Only Terrorists Support a Living Wage: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Wal-Mart

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Tuesday February 10, 2009 · 8:21 AM PST

2009/02/10 · 08:21

My friends at Wake-Up Wal-Mart and I have seen something remarkable:

In what we might presume to be the most bone-headed, most egregious iteration yet of the right-wing media's effort to convince ~~us all~~ itself that Wal-Mart = America, and that those who fault the company are in fact terrist sympathizers who no doubt also hate baseball and apple pie, this weekend the New York Post provided us with a nearly three thousand-word manifesto on Wal-Mart's unassailable decency, penned by intrepid regurgitator Charles Platt.

Memeorandum featured it, some right-wing blogs slobbered over it, and Sadly, No! decisively slapped it.

But surely I'm being hyperbolic here! I mean, we have differences of opinion in this country, but it's not like anyone's comparing workers' rights advocates to the Taliban. Right?

Poll

27 votes Show Results

What's your favorite utterly ridiculous slapdash metaphor in all of lazy journalism?

27 votes Vote Now!

What's your favorite utterly ridiculous slapdash metaphor in all of lazy journalism?

they behaved like poster children for enlightened capitalism

1 vote

the sincerity of the pope issuing a benediction

6 votes

the feel-good sincerity of a Baptist running a bake sale

10 votes

Merchandise from Wal-Mart has become as ubiquitous as the water supply

9 votes

Something even more inane than the work of Charles Platt and the New York Post? Post in comments!

1 vote

What's the Ascendancy of Bruce Springsteen Got to Do with the Dominance of Wal-Mart?

satyr9us

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Tuesday February 03, 2009 · 12:46 PM PST

2009/02/03 · 12:46

Well into his fourth decade of song-crafting prowess, and his third of life as a household name, Bruce Springsteen now stands at the pinnacle of singer-songwriter achievement: first sharing a stage with the Father of American Folk Music at the We Are One Concert on the National Mall, then rocking out a set of blue-collar anthems a scant two weeks later at the Super Bowl.

The Boss has earned it. From his rebuff of Reagan’s ham-fisted "Born in the U.S.A." co-opt, to his protest of Amadou Diallo’s sanctioned murder by performing "41 Shots" in Madison Square Garden, Springsteen has made it clear that his is the music of the oppressed, the dissatisfied, the American underdog— making his misstep with Wal-Mart all the more confounding.

Poll

20 votes Show Results

What Bruce Springsteen song best encapsulates the struggle for workers' rights?

20 votes Vote Now!

What Bruce Springsteen song best encapsulates the struggle for workers' rights?

We Shall Overcome

3 votes

Erie Canal

2 votes

The Ghost of Tom Joad

9 votes

Others? Talk about it in comments

6 votes

Looking Back at Wal-Mart, and Looking Forward to Something Else

satyr9us

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday January 27, 2009 · 9:24 AM PST

2009/01/27 · 09:24

As a community we've had a lot of discussion here at Daily Kos, most of it around a month ago, surrounding the tragic death of Djimytai Damour at a New York Wal-Mart on Black Friday.

We discussed what it meant to live in a society in which human beings would trample one another underfoot for a deal on a TV. We remarked upon Wal-Mart's bizarre conception of its relationship with temporary workers. We stood aghast at the company's tendency to view every event, even a tragedy such as this, through the lens of profit. We argued about whether it was Wal-Mart's fault, and we discussed what the store might have done different. My friends at Wake-Up Wal-Mart, with whom I'm proud to work, raised money here for Damour's family.

Poll

5 votes Show Results

What would you do if Wal-Mart sent you diapers?

5 votes Vote Now!

What would you do if Wal-Mart sent you diapers?

Throw them away.

0 votes

Burn them.

0 votes

Soil them and send them back.

5 votes

Black Friday, Corporate Responsibility, and Walmart

satyr9us

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday December 02, 2008 · 12:30 PM PST

2008/12/02 · 12:30

A lot of my posts here pertain to corporate responsibility-- most specifically and most often, with the halting attempts of America's largest retailer to fully grasp and embrace the meaning of that term, especially as it pertains to its employees.

This is because of my association with Wake-Up Wal-Mart and my dedication to the group's agenda.

Generally in this pursuit, I oscillate between a tone of detached snark and one of outraged derision toward the company, so I've been fairly described as having "an axe to grind."

I've been speechless since Black Friday. No snark, and it's hard to even muster outrage. There was a great thread here on the events of that day, and since that point we've learned that the name of the brave deceased worker is Jdimytai Damour.

