text:
I kept Lexi home from school today because although I was 99% sure that the vomiting was due to her headache, I was uncomfortable sending her to school until I saw if she was feeling ok today. I figured I'd take her in around lunchtime as long as she was feeling ok. Unfortunately she got another headache late this morning, so I gave her some medicine and just kept her home all day. Jackson woke up with a headache this morning and by the time it went away, there was only an hour and a half left of school, so I just kept him home all day too.
My kids are smart. Seriously, they're pretty bright kids. So, why, why, WHY is it that I have to tell them at least 20 times a day that food is NOT allowed in the family room? WHY? I left the kids eating breakfast at the table in order to take a shower and when I came out, there was a bowl of cereal - milk and all - spilled all over the family room carpet. The carpet that Joe just shampooed. Of course, it's finally summer here so the milk is starting to smell wonderful in this heat. Lovely.
Then, because the sour milk soaked carpet wasn't quite enough, they took clay into the family room and smooshed some pretty blue and yellow globs into the carpet. I can understand why they did this as I only told them 4000 times to keep all Play-Doh and clay at the kitchen table at all times under penalty of death. It's perfectly understandable that they didn't comprehend my instructions.
"How many times do I have to tell you guys to keep the Play-Doh at the table??? Do you remember The Great Play-Doh Prohibition of 2005? If I see a single crumb of clay in the family room ever again, there will be a repeat of The Great Play-Doh Prohibition and I promise you I will not allow a single container of any sort of modeling compound within 20 miles of our house!"
Then, as I was copying some recipes, I heard a blood curdling scream from the backyard. I looked up and saw Clay standing on one foot by the picnic table. I ran outside, thinking I was going to have another child in a cast and saw Clay standing there, a trail of blood behind him. I ran back inside and grabbed a washcloth, returned to Clay and put it on his foot which was covered in blood and dripping all over the patio. After a couple minutes, it finally stopped enough for me to assess the damage. He sliced open his heel on something sharp in the grass. (Shocking that there would something sharp hidden in my backyard, I know.) Because my kids never wear shoes (must get that from their father. A-hem) he cut his foot. I cleaned and bandaged him up and then instated the "You Must Wear Shoes in the Backyard at ALL Times" rule so my kids have a new warning to ignore.
At one point today, Jackson ate the last Italian ice in the house. Brooklyn saw him take it and decided she wanted one too. He offered to share with her, but that wasn't good enough for
And if Clay doesn't learn how to control that temper of his, I'm shipping him off to military school. Just because he doesn't get his way, does NOT mean he can whip every toy within his reach across the house. And during one time-out today, he drew on his carpet with marker. Charming, no?
But that's not the absolute best part of my day, oh no. Like I said, it's finally summer here so the windows are open. The best part of my day was when I treated all my neighbors to my lunatic-like yelling and screaming at my kids until the veins in my temple actually burst. They're hiding in their houses, cowering behind their couches now. Well, either that or they're calling DCFS.
Don't forget to check out my other blog HERE.
And make a note that I'm going to be changing my blog over to my website soon. You'll be able to find it at BecauseISaidSo.com.


text:
Dan @ Deadspin this weekend: I'll be guest-blogging at Deadspin this weekend, both Saturday and Sunday. Tips welcome (via my email to the right), and if you're a Deadspin Commenter, be gentle.
Guess what? Even LeBron can't save these NBA Finals, which rested on his individual brilliance countering the Spurs' superior team.
But the Spurs stifled LeBron: If the 48-point game against the Pistons was LeBron's career apex (and the highlight of this NBA Playoffs season), then this 14-point brutality was his career's nadir (as well as that of the playoffs, given the outsized expectations for last night's matchup).
The ugliness: 4 of 16 FG shooting. 6 turnovers. And a 9-point loss to the Spurs in
The Spurs put on a defensive clinic – and showed that LeBron (or, more accurately, the Cavs as a whole) ain't ready for the Finals.
Maybe it was first-game jitters. But, more likely, it was foreshadowing. LeBron won't have a game that bad again. He's too brilliant not to make adjustments.
But he looked overmatched last night.
UPDATE: Kissing Suzy Kolber has their new commenter draft up, picking graduation speakers you wish you had. It reminded me of my own high school graduation speaker... Anthony Dilweg. He was an alum of my high school and, at the time of my graduation, hanging on with the Packers, coming off the 1990 season when played 9 games, had 8 TDs and 1,200 passing yards. (h/t: Wikipedia) Worst. Graduation Speaker. Ever. (But nice topic, KSK.)
Vick Watch: I keep saying, "Oh, NOW Vick is in trouble," and the story keeps finding ways of getting worse and worse for him. This is the worst moment yet: The Feds are getting involved, including a search of Vick's property yesterday. Yikes (for him).
MLB Stud: Curt Schilling. Can't wait for the blog post about his coming within one out of a no-hitter (he finished with a one-hitter).
MLB Dud: Billy Wagner, Jose Valverde, Dan Wheeler. All three closers blew saves.
MLB Draft: I said it yesterday: David Price is the Devil Rays (or whatever their future name is) version of the Marlins' Dontrelle Willis. A future "Face of Baseball."
Price led the theme of the first round: Left-handed pitching. 7 of the first 30 players taken were leftys, and – unsurprisingly – 17 of the first-round picks were pitchers.
(Interesting trivia: The last college LHP to be the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB draft? Floyd Bannister, back in 1976.)
Clemens Watch: He pitches tomorrow. Expect over-hype.
MLB Steroids: George Mitchell and the MLBPA are negotiating terms that would allow players to interview (or "interview") with Mitchell's investigators. Mitchell has to be content with not getting unfettered access; the MLBPA has to be seen as not being obstructionist.
NBA: Magic officially hire Stan Van Gundy.
Donovan Watch: Billy D. finally got that new contract from
...and higher-paid than his football counterpart, Urban Meyer, who also got a new six-year deal, worth $3-plus mil a year and makes him the third-highest-paid coach in college football, behind Nick Saban and Charlie Weis.
This won't surprise you: Meyer and Donovan combine to become the highest-paid pair of football-basketball coaches in the country. But sitting on all those titles, is there any doubt they deserve to be?
NFL "Get-Tough": The complaint against the Bengals' Odell Thurman has been withdrawn. Roger Goodell gets to move on to other things.
NBA Rules: There has been no proposal to change the "bench rule," which means that – despite the outrage from the media – the people for whom the NBA matters most (owners/execs) don't want to see it changed.
Video Gaming: So Gilbert Arenas' team (Final Boss) is the top-ranked squad at the massive gaming competition happening in the NYC area today. Should I go out to find him?
Hmm: Unusually slow day for a Friday. Given my special guest-blogging this weekend, I hope things pick up a bit for tomorrow and Sunday.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The rough guide to marketing success used to be that you got what you paid for. No longer. While traditional "paid" media—such as television and radio commercials, print advertisements, and roadside billboards—still play a major role, companies today can exploit many alternative forms of media. Consumers enamored of a product may, for example, create "earned" media by willingly promoting it to friends, and a company may leverage "owned" media by sending e-mail alerts about products and sales to customers registered with its Web site. In fact, the way consumers now approach the process of making purchase decisions means that marketing's impact stems from a broad range of factors beyond conventional paid media.
These expanding media forms reflect dramatic changes in the way consumers perceive and absorb marketing messages.1 As a result, some strategic-marketing frameworks—such as the popular "paid, owned, earned" one—are in serious need of updating. Many marketers use this framework to distinguish different ways of interacting with consumers, forms of financing, and measures of performance for each contact. Yet the paid, owned, earned framework increasingly looks too limited. How, for example, should a marketing strategist for a company react to requests from other companies to purchase advertising space on its product sites? How should a company deal with online activists when they take hold of a product or campaign to push a negative emotional response against it?
Two media types must therefore be added to the framework: "sold" and "hijacked." These new forms of media, which demand sustained investment and attention, challenge the traditional strategies, structure, and operations of most marketing organizations. Yet marketers should view their expanding range of media options not only as a challenge but also as an opportunity worth grasping, to encourage readers to share content or even create their own.
Five forms of media
Too many companies view marketing plans as little more than an exercise in where and when to buy media placement. Yet as the number of digital interactions increases, marketers must recognize the power that lies beyond traditional paid media (Exhibit 1).
Two new forms of media—'sold' and 'hijacked'—challenge the traditional strategies of most marketing organizations.
Paid, owned, earned
Paid media include traditional advertising and similar vehicles: a company pays for space or for a third party to promote its products. This market is far from dying; options for marketers are expanding exponentially with the emergence of more targeted cable TV, online-display placement, and other channels, not to mention online video and search marketing, which are attracting greater interest. The second category, owned media, consists of properties or channels owned by the company that uses them for marketing purposes (such as catalogs, Web sites, retail stores, and alert programs that e-mail notifications of special offers).
Earned media are generated when the quality or uniqueness of a company's products and content compel consumers to promote the company at no cost to itself through external or their own "media." Starbucks, for example, announced in July that its Facebook fan base exceeded ten million people, the highest of any US corporation. The company directly links its recent strong performance to its social-networking efforts and "crowd sourced" innovations such as "My Starbucks Idea," a Web site where anyone can suggest ways to make the company better. Similarly, Honda Japan undertook a promotion on the social-networking site Mixi, where more than 630,000 people registered for information about the launch of its new CR-Z vehicle. The company automatically added "CR-Z" to these users' Mixi login names (for example, "Taro CR-Z") and gave them a chance to win a car. Nonregistered users wondered why people suddenly had login names incorporating CR-Z. Thanks to the buzz, prelaunch orders reached 4,500 units, and actual sales topped 10,000 units in the first month.
