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Kiss Christmas Goodbye
Submitted by Tony Sagami via MauldinEconomics.com,
In my article from November 17, I touched on the growing number of retailers that report shrinking traffic and disappointing sales:
Our consumer-driven economy is not getting any help from suddenly sober shopaholics. In the most recent report, the Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose by a measly 0.1% in September. And it didn’t matter where you wear Gucci loafers or Red Wing work boots.
Since then, the retail landscape has gotten even muddier.
The Commerce Department reported that retail sales increased by a miserly +0.1% in October, below the +0.3% Wall Street was expecting. Additionally, sales for the month of September were revised downward from +0.1% to 0.0%.
So this is what the last three months look like:
August 0.0%
September 0.0%
October 0.1%
You should pay careful attention to retail sales because there is a strong correlation between plunging retail sales and plunging stock prices!
Walmart, Macy’s, and Nordstrom are the three high-profile retailers to disappoint Wall Street, but they have lots of company.
- Shoe retailer DSW, Inc. lowered its full-year earnings forecast from $1.80 – $1.90 per share to $1.40 – $1.50 per share. The problem? Slow customer traffic.
- The Gap reported that its October same-store sales dropped by 15% at Banana Republic and by 4% at Gap stores. Additionally, the company warned that it would miss Q3 expectations.
- Urban Outfitters reported Q3 sales of $825.3 million, well below the Wall Street pipe dream of $868.9 million. Urban Outfitters’ shares closed down 7.4% to a four-year low after spitting up that revenue hairball.
The biggest confirmation of the retailing woes came from the Port of Long Beach, the second-busiest US port.
The Port of Long Beach handled 307,995 containers in October, down from 310,482 and 0.8% less from the same month last year. More troublesome is the 14% plunge in imported containers since August.
That tells me retailers are cutting back their pre-Christmas orders in anticipation of disappointing holiday sales and due to already bulging inventories.
Speaking of bulging inventories, I want to point out two retailers with ballooning inventories that I think are profit time bombs just waiting to kill investors.
- Lululemon Athletica (LULU): Yoga-pants maker Lululemon has been suffering from an inventory bulge. Inventory hit $280 million, a 55% year-over-year increase.
- Under Armour (UA): Inventory ballooned to $867 million at the end of Q3, a 36% increase.
I’m not suggesting that you rush out, sell all your retail stocks, or short Lululemon and Under Armour tomorrow morning. As always, timing is everything. However, it is crystal clear to me that the Grinch is definitely going to steal Christmas... and that retail stocks are one of the worst places to invest your money.
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Here's the deal. Why the hell would anyone want to put up with the scum that passes itself off as "Average Americans" at any mall or box store when they can get what they want from Amazon?
In many of these places, fighting for parking is not worth the aggravation alone
Fuck Amazon and its' Chief Commie in Charge Jeff BOZO. Just to spite that son-of-a-bitch and because I'm a good Southerner I'm buying everyone on my shopping list Confederate Flags for Christmas. Like everything else on my list I'm buying them from local small businesses in Marietta, Kennesaw, and Acworth Ga.
Amazon is expensive...
So is getting your bumper smashed in a parking lot or getting knocked out in a Walmart aisle after fighting over a toaster.
I do neither. I don't need more useless crap. How many TV's and iphones do you need?
But it's going to keep the USPS "afloat"
Whenever you find something on Amazon cross check the price with EBay. I can almost always get it cheaper because I don't pay sales tax at ebay. And I don't have to feel dirty knowing that J. Bezos is using my money to support the homos.
But every year the people get larger and covered in more tattoos.
That is the deal for a fact. I walked through the mall in Fairfax VA this past weekend and thought I was back in Kabul. Worthwhile I suppose for independent socioeconomic research but NOT going back again.
Her green plastic watering can
For her fake Chinese Xmas tree
In the fake plastic earth
That she bought from a rubber man
In a town full of rubber plans
With my avatar. How can I not give you a green arrow.
dont worry our nigger president, this year too, will be busy on chritmas playing with his dreidls like he did last year and the year before last year too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRMMuImZ2qY
Dreidl song
http://youtu.be/mnzVq2t7bi4
6n Is for common core
6n Is against common core
Big gains reported for this weekend. Tepid by 12/26.
