{"id":51602,"date":"2015-06-23T14:45:07","date_gmt":"2015-06-23T20:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/06\/23\/when-youve-lost-wal-mart.html"},"modified":"2015-06-23T14:45:07","modified_gmt":"2015-06-23T20:45:07","slug":"when-youve-lost-wal-mart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/06\/23\/when-youve-lost-wal-mart.html","title":{"rendered":"When you&#039;ve lost Wal-Mart"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tipping points are funny things. There have been arguments over the Confederate battle flag for decades, and if you&#39;d asked me a week ago if suddenly Wal-Mart, Amazon, Etsy, and eBay would ban that particular item, I&#39;d have laughed ruefully.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, here we are. States are looking to drop the symbol from officially sponsored locations and license plates, and major retail outlets are kicking the symbol to the curb. I&#39;d oppose any federal (or state) law trying to ban it &#8212; free speech, even loathsome free speech, is important to protect. But that it&#39;s being suddenly made so socially unpopular is &#8230; interesting.<\/p>\n<p>See also: <a href=\"http:\/\/boingboing.net\/2015\/06\/23\/amazon-and-ebay-ban-confedera.html\">http:\/\/boingboing.net\/2015\/06\/23\/amazon-and-ebay-ban-confedera.html<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/boingboing.net\/2015\/06\/23\/virginia-governor-take-the-co.html\">http:\/\/boingboing.net\/2015\/06\/23\/virginia-governor-take-the-co.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Some folks are concerned that simply getting rid of the flag is only (not ironically) symbolic, and doesn&#39;t deal with racism proper, or gun violence, or any of the other aspects of the Charleston killings or their echoes around the country. But symbols are important, and that the Confederate flag has become, for the moment at least, socially <i>persona non grata,<\/i> is nothing to sneeze at.<\/p>\n<p>(h\/t <span class=\"proflinkWrapper\"><span class=\"proflinkPrefix\">+<\/span><a class=\"proflink\" href=\"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/103748887870095862080\" oid=\"103748887870095862080\">Les Jenkins<\/a><\/span>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"sm2wp\"><p>\n<a style='display:inline;' href='http:\/\/boingboing.net\/2015\/06\/23\/walmart-to-remove-confederate.html'><br \/>\n<img src='https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/proxy\/5y1wyobB6wqs6b2DXukVditqW3muM4Z0x37slv21A1Z0og2Y2Slx_a_VTSx5RjWra3-M4A4ocAmRWAbxF7DmxxU21xYTa5gx2p3WUI4X3Zb6WAcSkuPzpxPFvA=w506-h303' border='0' style='max-width:650px;'\/><br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\n<span style='font-size:large;'><a href='http:\/\/boingboing.net\/2015\/06\/23\/walmart-to-remove-confederate.html'>Walmart to remove Confederate flag from stores<\/a><\/span><br \/>\nAmerica&#8217;s largest retailer is to rid its shelves of flags and other tat sporting the popular symbol of slavery and racism. Nationwide chains Sears and Kmart will reportedly do likewise. The moves f&#8230;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style='font-size:small;'><a href='https:\/\/plus.google.com\/+DaveHill47\/posts\/iyka4b9iefa'>View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tipping points are funny things. There have been arguments over the Confederate battle flag for decades, and if you&#39;d asked me a week ago if suddenly Wal-Mart, Amazon, Etsy, and eBay would ban that particular item, I&#39;d have laughed ruefully. Yet, here we are. States are looking to drop the symbol from officially sponsored locations &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/06\/23\/when-youve-lost-wal-mart.html\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;When you&#039;ve lost Wal-Mart&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3877,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/03\/19\/only_101.html","url_meta":{"origin":51602,"position":0},"title":"Only 101?","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 19-Mar-03 1:44pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a long but entertaining article on The 101 Dumbest Moments in Business of 2002. A few highlights: Panic in the heartland, part 1: The crisis begins. Outside a Wal-Mart...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Big Business&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28549,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/07\/12\/be-careful-what-you-ask-for-retailers.html","url_meta":{"origin":51602,"position":1},"title":"Be careful what you ask for, retailers","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 12-Jul-12 2:08pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Bricks and mortar retailers have long complained that Amazon had an unfair advantage due to no sales tax when they did not have a b&m presence in the state. \u00a0After years of lobbying Congress about it, they seem to have won: Amazon is inking agreements to collect state sales taxes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9386,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/07\/18\/wal_mart_tries.html","url_meta":{"origin":51602,"position":2},"title":"Wal-Mart tries to be hip, but barely manages hep","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 18-Jul-06 6:56am","format":false,"excerpt":"Wal-Mart, seeing more teen shopping dollars going to Target, is trying to woo the cool kids back by building its own MySpace-type of site. Except, of course, it's patently filled...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Big Business&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27512,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/22\/the-revenue-must-flow.html","url_meta":{"origin":51602,"position":3},"title":"The Revenue Must Flow!","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 22-Apr-12 7:16pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Fairly damning evidence regarding Wal-Mart using bribery to leverage their way into the lucrative market in Mexico. Classy! Also, illegal! #ddtb Embedded Link Wal-Mart executives in U.S. brushed aside evidence of rampant bribery in Wal-Mart de Mexico expansion - The Denver Post MEXICO CITY\u00a0\u2014In September 2005, a senior Wal-Mart lawyer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":128882,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/18\/terrorisms-goal.html","url_meta":{"origin":51602,"position":4},"title":"Terrorism&#039;s goal","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 18-Nov-15 8:35am","format":false,"excerpt":"It works if we give in to their demands. It works if we give in to the demands of our base instincts. It's almost a win-win, unless we are very, very careful.(Worked up this graphic the other day for WIST, and thought it a cool enough Doctorow quote to want\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":132005,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/11\/10\/a-brief-revisit-with-the-great-dictator.html","url_meta":{"origin":51602,"position":5},"title":"A brief revisit with &quot;The Great Dictator&quot;","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 10-Nov-16 9:59pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A speech to the troops in the 1940 movie by Charlie Chaplin's character -- a poor Jewish barber who is mistaken for a Hitler-like dictator who resembles him.'To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51602\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}