Saturday, November 14, 2009

Swords are drawn in southern Maine

It looks like Portland Buy Local has a new enemy - Scarborough Buy Local.

The Press Herald just reported the formation of a like-minded pseudoeconomic activist group in the city that borders South Portland.

The angle I didn't see addressed in the story was that Scarborough residents will now be discouraged from buying in Portland. This Balkanization of Maine business communities simply means people will be discouraged from buying things from not only out of state, but also out of town. Will the city of South Portland be the next to form it's own "buy local" campaign, or does the presence of Maine's largest mall inside the city limits disqualify it?

What's interesting is the Scarborough Buy Local founder Karen D'Andrea seems to be directly responding to my criticism that Buy Local campaigns only succeed in generating more business to its members.
"The real importance of buy local projects is not about getting businesses more business, it's about the community," D'Andrea said. "This will create a stronger, more sustainable local economy."

Contrast this to what some of the owners of the Scarborough businesses who signed on had to say:

Sue Bayley, general manager of Bayley's Lobster Pound, said she joined to help make the family business more visible to residents.

"Some people aren't aware of what's available to them outside the supermarket," Bayley said. "For the advertising alone, it's well worth the cost of joining."

Joe Palmieri, owner of Chicago Dogs on Route 1, also joined. He said it's a great way to promote small businesses in a down economy.

"Together, we are a lot stronger," he said.

Following this is another reguritation of the "success" story of "buy local" retailers to prove the campaign works. It shows that retailers who signed on did better - or as D'Andrea might put it, businesses got more business. There is no mention of the preservation of community or any improvements to the local economy.

D'Andrea snuck one more howler in at the end.

"This is a relatively new way to do business," D'Andrea said... "

This is a completely old way of doing business - ancient, in fact. The only difference now is people have a choice in where they buy things - they aren't humbled by mere geography and the distance their horse can take them in a day.

I'm sure D'Andrea means well, but for someone who has such a strong interest in economics, she doesn't have a good grasp of the basic concepts.

4 comments:

  1. Another loser who Googled his lousy, [sic] 5 followers Blog, with the Flisiuk name! Like "Miss Louisiana 2009"!

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  2. Have you ever studied Forensic Sciences e.g. charred bodies in the vehicle fires, do you know the difference between: the cause and the manner of death?! Believe it or not, the family could not meet a single physician, except for the pathologist in the morgue! Young an conservative... Then, let me tell you, 25% medical interns and residents are from the Third World Countries on American Federal Grants! From Pakistan (wearing burkas!), Nigeria, Bangladesh and so on... They were kids as ignorant as you. Over hundred of pages of medical records were studied not only by the family, but by the I.C.U. and OB/GYN medical EXPERTS from Baton Rouge (hired by our attorney). The baby was "viable"! Brandon Perez started the one day killing by declaring the baby macerated! The "mentally ill" family never publishes anything hypothetical; only the facts which can be proven. The web sites are not "tied up" yet, but all the threads are connected. You don't like the "political correctness"? Well, that's what Media do! One grants them interview and they edit, and publish out of context. You should know that according to your "credentials". Nobody is looking for someone "to blame", since we know who is to blame. If we were after money lawsuit (refused) it would had been long solved. Except, when they pay from the L.S.U. Fund they also buy their silence! You do not know much about basis of mental illness classification e.g. paranoia and/or paranoid schizophrenia. As a "journalist" you are responsible for the precise terminology, rather than common slung. "Brandon Perez call" is on the telephone records. Furthermore someone had canceled the vehicle's full coverage insurance as the "owner", on October 29th, after Michal Flisiuk had been dead. Contrary to your other comments, the records are PUBLIC! I do not suppose you are equipped to comprehend the complexity of these tragedies. You would have to know nola first... Do you know that in the 21st Century they buried the Katrina victims in the mass grave, without performing DNA tests?! New Orleans is not "All that Jazz", but the Federal corrupted vessel - major port and oil rigs. Its Mafia sells body parts, police orders executions, do your homework. Those who run the City, meet at night at Arnaud's for poker, with their guns next to them on the table. Do not use our name for your promotion, and if you are "ethical" in the published journalism - issue an apology. Ignorance is the root cause of the distraction we endure! Blanka was more mature in her career at the age of 12-13!

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  3. Michael, don't pick up on my mistakes like "distraction", grammar, nor tell me to "go back where I came from" since I was here before you were born.
    My name is Teresa Flisiuk Chrzanowski. I had next to none computer knowledge prior to my daughter's murder in June 2007. I left my job for Criminal Sheriff Office (Fotti; later the D.A.) while my Department was in the process of "computerizing". Yet, it was me who initiated, and kept all the Web spin, and yes, including "bizarre movies" and web sites. Guess what? It worked, so to speak. I know whom I'm targetting and what for. I "accomplished" to attach the crime to the infamous careers of "rising" interns and residents. They even wrote to me whining! The corpses are untouchable and above the law, like "elected official" Frank Minyard, who to his own admission wouldn't be elected even a dog catcher in any other American town/city. Frank Minyard had authorized illegal autopsy in my daughter's death, which was classified as "unexplained death", and "coroner's case". He allowed it to be performed in and by the hospital where she had been killed. Frank is a truly rotten redneck. My husband's body went to the same pathologist, who was involved in my daughter's autopsy, and who was "pissed off" by the "bizzare websites" and overall publicity at my courtesy. The conflict of interest which I had pointed to the Homicide Detective Aucoin, who in turned, ceased our communication. I could go on, but I would like to emphasize TO YOU the power of Media. The WORD can change the World. If it is not compromised...

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  4. I think you meant to post this on a different post

    http://younghipandconservative.blogspot.com/2009/11/story-is-only-as-good-as-its-sources.html

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