Don't worry about under armor
They make pretty good combat gloves. Langley will be shipping tens of thousands of pairs for ISIS goat molesters through Ankara next week.
Krumpas will be busy this year...
All my christmas money went to Obozo care
All Amurikans know the spirit of Xmas is buying useless crap that you can't even remember giving or getting a couple of years from now (at most).
Do NOT shop at Target.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) is an heir to the Dayton-Hudson fortune akak Target.
Dayton said if Minnesota (American) residents do not like even more endless flood of refugees to MN then they can leave the state.
Dayton is a c*nt. F Target too. Target was okay until 50 million credit card numbers were hacked. Their prices on clothing and other things are very high now. Shithole store like Kohls. Kohls aka chosun-ite Democrats from Wisconsin. Another shit store. I think the family no longer owns it but way over priced. Like a more expensive JC Penny.
http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/10/minnesota-governor-find-another-state-...
I shopped at Target all through the 90's and loved the stuff. While I was busy chasing the Holy Grail in the early aughts they completely revamped their style. Now instead of nice Italianate and Mediterranean looks, everything looks like rejected designs from the 60's. F that. I went through the 60's and 70's once; damned if I want any of that crap in my house now that I can afford better. Or now that I can make my own decisions.
If they want the customers to come back, they need to invest in merchandise worth buying. Stuff that's made in China is one thing. Stuff that was obviously DESIGNED in China should stay there.
At least we'll have disco
Target's stuff is expensive junk. Shoes are China trash. They have decent Merona dress shirts but they are $30 now! I can get online some of the nicest dress shirts for $29.99 in endless designs, colors, collars, types of cotton with really nice designs. Regular or French cuffs. These shirts compares to $90 shirts.
Target's prices on socks, underwear, ties, belts, undershirts, pajamas and other stuff is as much as Dillard's or Nordstroms. Total rip off joke. Target's employees are as bad as Wal Marts. Target's food prices are okay but after what Dayton said - I will never shop there again. I will not support him or his family of traitors.
I try to avoid shopping for anything. Food and healthcare and of course utilities. My best time to go shopping for groceries is 3:30 PM--before the worker crush and after the school mom rush.
Fuck this. I was some ass-kicking Black Friday videos to enjoy, America! Get your fat gravy-filled turkey asses off those cheap-shit lazy-boys and line up at WallyWorld with Mastercards so that the rest of us can laugh at you killing one another for $1.99 3-pack panties.
That's why I pay for this fucking internet - to see that shit. Not to read ZH! (haha?)
The November 2011 $2 Waffle Iron Riot at Wal-Mart was the best ever.
http://gawker.com/5862628/watch-the-great-black-friday-two-dollar-waffle...
Matt Drudge,
Contact kimdot.com for a safe zone IP (have to use the jargon). You can redirect your business. I don't do social media, this is my stomping groud. It's flip of the coin on how this falls out. You can't run it from deepweb. Call Kim.
A little humor
THIS IS A TEST (EMERGENCY BROADCAST NETWORK)http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5TzrwB6PqT8
Sorry Tyler. Just reaching out to Matthew. Winks.
Except for gold and silver, how much shit do you really need? I have too much shit around already and it starts to own you rather than you owning it.
Most people are not buying a lot this year. But when they sell big ticket stuff at losses they'll get the crowds. $99 50" Tv, $200 Ps4... There'll be lines but retailers will be losing.
I don't need any more TV's though. There really isn't anything on TV worth watching. I saw some of those ads for the cheap TVs but I already have three flatscreens. I don't need another one. I saw a "Doorbuster" ad for a laptop at Best Buy but I already have three comps. It vaguely intrigued me because it has Windows 10 on it. Right. More crap. Now if it had Windows 9 on it... oh, wait, nevermind.
A lot of electronics selling at deep discounts are made only for the holiday shopping season. If you want an especially poor quality Chicomm flat screen TV that lasts a year and a half, tops, then by all means head for Walmart or Best Buy and get in line with the rest of the drones.
They cannot give TV's away. The buyers include:
1. Old people like baby boomers who still like the idiot box like idiots.
2. Dumb white males who cheer on their Trayvon thug and Jameis rapist ball player criminals like little girls.
3. Obola's free shit army of Trayvons and illegals.
TV all in HD 3-d stupidity and full on brainwashing.
Go away! Batin!
You’re right.
