Barnes & Noble, the venerbale, or big box bookseller depending on your p.o.v. is considering selling its retail chain stores. There are 720 in the US, 4 in the area roughly, one in  Norwalk, Stamford, Danbury and Westport. This is interesting considering that Amazon released a few weeks that Kindle book sales exceeded hardcover book sales.

Read all about is here from the BBC:

The company said it was confident its “iconic brand and unique competitive advantages” would ensure its future success.

But the board said it intends to “evaluate strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company, in order to increase stockholder value”.

Mr Riggio said he wants to stay at the company whatever the outcome of the evaluation.

“Regardless of whether I participate in an investment group that buys the company, I, as well as the entire senior management team, am willing and eager to remain with the company and see it through the challenging years ahead,” he said.

The chain said there was no timetable for the review, and that it may not result in a sale.

Barnes & Noble runs 720 bookshops across the US.

And here for the geeky tech perspective:

Fresh memories of the havoc wreaked by online music downloading on bricks-and-mortar music stores, are fueling fears that online ebook downloads will destroy bricks-and-mortar bookstores. Adding fuel to that fear is the news that largest U.S. bookstore chain, Barnes and Noble, is considering putting itself up for sale.

The bookseller chain said it’s considering “strategic alternatives, including the possible sale of the company”. The company, whose more than 700 stores make it the largest bookseller in the US, has watched its stock decline over the past year as digital books encroach on its territory. Barnes & Noble has countered the digital book phenomenon by introducing its own ebook reader, the Nook, but it hasn’t been enough to stop the bleeding.

If you haven’t been following the latest tempest in media land, I’ll summarize. A few days ago a video clip of a speech by a Department of Agriculture official Shirley Sherrod hit the blogsphere via biggovernment.com. In the clip, Sherrod spoke of an incident in 1986 where she was struggling with racism — she was asked for a help by a Georgian white farmer and up till that point had been focused on being more engaged in helping black farmers. Naturally, any discrimination of white farmers is sure to be trot out by the “we’re afraid of black people” crowd, and the media storm was on.

Continue Reading

In addition to killing off Saturday delivery, the US Postal service wants to raise first class postage by 2 cents. The reason is that they are projecting a $7 billion dollar loss for 2011. Before we get into a nice debate about the efficiencies of the postal service, a trip to the congressional testimony reveals that $4.6 billion of that is related to the pension funding requirements imposed by Congress on the agency. To put it in perspective, the last time pension contribution calculations were tweaked was apparently in the 1970s and then in 2006 Congress passed an act that requires them to prefund its future retiree health benefits based on those 1970 era calculations.

There are efficiencies that the US Postal Service hasn’t embraced. One is to stop subsidizing bulk rate mailings. Let the catalogs, magazines and advertising companies pay full freight. Aren’t we all tired to getting catalogs for companies weve never done business with, flyers that we have to recycle or throw out that we are uninterested in and the general unsolicited offers that come through the mail? Apparently, by the number of duplicate catalogs I get, there is no incentive for the catalog sender to reduce the amount of stuff they mail. Why not? I say because the mailing cost is too low.

The problem that the USPS is facing is that since 2001 the amount of first class mail they handle has gone down. Despite that, if the pension stuff gets resolved, they’d be close to break even. Further reductions in the amount of mail are going to happen as more companies switch to Internet delivery, so the problem isn’t going away any time soon.

from a press release:

Himes Helps Craft and Pass Legislation to Rein in Wall Street, Protect Consumers

Wall Street Reform ends taxpayer funded bailouts, protects consumers and investors, increases transparency

WASHINGTON, DC –Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4) today helped pass legislation to end taxpayer bailouts of big banks, protect consumers and investors, and increase transparency in the American financial system.  The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act addresses the root causes of the economic crisis, which cost 8 million jobs and $17 trillion in savings, to help ensure we never again face the near collapse of the national economy.

“Families in Connecticut and across the country lost their homes, their jobs, and their retirement savings as a result of the financial crisis,” said Himes.  “We learned the hard way that what happens on Wall Street affects everyone’s economic livelihood, and this legislation will restore our financial security and faith in the system.”

The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act will end the concept of “too big to fail” so that taxpayers will never again be asked to bailout irresponsible private companies.  The bill creates a process to shut down large, failing firms whose collapse would put the entire economy at risk. This program will operate much like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the organization that manages the seamless restructuring and sale of failing local banks.

“Lax regulation allowed big firms to make risky bets and offer loans to people who couldn’t pay them back,” said Himes. “These reforms will put rules in place to monitor and clamp down on risky behavior that could endanger our financial system.”

For too long, huge markets in complex securities such as derivatives were dangerously opaque and unregulated. This legislation will finally drag into the light of day these risky markets. In its prime, this market was six to ten times the size of the stock market. Himes worked hard to ensure that Wall Street Reform would hold derivatives dealers to strict standards while protecting end users like farmers and manufacturing companies that need to insure against risks such as fluctuations in the price of soy beans or foreign currency.

