Just do this:
The civil rights leader Andrew Young, who was hired by Wal-Mart to improve its public image, resigned from that post last night after telling an African-American newspaper that Jewish, Arab and Korean shop owners had “ripped off” urban communities for years, “selling us stale bread, and bad meat and wilted vegetables.”
Wal-Mart Tries to Enlist Image Help (May 12, 2006)In the interview, published yesterday in The Los Angeles Sentinel, a weekly, Mr. Young said that Wal-Mart “should” displace mom-and-pop stores in urban neighborhoods.
“You see those are the people who have been overcharging us,” he said of the owners of the small stores, “and they sold out and moved to Florida. I think they’ve ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it’s Arabs.”
Splendid.
Pb
ROFL. For some reason this reminds me of the scene in the grocery store in “Do The Right Thing”, when they’re out of MGD.
Ozymandias
Excuse me sir, but you seem to be out of your mind.
When do you think you’ll be getting another delivery?
Bombadil
Ironically, the first thing that popped into my head when I read this was “oy”.
Andrew
Wasn’t his credibility shot as soon as he became a corporate whore mouthpiece?
neil
First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it’s Arabs.
What is ‘the subgroup that it’s OK to hate’, Alex?
Pb
I’m disappointed–no love for Indian Qwickie-Mart owners?
Perry Como
Joe Biden said those guys were okay. Still waiting on word about macacas.
Ancient Purple
Wow. What a class act.
Maybe he and Armstrong Williams can get together and write “Stupidity for Dummies” since they are both qualified experts on the subject.
Face
I agree with Mr. Young. Those damn Orientals have upped the price of 8-ball 25 cents since April. Last time I checked, they’re ain’t no Old Gold pipeline with corrosion problems, nor is Iran brewing malt liquor.
Damn Koreans and their profit margins.
SeesThroughIt
Man, even Ice Cube had to apologize for “Black Korea” even though it was far from the most virulent thing on that album. But unless this guy pronounced Arabs as “A-rabs,” he’s kind of off his game.
neil
Do a post about the Congressional candidate who said black folks couldn’t swim, John. (He’s running for Katherine Harris’ seat–how can you go wrong?)
Ryan S.
Heh… When I worked a cashier, for a grocery store company, that will not be named. All the local ‘Quicky’ stores bought their perishables( bread and stuff) from us.
Punchy
He did? It’s like a 45 second “song”…
It is, however, his best album. Unquestionably.
Paul L.
Wait a minute guys. He’s
blackAfrican-American and a Democrat.BlacksAfrican-Americans can not be racist. Being a a Democrat makes this doubly so.Andrew Young
John should add the Democrat Stupidity tag to this story.
jh
I grew up in a oredominantly black neighborhood that has long been served by the type of store Mr. Young was referring to.
It was the only store withing walking distance of my home and up until about 1980, it was owned by a nice Jewish man who did indeed, sell the store and move to Florida.
It was bought by a not so nice Korean family who unable to distinguish us darkies from one another, proceeded to mistreat everyone from the junkies and winos who DID shoplift, to school children to litle old ladies who just wanted some milk.
The last straw was when in one week I was falsely accused of stealing and my 78 year old grandmom was denied access to the store, likely because she “resembled” a shoplifter.
And for this treatment, we were given the priviledge of paying extortionate markups for our milk, stale produce and lottery tickets.
You wanto the know the realy irony here?
Wal-mart has no interest whatsoever in opening stores in any community where this type of store is prevalent.
None. Zero. Zilch. Nada.
In my mind, Mr. Young’s comments have done two things
– brought to light a long simmering resentment African-Americans in poor communities feel towards exploitative merhcants
– Illustrated to the minority crony/mouthpiece class just how truly expendable they are to the corporatocracy.
Pb
That makes my “Do The Right Thing” reference just that much more appropriate, then.
Punchy
As a former lifeguard, this is largely true. Call that racist if you like, but the percentage of those who cannot swim is easily over 70%…in swim lessons, the ratio of white to black kids was at least 25-1, which probably explains it….
neil
You’re blowing my prepared response, Punchy…
ThymeZone
Wow, I had no idea Young had fallen into this state of fuckedupness.
Sad. Embarassing.
I want to hear what Bill Bennett has to say when he figures out that urban blacks apparently aren’t smart enough to go where the fresh vegetables are, rather than keep getting “ripped” off by greedy Arabs and Koreans.
We could abort all the black, Korean, Arab and Jewish babies. But that would be wrong.
John Cole
Or access to opportunities to swim, much less swimming lessons. Not many beaches, lakes, or rivers in predominately urban areas.
That might explain part of it.
chopper
plus, the jewish shopowners all sold their stock in..aw, screw it.
Punchy
When down in South Florida, there’d be numerous drownings on the Miami beaches. Almost exclusively these would be young AA children, almost without exception. One would think being relatively close to the ocean would bring swimming savvy, but alas it did not. And the more I pontificate on this, the more I realize that I’d only ever seen a few AAs on the beaches of Fort. Laud, Boca, and West Palm….
McNulty
1) I grew up in (then) white neighborhood in SW Philly, and corner grocers are grossly overpriced there, too.
2) the corner grocer is my predominantly white current neighborhood in South Philly is also grossly overpriced.
3) Lottery tickets can’t be “marked up”. Nor for that matter is anyone forcing you to buy them. Not sure why you’d mention them with milk and produce.
Louise
Bombadil…me, too!
