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Tag Archives: current-events

As The World Squirms


It has been my opinion for several years that  business owners and managers should have worked in an industry to run it. The Current CEO of these companies has made a joke out of 2 American icons. He has sold off parts of the business to get cash and has put no money into either business as far as store upgrades and computer systems. To top it off the long term employees who are left are primarily part time and without the pension package they worked 30 plus years for in some cases. These two institutions are being mismanaged from top to bottom with the workers and store managers taking the hit.  The article below is indicative of that.

By Ashley Lutz | Business Insider – Mon, Oct 21, 2013 8:26 AM EDT

 Sears, once America’s golden retailer, is a company in crisis. 

The company has shuttered hundreds of stores in recent years. The embattled company has been selling some its most profitable stores to raise money. 

Brian Sozzi, chief equities strategist at Belus Capital Advisors, took poignant photos inside of New Jersey  and New York Sears locations. 

“To understand why Sears is in a ‘sell stores mode’ one must look no further than the stores themselves, where the truth is to be found,” Sozzi writes. 

His photos show the sad reality of what Sears is today. 

Sears’ mannequins are outdated in comparison with competitors like Macy’s, Lord & Taylor, and JCPenney, Sozzi says. “If you are living darn near paycheck to paycheck, does this presentation excite you about making a purchase with a couple saved up electronic dollars?”

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

Sozzi points out that this display is confusing. “Huh? A random football themed carpet with no promotion around it?” he says.

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

“What’s the deal in the back of this electronics department?” Sozzi asks. “Does Best Buy look like this? Or, how about the electronics sections at Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, and BJ’s Wholesale? Nope.”

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

The shoe department isn’t adequately stocked, with empty shelves.

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

“The team can’t find any way to repurpose abandoned portrait studios into something that drives traffic and sales?” Sozzi asks. “The consistently dark zones give a ‘going out of business’ feel to nearby departments that actually log some sales, which include appliances and baby.”

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

Lights are out in the store. “This is not great for flattering a potential customer trying on merchandise,” Sozzi writes.

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

“This is where the store underinvestment appears loud and ugly,” Sozzi says.

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

“Attack of the female basics? Look at the lack of organization,” Sozzi says.sears decline

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

Associates weren’t on hand to help make purchases in this disorganized department, Sozzi says.

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

These displays are almost totally empty.

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

“Toys stacked on a shelf next to an escalator by the shoe department,” Sozzi writes.

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

Again, Sears is disorganized. “Accessories are some of the only discretionary items selling in the mall with consistency these days,” Sozzi writes. “Best of luck navigating this flea market experience.”

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

The men’s department is overwhelming. “Inventory excess…an entire department of it!” Sozzi says. “Who is in charge of planning and allocation?”

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

The beauty department also lacks innovation in comparison with competitors. “JCPenney has Sephora. Macy’s newly remodeled stores have an array of associates at the ready to assist in cosmetics, ditto Lord & Taylor,” Sozzi says. “Ulta stores are popping up everywhere. Sears, well, yeah.”

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

“Retail is detail? Not here,” Sozzi writes.

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

The random clothing racks are confusing to customers and show a lack of organization.

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

This mat appears to be shabby and stained.

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

Sozzi left the store with an empty cart.

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Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

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20 Is The New 40


The common theme is women should have mammograms beginning at 40, that is apparently not necessarily so. Recently my daughter (36) after her own normal self exam, discovered an abnormality. Upon seeing her medical provider , the abnormality was biopsied and discovered to be “pre cancerous”. After further examination and tests it was discovered that it is indeed an early stage cancer. The treatment will be chemo first to shrink it then surgery to remove it . This will take place over a period of at minimum 6 months. The point being that women should be taught to self exam, and start taking mammograms at 20 years instead of waiting until 40. I know there is a lot of information on Breast Cancer but often many women ignore or cannot afford exams beyond the self exam. It is incumbent upon all families to have records on the family health as well as the currently popular genealogical trend. There is no shame in recording all ancestral health issues regardless of the type and cause. These records will allow for better overall treatment of your family’s health and possible prevention of catastrophic illnesses in the future. In many cases lack of health information is a no win situation. Steps to take:

1. Make sure your children have regular medical and dental care

2. Have all medical records (ancestral and current) available to the family.

3. Do not take your health for granted

4. Eat as healthy as you can.

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Something To Talk About


On Tuesday October 1,2013 another stage of the Affordable Care Act. That allows ALL Americans without health care to sign up for it regardless of previous or current health conditions. This means if you have or have had Cancer, heart problems or diabetes as examples, you cannot be denied insurance. The great minds of Congress have been and are still trying to take this away from you. The term “Obamacare” was meant to be derisive and demeaning yet what would you think of when you can get insurance where you could not get it before? It is in our best interest (voters) to send messages to Congress at election time. The special interests (not always ours) managed to oust a few Congressmen over a single issue that is not nearly as important as your health so why can we not do the same for our health and fiscal stability? The mass media (biased and unbiased?) has given mediocre coverage to this act while highlighting the same old talking points that certain Congressional members have espoused on an ongoing basis. The push to overturn or defund  the Health Care Act is fueled by big money and “tea Partiers” who do not have your interests in mind. Just remember when elections roll around which members of Congress have had your back!

