Keith B. Darrell's Blog, page 18

The Fall of An American Icon

If there’s a poster child for what’s wrong with American business, it must be Eddie Lampert, the CEO of Sears Holding Company, based on my recent experience and Lampert’s own history as the head of the company. To review, I first contacted Sears to repair my washing machine 17 days ago. It took a week for the repairman to show up, and when he did he still couldn’t fix it because he needed to order a part. I paid for the part and a package from Sears arrived six days later, only it was the wro...

Broiled and Baked Laundry

It’s two hours since my last blog post. Someone is ringing my doorbell at 7 pm. It’s the UPS deliveryman and he’s left a package at my doorstep, scurrying off into the night like a brown-clad Santa Claus. I see from the return address that this is the control panel Sears has sent me to present to the repairman when he returns in five days to fix my washing machine. But it’s less than a month since Christmas and I can’t resist the urge to open the package. So I do.
The control panel looks a lit...

Another Problem with American Business

Last time, I began a discussion of what’s wrong with American business. I’d like to follow-up with a few more examples. I’ve just started using Windows 10 and I’ve discovered some of my software that worked on the old operating system won’t work on the new one. Case in point: Acronis, an essential program for backing up all the data and programs on your computer. I learned a long time ago not to assume anything, so I decided to call Acronis and simply ask if the latest version of their softwa...

The Problem with American Business

American business used to take pride in doing a job well done. I grew up watching TV commercials of the poor, bored Maytag repairman who had to sit around with nothing to do because Maytag washers and dryers rarely broke down. Then, American corporations were struck by the epiphany that if they built products so well then consumers would wait a long time before purchasing new ones. When a new product was introduced to the market, manufacturers sought to stress quality and reliability. But as...

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Cops and Robbers
A pair of FBI agents set up a bogus movie production as part of an unlikely sting operation to snare a mob kingpin. They buy the worst script in Hollywood and hire a failed movie producer whose career is on the skids; a third-rate aging actress whose claim to fame is having performed Shakespeare… on a cruise ship; an amphetamine-enhanced screenwriter; a hooker; a Yiddish-speaking accountant; a black, flamin...

The Grim Reaper Brings Down His Scythe on 2016

As 2016 draws to a close, I think it fitting we reflect on the enormous loss of talented individuals the Grim Reaper has seen fit to take from us. The year began with the death of Arkansas Gov. (1971–75) and Sen. (1975–99) Dale Bumpers, 90, on January 1. Six days later, character actors Douglas Greer, 94 (Our Gang) and Pat Harrington, Jr., 86 (the building superintendent “Schneider” on One Day at a Time) died. But the first major death of the year came on January 10 with loss of iconic a...

Bad Little Bloggers

Book Riot “editor” Kelly Jensen attacked pseudonymous author Arthur C. Gackley and his publisher Abrams Books, writing: “Abrams, along with Gackley, and the editorial team behind this – who are all listed right in the copyright page of the book – should be ashamed to publish and promote this kind of racist dreck. We don’t live in a world where humour like this is acceptable.”

I don’t know what Book Riot is (apparently it’s a blog), nor do I know who Kelly Jensen is but based on her statement s...

Adios, Fidel

There is one less dictator in the world. The man who betrayed his own revolution and his people is finally dead. Yet another Castro still rules Cuba. The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Russia is at it again, paying a lot of unemployed trolls from India to post “fake news” tributes to the late Fidel Castro, 90, who died on November 25. Make no mistake, Castro was a vile, brutal dictator whose place in Hell has been reserved for him for 50 years. There is a reason why so many...

The Pipeline of Tears

Last year, I witnessed something amazing. A group of Syrian refugee children was being bussed to an American town. Their bus was surrounded by angry, hateful protesters who did not want refugees in their community. Television cameras captured the terror in the children’s faces as they peered out the bus windows at the angry mob screaming at them in a language they couldn’t understand and for reasons neither they nor I could comprehend. And then, an even angrier man approached the crowd.
The lo...