CHANGING SOME BUYING HABITS?

I compiled the following list from www.buyblue.org.

What percent of campaign donations go toward Democrats? What percent to Republicans? Iwasn't looking for the amounts of monies donated as much as I was the percentage of the amounts given... i.e. to what extent is this company pro-left or pro-right?

MOSTLY SUPPORT DEMOCRATS:
7-11 stores 84%
Academy Sports and Outdoors 93%
Adobe Systems 98%
Amerada Hess 98%
American Apparel 77%
Apple 99%
Arby's 62%
Armor-All 69%
Bally 100%
BancWest 85%
Barnes and Noble 92%
Bebe Stores 97%
Bed, Bath & Beyond 97%
Benihana 100%
Black & Decker 100%
Blimpie 100%
Blue Mountain Arts greeting cards 100%
Bolla wines 57%
Brita (in North America) 69%
Bumble Bee 57%
Burlington Coat Factory 100%
Caesar's Entertainment 58%
Canadian Mist 57%
Caribou Coffee 95%
CitiSearch 100%
Claire's 100%
Clarion hotels 98%
Clorox 69%
Coach leather goods 100%
Comfort Inn 98%
Commerce Bank 60%
Costco 99%
Crate and Barrel 72%
Diamond Resorts 97%
Domini Social Investment 100%
Dress Barn, The 100%
eBay 56%
EconoLodge 98%
Electronic Arts (EA) 84%
Estee Lauder 80%
Expedia 100%
Fannie Mae 59%
Foot Locker 100%
Formula 409 69%
Frederick's of Hollywood 100%
Fresh Step cat litter 69%
Frontier Airlines 67%
Gallo wines 93%
Gamestop 78%
Gap Inc. 82%
Gateway 81%
Genesco shoes 100%
Glad plastic products 69%
Google 100%
Granny's Buffet 100%
Green Mountain Coffee 100%
Gymboree 100%
H & R Block 56%
Harrah's 66%
Hometown Buffet 100%
HSN (formerly Home Shopping Network) 100%
Hyatt Hotels and Resorts 94%
Jack Daniels 57%
Jamba Juice 100%
J. Crew 99%
JetBlue Airways 68%
Jo-Ann fabric stores 100%
Kay Jewelers 89%
Kingsford charcoal 69%
Korbel champagne 57%
L. L. Bean 98%
Lehman Brothers 60%
Level 3 Communications 64%
Levi Strauss & Co. 100%
Lillian Vernon 97%
Linens n' Things 100%
Loews Hotels 100%
Luxottica 100% (incl. Sunglass Hut, Watch Station, and Watch World)
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton luxury goods 77%
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia 96%
Mattel 81%
Men's Wearhouse 100%
NBTY health care products 82%
Neiman Marcus Group 77%
Netflix 72%
New Belgium Brewing 100%
Old Country Buffet 100%
Omaha Steaks 57%
Overstock.com 85%
Panera Bread 100%
PG&E Corp. 60%
Pine-Sol 69%
Polo Ralph Lauren 100%
Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits 100%
Powell Books 100%
Progressive Corporation 97%
Prudential Financial 57%
QUALCOMM 65%
Quality Inn 98%
REI 100%
Reebok shoes 85%
Rodeway Inn 98%
Sharper Image 94%
Skechers USA 100%
Sleep Inn 98%
Sonic drive-ins 100%
Southern Comfort 57%
Spaghetti Warehouse 100%
Starbucks 100%
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide 100% (incl. Four Points, Sheraton, St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Westin, and W Hotels)
STP 69%
Sun Microsystems 55%
Ticketmaster 100%
Timberland Company footwear 70%
Tilex 69%
Tom's of Maine 100%
Trek Bicycle Corp. 57%
Vector Group 90% (cigarettes incl. Liggett Select, Eve, "reduced-carcinogen" cigarettes, generic lines, QUEST)
VF Corp. 57% (incl. Lee, Rustler, Brittania, Chic, H.I.S., Wrangler, Gitano, Earl Jeans, Riders Vanity Fair, Lily of France, and Vassarette (lingerie); JanSport and Eastpak (backpacks); Lee Sport (knitwear); The North Face (outdoor gear and apparel); Red Kap and Bulwark (industrial work clothes); Nautica (men's and women's apparel); and Vans (shoes).
Winmark Corp. 89% (incl. Play It Again Sports; children's items (Once Upon A Child); teen apparel (Plato's Closet); and musical gear (Music Go Round).
Working Assets Funding Services 96%
Xerox 66%
XM Satellite Radio 75%
Yucaipa Companies grocery stores 99%

