Tonight on CNN Lou Dobbs holds a special segment titled “War on the Middle Class”
There is no better example of Brown Sludge than the type of corporatism that Lou Dobbs fights against every night from his bully pulpit on CNN.
I’m a huge fan as you might guess.
Lou is a true lightening rod. A Harvard educated Economist, and a truly respected giant in Financial circles - he draws big plasma fireballs from tin-foil hat libertarians and Gordon Gekko Republican’s for being against the off-shoring of American Jobs, and for railing against illegal immigration and for the poor behavior of Big Business - and he draws equally big fireballs from the left as well - for basically the same thing.
He is an unapologetic real-deal grass roots conservative who hasn’t forgotten what that word really means.
His special tonight is sure to draw howls from elephants and donkeys alike.
I’ve decided to live-blog the highlights - I hope EVERYONE gets a chance to watch this incredible special report.
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Right out of the chute - Democratic strategist Arnold Zimmerman lays it down when he says that the Republican’s are going to lose this fall because they have abandoned the middle class. I’ve been beating this horse on this blog weeks. Sad that a Democrat gets it and Ed Rollins the Republican strategist sitting beside him just… doesn’t
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Bang! What a great statistic! The Dem strategist points out that he doesn’t understand why Republicans have such a hard-on for Big Business from the standpoint of a voter base. He claims that BIG business is only responsible for about 20% of all jobs, but SMALL INDEPENDENT businesses are responsible for about 80%. Man. More on this later.
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Lou makes a pitch for state funded college tuitions. I’m not sure how I feel about it. On the surface having state help to pay for my kids colleges sounds mighty appealing. On the other hand - I have a hard time believing they won’t tax my ass into the next GALAXY for the privilege.
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Lou trots out the victims of Ford’s incessant drive to send the job of every hard working American they possibly can to the slums of East Beijing. I love it. It always does my heart good to see Lou at his best - and he’s at his best when he’s throwing Big Business the whooping it so richly deserves on this issue.
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Lou never misses a chance to beat the “Trade Deficit” drum. The genius’s at NAM have apoplectic FITS every time he does. Nothing makes me happier than watching those NAM guys lie on the floor and writhe like slugs every time Lou pours salt on them. ROTFL.
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Lately Lou has began to get around to the issue of medical security for people. I’m glad. Republican’s are so out of touch on this issue - it does my heart good to see Lou shaming his fellow conservatives on this issue.
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Broken borders. I knew Lou would eventually get to to it. Thankfully the Republican is only one on the program admitting that something has to be done. I see by the commercials that Lou is doing another big special NEXT week on “Broken Borders”. Looks like something not to be missed. I’ll be liveblogging THAT as well. Count on it.
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The “how can the middle class fight back” segment is incredible. Lou reminds us to that voters are absolutely in control.
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What an incredible special. It’s a must see.
I’ll watch for a link that will let you watch on CNN if it comes up. So far none yet.
I will NOT miss next weeks “Broken Borders” special. No way.
EMail This PostOctober 18th, 2006
When I was a boy, the short stories of O. Henry numbered among my most cherished reading adventures. O. Henry was one of many authors that my Father encouraged me to enjoy, and I in turn can proudly say that I encouraged my daughter to read him the moment I though she could appreciate him. Like me, she is now a fan for life.
While I love ALL of O. Henry’s stories, there are a few that rise to the very top of the “favorites” list. Gift of the Magi, of course. The Ransom of Red Chief made me laugh so hard I couldn’t get air for a few minutes. It made my daughter Mouse fairly howl with laughter. Very near the top of the favorites list is a story titled The Cop and the Anthem. It’s about a good hearted homeless person who, worried about the coming winter, decides that his best course of action is to get himself arrested.
His plan is to commit some small and non-violent crime right in the presence of a cop, and then get hauled off to a nice warm jail where he’ll spend the winter in a heated cell with 3 square meals a day.
O. Henry’s trademark is the unexpected shift of fortunes, so you can bet that things don’t work out quite as you’d expect.
I thought of this story for the first time in a long time this morning when I read this story on AOL.
It’s about one Mr. Timothy J. Bowers of Ohio, whose “retirement plan” was to rob a bank right in the presence of a security guard, and then immediately hand himself over to the authorities ala O. Henry.
He figured jail-time would guarantee him a place to sleep and 3 squares a day until he was ready to “retire” after losing his job driving a truck for a pharmaceutical wholesaler.
There are a couple of sad ironies here, that I hope don’t escape Brown Sludge readers, but I was struck by how life sometimes imitates art, and I didn’t want the similarities between this story and the Cop and the Anthem to go unnoticed.