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Second Amendment-Right?


New Firearm Law in Iowa-Too Far? In case you missed it.

Iowa’s gun carry law allows blind persons to carry guns.  See article:
L.A. NOW OF CALIFORNIA
By Robin Abcarian
September 12, 2013, 6:00 p.m.
Except for intermittent floods and quadrennial presidential contests, Iowa doesn’t generally make a lot of news.
But people around the world in general, and CNN’s Piers Morgan in particular, went crazy this week after Iowa’s premier newspaper, the Des Moines Register, published a story about how the state’s new gun law allows blind people to own and carry firearms in public.
You read right: Blind people may not be able to drive to the gun store, or even sign the permit application without assistance, but they may legally carry a gun in public.
The Register story, which included video of a blind Altoona man named Michael Barber gun shopping with his wife, was part of a much bigger series that looked at the effect of the state’s new gun law, which prohibits sheriffs from denying weapons permits except in very limited cases. Previously in Iowa, sheriff’s could deny gun permits at their discretion.
Jason Clayworth, the Register reporter who wrote the series, told me he got interested in the new law after watching Iowa lawmakers ram the legislation through in 2010.
“I knew from sitting in a few legislative meetings on this bill that legislators had overlooked tons of issues,” Clayworth said in an email. “And I felt like the bill had been unbelievably rushed, especially considering the gravity of the issue.”
Because there was no clearinghouse for gun information in Iowa, Clayworth had to contact each of Iowa’s 99 sheriffs, often more than once, to ferret out the effects of the law. He discovered that in the two years after the law’s enactment, 99.6% of gun permit applications had been approved.
And though the law requires training in the handling and use of firearms, Clayworth discovered that for many Iowans, that training consists of a free, online course offered by the state of Maryland that involves no shooting practice at all.
He also discovered that background checks on mentally ill are nearly impossible to perform, that law enforcement has no way to verify whether a permit is legitimate and that people who have committed violent acts or sex offenses are sometimes allowed to buy and carry guns. (There’s a video interview with one convicted sex offender who demonstrates how he tucks his gun under his shirt to conceal it.)
But of course, it was the stories about blind people carrying guns that got the most attention. The idea seems so insane on its face. But is it?
Many defend the right of disabled people to carry weapons, saying a prohibition would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. Others, including some advocates for the blind, think it’s not such a great idea.
One defender, Cedar County, Iowa, Sheriff Warren Wethington, says he can teach a blind person to safely use a gun. In a Register video, Wethington coached his 18-year-old sight-impaired daughter Bethany as she shot a handgun at a couple of targets in a barren field. She didn’t do badly, but she was standing kind of close to the white targets.
“Obviously there are limitations,” Wethington told the Register. “They’re not going to be able to defend themselves against every situation, but then again, a sighted person can’t either. If we had some sort of a conflict in a dark room, you’re not going to be able to do anything that a blind person couldn’t.”
If blind people want to hunt or shoot targets with seeing companions to guide them, by all means, they should be allowed to do so. This is America, dammit. Everybody gets to shoot a gun.
But should a blind person be out in the public square carrying a gun for protection?
No. Please. Get a German shepherd, not a Glock.
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Ali quote extended


This quote by the “Greatest” was the sense of the country at the time yet we still are in overseas wars. If you change the word “Negroes” with “LGBT, immigrants (legal or illegal) or the poor, you have modern America.

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Zimmerman Part 2.5 and counting


   George Zimmerman is clearly out of control and was at the time he murdered Trayvon martin, it is unfortunate that his real nature was not seen during his trial. This person is clearly not who was portrayed  as the victim during the trial. As many of us who believe in Karma – this is just the beginning of his lifetime punishment for that crime.                              
  
George Zimmerman’s Wife Files for Divorce
Sept. 5, 2013
            By  and MISEON LEE

Matt Gutman More from Matt »
Correspondent

She filed the paperwork just days after she said in an interview aired exclusively on ABC News that the ordeal of the trial had put a strain on their marriage.

The petition says the couple, married in 2007, “separated on Aug. 13, 2013 and are not presently cohabiting as husband and wife. The marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken.” They have no children.

