Tuesday, July 27, 2010

A similar letter to Best Buy

Earlier this evening I read about Best Buy's donation to Minnesota Forward. I am writing this email to you to express my enormous disappointment with this decision.

Since Best Buy opened their first store in Louisiana several years ago I've liked shopping at Best Buy for electronics. I've taken my parents there when they wanted new AV equipment or computers, bought countless printer cartridges there, and have bought videogames and music CDs at Best Buy for as long as I can remember.

I am now seriously considering a personal boycott of Best Buy stores. Don't think I'm singling Best Buy out. I read that other corporations including Target also donated to MN Forward and I've sent a similar letter to them.

I am vehemently opposed to Rep. Emmer's immoral stands and offensive, un-American statements on many topics. Even if I agreed with him however, I think it is improper for a corporation to donate corporate funds to a political campaign, even if the donation happens to be legal.

I don't see any way for Best Buy to somehow 'ungive' the donation already given, and that would be dishonorable even if it could be done. While you cannot undo what has already been done, I'd very much like to see Best Buy donate an equal amount of money to an organization supporting Mr. Emmer's opponent, to try to mitigate the MN Forward donation.

Thank you for your time, and I sincerely hope I can continue shopping at Best Buy in the future.

My letter to Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel

Earlier this evening I read about Target's donation to Minnesota Forward. I am writing this email to you to express my enormous disappointment with this decision.

Since discovering Target stores in the late-1990s I've liked shopping at Target and turn to Target first for almost every type of product I shop for. I go to Target for housewares, clothing, electronics, music CDs, small furniture, toys and pet food.

I am now seriously considering a personal boycott of Target stores. Don't think I'm singling Target out. I read that other corporations including Best Buy also donated to MN Forward. I intend to send a similar letter to them.

I am vehemently opposed to Rep. Emmer's immoral stands and offensive, un-American statements on many topics. Even if I agreed with him however, I think it is improper for a corporation to donate corporate funds to a political campaign, even if the donation happens to be legal.

I don't see any way for Target to somehow 'ungive' the donation already given, and that would be dishonorable even if it could be done. While you cannot undo what has already been done, I'd very much like to see Target donate an equal amount of money to an organization supporting Mr. Emmer's opponent, to try to mitigate the MN Forward donation.

Thank you for your time, and I sincerely hope I can continue shopping at Target in the future.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Letter to Newsweek - regarding the common opinion about upcoming November elections

Lately I seem to frequently read or hear in Newsweek and elsewhere about low poll numbers for President Obama and Democrats in Congress. The low poll numbers seem to me to be in response to imprecise questions such as “Are you happy with President Obama’s performance on the economy?”, or “Are you happy with his handling of the BP Oil Spill?”.

The poll results published for mainstream consumption never seem to mention any follow-up questions, such as WHY the respondent feels the way he/she feels. Yet the results are routinely presented to suggest the country is likely to vote out a substantial number of Democratic candidates this November, and the presumption is that those seats will be taken by Republican candidates.

I haven’t seen any mention of another possibility though. What if a sizeable portion of voters feel as I do? I am unhappy with President Obama’s performance on nearly every issue, and far more unhappy with most Democrats in Congress, but will most likely vote for them all again. As opposed to the very vocal right-wing speakers on political television programs I feel that President Obama and Congress have consistently not gone far enough with their actions. If my choice is between somebody that will do something absolutely opposite to what I desire, or somebody that will take a baby-step towards what I desire, the choice is clear. It is not at all a wonderful choice, but there’s not a lot there to struggle with.

If a polled voter is unhappy with a particular officeholder’s performance, that doesn’t necessarily mean the voter will vote for the challenger. Assuming that is a mistake.

Friday, July 09, 2010

Shopped for a clock radio lately?

A few years ago I decided my very old AM/FM clock radio had served an honorable term of duty and should be put out of it's misery. I replaced it with a fancy clock radio with CD player that I purchased from Linens and Things as they went out of business. The fancy model was an Emerson, but it seemed like a decent unit and I bought it against my better judgement.

The clock-radio never worked right, and I finally decided recently to just junk it and get something that works properly. (If anybody reading this is researching an Emerson model CKD5811, DON'T BUY IT. STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS DEFECTIVE, POORLY ASSEMBLED PIECE OF MEDIOCRITY.)

I spent some time today researching online, and then driving around shopping for a CD/AM/FM clock radio. (I never even looked for AM, truth be told.)

iPod docks have just about eliminated CD clock radios. There are very low-quality cheap clock radios with CD functionality, and there are $250+ clock radios with CD players from the likes of Bose and Cambridge Soundworks. Other than one less-than-impressive $40 Sony there are no other CD-clock-radios available.

