During my high school freshman year, our general science teacher conducted an experiment to demonstrate the link of the sense of smell to the sense of taste. He blindfolded several students and attached clips to their noses before giving them a deep orange-red liquid to drink. Not one of them could identify the mixture as tomato juice. At the same time, another group of blindfolded students without clips on their noses uniformly recognized the fluid as tomato juice.
(By the way, two other life-lessons from that general science class: To reduce the risk of botulism, never buy a dented can of any food product as even a microscopic hole can let air inside the vacuum seal; to avoid ringworm, make sure your haircutter/stylist uses a new comb straight from a sealed wrapper or one soaked in that omnipresent Barbicide blue solution.)
Getting back to your nose, no doubt you’ve experienced the displeasure of barely tasting a good meal when your nose was stuffed. And we’ve all, for sure, been seduced by the aroma of freshly baked bread, or steaming coffee, or, for those with a sweet tooth, the enticingly sinful scent of Cinnabons wafting through a mall or food court.
Whether it be aromatherapy for a more balanced and harmonious life, or fragrances sprayed throughout stores as part of their atmospherics, like lighting and music to stimulate you to spend more time inside their walls and hopefully spend money, our sense of smell is the target of savvy marketers.
Now that I’ve got you thinking about scents, imagine how you’d react to a second-hand store. You’d probably think in terms of dank, musty odors. Maybe even a little bit of death-warmed-over.
Your olfactory thoughts wouldn’t be too far off; many second-hand store operators think so, as well. That’s behind a decision by Goodwill Industries to incorporate fragrance technology into 44 stores in southeastern Wisconsin and metropolitan Chicago. “Scent is a big part of the store environment and the overall shopping experience, but creating a pleasant scent experience in thrift stores can be a bit more challenging than the norm,” Billie Torrentt, VP stores at Goodwill, said in a story posted on the Chain Store Age Website.
Hints of sweet orange and honeysuckle blended into a signature scent will romance shoppers while they browse the clothing and home goods seeking a second, or greater, chance at utility.
Express Lines: Standing sixth in line at Costco recently with just three items, I thought to myself what the person behind me voiced. “Why doesn’t Costco have an express line for customers with just a handful of products to buy?”
Though I surely sympathized and empathized with her, I couldn’t resist imparting a bit of retailing lore garnered over 30 years. In truth, stores should be catering to those with carts chock full of merchandise rather than those who buy one, two or three items. Those customers are commonly called “cherry-pickers” for their tendency to buy just items on sale while purchasing the bulk of their goods at other stores.
Of course, Costco members pay for the privilege of shopping at the clubs, so they can’t really be called cherry-pickers. But the concept is the same: ‘Tis better to treat your high volume customers royally so your coffers will swell.
Sadly, too many grocers and discount stores put more emphasis on customers with few items than on those with full shopping carts. Sadly, unless you’re among those who have but a few items to buy.
The World Is Changing: Here’s another sign the retailing world, nay, society overall, is changing—Dollar General, a chain that previously targeted few households with incomes beyond the working poor, next month will begin selling merchandise over the Internet.
A company with more than 9,500 stores in 35 states, Dollar General says households making $70,000 or more are its fastest-growing customer segment, according to Internet Retailer.
The action conveys several points about societal changes: Internet access and purchasing have become mainstream, across all income levels. In addition, the stigma of shopping in a Dollar General store is rapidly disappearing for upper middle class families, a trend bound to accelerate given the anonymity of Internet buying from the privacy of your home or office computer.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Inspired by The Times
You’re perhaps tired of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene stories, but indulge me this one personal note.
Gilda, Ellie, Donny and I were traveling in upstate New York, in the area around Lake Placid, Saturday. It was a beautiful sunny day, with temperatures approaching 80 degrees. Had it not been for the impending landfall of Irene, we would have stayed overnight instead of driving back down to White Plains and arriving home well before the full force of the deluge hit.
It’s a good thing we didn’t sojourn upstate. Torrential rains whacked northern communities. One of the towns we drove through on Route 73, Keene, was particularly devastated. “While the damage was widespread, (Essex) County Emergency Services Director Don Jaquish said Keene and Keene Valley were hit the hardest. The Keene fire station was swept away by the floodwaters,” North Country Public Radio reported.
There truly is no escaping the wrath of Mother Nature, should she ever wish to single you out for misery.
Time to Reorder: In case you haven’t noticed by now, I’m an old-fashioned type of guy. I’m not an early technology adopter. To a fault I often resist adapting my ways to new-fangled means.
Which explains why I just turned the page in my At-A-Glance weekly pocket calendar and came across the friendly reminder it’s time to reorder for 2012. My iTouch has an electronic calendar. I just find it more comforting, convenient and calculating to use an old-fashioned paper calendar to keep track of appointments and significant dates.
I’m not alone in this allegiance to past practices. Last month The NY Times ran an article, “A Paper Calendar? It’s 2011,” that lauded the now-seeming eccentricity of non electronic record keeping (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/fashion/calendar-wars-pit-electronics-against-paper.html?scp=3&sq=pamela%20paul&st=cse).
I also walk around with a notepad in my back pocket just in case the muse descends upon me and I’m inspired to write a blog. Though I readily compose at my laptop, a goodly number of blog entries are first written in longhand. This practice presents the challenge of reading my scribble, often aided by a magnifying glass to help deduce and discern my scrawls. So if something you read doesn’t make sense, my defense is that I didn’t transcribe it correctly.
Though recently I’ve taken to keeping an electronic to-do list, I find it not as fulfilling as a paper memorandum. Either way, if a task doesn’t get on one of my lists, fuggetaboutit, it won’t get done.