Mac Buckets
What a doofus. Anthony Irvin won the gold medal in a freestyle sprint in Sydney. Tim Duncan was a top swimmer before he was blessed with the opportunity to play for the Almighty Spurs.
On the other hand, thinking about Joe Delaney makes me very, very sad.
Mac Buckets
Man 1: I need one 29-cent stamp.
Apu: That’s $1.85.
Man 2: I’ll have $2.00 worth of gas, please.
Apu: $4.20.
Martin: How much is your penny candy?
Apu: [cheerful] Surprisingly expensive!
SeesThroughIt
Yeah, he apologized. But then, of course, he noted that on “No Vaseline,” he said he was gonna hang Eazy-E from a tree, pour gasoline on him, and light him on fire, and nobody–not even Eazy-E–was demanding that he apologize for that. Ah, “gangster rapper” outrage of the early 1990s…that brings back memories.
I agree that Death Certificate is Cube’s best album, but only by the teeniest of margins over the unbelievably good AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted. Actually, if I’ve listened to AMW more recently, it nudges its way into the top spot for a bit.
jh
Mc Nulty,
Lottery tickets was a bad example.
Truth be told, I wouldn’t have minded the markups on groceries as much if people would at least treat you like a human being.
As for not patronizing establishments where such practices are common, that’s easier said than done in areas like the one I grew up in.
The nearest chain supermarket is not within walking distance or near, so the corner groceries had a monopoly.
The idea that Wal-mart was somehow going to come into poor, black, underserved communites to break the stranglehold of convenience stores is a laugh and a half.
Punchy
Yes, and all the Chinese are soooo damn TALL!! They’re all, like, 7 feet tall! Just look at Yao Ming! A race of GIANTS!!
Mac Buckets
Only by the margin of “Wrong N to F Wit.”
The Other Steve
See, he should have complained about the Macaque’s selling us stale bread, and bad meat and wilted vegetables.
Then when people complained he could have said “Macaque” means shithead.
Paul L.
Funny Quotes From American Dad
Bullock: Sure, everyone knows the CIA invented crack and introduced it to the inner city, but what we never get credit for is malt liquor. (Chuckles) Yes, that was us.
Darrell
Why? Is there a local convenience store/Walmart conspiracy that you’d like to share with us? Walmart undoubtedly wants to open stores wherever they can make money.
A number of communities have protested Walmart’s efforts to open stores in their communities, in some cases successfully keeping them out.
Punchy
Agreed. I hesitate to put Death Certificate over Amerikkka’s Most Wanted, simply due to the smooth rhymes of AMW (not to mention his duo with Chuck D…classic)…but I like how DC is themed, ending song 9 (10?) with his death, followed by rebirth, etc…and No Vaseline could be the best rap feud song ever written, dissing not just Easy, but his mananger, Ren, and Dre….
And then I could argue that the first half of Lethal Injection, especially Ghetto Bird, may be some of the best lyrics of any Cube album to date…
Mr. Cole…can we get a music thread?
The Other Steve
I do think jh is right, that this incident simply demonstrated some simmering resentment, as well as how while thousands may stand up and say George Allen didn’t say anything racist, nobody will defend a black man in the same way.
Darrell
In Allen’s case, it wasn’t racism, or at least obvious racism. The kid was following him from stop to stop with a camera in his face. Andrew Young, who has a history of racist statements, clearly got caught making another one,a and it was blatent. The examples aren’t really comparable.
The Other Steve
Wal-Mart’s store model doesn’t work. Same with Sam’s Club.
They depend on people loading up the cart with junk, and that only works if you have a car… and most urban dwellers don’t need cars and it’s expensive for Wal-Mart to build the parking lot space in an urban zone anyway. So given that, how is anybody going to want to buy a cart full of $1 pickle jars?
It’s got nothing to do with people protesting them opening stores. Their model just doesn’t work. Which likely explains their failure in Korea and Germany.
The Other Steve
In Young’s case, it wasn’t racism, or at least obvious racism. He’s been plagued by exploitave Korean shop owners for years, and he just finally had enough of their whining. In Allen’s case, he has a history of racist statements, clearly got caught making another one, and it was blatant. The examples really aren’t comparable.
SeesThroughIt
Great cut, but “My Summer Vacation” is my joint off that album. Plus, “Steady Mobbin'” is a great single–I can still play that in clubs today.
“No Vaseline” is one of the hardest-hitting dis tracks ever recorded–Cube really went for it on that. Curiously enough, after having delivered one of the most scathing dis tracks ever made, Cube was on the receiving end of one several years later when Common Sense made “The Bitch in Yoo” (sic).
McNulty
jh,
My only point was that corner grocers are way overpriced in white neighborhoods too.
He would’ve had a more valid point had he complained about “Stop-n-Goes”, at least that’s what they’re called in Philly.
While my mostly white neighborhood in South Philly has an overpriced grocer just like the mostly black neighborhood across Broad St, you can only buy a 40 of OE or St Ides at one of them. I’m sure you know which one.
Darrell
Sam’s club bundles things in large quantities. Walmart, for most of their products, does not. They may have had setbacks in some markets like South Korea, but in other markets such as China, Brazil, and Mexico they have been quite successful, so I don’t what you’re talking about that their “model doesn’t work”
jh
Where else but balloon-juice can you discuss politics, beer AND Ice Cube albums?
I love this place.
Darrell,
What “The Other Steve” said. Wal-mart can’t make money in densely populated urban areas, especially those with spotty public transportation. People can’t carry bulk merchandise on their backs.