I guess I could by another TV for my Living Porn Wall. My computer is fine. My Home Theatre is already too loud for my neighborhood….
I want a high-end clone machine (for cloning pets and what-not).
True story. I have a high end Sony stereo system with really expensive 300 watt JBL speakers. It is really nice. Guess when the last time I fired it up was? Your guess is as good as mine. I haven't even turned the damned thing on this year. Maybe I should do that to see if it works? Put in some Nine Inch Nails and crank it. I bet the neighbors would like that.
Your nieghbors are demanding The Clash "White Riot". I can hear them from my house.
The Clash were middle class band wagon jumpers and Mick Jones and Joe Strummer were half chosenites and Labour Party stooges. They spewed the politically correct party line.
They spewed the Sandinista line and rubbish but never had the guts to talk about the British Army in Ireland because they might end up dead.
I knew a Brit who knew Simenon. He said he was a moron and they were all middle class.
John Lydon and The Pistols were the real deal. They legitimately feared for their lives mainly because Lydon was a libertarian. The UK govt wanted them dead - Tories and Labour Party.
but...but... that skinny negro with big ears told me everything is awesome
i'm not buying anything for christmas but i might replace the 2 carat diamond earings that my wife lost in our house somewhere. she has been batshit since april when she lost them and we know there is no way anyone took them but we have rooted this place upside down 20 times and unless i disassemble the couch there is nowhere they could be.
then again if i buy them will it remind her she lost the others. oh well. maybe ms creant or micro can advise me.
i will be happy to have my wife and sons in one place all of us healthy, happy, and fullfilled.
the only thing i've wanted for chrismas for 20 years is a 5 inch keene gold dredge, (to go after all the gold you guys have lost in those unfortunate boating accidents), or a m1a supermatch to augment my .30 collection.
Might be cheaper to replace the wife at rate.
i know a jeweler that i can get the stones wholesale and have them mounted. decent investment grade stones, not the retail junk you see in stores.
after 33 years with my wife if i am hurt she has tears and if she is cut, i bleed. so the wife idea isn't going to happen
Check your heating vents. Sometimes things get knocked around then drop down inside.
vents are all in the ceilings, but i am going to check all the returns, thank you for the suggestions and happy thanksgiving.
Did you check the vacuum cleaner? Thirty years ago I repaired them and we always changed the bag and we would always find good jewely in them, just a thought.
yeah, i cut all 3 bags open, they hadn't been changed out for at least a month before they disappeared. dumped them into a 5 gallon container full of water tore apart all the dust-hairball junk and then panned them out. found some small safety pins. and a nut from the garage door (htf).
wife has had them for more than 20 years, always puts them in the same place or in her ears, they have double fail-safe screw in backs and it bothers her most i think that she thinks she might be having dementia, (she isn't). no one had been in our home from when she last had them on verified by me, and when they went missing. and they are both gone, so whereever they are, they are together.
also went through all the traps, including the shower and tubs, they have traps too. nada
… That was back when the 99% could afford good jewelry (… and vacuum cleaners).
(METAL ones, not plastic throwaway Chinese crap)
We've been through that scenario a few times. What's weird is the item(s) have always shown up and in a place we both know we had searched thoroughly. Examples are a necklace, a deed, and an Amex card. She thinks it's the departed but I'm not sensitive to that kind of thing like she is. I'd go with them getting kicked into a parallel dimension for a while but that's troublesome because what the hell causes that?
I upvoted you for the "out of the box" thinking, kudos!!!
I always believed there was a parallel dimension of lost stuff
that's a more much comfortable explanation than "we were simply doofuses and overlooked it"
i've re-searched probably a dozen times and i know she has, it's weird. i think maybe a new couch will be the direction i go then tear this one apart, although i have turned it over and upended it shaken it. maybe the other dimension will spit them out and we will find them. they are big stones and it would seem they would be easy to find.
Under hypnosis she might remember why the jewelry didn't make it to its usual location.
Lost my wedding ring years ago. Retraced my steps that day never found it. Bought a replacement. Couple of years later, found the original in e garden bed dirt. Now I have a backup ring. Life goes on either way...
The market orientates based on inventory, however by now it goes even further down than that. Total fixed capital has gone way down, and we've sold most odds and ends other than sucker and tshirt makers to China / United Kingdom.
