Thursday, January 30, 2014

Trader Joes expired food store increases bureaucracy and class divide



In the past week there have been dozens of stories announcing that Doug Rauch, Trader Joe's Ex-President, is launching a Store Selling Expired Food including many reports on the nightly news. They declined to point out a few basic facts that many people seem to have forgotten which were widely known thirty years ago.

Over the past thirty years the agriculture and retail business has consolidated into a small number of corporations which they often tell us is much more efficient; Wal-Mart even spends an enormous amount of money buying ads to tell us this over and over again. They also spend a lot of money on ads telling us that they deal directly with suppliers and that their food is fresh.

Few if any of these ads stand up to a minimum amount of scrutiny whether they come from Wal-Mart or Trader Joes.

One of the simplest things that they routinely fail to mention is the fact that factory direct, or in the case of produce farm direct has been dramatically reduced if not completely eliminated. Another important fact is that they ship things much farther with globalization than they used to which means that they spend more of the money on subcontractors, shipping and other bureaucratic expenses involved in a complex system instead of the production of the food or other kinds of products.

They rarely if ever mention the fact that the mark ups from original production is much higher than it used to be so the people that do all the work to put value into it aren't the ones that are getting the vast majority of the money we give corporations. And how can anyone fail to see that if they only sell expired food that other stores won't sell then it means they're adding one more step to the process by shipping it one more time which makes it even less efficient. And it takes time to ship which means that it will be even farther past it's expiration date.

Any one that remembers the way they used to do things or shops at some good grocery stores that still do rotate their food properly might quickly recognize the problems with this. I vaguely remember one time where they briefly told me in school that grocery stores routinely rotated their food and that they had a standard operating procedure to minimize the amount of expired food, or at least the good ones did and still do.

That doesn't apply to some stores that have been cutting costs to increase profits as far as I can tell; I don't know how Trader Joes has been handling things but I know that Wal-Mart has been relentlessly cutting corners based on orders from the corporate office and that some of the stores have been caught selling expired food or even replacing the labels with later dates.

Other stores still remark some of their food, not to change the date but to reduce the price, when they come close to their expiration date and if you look closely at the labels they usually aren't that confusing and they say recommended sell by date and a reasonable person can judge, depending on the product, how much additional time is reasonable for use it or lose it time.

On top of that people used to understand that fresh produce was a seasonable thing and that when they were out of season they were either buying imports or canned food. Some things like potatoes kept longer and people didn't worry about them.

This simply wasn't that complicated thirty years ago.

The reason why simple things are routinely forgotten, if you rely on the commercial media for your information is that they have a totally different objective then the majority of us and the economy serves one purpose for them and another for us.

Most of us want to get the things that we need to improve the quality of life in the most effective way possible.

They want to increase their profits in the most effective way possible and since they have consolidated control of the commercial media they use it as a propaganda machine to convince those that don't pay attention that the most effective way possible is for us to trust their so-called experts on the economy and business.

Increasing bureaucracy by adding another step in the food chain without improving lives for most if not all workers and consumers isn't going to do anything to improve the effectiveness of the economy if the objective is to improve the quality of life; however if the objective is to find another way to increase profits without benefiting the consumer there is still a chance that it might work, although, in this case I doubt it.

For some strange reason the commercial media decided this was worth a lot of attention over the past week but they don't provide much coverage at all for alternatives like those that recommend a more local and truly efficient economic system that rolls back all the changes that have taken place over the last few decades that aren't really improvements at all.

Even though the traditional media does little or nothing to inform the public about the more effective improvements to the economic system that would benefit all, not just those that control large corporations, Bill McKibben, Susan Clark and Woden Teachout and several other lower profile researchers have reported on how a lot of small communities have been dramatically changing things at the local level and some additional things that could be done on a larger scale as well.

Unfortunately it is unlikely that you will find much if any coverage of them on the traditional media outlets. I haven't seen any coverage, unless you count Democracy Now, which is generally considered alternative media, although apparently they have all received a token amount of coverage; but without knowing where to look for it many people including myself miss this coverage, instead I found out about them from alternative outlets.

I don't like to be cynical about the bad coverage coming from the commercial media but finding one problem with their coverage after another has become routine. I occasionally try to find the exception but they are rare and they seem to be limited to things that don't impact profits for the relatively small number of people running the Six Conglomerates That Control 90% Of The Media In America. Many of the alternative media outlets are also plugs for corporate America too so they actually control more than 90% of the media. But with time and fact checking it is possible to find more credible sources with a much lower profile.

Ex Trader Joe's president to open store selling expired food

Slow Democracy.org based on book by Susan Clark and Woden Teachout, includes additional resources.

Bill McKibben's "Deep Economy" PDF copy.

Bill McKibben's "Deep Economy" at his home page

If any of you would like to support the cause in return for the free E-Book from Bill McKibben you can do so by either donating at his page or to 350.org which also provides additional information.

On another note I updated my recent post, North Dakota explosion forgotten already now Walpole, Omaha, Mississippi, and many others also quickly fading into memory hole, about the lack of coverage on the volume of gas explosions and other environmental disasters based on some additional news. The following has been added to the bottom or you can see the whole post at the previous link.



Edit: No more than a few days after I posted this another major explosion took place in Manitoba. When I first saw the coverage of it they only spent about twenty seconds reporting it and it quickly fell from the headlines of the traditional press as well. Earth First Journal also reported on a dramatic increase in these explosions as well. This was based on a traditional news story that doesn't seem to have been widely circulated by most of the traditional press. Without alternative outlets looking for many of these low profile stories many of us would surely miss them. Also I Googled a few more of the stories about explosions from Mississippi, as I said I might and added them below. these are still only a miniscule fraction of the explosions and other environmental disasters.

TransCanada Natural Gas Pipeline Explodes in Southern Manitoba

More Oil Spilled From Railcars in 2013 Than in Previous Four Decades Combined

Natural gas pipeline explodes near Otterburne, Man.

Tank barge explodes on Mississippi River at Sunshine 04/25/2010

Mississippi River Barge Crash: Barge Carrying 80,000 Gallons Of Oil Hits Railroad Bridge, Leaks 01/27/2013

Gas line explodes near Batesville, Mississippi 11/21/2011

One dead, seven injured after explosion at Donaldsonville Louisiana plant 06/15/2013

Cherokee Nitrogen plant explosion shakes multiple counties 11/13/2013

Nuclear Blasts in Mississippi 10/22/2964

1 dead, 8 injured in explosion that leveled part of Alabama apartment complex: video 12/17/2013


Monday, January 27, 2014

Bloopbert Breaking News! Leaked transcripts for Jay Carneys beard conference!



Here at Bloopbert News we have exclusive news that you won't see anywhere else!

We have obtained a transcript of a conference in the White House from before Christmas where they decided about the advantages of Jay Carney growing a beard for propaganda purposes. There should be absolutely no doubt about the authenticity of these transcripts since they came from an incredibly trustworthy anonymous source that has absolutely no credibility.

Jay there are a growing number of people that don't seem to believe you much any more and this is creating a problem which seriously needs to be a dressed.

What do you want me to do about it? I keep giving them the lines that you tell me to.

Yes of course but we still need to do something to make you seem more credible.

Perhaps we should review the material that we tell him to give the public and make sure it is more accurate.

(At this point everyone turns and stares at the junior aide who said that with shocked looks on their faces that seemed to make him feel uncomfortable.)

(With a friendly expression on his face one of the other aides asks:) Good point John, what exactly is it that you think is the problem with some of the material that we have been feeding to Jay so he can pass it on to the public?

Well some of the statements that we've been making haven't been close to the truth and perhaps they would believe us more often if we were more honest with them; for example the Affordable Care Act does absolutely nothing to reduce bureaucratic expenses like lobbying and advertising that are being passed on to the public and we shouldn't give them the impression that it does.

Excellent point John I'm really glad you brought that up.

Perhaps we should do exactly as you say.

I don't suppose you could come up with more suggestions about corrections like that that would help restore Jay's credibility?

Well I suppose I could come up with a few.

Great, I'm glad to hear that; this would be much more helpful if you could wright a report on that; do you think you could do that?

Well yea I guess I could do that.

Good I'm glad to hear that; I move that we adjourn this discussion until we get his report and move on the the other item on the agenda.

What would that be?

That would be a national security matter and I'm afraid you don't have the clearance for that yet but I would really appreciate it if you could get me that report as soon as possible.

(After he leaves everyone breaks out laughing.)

Can you believe he said that?

Yea we get those types once in a while but we know how to take care of them.

What are you going to do when he writes up his report especially if he does a good job.

Are you kidding he'll never get it done by the time he has a chance to start it I'll arrange for him to be given some useless task that is presented as an emergency and then within a few weeks we'll arrange to have him transferred to Alaska or something so he'll never come up with those types of suggestions again.

Lets get back to business how do we figure out a way to improve Jay's image without actually addressing the concerns of the majority of the public. I think What we really need is a way to make him look real folksy kind of like Fred Thompson only we want to target a more liberal constituency that might not like his politics.

Yea that Fred Thompson seems really friendly to conservatives and they seem to fall for just about everything he does. He has a lot of old people buying into the reverse mortgage scam so that we can find a way to impose a virtual death tax on the lower classes without implementing it on the richest of us.

Yea that is great and he did an excellent job peddling all that gold for a while until they pulled the plug on the company he pretested.

I don't remember that.

That is the great thing; neither does hardly anyone else so they just started doing the same thing all over again with a different name; and the company actually went right back into the scam and everyone forgot about and they fell for it all over again.

But we need a more liberal version so we can convince the Democratic patsies to fall for it.

What do you think should he wear an earring or grow a beard or something?

Right wingers will go wild over an ear ring and we'll never hear the end of it.

How about the beard then?

Yea I think that would be much better and they might talk about it a lot so we can reduce the amount of time that we have to spend actually addressing the issues, not that we've had problems coming up with ways to do this.

What do you think Jay do you want to grow a beard?

(Jay smirks and rubs his chin.) I don't know.

Come on Jay do it for the team.

Well OK since you put it that way I'll do it. Do you want me to start growing it right away?

Maybe it would work better if you got a head start for a little while so it wouldn't look like Nixon's five O'clock shadow. How about if you take a fewdays off during the Christmas season and come back from vacation with a beard?

That sounds good; I guess I could do that. after it grows for a while do you think I should let it get really long and perhaps even try to appeal to the Patriotic people by wearing a flag as a bandana?

It might appeal to peoples patriotic views and still seem cool.





I don't know if we should go that far quite yet but we can think about it for the future.

Yea perhaps we should do a study on that look to find out if it will backfire; we can have the public relationship people do that.

In the meantime Jen Psaki's doing a great job flirting with the public and acting as if all the issues she deals with is a joke and a lot of the zombies are falling for that hook line and sinker.

Yea that works especially well with the guys and a lot of the girls to that want to be the cool girl in high school.

She can be dumb as a door nail and people will fall for it every time as long as she flirts with them.




