Monthly Archives: December 2004

Cronkite Remembers the Battle of the Bulge

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Walter Cronkite remembers 1944’s Battle of the Bulge:

Sixty years ago this holiday season, the German army tried to push the Allies back one last time, as World War II neared its end in Europe. Earlier in 1944, the Allied army fought its way ashore at Normandy.
But in December, German leader Adolf Hitler surprised the Allies with an offensive across Belgium and Luxembourg. By Christmas Eve, German forces had pushed the American defense line back 60 miles and trapped the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne.

Audio

My Case for Amateur Snorkeling: Maui Sea Turtle

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Floating in about 4m of water off Makena, Maui, I was startled by the sudden appearance of a sea turtle, swimming out from nearby coral. He was less than 1 meter in front of me, as this 7MB Quicktime movie shows.
I was later told that some people feed them hot dogs, which unfortunately explains his proximity. I was advised to keep an eye on my fingers. Screen saver jpeg sea turtle image (215K). The images were captured with a Canon S70 digital camera and a WP-DC40 underwater case.

Madison’s Third Wave Technologies Apparently Bounces Back

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Kathleen Gallagher visit’s Madison’s Third Wave Technologies:

Since arriving at Third Wave, he has helped guide the closing of two of the company?s three production facilities and the departure of more than 200 employees, stanch the cash drain and transform its product line to emphasize higher-margin offerings.
?He realized as a numbers person that getting profitable was the key to the success of the company,? said Daniel Kane, an analyst at the State of Wisconsin Investment Board. The pension plan manager is the biggest shareholder of Third Wave, holding 13% of its stock as of Sept. 30. ?What they?ve been able to do in terms of developing more products and becoming more customer-focused, that?s something John has understood all along.?
At least initially, Puisis didn?t ask for the job. In October 2001, Third Wave chairman and founder Lance Fors hired Puisis, then an executive recruiter at Egon Zehnder International, to conduct a search for a new chief financial officer – a position the company had not filled even as it went through its IPO.

Martha Stewart’s Christmas Message from Prison

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Well worth reading, Martha posts a Christmas message:

When one is incarcerated with 1,200 other inmates, it is hard to be selfish at Christmas — hard to think of Christmases past and Christmases future — that I know will be as they always were for me — beautiful! So many of the women here in Alderson will never have the joy and wellbeing that you and I experience. Many of them have been here for years — devoid of care, devoid of love, devoid of family.

Shooting the Tube: Hawaii Surf Photographer Don King

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Derek Farrar:

King is particularly proud of a recent project, Stacy Peralta?s big-wave surfing documentary Riding Giants, which this year became the first documentary ever to open the Sundance Film Festival. The film features King?s footage of tow-in avatar Hamilton surfing sixty-foot beasts at Jaws. “It was one of the best swells there ever,” King remembers. “Perfect, perfect waves, and super huge. Riding Giants is a really entertaining, well-made film, and the stuff we shot that day is some of the most amazing surfing I?ve ever been part of. It still takes my breath away.”

Big Farms & Farm Subsidies

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For despite the fact that farm income has doubled in two years, federal subsidies have also gone up nearly 40 percent over the same period – projected at $15.7 billion this year, and $130 billion over the last nine years. And that bounty is drawing fire from people who say that at this moment of farm prosperity, the nation’s subsidy system has never made less sense.
Even those deeply steeped in the system acknowledge it seems counterintuitive. “I struggle with the same question: how the hell can you have such high government payments if farmers had such a great year?” said Keith Collins, the chief economist for the Agriculture Department

Timothy Egan reviews a topic that SHOULD be discussed and acted upon in Washington.

An Identity Crisis at Lands End?

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Aaron Nathans:

“Lands’ End was one of the most brilliant brands of the 20th century, and under Sears, one of the most irrelevant brands of the 21st century,” said Burt Flickinger III, managing partner at the Strategic Resource Group, a retail consultant in New York. “Lands’ End in the Sears stores is poorly positioned in between men’s suits, snow blowers, tools, denim and work clothes.”
As for bringing Lands’ End products into the Kmart stores, Mr. Flickinger said: “J. Crew, Eddie Bauer and Abercrombie & Fitch would never stand to have their brand image eroded by going down-market to Kmart. Kmart is associated more with a rough-and-tumble blue-collar consumer.”

It seems obvious that Lands End will be spun off or sold at some point.