Is that bulge your inventory? I thought you were just glad to see me.
I don't want to make a big deal of this (cuz it isn't a big deal), but I never participated in xmas, either as a giver or receiver of gifts. What's the point?
Ditto for behaving as expected on birthdays and other holidays. I've just never felt like being a puppet, pulled by strings established decades, centuries or millennia ago, has any appeal.
However, I have enjoyed a yummy turkey a few times circa Thanksgiving.
But no more of that out here in the boonies... just chicken, veggies and eggs for me, just like every day in my modest self-sufficient paradise.
Come on Ann. You mean to tell me that you don't want to put a tree in your house, where it does not belong, and then pick needles out of the carpet by hand for the next year?
Hahaha. Right. People used to call me nasty names when they found out I don't buy things for people for xmas and birthdays. Often I would reply... only half in jest... that "I don't treat people good on xmas or birthdays, only on all other days of the year".
And while I was definitely never much of a gift-giver, my response contained some truth in the sense I like to treat people in a kind, gentle, friendly way all the time (or not interact with them at all).
When I would buy something for someone, it was always a random time when I encountered some unusual item that so perfectly suited someone that I just couldn't resist getting it for them.
I was always vociferous at telling others to never buy anything for me... especially for xmas or birthdays. And I never would buy for others on those dates, because the very thought of behaving in a way dreamed up and promoted by others has always been distasteful to me.
But on those rare occasions when some item was "just too perfect" for someone, I was happy to buy and give. Oh, that reminds me of something else.
For many years when I did buy something to give as a gift, I would purposely send it from an obscure location without return address and without identifying myself or anyone as sender.
Some devious part of me gets a thrill from the thought of a friend getting something "so very cool", but have no freaking idea who are where it came from. Hahaha. I don't know why this tickles my fancy as much as it does, unless it is simply my general appreciation for being a hermit and outta sight, outta mind.
-----
As an aside, as you probably already know, I am extremely "inorganic oriented". That's partly because I'm a scientist, engineer, high-techie who works in many fields... none of which [necessarily] involve organic systems. For example, environments like moon, Mars, Phobos, asteroids and huge spacecraft appeal to be greatly, while dense jungles repulse me.
However, to make my self-sufficient digs out here in the extreme boonies, I had to start raising chickens (for chicken and eggs), and grow a wide variety of veggies, seeds, nuts, spices... and a small selection of fruit.
At the start I thought I'd really, really hate this "organic portion" of my project. But... I've rather grown interested and sometimes even fascinated by producing my own 100% natural, healthy, extremely flavorful and yummy food. Given the fact that the idea of having and raising kids always grossed me out, I suppose maybe raising and growing my food almost sorta feels somewhat vaguely like what kids might feel to normal human beings.
There is something appealing about raising and growing my food, seeing them develop, figuring out how to execute the whole process without the mess usually involved in farms and gardens. That's probably the weirdest thing about my food setup... I've gradually figured out how to make the entire process incredibly neat, clean, orderly and very much non-messy... nothing remotely like any farm or garden I've ever seen.
Anyway, curious to me too. My eventual goal is to become 100% inorganic myself, and have no further need for organic systems. Organics are just curiosity and fun on that path.
So you want to turn into an Iphone? What about battery life?
Hahaha, good one. But nope. Being that I'm a scientist, engineer, inventor and extreme high-techie type to my core, people always laugh when they learn I've never owned a mobile phone (or notebook computer, or television, or stereo, or radio, or watch, or ipad, or many things "everyone" owns).
I am (and have been for a few years) working with a tiny group of fellow scientists, engineers and software developers on "smarter than human inorganic consciousness". I suppose you could visualize this as "smarter than human robot"... except the physical form need not look much (or anything) like any conventional robot you've ever seen (but could).
For example, it can be (and likely will be ultimately) a "physically distributed system" with the sensors, robotics and computer physically separated and connected by wireless communications. But that's pretty much an irrelevant detail.
The first stage of the project (that we spend most of our time on now) is to re-implement a more efficient version of the successful "proof-of-principle" prototype that was created by the original inventor-developer (who is part of our collaboration). This is necessary because the original implementation was vastly too slow to be practical for anything significant (much slower than human), even though smarter than human.