The White House was unwilling to respond to questions about whether or not he decided to shave his beard after hearing that this transcript may have been leaked. They claim that he shaves so that he could rig a bet for Ann Compton to avoid discussing it any further.


Thursday, January 23, 2014

North Dakota explosion forgotten already now Walpole, Omaha, Mississippi, and many others also quickly fading into memory hole.



It wasn't that long ago that there was an explosion in North Dakota and there was a significant amount of news about; but it has quickly faded from the headlines and most people are almost certainly already forgetting about it.

Shortly after that there was an incident in Walpole Massachusetts where a fire broke out at a gas station and this received much less national attention but it is already fading from the local headlines. These smaller ones might seem less important but since they happen more often and get less attention that might be misleading. This was followed up by another explosion in Omaha and reports of many safety violations that should have warned people of the problem and polluted water in West Virginia.

If a couple of these incidents are still getting any coverage from the traditional media they will surely stop soon without much if any follow up.

As I began writing this the news reported another one in Mississippi.

When I Googled "explosion Mississippi," before I even found the article for it they gave me a long list of suggestions which led to even more explosions of a variety of types including some additional recent ones that I never even heard of as well as some that date back years and have been forgotten by most people assuming they heard of them at all. This is just Googling for one out of fifty states. It doesn't take long to find a long list of these if you Google them or look at an alternative media outlet like Earth First! Journal or other environmental news outlets with much fewer resources than the traditional commercial media. Without even looking very hard it doesn't take long to find a comparatively small sample of additional stories that clearly indicate that if I or anyone else took the time they could create a much bigger list of incidents that are only reported at the local level and quickly forgotten with little or no attempts to scale back the enormous amount of environmental damage that is taking place at an epidemic level.

If the enormous amount of environmental damage doesn't seem to be at an epidemic level to many people it is almost certainly because of the lack of comprehensive coverage that they're getting from higher profile media outlets.

They clearly have other priorities.

While these incidents get reported briefly and often only locally before they're forgotten the commercial media continues to sell an enormous amount of air time to oil, gas and coal companies to tell us about how safe their products are an how beneficial they are for us.

It isn't hard to find much more reliable and well sourced material that indicates that these propaganda ads don't stand up to the most basic amount of scrutiny; yet they're the ones that get repeated over and over again to the majority of the public.

Vladimir Lenin allegedly said "A lie told often enough becomes the truth;" this isn't quite true but it does successfully convince an enormous amount of people that it is true so more accurately perhaps it should be "A lie told often enough becomes the perceived truth."

The oil companies and media outlets selling ads seem to know this, whether or not the quote is from Lenin, and they're making an enormous amount of money selling their lies to the public.

Who is it that that really pays for all these propaganda ads? If oligarchies use their market power to pass on their expenses to their consumers wouldn't it be reasonable to conclude that the public is financing all the lies that are being told to them indirectly?

How could anyone doubt that? Well of course there are plenty of propagandists that would dispute this assumption or ridicule it; but do you think their claims will stand up to scrutiny?

Fortunately there are many more alternative news outlets that are covering them although many people still aren't aware of them yet; but they are having some degree of success calling for action including the following excerpt.

Speak Out! Stop Climate Suicide

As the death toll rises from the devastating typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, we know that our small world is connected. Scientists and climatologists continue to tell us that superstorms are made more likely, more severe and more frequent as warming oceans build the intensity of storms like Sandy and Haiyan. The Philippines Climate Change Commissioner gave an emotional message to the UN climate change talks now underway — one we should heed, even as we scramble to help the living. Complete article


I don't doubt that Climate Change is a major problem but it isn't the only one as people can see by looking at the long list of disasters that are mounting without proper coverage; and many of these are much simpler and easier to see that they're a serious problem, unlike Climate Change which can be more confusing for people to understand. Or at least it would be easy to recognize the problem if they reported on it properly but the commercial medias quickly forgets things and moves on to the next obsession du jour without much if any follow up on how to address problems.

Fortunately as reported by "Earth First! Journal" many of these protest have begun to achieve some successes especially at the local level but they aren't being reported by the traditional press anymore than the full extent of the damage. If more people knew that they could make a difference they might try more and reform things even more.

I suppose this could interfere with the short term profits of the commercial media and their advertisers which might have something to do with why they don't report on them.

Susan Clark and Woden Teachout authors of "Slow Democracy" also wrote about how many communities have made a difference although they have had problems including a Pennsylvania attorney general who sued one of these towns that imposed stricter protection rights than the state or federal level claiming that, “There is no inalienable right to local self-government." Fortunately most of these ordinances go unchallenged in courts since corporations find it easier to go elsewhere and on top of that if they went to court they would have to make a case against democratic self government and environmental protection and this could be a public relations disaster even if the commercial press ignores it since it would add one more thing they don't report and they would lose more credibility to the alternative outlets.

They might have a good case if they were arguing that the people have "no inalienable right to local self-government" because they're using it to suppress the civil rights of a minority like they did in the fifties and sixties but under the current circumstances it might sound like the profits of corporations are more important than the health and even lives of the majority of the public.

Actually if people reviewed the materiel that is already available, mostly from alternative outlets, or scattered in the traditional press where it is hard to find, our government and corporations are acting as if the profits for their campaign contributors are much more important than the health and lives of the majority of the public especially from those that have the least amount of political power.

Regardless of what the Pennsylvania attorney general and other defenders of corporations want The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund and a growing number of towns are making a stronger case for an inalienable right to local self-government, assuming it isn't used to suppress peoples civil rights, and if more people knew about it then it would be much more difficult for corporations to profit off of negligible mass murder through environmental destruction. I don't consider it an exaggeration at all to refer to this as "negligible mass murder" since there is an enormous amount of evidence to support this claim if people look at it, including some of the deaths that are directly related to many of these explosions and many more that are related to the environmental destruction that increases diseases and kills people in slower ways that propagandists and lawyers can cover up especially with the help of corporate financed "research" which investigators like Bill McKibben and Lawrence Lessig have exposed as biased if not out right fraudulent.

To add insult to injury many of these people have limited access to affordable health care despite the name of Obama's misleading bill; partly due to the fact that insurance companies use a large portion of the money they get from premiums on political purposes, bureaucratic expenses and advertising instead of going towards health care, not to mention their excessive profits which should be considered the result of an extortionary system.

The next thing you know our lawmakers will start claiming that peaceful protesters that want to prevent the destruction of our environment are "terrorists."

Actually that has already happened.

The following are a relatively small percentage of the disasters that have been happening. If I continue searching "explosion Mississippi," or some other states or countries I could and might add many more and I still won't expect to find more than a miniscule fraction of the total.

Oil Train Derails Causing Explosions, Hazmat Incident in North Dakota

Breaking: BNSF Crude Oil Train Explosion

Officials Urging Evacuation of 2,400 Residents Near Oil Train Derailment



Another Bakken Shale Oil Train Derails and Explodes: This Time, in Alabama

Police: Dump truck rolls over Route 93 guardrail into Dorchester Bay, traffic delayed

Omaha explosion: Rescue operations resume



Walpole Gas Station Worker Injured In Fiery Crash

Worker killed in Mississippi refinery explosion, fire 11/15/2013

The Aftermath of a Chevron Pipeline Explosion 11/22/2013

1 killed, 3 injured in Mississippi pipeline explosion 07/15/2009

Hurley's Jeremy Moore killed in Mississippi Phosphates' explosion 06/01/2012

Explosions, fire reduce Mississippi biodiesel plant to rubble 01/22/2014

Cascadia Forest Defenders Called “Terrorists” by Oregon Lawmaker

Fire destroys ancient Tibetan town in SW China

Three CP Train Cars Carrying Coal Derail in Burnaby, B.C.

Founder of the company that poisoned West Virginia is a twice-convicted felon

Water wars come to Texas

ELN (National Liberation Army) Bomb Columbian Oil Infrastructure

Fate of Exxon’s Burst Arkansas Pegasus Pipeline to Be Decided in 2014

Federal Government Warns Against Oil Trains, Gives Them Tax Breaks

Peru Police in the Pay of Mining Companies

West Virginia Chemical Spill Triggers State Of Emergency, Widespread Tap Water Ban

Anarchists Torch Coca-Cola Christmas Tree in Mexico City

Moscow, Russia: ELF Torch Excavator and Dozer During New Year Festivities

Peru Ignores UN and Pushes Ahead with Deadly Gas Project

Anti-Road Demonstrations in Burgos Have Caught the Spanish Government’s Attention

I’m From West Virginia and I’ve Got Something to Say About the Chemical Spill

2013 Saw Many Environmental Wins — But Too Many Losses

Oil leak on Massive Pipeline Pushing Tar Sands through the Great Lakes

Following Neil Young’s Money

Spain: Anti-Gentrification Riots in Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza; Temporary Victory in Burgos

Goldcorp Mining in Guatemala: Water Deprivation and Militarized Expansion

Train Carrying Crude Oil Derails on Philadelphia Bridge



Edit: No more than a few days after I posted this another major explosion took place in Manitoba. When I first saw the coverage of it they only spent about twenty seconds reporting it and it quickly fell from the headlines of the traditional press as well. Earth First Journal also reported on a dramatic increase in these explosions as well. this was based on a traditional news story that doesn't seem to have been widely circulated by most of the traditional press. Without alternative outlets looking for many of these low profile stories many of us would surely miss them. Also I Googled a few more of the stories about explosions from Mississippi, as I said I might and added them below. these are still only a miniscule fraction of the explosions and other environmental disasters.

TransCanada Natural Gas Pipeline Explodes in Southern Manitoba

More Oil Spilled From Railcars in 2013 Than in Previous Four Decades Combined

Natural gas pipeline explodes near Otterburne, Man.

Tank barge explodes on Mississippi River at Sunshine 04/25/2010

Mississippi River Barge Crash: Barge Carrying 80,000 Gallons Of Oil Hits Railroad Bridge, Leaks 01/27/2013

Gas line explodes near Batesville, Mississippi 11/21/2011

One dead, seven injured after explosion at Donaldsonville Louisiana plant 06/15/2013

Cherokee Nitrogen plant explosion shakes multiple counties 11/13/2013

Nuclear Blasts in Mississippi 10/22/2964

1 dead, 8 injured in explosion that leveled part of Alabama apartment complex: video 12/17/2013


Monday, January 20, 2014

Bickering over Prism continues to ignore ECHELON and minimize disclosure!



After more than six months of sporadic news about the Prism program leaked by Edward Snowden the traditional media has stopped paying much attention to it at all; and when it does come up it often involves more bickering than any real reforms or new disclosures. This is also the case with some of the highest profile alternative media outlets.

As I pointed out previously in Is “Prism” news? or is it ECHELON? the program that Edward Snowden claimed to be exposing wasn't really news at all. It has all the same characteristics as ECHELON, which was disclosed widely no less than thirteen years earlier, before the attacks on 9/11 even happened and it was first exposed in 1989 although at that time it didn't receive nearly as much attention. Very few news outlets, including most alternative news outlets seem to have acknowledged this problem at all yet ECHELON was reported on Sixty Minutes and several other high profile and reputable news outlets including the National Geographic and the characteristics clearly are the same.

