Walmart Turns 50

Eitan at Walmart USA in April.

Having experienced the 200,000 SF mega-store at 7,000 feet next to Evergreen, Colorado (population 9,038), I was interested to learn a few facts : like Walmart employs 2.2 million people or third most in the world after the US Dept of Defence (3.2 million) and the Chinese army (2.3). Walmart crammed with useful stuff from coca-cola crates to deer rifles all priced to shift and the economies work : who can compete ? Local shops sure can't. For every two jobs made by Walmart, an estimated 2.8 jobs killed - I sure saw this in Montrose whose charming High Street slowly gutted.  But is this such a bad thing ? Walmart makes life cheaper , if less pretty. This is an American business success story.

No, the thing I find difficult about Walmart is that 67% of hourly wage-earners are women and less than 15% of Sr Managers are women. 4 of 16 board members are female.  In the 1980s State Farm Insurance, the largest insurance provider in the US, argued that women did not want the high-paying jobs : 97% of sales agents men while over 2/3 of the assistants and secretaries women. It took Guy Saperstein's civil class action to change that - now agents are 50-50 male: female with State Farm's CEO reporting the quarterly ratio to Saperstein and the overseeing judge for years after the judgement. Walmart needs the same kick in the can.

All datas and sources at sumofus.org/post/walmart-at-50

Woody?

Well, I am sure the ten of you are getting tired of my rants and raves about the financial crisis or Sarah Palin - It is just that Palin is so much fun. She ticks the boxes for any middle aged soccer-dad: sexy, confident, filled with with vile, conservative rhetoric and completely clueless. Did I mention she is good looking? Any ways, I take the kids to yoga this morning and we play "tag" while waiting for instructor Penny. I can no longer simply move to avoid being "it" and must apply a move or two. Luckily my Jewish basketball legacy is front-and-centre in testing moments like now - lest you laugh, Abe Saperstein (related to Guy) founded the Harlem Globetrotters back in 1926, now that Jew played ball even if he couldn't shoot hoops. The Globetrotters have enjoyed >20,000 exhibition games in 118 countries and I remember seeing them at the Oakland Coliseum when I must have been six or seven (that was also when the Golden State Warriors were good - they had all-white Rick Barry swooshing net. He was not Jewish. I don't think Bubbles Hopkins was either). Moe was a big basketball player too and rumour was he coulda been a contender back in the day when height was subservient to skill. Moe had a rim behind his house in St Louis, which I saw some years ago with him during my cousin DD's wedding.

Eitan and I prepare for tonight's World Cup Qualifier vs. Belarus. This should be a win for us but with England one never knows; adding to the uncertainty eam-captain John Terry remains injured (back) while left back Ashley Cole joins him on the bench with a hamstring pull. Come on England!

Wookie

Here is Wookie with Barak (or is it Barak with Wookie?) Any case, Wookie belongs to Guy and Jeanine Saperstein who have been early and committed supporters of the campaign (Barak's, that is).

The UK's tremendous interest the US primaries eclipses politics here - which has been nothing but depressing since Super Gee took over from Tony (without a party election, oh dear). Obama clinching the Demo's pole position is Fleet Street's front-page news. These Brits are sick of El Presidente and we are probably more forgiving than the rest of Europe. Excluding Poland, but who cares? Barak presents a completely new image of America - the English generally assume Americans are racist, self-indulgent and inward looking (like father, like son). And while there may be a smidgeon or more of truth here, Dear Brother, Obama is an in-your-face example of a party giving us the sweet tune of a working democracy. Race and privilege be damned. We the people (for I still vote in the US) reject, for now, a white and tired administration that has really outdone itself to fuck our country. Can Barak overcome Nixie-land and win the blue-collar backwaters like PA and Ohio, which he needs for the White House? Can he avoid racial type casting- not black, Dear Sir - but Muslim? Is his life safe? These are all things to be found out but let us Thank God that we have finally found a fella unafraid to bring it on.

My Mother and the Movies

30 minutes early eg right on time

Grace and I go to the movies a couple weeks ago - American Fiction - which has been, and remains, one of my mother's favourite things, and she is always up on the cinema. Since my father's passing, Grace has been mentally sharp and, while mostly indoors due to parkinson's, which both my parents have/ had, she keeps in touch with her dear friends, which are like gold dust, including Katrina (Montessori sister), Sue Barton (movie dates), Jeanine Saperstein (lifelong discussions), Laurie Berman (shared worldviews), Alan (Moe's law partner and Harley rider) and Ellen (Jewish mother) and her two sisters, Marcia and Carla, who were in Berkeley last week.  I am certainly missing other friends who bless my mom in this universe. 

Leaving Astorg has allowed me a lot of time in Northern California, a place I love. 