Once that is done, we've figure out how we (us human developers) can "become 100% inorganic" yet fully retain our existing identity. At which point we can make any number of copies as we wish, and backup ourselves up as often as we wish. At which time we are immortal... we will literally live forever absent some very short-term planetary catastrophe.
Once we achieve this second stage, it won't take us long to develop technology to get off this planet and live in outer space. Why? Because we can make dozens, even hundreds of thousands of copies of the smartest inorganic beings (as well as us), and they can work 24/7/365 developing the most advanced technologies ever. Sorta like teams of thousands of Einstein+ level scientists and engineers. Once we're "outta here" (off the planet and living self-sufficiently in outer space, perhaps in or behind comets and/or asteroids), we're immortal. Nothing will be able to exterminate us... not even the sun going nova, which isn't scheduled to happen any time soon.
Yeah, I know all the above sounds impossibly grandiose. That's what I thought when I encountered these people. But they'd already done the breakthrough work (that still nobody else knows how to do), so the rest is really just making a faster, more efficient implementation. That's not trivial though, especially since we're a small team and doing this project without current compensation because we can't let this technology get into the hands of any corporation of government. I'm sure you can guess some reasons why. Ultimately our compensation is the results, and being able to move into outer space, and being able to be immortal... literally. Quite the payoff, even without no stinking fiat... or even gold! :-)
I suppose one reason I waste some time checking ZH articles is my worry the predators-that-be will wipe us all out... just before we get to advance to the next and final stage of organic evolution. Which is inorganic consciousness and inorganic beings. What's the advantage you might ask? Inorganic beings are easy to make modular, while organic systems are naturally and radically holistic (integrated). So inorganic beings can improve themselves in any way they can conceive, design and implement, and thus evolve self-consciously and intentionally. Plus, whenever any component becomes worn or broken (or a more capable version is developed), that component can be replaced in a few seconds. Plus, of course, we can make as many copies as we want of ourselves and/or the smartest, most capable of us inorganic beings. Plus, we can make safe remote backups of ourselves [daily], so if the worst happens (total vaporization), we can be recreated and only lose a day of work and memory. We think those advantages are quite attractive... hence our efforts.
That's our story in a nutshell. Not exactly the life of an iphone! :-)
It is easy to foresee man's ability to reproduce a human inorganically using future technology.
Allow yourself to consider that cave drawings were, in essence, very early, primitive, first attempts to recreate a man inorganically (i.e. without human copulation). The resolution and details were of course only first steps but notice there was an innate desire to recreate/reproduce one's self. This is a unique desire to humankind. Paintings and sculpture later emerged and resolution improved but recreation remained purely superficial. Photography further improved resolution but still not nearly enough and photos remained superficial 2D recreations. CATSCAN technology introduced 3D capture; and improved resolution; and even early 3D reproduction. This technology is in its infancy.
You see the innate pursuit. It is foreseeable that a future technology similar to a CATSCAN will have the ability to record a human in full-3D with resolution down to the molecular level. Once this level of resolution of 3D recording is available, it will follow that a machine will be able to orderly recreate each of the molecules thereby actually recreating the recorded human being.
Duh.
I don't disagree with you, but that's not what we're doing. We're not creating an "inorganic human being".
We are (and have) created smarter than human "inorganic consciousness" (albeit much slower too).
The first several "inorganic conscious entities" will have nothing to do with humans, other than the fact they will be entities that have advanced consciousness. Any smart alien from outer space would also have advanced consciousness, but would also not be human (but might be organic).
Only after we our inorganic conscious entities have smarter and faster consciousness than human beings can we move to the other project I mentioned, which is where some of us organic humans become fully inorganic. In effect, this involves "uploading" the individual identity and consciousness of one of us into one of our existing inorganic conscious entities. I say "uploading", but the process is much more involved (and time consuming) than what the term "uploading" normally means (but I'd rather not get into details).
I should probably make another comment. Some of those steps you described are attempts to simulate [certain respects of] humans. The difference between "simulate" and "implement" are very important and substantial.
In our project, we are not simulating anything, we are implementing advanced inorganic consciousness. And though the inorganic consciousness will perform the same processes of human consciousness, it will also perform additional processes (that make it smarter and more reliable), as well as not perform defective mental processes that most humans regularly do (which makes the inorganic version even more smarter).
Essentially the end stage of what you describe are the transporters on Star Trek, where every atom of a human (or other object) is "broadcast to" another location, then "reassembled" into the exact same pattern.