Read: Shellie Zimmerman’s Divorce Filings

Shellie Zimmerman, 26, has asked for “equitable distribution” of their assets as well as their debts. She also seeks sole custody of their two dogs, a Rottweiler named Oso and a smaller dog named Leroy.

She filed for divorce Thursday in Seminole County, Fla.

According to the financial disclosure form, she said she is unemployed. She listed her monthly expenses as $755. The couple owes $3,700.20 on their 2011 taxes, according to the form.

Since they separated, George Zimmerman has given her $4,300 for living expenses and the “source of funds appears to be Zimmerman Legal Defense Fund,” according to the financial disclosure form.

Read: Shellie Zimmerman Financials Affidavit

Shawn Vincent, a spokesman for George Zimmerman’s legal team, said there would be no comment.

George Zimmerman’s brother, Robert, tweeted, “Pray 4 them.”

Shellie Zimmerman pleaded guilty last month to perjury for lying about the couple’s finances when the judge was setting bail for her husband. She appeared in court without her husband.

She said in the interview with freelance journalist Christi O’Connor that she felt “very much alone” without him in the courtroom to support her when she pleaded guilty.

During the interview, Shellie Zimmerman said she is “going to have to think about” whether she stayed married to George.

After George Zimmerman, 29, was charged with murder in Martin’s 2012 death, the couple was inundated with death threats, went into hiding and had to live with security guards.

“We have been pretty much like gypsies. … We’ve lived in a 20-foot trailer in the woods, scared every night that someone was going to find us and that we’d be out in the woods alone and that it would be horrific,” she said.

George Zimmerman Case: The Story in Photos

Shellie Zimmerman said that on the night that Martin, 17, was killed, she was not at their home because she and her husband had had an argument and she had left to stay with her father.

Despite the tension in their marriage, Shellie Zimmerman said she believes her husband’s story that he shot and killed Martin in self defense, and said the most hurtful thing she experienced was hearing that he was a “murderer or some sort of racist.”

Shellie Zimmerman must serve 100 hours of community service and one year probation for her perjury.

George Zimmerman was also in the news this week when he was pulled over for speeding Tuesday for a second time this summer.

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Even In Religion


A TV ad representing  a National Insurance company has a mime talking and a baby commenting on it, I wonder what the baby would have to say about this article>

 

Getty Images

Freedom House Church did not seem all that free this weekend.

Makeda Pennycooke, the church’s executive pastor of operations, sent an email  to church volunteers asking that “only white people” greet worshippers at church  services. The email said that  leaders anticipated an increased number of visitors in the coming weeks, and  that since “first impressions matter,” the church wants “the best of the best on  the front doors.”

An outraged church member received the email and sent it to local news  station WBTV. The controversy is complicated because Pennycooke is a black  woman, while senior pastors Troy and Penny Maxwell are white. Nonetheless, the  church’s request was hard to misinterpret. ”We are continuing to work to  bring our racial demographic pendulum back to mid-line,” Pennycooke  wrote. ”We would rather have less greeters on the front door if it means  that the few that we have will represent us the best.”

Freedom House, a diverse church in north Charlotte, has already apologized  for the incident. “The email was sent by one of our longtime pastors in an  attempt to emphasize that our greeting team reflect the racial diversity of our  entire congregation,” a church spokesperson wrote in a statement to WBTV. “However, she admitted it was a mistake to over-emphasize any specific  group and sent an apology email within 24 hours of the original email going  out.”

Freedom House has four services every weekend. Five values drive its mission,  according to the church website: “We are  an equipping church (Ephesians 4:11-13); a relationally  healthy church (Matthew 18:19-20); an excellent church (Daniel  6:3); a leadership church; and a generous church (Proverbs  11:24-25).”

If anything, the incident serves as a reminder of another biblical passage,  Apostle Paul’s teaching that the Christian gospel breaks down all barriers  between humans. “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or  free, there is no longer male and female,” he wrote in the New Testament book of  Galatians. “All of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

UPDATE at 2:15pm: Here is the full statement and apology  from Freedom House regarding the incident.

One of our longtime pastors, in keeping with our church’s desire to be  inclusive and intentionally reach out to all races, noticed our front door  greeting team was no longer reflecting the racial diversity of our entire  congregation, and she wanted potential visitors to see people like themselves  upon entering our church. However, she made an error in judgment in requesting  all white greeters at the front door, going overboard in placing emphasis on any  one race over another in trying to highlight diversity within the greeting team.  She admits this was a grave lapse in judgment and is sincerely sorry for her  actions. She immediately apologized and has asked our forgiveness. She and  senior pastors have made themselves available to meet with any church members  who want to discuss this situation with them, and have communicated their true  heart in this matter — to be a church welcoming and inclusive to  all.  Freedom House believes in a diverse relationship within its  membership, reflecting the larger community in which the church resides, doing  life together as a church representative of everyone — culturally, ethnically,  economically, and generationally.

Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2013/09/03/north-carolina-church-wanted-only-white-people-as-greeters/#ixzz2ds4nuvpM

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Dupublican Miscue


Politics as usual, this excerpt from Jonathan P. Hicks points out where we are relative to the political system.

The GOP’s Failure to Honor Martin Luther King Jr.

  • By: Jonathan P. Hicks
GOP House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) attends a recent news conference. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
The conspicuous failure of Republicans to pay homage to Martin Luther King Jr. this week reveals precisely where African Americans rank in the party’s pecking order and highlights the nation’s widening racial chasm, Jonathan P. Hicks writes at BET.

There was one group curiously absent from the memorializing: Republicans.

Not one GOP figure attended the event at the Lincoln Memorial. There was no sign of House Speaker John Boehner or Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Absent, too, was House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. There was not a Bush in sight, not even the politically ambitious Jeb. Not even the lone Black member of the Senate, Tim Scott of South Carolina, took the time to join the group on the mall to honor the Dr. King’s legacy.

It’s fascinating that the party that, in the aftermath of the 2012 president election, admitted the importance of reaching out to African-American and other non-white voters would essentially declare the King event off-limits.

After all, Dr. King was not the least bid steeped in the politics of his time: He sought to appeal to the moral conscience of Republicans as well as Democrats, having as much faith — and distrust — in each party. His widow maintained close relationships with the various presidents, irrespective of party. And it was, after all, Republican icon Ronald Reagan, who signed into law the official U.S. holiday known as Martin Luther King Jr. Day …

But more importantly, the absence of Republicans reveals precisely where African-American citizens rank in the GOP pecking order. It reveals in stark clarity that they long less for ways to attract Black voters than they pine for an era where Black voters were irrelevant politically.

Read Jonathan P. Hicks’ entire piece at BET.

The Root aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.

Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.   

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59

Last Few


The last few lines of this article tell the story better than I can:

6 reasons America will rise again

The US is down but not out. It could return to its dominant status, but it has 1 big obstacle in its way.

By Kim Peterson 14 hours ago
The U.S. economy is growing faster than economists expected, although the recovery is still weak.
One observer is confident the country has so many long-term advantages over its competitors that it will dominate the world again. A. Gary Shilling, a consultant and a columnist for Bloomberg View, made his case this week.
Here are the reasons Shilling thinks America will rise again: Energy independence. MSN Money wrote an entire series on this subject in July. Fracking has greatly helped the U.S. cultivate its own energy sustainability. It isn’t there yet, but it’s on track to be self-sufficient — and maybe even become the world’s next great oil exporter.
Immigrants. Immigrants tend to be younger and have higher birth rates. And the U.S. needs them, because in order to sustain the population in the long run, the country needs 2.1 births per child-bearing woman. Immigrants will also keep our population of working-age people (as a percentage of total population) from falling faster.
Entrepreneurial spirit. Even during the worst of the recession, Americans who were laid off or otherwise out of work showed a striking ability to start their own businesses. That’s the heart of the American entrepreneurial spirit, which will keep America afloat.
Labor flexibility. Labor union membership has fallen fast, which for better or for worse means workers are more tolerant of decreases in pay. That will help buffer the country against economic turmoil.
Less foreign money needed. U.S. households have been on a saving binge, particularly after the housing bubble burst and home equity loans became harder to get. Americans will probably save more, Shilling wrote. That will ultimately reduce the need for foreign financing.
Strong dollar. Even though China is becoming the world’s next superpower, reducing the U.S. presence on the global stage, nothing beats the U.S. dollar. The world still views the dollar as the primary reserve and trading currency.
So what’s holding us back? Shilling didn’t address this, but we have a pretty good idea. The one thing that could keep the U.S. from dominating again is its politicians and the petty squabbling and stifling bureaucracy in Washington, D.C. Time and again, we’ve seen how lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have kept America from moving forward. That doesn’t look to change anytime soon.
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Indian Wars


Kent Connecticut is the scene of a largely unknown struggle for reclamation of native American  tribal lands. The Schaghticoke tribe is fighting to survive, the U.S. government has required native tribes to show the ownership of the land they live on since before colonization, under new guide lines they only have to show continuous existence since 1934. This allows the tribes to own the lands they exist on and even the lands now inhabited by newcomers (first white settlers). The Euro presence in the modern and past world has been noted by the conquest and indenturing of all native people wherever they went. This conquest resulted in the death and elimination of many people  and their traditions. It is a far cry now from then as people we have all come to the realization that in order to survive as a species we need to work together beyond religious, color, ethnic and gender lines. Even “Star Trek” has moved beyond those barriers. Why can’t we?

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