Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Much Sorry with Delays
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Thursday, July 25. 2019

Thursday morning links

Amazon Has 'Destroyed' US Retail Industry: Mnuchin


 In a first, China has more companies on Fortune Global 500 list than the US


 Want to Know How Complicated Our Tax System Is? Check Out the IRS's "Taxpayer Roadmap"


 How 2 Women Used Sex, Activism, and Title IX To Scam a Harvard Professor Out of His House, Job, and Money


Dumbest law prof ever? 


 A Federal Court Takes on Title IX


 New Baltimore deputy police commissioner robbed at gunpoint near Patterson Park


 IT’S OFFICIAL: DEMOCRATS DISLIKE OUR COUNTRY


 MUELLER’S TESTIMONY BOMBED [UPDATED


 Schiff: Mueller investigation showed Trump's 'disloyalty to country'


What??? Muerller asserted there was no Trump-Russia collusion. The Clinton-Russia angle was never explored.


 Rep. Ratcliffe to Mueller: You Didn't Follow Special Counsel Rules, You Wrote About Decisions That Weren't Reached

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 07:00 | Comments (24) | Trackbacks (0)

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I have mixed views about Amazon. I live in a small town. Even Walmart is a 50-mile round trip, and it frequently does not stock many things I need. There are many things I couldn’t buy if not for Amazon.
#1 Juan Paxety (Link) on 2019-07-25 08:48 (Reply)
yeah. Even living in a pretty decent sized city that's how it is for me.
Sure there are stores around still, but if I want something that's a bit more upscale than lower mid range on almost anything it has to be special ordered for me.
If I want foreign language books, forget about it.

etc. etc. etc.
#1.1 JTW on 2019-07-25 12:21 (Reply)
The big problem with Amazon is that it doesn't have 1 or 2 strong quality American competitors taking at least half its business away.
#1.2 Matt on 2019-07-25 13:33 (Reply)
Same here. It not quite 50-mile trip, but it's at least 30. Moreover, when I last made a point of trying to "buy local," I found that local stores rarely have anything other than the most basic stuff in stock and have to order it anyway--necessitating two trips instead of one and a considerable delay.

With Amazon, it's usually here in a couple of days...on my doorstep.
#1.3 T Migratorious on 2019-07-25 16:38 (Reply)
We have one grocery store in my small town. They've taken to dropping many of our preferred brands and substituting their in-house brand. Every time they do that, I go to Amazon and order a case of whatever it is. The grocery store will continue to have a firm grip on my business for anything perishable or needed for that night's dinner.

I've also taken to ordering most of my clothing and many household or hardware items this way, unless it's something I can't wait two days for.
#2 Texan99 on 2019-07-25 09:06 (Reply)
We faced the same problem. After shopping at the same grocery for decades, I suddenly found the owners/managers bone-headed about stocking our favored brands, which they previously had carried for similar amount of time. Since we also carry a house charge account, they note and COMPLAIN that our bill has dropped by 30+%. My response: too dang bad.

I note that a few of the smaller businesses now are using a service to expediate shipping off their web-based businesses. Let's see if they can compete with the Big A.
#2.1 jma on 2019-07-25 09:59 (Reply)
The taxpayer roadmap is just a flowchart. Behind every station is an army of IRS workers that make mueller yesterday look like einstein.

Let's demand simplification.
#3 maddog (Link) on 2019-07-25 09:31 (Reply)
Re: Dumbest law prof ever

That wasn't two women. That was a woman and a man.
#4 Mike (Link) on 2019-07-25 10:02 (Reply)
Yeah that article was absurd. The writer (I refuse to call her a journalist) spent the entire piece being confused about "who could possibly be the father of the child???".

Well, gee, maybe it's the MAN who the scam artist woman is married to. Just because he's a bloke in a frock doesn't mean that his penis has disappeared. In fact it's mentioned several times how he hasn't had his dick cut off yet. Maybe he had sex with his wife?

The possibility of a married couple engaging in heterosexual sex apparently never occurred to the writer. She also doesn't seem to have done any sort of background check to verify that these people were who they said they were, or what they were up to before they appeared in Boston in 2009.

The state of 'journalism' these days is an unfunny joke.
#4.1 jm01 on 2019-07-25 12:31 (Reply)
"But they're TRANS. That means they can't father kids, right?"

Yeah, profoundly ignorant of biology. It's a sad, sad thing.
#4.1.1 JLawson on 2019-07-25 14:21 (Reply)
"Amazon Has 'Destroyed' US Retail Industry"
In much the same way that the automobile industry destroyed the buggy whip industry. Thank god I can find anything I want on Amazon at a reasonable price.
#5 OneGuy on 2019-07-25 10:31 (Reply)
I'll buy stuff locally if I know they're going to have it. Food? I'll get it locally. Walmart, Publix, Kroger. Hard goods? Sometimes I'll buy them on Amazon if (a) I don't need them quickly or (b) the price is too good to pass up. Stuff from, say, Home Depot I'll get at HD. Got a new router at Microcenter, but if the local Microcenter wasn't convenient I'd have gotten it from Amazon.

