Kentucky man buys Kmart inventory, gives it all away

Kentucky businessman Rankin Paynter went into a soon-to-be-closed Kmart store to see if he could help himself to a few bargains. By the time he walked out, he'd helped an entire community. Paynter asked what would happen to the goods that remained on the shelves, and was told that "power buyers" would purchase the inventory. Paynter decided to beat them to it, kicking off a six-hour, four cash register process that left him with $200,000 in merchandise. He donated all of it to charity -- every last item. "This will be the first year we have enough hats, coats, and gloves for all the children that we serve," a Clark County Community Service employee said.

"It's time to give back," Paynter said, smiling.

-MSN

A Kentucky man purchased every last bit of inventory from a Kmart store that was two days away from shutting its doors. But he didn't keep the stuff for himself. Rankin Paynter gave it all way to a local charity.

Paynter spent a total of $200,000 to buy the goods, which ranged from clothes to office supplies. According to a video from WHDH Boston, Paynter was buying supplies for his business when the idea hit. Paynter asked the cashier what they planned to do with the store's inventory when it closed down. The cashier responded that it would go to "Kmart power buyers."

Paynter became a power buyer, bought up everything, and then gave it away. "To be honest with you, I could have made $30,000-$40,000 on it," he said. Paynter has seen a lot of economic suffering at his jewelry exchange. "What I see is people coming in my store, needy people sell their stuff," Paynter said. "It's bad nowadays. I just told (the clerk) let's just give it away to charity."

Paynter is a successful businessman, but he had a rough time when he was growing up. "It was hard sometimes," Paynter said. "Tied rags around my feet sometimes too. I only had summer slippers."

Not surprisingly, Paynter's massive gift to Clark County Community Services was the organization's single biggest donation ever.

-Mike Krumboltz

www.israelovesiran.com

My Facebook page was hit this week by what can only be described as a “status deluge.” One by one, my friends in Israel began sharing, “liking,” and posting a single message: “Iranians, We will never bomb your country, We love you.” I was as moved as I was surprised: one would be hard pressed to find a more sarcastic bunch than my fellow Israelis. But there they were, my friends, and thousands of others, spreading a saccharine message of peace at a time of rising hostilities.

The Israel-Loves-Iran campaign is the brainchild of Ronny Edry, a graphic designer from Tel Aviv who posted the message online next to a photo of him and his daughter. “I didn’t think of it as a campaign until it just became one,” he told me. “At first, some of my friends who saw it told me ‘Are you crazy?’ because it’s very uncommon for people in the Middle East to talk about love, especially about loving the Iranians.” But after a few hours, he said, he started receiving messages from people asking him if they could add the graphic to their profile pictures.

Within forty-eight hours, Iranians heeded the Israeli call—on Facebook. Majid, a thirty-four-year-old landscape architect from Iran, launched an Iran-Loves-Israel campaign that reciprocated the message. “Our main aim is introducing the Iranians to the Israelis and the Israelis to the Iranians,” Majid (who asked not to be identified by his last name because he fears for his safety) wrote me by e-mail. Asked what propelled him to respond to the Israeli initiative, he replied, “While the leaders threaten war and they want to bomb our countries, we (Israeli and Iranian citizens) are already bombarding each other—with love and peace.”

In a statement published on the Iran-Loves-Israel Facebook page, Edry wrote, “To the Iranian people, To all the fathers, mothers, children, brothers and sisters. For there to be a war between us, first we must be afraid of each other, we must hate. I’m not afraid of you, I don’t hate you.” Striking a lighthearted tone, Edry went on to write, “I never even met an Iranian…. Just one in Paris in a museum. Nice dude.” He ended his statement by calling for like-minded people to share his message of peace.

Despite the flowery words, some in the media were quick to point out that the two campaigns are hardly on equal footing: the Israeli version has by now become a cultural phenomenon, with Edry appearing on all the major television networks and narrating a YouTube video in English that ends with a plea for donations. In Iran, the call for dialogue with Israel is more dangerous and therefore more muted as people like Majid say they are afraid of recrimination by their government. And, while many Israelis have plastered the Israel-Loves-Iran meme across their smiling pictures, the Iranian equivalent is largely faceless and appears to be mostly disseminated by Iranians living abroad. Predictably, after the first rush of positive responses came a backlash of spoofs (“Iraqis, We will never bomb your country, We love you” reads the meme under a picture of George W. Bush) and suggestions that the campaign smacks of “slacktivism”—lazy, couch-surfing activism—of the kind that is said to have propelled the by-now famously infamous Kony 2012 video.

