this morning, I considered working in that piece of history about FDR, but frankly my knowledge of history is just not that strong. But I appreciate you mentioning it - I certainly hope that that is what comes to pass.

Enjoy you time off, Liv.

Cheers,

mfaye

:peace:

Comment by Raine on 06/29/2008 15:49:50
Good morning everyone!



My oh my... 32 posts before noon on a sunday! we are a chatty cathy bunch! Great post Faye.



you and Velveeta make it harder and harder to give a slack off monday!



Comment by capt on 06/29/2008 15:53:35
Your membership in Senator Obama - Please Vote NO on Telecom Immunity - Get FISA Right has been approved.



Please go to the link below to view the group.



http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/SenatorObama-PleaseVoteAgainstFISA



Thank you.



*****



One click is all it took for me to add my name - there are a few thousand so far.





Comment by BobR on 06/29/2008 15:54:43
Quote by livingonli:

And we could be in a depression now;

Store Closings: Symptoms of A Depressed Economy



Donald H.

June 07, 2008



1. Ann Taylor closing 117 stores nationwide A company spokeswoman said the company hasn't revealed which stores will be shuttered. It will let the stores that will close this fiscal year know over the next month.



2. Eddie Bauer to close more stores - Eddie Bauer has already closed 27 shops in the first quarter and plans to close up to two more outlet stores by the end of the year.



3. Cache closing stores - Women's retailer Cache announced that it is closing 20 to 23 stores this year.



4. Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines closing 150 stores nationwide The owner of retailers Lane Bryant , Fashion Bug , Catherines Plus Sizes will close about 150 underperforming stores this year. The company hasn't provided a list of specific store closures and can't say when it will offer that info, spokeswoman Brooke Perry said today.



5. Talbots, J. Jill closing stores - About a month ago, Talbots announced that it will be shuttering all 78 of its kids and men's stores. Now the company says it will close another 22 underperforming stores.



The 22 stores will be a mix of Talbots women's and J. Jill, another chain it owns. The closures will occur this fiscal year, according to a company press release.



6. Gap Inc. closing 85 stores - In addition to its namesake chain, Gap also owns Old Navy and Banana Republic. The company said the closures - all planned for fiscal 2008 - will be weighted toward the Gap brand.



7. Foot Locker to close 140 stores - In the company press release and during its conference call with analysts today, it did not specify where the future store closures - all planned in fiscal 2008 - will be. The company could not be immediately reached for comment



8. Wickes is going out o f business - Wickes Furniture is going out of business and closing all of its stores, Wickes, a 37-year-old retailer that targets middle-income customers, filed for bankruptcy protection last month.



9. Goodbye Levitz - The furniture retailer, which is going out of business. Levitz first announced it was going out of business and closing all 76 of its stores in December. The retailer dates back to 1910 when Richard Levitz opened his first furniture store in Lebanon , PA. In the 1960s, the warehouse/showroom concept brought Levitz to the forefront of the furniture industry.



The local Levitz closures will follow the shutdown of Bombay.



10. Zales, Piercing Pagoda closing stores - The owner of Zales and Piercing Pagoda previously said it plans to close 82 stores by July 31. Today, it announc ed that it is closing another 23 underperforming stores. The company said it's not providing a list of specific store closures. Of the 105 locations planned for closure, 50 are kiosks and 55 are stores.



11. Disney Store owner has the right to close 98 stores The Walt Disney Company announced it acquired about 220 Disney Stores from subsidiaries of The Children's Place Retail Stores. The exact number of stores acquired will depend on negotiations with landlords.



Those subsidiaries of Children's Place filed for bankruptcy protection in late March. Walt Disney in the news release said it has also obtained the right to close about 98 Disney Stores in the U.S. The press release didn't list those stores.



12. Home Depot store closings - ATLANTA - Nearly 7+ months after its chief executive said there were no plans to cut the number of its core retail stores, The Home Depot I nc.ann ounced Thursday that it is shuttering 15 of them amid a slumping U.S. economy and housing market. The move will affect 1,300 employees.



It is the first time the world's largest home improvement store chain has ever closed a flagship store for performance reasons. Its shares rose almost 5 percent. The Atlanta-based company said the underperforming U.S.stores being closed represent less than 1 percent of its existing stores. They will be shuttered within the next two months.



