This is the Insurgent Radio Kiosk for Tuesday, October 8th
Hightower Commentary
Action Calendar
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How small can a giant supermarket chain get?
Do you shop at a Kroger supermarket? Or maybe at Ralph’s, Fred Meyer, King Sooper’s, or… well, never mind, all of these and more are part of the vast Kroger fiefdom of 2,759 grocery stores spanning the US, plus owning 38 food processing plants, 1,556 gas stations, and 251 jewelry stores. In short, Kroger is BIG – sacking up revenues topping $121 billion a year from us consumers.
Yet, for all of its mass and money, Kroger has recently shown itself to be pathetically small – small as in petty, snooty… bullying.
The chain’s carefully crafted PR image portrays it as “America’s Grocer” – wherever you are, they claim to be your friendly neighbor and dedicated community supporter. So imagine the surprise of real neighbors this month when aloof executives in Kroger’s faraway Cincinnati headquarters turned on hundreds of communities in 35 states by arbitrarily tossing out all local newsweeklies and community papers that had been distributed in the stores free of charge.
While establishment newspapers that peddle the corporate line – from hedge fund-owned dailies to the Wall Street Journal – are still allowed to sell their papers inside Kroger, customers can no longer find racks of their free local papers. In such major cities as Colorado Springs, Lansing, Louisville, Memphis, Omaha, and Salt Lake City, these unique papers are in the historic tradition of America’s pamphleteers,and independent populist weeklies. They cover a wide diversity of local stories, offer alternative viewpoints, publish investigative exposés, report on community events, and otherwise actually let people know what’s happening in their town.
By shutting out these community papers, Kroger is literally banning the free press from its stores. That’s not only unneighborly – it’s unAmerican.
Hightower’s commentaries are brought to you by The Hightower Lowdown, the monthly newsletter with Hightower’s take on what Wall Street and Washington are up to. For information, visit hightowerlowdown.org.
It’s today’s Action Calendar!
A free Health and Resources Fair will be held from 8:45 to 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday, October 9th at the Madison Senior Center, 330 West Mifflin Street. The event will feature over 30 vendor tables and free health screenings. Keynote speaker Dr. Robert McGrath will speak on “ Thriving at Any Age: Guidelines for Living a Happy and Healthy Life”. Dr. McGrath provides Mind/Body Wellness Services at University Health Services. For information, phone 266-6581.
All are invited to a Voter Education Ambassador Training session on Wednesday, October 9th from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the Madison Municipal Building, 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. The session is an opportunity to work with the City Clerk’s Office on voter outreach efforts with the goal of having each eligible voter cast a vote and having that vote counted. For information, visit clerk@cityof madison.com.
The Goodman Community Center Older Adult program offers a regular calendar of activities and resources for living well for adults age 60 and over. See old friends and make new ones while you enjoy gentle exercise, delicious meals, favorite games and other programs. No reservations or registrations are required for meals and programs. For details, call 608-204-8032, or email gayle@goodmancenter.org.
The Insurgent Radio Kiosk welcomes your commentaries on subjects of interest to the W.O.R.T. listening community. Commentaries are limited to two minutes. If you’d like to do a Kiosk commentary, visit wortfm.org/kioskcommentary.
The Kiosk is available online at wortfm.org/kiosk.
This has been the Insurgent Radio Kiosk heard weekdays at 5:00, 6:30 and 9:00 AM and at 2:00 PM. I’m Gil Gamesh. Submit announcements at least ten days in advance of the event at www.wortfm.org/kiosk/announcements.
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