It wasn't long before conspiracy theories began appearing and some of the contributors began arguing with each other and I followed it up with Are Naomi Wolf, Edward Snowden, Prism, and ECHELON, dividing us? The bickering has only escalated although there hasn't always been much coverage of it in the traditional news.

Unfortunately some of the good reporters that have exposed a lot of news worthy stories have begun arguing with each other and in some cases some of them have even adopted the same deceptive tactics that the traditional commercial news routinely use as indicated in the following article.

Greenwald Responds to Critics, Rejects Conspiracism

The story of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has dominated the mainstream news for the last seven months. During that time, questions about Snowden and his disclosures have framed the national discussion about domestic surveillance. Those disclosures have not resulted in any changes to U.S. domestic surveillance practices to date. Instead, the U.S. Justice Department has re-certified the programs in question as Americans discuss media talking points like—Is Snowden a traitor or a hero? A growing number of people are looking behind that media-generated framework, however, and are beginning to wonder if the right questions are even being asked. ......

The biggest hurdle to understanding the Snowden story has been the emotional reaction to asking questions about it. Those who have dared to question the story have been met with ridicule and misplaced condemnation.

Author Naomi Wolf asked some straightforward questions about Snowden’s slick introduction in comparison to other whistleblower stories. Her questions elicited derision from pundits, some even suggesting that if Wolf didn’t buy into Snowden then she must be an NSA operative.

Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds’ questions were met with ad hominem attacks from Greenwald. Writing that Edmonds was “too stupid and/or crazy to know,“ Greenwald summarily excused the founder of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition from further dialogue on the issue. ......

Now, however, Greenwald labels those who question why the documents are being held back as “conspiracy theorists.” In Greenwald’s response, he rants about “people who cook up conspiracy theories” and how “deranged those theories are.” These comments reflect the position of Greenwald’s new media partner Jeremy Scahill with regard to questions about the official account for the 9/11 attacks. Scahill has publicly said that he believes questions about 9/11 are “insulting to the people who died on 9/11.” Scahill claims to be educated on such questions but apparently still doesn’t know that it was the 9/11 victims’ families who initiated such questioning and who continue to lead the search for answers. Complete article including related links


It wasn't that long ago that David Gregory tried to read Glenn Greenwald and The Guardian out of the journalism club; Gloria Allred claimed he wasn't being neutral when releasing information and Alan Dershowitz said Glenn Greenwald: "did this because he hates America." These claims didn't hold up to the most obvious scrutiny and they did more to discredit those making them than they did Glen Greenwald, assuming the people listening thought things through. If one relatively small group of journalists decides who is or is not eligible to be a journalist without reviewing all the facts especially ones that they might not like that is more biased than those being excluded. The claim that Glenn Greenwald might not be entirely unbiased might actually be true but neither are those that blindly go along with the program. In many cases the establishment media perception of neutrality isn't actually neutral at all; instead they often portray those that agree with the establishment neutral and those that disagree as biased.

Alan Dershowitz's claim that Glenn Greenwald "did this because he hates America," is even more absurd assuming the disclosure that he is making are legitimate which he didn't seem to challenge. The best interest of America involves allowing them to have all the information they need to participate in the decision making process and it doesn't involve covering up bad decisions based on false claims of "national security." For a long time I had the impression that Alan Dershowitz was a credible civil rights activist; however when I heard about his carefully staged torture hypothesis and started looking closer it became clear that the more I knew about him the less credible he actually was.

If anything they seemed to do more to add to Glenn Greenwald's credibility than to smear him, assuming the public took the time to think things through. A significant portion of the public has been falling for this propaganda for a long time but with the quality of it deteriorating that percentage almost certainly is decreasing. the bigger problem is that he didn't reveal enough or put it in its proper context by acknowledging the fact that ECHELON was much older than Prism.

Sibel Edmonds and Glenn Greenwald Twitter conversation (or a slightly different version of Sibel Edmonds and Glenn Greenwald Twitter conversation) did far more to damage Glenn Greenwald's credibility than either David Gregory or Alan Dershowitz; and it wasn't primarily because of what Sibel Edmonds had to say; instead it was how Glenn Greenwald responded by using ridicule without addressing her concerns properly which might indicate that he might not have been able to do so.

Jeremy Scahill also did more to raise doubts about himself than his critics could have when he attempted to use appeal to emotions by saying that questioning the official version of events on 9/11 is “insulting to the people who died on 9/11,” when some of the people who raised questions were relatives of those people and there are major overreactions even if the official story is true and additional questions about whether or not the activities of the U.S. government might have incited these attacks even if they were taken by surprise.

There are a growing number of claims that some of the leading alternative media outlets are "gate keepers," which might address some of the most important issues but then decline to go as far as they could or should in many cases. whether this is intentional or not there is ample evidence to indicate that there might be something to it. Some of these claims have surrounded the funding of many of these alternative media outlets, which may raise some legitimate concerns but in many cases the strongest evidence that something like this might be going on is that many of the best issues aren't being addressed by either the alternative media or the mainstream press. The inadequate coverage of ECHELON and Prism is a strong indicator that there might be something to this. Some of the people that are addressing these issues might not always seem as rational or credible, at least to some people but until more reputable sources start doing a better job addressing all the issues then it might be worth looking at some of the so called fringe sources once in a while.

If there is a single source that can be trusted for everything all the time I haven't found it; and occasionally I have found that some of the most absurd sources get somethings right, or perhaps close, when the more reliable ones are ignoring or misrepresenting them.

Unfortunately at least to some degree whether the intention was to confuse the issue and make most if not all people involved in this bickering and distract people from more important issues or not it seems to have accomplished that. To minimize this no one should try to imply that we should completely stop listening to one source or another or dismiss everything they say without consideration although in many cases it is necessary to chose priorities and Glen Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill have both lowered their own credibility with their own actions even though they have been among the best sources for a lot of information in the past. In all fairness I also have some doubts about some of the issues that Naomi Wolf has raised as well but that is part of the process of sorting through all this contradictory information.

Some of the most important issues isn't even related to the ECHELON or Prism program so even though some effort needs to be made to sort through this it shouldn't be allowed to distract people from more important issues including environmental damage and wars based on lies. In many cases there are more reliable sources about how they have lied about all wars going back decades and many people still haven't paid enough attention to it, and they might be the ones tat would be most easily distracted by this bickering. If many members of the public don't remember ECHELON properly they might also not remember the Pentagon Papers and the fact that they clearly indicate that the war in Vietnam was based on lies and had absolutely nothing to defend freedom or democracy; or they might not remember the Iran contra scandal and the Contra drug connection or the October surprise story that was not addressed properly by the political establishment in the first place.

If more people understood what our government has been doing then they might be much more outraged and that is almost certainly why there may be so much effort by so many people to keep them distracted.

If the most important things that Edward Snowden released wasn't news at all then why did they hype it up so much? Is he really a whistle blower at all or is this a massive social research project of some sort that reveals bits and pieces of the truth under a controlled basis mixed in with disinformation so that they have a minimum impact? These assumption seem absurd but the actions of our government are also absurd and some of the evidence to support the belief that something major is wrong with the way they're presenting it is enormous and obvious, so obvious that some people might think that they wouldn't do something so foolish, yet they appear to be doing just that.



As I finish writing this Obama has been promising to reel in the NSA's activities; there are a couple of problems with that. The NSA began these activities long before they're willing to acknowledge and they continue to misrepresent it repeatedly. When they discussed the possibility that they would establish "Total Information Awareness" or TIA they already had ECHELON up and running doing the same thing and when the public was outraged and they agreed not to start TIA, ECHELON was still running doing the same thing. It is just one of many broken promises and they have still done little or nothing to disclose the vast majority of their activities, except when they've been leaked and then they threaten the leakers even when they don't seem to be leaking anything new like Edward Snowden.

And of course we now know how Barack Obama keeps his campaign promises.

“When I'm president, one of the first things I'm going to do is call in my attorney general and say to him or her, I want you to review every executive order that was issued by George Bush, whether it relates to warrantless wiretaps or detaining people or reading e- mails, or whatever it is. I want you to go through every single one of them and if they are unconstitutional, if they're encroaching on civil liberties unnecessarily, we are going to overturn them. We're going to change them.” Candidate Obama in 2007

The following are some related articles; whether they're worth sorting through, instead of other stories about environmental destruction, war based on lies or how credible some of the sources might be is up to you to figure out.

Transcript of President Obama’s Jan. 17 speech on NSA reforms Transcript of President Obama’s Jan. 17 speech on NSA reforms

Glenn Greenwald—of all people!—lashes out against “conspiracy theories”

Legal Insurrection Beware Glenn Greenwald bearing leaks

ECHELON Today: The Evolution of an NSA Black Program Before PRISM there was ECHELON

Contradictory & Highly Troubling Questions on Guardian’s Snowden Coverage

Mr. Snowden, It’s Time to Come Out and Take a Stand Publicly as to Your Intentions

BFP Roundtable Video 2– Glenn Greenwald & Checkbook Journalism

Greenwald-Omidyar Joint Venture: The Blurring Lines Between Being A Source & Being A Journalist

NSA’s ECHELON: The Predecessor of PRISM

5 Reasons that Both Mainstream Media – and Gatekeeper “Alternative” Websites – Are Pro-War

Why I Can No Longer Defend Glenn Greenwald as Merely a Dupe in the Snowden Psyop

Manufactured Hero Edward Snowden: Losing my religion

Manufactered Hero Edward Snowden: Paving the Way for New CISPA

Echelon Spy Network Secrets To Be Revealed in Megaupload Copyright Case

Kim Dotcom claims US spied on him through Echelon

Project Echelon And Edward Snowden

How Did A Guy With A GED End Up With Top Secret Clearance At The NSA?

Is Glenn Greenwald’s Alternative Media Network Another CIA Mockingbird Operation?


Monday, January 13, 2014

Elizabeth Warren is a charismatic propagandist not the Messiah!



Before the 2012 election was even done there were many people in the commercial media that seemed to think that Hilary Clinton would be virtually guaranteed to get the nomination for president if she decided to run and they were providing a lot of coverage to indicate that some of them thought this would be great for the Democratic Party.

At the time I thought it was way too early to come to such conclusions and that Hilary has been exposed as a bad candidate numerous times which only became worse with some of her activities as Secretary of State. In fairness this isn't the first time I came to this conclusion and was wrong when I came to a similar conclusion about John Kerry, who did wind up getting the nomination, although he lost the general election.

However, this time it seems as if Hilary Clinton is a far worse candidate and it would be come even more obvious after four years of speculation and scrutiny. On top of that Elizabeth Warren appears to have a campaign of some sort promoting her over Hilary. As some of you might know I began taking a closer look at Elizabeth Warren in 2011 when I wrote a blog post, "How sincere is Elizabeth Warren?" This was followed up by several other posts the most recent were Elizabeth Warren is NOT a “consumer advocate!!” and Elizabeth Warren's propaganda overlooks many flaws!