Paid and owned media are controlled by marketers touting their own products. For earned media, such marketers act as the initial catalyst for users' responses. But in some cases, one marketer's owned media become another marketer's paid media—for instance, when an e-commerce retailer sells ad space on its Web site. We define such sold media as owned media whose traffic is so strong that other organizations place their content or e-commerce engines within that environment. This trend, which we believe is still in its infancy, effectively began with retailers and travel providers such as airlines and hotels and will no doubt go further. Johnson & Johnson, for example, has created BabyCenter, a stand-alone media property that promotes complementary and even competitive products. Besides generating income, the presence of other marketers makes the site seem objective, gives companies opportunities to learn valuable information about the appeal of other companies' marketing, and may help expand user traffic for all companies concerned.
The same dramatic technological changes that have provided marketers with more (and more diverse) communications choices have also increased the risk that passionate consumers will voice their opinions in quicker, more visible, and much more damaging ways. Such hijacked media are the opposite of earned media: an asset or campaign becomes hostage to consumers, other stakeholders, or activists who make negative allegations about a brand or product. Members of social networks, for instance, are learning that they can hijack media to apply pressure on the businesses that originally created them. High-profile examples involve companies ranging from Nestlé (whose Facebook page was hijacked) to Domino's Pizza (a prank online video of two employees contaminating sandwiches appeared on YouTube).
In each case, passionate consumers tried to persuade others to boycott products, putting the reputation of the target company at risk. When that happens, the company's response may not be sufficiently quick or thoughtful, and the learning curve has been steep. Toyota Motor, for example, mitigated some of the damage from its recall crisis earlier this year with a relatively quick and well-orchestrated social-media response campaign, which included efforts to engage with consumers directly on sites such as Twitter and the social-news site Digg.
The impact of the media revolution
The changing role of older media and the emergence of newer ones extend the marketer's role well beyond the allocation of budgets and channels. Marketers today require a deep understanding of how consumers engage with different types of media at each stage of the journey toward a purchase decision. What's more, these different kinds of media are related and interact with one another (Exhibit 2), so marketing plans and capabilities must adapt and evolve. Paid, owned, earned, sold, and hijacked media are evolving in four primary ways.
Marketers must adapt to the varying effects of different media types on budgets and revenue flows.
First, different kinds of media are becoming more integrated. The reach of paid media, for example, means that they will increasingly serve as feeders into owned-media hubs, where marketers can offer a more engaging experience, get consumers interested in products, and pivot into an ongoing and more targeted stream of contacts with users or members. New ways to connect with customers, for example, are transforming traditional relationship management by requiring marketers to interact with consumers through multiple forms of media in increasingly personalized ways. JetBlue has promoted its Twitter offering through many channels, for instance, and now has about 1.6 million followers seeking a regular feed of special deals for tickets. This approach has given JetBlue the ability to deliver timely coupons at a minimal variable cost, reducing its reliance on expensive paid media while fostering closer relationships with consumers.
Second, new publishing models are emerging because the increasing complexity of consumer needs and of efforts to address them means that marketers can't do everything—and they are leaning on media providers for help. In what's almost a throwback to the days of the soap opera,2 marketers are partnering with media publishers to create deeper marketing experiences for consumers and to obtain content and ad sales support. Computer maker Dell and automobile manufacturer Nissan, for example, worked with the Sundance Channel to create a television talk show hosted by Elvis Costello to attract their target demographic. With ads that seamlessly blended into the show's content, Dell and Nissan not only gained exposure to a highly engaged audience but also shifted the perception of their brands to connect with late-stage baby boomers and with generation Xers.
In addition, applications on devices such as Apple's iPhone are spawning tools that provide useful information. For example, eBay's Red Laser generates a list of prices for any product whose bar code has been scanned by a mobile phone. Beverage companies show where their products are available by overlaying icons onto maps on the screens of mobile phones. In Japan, food manufacturers can increase sales across entire product categories through marketing collaborations with platforms such as Cookpad, the country's leading online recipe site, with nine million members, more than 40 percent of whom are women in their 30s.
Third, marketing experiences are becoming more personally relevant. At first glance, personal conversations and experiences wouldn't seem to be the best way of getting the scale and reach most marketers crave. But new kinds of media enable richer interactions and improve targeting, so they encourage consumers to share the things that make them happy. McDonald's in Japan, for example, has developed expertise in the use of Twitter and other blogging platforms to promote new products and promotions by leveraging its huge fan base to talk about how much they love the company's food. While this fan promotion is sometimes spontaneous, it's often facilitated and encouraged by providing these fans with free meals. In this way, paid- and owned-media efforts (such as blog and Twitter campaigns) make consumers so enamored of McDonald's products that the company generates a significant amount of earned media.
In a related phenomenon, the evolution of new kinds of media means that consumers are engaging more often in real-time conversations, particularly on social networks and other digital platforms. Helping consumers to express themselves is a scary and significant reversal of the control marketers have traditionally tried to maintain over brands. While most marketers are already exploring tools to monitor conversations in social media, they need to develop triage and action engines to ward off people seeking to hijack their media.
One consumer electronics company, for example, has recognized that every review or rating posted about its products creates the possibility of a hijacked conversation. It now responds to all comments within 24 hours: positive feedback gets a thank you, an invitation to become a Facebook friend, and special offers; negative reviews get explanations of how to fix issues, instructions on how to navigate an interface more easily, or follow-up questions to learn more about what the consumer didn't like. Some hotel chains, recognizing the importance of travel sites (such as the popular TripAdvisor), likewise encourage satisfied guests to post comments online, while employing staff to follow and answer negative comments. These conversations become an interactive public-research project to gather information for future improvements. In effect, the evolution of media types means that a company's marketers are now on the front lines of its efforts to deliver outstanding goods and services.
The challenge for marketing organizations
Marketers offer rich and complex experiences. But the consumer's standards for the consistency of information encountered in different venues, the way it is provided in each of them, and its usefulness are becoming more stringent daily. Likewise, publishing, the brand experience, cultivating advocacy among customers, and generating personalized leads are now more important. These realities create four priorities for marketing organizations:
Think strategically about the role of each media type. As companies move more aggressively into, for instance, owned and earned media, the role of paid media should change: it may be used to drive consumers toward a company's owned media or, more sparingly, as a "booster" for new-product launches and other promotions. That may require tighter coordination with ad agencies regarding the design and placement of marketing content. To reflect the influx of traffic to owned media, companies may also need to change their budgets and operations.
Rebalance time and resources. Owned media require patience, cultivation, and sustained engagement. Like the products of any good online publisher, a marketer's owned media need a steady stream of traffic-building programs, fresh content, and optimized design. Focused management, sufficient budgets, and appropriate performance metrics are needed to build owned-media platforms, whether they're foundational search or social-media efforts, site hubs, alerts, or feedback-gathering communities, to name a few possibilities.
Develop a clear community or social-networking strategy. Companies need an agreed-upon set of rules and principles for managing and responding to single or coordinated attacks against the brand. It's imperative to appoint an experienced community or social-networks manager who knows in advance how to coordinate with marketing, public relations, legal, and other relevant units and has the required authority and decision-making rights. The cost of failing to respond effectively can be high. One multinational company, for example, responded to accusations about its business practices by arguing with its accusers on its Facebook page, even blocking and deleting posts. That move only heightened public interest in the dispute, in effect hijacking the page until the company apologized.
Improve both the art and the science of marketing. Debates among pundits of marketing typically focus on whether it is an art or a science (and thus on the relative importance of creativity and analytics). Actually, the bar is rising for both art and science, and a third dimension—execution—is growing in importance as the complexity of marketing escalates and its practitioners seek to deliver a richer consumer experience. This goal calls for teams that can design campaigns for a number of very different kinds of channels, from TV to social networks to search optimization. Data must be used more effectively to reach decisions and to apply them. Technology must make the spending of each dollar more efficient in the face of greater complexity. Quality must be defined and measured, and risks mitigated and managed.
Of course, the investment in hiring staff to answer every social-media posting may be tough to justify at first, but this approach will probably become critical for mitigating the threat of brand hijacking. And to deny negative reviews and comments legitimacy, companies must be able to make the justifiable design or service improvements consumers seek.
The list of challenges is long, and priorities will vary dramatically, depending on an organization's competitive dynamics, willingness to experiment, and skills. Few of the necessary changes can be made through mandates from on high; they must happen organically. Ideally, chief marketing officers and other leaders would put together fresh, well-crafted pilots and get the support to invest in breakthroughs that can be applied at scale.
The proliferation of media types gives marketers a dramatically richer arsenal to deepen the engagement of consumers with brands cost effectively. Stepping up to meet the high bar of expectations, however, requires a renewed focus on execution, coordination, speed, and performance.


text:
It's finally here. After 12 years, 6 months, and 12 days on the market, Windows XP has hit its end of life. It will receive its last ever set of patches on Windows Update today, and for the most part, that will be that. Any flaws discovered from now on – and it's inevitable that some will be discovered – will never be publicly patched.
How bad is this going to be? It's probably going to be pretty bad. By some measures, about 28 percent of the Web-using public is still using Windows XP, and these systems are going to be ripe for exploitation.
I never liked Windows XP (I used BeOS during XP's early days, and Mac OS X and Linux during XP's later days), so I'm glad to see it go. This terrible operating system should have died out years ago.


text:
You can use this file to create many items such as a mug, t-shirts, posters and much more.
ATTENTION: This is a digital item, no physical item will be delivered.
This is: Different Lightning Pattern Designs – Print n Cut Hi-Quality Vector Bundle – Ai, Svg, Jpg, Png, Eps – Cricut Ready
Perfect for your crafts and projects
You can use this file to create many items such as
– Custom artworks,
– Purses
– Shoes
– Mugs
– T-shirts
– Posters
– Stitching
– Arts and much more.
You can turn any image and printed materials into a puzzle using this graphic using your cutting machines such as
– Silhouette
– Cricut
– Sizzex
– ScanNcut, etc…
The download package includes the following formats:
– AI (Orginal Vector Editable)
– EPS (Vector Editable)
– PNG (transparent)
– SVG (Vector Editable)
– JPG (Hi-Quality)
Because is the digital product
– No physical item will be sent
– You can use these files for any personal and small commercial projects
– You can not re-selling, sharing or giveaway these digital files
– Files can be downloaded instantly.