13. CompUSA clarifies details on store closings Any extended warranties purchased for products through CompUSA will be honored by a third-party provider, Assurant Solutions. Gift cards, rain checks, and rebates purchased prior to December 12 can be redeemed at any time during the final sale. For those w h o h ave a gadget currently in for service with CompUSA, the repair will be completed and the gadget will be returned to owners. http://www.news. com/8301- 10784_3-9834177- 7html < http://www.news. com/8301- 10784_3-9834177- 7.html >



14. Macy's - 9 stores -



15. Movie Gallery - 160 stores as part of reorganization plan to exit bankruptcyThe video rental company plans to close 400 of 3,500 Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores in addition to the 520 locations the video rental chain closed last fall.



16. Pep Boys - 33 stores



17. Sprint Nextel - 125 retail locations New Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse appears to have inherited a company bleeding subscribers by the thousands, and will now officially be dropping the ax on 4,000 employees and 125 retail locations. Amid the loss of 639,000 postpaid customers in the fourth quarter, Sprint will be cutting a total of 6.7% of its work force (following the 5,000 layoffs last year) and 8% of company-owned brick-and-mortar stores, while remaining mute on other rumors that it will consolidate its headquarters in Kansas. Sprint Nextel shares are down $2.89, or nearly 25%, at the time of this writing.



18. J. C. Penney, Lowe's and Office Depot are scaling back



19. Ethan Allen Interiors: The company announced plans to close 12 of 300+ stores in an effort to cut costs.



20. Wilsons the Leather Experts - 158 stores



21. Pacific Sunwear will close its 154 Demo stores after a review of strategic alternatives for the urban-apparel brand. Seventy-four underperforming Demo stores closed last May.



22. Sharper Image: The company recently filed for bankruptcy protection and announced that 90 of its 184 stores are closing. The retailer will still operate 94 stores to pay off debts, but 90 of these stores have performed poorly and also may close.



23. Bombay Company: The company unveiled plans to close all 384 U.S.-based Bombay Company stores. The company's online storefront has discontinued operations.



24. KB Toys posted a list of 356 stores that it is closing around the United States as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. To see the list of store closings, go to the KB Toys Information web site, and click on Press Information



25. Dillard's to Close More Stores Dillard's Inc. said it will continue to focus on closing underperforming stores, reducing expenses and improving its merchandise in 2008. At the company's annual shareholder meeting, CEO William Dillard II said the company will close another six underperforming stores this year.




Holy crap!



I've heard the difference between a recession and a depression is that with a recession, people have money but can't afford things; with a depression, things are affordable, but people don't have any money.



I don't know if that's accurate, but it seems like we are somewhere between the two right now...



Comment by livingonli on 06/29/2008 15:55:03
Quote by Raine:

Good morning everyone!



My oh my... 32 posts before noon on a sunday! we are a chatty cathy bunch! Great post Faye.



you and Velveeta make it harder and harder to give a slack off monday!



And most of them posted before I got out of bed.

Comment by capt on 06/29/2008 16:00:14
Wait a darn minute . . .



I thought the "stimulus" checks were going to save us?









Comment by Shane-O on 06/29/2008 16:01:03
Quote by m-hadley:

Shane-O,

How about the refrain "Come on, come on, come on, and take it" from Piece of my Heart Whenever you get around to it - no hurry or pressure. Thanks mucho. Have I told you that you ROCK :D

Cheers,

mfaye

:peace:


Here ya' go!



Comment by livingonli on 06/29/2008 16:01:25
Quote by BobR:

[

Holy crap!



I've heard the difference between a recession and a depression is that with a recession, people have money but can't afford things; with a depression, things are affordable, but people don't have any money.



I don't know if that's accurate, but it seems like we are somewhere between the two right now...





As someone who's essentially been living paycheck to paycheck the last two years I have sure felt like I'm between the two . The big problem with me especially considering my car situation is there are things I can't afford and the expenses for things I need keep going up like food, medicines, and my rent. Actually this year I was spared a rent increase but LIPA is going to raise my already high utility rates.



Well I just scrummaged up a few things I'm gonna list on eBay today and try to get the ball rolling on selling stuff to supplement my work income and pay off my debts.



Comment by Shane-O on 06/29/2008 16:06:29
Quote by BobR:

Holy crap!



I've heard the difference between a recession and a depression is that with a recession, people have money but can't afford things; with a depression, things are affordable, but people don't have any money.



I don't know if that's accurate, but it seems like we are somewhere between the two right now...

I've always heard that the difference was that in a recession your neighbor lost his or her job and in a depression, you lost yours.



I.e. when it effects each person in a PERSONAL way, it is a depression. And other than the uber-rich, I think the current economic downturn is affecting people in a personal way - therefore, a depression.



The thing is that "recession" and "depression" are not even terms that have strict economic definitions - they are really political terms - and used as such.



Comment by capt on 06/29/2008 16:11:21
Quote by Shane-O:

Quote by BobR:

Holy crap!