Clothes? I like trying before buying. Amazon's prices are okay, but their sizing runs a bit small. There's a local Duluth Trading - and though their prices are kinda high I really like the quality of their goods.

The old system of 'Mom&Pop retail shops' that some fetishize as 'small retail' have to provide some value to keep the customers coming in the door. If they don't - it's nobody's fault but their own.

I find it funny how Walmart used to be the Great Destructor of American Retail. I guess they've given up on demonizing it and are now going after Amazon. Maybe if they can gut Amazon the Mom&Pop shops will magically reappear, instead of people going to Amazon's replacement.

Mnuchin forgets that Sears could have become what Amazon is now. But they apparently refused to go that route because all the 'best people' thought internet retail simply wouldn't be a thing.

Retail is tough as all hell. You innovate, or you die. I worked for B. Dalton back in the day. They're gone. Borders?
They're gone. Barnes & Noble? They're not doing well at all, may not be around much longer. Amazon's made it too easy to buy books.

In the end, the customer decides what their shopping experience is going to be. That's retail for you...
#5.1 JLawson on 2019-07-25 12:53 (Reply)
I used to patronize local stores, but they hardly stock anything any more. As others have posted, it's foolish for me to spend a day driving 50-100 miles looking for some widget when I can have it delivered the next day by Amazon. I LOVE Amazon and wish the politicos would lay off. We need one of those "Leave Brittney Alone! videos about Amazon.
#5.1.1 snopercod on 2019-07-25 17:48 (Reply)
As I have watched the Democrat legislators, their fellow travelers in the media, and the rank and file (whose proclivities run from simply liberal to Maoist) endeavor to throw everything to the wind in order to "catch" Trump, I am reminded of the scene in I believe it was "A Man For All Seasons" about cutting down every tree to get at the devil.
#6 BornSouthern on 2019-07-25 10:50 (Reply)
Harvard Professor Out of His House, Job, There are so many people like this Prof that are taking anti-depressant/mood drugs instead of dealing with their problems and then wonder why things like this happen. To coin a phrase 'that's why they call it dope '
#7 Charro on 2019-07-25 11:09 (Reply)
Listen.
drip, Drip, DRIP . . .
#8 faculty wife on 2019-07-25 11:57 (Reply)
"Schiff: Mueller investigation showed Trump's 'disloyalty to country'": The HELL you say.
#9 Sam L. on 2019-07-25 12:05 (Reply)
"Who are you going to believe? ME, or your lying eyes and ears that saw and heard Mueller going "There's no collusion or obstruction?" You're going to believe ME, right?"

That Schiff... There's another wanna-be dictator, controlling the country as he wants and professing 'it's for your own good!' when things go south.
#9.1 JLawson on 2019-07-25 12:27 (Reply)
Don't feel sorry for the Harvard Law clown, Bruce Hay one little bit.

He is a left winger getting his own left wing deserts.

To that I say HAHA and bravo.
#10 LibDis on 2019-07-25 13:52 (Reply)
"Failure to Respond to Changing World Destroys Retailers"
.
There. Fixed it.
#11 Tom on 2019-07-25 15:49 (Reply)
Back in the mid-fifties, A&P was the largest grocery retailer in America. No one could have imagined that 50 years later hardly anyone would know the name. It's the cycle of business, one day someone with a better idea will make Amazon an also-ran.
#12 FRP on 2019-07-25 17:59 (Reply)
Anyone remember A&P supermarkets? At their peak they sold 50% of all groceries in the US. They were going to crash the economy.

Sears, ditto

Walmart ditto

And so on

There is always a problematic business that will cause the end of the world.

Amazon is just the latest. Walmart is doing some interesting things that may give them a run for their money.

I consult to manufacturing all over the US. No matter the product, walmart is always the biggest customer. Walmart is a pain in the ass for suppliers. But by being a pain in the ass, they make US manufacturing competitive again.

Kind of like Toyota et al did to the US car industry by using methods Henry Ford pioneered 110 years ago.

John - happy Prime customer
#13 John on 2019-07-25 19:23 (Reply)
Just a reminder,

For the past 20 or so years, Jeff Bezos salary has been $89,000/yr. 89 thousand.

No bonuses, no dividends.

He truly has all his eggs in one basket. One Helluva basket but still just one.

John Henry

John Henry
#14 John on 2019-07-25 19:30 (Reply)
I've always felt that the prices at grocery stores like Kroger's and Safeway were much too high. You know, it's possible to get much lower prices, and home delivery, if you buy from Sysco. The only thing with Sysco is that you've got to have a Tax I.D. number, but that's no big deal. There could be a Sysco app that allows you to order your food, and schedule a time for delivery. The nice thing about Sysco is that they have a much wider selection of foods than a grocery store, at lower prices.

https://www.sysco.com/Products/Products/Product-Categories.html

And you don't have to order large quantities of food, that's a myth. I've worked in a lot of restaurants, and I've seen Sysco deliver very small quantities. So this leads me to wonder why Sysco doesn't already offer a home delivery service. I'm afraid the reason is that Kroger and Safeway wouldn't like the competition, those companies are union.

So maybe those Sysco trucks would accidentally get a brick through the front window.
#15 Ron B Liebermann on 2019-07-26 01:25 (Reply)

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