– The download will only be available after purchase.
– No refunds are provided.
– Buyers must check their own software to determine compatibility *before* purchasing!
– Mobile apps are not guaranteed to work with our designs.
Refund Policy
All Sales are Final, No Returns or Refunds.


text:
I bring this up for a couple of reasons. First, because, while preparing to review Lovecraftian Tales from the Table, I re-watched video interviews with both Greg Stafford and Sandy Petersen, in which both game designers reflected on the creation of Call of Cthulhu. Stafford noted that one of the very few changes made to Petersen's original manuscript was the addition of a way to regain Sanity after having lost it in order to prevent them game from becoming too depressing to play. Meanwhile, Petersen, when asked why Call of Cthulhu has remained so popular after all these years replied that it's because of the game's "optimism."
Now, "optimism" is not a word one normally associates with a game like Call of Cthulhu, where most characters are likely to end up dead or insane. However, Petersen explains himself by noting that Call of Cthulhu allows us to play ordinary people who, through their actions, manage to hold off Armageddon for just one more day. I definitely think there's something to this perspective, as it's one I largely share. On the face of it, Call of Cthulhu ought to be a bleak, nihilistic game and it could easily have been so. But, in my experience, Call of Cthulhu is in fact one of the most unambiguously heroic RPGs ever written -- a game where people little different than you or I risk loss of life and sanity to give mankind another small chance at survival.
Second, I bring this up because I was recently reading a collection of Robert E. Howard's "Mythos fiction" last week. The particular volume I own was edited and introduced by Robert M. Price. I often don't think much of Price's interpretations of Lovecraft (or indeed of many things), but I was intrigued by something he wrote in his introduction to the story "The Gods of Bal-Sagoth."
Howard's tales of heroic adventure, whether Sword-and-Sorcery or Lost Race stories, sometimes make reference to the Cthulhu Mythos, even though they are not really "about" the Mythos. This is because Howard's fiction proceeded from the dark inner cosmos of his own mind and the fictive universe in which he set his tales are an externalization of that inner Sheol. His heroes, even when victorious, as they almost always are, are not merely bottling up the anomalous inkspill of evil which has momentarily put a crimp in a pleasant picnic-world of reality. No, Conan's victories, or Solomon Kane's, are like that of the most pessimistic Lovecraftian anti-hero in that they are but temporary reprieves from the ineluctable fall of universal darkness. Contrary to the anti-Derlethian stereotype, a good-versus-evil plot is by no means incompatible with Lovecraftian nihilistic cosmicism. [italics mine]Leaving aside Price's comments about Howard, it's his last sentence that really struck me square in the face. Thinking about it, I believe Price is correct; there is nothing inherently incompatible about a "happy ending" of sorts in a Lovecraftian-inspired tale. Looking even to HPL's own stories, you'll find that some, such as "The Dunwich Horror" and even "The Call of Cthulhu," conclude on comparatively positive notes, the "inkspill of evil," to borrow Price's evocative phrase, being blotted for the time being. That perspective is at the root of the optimism Sandy Petersen sees as key to Call of Cthulhu's lasting success -- its ability to present confrontations with a dark and uncaring cosmos that paradoxically confirms the enduring value of human heroism and self-sacrifice.
There's little question that Derleth was heavy-handed in his lightening of Lovecraft's cosmic horror, often to the point of parody. Nevertheless, I think it's fair to say that, without the framework provided by Derleth's approach, a RPG treatment of Lovecraft's work probably would have been the depressing affair Greg Stafford mentioned in his interview and certainly not the mainstay of the hobby it became. I think the same is true of RPGs based on other genres. I've never been a big fan of "dark" stories unleavened by even a glimmer of hope. Bleakness for its own sake holds no appeal and I instinctively shy away from media, including RPGs, that seem to revel in it. In fact, it's an instinct that, ironically, only seems to grow stronger as I get older.
The rediscovery of the pulp fantasy roots of Dungeons & Dragons -- and therefore the hobby -- has increased interest in sword-and-sorcery fiction, which many people, mistakenly in my view, see as necessarily bleak. As with cosmic horror, though, there's no necessity for it. From my perspective, S&S is distinguished more by its personal focus than any putative bleakness, which is to say, the struggles of individuals in a world of magic and monsters rather than the epic contests of nations, peoples, or worlds. Indeed, much sword-and-sorcery fiction is surprisingly optimistic, even upbeat, rather than bleak. There is often an attention to realism (or at least verisimilitude) in S&S fiction, but that hardly entails bleakness unless one already views reality in unrelentingly negative terms. Conan's gigantic melancholies were, after all, counterbalanced by his gigantic mirth and so too can sword-and-sorcery fiction -- or roleplaying games that looks to them for inspiration.


text:
Good morning, I'm Renee Montagne. When a runner, originally from Sudan, ran the Sioux Falls Marathon and shattered the world record by 25 minutes, he was as shocked as everyone else.
Maybe I'm lost - I don't know, Olok Nykew told a reporter at the finish.
Turns out, he was correct. According to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, he had arrived late to the race. He ran the wrong route - the half marathon.
I'm not cheating. I was just confused, he said.
It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text:
Monday, December 15, 2008
You Just Can't Buy That Kind of Advertising
Monday, December 15, 2008
Tragic, yes, but little Adolf isn't the only one getting a bad name. Check out this photo caption:In case you can't read that, it says "Young Adolf Hitler Campbell will be getting a cake from Wal-Mart this year."
Poor Wal-Mart.
Hey, you think they'll get the swastikas right?
Nah, me neither.
NOTE: I have no idea if Wal-Mart wrote the inscription or not. In fact, I actually feel bad for the store having its name associated with this...family. Not as bad as I feel for little Adolf and Aryan, of course, but still pretty bad. After all, Cake Wrecks has a LOT to thank the Wal-Mart bakery department for. ;)
UPDATE: I'm shutting down comments now; I think everyone has said their piece, and I'm tired of filtering out all the antisemitic comments and haters calling for these people's blood. As some of you have said, these folks are out for free publicity, so we shouldn't give them the satisfaction of endlessly debating it. I really only included it here as an interesting aside to the world of wrecked cakes. Now, moving on...
137 comments | Post a Comment
- bernthis said...
That's akin to child abuse, giving your children names like that. As a Jewish person, I of course, am completely offended and digusted and believe that any store should have the right to refuse to service these folks but then again, the poor kids, you're screwed either way.
- December 15, 2008 at 1:03 PM
- Boozy Tooth said...
Hey it could be worse, the kid's name could be Al Qaeda, for crying out loud.
Word verification: "flites." No lie. - December 15, 2008 at 1:11 PM
- Chelsea said...
that poor child!
- December 15, 2008 at 1:12 PM
I can't tell you how sad it makes me that those kind of people are raising children.
- December 15, 2008 at 1:24 PM
- Mallory said...
Just WOW.
- December 15, 2008 at 1:25 PM
- Trevor said...
That's so wrong. Is this a case of "Wreckus Interruptus?"
- December 15, 2008 at 1:25 PM
- Deena said...
Wow is the only thought that comes t mind! Go Shop rite!
- December 15, 2008 at 1:29 PM
- Spiffy said...
....ouch. I cannot feel worse for those little kids.
...also I work at a Shoprite in NJ, I wonder if it was us who made the refusal... :O - December 15, 2008 at 1:33 PM
Wow, that is soo loving. I think I'll also put my agenda before the welfare of my children.
Aren't you supposed to want to protect your children from undue strife and difficulty? OK, so choose names that will cause consistent and most likely negative attention to their kids. Ah, and to think, the parents names are probably something like John and Jane.
Hey at least the kids have some options: like self defense classes or legally changing their names after 18 years of hell...
Yeah for those parents! - December 15, 2008 at 1:34 PM
- Wonderful World of Weiners said...
I'm speechless....
Hallie - December 15, 2008 at 1:35 PM
- Grumpy said...
OMG. Birthday cakes are the least of these kid's problems. I think those names should be enough to indicate that Child & Protective Services needs do something to protect these poor children from their parents.
- December 15, 2008 at 1:35 PM
- Hi Kooky said...
Wow. Those poor kids. Can you imagine?
- December 15, 2008 at 1:36 PM
- *mary* said...
Oh, how sad. Those poor kids. I can imagine the crazy racist mom, "Now I only wants WHITE sugar, white icing, ya hear me?"
- December 15, 2008 at 1:37 PM
- The Chic Cakery said...
Oh. My. God. There are just so many things wrong with this...
- December 15, 2008 at 1:37 PM
Umm...any way those kids can be placed in foster care?
- December 15, 2008 at 1:38 PM
I'd like to take his birthday cake and smash it into his parent's faces.
- December 15, 2008 at 1:43 PM
- Unknown said...
I'd be rather inclined not to link my products to that family, personally. Of course it isn't the kids' fault that their parents are lunatics, but the parents are also fools if they think that their name choices will never cause any trouble for those kids or themselves.
- December 15, 2008 at 1:44 PM
- Brianna T said...
There are three kids in that family: JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell, Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell and Adolf Hitler Campbell. The ShopRite in question denied the order because they have Jewish employees and employees who lost family members in WWII, and it was more important to the store to support their values and employees than to make a few bucks off the cake.
I think the parents were trying a little too hard to be offensive; just how often do you actually see a cake with a kid's first AND middle name on it? It's not fair that such a little cutie-pie has to be saddled with such trash for parents. - December 15, 2008 at 1:47 PM
Poor kid ;3;
Thats not right that the store denied putting the name on the cake. Sure, they may not like it, but it doesn't make what they did right. - December 15, 2008 at 1:50 PM
- Unknown said...
OMG that is mildly terrifying. Color me disturbed.
- December 15, 2008 at 1:50 PM
- Moongrl722 said...