Roomies: I went to a commuter college, Brooklyn College, so I never had the dorm experience of living with one or two classmates (even in graduate school the “pleasure” escaped me as I lived off-campus in a studio apartment). But I was intrigued nevertheless by an Op-Ed piece in today’s NY Times suggesting the random assignment of college dorm roommates was better than allowing freshmen to choose like-minded individuals they screened through Facebook and other social media interfaces (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/opinion/when-roommates-were-random.html?scp=1&sq=dalton%20conley&st=cse).
A sociologist and dean of social sciences at New York University, Dalton Conley asserts living with someone from a different background and culture is far more developmental than sharing a 10-foot-by-10-foot space for nine months with a clone of your beliefs and biases.
When Dan and Ellie went off to college, their roomies could not have been more different than them.
Though Dan’s best friend also was going to Tufts, they chose to accept the university’s pairings. Dan was into sports, both as a participant and a fan. He was really into The Simpsons. His roommate was Chinese, from a family that ran a restaurant in a nearby town. He’d go home weekends to help out. His physical activity consisted of drawing a bow across a violin. He’d never heard of The Simpsons. Indeed, he never watched TV.
By the end of freshman year, Dan’s roommate still played violin, still went home every weekend, but had become a Simpsons’ convert. Dan, meanwhile, had not adopted any of his mannerisms. Dan resolved to room with best friend, Eric, for the rest of college and beyond.
At Skidmore, Ellie got paired with the daughter of a minister of an independent denomination. She was not a shining disciple of his ministry. She left school before the academic year concluded. From sophomore through senior year, Ellie chose her own roomies.
Ecstasy Above: Two weeks ago Gilda and I returned for a second walk of the High Line, now that the northern part of the elevated urban park on the west side of Manhattan has opened for people gazing and perambulating. The High Line, for those not familiar with it, used to be a railroad spur along the city’s lower industrial corridor running from Gansevoort Street to West 30th Street. Abandoned for many years, it has been transformed into an aerie filled with wild flowers, benches, fountains, and bonhomie heard in the many languages that inhabit New York City.
It is hard not to smile when on the High Line. Just as hard when just thinking about it. Since its opening a year ago, it’s become a quintessential New York experience. In case you missed it, here’s a reflection on it from Sunday’s NY Times Style section: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/fashion/the-high-line-by-day-and-night-nyc.html?scp=2&sq=high%20line&st=cse
Gilda, Ellie, Donny and I were traveling in upstate New York, in the area around Lake Placid, Saturday. It was a beautiful sunny day, with temperatures approaching 80 degrees. Had it not been for the impending landfall of Irene, we would have stayed overnight instead of driving back down to White Plains and arriving home well before the full force of the deluge hit.
It’s a good thing we didn’t sojourn upstate. Torrential rains whacked northern communities. One of the towns we drove through on Route 73, Keene, was particularly devastated. “While the damage was widespread, (Essex) County Emergency Services Director Don Jaquish said Keene and Keene Valley were hit the hardest. The Keene fire station was swept away by the floodwaters,” North Country Public Radio reported.
There truly is no escaping the wrath of Mother Nature, should she ever wish to single you out for misery.
Time to Reorder: In case you haven’t noticed by now, I’m an old-fashioned type of guy. I’m not an early technology adopter. To a fault I often resist adapting my ways to new-fangled means.
Which explains why I just turned the page in my At-A-Glance weekly pocket calendar and came across the friendly reminder it’s time to reorder for 2012. My iTouch has an electronic calendar. I just find it more comforting, convenient and calculating to use an old-fashioned paper calendar to keep track of appointments and significant dates.
I’m not alone in this allegiance to past practices. Last month The NY Times ran an article, “A Paper Calendar? It’s 2011,” that lauded the now-seeming eccentricity of non electronic record keeping (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/fashion/calendar-wars-pit-electronics-against-paper.html?scp=3&sq=pamela%20paul&st=cse).
I also walk around with a notepad in my back pocket just in case the muse descends upon me and I’m inspired to write a blog. Though I readily compose at my laptop, a goodly number of blog entries are first written in longhand. This practice presents the challenge of reading my scribble, often aided by a magnifying glass to help deduce and discern my scrawls. So if something you read doesn’t make sense, my defense is that I didn’t transcribe it correctly.
Though recently I’ve taken to keeping an electronic to-do list, I find it not as fulfilling as a paper memorandum. Either way, if a task doesn’t get on one of my lists, fuggetaboutit, it won’t get done.
Roomies: I went to a commuter college, Brooklyn College, so I never had the dorm experience of living with one or two classmates (even in graduate school the “pleasure” escaped me as I lived off-campus in a studio apartment). But I was intrigued nevertheless by an Op-Ed piece in today’s NY Times suggesting the random assignment of college dorm roommates was better than allowing freshmen to choose like-minded individuals they screened through Facebook and other social media interfaces (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/opinion/when-roommates-were-random.html?scp=1&sq=dalton%20conley&st=cse).
A sociologist and dean of social sciences at New York University, Dalton Conley asserts living with someone from a different background and culture is far more developmental than sharing a 10-foot-by-10-foot space for nine months with a clone of your beliefs and biases.
When Dan and Ellie went off to college, their roomies could not have been more different than them.
Though Dan’s best friend also was going to Tufts, they chose to accept the university’s pairings. Dan was into sports, both as a participant and a fan. He was really into The Simpsons. His roommate was Chinese, from a family that ran a restaurant in a nearby town. He’d go home weekends to help out. His physical activity consisted of drawing a bow across a violin. He’d never heard of The Simpsons. Indeed, he never watched TV.
By the end of freshman year, Dan’s roommate still played violin, still went home every weekend, but had become a Simpsons’ convert. Dan, meanwhile, had not adopted any of his mannerisms. Dan resolved to room with best friend, Eric, for the rest of college and beyond.