“Our economy thrives when everyone—from consumers and small business owners to large corporations and financial institutions—has access to the necessary information to make smart financial decisions,” said Himes. “Transparency is key to making any market work well. That means consumers need to understand their mortgages, and banks can’t be permitted to hide their riskiest activity from the people whose money they are managing or the regulators trusted with keeping our financial system safe.”

Also key to this reform is the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which will unite consumer protection rules under one roof.  Currently, a variety of laws and the authority to enforce them are scattered throughout the regulatory structure, and no single entity determines whether products, features, or practices are unfair, deceptive, abusive, or unsustainable. The creation of the CFPB will, for the first time, establish a regulator tasked with the job of creating and enforcing one comprehensive set of rules to protect consumers.  This consolidated approach will promote honest competition, protect the economy, and most importantly, provide a safety net for consumers.  Moreover, this new agency will ensure that there is a quick response to emerging harmful practices, before they undermine a family’s financial stability or become a systemic risk. To ensure small businesses are able to meet these new requirements without undue burden, Congressman Himes passed an amendment to create an Ombudsperson within the CFPA.

“Wall Street Reform addresses the causes of the financial meltdown while putting in place strong protections to prevent another collapse,” said Himes. “I’m proud to have helped craft this legislation. It will protect consumers, increase transparency, control dangerous risk, and eliminate the possibility that the American taxpayer will ever again be asked to bailout irresponsible private companies.”

The bill has been endorsed by the AARP, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Council of Institutional Investors, National Fair Housing Alliance, National Restaurant Association, Public Citizen, SEIU, and US PIRG, among other organizations. The bill was publicly debated for more than 50 hours, and includes over 70 bipartisan amendments.

With Peter Schiff on the ballot, and Rob Simmons running the best “I’m running by not campaigning and I’m still on the ballot” campaign, Linda McMahon may find herself on the losing end of her quixotic quest to join the 100 club.

Linda McMahon Examining Hubby

Continue Reading

Not one, not two but count ‘em, 8 presidents have told America that they would solve America’s dependence on foreign oil. John Stewert does the recap:

Can we say big business consolidations are bad business? According to the NYT, there’s a shortage of the chemical that makes the white and yellow paint used to mark lanes on roads reflective. Amazingly, it would appear that DOW is the major supplier of this chemical compound and as DOW goes, so goes the nation of paint stripers.  The NYTimes reports:

a shortage of traffic striping paint has left road crews and transportation departments without the paint they need to separate northbound and southbound traffic.

“We really have guys sitting at home because we don’t have the material to do the work,” said Mike Liljestrom, the president of Apply-A-Line Inc., a pavement-marking company in Washington State.

The timing could scarcely be worse. Spring is when road workers emerge from their winter hibernations, and orange traffic cones pop up like yellow daffodils. In an industry whose favored medium is acrylic on pavement, the paint shortage is gumming up the works.

The Associated General Contractors of America, a major industry trade group, warned state and federal transportation officials last week that the shortage has “very significant ramifications for completion of highway projects this summer,” and asked them not to penalize contractors and suppliers if they are unable to finish projects on time because of a paint shortage that is beyond their control.

The scarcity stems in large part from the shortage of an obscure chemical compound called methyl methacrylate, one of the key ingredients in roadworthy paint, which must be sturdy, long-lasting and reflective. A major producer of the compound, Dow Construction Chemicals, had production problems this year at a plant in Deer Park, Tex. Other companies scaled back production during the economic downturn, said Phil Phillips, the managing director of the Chemark Consulting Group, which analyzes the coatings industry.

The want of the chemical has started a chain reaction. Aexcel, a company outside Cleveland that makes traffic paint, just used up its supply and may be unable to make additional traffic paint until it gets more in mid-June. “I think we emptied our tank yesterday,” John Milgram, Aexcel’s president, said Friday. He said he had been scouring the country to replenish his stock.

from a press release:

Himes’ Government Reform Plan Helps Restore Accountability, Transparency to Congress
Proposal will hold require Members of Congress to play by the same rules as regular citizens, federal employees

NORWALK, CT—Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4) outlined today at a press conference in Norwalk a set of priorities to restore accountability and transparency to the United States Congress. The plan he spearheaded, supported by a broad coalition of new Members of Congress, puts in place strict rules regarding earmarks, requires better accounting of expenses both from Members’ offices and for congressional travel, and improves transparency across government.

“As elected officials, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard, and that commitment needs to begin in the United States Congress,” said Himes. “For too long, scandals and conflicts of interest have been swept under the rug, and lackluster accountability requirements have left the door open to abuse. I went to Washington to change the way this country is run, and this proposal makes that changes a reality.”

At the press conference, Himes explained that little accounting is required for official trips taken as part of a Congressional Delegation (CODELs). When Himes returned from a trip to Afghanistan for oversight responsibilities associated with his position on the Homeland Security Committee, there were no instructions provided as to how or where to return $400 in per diem funds he did not use. In fact, it took Himes and his staff several weeks and nearly two dozen phone calls to determine the appropriate method to return the funds. Eventually, Himes returned the excess allowance via personal check to the State Department; however, it became evident no clear process was in place to either require or track these remittances.

