...may the road rise up to meet you...

– Half of Republicans sampled in a recent poll favor letting the portion of the Bush tax cuts that apply to the rich expire, and to continue only the tax breaks for the non-rich. That’s pretty close to the position President Obama is taking, and if he and/or Rahm Emanuel are smart they’ll start talking up this bipartisan agreement.

– You’ve heard about the trouble Minnesota-based Target’s in for giving $150,000 to “MN Forward”, a media shop that claims to be bipartisan but which seems to function mostly as a fancy media shop and broadcast-media-ad factory for Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer.

Well, now three major shareholders groups that are invested in both Target and fellow MN Forward donor Best Buy have thrown down the gauntlet:

Three leading sustainability investing firms have filed shareholder proposals this week at Target (NYSE: TGT) and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), which are under fire for making sizable political contributions to a group channeling funds to a Minnesota gubernatorial candidate known for his opposition to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights.

Boston-based investment firms Walden Asset Management (“Walden”) and Trillium Asset Management Corporation (“Trillium”), and Calvert Asset Management Company, Inc. (“Calvert”) of Bethesda, MD, joined together to file a proposal at Target Corporation that asks the company’s independent board members to undertake a “comprehensive review of Target’s political contributions and spending processes including the criteria used for such contributions” and “oversight processes by management and the Board.” Calvert and Trillium have filed a similar resolution at Best Buy this week, Trillium on behalf of the Equity Foundation, which works to eradicate prejudice towards the sexual and gender minority communities of Oregon. Collectively, the shareholders control more than 1.1 million shares of common stock in Target worth $57.5 million, and 344,000 shares of Best Buy worth $11.3 million.

Stay tuned, folks. This is going to get interesting.

– And one of our Seminal diarists has some good news to share with us, too, for which I am deeply grateful.

Got any good news to share? Put in the thread and grab a cup of coffee. Or tea. Or whatever you desire.

Change Happens:  Do We Cope and Grow or Duck and Cover?

A good friend of mine, Dr. Joey McDonald, tells the story that there are only two kinds of people who like change: a wet baby and the person standing outside a convenience store with an empty cup, wanting our change.  I know I must be human then, because like nearly everyone I know, I resist change.  This is sad and troubling, because we know that the only constant in our lives is Change. As Euripides said, in 400 something BC:

What can we take on trust in this uncertain life? Happiness, greatness, pride – nothing is secure, nothing keeps.

So I should get over my big bad self and learn how to cope with change. And then learn it over and over again.  There is no point in pouting, foot stomping, or spinning into a total knitted ball of denial of what has, or is, occurring that is different from today.  I’ll just get facial wrinkles, a sore foot, and a headache.

We can experience small annoying changes on a daily basis.  You go to the grocery store and find out that they’ve stopped carrying your favorite brand of butter.  What to do?  You have to make a choice.  You either decide that it will be okay if you choose a different brand of butter; or, if you really must have that one favorite kind, then you choose to shop at another store.  This is not a life ending crisis-type change, but it is illustrative of the process we must follow when we face change.  And when a small change happens and we find ourselves, perhaps, over-reacting, we can stop and ask how much this will matter to us in a week or a month.  If the effect will be short term, it’s probably wise to just let it go.

In The Navy — from episode 524 of The Muppet Show.

Grab your popcorn, put your feet up on the seatback in front of ya, and no spitballs aimed at the ushers please. This is Late Late Night FireDogLake, where off topic is the topic … so dive in. What’s on your mind?