At Skidmore, Ellie got paired with the daughter of a minister of an independent denomination. She was not a shining disciple of his ministry. She left school before the academic year concluded. From sophomore through senior year, Ellie chose her own roomies.
Ecstasy Above: Two weeks ago Gilda and I returned for a second walk of the High Line, now that the northern part of the elevated urban park on the west side of Manhattan has opened for people gazing and perambulating. The High Line, for those not familiar with it, used to be a railroad spur along the city’s lower industrial corridor running from Gansevoort Street to West 30th Street. Abandoned for many years, it has been transformed into an aerie filled with wild flowers, benches, fountains, and bonhomie heard in the many languages that inhabit New York City.
It is hard not to smile when on the High Line. Just as hard when just thinking about it. Since its opening a year ago, it’s become a quintessential New York experience. In case you missed it, here’s a reflection on it from Sunday’s NY Times Style section: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/fashion/the-high-line-by-day-and-night-nyc.html?scp=2&sq=high%20line&st=cse
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Modern Orthodoxy
After the 2012 election, orthodoxy, actually the lack of orthodoxy, will prevent Democrats from either enacting or stopping Republicans from trying to repeal progressive legislation.
As the last two years have shown, who is president can have little effect on passage or repeal of laws (with the notable exception of presidential signing statements or executive orders that often circumvent the legislative process).
A successful legislative agenda is determined by a handful of elected officials, usually senators who can freeze government action through whim or conviction. While for centuries much of the world, civilized and not, went to war over real or imagined slights to kings, tribal chiefs or their emissaries, American democracy shielded us from these petty but mortal combustions. We are now engaged, however, in the political equivalent of a bloody battle for control of the state wherein one side gives no quarter and the other must fend off defections to a united front.
With the near total disappearance of a moderate wing of the Republican party, we have on one side of the battlefield an army of representatives rigid in their orthodoxy to an ideology demanding lower taxes, less government, fewer safety net provisions, and more freedom to act as one pleases unless those actions conflict with religious, mostly fundamentalist Christian, beliefs. In other words, no abortions, no same sex marriages, no gay rights, more Creationism classes.
Democrats, on the other hand, are splintered. Some resist abortion rights. Some favor gun rights. Some battle immigration reform. Some question universal health care. Unlike the GOP, Democratic leaders command little party discipline.
Which brings me back to my starting point. Republicans practice orthodox politics. You’re either a hard line conservative (becoming harder every day) or you’d better find a new line of work. They have shown a willingness to shut down the government, or at least limit its effectiveness by holding up key confirmations or stripping necessary funding from departments in disfavor. It takes just one senator, often done anonymously, to derail legislation or scuttle a presidential appointment.
And when legislation does get discussed in the Senate, it takes a super-majority of 60 to end debate, not a simple majority.
All this means that barring an unexpected Democratic tsunami victory in 2012, the Dems will be hard-pressed to advance their agenda in 2013 and beyond. Even when they had a super-majority in 2009-2010 the lack of orthodoxy revealed how disjointed Democrats are, how even one of their own could challenge party leadership and the president.
If Republicans gain control of the Senate, but not a super-majority, they won’t be as powerless because there always seem to be a few Democrats willing to cozy up to the GOP in the hope of notching a conservative record that could be defended back home come the next election.
Politics used to be known as the art of compromise. Now it is strict orthodoxy to dogma, no matter how damaging it might be to the welfare of the nation.
As the last two years have shown, who is president can have little effect on passage or repeal of laws (with the notable exception of presidential signing statements or executive orders that often circumvent the legislative process).
A successful legislative agenda is determined by a handful of elected officials, usually senators who can freeze government action through whim or conviction. While for centuries much of the world, civilized and not, went to war over real or imagined slights to kings, tribal chiefs or their emissaries, American democracy shielded us from these petty but mortal combustions. We are now engaged, however, in the political equivalent of a bloody battle for control of the state wherein one side gives no quarter and the other must fend off defections to a united front.
With the near total disappearance of a moderate wing of the Republican party, we have on one side of the battlefield an army of representatives rigid in their orthodoxy to an ideology demanding lower taxes, less government, fewer safety net provisions, and more freedom to act as one pleases unless those actions conflict with religious, mostly fundamentalist Christian, beliefs. In other words, no abortions, no same sex marriages, no gay rights, more Creationism classes.
Democrats, on the other hand, are splintered. Some resist abortion rights. Some favor gun rights. Some battle immigration reform. Some question universal health care. Unlike the GOP, Democratic leaders command little party discipline.
Which brings me back to my starting point. Republicans practice orthodox politics. You’re either a hard line conservative (becoming harder every day) or you’d better find a new line of work. They have shown a willingness to shut down the government, or at least limit its effectiveness by holding up key confirmations or stripping necessary funding from departments in disfavor. It takes just one senator, often done anonymously, to derail legislation or scuttle a presidential appointment.
And when legislation does get discussed in the Senate, it takes a super-majority of 60 to end debate, not a simple majority.
All this means that barring an unexpected Democratic tsunami victory in 2012, the Dems will be hard-pressed to advance their agenda in 2013 and beyond. Even when they had a super-majority in 2009-2010 the lack of orthodoxy revealed how disjointed Democrats are, how even one of their own could challenge party leadership and the president.
If Republicans gain control of the Senate, but not a super-majority, they won’t be as powerless because there always seem to be a few Democrats willing to cozy up to the GOP in the hope of notching a conservative record that could be defended back home come the next election.
Politics used to be known as the art of compromise. Now it is strict orthodoxy to dogma, no matter how damaging it might be to the welfare of the nation.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Shaken, Not Stirred
I didn’t feel a thing.
