Junior Deputy Accountant has the right spirit about the holiday… mass, mass consumerism… and then a consumption hangover and indigestion…
Shopping = hunting [it triggers primal feelings (just my opinion no scientific basis for that statement!)]
I thought these tidbits were interesting…
But all said it was worth missing quality family time to save money.
“It’s one time a year, so I might as well do it,” said Louisana Maya, as she clutched coupons for JC Penny’s.
Many of the people snaked along the metal guardrail outside BrandsMart traveled great distances for Black Friday. The crowd had an international [flavor] with shoppers from Brazil, Bolivia and Costa Rica, among other places.
America as a shopping destination. It says so much about us…
I’ve know many Europeans who come here to shop. Taxes are much less and in times of a weak dollar their purchasing power makes them very happy.
The problem has always been that mass consumption is not sustainable. But the way we “count” gives top value to our endless consumption…
ShopMerica… the land of the big box free…
Weeeeeeee.. gonna be 68 on Thursday!!!
That will make the shoppers happy!
A distant memory [ht willima banzai]\
Hi Kitty!
Exciting new post!
Marco Melo traveled from Brazil “because everything’s pretty cheap.”…
This is further evidence that the usa dollar is toast. As if we need any.
The problem has always been that mass consumption is not sustainable.
That won’t stop “them” (globalists, corporatists) from trying it. To them what is unsustainable is usa spending. Therefore they will debauch the dollar by spreading them abroad even faster than would otherwise have happened. The question is which will break first, the environment or the medium of exchange? My bet is on both.
I found this pic in another jda post:
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — New government statistics say Brazil has record employment levels — and even shortages of workers in some sectors.
Monday’s report from the government’s IBGE statistics bureau on Monday shows the lowest level of unemployment ever recorded, 5.7 percent. Employers in sectors ranging from construction to retail say they’re not finding enough workers to meet needs.
Banking group Santander has delayed contracting 1,200 people in Brazil because of difficulty finding applicants. Bradesco bank raised the wages of managers to avoid poaching by competitors.
Labor unions say Brazil’s heated economy has led to above-inflation wage increases in nearly all sectors…
You’ll notice their most notable growth “industry” is banking. Soon they may be deemed too “interwoven” to fail:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Citigroup-Too-Interwoven-to-cnbc-4269578947.html;_ylt=AsRZVx7PQ1jjvTD2oUBhngi7YWsA;_ylu=X3oDMTE1azZnNzRzBHBvcwM4BHNlYwN0b3BTdG9yaWVzBHNsawNjaXRpZ3JvdXB0b28-?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=&ccode=
And thus have gubbermint guaranteed multi-billion $ bonuses in perpetuity.
If I ran the eCONome Dick Parsons would eat his words…
Paypal and others could do most everything that Citi does… the hubris is overwhelming..
And that TURKEYBEN is freaky!!!!
Hard work…
You’ll notice their most notable growth “industry” is banking.
YIKES!
Dopey guy on Bloomberg says big storms good for retail. Sales of hats and scarfs GO UP!
Storms are GREAT for retail!
High gas prices are good for retail
High interest rates are good for real estate
High inflation is good for amurkin
The stock market only goes up
Yah, it’s all good.
And of course, smashing windows (aka creative destruction) is good for retail too!
Is Cash For Clunkers coming back around?
Despite over the years trying to convince Mrs Hitler that “sales” especially those with “massive reductions” are a waste of time, we found ourselves today at the Cribbs Causeway Mall in Bristol. The place as you would expect at this time of year was packed out. The thing that really depresses me, apart from the amoeba who make up 75% of the “customers” who do not actually buy anything but go there because it is a “family day out”, are those who have gone there spurred on by the media. In that the ‘papers/TV etc are telling that if you need anything you must buy it now because VAT is going up by 2.5% on January 1, this is despite everything being marked down by at least 50% plus.