MOSTLY SUPPORT REPUBLICANS:
3M 84%
Activision, Inc 86%
Advance Auto Parts
Air Tran Holdings 90%
Albertsons 75%
Almaden wines 61%
AllState Insurance 70%
Altria (Philip Morris) 69%
Amazon.com 59%
America West 85%
American Express 55%
American Greetings 87%
Amway 99%
Anheuser Busch 64%
Applebee's 91%
Ashland, Inc (Valvoline) 87%
AT&T 56%
AutoZone 83%
Bank of America 61%
Bank of New York 68%
Baskin-Robbins 74%
Bath & Body Works 84%
Beefeater gin 74%
Best Buy 100%
Blockbuster 60%
Bloomingdale's 74%
Bob Evans Farms 99%
Boeing 60%
BP 62%
Bridgestone 68%
Bristol-Myers Squibb 73%
Brown Shoe 100%
Burger King 70%
Buster Brown 100%
Cadbury Schweppes 67%
Campbell's Soup 79%
Canadian Club 74%
Capital One 61%
Cardinal Health 76%
Carnival Cruises 58%
Carter's 100%
Casual Male 100%
Caterpillar 89%
Charles Schwab 88%
Chevron 89%
Chic-fil-A 99%
Chico's FAS 61%
Children's Place, The 95%
Chili's 84%
Cinemark theaters 99%
Cintas uniforms 100%
Circuit City 90%
Citgo 100%
Citigroup (Citibank) 65%
Clear Channel 69%
Coca-Cola Co. 61% (incl. Fanta, Barq's, Sprite, Fruitopia, Minute Maid, POWERade, Dasani)
Columbia House 83%
ConocoPhillips 86%
Continental Airlines 74%
Countrywide Financial 57%
Cox Enterprises (media) 69%
Cracker Barrel 96%
Crowne Plaza hotels 75%
Curves for Women 100%
Dell computers 88%
Delta Airlines 57%
Diebold 92%
Dole foods 95%
Dollar Genral 100%
Dollar Tree 100%
Domino's 100%
Duke Energy Corp. 76%
Dunkin' Donuts 74%
Earthlink 69%
Eastman Kodak 70%
Ecko fashions 100%
Edison International (energy) 57%
eHarmony.com 100%
Electronic Data Systems 73%
Exxon Mobil 95%
Family Dollar Stores 71%
Famous Footwear 100%
FedEx 71%
Food Lion 80%
Ford 77% (incl. Aston Martin, Ford, Jaguar, Lincoln, Mercury, and Volvo)
Fossil 100%
Fruit Of The Loom 100%
Geico 94%
General Mills 77%
General Motors 74% (incl. Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Pontian, Saab, Saturn)
Georgia Pacific 73%
GNC nutrition/health stores 64%
Gold's Gym 98%
Goldman Sachs 57%
Goodrich 55%
Goodyear 89%
Guess?, Inc. 71%
Guitar Center 100%
H. J. Heinz Co. 71%
Halliburton 91%
Hallmark cards 87%
Harley-Davidson 72%
Heineken 77%
Helzberg Diamonds 83%
Hershey 95%
Hewlett-Packard 59%
Holiday Inn 75%
Hollywood video 100%
Home Depot 82%
Hooter's 100%
Hormel 95%
Huffy bikes 97%
Hyundai motors 97%
IBM 56%
Inglenook wines 61%
In-N-Out burgers 100%
Intel 75%
International House of Pancakes 90%
International Paper 90%
J. C. Penney 88%
Johnsonville Sausage 98%
Kahlua 74%
Kash 'n Karry 80%
KB Toys 100%
Kellogg's 56%
Kelly Services 97%
Kent cigarettes 92%
Kmart Holding Corp. 99%
Kohl's 100%
Kohler 100%
Kraft foods 78%
Krispy Kreme 100%
Kroger 88%
Landry's Seafood House 56%
Liberty Mutual 64%
Little Caesar's pizza 65%
Longs Drug 78%
Lord & Taylor 74%
Lowe's 100%
Luby's 62%
Lucent Technologies 76%
Macy's 74%
Marathon Oil 88%
Marriott 82%
Marshall Field's 74%