Re: Ice Cube Albums
Choosing between Amerikkka’s Most wanted and Death Certificate is far too difficult to ponder. I vote AMW, if only because it was so raw and the Bomb Squad’s production was so far ahead of what anyone else was doing at the time.
Punchy
I’m pretty sure it all started with NWA’s “Benedict Arnold”…Cube finished it, although I think he apologized to Easy right before he died.
Darrell
I was in a WalMart 2 days ago.. Most of their products aren’t packaged in “bulk”.. just so you know. Furthermore, your initial point regarding WalMart was a sneering accusation that they would never go to a poor “black” neighborhood… only now are you backpeddling to the ‘can’t carry bulk’ items BS. Here is what you posted initially:
John Cole
If I am allowed to split hairs here, I would suggest that both statements could be construed as racist, but I am not sure that makes Young or Allen a racist. I think it is possible to make racist statements out of ignorwance, and not merely because you are David Duke and a true hater. I think that is the case with Young, at least, although as a Civil Rights leader, he should know better.
With Allen, I am still not convinced he is a racist. I think he is an ignorant fool, I think he seems to be caught up in the mythology of the confederacy, popular among many southerners, without truly coming to terms the racist past associated to and sprung from that Confederacy, andI think he knows full well that he is catering to a certain element within his electorate when he behaves in a certain way. That is not excusaing him, in any wya, but I am not 100% sure he is a hater at heart. An insufferable ass and not worthy of election, no doubt. But a racist? I am not completely sure.
jh
Darrell,
I was relying on deductive reasoning and common knowledge to make my points. I should have been specific.
It’s more a matter of income than race, but since lower income black neighborhoods tend to be urban, that’s two strikes in Wal-mart’s book.
That’s why Wal-mart typically will not go into poor black neighborhoods. I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
These areas just don’t fit into their business model.
FWIW, Target and other big box stores will go places Wal-mart won’t, mainly because they are not as real estate intensive as Wal-marts. Nor are they as dependent on customres coming in to “stock up”.
Pb
So maybe he’s just ignorant of the racism involved, *and* cleverly exploiting it to pander to racists? Maybe he just didn’t know he was calling that Indian-American kid a monkey, *and* was cleverly calling him a monkey to pander to racists?
Oh well, at least the kid wasn’t an Israeli-American.
g-rant
Young’s obvious issue is blaming the problem on Jews, Koreans, and Arabs for a problem that has nothing to do with ethnic groups. I currently live in Oakland and can attest that corner store groceries are overpriced and of poor quality. The closest one is run by a very nice Yemeni family, but I wouldn’t shop there for day to day food if I could avoid it. Luckily, I have a car and can get to grocery stores easily. Better transportation and more fully stocked grocery stores would be the solution.
Davebo
Sung to the music of stairway to heaven
I’m a man from Iraq
And I’m not going back
And I’m buying a seven eleven
I’ll make two mill a year
Selling condoms and beer
And my wife will still walk well behind me..
Sam Hutcheson
With Allen, I am still not convinced he is a racist. I think he is an ignorant fool, I think he seems to be caught up in the mythology of the confederacy, popular among many southerners, without truly coming to terms the racist past associated to and sprung from that Confederacy
That would make sense if he were a southerner. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me for a Californian.
Darrell
That is funny..
neil
So let me get this straight. George Allen calls a young brown-colored activist a monkey in front of a white Southern crowd, and the jury is out on how he feels about minorities. Well, of course you wouldn’t want to make frivolous accusations of racism.
But Juan Cole, who writes every day about Middle Eastern affairs, can’t mention a breaking scandal in Israel involving the ongoing war without exposing that “he hates Jews” because of his “seething hatred for all things Israel” which is what causes him “to say and do things he would never otherwise do.”
Double standard much?
John Cole
PB- I don’t know why I even bother, because I have learned anything in 4 years, it is when I generally agree with you nitpickers that you give me the hardest time. In this case, I generally agree with you that Allen is a lout, but because I won’t pretend he is on the same moral plane as David Duke, you will be an unending pain in the ass on the matter.
I think he knows racism exists, I think he knows full well that there are certain racist elements of society that he can pay lip service to by embracing the Confederacy and ‘southern culture,’ but at the same time, thinks of hismelf as not a racist, and probably, to some extent, is not a racist or a hater. Again, a number of people embrace the Confederacy and are not racist- they just gloss over the overwhelmingly racist aspects of the culture and honestly think of themselves as not racist. That is why they can say things like ‘macaca’ and be honestly perplexed why the rest of us think they are racist- they probably did think they were just messing around or whatnot, and are immune to the fact that they have made a profoundly racist remark and said something inexcusable and deeply offensive.
That doesn’t mean they are David Duke. It does mean they are fools and ignoramuses, uncultured, wholly insensitive to racial matters, and I would argue, unfit for office, but it does not make them klansmen.
If that does not make sense to you, then just agree to disagree.
Sam Hutcheson
Also, if we’re going to compare this outburst to George Allen, it might be interesting to compare their reactions _after_ the outbursts. Young said (in the same article linked to above):
“It’s against everything I ever thought in my life. It never should have been said. I was speaking in the context of Atlanta, and that does not work in New York or Los Angeles.”
Allen said he was making up play-word moshups of “mohawk” and “caca” and that he really didn’t do anything wrong.