56 year friendship

Tower Bridge

Leon Saperstein took this photo sometime in 2003 and to my great pleasure I spent the day with him scouting "iconic locations". We begin at The Lanesborough Hotel, one of London's best, where Leon and I greet the agency-model, whose name unfortunately do not recall, and her clothing and make-up crew. There is maybe five hours of prep before we head out. Model is Norwegian-Mexican, tall and stunning; at 19 just like any kid uncertain about her career and though enjoying the attention of magazines like Marie Claire, Cosmo and others she is not clear if this for her. She seems pretty unaffected by it all, and smart enough to beware the rogues - I recall her story of visiting an island resort for a shoot which turns out to be her and ten Russian prostitutes on a private estate in the Caribbean. She recognised several of the, ahem, gentlemen and locked herself in a bedroom to her sponsor's anger; she was offered £10,000 to join the party. So from The Lanesborough to Big Ben, Parliament then Bankside and the London Eye we stroll while Leon sets up equipment and snaps shots in midst of tourists who, seeing the adulatory, think they are in presence of celebrity. This makes it difficult to work, let alone move, but I enjoy the scrum. Interesting to note BTW how anybody with a mobile or pocket camera takes own shots... which is mostly a reaction to everybody else or group-think. My favorite instance occurs at a pub where our gal changes into the outfit pictured - all eyes on her, then us - two skinny Jewish kids from the East Bay.

TLC

Grace and Moe, alive and vibrant. Grace is the operations director of the Link To Children (TLC), a non-profit she founded in 1996 with Katrina Ross and a few others; I recall Katrina from the Montessori School Grace started in the basement of an Oakland church and ran with Katrina in the 1970s and early 1980s (Grace and I went to the church earlier this year and memories from 35 years ago true). TLC's mission statement: to support the healthy emotional development of children 0-5 years of age within a culturally relevant context so that young children will be able to learn to their full potential, even in difficult times and under difficult circumstances by providing early intervention mental health services at child care centers in Alameda County. TLC's two-year multi-lingual, multi-cultural training internship provides post-masters mental health interns with a specialization in culturally competent early childhood mental health.

Today, TLC interns provide up to 3400 hours a year of early intervention services to the families of eleven centers. They collaborate with parents, preschool teachers, administrators, and community agencies in support of the healthy emotional development of young children. TLC has a Clinical Supervision Team who supervise the mental health interns. TLC is one of four agencies funded by Every Child Counts First Five to partner in the development of mental health services for all children five and under in Alameda County. In addition, through the Early Opportunities Learning Act TLC is partnering with Safe Passages of Oakland to provide services to two South Alameda County child development centers. Also, TLC has just opened a new play therapy office at the Alameda County Family Justice Center in Oakland, a one-stop service center for victims of domestic violence and their children.

Grace receives donor support from Kaiser Permanente, The Saperstein Family Fund, the California Endowment, and Target, Inc. along with 25 other foundations, public funding sources and corporate contributions.

Me: "Do the dishes. Take your bath."

Sonnet: "Close the door!"

Eitan: "This is where everyone gets shouty, isn't it?"

BINTM

My pic taken on a photo shoot with Leon Saperstein

Not surprisingly, one of Britain's top rated shows, by viewership, is 'Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model' where a bunch of young women live together in close-quarters and compete for the title of, well, being Britain's next top model and a chance to be in the modelling industry. Ghastly but hey I am watching.  It's been a winner since 2005.

Here's the talent pre-screening (from the official website): "anyone with the right to live or work in Britain is free to apply for the show, but must meet the height requirement of 5'8", and be between the ages of 18-23 at the time they try out for the show." A perfect nose, blonde hair and subtle boobs would also be appreciated. But brains and personality count too - here is what Elle "The Body" McPherson has to say on the BBC comparing BINTM to the US "It is uniquely British, the sense of humour and the styling is very British... more hybrid backgrounds... and I think that is really exemplary of what's going on in the UK today."  Well there you go.

This contrasts with the real news suggesting that Scotland Yard failed to aggressively pursue girl-sexual grooming circles for fear of offending ethnic minorities primarily the Pakistanis.

"This is the end. This is literally the end."
--Model on last night's "Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model" finale

Shashone Drive

This photograph taken at my parent's cabin near Dorrington (pop. 9) and Bear Valley (pop. 150) (29/7/06). The property was purchased in 1984 with the Farnsworth and Saperstein families, who designed the place to spec. Our road is off route 4, a two lane black-top that is closed for four months of the year due to snow at Ebbett's Pass (elev. 8,500 feet). This presents a 60 mile dead-end, which has slowed the pace of development and traffic, and so the area retains its peace and scenic beauty. While we have enjoyed it here since highschool, it is equally suited for Eitan and Madeleine who revel in the general freedom to explore the outdoors (at least within a 100 yard radius).