Don’t run to your local Brown Sludge corporate bookstore to find anything by O. Henry by the way. They often don’t bother to carry the classics because you know… “the classics don’t have very good shelf turn-over” (a direct quote to me from a Big Box Bookstore employee).
You can order it on-line from Left Bank Books, one of the nations last remaining truly INDEPENDENT books stores. (see link at end), or you can download the free e-book from The Gutenberg Project here.
The Four Million has most of his truly greats. The Gift of the Magi, The Cop and the Anthem, Mammon and the Archer, The Furnished Room, An Unfinished Story.
Click the book below to buy it from a true independent who actually cares about books and customers and things like that.
Hey… I wonder why the drug wholesaler he worked for went out of business? Hmmm.
EMail This PostOctober 13th, 2006
Sauerkraut.
It seems like such a trivial thing.
Sauerkraut.
My eyes search the grocery shelf frantically. There is a big empty void where the jars of sauerkraut are supposed to be.
I’ve promised my daughter, Mouse, that for dinner tonight there will be Real Deal Official Reuben Sandwiches With Real Corned Beef and Aged Swiss and Thousand Island and Sauerkraut on Rye Bread. When Dad does Reubens - he does them right.
No way I can come home without that sauerkraut.
The empty shelf is telling me that now I’ve got to make a second trip. To another grocery store. Again.
I really don’t have time. I’m aggravated beyond words. This is the third time in two weeks I’ve been forced to drive to another store because my local independent is out of something I need. The time before it was jumbo hot dogs. Hot dogs! In the Summer! They’re actually truly out of jumbo hot dogs on a summer weekend. Prime BBQ and Grilling time. I’m amazed. The time before that it was Dr. Pepper. I swear. They had ran a sale and they were actually completely sold OUT of Dr. Pepper. Dr. Pepper! A major soft drink brand.
Now… I believe in and promote the local independent, and I understand that from time to time stores run out of things, but… this is a pattern with this particular store. It seems to me as a shopper that they are always out of something and that I’m constantly being forced to patronize another grocery store.
Which… aggravates me even more because I don’t want to shop at the other store. I’m a Schnucks person.
You see in my town, the Big Box Supercenters and Brown Sludge Corporate Food Chains haven’t yet invaded.
And in my town there are really two major local independent grocery stores, Schnucks stores - which are typically a little cheaper and carry a little more variety - and Dierbergs stores - which are typically a little higher quality and consequently a little more expensive.
Now… most people who live in this town are either “Schnucks” peoples, or “Dierbergs” peoples.
I’m a “Schnucks” person. I don’t want to shop at Dierbergs. Schnucks is closer, I like their people (who tend to be a bit more friendly than Dierbergs) and I like their selection and prices.
But every time I have to make that second trip down the street - I keep asking myself if it’s worth it to have to make two stops. Every time I have to face an empty shelf at Schnucks - they are more or less “forcing” me to become a Dierbergs customer.
And… every time I shop at Dierbergs I like it a little more. So… lately I’ve been skipping the Schnucks thats closer to my house, and just driving to Dierbergs. Yes… I’m paying a little more. Pennies here and there really. Perhaps 2% or 3% higher on average. But it’s worth it to get what I need in one trip, and not to have to spend the extra time and hassle.
But… here’s the thing. And it’s really important.
While it’s true that right now the Big Box Monster and Brown Sludge Food Corporations haven’t showed up here yet, it won’t be true forever.
You can bet that even as I’m typing this, they are pacing like ravenous wolves just outside the city limits. They are pacing and plotting and trying to figure out how to tear the throats out of the family owned local independent grocers and eat them alive.
In city after city those wolves have had successful feeding frenzies and now all across the nation there are places that do not have any local independent grocery stores at all. Places with nothing but Brown Sludge Food Corporations. Places with nothing but Big Box Supercenters.
It’s too late for them and for those cities, but it’s not too late here.
There is still time to turn the wolves back from the door.
Schnucks and Dierbergs and the other independent grocery stores here have the infrastructure in place to repel this attack with plenty of stores in virtually every neighborhood in this city. They’re presence is everywhere. Which is good.
But… it’s going to take a lot MORE than just “presence” to beat back the hungry snarling Brown Sludge wolves.
It’s going to take LOYALTY. Customer LOYALTY.
The ugly truth is that the minute the regular flavored Big Box store that’s probably already managed to insinuate itself into your neighborhood (and destroyed the lives and lively hoods of 95% of the local business owners within miles of it) will eventually decide it wants to murder the local grocery too and convert to a “SuperCenter”.
Even uglier is the fact that the minute it does - every big-bellied hoosier* and his stringy haired wife are going to be waiting breathlessly outside of Big Box mart the day that Big Box Mart re-opens as a SuperCenter. The Bubbah family doesn’t care that they’re ruining their neighborhood and destroying their community. They only care that they’re saving 6 cents on a jar of hemorrhoid cream. Period.