Just minutes after I entered the theater in Greenburgh at 1:49 pm for the free Tuesday movie, an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale made its way up the Eastern Seaboard from Virginia passed Westchester on its way to Boston and beyond. No one in the theater twitched a muscle.
I didn’t know what hit me, or rather what I missed, until Ellie called a few minutes later. Then my sister-in-law Annette chimed in from Maryland to say they were all right. Then Dan called from Boston. Good thing I keep my phone on vibrate or I would have annoyed my fellow viewers, one of whom fell asleep and was snoring next to me (that’s what happens when the audience is mostly senior citizens and the movie, The Guard, has lots of heavy Irish accents).
I asked Ellie if the quake had damaged any of the exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. To her knowledge it hadn’t.
Amid first reports that some thought the earthquake was another terrorist attack, I couldn’t help but wonder if people thought back to another pristine day 10 years ago...
Service With a Smile: Southwest Airlines has a reputation for cheeky, funny customer service. Among its hall of fame pranks is hiding a flight steward in an overhead luggage bin for an unsuspecting passenger to discover.
Clearview Cinemas is on a customer service campaign. Before every feature, one of the staff greets seated patrons, advising if any assistance is required one merely has to seek out an associate.
Today’s staffer clearly has a future in true customer service. With refreshing honesty he admonished all, tongue firmly stuck in his cheek, not to bring any problems to his attention because he just doesn’t care.
I’m walking around naked. Now, before you get disgusted, or excited, let me assure you I’m not ambulating sans clothing. My nakedness is restricted to my ring fingers which are sadly unadorned for the first time in more than 28 years as I had to take off my wedding bands (that’s plural) because of a skin affliction.
For the first 10 years of our marriage I didn’t wear a wedding ring as the one Gilda and I picked out from my aunt and uncle’s jewelry store was too tight. Since it has a gold braid around it, my Aunt Vicki cautioned trying to stretch it might snap the braid. During one of my trips to Los Angeles 10 years into our marriage, I decided it was worth the gamble. I handed the ring over to Uncle Harry and told him of Aunt Vicki’s fears. He scoffed at the suggestion, stepped away for a few minutes and returned with the ring I have worn continuously day and night, in the shower, in the pool, while asleep or playing sports, for the last 28 years. Thirteen years ago, to commemorate our 25th anniversary, I bought a silver ring at the Camden Town open air market in London.
My hands feels naked. They look naked. I sure hope this skin condition clears up soon.
Follow the Link: The other day I wrote how difficult it is to edit your own copy. It’s unsettling when a computer does it for you, and I’m not talking about spellcheck.
Sunday night a one line note I was sending to a friend included the following: “see the attached file.” Only thing is, I had inserted a link to a Web site instead of attaching a file, a matter of no import to me, but to my computer it was a major transgression. As soon as I hit the Send button, up popped a window admonishing me I had not included an attachment! Did I want to send the email anyway?
Zounds! We live in a truly extraordinary, scary and infuriating age when machines have the capacity to challenge your every move.
I sent the note as written. Another victory for man vs. machine.
Speaking of attachments, I call again on the NY Yankees to sever their link to A.J. Burnett. This past weekend displayed in microcosm the reality facing the boys from the Bronx. Against the Minnesota Twins, a struggling ball club this year, Phil Hughes pitched a two-hitter, Ivan Nova pitched seven shutout innings and Burnett imploded after less than two innings, being debited for giving up seven earned runs! What’s he going to do against a team that hits well?
Don’t read anything into manager Joe Girardi’s strong defense of Burnett’s inept pitching and rude behavior when taken out of the game Saturday. Girardi did what any good executive is supposed to do. Publicly he stood by his man. Privately he must be seething.
Once Freddy Garcia returns from the disabled list and the Yankees no longer need a sixth starter, the only common sense solution is to remove Burnett from the pitching rotation and even give him his walking papers. Yes, it will cost them money, but keeping Burnett could jeopardize their chances of making the post-season. Burnett is a cancer on the team, depleting the relief corps in games he pitches and subsequent contests, plus he puts more pressure on everyone in the field and at bat to be perfect to make up for his imperfections.
Zipping Along: If it happens once it happens several times each day, almost every time I proffer a credit card. The clerk or the machine asks for my ZIP code. It’s a low-tech security control, as if someone who stole my card wouldn’t be able to discover my ZIP code. Some might tell you it’s a marketing tool for the retailer, but the truth is once your card is swiped your address and a whole lot more become bytes in the merchant’s data base.
In California, the Supreme Court earlier this year ruled asking for a Zip code is a violation of state consumer privacy statutes. Retailers who persist in asking for Zip codes could face civil penalties of up to $1,000 per request.
The restriction, for now, applies only in California, but the Golden State often is a bellwether for the rest of the nation.
Just minutes after I entered the theater in Greenburgh at 1:49 pm for the free Tuesday movie, an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale made its way up the Eastern Seaboard from Virginia passed Westchester on its way to Boston and beyond. No one in the theater twitched a muscle.
I didn’t know what hit me, or rather what I missed, until Ellie called a few minutes later. Then my sister-in-law Annette chimed in from Maryland to say they were all right. Then Dan called from Boston. Good thing I keep my phone on vibrate or I would have annoyed my fellow viewers, one of whom fell asleep and was snoring next to me (that’s what happens when the audience is mostly senior citizens and the movie, The Guard, has lots of heavy Irish accents).
I asked Ellie if the quake had damaged any of the exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. To her knowledge it hadn’t.
Amid first reports that some thought the earthquake was another terrorist attack, I couldn’t help but wonder if people thought back to another pristine day 10 years ago...
