Whole Foods warns of layoffs

Via Slog:

Blaming a tough economy, Whole Foods executives sent an ominous letter to all employees in its Pacific Northwest stores last month that warns of potential layoffs, announces a hiring freeze, and says new stores are on hold.

“Many teams are clearly overstaffed for their current sales and are at the point where labor needs to be reduced…” the memo says. It adds that as “sales soften,” the company has accumulated $59,000 in labor deficits. “Team sales and labor will be reviewed in January and tough decisions may be made if we are unable to achieve sales to labor balance by that time.” The memo says no layoffs will occur until January.

According to several sources, the largest local Whole Foods store at 56,000 square feet, located in Bellevue, has been lacking for sufficient business. Meanwhile, as Jonah reported, the company delayed plans for a store in Interbay and announced plans to downsize it.

In fact, the Texas-based chain plans to only build smaller stores from now on.

I adore Whole Foods, but I don't usually shop there because it's just too darn expensive. And that's when I'm not worried about money... Read the rest of this post...

Consumers shifting to store brands, discount items

Well of course. Too many of the name brands at the grocery store are not worth the additional cost so who wants to pay top dollar? It's not the case with everything, but enough is out there to make it an easy decision. I stopped buying "Maille" mustard years ago when I found out that the store brands were the same, sometimes better, but for a fraction of the price. The same goes for lots of products though I have not tried the generic brands in ages.

The number of people switching to the private-label foods packaged and sold by Kroger Co. at its stores has been increasing. The company runs 2,477 stores in 31 states. Some of its regional chains include Ralph's, Fred Meyer and Food 4 Less.

"We're seeing particularly strong growth in our private selections and value tiers," Kroger Chief Executive David Dillon told investors in a conference call.
In recent years, large supermarket chains have been beefing up the number of items they sell under their own private-label lines. The items typically sell for less than a name brand on the same shelf.

Based on its proprietary shopper-card data, Kroger found that 14% of its customers traded down to its corporate brand items for the quarter Nov. 8. It sells private-label goods in three separate price categories, competing for sales in everyday staples to pricier organic foods.

Grocery stores have been targeting shoppers with more ready-to-eat meals in a bid to capture business from restaurants, which face declining sales in the current economic downturn with more people eat at home.

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Actress Fran Drescher wants Hillary's Senate seat

Huh:

The star of "The Nanny" wants to go from playing nasally New Yawkers to succeeding Hillary Rodham Clinton in the U.S. Senate.

Publicist Jordan Brown delivered the straight line that Fran Drescher is serious about becoming the next junior senator from New York. Brown cited Drescher's experience as an actress, advocate for women's health and public diplomacy envoy for the U.S. State Department.

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Riots engulf Greece, the Internet covers it live

The revolution will be televised.

There have been riots across Greece after a 15 year old was shot and killed by police. You can follow the story, live, online, via Flickr and Twitter, and I'm sure a lot more. Here are some more Flickr photos from Tom Tziros, the guy who shot the image above. Lots more photos from Greeks around the country, including this one from ThirdEye3, showing riot police outside the Greek parliament, I'm pretty sure:



There's a Facebook page in favor of the riots:



And a Facebook page opposing the riots:



There's a Twitter feed as well.

A Greek friend writes:

It's out of control... First a kid was shot dead last Saturday by a policeman. You *could* say it's an isolated event. But then, little by little riots started and acoumulated problems came up. Economic crisis, foreigners that live in gettoes, etc.

Last night most of the Athens city center was on fire. Other cities too. The police does nothing. The government does nothing, they are totally useless. And as things get out of control, we are afraid they will have to take really drastic measures. (Something like what happened in the US since 9/11.)

Let's hope things will calm down, maybe starting from tomorrow. Today it will probably be a long night too.

More from AP:

Masked youths and looters marauded through Greek cities for a fourth night Tuesday, in an explosion of rage triggered by the police shooting of a teenager that has unleashed the most violent riots in a quarter century.

