J.C. Penney's Bizarre Broadcasts, EU Gives Up On Austerity, China's Big Move And More

May 29, 2013 Subscribe · Forward Inside J.C. Penney's Bizarre Broadcasts As sales flagged inside J.C. Penney and employees chafed at constant changes, Ron Johnson, the ill-fated chief executive officer tasked with engineering a turnaround, regularly addressed workers via internal broadcasts that only made him seem distant and out of touch, company insiders told The Huffington Post. Every 25 days, workers at the roughly 1,100 J.C. Penney stores throughout the country were called into training rooms to watch a video address from Johnson, sources told HuffPost. The broadcasts were typically billed as celebrations of another milestone in the reclamation supposedly underway under his tenure, including "Ron Johnson's 50th Day at J.C. Penney" and "Ron Johnson's 100th Day at J.C. Penney." Continue reading... Struggling Euro Nations Finally Realize The Austerity Isn't Helping Largest Chinese Takeover Of A U.S. Company In The Works Here's What Really Happens When You Slash Taxes On The Rich LOOK: This Billboard Is Inciting Controversy Walmart Pleads Guilty To Dumping Hazardous Waste 10 Unusual Jobs That Pay Surprisingly Well LOOK: This Billboard Is Inciting Controversy Papa John's CEO Apologizes For Racist Rant LOOK: This Billboard Is Inciting Controversy Papa John's CEO Apologizes For Racist Rant Walmart Pleads Guilty To Dumping Hazardous Waste ROBERT REICH Beware Capitalist Tools My modest suggestion that governments become the agents of their citizens in bargaining with global capital should hardly raise an eyebrow. But capitalist tools are acting worried that average citizens may be starting to see what's really going on. Continue reading... ROGER HICKEY Apple: Bad Model for 'Tax Reform' -- California, New Tax Thinkers, Chart a Better Way A political mobilization by citizens is clearly necessary to prevent politicians in the Senate and House from embracing the corporate version of corporate tax reform. Continue reading... JARED BERNSTEIN Tar Sands Oil: You Can Stall It, But I Doubt You Can Stop It Though what we should be arguing about is the cost/benefit ratio of extracting oil from tar sands, instead we're arguing about whether its delivery mechanism -- the pipeline -- is up to code. Once again, we're missing the endangered forest for the trees. Continue reading... DEAN BAKER Excel Spreadsheet Error, Ha Ha! Lessons From the Reinhart-Rogoff Controversy The story of the Reinhart-Rogoff error tells us a great deal about how the elites use economists and the prestige of the economics profession in order to impose their will on the public. Continue reading... MAGGIE JACKSON Why Google's Idea to Get Technology 'Out of the Way' Is Short-Sighted Today, the popular idea that our devices should fade into the background -- exemplified by Google's aim to get technology 'out of the way' via its Google Glass -- is alarming. If technology becomes invisible to us, we risk losing sight of how it shapes us, for good and for ill. Continue reading... Received this from a friend? Sign up for alerts from The Huffington Post here. Unsubscribe here. Huffington Post, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003