Ask Wal-Mart Watch: Has Wal-Mart Changed?

walmart has changed and has done well thank you very much.now where is the same call for target,costco,k-mart,ufcw union grocers and etc to change, give everyone full time work,pay higher wages and give better benefits too?

oh yeah,i forgot they already have full time work, higher wages and better benefits at those union jobs.i guess i am just a complete lying asshole for walmart thank you very much

I recently was told NO form off foul or curse words could be used in any way by a Walmart employee. What do you mean when you say “i am a complete lying ---hole for walmart.” If you are an employee of Walmart or a part of Walmart, don’t you think yoiu should go by the laws and rules? When someone suggested that I had not done so (and only by their word, no back up) I was either suspended, fired or quit under pressure. Walmart still has to let me know, and it’s been over a week since the matter came up. GO FIGURE—ANOTHER WALMART SWITCH RULES TO PLEASE THEMSELVES WHEN EVER THEY WISh!!!!!!!

If that e-mail is legit that is just sad.  I don’t think any church should look to a group like this for advice on what they should do.  If they do than they are more of a political activist group than they are a church, and should call themselves that instead of trying to convince people that they are a church.

Why shouldn’t a church seek advice from secular groups or vice versa?

I, for one, applaud this church for considering these matters and seeking information. And if Gloria is reading: is Costco a possibility for saving money? What about Amazon.com?

“I, for one, applaud this church for considering these matters and seeking information.”

It’s not that they asked the questions, it is who they are asking!!  It’s kind of like asking a fox, if he thinks that the chickens are safe, without the farmer protecting them!!  Unless Wal-Mart goes union, the union will always say that Wal-Mart hasn’t changed, no matter what Wal-Mart does!!

In regards to “m att hew vantress in gresham,oregon”. All supermarkets and similar mega chain stores need to up their game when it comes to wages etc. The difference with Wal-Mart is that the things they do are illegal. I would love it if my employer raised my wage but because I am being paid a legal amount they’re not going to. And regarding these more recent comments, an activist group can exist within a church if it wants to, it can get advice from wherever it wants to and it can call itself whatever it wants to. Admittedly, this one would expect this site to be slightly biased for advice but Vasudha (the person who replied to the church group) pointed out that Wal-Mart has tried to make changes. She gave balanced, factual advice which is what Gloria wanted, not your opinion on whether or not her church is really a church.

In regards to “m att hew vantress in gresham,oregon”. All supermarkets and similar mega chain stores need to up their game when it comes to wages etc. The difference with Wal-Mart is that the things they do are illegal. I would love it if my employer raised my wage but because I am being paid a legal amount they’re not going to. And regarding these more recent comments, an activist group can exist within a church if it wants to, it can get advice from wherever it wants to and it can call itself whatever it wants to. Admittedly, one would expect this site to be slightly biased for advice but Vasudha (the person who replied to the church group) pointed out that Wal-Mart has tried to make changes. She gave balanced, factual advice which is what Gloria wanted, not your opinion on whether or not her church is really a church.

geraint why dont you complain as well about the far worse illegal things all your favorite stores like kroger and etc do?to complain and fuss about one company constantly instead of ignoring far worse offenses others including your favorites do proves how hypocritical and selfish all you walmart haters are.ok for my favorites i wont say a word or hold them to the same high standards we hold wm to,but wm does it we dont like it and bitch.

ok it was assholes like me that betrayed america and bought all that chinese stuff.i am addicted to cheap crap and demand that everyone buy it only at walmart.you may think i am an unamerican asshole but that is only part of the story.i love being poor and without benefits and just really stupid and full of shit on here.i hate quality stuff and good paying jobs because i cant get either at walmart so shut your piehole you hypocrite loser.btw did i mention i am a complete asshole?

...a group like this...

You remind me of the old Groucho Marx quote, Dave:

I don’t care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.

I agree with Vasudha, the majority of the ‘changes’ Wal-Mart has made are “superficial”. Oh wait! Dropping the dash (-) from their logo and adding and asterisk (*)! Now there’s a substantive change!

Seriously, Gloria, I advise you to read the findings ethic councils from both <a >Norway</a> and Sweden used to determine whether to continue to hold Walmart* stock.

The council accuses Wal-Mart of consistently violating international rules in such areas as the use of child labor, subjecting staff to health hazards, blocking unionization, pushing employees to work unpaid overtime and underpaying women.