The nightly scenes of burning street barricades, looted stores and overturned cars have threatened to topple the country's increasingly unpopular conservative government, which faces mounting calls for Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis to resign.

Police fired tear gas at protesters Tuesday following the funeral of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, who was laid to rest in an Athens burial attended by about 6,000 people.

The rioting — which has engulfed cities from Thessaloniki in the north to the holiday island of Corfu and Crete in the south — threatens the 52-year-old Karamanlis, who already faced growing dissatisfaction over financial and social reforms at a time of deep anxiety over growing economic gloom.

Opposition Socialist leader George Papandreou called for early elections, charging the conservatives were incapable of defending the public from rioters.

It's absolutely fascinating the myriad of ways that the Internet can now be used by ordinary citizens to cover their own news, to make their own news. Read the rest of this post...

Investors buy negative yield and zero interest Treasury bills - i.e., they're intentionally taking a loss because it's better than risking the market

This is a first. But looking at how much money everyone has lost in the market, getting a return on your investment of nothing, or even a slight loss, is now considered a bargain. From the Times:

Investors were so desperate to put their cash into government notes that they were willing to pay a penalty for the privilege: three-month notes traded at a negative yield, meaning that investors will receive about 99 cents on the dollar in return after the note matures. The news sends a sobering signal: in this environment, losing only a small amount of money on an investment is tantamount to coming out ahead.

Four-week Treasury bills, considered one of the safest possible short-term investments, traded at zero percent yields, and investors snapped up $30 billion worth. It was the lowest yield since the Treasury began issuing the notes in 2001.

A scramble into Treasury notes helps to line the federal coffers, providing money at a time when the government is embarking on ambitious stimulus projects with a price tag in the billions. Bank bailouts, credit facilities and public works programs will all be helped by the influx of investors’ cash.

The primary impetus behind the move into Treasuries is a flight to safety. But seasonal factors are also at work.

Read the rest of this post...

Chicago Trib held Blago story at request of FBI

When is it good and when is it bad for a newspaper to hold a story because the government asks it to? From ABC:

[T]he paper's editorial staff was actually cooperating with the federal probe into the governor which resulted in his arrest Tuesday, by holding from print an exclusive story that FBI agents had secretly recorded the governor's conversations.

Obviously, printing a story that the governor is being recorded would stop the governor from saying anything incriminating. MarketWatch disagrees:

It never pays off for newspaper editors to capitulate -- especially in the case of this embattled newspaper. Tribune Co. is a financial mess. The newspaper should at least have lofty ideals, such as defending the interests of its readers.

I don't think I agree. Do you? Read the rest of this post...

Fitz on Blago

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Appeals court refuses to let Larry Craig withdraw, Senator holds firm

From MSNBC's First Read:

A Minnesota appeals court today rejected Larry Craig's request to withdraw his guilty plea stemming from a sex sting in a Minneapolis airport bathroom last year. (Here's the decision.)

"I am extremely disappointed by the action of the Minnesota Court of Appeals," Craig (R-ID) said in a statement. "I disagree with their conclusion and remain steadfast in my belief that nothing criminal or improper occurred at the Minneapolis airport. I maintain my innocence, and currently my attorneys and I are reviewing the decision and looking into the possibility of appealing. I would like to thank all of those who have continued to support me and my family throughout this difficult time."

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Blago had no love for Obama

I distinctly remember reading a blurb on Hotline after the elections back in 2002 about Rod Blagojevich and his plans to run for president in 2008. He hadn't even been sworn in as Governor, yet was pushing himself as a presidential candidate.

Fast forward to 2008 and we do have a president from Illinois -- not Blagojevich. He's turned out to be a major disappointment. And, yes, he's innocent until proven guilty, but this criminal complaint is pretty damn damning. Just watched the news conference with prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald who has put together the case against the Illinois Governor.

Blago wanted a deal with the Obama team for the Senate seat, but he didn't get one. And, he didn't love Obama as Jonathan Martin reports:

[Blagojevich] also appears to think little of the president-elect, whom he calls a "motherf***er" at one point.