As for Walmart and inner city neighborhood, that is exactly the “context of Atlanta” to which Young refers above. There is a neighborhood in eastern Atlanta called, surprisingly enough, East Lake. It is on the eastern edge of the city and borders Decatur, a city itself but still part of “ITP Atlanta.” In East Lake there exists an abandoned mall (at the intersection of Columbia and Memorial.) The only thing being sold at the current location is crack.
Walmart wants to buy the location and convert it into a superstore (grocery and everything else.) For the most part, the people who live in and around the abandoned mall really would like to see this happen. They like the idea of it not being abandoned, left to rot for drug dealers and the like, and they like the idea of a Walmart in the neighborhood both for convenience and the jobs it would bring. These are, generally speaking, the same people that Andrew Young represented from his time as Atlanta mayor and beyond — urban, poor, predominantly black, etc.
But here’s the rub. The surrounding communities of Decatuer and Avondale Estates, and some parts of East Lake itself, are _highly gentrified._ Decatur is very white, very “liberal”, a bastion for recent college grads (Emory University, Agnes Scott College), lesbians/gays (in the city many refer to Decatur as “DickHater”), etc. And these people, along with many of the recently arrived lofters and condo buyers coming back in from the outer exurbs, _really hate the idea of the Walmart._ Some because it’s Walmart, and they’re “liberals” and it’s their duty to oppose Walmart. Some because they think Walmart will decrease the property values that they hope to grow so they can flip the newly gentrified properties in a year or so.
So, that’s the basic fight. Urban, black Atlanta neighborhood — Andy Young — wants Walmart to buy abandoned mall and turn it into something vaguely useful, even a Walmart. More affluent, mostly liberal, mostly white Atlanta neighborhoods in the area don’t want “Walmart” to come in.
Just so we all know what’s going on in the _local politics_ of this. It doesn’t change the statement to anything less than idiotic, but if you’re going to discuss the possibility of Walmart in the inner city, realize that this is exactly the scenario you’re talking about.
neil
For what it’s worth, John, I do think your take on Allen is very reasonable and probably correct. Just inconsistent.
Face
If Wal-Mart came to the ‘hood, they’d have to sell 8-ball, St. Ides, unedited rap music, and Beyonce posters.
They sell none of that. Ergo, their model does not work.
Pb
John Cole,
Ah yes, woe is you, nice pre-emptive mind-reading and mischaracterization there, oh poor victim. No, I won’t be an unending pain in the ass because you “won’t pretend he is on the same moral plane as David Duke”–and he probably isn’t quite that nutty–I’ll just continue to call you out for being duplicitous and dishonest here.
Right, that must be what he’s thinking. On the other hand, Juan Cole must be thinking much nastier things, he just has the temerity to not be expressing them the way Allen is–PROOF!
Well sure–I’ve been in the South for most of my life, for decades, and I was hanging nooses in my trees just last week… oh wait, no I wasn’t. Who the hell does things like that? I mean, apart from maybe the KKK, or George Allen.
…if it looks like a duck…
Well I most definitely disagree. But I will probably still call you out whenever I see you display such a blatant blind spot.
Darrell
And boy did you ever ‘call out’ JC with that scathing response. He’s probably running out the door right now to get some ice to put on that spanking you gave him. Ouch!
Pb
Darrell,
STFU.
SeesThroughIt
Yeah, part of what made that album so great is that Cube was still raw and hungry, and the Bomb Squad had really gotten their production down to a science (incidentally, there’s a magazine made for enormous record nerds like myself called Wax Poetics that recently ran a 10-page piece on the Bomb Squad–simply amazing. Those guys were/are freakin’ geniuses). So raw rhymes from Cube plus raw, edgy, constantly interesting beats from the Bomb Squad = brilliant album. Also, Cube = greatest west coast MC of all time
The Other Steve
Allen versus David Duke – In all honesty, I think the allen situation is worse. With David Duke you know for certain he’s a racist, and he hates non-white people and wants to eliminate them from the earth. The Allen racism is more subtle, less obvious, and is a slow drain upon the moral fibre of the nation. Duke racism you can just sweep into the gutter and ignore… Allen, not so much.
The Other Steve
Hating Wal-Mart is apolitical. So is liking Wal-Mart.
I can’t stand Wally World. I used to shop there until I realized that their prices aren’t any better than Target(actually in many cases worse), and they have less of a selection of the stuff I want to buy. Plus the stores are dirty, filthy, poorly laid out. Just not a pleasant shopping experience. On the other hand my girlfriend loves it.
When I lived in Iowa there was a big fight with Wal-Mart in one of the southern suburbs of Des Moines. The town had a law, no stores open on Sunday. Guess what? Wal-Mart didn’t care. They said they’d stay open, pay the $5,000 fine and still make money. Didn’t go over real well with this “Christian” community.
Somehow I doubt the property value part. Wal-Mart may decline property values, but not near as much as crack dealers.
Darrell
Andrew Young on one of Ronald Reagan’s speeches: “like a code word to me that it’s going to be all right to kill niggers when he’s President.”
Pb
The Other Steve,
Yeah, David Duke can be absurdly blatant–I quoted him (“the Jewish religion teaches that Jewish priests properly murdered Jesus Christ and boiled him in hot semen!”, I shit you not) a while back on here as an example of what *real* anti-semitism looks like. But I guess John Cole missed that post…
The Other Steve
Oh dear, now Darrell is calling everybody else racist. That’s funny.