Honest Ann, Thx for dialogue. I'm not so sure the "end stage" of replication is to accomplish Trek-like transport. Transport is a separate agenda not like the innate desire to reproduce. I believe it isn't far off (<100 years) to scan and recreate human parts or whole. We need only greater resolution and deeper data processing.
I agree. As you imply, most projects will continue to focus on organic systems.
Meanwhile, we'll finish our advance inorganic conscious entities, then become inorganic ourselves, then leave earth to organics. This seems best all around, since a planet like earth is quite appropriate for organics, while outer space is a nearly perfect environment for advanced inorganic conscious beings [who want to be left alone to do their things free of interference by human predators].
Come on ann by-passing all those festivities you must substitute them for a regular stocking filler,eh?, be honest now!
I last celebrated Christmas in 1975.
feel the same
even when i had family
earl's hideaway for tgiving (sebastian fl;-)
r
https://enronnext101.wordpress.com/
This Shitmas will finally kill of Sears once and for all. I had to get some parts for the frig in that dump and you can feel death hanging in the air. It's like the old Soviet Union in there.
You look at the sheep wandering around and it's mostly nigs, spics, white trash - and some Canadians.
Best Buy might hang on another year, but they are internet toast.
The clothing retailers are going to get creamed and some of them will go under.
The biggest problems I see are tapped out consumers and really nothing new - the combines now have the same Chinese shit coast to coast and it's more homogenized than ever.
Last time I went to Sears I thought it was closed. I was the only car. Seems the employees were parking around the side. I was the only customer when I entered.
Bought out of date cheese online delivery last month. Now 6-8 weeks expiry is the norm for this product so things must be bad out there.
Think i'll go H_H and try making my own. How does it work again, you wear your smelliest pair of socks and trample in what?
Well, duh.
Fuck with everything Christ related and then act all shocked when nobody buys anything for CHRISTMAS.
Take your "holiday season" and shove it up your secular humanist ass.
Oh, and a Happy Kwanzaa to everyone. More shoplifting should certainly puff up the sales figures nicely.
When I get "Happy Holidays", I always respond with "Peace on Earth". Half the time they're pissed, but what can they say at that point? "Hail Satan"?
If a Hispanic person says "Happy Holidays", I always respond with "Felize Navidad" and I always get a smile. The don't want to say "Happy Holidays" anymore than I do.
Far as I'm concerned all the non-Christians whose religious traditions need to be respected and honoured this Christmas are in Israel. The men and women of the IDF help keep the little town of Bethlehem safe from the murderers who won't be happy till it's back under Muslim control and free of Christians and Jews both.
Back in reality, only an intellectual could possibly see the logic in forbidding Christian employees from wishing clients Happy Christmas while cheerfully giving Muslim employees five prayer breaks a day and all the Muslim festivals off, as well as Christmas Day.
(A Muslim once wanted me to believe Muslims consider Jesus a prophet and that makes it okay for Muslims to observe Christmas. How that squares with their duty to convert or kill Jesus' followers I don't know.)
Oh, and a Happy Kwanzaa to everyone. More shoplifting should certainly puff up the sales figures nicely.
Well, Ill do my part. I suffer from kleptomania but every time it gets bad, I take something for it...
Funny thing, Ms. Ryder. In person, you don't look anything like your mug shot.
MOAR SHOPLIFTING!
If you want to find out the true effect on Starbucks sales volume after its total removal of any Christmas symbol from its latest seasonal red coffee cup, you will be met with, not sales figures, but with the full brunt of a public relations assault that must have cost the company millions.
Social media and all across the liberal press the story is the same: the red cup controversy created comments and controversy but -- not mentioning any sales figures of course -- everything turned out all right: Starbucks played it cool and probably even benefited from the negative PR.
And if you believe that, you are that person that the advertising business has always counted on for giving them your money.
Starbucks' supporters in the media did extensive counts of social media comments, pro and con, related to the red cup, summarizing that these counts were significant in determining if Starbucks was hurt. And then claimed it was not. Obviously, the support of atheists for Starbucks is a given. But the question is How do Christians react to this open challenge to Christmas?
