Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price

Oh, my dear the Christmas season is upon us.

One radio station in town started playing Christmas songs on Thanksgiving day.

Right now I'm thinking fuck it. I don't want to do it this year. Especially after watching the documentary movie about Wal-Mart (title link)

Large employers forum wary of public insurance option
Published: Thursday, November 5, 2009
"...National employers such as Dow Chemical Co. and Wal-Mart worry that they will have to follow state mandates, instead of offering one national plan..."
(Bwahhahahahaha, that's what they economically force their employees to do now, while they suck the corporate welfare tit

Wal-Mart Steals Billions From Public Schools
Aug 03, 2007

Senate Free Rider Provision Gives Nation`s Largest Employer a Free Ride
Wed Nov 4, 2009 11:35am EST
"...examining the impact of the Senate`s Free Rider provision
on the nation`s largest private employer - retail giant Walmart. The provision
would have the unintended consequences of:

* Providing little or no incentive for Walmart to provide better care to its workers;
* Continuing Walmart workers` dependence on federal and state subsidies for Medicaid and Medicare, and encourage Walmart to have even more workers dependent on Medicaid and Medicare;
* Making few, if any, Walmart workers eligible for tax credits to purchase better insurance through the health insurance exchange;
* Forcing low-income Walmart workers into high-deductible company-provided insurance;
* Incentivizing the hiring of a largely part-time workforce, and encourage reducing workers` hours as a way to reduce health care costs...."

Unintended MY ASS.

Walmart's nuclear blunder: Retailer mishandled radioactive exit signs
Bruce WatsonBruce Watson RSS Feed
Nov 3rd 2009 at 1:00PM

Wal-Mart's Chinese Suppliers Accused Of Labor Violations
November 30, 2009

Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, reported third-quarter profit rose 3.2 percent, helped by inventory reductions, and forecast U.S. sales for the fourth quarter would be little changed.

"Rounding out the top 10 on The Forbes 400: Oracle founder Larry Ellison ($27 billion); Wal-Mart ( WMT - news - people )09-intro.htmlheirs Christy Walton ($21.5 billion), Jim C. Walton ($19.6 billion), Alice Walton ($19.3 billion), and S. Robson Walton ($19 billion) ; media maven Michael Bloomberg ($17.5 billion) and energy titans Charles and David Koch ($16 billion each)."

Walton Family Ranks 37th In Charitable Giving
From the Arkansas Democrat Gazette:


$9.5 Million for a San Diego Development. A San Diego development project anchored by a Wal-Mart and a Sam's Club received about $9.5 million in public subsidies -- yet the stores contribute only about $800,000 in annual sales tax to the city. [Brennan Center for Justice]

NEWS COVERAGE: Big Box Ban Considered. San Diego-Union Tribune, 11/20/03
Proposed Ordinance in San Diego Takes Aim at Wal-Mart Supercenters
By Penni Crabtree
The squids and jarheads don't unnerstand a town that aint go not Wal-Mart:

Wal-Mart Supercenter Opens Doors
By R. STICKNEY
Updated 10:08 AM PST, Thu, Jul 30, 2009

4 police officers shot dead at Wash. coffeehouse

Sad. So sad.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Israel’s Illegal Settlements in America

by Grant Smith, November 28, 2009

Intriguing article title, aint it? The linked documents are compelling.

This one is for the right-wing fucktards in the media

Obama's many victories defined 2009

The Beatles Helter Skelter

I woke up with this song in my head. It's raining. I usually love the rain because it's so rare here. I don't even like this song.

Obama's turkey pardon cracked me up

I've been trying to avoid the news because frankly, the holidays are rough enough for me, but I liked this clip. I must say that I am incredibly grateful for a president who is intelligent and witty.

I am stunned

every time I open a medical bill at how much the insurance companies are screwing people with no insurance. The only thing I heard Darrell Issa say at that town hall meeting that made sense to me was that people who do not have insurance should pay the same amount that people who DO have insurance pay.

