From: "Gary Britt" 

Until they get angry enough not to follow the local Jesse Jackson du jour
and vote republican will there lives improve.

Gary

"Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
news:44e1fdf9{at}w3.nls.net...
> In many cases inner city merchants can't get insurance otherwise I don't
> disagree with your 1-4 points and would add much higher rates of crime and
> bodily injury to #4
>
> While you might cite the Chicago Wal-Mart recent brouhaha as an example I
> would point that many of the inner city residents there are quite angry
> with the new Chicago laws regarding Wal-Mart and that's not the case for
> all cities.
>
>  As to anonymity, a Wal-Mart employee might call law enforcement on
> suspicion of a purchase - the local gas/party store would not.
>
>
> "Gary Britt"  wrote in message
news:44e1f8a0{at}w3.nls.net...
>> You don't know what worlds I've experienced in my life.  When Wal-Mart
>> wants to bring the large benefits of its much lower prices to the inner
>> city, those who pretend to care about the inner city residents but DON'T
>> organize a bunch of these dumb ass inner city residents and pro-union
>> democrat party loving residents into protesting.  It gives me a great
>> belly laugh at these dumb asses being manipulated by the democrat party
>> operatives into begging politicians not to allow lower priced goods to
>> come into their neighborhood.
>>
>> I disagree on the anonymity issue.  It would be the same because nobody
>> pays attention to someone buying a single cell phone.
>>
>> Things are over-priced in the inner cities for a couple of simple market
>> based reasons:
>>
>> 1.  Higher costs in property insurance and workers comp and unemployment
>> claims.
>>
>> 2.  Purchasers who buy in smaller average quantities and lots making the
>> costs per customer/average sale higher for the store.
>>
>> 3. Higher rates of crime in the store and out.
>>
>> 4. Less competition for customers due to there being fewer competing
>> stores, etc.
>>
>> Then Wal-Mart wants to bring them what would be the single biggest raise
>> in their disposable income in quite some time, and the idiots protest on
>> command to the local politicians not to let Wal-Mart bring them lower
>> priced goods.
>>
>> Gary
>>
>> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
>> news:44e1e311$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>> Not the same anonymity at all.  Also many of these party/gas stores
>>> service inner city neighborhoods with no Wal-Mart in sight.  Everything
>>> from food to *other* items are over priced ( few national retailers -
>>> even banks -  dare to erect stores ) . It's a different world than you
>>> are used to Gary
>>>
>>>
>>> "Gary Britt"  wrote in message
>>> news:44e1dd26$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>> That person would have the same anonymity at Wal-Mart unless he was
>>>> trying to buy 10 at a time or something.
>>>>
>>>> Gary
>>>>
>>>> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote
in message
>>>> news:44e14501$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>> Your focus that a person of Middle Eastern persuasion is the one
>>>>> purchasing the cell phones from the gas station is
erroneous. While it
>>>>> probably is a person requiring some anonymity that
could be anyone
>>>>> from your neighborhood drug runner to Karl Rove.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Gary Britt"  wrote in message
>>>>> news:44e13ac9$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>> You can't buy brass knuckles and stolen OTC
medication (which I
>>>>>> assume is selling for less than Wal-Mart prices),
crack pipes etc at
>>>>>> Wal-Mart. It makes sense there would be a market
for these items
>>>>>> somewhere.  What doesn't make sense is for us to
believe that Abdul
>>>>>> is buying cell phones at the gas station for a
higher price than they
>>>>>> can buy the same cell phone at Wal-Mart.  To
believe that you have to
>>>>>> believe Abdul doesn't shop at Wal-Mart for anything.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Gary
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Rich Gauszka"
 wrote in message
>>>>>> news:44e127c8{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>>> Many of the local gas stations are owned by
the Middle East
>>>>>>> immigrants so the phones are being sold out of
their stores. It's
>>>>>>> really a gray area/sometimes shady  market
that they serve and local
>>>>>>> media in the past has exposed everything from
brass knuckles, stolen
>>>>>>> OTC medication, to crack pipes sold from the
gas stations and party
>>>>>>> stores. We are talking small entrepreneurs
looking the other way
>>>>>>> while they make a buck.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "Gary Britt" 
wrote in message
>>>>>>> news:44e12329{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>>>> Rich, the claim below they are being sold
to local gas stations,
>>>>>>>> etc. seems completely insane to me.  Why
buy from gas station when
>>>>>>>> you can buy the same phone for less at
Wal-Mart.  If the phones
>>>>>>>> were being converted to something not sold
at Wal-Mart or being
>>>>>>>> shipped overseas, then at least the
"its just an innocent business"
>>>>>>>> claim might make some sense, but it makes
no sense at all that
>>>>>>>> Arabs in Dearborn would rather pay higher
price to gas station than
>>>>>>>> buy from the Wal-Mart next door.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Gary
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> "Rich Gauszka"
 wrote in message
>>>>>>>> news:44e11943{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> "Mike N."
 wrote in message
>>>>>>>>>
news:7452e2dfqdtfhug4v0oc9cd4hrfbapn4r5{at}4ax.com...
>>>>>>>>>> On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 19:34:47
-0400, "Gary Britt" 
>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>Where are these cell phones
sold, USA or overseas?  Whose buying
>>>>>>>>>>>them rather
>>>>>>>>>>>than go to the local Wal-Mart
themselves?  Why only Arabs
>>>>>>>>>>>exploiting this
>>>>>>>>>>>"opportunity"?