Service With a Smile: Southwest Airlines has a reputation for cheeky, funny customer service. Among its hall of fame pranks is hiding a flight steward in an overhead luggage bin for an unsuspecting passenger to discover.
Clearview Cinemas is on a customer service campaign. Before every feature, one of the staff greets seated patrons, advising if any assistance is required one merely has to seek out an associate.
Today’s staffer clearly has a future in true customer service. With refreshing honesty he admonished all, tongue firmly stuck in his cheek, not to bring any problems to his attention because he just doesn’t care.
I’m walking around naked. Now, before you get disgusted, or excited, let me assure you I’m not ambulating sans clothing. My nakedness is restricted to my ring fingers which are sadly unadorned for the first time in more than 28 years as I had to take off my wedding bands (that’s plural) because of a skin affliction.
For the first 10 years of our marriage I didn’t wear a wedding ring as the one Gilda and I picked out from my aunt and uncle’s jewelry store was too tight. Since it has a gold braid around it, my Aunt Vicki cautioned trying to stretch it might snap the braid. During one of my trips to Los Angeles 10 years into our marriage, I decided it was worth the gamble. I handed the ring over to Uncle Harry and told him of Aunt Vicki’s fears. He scoffed at the suggestion, stepped away for a few minutes and returned with the ring I have worn continuously day and night, in the shower, in the pool, while asleep or playing sports, for the last 28 years. Thirteen years ago, to commemorate our 25th anniversary, I bought a silver ring at the Camden Town open air market in London.
My hands feels naked. They look naked. I sure hope this skin condition clears up soon.
Follow the Link: The other day I wrote how difficult it is to edit your own copy. It’s unsettling when a computer does it for you, and I’m not talking about spellcheck.
Sunday night a one line note I was sending to a friend included the following: “see the attached file.” Only thing is, I had inserted a link to a Web site instead of attaching a file, a matter of no import to me, but to my computer it was a major transgression. As soon as I hit the Send button, up popped a window admonishing me I had not included an attachment! Did I want to send the email anyway?
Zounds! We live in a truly extraordinary, scary and infuriating age when machines have the capacity to challenge your every move.
I sent the note as written. Another victory for man vs. machine.
Speaking of attachments, I call again on the NY Yankees to sever their link to A.J. Burnett. This past weekend displayed in microcosm the reality facing the boys from the Bronx. Against the Minnesota Twins, a struggling ball club this year, Phil Hughes pitched a two-hitter, Ivan Nova pitched seven shutout innings and Burnett imploded after less than two innings, being debited for giving up seven earned runs! What’s he going to do against a team that hits well?
Don’t read anything into manager Joe Girardi’s strong defense of Burnett’s inept pitching and rude behavior when taken out of the game Saturday. Girardi did what any good executive is supposed to do. Publicly he stood by his man. Privately he must be seething.
Once Freddy Garcia returns from the disabled list and the Yankees no longer need a sixth starter, the only common sense solution is to remove Burnett from the pitching rotation and even give him his walking papers. Yes, it will cost them money, but keeping Burnett could jeopardize their chances of making the post-season. Burnett is a cancer on the team, depleting the relief corps in games he pitches and subsequent contests, plus he puts more pressure on everyone in the field and at bat to be perfect to make up for his imperfections.
Zipping Along: If it happens once it happens several times each day, almost every time I proffer a credit card. The clerk or the machine asks for my ZIP code. It’s a low-tech security control, as if someone who stole my card wouldn’t be able to discover my ZIP code. Some might tell you it’s a marketing tool for the retailer, but the truth is once your card is swiped your address and a whole lot more become bytes in the merchant’s data base.
In California, the Supreme Court earlier this year ruled asking for a Zip code is a violation of state consumer privacy statutes. Retailers who persist in asking for Zip codes could face civil penalties of up to $1,000 per request.
The restriction, for now, applies only in California, but the Golden State often is a bellwether for the rest of the nation.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Dollar Daze, Made in China
Dollar Daze: Perhaps you saw the article in today’s NY Times magazine section, “The Buck Shops Here.”A well-written piece, the basic premise was more middle class and even affluent people buy goods at dollar stores, examples of which it noted were Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree, each with thousands of links in their chains (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/magazine/the-dollar-store-economy.html?scp=2&sq=family%20dollar&st=cse).
They may all have the word “dollar” in their names, but only Dollar Tree is a true dollar emporium, a store that prices everything at a dollar or less. Dollar General and Family Dollar long ago abandoned any pretense they sell stuff for 100 pennies. Dollar General and Family Dollar, along with other companies such as Big Lots and National Wholesale Liquidators, are part of the extreme-value retailing segment of the industry catering to those who increasingly live paycheck to paycheck, or government assistance check to government assistance check.
Most Dollar General and Family Dollar stores blossomed in the southeast, though they’ve now sprouted up in more than half of the country, usually in small towns where rents are low and the needy are many. About 30 years ago I sent one of my writers to a Family Dollar store in Kentucky to outfit himself with clothing from head to toe, inside and outside, for less than $10. He easily fulfilled his assignment. It would be harder today, given the higher prices Family Dollar now charges.
But the strategy remains the same—provide basic affordable goods in small, low-rent, off-the-beaten-track stores customers can get into and out of in a hurry. The dollar and extreme-value stores are one reason Wal-Mart has not done as well lately. Customers view them as easier, less expensive outlets to shop.
If you do visit one of those stores, keep in mind you must check a package’s volume. That $1 bottle of shampoo might actually not be such a bargain. These stores are not above having suppliers put 8 ounces of product inside what appears to be a standard 11 oz. bottle. Check the label. Caveat Emptor!