When I took the 8 hour drive that opened up an already slowly healing incision site and ended up in the ER the next morning the Dr. came in and looked at it, wrote a Rx for an antibiotic, and sent a nurse in to soak a bunch of gauze in saline solution and place it over the site for about a minute. After she took dry gauze and blotted it, she took what looked like two 1/2 in. wide strips of tan colored masking tape (steri-strips) and taped two 3 inch long strips vertically over the horizontal incision site. A bunch of gauze and an attempt at a pressure bandage and I was out of there.

Grand pooh-bah total?

$934.00

The insurance paid less than three hundred and I owe $30.00. That is a tiny portion of the total, BUT, enlisted retirement checks are really pathetic, for two old people in and out of dr.s offices (co-pay is less) and ERs that is a chunk. I was out of town but I found the Urgent Care clinic because I thought the co-pay would be less. Hell, the incision site had been flapping open for 12 hours, what was a few minutes trying to save some money? Nope, they sent me over to the ER.

I've still got a 1/4 X 1/2 in. scab on the incision site by the way. It's been 7 weeks. At least now I can sit up for a while.

Jason live-blogged the Senate Health Care Debate. Not that it realy matters:

Health care's 'public option' would cover little of population

The border stroller incident

piqued my interest and woke up my sense of humor.

Border Officers Discover 9 Lbs. Of Pot Inside Stroller
POSTED: 5:38 pm PST November 19, 2009

I reacted to this story with two competing thoughts:

A) People really do need to take some type of test before they start squirting out brats.

B) Look at the ridiculous consequences of marijuana being illegal; the federal government has to foot the cost of incarcerating this dumb bitch, probably will end up paying for her defense, trials, appeals, etc. and the county has to foot the cost of taking care of her brat.

On a different subject, last night I watched part of the Jim Lehrer News Hour and they did an in depth report on the Fort Hood shootings and Nidal Hasan is a symptom of a very sick mental health problem within the military. I thought to myself "Six years they knew this guy was a problem and he continued drawing a salary in the military? Hmm, why does this only confirm what I have seen my whole damn life in this military town?"

Corinne Bailey Rae - Put Your Records On (live)

This reminds me of what I tell my girlfriends. Stand up for yourself.

So Ok, my age is showing

Sue me.

This project is kicking my butt

Yo. My finger is numb from holding the spray can and my nose hairs are "satin ivory silk." My legs are sore and I gave up on the abdomen and stuck a huge band-aid and neosporin on it. I just can't be sluggo anymore. I have people coming for Thanksgiving. Somebody told me that using vinegar instead of carpet soap does not leave a residue that attracts dirt. There's plenty of time for the stink to go away before the holiday. It's nice to be busy again. Maybe I have more energy because I have a decent bed now and I sleep better?

I apologize for the completely non-political posts, but even the politickybitch needs a break from the never-ending corrupt bullshit.

Update 5:28 PM 11/16/2009

I took the newspaper off of the chair seats... and they look like crap. Sanding and re-varnishing anyone? Guess the finger is going to stay numb and the legs are going to stay sore for a few more days.

Yay, new bed is here!!!

I'm gonna go to bed early. I'm tired. The day before yesterday I discovered a piece of string coming out of my abdomen where they supposedly took the stitches out a month ago. The string was a loop and one side came out easily, but the other side hurt, so I wait till it heals more. There is no pain, redness or heat on site, and no fever, so I wait.

*sigh*

Music Break

Courts Divide Over the Constitutionality of Sex Toy Bans

By JOANNA L. GROSSMAN
Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Some stories just make me laugh. If you haven't read it yet, just guess what state this story takes place in?

Health Care Bill

Let's take a look at the reasons offered by two candidates who bucked their own party's in the historic House vote last night, as each seem quite instructive on a number of levels...
Bradblog

KUCINICH EXPLAINS HIS VOTE Danny


Danny writes about the Fairness Doctrine and the rightwing ridiculousness.

Senator Sanders Unfiltered: Break 'Em Up!


I'm trying to avoid news reports on the Ft. Hood shootings until Rachel Maddow's show tonight. I'm sure she was busy doing homework this weekend.

