Wal-Mart Cutting Orders as Unsold Merchandise Piles Up

 

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) is cutting orders it places with suppliers this quarter and next to address rising inventory the company flagged in last month’s earnings report.

Last week, an ordering manager at the company’s Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters described the pullback in an e-mail to a supplier, who said others got similar messages. “We are looking at reducing inventory for Q3 and Q4,” said the Sept. 17 e-mail, which was reviewed by Bloomberg News.

 U.S. inventory growth at Wal-Mart outstripped sales gains in the second quarter at a faster rate than at the retailer’s biggest rivals. Merchandise has been piling up because consumers have been spending less freely than Wal-Mart projected, and the company has forfeited some sales because it doesn’t have enough workers in stores to keep shelves adequately stocked.

More @ Bloomberg

Middle Ages: White slaves sold by Radhanite Jews to Muslims

Via Matthew

 

St. Adalbert freeing Slavic slaves (source). With the Christianization of Eastern Europe, the trade in fair-skinned women and boys came to an end.

The white slave trade played a key role in ending the Dark Ages—this seemingly unending downward spiral that followed the collapse of the Roman Empire. By the 8th century, the elites of Western Europe had run out of gold and possessed very little else that could be traded for luxury Oriental goods. It was at that point in time that the possibility arose of selling fellow Europeans into slavery, particularly Slavs from the lands between the Elbe and the Volga.

Yet this historical episode is relatively unknown. One reason was its semi-illegality. Involuntary servitude wasn’t unlawful in itself. In fact, most Europeans were bound by long-term ties of submission, like the serfs who farmed the land. This was an accepted part of life. Enslavement was even seen as a humane way of dealing with criminals, prisoners of war, and other people who would otherwise be killed. But this particular form of enslavement meant more than just inferior status. 

 

Some of its aspects contravened both secular law and Christian morality, notably castration, the breaking up of families, and the abandonment of individuals who were too old or too young. There was also the exporting of fellow Europeans to the Muslim world and the prohibition against letting them learn about the Christian faith. It was for this reason that the existing term for involuntary servitude—servus—was felt to be inappropriate. The ethnonym ‘Slav’ thus came to mean a particularly degraded kind of servant—a slave.

 

More @ Evo and Proud

Ted Cruz at his best

Via NC Renegade

After Cruz Has Said His Piece . . .

Via Daily Timewaster

 

danceswithvowels: I think Cruz is fighting the last possible battle. After this, we're likely done. 

Unless you get a veto-overriding Congress, your next shot at repeal will be to win the Senate and Whitehouse, which will be after Obamacare's been in place for 3 years, minimum. And if you think there would be screaming about a govt shutdown now, how much steely spine will be needed for "taking away poor people's health insurance" by shutting down the exchanges in a repeal? Not to mention, you can't legislatively undo years of damage.

Help me out -- I'm ready to grasp whatever straws you've got handy ...

Unlike Troy and many others, I think that there is a point to Ted Cruz' grandstanding and to what the House Republicans did when they sent up a budget that does not include funding for Obamacare.

Obamacare is about to go into effect; and, as one Democratic Senator acknowledged not all that long ago, it really is going to be a train-wreck.

Corporations are going to drop their healthcare coverage. Insurance costs are going to soar. People who are working full-time will soon discover that they have part-time jobs. This has already begun, and the unions are screaming bloody murder. The Longshoreman have walked out of the AFL-CIO.

All hell is going to break loose.

What the hearties in the House are doing -- and what Ted Cruz is doing -- is signaling to the discontented that there really is another way. They can vote Republican in 2014; and, if they do so big time, there will be a correction of course.

The leadership of the Republican Party hates this.

More @ Ricochet

Michael Savage moving to prime afternoon-drive slot

 

Fulfilling a prediction he made last month, top-rated radio host Michael Savage told his listeners tonight he will take over the prime afternoon-drive slot on Cumulus Media Networks stations in January.

Savage called it “the biggest shake-up in talk radio history.”

The 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time slot is currently held by Sean Hannity, who has ended his relationship with the network.

Savage said he expects immediately to have five to six times as many listeners.

“The time slot says that something about my show has resonated with the American people,” Savage said.

He asked rhetorically, “Will this change of Michael Savage going to drive time change the course of the next election?”

