little things that signify some unknown

I shop at the Ingles Supermarket, every once in a while, on my way back from the county pool, when I think of something I need that they might have. Despite my abhorrence of them when they first came out and of what they signify in this culture (but that's a whole other rant), I confess that I have become addicted to using their “do it yourself” check-out machines.

Due to some faulty wiring in my brain, lately I have been pressing the “Espanol” button instead of the “English” button when I first say hello to the darn thing, and have found out that once I do that, I am stuck having the machine dish out orders in “Espanol” throughout the rest of my engagement with it. Given that I speak Portuguese, it isn’t the end of the world and I go through the “processo” in “Espaneesh”. I did that yesterday, paid my bill; and as I was walking out, I thought to myself, “Hmmm 'interesante', the voice in the machine that gives out orders in English is a female voice; however the one speaking Spanish is a male voice....”

Le Culot de Bill Kristol

1 culot Noun, masculine (a) (Infml) nerve, cheek; avoir du ~ to have a nerve, have some cheek, be cheeky(b) body; residue
[edit] Etymology
From cul 'bottom', itself from Latin culus 'arse'

So Bill, quel culot! Who exactly are you calling “the media elite”, Harvard boy? And who do you imagine is this “vulgus” you eulogize so? In your column Here the People Rule, you write with respect to Obama’s favored poll numbers over McCain’s: “You might think this data point poses a challenge to my encomium to the good sense of the American People.” Pardon me Bill, let’s be vulgar; who the fuck uses the word “encomium” while trying to prove his understanding of the common people?

Do you really think you are proving your connection and knowledge of what the “vulgus” wants by writing a column, in the way that you write it, in the NY Times? When you write in praise of the common folk while giving us all a little lesson in word derivations from the Latin, not only are you only speaking to the media elite such as yourself, you are also seriously condescending to The People you claim to celebrate. Bill, you wouldn’t know the “vulgus” if it hit you in the face; but I don’t think you care. The “vulgus”, to you, is just an abstraction in your game of “bait the liberal elite”; and in the end, that’s really what you care about.

You are a member of the conservative elite; please accept it without trying to tell the elite of a different color, and I’m talking red and blue here, that your brand of conservatism is “of the people”. Don’t keep beating that tired old drum, or in your case, timpani about the liberal elite not understanding the “vulgus”. An average of 50% of the American people keeps voting for liberals, so it seems that the liberal elite knows something about at least half of the American “vulgus”. And while you’re at it, do stop talking about “Joe the Plumber” as if he were the epitome of the American entrepreneurial spirit; that too is an insult. But I guess the fact that he is not a licensed plumber, and has no intention of actually starting a business is beside the point, for he too is just an abstraction in the game that conservatives play in trying to make the common people think that a small increase in taxes will stop all investment in this country[1]. Hell, as it is, the Republicans running the government let that happen without raising one single tax! And above all Bill, stop zealously pushing Sarah Palin as an icon of The People who could easily lead us as our president. Here my friend, you are not smitten with the “vulgus”, it’s the “vulva” you've fallen for. Don’t worry Bill, you are not the first Jew to fall for a Shiksa, and you won’t be the last man to go down for a vulva. (Now, how’s that for vulgar?)

[1] Way I see it, “Joe the Plumber” is such a perfect image for you people, I am beginning to think he was planted to ask that question about taxation to Mr. Obama. Of course Obama should have asked him what kind of plumbing business he had that was netting $250,000. I’ve actually met owners of small plumbing businesses, I’ve yet to encounter one that nets that much... but I digress...

Letter to Senator McCain

Dear Senator McCain,

I have always admired you for your independent streak and sense of morality, and have voted for you every time your name came by on a ballot here in South Carolina. I am so sorry to say that I won’t be doing that this time around; and I won’t because of “that woman” and the way you have had to run your campaign to please the people you tried to appeal to with her nomination.

I understand your advisors were telling you that you could not bring in the right of the party if you did not choose somebody like “her”; and maybe you were stuck between a rock and a hard place. But unlike what you did in Vietnam, this time you did compromise your principles. Sorry to say sir, but these days, as you try to hold on to what you believe in, while at the same time trying to appeal to the extremists in your party, you look like something cobbled up by Dr. Frankenstein.

