Be INFORMED

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Christmas Sales Take A Plunge

   If you shopped for Christmas presents, then you are aware that the stores which you shopped in had some pretty steep discounts on many items. In spite of sales with as much as up to 70% off in many retailers, holiday sales still took a plunge of at least 2% to 4% this season.

 USAToday

If early December half-price sales aren't enough, what can retailers do early in the new year when consumers spending slows even in a good economy?

Dan Butler, the National Retail Federation's VP of merchandising and retail operations, says many retailers will reassess their pricing to charge closer to what consumers think products are really worth. He says shoppers got savvier and asked "is it really worth it?" even when prices are drastically discounted.

  I guess that they do not figure that those job losses and layoffs that we've had this year might have something to do with a decrease in spending for the holiday.

  SpendingPulse data shows sales of women's clothing dropped nearly 23% while men's clothing sales slipped more than 14% in November and December compared with a year ago. Sales of electronics and appliances fell even more drastically, dropping almost 27%. SpendingPulse tracks total sales paid for by credit card and estimates those paid with checks and cash.

  Did anyone do well this year? Of course, you know that Wal-Mart did well as did online retailer Amazon.com who says that this season was its best ever.

Friday, December 26, 2008

The Power Of One

     Hey you! Yes you! The one reading this right now. See that colorful button off to the right? Have you clicked it yet? Have you signed the petition yet? Come on now. What are you waiting for, Christmas?  Do you want both George Bush and Dick Cheney to get off for the war crimes that they have committed?  Cheney has pretty much dared the citizens of the United States to do anything about. Are you going to let that asshat get away with this? Sign the petition, and then pass it along.

Docudharma 

The Power of One

by: Nightprowlkitty   Fri Dec 26, 2008

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Give Bush and Cheney a fair trial -- something they have not bothered with since they stole office.

It's funny how the powers that be in the media and government are running around with their big fat excuses as to why we can't hold these criminals accountable for their crimes.  It all boils down to "It's too hard!!!"

It's too hard.  It would affect too many people.  It would interfere with the crucial work of restoring our economy.  Blah blah blah.  Not one of these folks say, however, that no crime has been committed, no law has been broken.  No one says that.

I find that stunning.  We all know, at least those of us who have been paying attention, that Bush and his crew of crooks have broken the law over and over again.

And Cheney says "What you gonna do about it?"  And Cheney says "oh, the Dems knew about this and approved it, hell they wanted us to be even tougher than we were!"

And we should believe Cheney ... why?

I don't want speculation any more.  I want the truth, the facts, what really happened.  Only a special prosecutor can get that information, someone who is inured to the politics of Washington D.C. by being given the independent power to investigate.

What I like about this petition is that it shows the power of the individual citizen.  This is not a grassroots effort decided by committee.  A couple of folks got together and came up with the text and others jumped in to work further on it and spread it around.

The power of the individual citizen.

I am extremely annoyed at the argument that we citizens are somehow childlike creatures who don't know all the real problems of our country and so we shouldn't cry and whine about our "pet issues" when the government knows so much more about what is important and should be made a priority.

Bleh.

We ARE the government.  The only people who will take back power as citizens, are citizens!  That's us.

To me, Obama's election is a signal that we can now start taking back that individual power, our individual rights.  It's not for Obama or any elected representative to tell me what I should make a priority.  I get to decide that for myself.  They'll do their jobs, and I'll do mine.

The measure of our success with this petititon will be the resistance from the powers that be, the Dems, the Repubs, Obama, the media.  The more we read about how this is not a good idea, getting a special prosecutor, the more we'll know we have them on the run.

Many of us have sent this petition to friends and family, whether they be politically agreeable to us or not.  One by one people will sign.  This isn't "organized" grassroots and it's netroots only insofar as the structure.

To me, this is about the power of each indviidual citizen, not resting happy with the decisions of our elected representatives but standing up for what we feel is right and making our voices heard.

We need to know the truth about the crimes committed in our names.  We need to have every American citizen aware of what has been done so there can be no denials or excuses.

At this time, the only line between tyranny and freedom is an informed citizenry.  By signing this petition and working to make it known we will not accept anything less than full accountability for torture being done in our name, we are exercising our power, not the power one step removed of the three branches of government.

We have power collectively and we also have power individually.  I think the citizenry of this country are going to be tested enormously as we have to let our representatives know we are not asking for favors on our "pet causes" but taking our government back, of, by and for the people.