My point was… if you have any understanding of this market. Target prides itself for instance on the average checkout being about $50. A similar thing exists with Wal-Mart.
They don’t want you just coming in and buying some toothpaste. There isn’t much of a markup and by the time you get through the checkout line, get a bag, etc. they’ve lost money from the overhead.
No, they need you to buy toothpaste, some diapers, some paper towels, a couple dvds, some cookies, and a play pen for your rugrat, walking out with a full cart and $80 on your credit card. Otherwise there isn’t enough margin to cover the overhead of you just being there.
The Other Steve
Well Reagan didn’t use a lot of racist code.
The Other Steve
Er, I mean did use… DRAT!
Darrell
I was objecting to race baiting. I was not calling “everybody” racist. Sorry you lack the reading comprehensions skills to understand that.
The Other Steve
Yeah, it’s easy to spot. That’s what makes the other type in many ways more dangerous.
That’s the point John saw with Juan, but missed with Allen.
Darrell
What does that have to do with your stated example of S. Korea as a prime example of why WalMart’s “model won’t work”?
Todd
John, not only are the ‘rip-offs’ in the city, but so are 1000 terrorist cell phones.
Pb
Right, because saying that insider trading is stupid is way worse than lobbing racial slurs.
Sam Hutcheson
For the record, I hate Walmart. I have never been in a Walmart where I felt I wasn’t penned in by the absolute dregs of humanity. I think it’s because their aisles are too small, notably smaller than Target’s layout for example. And because I hate people. Regardless, I don’t think replacing the old East Lake mall complex with a Walmart anchor store is a bad idea.
Andrew
Can I just point out tht West Coast rap sucks?
East Coast 4EVA.
The Other Steve
Please don’t be stupidly obtuse.
Face
They have laws like this in suburbs of Des Moines? Ankeny? Didn’t think the Bible belt traveled that far north…God knows they didn’t have this bassackward-ness in Iowa City…
SeesThroughIt
Easy there, big fella! My own sensibility lies squarely in the Mantronix/Paul C/Large Professor/DJ Premier realm of things–particularly with me being a native east coaster and all–but there have been some incredible albums made out here on the west coast. Check out Low Profile, the D.O.C.’s first album, Digital Underground, early Compton’s Most Wanted, early DJ Quik, all the Solesides Records releases (before the name changed to Quannum), Ice-T, King Tee, Tha Alkaholiks, and the early Hieroglyphics (Del, Souls of Mischief, Casual) releases for starters.
Also, if you need a stepping stone into the realm of Too $hort, listen to DJ Premier’s “glove compartment” remix of “In the Trunk.” East-coast production style made Oakland-funky and showcasing how nice $hort is when it comes to riding a beat.
The Other Steve
Well it’s better than crack dealers.
I don’t have any problem with Wal-Mart building stores. They just have to recognize that I won’t shop at their stores unless they clean up their act.(and their stores)
It’s interesting to note that Home Depot has also recently been losing sales. That one I don’t quite understand as generally I like Home Depot, but they do have a tendency to make things hard to find and stick crap in the aisles.
The Other Steve
I can’t remember the town. I think it was Indianola or Waukee or something.
The closed on sunday thing isn’t really a Bible Belt thing, it’s more of a traditional Christianity. You go to Europe and all the stores are closed on sunday.
The Bible Belt would probably demand the stores be open but give 10% of their profits to the church.
rachel
What puzzles me is that Wallmart had to give up in South Korea, but Costco is doing fine. I suspect it has something to do with Labor being very strong here.
Also? Lots of Koreans have cars–probably more have cars than really need them.
Demdude
It was West Des Moines.
Darrell
I can make some reasonably good seat-of-the-pants guesses why that might be: 1)relative slowdown in housing market as a result of higher interest rates 2) stiffer competition from Lowe’s which has been aggressively expanding 3)Walmart/Target have been getting into some of HD’s markets like indoor and outdoor lighting, and fixtures, which would further contribute to erosion of HD sales and/or margins
Darrell
In South Korea? That is interesting. I’m a Costco member, but I don’t think much of them. Walmart generally has better prices over Costco in just about everything but high-end electronics. I think the Costco ‘savings’ is pretty much just a marketing gimmick.
But SamH is right though about the Walmart stores always being so crowded, at least the ones here in Houston. Not the best shopping experience. Smaller town Walmarts seem cleaner and easier to get in and out of.
Face
West Coast Rap and you left out Sir Mix-a-Lot? And how do we classify the Geto Boys? Are the “mid-coast”, “no-coast”, or just “in jail, no-coast, no-chance of parole”??
Glad you mentioned Ice-T. Original Gansta is EASILY in the top 5 of best rap albums. And backing that up with the first Body Count album (the others were laugably horrible)…
John S.
Ah, poor John…ever the martyr.
Let’s all pitch in and buy him a giant wooden cross for Christmas so the next time he feels unappreciated for all his sacrifices he can crawl up on there and nail himself to it.
(Bonus points if you can spot the movie reference.)
Andrew
How, exactly, am I going to start a East coast/West coast feud with reasoned disucssion of good rap abums?
RIP Biggie. Tupac was a hater.
Pb
Snakes On A Plane?
Ancient Purple
Must be regional. The Costcos in Phoenix are much better in quality and price than the Sam’s Clubs. From gasoline to electronics to food items, Costco is leaps and bounds above SC.
Not to mention the fact that Costco treats its workers better, has cleaner stores, and the people are much friendlier.