“F**k him,” Blagjoveich says of Obama during a lengthy call with top aides and his wife recorded on November 10th, “For nothing? F**k him.”

In another section of the complaint, Blagojevich expresses exasperation that Obama and his team aren't willing to offer him an inducement in exchange for appointing an aide, apparently Valerie Jarrett, to the Senate.

Blagojevich "said he knows that the President-elect wants Senate Candidate 1 for the Senate seat but 'they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. F**k them,'" says the complaint.

What a dick. Read the rest of this post...

If the Mormons aren't haters, let them prove it

From Rick Jacob's exceptional op ed in the LA Times:

In reality, the Yes on 8 campaign might as well have been a wholly owned subsidiary of the LDS Church....

While the backlash against the LDS Church has made some of its members uncomfortable, they have nobody to blame but their leadership who dragged them into this mess. In an effort to repair its public image, the church has said that it wants to begin a "healing process" and has claimed support for equal rights for gays and lesbians, except for using the word "marriage" to describe unions between same-sex partners. The church now has an opportunity to demonstrate that support: Utah state Sen. Scott McCoy has introduced legislation that would provide gays and lesbians in his state with all rights that straight people enjoy except marriage.

If the LDS Church were to support McCoy, it would show that it really does believe in love, compassion and equal rights. If it does not, the church's supposedly conciliatory stance would simply be one more obfuscation in support of truly bigoted intentions.

Read the rest of this post...

Caroline Kennedy

Jane Hamsher, over at FireDogLake, says that the notion of appointing Caroline Kennedy to take over Hillary's Senate seat is a "truly terrible idea."

I have to admit, when I first heard Jane wrote that, I thought "what's she got about Caroline?" Then I read what Jane wrote and, you know, she's got a point. Nothing against Caroline Kennedy, but what has she done to prove that she can handle the job? She's been a rather private Kennedy in a family that excels at public. Taking a US Senate seat, as a Kennedy, would put her enormously in the public eye. Not that she isn't already, but she really isn't. She manages to stay out of the public eye by choice. As a Senator, and a Senator Kennedy at that, she would no longer have that option. And we don't really know how good a public Kennedy Caroline is.

Having said that, I don't want to knock the allure, and benefit, of Camelot. People need dreams. And the Kennedy family, at least to those of us on the left, has carried the torch of the American dream for five decades. My heart likes the idea of having someone to carry on Ted Kennedy's legacy. Of continuing to have "a Kennedy" in public life long after Senator Kennedy retires. My head asks the same questions Jane asks. Is she ready for the spotlight? Will she be capable of being an effective Senator? Can she hold the seat against a Republican in the future?

I believe that symbols matter. And I liked it when I heard that Caroline was up for the job. But Jane raises a good point. Is it time to retire America's nobility? Are we spending far too much time focusing on politicians named Kennedy and Clinton and Bush? Is the sequel ever really as good as the original? I honestly don't know. Read the rest of this post...

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich arrested on corruption-related charges

UPDATE @ 10:42 AM: Courtesy of AMERICAblog reader, JA, a pdf version of the criminal complaint can be found here. This is one of the charges, which is addressed in detail on pages 54 - 74 of the document:

Defendants ROD BLAGOJEVICH and JOHN HARRIS, together with others, attempted to use ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s authority to appoint a United States Senator for the purpose of obtaining personal benefits for ROD BLAGOJEVICH, including, among other things, appointment as Secretary of Health & Human Services in the President-elect’s administration, and alternatively, a lucrative job which they schemed to induce aunion to provide to ROD BLAGOJEVICH in exchange for appointing as senator an individual whom ROD BLAGOJEVICH and JOHN HARRIS believed to be favored by union officials and their associates.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago, led by Patrick Fitzgerald, will be holding a news conference later this morning.
__________________________
We kept wondering why the Governor of Illinois hadn't appointed a new Senator yet. Now, we have a better idea. The Governor, Rod Blagojevich, was arrested this morning:

On the issue of the U.S. Senate selection, federal prosecutors alleged Blagojevich sought appointment as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the new Obama administration, or a lucrative job with a union in exchange for appointing a union-preferred candidate.