We do know, from the WSJ, that according to Amobee Brand Intelligence’s data, there were 40,455 tweets between Nov. 5 and noon eastern time on Nov. 9 around “Red Cup.” We also know that in that same time frame Evangelist Joshua Feuerstein’s video on his Facebook page on Nov. 5 saying that Starbucks “wanted to take Christ and Christmas off of their brand new cups,” garnered more than 12.8 million views, more than 157,000 likes on Facebook and had been shared more than 457,000 times.
But with Starbucks and its media supporters promoting the negative with a positive spin we will never know the true sales impact. But let me say this: Remember Macy’s.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/consumers-arent-so-cheery-about-starbucks-holiday-cup-controversy-1447099197
JR it's uncanny how you managed to get 3 of my most favourite Stawk pics into one comment! s/c
Jr. is gifted. :-)
Happy Thanksgiving! Yen.
' Right back at ya.. Give 'Sue Ellen' , my best.
Why Xmas shop @ a store that won't say "Merry Xmas"?
I won't. EOS.
Starbuicks who?
I bought a little something for Festivus season. It is a Confederate flag. I am going to fly those colors tomorrow off my balcony. Why? There are a lot of self righteous people around here. Big time religion freaks who bow down to the state at every possible turn. These people like to tell you how to live your life. You shouldn't smoke or you shouldn't drink. I don't need a lecture. One of those old dried up pious women told me yesterday that I should tell my "friend" to not smoke on her balcony. WHAT? I'm not going to say shit to anyone for shit like that. And get this, she told me "You know I pay a lot of money to live here." Like I don't pay? Are you kidding me? What did I do wrong here? I was smoking outside. I can't help what other people do. That is bullshit. Not only that, this old bag managed to get into a fight with our Russian neighbors about some nothing issue.
Hey old dry cunt, mind your own fucking business. It is almost time for the annual tradition for airing of grievances.
Con-Festivus.
I like that.
Fly your flag with pride, and Deo Vindice !
Christmas is still coming, Mr. Scrooge. It comes to the heart, silently, not in the clanking of the register nor the jingling of coins.
And being with family and friends around a warm fire with a case of premium imported beer cooling in the fridge.
Good times.
shit xmas isn't just in store for the US but also for Europe
going by the numbers of Chinese manufacturing and export data from oct to now, xmas will be a bummer for all
Mr Chen in Zhejiang who makes all your xmas gifts already know what's coming for your retail season, way before you even do.
I haven't heard the usual bloviating from the media about how this year will be the biggest sales year ever. Maybe they're not letting onto something that they already know.
Christmas Tree Safety PSA. Just another reason why you don't need a Christmas tree in your domicile. That sure escalated quickly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLHhG65fLeY
You can tell that I am already getting into the spirits of the season.
My friend recently got a bad prescription for a drug he's been taking for 5 years for a condition. His pharmacy changed vendors for this particular drug. This reseller has a sordid history of labeling as Drug A and the pills really contain Drug B. One of the fuckups could be potentially fatal in abuse situations. His pharmacy did not even work with him after admitting they had a bad supplier problem. He really has no clue what he really took other than it was not what he was supposed to be taking.
Everything is turning to shit.
Tol'ja so. My ramblings about empty trains meant something.
Here is a guy who goes to Christmas mass every year. His name is Vlad. The Christmas mass in his country is about 3 hours long in the middle of the night.
He supports Christians and all other people who are peaceful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3d_yxJhmjk
It seems his baptism, his mom and dad were important to him. he and his country have stood up to mass murderers and head choppers of the ZWO and ZATO.
As a mid-level KGB operative (i.e. a mass murderer and head chopper himself) I can positively guarantee that he did not go to Christmas Mass every year-- unless it was to take notes and photographs of those who were attending.
Apart from that, it's a nice gesture that won't be repeated by Obama or Hillary.
In the meantime, tomorrow is the great American holiday of Thanksgiving. No matter how the past year has been for you all, I hope there were nevertheless some good things to remember and give thanks for, and I earnestly hope that next year brings even greater blessings.
We stand on the cusp of radical changes. May God run with you all.
be careful this weekend remember #BlackFridayLivesMatter, bitches.
Little to do with the celebration of religion and a lot to do with a big shopping binge. What's in your stocking?
These posts do not represent the average Zero Hedge reader. They are just the people who can't shut up.
Or, hold on to your X-Maz ass and kiss it Goodbye!