Savage said that not even tea-party favorite Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has a mantra like “borders, language, culture,” and those themes are what he expects to emphasize through to the next election.

“The common culture that is the glue that has kept our nation together,” he said.

More @ WND

More beautiful woodwork from David Martin

Brock,

 

I see you have the car pictures posted on your website Beautiful Woodworking (very nice site, by the way) so I thought i'd provide a few details about it. It is a 1942 Chrysler Town & Country wagon, commonly known as a Barrelback. These were only made in 1941 & 42, with 42 being a short production year due to the war. The 41s are rare, but the 42s are even more so, and only about half a dozen are known to have survived. I have about 11 months into it so far and will be working on it for most of the rest of this year. I only do the wood work, others take care of the chassis, sheet metal, paint. upholstery, etc... This project will probably be about three years total.

 

I would be glad to keep you updated on the progress if you would like. I have also included a few pictures of some of the other things I have built, you don't see too many of these around anymore.

 

If you are ever in the neighborhood, stop by the shop and have a look around. It's not much, just me and the mice, but you would be welcome just the same.

 

Cheers,

 

David Martin

Decapitated Copperhead snake's head bites itself

Meltdown! GOP bosses' phones unplugged Senators flooded with demands to support Obamacare defunding

 

Following the epic, 21-hour speech by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, supporting the defunding of Obamacare, either voters made so many calls to establishment Republicans that their phone lines melted, or those GOP leaders took their phones off the hook.

Even in this age of digital wizardry and limitless voicemail, callers could not get through at all to Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

A message said the senator was experiencing a high volume of calls and directed members of the public to call back later or visit his website.

It was the same story with the man who was the face of the GOP in the 2008 elections, former GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

His phone was off the hook, too. Callers got a message stating his voicemail box was full.

The Arizona senator apparently had other matters on his mind during the Cruz speech, tweeting, “Final episode of #Broadchurch tonight – one of the most entertaining shows on TV right now.”

That prompted conservative commentator Michelle Malkin to tweet, “Meanwhile, McCain is tweeting about a TV show. See the problem here, America?”

Callers to Minority Whip Sen John Cornyn, R-Texas, also got a message saying the line was busy, but at least those callers were sent to voicemail.

GOP leader opposes defunding

More @ WND

UPDATED: Modoc County joins Siskiyou in state of Jefferson bid for secession

Via Bill

 

The Modoc County Board of Supervisors today voted to join neighboring Siskiyou County in its bid to secede from the State of California.

Board Chairman Geri Byrne said a measure to join the push to form a State of Jefferson was approved by a vote of 4-0, with one supervisor absent.

“I put the measure on the agenda because I heard from a number of people in my district that wanted to do such,” Byrne said. “We’re not saying we’re seceding today, we’re saying let’s look into it.”

Roughly 40 people turned out for the board meeting, Byrne said a standing-room only crowd in the Modoc County chambers. About a dozen spoke in favor of the measure with only two raising objections.

“This is going to have to be something the people bring forward,” Byrne said. “It’s going to have to be from the bottom up, not from the top down.”

The move makes Modoc the second county to join in the fight to form the State of Jefferson in less than a month. Siskiyou County passed a measure to start the secession process at the supervisor’s Sept. 3 meeting.

More @ Redding

MOH Recipient: Footage from Actual Battle

This may be the only video we've ever seen of a fight in which the Medal of Honor was won (earned) in which the Medal of Honor "winner" (recipient) himself is seen. What do you say about a man who lays down in the the open in the middle of an ambush with a high viz marker panel on top of himself to bring a casevac bird in? As you hopefully already know, Capt. Will Swenson, United States Army, is to be awarded the Medal of Honor. 

This was the same ambush in the Ganjgal Valley in which Cpl. Dakota Meyer performed the actions earned him (again, earned) his Medal of Honor; it also led to an AR 15-6 investigation into what we believe was criminal negligence on the part of the officers in charge of authorizing and delivering support to the guys on the sharp end. We could spout a lot of platitudes, but that would just demean everyone in the video, from the Soldier, three Marines and Corpsman who died to the pilots who were pulling casualties out under fire to the man who will soon be awarded this country's highest military award for valor.

