Well, ok, not really. I just thought it'd make a funny title given all the X versus Y stories I've been seeing around. (And hearing a reference to it on the Daily Show didn't hurt.) And I'm still slightly amused that it's actually real movie that's coming to theaters August 13th. (Geez, do I sound like a commerial or what?)
- CostCo versus Walmart:
An article in the Globe [SmirkingChimp] describes the rivalry between CostCo and Walmart (or, more likely, Sam's Club) in the context of political affiliation, with the Costco peeps backing the Dems and the folks from Walmart backing the GOP camp.
The differences are based on more than ideology: Each retailer has a stake in the election's outcome in areas from healthcare to the minimum wage to the way unions can organize workforces.
I was a bit disappointed that the article seemed to suggest that their political allegiances were largely based on the benefits they and their companies would receive based on each candidate's respective fiscal policy proposal. In my mind, I saw it as reflections of competing values -- one set putting a premium on profits and the aquisition of personal wealth , the other looking beyond the bottom line and considering what other people (such as employees) need (which in turn does benefit the company). But no matter how you look at it, it at least gives me a reason to feel less guilty about shopping at a big, national warehouse chain like Costco.
. . .
Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco offers comprehensive health insurance to most of its 78,000 US employees, making it eligible for Kerry's plan, said Kerry's top domestic policy adviser, Sarah Bianchi, 31. That may cut 10 percent, or $35 million, off its annual healthcare premiums.
Wal-Mart's health plan for its 1.3 million US workers is probably not broad enough to qualify for the savings that Kerry's proposal would bring, since it doesn't cover enough workers, said Jason Furman, 33, the Democrat's chief economic policy adviser. Fewer than half of Wal-Mart's employees are enrolled in the company health plan, according to figures supplied by the retailer.
Costco wouldn't have to raise salaries with Kerry's proposal to increase the minimum wage to $7 an hour, from $5.15 now. It already pays hot-dog vendors as much as $16 an hour, and the lowest wage it pays is $10 an hour. That's higher than the $9.96 average wage paid at discount stores bearing the Wal-Mart name.
- Koppel versus Stewart:
From Slate, a description of the showdown between Ted Koppel and Jon Stewart on Nightline.
But after the commercial break, something unforeseeable happened on Nightline: an anchorman showdown! What began as a casual media-on-the-media puff piece turned into a fascinating five-minute referendum on old and new ways of looking at the meaning and purpose of television news. In a one-on-one chat on the deserted convention floor after the day's festivities had ended, Koppel, in his low-key, dignified, What-Me-Worry way, got medieval on Stewart's ass.
I wish I could have seen this, but my television viewing is generally limited to DVDs and the TiVo'd Daily Shows and Sox games at a friend's house.
- Polls versus Terror Alerts:
Ok, I'm kind of forcing this one into this format, but I wanted an excuse to post this. In the wake of the latest announcements, here's a timeline (and the handy chart) that correlates news unfavorable to the administration and terror alert announcements.
Note that as of this writing, the latest announcement appears to have been corroborated by blowing the cover of an Al Qaeda informant. Why doesn't that make me feel any better?
And why isn't this getting reported in the mainstream media?
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