It is quite conceivable that you would have lost the election had you followed your heart and instincts and chosen Senator Joe Lieberman as your running mate instead (and what a truly independent ticket that would have been!). Had you run that race, sir, and lost, that would have been a dignified loss. As it is, may this farce be over soon.

Sincerely,
Katya Cohen

Forgive me Father for I have sinned

Yesterday I wished that the Lowe’s Home improvement center I have been campaigning to keep out of town were in town.

As can be gleaned below, in the letters I sent to Councilwoman Thompson, I am asking the council of the City of Clemson to reconsider fudging the town’s zoning laws just to accommodate a Lowe’s shopping center in an area zoned for residential and small business development. In my letters, one of the arguments I used against the Lowe’s is that it’s existence will jeopardize the small local businesses such as nurseries and hardware stores that make this place human and humane. One such store is the ACE on route 123, two miles from the proposed site. However, after going there yesterday, I did wish for its demise.

I went to Ace to get a three-way light switch in “bone” (color) to complete a complicated wiring scheme a friend and I were trying to fix. After having a hard time finding the three-way switches, I asked an attendant where they were. He had about as much luck finding one as I did, but eventually picked up the last one, whose toggle was in “bisque" and not in "bone", the color I needed to match all the other 23 light switches in the room. As he handed it to me he said, “Some guy came in the other day and wiped me out of three-ways; I guess I should have ordered some more”. Duh. After dismantling a whole series of interconnected switches that turn one light on and off, and finding out that the reason they were not working properly was because of a broken 3-way in the set-up, I needed a new three-way switch to complete the circuit and put my family room back together; and I needed it then. I settled for the bisque colored switch after giving the the Ace man the evil eye and stating that I would return it when I got my bone colored one elsewhere. As I walked out, I wished for the Lowe’s; yes, on Isaqueena, in the center of a circle with a radius of 8 miles, on whose circumference sits 3 other Lowe’s super-stores. Fact is, that when I think of small businesses I miss, I do not think of franchises such as ACE, whose crappy little monopoly over this town is about to be dismantled; but I think of stores like Ole Norms, who certainly eventually closed because of the circle of Lowe’s and Home Depots around it; and whose land became more valuable as a site for a Food Lion.

Everything changes.

Understanding Through Disagreement (thank god this ain't about abortion)

Hi Katya,
I hope you are enjoying this rain as much as I am. I would love to put Lowe's on Hwy 93, particularly at the corner of Berkley and 93. But then all the Monaco Estates people would be upset. We are so land locked and land poor, at least from the retail side of things. I would like to see Clemson extend out to Rd 18 and do more retail out that way. Maybe one day.
As our economy goes down the drain and jobs are lost, either to illegal immigrants or corporations taking their companies out of the US, I am personally happy to have good health and wake up everyday and not have to wonder where my next meal may come from or a roof over my head. We all need to be humbled in this world and I was so against the bailout our great government just did.
I will go off of council at the end of the year and plan to run for county council in 2 years. I was a deputy sheriff with Pickens Co for 25 years and have always felt a sense of loyalty to the county. What I suggest you do, is run for office. Always be pastionate in what you believe in and always, always be true to yourself. That is my philosphy in life and I would rather look you straight in the eye and be truthful, than sell my soul to the Devil.
Margaret


Ms. Thompson,
As I've said before, even though you and I don't see eye to eye on some things, I do think you're cool (-;

All the best,
Katya

The Conversation Continues

Ms Cohen,
I wasn't on council when the Wal Mart controversary was going on but I did go to the meetings when both sides gave their opinions. One such meeting was at the First Baptist Church in Clemson and I have never seen people act the way they did particularly in a place of worship. I will always answer your letters, your phone calls or a face to face meeting. For me personally, as far as Lowe's goes, I want convenience and keep my tax dollars here. It takes a lot of money to run this town, especially keeping up 17 parks. I am not a tax and spend council member and have voted against tax increases the last 3 years I have been on council. I do not plan to run again and it is a shame that no one is running. That tells me one or two things. The citizens are either happy with the way things are going and they just don't care. I ran because it ticked my off that Clemson let Wal Mart go. This was the first time I had ever run for office and was very upfront with why I was running for office. The letting go of the Wal Mart was my campaign message and apparently there were more in agreement with me than not. I also want you to know, that there will be more growth even with me going off council. Please keep in touch with me because I do care. There is no one you want more than me on your side fighting for you. I do respect your position greatly on Lowe's and you are welcome to come and voice your opinion tonight at our council meeting.
Margaret