The Killeen killings

I have suspicions that more will be revealed about this case. Let the wingnuts scream for now. The truth never stays hidden forever.

For now the whole case makes me very, very sad. The shock, disbelief and confusion after September 11, 2001 kept me from crying for months. When I discovered how many firefighters and police officers died I simply lost it and cried for hours. By then I was well on my way to finding out just how fucked up the US' foreign policy really is.

What we ask our military to do is especially disgusting to me. I've been witness to the results since I was born, since this is a military/defense contractor town. Fine examples of the destructive rhetoric AND the destruction here.

Bill Moyers Journal covered it last Friday.

The End of America

I'm watching it on Netflix. I had forgotten how much the Bush Administration attempted to subvert the Constitution. I know about the spying. I knew about it in July of 2003. I had forgotten how absolutely terrifying AND enraging it was.

Naomi Wolf
Ten Steps To Close Down an Open Society

1 Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
2 Create a gulag
3 Develop a thug caste
4 Set up an internal surveillance system
5 Harass citizens' groups
6 Engage in arbitrary detention and release
7 Target key individuals
8 Control the press
9 Dissent equals treason
10 Suspend the rule of law

Rethug bullying

Bummer. Totally

Well, yesterday's news was quite the bummer. Scary in fact. I was on a base yesterday, changing my primary care physician. Really glad that the shrink who snapped was on a different military base in a different state.

I wouldn't be the first time I've heard of a shrink doing shit that was totally whack. Frankly, it makes me grateful that mine is professional and patient. It took years to find something that worked for me, but my shrink kept trying.

Gah! Still disgusted

I'm still glancing at all the political stuff that shows up in my mailbox and hitting delete. I'm absolutely disgusted with the marriage of banksters and congresswhores so definitively outlined in Greider's book and the Jekyll Island book is indigestible in one big chunk.

Local politics and the pathetic "local" station KUSI whoring for the Republican party is especially disgusting. Sadly, the troops stuck on the bases are subjected to Fox Newz 24/7. Blech. Local politics are so skewed as to be revolting, at least now there is some reporting on them.

It's not surprising that the bible thumping bigots won in Maine.

And then there is the war. Something the banksters, defense contractors, and congresswhores profit from.

*sigh*

I think I'll go get lost in Netflix streaming stuff. I'm impatiently waiting for the discs for Weeds and Dexter. I flew through the first two streamable seasons of both shows. I'm not a big vigilante murder advocate and I don't smoke weed, but both shows are quite amusing and the evil characters get what's coming to them in fiction shows, unlike the banksters and congresswhores who do not, and even more insulting, who ignore the general public that they profit from. Well, they ignore them after they gin up the fear in order to make bucks for Big Pharma. Even when Big Pharma fucks up, big-time.

Update 4:17 PM 11/4/2009
Well wouldja lookee here, now wtf did I say a couple of days ago?

JPMorgan Settlement: Bank To Pay SEC Over $700M Over Charges Of Illegal Payments
MARCY GORDON | 11/ 4/09 05:16 PM | AP

I wish I gave a shit lately

I don't.

How Goldman secretly bet on the U.S. housing crash

Umm hmmm, and JP Morgan was already trying to hide their part in this mess, and even that it was a mess. Fuckers.

Happy Halloween

Ya wanna know why I haven't been blogging? The damn incision site is taking forever to heal and I can not sit very long. I'm fed up with incompetent medical practitioners and men in general. All my girlfriends are fed up with men and the stupid things they do, don't do and need to be told to do. Reading about the wars, the political maneuvering, the greed and the stupidity of some men is just more than I can do when it physically hurts to do it.

The kid has the car today, so I'll be using alternate transportation.

Soooooo good to be home...

But I am proud that HE called maintenance for the first time in eight years. I kind of wish he had burned the sugar cookies (pre-formed and frozen, with a brand spanking new timer on the wall two feet from the stove, Oy) instead of the ones that I like, but hey, at least he didn't burn the apartment building down. In all fairness, our oven sucks, it's hard not to burn stuff in it, what with all the flipping stuff halfway through because it does not heat evenly.

