The Sales Office Is Open!

[unhappycamper]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/02/20/183685/trade-not-syria-dominates-john.html



Secretary of State John Kerry gestures as he delivers his first foreign policy speech at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.

Trade, not Syria, dominates John Kerry’s first speech as secretary of state
By Hannah Allam | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Wednesday, February 20, 2013

WASHINGTON — In his first major speech as secretary of state, John Kerry on Wednesday didn’t mention Syria even once or delve deeply into other urgent world crises. Instead, he focused on defending his department’s budget and encouraging international trade, especially with Asia.

“We can be complacent, or we can be competitive. As new markets bloom in every corner of the globe – and they will, with or without us – we can be there to help plant the seeds, or we can cede that power to others,” Kerry said, speaking to local politicians, students and faculty at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

Kerry’s appearance comes just days before he embarks on his first trip abroad as secretary. While his remarks on campus were rooted in trade opportunities and American soft power – agricultural help for troubled South Sudan and increased educational opportunities for Afghan girls, for example – the destinations on his trip point to the national security priorities that are more likely to consume at least his early months in office.

Beginning next week, Kerry is scheduled to discuss the U.S.-backed French intervention in Mali on a stop in Paris, hear the frustrations of Syrian opposition leaders in Italy, meet with Egyptian officials and civil society members in a volatile and sharply divided Cairo, and discuss the Syrian civil war and its worsening humanitarian crisis with Turkey and Arab Gulf allies.

[Demeter]

1. Because War or Peace don't Motivate the State Dept., but PROFIT does!

Disgusting. Corporate lackeys and lickspittles....

[Fuddnik]

2. Hey! Kerry is a built-in peace robot.

When he goes in to negotiate to end a potential conflict, he'll put them to sleep before they can remember why they're there in the first place.

[golfguru]

3. Well corporations need a helping hand!

Store closing plans for 2013:

Best Buy Forecast store closings: 200 to 250

Sears Holding Corp. Forecast store closings: Kmart 175 to 225, Sears 100 to 125

J.C. Penney Forecast store closings: 300 to 350

Office Depot Forecast store closings: 125 to 150

Barnes & Noble Forecast store closings: 190 to 240, per company comments

Gamestop Forecast store closings: 500 to 600

OfficeMax Forecast store closings: 150 to 175

RadioShack Forecast store closings: 450 to 550

ABERCROMBIE to close 50 stores...

Other store closings announced for 2013:

f.y.e. music store in Beverly, Massachusetts.

f.y.e. music store in Montgomery, Alabama.

Mother Nuture parenting store in Lexington, Kentucky.

Coldwater Creek women’s clothing store in Glendale, Wisconsin.

Christopher & Banks women’s clothing store in Glendale, Wisconsin. (actually closed at the end of December 2012)

Barnes & Noble book stores, two in Texas.

A&W All American Food restaurant in Boise, Idaho.

Bakers shoe store in Boise, Idaho.

Blockbuster video store in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.

Savvy Spaces furniture store in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Eddie Bauer clothing store in Yakima, Washington.

Eddie Bauer clothing store in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Eddie Bauer clothing store in Rockford, Illinois.

Pearle Vision Center in Mall at Steamtown, Pennsylvania.

Shambala clothing store in Mall at Steamtown, Pennsylvania.

Verizon cell phone store in Mall at Steamtown, Pennsylvania.

Gap clothing store in Shoppes at Montage, Pennsylvania.

C.J. Banks women’s clothing store in Wyoming Valley Mall, Pennsylvania.

H&M women’s clothing stores in Eastview Mall and Mall at Greece Ridge, New York.

Soccer Plus stores in Palatine and Libertyville, Illinois.

Easy Street Records in Seattle, Washington.

Justice IGA grocery store in Grayson, Kentucky.

Sheetz convenience store in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

The last of the Cub Foods grocery stores in Trotwood, Ohio.

Vons grocery store in Hesperia, California.

Amy’s Hallmark greeting card store in Albany, Georgia.

Restoration Hardware store in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.

American Eagle Outfitters clothing store in Birmingham, Alabama. (closed at the end of December 2012)

Piggly Wiggly grocery store in Florence, South Carolina.

Disney Store in Reno, Nevada. (closed at the end of December 2012, recent reports say Disney will not renew its store leases)

Klingenberg’s Hardware and Paint store in Newport, Kentucky. (closed on 29 December 2012, after 90 years in business)

The Papery paper product store in Clarendon, Virginia.

Larmon Camera Shop in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

Tasti D-Lite frozen dessert West End store in Nashville, Tennessee.

Vision Video store in Athens, Georgia.