Last Saturday, September 25, 2021, marked the 4-year anniversary of Progressives Chat.
I launched this blog site on Monday, September 25, 2017 shortly after the end of cathyx’s The Far Left Chat. (cathyx was a big help to me. I remain very grateful. Thank you, cathyx!)
Progressives Chat will continue as a blog site which also allows its regulars a space for independence with their comments. And, with time seeming to go by faster as I am getting older (I won’t speak for anyone else), the fifth anniversary won’t take long to arrive.
Last week [with publishing date of Tuesday, 09.14.2021], Jimmy Dore interviewed Robert Malone in the following video, “EXPLOSIVE Truth About Vaccines & COVID w/Inventor Of mRNA Vaccine Technology.” (Due to its long title, I am using a different heading for this blog topic.)
It was posted in comments by TowerofBabel. (Thank you, TowerofBabel!)
This is very important. It warrants being a blog topic due to its subject matter, certainly, and for the archives of Progressives Chat.
September 13, 1996 marked the debut of one of the best comedy series in television history.
Everybody Loves Raymond, from David Letterman’s World Wide Pants, was a CBS sitcom about a grown man, sportswriter Ray Barone, with his wife, Debra, their daughter and twin sons, and his other family—neighbors—consisting of policeman brother Robert, intrusive mother Marie, and blunt father Frank.
The series ran nine seasons, having ended in 2005, and it won 15 Emmys from 69 nominations. It won Outstanding Comedy Series for its seventh and ninth seasons, in 2003 and 2005; Lead Actor for Ray Romano, in 2002; Lead Actress for Patricia Heaton, in 2000 and 2001; Supporting Actor for Brad Garrett, in 2002, 2003, and 2005; and Supporting Actress for Doris Roberts, in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005. It also won for Writing for what I think is its best episode, “Baggage,” in 2003. (Costar Peter Boyle never won for the series. He did win the 1995–96 Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for the episode “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose,” also an Emmy winner for Writing, for Fox’s The X–Files.)
A summary of some standout episodes:
• “I Love You” (Season 01 Episode 02; 09.20.1996)—Debra asks Ray why he doesn’t tend to speak those three important words. Ray makes the mistake of involving his parents.
• “Robert’s Date” (Season 03 Episode 15; 02.01.1999)—Robert joins his partner for a night out for dancing. Trying hard to fit in, Robert goes overboard.
• “Bad Moon Rising” (Season 04 Episode 22; 05.08.2000)—Debra suffers from PMS. Ray has no clue how to respond. (Patricia Heaton’s performance won her her first Emmy.)
• “Baggage” (Season 07 Episode 22; 05.03.2003)—After returning from a vacation, one piece of luggage remains, unattended, as Ray and Debra battle each other.
• “The Finale” (Season 09 Episode 16; 05.16.2005)—Ray, with his adenoids needing to come out, goes in for routine surgery. There is a complication.
More recommended episodes (for a balance of three episodes per season; the provided links for each season lead to episode descriptions):
Season #01 • “Pilot” (S01 E01; 09.13.1996) and “Turkey or Fish” (S01 E10; 11.22.1996)
Season #02 • “High School” (S02 E10; 11.24.1997), “The Letter” (S02 E11; 12.08.1997), and “The Checkbook” (S02 E16; 02.02.1998)
Season #03 • “The Toaster” (S03 E12; 12.14.1998) and “Frank’s Tribute” (S03 E16; 02.08.1999)
Season #04 • “The Sister” (S04 E06; 10.25.1999) and “Bully on the Bus” (S04 E13; 01.17.2000)
Season #05 • “Italy” (S05 E01 and S05 E02; 10.02.2000), “Wallpaper” (S05E03; 10.09.2000), and “The Canister” (S05 E19; 04.09.2001)
Season #06 • “Marie’s Sculpture” (S06 E05; 10.22.2001), “Lucky Suit” (S06 E16; 02.04.2002), and “The Breakup Tape” (S06 E18; 03.04.2002)
Season #07 • “Meeting the Parents” (S07 E17; 02.05.2003) and “Robert’s Wedding” (S07 E24; 05.19.2003)
Season #08 • “Fun with Debra” (S08 E01; 09.22.2003), “Thank You Notes” (S08 E02; 09.29.2003), and “Misery Loves Company” (S08 E04; 10.13.2003)
Season #09 • “The Power of No” (S09 E14; 05.02.2005) and “Pat’s Secret” (S09 E15; 05.09.2005)
I will close with video highlights from Everybody Loves Raymond. They are from the “standout episodes” but, fair warning, some content—especially when I tried to find video on YouTube for “The Finale”—was rather limiting.
It recently came to my attention that Sears closed what was the last remaining department store in my home state Michigan.
The news of the closure came in July.
The closure, if I correctly recall, was in August.
This store was located in Westland, the state’s 10th largest city (a population just under 100,000) approximately 15 miles west of Detroit.
I turned 50 last month. I grew up shopping at department stores for clothing. So, the decline in department stores is personally sad to me. I feel for the stores’s employees—especially those who had careers working in them. (I briefly worked at both stores.) Many of them were able to have middle-class incomes, with benefits, and with pensions. Some, depending on the timeline of their lifetime, are still alive and getting to experience them. And getting to experience fears of losing them.
In politics, the topic of realignment comes up. Realigning changes in such things like voting patterns. Realigning periods favorable for one of the U.S.’s two major political parties. But there is also realignment in life. How life has realigned here in the U.S. How people’s livelihoods have been realigning—which, of course, speaks to the declining middle class. The topic of realignment also applies to how we use television. And, given this week’s blog topic, it includes how we shop.
Kmart bought Sears. This goes back to 2004. There are people who thought it was the other way. Eddie Lampert, who made the purchase, was trying to give the impression he would be the savior. (Report: Kmart to acquire Sears in $11 billion deal.) But, I think the stores—and then you can add other well-recognized names also in dire shape—were not able and/or willing to adapt to a realignment in life in the U.S. And they—especially Sears and Kmart—are on the way to their graves. (Side note: In May, I received a letter from Sears informing me I must use my Sears department store credit card by June 30—or the account would become closed. I went ahead and let that deadline pass.)
Last Friday [September 3, 2021], Sears Holdings Corporation (SHLDQ) closed the day at $0.41 per share. Combined existing stores, effective August 25, 2021, are just under 50. Nationwide. (Sources: How Many Sears Stores Are Left? and How Many Kmart Stores Are Left?) From one video—and you can find plenty of them on YouTube—not only did Sears close all its department stores in Michigan but in all of the midwest. (From How Many Sears Stores Are Left? one listed location is in Illinois; but, it may not be a department store.) Well, the midwest consists of Top 10 populous states Illinois (which ranks No. 6), Ohio (No. 7), and Michigan (No. 10). Approximately 53 to 54 percent of the nation’s people live in a Top 10 state. The last remaining Michigan Kmart store is in the city of Marshall, which is near I–69, which one may access if, say, traveling from Michigan to go south into neighboring Indiana. It is more than 50 miles and approximately 100 miles west of Ann Arbor and Detroit.
Below are videos which feature Mark A. Cohen. He had experience serving as Chairman/CEO of Sears Canada Inc. He was also Chief Marketing Officer and president of Softlines of Sears Roebuck & Co. Cohen is now a professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business since 2006. He is also its current director of Retail Studies. In these videos—which were published to YouTube on 04.28.2017, 10.15.2018, 01.08.2019, and 12.28.2020—Cohen comments not only on the outlooks for Sears and Kmart, and for department stores and malls, but he also articulates how and why.