I've heard the difference between a recession and a depression is that with a recession, people have money but can't afford things; with a depression, things are affordable, but people don't have any money.



I don't know if that's accurate, but it seems like we are somewhere between the two right now...

I've always heard that the difference was that in a recession your neighbor lost his or her job and in a depression, you lost yours.



I.e. when it effects each person in a PERSONAL way, it is a depression. And other than the uber-rich, I think the current economic downturn is affecting people in a personal way - therefore, a depression.



The thing is that "recession" and "depression" are not even terms that have strict economic definitions - they are really political terms - and used as such.





Yep, they try to belabor "technical" definitions to portray their POV but when it hits the wallet - it's real no matter what they call it.



Comment by Shane-O on 06/29/2008 16:17:15
Quote by capt:

Quote by Shane-O:

Quote by BobR:

Holy crap!



I've heard the difference between a recession and a depression is that with a recession, people have money but can't afford things; with a depression, things are affordable, but people don't have any money.



I don't know if that's accurate, but it seems like we are somewhere between the two right now...

I've always heard that the difference was that in a recession your neighbor lost his or her job and in a depression, you lost yours.



I.e. when it effects each person in a PERSONAL way, it is a depression. And other than the uber-rich, I think the current economic downturn is affecting people in a personal way - therefore, a depression.



The thing is that "recession" and "depression" are not even terms that have strict economic definitions - they are really political terms - and used as such.





Yep, they try to belabor "technical" definitions to portray their POV but when it hits the wallet - it's real no matter what they call it.

Bush always liked to refer to the "Clinton Recession" in the beginning of 2001 - but the strict definition of recession is two or more consecutive quarters of negative growth in the GDP. However:





http://render-2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6aQQ|=up6RKKt:xxr=0-qpDPfRt7Pf7mrPfrj7t=zrRfDUX:eQaQxg=r?87KR6xqpxQPQQx0oQxJJPxv8uOc5xQQQGlQnPJa0nGqpfVtB?*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gX0QPGG|Rup6loo|/of=50,569,443




So by the strict definition, there was not a recession in 2001 - because there was negative growth in the 1st and 3rd quarters, but positive growth in the second.



Most economists agree there was a recession.

Comment by trojanrabbit on 06/29/2008 16:19:17
Quote by BobR:

Hey rabbit - did you used to do electronic repair? That was my gig for about 10 years before I migrated to software. I have a decent (but pretty beat-up) Weller soldering station with digital temp readout. I was trained to solder to MIL-spec from my first real job way back in the day...





Used to be an engineer so I had to build my own breadboards and usually the first samples of any PC boards I designed. When that job went away I did some board testing, again they were prototypes so there was a lot of tweaking of parts that had to be done to tune the design.



At home I've got a couple of antique radios and TVs in various stages of repair. In my copius free time.....



Comment by Shane-O on 06/29/2008 16:19:41
... And isn't "negative growth" such a delicious oxymoron?

Comment by trojanrabbit on 06/29/2008 16:21:16
Quote by livingonli:

And we could be in a depression now;





22. Sharper Image: The company recently filed for bankruptcy protection and announced that 90 of its 184 stores are closing. The retailer will still operate 94 stores to pay off debts, but 90 of these stores have performed poorly and also may close.







Nope, they're all closing in the next month. Along with my wife's job.

Comment by Shane-O on 06/29/2008 16:23:52
Bob - why are my links to Snapfish coming up at first, then going to red after I hit "refresh"? -- Is there a better place to put screen captures or photos?

Comment by m-hadley on 06/29/2008 16:25:10
Quote by Shane-O:

Quote by m-hadley:

Shane-O,

How about the refrain "Come on, come on, come on, and take it" from Piece of my Heart Whenever you get around to it - no hurry or pressure. Thanks mucho. Have I told you that you ROCK :D

Cheers,

mfaye

:peace:


Here ya' go!





Thanks so much Shane-O,

I love it :airhump:

You definitely rock my world :D





Thanks again :hug:

Cheers,

mfaye

:peace:

Comment by capt on 06/29/2008 16:25:27
Do they make anti-recession pills?



I think they are called "fukitol"

Comment by m-hadley on 06/29/2008 16:33:09
Quote by livingonli:

Quote by Raine:

Good morning everyone!



My oh my... 32 posts before noon on a sunday! we are a chatty cathy bunch! Great post Faye.



you and Velveeta make it harder and harder to give a slack off monday!



And most of them posted before I got out of bed.




Mornin' Raine,

How're you doing today? Have you heard my new audiocon - done by the great Shane-O Check it out - I love it :hug:

Cheers,

mfaye

:peace: