Will and Lissa: Random Thoughts

One Day

2010-08-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

One Day

A boy met a girl. She seemed very familiar, not to the point of being strange or creepy. She did like to stare at him, which he found a bit odd. But it wasn’t a serious problem.

The boy spoke to the girl, “You’ve been watching me for awhile now.”

She smiled and nodded, “Of course, for a very long time.”

He shrugged, pondered and moved on.

The boy enjoyed the company of the girl. “I feel like I have known you my whole life.”

She grinned and laughed, “What a terrible pick-up line.”

He laughed at the purposefully misread intention.

The boy grew to be friends with the girl, “I always wondered why you sought me out.”

She thought and smiled, “I’m just curious.”

He looked quizzically, but moved on.

The boy grew close to the girl, “So what is it that you are curious about?”

She laughed and laughed, “About when you will figure it all out.”

He looked confused, but had to go.

The boy was intrigued by the girl, “Will you tell me what I’m figuring out?”

She shook her head and giggled, “That would ruin the surprise.”

The boy decided he would go sleep on her words.

He awoke the next day and realized what it was. He had been talking to the mirror all along.

One Day

A girl met herself.

And now she is free.

LISSA'S: NEW Walmart Age

2009-09-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, it is me writing again under protection. Yesterday, I watched something yesterday which once again hit a nerve, and I decided I wanted to comment on it.

Most everyone knows that in 2004, CSNBC released a special called "The Age of Wal-Mart". But recently CSNBC went back and released another special called "The NEW Age of Walmart". This had information in it as recently as September 2009.

Starting at the end of the show, CSNBC dealt with how Walmart was dealing with the "sweat shop" image they got from the 2004 episode. They took the reporter on an "inspection route" with them. But upon further inspection, the reporter uncovered that Walmart was only inspecting one facility, and not others they buy from, including the factory directly across the street. The reporter uncovered documents instructing workers on what to say, and managers on what to hide when an inspector comes around. When confronted with this, the Walmart representative danced around the subject, saying he does not know anything about this and will have to check into it further.

A representative from China Labor Watch was also interviewed. He was shown presenting a report to Walmart officials about problems in the Chinese Labor market, and asked to discuss it further. And finally, after being put off for a long time, CSNBC found out this person was going to have a teleconference with Walmart. But just before the teleconference, Walmart called off the interview, saying "their computers wouldn't work with the teleconferencing equipment." This was hard for me to believe. I mean they sell computers and teleconferencing equipment, why couldn't they get it to work? Does this mean that they sell equipment that doesn't work together? But then, the truth finally came out. The CSNBC reporter found out that the reason why the interview was called off. "Walmart didn't want the interview to be included in the CSNBC report."

This summed up the whole of the report. Walmart seemed to be dancing around subjects, did whatever they could to make them look better, but mostly cover-up everything. They seemed to hide the truth, no matter what. Even when interviewed, Mike Duke, Walmart CEO, seemed to be the master of dancing around the subject, side stepping and misdirection. During the show, he was asked a couple of questions which really mattered to me, and upon listening to his response, I was always left asking "HUH?" To me, Mike Duke did a wonderful impression of Charles Durning in the "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." Tell me if you can see something similar:

CSNBC did do alot on Walmart and the Unions. For me, I am not a union person. I do not care for them, i do not trust them, but again, that is my own personal feelings, not Walmart brainwashing techniques coming through. But I do believe in fair treatment and fair pay. I was bowled over when I heard the average pay for Walmart associates was $10.86 per hour. I fell out of my seat. I have been working for or with Walmart since 2000. Almost ten years, and to me, $10 per hour is still just a dream to me. I can't even imagine working for Walmart long enough to make $10.86 per hour. I do not know where they got this number, but it seems very exaggerated to me.

The Walmart cheer was shown many times during the show. Which seems funny to me that right before this show came on, Walmart changed the cheer. There is no longer the "Squiggly" in the cheer. To me this has always been a brainwashing technique Walmart has incorporated. I was glad to see it shown for what it is on this show.

Another point which was brought up was health insurance. Walmart is so proud about their health insurance and how many people are covered under their program. Yes, they are above the national average now, and well, I started my health insurance this time around. One thing that came up with me was the insurance doesn't cover much, and still has a $1000 deductible. What's the point in paying if you can only afford to have a $1000 deductible and still not be able to put food on the table. There is no way you can afford the insurance. Yes, I am covered, but it doesn't do me any good. I am sure I am not the only associate who feels this way.

Another interesting point that was made on the subject of health care. In the movie "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices," it was brought up about how Walmart wanted associates to get on government run health care. There were interviews in which associates admitted that their personnel department even gave them the government health care forms to fill out. Since then, what has changed? Walmart insurance is still a high cost to employees, and now in the "The NEW Age of Walmart," it was revealed that Walmart is one of the biggest supporters of Barrack Obama and his plan for "The Exchange". It still doesn't sound like anything has changed, except their hopes for better government run health insurance.

One thing that kept being brought up was how Walmart had over $401 billion in sales last year. Over $13 billion in profit last year. When the reporter asked associates how they feel about their pay, everyone was underpaid and under respected. But when they were asked how much would be "fairly paid" everyone responded between $1-$2 more than what they were making. To me, I agreed. But when Mike Duke was presented with the statement, and the fact that surveys have shown that they could do this without any substaintial loss to the bottom line, Mike Duke responded that they couldn't do it, because it would make prices in the store jump extremely. To me it sounded like it would interfer with his take home pay. But yet, here he was talking about how everyone that worked for him was like his family. Question, does Mike Duke make his family live below the poverty line? I don't think so. And here he was, this year with the annual shareholders' meeting, holding one of the most extravegant to date. Hosted by Ben Stiller. Miley Cyrus and Gene Simmons mixing with the crowds. Jack Black sang a song about Walmart. I know this is not charity for them. Walmart paid for them to be there. And it is very egotistical to have yourself introduced by a celebrity like Ben Stiller, instead of sharing the cost of that introduction with your "family."

As for cost savings, I am not sure if anyone has notice, but Walmart has gotten everyone used to buying Great Value brand stuff by being cheaper, but this year, Great Value has passed this cost of many of the name brand. Great Value pizzas are now over a dollar more than Tombstone, and about the same price as Digornio. Great Value sausage links are now a dollar more than most of the name brand partners. There is a whole new meaning behind Great Value.

Another scary thought was the unmarked gray vans which came in and scoped out the areas which they want to conquest. The numbers of stores they are opening this year alone speak volumes about what the goal is for this giant.

Finally, a comment was made during this show which made me have to rewind and listen to it again. During an interview with the Walmart's Vice President of International Affairs, he initially did not want the job due to time away from home. He tells a story of going into Lee Scott's office and asking him for advice. Lee Scott laughed at him, and told him "The company will guide your career. It's not your decision." That comment alone left me with a major uneasy feeling.

In all, it was obvious, Walmart wanted to keep the old JibJab show truthful..... Click here to watch it yourself.

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And now, I step off my soap box, and thank you for your time. I hope my personal insight will help others.

BILL: The Future Begins: The Backstory, Review, and Continues

2009-05-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

To those who were following my "Future Begins" blogs, sorry I didn't have the time to finish all the blogs I wanted to write. So, now I figured I will give the back story on the new Star Trek movie and a short little review of the movie, hopefully without giving away and spoilers.

First of all, I found out about this right before the movie came out, but Paramount produced an "Official Movie Prequel" to the new Star Trek movie. This was called "Star Trek: Countdown". If you were almost like me and let this one sneak by, let me give you the quick story.

The Stardate is 64333.4, putting the story in the near future of the Next Generation time. Nero and his crew (all with hair and no markings) are mining decalithium in the Hobus system, which is deep in Romulan territory. Suddenly, the star begins to break apart. Nero orders a withdrawl, but a solar flare pushes gravimetric readings off the scale, and causes interference with everything. They are not able to pull in the drill platform in time, so Nero orders a shuttle to launch, warp to the platform, beam off the crew, and warp back. When they get back, the Narada goes to warp as the sun envelopes the system destroying everything in the system.

Back on Romulus, Spock has lived on Romulus for 20 years with his Reuninification effort. He has opened many minds, and finally was not only to come out in the open, but to become a legal resident of Romulus five years ago, where he has the job of the Federation ambassador to Romlus. But there is still some racism. He addresses the Romulan Senate about the supernova in the Hobus system. Not only is it unstable, but will grow as it consumes matter. Spock estimates that it will consume the entire Romulan empire in a matter of weeks. He tells of an option to take decalithium and convert it to something called Red Matter, but the technology to do this only exists on Vulcan. The Romulans believe this is a Vulcan plot to get their decalithium. Even when Nero addresses the Senate and confirms the supernova, no one believes them. The Senate forbids anyone to do anything on the matter.

Nero loves the Empire second only to his family. So after telling his pregnant wife about his conflict, she understands, and Nero goes to Spock. He offers all of his trust to Spock and his plan to save the Empire. He gathers his ship and crew, and with Spock, they are off to the Kimden system to mine the decalithium. While mining, the Remans attack. They board the Narada, and take everyone hostage, when a Federation ship arrives to save the day. The U.S.S. Enterprise, under command of Captain Data. Data was resurrected when his neural pathways were able to establish themselves in the B4 unit. Data has his team to beam off the weapons onboard the Narada. Then he boards the vessel with his own team. They take back control from the Remans.

Unfortunately, they have only gotten 78% of their target load of decalithium, and with a power conduit destroyed, the mining was off. Captain Data confiscates the Remans decalithium under the Federation Rules of Engagement. Enterprise repairs the Narada and then escorts them to Federation space. Under way, Nero is offered diplomatic rights, and he comes aboard the Enterprise for a tour, dinner, and the ability for research, where he looks up Federation history and captains. To make matters worst, Data informs Spock that Hobus star has the potential to threaten Federation Space and the Federation has authorized a covert mission to the Hobus system to deliver the weapon themselves, instead of trusting the Romulans.

Both ships arrive at Vulcan, where Spock and Nero are not allowed to beam down, until the Federation and the Vulcan High Counsel sends consent. When they arrive, Spock is criticised for his decisions to leave Vulcan for Romulus, and they do not trust him. The trust comes from the Federation Ambassador to Vulcan, Ambassador Jean Luc Picard. They take their needs to the Vulcan Science Counsel, but the Science Counsel refused to give up the secrets of the Red Matter for Romulan use. They were convinced they would turn it into a weapon.

Nero is mad and leaves Vulcan to help Romulus evacuate, but he leaves the decalithium for Spock and Picard to beg the counsel to turn into Red Matter. Picard reveals the one thing Spock has been hiding. The person delivering the Red Matter will be on a suicide mission. The ship would never be able to pull away from the singularity. That's why Spock always knew he was going to pilot the ship. Data interrupts telling the group the Hobus star has gone critical. Nero arrives in time to see Romulus and his wife get engulfed in the star.

Federation medical ships arrive to help the survivors. Nero tricks them into lowering their shields and by saying he will beam over his wounded. Instead he beams over mining explosives and destroys the ships. He find the Romulan High Counsel, and kills them to get information about the plans for what the survival plans were for Romulus.

In mourning, Nero and his crew follow tradition, they shave their heads and place markings on their skin. But a real Romulan mourning, as the marks fade, so will the mourning. Nero and his crew decide to make the markings tattoos. Their mourning will never fade, all that is left for them is revenge. The Narada goes to a location and sends out a signal. A large starbase uncloaks. It is the "Vault", a highly secret military base. The Narada is outfitted with retrofitted Borg technology implemented with Romulan designs. This gives the Narada the best in sensors, weapons, shields, warp speed and cloaking ability, plus with nanotechnology, the ship will repair itself.

Back on Vulcan, the Science Counsel has agreed to make the Red Matter, and the Federation has gotten Spock the fastest ship they can get their hands on, and the best ship to handle the stresses of the environment, with the ability to handle the Red Matter. A ship called the "Jellyfish", it was created by a Starfleet Engineer who left Starfleet to produce his own designs. A man Geordi LaForge, who delivers the ship to Vulcan. The Vulcans modify the ship for the Red Matter. As they do, there is stories of ships disappearing between Romulus and Vulcan. Picard has started a distraction for Nero. Spock says his goodbyes and leaves in the Jellyfish for Hobus.

A Klingon Armada finds, surrounds and uncloaks around the Narada. It is under the command of General Worf. They open fire, but cause no damage. The Narada cloaks, then starts taking out the Klingon ships with one shot each. Finally the Narada uncloaks and demands Worf to get in a shuttle and come over to surrender. Worf comes over with a boarding party and attacks. But Nero and his crew quickly get the upper hand and almost kill Worf. The Enterprise arrives on scene. Nero offers the return of Worf. Enterprise lowers shields to get Worf, and as he is beamed over, the Narada attacks, but Enterprise gets shields up in time. Although engines are offline. Nero figures out what is going on and leaves the Enterprise to go intercept Spock.

Spock arrives at Hobus, delivers the device which makes the unique singularity, or black hole, and absorbs the supernova. The Narada arrives, but immediately gets sucked into the black hole, along with the Jellyfish. And this is where Countdown ends and the movie begins.

About the movie, all I can say is WOW! This is a wonderful breath of life into the Star Trek genre. Even though there are many changes between the Star Trek storyline as we know, and the new beginning, but these changes are explained. There were a few things that did puzzle me. First of all, why is Chekov on the bridge? Chekov took over the bridge when Riley was sent to the weapons room in Season Two of Star Trek. But here he is from the beginning. But again, this can be explained with the changes in the storyline.

Secondly, Uhura goes into a bar and orders a list of drinks. Including a Slush-o, which is the mysterious drink from the movie "Cloverfield". But she also orders a Cardassian drink. The Federation doesn't meet the Cardassians until the Next Generation. If you put it into perspective, almost 129 years in the future of this time. How do you order a drink of a race you have not meet yet.

Thirdly, I know everyone has seen the scenes, even in the previews, even the first shots, even the first website ncc-1701.com, all showed, the Enterprise is being built on Earth. In all of Star Trek history, all the ships were built in space. It was said that the ships could not handle a gravity environment. The pylons the engines were built on would not be able to support the engines in a gravity environment. But yet, here it is, being built on Earth, then it is assumed that it is sent up to a large starbase orbiting Earth. Why need a starbase if you are not going to build in space?

Finally, everyone in Starfleet knows what a Romulan is, and what it looks like. But yet, the original series "Balance of Terror" made a big deal about how it was the first time the Federation had ever seen a Romulan and how they look like a Vulcan.

In a recent interview, J.J. Abrams did address this fact, and how they knew about the Romulans as far back as the Kelvin: ""It's not mentioned in the scene on the Kelvin, but they are aware of it," Abrams confirmed, agreeing with the sharp-sighted fans. "Because later in the movie, Kirk mentions that they were Romulan. And we very purposely begin the film with a moment that, for fans of 'Star Trek,' is a left turn from the timeline they are familiar with." For anyone who thinks they "caught" Abrams, however, the director is quick to point out the opposite. "For fans of 'Trek,' yes, the Romulans appearing breaks with what is known to be 'Trek' canon. But that is on purpose.""

But if you take out those nitpicks, the movie is amazing. The amount of humor is amazing and it is put in the movie in a believable way. It is not slapstick, but you can actually see this happening in life. I was almost in tears when Kirk was being taken to the Enterprise for the first time.

The actors are perfect. I am still a little indifferent over Uhura, but I like the attitude she has in regards to Kirk, but unsure of her closeness to Spock. But Spock, Kirk, McCoy are perfect. They bring the characters to life perfectly, and under the new "timeline" with all of it's differences. Sulu and Chekov are also wonderfully done. It was great to see these characters brought to a larger supporting role.

Of course, Rachel Nichols makes you believe for the first time that Orion women are as sexy as they are supposed to be in Star Trek legend.

And the best character, the Enterprise herself. She looks like a "suped-up" version of the 1960's model. And it holds true with the changes J.J. Abrams has put in. After the Kelvin meets the Narada, Starfleet learns, adapts and "beefs up" their ships in respect. Thus is born the new Enterprise.

But being a huge Star Trek fan, I always knew there was something missing. Especially after Star Trek acknowledged it and still did nothing to fix it. In Star Trek II, Spock mentions that Khan is fighting two dimensionally. At that point you realize, every Star Trek battle was two dimensional. It was like watching the ship battles on Pirates of the Caribbean. Two ships pass each other firing. This movie has now added the third dimension. It has been long missing.

The storyline is one of the best Star Trek has had, but you got to pay attention to it all. There are still a couple of things I missed that I need to go back to see what I can find. There are many tributes left through the movie. First of all, the hidden Tribble. Even the cast did not know it was there. But apparently somewhere in the scene where Spock and Kirk meet Scotty for the first time, there is a tribble. Also, when Bones is in sickbay, he calls to Nurse Chapel.

Another tidbit, there is a scene where the Enterprise comes out of warp around Vulcan and ends up in a debris field. People may have to wait for the DVD release of this movie, but there is what J.J. Abrams has said is a "Blink-and-you-miss-it Easter Egg". Somewhere in the debris field is something "cool". There are many other tributes and Easter Eggs. From shapes of glassware in the bar, signs throughout the Academy, and even the computer screens. Again, more use of the DVD player.

One of the main subthemes of the movie is destiny. The writers researched destiny and quantum mathematics and found out that there is a mathematical basis to destiny. In the writers words, the strange ways everyone comes together, is because they are destined to be together, and the timeline is now trying to mend itself.

The next movie will continue this unpredictable future. The one name that is being thrown around most for the next movie is bringing in Khan Noonien Singh. According to J.J. Abrams, in the new timeline, Khan may never reach Ceti Alpha V.

Finally, let me add this: now that the timeline of the future is different, there is talk of bringing back Shatner in the next movie. He would play the new future Kirk, it is possible in a flash forward, a stunt J.J. Abrams has loved on his show "Lost". But for those wondering about this movie, Shatner was originally thought of, and here is the interview that discusses the "never filmed Shatner scene:"

"If you've seen the new "Trek," you know that Nimoy portrays the original Spock in a series of scenes that has the character traveling to an alternate dimension and making contact with younger versions of the Enterprise crew. In one heart-tugging moment, "old" Spock addresses "young" Spock and explains their eventual friendship with Kirk; in the Shatner version, however, young Spock was to be more skeptical.

"Elder Spock tells young Spock, 'I couldn't tell you the truth about what's happening, because if I had, I would have robbed you of the benefit of realizing the greatness that you and Kirk will achieve together — and the amazing friendship that you'll have. You had to discover that for yourself, and I couldn't get in the way of that,' " Orci's writing partner, Alex Kurtzman, revealed. "And in our original version, younger Spock says, 'I'm still not sold.'"

Elder Spock said, 'Well, don't take my word for it,' and he handed him a little disc — a DVD, really — that projected a hologram, and then he walked away. And the hologram was of Kirk," Kurtzman continued. "It would've been Shatner.

"The scene was an attempt by the writers to adhere to "Trek" canon — which depicted Shatner's Kirk as being killed in 1994's "Star Trek: Generations" — yet still give him a presence in the film via a final recording he had taped before his death.

"If you follow 'The Next Generation' [TV show], elder Spock went off to Romulus to be an ambassador in two episodes called 'Unification 1' and '2', and [our] idea was that it was a long, long mission, and Kirk would have died by the time he returned to Earth [because they] just wouldn't have the same lifespan," Kurtzman explained of the Vulcan. "And so [this DVD] was essentially Kirk sending Spock a goodbye."

"It was a 'happy birthday' message [with Kirk saying], 'This is the last time I'm going to be able to wish you happy birthday, so I want to tell you how much you've meant to me and how amazing it was that we had all these adventures together,' " Kurtzman said of the alternate ending, which would have provided the last act with a powerful voice over the film's final scenes.

"That narrative, that voice-over," Kurtzman said, "became a link [to be heard] over [scenes of] this new crew coming in ... a young Kirk accepting the medal and becoming captain of the Enterprise."

"Ultimately, the Shatner ending of "Star Trek" was abandoned for a whole variety of reasons. "Whereas our elder Spock had a very organic reason to be there, we didn't have that same benefit with Kirk," Kurtzman explained. "Because Kirk died in the movies — he died in canon — it was very hard to come up with a way to bring him back in the movie that didn't feel contrived.""

For now, let me end here. Hope everyone has stayed awake. I will keep you up to date as new information about the sequel comes up.

LISSA: Warning to all my friends

2009-04-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

If you have ever thought about working for Wal-Mart, read this before making your decision.

Wal-Mart has a team of lawyers and regulation writers who change the rules for Wal-Mart as state laws change. This way they are always legal on everything they do. But I have found one thing of interest.

Recently, a person at a local Wal-Mart got fired. The reason they stated was "under performing". This person had worked for Wal-Mart for years, and this came without warning. But Wal-Mart has a policy that they can hire and fire whenever they want to, and without reason. It was just odd that they fired this person the day he came to work as a her.

After a little research, I found out something a little interesting. It is written in their rules that someone working for Wal-Mart cannot judge on race, color, religion, sex, or "in some states, sexual orientation." Basically saying, if you live in a state that does not have gay rights as a state law, then Wal-Mart can use sexual orientation against you, either in promotions, raises or employment.

Bill: Houston, I have an Issue

2009-04-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

"The world is in trouble and we must fix it. We must do something now." This seems to be the current trend. "Go Green" or "Help the Environment". Everyone seems to care. The only problem I have, where was all of this years ago? This is something I followed years and years ago. I remember the debate back in the late 70s and early 80s. Plastic bags were first being introduced. You were given the option of paper or plastic. Most people chose paper. Paper was stronger and could hold more groceries than the plastic bags. But even back then, there were rumblings about how plastic won't degrade and fill up our landfills. There was discussions of how this could cause more problems than it would fix. But how do you rank the world against corporate greed? Plastic bags were cheaper to buy than paper. It wasn't long before paper bags were placed under the counter and out of sight. Instead of being asked "Paper or Plastic?", you were asked "Is plastic alright?" It was easier to say yes, than to make the request for paper. It didn't take long for the question to be dropped completely. Then the paper bags left the stores. All choices taken away, but still the debate about the dangers of plastic remained.

Through my college years, I attended seminars about the environment, saving the wetlands, global warming, and the dangers of plastic. Here it is 20 years later and now more people are becoming concerned. The problem is that it has become worse than the experts predicted. With plastic invading the food chain, litter everywhere, and the North Pacific Gyre, AKA The Plastic Vortex, AKA Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which has a density of 6 times to 1 of plankton. In case you missed it:

But yet, our society is a disposable society. For us, it is easier to throw things away, than it is to recycle or reuse. Manufacturers have it more convenient for us to be disposable. Overpackaging became an issue. More trash. It was the easiest way. But after 30 years, what have we learned? We are still talking about what needs to be done, instead of doing something about it. Yes, grocery stores are beginning to bring in reusable bags just to say they are green. Making you purchase bags to save the environment. Is that still helping? It's still like hiding the paper bags under the counter. Instead of the manufacturers or the retailers taking any of the responsiblity, they have shifted the responsibility to the consumer and said that they are "going green". It is still up to you to buy the bags, and remember to bring them in. Plastic is still the readily available weapon of choice. What has that brought us?

Even if we can think of changing our ways, can we get away from making the same mistakes. SciFi's "Battlestar Galactica" had it right when they said, "All this has happened before, it will happen again." Thirty years of warnings and no changes. But just throwing away and littering doesn't stop there. Living this close to NASA, where all the top minds work, what have I learned?

As the Space Shuttle program comes to an end, a new beginning is starting, or is it? Back in the late 70s, NASA wanted to create a ship that was reusable. To a degree, they accomplished their mission. A vessel that is about 2/3rds reusable. But now is time for the shuttle to retire, and we want to go back to the moon and beyond. But the problem is how? NASA is still full of people from our disposable society, and they can't think of anything different. So, what have they come up with? The Constellation project with the main powerhorse being the Ares rockets. Bigger than the Saturn rockets that first took us to the moon, but now it will require two rockets.... One Saturn put up the Lunar Excursion Module and the Command Module. Now it will take the Ares I to take up the people and the Orion Crew Vehicle. Then the Ares V will blast off unmanned with the Altair Lunar Lander. Now granted, the Ares V has the reusable shuttle solid rocket boosters, but all in all, a majority of both rockets will be destroyed before leaving Earth's orbit. And again, only a size slightly larger than the Apollo Command Module will be returning to Earth. Lots of waste. Then you have the Altair Lunar Lander. It is bigger than the Apollo Landers, but again, less than a third of the ship will return to from the Moon's surface. Not only are we littering Earth, we have plans to return to the Moon to begin littering there once again.

To top everything off, one of the astronauts once said something about sitting on top of a machine to propel him into space with 1000s of parts being assembled by the lowest bidder. The new moon missions will have EVERYONE on the ship land on the moon. The Crew Module will stay up in orbit, unmanned, on remote. I remember one of the last automated Mars missions that crashed into the surface. If that is a possibiltiy, why would you want to have your only chance for survival being left in the hands of someone who can't see what's going on? Or why trust that nothing can go wrong with the lowest bidder? I would leave someone behind for emergencies.

After 25 years of reusable ships, we have returned to waste. Why? And on the subject, why haven't they thought about how to use some of the waste they have made over time. The shuttle is getting ready for it's 126th flight, with 134 flights planned before retirement. That is 134 destroyed external tanks. At 153 feet tall, and almost 3 stories thick, you are talking about 20,502 feet if you lined them up end to end. 553,554 cubic feet of wasted space. Couldn't there have been some way to keep them up in orbit, linked them together for something? You would think with a little modifications after taking the tank up, you could design something. And even Skylab's main laboratory was just an open tank. Seems like a lot of lost planning and opportunities.

8 of the 9 final shuttle missions will be dedicated to finishing the International Space Station. All of this work to finish supplying materials to the station by 2010, so the station could be completed by 2011...to be abandoned by 2015. There is a plan in effect for the destruction of the space station. Again, waste. With thoughts of going back to the moon, why not find a way to get this deeper into space? Then if a event like Apollo 13 happens again, there is a safe haven, say close to half way. A safe place to stop until help arrives. But again, no one thinks of things like this. It is easier to throw away than to plan to keep.

Finally, in a time when Star Trek and Star Wars are big. Why hasn't anyone gotten inspiration on these? Why not build a ship that stays in orbit? Why not have this ship go back and forth? That way you would only need small ships to get you from surface to ship and vice versa? It is more reusable. It could have modules that could easily be switched (hey, you have big arms on the station), that way you could customize the missions. You could carry more payload in one trip, taking less trips to build the moon base. Once the design was completed and proven, you could build a second one with more shielding for the missions to Mars.

I don't know, maybe it's just wishful thinking. Wanting it all, wanting the world to be safe, and wanting people to think.

LISSA: Baystone Apartments: Shit With Lace... Is Still Shit!

2009-02-02T15:10:00.000-08:00

Baystone Apartments: Shit With Lace... Is Still Shit!

Here I am again, ranting and raving, but this time, I am just bitching about our apartment complex and not the area.

This complex is so damn ghetto. There are some tenants that seem to be a little shady, and some that are definitely rude and inconsiderate. The management team just plain sucks. I frequently hear some of the longer term tenants say how much better this group of apartment managers are, but this has got to be a joke. They say that this place is so much better now, but you know, if you put lace on shit, it's still shit. That's Baystone apartments! They have "rules" about parking.. no double parking nor illegal parking or you will get towed. That's a crock! There are constantly cars double parking. That's where the rude people show themselves. There are also unsupervised kids running around and screaming and making all kinds of noise. The so-called rule here is that children is to be supervised when outside. Yeah right. I came home from work one night and as usual there were no parking spots near our complex, so I had to park far off and walk to my apartment. I ended up parking where there were a group of punk teenage guys smoking and skateboarding. This place is so ghetto. I wouldn't advise anyone to move here! When our lease is up, I am telling Baystone to shove it!

BILL: Missing

2009-01-30T17:55:00.000-08:00

There are a couple of things I know I will miss about 2008. Times move on, but everyone has to leave from time to time.
I realize that there is one thing I will miss about President George W. Bush. Without him, we won't have anymore of this:..

Another loss that makes this a hard time for a trekkie like me. One of the greatest villians in Star Trek history. Here it is, a tribute to a great person:

Yes, you both will be missed. In one way or another.

LISSA: The Boss vs. Greed

2009-01-30T17:43:00.000-08:00

Springsteen calls Wal-Mart deal a mistake

NEW YORK – The Boss is owning up to a mistake.

In an interview with Sunday's New York Times, Bruce Springsteen says he shouldn't have made a deal with Wal-Mart. This month, the store started exclusively selling a Springsteen greatest hits CD.

Some fans were critical because Springsteen has been a longtime supporter of worker's rights, and Wal-Mart has faced criticism for its labor practices.

Springsteen told the Times that his team didn't vet the issue as closely as he should have, and that he "dropped the ball on it."

Springsteen went on to say: "It was a mistake. Our batting average is usually very good, but we missed that one. Fans will call you on that stuff, as it should be."

Springsteen released his new CD "Working on a Dream" this week and is performing the halftime show at the Super Bowl.
___
On the Net:
http://www.brucespringsteen.com

LISSA: A Very Powerful Message!

2009-01-15T12:25:00.000-08:00

I already use 'reusable bags' and they work SO much better!!!!!! ~Melissa

Help solve a global problem by giving up this one little convenience.

http://www.viddler.com/explore/mercola/videos/2/

Please take 8 minutes of your day and watch this.. it is very powerful. You don't even need sound.

Thanks!
Repost and help spread the word. :)

"It's A New Year": by Moondog

2009-01-02T23:50:00.000-08:00

ya know

it is a new year,
do ya think people like fear
They say they do not
but the fighting they do not stop
the peace so many want so dear
others charge you for but just like a prop
it is an illusion, they do not want to reach the top
their jobs are stuck up their rears
to lose them would cause them tears
the tank builders, and insurance issuers ,, the "peace keepers"
the dog catchers, and home security, and defense for years
of cold wars that were and illusion, the cause of economic rot
fears exploited, people disjointed, love disappointed,,
hey
it is
just
life
but where,
HELL?

It is time for a change,

LISSA: Christmas Gifts

2008-12-28T10:47:00.000-08:00

This is a quick list of gifts we got for Christmas:

Melissa:
Lucille Ball barbie
Santa Ricky
celebrate disco barbie
Enya cd - And Winter Came
Xbox 360
Tomb raider underworld for xbox360
beautiful katamari for xbox360
sunbeam fleece electric warm throw
2 fairytopia magic of the rainbow dolls
Indian doll
pink scarf
mardi gras scarf
2 i love lucy porcelain babies

Bill:
star trek pez collection
battlestar galactica season 3 dvd
survivor all stars dvd
new get smart dvd
heroes season 2 dvd
hellraiser collector's edition dvd
iron man dvd
Batman: The Dark Knight dvd
thrive mix cd
star trek ship book
2 hallmark star trek ornaments
star trek the complete animated series dvd

both:
hp printer w/paper
hd stereo
bamboo plant
2 Chinese decorative tiles

"Winter Wonderland: Houston Style", by Moondog

2008-12-23T14:28:00.000-08:00

Gone away are the shootin days

here to stay, the boot scottin ways

The cowboys still wear hats

they seldom wear their chaps

livin in the houston wonderland

You're not likely to see many cattle drives

but the highways are like bee hives

in pickups they're shootin around

buzzin all about the town

livin in the houston wonderland

Along the boulevards you all will find a party

don't act like some northern smarty

just join in the fun, line dance on the run

pop a nice cold beer, or just join in the cheer

dancin in the houston wonderland..

LISSA: How BIG is Wal-Mart?

2008-12-02T22:24:00.000-08:00

HOW BIG IS WAL-MART?

1
At Wal-Mart,
Americans spend $36,000,000 every hour
of every day.

2
This works out to $20,928 profit
every minute!

3.
Wal-Mart will sell more
from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March 17th)
than Target sells all year.

4.
Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot +
Kroger + Target + Sears + Costco +
K-Mart combined.

5.
Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people
and is the largest private employer. And most can't
speak English

6.
Wal-Mart is the largest company
in the history of the World.

7.
Wal-Mart now sells more food
than Kroger & Safeway combined,
and keep in mind they did this
in only 15 years.

8.
During this same period,
31 Supermarket chains sought bankruptcy
(including Winn-Dixie).

9.
Wal-Mart now sells more food
than any other store in the world.

10.
Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores
in the USA of which 1,906 are SuperCenters;
this is 1,000 more than it had 5 years ago.

11.
This year, 7.2 billion different
purchasing experiences will occur
at a Wal-Mart store.
(Earth's population is approximately
6.5 billion.)

12.
90% of all Americans live
within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart

13.
Let Wal Mart bail out Wall Street!!!!!!!!!!

thanks Moondog!

LISSA: Fed up with Baystone Apartments

2008-10-20T22:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, the last straw finally broke with me and Baystone Apartments! So here I go... and I know this isn't all....

Judy, the manager, is so stuck on herself and the staff are idiots! Our car was WRONGFULLY towed because it was parked on the line... between a parking spot and empty space.. NOT another parking spot!! The parking is ridiculous! There are many new cars that show up every night, so you're really lucky to park in front of your own apartment building... let alone your own apartment. The light outside of our building goes on and off... not safe at all. The appliances are SO old... out of the '70's, so there is no energy efficiency here ANYWHERE! All of the air vents are so filthy and dusty.. and has a mildew smell. The air conditioner has a hard time keeping the 1 bedroom apartment cool.. maybe because of its age? The walls and ceilings are warped, but there is fresh new paint over the warpedness. We have 2 temperatures on the awful tasting water: warm and scalding hot! No matter how clean you keep your place, there is always bugs! It took 3 months for maintenance to finally fix our front door to where it didn't have any gaps in it when you closed it. Until this day, it is not completely fixed. The carpet is so old and nasty. Looks at least 20 or more years old. The smell from the carpeting is nauseating. The laundry facilities are so nasty. As of now, there are 2 washers that are fill of smelly dirty water,and have been that way for 3 weeks now. The "security cameras" they have up in the laundry rooms are fake, so it serves no purpose. The laundry room windows are screwed shut except for one, and there is no air conditioning inside. So you have to do your laundry in the extreme heat. This place is total ghetto.

Mellow thoughts from Moondog

2008-10-17T01:41:00.000-07:00

LISSA: To understand the origin of this beautiful poem, you would have to understand the sadness that comes from within... Moondog has had to close his business because of the bad economic times... this comes from his heart.

the sun rose in the east
and another day to feed the beast

It was the last day, thank goodness I say
time to walk on time to pray

Last omelet, now plenty of time to pray

Bill: This is truly a sad day. Travis Street Grille was one of the best restaurants I have eaten. The flavors and feel of this place was one of the truly underappreciated places in Texoma. The only thing I was going to miss about Texoma. It makes me cry to know that one of the best places in the world has fallen victim to a falling economy.

LISSA: R.I.P. SKYEYE and Crew

2008-10-14T04:50:00.000-07:00

This is such a sad shock. This is my favortie news channel and cast. I tear up everytime I hear it..... This is a tribute to them.... We will always love you SKYEYE and Crew! ~ Melissa and Bill

By Gene Apodaca

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Two people were killed when SkyEye HD crashed in a wooded area of Montgomery County.

SkyEye 13 pilot John Downhower and photographer Dave Garrett were killed when our helicopter crashed on its way to a breaking news scene. SkyEye HD crashed in a wooded area near the intersection of FM 1488 and Peoples Road.

We have confirmed through Hooks Airport that no distress call was issued prior to the crash, a crash that apparently happened very quickly.

"The helicopter blades, and just, 'boom' -- it stopped," said witness Harold Robinson.

It was just after 11am when Robinson heard the crash.

"I didn't feel anything," he recalled. "I just knew it was an explosion, and in my mind, I knew somebody got killed."

Soon after, Robinson drove to the crash site in the wooded area, about a quarter mile behind his home, and his suspicions were confirmed.

"I seen no fire, just smoke," he said. "I did not see the helicopter at any time."

SkyEye, which is owned by Helicopters Inc. and leased to Metro, had been covering a shoot-out in southwest Montgomery County. The last images fed in to Channel 13 before the crash show the landing skid as the helicopter banked hard to the right.

Witness Riley Swanson saw it all from his backyard.

He said, "He just cleared the back side of our subdivision when I noticed his chopper made a sharp right-hand -- down, straight down into the ground -- turn."

Swanson also said it looked like the pilot was flying low.

"It looks like the helicopter impacted ground at a very steep angle," said Kenneth Hiebert with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been called in to investigate. The extent of the damage will be an issue, as authorities try to figure out exactly what happened.

Hiebert explained, "He gouged a decent-sized hole in the ground, and once it did that, it broke apart from hitting the ground and also from going through the trees."

Metcalf Funeral Home will be handling the bodies. An official with the FAA was on the scene investigating the cause of the crash Monday afternoon.

KTRK spokesperson Tom Ash released the following statement:

"All of us at KTRK-TV are deeply saddened by the tragic accident involving SkyEye13 and our hearts go out to the families of the pilot and the photographer."

A GREAT point of view on POLITICS!

2008-10-04T03:42:00.000-07:00

Whether Democrat or Republican, I think you'll get a kick out of this!

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, 'What is Politics?'

Dad says, 'Well son, let me try to explain it this way:

I am the head of the family , so call me The President.

Your mother is the administrator of the money, so! we call her the Government.

We are here to take care of your needs, so we will call you the People.

The nanny, we will consider her theWorking Class.

And your baby brother, we will call him the Future.

Now think about that and see if it makes sense.

So the little boy! Goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said.

Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him.

He finds tha t the baby has severely soiled his diaper.

So the little boy goes to his parent's room and finds his mother asleep.

Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny.

He gives up and goes back to bed.

The next morning, the little boy say's to his father, 'Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now.

The father says, 'Good, son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about.

The little boy replies, 'The President is screwing the Working Class while theGovernment is sound asleep. The People are being ignored and the Future is in deep shit.

Ten top reasons a Hurricane is like Christmas

2008-09-30T23:19:00.000-07:00

Ten top reasons a Hurricane is like Christmas

......Everyone needs a little laughter.....

Number Ten:
Decorating the house (with plywood).

Number Nine:
Dragging out boxes that haven't been used since last season.

Number Eight:
Last minute shopping in crowded stores.

Number Seven:
Regular TV shows pre-empted for 'Specials'.

Number Six:
Family coming to stay with you.

Number Five:
Family and friends from out of state calling you.

Number Four:
Buying food you don't normally buy . . . and in large quantities.

Number Three:
Days off from work.

Number Two:
Candles.

And the Number One reason Hurricane Season is like Christmas:
At some point you're probably going to have a tree in your house!

Things I learned during Hurricane Ike

2008-09-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

Things I learned during our Hurricane Ike . . .

1. Coffee and frozen pizzas can be made on a BBQ grill.

2. No matter how many times you flick the switch, lights don't work without electricity.

3. My car gets 23.21675 miles per gallon, EXACTLY (you can ask the people in line who helped me push it).

4. Kids can survive 4 days or longer without a video game controller in their hand.

5. Cats are even more irritating without power.

6. He who has the biggest generator wins.

7. Women can actually survive without doing their hair- you just wish they weren't around you.

8. A new method of non-lethal torture -- showers without hot water.

9. There are a lot more stars in the sky than most people thought.

10. TV is an addiction and the withdrawal symptoms are painful.

11. A 7 lb bag of ice will chill 6-12 oz Budweiser's to a drinkable temperature in 11 minutes, and still keep a 14 lb. turkey frozen for 8 more hours.

12. There are a lot of dang trees around here.

13. Flood plain drawings on some mortgage documents were seriously wrong.

14. Aluminum siding, while aesthetically pleasing, is definitely not required.

15. Crickets can increase their volume to overcome the sound of 14 generators.

16. People will get into a line that has already formed without having any idea what the line is for.

17. When required, a Lincoln Continental will float, doesn't steer well but floats just the same.

18. Tele-marketers function no matter what the weather is doing.

19. Cell phones work when land lines are down, but only as long as the battery remains charged.

20. 27 of your neighbors are fed from a different transformer than you, and they are quick to point that out!

21. Hampers were not made to contain such a volume.

22. If my store sold only ice, chainsaws, gas and generators... I'd be rich.

23. Price of a can of soup rises 200% in a storm.

24. Your water front property can quickly become someone else's fishing hole.

25. Tree service companies are under appreciated.

26. I learned what happens when you make fun of another states' blackout.

27. MATH 101: 30 days in month, minus 6 days without power equals 30% higher electric bill ?????

28. Drywall is a compound word, take away the 'dry' part and it's worthless.

29. I can walk a lot farther than I thought.

LISSA: Just in case you’re curious about us and Hurricane Ike.

2008-09-14T22:44:00.000-07:00

These are a couple of questions from my friend "Moondog". Thought I'd answer them and re-post them for everyone that's curious...

Did you make it home?

No, we are still in Temple Texas... I've come to realize that I hate this town as much as Texoma. You could call this city a mirror image of Denison.. people included.

Is the apartment still there?

As far as I know it is still there. My youngest sister-in-law went back to see all of the damages and she drove by the apartments and said that the building looked okay, just some tree limbs and fence was down.

Did WalMart get blown away and carried out to sea?

No, not blown away nor carried out to sea, but Bill did get a phone call saying that all of the sky lights busted out and the store was standing in water. There is no set date for returning yet. I can't get ahold of anyone at my job. I was wondering if my job sustained damage since it has a large sky light in the center of the ceiling and is right across the parking lot as Wal Mart.

I saw your mom at wallyworld, she said you had to evacuate, and anyway, let me know the whole story

My in-laws second house that we escaped to in Temple lost its air conditioner. So now we sit in the HOT house waiting to go back to Houston. We left Thursday afternoon. Here it is, Sunday afternoon and we're still not 100% sure when we can return. Our city still has no electricity and no clean water.

But in all of this IKE disaster, it is still 100% better than Texoma... no regrets at all!

LISSA’S: My thoughts on..... my job.

2008-09-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

For those of you that don't know, I started working at Babies 'R' Us back in mid July. These are my current thoughts on this.

Working at Babies 'R' Us, I have come to realize that there is such a better working life out there than there is at working at Wal-Mart. Working for WM, the whole entire company was so harsh and un-people friendly. The company, associates and managers made me feel as if I was a slave, and that's the way all life is. But when I started at Babies 'R' Us, I've been treated exceptionally well, both by the associates and managers alike. The management team takes the time to find out what your opinions and feelings are, and guess what, they actually care. And I absolutely love the fact that the management team is so easy to talk to. When I need an ear, any of them are there and ready to listen, instead of the "oh, well I'll talk to you later" brush off like I got from the managers at Wal Mart. The management team at Babies 'R' Us make my time on the job fun. They are the greatest cut ups! They love to play around and pick on me (the good way), and I am smiling and laughing the majority of my work day. Thanks BRU 9588!

Moondog’s Take on the Summer Heat

2008-08-09T12:48:00.000-07:00

Now it is a steam bath,,

ever got an iron filled it up with water, turned it to steam and just given yourself a facial with the wrinkle release?.. that is what it feels like out there right now..

LISSA’S: Yeah, I’m Feeling It!

2008-08-04T15:11:00.000-07:00

LIFE IS FABULOUS!!!

The Heterosexual Questionnaire

2008-08-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

This came from my new MySpace friend "The Lesbian Mafia". I just had to post it here because it is so funny! Enjoy! ~Lissa

HETEROSEXUAL QUESTIONNAIRE

1. What do you think caused your heterosexuality?
2. When and how did you decide you were a heterosexual?
3. Is it possible that your heterosexuality is just a phase that you may grow out of?
4. Is it possible that your heterosexuality stems from a neurotic fear of others of the same sex?
5. If you have never slept with a person of the same sex, is it possible that all you need is a good gay lover?
6. Do your parents know that you are straight? Do your friends and/or roommates know?
7. Why do you insist on flaunting your heterosexuality? Can't you just be who you are and keep it quiet?
8. Why do heterosexuals place so much emphasis on sex?
9. Why do heterosexuals feel so compelled to introduce others to their lifestyle?
10. A disproportionate majority of child molesters are heterosexual. Do you consider it safe to expose children to heterosexual teachers?
11. Just what do men and women do in bed together? How can they truly know how to please each other, being so anatomically different?
12. With all the societal support marriage receives, the divorce rate is spiraling. Why are there so few stable relationships between heterosexuals?
13. Statistics show that lesbians have the lowest of sexually transmitted disease. Is it really safe for a woman to maintain a heterosexual lifestyle and run the risk of disease and pregnancy?
14. How can you expect to become a whole person if you limit yourself to compulsive, exclusive heterosexuality?
15. Considering the menace of overpopulation, how could the human race survive if everyone were heterosexual?
16. Could you trust a heterosexual therapist to be objective? Don't you feel that (s)he might be inclined to influence you in the direction of his/her own orientation?
17. There seem to be very few happy heterosexuals. Techniques have been developed that might enable you change if you really want to. Have you ever considered aversion therapy?
18. Would you want your child to be heterosexual, knowing the problems (s)he would face?

(Anonymous)

LISSA’S: Wal-Mart Warning Managers of Labor Bill

2008-08-02T12:55:00.000-07:00

Wal-Mart warning managers of labor bill

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Friday it has held meetings with U.S. store managers warning them of issues that could arise if Democrats win power and pass a law that would make it easier for workers to unionize, but stressed it was not telling workers how to vote.
Wal Mart opposes proposed legislation called the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for workers to unionize by signing a card rather than holding a vote.

"We believe EFCA is a bad bill and we have been on record as opposing it for some time," Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar said. "We feel educating our associates about the bill is the right thing to do."

The Wall Street Journal reported that about a dozen employees who attended meetings in seven states said executives told them employees would be required to pay hefty union dues and get nothing in return, and warned that unionization could force Wal-Mart to cut jobs as labor costs rise.

The Journal report said Wal-Mart human-resources managers who run the meetings do not specifically tell attendees how to vote in November's presidential election, but they make it clear that voting for Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama would be tantamount to inviting unions in."If anyone representing Wal-Mart gave the impression we were telling associates how to vote, they were wrong and acting without approval," Tovar said.

Wal-Mart, which does not have a unionized U.S. workforce, has been the target of union-backed groups that criticize the retailer for everything from its pay practices to its health care benefits.

BILL: Travis Street Grille Revisited

2008-07-22T12:09:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, when we still lived in Texoma, Melissa and I decided to go out to eat. We left out of Whitesboro, east on Highway 56. On the way, we passed the famous farm with hundreds of miniature horses on overgrazed, almost barren land. A couple of cows in a pen smaller than a one bedroom house with no grass, buried up to their knees in muck right outside a local business. The sides of the road are papered with plastic and litter from the many trash trucks which deliver their loads to the new dump just outside of Whitesboro. No one cares about the litter all over the road, or the trucks that spill their loads on the way. No one cares about the animals with no food. The sides of the highway are lined with trees hacked to the point which they looks as though they belong on an alien landscape. I guess this matches the trash along the road. It truly gives Texoma the alien image I have come to expect.

We finally make it into town and make it downtown to our restaurant of choice. Again entering into this interesting piece of Sherman history. Like I have said before the building itself is interesting to walk through. Player piano fills the atrium with music as the day just gains a lazy haze inside. There is no rush, no stress here. Kelly Restaurant upstairs does decent business. Clothing stores and knick knack shops line the lower level. The shoe shine boy waits patiently in his corner. But right inside the door is where we stop.

Home of the Travis Street Grille. The lobby displays the history of Sherman. From the now defunct baseball team to the shots of downtown before it was what it is today. But we are not here for the ambiance, so we quickly get into line. Our great friend Clarence comes out from behind the counter and greets each of us with a smile and a hug. The type of service one can get from a friendly place like this.

Everytime I walk in through the door, I am always hypnotized by the massive, juicy burgers served here. I get lost in the long list of different burgers offered. But today, I had a mission. A mission I wasn't going to fail. And that was to check out the Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich. We placed our order and took our seat. It takes a little longer than it would running into a McDonald's or Jack In The Box, but believe me, it is worth the wait. During our wait, we got to spend quality time with Clarence and his family, looking at pictures of Clarence's younger days, and watching the crowd go by.

Our order arrived, Lissa's huge cheeseburger fixed exactly the way she likes. When you order extra mustard and pickles at most places, you get three to five pickles instead of the two to three which normally comes with the burger. Here, extra pickles got a layer which rivaled the burger itself. Mustard came where it was dripping off the burger. Exactly the way Lissa wishes other places would do. We got our huge basket of onion rings, and another huge basket of fried pickles. Like I said before, I hate pickles, but there is something almost addictive about the fried pickles sold at Travis Street Grille.

Over the many times I have entered this place, I have always gotten the burgers. Super-sized, juicy burgers with fresh trimmings, beautifully cooked. I have always been afraid of the sandwiches, because most places serve you a small sandwich, and I usually end up leaving the restaurant hungry. But I heard so many rave reviews of the Travis Street Grille's Philly Cheesesteak, I decided to try it out. I was completely surprised when the sandwich arrived. The bread was barely visible over the meat, onions, peppers, and mushrooms piled on top of the bun. The sandwich was almost impossible to pick up, but I managed a way. Every bite almost melting in my mouth. For the first time, a sandwich filled me up, and I was able to take home leftovers.

It has always been a great enjoyment to eat at the Travis Street Grille. I have never found anything that was half way done. There is nothing on the menu that isn't made with a lot of heart and passion. The family who runs this place really knows the best flavor combinations, and are willing to try anything. Daily specials prove this. It has always been a pleasure to go here to eat.

I think back to my last couple of trips to Galveston. Melissa and I took her parents down to Galveston to spend the day. Checking out the grounds and the Titanic exhibit at Moody Gardens. We went down the Seawall, which was crowded with swimmers and surfers. We tried to go eat at The Spot, which is another place known for it's burgers. The place was packed. No where to park in the surrounding three blocks. No where to sit. People hanging out over the railing.

I knew in moving here, we gained many new places to eat, but they do not come close to the bond we have with Clarence and the Travis Street Grille. They will always be the one thing I miss about Texoma, and the only thing I miss. I wish they could go along with us. I know they could turn that hungry crowd at the beach looking for places to eat into a small wonderland. Spread their happiness to the millions who cross the Seawall each year. "Seawall Boulevard Grille and Tiki Bar." I smell a small fortune, Clarence. There is a restaurant on the Seawall for sale.

I am sorry you are not going with us, Clarence, but you will be there in heart. And we wish you all the best. Keep the restaurant going strong. With food that good, you cannot fail anywhere. You and the Grille will be missed. You are a true friend.

Moondog’s response to the one-legged parachute jumper.

2008-07-21T17:05:00.000-07:00

Moondog strikes again! This time I sent out the story about a guy from New York who lost his prosthetic leg while sky diving. The story is as follows:

NY man loses prosthetic leg while skydiving

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - An upstate New York man says he's still upbeat despite losing the same leg twice. Scott Listemann told the Poughkeepsie Journal that he laughs about losing his foot and lower leg "both the first time and the second time."

The Poughkeepsie man lost his leg below the knee in a November, 2007 accident. Listemann, 47, lost his prosthetic leg last month while skydiving in upstate New York.

The lower leg below the knee, with a foot clad in a running shoe, flew off after he jumped from the plane but before the parachute opened. Listemann says he's sure "it will show up eventually."

Listemann has distributed flyers throughout upstate Gardiner and hopes someone will find his prosthetic leg and call him.

...So this is the response I get back from Moondog:

"oh shit lopsided landing,,,

"Poukipsee tower ,, we are having trouble lowering both landing gear,,, have an ambulance standing by thank you.."

20 miles north of pouhkipsee,, today a man was kicked in the head by a bodiless leg,, the leg was wearing a running shoe,, but did not run after kicking the man in the head,,,, no ID was found on the leg,, but it is being held for assault....

While skydiving Saturday afternoon,,, Lefty Liftowitz, had his artificial eye fly out of his head,, In an interelated story, a panhandler in the Bronx while looking up to the sky to ask God, why he had to lose his eye, was hit in the head and when he became conscious he had a new artificial eye...

go figure,, that is todays news,, have a jolly good evening"

LISSA’S: Wal-Mart’s Wages Increase in China, Rollback in US

2008-07-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

Wal-Mart is raising wages for its employees -- in China, that is. Yes, the labor union representing Wal-Mart's Chinese workforce won yet another fight against Wal-Mart, successfully negotiating for an 8 percent raise for 2008 and 2009 as well as setting terms for paid vacation, social security, and overtime. This comes at a time when China's economy is booming, and demands for higher wages and better benefits are being pushed by none other than the Chinese government. Meanwhile, as the U.S. economy falters and Wal-Mart benefits, Wal-Mart's U.S. hourly workers are experiencing nothing short of a wage "rollback."

Sadly, wages for the average hourly U.S. Wal-Mart employee have actually fallen when adjusted for inflation. In 2004, Wal-Mart reported an average (Wal-Mart refuses to disclose a median wage which would provide a more accurate picture of wages at the company) hourly wage of $9.68. In 2008, the reported wage is $10.86. But in 2004 dollars, the average hourly wage is $9.55, which means workers are worse off today than they were four years ago. So, while the price of gas, food and health care are rising, Wal-Mart employees' wages are falling.

Even when not accounting for inflation, Wal-Mart's "average" disclosed hourly wage puts a family of four below the federal poverty line. In light of the fact that "full-time" work for Wal-Mart employees is often 34 hours a week, this means the "average" hourly worker earns only about $19,200 annually. Plus, starting wages at the company's stores are often much lower than the "average hourly wage."

So, it is no wonder that Wal-Mart employees top the public assistance rolls for Medicaid, SCHIP and other programs. But instead of actually raising wages to help employees lift themselves out of poverty, Wal-Mart chooses to get credit for telling them about how to get more government assistance. Case in point, just a few weeks ago, Wal-Mart came out in support of legislation that would require large employers to notify their employees about the availability of the Earned Income Tax Credit. Wal-Mart would never disclose how many of its employees likely qualify for this poverty-alleviating tax option, but given Wal-Mart's low wages, it is likely to be a sizeable number.

This is all happening in the context of an American economy that continues to decline while Wal-Mart's revenue continues to rise higher than ever. The company was again crowned the largest company in the world by Forbes, and has continued to outperform its retail competitors as shoppers trade down. The Walton family -- who control 43% of Wal-Mart stock through the Helen Walton Family Group -- earned close to $29 billion just on the increase in Wal-Mart stock prices during the previous seven months (November 2007 to June 2008) alone. The relationship between the Walton family and Wal-Mart workers is a stark example of the old adage that while the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.

We don't begrudge Wal-Mart raising wages at its stores in China (the employees there certainly need it) and it's also appropriate for the company to inform its employees about issues such as the Earned Income Tax Credit. But the company's U.S. employees need higher wages now more than ever.

Instead of perpetuating a cycle of poverty among its workers with a low wage, poor benefit business model, it is time Wal-Mart consider a meaningful wage increase for its hourly U.S. employees who are struggling just to make ends meet for their families. Wal-Mart can and should do better for its 1.4 million U.S. workers.

source: The Huffington Post

LISSA’S: New and Awesome Wal-Mart Logos

2008-07-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

LISSA’S: Catching you up!

2008-07-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

This is for our friends that actually care... LOL!

YES! We're finally here and settled in.. snug as a bug in a rug! We have our tiny little one bedroom apartment on NASA Pkwy in Webster now, and I'm so high on life! Life, it's so wonderful.. I never knew it could be so worth living. In fact, we hardly ever stay home anymore. I've had people in the past say they don't watch much tv, and I never understood that, seeing how that's all I had to do in Texoma. Now that I have a million and one things to do all around me, I can't even find time to watch our regular programs recorded on our DVR anymore. It constantly stays 90 to 98% full.

I've done so much, and there's plenty more to do and see. My FAVORITE hobby is now clubbing! There is an awesome club just a block away from home called Eden... (they are in the top of my friends' list if you wanna check it out.) There is only one thing I don't really like there... the smoking. Everyone smokes inside, and me being a non-smoker, it's really hard to breathe. Other than that, it's really great! They have what's called Friday night "suds", where the dance floor is covered (floor to almost ceiling) in sud bubbles. I've never seen anything like it.. so clever. I've only got to go to this club once, but I am DYING to go back!!

Another club that is friggin' awesome is called South Beach (again, you can find it in my top friends' list). It's located downtown. Luckily it's a non-smoking club, so it's so much easier to breathe. On their dancefloor, there is a strong fog machine that blows out so much COLD fog, the temperature drops at least 20 (or more) degrees and you cannot see anything! Not even your hand in front of your face! The music is so awesome and loud!

Another thing that I am so thankful for down here is my in-laws. I never thought I could be so close to them. Mom and Dad Hill have really opened up to us, and my sis-in-law Jenny has really included me into her life and family.. like I was a real blood sister. I couldn't ask for anything more. Her husband Ray is a whole other story... GOOD story. He has really helped me open up and not be so afraid of life. He introduced us to the clubs and entertainment around here and Houston. He is so playful, sweet and caring. I've adopted him as my "real" brother.. not bro-in-law. Sadly, his work calls him off to Egypt for about 5 weeks at a time, so I don't get to see him as often.

For those of you that know my phobia... I've forced myself to drive around this CROWDED place. I think I do pretty damn good for someone that has that phobia! LOL!!!!

The apartments that we live in are pretty decent. Yeah, you got some people that are kinda questionable, but overall they leave you alone. It's kinda sad though... I wish we could get together more often with our direct neighbors, Mirissa and Petrina. We did find their MySpace page and added them! YAY! Sadly we've only said 'hi' in passing with everyone's busy lives. They are moving next month and I hate that we could never get together to know each other better. If Mirissa or Petrina is reading this, maybe we could all 4 get together and hang out sometime at South Beach or Eden?

That's about it... you can check out all the pictures in our "Hangin' Out At Home" album on MySpace. (Nice) comments welcomed!

LOL.. Moondog never fails to suprise me!

2008-06-15T16:29:00.000-07:00

On one of my many joke emails I usually send out daily, I got a reply back from our friend "Moondog" with his own twist answer. I was never really looking for an answer to this riddle because the punchline is at the end of it, but I absolutely love his answer! Check it out!

Can you solve this puzzle?

You are riding on a beautiful white horse.

On your left side is a drop off.

On your right side are several ostriches being chased by a lion.

In front of you are four large gazelles that won't get out of your way

and you can't seem to overtake them.

Behind you is a stampede of horses.

What must you do to get out of this highly dangerous situation?

For the answer click and drag your mouse from star to star.

* Get your drunk ass off the merry-go-round. *

...and this was Moondog's response:

Shoot an ostrich, the lion stops to eat it ,, that trips the horse,, and the other ostrich stop to put their head in the sand, and you pass the gazelles on the right....

how did I do?

"Thoughts on moving to Houston" by Moondog

2008-06-07T17:42:00.000-07:00

Give me an H,,,,,,,,,,,,,,H,,,,
give me an O,,,,,,,,,,,,,, O,,,,,
give me a U,,,,,,,,,,,,,U,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
give me an S,,,,,,,,,,,, SSSSSSSSSSS,,,
give me a T,,,,,,,,,,,,, TATATA
give me an O,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH,,,,,,,,,,,,
givame an N,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, NNa NNa NNa NNa NNa NNa,,,,,

what does that spelll ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, escape,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I
can't hear you,,,,ESCAPE,,,,
who is number one,,,,, our family,,,,,,,,,
I can't hear you OUR FAMILY,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Got to move on BABY,, yeah,,,, Got to move on Baby,, yeah,,, get down
get down the road,,, yeah,,,,,
headin to the coast
sorry I got to boast
got to not feel like a piece of toast
treated like a roast
so babay,,, babay set me free set me free can't you see,, set me
free,,,,

LISSA’S: Freakonomics ~ Are Wal-Mart’s Products Normal?

2008-05-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

Are Wal-Mart's Products Normal?

By Justin Wolfers

Emek Basker is an incredibly creative (and under-appreciated) industrial organization economist. She is also surely the leading Wal-Mart-ologist, and has been studying big box stores for several years.

Her most recent piece provides a very nice teaching example highlighting the importance of the income elasticity of demand; she also managed the perfectly accurate but cheeky turn of phrase that we all dream about sneaking into an academic paper:

In this note, I estimate the income elasticity of revenue for Wal-Mart and Target over the last ten years. Because some consumers are likely to view each discounter's products as normal while others view them as inferior, the aggregate relationship could go either way and depends on the size of the two groups as well as on the magnitude of their elasticities of demand (positive and negative).

I find that demand for Wal-Mart's products exhibits a negative income elasticity and Target's demand exhibits a positive income elasticity … For the average consumer, then, it appears that shopping at Target is perfectly normal, but shopping at Wal-Mart is not.

Given these findings, perhaps Rob Jensen's Giffen good expedition team needs a Wal-Mart-ologist.

Given Basker's estimates, it is probably no surprise that the current slowdown is good news for Wal-Mart, but bad news for Target.

It turns out that Basker's findings are no surprise to Wal-Mart: In October 2007, CEO Lee Scott argued that "Our low prices and low-cost business model should give us an advantage over other retailers if things get more difficult for consumers."

Her full paper is here.

source: The New York Times

LISSA’S: Discounted Employees

2008-05-29T11:44:00.002-07:00

Discounted employees

Wal-Mart's appalling labour practices mean it's getting rich at the expense of workers and their families

Wal-Mart, the world's largest private employer, now employs over 1.3 million Americans. Globally, more than two million people are now Wal-Martees, and several million more are dependent on these employees. Millions also make their livelihoods by selling their products, albeit at rock-bottom prices, to Wal-Mart. In America the only employer with more clout than this overgrown supermarket chain is the federal government. The company has annual revenues three times larger than California's state budget, profits bigger than the GDP of many small developing nations and the clout to set its own purchasing prices and drive competitors out of business by undercutting them with consumers.

This is all bad - very bad. I'm not going to try to make the argument that all big corporations are, by definition, problematic. For better or worse, we live in a corporate world. Unless we want to dedicate our lives to living some back-to-land dream, for the foreseeable future most of us are going to spend a significant portions of our incomes shopping at one megastore or another.

No, the reason it's bad that Wal-Mart is so extraordinarily dominant (and, arguably, the reason why Wal-Mart is so dominant in the first place) is that the company has appalling labour practices.

The monitoring group Wal-Mart Watch has reported stories of employees refused bathroom breaks, forced to work off-the-clock overtime and punished for attempting to unionise their fellow employees.

In recent weeks, I've spoken with employees who have been with the company nearly a decade and still make only about $10 per hour. Huge numbers of Wal-Mart workers earn far less, scraping by on as little as $7 an hour.

Many are technically part-time, because if they're listed as not working a full 40-hour work week they don't qualify for health insurance for the first year of employment. Afterwards, when the benefits kick in, Wal-Mart removes a startlingly high percentage of the already-low wages to help cover the costs of the insurance. In other words, while Wal-Mart claims to provide most of its employees with health insurance, in reality the employees themselves are paying much of the bill.

One 58-year-old woman I spoke with brings home, in a good month, just over $1,100 after taxes. Out of this, over $100 is removed for health insurance. If the insurance she got for this was comprehensive, that wouldn't be so bad. But it's not. She has to pay the first $1,000 of her medical bills each year before her insurance kicks in, and after that she still has to pay $20 for every doctor's visit and $20 for most prescriptions. So, she has health insurance, but she can only really afford to use it for emergencies. Other employees pay less that her per month in premiums, but their deductibles are even higher - having to pay upwards of $2,500 before the insurance kicks in.

How far does a $1,000 take-home paycheque go today? Well, figure that even in a depressed rural community, $350 is about as low as you can go for rent or a mortgage, or even for paying to use a trailer lot space. Heating is going to run you about $100 a month. Utilities, including phone charges, another $100. Since a car is pretty much a necessity in most of the small towns and outer-burbs where Wal-Mart sets up shop, add in $100 a month for basic car insurance. If you're paying off the car, your payments will be at least $100 a month. Then there's gas. At current prices, even someone not driving more than a few miles a day to and from work is likely spending close to $100 a month on gas.

That leaves about $150 for food, basic household items like toilet paper, dish soap and shampoo, clothing, medical bills, the paying off of credit card debt and entertainment.

What gives? Well, first off goes entertainment. If you're working a low-wage job in America today, even going to the movies is increasingly an impossibility.

Then you go without new clothes. Then medicines. Sure, you might need your blood pressure pills or you'll likely have a heart attack or stroke down the road, but who can plan that far ahead when you have to make a few dollars and change last the month. Many end up giving up their insurance altogether, banking on the fact that they are paid so little they can qualify for state Medicaid coverage or hoping, against hope, that they don't get sick.

Finally, you start skipping meals. Recently, I've interviewed Wal-Mart employees who never eat breakfast, who take low-grade sandwiches to work for lunch and crack open a discount can of soup for dinner. They buy fruit if it's on sale at one or another discount market. Occasionally they treat themselves to low-grade meat for dinner.

Wal-Mart has annual revenues of over $351bn, and last year made over $11bn in profit. On the assumption an average employee works close to 40 hours a week, it could pay every one of its two million employees an extra two dollars an hour (translating to roughly $4,000 more per year, per employee) and still end up with nearly $4bn in profit each year. That's close to $1.5bn more than the 2007 profit level of Target, its closest rival in the all-in-one department store business and a company known for paying its workers more than Wal-Mart does.

The extra money would raise hundreds of thousands of workers out of lives of poverty, would allow them to afford healthcare and to buy enough food to feed themselves and their families.

Don't hold your breath on this happening anytime soon. But, next time you shop at Wal-Mart, remember that many of those who serve you probably don't make enough money to properly feed and clothe their families.

source: guardian unlimited

An Interesting Article: "Wake Up, America. We’re Driving Toward Disaster."

2008-05-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

Wake Up, America. We're Driving Toward Disaster.

By J. H. Kunstler

Everywhere I go these days, talking about the global energy predicament on the college lecture circuit or at environmental conferences, I hear an increasingly shrill cry for "solutions." This is just another symptom of the delusional thinking that now grips the nation, especially among the educated and well-intentioned.

I say this because I detect in this strident plea the desperate wish to keep our "Happy Motoring" utopia running by means other than oil and its byproducts. But the truth is that no combination of solar, wind and nuclear power, ethanol, biodiesel, tar sands and used French-fry oil will allow us to power Wal-Mart, Disney World and the interstate highway system -- or even a fraction of these things -- in the future. We have to make other arrangements.

The public, and especially the mainstream media, misunderstands the "peak oil" story. It's not about running out of oil. It's about the instabilities that will shake the complex systems of daily life as soon as the global demand for oil exceeds the global supply. These systems can be listed concisely:

The way we produce food

The way we conduct commerce and trade

The way we travel

The way we occupy the land

The way we acquire and spend capital

And there are others: governance, health care, education and more.

As the world passes the all-time oil production high and watches as the price of a barrel of oil busts another record, as it did last week, these systems will run into trouble. Instability in one sector will bleed into another. Shocks to the oil markets will hurt trucking, which will slow commerce and food distribution, manufacturing and the tourist industry in a chain of cascading effects. Problems in finance will squeeze any enterprise that requires capital, including oil exploration and production, as well as government spending. These systems are all interrelated. They all face a crisis. What's more, the stress induced by the failure of these systems will only increase the wishful thinking across our nation.

And that's the worst part of our quandary: the American public's narrow focus on keeping all our cars running at any cost. Even the environmental community is hung up on this. The Rocky Mountain Institute has been pushing for the development of a "Hypercar" for years -- inadvertently promoting the idea that we really don't need to change.

Years ago, U.S. negotiators at a U.N. environmental conference told their interlocutors that the American lifestyle is "not up for negotiation." This stance is, unfortunately, related to two pernicious beliefs that have become common in the United States in recent decades. The first is the idea that when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.

(Oprah Winfrey advanced this notion last year with her promotion of a pop book called "The Secret," which said, in effect, that if you wish hard enough for something, it will come to you.) One of the basic differences between a child and an adult is the ability to know the difference between wishing for things and actually making them happen through earnest effort.

The companion belief to "wishing upon a star" is the idea that one can get something for nothing. This derives from America's new favorite religion: not evangelical Christianity but the worship of unearned riches. (The holy shrine to this tragic belief is Las Vegas.) When you combine these two beliefs, the result is the notion that when you wish upon a star, you'll get something for nothing. This is what underlies our current fantasy, as well as our inability to respond intelligently to the energy crisis.

These beliefs also explain why the presidential campaign is devoid of meaningful discussion about our energy predicament and its implications. The idea that we can become "energy independent" and maintain our current lifestyle is absurd. So is the gas-tax holiday. (Which politician wants to tell voters on Labor Day that the holiday is over?) The pie-in-the-sky plan to turn grain into fuel came to grief, too, when we saw its disruptive effect on global grain prices and the food shortages around the world, even in the United States. In recent weeks, the rice and cooking-oil shelves in my upstate New York supermarket have been stripped clean.

So what are intelligent responses to our predicament? First, we'll have to dramatically reorganize the everyday activities of American life. We'll have to grow our food closer to home, in a manner that will require more human attention. In fact, agriculture needs to return to the center of economic life. We'll have to restore local economic networks -- the very networks that the big-box stores systematically destroyed -- made of fine-grained layers of wholesalers, middlemen and retailers.

We'll also have to occupy the landscape differently, in traditional towns, villages and small cities. Our giant metroplexes are not going to make it, and the successful places will be ones that encourage local farming.

Fixing the U.S. passenger railroad system is probably the one project we could undertake right away that would have the greatest impact on the country's oil consumption. The fact that we're not talking about it -- especially in the presidential campaign -- shows how confused we are. The airline industry is disintegrating under the enormous pressure of fuel costs. Airlines cannot fire any more employees and have already offloaded their pension obligations and outsourced their repairs. At least five small airlines have filed for bankruptcy protection in the past two months. If we don't get the passenger trains running again, Americans will be going nowhere five years from now.

We don't have time to be crybabies about this. The talk on the presidential campaign trail about "hope" has its purpose. We cannot afford to remain befuddled and demoralized. But we must understand that hope is not something applied externally. Real hope resides within us. We generate it -- by proving that we are competent, earnest individuals who can discern between wishing and doing, who don't figure on getting something for nothing and who can be honest about the way the universe really works.

source: the Washington Post

LISSA’S: There’s More Than One ’Sting’ at Wal-Mart

2008-05-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

12-year-old W.Va. girl stung by scorpion at store

BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. - One young shopper at a Wal-Mart in West Virginia had to watch out for more than falling prices.

A 12-year-old girl picking up a seedless watermelon from a bin was stung Sunday by a tan, inch-long scorpion that had apparently stowed away in a shipment from Mexico.

Megan Templeton, of Barboursville, was taken to the hospital as a precaution but later released. Her father, William Templeton, said the pain was a little worse than a bee sting.

He initially didn't believe his daughter when she said she had been stung by a scorpion, but then he saw the critter scurry underneath a box. It was captured by Wal-Mart employees.

Most of the nearly 2,000 kinds of scorpions are not dangerous to humans.

Richard Coyle, senior director of international affairs for Wal-Mart, said store employees believe the problem was with a single shipment of watermelons.

"We are very concerned," he said. "This is a very rare incident. When I spoke with the store manager, she said in her 17 years she had never heard of something like this."

source: Yahoo! News

LISSA’S: A review ~ New Wal-Mart blog is lame!

2008-05-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

From msn money:

Pardon us if we're a bit cynical, but the retail behemoth that's made billions and billions by convincing people to spend in its stores now has a blog telling people how to save money?

We decided to give Wal-Mart's new personal-finance blog, Make Your Dollar Stretch, a look.

This weblog is a thinly disguised advertisement for Wal-Mart. Are you really surprised? At least it's not pretending to be something else, like Wal-Mart's notorious and now-defunct Wal-marting Across America and Working Families for Wal-Mart blogs.

But it's not kind of fun like Check Out, another company-sponsored blog where, according to The New York Times, Wal-Mart buyers can comment about products and their personal lives without corporate review. (Check Out's subtitle is "Where the lanes are all open." At least there's one Wal-Mart location where that's true.)

The content at Make Your Dollar Stretch so far includes two bland posts by author and "Savings Queen" Ellie Kay. Midway through one called "Talking Turkey," we found this gem: "Stores like Wal-Mart honor competitors' ads on the same advertised product! Their efforts to be the low price leader has helped me and my family save literally thousands of dollars over the years." (Lose the exclamation points, El.)

Another page offers a laundry list of money-saving tips from Ellie, including advice to buy generic when you're getting prescription drugs. "Wal-Mart currently charges $4 for a 30-day supply of more than 360 generics," she reminds us.

Wal-Mart executives also get to blog at this site. The first post, by Wal-Mart's president of financial services, tells us that we can cash our economic-stimulus checks at Wal-Mart for free, and how easy it is to put some or all of that money on a Wal-Mart MoneyCard. This company has ingenious ways of getting people to walk through its doors.

Another page is an advertisement for Wal-Mart's "money services" like money orders and check cashing.

The final page is a lame spending quiz. We answered the 20 questions and found out we're a "nifty, thrifty spender." Gee. We were also told that we're saving the environment by shopping responsibly and that we "probably already know that ... services like Wal-Mart's Site to Store through Walmart.com also helps the environment by reducing fuel costs and packaging." If we didn't know, we guess we do now.

source: msn Money

BILL'S: Hollywood bust as celebrities feel the credit crunch

2008-05-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

Hollywood bust as celebrities feel the credit crunch
Even A-listers are feeling the effects of falling house prices

John Harlow

Dido may be able to play the piano and the violin, but coping with the Hollywood property market has meant a little fine-tuning for the mistress of hotel-foyer melodies. The 36-year-old British singer has become the latest celebrity to take a hit as high-end houses in America show signs of falling prey to the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Until recently, mega-rich homeowners felt themselves immune to the trouble afflicting those who Leona Helmsley, the late billionaire property investor, liked to call “the little people”. Yet a survey for The Sunday Times conducted by Zillow.com, a website that tracks house prices in America, has found that reality has begun to catch up with the cost of property even in the smartest postcodes.

Dido – who sold more than 13m copies of her debut album, No Angel, after the rapper Eminem sampled one of her tracks on his single Stan – had her three-bedroom bungalow in Los Angeles on the market with Sotheby’s International Realty for months. The 1950s property on Oriole Way, an upmarket area of the Hollywood Hills known as the “bird streets”, has views of the Pacific Ocean, along with a pool, a spa, a media room and a marble bathroom decorated in the art-deco style that Angelinos call “Hollywood Regency”. Despite all this grandeur, Dido, who bought the house in September 2005 for an undisclosed sum, has accepted an offer of $4.45m (£2.3m) – $150,000 less than the asking price.

She is not the only celebrity swallowing her pride and banking the cheque. Frankie Muniz, 23, star of the popular American sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, has slashed the price of his five-bedroom home in the Hollywood Hills by $185,000 to $3.69m: little more than what he paid in January 2006.

On the East Coast, in Manhattan, Scarlett Johansson, 23, has sold her fashionable TriBeCa loft for $52,000 less than the $1.95m she paid for it two years ago. And Kathleen Turner, 53, has reduced the price of her estate in the Hamptons, Long Island, from $7.95m to $5.88m.

Turner, who bought the six-bedroom house in the hamlet of Amagansett for $488,000 in 1990, has fared better than more recent investors. In the first three months of this year, American banks launched repossession proceedings against a record 120 homeowners in the Hamptons, traditionally the summer colony of wealthy New Yorkers. These were no dodgy sub-prime deals: figures from Long Island’s Suffolk County clerk’s office show 20% of those homes are worth more than $1m. A further 800 households in the area have been flagged by credit-monitoring companies this year because of late payments. The new delinquent borrowers are young Wall Street hedge-funders, high-earning lawyers and speculators exposed by the credit crunch, according to John Brady of the local estate agent Coldwell Banker. “This problem didn’t exist before,” he explains. “Now you expect to see new [properties on the list] every week.”

It seems that, although the top end of the market withstood the first shockwaves of the sub-prime market, the rich are now suffering too. “Higher-valued houses were outperforming cheaper properties in nearly half of the top areas,” says Stan Humphries, vice-chairman of data at Zillow.com, which produced the figures based on local market conditions. “Now this lead is starting to slip.”

Even those who aren’t selling may be losing money. According to the report, the heiress Paris Hilton’s pad in Beverly Hills, which she bought for $6m last summer, is losing $64,500 a month in value. At least Hilton is doing better than Sharon Stone – the report found that the value of the 50-year-old actress’s home in the Hills plunged by $740,000 in March alone.

What is more, the high end of the LA market is facing pressure because of the prospect of an actors’ strike next month. The recent writers’ strike is estimated to have cost $1 billion in lost revenue. How much money can drain out of the city before even the rich start to flee like rats?

The biggest loser, however, may turn out to be Michael Jackson. Before his recent financial troubles, his Neverland Ranch, north of Los Angeles, was valued at up to $120m. This month, debt-collecting auctioneers set the reserve price at about $20m. Luckily for Jackson, 49, a finance group moonwalked in at the last moment with a loan purchase deal, in the hope that the former king of pop can sell when the market recovers.

Fellow celebrities and hedge-funders alike must surely be praying that Neverland does not live up to its name.

LISSA’S: Glad to Leave Behind

2008-05-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

There are so many things I will be glad to leave behind when I leave Texoma.

RUDENESS ~ Yes, the world is full of rude people. But I haven't found so many rude people in one place until I came to Texoma. Wow.. are people that miserable here and don't realize it? Hmm... Road rage is a common activity here too. People looking for a fight.. that should be Texoma's slogan!

OKLAHOMA ~ I live in Whitesboro, Grayson county. And if you look at a map of this place, it shows to be in Texas! But maps MUST be mistaken! Everyone here seems to think this is all just a part of Oklahoma. I can't wait to move, so that I can be back in Texas again! You have (a grand total of) 2 tv channels here. The news on both really suck. You have KTEN (nbc) out of Oklahoma and KXII (cbs) out of Texas. Both report mostly Oklahoma stories. 9 times out of 10 it's Oklahoma related. When there was a storm in Oklahoma, the news was all over it, but they happen to forget about the huge line of storms stretching over 5+ counties in Texas. My aunt asked me if I heard about a tornado 2 counties to the east of us the other night. Well this was news to me! Of course I never heard about it! It didn't happen in Oklahoma. There was a time last year that wildfires were bad. You know the news was all over the 2 small fires in Oklahoma, but the 4 large fires in Texas didn't matter. And the reporters are so unprofessional! KTEN cannot control their sound. When a news anchor starts talking, the sound gets really loud, then so quiet that you can't hardly hear it... then it's like someone is trying to fine tune it. It never stays at one level. And the KXII idiots.. omg, I've never seen such a circus! The anchors there are always messing lines up, they can never put the right video with the story being read! I've seen a kindergarten class more organized than this!! Lisanne Anderson couldn't even remember a simple tv icon (John Ritter) for the end of one of her stories. She kept flubbing the name, her lines and looking to the crew off camera for help. What an idiot..... And Charlie Haldeman needs to blow his nose before each one of his stories! The idiot sounds like his nose is stopped up everytime he talks!! *UGH* And that UGLY, missing link David Reed just all-around makes me want to puke.. from his high squeeky, irritating voice to his ugly ass face and nasty hair! *BARF!!!*

LOCAL COMMERCIALS ~ If it's one thing that really puts me into a fowl mood, it's the local commercials for Texoma!! I would rather listen to a continuous sound of nails being run down a chalkboard!!! Most of these comapnies around here try to make their jingles as if it were a real song to be played on the radio! Just some of the jingles that get under my skin are: Choctaw Casinos (I mean really.. what IDIOT made the word "Choctaw" into a verb?? "Everyone's goin' Choctaw'in"... please!!!!!!), Preston-Dalton Siding and Windows, Cable One, Advantix Home Health Care... and the IDIOT local sales people who come on giving their sales pitch, like: Rocky from Carter County Dodge, the old fossil from some pool and billiards place on hwy 377 in Whitesboro that points at the tv and says "I want your business", and the ridiculous Orkin commercial with the life sized cock roach and mouse the morning after "some party"!

COUNTRY MUSIC ONLY ~ Anytime you hear of a concert, you know that it's going to be country music. They will not let anything else play. Even the Vice President of the Denison Art Council was on the news talking about some event happening. She said that she wanted a variety of music to play here, but when she listed off the acts, it all involved country music: Country/Americana, Country Caberet and a blend of country, classic rock and blues. You know Texoma, there is more variety to (real) life than just country!!

TEXOMA EDUCATION ~ I have 2 step sons in the Texoma school system and it scares me. I do not want my boys growing up with the low morals and standards that this region is proud of. It shows everyday in this area. Bill and I were at lunch one weekday afternoon in Gainesville and there was some high school class there eating luch as some reward. We overheard one of the teachers tell a student.. and I quote: "People change when they make a lot of money. It's better not to." What the hell kind of education is this?!? Ah, Texoma education, obviously.. because it is IMPOSSIBLE to make a lot of money here. But I do not want to be in an area where making money and being successful is being used as a scare tactic and being planted inside a child's head! It's no wonder people can't see how much in poverty Texoma really is! They were brought up to believe that poverty is where you should be.

DENIAL ~ So many people are in denial here. Everytime me or my family talks about moving out of here to the suburbs of Houston, we get criticized. According to Texomites, "there are daily hurricanes, daily flooding, the tempreature is hotter and so much crime! But in Texoma the weather is beautiful everyday, it never floods, there is no crime, and why in the world would you want to live in a weather disasterous place?" Okay, let me explain it again (to the IDIOT Texomites) that believe this. I know that there is crime everywhere. Especially in Texoma!! Several times a day, there are crime stories in Texoma from drugs to murder.. and everything in between!! If purses get snatched, cars get broken into and tires ripped off of a car in broad daylight in a busy Sherman Wal-Mart parking lot, then you got a problem. Yeah, that's all JUST the Sherman Wal-Mart parking lot!!!!!!!! Face it Texoma, you're proud of your crimes here! Okay, I know there is a lot of humidity in Houston. But when the temperature reaches over 100 degrees (which is at least once a year) in Texoma, it only reaches between 90 and 95 degrees in Houston. And yes I have felt plenty of humidity here.. on top of your 100+ degree temperatures! So it's not like you are without it. Our wind mostly comes from the cool Gulf waters.. ahh, so refreshing. Where does Texoma breezes come from? Cow pastures and farms... Hmmm... not very refreshing... And as far as hurricanes go, there is plenty of warning for hurricanes. How long do you have for a tornado? Minutes? Hmmm..... And as a FACT, tornados are more common than hurricanes. Do the math (if you can). Texoma is not flood free. Anytime it clouds up, there are reports of floods. Another serious denial that Texomites have is cleanliness. Everywhere you look, it resembles the city dump. People here cannot see this. They think it's okay. I guess if you are trash, you can't see the trashy conditions you live in.

I know that these are minor things to most people, but for me it's major. I have cut myself off of these people and this place, trying to keep my sanity. Of course being that there is NOTHING to do here but watch tv, that would drive ANY normal person insane! I will be glad to leave Texoma and start a real life!

LISSA’S: A Houston News Article ~ SMART Shopping

2008-05-19T08:49:00.000-07:00

I love HOUSTON for many reasons. Check out this story I found from chron.com (Houston's online newspaper). I don't see anywhere in Texoma doing something like this... again, why would they?? Texomites LIVE in Wal-Mart!!! ~ Melissa (a Houstonian in 2 weeks!!)

Shoppers buying peace of mind
Co-op caters to consumers who have a bone to pick with big retailers

2008 Houston Chronicle

No longer does Jennifer Stelly push a metal shopping cart down supermarket aisles. Instead, she carries a reusable bag to pick out produce — all grown organically by local farmers — in the three rows at the Central City Co-Op in Montrose.

"Generally speaking, I absolutely refuse to shop at Wal-Mart and I always try to go just as local as possible. ... I try to stay away from corporate America as much as possible," said Stelly, who quit her engineering job four years ago to open an energy-medicine business.

Stelly said she prefers family-owned businesses to chain stores. She and friends purchase wholesale natural and organic products from a buying club that provides free shipping if they purchase more than $250 worth.

She is one of a growing number of consumers who have altered their shopping habits on the basis of their politics, moral and ethical beliefs, as well as concerns about human-rights or free-trade grounds.

Known commonly as moral purchasing or ethical consumerism, the practice involves buying things that are made without harm or exploitation of animals, laborers or the environment.

Jennifer Stelly, left, lifts a carton of organically grown tomatoes for Kerry Smith at the Central City Co-Op in Houston. The co-op caters to a growing trend of people exercising ethical consumerism.

Voting with their feet

Some, like Stelly, prefer to shop at area businesses not only to support the local economy, but also to avoid the costs and effects of the fuel used to transport products to Houston.

It is not a new idea. Consumers always have voted with their feet, shopping at retailers that offered the best price or the best service.

So-called "socially responsible" mutual funds that allow people to make investments that exclude certain kinds of companies, such as cigarette manufacturers, or firms that do not follow one's religious beliefs, have been popular for years.

And national exhortations to avoid certain products, from table grapes to products tested on animals, come and go.

Over the years, people have expanded their concerns by refusing to shop at companies and their suppliers that have poor records of protecting the environment, that purchase goods from foreign countries or that do not use Fair Trade-certified products.

Even illegal immigration has been raised as a reason to avoid a particular retailer. Last month's raid and roundup of illegal immigrants at a Shipley Do-Nuts office warehouse in near-north Houston prompted several commenters on the Houston Chronicle's Web site to say they would stop visiting the popular bakery.

Similarly, negative news about products made in China — including lead-tainted toys, melamine-tainted pet food, and toothpaste laced with antifreeze — have some shoppers leery of that country's merchandise.

Liana Winkler, visiting the Taft Street location of the Central City Co-Op for the first time last week, said she does not buy food grown in China and other countries.

"When I look at all the frozen food, it says 'Made in China,' " she said. "And I don't want to eat food where I don't know what they are fertilized with. I don't know where they are grown. I don't know whether they are made with slave labor."

Green initiatives

The moral-purchasing debate is widely discussed on Internet sites such as www.walmartwatch.com, a group devoted mainly to forcing the world's largest retailer to provide better wages and benefits for its employees.

"The bigger the company you are, probably the bigger the target you have on your back," said Scott Krugman, a spokesman with the Washington-based National Retail Federation, which represents 1.6 million retailers nationwide. "You can let other people tell your story for you, or you can take the responsibility to tell that story yourself. And that's what companies should be doing."

Wal-Mart, he said, is one of the pioneers in green initiatives with its efforts to assure that stores and their suppliers are environmentally friendly and energy efficient.

Wal-Mart officials did not return several phone calls for comment.

Bad publicity is costly

Meanwhile, Starbucks has had to defend itself against accusations that it does not buy "fair-trade" coffee. The movement is an organized effort to ensure that small growers in other countries are paid enough for their products to provide a decent living.

A Starbucks spokesman denied the charge and issued a statement saying the company "has a longstanding commitment of conducting business in an ethical and responsible manner."

Krugman said it is difficult to put a dollar amount on how much companies lose from bad publicity.

Al Norman, founder of www.sprawl-busters.com, a nationwide movement to stop construction of big-box stores such as Wal-Mart, The Home Depot, Kohl's, Target and Lowe's Home Improvement, said the impact of citizens not shopping at stores is small compared to the legal fees incurred when groups tie up store construction in courts or in planning hearings.

"Building a store four or five times the size of a football field ruins the neighborhood feel for many people who aren't interested in cheap underwear," he said. "A small-town quality of life is not sold at any Wal-Mart. And once they take it away from you, they can't sell it back at any price."

Jill Sundie, an assistant professor of marketing and entrepreneurship at the University of Houston's Bauer College of Business, said consumers pay attention when there is negative news about a company, including the use of child labor or the abuse of its own employees.

"Certainly," she said, "you see consumers responding in terms of not shopping at certain outlets, not buying certain types of products or hiring people for services if they have violated some moral or ethical guidelines."

Food is locally grown

However, Sundie said, not all consumers can afford to adjust their shopping habits because the alternative could force them to pay more for products. Some will continue to shop at stores, she said, regardless of the companies' reputations.

Stelly said she spends less now. She said she volunteers at the co-op, which allows her to get some of her fruits and vegetables free. Items at the buying club — where she gets organic, sustainable or fair-trade dry foods, household products and health-care items — are sold at wholesale prices.

At the Central City Co-Op on Taft Street, some shoppers said they participate because the food is locally grown, organic and healthier.

Victoria Lugwin, who shops there every week, said she tries not to patronize stores that have what she considers ethical problems. Also, she tries to buy seafood that comes from the United States because she said this country takes better care of its waters.

"I think that not only supporting local agriculture, but also eating local agriculture is good for the farmers and good for the people eating the food," she said.

Thoughts on Melissa, by Moondog

2008-05-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

Melissa is a bud of mine

and when she writes it makes me shine

so when she leaves, out of texohellma

hella fella beta get a letta

18 ’Awesome’ Imaginary Worlds

2008-05-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

MIDDLE-EARTH
As Seen In: The Lord of the Rings

A land that looks suspiciously like New Zealand, J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth is home to hobbits and dragons and elves and huge fire demons and jewelry of imponderable power.

NARNIA
As Seen In: The Chronicles of Narnia

Looks very much like Middle-earth, but with a lot more talking mammals — and Christ allegories.

LIBERTY CITY
As Seen In: Grand Theft Auto IV

It's what New York City would see in the mirror, just before waking up from a heroin-fueled nightmare: the traffic is brutal, the people are vulgar, and there are hot dog stands everywhere.

OZ
As Seen In: The Wizard of Oz

A candy-colored dreamscape with some of the finest masonry anywhere. The Emerald City lies smack-dab in the middle of Oz, which is comprised of four outlying countries: Munchkin, Gillikin, Winkie, and Quadling. Beware the grabby trees and flying monkeys.

HYBORIA
As Seen In: Conan the Barbarian

''Know, O prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars.'' That's how Robert E. Howard described the vaguely Eurasian world he built for his barbarian conqueror. Who am I to argue?

NEVERLAND
As Seen In: Peter Pan

Should you follow the second star to the right, and go straight on until morning, you'll find this island Eden, where Peter Pan and his lost Boys never have to grow up and they spend all their fighting one-handed pirates.

SHANGRI-LA/SHAMBHALA
As Seen In: The Shadow

Nestled in the Himalayas is a mountain retreat that's been known to heal sullied souls, align out-of-whack shakras, and set damaged white men on the path to heroism. This is where Lamont Cranston learned to put aside his greed to become the scourge of the underworld called The Shadow, and probably where failed surgeon Dr. Stephen Strange took up the mantle of Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. In other words, the world's best (and most remote) spa.

WONDERLAND
As Seen In: Alice in Wonderland

''Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?''
''That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.''
''I don't know where…''
''Then it doesn't matter which way you go,'' said the Cat.
''In that direction,' the Cat said, waving its right paw round,
''lives a Hatter. And in that direction,'' waving the other paw, ''lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: They're both mad.''
''But I don't want to go among mad people,'' Alice remarked.
''Oh, you can't help that,'' said the Cat. ''We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.''
''How do you know I'm mad?'' said Alice.
''You must be,'' said the Cat, ''or you wouldn't have come here.''

TERABITHIA
As Seen In: The Bridge to Terabithia

Perhaps the most heartbreaking of all imagined worlds, this is a place made up by two kids, Jess and Leslie, in the woods near their houses, accessible only swinging on a vine over a river. It's a refuge that only they share — until one of them has a tragic mishap.

THE ISLAND
As Seen In: Lost

Smoke monsters, underground condos, polar bears, pirate ships, wacky healing powers, hawt castaways, and brutal natives? Book our trip, toot sweet.

SODOR
As Seen In: Thomas the Tank Engine

Talking trains. On an island. Tooling around. That's about it. If you always wished that trains could talk — or you're three — then this is the fantasy world for you.

HYRULE
As Seen In: The Legend of Zelda videogames

This is the super-green, pixilated realm in which Link had so many of his Nintendo adventures, trying to save Princess Zelda from any number of quandaries she got herself roped into.

GOTHAM CITY
As Seen In: Batman

It's what Liberty City would see in the mirror, just before waking up from a LSD-fueled nightmare: riddled with crime-ready alleys, populated by villains with severe homicidal psychoses, and cursed with a seemingly eternal lack of sunshine.

ATLANTIS
As Seen In: Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Too bad the only real on-screen representation of the sunken city of Atlantis is a poop-poor Disney flick, because such an enduring mythological place — or, if you're crazy, ''real'' place — deserves better.

AVALON
As Seen In: Excalibur

After King Arthur fell in battle, defeating his brother-son Mordred, he was taken to this mythic island to recover. Or die. Accounts vary. But Avalon was also known for its awesome apples. So, expect a Mac operating system to be named '"Avalon'' somewhere down the line.

MONGO
As Seen In: Flash Gordon

There are a lot of terrific planets out there that could've made this list — Hoth, Arrakis, Treasure — but we're choosing this one because, in the 1980 feature, it's the wackiest. The skies are made out of lava-lamp goo; there are lizard men and dudes with wings and totally hot-and-randy princesses; and Queen music is everywhere.

KRULL
As Seen In: Krull

Okay, so we're including another planet. But you'd never know it, because this world is to Middle-earth what Vancouver is to Manhattan. Sure, it's got forests and plains and giant floating fortresses, but something just seems off, you know?

FANTASIA
As Seen In: The NeverEnding Story

No, not the American Idol winner, though sometimes her hair looks like it was done in an imaginary salon. The place that the young hero Atreyu tries to save from being destroyed by the Nothing — while a real-world boy named Bastian reads along.

LISSA’S: A Contributing Factor in America’s Recession/Depression

2008-05-14T13:42:00.000-07:00

Wal-Mart Reaches 2 Million Workers

Imagine Houston being populated only by Wal-Mart workers.

Houston proper, with its population of just over 2 million, has about the same number of people as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. now employs worldwide.

Put another way, if a city had only families of four and one member of each household worked at Wal-Mart, that would be a perfect fit with the 8 million-strong population of New York City, a market Wal-Mart happens to covet.

During a recorded call with investors Tuesday, Wal-Mart President and CEO Lee Scott mentioned offhandedly that the company now has more than 2 million "associates," as Wal-Mart terms its employees. Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe confirmed in an interview that Wal-Mart had reached the milestone.

The world's largest retailer is also the world's largest private employer. The company has about 1.3 million U.S. workers. As of April 30, Bentonville-based Wal-Mart had 7,343 units - 4,195 in the U.S. and 3,148 in its international division, which includes Puerto Rico.

source: Arkansas Business

LISSA’S: Free Cars at Wal-Mart!! Courtesy of YOU!

2008-05-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

Case on standby for woman who said Wal-Mart gave her car away

For Marta Velazquez, righting a wrong hasn't been a speedy process.

In her attempt to seek damages from Wal-Mart, who she said gave her car to a man they believed to be her husband, she has been playing the waiting game with the judicial system for two years.

"It's your typical Wal-Mart," Velzquez said. "They are claiming to not be responsible."

Lonnie Knowles, Velazquez's attorney, said since Wal-Mart was first put on notice of the claim, there have been several attempts to contact the corporation, including a written demand on Jan. 2, 2007.

Knowles said when the company wouldn't respond, they filed a lawsuit seeking damage reimbursements of $50,000 in June of 2007, nearly 10 months after the incident.

On Sept. 6, 2006, Velazquez took her 1999 black Pontiac Grand Am to the Wal-Mart on FM 1960 and Cutten Road to have a tire replaced, only to find out they had given her car to a man they thought was her husband. About a month-and-a-half later, it was found, destroyed, in a park in Acres Homes.

The inconvenience caused her to miss work. The house keys, mail and a laptop left in her car enabled one man access to her phone number, which he used to harass her. Fearing for her safety, she broke her apartment lease and moved.

Now awaiting her day in the 133rd Judicial District Court, Vazquez'z case has been on trial stand by since, April 30, meaning that when the court calls them, within two hours notice, lawyers for both sides will need to appear and be ready to pick a jury.

"There are a bunch of trials set to appear in that particular court, so the judge decides what the pecking order of those trials is going to be," Knowles said.

The case likely won't be tried this time around, he said. If not, their case won't come up again for trial for four to six months at which point the standby process will recycle.

"We both indicated it would take no less than two days to try the case, and since the court hasn't called as of 3 p.m. on Thursday, my experience tells me that we likely won't be reached for this docketing period," he said.

Wal-Mart said they couldn't comment on a matter that is currently in litigation.

source: Houston Community Newspapers Online

LISSA’S: Wal-Mart - Always The Low Paycheck

2008-05-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

Wal-Mart's same store sales were up 2.6 percent in April, but it's top executives are warning of a slower May.

The problem: Too many people are living paycheck to paycheck amid an economic slump.

"The economy continues to get tougher and the 'paycheck cycle' is more pronounced for customers than in past months," U.S. stores chief Eduardo Castro-Wright said Thursday. "As money gets tighter for them toward the end of the month, sales drop more than we have seen in the past."

The average Wal-Mart employee, meanwhile, makes less than $20,000 a year, according to the Wal-Mart gadfly group, Wal-Mart Watch.

"Wal-Mart's labor practices have contributed to the nation's weakened economy," said Wal-Mart Watch Executive Director David Nassar. "The company refuses to pay its 1.4 million U.S. workers a living wage - often forcing them to live in poverty and on public assistance."

Yes, but at least they have jobs, and they can still afford to shop at Wal-Mart.

source: The Denver Post

LISSA’S: Fact: Wal-Mart Causing Poverty

2008-05-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

A 2006 study focused on the effect of Wal-Mart stores on poverty rates found that an estimated 20,000 families nationwide had fallen below the official poverty line as a result of the chain's expansion. According to the study, the presence of a Wal-Mart was 'unequivocally associated' with smaller reductions in family-poverty rates in counties nationwide during the 1990s relative to places that had no stores. Additionally, during the last decade in counties with Wal-Mart stores, dependence on the food stamp program increased 15.3 percent.

St. Louis Business Journal

ACTIVISTS, by Moondog

2008-05-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

Watch out for ACTIVISTS

People who try to change things,, look out,, people who try to make their will known, watch out,, apparently,,, to be an activist is not a good thing these days,, be careful,, opinions are for rich people on talk shows,, not walmart employees who are subservient butt lickers to the conspiracy to make selfishness the face on the currency.

LISSA’S: ’Cheap and convenient come at a cost’ By H. Mallick

2008-05-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

By: Heather Mallick

Last night I dreamt I went to Wal-Mart again. And I was happy there.

This worried me because the day before, I had gone to a Wal-Mart for the first time in my life, my real life, and I was badly frightened. I was checking out the store — sorry, industrial hangar exoskeleton — because developers want to build a Wal-Mart near my sort of cute, ramshackle, little-shops Toronto neighbourhood and I was there to see my future.

As it turned out, my future was my past. This Wal-Mart, a "Supercentre" the size of the Bermuda Triangle in a dire area called Scarborough, had flung me back in time to my youth.

Wal-Mart is a place I know in my soul. It is every Zellers in every small town I ever lived in; it is Woolworths in Kapuskasing writ large. (Note: the Woolworths in Kap is now a Wal-Mart.) I was thrilled to shop in cheap stores for tarty ratty clothes when I was young — I can still remember every polyester garment I ever purchased in Reitman's — but that's the joy of being a teenager in a small town. Everything is thrilling by definition. On weekends, we'd gulp homemade Harvey Wallbangers and vomit in a snowbank; that was our idea of a night out.

But the fact that something is pleasing to you says more about you than the thing itself. The fact that Wal-Mart is cheap ("Save money, live better!") and convenient (18,000 parking spaces! Free!) are two puny words against the torrent of invective I and any other Canadian interested in airy concepts like "quality of life" could instantly pour upon Wal-Mart.

I am not alone in this: over the years many Canadians, from Halifax to Vancouver, have been vocal about which neighbourhoods do and don't want to plant a Wal-Mart.

The price of cheapness

Wal-Mart is a giant American corporation (2006 revenue of $315 billion) run out of Arkansas that devastates every town and neighbourhood in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Britain where it plants a store. I urge you to watch Robert Greenwald's famed 2005 documentary Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price to understand why cheap and convenient are adjectives of condemnation, not praise.

Yes, Wal-Mart is cheap. CEO Lee Scott's statement in the 2008 annual report is so obsessive about prices that he sounds like Howard Hughes on germs or Lou Dobbs on Mexicans. Here's a sampling of his phrases: "affordable, money-saving, price-leading, price-reduced, dollar-saving, budget-stretching, ends-meeting, driving down costs, reducing costs, saving money, spending less, low prices, price-leading, reduce prices, less money, save money, on par with price, lower costs." That's not cheap, that's psychotic.

I love to shop and I do shop carefully. But as I wander around Wal-Mart, it becomes apparent that their prices are low because much of their merchandise is — cheap. Whatever happened to "well-made" or "worthwhile"? Their own-brand clothing, curiously called "George," is made of thin fabric harsh on my fingertips, badly shaped and sewn, and style-free. Gap and H&M sell cheap clothes too, but they aren't this badly constructed, and those two chains make an effort at rendering the customer physically appealing to fellow human beings. George clothing actively works in the other direction.

Disposable goods

I balk at buying cut flowers, which are farmed overseas under dreadful conditions. I buy silk fakes instead. In Wal-Mart, the artificial flowers are stunning, so amateurish that they don't resemble flowers, more like polyester extrusions. Their colours are previously unknown to humanity and the petals feel like starched toilet paper. But my god, they are cheap. When was the last time you saw a store sign blaring "98 cents"? Ask your parents.

Wal-Mart's name-brand goods may well be slightly cheaper than in other chains. Their style is pressuring manufacturers and squeezing smaller companies dry — why? because they can — but pinching blood from a pebble doesn't always pay off.

These goods are still designed as disposable. I've owned more toasters than I have toes. This is why we have a garbage crisis: repair shops no longer exist and we blow far more money buying repeat goods than one well-crafted product that will last for decades.

Of course Wal-Mart is cheap. Its ethos is to sell the lowest priced, not the most durable, goods. So we can change our descriptors to "convenient but temporary."

A cynic, Oscar Wilde said, is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Coming from a genius who was worth kingdoms but died penniless in exile, it's a quote for our times.

In convenience

I don't find it convenient to have a 1,700-space parking lot near Lake Ontario, I find it repellent. It would be lovely to have picnic grounds or dog runs, restaurants, stores or something lively in an area where, magically, we can actually live well without owning cars. We have great public transit here. Why build a car magnet when gas is set to hit $2.25 a litre in four years? Wal-Mart, purely designed for car owners, will lure thousands of polluting vehicles to a new paved parking lot in an area that already has so little open ground that when it rains, the earth can't absorb the water. Local basements annually fill with raw sewage runoff in a repeated horror that I will not describe.

I'm surprised that only 300 people showed up at recent protest against the planned big box power centre containing Wal-Mart — we'll call it Lubyanka for short. Passivity has infected every citizen.

So instead of walking down to main street for a shovel, nail gun, ice cream, prescriptions, head of lettuce, shrubbery, can of paint or pair of deck shoes, everyone will drive to Wal-Mart and come back with disposable things bought for next to nothing from dingy foreign factories. We will do this at a hidden cost to clean air, precious fuel, neighbours' basements, owners and employees of smaller stores, wages (Wal-Mart pays rock-bottom and keeps people part-time for years), the view of Lake Ontario, tax revenue, Canadian-owned manufacturers, esthetics and fitness.

I believe Wal-Mart is evil. But sometimes there's payback. The last time I saw Scott, he was on video patting the buttocks of pale male Wal-Mart executives dressed as big ugly women screaming and dancing at a corporate function. That video wouldn't be public had Wal-Mart not for decades hired Flagler Productions to record its corporate events. When the retail giant dumped Flagler in 2006, putting it out of business, Wal-Mart wouldn't negotiate a price for the video archive. So Flagler offered the videos to the free market, which now has amazing footage being pored over by wrongful death lawyers, etc.

I have to leave aside the viciousness of the company laid out in Greenwald's documentary: its blockade of the promotion of female employees, the murders, rapes and kidnappings in its cheapskate unguarded parking lots, its abuse of part-timers and non-white employees, outrages that include suing an employee brain-injured in a car crash for her private insurance payout, its secret altering of employee records to avoid paying wages, its notoriously lax environmental safety … none of my sentences about Wal-Mart ends happily. They just build, like Wal-Mart itself.

LISSA’S: ’Reassigned’: A Common Practice in Wal-Mart

2008-05-02T10:19:00.000-07:00

In 2002, 21-year old Patrick Brady, who suffers from cerebral palsy, was hired by Wal-Mart as a sales associate in the pharmacy department. After one day in the pharmacy, he was reassigned to other responsibilities, including collecting garbage and shopping carts from the parking lot. A Long Island jury found that Wal-Mart discriminated against Brady when he was transferred and asked impermissible pre-employment questions about his disability. The jury awarded Brady $7.5 million in damages and a judge ultimately awarded $2.8 million to Brady.

source: Associated Press, Newsday, New York Law Journal

LISSA’S: Wal-Mart's making profits off of dead employees.

2008-04-30T14:46:00.000-07:00

When a Wal-Mart employee, Karen Armatrout, died in 1997, Wal-Mart collected thousands of dollars on a life insurance policy the retail giant had taken out without telling her, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court. Armatrout was one of about 350,000 employees Wal-Mart secretly insured nationwide, said Texas attorney Michael D. Myers, who estimated the company collected on 75 to 100 policies involving Florida employees who died.

source: Tampa Tribune

BILL'S: Gulf of Sherman Conspiracy Theory

2008-04-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

Back in December, I posted what has become my most famous blog. The revelation of the existance of the Gulf of Sherman. And it is the Gulf of Sherman, not the Gulf of Texoma like some people have been thought. The Gulf of Texoma is north of us. That is something I have found. The place where everyone goes to think they are big shots.

No the Gulf of Sherman is the elusive port to the south of our area. The area which is notorious for refueling hurricanes and departure areas for 4-story tall cruise ships. The one thing Wal-mart managers are afraid of. That is the Gulf of Sherman.

I have kept my search going for this elusive body of water. And I think I have discovered one of the largest cover-ups since the Roswell crash.

Yesterday, Melissa and I were headed out of Whitesboro towards Gainesville. That is where I found my largest clue....

As we rounded the corner of Highway 56, at the intersection of Highway 82, there it was!!!

By the time I got my camera and got back, the traffic had pushed most of this out of the way, but it was clear! I quickly recognized the substance covering the road.

There was no doubt! I had come across the largest clue in what had to be the biggest burial of truth since the Kennedy assassination. Yes, just like the magic bullet, what seems to be impossible had to be true! The evidence was right there in the middle of the road!

The truth is simple. They know I know! They know I have been looking, asking questions! They knew I was getting close! So, in order to not have to admit defeat, Texoma joined forces with Wal-Mart! While I was working this last weekend, I noticed many Wal-Mart associates and managers running around in plain clothes, undercover.... They thought I would fall for the whole "Oh, we are doing an Earth Day Project." Like I would fall for the whole, "Yes, these four dying trees we are going to plant will save the world!" speel they delivered. Come on! The polar ice caps are melting! For the first time in history, there is a cruise line that is going from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean without going through the Panama Canal. They are going through the what used to be the ice cap at the North Pole. There is no way in hell four trees will save the world!!!! I am not falling for it. No, the truth is out and I know it! All these Wal-mart people were not saving the environment! They were moving the Gulf of Sherman!

That is the truth. It is more believable than thinking Wal-mart is really trying to do something good, or that four trees that couldn't even sell on clearance prices will really do anything to save the environment. No, what is can be believed more is that Wal-mart and the officials in Texoma picked up and moved the Gulf of Sherman to hide it again, and during it's moving, some of it fell off the truck, just outside of Whitesboro.

Smooth thinking, but I haven't given up. If nothing else, this has reignited the fires within me, and the search is back on. Yes, oh yes, I will find this exclusive place, or I will move away without even trying!

LISSA’S: Wal Mart green? Uh, don’t think so...

2008-04-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

The reports of Wal-Mart's green business model are greatly exaggerated.

Three weeks ago, Wal-Mart unveiled a new Earth Month 'merchandising and marketing campaign' in an official press release. While Wal-Mart claims the marketing blitz 'takes 'going green' mainstream,' the campaign's keystone is a massive buy of print advertisements, weighing in at nearly one third of a billion pages.

I don't believe a mountain of wasted wood pulp celebrates the spirit of Earth Day. Wal-Mart's recent ad buy flies in the face of its promise to produce 'zero waste.' It seems clear that Wal-Mart's 'Earth Month' promotion is just one symptom of a broader problem? Wal-Mart is greenwashing, and it is getting away with it.

In spite of all the 'green' hype at Wal-Mart, the company's business model presents serious environmental shortfalls. The long-anticipated Wal-Mart sustainability report cited a significant global increase in CO2 emissions in 2006, after the company's green campaign began. Even worse, at a recent conference, Wal-Mart's CEO Lee Scott flatly declared 'we are not green' to an audience of economists. Despite these facts, Wal-Mart continues to generate positive headlines with it's enviro-marketing.

I agree with Mr. Scott. Wal-Mart is not a green company. I, for one, would welcome a serious investigation of Wal-Mart's performance as a steward of the environment.

LISSA'S: Feelin’ Down?

2008-04-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

Things Got Ya Down?

Well Then, Consider These . . .
.............................
In a hospital's Intensive Care Unit, patients always died
in the same bed, on Sunday morning, at about 11:00 am,
regardless of their medical condition.

This puzzled the doctors and some even thought it had
something to do with the supernatural. No one could solve
the mystery as to why the deaths occurred around 11:00 am
Sunday, so a worldwide team of experts was assembled to
investigate the cause of the incidents.

The next Sunday morning, a few minutes before 11:00 am,
all of the doctors and nurses nervously waited outside
the ward to see for themselves what the terrible phenomenon
was all about. Some were holding wooden crosses, prayer
books, and other holy objects to ward off the evil spirits.

Just when the clock struck 11:00, Pookie Johnson, the part-
time Sunday sweeper, entered the ward and unplugged the life
support system so he could use the vacuum cleaner.

Still Having a Bad Day????
.............................
The average cost of rehabilitating a seal after the
Exxon Valdez Oil spill in Alaska was $80,000.00.
At a special ceremony, two of the most expensively
saved animals were being released back into the wild
amid cheers and applause from onlookers.

A minute later, in full view, a killer whale ate them both.

Still think you are having a Bad Day????
.............................
A woman came home to fin d her husband in the kitchen
shaking frantically, almost in a dancing frenzy,
with some kind of wire running from his waist towards
the electric kettle. Intending to jolt him away from
the deadly c urrent, she whacked him with a handy
plank of wood, breaking his arm in two places.

Up to that moment, he had been happily listening
to his Walkman.

Are Ya OK Now? - No?
.............................
Two animal rights defenders were protesting
the cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse
in Bonn, Germany. Suddenly, all two thousand pigs
broke loose and escaped through a broken fence,
stampeding madly.

The two helpless protesters were trampled to death.

What?? STILL having a Bad Day????
............................
Iraqi terrorist Khay Rahnajet didn't pay enough postage
on a letter bomb. It came back with 'Return to Sender'
stamped on it.

Forgetting it was the bomb, he opened it and was
blown to bits.

There now, Feeling Better!

LISSA’S: It started like this....

2008-04-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

I get an email from Moondog. Just a standard joke jpg.

So I read it and realized that a Wal-Mart associate could have easily invented something like this! So I reply back to Moondog and tell him this.

The next day, this is what I get in my email from Moondog:

walley employee inventions:

Prick-be-Gone- one spray and obnoxious Pricks would scurry for more
fruitful bitching areas..

AssitaManaga, shock call- one touch of the AM shock call and the
Assistant Mangagement receives a 3000 volt head twister every time an
irrate customer attacks an associate.

Customer-Service-kit- given to customers by door greeters, inside
map of merchandise, common courtesy terms, and training manual,
regulations regarding rudeness and the consequences,, complimentary
samples of vodka, scotch ,, and rum mixed drink offers....

ISN'T MOONDOG GREAT?!? LMAO!!!

BILL'S: Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

2008-04-16T16:47:00.000-07:00

A guy walks into a biker meeting and calls everyone "wusses" and then goes on to ask them for money.

As much as this sounds like a line from a joke, it isn't. This is the attitude of Texoma. A worker from Wal-Mart went into the local Harley-Davidson shop where they were having their monthly Harley Owners Group (HOG) meeting. Being that the meeting was being held right after work, and most people in the group lived several miles away, they went straight there from their workplaces. When the worker saw most of the people drove their cars to their meeting instead of going home, changing clothes, and coming back to Sherman on their motorcycles in a time of over $3.00 gas, he called everyone in the meeting "wusses" for not driving their motorcycles. The reason he was there? He was arranging a charity event for Children's Miracle Network. The charity event, called a "poker run", is something real popular with motorcyclist and boaters. So, it was only natural to include the local motorcycle groups. It is just the beginning which was more to be desired. Now with the Wal-Mart "Poker Run" coming quickly, the HOG group has posted another event on the same day. Not trying to downgrade the charity, but to show people that there is better ways to ask for donations.

This attitude is only a scratch on the surface in the area. One of the hardest things to find in this area is a smile. I remember one of the local McDonald's had an item on the menu: "Smiles Are Free." Never once did I receive one of those free smiles. And when someone asked for one, all you would get is a sarcastic grin. Just yesterday, Lissa and I went to Cold Stone Creamery. As we exited the door, a lady came over and stood their waiting for us to get in the car. She stood their with a huge scowl on her face, never once lightening up.

As a Wal-Mart employee, I get yelled at and demanded all the time. One of the most impressive moments I have had was when this young boy came up to me and said, "Pardon me, sir, could I get a game?" I was bowled over. I couldn't believe I was hearing this from a young person from this area. As I went up to the kid's parents, I engaged in my usually chat trying to answer questions and make sure everyone was getting everything they asked for. I couldn't get over the family's accent, and asked where they were from. Visitors from Canada. Yes, I should have known. Asking for politeness in this area is asking too much.

It brings to mind one of the best examples a person can make. One night there was a line at the Kodak Picture Makers. These machines are clearly labeled for their times of operation. The workers in the One Hour Photo were on a timeline to get the lab closed down, the outside machines down, everything cleaned, and off the clock before their scheduled time to leave. To help, I got at the end of the line, and as people finished, I would turn off the Kodak machine. I was down to the last machine, it was 20 minutes past the time for the machines to be shut off, and the couple working on it had just finished. Right then, a group of ladies came around the corner and started yelling, "Don't turn it off!" They came up and demanded that I get out of the way so they could make a couple of pictures. I told them that it was too late, and we had to shut down the machines. I made reference to the posted times. They began cussing me out. Yelling at me. "How long will it take just to make a couple of pictures?" They asked. I am sorry, I have a job to do. Wal-Mart employees can be terminated for going over their designated times. To me it comes down to what is more important, these strangers who are yelling cuss words at me to make a couple of pictures or being able to feed my family. I am sorry, my job is more important, and I stand my ground. So, they yell one more time at me, "I need this for my f*cking Sunday School class in the morning, how in the hell are you helping my f*cking church?" That made up my mind, and I flipped the switch. This person cussing me out is a Sunday School teacher. Now I am glad my family doesn't go to any of the local churches.

In our travels to Houston, it is like traveling to another country. I have often made a unique connection. While traveling down I-45, halfway between Sherman and Houston you cross a place called Bliss Creek. To the south of this creek, slowly, the grass gets greener, the trees get taller, and after a time, more tropical. It is like climbing the Stairway to Heaven. To the north of Bliss Creek, grass starts dying, turning brown, trees have almost disappeared. Landscape goes to industrial, with huge plots of land with only storage units. The attitude changes. From Bliss Creek north, rudeness takes over as you travel further and further. Truly the Highway to Hell.... Texoma Hell.

In my experience, in Houston, everyone is so polite, I almost don't know how to handle it. Just checking into a motel, I get maps, coupons, advice. Going to a local vender, I tell them we are getting ready to move into the area and I get all kinds of welcomes and advice of where to look for homes. Everyone welcomes you so open armed. Even in moments of stupidity: As I was driving from Clear Lake to Galveston, a couple in a car nearby started switching lanes without looking. They came very close to hitting us. I had to swerve quickly to avoid them. I honked my horn as I swerved. Everyone in the car looked at us and apologized profusely. At that point in time, I let it go, they were genuinely sorry.

Same events for Texoma. A lady driving a small white car almost runs me off the road. As I brake hard to avoid her, I honk my horn. I get a long line of obscene gestures from the lady driver. And it doesn't just stop here. For the next three miles, she attacks us with violent car movements and gestures. When she comes to her turnoff, she speeds up, rolls down her windown, and then slows down to let me catch up as she yells something out the window as I pass by.

Where do you want to live? A place where everyone is rude and hateful, or a place that is very welcoming? A place with community pride, or a place that could care less? Community Pride is something missing around here. And as an update to my blog about the guy who illegally dumped, to date, no one has investigated, no one has cared. I have even expanded my complaints to KTEN news, Info Magazine and Texoma Living Magazine. No one has cared. Great examples of community pride for this area. Someone does something wrong and let's look the other way.

But I know what you are going to say. There is too much crime in Houston! Although there was a carjacking in the Sherman Wal-Mart parking lot yesterday. They have hurricanes in Houston! A big, slow moving storm that gives you days of notice before striking. Nothing like the freak storm which hit this area last week, dropping tornadoes, flash floods, and winds which damaged millions of dollars of property. My only notice was waking up to the house shaking, and the warning of a tornado three miles away from my house.

Maybe it is just one man's thought of the area? Well, I looked around. I am including some more examples that aren't from me or my family. You don't have to believe me. But I guess asking people to open their eyes and decide for yourself is asking too much as well.

Yolanda Adams, Entertainer, Grammy winner

Growing up in Houston was exciting and fun for me and my family. We had so many places to go and so much to do.

When I get home off the road, I usually run to Whole Foods to stock up on groceries and then I head home to relax and unwind. Of course, spa treatments are always in order. The Root of You and Persona Day Spa are my favorites because they offer a variety of services.

There are many words that describe Houston, but all encompassing would be the most adequate. There are great museums—our cultural arts centers are bar none. Our sports arenas are awesome, and we love great restaurants. Whether single or family oriented, we have appropriate activities for all.

I have so many fond memories of Houston events. One of my favorites has to be the lighting of the Christmas tree at City Hall. The event is always festive and alive!

Favorite places to eat?

Italian - Michelangelo's
New Orleans Style - Bistro Calais
Steakhouse - Ruth's Chris
American - Tony's
Seafood - Pesce
Pizza - Collina's
Fast & Best Salads - Ruggles Bakery & Cafe

Houston has the best people, restaurants and entertainment around. Trust me, I've been everywhere and still would live in no other city but Houston. I Love You, Houston!

Leven Rambin, Actress, All My Children

I have absolutely great memories of growing up in Houston. I lived in Memorial and felt such a sense of community through my friends and neighborhood, St. Francis Episcopal Day School and all my teachers (like 2nd parents!) and pastor, Jim Jackson at Chapelwood Methodist Church.

When I come home to Houston, I always visit The Galleria, Houston Country Club, Ruggles and La Madeleine for that tomato soup and caeser salad! I go around Memorial Park at least once every day when I am home.

When describing Houston to friends in New York, I tell them about the ample amount of space. I like those big back yards especially now since I don't have one. I tell them about Goode Company and Otto's BBQ, big cars, bayous and some hot weather.

My favorite time to come back is Christmas time.

I love the Verizon Wireless Theater. If there is someone there that I want to see perform, I like that venue, just the right size. Also, I know that Houston had its first Fashion Week. I definitely want to come back for that next year!

My favorite Houston memories....Being a kid, involved in sports, having good friends my age, my school and having a teacher pull my first tooth (not a great time when it happend but a great memory now). Oh, and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo...those rides!

I love to shop at Out of the Box on Woodway. In fact I was in there when I got the call that I was chosen for the part on All My Children - I went crying right to Billie Sue. After shopping I go right next door to Smoothie Island. I like Escalante's Mexican food. Encore on San Felipe has tons of very gently worn designer clothes at great prices, so I go there, too.

The people in Houston are friendly, warm and charitable. I get homesick sometimes and realize what a special place it was to grow up there. Houston is a family friendly place.

Houston and New York are similiar in that both are big cities, have lots to offer anyone and I find both to be friendly and welcoming. Houston and NYC both have incredible restaurants! Did I mention that Houston has lots of room and big back yards? I got nada in NYC! Taxis, subways and walking are the main forms transportation in NYC. Both are wonderful experiences.

Beyonce Knowles, Entertainer

Growing up in Houston was fun. We always had a huge backyard to play in. My mom allowed my friends to come over all the time; it was like a continuous slumber party at our house. I spent my summers going to AstroWorld, SplashTown, Ms. Darlett's dance class & showcases. I had a great childhood in Houston!

When I come home to Houston, I go straight to my mom’s house to eat some home cooked food. I love to go to my church St. John's on West Gray and go up to my management company Music World Entertainment.

When I describe Houston to friends who have never been here, I first have to tell them, no, it's not like the country films you see on TV! I like to describe Houston as a great place to raise a family.

You get nice southern people with a city atmosphere. You can buy a great home in a price range to fit your income. The great thing is, whether you or your children are into arts, sports, music, business, etc., there is a place for you to grow into and learn all of those things right here in Houston.

I always come back during Thanksgiving, Christmas and the Houston Rodeo. Also, now that I have a nephew, I come back home for all of his birthdays.

I would have to say some of my favorite memories of Houston are performing at my mother’s hair salon and the music showcases we entered trying to get discovered. I can recall how hard my mother and father worked scheduling rehearsals, designing costumes and booking shows. Houston is where my stage presence and confidence was developed.

My favorite places to eat are Frenchy's Chicken, This Is It and Pappadeaux. I shop at The Galleria.

I love Houston. Some of the best moments of my life took place there. This will always be home to me!

Haylie Duff, Entertainer

Houston is a place where the people are real. Growing up, there was a real sense of family, and the neighborhood had a cool feeling of cohesiveness. When I come home, I always visit The Galleria. I love to shop at Tootsies. I love the spring, with the bluebonnets along the highways, and the weather is awesome. I never want to miss the Houston Rodeo.I love the food and the people. I think that Houston is a special American city, and everyone should come for a visit.

Hilary Duff, Entertainer

Growing up in Houston was amazing! I love the bluebonnets along the highway. I remember the rainstorms and thunderstorms. I loved spending my summers in the swimming pools. To this day, I think that Houston has the best food anywhere in the world!

I tell people who have never been to Houston that it is a great city to visit for a day to shop and eat and meet nice people. Houston is a special city which attracts tourists from all over the world.

I always like to go to Neiman's for lunch and shopping. I love the monkey bread and the strawberry butter. The salads are wonderful, too. I also go to my Aunt Roz's house to see my niece, Haylie.

My favorite time is in the fall because the leaves fall off of the trees, and the weather is cool and breezy. I love to go to the Houston Rodeo. It is a time to celebrate being a true American and enjoying life with family and friends. The Houston Rodeo has been a longtime tradition for my family over many decades.

One of my favorite Houston memories would be when I visited the Butterfly Museum [at the Houston Museum of Natural Science]. I remember the butterflies would come right up and land on your shoulders. I also liked to go to the Children’s Museum. They had cool interactive areas, and we had Haylie’s 6th birthday party there. We had everyone dress up like the '50s - we had a wonderful time.

I LOVE to eat at James Coney Island and eat chili dogs and frito pies. I love Shipley's donuts—they have Kolaches, and they are to die for! I love Mexican food at Escalante's. I like to shop at the Galleria, particularly Neiman's and the David Yurman store.

I will always love Houston. It is a great place to live and raise a family.

George Foreman, Boxer, Olympic Gold Medalist, Entertainer

Houston's home. Just like a homing pigeon, no matter how far I go, nature always pulls me back.

The city's best kept secret is that it's the home of great food. My favorite places to eat are Pappadeaux, Ruth's Chris and, of course, Vic & Anthony's.

Houston is a BIG city, and because it's so big, the opportunities are unlimited. There's something for everyone. It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from.

If I had one wish for Houston, I hope it never changes.

Click here to watch One Day in Houston, a 12-minute documentary on Houston, narrated by George Foreman.

A.J. Foyt, Auto Racing Legend

Houston is where I was born and raised. It’s where my kids were born and raised—it’s home. I have traveled all over the country—to Europe, Australia and Asia—but I love coming home to Houston. It’s where I belong—it’s where my heart is.

It’s a clean city; there’s a lot to do whether it’s going to an Astros or Texans game or the Houston Rodeo, which is one of the biggest in the country.

Houston has concerts and shows and a lot of great restaurants. My favorite restaurants are Taste of Texas for steaks, Carrabba’s for Italian food and Molina’s for Mexican food.

I don’t shop that much but my wife does. You can find whatever you want at The Galleria and Town & Country Village.

My most memorable experience in Houston would have to be driving a copy of the GT car that I won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with. In the early 70’s, I drove it over 200 mph on the 610 freeway. There weren’t nearly as many cars on the road back then.

LISSA’S: Trashy World

2008-04-16T14:40:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON - The world's beaches and shores are anything but pristine. Volunteers scoured 33,000 miles of shoreline worldwide and found 6 million pounds of debris from cigarette butts and food wrappers to abandoned fishing lines and plastic bags that threaten seabirds and marine mammals. A report by the Ocean Conservancy, to be released Wednesday, catalogues nearly 7.2 million items that were collected by volunteers on a single day last September as they combed beaches and rocky shorelines in 76 countries from Bahrain to Bangladesh and in 45 states from southern California to the rocky coast of Maine.

"This is a snapshot of one day, one moment in time, but it serves as a powerful reminder of our carelessness and how our disparate and random actions actually have a collective and global impact," Vikki Spruill, president of the Ocean Conservancy said in an interview.

The 378,000 volunteers on average collected 182 pounds of trash for every mile of shoreline, both ocean coastlines and beaches on inland lakes and streams, providing a "global snapshot of the ocean trash problem."

The most extensive cleanup was in the United States where 190,000 volunteers covered 10,110 miles — about a third of the worldwide total — and picked up 3.9 million pounds of debris on a single Saturday last September, according to the report.

That's 390 pounds of trash per mile, among the highest rates of any country, although the high number also reflects the large number of U.S. volunteers who took part, said Spruill. By comparison, volunteers in neighboring Canada collected 74 pounds per mile and those in Mexico, 157 pounds per mile, said the report. About 65 pounds of trash were collected per mile in China and 46 pounds per mile in New Zealand. Volunteers covered one mile in Bahrain and found 300 pounds of trash.

But Spruill said the volume of trash collected tells only part of the story. It's the items that are found that tells us about the behavior of people enjoying the beaches and coastlines of the world.

"It represents a general carelessness we have. ... We're the bad guys. Trash doesn't fall from the sky. It actually falls from our hands," said Spruill.

The debris ranges from the relatively harmless, although annoying and an eyesore, to items that annually result in the death of hundreds of thousands of seabirds and marine mammals caught in abandoned fishing lines and netting.

A third of the items found came from smokers.

The volunteers collected and cataloged nearly 2.3 million cigarette butts, filters and cigar tips. And they found 587,827 bags; more than 1.7 million food wrappers, containers, lids, cups, plates and eating utensils; and nearly 1.2 million bottles and beverage cans.

Divers also scoured waters offshore, collecting about 160,000 pounds of debris from cigarette waste and food containers to more threatening items: abandoned fishing lines, plastic bags, rope, fishing nets and abandoned crab and lobster traps.

The International Coastal Cleanup also focused attention on the damage these items can do, said program sponsors.

The volunteers came across 81 birds, 63 fish, 49 invertebrates, 30 mammals and 11 reptiles and one amphibian that all had become entangled in various debris, most often discarded fishing line, rope or plastic bags, according to the report.

Among other items that entangle animals and birds were balloon ribbons and strings, building material, vehicle tires, wire, and beverage six-pack holders.

In all, 57 percent of the trash was related to shoreline recreational activities, 33 percent from smoking-related activities, 6.3 percent from fishing or waterway activities, 2 percent from dumping and less than 1 percent from medical and personal hygiene activities, said the report.

LISSA'S: This is the car I want!

2008-04-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlEAvJdrSdY

This is the Jeep I'd like to have, but maybe in white.

LISSA’S: Life’s too short... by Moondog

2008-04-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

Got these words of wisdom from "Moondog" today... thought I'd share... ~M'Lissa

ahh, less than 900 will get you here and give you a week in luxury, and get you back,, wow, 1 month work for a week of relaxing, I can relax with a keg a tent at texoma, and a fishing pole for half that and spend 2 weeks... wow, hard choice.. well I can relax under a bridge by whitesboro, with 4 fifths and a bag of jerky for two weeks for a hundred dollars, wait,,,

I could hitch hike to galveston with a pole and bic lighter live off fishing and sleep between sand dunes for 2 years and relax for 200 dollars,, woow,,

wait,,, wait wait,,

well I am sorry it is too late.. I have passed away,, just died of waiting for life,,, waiting for the plan,, waiting for the waiting to end,,, hand me another one.. let us wait and relax some more..

On the island of Ambergris Caye, the beachfront Exotic Caye Beach Resort is located approximately half a mile south of the San Pedro airstrip. This property is 31 miles from Belize City in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. Guests fly internationally into Belize City and must schedule a short flight to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye.

LISSA’S: A Company In Need Of Change

2008-04-11T06:22:00.000-07:00

Wal-Mart's dirty laundry is getting more global exposure today just a week after the Debbie Shank story. It has not been a good month for Wal-Mart public relations. To use a sports term, these are turnovers, and they expose the weaknesses of Wal-Mart's high priced image.

Undeniably, over the past three years Wal-Mart has gotten better at hiding the truth from us and from the media usually by obfuscating rather than clarifying the real issues. Their so-called health care reform is just one example. And thanks to the millions they are spending on Edelman Public Relations, they have received some good coverage in the media.

Occasionally though, they fumble the ball and we get to see clearly what is behind the façade. The video of Wal-Mart managers dressed in drag aired on NBC Nightly News last night (April 9, 2008) is a great example.

From Dukes v. Wal-Mart, the largest class-action employment discrimination case in American history, we know that at Wal-Mart, women make up only 37% of Assistant Managers, 21% of Co-Managers, and 15% of Store Managers. In 2001, those women who did become salaried Wal-Mart managers earned about $14,500 less than men per year. So it is no surprise that a gathering of Wal-Mart managers would be rife with sexist undertones.

Wal-Mart might suggest that the performances featured in the footage from this 1995 meeting intended to be funny, but either they value women or they do not and discriminating against women is no joking matter.

http://action.walmartwatch.com/DoAsWeSay

Debbie Shank is another good example of why public relations is not enough to fix Wal-Mart's fundamental problems. Every day Wal-Mart refuses to put enough money forward to adequately fund their employees health care, and associates pay the price. Obviously Debbie Shank is a particularly tragic story but if you talk to Wal-Mart employees, as we do every day, you realize that there are many sad stories of people who have not received the medical care they need because the plan that they can afford from Wal-Mart provides minimalist coverage and the better plans are just too expensive.

Wal-Mart change to its business practices is in the best interest of its employees, its customers, its bottom line and our country. Wal-Mart has pushed back suggesting that our critiques are at best unnecessary and at worst unfair. The videos and the Debbie Shank story have exposed that the leadership of Wal-Mart allows and even encourages a corporate culture of negligence and discrimination. It is not in anyone's best interests for such a culture to continue. Wal-Mart needs to change.

source: The Huffington Post

LISSA’S: Are you Texomite?

2008-04-11T00:53:00.000-07:00

How to Identify Yourself as 'White Trash'

Most experts will identify the term "white trash" as a derogatory appelation. Like most such terminology, it is therefore only okay when one happens to be white trash as well. Thus, recognizing oneself as white trash is the first step toward safely utilizing the term when describing others.

1: Am I White Trash? The list below is indicative of the typical characteristics of white trash. The more you personally answer "yes" to, the more likely it is you qualify.

-- Are you caucasian? (Required)

-- Do you follow NASCAR? How about monster truck rallies?

-- When the World Wrestling Federation changed their name to World Wrestling Entertainment, did you have to get a tattoo altered?

-- Just in general, do you have more than three tattoos?

-- Does your home have wheels under it?

-- Do you only dance when the steps are either prearranged (i.e., the Chicken Dance, the Electric Slide) or are shouted out to you in advance? (i.e., square dancing.)

-- Do you enjoy hunting? If yes, do you feel that fully automatic weaponry is absolutely required when planning an assault on deer?

-- Stand at the edge of your property and turn around slowly. While turning, did you at any point see a cornfield?

-- When you pronounce the word "nuclear" does an extra "U" end up in between the "C" and the "L"?

-- When attending football games, do you apply paint to any part of your body?

-- Do you regard anything not recorded in Nashville with extreme disdain?

-- Did you just have to look up the word 'disdain'?

-- Does improving the reception on your television set involve tin foil?

-- Did you not feel any need to attend college because you figured you learned plenty in high school?

-- Is 'evolution' a swear word in your home?

LISSA’S: Wal-Mart Exposed: Videos You Were Never Meant To See

2008-04-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

Wal-Mart Exposed: Videos You Were Never Meant To See

Videos From Inside Wal-Mart’s Corporate Meetings Are For Sale To Willing Buyers

From the tough anti-union talk to the wilder side of men in drag, videos of Wal-Mart corporate meetings are being sold to willing buyers, and the corporate behemoth is not happy about it.

The videos, thousands of them spanning three decades, are in the library of a production company in Lenexa, Kan. Flagler Productions Inc. was hired on a handshake deal by Wal-Mart in the 1970s to produce and film corporate sales meetings and other company events.

After receiving a verbal commitment that Flagler would be used for meetings in the future, Wal-Mart abruptly ended its deal with Flagler in 2006 causing the company to lay off most of their employees, according to Flagler. Representatives from Wal-Mart tried to buy the library in 2007, but Flagler and Wal-Mart could not agree on a price so the sale never happened.

Now, Flagler is offering the tapes to anyone else who might be interested, including the media and plaintiffs’ attorneys.

Wal-Mart is currently defending itself in a lawsuit that claims widespread sex discrimination regarding issues of salary and promotional opportunities on behalf of at least 1.6 million female employees.

The attorney representing the female employees, Joe Sellers, says that some videos show the company acknowledged there was a lack of women in management back in the late 1980s.

"There’s no question these videos capture in a fairly candid way the sentiment of top executives many years ago," Sellers said. "This is not new, and it is not something that top management was unaware of."