More @ Breach Bang Clear

Obamacare Sticker Shock: Charlotte, single, 27 year old $35 increases to $183

 Newsmax

 VERBATIM

So much for lower insurance premiums for young consumers under Obamacare.

According to The Wall Street Journal, insurance costs for young buyers will be much higher in many states on new Obamacare insurance exchanges.

The Journal's chart below compares lowest current and Obamacare premiums for an unmarried, 27-year-old in select metro areas in 36 states where the federal government will oversee exchanges.

State	City	Exchange  Premiums	Current  Premiums
Alabama	Birmingham	$170	$80
Alaska	Anchorage	$254	$79
Arizona	Phoenix	$139	$50
Arkansas	Little Rock	$190	$31
Delaware		$203	$51
Florida	Miami	$163	$66
Georgia	Atlanta	$166	$43
Idaho	Boise	$145	$59
Illinois	Chicago	$125	$74
Indiana	Indianapolis	$204	$84
Iowa	Cedar Rapids	$132	$70
Kansas	Wichita	$121	$43
Louisiana	New Orleans	$170	$39
Maine	Portland	$192	$122
Michigan	Detroit	$138	$55
Mississippi	Jackson	$199	$58
Missouri	St. Louis	$147	$64
Montana	Bozeman	$147	$66
Nebraska	Omaha	$162	$26
New Hampshire		$186	$149
New Jersey		$219	$162
New Mexico	Albuquerque	$126	$38
North Carolina	Charlotte	$183	$35
North Dakota	Fargo	$175	$47
Ohio	Columbus	$205	$47
Oklahoma	Oklahoma City	$105	$54
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	$195	$73
South Carolina	Columbia	$166	$55
South Dakota	Sioux Falls	$196	$89
Tennessee	Nashville	$114	$41
Texas	Houston	$138	$63
Utah	Salt Lake	$143	$72
Virginia	Fairfax County	$144	$44
West Virginia	Huntington	$176	$96
Wisconsin	Milwaukee	$200	$69
Wyoming	Cheyenne	$271	$82

Ted Cruz reads from Atlas Shrugged

Ted Cruz: GOP needs 'attitude' adjustment

Well, that's a nice way of putting what they really need.:)

At noon Wednesday, in accordance with Senate rules, Sen.Ted Cruz, R-Texas, ended his marathon 21-hour anti-Obamacare speech.

Noon happens to be the same time Rush Limbaugh’s radio show begins each weekday. The coincidence allowed Cruz to call in to Limbaugh’s program and continue his message to the American people.

The senator told Limbaugh and his millions of listeners, “I hope we’ll see more and more Republicans come forward to support this effort.

“If the Senate does the right thing and listens to the American people, they’ll join me and vote to defund Obamacare,” which he called “this disaster, this nightmare, this train wreck.”

Cruz said the “central issue” of his so-called filibuster “wasn’t even Obamacare.”

“It was the longstanding problem we have had with Washington not listening to voters,” Cruz said.

Many senators, he said, have “been in office too long,” be they Democrats or Republicans. They’re more interested in “engaging in theater” and trying to “maintain the status quo and avoid risk.”

More @ WND

What the Administration Didn’t Tell You About Obamacare Exchange Plans

 

Today the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a report regarding premiums and plan offerings in Obamacare’s exchanges for next year. Despite the Administration’s claims, premiums are going up due to Obamacare—and the quality of the “coverage” is, in many cases, going down.

In both today’s report and an earlier report released in July, HHS claims that premiums are “lower than projected.” HHS bases its claim on a March 2012 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate stating that premiums for a family would average $15,400 per year on the exchanges. The Administration report claims that weighted average premiums are “16 percent below projections” based on that CBO report—therefore Obamacare is lowering premiums.

What HHS didn’t mention is that CBO also estimated in a November 2009 analysis that individually purchased insurance premiums would go up by an average $2,100 per family, due to the increased mandates and requirements included in Obamacare. So when HHS says that premiums are “below projections,” it really means that premiums are still going up as a result of Obamacare—just by less than originally advertised.

More @ The Foundry

Tennessee: Obamacare will triple men's premiums, double women's

Rep. Steve Stockman @SteveWorks4You
 

Ted Cruz stayed up all night to fight ObamaCare. Obama went to bed while Ambassador Stevens was being murdered.