Made in China: Here’s another retailing story that didn’t sit right with me. A recent Los Angeles Times article, citing a federal study, provided what I thought was a misleading impression (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-made-in-china-20110813,0,2746654.story).
No doubt you’ve looked at the country of origin of products you’ve bought and came to the conclusion everything was “made in China.” According to the government study, in the words of the LA Times, you’d have “Sticker shock: ‘Made in China’ ranks only 2.7% of U.S. spending.”
How could that be? Simple, if you include all services, groceries and gasoline purchased by Americans, none of which come from China. The economists at the San Francisco Federal Reserve say in 2010 about 88.5% of U.S. spending was on American-made products and services. Services, such as dry cleaners or plumbers or auto repair shops, are the key to this analysis, since services make up two-thirds of all spending.
Hard to argue with those facts, but easy to dissent from the intended conclusion. Of course services, groceries and gasoline are not Chinese imports. Duh!
A better study might have been, what percent of the remaining 11.5% of consumer spending came from China. Perhaps my math is wrong, but my calculation (2.7% of 11.5%) puts that at 23.5%, meaning roughly one out of every four consumer products bought in the United States was made in China. According to the LA Times, 12% of all durable goods (furniture, appliances, automobiles) purchased here last year were produced in China. In other categories, such as toys and apparel, the percentage would be even greater, I believe. I'm also quite sure you'd find a high percentage of made in China goods in dollar stores and other extreme-value retailers.
Bottom line—we’re awash in Chinese goods and the tide is rising. Until more American firms choose to manufacture domestically rather than in the cheaper labor markets of China and other developing countries, we’ll continue to be plagued by high unemployment, a generation or more of skilled workers not able to find new, comparable jobs lost to overseas production, a growing trade imbalance, and our national status as a producer country will be imperiled.
They may all have the word “dollar” in their names, but only Dollar Tree is a true dollar emporium, a store that prices everything at a dollar or less. Dollar General and Family Dollar long ago abandoned any pretense they sell stuff for 100 pennies. Dollar General and Family Dollar, along with other companies such as Big Lots and National Wholesale Liquidators, are part of the extreme-value retailing segment of the industry catering to those who increasingly live paycheck to paycheck, or government assistance check to government assistance check.
Most Dollar General and Family Dollar stores blossomed in the southeast, though they’ve now sprouted up in more than half of the country, usually in small towns where rents are low and the needy are many. About 30 years ago I sent one of my writers to a Family Dollar store in Kentucky to outfit himself with clothing from head to toe, inside and outside, for less than $10. He easily fulfilled his assignment. It would be harder today, given the higher prices Family Dollar now charges.
But the strategy remains the same—provide basic affordable goods in small, low-rent, off-the-beaten-track stores customers can get into and out of in a hurry. The dollar and extreme-value stores are one reason Wal-Mart has not done as well lately. Customers view them as easier, less expensive outlets to shop.
If you do visit one of those stores, keep in mind you must check a package’s volume. That $1 bottle of shampoo might actually not be such a bargain. These stores are not above having suppliers put 8 ounces of product inside what appears to be a standard 11 oz. bottle. Check the label. Caveat Emptor!
Made in China: Here’s another retailing story that didn’t sit right with me. A recent Los Angeles Times article, citing a federal study, provided what I thought was a misleading impression (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-made-in-china-20110813,0,2746654.story).
No doubt you’ve looked at the country of origin of products you’ve bought and came to the conclusion everything was “made in China.” According to the government study, in the words of the LA Times, you’d have “Sticker shock: ‘Made in China’ ranks only 2.7% of U.S. spending.”
How could that be? Simple, if you include all services, groceries and gasoline purchased by Americans, none of which come from China. The economists at the San Francisco Federal Reserve say in 2010 about 88.5% of U.S. spending was on American-made products and services. Services, such as dry cleaners or plumbers or auto repair shops, are the key to this analysis, since services make up two-thirds of all spending.
Hard to argue with those facts, but easy to dissent from the intended conclusion. Of course services, groceries and gasoline are not Chinese imports. Duh!
A better study might have been, what percent of the remaining 11.5% of consumer spending came from China. Perhaps my math is wrong, but my calculation (2.7% of 11.5%) puts that at 23.5%, meaning roughly one out of every four consumer products bought in the United States was made in China. According to the LA Times, 12% of all durable goods (furniture, appliances, automobiles) purchased here last year were produced in China. In other categories, such as toys and apparel, the percentage would be even greater, I believe. I'm also quite sure you'd find a high percentage of made in China goods in dollar stores and other extreme-value retailers.
Bottom line—we’re awash in Chinese goods and the tide is rising. Until more American firms choose to manufacture domestically rather than in the cheaper labor markets of China and other developing countries, we’ll continue to be plagued by high unemployment, a generation or more of skilled workers not able to find new, comparable jobs lost to overseas production, a growing trade imbalance, and our national status as a producer country will be imperiled.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Little Elephants and a Little More Baseball
In the reporting business, you’re only as good as your editor.
Case in point: Last Saturday’s Iowa Straw Poll in Ames revealed a practice all too common in journalism, namely, writing a story before it happened, leaving space, or more accurately XXXs, where names or numbers are to be filled in after the event actually transpires.
The initial Associated Press article transmitted across the wire to news outlets contained the following paragraphs:
“Saturday’s outcome suggests that XXX has a certain level of support and, perhaps even more important, the strongest get-out-the-vote operation and widest volunteer base in a state whose caucuses require those elements.”[...]
“Despite Perry’s best efforts to overshadow the day, the epicenter of the presidential contest was in this Midwestern town, where XXXX Iowans cast ballots during a daylong political festival, a late-summer ritual held every four years.”