“If you go on a business trip, you may be given petty cash, but you’re usually required to account for every expense with receipts and reimbursement forms. When you travel with a CODEL,” explained Himes, “not only is no expense reporting required, but there is no system in place to track whether or not you return excess funds. This must change.”

Himes worked with other first-term Members of Congress to craft a set of policy changes that require Members of Congress to play by the same rules one would expect to follow as a regular citizen or federal employee. The polices reduce the influence of campaign contributions on federal funding and ensure that government information—whether from agencies or regarding representatives’ spending—is easily accessible.
The complete package includes changes to:
· Make earmarks more transparent
· Make Members’ expenses more transparent and return any unused funds
· Improve ethics investigations
· Improve public access to vital information
· Reform Congressional travel
· Minimize conflicts of interest and close the revolving door
· Allow more stringent state ethics reforms
· Enact a voluntary small donor campaign funding system

Himes has been committed to improving accountability in Congress since he was sworn into office last year. Beginning with crossing party lines over 10 times to call for ethics investigations into the tie between earmarks and campaign contributions to the strict appropriations policy he adopted in his own office to being among the first lawmakers to return campaign contributions from former Ways & Means Committee Chair Charlie Rangel, Himes has led by example.

“Whether we’re fixing the economy, reforming health care, or seeking federal investment for local projects, the American people need to be able to trust their leaders to act in their best interest,” said Himes. “While we have made some progress in this area, recent events have shown we need to do more. I am committed to restoring that trust.”

A fact sheet with more specific information on the above proposals AND a list of other representatives who have already signed onto the plan follow this release.

Today’s Connecticut media is atwitter with the NYTimes report that Dick Blumenthal, in their words: “record is the contrast between the many steps he took that allowed him to avoid Vietnam, and the misleading way he often speaks about that period of his life now, especially when he is speaking at veterans’ ceremonies or other patriotic events.”

Really? Whatever you want to say about Dick Blumenthal’s service as Attorney General, it hardly takes some hack New York Times reporter to discover that Blumenthal speaks about veterans issues and often compares the vietnam era’s problems as something not to repeat with veterans serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Earlier the NYTimes was first to say that Blumenthal was suffering from “early bumps” in his campaign. And just how is the Times doing its investigative research? Well according to the Daily Caller, they use Linda McMahon!

McMahon campaign is saying they gave the story to the New York Times, according to a blog post written by a former Republican state lawmaker that the campaign has posted on their website.

The post, written by Kevin Rennie, who writes for the Hartford Courant and RealClearPolitics in addition to on his blog, says the Times story was “fed to the paper by the Linda McMahon Senate campaign.”

“The Blumenthal Bombshell comes at the end of more than 2 months of deep, persistent research by Republican Linda McMahon’s Senate campaign. It gave the explosive Norwalk video recording to The Times. This is what comes of $16 million, a crack opposition research operation and an opponent who … gave them the sword,” Rennie wrote late Monday.

Rennie confirmed in an e-mail to the Daily Caller Tuesday that he had written the post and that the McMahon campaign had told him they gave the story to the Times.

Now let’s cut to the chase. Who cares? Really, if this is the best issue this race can come up with then Connecticut is just doomed. I don’t care what Dick Blumenthal’s military service was. I do care that the next Senator from Connecticut will actually pay attention to the fact that Connecticut is getting shafted by the feds at every turn. Let’s see some stimulus dollars going to our crumbling infrastructure, oh wait. Or enlightened Hartford political flunkies think stimulus dollars should be used to balance the budget. They’ve already spent next years too. The grass on our state highways now tops two feet in Fairfield County. Yeah, I guess kicking up a fuss over 40 year old stories is more important than covering that.

from a press release:

Himes Changes House Travel Policy to Save Taxpayer Money

New policy will require Members of Congress to now return excess per diem funds

WASHINGTON, DC�”At the urging of Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4), the United States House of Representatives will now require Members of Congress who travel on official business as part of a congressional delegation (CODEL) to return unused per diem funds to the United States Treasury. No clear procedure for remitting unused per diem funds was in place prior to this change.

“We need to tighten up the rules, accounting, and spending throughout government, and that needs to start with the United States Congress. Upon returning from my trip to Afghanistan early this year, I realized clear rules were not in place to handle these matters as they pertain to Congressional travel. I personally raised concerns with the Speaker regarding the lack of rules and am gratified that that they were taken seriously,” said Himes. “These new rules will help ensure the taxpayers aren’t footing the bill for any member or staff’s personal expenses�”we need to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.”

Late last year, Himes participated in a fact-finding trip to Afghanistan in association with oversight related to his position on the Homeland Security Committee. Due to the fact that the trip was conducted by the U.S. Military, Himes did not incur many normal expenses associated CODEL travel, and he returned with nearly $400 in unspent per diem allowance and no clear instructions as to where and how to return unspent funds. Determining the process for and remitting the funds took over a month, and it became clear that no entity was charged with accounting for these type of remittances. Himes immediately contacted House leadership and began working to change the rule.

“Jim Himes is committed to changing the way businesses is done here in Washington,” said Congressman Chris Van Hollen (MD-8). “I appreciate the attention he has given this matter, both in terms of improving accountability for Members of Congress and saving taxpayer dollars.”