Kimmitt
I have to chime in on the regionality; Costco has excellent prices in Honolulu.
J. King
What a disappointment that man is. Back when I was young and had a few illusions left, I really looked up to him. And who is this man I so admired? Just your common, garden variety blowhard bigot–George Allen’s spiritual twin.
CaseyL
Recent immigrants, esp. the adults and elderly, still have the mental and emotional habits they developed in the Old Country. One of which is a stern distrust of everyone who isn’t a member of your village/tribe/family; another of which is blatant racism that the person hasn’t yet learned the American Way of being subtle or silent about.
I’ve been in stores run by recent immigrants where I was watched, even followed down the aisles – and I don’t fit any usual profile of “probable shoplifter/drug addict.” I usually leave because I don’t see any reason to put up with that shit, even though I think I understand where it comes from.
Andy Young, on the other hand, has no excuse. He’s not just a grownup American, he’s a lifelong politician. He could surely have made whatever point he thought he was making without putting it in racist terms. Esp. since it’s true that stores serving economically underdeveloped areas did and do have a history of overpricing and lousy service. (There was a news report back in the late 60’s about a neighborhood store where the clerks were caught running around re-pricing merchandise on days when they knew government welfare and Social Security checks had been mailed.)
Krista
Wood’s too expensive to ship. What size hairshirt do you wear, John?
The Other Steve
It depends. I won’t buy produce, bakery or meat at Costco. But I buy Cheerios for about half the price I can get them at the local Cub Foods.
They have good prices on a lot of other stuff, and very good quality. I’ve bought a fair bit. Electronics especially, but even clothes and such.
The big thing for me was tires. I saved $200 on a set of tires over tirerack.com which is where I usually buy.
ThymeZone
1. That’s probably exactly true.
2. It leaves out the part about Allen being a destructive shithead. Because a politician who puts out bait for the worst in people as a way to get attention and votes is evil, AFAIC. It not only flies in the face of what American is supposed to be about, it harnesses that abuse for power. In this case, for personal power.
3. It’s exactly the same thing that Bill Bennett was doing, and I said so at the time, and you acted like the idea was from Mars, and beyond idiotic. You … in your infinite and arrogant wisdom … have decided that Bennett is somehow “better” than Allen, and anyone who dares to challenge the notion is just insane. Well guess what? You were wrong. Bennett is not better than Allen, he is every bit as much a cynical baiter and huckster, he is just a little more upscale shithead, a little smoother.
Bennet harnesses his appeal to assholes and gets rich off the idea that he can teach you how to be morally superior to other people. Allen takes a snarkier approach and gets a Senate seat.
Peas in a pod.
Cassidy
The movie was “The Ref”, if I remmeber correctly.
I do a lot of reading here, very little, to non-existant, commenting. And I have come to a conclusion. Darrell, you are an idiot and a the embodiment of a stereotypical conservative asshole. You cannot have one honest conversation where you blantantly and dishonestly, misrepresent what other peple say. It’s pathetic.
Being a racist and pandering to racist are different things. Any Sounthern politician has to pander to racist on some level, although they most likely aren’t themselves.
Zifnab
The guy was born in 1932. He’s old. Like, really old. I’m willing to give anyone 70 years old or older a bit of a pass on the grounds that he may either be rather daft from old age or still somewhat caught up in the age where saying that sort of crap was acceptable.
Regardless, if Young can’t make it as the top PR guy, I’m sure Walmart has room for him as one of their senior citizen greaters. So long as he doesn’t mind getting locked in the store after hours.
Zifnab
Also, “Working Families for Wal-Mart” looks alot like a solid piece of astroturfing.
That Young would chair such an organization seems like a solid strike against him off the bat.
Zifnab
I read that and I just thought it deserved to be re-printed.
Thank you Cassidy.
Darrell
Wow Cassidy, kisses to you too. Care to show us a specific comment of mine and show how or where I “blatantly and dishonestly” misrepresented what the other commenter posted? Oh yeah, much easier not back up anything you say and instead play the asshole like you’re doing. Carry on..
Darrell
Yeah Zifnab, after you got busted yourself for blatently and dishonestly distorting what another poster had written, no surprise you’re the one pointing fingers now. It’s called projection ahole, and it’s all you’ve got.
The Other Steve
Actually your response to my pointing out the Wal-Mart model relies on people buying a lot of junk, claiming that can’t be true because Wal-Mart doesn’t sell bulk sizes like Sam’s Club was once such example.
But Cassidy is right, your whole schtick is to misrepresent people. It’s the thing liberals used to do that pissed me off.
Darrell
How so TOSser? I DISAGREED with you, I didn’t MISREPRESENT what you said as anyone can reread for themselves, and I still think you’re wrong. That’s called disagreement. Look up the defintion. Since you lumped WalMart in with Sam’s club, it was entirely reasonable for me to point out that unlike Sam’s club, WalMart does not bundle most of their products in bulk. Furthermore, you pointed to S. Korea as ‘proof’ that the WalMart model “doesn’t work”, and I pointed to WalMart successes in China, Mexico and Brazil. We’re talking about business models for chrissakes. It’s a subjective discussion.
TOS, perhaps more than any other poster on BJ, you have attributed quotes, statements and ideas to me and others you disagree with that we never said or endorsed. When called on your dishonesty, you never explain, you just disappear like a cockroach. You of all people to make that accusation, I’m sure the irony is lost on you.