It’s easy to see the flaws in this social-media experiment. The Israel-Iran group, apart from the colorful photos and catchy slogans, really hasn’t said much so far; its organizers haven’t put forth a cohesive agenda nor have they lobbied the Israeli or Iranian governments to tone down their threats. Yet to ignore the campaign would be to sadly, gravely miss the point: a new grassroots force seems to have found a unified voice in the unlikeliest of places. (A major anti-war demonstration in Israel is planned for Saturday, though not by the campaign organizers.) And, at least in Israel, the campaign has managed to tap into the disconnect between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who just this month signaled Israel’s willingness to strike Iran, and the majority of Israelis who say they oppose such an attack. “I want to tell people across the world, ‘Look at us, from Iran and from Israel. We don’t want war. We don’t want this shit,’” Edry told me. “The only ones who haven’t responded so far are the ones who will push the button. This campaign forces them to see us.”

During a Facebook chat, I asked Zohreh, a twenty-six-year-old Iranian woman, why she decided to share the Iran-Loves-Israel slogan on her Facebook profile. “War is the last thing I wanted to hear,” she replied. “I don’t feel hate for Israeli people, and I don’t remember that the history of my country had a problem with Jewish people.” It’s hard to predict what will become of this joint campaign; it may yet end with a whimper. But it could also have a surprising outcome. The fact that two women, an Iranian (Zohreh) and an Israeli (me), were able to cross the barriers set by their governments and speak to one another, however fleetingly—call it naïve, but it felt pretty great.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/03/israel-loves-iran-on-facebook.html#ixzz1qOQRMKbq

Women beach volleyball players don’t have to wear bikinis at Olympics

By Chris Chase

Women beach volleyball players won't have to wear bikinis at the 2012 London Olympics. A new rule announced Tuesday says that participants in this summer's beach volleyball competition can wear shorts and sleeved tops.

Athletes in the event have exclusively worn bikinis since the sport was introduced at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Competitors could also wear bodysuits in cold-weather events.

The change was made to reflect cultural conventions of various participating countries.

"Shorts of a maximum length of [1.18 inches] above the knee, and sleeved or sleeveless tops," will now be allowed, according to the new IOC ruling.

Since the Beijing Olympics, most beach volleyball competitions have changed rules to allow for more modest uniforms. It's an attempt to broaden the diversity in the sport, which tends to be dominated by athletes from Europe, Brazil and the United States. Allowing shorts and shirts can encourage participation from countries with more modest cultural beliefs.

As the AP reports, the field at London's beach volleyball competition won't be dictated by world rankings, as in Olympics past. Qualifying tournaments on various continents will fill the 24-team draw.

Elderly man returns cash stolen from Sears in '40s

SEATTLE (AP) — The manager of the Sears store in downtown Seattle says an elderly man has repaid — with interest — cash the man says he stole in the late 1940s.

KING-TV reports that the man hand-delivered an envelope Monday addressed to "Sears manager." Inside were a note and a $100 bill.

The note said the man stole $20 to $30 from a cash registerdecades ago and wanted to pay back $100.

Manager Gary Lorentson says he thinks the man's conscience "has been bothering him for the past 60 years."

Store security cameras recorded the man, but Sears officials said they don't know who he is and they won't release the video.

The store plans to put the money toward helping needy families in the holiday season.

Associated Press 11-28-2011

A Happy Journey Starts Like That!

http://youtu.be/Q1i5es62BGQ

I'm proud of Singapore! We should follow their example. The public transportation there has started a campaign to promote graciousness. They have displayed posters reminding people to head to the back of the bus, give up their seat, and to not try to push and shove to be the first on. They will have secret agents riding the bus and train equipped with free passes to give to those they see "displaying acts of graciousness."

I love this video. I love even more that they are spending time and money to educate the general public on how to be polite. Maybe people just haven't been taught. Maybe they would be happy to comply if only they knew. Maybe if it was more commonly accepted there would be enough social pressure to make them do it even if they didn't want to. Because what it really comes down to is that common courtesy is was separates us from animals and makes us a more divine species.