*******************************

 

The White House on Wednesday released a report on the costs of Obamacare for most Americans, heralding its interpretation that 95 percent of the nation will be able to buy health insurance premiums below “earlier projections.”

But note the words “earlier projections.” That doesn’t mean that the insurance Americans will have to buy, or be fined, under Obamacare will be cheaper than what they pay today, before Obamacare kicks in.
We know this because at the same time the White House was releasing its broad study, Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander released his analysis of the report's portion on his state. He found that Obamacare will cost far more than what many of his constituents are paying today, some by as much as 190 percent.

More @ Washington Examiner

Lois Lerner’s lawyers negotiating with Oversight Committee on immunity

 

That's good news as I expect she might screw the administration if granted this.

IRS scandal figure Lois Lerner is negotiating through her lawyers with Rep. Darrell Issa’s House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about possibly gaining immunity to testify again in the committee’s investigative hearings.

“The Chairman did not adjourn the hearing, he recessed it. Ms. Lerner remains under subpoena. The Committee has not made any offer of immunity to Ms. Lerner. The Committee has, however, indicated a willingness to listen to any offers from her attorney about what she would testify to if it was offered,” Oversight Committee adviser Ali Ahmad told The Daily Caller.

“I don’t have any update for you on timing,” Ahmad said in regard to when Lerner will be called back before the committee.

More @ The Daily Caller

A 240 year old doll that can write, a clockwork creation by Pierre Jaquet-Droz

Via Doug

Marxist Organizers Pray To Barack Obama

Via Charles

Marxist Organizers Pray To Barack Obama... by US-2012

Watch Navy Yard gunman sneak up on victims FBI video shows Alexis loading weapon, hunting targets

A video released today by the FBI shows the alleged Washington Navy Yard gunman entering the Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters, loading a shotgun and sneaking up on victims.

The silent surveillance-video clips, a total of half a minute long, show an intent Aaron Alexis in the hallways looking for people.

The released video ends before he starts shooting.

More @ WND

Photos: 9,000 Bodies Stenciled on a Normandy Beach To Remember the Fallen

Via WiscoDave

 

The silhouettes called 'The Fallen' were created by 200 volunteers to mark International Day of Peace

They carved 9K images into the sand.

The seaside town of Arromanches, France, looked quite different over the weekend. Nine thousand silhouettes were hand-drawn in the sand on the Normandy beach to commemorate the soldiers and civilians who died there during Operation Neptune on June 6, 1944.

This stirring tribute, called "The Fallen," was conceived by British artists Jamie Wardley and Andy Moss, who enlisted the help of 200 volunteers to mark the International Day of Peace over the weekend.

It took two years to prepare for the project, and the results, which were ultimately washed away by the tide, were heartbreaking. "All around us there are relics of the Second World War, but the one thing that is missing are the people that actually died," Wardley said. "We've very quietly made a big statement (MSN)

More @ The Right Pundit

GOA Action Alert: Will rate cloture votes

 

 Just called and all circuits are busy.

“Rest assured, if you refuse to take a stand against defunding the anti-gun ObamaCare law, then GOA will rename ObamaCare in your state as ‘______-Care,’ just put your name in the blank.” -- GOA’s Larry Pratt and Tim Macy to US Senators (Sept. 24, 2013)

UPDATE:  The phones are ringing off the hook in the U.S. Senate in opposition to funding ObamaCare as part of the Continuing Resolution.  Keep up the good work! 

ATT Treaty to attack our rights.  Today, Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to sign the UN Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).  Thankfully, GOA members have been receiving their latest GOA snail mail report on this treaty over the past week.

It is vitally important that you send the postcards which are included to your two U.S. Senators.  We need to dump thousands of postcards and letters on their desks so they know that the American people do NOT want this treaty ratified!

Anti-gun ObamaCare to threaten our rights.  GOA yesterday told U.S. Senators that GOA will be rating the “cloture” (or filibuster) vote on ObamaCare.

You can click here to read the letter, which lays out many of the anti-gun problems with the ObamaCare law.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) took to the Senate floor yesterday and spoke for several hours in opposition to the anti-gun ObamaCare law.  Several Republican Senators aided him, including Mike Lee of Utah, David Vitter of Louisiana and Rand Paul of Kentucky.  Citizens in these states should thank these Senators for standing strong!

