Mom and Popism....

Article in Huffington Post (from McClatchy) caught my attention with the headline, MOM AND POP: TOO SMALL TO SUCCEED.

The content, however, wasn't what I expected. It mostly detailed the difficulty of small business getting credit. Not Mom and Pop, for one thing. Almost all the businesses had more employees than that.

I guess I don't believe that the ability to 'borrow money' is the measure of success. Hunkering down in a slow economy would seem prudent. Borrowing money would seem imprudent.

These kinds of articles mean well, I suppose. The media saying, Hey, small business, we're on your side! But I'm not sure that it proved it's point.

Borrowing money to survive, while it can work, usually just makes it harder in the long run.

Falling sales, rising expenses, are what cause businesses to fail, not the inability to borrow money.


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Apropos to nothing, but I've been wanting to say it for a long time, and since there has been a flurry of news about 'domestic terrorists' I'll go ahead and say it.

Most of these so-called terrorists seem like misfit losers, who are probably mentally ill.

Misfit losers can do harm, like Oswald or McVeigh, but I don't think they represent a wave of domestic terrorism....

Misfit losers will always be with us, and they'll glom onto whatever outrage is current.

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I finally got a good night's sleep, without taking a pill.

I was really confused by the whole thing, because as it turned out, I was getting a down to earth cold at the same time as I had a bad tooth. Achy muscles, dry and scratchy throat and eyes, congestion, cough, fever. Sure made me miserable for a few days.

I was wondering if I had an infection.

Turned out to be two different things happening at the same time...

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I have a weakness for Art Books. They don't sell all that well, I don't really have space to display them properly, and I don't really have enough time to peruse them all. But show me some sample art and a cool cover, and I'm easy.

When I was in my early 20's, I went on a month tour of the east coast, visiting old friends. My friend, Fred, in New York took me to several of the museums. I was embarrassed that I didn't know what 'art nouveau' or 'art deco' was...and when I'm feeling ignorant, my impulse is to read as many books on the subject as possible.

In a sense, my store is a clumsy attempt to meld all kinds of art and literature in one small 1000 sq. ft. space....

The common characteristic is 'imagination'.