There seem to be an enormous amount of people that have come to the conclusion that she is a grass roots candidate that represents the majority of the public unlike the vast majority of the politicians that are in Washington and get coverage from the commercial media.

A close look doesn't support this assumption at all; she has been part of the establishment since before the majority of the public knew much if anything about her and she has indicated loyalty to the Democratic Party and Barack Obama since the beginning. The positive media coverage about her began before many people at the grass roots level picked up on her implying that they may have responded to that coverage; or in some cases her grass roots supporters might not actually be grass roots supporters at all; instead they may be political operative acting at the grass roots level which has been quite common for a long time.

Elizabeth Warren clearly is charismatic and she has been coached like many other political candidates on how to appeal to people's emotion; and she has done this quite well.

As I have indicated before she has supported some token causes which are legitimate and this has received an enormous amount of positive coverage; but she has been unable to push much if any improvement in these issues. She still gets the credit for trying although I'm not convinced that she deserves it nearly as much.

Unfortunately on many of the other issues she has been supporting many of the positions that many populists oppose, although this has been much quieter and she has received credit for some things that she hasn't even done, like leading the opposition to Lawrence Summers in favor of Janet Yellin. The closer I look the more it is clear that she is more concerned about protecting the current establishment and taking the side of the Democrats against the Republicans even though it should be clear that neither of these parties is truly representing the public; instead both parties spend an enormous amount of time collecting money from the wealthiest people in the country and supporting their interests while pretending to represent the public.

She is following a similar pattern of behavior that many other politicians have done in the past including Barack Obama. He made many of the same promises that she did but as soon as he was elected president he started reneging on them. He was attacked as a great threat to business but when it came to to act on it he sided with Wall Street instead of standing up to them.

Elizabeth Warren has already indicated that she is doing the same. As I indicated in previous posts she is supporting The Affordable Care Act instead of pushing for Single Payer Health Care; she supports voluntary disclosure for GMOs instead of passing required disclosure; she has taken on gambling lobbyists as advisers and remained silent on the issue; she has refuted what she calls Juliet Schor's "Over-consumption myth" despite the fact that it was her term not Schor's and many people are buying an enormous amount of things that they have no need for and that does nothing to improve their quality of life. Juliet Schor and other more reputable researchers have gone farther and investigated how marketing to children has contributed to an enormous amount of consumer waste and how it is having a negative impact on education; while Elizabeth Warren has been silent on this issue and many others.

And yet despite a close look at most of her position on the issues and the fact that she is also collecting funds from wealthy contributors as fast or faster than other politicians there seems to be an enormous amount of propaganda indicating that she is a grass roots candidate and some of this is even coming from alternative outlets that often do a much better job providing news than the traditional commercial media.

One of the latest examples is an article that has been posted on at least half a dozen of the most popular alternative news outlets, "Elizabeth Warren Comes Down Hard Against Global Warming, Separates Herself From Hillary Clinton on Climate Change." How does she "Comes Down Hard Against Global Warming?" someone else writes a letter and she signs it along with about 20 other congressmen.



That's it. she doesn't start speaking out repeatedly on the subject nor does the article say that the authors, Henry Waxman and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, or the rest of the signers of the letters are "Coming Down Hard Against Global Warming."

This also happened with her opposition to Lawrence Summers even though she appears to have been Mostly Absent In The Left’s Fight Against Larry Summers; and she said that that Lawrence Summers "made terrific contributions to the field of economics," and ignored the fact that her candidate, Janet Yellen also Urged Glass-Steagall Repeal And Social Security Cuts, Supported NAFTA.

This is just a small part of the efforts that seemt o be promoting a presidential run although there are also signs that she isn't including the fact that she says she’s not seeking presidency, also "she has signed a letter urging Clinton to run." It is hard to see how this could be compatible, although this isn't that uncommon in politics. How is she going to portray herself as the alternative to Clinton while also encouraging her to run? regardless of how she might do this, it is just one more example where she appears to be supporting conflicting positions indirectly. By signing the letter she gets credit for opposing Climate change which is repeated over and over again and by supporting Clinton she does the opposite but this isn't repeated as often; also many of her other positions like her rebuttal of the "over-consumption myth" also contribute to pollution and climate change.

She also provided opposing views about Clinton previously in her book where she talks about how Clinton initially opposed an "awful bill" as first lady until she raised money from the financial sector and supported the same bill as senator. This involved essentially criticizing Hilary Clinton for changing positions once she got in office which is typical of politicians and now Elizabeth Warren seems to be doing a similar thing herself. Now that she is office she is more interested in raising money for the party, serving the interests of her contributors and providing rhetoric for the public.



Just like most other politicians.

A close look at the following article which has a title indicating that Elizabeth Warren is a "populist," but may provide content to indicate that she is more interested in supporting the party than the public provides further indication of this.

One year in, Warren not shying from populist aims

WASHINGTON — Elizabeth Warren seems tired as she sits down in her straight back office chair at the end of a long rookie year in the Senate. But her voice suddenly rises when her favorite subject comes up, the populist ideas on which she has spent the last 30 years. ......

She also promised to spend more time fund-raising and campaigning for Democrats in the upcoming Senate elections, saying it is crucial that her party maintain a majority so she can continue to hold banks accountable. .....

They cheer her for pushing regulators to crack down, including an agreement in June by the Securities and Exchange Commission to force more financial institutions to admit wrongdoing when they settle cases. They credit her with pushing President Obama to nominate Janet Yellen as chairwoman of the Federal Reserve instead of Lawrence Summers, the former treasury secretary and Harvard president who many on the left saw as too closely aligned with Wall Street. ....

Some former critics have quieted down now that Warren is in the Senate. During last year’s election, the political director of the Chamber of Commerce, Rob Engstrom, said “no other candidate in 2012 represents a greater threat to free enterprise than professor Warren.” The Chamber declined to comment for this story and said its annual congressional score card would be out in March.

But Warren has worked with some Senate Republicans and has not generated the type of resentment in the chamber that Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and other Tea Party Republicans have for their more provocative tactics. She called her time working on a proposal to regulate banks with Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who has praised her command of the issues, “just plain ol’ fun.”

“My sense is that she thought some about how to present herself to her colleagues and to the country before she assumed office,” said William A. Galston, a Brookings Institution scholar and former adviser to President Clinton. “My sense is that Warren has done a pretty good job of balancing the visibility she has with buckling down and doing her job as a senator.” ..... Complete article


This indicates that she believes that it is more important to preserve the power of the Democratic party than it is to convince the Democratic party to support many of the issues that the public want. At times she and many other politicians criticize all the campaign contributions that are being collected and the selling of access, as if they're going to do something about it; but then she says that she is going to "spend more time fund-raising and campaigning for Democrats." Then when it comes time to pass legislation she represents the campaign contributors just like any other politician and she's having, “just plain ol’ fun,” doing so.

A common claim is that being outspoken might be good for getting elected but when it comes to "getting things done” politicians have to avoid upsetting each other and this often seems to mean don't rock the boat and negotiate behind closed doors as usual.

Then what is it that they "get done?”

The agenda of their campaign contributors?

So it would seem and despite all the propaganda that is being spread aobt Elizabeth Warren she isn't doing any more than any of the other politicians representing the public. If she really did want to get things done that actually represent the public not the campaign contributors then she might need some help and the most effective way to get this help would be to wake up the public. She could do this by being much more outspoken about many issues and do more to educate the public. The commercial media would have a hard time ignoring her is she did so now.

The most important thing about her might not be the rhetoric that she is coming up with but many issues that she simply declines to discuss. For example, if she really was concerned about climate change and workers rights then she could bring much more attention to the fact that we the U.S. exports more cotton than any country in the world thanks largely to government subsidies which benefit the corporations but provide little benefit for workers since they do it all by machine; then they ship it half way around the world to take advantage of low wages. When it is manufactured into clothes it is much lower quality than the merchandise that used to be made in the U.S. since they have been gradually cutting the manufacturing cost while increasing shipping lobbying and advertising costs over the past thirty years. The result is that wages are suppressed and consumers get low quality products so that they have to replace them much more often; which means that the only people benefiting from these practices are the campaign donors.

Or she could draw more attention to the fact that both the gambling industries and the insurgence industries operate on the same principles. This means collecting money from the customers in the form of either bets or insurance premiums; using some of it for their overhead and profit then returning the rest to the customer in the form of winnings or insurance payments. This means that the average customer can't possibly get a full return on their money, although a small percentage might make out better while the rest do much worse. If this is more widely understood then people would know they should minimize both these activities and when they have to do efforts should be made to minimize the wast.

But the opposite is being done. Instead of minimizing expenses so they can serve their customers both industries use a portion of the money they collect from their customers to lobby against the interests of their customers and buy up propaganda ads to convince more consumers that it is worthwhile even though it clearly isn't.

Or she could be more outspoken about many other issue which she remains silent about.

Why isn't she?

Could it be that she is representing her contributors?

If they thought they might not be able to rely on her to remain silent about exposing their propaganda tactics in a much higher profile manner would they have given her the coverage she needed to get elected?

Almost certainly not!

This is not just wild speculation; we have enough reason to believe this is the case, since many others have been consistently outspoken on some of these issues although they haven't all covered all the same material; and these people can't get any coverage from the commercial media even when they do get a lot more real grass roots support that doesn't start after media coverage of them. A modest sample of these people include Bill McKibben, Jill Stein, Susan Linn, Juliet Schor, Robert McChesney, and many more people that the CEOs of commercial media can't rely on to do their bidding, so they can't get much if any coverage to express their vies to a larger audience.

Many of these people drive the grass roots pressure to finally get things done; but when the politicians finally give in and provide a token amount of reform they give the credit to someone they promoted that didn't do nearly as much to push for it.

This isn't unprecedented; when it became clear that they couldn't continue to support the Vietnam war and John Kerry began considering his political career he switched positions and opposed it and received credit as a leader of the anti-war protesters even though it began while he was still supporting it. Now that he is the Secretary of Defense he is now back on the other side supporting arm sales around the world and promoting more wars, which, by the way, Elizabeth Warren either supports or remains silent about.

The reliance on charismatic leaders that often are made to seem like saviors or messiahs is standard operating procedure for the political establishment but it should be for a sincere democracy. Instead of relying on charismatic speakers more should be done to educate the public about the issues so that they could actually participate in the decision making process.

The fact that so many people at the grass roots level seem to be helping her is even more reason why people should learn to focus more on the issues than the sources. We could wind up with another situation where we get a token amount of reform and a handful of new reformers rise to power and then just start doing many of the same things with no more reform than they need to appease the public.

If we were going to have a messiah come and save the day it would have already happened. If one came from God as many people seem to expect then he might have to explain why God didn't send him much sooner, assuming we actually allow scrutiny for our messiahs; which is the problem with many charismatic speakers; in stead of checking facts many people just trust their leaders who routinely betray that trust, once they recognize they aren't being scrutinized properly. Before the last election there was a lot of propaganda that portrayed Barack Obama as the one that would save the day and they had a lot of satires about it too. He didn't turn out to challenge corporate power anymore than Elizabeth Warren and she is a strong supporter of him despite the fact that he doesn't come through for much at all.