Obviously someone was asleep at the copy desk when the first draft sailed through. It reminded me of an incident in Shelton, Conn., back in the early 1970s when a colleague at the New Haven Register covered one of the city’s political meetings.
Shelton’s Republican Party had a boisterous offshoot known as the Little Elephants Republican Club. He attended one of its contentious night meetings and included a quote from its leader in a story transmitted by Scan-a-Tron machine from our Ansonia bureau to the copy desk in New Haven. The quote did not make any sense to the reporter, but it was colorful and conveyed the political sophistication, or lack thereof, of the speaker.
To be on the safe side, the reporter chose to alert the night editor to the wackiness of the remark by adding the following in parenthesis after the quote: “I don’t know what the f*** it means, but that’s what he said.” (For the record, he did not use f***, preferring the common spelling of the expletive.)
No doubt you’ve guessed what happened. The night editor never saw the parenthetical note, until it was in print. Like I said, you’re only as good as your editor.
P.S. This being a one-person operation, I edit my own writing. Not the best arrangement for error-free copy, but considering what you're all paying for these missives, you're getting a real steal.
Unhappy Birthday: Jorge Posada did not take my advice and retire after his gonzo day Saturday when he batted in six runs highlighted by a grand slam home run.
For an encore, against the Kansas City Royals last night, Posada came to bat in the ninth inning with the bases loaded, two outs, the Yankees trailing by one run. The karma was positively electric. It was, after all, the night of Posada’s fortieth birthday, an opportunity to demonstratively show the world he is on the sunnier, not the darker, side of 40.
Without taking the bat off his shoulder—shades of Carlos Beltran (sorry, couldn’t resist, Mets fans)—Posada ended the game by striking out looking.
Baseball and Felafel? "Baseball and Ballantine" was a memorable slogan of my childhood allegiance to the NY Yankees. Knowing my interest in baseball, my friend Milton sent along links to Israel’s participation in the European Championship tournament. The articles featured the exploits of his cousin Shlomo, a 32-year-old Israeli who currently lives in New York but traveled back to his native land for the just concluded regional playoffs.
Those interested in the development of baseball in Israel may find the articles entertaining:
First article: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/sports/baseball-profile-serving-wine-with-a-curveball-1.375264
Last game: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/sports/baseball-european-championship-israel-bows-out-against-britain-1.376123
Case in point: Last Saturday’s Iowa Straw Poll in Ames revealed a practice all too common in journalism, namely, writing a story before it happened, leaving space, or more accurately XXXs, where names or numbers are to be filled in after the event actually transpires.
The initial Associated Press article transmitted across the wire to news outlets contained the following paragraphs:
“Saturday’s outcome suggests that XXX has a certain level of support and, perhaps even more important, the strongest get-out-the-vote operation and widest volunteer base in a state whose caucuses require those elements.”[...]
“Despite Perry’s best efforts to overshadow the day, the epicenter of the presidential contest was in this Midwestern town, where XXXX Iowans cast ballots during a daylong political festival, a late-summer ritual held every four years.”
Obviously someone was asleep at the copy desk when the first draft sailed through. It reminded me of an incident in Shelton, Conn., back in the early 1970s when a colleague at the New Haven Register covered one of the city’s political meetings.
Shelton’s Republican Party had a boisterous offshoot known as the Little Elephants Republican Club. He attended one of its contentious night meetings and included a quote from its leader in a story transmitted by Scan-a-Tron machine from our Ansonia bureau to the copy desk in New Haven. The quote did not make any sense to the reporter, but it was colorful and conveyed the political sophistication, or lack thereof, of the speaker.
To be on the safe side, the reporter chose to alert the night editor to the wackiness of the remark by adding the following in parenthesis after the quote: “I don’t know what the f*** it means, but that’s what he said.” (For the record, he did not use f***, preferring the common spelling of the expletive.)
No doubt you’ve guessed what happened. The night editor never saw the parenthetical note, until it was in print. Like I said, you’re only as good as your editor.
P.S. This being a one-person operation, I edit my own writing. Not the best arrangement for error-free copy, but considering what you're all paying for these missives, you're getting a real steal.
Unhappy Birthday: Jorge Posada did not take my advice and retire after his gonzo day Saturday when he batted in six runs highlighted by a grand slam home run.
For an encore, against the Kansas City Royals last night, Posada came to bat in the ninth inning with the bases loaded, two outs, the Yankees trailing by one run. The karma was positively electric. It was, after all, the night of Posada’s fortieth birthday, an opportunity to demonstratively show the world he is on the sunnier, not the darker, side of 40.
Without taking the bat off his shoulder—shades of Carlos Beltran (sorry, couldn’t resist, Mets fans)—Posada ended the game by striking out looking.
Baseball and Felafel? "Baseball and Ballantine" was a memorable slogan of my childhood allegiance to the NY Yankees. Knowing my interest in baseball, my friend Milton sent along links to Israel’s participation in the European Championship tournament. The articles featured the exploits of his cousin Shlomo, a 32-year-old Israeli who currently lives in New York but traveled back to his native land for the just concluded regional playoffs.
Those interested in the development of baseball in Israel may find the articles entertaining:
First article: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/sports/baseball-profile-serving-wine-with-a-curveball-1.375264
Last game: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/sports/baseball-european-championship-israel-bows-out-against-britain-1.376123
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Do Nothing Congress II
The parallels to events of our time are eerily similar.
In the third and fourth years of a Democrat’s initial term as president of the United States, a Republican-controlled Congress repeatedly and stubbornly undermined his agenda. The GOP favored pro-business bills. The president advocated for civil rights, more unemployment compensation, universal health care. As the election campaign heated up, the president wound up maligning the Congress for thwarting his proposals as much as he ran against his opponent.
