JW2020
JW2020's JournalBarnes & Noble: The Final Chapter?
The last nationwide book retailer may be writing its final chapter. Barnes & Noble's (BKS) latest quarterly sales results show a lack of foot traffic in the stores and an absence of management focus on retail that foreshadows a disappointing end for the company's 675 stores and perhaps its entire existence.
This morning the company reported a 7.4% drop in revenues and a $122 million loss for the fourth-quarter of its fiscal year. For the full year Barnes & Noble earned a mere $10 million, compared to $177 million in 2012.
B&N's disastrous focus on making Nook e-Readers is weighing heavily on the chain's operations. A 17% drop in Nook revenues and stunning $475 million loss for the device division in 2013 are hobbling the company's ability to keep its stores afloat in an increasingly tough environment for bricks and mortar stores.
Brian Sozzi, CEO and chief equities analyst at Belus Capital Advisors, thinks the odds are stacked against Barnes & Noble. "I have no confidence in this company surviving," Sozzi says in the attached video. In large part that has to do with the company cannibalizing itself with branded tablets and e-reader applications. "The more they continue to pump this Nook app across platforms the stores become increasingly irrelevant."
Most people who pay attention saw this coming. The DVD box sets for 1960s sitcoms were selling for $70 in B&N. Go on to amazon and the same product would be selling for $20.
Local news porn
The local news it seems just about anywhere is filled with the most deplorable types of stories. Local mom fed crack to 2 year old. Mother and father kept infant at home alone in cage while they bar hopped. Mother sold teenage daughter to boyfriend for money to buy booze. On facebook these stories are often posted with teasers. A mugshot will be posted with a tagline stating the horrible act and then it will say, "Click on the link to find out where police found her". The local news porn show has become nothing more than gladiator games. And if you want to see the most vile racism ever imaginable just look at a local news facebook where they post a crime story and one of the suspects is African American. Local news also posts crime scene camera footage, in an effort to get citizens to call police if they see a suspect. I'm sick of it. The "news" always fishes out stories about crimes against children and then they exploit the hell out of it. What can be done to get rid of this shit other than just turning it off.
Alien Terrorist Removal Court - Yup, that's a thing
http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/terrorist-court-unused-16-years-after-creation-14746More than 15 years since its creation – and a decade after 9/11 – a special court for deporting suspected foreign terrorists has never been used.
Since 1996, five federal judges have been regularly appointed to sit on the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, a court most people have never heard of.
The court has no budget or staff, though the clerk of the U.S. District Court in Washington will serve that role if needed. But legal observers, attorneys and even the judges appointed to the court wonder if that will ever happen.
"I guess I’m still on the court, though I’m not too nervous about being called to active duty," said U.S. District Court Judge David D. Dowd, one of the court's original sitting jurists. "Our court has suggested that Congress should just abolish the court if it's not going to be used, but no one has taken the bait on that issue."
The terrorist court is just one of a few unused – and potentially unconstitutional – counterterrorism laws that remain on the books. Created by Congress in the aftermath of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks in 1993 and 9/11, these legal vestiges may have run their course, been rendered useless by other laws or were never necessary.
Sports: Just a distraction from things that matter?
http://coolrevolution.net/2013/02/03/sports-just-a-distraction-from-things-that-matter/Now there are other media too whose basic social role is quite different: it’s diversion. There’s the real mass media–the kinds that are aimed at, you know, Joe Six Pack–that kind. The purpose of those media is just to dull people’s brains.
This is an oversimplification, but for the eighty percent or whatever they are, the main thing is to divert them. To get them to watch National Football League…. Just get them away. Get them away from things that matter. And for that, it’s important to reduce their capacity to think.
Take, say, sports–that’s another crucial example of the indoctrination system, in my view. For one thing because it–you know, it offers people something to pay attention to that’s of no importance. That keeps them from worrying about things that matter to their lives that they might have some idea of doing something about. And in fact it’s striking to see the intelligence that’s used by ordinary people in [discussions of] sports. I mean, you listen to radio stations where people call in–they have the most exotic information and understanding about all kind of arcane issues. And the press undoubtedly does a lot with this.
You know, I remember in high school, already I was pretty old. I suddenly asked myself at one point, why do I care if my high school team wins the football game? I mean, I don’t know anybody on the team, you know? I mean, they have nothing to do with me, I mean, why I am cheering for my team? It doesn’t mean any–it doesn’t make sense. But the point is, it does make sense: it’s a way of building up irrational attitudes of submission to authority, and group cohesion behind leadership elements–in fact, it’s training in irrational jingoism. That’s also a feature of competitive sports. I think if you look closely at these things, I think, typically, they do have functions, and that’s why energy is devoted to supporting them and creating a basis for them and advertisers are willing to pay for them and so on.
- Noam Chomsky
Cindy Sheehan to perform nude stunt
http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/2013/06/cindy-sheehan-to-perform-nude-hirewire.htmlCindy Sheehan to perform “stunt” near White House.
Beginning on April 4th from the grave of her son Casey in Vacaville, CA, in an action called, Tour de Peace, Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan has recently cycled 3500 miles to the fence of the White House.
Cindy Sheehan and Tour de Peace made numerous stops along the way and were able to reach out to thousands of people to inspire and be inspired by the message of peace and environmental sustainability. Even though Tour de Peace is just one long action in Sheehan’s nine year long commitment to peace and justice, the Tour got no coverage from the national press or media.
To try to do anything to call attention to the Tour de Peace and the thousands of people in solidarity with its demands, Sheehan has announced that she will perform a tightrope ride on her bike while completely nude and noshing on a gluten free-vegan pizza: the high wire will stretch from the tip of the Washington Monument to the statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Park across from the White House.
Paula Deen: Ignorant or deep seated hatred?
Her statements are inexcusable. Do you think that her statements were made because she genuinely hates black people or because of her environment she thought such statements were acceptable or is she just a money grubbing rich person who will say or do anything for money and because of the status that money affords her she thinks she can say or do anything with no consequences?
Breaking ’08 Pledge, Leaked Trade Doc Shows Obama Wants to Help Corporations Avoid Regulations
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/6/14/breaking_08_pledge_leaked_trade_docA draft agreement leaked Wednesday shows the Obama administration is pushing a secretive trade agreement that could vastly expand corporate power and directly contradict a 2008 campaign promise by President Obama. A U.S. proposal for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact between the United States and eight Pacific nations would allow foreign corporations operating in the U.S. to appeal key regulations to an international tribunal. The body would have the power to override U.S. law and issue penalties for failure to comply with its ruling. We speak to Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, a fair trade group that posted the leaked documents on its website. "This isn’t just a bad trade agreement," Wallach says. "This is a 'one-percenter' power tool that could rip up our basic needs and rights." [includes rush transcript]
Chief Justice Barack Obama
Really? That and after Michelle Obama wins the Presidency after Hillary there are people saying that Malia and Sasha should run for President and that Chelsea should run for Senate and then for President and then Bill Clinton should be installed as a Supreme Court Justice and Hillary too! Aww.. heck, just give Bill Clinton any old position he wants in any Democratic administration. You can't look at comments like these and think that the person making them is coming from a realistic position.
Criticism of NSA spy program is by proxy criticism of Obama. Die-hard defense of every policy decision, die-hard defense of every personality quirk, die-hard defense of every misstep. These people are public servants, they aren't demi-gods that we are expected to grovel at their feet.
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