The following are some additional articles on Elizabeth Warren including some that criticize her, or perhaps provide propaganda for her, even from some sources that are usually more reliable.

Elizabeth Warren comes down hard against Keystone XL, the Kochs—and Hillary

Populism Rising? Senator Elizabeth Warren

One year in, Warren not shying from populist aims

Thank you Elizabeth Warren boosters for reminding us how unappealing Hillary is

Elizabeth Warren obtained federal fee waivers despite high 6-figure income and 8-figure net worth

Worth $14 million, Elizabeth Warren thinks she's not a wealthy investor

Bernie Sanders on 2016: His Candidacy, Elizabeth Warren and the Clintons

Elizabeth Warren for President in 2016 movement Wiki

Daily Kos: Elizabeth Warren: 'Now, more than ever, the U.S. needs a strong labor movement' Propaganda from the Daily Kos for Elizabeth warren isn't surprising, as I found out when I had an account there and was Censored at Daily KO which pretends its promoting democracy

Elizabeth Warren says she’s not seeking presidency also, Hillary's Nightmare? A Democratic Party That Realizes Its Soul Lies With Elizabeth Warren

Huffington Post Stephan Richter: President Elizabeth Warren

Candidate or Not, Elizabeth Warren Has the Right 2016 Message John Nichols


Monday, January 6, 2014

Wal-Mart Crime report December 2013



If I ever have occasion to visit Wal-Mart for one reason or another and I happen to notice a naked woman participating in an attempted shoplifting spree I might be a little surprised.

But not a lot!

If I notice a drunk driving a motorized scooter inside the store I might find this a little surpising too, but not a lot.

If it comes to my attention that there are people that got super glued to the toilet as a prank this won't be too surprising either.

The reason none of these would be too surprising to me is because I know that they aren’t unprecedented. The number and variety of strange things that happen at Wal-Mart just keep rising. It would be tempting to say that “now I’ve heard it all,” but every time I think this might be the case some one comes up with another one.

These things can seem quite amusing and they could provide entertainment for many people but they could also be used to understand what causes many of these problems and try to solve them.

When it comes to any activity that might indicate that people with political power, like those that control Wal-mart, might be implementing policies that might impact some of the social problems, though, the research is often not even done or if it is done, perhaps by a grass roots organization concerned about social problems, it is ignored by the political establishment and the media.

A large number of these incidents continue to occur and in some cases there are indications that Wal-mart policies might be a contributing factor. In other instances this might not be immediately apparent; but a review of how Wal-Mart contributes to poverty and poverty contributes to social problems might demonstrate a connection. And of course there are also instances where Wal-Mart policies won’t be a contributing factor at all; but the point is that little or no effort is made to find out.

One of these incidents indicates that some police departments allow Wal-Mart’s private security to control the investigation of an incident that led them to believe there might be a bomb because the surveillance system was private and they “can’t just go in there and start looking at their stuff,” and an officer adds, “But when or if they find something, they’ll give us a call.” This should raise concerns since many of these incidents involve employees that might be involved or because Wal-Mart has a history of covering up things that might be embarrassing to them including when their security procedures often overreact, or if their employees retaliate against oppressive store policies.

There was another report where Wal-Mart was caught covering up expired food with a more recent date; another incident where a syringe was found on the premises, this time in a sweat shirt which stabbed a boy who stuck his hand in the pockets of his Christmas gift; it was in the same state, Washington, as the last one. There was also an incident where a car chase that began with a shoplifting resulted in an accident killing an innocent bystander.

There were several incidents where disgruntled employees or customers acted out including one where a customer angry about their return policy called in and threatened to shoot up the store and one where an employee shot up the car of another employee who won the employee of the month award. According to the article, “after the award was announced Mitchell started arguing with the victim about their workload,” and ironically it goes on to say, “Investigators said they’re still stumped on the exact motive for the shooting.”

I’m not convinced they do an adequate job considering the possibility that some of these customers or employees might have some legitimate grievances even if they don’t justify their reactions. There continue to a fair amount of similar incidents and there is an enormous amount of evidence to indicate that many more people with legitimate grievances can’t get them addressed and only a small fraction of them overreact like this.

If I ever have occasion to visit Wal-Mart for one reason or another and I happen to notice a man with a hatchet attacking people I don’t know exactly how surprised I’ll be.

But I’ll get out of there ASAP!

Strange things happen at Wal-Mart!



In 2006 Wake Up Wal-Mart did a study, "Is Wal-Mart Safe?" based on incidents in 2004, (PDF) about crime at Wal-Mart which showed that it increased when Wal-Marts opened up and that crime was higher at Wal-Mart than at other retailers. Since then Wal-Mart Shootings began compiling a list of gun related incidents at Wal-Mart and demonstrated that they have a large number of them, including on average more than one shooting per week somewhere in the country. I also added my own review about why I think that Wal-Mart policies have been contributing to higher crime in a blog, Wal-Mart high crime rate continues uninvestigaterd and have provided additional information under the author tag Walmart Crime Watch.

Stacy Mitchell has also compiled a list of other studies about Wal-Mart and how they impact society, Key Studies on Big-Box Retail & Independent Business. To the best of my knowledge Wal-Mart has done as little as they seem to get away with, often relying on rhetoric that isn't backed up with action, when it comes to addressing any of their critics concerns, including crime. The following are a list of incidents that occurred in December 2013. According to the "Is Wal-Mart Safe?" the average store in their sampling had 250 incidents per year, indicating that these are only a fraction of the crime reports at Wal-Mart, and presumably, the ones most likely to make the news on the internet nationwide. This isn't statistically representative, as the 2006 study or some of the studies cited by Stacy Mitchell; but it does provide some additional information that may help recognize how many problems there are at Wal-Mart. To minimize redundancy most gun related incidents will only be one lines, since they have been highlighted by Wal-Mart Shootings; some of the other more relevant incidents may have additional summations.



Armed robbery at Round Rock Texas Walmart 11/27/2013

Man arrested in shopping fracas at Walmart in Garfield NJ on Thanksgiving Day 11/29/2013

Police: Boys with knife tried to rob Md. Walmart shopper 12/02/2013

CMPD investigating bank robbery Sunday inside Charlotte NC Walmart 12/02/2013

#WalmartFights: Are you not entertained? 12/02/2013

Bomb Threat Cleared After Evacuations Ordered At Long Beach Ca. Walmart 12/02/2013

Police investigate bomb threat at Oxford Walmart 12/02/2013

Salvation Army volunteer accused of stealing from assigned Tx. Walmart 12/02/2013

Suspects wanted for damage, larceny at Yorktown Va. Walmart 12/03/2013

Firefighters respond to several fires inside Lakeland Fla. Walmart 12/03/2013

LMPD: Man admits role in armed robbery outside Ky. Walmart 12/03/2013

Security cameras trail stolen credit card user at local Jacksonville Fla. Walmart 12/02/2013

Shoplifters at Cleveland Tx. Walmart keep police busy during November 12/03/2013

The following are based on incident reports taken by Cleveland Police Department officers during the period of Nov. 1-13, 2013:

24 incidents in 13 days with a minimum of one call each day listed. Complete article


Two men wanted for breaking into cars at Yorktown Va. Wal-Mart 12/03/2013

Shoplifter left child behind at Walmart, Helena Mont. police say 12/04/2013

Suspects indicted in Tx. Walmart robbery 12/03/2013

Youngstown Oh. man charged after stabbing at Boardman Walmart 12/04/2013

Sheriff: Topless woman arrested at Walmart in Manatee Fla. 12/0/2013

Fresh out of jail, man accused of stealing from same Fla. Walmart 12/04/2013

Walmart video reviewed in Detroit Lakes Minn. bomb scare 12/04/2013

DETROIT LAKES, Minn. - Walmart is reviewing its surveillance video as authorities try to determine who is responsible for a Black Friday bomb scare that led to an evacuation of the Detroit Lakes store.

A bundle of store items were found wrapped in a camouflage jacket secured with zip ties and left on a store shelf, prompting the Crow Wing County Bomb squad and other agencies to respond to the suspicious package.

Detroit Lakes police Sgt. Robert Strand said Walmart is combing over its surveillance video for evidence.

“It’s (Walmart’s) own private security system, so we can’t just go in there and start looking at their stuff,” Strand said. “But when or if they find something, they’ll give us a call.”

Strand said that if a suspect is identified, he or she could get charged with attempting to conceal merchandise.

“But just because we suspected it could be a bomb, does that mean they’d get charged with anything (regarding the bomb scare)? No.” Strand said. “The prosecutor would have to look at the reports and decide if there would be anything else they could charge them with.” Complete article
Shots fired at a Cincinnati Ohio Walmart lead to school lockdowns 12/03/2013

Man arrested, accused of punching officer in face at Canton Ohio Walmart 12/04/2013

Report of disorderly man at Walmart ends in drug charges 12/05/2013

Police Seek Robber Targeting United Dairy Farmers and Walmart in columbus Ohio 12/04/2013

Woman stole from Howell NJ Walmart, fought while holding child and fled, cops say 12/05/2013

Two wanted for theft from Pa. Walmart 12/05/2013

Bayonne NJ Walmart shoplifter assaults security guard and escapes: police 12/05/2013

Woman who robbed Walmart shopper in Wentzville Mo. is charged, police say 12/0/2013

Electronics theft at Alexandria Minn. Walmart foiled, police say 12/05/2013

Woman Charged With Defrauding Ct. Walmart 12/05/2013

Woman charged with trespassing in Taylor Pa. Walmart 12/06/2013

Teens arrested after carjacking at St. Pete Fla. Walmart 12/06/2013

Two teenage boys were arrested Thursday after a carjacking during which one of the youths grabbed a victim around the neck to keep her from leaving her SUV, St. Petersburg police said.

The incident occurred about 6:30 p.m. in the parking lot of a Walmart at 3501 34th St. S., St. Petersburg.

A 29-year-old woman had parked her silver 2007 Toyota 4-Runner and was preparing to exit the sport utility vehicle when one of the teens entered from the front passenger door, police said.

The teen, later identified as 15-year Anthony Michael Cascio, demanded that the woman drive the SUV out of the lot, police said. Cascio grabbed the woman around the neck when she attempted to escape, police said.

The woman began screaming, which attracted the attention of a passer-by who approached the SUV to see what was wrong, police said. The distraction allowed her to break free and exit the vehicle, police said. Complete article


Ohio Police reports: Walmart employee accused of stealing almost $5K in merchandise 12/06/2013

FBI: Woman arrested in OKC bank robbery inside Walmart 12/06/2013

Police: Men kidnap mother, 7-year-old son from Walmart parking lot 12/2/2013

Man who stuck syringe in meat at Wa. Walmart sentenced 12/06/2013

Suspected Fla. Walmart thieves arrested when they return to store 12/06/2013

Man accused of public masturbation at Short Pump Va. Wal-Mart 12/06/2013

Suspects sought in Greensboro NC Walmart armed robbery 12/07/2013

Two men attempt to steal from Honesdale Pa. Wal-Mart 12/07/2013

Police: Hatchet-wielding man injures several at Marshall Tx. Wal-Mart 12/08/2013

Police say several people were injured this morning when a man started swinging a hatchet at shoppers in the Marshall Wal-Mart.