It was kind of sad to leave Annie's house. She's so much fun and I love her dearly. I am truly lucky to call her friend.

I'm going through political junkie withdrawls

No shit. I had a dream that I met Randi Rhodes at some hokey little political get-together and not only did she take her turn manning the funky little snack bar, she told me she was secretly a conservative.

I have definitely been in LA too long. Oy. Oy Vey.

I love my friend Annie dearly, but LA is just too weird for me, and Annie is so energetic that I cannot keep up with her. Besides, socially I'm kind of a wet blanket compared to her. She's a lot of fun, and people love her. I'm kind of like a burr under a saddle, not fun, but people know I'm there.

I'm trying to read The Creature From Jekyll Island, but she's so happy that I hate to darken her mood with this particular nasty piece of history.

Car is fixed---yeah!!!!

And Annie is doing her thing today so I'm sort of dog sitting. Her dogs are well behaved, so no big deal, but only for Annie. I am not a pet person.

I was going to clean the fridge, but it still hurts to do that much bending and squatting. If I had known that this stupid cyst was going to be that much of a pain in the ass, I just might have left it alone.

I'll be glad to get home. 2 weeks away is more than I usually do. I have discovered on this trip that I need a new bed. My back has not bothered me at all and it usually does at home. They say that mattresses last about ten years and mine is definitely shot.

The horrid ghost of Ayn Rand

A blood boiling must see. PBS Frontline "The Warning"

That fucking piece of shit, selfish cunt from hell, evil bitch Ayn Rand, and her acolyte fucktard Alan Greenspan is what the market booty bopping us now is all about.

Fraudsters and Banksters need mommy to smack their hands when they overdo it in the cookie jar. The shitheads do NOT understand anything else.

I was busy

I am in LA now with my wonderful friend Annie. I should not have driven the 8 hours up to see the kid, but I NEEDED to see my baby girl. I am really pissed that the fuckheads took the stitches out, but they didn't bother to tell me how to care for the butterflies they stuck on me and they didn't warn me about what an 8 hour drive might do to them. I pissed my kid off and stressed her out right before a mid-term because I blew the stitches and bled. Then I found out my heater/defroster doesn't work. $1500 bucks to fix it with a used one, are you fucking kidding me? So instead of getting to see the charming little college town she lives in I got to see an ER and a car dealership. Pffffft. I'm not paying $1500 bucks, I'll find some way to get it fixed without being reamed, big-time.

Well, at least I got to spend time with my kid, THAT was awesome. SHE is awesome. I am so proud of her.

Dear Supreme Court

Seriously? The Jeffrey Skilling case? Are you fucking kidding me? Could you be any more brown-nosy towards the Bushies that got you where you are Scumbag Goombah and Head Rich Asshole licker?

Skilling review fuels debate over Enron prosecutors
By MARY FLOOD Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Oct. 14, 2009, 11:26PM


More at IMDbPro » Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005
Photos (see all 2 | slideshow)
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Overview
User Rating:
7.7/10 2,065 votes

Up 7% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Alex Gibney

Guess which year I am reliving through this documentary?

If there is a hell Ken Lay is there and his buddy Skilling will join him there, along with the greedy Enron energy trader(s) who laughed at Grandma Millie, loved it when California was on fire and laughed "Burn, Baby Burn. It's a beautiful thing."

And Oh yeah, Governor Terminator Arnie? Fuck you, and your buddy Pete Wilson for being in on the de-regulation.

Illegal immigration

I heard a report on NPR this morning about more Chinese being caught crossing illegally into the US from Mexico. Something that is on my mind since I watched the movie "Frozen River" recently.


Does illegal immigration disgust me because "I hate dem furriners?" Nope. Actually, the first guy that asked me to marry him was a Vietnamese refugee. I hate it because not only does it exploit the immigrants, sometimes to the tune of brutal slavery to pay off the smugglers, it benefits drug dealers who use the illegals to backpack in drugs through the deserts.

I also cannot help but wonder who else is coming across the border? The book I am reading hasn't said anything about human smuggling, but the FBI's handling of terrorists in this country is might fucking fishy.