I still don't know what to say, but Meghan Scott of Wake-Up Wal-Mart has just issued the following statement:

satyr9us

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Friday November 14, 2008 · 9:13 AM PST

2008/11/14 · 09:13

Supposedly, Walmart is family friendly.

Supposedly, the company is specifically focused on facilitating the needs of mothers.

Walmart's silly, pandering, new "Eleven Moms" campaign-- consisting, no kidding, of 19 rather than 11 bargain-hunting, values-beaming women bloggers-- will probably serve its intended purpose of buoying the brand through the upcoming holiday season.

But to peel back the facile PR facade-- to examine real real stories of women's experiences at Walmart's stores-- is to see something else entirely:

Heather Silvis says she felt bullied when Wal-Mart associates told her she could not breastfeed her baby in the store on Two Notch Road.

Poll

39 votes Show Results

What's Walmart's most iconic demonstration of its regard for women?

39 votes Vote Now!

What's Walmart's most iconic demonstration of its regard for women?

Hounding Debbie Shank through the courts in Missouri

29 votes

Systematically abusing Debbie Simonson in Minnesota

4 votes

Manhandling Heather Silvis' baby in South Carolina

1 vote

Other: submit in comments!

5 votes

What's Bad for America is Good for Walmart

satyr9us

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday October 30, 2008 · 12:07 PM PDT

2008/10/30 · 12:07

It's official: The United States economy exists in inverse proportion to the share price of Walmart stock.

The San Diego Union-Tribune has the deets:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s share price posted the biggest jump in 20 years, surging 11 percent to $55.17, after the world's largest retailer forecast "low-single" digit same-store sales growth on a percentage basis going into 2009. The company plans to increase international capital spending in emerging markets as it scales back U.S. expenditures.

So to keep track: as we experience the most devastating blow to our economy in 20 years (measured in terms of Dow percentage) Walmart experiences its largest gain.

Poll

54 votes Show Results

What can you do for the American economy?

54 votes Vote Now!

What can you do for the American economy?

Bury all your money in the backyard

3 votes

Boycott Walmart

47 votes

Other: submit in comments

4 votes

Walmart's Sustainability Gambit

satyr9us

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday October 29, 2008 · 9:08 AM PDT

2008/10/29 · 09:08

Al Norman's got an interesting piece on the pace of Walmart growth, over at Huffington Post:

Wal-Mart holds a Wall St. analyst's meeting every October---right before Halloween---to announce its growth projection plans for the year. Wal-Mart opponents applauded the company's announcement this week that it would continue to slow down the production of new stores.

Even the Bentonville Behemoth's cheering section, aka the Murdoch Street Journal, notes this trend in financial-speak:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) sees fiscal-year capital spending at the low end of its reduced expectations and said such expenditures might not increase next year. The retail giant continues to ratchet back its once-breakneck growth and focus on nurturing existing stores.

Poll

36 votes Show Results

What do you mean when you say "sustainablity"?

36 votes Vote Now!

What do you mean when you say "sustainablity"?

Thoughtful planning regarding the environment

5 votes

Thoughtful planning regarding growing communities

0 votes

Thoughtful planning regarding a healthy workforce

1 vote

All the above

20 votes

Ever expanding profit margins

7 votes

A bottomless supply of gas for the Hummer

3 votes

Hijinks in Political Advertising

satyr9us

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday October 20, 2008 · 12:45 AM PDT

2008/10/20 · 00:45

I was just over at FiveThirtyEight, which I read compulsively, and I was bothered by the McCain ad that's been running at the top of the page.

Of course I don't care that 538 is letting it run there-- by all means, Nate, do take that Republican money and run with it. It's the text of the ad I can't stop thinking about:

Obama TALKS BIG on Equal Pay for Women

--as a disembodied Obama head, eyes askance with an ominous shadow darkening his brow to better convey the appearance of a scowl, actually floats across the screen--

But the Women in His Office Make $0.83 on the Dollar. Obama All Talk LEARN MORE

To click on the thing, of course, is to be directed to the McPailin campaign page. If the pseudo-Ebonics of the ad itself aren't enough to clue you in: you're going to lose brain-cells if you even attempt to follow the logic of this gambit.

So why does this ad feel like deja-vu?

It just hit me: because it completely rips off the theme of an anti-McCain ad that's been out for a couple weeks now-- a Wakeup Walmart ad highlighting McCain's slimy work against Equal Pay legislation in the Senate:

Poll

23 votes Show Results

What's your favorite of McCain's lies?

