Shame-OUT: Circuit City. Why open New stores if closing ones?

I just don't get it.
Circuit City just announced they were closing (20% ??) of their stores by 12/31/07

so Why are they opening a new store in New Jersey (on route 22, in Bound Brook)?

I just don't get it. Just take the loss on the lease, don't hire anyone, and turn place back to the landlord...

It makes sense to ME at least!

And another thing...

Does ANYONE now doubt we're ENTERING a recession??

Remember this. When the FIRST world war happened, it WASN't called World War I
It was called the GREAT war. (until the Second world war).

ANd just like that, the GREAT depression WAS NOT called the GREAT depression when it happened. IT started to be called that AFTER it was ending...

So everyone who says we're NOT in a depression???? Get real... This is it...




+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
OK, you wanted a Political discussion: Here goes.

The background I believe that:
* We're HEADING into a DEPRESSION.
* It's going to be as BAD as the last one.
* The current failures only bring us 25% into the problem!!
* According to Robert Reich (former Sec'y of Labor under Clinton): The only number that he EVER saw, defining the
depression was that the unemployment rate hovered around 25%.
* We need a new deal.
* After 58 years of NO Health Care Reform (since 1950!) it will FINALLY be coming soon...
* We've managed to WASTE a FULL generation (from Zero to thirty) with decaying social, educational, and interpersonal skills.
* Our nation is no longer DOING (producing) anything.
SO, from these few premises, I have extrapolated a great deal of items to FIX our society...

But....
We need to make sure that a number of issues are resolved ALL at once.
If we don't do them ALL at once, its like juggling three RUNNING chain saws, but dropping one!

Here's what I came up with:

We need to do the FOLLOWING to FIX our Society:
* Create A Living Wage
* Create a National Single payer Healthcare
* Create a National 3-4 year draft (or alternate service)
* Create a Federally paid Day Care starting at six months
* Implement Tax Reform on the ULTRA Rich
* Lobbying (Political Reform)
* Education
* Infrastructure (road /bridge/Systems repairs)
* Lack of Training/futures
* Truth and Reconcilliation Commission
* A new "Manhattan" project, focusing on Energy INDEPENDENCE

See my other blog: http://sos-newdeal.blogspot.com for more details.

OMG: Balloon Sighting!

In the Lighter Side of News:
Those few (of my handful of less then five) readers may know:

Once upon a time, (in the many different iterations of my lives)

I was a (certified) (ha-ha) balloon artiste.

Yes,.. And I even did Balloon Animals... LIKE this!

except... This is LARGER then "Life size", and made of aluminum.

OUCH. there but for the grace of bigger artistes, go I..

Heh Heh..
take that dear daughter..

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
OK, you wanted a Political discussion: Here goes.

The background I believe that:
* We're HEADING into a DEPRESSION.
* It's going to be as BAD as the last one.
* According to Robert Reich (former Sec'y of Labor under Clinton): The only number that he EVER saw, defining the
depression was that the unemployment rate hovered around 25%.
* We need a new deal.
* After 58 years of NO Health Care Reform (since 1950!) it will FINALLY be coming soon...
* We've managed to WASTE a FULL generation (from Zero to thirty) with decaying social, educational, and interpersonal skills.
* Our nation is no longer DOING (producing) anything.
SO, from these few premises, I have extrapolated a great deal of items to FIX our society...

But....
We need to make sure that a number of issues are resolved ALL at once.
If we don't do them ALL at once, its like juggling three RUNNING chain saws, but dropping one!

Here's what I came up with:

We need to do the FOLLOWING to FIX our Society:
* Create A Living Wage
* Create a National Single payer Healthcare
* Create a National 3-4 year draft (or alternate service)
* Create a Federally paid Day Care starting at six months
* Implement Tax Reform on the ULTRA Rich
* Lobbying (Political Reform)
* Education
* Infrastructure (road /bridge/Systems repairs)
* Lack of Training/futures
* Truth and Reconcilliation Commission
* A new "Manhattan" project, focusing on Energy INDEPENDENCE

See my other blog: http://sos-newdeal.blogspot.com for more details.

Shout-Out: I'm a *H*A*I*R*y kind of Guy

Edit-2-21-09 Ya'all know that Hair is now back on Broadway again too, right?
wish I had the $$$ to see it again...

You'all Know I was raised in NYC (manhattan), right?

Well When I heard that a revivial of "THE TRIBAL Rock Musical", Hair was coming to Broadway this summer (first time since 1969), I was intrigued.

I first saw HAIR, when my big sister (9 years older then me) took me to see it when SHE was just a wee lass, unmarried, and a great influence on me.. (HIYA sis, if you read this!)

Better then that, it's FREE *(almost!)... It's at the Delacourt Theatre in Central Park. NO Thanks to Robert Moses the onetime Parks commissioner (among other titles he collected)of NYC, **

At any rate, the NYT's Review is here

I'm kind of Wistful, as I don't know if I can travel the 30 miles (to NYC) to get to see it before the end of August.