Blagojevich and Harris conspired to demand the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members responsible for editorials critical of Blagojevich in exchange for state help with the sale of Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium owned by Tribune Co.

Blagojevich and Harris, along with others, obtained and sought to gain financial benefits for the governor, members of his family and his campaign fund in exchange for appointments to state boards and commissions, state jobs and state contracts.

"The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement.

"They allege that Blagojevich put a 'for sale' sign on the naming of a United States senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target; and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism."

CNN and MSNBC are covering the developments live. Read the rest of this post...

CNN Poll: "Obama's current approval rating is also more than 50 points higher than President Bush's current approval rating"

The American people are liking what they're seeing from their soon-to-be president. Let's hope it can last -- and that Obama uses this support to enact the agenda he promised us:

Nearly eight in 10 Americans questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey out Tuesday morning are giving the president-elect the thumbs up when it comes to his handling of the transition.

Seventy-nine percent approve of Obama's performance so far during transition, with 18 percent disapproving.

Obama's approval rating is 14 points higher than the approval rating for President-elect George Bush in 2001 and 17 points higher than President-elect Clinton's rating in 1992, CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said.

Obama's current approval rating is also more than 50 points higher than President Bush's current approval rating, which now stands at 28 percent --- with 71 percent disapproving of the way Bush is handling his job as president.

Read the rest of this post...

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Al Gore is meeting with Obama and Biden today. I know we've all thought many times how different the world would be if Gore assumed the presidency back in 2000 -- as the voters intended. The world would be a different place in so many ways. One thing is sure: We wouldn't have the government financing the financial industry and the auto industry. The Democratic president never would have socialized the private sector like George Bush did.

George Bush is the antithesis of Harry Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life." Imagine if Clarence the Angel could show Bush how the world would be if he'd never been born -- or even if Clarence could just show Bush how the world would be if he'd never been sworn in as president.

Okay...that's my deep thought for a cold morning...let's get started... Read the rest of this post...

Malaria vaccine in five years?

This would be an amazing advance for the world. The number of malaria cases around the world are shocking and as with many illnesses, malaria strikes the poor, the young and the elderly. As a traveler it's possible to take anti-malarial treatments though with many there are serious side effects and even then, they can only be taken for brief periods. During travels in northern Laos Joelle and I stumbled upon a young boy on a mountainous walking path who was sent out of his village (alone) because he was ill. Fortunately we were with a doctor who had medicine and could treat him but most are not as lucky. The model today for prevention is limited to mosquito nets - which will still be required - but something more is needed.

The vaccine, known only by its codename RTS,S, is the most promising to emerge from 20 years of research and has already demonstrated its efficacy in adults and babies in the Gambia and Mozambique.

The latest trials, in Kenya and Tanzania, have shown for the first time that the vaccine can be administered as part of the standard immunisation programme, without interfering with vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and meningitis, and still provide protection. This will make delivering it much easier and less costly across Africa and has boosted researchers' hopes of developing an effective weapon against one of the world's worst killer diseases. A final trial involving thousands of children across Africa is planned for next year, if regulatory approval can be obtained.

About 500 million episodes of malaria occur every year, mostly in the developing world. The disease is caused by a parasite transmitted by the female anopheles mosquito and is the leading killer of children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Merrill CEO backs down, will "forgo" $10 million bonus

Wasn't that nice of him? The morally challenged helicopter CEO somehow saw the light after Andrew Cuomo announced his "shock" when hearing of the demand.

The chief executives of Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch & Co. will forgo their customary bonuses for 2008, as their firms seek to avoid public-relations fiascos.