The holidays were however instructive as on the night of the 25th/26th the temperature went down to to -10c and the water main from the street froze and we were without water for 24hrs. From this I know how much water/bleach I would need in SHTF situation over a similar period and as to which of my neighbours I can depend on i.e. if they are not in their ’80′s and survived WW2 (and have managed to retain the necessary survival instincts) eff ‘em!
We’d be surprised how little we would need to survive… just the basics maam…
You’d have to shoot me to get me in a mall this time of year…
Although I’m looking forward to visiting the hospital thrift store after the holidays… everyone cleans out their closet and I’m looking for some curtains!
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
That’s just wrong Kitty. Really wrong.
HHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAA Edgar!!!!!!!!
I LOVE IT!!!!
Here’s an entertainingly depressing article that I found via Jesse’s reading list sidebar. Basic premise is that EVERYTHING we see in the media is a lie. American society, hell, WORLD society, is based on lulling the people to sleep with happy fictions.
“There is now rarely any mention of the two wars the US is currently fighting, one being the longest in US history. There are no images of Detroit on TV, where garbage collection has now ceased and trash is piled up in the streets 30 feet high. There are no live video reports of 8,000 formerly middle class families now living in the woods in tents in three counties surrounding Orlando Florida. (As an aside, hear that, Queenbee?) There is no mention of miles of sub surface oil slicks poisoning our air and water. There are no warnings about toxic seafood. There is no discussion about lives and generations old ways of life that have been destroyed by greed and corruption. 85 percent of US college graduates are returning home after graduation jobless and saddled up with a lifetime student loan debt but you have to read about that outside the corporate medias realm. The truth has become bad for business.“
Glenn Beck says that only traitors talk about the bad stuff happening in the USA.
True patriots ignore problems and pretend they aren’t there.
Kitty, said… “Weeeeeeee.. gonna be 68 on Thursday!!!”
All the interesting girls, are always older women…
Oh, wait, you mean the temperature?
HAHAHAHAHHHAHAH A AAAAAAAA.. WEASELDOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m going be 27 next birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!
And Thursday going be a hottie!!!!
WAAAAAAAA! The laziness is everywhere…
At least they got it unstuck…
I hope he gets unstuck!!!! {men!!!! hahahaahahahaha!}
Got a $15 coupon from the online place that I get my glasses —> http://www.39dollarglassses.com
Very good deal but my glasses can go a little longer…
Glenn Beckkk is anti-American for reading those lyrics!!!!
Right-wingers in America are invariably STOOPIT. To hear that song for a QUARTER OF A CENTURY and not pay attention to the words?!? It’s not like it was a 60s psychedelic tine where you would hear mondegreens.
I have met a few conservative types in Australia and Canada who could intellectually support their right-wing positions. I didn’t agree with them, but at least I respected them. But to be a Beckkk/Limpballs acolyte means simply following a blind nationalist “USA! USA! USA! We aee the best!” line with absolutely no thoughts other than that.
Murikans…
[silly children]
Baking carrot biscuits.
Actual lyric:Taking care of business.
(Bachman-Turner Overdrive “Takin Care Of Business”)
I get by with a little hemp from my friends.
Actual lyric: I get by with a little help from my friends.
Actually, though – I get by without a little hemp from my friends, because they perform surprise drug-testing here at work.
Last week when HR stopped by my department because a colleague’s name came up on their list, I played dumb and asked, “Surely they don’t have anybody HERE who uses pot, do they?” With an incredulous look, this person informed me that nine people have been ‘popped’ here this year.
Larry Summers, the best and brightest teh usa has to offer. That’s probably his bil operating that snow clearing machine.
lolololololololololol
4 Bukko:
@weaseldog, yeah, unstuck, like dogs. lulz
someone i know said dogs are more efficient than chertoff’s machines and friendlier than a tsa agent. Nobody minds when a dog nuzzles their crotch, they are just saying hello.
Keep taking their money Mammoth, there’ll be plenty of time for toking after you retire. Hell, it might even be legal by then.
