Springfield, IL

By Jim Hightower

In Through the Looking Glass, Humpty Dumpty declared, "When I use a word, it means what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less."

Mr. Dumpty would have loved living in our era of corporate-speak, when even a plain word of obvious meaning can be dumped down the semantical rabbit hole to be swirled and twirled by marketing meisters.

Then - sproing! - out it pops, looking like the same word, but now burdened with a convoluted connotation that is the very opposite of what the word appears to mean.

This corporatization of language is presently being applied to the common term, "local" - as in: right here, in the immediate vicinity, this neck of the woods, hereabouts.

In the past few years, "local" has become an important commercial term, as small businesses have proudly attached it to their products, services and presence in the marketplace. The term differentiates them from the gigantism, plasticity, aloofness and frequent abusiveness of faraway, big-box, chain operations. The message conveyed by these local enterprises is that "we are your neighbors, you know us and we know you, we share a community bond beyond just taking your money."

"Local" is a growing movement in American commerce. Some 30,000 small businesses have organized themselves into "local business alliances" in more than 130 cities. The movement is phenomenally popular with consumers, who like the personality and uniqueness of homegrown enterprises and prefer to buy from people who keep consumer dollars moving through the local economy.

As a result of the movement's financial success, many more businesses are joining the local push. For example, such down-home outfits as Barnes & Noble, CVS, Frito Lay, HSBC, Starbucks, Unilever and Wal-Mart are trying to get in on the action.

Believe it or not, these giants are using TV ads and other promotional outlets to hawk their centralized, standardized and globalized brands as "local." Here are two of the twists they've made in the straightforward definition of the term:

- Barnes & Noble, the biggest bookseller in the world, is trying to scale its image down to mom-and-pop level by proclaiming that "all book-selling is local."

- Starbucks, the ubiquitous 16,000-store caffeine purveyor, has been losing market share to cool, local shops that are the opposite of cookie-cutter chain stores, so the giant is opening a series of pretend-funky shops designed by corporate headquarters to present a "local vibe" - a consumer hoax that includes no display at all of the Starbucks name and logo.

These examples are closer to loco than they are to local!

Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance recently reported on a "buy local" campaign in Fresno, Calif., in which county authorities sold out the true locals (as well as the English language) by proclaiming, "Just so you know, buying local means any store in your community: mom-and-pop stores, national chains, big-box stores - you name it."

As rationalized by Michelle Barry, an executive of the Hartman Group: "There is a belief that you can only be local if you are a small and authentic brand. This isn't necessarily true; big brands can use the notion of local to their advantage as well. ... It's a different way of thinking about local that is not quite as literal."

Wow, Humpty Dumpty would be proud of her! By that definition, "Made in China" could be local.

Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, columnist and author.

To connect with the "literal" world of local business, contact the Capital Area Independent Business Alliance, a coalition of central Illinois independent businesses at www.ibuyspi.com or via email info@ibuyspi.com. Nationally contact the Institute for Local Self-Reliance: www.ilsr.org or the American Independent Business Alliance at www.amiba.net.

Capital Area Association of REALTORS®

The Voice for Real Estate^TM in the Capital Area

SPRINGFIELD (September 23, 2009). The median single-family home sale price decreased while unit sales increased in the Capital Area during August 2009, according to the Capital Area Association of REALTORS® (CAAR) Multiple Information Service.

Home sales in the Capital Area during the month of August amounted to 370 units, reflecting an increase of 6.9 percent over August of 2008. Year-to-date home sales through August of 2009 revealed 2,405 unit sales, down 4.5 percent from year-to-date through August of 2008.

For the month of August 2009, the median home sale price (for all single-family homes and condominiums) was $110,000, reflecting a decrease of 2.1 percent from the $112,300 August 2008 median price. The median sale price for year-to-date through August 2009 was $110,000, reflecting an increase of 4.5 percent over the same period in 2008. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more, half sold for less.

According to CAAR president, Nancy Long, ABR, CRS, GRI, "it is clear that our market is experiencing the full effects of ideal homebuying conditions, the pent-up demand for housing and the rapidly approaching deadline for the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit," said Long.