The name and the mullet call for a visit from CPS. Scary!!!
- December 15, 2008 at 1:52 PM
- Unknown said...
How common is it for customers to request a full name on a birthday cake? I've seen a few cakes with the recipient's first and middle names together, but I've never seen one with the first, middle and last name on the cake.
In Germany, the office of vital statistics (Standesamt) has to agree to register the name parents pick for a child; if they refuse to, the parents can appeal but German name law is pretty strict. There, a child's name has to reflect the sex of the child and must not endanger the well-being of the child. I remember marveling at that in German class in college.
WV: dialions. Sounds like the episode of South Park where Cartman got his eyes "dialated" (sic) by a malicious eye doctor that kept calling him 'piggy'. - December 15, 2008 at 1:56 PM
- The Mom said...
I'm horrified.
Bev - December 15, 2008 at 1:57 PM
- Tania said...
OMG how awful! I would refuse too! I feel sorry for those kids because God knows how they'll turn out! And the boy is so cute too! I'm not Jewish myself and my husband is, but anyone would find that disturbing!
- December 15, 2008 at 2:01 PM
When I lived in a small town in California, I was surprised that a lot of the shops had signs by the register that said things like, "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone."
Now I understand why! Go ShopRite!! - December 15, 2008 at 2:05 PM
- C. Beth said...
I'm going to name my next child Antisemitism Sucks Smith.
- December 15, 2008 at 2:05 PM
- Mari said...
Poor little kid. This seems like child abuse to me... naming them something so anti-social & hate-filled.
- December 15, 2008 at 2:06 PM
- tim h said...
The store said:
"We believe the request ... to inscribe a birthday wish to Adolf Hitler is inappropriate," said Karen Meleta, a ShopRite spokeswoman.
Did the store even understand what they were refusing to do? Not that I'm defending the family, but it seems that the upper level management might not have understood that that it wasn't a novelty cake. Or if they did, their public statement is poorly phrased.
Either way I'm glad they didn't make the cake. - December 15, 2008 at 2:09 PM
- bitsie said...
Wow, and I thought my mom hated my brother and me for our names. Norwegian names seem so boring now!
- December 15, 2008 at 2:09 PM
- Amanda said...
All I can say is...those poor kids!!
- December 15, 2008 at 2:10 PM
- Melissa M said...
Well, Trevor, it may have been a temporary reprieve, rather than a full on Wreckus Interruptus, as it seems these misbeggoten excuses for humans are going to get their cake somewhere else.
Coitus interruptus (permanent) would have been the way to go, though, as this cake issue will be an annual event multiplied by the number of children the parents (I use the term loosely) produce. I also think the cake hullabaloo is the least of the offensive brouhahas that will be intentionally caused by these alleged parents.
Count me in as completely and utterly disgusted. - December 15, 2008 at 2:11 PM
- KVB said...
I think that the best part of this is the picture of the little fella. Is it just me or is his hair dyed blonde? And I could not get a very good look, but I am pretty sure that those eyes are brown!! Not exactly a specimin of the 'Aryan Race.'
Its unfortunate that the children are victims of the parents' prejudice, and more unfortunately, it is likely to be perpetuated through them. - December 15, 2008 at 2:21 PM
- MaryO said...
I don't think I've ever seen a stronger advertisement for people having to pass intelligence tests before they have children. Those poor children. Betcha they have more too. Have mercy!
- December 15, 2008 at 2:22 PM
Adolf Hitler is not the child's actual name-- the white supremacist father merely wants the publicity. Shoprite offered to write the name on the cake if the father could prove the child's name with a birth certificate.
Bonus: Look for his other children's "names". - December 15, 2008 at 2:24 PM
Like the bumper sticker I once saw said: "It's too bad stupid isn't painful"
- December 15, 2008 at 2:25 PM
I'm ashamed that there are still people out there who can't see past race or religion or any other bias. I can only hope that one day, these kids realize how messed up their parents are and change their names!
- December 15, 2008 at 2:30 PM
- Butler T. Reynolds said...
What awful parents. Poor kids!
But, I wonder if the store would have been happy to make the cake if the kid was named Che Guevara Campbell or Mao Zedong Campbell.
Some seem to be hypocrites when it comes to outrage of murderous tyrants. - December 15, 2008 at 2:30 PM
- Glory von Hathor said...
And to think you need a license to buy a dog...
- December 15, 2008 at 2:30 PM
- The Queen of the Blogosphere and Pizza said...
All sorts of crazies...
Is it just me or does that kid look like he's had his hair bleached?? Hmmm. Interesting. - December 15, 2008 at 2:35 PM
- Milo and Joey Good said...
my son was born on 9/11/04, the same day another boy was born at the same birthing center.
the center tried their hardest to get the 19-yr old mother to change the kid's name. she didn't, so there's a "revolution fighter felix" out there right now. - December 15, 2008 at 2:38 PM
- Suzyhomemaker said...
I pray that the children change their names when they are legally allowed to and hope that they do not follow in the beliefs of their parents.
- December 15, 2008 at 2:41 PM
- Jen said...
There aren't many things that can be said about this situation... I feel horrible for these children because they will be ridiculed when they get to school age. Not only that, after reading the article and looking at the pictures from the family's home, it looks like these children will also be raised in an environment full of the negative teachings of the Nazis... Others have said this and I will repeat it... It's sad...
- December 15, 2008 at 2:43 PM
- Renee said...
i feel sick to my stomach. holland township is not too far from where i live. same county. totally horrifying and so sad for those children.
- December 15, 2008 at 2:46 PM
- Medicated and Motivated said...
That's a boy?
- December 15, 2008 at 2:52 PM
- D.B. Echo said...
Jen, I hope you're ready to get bombarded by lunatics. Those bastards are relentless.
Any private business is well withing its rights to decide what it will or will not put on a customized product. If someone had asked for a whimsical image of figures in white robes and pointy hoods standing around a hangman's noose and a burning cross, should they have complied? Or a smiley face over the image of the burning World Trade Center for a 9/11 party? How about an image of a dismembered woman, or an aborted fetus?
What cretins. Too bad New Jersey doesn't have much in the way of children & youth services to get these kids out of this toxic environment.
Jenny Whiskey, you folks from New York and New Jersey certainly have shipped a lot of your trash to Pennsylvania. But don't worry, we're planning on sending it right back to your pristine shores. - December 15, 2008 at 2:53 PM
- Unknown said...
And I thought my mom's friend was a little wonky for not thinking of her daughters initials when they names her. A.S.S... Anyway... These parents clearly are just craving the media. I agree, no one gets a full name put on the cake. These parents are ridiculous and I don't really care if Shop Rite wanted to make the cake or not. The parents should take all the blame on this one. Poor little birthday boy. I hope his parents didn't ruin his birthday with all the fuss they made.
- December 15, 2008 at 3:07 PM
- Onyah said...
Don't say poor Wal-Mart... if you follow the trail of links to the source article (see page two), you'll see that Wal-Mart was happy to inscribe pro-Nazi sentiments on the cake.
- December 15, 2008 at 3:10 PM
- Michelle Johnson said...
I too am horrified by those parents. At the same time though, the kid can't help what his name is--is it really fair that he has terrible parents AND no birthday cake?
- December 15, 2008 at 3:21 PM
Good Lord that's horrible! Those poor children!!! I'm going to be thinking about this for days I'm sure. Poor poor babies to be raised by people like that.
- December 15, 2008 at 3:23 PM
I'm embarrassed and ashamed that fellow human beings would consciously and purposefully exploit their children to perpetuate their own ignorance and stupidity.
Kudos to Shop Rite! - December 15, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Reading that whole article just makes me sad. And makes me realize that these are probably the 2 dumbest people on the planet. Ridiculous.
- December 15, 2008 at 3:44 PM
Can't the fact that they're horrible parents. BUT, Shop Rite isn't much better. They're being awfully discriminatory based on the family's beliefs.
Julie - December 15, 2008 at 3:49 PM
The name and the unfortunate mullet. Yikes!
- December 15, 2008 at 3:51 PM
At least the poor girl can easily change her name to Arianna - but alas, it will make no difference until she has grown up an moved away because no on in the town or school will ever give her a chance after what the parents did to her. The poor boy is stuck unless he comes up with something completely different. One good thing, though, people will now be watching this home for other signs of abuse.
- December 15, 2008 at 3:53 PM
- okapistripes said...
I feel sorry for the kid. What a stupid name. That's practically racist, isn't it?
- December 15, 2008 at 3:54 PM
I went to grade school with a girl named Aryan and didn't understand until years later why my parents were horrified.
Let's hope, for cute little "Adolf" Campbell's sake, that he doesn't realize he's a ploy in his parents' political agenda. Did the dad in this story really think nobody would flinch when he asked for the kid's full name to be put on a cake? Can you say "publicity stunt"? - December 15, 2008 at 3:56 PM
Poor kids. I feel sorry for them... but not Wal-Mart. They aren't exactly known for their strong ethics. I'd bet Wal-Mart did the inscription, too.
- December 15, 2008 at 4:02 PM
- WakeGrace said...
um...that kid definately has brown eyes...and blonde highlights...just saying.
- December 15, 2008 at 4:22 PM
Those are some classy parents right there! Good lord.
- December 15, 2008 at 4:32 PM
- Lyn said...
Dang. How can they afflict that cute little kid with a name like that?
Poor little cub. - December 15, 2008 at 4:34 PM
Yikes. I just read the story on this in the Express-Times (done by a former intern at the paper I work at) and am at a loss for words. These people are just unbelievable -- swastikas have no meaning?! Think I may call up Wal-Mart and give 'em a piece of my mind.
- December 15, 2008 at 4:39 PM
I am appalled that someone actually named their kids with those names.
oddharmonic said...
How common is it for customers to request a full name on a birthday cake? I've seen a few cakes with the recipient's first and middle names together, but I've never seen one with the first, middle and last name on the cake.