Rather than spending a ridicuolous amount or buying another cheap piece of junk I'm skipping the whole thing.

Listen up any potential decision makers at Panasonic, Pioneer, Sharp or Aiwa: If you produce a decent-sounding, decent-quality, stereo clock radio, with CD-player, for under $100 I'll buy it. And I'll bet I'm not the only one.

When I asked for a TV-remote/cellphone combo unit you ignored me. I'm giving you another chance here! :)

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Lebron James announcement

I'm not at all interested in pro basketball. Currently with a group of guys watching the Lebron James announcement on ESPN. Tonight's the first time I've ever seen Lebron.

He looks like a black Kelsey Grammar.

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Is it wrong to like blue?

So the Uruguay v. Netherlands soccer match just began. All I know about either team is how to spell the country’s names. Is it wrong to root for Uruguay, solely because I like the sky-blue jerseys more than the orange jerseys worn by the Netherlands players?

A Very Brief Comment on NJ Governor Chris Christie

For whatever it's worth:

On April 3, 2010 I sent a very short email to the NJ Star-Ledger and cc'd Governor Christie's office. (I realize I usually write a lot. To prove the letter is short, I've pasted it to the bottom of this post.)

Today, July 6, 2010, I've received a brief, canned response from the Governor Christie administration, and nothing in the response suggests my letter was ever even read. Not much of a surprise, but still disappointing.

I'm not writing about my own opinions concerning Gov. Christie in this post. I might do that some other time.

------------------------------------------------

My message to them:
For as long as I can recall there has been discussion and hand-wringing about our state's financial situation. Perennially there are excessive expenses, and insufficient revenue.

A couple of years ago I heard a news story regarding a plan in Utah that had the state operate with a 4-day workweek. (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-06-30-four-day_N.htm)

State workers would work an extra 2 hours each of the 4 days, and then have an extra day off, resulting in no total reduction of hours worked.

I think this is very much worth exploring, and has the potential to save significant money, as well as reduce environmental impact, wear and tear on our highways, etc...
Thanks for your time.

--


Their response:

Dear Mr. .....:

Thank you for your views and suggestions regarding the Fiscal Year 2011 Budget. I appreciate hearing your ideas to help restore fiscal sanity to our State.

Given these tough economic times, we had some very tough decisions to make in this year's Budget. We had to balance the need to get our State's economy back on track by not raising taxes and making sure we only spend money we have. At the same time, we must never forget our obligation to protect the most vulnerable of our State. That is why the Budget that I signed on June 29 reduces spending by nearly 9 percent, demands a higher level of efficiency and accountability across state government and maintains funding for critical programs.

I believe that while the choices we made in this year's Budget were tough, they were necessary. Today's sacrifices in which we are all sharing have put our State back on a path to lower taxes, more jobs and a place where we can all afford to live.

Again, thank you for writing. Best wishes.

Sincerely,
Chris Christie
Governor

July 4th musings

Between viewings of various fireworks displays this weekend I spent a little time thinking about the state of the country, and my feelings about things.

As is obvious to anybody that knows me, I was truly distressed during most of this past decade. I felt (and still believe) that our country was hijacked by truly evil and villainous people determined to destroy everything America stood for, and I felt powerless to do anything about the situation.

When I learned of President Obama's election and then again as I heard his inauguration speech last January I felt enormously happy, relieved, and joyful. I can't really describe just how optimistic I felt.

Since then I've been consistently disappointed, watching as President Obama and his Administration compromise on issue after issue. Many times I've felt that the left-leaning members of our country have been betrayed.

But at the same time I've always wanted to give Obama the benefit of the doubt, and I've tried to find ways to do so.

This weekend I think I came to a mature conclusion. Or else I'm just a naive sap. In the interest of happiness I choose to believe the former.

I concluded that while a lot of issues haven't gone the way I'd like, and while I think Obama and the Dems in Congress have given up a lot more than I think they should have, a lot of good stuff HAS been accomplished in a relatively short time.

So while things haven't gone as far as I'd like, things are definitely moving in the right direction, and I hope to see more positive progress.

Possibly coloring my perception is that I'm personally having a pretty good year. Answering Reagan's soundbite, I AM better off than I've been in many years.

After nearly a decade of honestly worrying that I was witnessing the end of our country, I am sincerely happy and relieved to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!!

And now I need to go to sleep. Work resumes in about 7 hours.

:)