But I don’t believe that the Bubbah Family is representative. I believe most customers are capable of a higher level of loyalty - given the opportunity to actually BE loyal.
And the time to start building that loyalty is NOW. This moment. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Now. Before it’s too late. Before the wolves make it inside the fence any farther.
The owners of Schnucks and Dierbergs have got to understand that Big Box Mart and Brown Sludge Food Corp have systems and procedures in place that flawlessly monitor stock levels and customer buying cycles. On any given weekend they know EXACTLY how many Jumbo Hot Dogs or jars of sauerkraut or bottles of Dr. Pepper they need and will be able to sell. Their customers will NEVER face an empty shelf.
Another important place to build that loyalty is with charitable work in the neighborhood. I’m greatly encouraged by how much charitable and community work I see being done by the Schnucks and Dierbergs stores. This is something that Big Box Mart and Brown Sludge Food Corp absolutely REFUSE to do. And it’s something that the customers remember in big ways.
When customers can be assured of finding everything they need at the local independent grocer who supported them and their community - they won’t have any compelling reason not to stay loyal. Price won’t matter nearly as much as some would have you believe. Of course you’ll never convince the classless Bubbahs and hoosiers* that the 12 cents they saved on that package of “terlet paper” wasn’t worth the damage to done to their communities and local businesses, but virtually every educated, intelligent consumer will understand it - and continue to stay loyal to the place that they grew up shopping at, and that their parents before them shopped at.
It’s not too late. The time to start preparing is now.
* - apologies to folks from Indiana. In the place where I live, the word “hoosier” isn’t an endearing term for someone from Indiana like it is in most northern cities. Here in this part of the Midwest it’s a cultural slur that means someone who’s trashy and ignorant. Think… “Larry the Cable Guy”. But not quiet as classy.
EMail This PostOctober 7th, 2006
I’m transitioning the Brown Sludge Blog to the Blix theme.
Now… the Blix theme is one of the nicer themes available for Wordpress, but it’s also one of the least well documented, and needlessly (IMHO) complicated from a modifications standpoint. Not for the faint of heart.
I’m experimenting with color combinations and changing the CSS to accomplish all this.
For a couple of days it’s going to be ugly.
It might look like Walt Disney barfed all over the blog for a day or two. Be patient. I’ll tie it all together di-rectrly.
Sep 30, '06
Regular Readers may have noticed that my posting lately has slowed down quite a bit.
This happens sometimes when Adult Life conspires to keep me from establishing a meaningful rhythm.
But… that’s not to say that I haven’t been using my time wisely.
For those who care I get between 600 and 1100 visitors a day here. Many come for the odd Smoking Cessation pages that I manage here (look to the column on the right). A little over 1/2 come for the Brown Sludge blog itself. Few of them bother to post, although I do get quite a bit of e-mail.
I’ve spent the last two weeks reviewing the Brown Sludge Blog and the path that it’s taken, and meditating on the mistakes I’ve made and how I can better promote / advance the topic of Brown Sludge in society, and how I can make a difference.
I’ve also spent the last two weeks making some hard decisions.
There are a couple of blogs that I follow for various reasons. One of them I’ve come to pretty much detest. I follow it as an example of everything I DON’T want to be. I won’t name names, because that’s considered horribly rude in the blogosphere, and it won’t serve any purpose. I certainly don’t want to drive any traffic to their site.
Here are some of the things they do that I think make them a “substandard” blog.
1. Very little original content. Typically they’re just “regurgitating” other content they’ve read on other blogs or have taken from common news sources.
2. No attribution when they do regurgitate. Getting your post ideas from other blogs is one thing - not having the courtesy to post a hat tip or link is tantamount to stealing. It’s a crappy thing to do. And only crappy people do it.
3. They make a big production out of obviously only being in the blogging business for money. Their site is covered head to toe in advertising banners. Every few months the lead poster posts a sad little post about how depressed he is that the blog takes up so much time and yields so little money. This is completely pathetic.
Now… I’m not against making money, nor would I turn down any if it were thrown my way, but I don’t blog Brown Sludge to make money. I blog Brown Sludge to make a difference. More on that later.
So… here is my vision for this blog.
1. I want mostly original content. Occasionally I’ll see a piece on something or someone will send me something that I won’t be able to help myself from posting on - but by and large I’d like to concentrate on original think-pieces that have something to say, and aren’t just regurgitated form other sources. And I’ll certainly attribute when I do. I ALWAYS have. I’ll try to post more original content on a more regular basis.
2. I didn’t start this blog to make money - and money will never be the beating heart of this blog. The wish to make a difference and to make a change and to be meaningful will be. I promise.