Actually, I have written childrens' full names on cakes quite often. Usually its followed by, "We love you from your family, Mama, Papa, Uncle Bubba, Aunt Flo, Sissy, Petey and Bobby!"
oh yeah, and that's on a 1/4 sheet cake.
I would really like to tell them to BUY A DAMN CARD! LOL - December 15, 2008 at 4:47 PM
- Linnee said...
I think Isidore (dad's name on the birth certificate) just wanted his kids to have worse names than he does. He succeeded. Poor Adolf...a mullet and a stupid name.
- December 15, 2008 at 4:56 PM
- Rhyannon Y said...
That name does not bode well for that poor child in his high school history classes.
Why don't they just hang a sign around his neck that says "Please ridicule me"?
On the bright side, there may yet be a picture of that wreck pretty soon. God bless Walmart and it's mildly un-ethical ways - December 15, 2008 at 4:59 PM
- J. SPIKE ROGAN said...
This family is proof NJ will be where the world ends!
Kevin Smith's Dogma hit on it as well.
And well War of the Worlds the Aleins first attack in Grovers Mill outside Princeton in Mercer County.
If your at the Mercer mall and you see Elvis......RUN!
NJ Hell, with jughandles (left turn roads)
I wonder if the NAZI family relizes Spider Man hates NAZI's and saves Jews and BLacks all the time.
Since little Adolf has his Spider-man hoodie on. - December 15, 2008 at 5:20 PM
- Danielle said...
Milo & Joey Good said...
my son was born on 9/11/04, the same day another boy was born at the same birthing center.
the center tried their hardest to get the 19-yr old mother to change the kid's name. she didn't, so there's a "revolution fighter felix" out there right now.
I can do you one better. My husband's ex decided to name her baby after her favorite book character and her favorite musician. She's also a first generation American.
No kidding, the child's name is Gandolph Gibbard Wang. - December 15, 2008 at 5:35 PM
I was one of seven children who were all named after catholic saints. In later years I was called a lot worse things than my given name, like queer, fag and abomination to name some printable ones. I have a sibling who eventually changed her name because she thought my parents were cruel to have named her in such a fashion. She then married a born again christian who named their child so the childs initials would be KKK. These are the same people who think my being gay should keep me from marrying and adopting children. I pray for them and remember that the world isn't always as I would have it.
St James - December 15, 2008 at 5:44 PM
- Jocelyn A said...
Wow... neither a name nor a birthday cake should ever be this controversial... so sad, I wish this poor child and his siblings the best of luck in the future and hope that someone out there takes the time to teach them diversity and history and a little bit of respect for others so that he can go on the be the Adolf Hitler Campbell that creates a vaccine for AIDS or is the 60th president of the United States.
- December 15, 2008 at 6:01 PM
- ThrtnWmsFam said...
Unbelievable that a parent would name their children with such names. But... (1) freedom of speech (2) rite to individual political/religious beliefs (3) baloney. I'm trying to see their side but absolutely can't. Vikki www.survival-cooking.blogspot.com
- December 15, 2008 at 6:06 PM
The kids' names are bad enough for them to have to grow up with... but what I really worry about is the kind of indoctrination those kids will grow up with.
I mean if the parents believe in their agenda strongly enough to name kids like that, just think of the hate they will fill those kids' heads with! I agree with the commenter who was grateful that CPS might now be watching that household for any signs of abuse. Maybe there is a chance those kids could could grow up with a realistic outlook on life if not raised in a culture of hatred. Furthermore, if the kids are removed from the home, in some states, the court actually does have the power to change the kids' names if it is in their best interests to do so; as it arguably would be here!
Word verif: "untent." The intent to undo something so obviously wrong as this! - December 15, 2008 at 6:08 PM
Word verification: stifies
WTF? - December 15, 2008 at 6:24 PM
- sweettc said...
Ok Well I just wanted to say I see both sides. I understand the parents wanting to put the kids name on the cake. I get that. I also see the understanding of the store also. I really get that.
What I don't get is why would the parents that are out of work. I don't understand why they would name their kids those kinds of names. Yeah I get free speech. I really do. I'm glad that I can name my kid Cotton Candy if I feel like it. I don't understand naming your child Adolf Hitler. One day those kids are going to be sitting a high school class room and have to hear and deal with getting picked on.
I am so with Shoprite on this one. You can get anything you want on your cake as long as it doesn't offend my workers. I do wonder if the head person in Shoprite understood that the cake was for a kid.
If they really wanted a unique name the could have called him Canned Pineapple. Im just saying..... - December 15, 2008 at 6:25 PM
I think this is absolutely horrifying. My boyfriend actually showed me this in the newspaper, and I thought that my eyes were fooling me.
I think the more sad thing about it was that WalMart actually wrote the name on the cake.
Think of that poor child's reaction when he grows up and realizes how horrible Adolf Hitler really was; however, the newspaper stated that the parent's are both on disability and that their whole house is covered in swastika's.
I am pretty sure that they will teach this child that this sort of behavior is normal.
That's not cool, I believe that there should be some limitations on naming your child such things.
Especially becuase they can become very race offensive.
All I can say is that I am disgusted. - December 15, 2008 at 6:26 PM
- SmittyChic said...
I think Wal-Mart should be a category on this website. Any time somebody finds a deliciously hot wreck at WallyWorld you can just tag it Wal-Mart.
As to this story - ShopRite just opened Pandora's box. I think it's terrible this family decided to name their children that way, but what right does a store have to discriminate what goes on a cake. There are plenty of children who are named Saddam - will they refuse those too? - December 15, 2008 at 7:05 PM
Very sad... These parents are obviously going for shock value and now their children are stuck paying for their parent's bigotry. My boyfriend's sisters initials are KKK because his dad wasn't the most pleasant man and she has hated that her whole life, when she fills out applications etc. she writes her middle name with a C. Poor kids are going to get hell in school.
- December 15, 2008 at 7:16 PM
- sweettc said...
I went back to the article and looked at the pictures. It looked to me that these people gave their kids normal names at first and then changed them. Because looking at the birth certificates the have all been issued on June 24, 2008. That means both of those parents thought that naming those kids Adolf, and Aryan Nation was a good idea.
I personally think that they were like hey what kind of reaction do you think we will get if we change our kids names to mean something crazy, hateful and weird. - December 15, 2008 at 7:28 PM
- Kitty said...
"The Campbells said they wanted their children to have unique names and didn't expect the names to cause problems. Despite the cake refusal, the Campbells said they don't expect the names to cause problems later, such as when the children start school."
I was going to comment on this, but I think it speaks for itself. - December 15, 2008 at 7:33 PM
- Ekio Locatiare said...
Wow. Just wow.
Theres not a lot that can be said on that without breaking ground on all the issues people have with the name because of who it was attached to in history and because of all the rights issues along with having something written on something else.
I would have my kiddos full name put on a cake but it would be funny, you see we've always joked that my lil guys name would stretch from one end of a varsity jacket to the other across the sleeves, so thats something I would do, as a joke.
But that name...I mean really. That was just asking for trouble. - December 15, 2008 at 7:35 PM
sorry, but if you name your kid after the worst tyrant this world has seen (to put it mildly), you've gotta be prepared for some resistance, ridicule, etc. i'm not saying it's right, but, c'mon. the parents have no sense. not to mention their little "boy" looks like a girl.
- December 15, 2008 at 7:49 PM
"The Campbells said they wanted their children to have unique names and didn't expect the names to cause problems. Despite the cake refusal, the Campbells said they don't expect the names to cause problems later, such as when the children start school."
when my family moved to north america in the late 40s my great uncle had to stop using his first name, adolph.
as a german-canadian i am disgusted that people want to pay tribute to something so upsetting to every human being.
the parents are obviously being jerks - December 15, 2008 at 8:02 PM
- Jennifer Foster said...
Just when I thought I had read it all....this is unbelievable! These people are clearly confused. (that's putting it mildly, feel free to insert your own adjectives though) Can you imagine those kids' poor teachers someday? What a friggin' nightmare.
- December 15, 2008 at 8:15 PM
- .ae. said...
Milander said: "Don't judge a person by a name."
I don't think anyone here is judging the *kid*, who is the unfortunate victim here. People are rightfully calling into question the intelligence and foresight of the parents, who seem to think naming their kids Adolf, Aryan Nation, and a weird hybrid of Heinrich/Himmler (Hinler, the second child's middle name) will somehow not present a problem in the future, when these kids encounter a world that believes, on the whole, that the Holocaust did happen.
Also, anyone who thinks Adolf Hitler is "just a name" or thinks that a swastika is "just a symbol" (which these people seem to think) needs to readjust their relationship with reality. Badly. - December 15, 2008 at 8:21 PM
I'm trying to think what I would do if I had one of those incredibly hopeless names. Come up with a nickname and pretend it was short for something else, maybe?
What could be said by the daughter; "Hi, my name is Ari! What's that short for? Um, uh... It's 'Arielle', I swear! No, of course it's not anything like that! My parents would have to be crazy! Huh? My dad told you WHAT?"
Poor kid!!!!!!!!!!!!! - December 15, 2008 at 8:23 PM
the worst thing is.. is that they are obviously bleaching a small childs hair because he is either not blonde or blonde enough!
- December 15, 2008 at 8:28 PM
My gawd. Seriously, on the behalf of being a junior Wreckporter, I would certainly like to see THAT Wreck online.
- December 15, 2008 at 8:29 PM
- Mary B said...
Okay, I read the full newspaper article. I thought my head was going to explode. Then I got to the part about how neither of them could work. Yup. They are totally on the dole too.
Mom has a "bad back" so she can't waitress anymore. But she's managed to pop out three kids in three years. We're paying these people to sit at home and procreate more little "Adolfs and Aryan."
Disgusting. - December 15, 2008 at 8:55 PM
- Dea said...
THIS is the reason we should require licensing for procreation, of course - the picture of the guy holding the kid is, of course, priceless....oy....chatchki galore, and he's creeeeeepeeeee....