The inventory of homes for sale at the end of August was 1,626, reflecting a 19.1 percent decrease from the 2,081 homes for sale during the same time last year. Current inventory levels stand at 1,594 homes, which continues at a four year low. The current inventory level reflects about a 5.6 month supply at the average monthly sales pace during the past twelve months.

The number of sales pending at the end of August was 399, reflecting a 3.4 percent increase over the 386 sales pending at the same time in 2008. The average cumulative days on market in August of 2009 was 94 days reflecting a decrease of two days from the same month in 2008 and an impressive drop of 34 days from the cumulative days on market during the previous month of July. The average cumulative days on market for year-to-date through August of 2009 was 114 days, reflecting an increase of 7 days from the same period in 2008.

"Right now the $140,000-199,999 range is the fastest moving price range. However, one of the most improved price points is in the $200,000-299,999 range. In July of this year homes from $200,000-249,999 took 215 days to sell whereas in August that number dropped to 98 days. Likewise, during July of this year, homes in the $250,000-299,000 range were taking 230 days to sell while that number in August plummeted to 84 days, said Long.

"REALTORS are urging Congress to extend the tax credit beyond the fast-approaching deadline of December 1 to enable more people to take advantage of it and to help sustain the housing recovery. While current market indicators are very good we shouldn't be fooled as to why. Clearly the tax credit has had an impact on this ongoing recovery and I would hate to see it end abruptly and risk the potential of a double-dip recession", said Long.

"For those first-time homebuyers that plan to take advantage of the first-time homebuyer tax credit time is truly of the essence. If these folks do not yet have a home under contract this needs to be done by mid-October to allow plenty of time for the appraisal and inspection process. It should be emphasized that the transaction must close by no later than November 30th in order to qualify," said Long.

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. reported that the national average commitment rate for 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgages was 5.19 percent in August 2009, down from the 6.48 average rate during

................ Ass

The pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won.

The pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again and it won again.

The local newspaper read:

"PASTOR'S ASS OUT FRONT"

The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he
ordered the pastor not to enter the donkey in another> race.

The next day, the local paper's headline read:

"BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR'S ASS"

This was too much for the Bishop, so he ordered the pastor to
get rid of the donkey.

The pastor decided to give it to a nun in a nearby convent.

The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following
Headline the next day:


"NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN"

The Bishop fainted.

He informed the nun that she would have to get rid of the
donkey, so she sold it to a farmer for $10.

The next day the paper read:

"NUN SELL ASS FOR $10"

This was too much for the Bishop, so he ordered the nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild.

The next day the headlines read:

"NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE"

The Bishop was buried the next day.

The moral of the story is .......being concerned about public opinion can bring you much grief and misery...even shorten your life.

So be yourself and enjoy life.

Stop worrying about everyone> else's ass and you'll be a lot happier and live longer.

HAVE A NICE DAY!!

An elderly gent was invited to an old friend's home for dinner one evening.
He was impressed by the way his buddy preceded every request to his wife
with endearing terms such as: Darling, Honey, My Love, Pumpkin, Sweetheart,
etc. The couple had been married almost 70 years and, clearly, they were
still very much in love.

While the wife was in the kitchen, the man leaned over to his host, and
said, "I think it's wonderful that, after all these years, you still call
your wife those loving pet names."

The old man hung his head. "I have to tell you the truth," he said. "Her
name slipped my mind about 10 years a go, -- and I'm scared to death to ask
the old bitch what it is."

--
Thomas E. Connell

As The Station, a Springfield-based national touring funk/rock/jam band, celebrates 10 years of being together as a functioning unit in 2009, the nucleus of Dave Littrell (vocals, guitar, sax) and Dave Carter (drums, percussion) with Kevin Lemen (guitar) announces the addition of Springfield bassist, Jeff Cunningham, to the lineup. The Chatham native who plucks the 4, 5 and 6-string basses as well as a fretless and a standup acoustic, played with Dave and Dave in Three Amigos a few years back and also worked with LowPhat, Soul Pudding, Senses, Los Injectors and other bands in recent years. His amazing improvisational skills and awe-inspiring musicianship should coalesce well into the free form flying of The Station as the group continues to tour and begins production of a fifth original music recording.

The Station
Sat., Sept. 19, 10pm
Marly's Pub
www.TheStationMusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/thestationmusic