April 17, 2001

Wal-Mart Booted Out of the Domini 400
by Mark Thomsen

KLD cites lack of leadership on labor controversies among reasons for removal.

KLD & Co., Inc., a leading corporate social research firm based in Boston, decided recently to drop Wal-Mart (ticker: WMT) from its Domini 400 Social Index (DSI). The primary reason is that Wal-Mart has not sufficiently ensured that its domestic and international vendors operate factories that meet adequate labor and human rights standards.

“Wal-Mart is a market leader in retail, yet has not taken a leadership position on labor issues and has been unresponsive to calls for change from shareholders,” said Kyle Johnson, Domini 400 Social Index Project Manager. “Given that we had removed Nike for similar reasons back in 1997, we could not justify keeping Wal-Mart,” he added.

According to Johnson, the chain of events that led to KLD’s decision began in January of 2000. It was then that Wal-Mart began discussing labor issues in earnest with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), a representative of religious group shareholders. The talks centered on trying to improve Wal-Mart’s standards and policies for vendors, as well as the possibility of piloting an independent monitoring program at some of their vendor’s facilities.

In May, a report released by the National Labor Committee (NLC) alleged that Wal-Mart goods were being made at a sweatshop in southern China. The report said that workers at the Qin Shi Factory were “indentured servants held under prison-like conditions.” NLC is the same small New York-based anti-sweatshop organization that uncovered the connection between Wal-Mart’s Kathie Lee products and sweatshop conditions in Central America.

For months after the report’s release, Wal-Mart claimed it never had any relationship with the Qin Shi Factory. The retailing giant was soon caught in its own lie. In the October 2, 2000 issue of Business Week, an investigative report revealed that Wal-Mart had indeed manufactured Kathie Lee bags at the Qin Shi Factory until December 1999. Wal-Mart subsequently retracted its statement, but did not admit to anything else.

In that same Business Week article, Johnson notes, a Wal-Mart spokesperson said the company may soon begin independent monitoring with ICCR. The very next month, however, Wal-Mart announced it was canceling the independent monitoring plan.

In addition to this chain of events, KLD said it was well aware of other difficulties that Wal-Mart has had over time. These problems include employee relations, the company’s position as the largest retailer of firearms in the U.S., and management’s resistance to unions. While these were not considered primary issues, Johnson says KLD did take them into consideration.

KLD is somewhat conservative when it comes to removing a company from the Index based on qualitative analysis of social performance. Since DSI’s inception, 22 companies have been dropped because of exclusionary screens. For example, Sara Lee had to be removed when it was purchased by Philip Morris(ticker: MO) in 1992 because the DSI employs a tobacco screen. Since 1990, only 15 companies have been booted for qualitative reasons. The latest was Battle Mountain Gold Co. (ticker: BMGOB.OB), a mining corporation, for ill-treatment of indigenous peoples living near its operating facilities.

Johnson says Wal-Mart needs to improve on a number of fronts. “Their vendor contracting policies are subpar, their standards for vendors miss a key element by not allowing unions to bargain collectively, and they have no independent monitoring program,” he said bluntly. “We hope for public reporting, but they did the opposite by trying to cover up. They are mediocre at best.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WALMART DEEMED A “HOPELESS CASE"~~~~~~~~~~

June 16, 2006

Norwegian Government Pension Fund Dumps Wal-Mart and Freeport on Ethical Exclusions
by Bill Baue

The $230 billion global fund--one of the largest pension funds in the world--cited Wal-Mart for systematic human rights violations and Freeport for serious environmental damage.

SocialFunds.com—Last week, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance announced its divestment of two companies--Wal-Mart (ticker: WMT) and Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold (FCX)--from the global portfolio of the Government Pension Fund based on recommendations by its Council on Ethics. The fund excluded both companies for contravening Point 4.4 of its Ethical Guidlelines that “constitute an unacceptable risk of the Fund"--Wal-Mart for “complicity in serious or systematic human rights violations” and Freeport for “severe environmental damage.”
.