Hehehehehe Edgar!
TSA Doggie Department! YES!!!!
Pot should be legal… it’s the stoopidist thing.
I remember that Star Trek clip… I used to watch it (ST) every day… I remember Star Trek but I don’t remember any homework…
Dogs would be useful for weeding out terrorists and cat people too.
Hahahaha… Kirk a bloviating porker now…
Terrible grapefruit news…
Freezing temperatures invaded Florida for the second time in as many weeks Monday night, delivering another hit to battered vegetable and citrus crops with winter barely underway.
“It just adds to the anxiousness because we’ve still got 2 or 2 1/2 months before we’re out of the woods,” said Andrew Meadows, a spokesman for Florida Citrus Mutual, an industry group.
All of Florida’s citrus growing regions, from Central Florida to Southwest Florida, reported frozen fruit Tuesday morning after temperatures plunged into the 20s, Meadows said.
If frozen fruit is not picked quickly, it will dry up and produce less juice, he said.
this woman could use a grapefruit:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1341683/Donna-Simpsons-feast-The-30-000-calorie-Christmas-feast-eaten-worlds-fattest-mum-ONE-hour-sitting.html
cap and trade is a scam. this is why coal fired electrical plants should be phased out:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/28/farmers-pecan-growers-say_n_801945.html#s216082
http://tickerforum.org/cgi-ticker/akcs-www?post=175965
Edgar @6:59 a.m.,
You mean this?
- – – – – – – -
WSJ: Over 25% of Kids/Teens Take Prescription Drugs
Researchers attribute the wide usage in part to doctors and parents becoming more aware of drugs as an option for kids.
Unhealthy diets and lack of exercise among children, which lead to too much weight gain and obesity, also fuel the use of some treatments, such as those for hypertension.
—————————–
What children really need & want is time with parents/loved ones/friends, connections with people! Christmas with the 4-year old was fun. And get this – despite the numerous toys, etc. that she received as presents – Nadia’s FAVORITE Christmas gift (other than the love & nurturing she received) was a kid’s flashlight!
- – - – - – - – - – -
From the mouth of babes…
Nadia found a chocolate walrus inside her Christmas stocking, but she thought it was something else.
“I want to eat a Beaver! I want to eat a Beaver! I want to eat a Beaver!” she kept saying over and over again.
OMG – not my little girl!
Well Mammoth, at least she knows what she wants.
Leave Nadia alone… she’s just having fun!!!!
+ + + +
A strange paradigm flip has to happen in America.
Americans now equate being able to turn up the thermo all the way and drive wherever and whenever they want as freedom…
But this comes at cost of being dominated by oil companies and the MIC… which is abstract and distant…
This is a massive frame that peeps live in… hmmm…
Less energy use!!!!
One of my musical acquaintances was recounting a story about taking the family out to a fancy steakhouse. They decided to try elk steaks.
After a while, he asked how everyone liked it. The youngest said he loved the steak and asked, “Does this mean elfs are real?”
Heheheheeh Weaseldog…
Children strike hard and fast for the truth!!!
Wease, something you can appreciate: We gave Nadia an acoustic guitar as one of her Christmas presents. Too bad you aren’t closer and can teach her the basics…
————————–
Re: Elk, some of the people around here talk about hunting elk here on the Olympic Peninsula. One of those can fill a couple of freezers!
Now that we have again rented out our horse barn, the prospect of ending up caring for an abandoned horse is once again in the back of our minds. What do you do if this happens?
Horse – it’s the ‘other’ elk meat…
EWWWWWW — let’s try and eat less meat in 2011!
Frugal tip for girl readers!!!
At InSync Big Cat Refuge, I’ve cut up a lot of horse meat. It’s illegal to butcher horses in the USA. So live horses are shipped from Texas to Canada, where they are butchered, packaged, frozen, and shipped back to Texas. Even our tigers can’t escape the 2,000 mile salad syndrome.