The online edition of The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Monday that Morgan Stanley's John Mack decided to forgo his bonus because it "would send the wrong message." The report noted that Morgan Stanley has accepted $10 billion from the U.S. government in return for an ownership stake, as it and other Wall Street firms struggle to cope with the economic downturn.

Merrill Lynch's John Thain, the Journal reported, had originally lobbied Merrill's board for a bonus between $5 million and $10 million, saying that his shepherding of the firm into a merger with Bank of America Corp. in September saved it from a worse fate.

However, that prompted New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to announce that such a bonus would be "unjustified."

Merrill announced late Monday that Thain will not get a bonus for 2008. In addition, Merrill's other four top executives, including Gregory Fleming and Robert McCann, will also go without bonuses, the firm said in a statement.

There is still no word out of Citigroup to date so maybe Robert Rubin working behind the scenes to insist that they all forgo bonuses. Uh huh, right. At a very minimum, Obama should not hire anyone from any company that is receiving bailout money and still paying bonuses. Read the rest of this post...

Japanese economy falls deeper in recession

The revised GDP numbers don't look very good at all. From Reuters:

"The revision was bigger than expected. Given further weakness in exports and capital spending since October, the economy's contraction will deepen in the fourth quarter," said Tatsushi Shikano, senior economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities. "The Japanese economy will likely shrink in the financial year to March."

The economy contracted 0.5 percent in July-September, far more than the preliminary figure of a 0.1 percent decrease and economists' median forecast of a 0.2 percent fall.

Japan's economy shrank at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in the quarter, three times faster than the contraction in the U.S. economy in the same period. The revision was mainly due to a mark down in inventory and government spending.

Capital spending, a key driver of growth until recently, was revised down slightly to 2.0 percent from 1.7 percent, a change not large enough to affect the overall growth rate.

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GM vice chairman crying about CEO being a "sacrificial lamb"

This cuts to the heart of the CEO pay discussion, so thanks for raising it. The argument made by this overpaid bunch always centers around the unfounded concept of "high risk/high reward" but there never is any risk at the top. It's only about reward, with the risk being doled out in heavy doses to everyone else. In the case of GM, outside of this boot licker, nobody in America sees current GM CEO Richard Wagoner, Jr. as the person to lead the company out of this mess. If CEO's such as Wagoner are going to ask for the big bucks, either put up or shut up.

General Motors vice chairman and auto industry veteran Robert Lutz says saving America's auto industry must be a joint effort, and he thinks GM chief executive Richard Wagoner, Jr., should not be made a "sacrificial lamb" in the process.

Lutz was responding to weekend calls, notably from Sen. Christopher Dodd, for Wagoner to resign. Dodd said management changes have to be part of conditions for a bailout to help the companies restructure.

Dodd is chairman of the Senate's Banking Committee and a key architect of the bailout legislation being crafted in Congress. During a Sunday appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation" he suggested that GM and Chrysler should probably merge.

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Guns for groceries

When Americans start turning in their weapons for food yes, times are tough. AP:

The annual Gifts for Guns program ended Sunday in Compton, a working class city south of Los Angeles that has long struggled with gun and gang violence. In a program similar to ones in New York and San Francisco, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department allows residents to anonymously relinquish firearms in return for $100 gift cards for Ralphs supermarkets, Target department stores or Best Buy electronics stores.

Turning in assault rifles yields double that amount.

In years past, Target and Best Buy were the cards of choice, with residents wanting presents for the holidays.

This year, most asked for the supermarket cards, said sheriff's Sgt. Byron Woods.

"People just don't have the money to buy the food these days," he said.

Authorities said Sunday that a record 965 firearms and two hand grenades were handed in during the two weekends the program was in operation. That's more than in any other year and easily eclipses last year's total of 387 guns collected over both weekends.

Compton's violent history has been chronicled in such gangsta rap albums as N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton." But Woods said most of the residents who turned in weapons were "family people."

"One guy said he had just got laid off from his job," Woods said. "He turned in five guns and said it would really help him to put food on the family's table."

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