I feel so sad that tiny little children are being warped like that.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who was shocked by the irony of not only the EYE color, but also the hair length on the boy....ignorance, methinks thy last name might be Campbell.... - December 15, 2008 at 9:20 PM
That's pretty horrible, really. And to Jenny Whiskey....what a rotten thing to say about those of us who DO live in PA who are NOT racist or prejudiced against those of different cultures and backgrounds.
I applaud the Shop Rite for standing for its beliefs. I'm glad there are such stores (and employees who work in them) who have morals and standards. - December 15, 2008 at 9:46 PM
- Nat said...
Clearly their parents named their children so that they could get uppity every time it was "discriminated against". It must be like crack to them. Because nobody else would give their kids those names. I hope the kids find out about their namesakes soon and start hating their parents.
- December 15, 2008 at 10:08 PM
- Alessia L. said...
I feel so sorry for those children. It sickens me that those kinds of people are raising children. This should be considered child abuse.
Good for Shop Rite for standing up to this sort of thing. - December 15, 2008 at 10:20 PM
I look to this site for humor and this story is just so sad for a number of reasons. But thank you for calling our attention to this issue -- we still have a long way to go fighting bigotry. And kudos to the Shop Rite for refusing to write that on a cake.
- December 15, 2008 at 10:30 PM
- muttpuppiesontrial said...
And they say they aren't racist... Pfft.
To those saying ShopRite was discriminating the Hitler family, they weren't. Discriminating would have been refusing to serve them at all; ShopRite offered them a cake with the room to write Lil Hitler's name on it themselves. They refused.
I absolutely back ShopRite on this one. - December 15, 2008 at 10:39 PM
- Unknown said...
I can't believe those names! How could they do that to their children?
- December 15, 2008 at 10:53 PM
and the best part about this "story" is that the idiot parents are living off social security. Which means that your tax dollars ladies and gentlemen just paid for a cake that says, "happy birthday Adolf Hitler". Nice.
- December 15, 2008 at 11:20 PM
- Feisty Irish Wench said...
Hm, wonder what kind of litigation this is going to bring. I'm sure the dad is considering it just for the publicity, to be a 'martyr for the cause'. Wouldn't it be nice if Shop-Rite counter-sued because of the stunt? Or the employees who were offended or emotionally stricken to sue for mental and emotional anguish?
Oh the peeing contest that would be!
Not only can you not buy that kind of advertising, but you can't buy that kind of deviance either. - December 15, 2008 at 11:29 PM
- Corey Wilde said...
Let's offer those children safe haven when they decide to run away from the jerks who are raising them.
- December 15, 2008 at 11:34 PM
Ummm... who would do that to a kid just for the reason that he'll have to deal with other kids, teachers, and pretty much everyone looking at him negatively for the rest of his life, or at least until he's old enough to change it.
Also, I thought I read recently that there are some things that it's against the law to name your kid and one of them was Hitler. I wonder if that's his legal name.
In any case, what messed up people! Those people in Australia (?) recently that named their daughter that screwed up Talula Hula whatever were charged with abuse, weren't they? This ranks up there. - December 15, 2008 at 11:36 PM
- Rebecca said...
Yuck. Double yuck, in fact.
And then there were a few people in the comments section talking about how Adolf's rights had been violated. I was unaware that we have a right to a cake from a supermarket. How about that? Wrecks for everyone! ;P - December 15, 2008 at 11:40 PM
First I would like to say that I work at Walmart and I do work in the bakery. I probably shouldnt admit it (haha), but I have no reason to lie! I was laid off and needed to find work soon and Walmart hired me. Anyway with that being said, we have always been told that we have the right to refuse any order we dont see fit. If we dont want the order tied to our store, we dont do it. Its as simple as that. We have turned cakes down and we've never gotten in trouble for it. So to me, its more about the individual store and not about Walmart all together.
- December 16, 2008 at 12:03 AM
Having grown up in an area originally populated by German and Scandinavian immigrants, Adolph was not an uncommon name to hear. Adolph is in fact the name os one of the sweetest, kindest old gents I have ever met. It's the pairing it with "Hitler" that makes it offensive and wrong.
Had they have pared it wait "John" or something, it would have just been odd and the kid could have had a fighting chance of not getting completely ostracized and beat up on the playground on a regular basis becuase he could have been known as "Johnny Campbell". - December 16, 2008 at 12:04 AM
- Kyle S. said...
Ironically, the Transformers cartoon the kid's shirt is advertising features an Indian girl as one of the main characters, as opposed to the usual Caucasian male kid.
- December 16, 2008 at 12:07 AM
- Ream O Rama said...
please don't move to Georgia, please don't move to Georgia, please don't move to Georgia, oh please, oh please, oh please.
- December 16, 2008 at 12:14 AM
- Jenny said...
This is why there should be parenting licenses. The kid's name is the least of his worries..and there are many, poor guy.
- December 16, 2008 at 12:26 AM
- flourgirl said...
OMG -- those kids should be taken away from those DNA donors - I can't bring myself to call them parents. They have three kids and the OLDEST is 3. Female DNA donor is only 25! How many more kids are they going to bring into this world to screw up before its all over with? Scary!
- December 16, 2008 at 12:39 AM
I would love to see you pull this story from your blog completely. The story is offensive to most; if they want to read and make snarky comments about it, let them do it somewhere else.
Readers - yes, the boy has a terrible name, but he didn't choose it. Please, don't pick on him, his hair, his shirt or anything else. He's a child. - December 16, 2008 at 1:02 AM
- cygirlkat said...
"didn't expect the names to cause problems"
:::headdesk::: - December 16, 2008 at 1:12 AM
- thatgirl said...
that's yucky
- December 16, 2008 at 1:32 AM
Poor babies. :(
It would be awful to be born into a family so full of hate. - December 16, 2008 at 2:06 AM
- derek nuno said...
TLC.. get this family a reality show. ASAP! - December 16, 2008 at 3:25 AM
- ern said...
I agree about how sad this is for the kids, but I still can't help but wonder...if I lived near this family, would I encourage my children to be friends with their kids? Would you want your kids to go play at this house? (obviously not)...I'm sure I'd be happy to have them come to my home to play, but would I let the friendship go any further than that? I know it will be hard for them when they get older and have to deal with their peers, but I wonder how the adults/families around them are reacting, or how will they be treated in the future?
Also, can I saw how unfortunate it is that an ancient symbol still used throughout Asia today as a symbol of fortune and religious benediction has been forever tarnished in our society as the "swastika" used by the nazis. I've seen them on houses in Asian countries and initially I get a sick feeling when I see one, but I'm glad to be able to associate it with something more peaceful than a brutal regime. Maybe these kids will help people do the same thing? One can only hope. - December 16, 2008 at 3:34 AM
Here in Germany we have laws for EVERYTHING, even for what you can name your kid. I used to shake my head about that, how the government interferes with a parenting decision like that but from this day on I will applaud that law!
No parent could name there kids something like that here in Germany and screw up their lifes along the way and thank all gods for that!
I feel so sorry for these kids, they have no chance to grow up to form their own opinions. - December 16, 2008 at 4:35 AM
- Gabs said...
Naming a child after such a horrible human being is so disgusting. Everything he stood for is absolutely terrible and I hope these children grow up to be accepting, wonderful adults and change their names. I know it's going to be hard since their parents are raising them and we know what kind of people they are. Honestly. What if I named my child Osama Bin Laden? I know Osama is a name that causes some controversy but what about that whole name? Ugh. Just terrible.
- December 16, 2008 at 4:55 AM
No doubt these childrens names are in poor taste or worse.
But if you think that the parents are putting their opinions before the happiness of the child would it not be fair comment to say that the supermarket is doing the same?
Also to those - both here and on the original article's commentary - would you have judged the parents' claiming disabilities or inability to work the same way if they had conformed with your beliefs?
I doubt this will be a popular comment but I think it needs thinking about. - December 16, 2008 at 5:06 AM
- Serena said...
That is just horrible. In the society we live in today, to not only still believe hateful things like that, but to intentionally teach it to your children, and starting with their NAMES? Go Shop Rite.
Hopefully someone else teaches morals and decency to those poor kids...
Anyone else notice that they mislabeled the first pic of the kid as his sister in the article? - December 16, 2008 at 6:31 AM
Link to the news story...
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/today/index.ssf/2008/12/holland_township_family_angry.html - December 16, 2008 at 7:48 AM
I found this quote from the father on UPI.com:
"They're just names, you know," Campbell said. "Yeah, they (Nazis) were bad people back then. But my kids are little. They're not going to grow up like that.""
Really? - December 16, 2008 at 7:48 AM
- jackie31337 said...
NVG-WmsFam said Unbelievable that a parent would name their children with such names. But... (1) freedom of speech (2) rite to individual political/religious beliefs (3) baloney. I'm trying to see their side but absolutely can't.
Actually, this is a great illustration of free speech in action. The right to free speech does not free the speaker from the consequences of his/her speech. It just means the government can't stop them from speaking. The parents have the right to give their kids whatever controversial names they want. On the other hand, the store (as a private, non-governmental entity) has the right to refuse to put it on a cake. The store even offered them a blank cake so they could write it on themselves, which the family refused. The family would have to be REALLY stupid to think they could give their children names like that and not run into difficulties because of it. This is nothing but a publicity stunt. - December 16, 2008 at 8:12 AM
- Sarah - Kala said...
What bugs me is the father said the SS symbols don't mean anything, they're just symbols. Well, then, what does he think symbol means? Ignorant.
- December 16, 2008 at 8:16 AM
KVB: I agree his hair looks like that badly dyed brassy blond...poor kiddo.
- December 16, 2008 at 8:32 AM
- The Chubby One said...
Some names are meant for children some names are meant for pets. Not that I endorse naming your pets those names either, but at least your pet won't be scared for life!
- December 16, 2008 at 8:47 AM
- Alabaster Mom said...
