Complaint of the Day

Complaint of the Day:

Walmart is the devil. I said it, let it spoken across the land that I have laid down the gauntlet against the world's largest corporation, the Minions of Bentonville, Ar.

Walmart, the world's largest company and perveyors of all things marketable at rock bottom prices, is the source of many ills not only in this country, but abroad as well. While marketing itself as a family run, down home option for Middle America, Walmart denies its workers collective bargaining rights, unionization, health care in many cases, livable wages and ethnic and gender equality in pay.

After being sued by women employees for not giving equal pay to women in management level positions and being caught by the Federal Government for not only hiring undocumented workers, Walmart is going on a public relations offensive.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=509&ncid=509&e=5&u=/ap/20050113/ap_on_bi_ge/wal_mart_scott_3 ">

You see, behind all those wonderfully cheery commercials where Granddad talks about his lovely job being a Walmart Greeter and the His-panic family talks about their son following in the family tradition going to work as a third-generation Walmart employee, we have come to find out that Walmart isn't exactly what it seems.

Surprise, surprise is actually an exploitive Megacorporation that while marketing itself as a keystone in Middle America, does the bulk of it's business with, hold your breath... communists (China), and keeps its prices down by underpaying and stripping benefits from its workers.

In fact, Walmart singlehandedly costs California taxpayers in the 10s of millions of dollars each year because Walmart employees, who lack benefits must draw from Medical to cover what Walmart won't in health services. In cases throughout the country, Walmart was caught using illegal immigrants as cleaning crews in many of their stores.



These immigrants later complained that while working for their contractors and Walmart they were withheld pay, not paid for overtime, and sometimes locked in their stores at night to clean, without a way to leave.

Now comes the news of Walmarts offensive to rebuild its image in the country. Quoting the AP article: "The company took out more than 100 full-page newspaper ads Thursday, outlining the wages and benefits it pays its employees and the good the Bentonville-based company says it brings to communities."

Let's be honest here, most people are still willing to shop at Walmart, no matter what reputation they have. That repuation has been duely earned by Walmart and it's subsidiaries like Sam's Club, because its profit and success are tied to it's ruthlessly efficient business practices and its great negotiating position. I don't shop at Walmart because of these practices, I send my cash to places like Target or Ralph's even though I know they too have unethical business practices.

I just want to point out that as American's buy into this "All-American" business, they should know that Walmart's success has more to do with communist China then with Middle America. Sorry, red states, but you are commie lovers :)

Read this for more background: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45855-2004Nov12.html ">

American Injustice

This is why I do not trust the Mexican Government, or Mexican Technocrats for that matter, especially those who have attended or work at Ivy League Universities, (get the hint, Nerdedillo... Salinas... Fox?!) Check this guy out, who ran an economic thinktank at Yale and doublebilled for his travel expenses.

Anyways... whats new in my life... not much. All is good with the love life. Took my chiquita home for New Year's which we enjoyed, we hung out with Celia too, went to Bubba Gump's last weekend. I was hanging out with Arnold last weekend and he sliced his finger really badly while washing dishes, trying to help him find some insurance so he can have surgery to repair a damaged tendon.

Not much else is going on in the world of politics... Iraq seems to be getting worse by the minute. The funniest or saddest thing to look at from the past week, was the display put on at the confirmation hearings for Alberto Gonzales who met with the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Gonzales as we all know, penned a memo in 2002 that countered policy protecting prisoners from torture in the Geneva Convention. This man, who wrote arguments supporting torture as just is on the fast track to being confirmed as the leading Law Enforcement Officer in this nation.

What kind of bullshit is this? If we hadn't already had a wonderful time watching John Ashcroft and his deputies stomp on the Bill of Rights, we will have an even better time watching Gonzales circumvent the quaint and obsolete Geneva Convention.

The hearing was a farce, with Lindsay Graham, (R-South Carolina) putting up a more reliable attack on Gonzales then most Democrats on the panel. I mean how can we conceivably be viewed as perveyors of Democracy when we ourselves use the tactics of our "despotic enemies." Graham put it in the most stark light when he said America was getting "cute" with its enemies.

The truth is, Gonzales is more then qualified to be Attorney General, however, he should be fundamentally rejected because his stance on these previous issues create not only a terrible image of America abroad and at home, but also could pose even greater threats to American Civil Rights then perhaps even the feared Ashcroft. But more then likely, Gonzales will be confirmed, and quite easily I am sure.

The sad truth is, Americans don't even register a bit of interest into these subjects, which have such fundamental effects on our lives.

Holiday Season

So what's new in the political world? Not much, I did read an interesting editorial in the LA Times on Bush's relationship with Putin, which I think is very interesting.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-russia22dec22,1,4321056.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials

In other news, still have some shopping to do for the holidays, got some of my gifts taken care of, but still have to get stuff for my sister, my dad and a part of my gift for Jen, not sure what though yet. She and I are gonna head to Sanger on Friday morning I think.

Celia and Tito are back in town so I will prolly hang out with them at some point, gonna hang out with Nono and chill. Work is boring right now. Starting to study for GREs, may even take the LSATs for fun too, not sure yet, I never really wanted to go to Law School, but who knows. My job pays crap, but the House will be paying my loan payments for me for as long as I work for the Congressman.

All is well for the most part, want to wish everyone a happy holidays with lots of love, tamales and champurrado!

Putin' on the ritz