Take Back Politics

Home Depot announced today that they are closing their 34 Expo home-design stores. HD noted that “Even during the recent housing boom, it was not a strong business, underperforming the core, orange-themed big-box stores during its best year in 2007.”  Investors are showing this is probably a good move as HD stock is currently up $1.14 (5.16%) per share.

We’d agree with HD that it is time to let the Expo stores go.  If you have ever been to their competitor “The Great Indoors“, part of the Sears company, you will understand why Expo has not performed even during the building boom.  The Great Indoors has a much better selection and a much nicer atmosphere.  It is much like the recent Circuit City versus Best Buy comparison that we made.  The Great Indoor is simply a better store, and the Expo chain really does not have much to offer.

HD has made a good move with this closing, even though there are going to be 7,000 people looking for new jobs.

While standing on the corner waiting to cross the street, three college age “Justice for Darfur” advocates were overheard asking each other, “hey want to go to Starbucks?”

Now there is nothing wrong with Starbucks, it’s just the stereotypical college kids heading to Starbucks while saving the world that is great.

CNN is reporting that Michelle Obama is upset with Beanie Baby maker Ty over the “Obama Daughter Beanie Babies.” While Michelle Obama feels it is inappropriate to use “young private citizens for marketing purposes,” we wonder what Mrs. Obama’s stance was on dragging the first daughters around to the Disney Channel Youth Ball on inauguration night was?

If it is inappropriate to use their image for marketing purposes in the case of the beanie babies, then perhaps they should not use them in any way including the Disney Channel production.

As it is currently being reported Caroline Kennedy has withdrawn her name for consideration for recently vacated New York junior senator slot.  While some organizations are reporting that Kennedy had personal issues or tax issues, it should come as not surprise that she has withdrawn her name.  She was not only polling worse than people not even in the running, but she also does not appear to have the qualifications for the job.  Since her initial announcement that she was interested in the position, Kennedy has not given much of a resume to show that she is qualified for the job.  New York is probably better off that she has withdrawn from the race.  You cannot rest on the laurels of your last name and have people feel good about you being their senator.

As noted per the Constitution, Barack Obama became the 44th President without actually taking the oath of office today, since the ceremony is running 7 minutes behind.

Today on CNN, they were asking if people thought the Obama Inauguration was too expensive to which most people said no.  While the inauguration itself has been great for the greater Washington D.C. area, it is the VIP toilets that seem to cost too much.  MSNBC reported that dignitaries like members of Congress and elected officials will have special VIP toilets at the inauguration “complete with sinks, heating and hardwood floors.”

For a few hours do “VIPs” really need heated portable toilets with hardwood floors?  That is pretty wasteful. While many American’s are struggling to pay their bills or find a new job, elected officials are using portable toilets with hardwood floors.  That really does show that some officials are still dramatically out of touch with their constituents.

As Circuit City announced on Friday, that they were not able to find a new buyer for their stores, and as a result they were closing all 567 stores.  While Circuit City blamed the bad economy and too much competition, they don’t do a good job of accepting the blame.  If they wanted to emerge from bankruptcy, they really should have worked to improve the core problems which are most likely a poor store layout, poor customer service, and high prices.  If you have ever been to a Circuit City, you might have noticed that the stores felt like going to a Goodwill Second Hand Store to buy a new TV vice something like Best Buy.  They also have some of the worst customer service in the industry, and their prices have always been too high.  On top of that, during ongoing clearance the prices do not actually seem much better than normal, and in fact they are not displaying what the normal price was so you might not be getting much of a deal right now at all.  We checked out the prices, and they were the same as Best Buy’s current prices and higher in some cases.

A while back McDonald’s announced that the cost of cheese would lead to changes with the double cheeseburger for $1.00.  Take a look at how their menu sits now — and then ask yourself, if the cheese costs so much, why is the beef so cheap?

McDonald’s Cheeseburger - $0.99

McDouble (the old double, just one slice of cheese): $1.00

Double Cheeseburger: $1.19

So, let’s get this straight - cheese costs $0.19 per slice, but the additional meat patty is only 1 cent?  That makes one wonder.  While you could say it is the quality of beef being very poor, we speculate they had to keep some type of double burger on their dollar menu to compete with Wendy’s and the rest who have a double burger on their value menus.

Recently it was announced that McDonald’s is considering the removal of the double cheeseburger from the Dollar Menu citing the rising cost of cheese.  Meanwhile other franchises have been offering only one slice of cheese or raising the price of the burger.

This leaves one wondering — is it really the cheese?  What does that say about the quality of the beef that McDonald’s uses in their burger.  With all meats and dairy products seeing an increase in price, shouldn’t beef be the cause of the decision to remove the burger from the Dollar Menu?  Between July 2007 and Jul7 2008, beef prices have gone up 38 percent.

This makes one wonder about the quality of the beef that McDonald’s uses…

A new report by by the Cochrane Collaboration says that there is no evidence that self-exams actually reduce breast cancer deaths.

…this has left millions of men wondering what they will do with their F.B.I., or Female Breast Inspector, t-shirts.