Have you ever noticed that a lot of good parents have trouble conceiving, while people like this seem to be able to reproduce juuuuuust fine?
- December 16, 2008 at 8:54 AM
- FreedomFirst said...
That's just horrible! Man, and I thought the name Judas was bad. Shame, shame on those parents.
I have heard one that just might be worse, however. Not more offensive, but possibly more disgusting.
Meconium Phoenix.
Not only is it gross, it also sounds terrible. If you want the full story, visit the blog on my list called "Tales From Labor and Delivery."
I wonder what the doctors and nurses thought when those parents asked for Adolf Hilter and Aryan Nation on the birth certificates?! - December 16, 2008 at 9:01 AM
- FreedomFirst said...
Hmm. I can't believe the number of people advocating to have the children taken away just because of their names! What is wrong with people? Yeah the parents are ignorant, rude, ill-natured and probably caused this whole mess on purpose just to push their unsavory agenda. But that doesn't give you the right to take their kids away. I know it is hard for some people to accept that they simply don't have the right to control everyone else around them, but that's just the way it is. Deal with it and grow up!
And you know, the quickest way to make a child follow right along in their parents' footsteps is to bombard them with how evil you think their parents are. Leave it alone, and they will eventually see the light on their own. And probably change their names. - December 16, 2008 at 9:10 AM
The store has every right to deny any request they choose. They would probably deny pornographic messages as well. It's their store and they should be able to choose what kind of merchandise they sell. And if the Hitlers don't like it.. well they are free to shop somewhere else. Unlike if they actually were you know, Jewish in Germany 70 years ago.
And I feel so very sorry for those children... they just never had a chance did they? - December 16, 2008 at 9:48 AM
They wouldn't put my middle name on my birthday cake.
- December 16, 2008 at 9:50 AM
- Becky said...
It's kind of ironic to say something like, "Certain people shouldn't be allowed to have children" because that's something that the little boy's namesake would have said. So... I guess I just can't say anything.
- December 16, 2008 at 10:15 AM
- Terri-o said...
You should read the whole article complete with pictures of the family. It's really awful. Why not just put "happy birthday Adolf" on the cake except to make a horrible statement? Raised by hate-monger parents...it's clear what these poor children will grow up to believe. Truly sad.
- December 16, 2008 at 10:20 AM
- Unknown said...
Wow, way to use your kids to promote your white supremacist agenda.
I swear you should need a license to have a baby. - December 16, 2008 at 10:31 AM
- Unknown said...
Those kinds of people shouldn't breed...IMHO
~Amy B. - December 16, 2008 at 10:33 AM
Also, I thought I read recently that there are some things that it's against the law to name your kid and one of them was Hitler. I wonder if that's his legal name.
I don't see how that could happen without violating the first amendment. And for those (though I saw this mostly on the comments for the article) who think Shop-Rite was violating the couples' free speech rights, I'd like to direct you to the first five words of the first amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Even teaching your kids to be raging bigots isn't and shouldn't be illegal. We have to defend the free speech rights of the most stupid in order to defend our own.
That said, I might have given them the stupid writing, simply because I knew they're only doing this to attract attention. I wouldn't have wanted to give them anything to work with. On the other hand, I wouldn't want every idiotic neo-Nazi and Aryan Nation member thinking my store was cool with their beliefs, so maybe I wouldn't have. - December 16, 2008 at 11:03 AM
Lessee here... gays can't legally get married. Rascist neo-nazis can marry and then go on to have children named Adolph Hitler and Aryan Nation.
God Bless America!!! - December 16, 2008 at 11:06 AM
I'm really disappointed to see this being given publicity. Such ignorant people who practice the message of hate and rasism should not be given anything - NOT ONE WORD - to further their cause. As "they" say, "There's no such thing as bad publicity."
- December 16, 2008 at 11:06 AM
Wow....that's one way to insure your children will get their butts kicked every. day.
- December 16, 2008 at 11:17 AM
- Chrissy said...
Those poor children are going to spend their lives apologizing for their parents stupidity. I feel bad for the kids.
- December 16, 2008 at 11:19 AM
- Adele said...
Sad to say these people can not only procreate but they can VOTE!
- December 16, 2008 at 11:24 AM
Good one, Cottagecheap. Or suppose little Adolf grows up to be gay?
With parents like that, why not name all their poor kids "No Chance Campbell" and be done with it? - December 16, 2008 at 11:35 AM
Unfortunately this family lives in my county.
The Wal-Mart DID do the cake for them, being proponents of free speech and all (never mind all those CDs and books they refuse to sell, ahem)
For more about the kids/family you can go to:
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/index.ssf?/base/news-0/122923112231930.xml&coll=3 - December 16, 2008 at 11:44 AM
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Heritage Rice: Indonesia's Living Legacy
05 Apr 2013
Last month Slow Food Bali hosted a heritage rice-tasting event to showcase the widely diverse variety of Indonesian rices, most of which are completely unknown to the average consumer. At Sari Organic, a center for organic farming in Ubud, ten rare rice varieties were laid out in small heaps on banana leaf-lined plates: browns, reds, purples and blacks, with a notable absence of white. Some were grown only a matter of metres away; others were from Papua, Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Jakarta-based Helia Hilman, founder of the artisanal food company Javara, explained the differences in origin, texture, aroma and flavor, after first giving a brief presentation about rice history and traditions in Indonesia (there are about 7000 varieties of rice across the archipelago, including sea rice and swamp rice – who knew?)
A show of hands was used at the end to vote for the best rice on the plate. The runner-up was the 'limboto' brown rice, a firm, savory rice with a dry-ish texture and strong nutty aroma – so flavorsome and hearty, it was practically a meal in itself. The winner, to the surprise of Sari Organik's owner Oded who had promised to start producing whichever rice won the vote, was the 'kasepuhan ciptagelar highland black rice' – soft and sticky, with a sweet aroma; even without sugar and coconut it was like a creamy pudding (and a definite favorite with the children, as evidenced by the black smears across their cheeks and the "number 6″ rice-pile conspicuously missing from the tasting plates down the table.)
Slow Food Bali's Mary Jane Edleson couldn't resist popping the question: What's the secret to cooking really good rice? Heli explained that the quality of water is almost as important as the quality of the rice; milling, polishing and cooking methods are also contributing factors (and despite groans from those die-hard rice-cooker users in the audience, she insisted she isn't a fan).
The talk and tastings were followed by a splendiferous array of dishes from Sari Organik's garden. However a surprising amount of it was left uneaten – the rice itself had been so filling and nutritious, there was little need for more.
Perhaps, as Helia said, one spoonful of rice that's been grown with care and filled with blessings holds more nutrition, and provides more sustenance, than a gargantuan plateful of white rice.
Javara is an artisanal food company which represents smallholder farmers and food artisans who strive to maintain traditional practices and indigenous wisdom in their production of food. See www.javara.co.id
Read more about Slow Food Bali at www.slowfoodbali.com
Article originally published on ubudnowandthen.com
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text:
In the 1980s, a popular fast-food commercial touted chicken-breast sandwiches — and mocked chicken nuggets sold by competitors.
In the ad, a competitor's doofus clerk explains nuggets. "All the parts are crammed into one big part," he said. "And parts is parts."
Today, clerks may believe that catchphrase could apply to them as regular full-time schedules disappear. For many workers, hours are not only short, but increasingly erratic as managers scramble to cover shifts without the steadying influence of experienced full-time employees.
"It's ridiculous," says Amere Graham, an 18-year-old high school graduate who works at a McDonald's in Milwaukee. "My schedule is all over the place. It's completely unpredictable."
Government data support Graham's impressions of workplace conditions. The ranks of people working part time because they can't find full-time jobs have roughly doubled since the summer of 2007, from about 4.3 million to 8.2 million.
"There has been a surge in part-time work," says Aparna Mathur, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute.
The change reflects business owners' reluctance to hire full-time workers while they still have so many worries about the strength of the recovery and the cost of the Affordable Care Act, Mathur says. "You want to maintain flexibility so you can respond to the economy" without having to carry the costs of hiring and firing full-time employees, she says.
In a study of retail working conditions, conducted in the fall of 2011 in New York, only 17 percent of retail workers said they have a set schedule.
With so many people working in so many part-time positions, frustrations are growing, according to Michael Wilder, coordinator at Wisconsin Jobs Now, a union-supported group that advocates for low-wage workers.
"Workers can get called in at any time, and sometimes you only get a couple of hours of notice before you have to start work," says Wilder. "That makes it harder to deal with child care," as well as with transportation, doctor appointments and so on, he says.
Graham says the chaotic scheduling also complicates any plans for attending college classes or taking a second job. "It's pretty much impossible to work two jobs or try to move up," he says. An employer's inconsistent scheduling "is unfair because it entraps you," he adds.
But Mathur says employers are not trying to be unfair. Instead, their goal is to survive in a slow-growing economy, and they know that with the unemployment rate still at 7.6 percent, she says, "many people are willing to take part-time work."
And while a weak recovery is the main restraint on hiring plans, employers also are worried about the financial impact of the Affordable Care Act, she says. That federal law soon will require employers with 50 or more full-time workers to offer affordable insurance to employees working 30 or more hours per week.
Not hiring full-time workers right now reflects "strategic thinking on the part of businesses that fear they are going to face higher costs," Mathur says.
Such concerns were reflected in survey results released Tuesday by Sageworks, a company that analyzes the financial results of private companies. The poll of 300 accountants who work with private companies found that 2 out of 3 say concern about the new law is dampening hiring plans.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who has been outspoken about the lack of freedom in his homeland and was imprisoned in what he and his supporters say was an effort to keep him quiet, told our colleagues at Boston's WBUR this week that the lack of truth in China is "suffocating ... like bad air all the time."