Dear Ms. Thompson,
I always appreciate your candor and you obviously don't mind mine (-; I know growth is inevitable and I do want growth; but there is smart growth and not-so-smart growth, and putting a big box store at that location limits the directions of growth into an antiquated model that has worked for America in the past but that needs to be rethought for the future. Why not put the Lowe's on 93? Now, that would be convenient! Isaqueena Trail should not only be an inviting entrance to Clemson, but it should also be kept as a way of growing the city in an enhanced way; not just cutting it off by and making it disappear into one more strip of undifferentiated ugly shopping malls.
I understand the need for tax dollars, but these tax dollars you speak of might be the equivalent of making a pact with the devil. And when I talked about Lowe's hurting small businesses, I was thinking of all the hardware stores and nurseries that I like to cater to around here- small stores that make the place human and humane. There might be room for both styles of development; we just have to be careful how we allow for both. Not to mention the decrease in home values of the well established neighborhoods around the planned area- do you plan to start a tax redistribution program to pay for the devaluation of those homes? There are consequences to everything, and I think it is time that communities start thinking in a more long term way than just letting the fat cats wheel and deal their way into strangling alternatives.
And there you go, my opinion: different from yours, yet I appreciate that you have one and stand behind it. And again, I do thank you for responding, even when I am at my most irascible.

Katya Cohen

awwwwe She Got Her Feelings Hurt

Nancy (tiger) Bennett's answer to my Lowe's letter in last blog:
-----Original Message-----From: nancybtiger@bellsouth.net [mailto:nancybtiger@bellsouth.net] Sent: Monday, October 06, 2008 4:05 PMTo: Katya Subject: Re: Lowe's on Isaqueena!?
I do not value any correspondence that threatens me at the ballot box. I am disappointed that a highly educated citizen should resort to such a low level threat. Nancy Bennett--Clemson City Council


My answer:
Ok, but you have not told me your opinion about the planned development. That being said, the ballot box is the only recourse I have in telling my representatives whether or not I like the job they are doing for me; I’m just being straight forward, maybe that’s not how politics works. But thanks for your answer.
k

And never the Twain Shall Meet

Dear Ms. Thompson,

How many times does a person with the sense that a community should be more than a series of intersecting commercial strips have to fight to keep such developments as the one proposed in the attachment to this email out of ones community? First it was the Wal-Mart and now the Lowe's Mart.

I understand private property and all, but sometimes the good of the community as a whole should override the interests of a private developer. Look at how downtown Greenville has developed to be a magnet for people from all over the state and beyond precisely because it opted to develop differently than the average American town. It has not gotten to be the attraction that it is by having a bunch of big box stores open up close to downtown. One can hardly get into town on the weekends, so bursting it is with people who come to enjoy a well designed and planned community.

Granted, the intersection of Isaqueena and 123 is not exactly "downtown", but the bulk of the area is residential, and Isaqueena is a main artery that allows people to bypass the congested area of 93; it would be nice if it remained that way or developed into a multi-use community with truly small businesses. Not to mention that if Lowe's comes into town, it will quash all the other small businesses in the area that provide similar services, thus eliminating any semblance this place has to an actual community.

This city seems to spend an inordinate amount of money bricking up everything in the hopes of making it look like a user friendly town. Well, bricks plus big box stores, even if they are forced to look quaint, do not a town make. To use a much publicized phrase, it's like putting lipstick on a pig. Please try to pass legislation to improve the quality of living in Clemson in a sustainable way and for "the small" guy. You just have to look at the past couple of years to see what unfettered and unregulated free market capitalism has resulted in. Downtown Clemson is barely usable without more sprawling development swallowing what is already an impossibly small center; let's develop the outskirts in a user friendly way.

