So I go to Russo’s on the way home from work to get a vegetable to eat with dinner. Russo’s is a family owned farmer’s market, and they close at 7pm. Still, shopping there at 6:30, there are employees all over the place, putting things away while customers are trying to shop, while empty registers are left unattended and lines pile up from customers who are just trying to buy one last thing on the way home. In other words, store employees are getting in the way of customers instead of helping them during the last hour they’re open in the day.

This is no way to run an operation.

Russo’s is otherwise a great market that is an absolute joy to shop at. So let me give them my advice. Until 7pm, have all store employees focus on getting customers through the register lines. Then, once 7 hits, let all the employees put things away, signaling to customers that it’s time to go.

Although really, they’d do themselves a world of good by just staying open an hour later.

I just love these latest ads by Citizen’s Energy. I’ve never seen so many poor people acting indignantly before in one place. Really makes me feel good about being charitable.

Paula Abdul looked sloshed to me. What do you think?

We have abandoned the Bush Doctrine. Here it is, for those of you who need a refresher:

The term “Bush Doctrine” initially referred to the policy formulation stated by President Bush immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks that the U.S. would “make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them”. The immediate application of this policy was the invasion of Afghanistan in early October 2001.

So with respect to Iraq, we have apparently reached a point where it’s now considered polite to point out the fact that the roadside bombs that are killing our soldiers over there are not concocted by backyard terrorists in trailer parks, but are sophisticated weapons made in factories within Iran. Observe:

Saturday’s New York Times featured Scott Shane’s page-one article about Iran’s “mysterious” Quds Force. American intelligence agencies are scutinizing the Quds Force because of its apparent involvement in supplying sophisticated explosives to Iraqi insurgents. Quds operatives are in fact hard at work inside Iraq. The article’s thesis — that there is some doubt about the Iranian government’s responsibility for the activities of the Quds Force — hangs on this quote from Secretary Gates:

“We know that the Quds Force is involved,� Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told reporters on Thursday. “We know the Quds Force is a paramilitary arm of the I.R.G.C.,� he added, using the abbreviation for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“So we assume that the leadership of the I.R.G.C. knows about this,� Mr. Gates said. “Whether or not more senior political leaders in Iran know about it, we don’t know.�

So tell me, what’s the relevance? If we are to make no distinction between the terrorists and those who HARBOR them, then who cares if the upper echelons of the Iranian theocracy know specifically about what the Quds are doing? Are we really going to let them off the hook because they left themselves some degree of plausible deniability? Because the evidence of their involvement likely wouldn’t hold up in court? Because it’s not iron clad, or a slam dunk?

It seems to me that the whole point of the Bush Doctrine was to say that plausible deniability of the terrorist activities of your citizens was no excuse. Now, we’re saying that plausible deniabiility of the activities of members of YOUR OWN GOVERNMENT IS an excuse. What progress.

We’re in limbo for two years, until Rudy gets elected president. I can’t wait.

Well, I missed my blog borthday. It was on Saturday. Probably missed it because I’ve been lazy about blogging as of late. But for those of you who want to remember the magic moment, here it is, in all it’s glory.

Word.

Howard Stern announced today he got engaged.

Happy Valentine’s Day everybody!

Related.

So of course, I’m in Boston where all this silliness over some lite-brite took place. And my first reaction was: Who knew guerrilla marketing was even being done any more? And my second reaction was, “Well, that’s the end of that.” Then of course, the obvious dawned on me: this stunt worked better than perhaps any guerrilla marketing stunt had ever worked in history. I knew this was the case when I was listening to Fox News on satellite radio on the way home, and the woman reading the headlines described Aqua Teen Hunger Force as being a cartoon featuring “A milk shake, a box of fries, and a meatball…”

I cracked up.

In fact, in this post 9-11 world, this could usher in a whole new era in guerrilla marketing. Imagine calling bomb threats on behalf of Pepsi. Acting up on an airplane to promote the new Honda CRV. The possibilities are endless.

And then there’s this:

I simply must have one.

Read more about the shirts here.