“An extensive body of material indicates that Wal-Mart consistently and systematically employs minors in contravention of international rules, that working conditions at many of its suppliers are dangerous or health-hazardous, that workers are pressured into working overtime without compensation, that the company systematically discriminates against women in pay, that all attempts to unionize by the company’s employees are stopped, that employees are in a number of cases unreasonably punished and locked in, along with a number of other circumstances,” states the Council of Ethics in its November 15, 2005 recommendation. “What makes this case special is the sum total of ethical norm violations, both in the company’s own business operations and in the supplier chain.”

“It appears to be a systematic and planned practice on the part of the company to hover at, or cross, the bounds of what are accepted norms for the work environment,” continues the Council, which was founded in 2004. “Many of the violations are serious, most appear to be systematic, and altogether they form a picture of a company whose overall activity displays a lack of willingness to countervail violations of norms in its business operations.”

Norges Bank, the state-owned bank that manages the fund, recommended engaging in shareowner dialogue (or “exercising the fund’s ownership rights") with Wal-Mart to try to induce positive change. However, Wal-Mart did not inspire confidence in this method when it failed to answer a letter the bank sent in September 2005 asking the company to respond to the allegations of human and labor rights violations compiled by the Council since it began investigations in June 2005.

The Business and Human Rights Resource Center, an independent nonprofit that seeks to achieve balance by inviting companies to respond to reports posted on its website that criticize their conduct, posted a June 7 Reuters article on the divestment decision. The company has yet to post a response. Wal-Mart spokesperson Gail Lavielle did not respond to SocialFunds.com’s request for the company’s position on the divestment decision.

While the fund strongly supports the use of shareowner dialogue to encourage companies to move on social and environmental problems, it considered Wal-Mart a hopeless case.

The fund recently extended EIRIS’s contract to include corporate news monitoring service on ethical issues. If news accounts show Wal-Mart reforming sufficiently, the fund can

.

After the fund requested divestment in late March 2006, Norge Bank dumped 2.5 billion Norwegian crowns (about $416 million) in Wal-Mart shares.~~~~~~~~~~SRI .com

If you type in SRI into Google ,you will find several sites to evaluate the ethics guidelines used for socially responsible investing. This site has a “Handshake with Sam” you might want to review. (Just type that into the search engine on the upper right of this page.)Good luck to you !

Just today I read this article titled “Wal-Mart faces fines in Minnesota.” The first paragraph says this:
“A state judge in Minnesota has ruled that Wal-Mart Stores, the discount department store chain, violated state laws on rest breaks and other wage matters more than 2 MILLION TIMES and as a result could face more than 2 BILLION in fines. The judge threatened to impose a $1000 penalty for each violation.
The judge also ruled Monday that Wal-Mart owed $6.5 million to 56,000 current and former employees because of contractual violations, including a failure to give workers promised rest breaks at least 1.5 MILLION TIMES. The judge found Wal-Mart managers in Minnesotta had systematically brokem the law by having employees take IN HOUSE TRAINING WHILE OFF THE CLOCK.”
The Minnesota case is one of more than 70 LAWSUITS FILED ACROSS THE COUNTRY IN WHICH WORKERS HAVE ACCUSED WAL-MART OF MAKING THEM WORK OFF THE CLOCK OR MISS REQUIRED BREAKS.
In 2005 Wal-Mart was ordered in California to pay $172 million for making employees miss meal breaks.
In Minnisotta, Judge King found Wal-Mart stores violated state law by failing to keep records for 325,188 shifts or 13% of shifts. He also found that on 69,710 occasions Wal-Mart stores in the state had failed to make appropriate time records for class members who were working OFF THE CLOCK DOING IN-STORE COMPUTER BASED TRAINING.”

I have one question for all you pro Wal-Mart’ers: How many of you would want to work without getting paid for it? Any takers? And how many would want to miss meal breaks without getting paid for it? And considering this is the largest retailer in the world---and they are making millions in profits every year---how would you feel?
I guess it goes to show you the power of cheap Chinese goods. We just don’t care what happens to other people anymore---we just want out cheap stuff.

And I have a question for you, Jane in N.Y…

...is it Minnesota, Minnesotta, or Minnisotta?

(At least “you-know-who” simply copies/pastes her material)

Gloria: Re: Sam’s Club~~~~~~~~~~~

Wal-Mart offers refunds over sale of counterfeit Fendi goods
Independent, (London), Jun 8, 2007 by Stephen Foley Thousands of Wal-Mart customers are being offered refunds after the world’s largest retailer admitted that it had been selling fake Fendi handbags and wallets. Fendi’s owner, LVMH, is also receiving an undisclosed amount of compensation, as part of the settlement of a Manhattan lawsuit that had threatened to embarrass the retailer and highlight once again the widespread problem of counterfeit luxury goods.