Massachusetts Mutual 65%
Max cigarettes 92%
Maytag 91%
MBNA 73%
McCormick & Schmick Seafood Restaurants 99%
McDonald's 95%
Meijer, Inc. 87%
Menard home improvement stores 87%
Merck 74%
Merrill Lynch 64%
MetLife 58%
Michaels arts and crafts stores 100%
Michelin 90%
Microsoft 56%
Modell's Sporting Goods 87%
Molson Coors Brewing Co. 84%
Monsanto 79%
Morgan Stanley 68%
Motorola 72%
Movie Gallery 100%
Nationwide Mutual 72%
Naturalizer 100%
Nestle 75%
New Balance shoes 98%
Newport cigarettes 92%
Nordstrom 99%
Northwest Airlines 68%
Office Depot 88%
OfficeMax 88%
Old Gold cigarettes 92%
Olive Garden 91%
On The Border 84%
Oracle 94%
Ore-Ida foods 71%
Outback Steakhouse 98%
PacSun fashions 100%
Panda Express 90%
Papa John's pizza 84%
PayLess Shoe Source 100%
PepsiCo 68% (incl. Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Slice, Doritos, Fritos, Lay's, Ruffles, WOW, Tropicana, Gatorade, Aquafina)
Perry Ellis 64%
PETCO 91%
PETsMART 100%
Pfizer 71%
Pier 1 Imports 99%
Priceline.com 78%
Principal Financial Group 55%
Procter & Gamble 79% (incl. Actonel, Always/Whisper, Ariel, Bounty, Charmin, Crest, Downy/Lenor, Folgers, Head & Shoulders, Iams, Olay, Pampers, Pantene, Pringles, Tide, Wella, Clairol, Gillette)
Publix Super Markets 89%
Qwest Communications 67%
Radio Shack 79%
Radisson Hotels 94%
Raley's supermarkets 99%
Ralston Purina 75%
Red Lobster 91%
RE/MAX 100%
Red Wing Shoe Co. 100%
Reynolds 87% (incl. Camel, Salem, Kool, Lucky Strike)
Rite Aid 58%
Romano's Macaroni Grill 84%
Ruby Tuesday 100%
Russell Stover candies 100%
Satin cigarettes 92%
S.C. Johnson 87% (incl. Drano, Glade, Johnson, OFF!, Pledge, Raid, Shout, Windex, and Ziploc)
SAB (South African Breweries) 56%
Safeway 70%
Saks Inc. 89%
SBC Communications 65% (incl. Cingular)
Scotts Miracle-Gro 100%
Sears 66%
Seattle Mariners (The Baseball Club of Seattle) 80%
Shell Oil 83%
Sirius Satellite Radio 59%
Southwest Airlines 82%
Sprint Corp. 65%
Staples 86%
State Farm 65%
Sunoco 80%
SUPERVALU stores 82%
Talbot's clothing stores 88%
Target 83%
Texas Instruments 60%
T.G.I. Friday's 94%
TIAA-CREF 86%
T. J. Maxx 96%
Togo's Eateries 74%
True cigarettes 92%
Tyson 63%
Unilever 83% (incl. Breyers and Magnum (ice creams), Dove and Lux (soaps), Lipton (tea), Close Up (oral care), and Vaseline)
UPS 72%
Urban Outfitters Inc. 94%
US Airways Group 73%
USAA insurance for military families 84%
Valero energy 99%
Verizon 66%
Victoria's Secret 84%
Vonage 57%
Wachovia 73%
Waffle House 100%
Wal-Mart 78%
Walgreen Co. 65%
Weight Watchers foods 71%
Wells Fargo 58%
Wendy's 94%
Weyerhauser 76%
Whirlpool 78%
Williams-Sonoma 98%
WinCo 100%
Winn-Dixie 83%
Wolverine World Wide footwear 100% (incl. Hush Puppies, Merrell, Bates HYTEST and Wolverine)
Yahoo! 60%
YUM! Brands 79% (incl. KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, A&W Restaurants, Long John Silver's)
Zale jewelers 88%