My wife has often said that she wants a horse. I had one as a teen, so I’m somewhat cured of that desire.
But maybe she and I can come to a compromise….
These cost about as much as an expensive dog, and I could probably keep one in my backyard…
Kitty thanx for the frugal tip. Having recently had to cough up $86 to re-sole & re-heel 2 pairs of Lady Mammoth’s shoes, this is the route to take next time. While I am all for supporting local small businesses, given the choice I would prefer to keep more of my hard-earned $$$ in my own pocket.
—————————-
Owning a horse seems SO impractical! (Unless it is being used for work.) The owners have to come out twice a day to feed them, then spend a couple hours on the weekend grooming them and picking up their manure, and then they have to pay for boarding as well as buy a LOT of hay & feed.
(And you know – those animals eat like…well…like a horse.) Ha ha!
Renting out the barn for horse boarding is working out pretty well:
You get to look at & admire these beautiful creatures, which brings peace to the soul.
You get free manure –> compost for the garden.
You get a regular monthly income.
What is there not to love?
That is a hilarious video of the baby horse zooming around while that monotone voice drones on about the history…
Boarding horses seem very smart…
A horse is like a yacht, only it’s a hole on LAND that you throw money into.
Sad New York Times story about abandoned horses in Ireland.
A horse is like a yacht… for sure… best to go to a stable to ride…. it’s like renting a boat…
I’ve seen those sad stories about abandoned horseys…
I wish it was gardening season already.
“I wish it was gardening season already.”
—————————————–
It already is, Kitty!
While a single Amaryllis doth not a garden maketh, yesterday I mixed the first batch of planting soil for next year’s seedlings, and used some of it to plant an Amaryllis bulb in a pot.
Here, a New Year day’s ritual is to plant some cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli seeds to start indoors. (Great way to forget about that Vodka & Champagne-induced hangover from the night before!)
Also, Garlic may be planted during the winter if the ground is not frozen…
Mammoth,
Do you look in on those boarding horses periodically? I hope you do. Nothing is sadder than a miserable horse. Straw for bedding, making sure they have fodder, and that they don’t get lonely is important imo.
I saw a couple of ponies that were purchased for a spoiled little girl one time. Twenty years they stood alone in that pasture, summer and winter, alone and unloved. It turned my stomach every time I thought about it.
“Do you look in on those boarding horses periodically?”
——————————————————-
You betcha! We love all animals and want happy, healthy horses. And with the in-laws here, they have been keeping an eye out to make sure their owners visit and they let me know when they have not seen anyone there, so that I can contact them.
And of course we often walk down to the barn to visit the horses – they seem to appreciate human company, even if only to munch on the hay & carrots we give to them.
Our long-term plan is to eventually provide full-care horse boarding – once we learn more about how to take care of them and we have the time to do this. BTW this will double the amount we currently receive for ‘self-care’ boarding.
Saddddddd horse stories…
they seem to appreciate human company…
This I know to be true.
I took care of a horse for awhile without any experience. We had five acres at the time which was completely ungrazed. The horse (Sonata) was severely malnourished when we got her as it had been penned up with goats. It did well for awhile grazing, and put on quite a bit of weight. The fall and winter came around and I put down straw for a bed and kept the ice broken in the trough but she got really hungry. I saw her trying to eat birdseed out of the feeder and snapped that she was hungry. It was hard to find suitable hay that year and I always felt bad that it wasn’t more even though she wasn’t really my responsibility. The owners just dumped her off on us but I still tried my best to make her happy. I fed her sweet feed from the feed store and whatever grass I could find. She ran away several times when she was in heat and I had to go find her. She was very nice and liked me I could tell.
Edgar — that is such a nice story…. thanks for your kindness to Sonata…
Thanks Kitty. She was very nice. They came and took her away one day, I think they sold her to people who did some kind of show (barrel racing support staff horse or something). I never rode her myself. I hope she had a happy life.