ThymeZone
So let me see if I have this right …. you treat anything and anyone who disagrees with you as if they were pure shit, you lie, you refuse to answer simple and direct questions, you harangue and harass with ill-formed questions of your own, and when you don’t get praised for this shitty behavior, you get pissy and act like people should appreciate you.
What a piece of work you are. How much is John paying you for this shit? Because I tell you what, it ain’t enough.
The Other Steve
What was interesting is that your response was to a point i didn’t make.
That’s generally known as misrepresenting.
Pb
That’s most of your comments, so really, it’s no fun playing that game, it’s like shooting Darrells in a barrell. Let’s play a different game–say I pick a random Darrell comment, what are the odds that you *aren’t* blatantly and dishonestly misrepresenting something?
Darrell
An entity calling itself ‘Cassidy’ decided to hurl unsubstantiated insults at me… and I responded. I’m not sure there’s really any other way to look at it.
John, you’re late with this month’s payment! Send it, as usual, to my PayPal account: [email protected]
Darrell
The tell us TOS, what specific comments did you make that I “misrepresented”. Please blockquote the alleged misrepresentation which was a direct response to a specific comment from you. Please show us, so that we can all see a real example of this “blatent and dishonest” misrepresentation you whackjobs accuse me of.
Truth is, most of you are idiots, and end up feeling stupid when debating with me, because, well.. because you’re phonies and not very intelligent ones at that. So you take cheap shots at me instead of dealing with specifics and facts.
John S.
Projection defined.
I’d submit it to Merriam-Webster, but the back story that would have to accompany the definition would be too long.
John S.
You remember correctly, Cassidy.
Zifnab
I’ll chalk this one up to misinterpretation, Darrell. I never implied they wouldn’t get a trail. On the contrary, this was all posted in response to the court proceedings. I suggested the Palestinians should never have been arrested and detained innitially due to the astounding lack of evidence against them. More so than the “SkyBomb” hijackers caught last week, who had neither bombs, nor plane tickets, nor – for the most part – passports, or the “Sears Tower Bombers” who also lacked bombs, plane tickets, or a working knowledge of Chicago, and who proudly praised the Bible as their inspiration, these Palestinians had no business being arrested at all.
If I somehow blatantly and dishonestly distorted what Mac had posted above, I still fail to see it. Maybe I’m out of line and not recognizing it, or maybe you just need to get out from in front of your computer for a bit, Darrell. Get some fresh air. Catch some rays. Relax, and stop flipping out so much.
Darrell
Really now Zifnab… how typically dishonest of you. You were in point of fact not responding to “court proceedings”, but responding directly to MacB’s questions yesterday regarding the suspicious circumstances surrounding the case involving the 3 Palestinian american guys with the Tracfones (why were the battery chargers ripped out? why drive the cell phones rather than drop ship? etc). Here are the first 2 lines of your response proving it:
Yep, you were responding directly to his post and the reasonable questions he raised. Then, as usual, you immediately go off the deep end with this wild-eyed misrepresentation:
As if ANYONE had suggested that they be stripped of their rights, thrown in Gitmo, etc. I think you whackjobs would feel a lot better about yourselves if you’d just own up to your lies when you get caught, instead of trying to spin and backpeddle.
ThymeZone
I think we’ll be the judge of that.
LoafingOaf
Andrew Young is a racist, which is indefensible.
However, someone in the thread stated:
This was my experience when I used to shop at mom & pop stores. The two I shopped at started to disturb me when I began noticing that a lot fo the food was outdated. Outside of his stupid racism, I can understand his comment about the “stale bread, and bad meat and wilted vegetables.”
I also had had a charge account at one of the shops, and multiple members of my family would charge there. One day I was going over the bills and realized it didn’t add up, and they were totally taking advantage of me, knowing it would take me a lot of trouble to figure out if they were over-billing me. I had to have a big confrontation as it turned out this grocery store had been inflating my bills for many months.
Both these stores have gone out of business due to the competition from large chains and the fact the chains are expanding their offerings to include items smaller stores used to try and differentiate themselves with. The prices are much lower, the quality control is better, and the crookery is not present. I don’t weep for the mom & pop grocery stores. I don’t know why anyone would.
Too bad Andrew Young had to be a racist about it, though.
Zifnab
Dear Darrell,
You win. Clearly you have out-analyzed me. I bow to your superior wit and wisdom.
Zifnab
I’ve had similar experiences when going cross country. Small town grocery stores rarely have the quality of produce or meats that a big city chain like HEB or Safeway would leave me to expect. In that sense, yes, Walmart does a great job of raising quality standards and increasing consumer statisfaction. Of course, in my experience, having a white guy behind the counter at the 7-11 failed to promise an increase in quality when compared to an Indian guy or a Korean guy or a little old Jewish lady.
If Young had just left race out of the equation, he’d have a very compelling point to make – that Walmart might run these little mom-and-pop shops out of business, but that this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Instead he has to be a dick and claim White/Black Power with the implicate assumption that Walmart is going to be better not because of efficancy and corporate-style quality control, but because its run by “non-ethnic people”.
Jess
What is it with the Korean-owned stores though? I hate succumbing to thinking in stereotypes, and I’ve tried really hard to resist this one. But the stories I’ve heard and the things I’ve seen…it makes sense that corner stores are going to charge more–they have to, really–but when the corner story by my apartment, in a middle-class neighborhood, was owned by a Korean guy, it was ridiculous. The guy tried to charge me $16 for a small box of lipton tea, because that what he would have charged per cup of tea if I had been buying it from the deli in the back. I laughed in his face and never set foot in there again. He went out of business not too longer after. It never occurred to me to see it as a Korean thing until I started hearing about similar experiences with other Korean-owned stores. What is that about? Do y’all suppose it’s capitalism run amok by new arrivals reveling in America as the Land of Oppotunity?