WBUR's On Point with Tom Ashbrook had the conversation with Ai, who hasn't spoken often with American media outlets in recent months. Among the highlights:
-- On Using Art To Spread The Truth: "We have to talk about the truth. We have to talk about the fact[s]. We have to also share our opinions or communicate with others. In China, this is basically very much lacking in daily life. ...The state newspaper or television never tells you the truth ... which is suffocating. It's like bad air all the time.."
-- Despite Censorship, He Speaks To More Chinese Than Anyone: "I think I represent more people in China, or speak to [a larger] Chinese audience, than anybody — artist — in history," even though the government is "scared if they let me to talk."
"I [am] very surprised too, because each day I will meet young people, walking in the park, or on streets. They will come to shake hands with me, to ask me to take a photo. They will say, 'we really understand you.' I [am] surprised because under such censorship, my name cannot even appear in the Chinese domestic Internet. If you type my name, the whole sentence will disappear, so even under than condition, they still know me."
-- Prison Was "Inhuman": "The prison is very different from a prison anywhere. ... It's completely inhuman treatment. You have two soldiers who watch you 24 hours a day, including when you're taking a shower, using the bathroom. The eye will never move away from you for one second. And you know, they're standing 80 centimeter[s] away from you. ... And they give you a lot of pressure. You cannot sleep at night. ... You never can even know what [the] outside looks like. You have no rights to call a lawyer or tell your family where you are. ... So the feeling is like you become ... little beans dropped on the floor in some corner and people just forget about you. It's a very terrifying situation."
(Our thanks to WBUR's Julie Claire Diop.)
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Getting Help for Intense Grief
Article Translations: (Spanish)
Going through grief and loss is never easy. But in some situations, grief can feel especially intense — even overwhelming. The intensity of grief can depend on lots of factors — such as the situation or the relationship to the person who has died.
If you're dealing with a sudden, unexpected, tragic, or traumatic death, or if a person very close to you has died, grief might be particularly intense. When grief is intense, people may need extra support and help to get through it.
If your grief is too intense to bear alone, feels overwhelming, or has lasted too long without any relief, reach out for help. If grief has turned into depression, it's very important to tell someone.
How do you know if your grief is too intense or has been going on too long? Any of these can be signs:
- You've been grieving for 4 months or more and you aren't feeling any better.
- You feel depressed.
- Your grief is so intense that you feel you can't go on with your normal activities.
- Your grief is affecting your ability to concentrate, sleep, eat, or socialize as you normally do.
- You are using alcohol, drugs, overeating, or self-harm to escape or "soothe" feelings of grief.
- You feel you can't go on living after the loss or you think about suicide, dying, or hurting yourself.
It's natural to think about death to some degree. But if you think about suicide or hurting yourself in some way, or if you feel that you can't go on living, tell someone right away. Reach out to an adult you trust (such as a parent, family member, counselor, teacher, doctor, nurse, coach, or religious leader), talk about how you're feeling, and ask the person to help you. He or she can help by calmly listening and also by helping you find professional support.
Counseling with a professional therapist or grief counselor can help with grief. When you talk about your loss and your feelings to someone who listens and understands, grief can begin to heal. A therapist can guide you in ways to cope, get back to enjoying your life, and remember the person in positive ways.
Counselor-led support groups for teens going through grief are helpful, too. Being in a support group reminds people they are not alone, lets them help each other cope, and creates bonds between people who are going through a similar situation.
If you're struggling with grief, you might think you will never feel better, that things will never be good again. Many people feel that way in the midst of their grief. But people do find ways to cope with intense grief and to deal with the changes that the loss has created in their lives.
With time and support, people begin to feel better from the emotional pain of grief. As hard as it is, they begin to adapt to life. Grief can help us learn and grow, and deepen our appreciation of our lives and the people we love./p>
Note: All information is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor.
© 1995-2024 KidsHealth ® All rights reserved. Images provided by iStock, Getty Images, Corbis, Veer, Science Photo Library, Science Source Images, Shutterstock, and Clipart.com


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Project members
- Zaira Khalilova
Description and Documentation of Khwarshi
The aim of the project was to write a comprehensive grammar of Khwarshi. The grammar consists of several parts: phonology, morphology, syntax, plus a small lexicon and texts.
Khwarshi belongs to the Tsezic subgroup of the Avar-Andic-Tsezic group within the Nakh-Dagestanian language family. It is spoken by about 3000 people who live in Tsumada district, in the villages Inkhokwari, Khwarshi, Kwantlada, Khwaini, Santlada and in the lowland settlements Oktjabrskoe, Pervomajskoe and Aksaj, all in the Xasawjurt region of Dagestan. Khwarshi has several dialects such as Khwarshi Proper, Inkhokwari, Kwantlada, Santlada, and Khwaini. The work is based on the Kwantlada dialect.
The project was based on several fieldtrips to Dagestan and previous studies of the Tsezic languages. Like other Tsezic languages Khwarshi is unwritten. Khwarshi has very rich nominal morphology, with such categories as case, number and gender. The language shows gender agreement where gender prefixes are added to verb roots. Khwarshi is an ergative language with basic SOV word order and widespread use of non-finite verb forms.
Data archive
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- 7 text files (pdf)
- 32 pictures (jpg)
Contact: lingarchive@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de


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Friday's unemployment report confirmed what many workers already had suspected: Five years after the job market plunged off a cliff, the climb back remains a tough slog.
In January, employers created 113,000 additional jobs, well below most economists' estimates of roughly 185,000. And a second look at December's data brought an upward revision of only 1,000 new jobs, to a meager 75,000.
"Employment growth clearly has downshifted over the past two months," says Doug Handler, an economist with IHS Global Insight. "The January performance was a huge disappointment since we can no longer dismiss December's poor numbers as an aberration."
For all of 2013, the economy added jobs at an average of 194,000 a month, about twice the December-January average.
The National Retail Federation pointed to unusually cold weather as a "major factor" in slowing some store sales and hiring. But most economists say winter weather had an insignificant impact overall.
Jobless Rate Falls
Despite the recent sluggish pace, job growth was good enough to nudge down the unemployment rate by a tenth of a point to 6.6 percent. That was the best reading since October 2008, when the Great Recession started shredding jobs at a frantic pace. In January 2009, the economy lost more than 800,000 jobs.
Responding to this latest report, the White House noted that the economy has now generated a net job gain for 47 straight months.
"The unemployment rate has fallen 1.3 percentage point in the last 12 months," Jason Furman, head of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, said in a blog post. He said businesses have added 8.5 million jobs in less than four years.
In January, the labor-force participation rate edged up two-tenths of a percentage point to 63 percent. That's well below the 66 percent rate that prevailed from 1989 to 2009. Still, January's uptick was a "silver lining," says Stuart Hoffman, an economist with PNC Bank.
Harbinger Of Harder Times
A few other data points also offered something to cheer in January. For example, construction added 48,000 jobs, and manufacturing tacked on 21,000 more. Mining was strong with a gain of 7,000 jobs. And the leisure and hospitality industries continued to grow, adding 24,000 jobs.
Those job openings disproportionately helped men. For women, it was a much tougher month, according to an analysisdone by the Institute for Women's Policy Research. That report concluded that women lost 51,000 net jobs because of cuts in government, business services, education and health services.
Adding it all up, the negatives outweighed any positives, leaving economists to see January as a disappointment. Even worse, the poor performance may be a harbinger of harder times for the gross domestic product.
"There's enough negative evidence in this report to help validate a softening of GDP growth from the fourth quarter's 3.2 percent to 1.9 percent in the first quarter," IHS Global Insight's Handler said.
And the report offered little reason for those people with jobs to think they'll get big raises anytime soon. The average workweek was unchanged at 34.4 hours, and hourly wages were up a nickel to $24.21. Over the past year, wages have risen only 1.9 percent, or 46 cents.
Gains In Productivity
The wage gains stand in contrast to recent jumps in worker productivity. A separate Labor Department report this week showed workers' productivity increased at a strong 3.2 percent annual rate. That was well above the long-term trend rate of about 2 percent.
In fact, the last six months of 2013 represented the strongest period for productivity growth in four years. Rising productivity, a measure of output, generally reflects improvements in workers' skills and equipment.
While output growth has soared, labor costs have stalled. The government report showed that for businesses, labor costs fell in three of the past four quarters.
The stock market initially reacted badly to the disappointing jobs report, but then recovered to head higher. Many analysts say that was because investors now think that with a weaker-than-expected economy, the Federal Reserve policymakers will go slower on making policy changes that could lead to higher interest rates. Low rates on Treasury bonds can make stocks a more attractive place to put your money.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Peripherals not charging via USB on a Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 PC
It has been discovered that some products may not charge properly when attached to a USB port of a computer running the Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 operating systems.
Affected Sony Products
- Cyber-shot® Cameras
- Handycam® Camcorders
- Action Cam (including Live-view Remote Control)
- Headphones
- Head Mounted Display
- Portable Headphone Amplifier
- Portable battery
Issue Cause
This issue appears to be due to a change to the USB interface specification in the Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 operating systems. It does not occur with computers running Windows 8 or earlier versions of the Windows operating system.
Microsoft has issued a driver update through Windows Update to fix this issue. If your PC is set to update automatically with Windows Update, no additional steps are needed. However, if your PC does not install Windows Updates automatically, or if you still experience this isue, you can search for help and drivers on the Microsoft Support Website.


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CAGE, JOHN: 49 Waltzes for the Five Boroughs
1977 Cage wrote 49 Waltzes for Rolling Stone magazine (to mark its relocation to New York from the West coast). Not long after, a score was published by Peters consisting of a map of the Five Boroughs scored by 49 coloured triangles. The exact location of the three points of each triangle are then listed: 149 addresses in all. This is the first full and serious realisation of this score, as a 2 hour sound video that lingers for chance derived durations at each location recording what there is to see and hear. There is, unsurprisingly, remarkable diversity; it's New York you wouldn't normally see, or remember: a record of ephemera. Video by Don Gillespie and Roberta Friedman, with various extras, features and an additional audio realisation of the score.
Code: Mode204
Price: £22.00