Indeed, in one video obtained by ABCNews.com, Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton addresses the issue at a shareholders meeting in 1987. "We know we haven’t gotten as far as we’d like to be advancing women in our company. But we’re very conscious of it," he says. [Watch video.]

Wal-Mart released this statement to ABCNews.com today. "Needless to say, we did not pay Flagler Productions to tape internal meetings with this aftermarket in mind. It’s definitely an unusual business model on their end, and we can’t imagine too many other clients will be eager to pay for this service."

Wal-Mart has also stated previously that it is confident it did not discriminate against female employees.

(ABC News)
More Photos

Aside from the serious allegations of discrimination, the videos also show a glimpse of corporate shenanigans, including one meeting at which male employees dressed in ladies lingerie and sang a song, "Walkin’ Round in Women’s Underwear" to the tune of "Walking in a Winter Wonderland." [Watch video.]

Wal-Mart said the act was just for fun. "Over the years these internal meetings included a wide range of messages and activity -- some practical, some inspirational and some just plain silly. Clearly this video falls in the silly category, but having fun is just part of running a business," said a company spokesperson.

In January, ABCNews.com reported on videos dating back to when Hillary Clinton was on the board of directors at Wal-Mart. In her six years on the board, Clinton remained silent as the world’s largest retailer waged a major campaign against labor unions seeking to represent store workers.

Wal-Mart’s anti-union efforts were headed by one of Clinton’s fellow board members, John Tate, a Wal-Mart executive vice president who also served on the board with Clinton for four of her six years.

Tate was fond of repeating, as he did at a managers’ meeting in 2004 after his retirement, what he said was his favorite phrase, "Labor unions are nothing but bloodsucking parasites living off the productive labor of people who work for a living." [Watch video.]

Wal-Mart says Tate’s comments "were his own and do not reflect Wal-Mart’s views."

The Clinton campaign has since stated, "As president, she will fight alongside labor to promote the economic growth of America’s middle class," and that Clinton strongly believes that Wal-Mart employees should be allowed to unionize.

source: ABC News

LISSA’S: YAY!! Good for her!!

2008-04-04T14:42:00.000-07:00

Clemson woman allegedly acts out during Wal-Mart termination process

ANDERSON — A Clemson woman is facing charges of going "postal" at Wal-Mart in Anderson, causing $2,800 in damage when store managers terminated her from her job in the store’s delicatessen.

Shanay Buie allegedly became upset about 3:30 p.m. Friday at 3812 Liberty Hwy.

"She returned to the deli and threw 2 chickens at 2 customers," according to the incident report. "At that time, she also threw on the ground 2 printers worth about $1,000 each. She also threw to the ground 2 sets of dishes worth about $400 a set."

An arrest has not been made, according to records at the Anderson City Jail.

LISSA’S: Score one for the good guys!! Wal-Mart Publicly Shamed Into Letting Shank Keep Money

2008-04-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

Wal-Mart Drops Claim

Wal-Mart Stores is dropping a controversial effort to collect more than $400,000 in health-care reimbursement from a former employee who has been in a Missouri nursing home since she suffered brain damage in a traffic accident.

The retailer said in a letter to the family of Deborah Shank it will not seek to collect money the Shanks won in a lawsuit against a trucking company for the accident. Wal-Mart has been roundly criticized for its claim.

Pat Curran, executive vice president for human resources at Wal-Mart Stores U.S., wrote that Shank’s extraordinary situation had made the company reexamine its stance.

Terror Strikes New Orleans Again!

2008-04-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

The Top April Fool’s Jokes

2008-04-01T10:01:00.000-07:00

The Top April Fool’s Jokes

* Fill the sugar bowl with salt...
Yummy...sure makes those wheaties/coffee taste good ! Not very
original, but highly effective! You can also use baking soda, will make hot coffee foam and bubble up!

* Switch the "MEN" and "WOMEN" signs on a pair of public
bathrooms while they’re occupied.

* Take tape the color of someone’s kitchen sprayer and tape the
trigger and aim it toward the front of the sink, where a person normally stands. The next person using the water will get soaked!

* Put some magnetic strips from those anti-theft devices in your
victim’s coat pocket before they leave a store.

* Put cherry Kool-aid mix in the shower head. What a surprise
first thing in the morning!

* For men - Take about 10 large safety pins; when your wife is
sound asleep attach her nightgown to the sheets with the safety pins. Lay back and wait for her to "turn over" .

* For women - Hide the the remote control. Watch your husband go nuts trying to find it. Or just take out the batteries. He will sit there for a long time trying to figure out what’s wrong with it.

* At the workplace- Grab a bottle of lotion that everybody uses and empty it out, then put in some of that cheap instant tanning lotion. Then in a few hours, people will walking around with orange hands, arms and maybe even faces.

* Submit your friend’s name to the newspaper’s obituary column.

* Discreetly take your friend’s car keys (you will have to sneak them back) and move their car down the block in the middle of the night or during lunch hour.

* Superglue a couple quarters to the ground on a busy sidewalk or
parking lot. Watch as people continue to try and pick them up.

* Butter all the doorknobs and toilet seats! Then stand back and
watch the fun!

LISSA’S: Men Get Older Too!

2008-04-01T09:16:00.000-07:00

Richard Gere

Roger Moore

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Pierce Brosnan

Clint Eastwood

Rod Stewart

LISSA’S: My one and only "both sides" blog on Wal-Mart

2008-03-31T10:54:00.000-07:00

Why do many hate Wal-Mart?

The second nature to many Americans in this day and age -- hating Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Like many divisive issues these days (think Democratic candidates), many Americans either love or hate Wal-Mart. There seems to be little to no middle ground.

Who is to blame for all the hatred towards Wal-Mart? The retailer itself? How about the customers who keep it at the top? These are questions that constantly see emotion overtaking logic when the questions arise. Let’s take a look at them a little more closely today.

Why Wal-Mart exists

Wal-Mart, like many retailers, started small and over the course of many decades grew and grew to become the world’s largest retailer -- mostly on the back of its operations in the U.S. By offering "everyday low prices" to consumers, it was able to build a following that eventually pushed it further in sales than any of its competitors.

As most of the world knows by now, Americans love bargains (or the perception of bargains). We like our cell phones to be "free" (along with that hefty two-year contract), we like our food to be cheap (hence, double coupons and tasty but nutritionally worthless processed foods), and we certainly like our gas free. In the case of gas, there’s not much we can do to make it cheaper.

When it comes to retail goods, though, we can make things cheaper -- using competitive advantage to our advantage. Wal-Mart recognized this and I’ll posit that it invented the supercheap mentality by using the "big box, low overhead" type of store and merchandising format while actually lowering prices to almost always beat the competition. In smaller markets with many smaller stores (the ubiquitous "mom and pop" contingent), Wal-Mart has been accused of putting many of these locations out of business. Hence, we have the central question: just whose fault is that?

Getting the customer addicted to low prices

In the 1980s, there were many discount retailers to be found: TG&Y, Venture, Target, K-Mart and Wal-Mart. Which one survived? We now know -- and it was because of Sam Walton’s unwavering pledge to give the American consumer the best (lowest) price on anything carried on its shelves. That may sound like some marketing spin from Wal-Mart, but in researching this thought, many people believe it’s true. Fast forward to the early 1990s -- Walton passes away and his children take control of the retailer. All of a sudden, pricing becomes even more prevalent than ever and the push to enter new markets -- and completely conquer them -- becomes paramount.

Wal-Mart begins making more business deals in China and in low-cost producing nations and is able to kill just about every large national discount retailer -- except Target Corp. All of the previously mentioned competitors fizzle out, and even K-Mart is folded into Sears Roebuck to form a combined company called Sears Holdings, which really isn’t doing a thing, retailwise, since its merger.

Once the year 2000 gets here, Wal-Mart’s ruthless attitude has already planted the seeds in many American minds -- many of whom cannot stand the retailer now. It gains a reputation of killing small business, drying up the smaller downtown shops of small-town America and recruiting as many customers as possible with "everyday low prices" and huge, big-box store locations. Want even more savings? Wal-Mart begins pushing Sam’s Club wholesale stores to small businesses and heavy bargain-seeking customers who would like to buy in bulk to save even more. Think pricing has everything to do with retail merchandising? It does. At least, for the vast majority of those who shop in America.

And, the hatred grows

Here we are in 2008, and the hate that fills the minds of many Wal-Mart watchers continues to grow. Take Charles Smith’s case -- he’s a 50-year-old computer store owner in Georgia. He also hates Wal-Mart with a passion, and runs two websites to prove it: Wal-Quaeda and Walocaust. It’s no secret what Smith is comparing Wal-Mart to in the names of those two websites. But, why would someone compare the world’s largest retailer to a terrorist organization as well as Adolf Hitler’s regime?

It comes down to the thinking that Wal-Mart’s unstoppable fixation on pricing and store growth make it the largest target. Like Microsoft Corp., Wal-Mart is the biggest kid in the sandbox and subsequently draws more arrows in its back than anyone. But, who made it that way? In a country that was built on personal freedoms and personal responsibility, Wal-Mart has become the social retailer. That is, is supplies a certain market demographic who otherwise would find it difficult to survive due to "normal" retailer prices. This is the picture: a family of five who live on a combined annual income of $35,000 per year. Take the situation and duplicate it by the millions. Have a nearby retailer who offers anything and everything, all at bargain basement prices. And we wonder how Wal-Mart became as large as it has.

Following its growth, the animosity towards the retailer has grown right along with it. Charles Smith goes on to day on his Walocaust website that "I worry that by even implying that anything could compare to the horror of the Holocaust, the worst tragedy in history, I cheapen the term." But Smith saw a report "on the TV about how many goods Wal-Mart was importing from China and how many jobs this cost America." This is true and is baked up by fact after fact. Hence, the basis for hatred has grown by those in America who have seen manufacturers in this country become extinct as Wal-Mart constantly moves business overseas. Although we live in a global village, there are many who believe protecting America at all costs is the answer. It’s standard national protectionism instead of progressive global thinking. After all, many of us have those large mortgage payments, right?

But, this is a free country, with everyone free to make their own decisions. Customers choose to shop at Wal-Mart to save a wad of cash. Wal-Mart, in turn, is reacting to demand with supply. It’s standard economics, and by that account Wal-Mart is a champion. Instead of paying a 100% markup at a mom-and-pop store, Wal-Mart supplies the same product for a 22% markup. As a result, customers flock to Wal-Mart and not the smaller store. Result: the smaller stores become extinct due to lack in innovation in competitive practice. Whose fault is that? Can you blame the bargain-seeking consumer? If that logic holds, then every Wal-Mart hater actually hates the "price is everything" American consumer -- not Wal-Mart itself. Right or wrong? Tell me what you think below in comments.

source: Blogging Stocks

LISSA’S: Higher-paying firms get better employees.

2008-03-31T10:41:00.000-07:00

CHICO -- University of Denver business school instructor James O’Toole has a message for employers: Pay the lowest and you can expect the lowest performance.

O’Toole, who holds a doctorate, is convinced after his research and reviewing other studies that employers who say they must reduce costs by paying workers less are making a mistake.

The professor and author believes employers can’t afford to pay employees less, pointing out that they get what they pay for.

And while they may be saving money in labor costs, he believes other costs, including absenteeism and pilfering, are higher and erase any savings.

By paying low wages, companies attract a kind of work force he describes as being lower in ethics, loyalty, knowledge and performance levels.

O’Toole, whose appearance at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. was underwritten by the Northern Rural Training Employment Consortium and sponsored by the Center for Economic Development at Chico State University, has written the book "The New American Workplace: How American Workers can Successfully Compete in World Markets."

O’Toole believes employers who try to cut their costs by outsourcing jobs are also in error.

"Customers get angry if they’re talking to someone in India and can’t understand what they’re saying."

O’Toole criticized Wal-Mart for its management decisions to cut costs, but complimented Costco in many of the same areas.

While he did acknowledge that Wal-Mart has changed its policy about certain

areas, that doesn’t qualify the retailer as a "high-involvement" company, which he considers the best model for both company success and worker satisfaction.

O’Toole categorizes as "high involvement" companies Harley Davidson, Southwest Airlines, SRC and UPS. These firms — which he says pay better — are able to mobilize a work force that is "educated and engaged."

Employers who pay more are able to attract a work force that is more dedicated to customers and creating solutions, has low turnover, higher productivity, and is engaged in assuring the company’s future.

O’Toole criticized business schools and unions for not doing their part as well. Business schools, he said, are not teaching the principles that create high-involvement companies. Unions, he said, are not being effective.

While he suggested that employees could try to convince managers and owners that high-involvement is an improvement, he said, "Bosses don’t listen that well."

However, managers and bosses may be more inclined to listen to their peers at successful companies.

source: Chico Enterprise Reord

LISSA’S: Depression is rage spread thin.

2008-03-30T16:16:00.000-07:00

Hell.. this is my hell... I hate Texoma and I want out. I’ve wanted out for years now. 4 years later, I am still sitting here in Whitesboro.. Texoma. I can’t get out one way, but I’m about to take another way out of this.. my hell. Soon, oh yes, soon.

"You know it ain’t easy
For these thoughts here to leave me
There’s no words to describe it
In French or in English
Well, diamonds they fade
And flowers they bloom
And I’m telling you
These feelings won’t go away
They’ve been knockin’ me sideways
They’ve been knockin’ me out lately
Whenever you come around me
These feelings won’t go away
They’ve been knockin’ me sideways
I keep thinking in a moment that
Time will take them away
But these feelings won’t go away."

LISSA’S: Since my dad’s side of the family has suddenly taken interests in our blogs....

2008-03-27T17:40:00.000-07:00

LISSA’S: Humanity vs. Corporation ~ The high cost of low prices

2008-03-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

Every time Debbie Shank, a woman living in Jackson, Mo., asks about her son Jeremy, she has to be retold that he was killed in Iraq.

She starts to cry uncontrollably because each time is like hearing it for the first, again and again.

Shank was in a horrific car accident in 2000 that stripped her away completely of her short-term memory. She did not even remember the interview she had with CNN that allowed her and her husband Jim to tell their story.

They are one of the many victims of humanity vs. corporation. Eight years after her accident, she lives in a nursing home. Her husband Jim has prostate cancer.

In 2000, she started working for Wal-Mart as a shelver and got on its health care and benefits plan. All was well because the Shank’s settled the accident in court for $ 470,000. This money went into a trust fund to help care for Debbie, cover living expenses and eventually would be used to help send their youngest son to college.

Their lawyer made Wal-Mart aware of the damages the Shanks’ received. Within the fine print of its health care policy, it states "Wal-Mart has the right to recoup medical expenses."

In laymen’s terms, since Wal-Mart covered the majority of her medical bills, supposedly Wal- Mart was entitled to the equivalent of the money its insurance company paid out in damages.

Wal-Mart is currently suing the Shanks’, ironically for $470,000. They only have $277,000 left of their trust fund. According to its policy, Wal-Mart is right, but morally, severely wrong.

The corporate typhoon Wal-Mart’s net profit for the third quarter in 2007 was $90 billion. You have to keep in mind that it was its net profit; the money Wal-Mart received after all the bills were paid, from light bill to employee salary.

The $470,000 only makes up .0005 percent of its profits. Because of this, Jim had to divorce Debbie to receive Medicaid. They were forced to give up their rights of matrimony, the ultimate expression of unconditional love one could display for another.

But it is still not enough.

If Wal-Mart wins, they lose everything. They will not be able to afford to send their youngest son to college and afford housing.

Jim will lose his car and the remainder of their medical bills will be theirs to be reckoned with. Collecting bills is the a hobby that keeps on taking.

The Shanks have gone to court twice already. Both times the judge ruled in Wal- Mart’s favor. Next: The Shanks are taking their case to capital hill, the U.S. Supreme Court. Hopefully, third time will not be a charm for Wal-Mart.

As a result, I’ve included my own recommendation for what Wal-Mart’s new tagline should be:

Always low prices. But it will cost you.

source: The Shield - USI

BILL'S: Disposable Love, Disposable Life, Another WIHAT

2008-03-25T21:17:00.000-07:00

Years ago, the things you bought had meaning. They had value. Now for convenience, we buy things without meaning, everything is disposable, and we now live in a disposable society. But the more I look at it, it is not just the way we live, but the way we run our lives. Everything is disposable and we don't care. And from what I have seen, people in Texoma take disposable to all new levels.

To start my story off, let me start with a friend of mine. One of my closest friends. This is a guy who will do anything for a friend. Just with me, he has helped me when my times were extremely tough. If it weren't for him, my family wouldn't have had a Thanksgiving or a Christmas this year. He has tried to help me better myself for my family. And this is just me. I can't imagine how he is with friends he has known longer. All I know is that this is the type of person I would have been honored to serve with during my term in the Army. The one thing I don't understand, all the women in his life have claimed their undying love, but this is a story only in Texoma. Recently, he met "the one" and she said that she felt the same. They worked through many problems, mainly regarding her ex-husband, who she was still sharing a house with. But they swore they wanted to be together, and she told him that he was the one she wanted. The times they were together was magical. They made plans to just pack up and move away to Austin together, to start a family, get married and live together happily ever after. Almost a fairy tale. But then again, this is Texoma, and happy endings are not allowed. Less than 24 hours after making their blissful arrangements, my friend goes over to her house to pick her up. Low and behold, she is in bed with her ex-husband. She tells my friend that she decided to go back with him. Both families were in shock. No warning, and many questions left unanswered. Did she ever really mean it, or was she just using him for thrills? How could someone throw away "the love of a lifetime"? All I know, this just shows how people live and love in a disposable society. It is only useful until you can toss it aside. No care what anyone else thinks, or feels. And this is just one story in a forest of tales. He is not the only one. I have heard story after story after story about how the women up here throw their marriage vows to the wind, until they need to act good. Then they put on the veil of good behavior until they can throw away their vows to play with the next guy's emotions.

Of course, it doesn't stop there. I have heard stories of women in the surrounding area which have had to give up their jobs, which they have become successful in, just to move away because their husband was having an affair. In this area, affairs are more of a hobby. It isn't who is having an affair, it is who isn't. People act like the heart is something you go into Wal-Mart to buy. You can pick up a couple over in Health and Beauty Aids, just because you know they are going to break. And while you are there, why not run over to toys and pick up a new collection of feelings. It just doesn't make sense. Is everyone here just so insensitive that they are just immune to matters of the heart?

But to continue on with a matter closer to my heart. If you follow our blog, I am sure you read Lissa's story "After 31+ years, ..." A controversy within her own family which started with one picture.

A picture which I found a little humorous. But apparently this area has their Bible Belt too tight around their waist. Her family found no humor in it, and called her atheist for sending this out. To me, religion doesn't have to be so stiff that a person cannot joke or to have fun. What is life without just a bit of humor or fun. I don't find the need to be rigid about a King James idyllic version of Jesus in a Village People routine. Are we supposed to be that tight lipped? I am a religious person, but I grew up in a religion that was a bit more fun, and made learning about the life of Christ an interesting and enjoyable endeavor. But here, the tight lipped people have no room to laugh. At first I assumed it was because of the fact that most of the people on Lissa's father's side of the family are ministers. Okay, maybe they are more strict. They work at churches, write Christian music. Okay, maybe they have a place to complain. The most recent person to become an ordained minister in this family is Jason. He has gone on Missionary missions, written original Christian music, and has his own congregation. Impressive person. He just got married, came back from his honeymoon, and posted pictures on his Myspace account.

I can see where this minister would be held in higher regards than his own cousin, my wife. I can see why Lissa's aunts and uncles put her down and this guy does no wrong. Everyone in her family says they don't judge, and they are the last to judge, but then again, Jason the minister told everyone to be ware of the "whale over his shoulder" in this picture. I guess it is a minister's way of showing "love thy neighbor."

Yes, this is the attitude of people up here. It doesn't just end with customers, people on the street, or idiots driving down the road, no it goes with family as well. Even they consider family disposable. Just because Lissa's grandmother didn't like her mother. Now the family prejudices have carried on even over 11 years after the grandmother's death. But fortunately, they "don't judge." Even Jason's sister, who has had 2 children by "immaculate conception", if you ask the family. In a quote, when the question about race on one of these miracle babies was raised, the answer was "they are Elms." But yet, Lissa has never been accepted as a legitimate member of the family. Again, Wal-Mart must sell family loyalties. It is sad how easily you can throw away even family.

Final case in point. We live just outside of Whitesboro in a small residential area. The house next door to us has been foreclosed on. We watched as they came out and changed the locks, so we expected people to be out working on the house. A couple of days later, a truck came to the house and got stuck in the yard. We took pictures of the truck stuck in the yard and the damage it was doing.

I went to work and came back that night realizing that there was a pile of trash in the neighbors yard. I went out and looked through the pile and was able to match up the trash to the items in the back of the truck.

So, this goes to prove that everything is so disposable, people are willing to dump their trash in a neighbor's lawn. But think this is where the story ends? No, it still goes on. I took this story of this truck dumping his trash in the lawn to Environmental Protection Officer of Grayson County, Jim White; Grayson County Commissioner Precinct 3, Honorable Jacki Crisp; Grayson County Constable Precinct 3, Todd Booher; Justice of the Peace Precinct 3, Mike Reeves; Grayson County Clerk Aimee McAdoo; Grayson County Director of Planning, Jim White; Commissioner Precinct 1, Honorable Johhny Waldrip; Constable Precinct 1, CC “Buddy” Wade; Justice of the Peace Precinct 1, Honorable Gregory J. Middents; Grayson County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy, Ron Brown; Whitesboro Chamber of Commerce; Janis Crawley, Director, WIDCO/WEDCO; Charlie Haldeman, KXII News Director; KXII Newsroom. Out of all of these people, I figured someone would do something. To date, not a single person has contacted me, not a single person has replied, not a single call returned, no one has come out, and no one has even cared. That is Texoma. A place where you can dispose of your trash anywhere you want, and no one cares.

In my last trip to Houston, I made a realization. Almost halfway between here and Houston you cross over Bliss Creek. Aptly named. Everything South is almost like climbing the stairway to heaven. But crossing to the north puts you on the Escalator to Hell..... Find me someone with community pride. Find me someone who cares. Find me someone who still has morals. To me, no pride, not caring and no morals is hell.

I prefer the real life. Where illegal activities are still persecuted by law. Where people still know the meaning of love. And where there is still humor and no judgements. Maybe I am going to hell, but at least I know it is still a step above North Texas. I will be bettering myself. And I will be in great company. Side by side with my loving wife who I support completely, my sons who I have instilled by same sense of humor, my caring parents who taught me to be the person I am, and the teams at Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, SciFi Channel, and the cast and crew of Battlestar Galactica. Amen.