According to a release from the Marshall Police Department, dispatch received a call about the man at 5:50 a.m.

Marshall police, a Hallsville Police Department unit, Marshall firefighters and a Texas Department of Public Safety responded to the call. Complete article


Man Indicted for Bank Robbery Inside Ohio Walmart 12/09/2013

Authorities seek suspect in robbery at Missoula Mont. Walmart 12/09/2013

Man accused of taking up-skirt photos in Tx. Walmart arrested 12/09/2013

Groveton parolee charged with taking bras, lubricant into bathroom stall at Tx. Walmart 12/10/2013

Police Investigate Bomb Threat at Pa. Walmart 12/10/2013

Police: Estranged husband, wife assaulted each other in Rock Hill NC Walmart parking lot 12/09/2013

Former Ky. Walmart employee accused of theft 12/09/2013

Bedford In. Man Arrested At Walmart 12/09/2013

Drunken man arrested at Athens Ga. Walmart 12/0/2013

2 arrested on suspicion of thefts at Nv. Walmart stores 12/09/2013

Walmart worker accused of firing shots in domestic incident in Gulfport Miss. 12/09/2013

Alleged credit card fraud leads to Ca. Walmart arrests 12/10/2013

Hancock Co. Ind. coroner accused of stealing toy trucks from Walmart 12/09/2013

Williston Vt. Police Seek Identity of Woman Accused of Stealing From Walmart 12/09/2013

At least 6 Americans have been superglued to Walmart and Home Depot toilet seats since 2003 12/06/2013

If there is one thing we can learn from this study, it’s that one should never take a dump inside Home Depot or Walmart. Or anywhere else in public for that matter. Complete article


3 Arrested in Daphne Ala. Walmart Robbery 12/09/2013

Four men charged for stealing from Canada Walmart 12/0/2013

Walmart employee kidnapped outside Gateway Road Ga. store 12/10/2013

Man accused of stealing $414 in goods from Fla. Walmart 12/10/2013

ID sought for Punta Gorda Fla. Walmart wallet thief 12/10/2013

Catskill NY police seek Walmart thieves 12/10/2013

Colorado man threatens to shoot woman over a Walmart parking space 12/10/2013

Drunk arrested on motorized scooter at Eastlake Ohio Walmart 12/10/2013

EASTLAKE, OH (WOIO) - Police arrest a drunken 54-year-old man at the Eastlake Walmart on Monday.

19 Action News has learned the man was drinking beer in the vestibule when he decided to enter the store on a motorized car and drive into the restroom.

When police arrived, the man stumbled out of the restroom and sat on the motorized cart. An open 12-pack of Milwaukee's Best beer was found on the motorized scooter. Complete article


GPD: Man used stolen credit card at Fla. Walmart 12/11/2013

Ky. Police: Man threatens Wal-Mart employee after attempted theft 12/11/2013

Suspect Arrested for Snatching Woman's Purse at Seaford Del. Wal-Mart 12/11/2013

5 adults, 2 teens arrested for shoplifting at Gallatin Tenn. Walmart 12/11/2013

Police: 4 stole 32 cases of Bud Light from Union SC Walmart 12/11/2013

Woman charged with shoplifting at NH Walmart 12/11/2013

Suspect in Mitchellsburg burglary apprehended at Danville Ky Walmart 12/12/2013

Two Ca. Walmart shoppers arrested on suspicion of burglary 12/1/2013

AZ man banned from Wal-Mart after allegedly threatening worker 12/12/2013

Woman arrested in Punta Gorda Fla. Walmart wallet theft 12/12/2013

Man charged after allegedly attempting to steal from Ok. Wal-Mart, pulls knife on security 12/12/2013

POLICE: Driver Identified In Fatal NC Walmart Hit And Run 12/13/2013

Eden NC police: Toddler left in car in Wal-Mart parking lot 12/13/2013

Walmart card scam hits Northampton County NC 12/13/2013

Fla. Customer says Walmart covered expired label on chicken 12/13/2013

ORLANDO, Fla. —WESH 2 Investigates spoke with a local woman who is furious with Walmart for covering the expiration date on a package of chicken.

"I was ticked off majorly. I saw red," said Bonnie Cowart. "The fact that I would have fed this food to my family, it's just wrong."

According to her receipt, Cowart bought a packet of chicken on Dec. 7. In the above video, you can see the expiration says Dec. 9, which was two days later.

When Cowart got home she noticed another label underneath -- the original supplier's label, which shows the chicken expired Dec. 6, the day before she bought it. Complete article


Ok. Wal-Mart worker’s car stolen from handicap parking, while at work 12/13/2013

CBS4 Exclusive: Fla. Wal-Mart Employee Arrested For Shooting Co-Worker’s Car Over Award 12/13/2013

DEERFIELD (CBSMiami) — Investigators say bad blood over an employee of the month award at a South Florida Wal-Mart store led to gunfire and criminal charges.

According to a Broward Sheriff’s Office arrest report last month’s employee of the month at a Deerfield Beach Wal-Mart store on South Military Trail had her car shot up by a co-worker who was angry after she won the award. Willie Mitchell is charged with discharging a firearm from a vehicle.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office said surveillance video from a Wal-Mart parking lot shows Mitchell parking next to a co-worker’s earlier in December. A few minutes later, investigators said Mitchell rolls down a back window, fires a shot into his co-worker’s car then drives off. The co-worker was not in her vehicle at the time. ....

Investigators say after the award was announced Mitchell started arguing with the victim about their workload. .....

Investigators said they’re still stumped on the exact motive for the shooting. Complete article


Police say woman assaulted at Lincoln Neb. Walmart 12/13/2013

Teen allegedly eats marijuana in East Stroudsburg Pa. Wal-Mart lot 12/14/2013

Man wounded in shooting behind Walmart and Sam's Club in Florida 12/14/2013

Or. Walmart the scene of robbery, theft 12/14/2013

Coroner ID's man who killed himself at Las Vegas Nev. Wal-Mart 12/15/2013

Two Arrested On Meth Charges At Boyd WV Walmart 12/15/2013

Police search for suspect following Pa. Wal-Mart theft 12/15/2013

Tx. Police: Shoplifter causes fatal wreck after fleeing Walmart with Hello Kitty purse 12/15/2013

A woman ran a red light after shoplifting a Hello Kitty purse and a few other small items from a Pasadena Walmart early Sunday morning, killing a 50-year-old mother and injuring a teenage girl.

A security guard at the Walmart in the 5200 block of Fairmont Parkway tried to stop the woman around 1 a.m. as she left with the unpaid merchandise, thought to be worth less than $50, according to Vance Mitchell, spokesman for the Pasadena Police Department.

The woman pushed the security guard to the ground and fled in a pickup truck. She headed eastbound on Fairmont Parkway, running a red light at Nations and T-boning a car headed through the intersection. Complete article


Woman dies in car at Ky. Walmart parking lot 12/13/2013

Woman injured in Commerce Township Mi. Walmart parking lot after intentionally being struck by car 12/16/2013

Investigation underway into robbery and possible gun fire at Alliance Ohio Walmart 12/15/2013

Ky. Walmart shopper accused of intentionally crashing cart, injuring autistic child 12/16/2013

Houston Tx. police warn of purse snatchers this holiday season 12/16/2013

Nurse Holiday Shopping Performs CPR On Woman In Cardiac Arrest At Pa. Walmart 12/16/2013

Southridge WV Wal-Mart reopens after evacuating for threat 12/17/2013

POLICE: Mom uses son to shoplift at Port St. Lucie Fla. Walmart 12/17/2013

Burglars take iPods from Monroe NC Walmart 12/17/2013

Police searching for men accused of stealing laptops from Newberry Township Pa. Wal-Mart 12/18/2013

Realistic-looking BB guns stolen by gang members from Mississippi Walmart 12/17/2013

Man, two women sought in credit card fraud at Biloxi Miss. Walmart 12/17/2013

Alleged Wild Card Walmart Thievery: Arrested Man From Stickney Ill. This Time 12/17/2013

A Stickney man allegedly "consumed" something in the New Lenox Walmart without paying for it.

Michael Bean, 25, was arrested shortly after 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the East Lincoln Highway megastore.

An officer sent to the Walmart to investigate a complaint of thievery was told "Bean removed merchandise from (a) shelf and consumed the product in the store and then placed the product back on the shelf," police said. Complete article


Police: Salisbury NC woman robs bank in Walmart, gives teller her name 12/17/2013

Police: Pregnant woman tried to shoplift 29 items from Rock Hill SC Walmart with kids in tow 12/17/2013

Harrington man arrested in connection with Del. Walmart thefts last July 12/04/2013

Police search for men who stole 12 iPhones at Ark. Walmart 12/18/2013

Ten laptops stolen from Walmart in Newberry Township Pa. 12/18/2013

Man stabbed in leg after argument in NC Walmart parking lot 12/18/2013

Man stole from Walmart, threatened staff with knife, Pinellas Park Fla. police say 12/18/2013

A St. Petersburg man was arrested Wednesday after he stole an item at a Pinellas Park Walmart and then brandished a knife at staff.

No one was injured in the confrontation at the Walmart, 8001 U.S. Highway 19 N., the Pinellas Park Police Department said.

Scott Lyelee, 30, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, felony petit theft and resisting an officer without violence. He was booked into the Pinellas County Jail, according to the Pinellas Park Police Department. Complete article

Harrodsburg Ky. man pleads guilty in Stanford Walmart shooting 12/19/2013

STANFORD — The Harrodsburg man who was accused of attempted murder after allegedly firing a gun at Stanford police officer Tim Morris pleaded guilty, but mentally ill Wednesday to reduced charges of first-degree wanton endangerment.

The reduction in charges was partly due to uncertainty over whether Murphy ever actually fired the gun he drew on Morris, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Carol Hill said.

“There is some question about whether the gun fired or not, which is one of the reasons that we are reducing this to a wanton endangerment. We have witnesses that said it fired; the police officer felt like that he was fired at; there were no shells from the gun recovered on the site — is my understanding,” Hill said during the 10 a.m. hearing before Circuit Court Judge David Tapp. “We believe that he had a firearm on him, that he drew it … and had it in a manner that would have created opportunity for serious injury or death because the reaction from others.” Complete article


Police: Auburn NY woman with prior larceny arrest illegally entered Walmart 12/19/2013

Women Followed Home From Ill. Wal-Mart, Robbed at gunpoint 12/19/2013

WAUKEGAN (CBS) — Over a span of four days last week, four women were followed home from a north suburban Walmart and robbed at gunpoint, but police say they have caught the perpetrators.

The first two incidents happened Dec. 12, when women were followed to their Waukegan homes in separate incidents after shopping at the Walmart at 2200 N. Lewis, according to a statement from Waukegan police. Complete article


As far as I can tell neither the police or Wal-Mart or the press reported this until after they could say they caught the guy and people no longer should worry about shopping at Wal-Mart.