I find this list of GOP supporters extremely disappointing, particularly about the Seattle Mariners... they have been my favorite baseball team in my favorite major league sport since the late 70s. Our family is insured through AllState for both home and automobiles, our credit card is from Capital One, we have investments with Charles Schwab, our phone/internet service is through Verizon and my new cell phone is a Motorola, we get our groceries at Safeway and/or Albertson's, I drink Pepsi products, our cats eat Iams cat food, I like to eat at Outback Steakhouse, Red Lobster, Olive Garden and Macaroni Grill, I like to drink Heineken beer, and as millions of other lefties do, I rely on UPS and FedEx to deliver packages for me. Diebold builds quite a few of the electronic voting machines... sad, sad. The computer I'm at right now is an HP, and the one downstains is a Dell.

Then again, I do like to eat at Arby's and Benihana. I like to shop for books at Powell's and at Barnes and Noble. Google is my preferred search engine, and we're Netflix users. Our cats use Fresh Step litter, and if they miss the box, we rely on Pine-Sol to cover the stink. Occasionally I have a Starbucks drink. Expedia has done well by us for our travel needs, and I love wearing my Levis. I have a couple of pairs of Skechers shoes, and we stock up at Costco when we are in Kennewick, WA so we won't be as tempted to shop at the Wal-Mart here in La Grande... so it isn't ALL bad!

A MOVIE REVIEW

I had the good fortune of seeing the film "An Inconvenient Truth" on Monday with my family. In the Portland metro area, where about 2/3 of the population votes leftist, it isn't surprising to me to see this movie continuing to draw decent-sized crowds, even though the film has been out for a while and even though it is a documentary, actually a filmed lecture. After seeing the film, I hope it is continuing to draw good crowds in other cities and in other parts of the U.S. as well.

I have to give Al Gore credit for creating a very good presentation. He combines humor, science and his deep passion for the environmental issues he has been investigating for years. In the presentation of scientific information, Gore goes beyond politics and simply presents facts. I also give him credit for not bashing Bush as much as he could have; the opportunity certainly presents itself, and although Gore does get in a few good digs, he is able to put himself mostly above the bad fortunes he experienced in the 2000 presidential elections. (At one point, his "loss" to Bush is represented in a way that suggests the country is environmentally on the wrong track as a result of the Supreme Court's decision. I agree with that, of course!) Some might argue that Gore's personal asides during the film detract from the overall message, but I would respond that revealing more of "Gore the human being" simply reveals his dedication to spreading his message. He also leaves religion out of the picture for the most part. He doesn't "talk down" to the audience, either: he presents a complicated science in accessible terms. All in all, his presentation is very objective.

His message, of course, is that human activities are accelerating the warming of the earth's atmosphere, which will lead to dire consequences for our children and grandchildren if we don't take measures to slow things down. As our earth has gone in and out of ice ages, it is easy to say that we are simply heading into another cyclical period of warming and this is nothing out of the ordinary. However, Gore effectively argues that things are happening much more quickly this time around than they have happened in any past cycle, and that human activities are causing this acclerated climactic change. He also effectively points out that nearly all scientists support the existence of global warming as reality, and that scientists in opposition may well be paid to be in opposition, for political reasons.

I would highly recommend this film to anybody who has not seen it, regardless of their political persuasion.

That was an opinionated review. I admit it! 8-)>

*MY SECOND ANNIVERSARY IS JULY 17

July 17th marks two years that I have been blogging at this site. The picture of the old American two cent piece represents my giving of my two cents worth on topics nearly all political in nature.

It has been a fun two years. Thanks for stopping by!

PICTURES, AS PROMISED FROM EARLIER

Blogger wouldn't let me post pictures until today, so here are a few I had planned on posting with earlier articles. I make no apologies for the snarky comments below. As the Dixie Chicks, still at #4 after seven weeks on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart (take that, Chick-bashers!) sing on their disc "Taking The Long Way": I'm "Not Ready To Make Nice".