If you go:
Pack a LIGHT, disposable picnic lunch. Take PLENTY of water, or at least BOTTLES that can be FILLED with water...It gets VERY hot in the park during the day (doy.)
oh, and pack some sunscreen, as well as a good book and a frisbee!


* Free: Unless you are 'gifted' enough by the IRS to be able to DONATE CA$H to purchase PRE-reserved Seats, You are required to go in person (one person per two seats) to the theatre the DAY of the performance, and "hang out" in line. It makes a very very very nice picnic day. Last time I went, it was around 10am, and we got our seats about 5pm.



** Robert Moses demanded that Joseph Papp, Founder of the NY Shakespear festival charge admission for the summer plays at the Delacourte. It is a service to NYC that Mr. Papp refused, and so the plays are still (almost!) free.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
OK, you wanted a Political discussion: Here goes.

The background I believe that:
* We're HEADING into a DEPRESSION.
* It's going to be as BAD as the last one.
* According to Robert Reich (former Sec'y of Labor under Clinton): The only number that he EVER saw, defining the
depression was that the unemployment rate hovered around 25%.
* We need a new deal.
* After 58 years of NO Health Care Reform (since 1950!) it will FINALLY be coming soon...
* We've managed to WASTE a FULL generation (from Zero to thirty) with decaying social, educational, and interpersonal skills.
* Our nation is no longer DOING (producing) anything.
SO, from these few premises, I have extrapolated a great deal of items to FIX our society...

But....
We need to make sure that a number of issues are resolved ALL at once.
If we don't do them ALL at once, its like juggling three RUNNING chain saws, but dropping one!

Here's what I came up with:

We need to do the FOLLOWING to FIX our Society:
* Create A Living Wage
* Create a National Single payer Healthcare
* Create a National 3-4 year draft (or alternate service)
* Create a Federally paid Day Care starting at six months
* Implement Tax Reform on the ULTRA Rich
* Lobbying (Political Reform)
* Education
* Infrastructure (road /bridge/Systems repairs)
* Lack of Training/futures
* Truth and Reconcilliation Commission
* A new "Manhattan" project, focusing on Energy INDEPENDENCE

See my other blog: http://sos-newdeal.blogspot.com for more detailsu.

microSQUISH bids for YAHOO -- My thoughts

Micro$oft and Yahoo.

by Mark Brown
Usage: Creative Commons attribution with email back to me at markbnj at excite dot com

When asked about my feelings about the news this morning that Microsoft (MS) is seeking to acquire Yahoo (Y) for almost 45 billion dollars, my stomach churned. You see, Microsoft IS a monopoly that controls almost 90% of the market for computer operating systems.

I remember a few years back, a group of people in the United States sued Microsoft, claiming that MS was a monopoly(*). Among the different solutions, I liked one in particular. It was to split Microsoft into three different parts. An Operating Systems company, an Applications company, and an Internet company. If we fast forward, (or look back to the year 2000, when our society was first being taken apart by the current president, George W. Bush), we see that the Bush administration stopped the anti-trust prosecution and settled with MS.

I am both FOR and AGAINST this merger.

Pro-Merger
========

Microsoft is worried about its survival. Of course it wants to, and should be allowed to compete against Google. Now that Google has introduced live Google-Documents and Spreadsheets, Microsoft has (and has had) every right to compete, and compete hard against competitors.

Yahoo, and the companies that it owns are the most traveled to web location. Microsoft is an industry laggard in the Internet. Together, they can better compete against Google.

Google is the new Microsoft. Microsoft is no longer the incumbent. Google is the market leader. It is not fair to precent Microsoft from attempting to compete against Google.

Anti Merger
========

Microsoft is a monopoly. The US gave up its monopoly fight when it changed to a republican administration in 2001. The European Union didn't give up its fight, and won certain concessions from Microsoft.

It's time to use this proposed merger to DEMAND that Microsoft divide itself into parts.
Part ONE: Operating Systems and Languages
Part Two: Applications
Part Three: Internet, hardware and other companies

I feel that this MUST be an absolute requirement for any acceptable permutation of permission to be given by the Department of Justice. Microsoft has not changed any of its business practices. I think that once the Operating Systems Company is freed from the other two businesses, a great deal of benefits to everyone who uses a Microsoft computer will happen.

Without a separation of the OS from everything else, it is allowing Microsoft TOO much power to compete, and will even surpass Google, because of it's monopoly on the desktop.

An additional point I would argue for is that once Microsoft discontinues support for a version of its operating system, that the now discarded code should enter the public domain, and become open-source software. This will lead to new innovations, and even allow Microsoft to eventually compete for support contracts for its old unsupported OSes.