That 1948 campaign is perhaps best known for the infamous “Dewey Defeats Truman” Chicago Daily Tribune headline mockingly raised up for the cameras by the real winner, President Harry S. Truman. But to election buffs, Truman’s labeling of the legislature as the “Do Nothing Congress” is perhaps a more telling perspective on how events will unfold in the 15 months before the 2012 elections.
To secure a second term, to secure the type of support required for his progressive plans, Barack Obama will have to champion not only his credentials but he also will have to convince voters of their need for a Democratic majority in the House and Senate. One without the other will result in continued stalemate at the federal level. Truman’s Do Nothing Congress attack worked. It can work again, but only if Obama vigorously stumps for Democrats across the land.
Unless he’s a very good actor, Obama does not have the same feistiness Truman possessed. He does have a temper, but he’s cool, too cool, in public. After nearly three years in office, after three years of trying to portray a presidential-above-the-fray demeanor, Obama has left too many of his supporters wondering about his commitment to Democratic, progressive principles. Plus, they wonder how good a poker player he is (Truman, fyi, loved playing poker), considering his failed attempts to roll back the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy and the lack of any revenue enhancement provisions in the recent debt ceiling deal. When your opponent (John Boehner) boasts he got 98% of what he wanted, it’s hard to find backers for a stake in the game.
Yet that is what Obama must do. He must re-invigorate the coalition of voters who elected him in 2008. He must campaign in lock-step with congressional candidates. He must convince the disenchanted that sitting out the election, abstaining, is not really an opt-out choice. Not voting for the lesser of two evils, or as a protest against his performance, is, in fact, support for the worst candidate. People in opposition usually are more passionate than those content with the status quo, so they’ll turn out to the polls in droves.
Obama and the Democrats also have to contend with the misguided suggestion by Starbucks founder and CEO Howard Schultz for a boycott of campaign contributions to all incumbents until they act more responsibly and compromise their rigid positions. Was he not listening to Boehner’s remarks? Did he not hear or read how Democrats caved so a debt ceiling deal could be reached? Withholding funds from Democratic incumbents would only exacerbate Washington’s problems, unless Schultz seeks a Republican/Tea Party mandate, a result seemingly incompatible to his previous socially progressive positions.
Obama must define for those on the fence what a Republican/Tea Party win would mean: a more conservative-leaning Supreme Court; an anti-labor, anti-working class White House and Congress; less enforcement of civil rights; attacks on the separation of church and state; tax policies more favorable to the wealthy; fewer consumer protections; less environmental regulation; weakened food and product safety laws; less emphasis on education and the introduction of questionable science; restrictions on medical research; elimination of universal health care. The list could go on and on, but I’m sure you get the point.
In the third and fourth years of a Democrat’s initial term as president of the United States, a Republican-controlled Congress repeatedly and stubbornly undermined his agenda. The GOP favored pro-business bills. The president advocated for civil rights, more unemployment compensation, universal health care. As the election campaign heated up, the president wound up maligning the Congress for thwarting his proposals as much as he ran against his opponent.
That 1948 campaign is perhaps best known for the infamous “Dewey Defeats Truman” Chicago Daily Tribune headline mockingly raised up for the cameras by the real winner, President Harry S. Truman. But to election buffs, Truman’s labeling of the legislature as the “Do Nothing Congress” is perhaps a more telling perspective on how events will unfold in the 15 months before the 2012 elections.
To secure a second term, to secure the type of support required for his progressive plans, Barack Obama will have to champion not only his credentials but he also will have to convince voters of their need for a Democratic majority in the House and Senate. One without the other will result in continued stalemate at the federal level. Truman’s Do Nothing Congress attack worked. It can work again, but only if Obama vigorously stumps for Democrats across the land.
Unless he’s a very good actor, Obama does not have the same feistiness Truman possessed. He does have a temper, but he’s cool, too cool, in public. After nearly three years in office, after three years of trying to portray a presidential-above-the-fray demeanor, Obama has left too many of his supporters wondering about his commitment to Democratic, progressive principles. Plus, they wonder how good a poker player he is (Truman, fyi, loved playing poker), considering his failed attempts to roll back the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy and the lack of any revenue enhancement provisions in the recent debt ceiling deal. When your opponent (John Boehner) boasts he got 98% of what he wanted, it’s hard to find backers for a stake in the game.
Yet that is what Obama must do. He must re-invigorate the coalition of voters who elected him in 2008. He must campaign in lock-step with congressional candidates. He must convince the disenchanted that sitting out the election, abstaining, is not really an opt-out choice. Not voting for the lesser of two evils, or as a protest against his performance, is, in fact, support for the worst candidate. People in opposition usually are more passionate than those content with the status quo, so they’ll turn out to the polls in droves.
Obama and the Democrats also have to contend with the misguided suggestion by Starbucks founder and CEO Howard Schultz for a boycott of campaign contributions to all incumbents until they act more responsibly and compromise their rigid positions. Was he not listening to Boehner’s remarks? Did he not hear or read how Democrats caved so a debt ceiling deal could be reached? Withholding funds from Democratic incumbents would only exacerbate Washington’s problems, unless Schultz seeks a Republican/Tea Party mandate, a result seemingly incompatible to his previous socially progressive positions.
Obama must define for those on the fence what a Republican/Tea Party win would mean: a more conservative-leaning Supreme Court; an anti-labor, anti-working class White House and Congress; less enforcement of civil rights; attacks on the separation of church and state; tax policies more favorable to the wealthy; fewer consumer protections; less environmental regulation; weakened food and product safety laws; less emphasis on education and the introduction of questionable science; restrictions on medical research; elimination of universal health care. The list could go on and on, but I’m sure you get the point.
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