Whatever you bought or wanted to buy, was it worth a human life?!

Just sayin.

On November 30th, 2008 at 2:46 pm, happyscrapper said:
…
Of course this could be taken as a racist statement, except for the fact that it applies to any race that acts this way. The FACT that so many in this particular case at WalMart were black is just a FACT….

Agreed, happyscrapper. A similar fact is to avoid any street named after Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, or Cesar Chavez. …especially after dark. Call me a racist for saying that, but I’d rather be alive than politically correct.

travlinman said: They have de-evolved into primal riff-raff and need to be eliminated from the gene pool. If pointing out the obvious makes me racist, then so be it.

Of course this could be taken as a racist statement, except for the fact that it applies to any race that acts this way. The FACT that so many in this particular case at WalMart were black is just a FACT. If they had been predominantly white, my comment would have been the same. Anyone who acts this way needs to be taken out of civil society for the good of the whole.

On November 30th, 2008 at 10:58 am, travlinman said:

travlinman,
One sensible policy to deal with welfare takers would be to disallow them from voting. It just makes sense. Anyone who can vote themselves “free” money will vote with their own bests interests in mind and not the best interests of the country.

Sympathies to Mr. Damour’s family.

On November 29th, 2008 at 3:18 pm, happyscrapper said:
The only way to take back our country and start the healing is to put animals like these in cages and keep them there. These are not good citizens, they are the dregs of society that only take and never give anything. This country does not need them for any purpose whatsoever. I’m not sure even re-education camps would save them, but maybe it is worth a try.

Since we are telling the truth now, which is RACIST today and I am proud to be a RACIST, uh, truth teller…Your comment scrap could have applied to a hurricane katrina ravaged New Orleans.

Meltdown fallout: some parents rethink toy-buying
By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer David Crary, Ap National Writer
Sat Nov 29, 1:35 pm ET

NEW YORK – In a season that inspires earnest letters about toys, one notable batch is being sent not by kids to Santa’s workshop but by parents to the executive suites of real-world toy makers.

The message: Please, in these days of economic angst, cut back on marketing your products directly to our children.

The letter-writing initiative was launched by the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which says roughly 1,400 of its members and supporters have contacted 24 leading toy companies and retailers to express concern about ads aimed at kids.

“Unfortunately, I will not be able to purchase many of the toys that my sons have asked for; we simply don’t have the money,” wrote Todd Helmkamp of Hudson, Ind. “By bombarding them with advertisements … you are placing parents like me in the unenviable position of having to tell our children that we can’t afford the toys you promote.”

The Toy Industry Association has responded with a firm defense of current marketing practices, asserting that children “are a vital part of the gift selection process.”

“If children are not aware of what is new and available, how will they be able to tell their families what their preferences are?” an industry statement said. “While there is certainly greater economic disturbance going on now, families have always faced different levels of economic well-being and have managed to tailor their spending to their means.”

In recent conference calls with investors, toy company executives said they expect to suffer some holiday-season impact from the economic crisis, yet suggested their industry would be more resilient than many other sectors. The toy industry is commonly viewed as recession-resistant, due largely to the parent-child dynamic.

“Parents have trouble saying no,” said Allison Pugh, a University of Virginia sociology professor. She says parents often buy toys to avoid guilt and ensure their children feel in sync with school classmates.

“Even under circumstances of dire financial straits, that’s the last thing parents give up,” said Pugh. “They’ll contain their own buying for themselves before they’ll make their child feel different at school.”

Amanda Almodovar says she encounters such families in her work as an elementary school social worker in Alamance County, N.C., where homelessness and unemployment are rising.

“I had one parent who said she’d prostitute herself to get what her child wants,” Almodovar said. “It’s heartbreaking. They feel inadequate as parents.

“I try to tell them, worry about your home, your heating bill — but they’re the ones who have to look into children’s faces, the children saying ‘I want this, I want that.’”

Even in some households not in fiscal crisis, there’s a sense that this holiday season is different.

John Schenkenfelder, a financial adviser and father of three in Louisville, Ky., wrote a blog entry this month urging families to scale down their gift-giving and spend more time playing together.