In some Las Vegas branches of Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart’s warehouse chain, customers snapped up handbags that normally cost $925 ([pound]468) for as little as $295, and loaded up on $360 wallets that were selling for little more than $200.

(More
Articles of Interest
WAL-MART TO PAY HILFIGER $6.4M FOR SELLING COUNTERFEIT GOODS
Louis Vuitton Sues Wal-Mart Over “Imitatio.
Wal-Mart vs. Hilfiger
Suit accuses Wal-Mart of selling counterfeits
WAL-MART TO PAY HILFIGER $6.4M FOR SELLING COUNTERFEIT GOODS.
Louis Vuitton Sues Wal-Mart Over “Imitations”
Wal-Mart vs. Hilfiger )

It turned out that the bargains were too good to be true.

Fendi said that Wal-Mart had failed to check that its supplier was a genuine reseller of the company’s merchandise, and had therefore shown “a reckless disregard or wilful blindness as to whether these items bear counterfeits of Fendi’s registered trademarks”.

Handbags, shoulder bags, purses, wallets, scarves and key-chains were all among the knockoff ranges on sale at Sam’s Club warehouses and on its website. Fendi estimated that sales had run into millions of dollars before the goods were finally taken off the shelves. The lawsuit had demanded an unspecified sum in damages.

Doug McMillon, Sam’s Club chief executive, said he would not disclose the scale of the payment to Fendi, and that both sides were happy to put the issue behind them. “We have programmes in place to protect the intellectual property rights of others,” he said. “However, during this litigation, Fendi provided us information that the 12 types of bags and wallets specifically listed in its complaint were not genuine. We accept this information.”

Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club prides itself on a pile-’em-high, sell-’em- cheap philosophy aimed at driving down prices for ordinary Americans. It is not the first time that it has been in trouble over fake goods. In 1999, Wal-Mart agreed to pay Tommy Hilfiger $6.4m to settle federal charges after being found to have sold counterfeit Hilfiger socks and t-shirts on its website and in Sam’s Club stores, in contravention of an earlier injunction.

The trade in counterfeit goods is now a giant global business. Sam’s Club is believed to have bought the fake Fendi goods from a supplier of considerable size. The company said it was no longer doing business with it.~~~

“ have one question for all you pro Wal-Mart’ers: How many of you would want to work without getting paid for it? Any takers?”

I do it every week when I help out at my child’s school and my church.  I don’t get paid a dime for it.  When was the last (or only) time you ever volunteered Jane?

btw, my church is Walmart.

I wonder how many associates “volunteered” to work at Wal-Mart? They just take the money because it’s offered.

Tell me, Mary, if it’s not wrong to cheat employees out of minutes, how about hours? When does stealing become unacceptable to a “true conservative”?

Ken V: C’mon, Ken you KNOW that true Conservatives and Free Marketeers have a different moral philosophy--it’s not about what’s right or wrong-it’s about what you can get away with! Stealing is only wrong if you get caught at it,(think Tom Coughlin),but even then you might get away with no prison time(think Tom Coughlin). Now these rules DO NOT apply to everyday folk accused of shoplifting at WalMart--(Stacy Driver case and others) . Shoplifting at WalMart results in a death penalty for some.

btw, my church is Walmart.

Comments like that certainly aren’t helping the “anti-cause"…

Now these rules DO NOT apply to everyday folk accused of shoplifting at WalMart--(Stacy Driver case and others) .

Rules?  What rules?? 

I recall those Texans operating (way) outside the boundaries of what they were taught to do.

Retail 101, regardless of what store it is, says to never physically engage someone who is shoplifting—that’s what the local cops are around for.

As for Mr. Coughlin, I won’t hold him up as the “pros” poster child, either.

Calling a spade, a spade—he was simply-put, a white collar criminal, like Martha Stewart, among others.

But wait, we can’t pick on Martha as she has a deal with Kmart—as you once coined where “discriminating shoppers shop”.