Speaking of nice, I love it that while Ann Coulter's newest book "Godless" is still #4 on the New York Times bestseller's list, it has dropped to #18 at Amazon.com, behind:
2. Conservatives Without Conscience by John Dean
5. An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore
6. The One Percent Doctrine by Ron Suskind
Barnes and Noble has "Godless" at #47, but well behind Dean, Gore and Suskind. MC Fred, was it you who mentioned something about groups buying large quantities of such books to distribute to their minions (left or right), and that this is how these books get to be so high up on the charts initially, then may tend to drop off suddenly?

Anyway, that was a vicadin-induced tangent, best left to be expanded upon another time.

Here are the pictures. Enjoy!

Our Country Club Napoleon, a "little man", with theocracy, nation-building, and world domination on his mind.

No comment necessary.

Larry, it isn't just Ann... they are ALL on oxycontin. Hillbilly heroin... black tar... DOPE, that is.

The Coultergeist. (Thanks to Sue W. of "Susie's Sharp Points" - see links - for alerting me that very appropriate nickname for Ann Coulter!) Maybe this look is from being too wasted at too many Grateful Dead shows! Heh... she claims to be a "Deadhead". While the Dead's fan base is all-inclusive, she really doesn't seem much like any Deadheads I have known. She may or may not be a Deadhead, but I do believe she is dead from the neck up.

Two dudes.

Also, for what it's worth, this is my 896th post on this weblog, and there are 918 days left for the Bush administration. If I post to my blog daily, I may make post #907 when there are 907 days left. I think a good goal will be 2,000 posts by the time he is finally out of office.

SOME OF MY AMAZON.COM "LISTMANIA" LISTS + MY AMAZON.COM BOOK/MOVIE/CD REVIEWS

Hopefully these links will work for you!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/fullview/RLB0FT2J2T5QF/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full/103-8888371-8103038

http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/fullview/R1T4I9B0VGDN5I/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full/104-7752234-3707936

I need to do some major editing on this last one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/fullview/R2CXL2AC6CX5FL/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full/103-8888371-8103038

You can go here to create your own Amazon "Listmania" lists: http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/createpipeline/ref=cm_sylt_dp_cyg/103-8888371-8103038

My CD/movie/book reviews are all here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A2F2MQKBB4CYPF/ref=cm_aya_bb_rev/103-8888371-8103038?ie=UTF8


Enjoy! Maybe you will find some fun things in the above links.

GOOD NEWS!

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13857865/

A POST FOR PEACE

Peace isn't for wussies. It takes a lot of guts, courage, cojones to be an advocate for peace in America nowadays in the face of people who may tell us (or who are being told to tell us) we should not pursue peace. It takes being able to step back and examine one's beliefs, to honor one's own sensibilities, and to apply one's personal convictions in everyday life with a view toward making our world better for all living things.

So then, what is peace? Peace is free. Peace is freedom, freedom from war, from killing, from all forms of strife. Peace is quiet. Peace is patient, and it is love.

I don't consider myself a Christian, nor do I believe the Bible is inerrant, but there are some basic principles in about half of the Ten Commandments that might help provide a guide toward peace:

5. Honour thy father and thy mother
6. Thou shalt not kill
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery
8. Thou shalt not steal
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's

(The first four commandments have to do with God, and to my way of thinking this has led to many situations in our world which have been far from peaceful.)

I am sure many of our country's politicians follow the fifth commandment as best they can. However, it doesn't seem like they want to follow numbers six through ten... heh...

I don't believe peace on Earth can be achieved through war or military might, through weapons of mass destruction, through imposing the religious beliefs or the governmental style of one people on another, or through lying and betraying a people's trust. It can't be achieved by using nations as stepping stones, or through attempting to build empires.

That's all good and fine. So how do we start? Again, I don't consider myself a Christian or a particularly religious person. The mention of God in the following lyrics? I guess if a person can believe that the world's major religions represent a variety of ways to reach the same God, the following song can be highly applicable:

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me,
Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be.
With God as our Father, brothers all are we,
Let me walk with my brother, in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now,
With every step I take, let this be my solemn vow,
To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me!


A happy Fourth of July to you all! When I watch the fireworks tonight after our band is through playing at the local stadium, I'll be thinking of what a great country this is... and of the potential it has to be even greater! Our greatness will be achieved not by continuing on our current course, but through a national awakening in which millions of us realize there is a better way, a more humane way, a peaceful way.

Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with... US! Let's get busy, America!