ACTION:  Make sure you have called your Senators at 202-224-3121 and have urged them to support Cruz and Lee’s efforts to defund ObamaCare.  Likewise, ask your Senators to oppose any effort by Harry Reid to reinsert funding for ObamaCare into the Continuing Resolution.  The first vote of many may occur today.

If you like to speak “technaleeze,” you will want to ask your Senator to vote “NO” on cloture.  A YES vote on cloture is a vote to end debate and pass the Continuing Resolution the way Harry Reid wants it.  (That will allow him to reinsert funding for ObamaCare.)  So tell your Senators to vote NO on cloture.

ACTION for certain states:  If you live in a state where your Senators are committed socialists -- and who will vote for ObamaCare every chance they get -- you might want to help buck up wavering Senators in other states.  So what follows is such a list.

Republican Senators who oppose the Cruz-Lee effort:

Kelly Ayotte  NH          John Boozman  AR
Richard Burr  NC          Tom Coburn    OK
John Cornyn   TX           Lindsey Graham SC
Mark Kirk     IL             John McCain   AZ
Mitch McConnell KY     Roger Wicker  MS

Republican Senators whose position is unknown:
Lamar Alexander TN       John Barraso WY

Roy Blunt     MO             Saxby Chambliss GA
Dan Coats     IN              Thad Cochran  MS
Susan Collins ME             Bob Corker    TN
Jeff Flake    AZ               Orrin Hatch   UT
Dean Heller   NV             John Hoeven   ND
John Isakson  GA             Mike Johanns  NE
Ron Johnson   WI             Jerry Moran   KS
Lisa Murkowski AK         Rob Portman   OH
Tim Scott     SC                Jeff Sessions AL
Richard Shelby AL           Pat Toomey    PA

Natural Rights

Via WiscoDave

Median Household Income Has Fallen For FIVE YEARS IN A ROW

Via WiscoDave

#20 El Pollo de Oro:

"During a conversation on prepping, someone recently said to me, 'If things get half as bad as these preppers think they will, I don't want to be alive.' So, how bad will things will get? Real unemployment is already at Great Depression levels (John Williams' Shadow Statistics contradicts the BLS' bogus figures), but when this depression deepens, I think we'll be looking at 50% or 60% unemployment easily. Much worse than the 1930s. It will be absolute hell for millions of Americans, and when the money stops flowing down to the man on the street, the blood will flow in the streets (Gerald Celente). Lots of it."

 

****************************************

If the economy is getting better, then why do incomes keep falling?  According to a shocking new report that was just released by the U.S. Census Bureau, median household income (adjusted for inflation) has declined for five years in a row.  This has happened even though the federal government has been borrowing and spending money at an unprecedented rate and the Federal Reserve has been on the most reckless money printing spree in U.S. history. 

Despite all of the "emergency measures" that have been taken to "stimulate the economy", things just continue to get worse for average American families.  Americans are working harder than ever, but their paychecks are not reflecting that.  Meanwhile, the cost of everything just keeps going up.  The Federal Reserve insists that inflation is "low", but anyone that goes grocery shopping or that stops at a gas station knows that is a lie.  In fact, if inflation was calculated the exact same way that it was calculated back in 1980, the inflation rate would be somewhere between 8 and 10 percent right now.  Paychecks are being stretched more than ever before, and that is probably the reason why about three-fourths of the entire country is living paycheck to paycheck at this point.

More @ The Economic Collapse

Left Wing College Professor Wants to Make David Petraeus' Life a Living Hell

He's a war criminal, but Obama is not? OK, got it........ Obama's behind this, but why in the world would he even consider accepting a job at 99% of the universities these days?  Poor judgement.

Every now and then I find a subject that so angers me, I kind of take it personally, and this is one of those items. I am the first person to stand up for free speech. I especially understand that I will find some of it offensive, but it seems that left-wing CUNY Professor S. Sandor John has taken it to a whole new level. He is instrumental in organizing personal attacks on Gen. David Petraeus. Sandor and some students have pledged to make Petraeus' tenure "a living hell."

Everybody remembers the video of college students following Petraeus and screaming obscenities at him and calling him a "war criminal." If not, then here it is. 

More @ Freedom Outpost