Query: Why is it when (for want of a significantly improved term),Anti WalMarters quote WMW archived material it is deemed “desperation” by the Beeb(bbrd)?But, when the Pro-Walmarters such as he/she/it “mine” archived material to make he/she/it’s point, suddenly that’s considered acceptable--merely “researching references”?

Down & Out in Bentonville: Back-Up~~~~~~~~Tom Coughlin
Tom Coughlin is the embattled former Vice Chairman of Wal-Mart; he began his career with the company in 1978 and was a friend and hunting partner of its founder Sam Walton. Coughlin retired as an executive at Wal-Mart in January 2005 and resigned his position on Wal-Mart’s board at the company’s request on March 25, 2005; he had been slated to remain on the board until June 2005. In a June 10, 2005 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Wal-Mart retroactively terminated Coughlin for “gross misconduct” in order to negate his retirement package. Coughlin disputes the company’s version of events. [Wall Street Journal, 4/8/05; 4/28/05; Washington Post, 3/26/05; Associated Press, 6/11/05]

SIGNIFICANCE

Coughlin was a Wal-Mart “Legend” and “Protégé” of Founder Sam Walton. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Coughlin was a Wal-Mart legend—a protégé and old hunting buddy of founder Sam Walton and for five years the second-highest-ranking executive in a company of more than a million employees. The suggestion that he might have betrayed the company he served for 27 years has shocked many at Wal-Mart and around Bentonville, where the world’s biggest retailer is based.” [Wall Street Journal, 4/8/05]

Coughlin Now Under Investigation by Federal Grand Jury for Ethical Lapses. In April 2005, a federal grand jury was named to investigate fraud allegations surrounding former Wal-Mart Vice Chairman Thomas M. Coughlin. Wal-Mart contends that Coughlin misappropriated up to $500,000 in funds for personal expenses. [Wall Street Journal, 4/8/05; 4/28/05; New York Times, 4/23/05; Los Angeles Times, 6/11/05]

Coughlin Attorney’s Says Funds Spent on Off-The-Books Payments to Unions for Information Gathering. The Wall Street Journal reported that Coughlin has said the money was used to fund a top-secret antiunion effort to pay off union employees and gather information. Coughlin began his career in 1978 and was a friend and hunting partner of founder Sam Walton; Coughlin retired in January 2005 but was retroactively terminated by Wal-Mart in June 2005. [Wall Street Journal, 4/8/05; 4/28/05; New York Times, 4/23/05; Los Angeles Times, 6/11/05]

Wal-Mart Claims “No Evidence Whatsoever” of Alleged Anti-Union Fund. After the company conducted an internal investigation, Mona Williams, Wal-Mart’s director of corporate communications, said: Wal-Mart “found no evidence whatsoever to support it [Coughlin’s assertion about union payments]. To the contrary, the evidence shows that corporate funds were misappropriated and used for the personal benefit of specific individuals. … Neither Mr. Coughlin nor anyone else at Wal-Mart was ever authorized by the company to make payments to anyone about union activity.” [Wall Street Journal, 4/8/05]

Wall Street Journal: Abuses by Coughlin “Seem Surprisingly Petty.” The Wall Street Journal reported, “For a man of Mr. Coughlin’s means—his total compensation topped $6 million last year—the alleged abuses seem surprisingly petty. In a terse announcement, Wal-Mart said it found questionable transactions totaling between $100,000 and $500,000.” [Wall Street Journal, 4/8/05~~~~~~~~~~Petty? Like “petty” shoplifting? Shoplifting isn’t considered petty at WalMart. Ask the Driver family.Comparing Tom Coughlin to Martha Stewart goes from “stretching” to “retching” in the absurdity of the comparison! Wal Mart, Wall Street, and Main Street evidently do not operate under the same guidelines of justiceand injustice.

ddrb,

“Query: Why is it when (for want of a significantly improved term),Anti WalMarters quote WMW archived material it is deemed “desperation” by the Beeb(bbrd)?But, when the Pro-Walmarters such as he/she/it “mine” archived material to make he/she/it’s point, suddenly that’s considered acceptable--merely “researching references”?”

Probably because if a pro Wal-Marter were to quote something from Walmart.com, they would be labeled as being fed “Lies and Falsehoods”, but if you found something you wanted to quote from that site, it would be considered ‘the gospel’!!  So, you shouldn’t have a problem, when we use YOUR material to make our point, unless it is ‘false’, but then again, it’s on YOUR site, so why should it be ‘false’?