23 votes Vote Now!

What's your favorite of McCain's lies?

That he has a better record than Obama on Equal Pay

2 votes

That he knows how to fight the *war on terror*

10 votes

That the fundamentals of the economy are strong

11 votes

Other-- submit in comments!

0 votes

Walmart Wants to Poison You

satyr9us

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday October 17, 2008 · 1:21 PM PDT

2008/10/17 · 13:21

(Cross-posted at MyDD and Calitics and BlueNC)

We know that the public water supply in some U.S. cities contains trace amounts of things we don't necessarily want to be drinking.

And we also know that the bottled water industry has lots of ramifications for the environment-- non-biodegradable plastic bottles littering the landscape, for one.

But did you know that Walmart, in its ceaseless drive to sell crap to Americans, has managed to dovetail these two problems?

The Wakeup Walmart blog (I do some work with them) has got a great piece on this development:

Wal-Mart's bottled water is:

-bad for the environment, like all bottled water
-bad for your health because it contains dangerous pollutants, toxins, and pharmaceuticals
-sometimes just tap water in a bottle
-incredibly expensive compared to tap water

Poll

65 votes Show Results

What do you think of when you think of Walmart and water?

65 votes Vote Now!

What do you think of when you think of Walmart and water?

The rivers of pollutants surrounding their sweatshops in China

46 votes

Good, clean H20

1 vote

Arsenic, radioactive isotopes, nitrates and ammonia

18 votes

Walmart's Public Relations Coup

satyr9us

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday October 01, 2008 · 5:45 PM PDT

2008/10/01 · 17:45

In a brilliant, stunning move indicating their mastery of the PR field, America's largest retailer has just released a press release, the real meat of which is how good they are at press releases... press releases that are so transparently phony that my cat rolled his eyes at me when I read it aloud.

The thing is, they release press releases about their policies all the time-- about as often as they proclaim that they're ~rolling back prices~ or ~helping you live better~ or whatever truckload of utter crap they're using for a slogan these days.

Poll

50 votes Show Results

What would you do for health insurance if you were a Walmart employee?

50 votes Vote Now!

What would you do for health insurance if you were a Walmart employee?

I'd go without

10 votes

I'd feed my kids nothing but saltines for a week each month, to afford the premiums

4 votes

I'd do do Walmart tells its employees to do: rely on taxpayer-funded programs

36 votes

The Mother of All Half-Baked Theories!

satyr9us

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday September 30, 2008 · 2:15 PM PDT

2008/09/30 · 14:15

(I'm doing some work with America's Voice-- they've got a thorough run-down at their website.)

As our economy continues to stagger and gasp along with record market failures-- and the failure of our paralytic government to do a single thing about it-- a lot of people are searching for explanations.

Take, for example, Michelle Malkin and Mark Krikorian. Yes, they're searching-- one might even say they are grasping at straws.

Malkin's subtle theory is that the whole thing is a natural consequence of letting too many Mexicans across the border:

The Mother of All Bailouts has many fathers...But there's one giant paternal elephant in the room that has slipped notice: how illegal immigration, crime-enabling banks, and open-borders Bush policies fueled the mortgage crisis.

Yes, I wish I was satirizing poor Michelle-- but her feeble little brain actually did come up with that statement in all apparent seriousness.

Poll

45 votes Show Results

If we can't blame market failure on immigrants, who can we blame?

45 votes Vote Now!

If we can't blame market failure on immigrants, who can we blame?

The Russians, of course.

2 votes

Aliens, man... you know, the kind that show up in flying saucers

11 votes

Ourselves-- for allowing the Republicans to run rampant

32 votes

On Greenhouse Gas and Scapegoats

satyr9us

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday September 29, 2008 · 4:41 AM PDT

2008/09/29 · 04:41

(Cross-posted, in slightly different format, at MyDD.)

Sure, fine, okay-- global warming exists after all... but only to the extent that it's one more thing we can blame on the immigrants.

Such is the fascinating scholarship now offered to us by the brilliant minds at the Center for Immigration Studies:

Poll

4 votes Show Results

What is the cause of global warming?

4 votes Vote Now!

What is the cause of global warming?

Immigrants... all that movement back and forth across the border causes so much friction

1 vote

Polar bears... too much hopping from one ice floe to the next

0 votes

Saddam Hussein... from the great beyond, he taunts us with his environmentally unfriendly Dubya Emdees

0 votes

Global what?

0 votes

Seriously? We're discussing this?

3 votes

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