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>  And if they are indeed reselling
them, what a bunch of dummies
>>>>>>>>>> as
>>>>>>>>>> businessmen!   Why buy in qty
1,000 retail when they could get a
>>>>>>>>>> significant break on that quantity
by buying directly from
>>>>>>>>>> Tracfone.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>  More likely, they are just adding
a level of obfuscation for
>>>>>>>>>> purchasing
>>>>>>>>>> and reselling untraceable cell phones.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> But I thought Gary Britt  loved the
entrepreneur spirit?
>>>>>>>>> 'An independent entrepreneur will buy
the phones for, say, $8
>>>>>>>>> each. He will sell them to a
distributor for $12, making a $4
>>>>>>>>> profit. Multiply that by a thousand --
about the number of phones
>>>>>>>>> the three men arrested in Caro bought
in total -- and you have a
>>>>>>>>> $4,000 profit.'
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060814/NEWS05/60814
0339/1007/NEWS05
>>>>>>>>> It may seem unusual for someone to buy
hundreds of cell phones at
>>>>>>>>> a time, but metro Detroiters of Middle
Eastern descent say that
>>>>>>>>> practice is part of a long tradition
of entrepreneurship in
>>>>>>>>> Arab-American communities.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> From Dearborn to Troy to Sterling
Heights, Arab Americans are a
>>>>>>>>> major part of the cell phone business
in southeastern Michigan. At
>>>>>>>>> least half of the cell phone
businesses in the region are owned by
>>>>>>>>> metro Detroiters of Arab or Chaldean
descent, say business owners
>>>>>>>>> in the industry. Many new immigrants
or emerging businessmen earn
>>>>>>>>> money by buying the cell phones and
then selling them to gas
>>>>>>>>> stations, distributors or stores.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> It's called capitalism, Arab Americans say.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> In Michigan, "you can talk to
almost any family in the
>>>>>>>>> Arab-American community, and they all
have some relative in the
>>>>>>>>> cell phone business," said Warren
David, a Lebanese American from
>>>>>>>>> Northville.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> If police knew that, perhaps five Arab
Americans would not have
>>>>>>>>> been arrested last week on terrorism
charges after they bought
>>>>>>>>> hundreds of cell phones, said David,
who recently sold his cell
>>>>>>>>> phone business to an Iraqi American.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> "If they understood us a little
more, they might not jump the gun
>>>>>>>>> so quickly," he said.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> In Ohio on Tuesday, a store employee
called police after two
>>>>>>>>> 20-year-old Arab-American men from
Dearborn bought a large number
>>>>>>>>> of cell phones at a Wal-Mart. The same
thing happened Friday in
>>>>>>>>> Caro after three Arab-American men
bought 80 phones at one store.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> In the Ohio case, Osama Abulhassan and
Ali Houssaiky were just
>>>>>>>>> trying to make money by buying cell
phones so they could sell them
>>>>>>>>> to a distributor for a profit, family
members said.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> "The two young men were engaged
in a perfectly legal practice
>>>>>>>>> based on the most fundamental
principles of our free market
>>>>>>>>> economy," the Abulhassan family
said in an e-mail.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Here's how the practice sometimes
works, said Nasser Beydoun, head
>>>>>>>>> of the Dearborn-based American Arab
Chamber of Commerce:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> An independent entrepreneur will buy
the phones for, say, $8 each.
>>>>>>>>> He will sell them to a distributor for
$12, making a $4 profit.
>>>>>>>>> Multiply that by a thousand -- about
the number of phones the
>>>>>>>>> three men arrested in Caro bought in
total -- and you have a
>>>>>>>>> $4,000 profit.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> The distributor then will sell the
phones at a higher price to gas
>>>>>>>>> station owners, who in turn sell them
at a marked-up price.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Many people of Arab descent "are
traders by nature," Beydoun said.
>>>>>>>>> "That entrepreneurship should not
be linked to terrorism just
>>>>>>>>> because they are Arab American."
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> For more than 100 years, the
Arab-American community has tried to
>>>>>>>>> turn a profit on everything from
trinkets to watches to electronic
>>>>>>>>> goods.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> In the 1980s, David recalled, blue
jeans were the hot item. And
>>>>>>>>> his Lebanese immigrant grandfather
often bought and sold hosiery
>>>>>>>>> to make a living.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> In metro Detroit, Arab Americans are
believed to dominate the cell
>>>>>>>>> phone industry not only on the retail
level, but also when it
>>>>>>>>> comes to wholesale dealers and
accessory stores. Two of the area's
>>>>>>>>> biggest cell phone chains --  Wireless
Toyz and Wireless Giant --
>>>>>>>>> are owned by Iraqi Chaldeans.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> This practice also occurs with other
goods. In Dearborn, for
>>>>>>>>> example, Arab-American entrepreneurs
buy and sell incense,
>>>>>>>>> lighters and flowers.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> There's a concern that what happened
in Ohio and Caro could hurt
>>>>>>>>> Arab-American business owners.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Abed Ayoub, 26, a Dearborn resident
who often works on legal
>>>>>>>>> issues, said he knows of at least two
cases in recent months in
>>>>>>>>> which FBI agents questioned Arab
Americans after they purchased
>>>>>>>>> large numbers of cell phones from stores.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> "They're just doing business,
nothing more," Ayoub said.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

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