New Twitter ACCOUNT! http://www.twitter.com/dustcirclenews || Don't forget to go to dustcircle.com and VOTE for which book we'll be giving away in December. There's also a Donation button, if you're inclined to give toward this site. Also, have you written a book? We'd like to read and review it.Black Friday: A History of Violence
Last week, America observed a new and disturbing Thanksgiving tradition: In preparation for Black Friday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued safety guidelines for stores in the hope that this year no one will be bruised or maimed while trying to get their hands on a slightly discounted Elmo doll. OSHA has been sending out its tips for crowd management since 2008
The Facts Behind 14 Black Friday Myths
The team at dealnews wants to help you get the best possible price for what you want to buy, and to keep you from getting hoodwinked while you're shopping. While they can't tell you how to score a better parking space at your local mall, they canhelp you strengthen your shopping strategy this year by dispelling some common Black Friday myths. Don't fall victim to the 14 falsehoods below!
Israel Suffered a Double Defeat
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Israel has just suffered a historic defeat. One only had to watch the international news coverage.
The Fall of the American Empire
istory, it is said, arrives first as tragedy, then as farce. First as Karl Marx, then as the Marx Brothers. In the case of twenty-first century America, history arrived first as George W. Bush (and Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith and the Project for a New America -- a shadow government masquerading as a think tank -- and an assorted crew of ambitious neocons and neo-pundits); only later did David Petraeus make it onto the scene.
http://rsnorg.org/opinion2/277-75/14667-focus-fall-of-the-american-empire-writ-small
Home for the Holidays? Not for Walmart Workers
Home for the Holidays? Not for Walmart Workers
s the six members of the billionaire Walton Family -- heirs to the Walmart superchain -- prepare to sit down to a sumptuous Thanksgiving dinner with their families, the holiday will be very different for the 1.4 million Walmart associates who work for them. For the second year, Walmart is planning to put profits before its workers by beginning its Black Friday sales at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, and forcing its workers -- many of whom are part-time -- to abandon quality time with their own families during a cherished American holiday.This Holiday, Give Thanks and Get Real (About Our Food!)
all is about food. Approaching Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday, copious food-rich words are written before we all sit down with loved ones to celebrate food abundance. But in this fall food season, what do we most need to know about food for all seasons?
The war on the war on Christmas is starting early this year over at Fox News, where hosts across the network’s programs spent Thanksgiving week decrying the secularization of the holiday season.
Black Friday walkout: Why Walmart is focus of labor’s struggle
As the hottest shopping day of the retail calendar looms, the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, is embroiled in a battle to defend its image, even its formula for success. A growing number of employees, protesting low wages and benefit cuts, is vowing to walk out on Black Friday.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/22/black-friday-walkout-why-walmart-is-focus-of-labors-struggle
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/22/black-friday-walkout-why-walmart-is-focus-of-labors-struggle
Study: Higher retail wages would lift Americans out of poverty, boost economy
A new study released by the progressive think tank Demos on Monday estimated that if retail workers were given a living wage, hundreds of thousands of Americans would be lifted out of poverty and the wage boost would significantly bolster the economy.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/21/study-higher-retail-wages-would-lift-americans-out-of-poverty-boost-economy
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/21/study-higher-retail-wages-would-lift-americans-out-of-poverty-boost-economy
The Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has claimed the lives of 161 citizens and wounded 1222 others, medical sources said on November 21, 2012, revealed the Palestinian Information Center.
http://www.countercurrents.org/cc221112.htm
The International Responsibility For Justice In Occupied Palestine
The conflict in Gaza may have come to an inauspicious end last night following a ceasefire agreement, but there is little reason to rejoice for the Palestinian people. Although a ground assault of the Gaza Strip was narrowly avoided, still well over 1,500 air strikes by F-16 fighter jets, Apache helicopters and drones have further devastated the impoverished territory, leaving more than 140 Palestinians dead - mostly civilians, including at least 34 children - while five Israelis also died.
http://www.countercurrents.org/parsons221112.htm
Thanksgiving at Walmart: Strikers Plan a Nationwide Celebration for Black Friday
Nickels & Dimes...Selling that Makes More "Cents"
As usual, Walmart, the world's largest and most profitable retailer, has big plans for Black Friday. In an effort to attract the lion's share of Black Friday shoppers Walmart is planning to roll out even more low, Low, LOW! prices than usual. The secret to Walmart's staggering success is volume . Walmart can afford to sell its merchandise at a steeper discount than any other store because Walmart deals in much greater volume than any other retailer. Droves of shoppers pack Walmart stores in every corner of the globe because shoppers know that they are going to find more and bigger bargains at Walmart than at any other store.
Sales goals and a company's bottom line go hand in hand. In a down economy making sales can be more challenging than in an up economy, but it is still possible to meet and even exceed your goals without having to throw the company under the bus. Expertise, equipment, and time are valuable commodities in any economy and in any geographical location. When you waive or discount ancillary or other fees you might think you're doing the customer and yourself a favor, but the reality is you are doing both of you and the company a disservice.