3. I’m going to revamp the software and overall look/feel of the blog in the next couple of weeks. Upgrading the database and the blog software will help it be all that it can be.
4. I’m going to more aggressively promote Brown Sludge in the blogosphere. Updating the number and quality of the tags should help with that. I’ve got some other tricks up my sleeve as well.
5. I’ve set my sites on the blog that I consider the “bottom of the barrel”, and it’s my stated goal to have had more hits and more visitors and a more active (and coherent) comments section at the 2 year mark. This blog is only about 8 months old, and if you can believe the published site-meter stats that the “bottom of the barrel” blog has posted, (and I’m not sure you can - dishonesty is sort of the order of the day over there) I’m quite a bit ahead of them at their 1 year mark. I don’t want to things to stagnate. I’d like to be able to drive more traffic and more comments here. At the 2 year mark I’d like to have a substantial hit-rate.
6. Activism. I’m going to become a great deal more aggressive in my activism. I’m convinced that one person CAN make a difference. In fact… I’m out to prove it. Here.
7. And finally… I’m going to quit struggling so hard to spoon-feed my readers Brown Sludge. Brown Sludge is an idea that has many facets. You can find it anywhere and everywhere. I’ve got a post more accurately explaining Brown Sludge, and how to recognize it when you see it staged and ready. It should really help. I’m hoping the new theme and new software upgrade will let me post it and keep it “sticky”. You might be surprised as to where Brown Sludge pops up in your life, and how pervasive it’s becoming.
And to those out there trying to pedal Brown Sludge to others.
I’m comin’ fer you pork chop.
- Mac -
09/23/06
EMail This PostSeptember 23rd, 2006
Where are the damn Mythbusters when I need ‘em?
Click HERE to watch it work.
I’ve always considered the concept of “The Water Engine” to be Urban Myth of the highest order… but…
Apparently the guy has been summoned to appear before congress to answer to them for his engine, and to be examined to see if he’s as legitimate as he seems to be.
I’ll be watching those proceedings carefully to see if his claim that this car of his drove 100 miles on 4 oz. (that’s OUNCES) of water actually HOLDS water.
Seems too good to be true… and I can say that all the sites on the web that seems to reference HHO gas just wreak of crack-pottery.
3 things from the video that put me off :
1. When he shows the engine, it’s “conveniently” rigged as an HHO/Gasoline hybrid. Let me tell ya, if I had a car that could go 100 miles on 4 ounces of water, I wouldn’t need no idiotic gasoline back-up.
2. They guy’s smirk when they ask him what his engine runs on and he dead-pans “water”. I’ve seen old codgers like that before, and they always grin like that when they think they’re getting over on you. My old Grandpa used to smile at me like that, when he was telling me one of his gigantic whoppers.
3. As a Comp-Sci/Mathematics major in college, advanced physics was mandatory - and Mr. Isaac Newton assures me that if this guy’s claim is basically true - then the amount of energy required to refine the 4 oz of water he used to run the car 100 miles into HHO was probably… a lot. As in… a lot more than is practical in everyday use.
Maybe I’m selling him short. I dunno.
Either way it’s an interesting blurb.
I’ll watch it close for a bit - and see where it ends up.
EMail This PostJuly 27th, 2006
per mare per terras - by sea by land
I was reading a recent issue of “Scottish Life” magazine, and ran across an article titled “New Scots Regiment May Be Wearing Cheap Foreign Tartan”.
I read in horror as the article pointed out that after years of wearing kilts made by independent native Scots, some ass-scratching monkey in the Ministry of Defense decided to cut corners and have the tartans made by cheap foreign sweatshops instead of by the high quality Robert Noble weaving company as they have been for the last 150 YEARS
Now instead of something authentic and independent and made in Scotland, there is a very real possibility that “there will be different cuts and shades” made in India or Pakistan on parade when the ceremonial Scottish march. It’s possible some of the kilts will be visibly mis-matched because of crappy quality.
Not surprisingly there’s been an uproar.
And well there should be.
My ancestors are spinning in their graves at this embarrassment.
I hope the clown who brownsludged my kinsmen gets ran out of Parliament on a rail.
Where’s my damn Robert Burns collection.
Dammit.
From “Is There For Honest Poverty”
A prince can mak’ a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, and a’ that,
But an honest man’s aboon his might,
Guid faith he mauna fa’ that!
For a’ that, and a’ that,
Their dignities, and a’ that,
The pith o’ sense, and pride o’ worth,
Are higher ranks than a’ that.
And Brothers and Sisters, let me tell you - you haven’t heard that poem sang, until you’ve heard it sang by The Old Blind Dogs.
EMail This PostJuly 27th, 2006
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