Crimetracker: Police arrest naked woman at Rockwood Tenn. Wal-Mart 12/19/2013

ROCKWOOD, Tenn. (WVLT) - A Harriman woman faces seven charges, all related to a recent trip she made to the Wal-Mart in Rockwood.

The problem? Police say among other things, the woman was naked and shoplifting.

According to a police report Angelia Marie Mayo, 29, walked into the store around 4:10 p.m. Tuesday and started filling a garbage bag full of make up and jewelry.

Mayo then stripped naked and started trying on clothes after throwing her own clothes in the trash, the report says. Complete article


Mansfield NJ Police arrest three people after disturbance at Walmart 12/20/2013

Jacksonville Tx. Walmart beer shoplifter escapes capture 12/19/2013

Az. Walmart robbery suspect recognized in pictures, arrested 12/20/2013

Police: Woman steals from Missouri Wal-Mart, flees in motorized wheelchair 12/20/2013

Security guard, 70, attacked at gunpoint in Ind. Walmart parking lot 12/20/2013

Update: Police release images of suspect in Red Kettle theft at Oshkosh Wisc. Walmart (photos) 12/2/2013

Police charge pair for shoplifting at NH Walmart 12/20/2013

Police log: Az. Walmart hit-and-run 12/21/2013

Police Shoot Shoplifter in Tx. Wal-Mart Parking Lot 12/22/2013

Man shot in Brink's truck robbery attempt at Walmart on Indianapolis Ind. Far Southside 12/22/2013

Three Hurt At Tenn. Walmart After Truck Plows Through Break Area 12/22/2013

Roanoke Va. Walmart Supercenter power outage affects nearby businesses and neighborhoods 12/22/2013

Shoplifters Hit West Sacramento Ca. Wal-Mart Two days Before Christmas 12/23/2013

Laptops stolen from Conn. Walmart, one arrested 12/23/2013

Mother, daughter, 3rd woman charged in SC Walmart shoplifting 12/23/2013

Authorities search for suspect who boldly robbed bank inside busy Tx. Walmart store 12/23/2013

Return scheme at Bayonne NJ Walmart turns sour for 40-year-old woman , say police 12/23/2013

West Melbourne Fla. police: Man stole purses at Walmart 12/23/2013

Police investigate reported phone threat to Walmart in South Strabane Pa. 12/24/2013

SOUTH STRABANE TOWNSHIP, Pa. —Police believe they know the identity of a man who allegedly threatened to shoot up a Walmart in Washington County during a phone call in which he was reportedly angry about the store's return policy.

Officers from South Strabane Township and three neighboring municipalities responded to the store at Trinity Point shopping center about 9 a.m. Tuesday. Walmart officials haven't commented, though the store remained open.

Police were patrolling the parking lot and watching the store's entrances while they worked to locate the 24-year-old Washington man they believe made the call. The Associated Press is not reporting the man's name because he's not been charged with a crime.

Police believe the threat has been quelled, but they want to locate the man to be sure. Complete article


Wanted killer spotted at Richmond Va. Walmart 12/24/2013

San Jose Ca. Police Ask For Help Finding Victims Of Walmart Crash Caught On Tape in March 12/24/2013

NJ Walmart shoplifter caught on surveillance 12/24/2013

Witness: Aberdeen NC Wal-Mart evacuated after shots heard in store 12/24/2013

Mom, daughters arrested at Walmart in west Harris County Tx. 12/24/2013

Dawn Serino of Howard Beach, N.Y., charged with carrying 47-inch Sony television from Toms River NJ Walmart 12/25/2013

Fleeing SC Walmart shoplifter dies in Christmas Eve crash; she had kid in car 12/26/2013

Intruders break into Chesapeake Va. Walmart 12/25/2013

Cops: Weaverville NC man stole TV from Walmart 12/26/2013

Man shot to death in Oakland California Walmart parking lot 12/23/2013

Pedestrian struck, injured near Fla. Wal-Mart 12/27/2013

Walmart worker in Texarkana Tx. attacked with box cutter 12/27/2013

Walmart wallet-snatcher wanted by Portsmouth NH police 12/27/2013

Police: Suspected shoplifter flees Pittsburgh Mills Pa. Wal-Mart, fights with officer 12/27/2013

Five suspected shoplifters arrested at American Canyon Ca. Walmart in two days 12/27/2013

Police: Teen stole 108 condoms from Ga. Walmart 12/2/2013

Shoplifting suspect leaves teen daughter behind at Ohio Walmart 12/26/2013

Easton Pa. Woman Charged with Retail Theft at Walmart 12/26/2013

Email Scam Targets Walmart Customers 12/27/2013

Bomb threat made at Walmart in West Plains, Missouri turns up nothing 12/28/2013

Man, 97, survives jump from truck after it's stolen from outside Dilworth Minn. Wal-Mart 12/28/2013

Woman charged after stealing over $1k worth of items from Pa. Walmart 12/28/2013

Bomb threats called in at both Jefferson City Missouri WalMart's 12/30/2013

Woman leaves ID at Fla. Walmart after attempted theft 12/28/2013

Shots fired at a North Carolina Walmart 12/28/2013

Kernersville NC police investigate shots fired at car outside Walmart 12/29/2013

Boy stabbed by syringe found in Wash. Wal-Mart sweatshirt he got for Christmas 12/30/2013

A Toutle-area family’s Christmas was ruined Wednesday when their son was stabbed by a syringe inside a sweatshirt he received for Christmas.

The family had opened all its gifts, and Nanette Snyder’s 16-year-old son was wearing the hoody sweatshirt she’d bought him from the Seventh Avenue Walmart in Longview, when the incident occurred. About 1 p.m. she asked him to stand up so she could see how it looked. He stuck his hand in the front pocket and said “ow,” Snyder recalled.

What followed next was a parent’s worst nightmare, she said.

Her son pulled his hand out the pocket and a syringe was still stuck in his finger, the boy’s stepfather, Tom Basye, said Thursday. Another syringe also was found in the pocket, and both appear to have been used. One still had blood on the needle. Complete article
Washington was the same state where a Drug addict stabbed meat with syringe at Walmart last October. It is possible that either it was the same person who put it there or that it was a copy cat case where someone heard about it put them there.

Walmart manager jumps into truck with beer thieves, goes for wild ride 12/31/2013

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — A Walmart manager had an unexpected ride down a Florida Interstate in the back of a truck after he tried to stop a man and woman he suspected of shoplifting beer late Monday afternoon.

The manager, Mike Dawson, said he noticed the pair leaving the Titusville, Fla., store with a shopping cart containing beer.

He said when he asked for a receipt, the two headed for their truck.

"I had asked them for a receipt and they kept throwing beers into their car," said Dawson.

As the two began to back up and leave the parking lot, Dawson said he was forced to jump into the back of the truck. Complete article

Fla. Police arrest man accused of stealing beer, driving off with Walmart manager in truck 01/03/2014

Fla. Walmart manager jumps in suspected beer thieves' truck 12/31/2013
Woman charged with theft from NH Walmart 12/31/2013

Cops: Concerned citizen helps foil Walmart robbery in West Norriton Pa. 12/31/2013

Easton Pa. teen caught stealing $1,140 worth of merchandise from Wal-Mart, court records say 12/31/2013

Some Charges dismissed after Sept. fight at Alaska Wal-Mart 12/30/2013

Man gets jail time for Pasco Wash. Walmart burglary 12/29/2013

Police: Lawndale man inadvertently trespasses in Shelby NC Walmart 12/31/2013

Jersey City NJ man ends 2013 with arrest after dispute at Bayonne Walmart: cops 01/03/2014

Christmas Eve scuffle at Walmart results in arrest: Mayfield Heights Ohio Police Blotter 12/31/2013 A Walmart employee was arrested at the store Dec. 19 for processing returns without a receipt. It was believed other employees were involved in a scheme with the 30-year-old East Cleveland woman.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. : Ellsworth Maine man accused of threatening ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend with gun 12/31/2013

Man Wanted in NY for Stealing X-Box Consoles From Walmart 12/31/2013

Man exposes himself inside Shawnee Missouri Walmart 12/31/2013

Wal-Mart exploits employee charity to help Ted Cruz and John Boehner 12/23/2013

Vine Videos Show Why Walmart's Christmas Wasn't So Jolly 12/2/2013 At least one Walmart store had so much extra inventory left over after the holidays that it had to use its outdoor center for storage, according to a Vine video shot by a financial analyst.

WMT Stock is No Bargain – Sell Walmart ASAP 12/26/2013

Atlanta Ga. Walmart employees (not corporate office) save co-worker's Christmas 12/26/2013

Dallas Tx. Walmart Plays Grinch, Turns Away Shoppers On Christmas Eve 12/24/2013

The Minimum Wage, Wal-Mart's and McDonald's Welfare 12/17/2013

Forbes: Are Walmart And McDonald's 'Welfare Queens'? 12/24/2013

Wal-Mart to HP Gets Their Workers To Back Its Political Agenda Through Charities 12/23/2013

U.S. companies, forbidden to give money directly to political action committees, are taking advantage of controversial federal rules allowing them to ask employees to do it for them in exchange for matching charitable donations.

It’s legal and gives businesses from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to Coca-Cola (KO) Co. to Hewlett-Packard Co. a way to fund their PACs, which direct money to political candidates. The matching contributions provide an incentive for employees, most of them managers, to contribute to the PAC.

The practice was approved by the Federal Election Commission in the late 1980s and has become commonplace at a time when companies face increasing scrutiny over their political donations. The FEC split over the legality of matching PAC contributions with charitable donations at least seven times between 1994 and 2009.

In an interview, former FEC chairman Scott Thomas said the exchange flouts the spirit of campaign-finance laws, which forbid companies from reimbursing for donations, including through a bonus or “other form of direct or indirect compensation.” Complete article


Midwest chain buys former Walmart in Canandaigua NY 12/22/2013

House GOP Doesn’t Listen Any Better than Walmart 12/20/2013

Walmart, Waltons epitomize America's class war 12/18/2013

Malfunctioning sprinkler briefly closes Walmart in Calais Me. 12/20/2013

Walmart, Cargill and BIO discuss ‘sustainability’ at Ohio Grain Farmers Symposium 12/19/2013

Lawsuit filed over Walmart dress that caused "an excruciatingly painful red rash" due to allergies 12/19/2013

Will 'Duck Dynasty' star's anti-gay rant hurt Wal-Mart? 12/19/2013

Man Claims iPad Mini He Tried to Buy From Walmart Turned Out to Be Something Very Different 12/18/2013

Appeals court upholds Las Vegas judge’s distribution of attorneys fees in Wal-Mart suit 12/19/2013

Tenn. Supreme Court Says Case Against Red Bank Wal-Mart Can Proceed 12/18/2013

8th Circuit Rules Wal-Mart Shareholder Bribery Lawsuit Can Move Ahead In Federal Court 12/18/2013

Human Rights Watch: Letter to Walmart Re: Compensation for victims of Tazreen Fashions fire 11/19/2013

S. Jersey Walmart suit tossed, teenager ordered black shoppers to leave over intercom 12/18/2013

Wall Street Guy Goes To Wal-Mart To Mock Protesting Workers 12/17/2013

There's been a growing number of protests and demonstrations at Wal-Mart as workers demand higher wages. So libertarian investor Peter Schiff — who believes Wal-Mart is under no obligation to pay its workers a dime more — went to Wal-Mart and staged an absurd, fake version of their rally in an attempt to prove his point.