LISSA’S: Quick thought from our friend "Moondog"

2008-03-25T17:00:00.000-07:00

I got this in my email as kind of a welcome back from our short trip to Houston... from our friend "Moondog":

Are You back in the "Land you Love" "Texoma, Texoma, it’s your kind of town,,, Texoma, Texoma, pull the lever and flush it down.. "

LISSA’S: After 31 + years, I AM SO FRIGGIN’ DONE!

2008-03-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

Well that’s it. I am 31 years old and I have finally broken ties with my dad’s side of the family. This side of the family is close, but only between themselves. My mother and I were outcasts of the family anyways. My grandmother (by blood only) was furious at my mom for taking her only son away. She held that grudge to her until the day she died. She even had the nerve to go up to my mother when she was pregnant with me, get in her face, and say "That WAD in your belly is not my sons!". Well funny.. if I wasn’t my daddy’s girl, then why the hell do I look identical to my youngest aunt? Even the mega-beast grandmother couldn’t explain it. She even made me when I was a child, 5th grade (her granddaughter by blood) pay for half of my birthday present, while my mom (struggling to make ends meet) had to pay for the other half.

Now that the mega-beast grandmother has died, my aunt is carrying on her feelings. Here’s how it started:

I send out stupid and funny emails daily. This aunt is (was) in the list. The email that I sent out was found in Photobucket of 3 strangers and an oil painting of Christ. The painting had His hands up like a "Y".. and the other 3 guys were lined up next to it, gesturing with their arms "M" "C" "A". So it looks like the "YMCA" dance. That’s it. I found that to be a bit funny, with a twist of stupid. But my judgmental aunt replies to me back:

Just curious. Are you a believer in Christ? I guess the subject has never came up between you & I.

What is this?? Just because I send out one stupid picture joke of 3 guys I don’t even know, then she wants to question my religion? This is a PRIME example of my problem against religion.. at least the religion that’s in my family. I’m not saying I’ve got a problem with God.. I’m saying I’ve got a problem with judgmental "Holier Than Thou" people that criticize you and put you down no matter what.

So I replied this.. as lightly as I could because I didn’t want to make war:

Duh, of course I am.. but sorry, I don’t feel I owe you an explanation.

I am 31 years old and I truly feel I don’t owe any explanation to anyone.. even family. So then I get this snotty letter back from her:

YOU sent the disgusting crap to me and then act like I’ve done something to offend you??? You have got to be kidding And while you do not "owe me an explanation", you do owe me the courtesy of not sending me your trashy emails.

Does this sound very Christian-like? Family-like? Well it is according to the Elms family.

My own thoughts on her response stems all the way back from the day mom met my dad. It comes from the cold roots that the mega-beast installed in on her 3 daughters to hate their brother’s family. Why do I feel this way? Well let’s look at this:

My cousin (from my dad’s middle sister) is a so-called self acclaimed ordained Pentecostal minister. He goes to church like a good wind-up toy and puts on the best "Spiritual Show" he can perform. Oh.. according to the Elms family.. he does no wrong and because he is a "ordained minister" he will never do no wrong. Well this perfect "actor" just got married. Okay, nothing out of the ordinary about that for an "ordained minister". He has a MySpace page as well. Okay, nothing wrong with that. Well, combine the two, and this "ordained minister" lets some of his true side show. It’s funny to see what happens to an "ordained minister" when you take him away from an audience and put him with friends! There is a picture of him holding a very large blow-up penis.. and he is holding it in front of his crotch like it was his own penis with a big, proud smile on his face. Another photo had him at the beach with a large, obese woman in the background. She had no clue her picture was being taken. His caption for this picture was "Look out for the whale behind me". Not real Christian-like I say... Another photo had him standing in front of a Christmas tree holding 2 little round ornaments in front of his crotch area like they were his testicles, with a big smile on his face.

But yet, this family member is "all holy" and can never do no wrong! His sister is still in high school with 2 kids by 2 different daddys that aren’t even around! Oh, but this is an accepted Elms.. she can do no wrong either.

So this is the letter I get back:

I won’t talk to your dad about anything, you are a grown woman. Apparently its high time you speak for yourself because you seem to have been holding in ALOT.

I won’t argue with you about my mother not liking Teresa. She didn’t. Its not a secret. I won’t debate my mothers actions, or your mothers actions or my sisters actions or whatever nieces or nephews you may want to pull into this. I answer for MYSELF AND MYSELF ONLY.

Of course there is no debate about feelings in this family. When it comes to this sensitive subject and it makes the Elms look bad, it’s always "hush-hush".

I find this next couple of sections letter pretty funny...

I don’t judge ANYONE.....PERIOD. Not you, not Jason, not Crystal, not anyone. I’m not perfect, nobody is, but I do and will ALWAYS find a picture like that YMCA offensive.

You know, it occurred to me when I got that picture that you could be atheist for all I know. I know how you were raised but people do their own thing after they get grown. I just wondered where you stood on that. It was just a curiosity on my part, not a judgement. You shocked me when you sent back a reply pretty much telling me to sc - ew myself. So I fired one back not to send me trash. Reflex reaction.

Okay.. this is the judgemental-hypacritical part I am talking about. Let me quote: "I don’t judge ANYONE.....PERIOD"

But her next paragraph states this.. and I quote again: "You know, it occurred to me when I got that picture that you could be atheist for all I know. I know how you were raised but people do their own thing after they get grown."

Looks like to me she is judging my religion just because of one stupid pic I sent out from the internet.

This is the rest of it:

But I would very much like to hear of when I, ME, PHYLLIS has treated YOU, MELISSA badly. WHEN??? TELL ME! Don’t pull in everyone else in the family. I was there when you graduated high school. I was there when you got married. I try every year to remember your birthday. I’m not perfect at the birthday thing but I try. I would really like an answer and I think I deserve it if you are going make our relationship "dead". Lets at least make this about YOU & ME.

I quote again: "Don’t pull in everyone else in the family".. Well I guess it’s okay to look, point out and analyze my one decision to send a stupid email, but let’s not make note of the rest of the family’s sins? That’s what I get for being born on the shit bottom of this family’s todem pole.

I’m SO FREAKING DONE with this side of my hypocritical family... I wrote her back a long letter expressing my feelings, and told her to consider me dead.

I hate Hypocritical religious people... especially when it is blood.

LISSA’S: WALOCAUST & WAL-QAEDA

2008-03-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

I found 2 GREAT websites: Walocaust and Wal-Qaeda. These sites are created and ran by the same person that is also fed up with Wal-Mart’s bullshit. I found it by a letter I got in my e-mail from Wal-Mart Watch describing Wal Mart’s defeat in court when they tried to sue Charles Smith for the websites. Visit them and pass them around to your friends!

http://www.walocaust.com/

http://www.walqaeda.com/

Federal Court Rejects Wal-Mart’s Trademark Claim Against Web Critic

Public Citizen Argued First Amendment Protects Parody of Company’s Logos

WASHINGTON, DC - March 21 - A federal judge today upheld a Georgia man’s First Amendment right to criticize Wal-Mart’s business practices by using satire to compare its destructive effects on communities to both the Holocaust and al-Qaeda terrorists.

In rejecting the company’s claim of trademark infringement, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta found that Charles Smith’s parody Web sites (www.walocaust.com and www.walqaeda.com) and related novelty merchandise were protected speech and that a reasonable person would not confuse their use with Wal-Mart’s legitimate trademarks. The court also rejected Wal-Mart’s claim that it has trademark rights in the "smiley-face" that Smith used in one of his parodies.

Public Citizen and the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia Foundation defended Smith after Wal-Mart sued the Conyers, Ga. man in 2006, claiming he infringed on its trademark by creating parody logos and Web sites built around the "Walocaust" and "Wal-Qaeda" concepts, including the image of an eagle clutching a yellow smiley face, similar to the one Wal-Mart uses in advertising. Smith also put the design on T-shirts, bumper stickers and other items that he sold on CafePress.com.

Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr.’s decision reaffirms an important point of trademark law – that even though a parody is placed on a T-shirt and sold, it nevertheless represents non-commercial speech that is fully protected by the First Amendment and, thus, is not a proper basis for a trademark action, said Paul Alan Levy, a Public Citizen attorney, who represented Smith along with Gerald Weber of Atlanta.

"This ruling shows that even the biggest company in America is subject to parody, and that trademark rights must yield to the right of free speech," Levy said. "This is a resounding victory for First Amendment rights and sends a clear message to big corporations that would try to use their deep pockets to intimidate and silence their critics."

Although Wal-Mart spent more than $200,000 on an "expert" witness to prove that consumers seeing these parody T-shirts were likely to be confused, the judge properly recognized that the expert’s testimony was junk science and flew in the face of common sense.

READ the decision.

LEARN more about Internet free speech

source: common dreams news center

LISSA’S: The Hypocrisy of Being "Pro-America" and Shopping at Wal-Mart

2008-03-24T00:36:00.000-07:00

THE HYPOCRISY OF BEING "PRO-AMERICA" AND SHOPPING AT WAL-MART

By: M. Kaufman

"Attitudes that are deeply rooted are difficult to change, even though critical thinking may tell you something else."

A few weeks ago, I found myself following an "All-American" pick-up truck: American flag and eagle reflective decal blocking the entire rear window, a real flag flying from a pennant holder, "Support Our Troops" decals covering the tailgate. It was only when the driver turned off the road into the Wal-Mart parking lot that I did a double-take. How could someone so proud to be an American shop where the majority of products are imported from China or some other country where manufacturers can shut down operations in the U.S. to take advantage of paying next to nothing in wages there or have no regard for environmental concerns?

There are some cases, like the American Wal-Mart shopper, that are tempting to argue because they can be supported by facts. For example, the Andersonville Study of Retail Economics in the Chicago area, www.AndersonvilleStudy.com, found that for every $100 spent locally, $68 remained in the community - compared to only $43 spent in national chain stores. The study also revealed for every square foot occupied by a local firm, the local economic impact is $179, compared to only $105 for a chain store. A similar study conducted in Austin, Texas, produced an even more dramatic difference.

Still having to work for a living (not to mention being able to afford paying taxes and insurance to live in Fernandina Beach), I can be just as price-sensitive as the next guy. But what’s the point of saving a few dollars from my own wallet when it could cost the jobs and livelihood of some of my friends and family?

Fortunately, more and more people are realizing other things are more important than price: a sense of connectedness and concern from another human being; the feeling that washes over you when you’re in a fresh and innovative environment; the convenience of not having to walk through acres of aisles to find what you’re looking for; and most important of all, the knowledge that the money you spend locally in the community stays in the community to support programs and services for local residents.

In general, beliefs that are deeply rooted and firmly entrenched are just about impossible to change without that ability to think critically. It was wonderfully refreshing and uplifting to read a poem that eighth-grader Laura Delori of St. Joseph, Mich. submitted to win her local poetry contest, which she titled Free Thinking: "You live life carefully and with a closed mind. But, you let yourself go and soon you’ll find, things aren’t as they seem. Anything is possible, if only you’ll learn to think outside the box. And then in turn, the world will make sense in its own strange way. So in conclusion I tell you this: You can close yourself up, and be sure to miss, or you can think for yourself, and find total bliss."

Maybe it’s high time we respect the wisdom of our youth as much as we do the wisdom of our elders - especially when that "wisdom" is nothing more than beliefs that have never been given a second thought.

source: My Nassau Sun

LISSA’S: Wal-Mart ~ Always Low Prices, Always High Crime

2008-03-24T00:16:00.000-07:00

It’s Been A Quiet Week At Wal-Mart’s Parking Lots & Bathrooms

It’s been a quiet week in Wal-Mart parking lots and bathrooms. The market may be tanking, but crime at Wal-Mart shows no signs of slowing down.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened this past week at Wal-Mart---just the litany of usual bomb threats, drunk driving, child molestations, armed robberies, and assorted mayhem. While you were shopping for Mickey Mouse Lawn Furniture in Aisle 6, every miscreant on the planet seemed to be converging on Wal-Mart parking lots or bathrooms. Just this past week:

· Sunday, March 16: A 28-year-old man was arrested at the Santee, California Wal-Mart after a 9 year old boy reported being assaulted in the store’s bathroom. The boy was in the bathroom while his mother waited outside. Police say a man grabbed and groped the boy over his clothing. The boy ran out of the bathroom and told his mother about the assault. The woman then reported the assault to Wal-Mart staff and the Sheriff’s Department.

· Tuesday, March 18: A Wal-Mart in Bismarck, North Dakota reports another bomb threat. The south Wal-Mart received a call at 9:05 am from a caller who said a bomb been placed in the store. The employee who answered the phone asked where the bomb was, and the caller hung up the phone. The store was evacuated, and employees searched the building, A member of the bomb quad responded and found nothing suspicious.

· Tuesday, March 18: Two girls ages 7 and 12, were browsing the toy aisle at the Indiana County, Pennsylvania Wal-Mart when a man grabbed them. Police said the assault was caught on surveillance video. The man can be seen walking through the same aisle as the girls several times before he approached them and grabbed them from behind. One of the girls screamed, which caused the man to run away. The girls found an adult in a nearby aisle, who alerted store managers.

· Wednesday, March 19: A Wal-Mart customer service worker in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was stabbed after an argument with four teenagers. Officers said employees tried to break up the argument at a store in northwest Oklahoma City at about 10 p.m. One of the teens pulled out a knife and stabbed the man several times. He is in serious condition at a local hospital.

· Thursday, March 20: A woman filed a suit against Wal-Mart after she was abducted and dragged around the parking lot. The victim, from Hedgesville, West Virginia had her purse-snatched in the mall parking lot adjacent to Wal-Mart. The suit says she finished shopping at approximately 7 p.m. and began unloading her groceries from her cart into her car. The woman claims she was abducted by another female and dragged into her vehicle. Her abductors threw her pocketbook out of the vehicle, but continued to drag her while she was partially out of the vehicle. According to the suit, the same people victimized another female earlier in the day at the same parking lot.

· Thursday, March 20: Police in Cedar Rapids, Iowa responded to a reported bomb threat at Wal-Mart, but found soon after arriving that the threat was a hoax. An anonymous caller threatened to blow up the store’s pop machines. After a search of the area, it was determined there was no validity to the caller’s claims. "There are a lot of bomb threats that get called in, and you have to take them all seriously, but a lot of them are unfounded," a police spokesman said. Customers at the Wal-Mart were not warned about the call due to the clear lack of credibility of the threat, according to police.

· Thursday, March 20: Police in Papillion, Nebraska arrested a man on suspicion of groping a woman inside a Wal-Mart store. Pictures from a surveillance camera were used by police to find and arrest the assailant. Investigators said he never touched the woman with his hands, but is suspected of making inappropriate comments and pressing himself against her.

· Friday, March 21: Police in Pascagoula, Mississippi are investigating an attempted armed robbery and assault of a woman at a Wal-Mart, which took place around 2:40 pm. The unidentified victim was taken to Singing River Hospital by a private vehicle. Because her name was not released, her condition was unavailable.

· Friday, March 21: One person was arrested after shots were fired during an armed robbery at a Wal-Mart in northwest Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The victim was robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot. Investigators said the victim and robber got into a struggle over the gun, and at least one shot was fired. The robber ran off, and the victim followed. Air units followed a suspect, and police took him into custody.

· Friday, March 21: Three schools in Brandon, Florida were locked down in the mid-afternoon because of a robbery at a nearby Wal-Mart. The schools were locked down for an hour. The security measure took place after a man walked into the Wal-Mart on East Brandon Boulevard, smashed an electronics case, took eight iPODs, and carried them out of the store in an empty shoebox.

· Friday, March 21: Winona, Wisconsin police said a man who got in a scuffle at Wal-Mart turned out to be drunk and driving with his young children. Police responded to a call from the Wal-Mart Supercenter of a man fighting with several other people. The scuffle started when a group of people noticed a man "acting aggressively toward one of his children." When several of the people in the group told the man to "stop hurting the child," a fight broke out, which led to the call. The man was taken into custody and booked for third-degree driving under the influence.

· Saturday, March 22: Two men on their way to a prayer service in Winter Haven, Florida discovered the body of dead man in the driveway of a church. Police identified the man as an employee of the Wal-Mart distribution center down the street from the church. Police said the victim may have been attacked near the Wal-Mart distribution center, and his body dumped at the church.

Wal-Mart has become a national stage for almost every kind of human drama: domestic violence, stalking, murder, rape. It all happens in Wal-Mart parking lots. It also happens in Target parking lots, Home Depot parking lots, and other sprawling roadside attractions. But it happens more often at Wal-Mart because it controls more than 4,000 U.S. parking lots that make very convenient staging areas: they are crowded, they are near the interstate, and they are easy targets.

If this criminal activity were just a corporate problem, it would be bad enough. But the cost of this crime to the public runs into the millions of dollars annually. There is the cost of the responding to incidents, the investigations, the write ups, plus the arraignments, the court dockets, the trials, etc. These are all public costs that are not often figured into small town budgets. One big box store in Massachusetts named a local cop as it’s "employee of the year" because he spent so much time chasing after shop-lifters fleeing from the store.

Wal-Mart has been less than forthcoming about the extent of its crime problem. But the subject has been a sore point for more than a decade. In 1996, the company’s Vice President for Loss Prevention admitted that "80% of crimes at Wal-Mart were occurring not in the stores, but outside their walls, either in the parking lots or in the exterior perimeter of the

Wal-Mart promises you will find low prices at its stores--Always. Based on police logs this past week across America, you will also find a wide assortment of crimes against persons and property---Always. After all, criminals need to "live better" too.

source: The Huffington Post

FAGBUG: Erin’s Story

2008-03-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

I ran across this MySpace page today and found it to be sad, yet inspirational all at the same time. It is sad to know there are closed minded freaks out there that would actually think they are somebody important to do this to another person. Who the hell do these asshole freaks think they are?!?

Yet this story is inspirational because this strong young lady didn’t let these cowardly criminals get her down. This is the story of FAGBUG and Erin Davies:

What is Fagbug?
On the 11th annual National Day of Silence (April 18, 2007), Erin Davies was victim to a hate crime in Albany, NY. Because of sporting a rainbow sticker on her VW Beetle, Erin’s car was vandalized, left with the words "fag" and "u r gay" placed on the hood and driver side of her car. Despite initial shock and embarassment, Erin decided to embrace what happened and film a documentary about her 58-day cross country tour around the US and Canada in her car known worldwide as the fagbug.

What’s the Goal?
Erin’s goal is to get 1 million people (both gay and straight) to add rainbow fagbug stickers to their cars so no one will be targeted like she was again. To order a fagbug sticker or t-shirt go to fagbug.com

Booking Fagbug?
Upon the completion of the Fagbug cross country tour, Erin’s editing the fagbug documentary, as well as booking a national speaking tour. To bring Fagbug to your campus email Erin at erin@fagbug.com

FAGBUG MYSPACE:

LISSA: Art of Falling Deceptions

2008-03-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

First the background. A little while back, Wal-Mart entered into contracts to sell services such as DirecTV, Vonnage, and different internet services. The problem: many people don’t want to get their services in a different package from Wal-Mart. These companies are starting to come down on Wal-Mart for not holding up their end of the contracts. But Wal-Mart has taken steps to change that.

I just found out that during a recent meeting, Wal-Mart has begun to force their employees to lie and use scare tactics to get you to sign up for services through them. They are banking on your ignorance to help them make their contracts. In an effort that rivals the Y2K scare, Wal-Mart is using the Analog Shut Off Date. February 17, 2009, the Federal Government has ordered all over-the-air broadcasts to be changed from analog to digital.

This is where they are hoping you are idiots. First of all, this will only be "over-the-air" broadcasts. In other words, if you have an antenna outside, or a pair of rabbit ears behind the TV, and that is the only way you get TV, then you will be affected. If you get TV by cable or satelite, this will not affect you. But they don’t want you to know this. Wal-Mart has now instructed their employees to tell you that cable services use analog signals, and they will be shut off February of next year. First thing, analog by cable is not going to be affected. This is not being broadcast over the air. The government wants to free up over the air frequencies to be able to sell them to high bidders for other reasons. If you have cable now, you will have it then. But Wal-Mart is forcing their employees to lie to you, so you will drop your cable company and sign up with them to get DirecTV.

Secondly, let’s use a little logic. I have a hard time thinking that a company making millions of dollars off of providing you television service is going to throw their hands up next February and say, sorry, can’t help you anymore. Quite frankly, some cable companies get their signals digitally, but change it to an analog signal, send it over the cable, for your convenience. So you are not forced to buy a new television by February. Cable companies are looking out for you. Do you think Wal-Mart is?

One catch, signing up with Wal-Mart requires you to pay a $285 downpayment. This just happens to be Wal-Mart’s commission. Now DirecTV will pay you back this downpayment, at a rate of $5 per month. So, in a short 5 years, you will get your money back. Before Wal-Mart got a contract, the downpayment was only $50. But total startup cost if you order directly from DirecTV? $0. Exactly, you can save $285 just by ordering direct. Something Wal-Mart doesn’t want you to know.

In our area, DirecTV does not offer local channels. So, when you buy your new high definition Television with digital tuner already installed, and they scare you out of your cable company for DirecTV, now they need to sell you a separate digital tuner and rabbit ears. Yes, they think your brand new, wall mounted LCD TV would look good with a box below it and some old fashion rabbit ears to really bring out just how high tech you are.

This is just an example. The lies they are also being forced to tell include, when you buy a computer or a Playstation 3, they need to talk you out of your internet service and get you on a Wal-Mart special (and no, it is not the Wal-Mart service they stopped giving away cds for a long time ago) account. When you buy a laptop, they are supposed to take you to the connection center and get you to subscribe to a service with internet on a cell phone company. If you look at a phone, they are supposed to get you to drop your phone company to get you to sign up for Vonnage, which is phone over high speed internet. Don’t have high speed internet, see beginning of this paragraph.

And this is what it has all boiled down to. The associates were told earlier this week that they have to do this. They have to convince people to sign up with Wal-Mart contract services. They were told the lies to tell you. They even have placed in a team of professional liars. Associates who have even more in depth training to be more persuasive on lying to you, or to try to scare you. And what if they don’t? They were told that they would be replaced. They have been threatened with either a pay cut and getting moved to a worse section of the store, or termination, if they don’t lie to you, or scare you into a contract.

This is the monster you have created. This is the monster you support and follow blindly. If this is who you support, then you really are the fools Wal-Mart wants you to be. They know the current economy, and have posted in many publications that they hope the economy stays down. Because it has brought you to them. Why help? If they can get you in high cost contracts, then they keep you out of your means of support and keep you shopping at their stores. Welcome to the real world, wake up and realize - you are being taken advantage of, and they are getting richer because they are keeping you stupid.