Summary
=======

Essentially, I think it's both a good move, and a bad move. Good for Microsoft and Yahoo, but terrible for consumers and other citizens of the United States. The negative effects of the deal can easily be mitigated by requiring Microsoft to divest itself (and the Yahoo Mail servers too) into different parts. I think this way, the playing field will be fairer to everyone, including everyone who uses a non-Apple (or non-LINUX) PC in the world.

By suggesting that older operating systems be recycled, we can encourage more competition and make our system much fairer.

Remember the following items from the DOJ anti-trust suit:

Internet Explorer is (STILL) distributed and required in Windows. IT cannot be removed from WINDOWS XP/2000/Vista.


Notes:
------
(*) You do remember that the Department of Justice sued Microsoft, don't you? The US settled, and the European Union (EU) didn't settle, and THEY got more then US consumers did.

DeatH to Smoochie RIAA: RadioHEAD ROCKS

OK. The RIAA IS going down AGAIN.


RadioHead is releasing their new album on 10/10 from their website.

It is 40 british pounds for a physical cd/vinyl/cassette for December delivery.

OR You choose how much to pay them to Download.

Anything goes, even $00.00


Go and download it asap.

I am, and I think that a payment of $2.50 is more then they'd get from the record companies!


cheers

HumoR: IT's TALK like a pirate day today 9-19-07

Arguh, Me Mateys..

It's FINALLY HERE

AGAIN

National Talk like a PIRATE day.

Avast me mateys.... See last year HERE

Or See the ORIGINAL Dave Barry Humor column that turned this into a INTERNATIONAL
day of Avasting TROUBLE for all non-pirates!


Ahoy Mateys... talk Pirate or WALK the plank today!

------------
2008 Haiku: Impeach Cheney; Pelosi Pardons ; Democracy Restored-- Pass it on

Esoteric: Calculate the volume of your CAT

Over at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, they have finally calculated the CORRECT method for determining the volume of a cat.

Random TecH: MicroSquish conqueors all

I love the UserFriendly comic Strip (see here for another Strip)

Geek-speak translation into English:

Dell is finally going to sell LAPTOPS with LINUX installed instead of Microsoft
Windows/XP/Vista...

Dell will be using "UBUNTU" brand Linux, made by a company called Cannonical.

Hope this explains the following:
Remeber: It's MY blog, and I'll go crazy if I want to!



In a perfect world, the GOVERNMENT would label Microsoft a predatory monopoly, and require Microsoft to put EVERY previous version of WINDOWS that they stop selling and supporting into the PUBLIC domain, so OTHERS could still use/support it!

TecH: The PopEYE effect (I YAM what IYAM)

User-Friendly for those who have never seen it, is one of the ORIGINAL internet comic strips.
It tells about the day to day activities of an ISP (way up in CANADA....)
and the archives from the FIRST day (Soon to be TEN years ago! in 1997!) to the present.

I admit when I discovered them in the late 1990's I went to the archive and read it from the beginning, about one-two months at a time (so my boss never saw me reading a YEAR's worth of strips at once!)

I call this the popeye effect because I too, owned an Apple II+ (the PLUS stood for Applesoft Plus basic!--aka the ONLY product Bill Gates ever wrote himself!)

So... Thanks Sid... I agree. Thanks Bill (Oops... I just thanked Bill gates?!!), and thanks Illiad, for almost ten years of making fun of geeks like me...

Believe it or NOT: Wheelchair goes 60MPH!

OK. A picture for those non-believers!

The REG tells the story of the chap who hitch-hiked onto a Truck AND LIVED

The hitchhiker, whose wheelchair got sucked into the grill of the truck, survived because he WAS WEARING HIS chair's SEATBELT!!!! (otherwise he would have been run-over by the truck!)

Ben Carpenter (the lucky hitchhiker) told police that, "it was quite a ride", but complained only that he had spilled his soda.

"I was probably thinking that he [the driver] is going to keep going, not stop anywhere, go 50-60 miles somewhere".

"I mean I would have been dead way before that," he added."

MusiC: The Puppini Sisters (wow!)

Wow. While LIBERAL (ANTI-Bushkie) Markb was listening to his favorite Public Radio Station, he heard of a NEW scat group from England.

Ever hear of the Andrew Sisters, in the 40's (that would be the 1940's you naughty toddlers you!)




These lassies are a total throwback to the sound and STYLE of the 40's and they even do some Modern disco songs (like... Gloria Gaynor's "I will Survive" in the same 40's style!

Listen to the segment HERE courtesey of WNYC

19 minutes and 23 seconds (ok, less 3 mins of "commercials" ) of these three adorable ladies

Now: the real website has more sound samples at http://thepuppinisisters.com


The Good: Exquisite singers in the 1940's style harmony. Even dress in period clothes (even for radio interviews apparently!)

The Bad: They reside in England, across the pond.

The Ugly: Their American debut is at the Algonquin Hotel in NYC, and is apparently out of my current price range at about $150-$200 per person... Sigh