ThymeZone
Was the British “terror plot” even within the realm of feasability?
We report, you decide.
Can there be any further doubt that the government is being run by lying, cocksucking rubes who think you are stupid enough to believe anything, and who are laughing at you at this moment?
Decide for yourself.
Pb
I’d just like to submit, while we’re at it, that when I was living in the city up north, we’d shop at a nice hispanic (specifically puerto rican I believe) supermarket, and although it wasn’t that large as such stores go, they actually had quite a remarkable selection of things, and excellent prices–we never had a problem with them.
Darrell
There is a hispanic run convenience store close to where I live (Almeda near Southmore, for those in Houston) which sells cereals, canned goods, and even milk which are almost all past the expiration date. Funny thing is, they have some of the best quality, freshest fruits and vegetables around, at better prices than I’ve seen anywhere. They tell me they get them from some farmer’s co-op.
As for bad attitudes, most new immigrants here are at a disadvantage from a social skills and language standpoint.. that, combined with the inevitable shoplifting and robberies which they endure, would understandably make some of them less than charming with customers they don’t know well.
Darrell
A rather disgusting twist on assisted suicide
Pb
Lookie here, cut-and-run Republicans, just in time for the elections!
ThymeZone
Well, it’s just the beginning.
Of course the original cut-and-runner was Reagan, who cut and ran after the Lebanon bombing. Obviously he is the reason why we have virtually unchecked Islamic terrorism now. He ran like a scared rabbit.
But anyway, we have blurbs like this from RNCers, who say we have a choice …
After a summer in which, in the middle of a world of shit and problems, the best the GOP could come up with was flag burning and gay marriage, I would have no trouble believing that the NSA thing and the Patriot Act are just cynical devices whose real intended purpose was not to defend America, but to divide it, and defend Republican power. I have no reason – zero — to think that these turds do anything with the peoples’ best interests in mind at this point.
CaseyL
“At this point”?
Thyme, you give them far too much credit.
Zifnab
Ted Kennedy getting stopped by airport security. Seizing of AOL internet records for all users (not just the foreigners or the people checking out http://www.iloveosama.com). Torture as legitimate CIA policy. Indiana labelled the highest priority target for future terror attacks.
This passed “peoples’ best interests” back in ’03 and never stopped. I’m also getting rather sick of only being under terror alerts during election years. Didn’t 9/11 happen back in… you know… 2001? And yet here we are in ’06 and like clockwork “terrorist plots” start coming out of the woodwork. How can we see it as anything else but bullshit?
Ned
Andy Young ain’t the man he used to be.
He supported Condi Rice saying she’d be a good Sec. of State and anyone without the cult of conservatism’s blinkers knows she has failed at everything she has been assigned so far.
Andy also thought Nike’s sweatshops were peachy keen.
Pb
How badly would you have to screw up Iraq to force them to rely on oil imports… no, really…
Darrell
They are importing refined manufactured oil products, not oil itself. Just so you know. And I blame Bush, as things were humming along so well in Iraq before we invaded.
Zifnab
Finally, you’re coming around.
Pb
Darrell,
Indeed; I was quoting the headline, but it’s nice to know that you *can* read the rest of the linked article on occasion. More specifically, they’re importing refined oil products due to a shortage of refinery capacity and infrastructure (for example, pipeline sabotage).
Me too–and, much like the Iraqis, we can tell just from the gas prices.
ThymeZone
Even the Bush dick-lickers at WaPo are figuring out that Iraq has already descended into civil war.
Who’s next? The bonesmokers at FoxNews?
Bets?
Hemidemimondian
Indeed, it is true that the capitalist pig-dog store owners exploit minorities. It is, after all the way that the “free” market acts. Those who can least afford to suffer, suffer most of all when the people themselves do not own the means of production.
Hyperion
hemidemi wrote:
from wiki:
what a concept….get rid of the state AND capitalism!
Zifnab
If only.
I mean, it would be nice if a company could be run independently by the workers, but then you don’t have anyone to… you know… fire people. Or make any other unpopular business decisions. Or reap massive windfalls of cash when you sell the business at a premium.
It’s just that Democracies are cool, but no one would want to buy one.
Hemidemimondian
If the workers controlled the means of production there would be no need to fire people, since there would be enough to go around, and the market would catch those who fell behind. Unpopular business descisions are unpopular because the Bourgeoisie knows that they will harm the Proletariat, and makes them anyway. It is because of this exploitation that there are “windfalls” to be made at all.
The Other Steve
Actually she hasn’t turned out to be as bad as I thought she would be.
Although she’s no Kissinger or Albright.
ThymeZone
The world needs more Kissingers.
Right now, there are too many people. A few more Kissingers would get the populations down.
skip
Tony Kornheiser may a better example than Young.
TK had the Monday Night Football gig, only to explode at a mildly negative review at his very own Washington Post. Then Editor & Publisher and the New York Times get interested and discover that Mr. Tony has a history of ruining the careers of his critics. What a guy!
Mr. Sarcastic, hosted on his own nasty petard. Mr. Kiss Up/Kick Down, the epitome of the Washington climber.