I apologize for the tone of this letter, but the knowledge that I have to fight such development all over again, and that we don't seem to learn anything from the past does not bring out my "sunny disposition" side. Please let me know how you decide on this issue so I can decide what to do at the ballot box.


Sincerely,

Katya Cohen

Ms Cohen,

I am for Lowe's as I was for Wal Mart. This past year, council spent $80 thousand dollars on economic developement because in my opinion that some on council let the Wal Mart locate in Central. This was all do to political pressure. I beat to a different drum and make no bones about how I feel. When I ran for council 4 years ago, economic development was one of my goals and I, along with the majority of citizens were upset the Wal Mart was lost to Central. That same council who voted to let Wal Mart go are now on board for economic development. We all would love to get a Target, Costco, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc and the list goes on. We as a council, voted on this and we all agreed to this.

As far as hurting small businesses, should I as a business owner not open my business because I might hurt someone. That is not how the free market works. When Chic Fil A comes to Clemson, should they not come because it may hurt McDonald's or Wendy's.

Clemson is no longer a small town and we on council don't use the phrase "Village". As far as your reference to Greenville, I love going to downtown Greenville and so do thousands of other people.

As stated previously, it is now and always my intent to be straightforward. However, I like a citizen who gets involved and speaks their mind. I will always welcome your comments even when we don't agree.


Respectfully yours,

Margaret J Thompson

Clemson City Council

Dear Ms. Thompson,

I appreciate your opinion even though it differs from mine. I also appreciate that you've always answered my letters, unlike the other council members- I really do. If the council has decided that this already shitty little town needs to look like Anderson and have the same traffic problems, so be it.

Let me ask you, does not political pressure mean that you answered to your constituents when the Walmart wanted to locate here?

Again, I do sincerely appreciate your service,

Katya Cohen

The Thing about Elections

Voting is a faith-based activity; and for those atheists among us, not a very satisfying one. Every four years, a couple of people come onto the scene and promise us a bunch of things that any moderately intelligent human being with a basic comprehension of accounting can’t possibly believe in. And yet hundreds of thousands of people, not only believe, but actually follow these would be preachers around as if they were on the way to being delivered to the Promised Land.

When Obama speaks, he sounds like he is speaking Chinese by promising a bunch of very cool stuff I can’t even begin to understand due to the improbability of their accomplishment. He promises Utopia on a balanced budget; and not even Reagan balanced his budget while only promising three simple things: military expenditure, government efficiency, and yes, the elusive balanced budget[1]. Obama is promising to raise capital gains taxes “only” to the level they were during the Reagan administration, plus some other murky tax increases on personal income to pay for his promises. But that won’t even begin to pay for the deficit we have now, much less build Utopia. Hey, I am all for a Marshall Plan for this country, we need to rebuild before adding rooms to the house; but that will take a lot more than mamby pamby unsubstantiated promises about change. And yes, it will take a lot more taxation, and I doubt any American is ever in the mood for that. The trick for Obama will be how to go about taxing people without shutting down the already shut down economy. No way Barrack!

McCain... Hell, I don’t even know what McCain is promising anymore. He so much wants to be president before he dies that he has sold his soul to the devil, I mean, the right wing of the Republican Party. Remember John McCain, that dude the Republicans used to hate because of how often he would vote against their interests? Well, that dude has made such a salad trying to mesh his maverick streak while kowtowing to the base of the Republican Party that when he talks, he too sounds like he is speaking Chinese; and yo no hablo chines. Whatever he and Sarah Palin are selling me (something about what I can do to myself with a hockey stick), I’m not buying either.

So, the thing about elections is that they are very much like a colonoscopy. Two months of prepping for going to the dreaded booth to press a button next to a name or party whose toxic solution is less irritating on our stomachs that day, only to leave relieved that it’s over and we don’t have to do it again for another four years. ...Come to think of it, a colonoscopy has the advantage of having to be done only every ten years...

[1] In my lifetime there is one president that actually accomplished that feat: Bill Clinton. But he decided to squander his achievement by having Little Bill serviced in the White House in this most puritanical of countries...