Schiff, the founder of Euro Pacific Capital, approached shoppers in the retailer's parking lot and told them he was representing an organization called "15 For 15." He said the organization — which doesn't actually exist — wants Wal-Mart to raise its prices by 15% to support a $15 minimum hourly wage for workers.

In reality, the campaign for higher wages at Wal-Mart, led by the labor group OUR Walmart, is asking the retailer to pay its employees at least $25,000 annually, or $13 an hour.

Schiff recorded his stunt on video. He asked Wal-Mart patrons whether they supported higher wages for the retailer's workers, and then demanded that they prove their allegiance by giving him 15% of whatever they spent at Wal-Mart that day. He claimed the money would go to Wal-Mart workers. Complete article


Raymond NH: From shoe factories and dirt roads to Walmart 12/14/2013

CEO vs. worker pay: Walmart, McDonald’s, and eight other firms with biggest gaps 12/12/2013

Obama's Union Cronies Push Anti-Walmart Campaign 12/11/2013

Wal-Mart Ca. contractor to pay $4.7 million to settle lawsuit by workers 12/11/2013

Too Big to Succeed – It’s Time to Break-up Walmart: Sozzi 04/16/2013

3 Signs Walmart’s Best Days Are Behind It 08/07/2013

3 Ways Walmart Can Save Itself From Extinction 12/11/2013

Critical Alerts For Walmart, Sina, Home Depot, Groupon, and T-Mobile Released By InvestorsObserver 12/10/2013

Letter: Column touting virtues of Walmart was callous, reprehensible 12/09/2013

Truth-out: Walmart Is Not the Bargain You Might Think 12/07/2013

Az. Valley man banned from Walmart for life for ad matching 12/10/2013

SAN TAN VALLEY, AZ - Walmart is speaking out after a Valley man said he found out the hard way just how to get banned from their stores for life.

Joe Cantrell loves to ad match.

He goes through circulars to find the biggest discounts, and then goes to Walmart.

According to the company's website, they match the lowest advertised price on identical products, but when Joe tried doing that last week, the unthinkable happened.

What started as a trip to a San Tan Valley Walmart to get ornaments for his family's Christmas tree, turned into the biggest nightmare of Joe's life.

"I was handcuffed, humiliated and embarrassed in front of everybody at Walmart," Joe remembers. Complete article


Wal-Mart's Costs Connected To Mexican Bribery Case Reach $400M 12/09/2013

Wal-Mart agrees to contribute $25 million to settle gas can explosion lawsuits 12/09/2013

(NBC) - The nation's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, has agreed to contribute about $25 million to settle unresolved lawsuits filed on behalf of consumers allegedly injured or killed in explosions involving portable plastic gas cans, according to court documents obtained by NBC News.

The money from Wal-Mart amounts to slightly more than 15 percent of a proposed $161 million fund that would settle dozens of lawsuits against the largest manufacturer of these cans, Blitz USA, records from U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware show. A hearing on the proposed settlement is set for early next year.

The retail chain, the largest seller of plastic gas cans, sold tens of millions of Blitz gas cans. In agreeing to contribute toward the settlement, it does not acknowledge any safety defect in the Blitz cans.

Blitz, based in Miami, Okla., and formerly the nation's largest manufacturer of plastic gas cans, is now in bankruptcy and out of business, largely because of the lawsuits and previous payouts to victims of alleged gas can explosions. .....

At NBC News' request, the Consumer Product Safety Commission analyzed available incident and injury databases and counted reports of at least 11 deaths and 1,200 emergency room visits that involved gas can explosions during the pouring of gasoline since 1998. Complete article


An internal corporate video from a company meeting in 2003, posted on YouTube by a communications company, shows a Wal-Mart official making a joke about a gas can exploding.

EMT student saves man at Cranston RI Walmart 12/08/2013

Wal-Mart’s war on the Ill. North Shore 12/08/2013

Walmart over town's citizens, writes JJ reader 12/06/2013 I would think that in the 21st century, the order to the police would be to protect the constitutional rights of the protesters and not act as union busters on behalf of an unconscionable employer.

This Was the Scene At a Walmart Factory in Bangladesh On Black Friday 12/05/2013 We continue to ship our cotton to Bangladesh. Three Reasons U.S. Cotton Is King

Walmart cited for illegal firings as workers ramp up struggle 12/05/2013

Walmart petition goes viral 12/05/2013

Shoppers eventually evacuated as electrical malfunction hits Ware Ma. Walmart, resulting in smoke inside 12/05/2013

Is Walmart Defying Economic Gravity? 12/05/2013

How Raising the Minimum Wage Would Benefit McDonald’s and Walmart 12/05/2013

Pro-Walmart group makes super cheesy video about how unions and workers ruined Thanksgiving 12/04/2013

In These Times: Spy vs. Spy at Walmart 12/04/2013 By Barbara Garson

I took part in one of the hundreds of Walmart protests this past Black Friday. It gave me a new perspective on NSA surveillance.

Well before noon, my husband and I were sitting on a sunny bench in front of the Secaucus, N.J., Walmart. To the Walmart security agents, conferring with groups of Hudson County Sheriff’s officers, we must have looked like the silver-haired elderly couple that we are. They didn’t seem to realize that we, like they, were waiting for the demonstrators.

“Some of these demonstrators want to get hit by a cop,” a young security guard said. Perhaps he was only currying favor with the “real” cops when he assured them that if such a thing occurred that day, no one would later find those pictures on any Walmart surveillance camera. (At the risk of ruining the suspense, nothing remotely like that happened.) Complete article


From Walmart to Fast Food Chains, Big Labor Bullying Doesn't End 12/0/2013 The truth has been a casualty of these misinformation campaigns.

NASDAQ: Break Up Wal-Mart? - Real Time Insight 12/04/2013

Letters: Opposition to a Walmart world 12/04/2013

Testing Wal-Mart's Made in the USA campaign 12/03/2013

Walmart's greed is showing 12/05/2013

Mayor intervenes in Broadway, Walmart vote 12/04/2013 Green Bay Wisc. Mayor Jim Schmitt appointed himself to the Larsen Green governing board on Monday in an effort to kill the Walmart on Broadway proposal.

Seven things to know about Walmart and wages 12/04/2013 Five former Congressmen are now Walmart lobbyists

A culture of corporate at Wal-Mart 12/04/2013

A day before hundreds of customers snaked around H St. NW, waiting to get inside of one of the city’s first two Wal-Marts, I entered the towering 74,000 square foot store through an entrance with far less fanfare: the loading dock. Taking a press tour, I was introduced to my first taste of corporate culture at Wal-Mart.

There was a receiving line set up at the back, with checklists, badges and sign-in sheets of all types on the tables and walls. One worker said, in a concerned voice, that without a badge, “they might say something.” I assured those present that if anyone asks me what I’m doing, I’ll just tell that person the truth and be fine. The employee seemed shocked.

Inside, a Wal-mart is a Wal-mart. There are foodstuffs as far as the eye can see and you have to duck to make sure the falling low prices don’t hit you in the aisles. Meanwhile, this ‘urban’ Wal-mart has a custom-built interactive display for Beats By Dre and the new iPhone 5c. The bike section sits on the same row as the lacrosse sticks and yarn. There is apparel for sale of both Washington and Dallas’ NFL franchises.

But for all the items, it was the employees that were impossible to ignore. Leading up to the official VIP unveiling that night, teams of associates, as they call them, were practicing their cheers while the last minute stages of the store were set up before the big day. The chants included a couple random pop culture references, such as one that included Drake’s “Started From The Bottom.”

The corporate speak continues even with the most basic of pleasantries: If someone says ‘thank you’ they say “my privilege.” That reply is a twist on Chick-Fil-A’s practice of servers saying ‘it’s my pleasure’ when thanked. This is Wal-Mart’s folksy brand of customer appreciation. Complete article


3M hires Wal-Mart exec who wrote speeches for Schwarzenegger 12/04/2013

Wal-Mart has data on most U.S. adults, and could sell it, charges report 12/03/2013

Mukwonago spa still getting calls from angry Walmart customers 12/03/2013

MUKWONAGO (WITI) — On Black Friday and after, Woodhouse Day Spa in Mukwonago was on the receiving end of phone calls from angry customers — who have the wrong number. The customers are actually looking for Walmart — and FOX6 News has learned the issue hasn’t been resolved.

Over a four-day period, Woodhouse Day Spa in Mukwonago received over 600 phone calls meant for Walmart!

“The owner of the spa has even tried calling and the line was tied up,” Kimberly Price said.

It began on Black Friday, with the majority of the callers asking about a rebate for a television.

“Now we have gift cards. People are upset because their gift cards aren’t working,” Price said. Complete article


How Wal-Mart's Chairman Burned Through Millions Of Dollars In A Matter Of Seconds 12/03/2013 Wal-Mart Chairman Rob Walton was reportedly tearing around a corner in his rare Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe, one of five ever made, when he ran it off the track and wrecked it.

Democracy Now: Over 110 Arrested as Record Black Friday Protests Challenge Wal-Mart, Major Retailers on Low Wages 12/02/2013

Walmart tries to stamp out Black Friday stabbing hoax 12/03/2013

Once again, a story from The Daily Currant — “an English language online satirical newspaper”— has been mistaken for reality. This time, it was the fictional story of a multiple stabbing at a Chicago Walmart that seemed just crazy enough to be true, and which spread far enough to compel Walmart to issue a tweet correcting the record. Complete article


Considering how many crazy things really do happen at Wal-Mart is this surprising?

Wal-Mart pays lawyer fees for dozens of executives in bribery probe 12/04/2013

Oh the Irony: Walmart Sells Banksy Piece ‘Destroy Capitalism’ 12/04/2013 In a comment to the Huffington Post, Walmart said that it had “disabled” links to the piece. “If Walmart had contacted me for a licensing deal, there’s not a dollar amount that exists that I would have done it for,” Colla told LA Weekly, adding that he plans on taking legal action.

Wal-Mart won't host Epping NH community giving tree 12/03/2013

Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton’s DWI arrest expunged from Parker County records 12/03/2013

Millions watch girl fight video from Palmhurst Walmart on Black Friday 11/29/2013

For employees like my mom, Wal-Mart is the new company store: PennLive letters 12/02/2013

13 arrested at Secaucus Walmart Black Friday face $256 fines, court appearance 12/02/2013

Wal-Mart's hottest Black Friday seller was a 29-cent towel 12/02/2013

Black Friday at Walmart: Faces and voices from the shopping wars 12/02/2013