Wall Street Finds a "Third Way" to Plunder Our Wealth
Black Friday Creep Costs Retail Workers Their Thanksgiving
'Tis the Season to Be Stressed: A Survival Guide
The holiday season is upon us -- a time to lovingly connect with family, to relax, recharge and emerge happy, content and revitalized. Just kidding. In fact, of course, it's usually the complete opposite. But why is that?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/holiday-stress_b_2171473.html
Why You Shouldn't Shop at Walmart on Friday
Black Friday creeping into Thanksgiving night
This Black Friday Fight ‘Always Low Wages’ At Walmart And Other Big Box Stores
These big box stores work on the straightforward business model of destroying their competition by doing everything they can to keep prices as low as possible. Characteristics like providing good customer service, selling quality products that last, and treating one’s workers well are all sacrificed at these big box stores in the name of trying to drive prices down. And while the proliferation of this strategy may have helped increase access to basic products for people living in or near poverty, the impact of the spread of big box stores on wages, economic inequality, local economies, the environment, and society as a whole has been disastrous.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/11/21/this-black-friday-fight-always-low-wages-at-walmart-and-other-big-box-stores-video/
Feds Won’t Stop Walmart Black Friday Strike, Walmart Threatens Firings
The “Black Friday” protests at WalMart
The Zionist Story
Why you should boycott the American Red Cross and give to other groups instead (4 videos)
Gotta hand it to 'em: Those Wall Street guys are smart. They've already found two ways to plunder the nation's wealth for their own enrichment, and now they're working on a third.
Black Friday Creep Costs Retail Workers Their Thanksgiving
About one-quarter of all Black Friday shoppers were in the stores at or before midnight last year, compared with just 3 percent in 2009, according to Ellen Davis, vice president at the National Retail Federation, an industry trade group. Echoing retailers themselves, Davis said many companies are opening earlier out of fear of losing ground to competitors.
'Tis the Season to Be Stressed: A Survival Guide
The holiday season is upon us -- a time to lovingly connect with family, to relax, recharge and emerge happy, content and revitalized. Just kidding. In fact, of course, it's usually the complete opposite. But why is that?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/holiday-stress_b_2171473.html
Why You Shouldn't Shop at Walmart on Friday
Today, America's largest employer is Walmart, whose average employee earns $8.81 an hour. A third of Walmart's employees work less than 28 hours per week and don't qualify for benefits.
Black Friday creeping into Thanksgiving night
Retailers this year are upping the ante in the game they started in 2011 and plan to open even earlier on Thursday night -- some as early as 8 p.m. -- to get a jump on their competitors.
No Thanks for Thanksgiving
TSA/Airport Security: Killing Us On Christmas
It's typical to preface a Techdirt article, for me at least, by backtracking to a bunch of articles on related subject matter. I'm not going to do that with another piece on the TSA. Not because there isn't enough material to choose from. Oh no, there's simply too much of it, so if you want to see insanity in its most naked form (this statement assumes you don't live next to Gary Busey), just click here and you won't be disappointed. That said, even those outraged by the pure idiocy of the TSA's post 9/11 production of security theater will normally decry it as a massive waste of money or a gross encroachment on civil liberty. And they're right on both counts. Still, the more striking fact should be that the TSA, an agency with the mission of keeping us alive, is causing death.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121120/05540921099/tsaairport-security-killing-us-christmas.shtml
These big box stores work on the straightforward business model of destroying their competition by doing everything they can to keep prices as low as possible. Characteristics like providing good customer service, selling quality products that last, and treating one’s workers well are all sacrificed at these big box stores in the name of trying to drive prices down. And while the proliferation of this strategy may have helped increase access to basic products for people living in or near poverty, the impact of the spread of big box stores on wages, economic inequality, local economies, the environment, and society as a whole has been disastrous.http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/11/21/this-black-friday-fight-always-low-wages-at-walmart-and-other-big-box-stores-video/
Feds Won’t Stop Walmart Black Friday Strike, Walmart Threatens Firings
Walmart workers are gearing up for what could be a historic Thanksgiving/Black Friday strike. Nationwide Walmart protests over the last month have worried the retail giant enough to prompt its first complaint to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in a decade. However, the NLRB indicated Tuesday that it won’t move on Walmart’s complaints in time enough to stop the Black Friday Strike.
As not seen on TV
It’s hardly ever like real life, so why are we so fascinated by workplace drama on television?
The “Black Friday” protests at WalMart
A series of pickets and other protests are scheduled throughout the US against the giant retailer WalMart for “Black Friday”—the day after Thanksgiving and traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year. OUR WalMart (Organization United for Respect at WalMart), launched by the United Food and Commercial Workers last year, is behind the protests, along with a coalition of unions, liberal organizations and church groups.
The Curious Case of George White
One of the government's many hired thugs
