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<DIV><FONT size=4>Joan writes of the proposed WalMart Supercenter:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>"What a disgusting, tacky, <FONT color=#ff0000
size=5><STRONG>trashy</STRONG></FONT> prospect."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Perhaps Joan has suggested a really viable
compromise: The WalMart Supercenter can be located at the
landfill.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><BR>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<BR><A
href="mailto:deco@moscow.com">deco@moscow.com</A><BR></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=joanopyr@earthlink.net href="mailto:joanopyr@earthlink.net">Joan
Opyr</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020 Moscow</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, November 16, 2005 7:27
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] Wal-Mart cause and
effect</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Jeff Harkins, in his list of businesses that have opened in
Moscow since the arrival of Wal-Mart, makes the most common of logical errors,
i.e., post hoc, ergo propter hoc, meaning because of ABC, XYZ happened. I'll
give you another example of this logical fallacy: all of the businesses that
Jeff cites have opened since Melynda and I moved to Moscow. Therefore,
lesbians are good for business! If it weren't for sodomy, you straight folk
wouldn't now be shopping at Winco, Staples, or the fabulous expanded
Tri-State. Just for the record, Tri-State is *the* store of choice for lesbian
fashionistas! That's where we all get of our guns, knives, and prom attire.
<BR><BR>Here's a question: what Moscow businesses have closed since the
existing Wal-Mart opened? K-Mart. Tidyman's. Ken's Stationery. The Beanery.
Creighton's. The Main Street Deli. The Nobby. The Spudnik. Myklebust's.
Karen's Ice Cream. The Army Navy Store. The Emporium. The JC Penney's. Ernst
Hardware. The Chevron on the corner of Third and Jackson. Is Wal-Mart to blame
for all or any of these? I don't know. And who -- apart from Jeff Harkins --
is willing to make a post hoc, ergo propter hoc argument regarding these
closures? <BR><BR>I'd be willing to argue that Ernst is a direct casualty of
Wal-Mart, but I'd use another rationale for my analysis: proximity. The study
I forwarded to the list earlier suggests that proximity to a Wal-Mart has a
direct effect in terms of both benefit and detriment. Restaurants near
Wal-Marts often see an increase in business; hardware stores, on the other
hand, go tits up.<BR><BR>Jeff asserts that hard data should win this argument.
Well, there's an old saying among accountants: figures lie, and liars figure.
We don't need a Wal-Mart Supercenter period, but we sure as hell don't need
one across from the Moscow Cemetery. What a disgusting, tacky, trashy
prospect. <BR><BR>Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment<BR>www.joanopyr.com<?/bigger><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica><BR><?/fontfamily>
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