Here’s the problem, YOUR side is the one trying to convince others that Wal-Mart is ‘bad’, so, it is up to you to bring a valid arguement as to why this is so, and using WMW material as your proof, is highly suspect, because they have an agenda of trying to put Wal-Mart down, to get them to organize, so they can get their hands on all that dues money!!  Therefore, they are not above twisting things to make their point!!

We on the other hand, don’t have to convince anyone of anything, except to point out your ‘spins’!!  After all, the people already work and shop there, so we don’t have to convince them to continue to do so!!

enough of your bs ken and jane.wm dont force anyone to work or apply there,and dont force anyone to work without pay.dont believe everything you hear from the internet and ufcw unions.people work there because they want to work for a good company and need a job.hey a holes ken and jane people work at wm because they want to not because they are forced to.stop buying all the bs wmw feeds you.

Good show, RDS!

I have never advocated “stealing” from anyone.  And if Walmart worked people “off the clock” then shame on them and they should pay the price for it.  It’s not acceptable. 

I just hope Jane in N.Y. will stop posting stupid questions.

How many people think Jane posts stupid questions?

Well it was a stupid question.

Ken V: Did you declare independence from your former moniker---from” Ken V in Texas"-- to--” Ken V in Texas in” ?

Come on, Double D, you know I would never accuse any anti Wal-Marter of asking a stupid question. Those are reserved for the pro crowd.

My church is still Walmart and you can’t make me leave. Thanks for the support bbrd, God knows we need it!!

“...a group like this…

You remind me of the old Groucho Marx quote, Dave:

I don’t care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members. “

I didn’t know I was a part of Walmart watch.  The writer was clearly asking the “experts” that run the site.  Also I can’t believe those that were alright with the church asking Walmart watch for advice.  I guess they should start asking atheist sites for information on what they should think about God too.

I think that my previous post should award me the #1 Walmart ass kissing prize for the July 4th weekend. See you in church mary and bbrd!!

I see impersonating bloggers at still working hard on this site.  Do they get paid 1.5x for overtime?

What genius troll was it that tried to impersonate Ken V from our pro Walmart chain gang? And mary, you need to work on your sentence structure. Are you drinking again?

Let me guess, Dave, you would refer Gloria to walmartfacts.com? She’d be sure to get unbiased info there....not!

I have never understood critics of this site. They act like WalMartWatch makes up all these Walmart* horror stories.

I didn’t know I was a part of Walmart watch.

Sorry, Dave, but you are part of this “group”.

One gram of uranium produces as much energy as one ton of oil - this difference is a factor of one million.

What genius troll was it that tried to impersonate Ken V from our pro Walmart chain gang? And mary, you need to work on your sentence structure. Are you drinking again?

Ahem!

And that’s all I have to say about that—rest assured Mary, the “WMW Saturday Night Special” was most definitely not me…

“you would refer Gloria to walmartfacts.com?”

I know myself, that I would recommend that the board talk to the members of the church, as it will be their money paying the higher prices, somewhere else!!  Walmartfacts.com, would be just as biased as WMW!!

“They act like WalMartWatch makes up all these Walmart* horror stories.”

It’s not that they MAKE UP the stories, it’s the way they present them, twisted, to make them appear to say something other than the actual meaning!!  Example:  If Wal-Mart changes the site of the managers meetings, WMW will make it into something devious!!  Kind of like if Wal-Mart turned left, WMW would come up with, ‘Why didn’t they turn right, could it be that they were afraid to turn right, because that would take them in a different direction, the ‘right’ direction?’!!  No matter what Wal-Mart does, WMW thinks they should have done the opposite and because they didn’t there must be some ulterior motive for doing what they did!!

I can understand your distress, RDS. The more facts Gloria learns about Wal-Mart the less chance she will recommend remaining a member of Sam’s Club.

“A recent, though still small trend, is shareholder activism. Churches, unions, benefit funds – several groups are introducing shareholder proposals that deal with social issues, pressuring the board to be a better company by saying that social responsibility is a form of profit, and one they believe is important.”

Do you think “social responsibility is a form of profit”?

Ken V: I’m all for holding corporations accountable for sinsof both omission ,and ,commission. Now, those prosperity televangelists preachers could use some closer scrutiny,too! Poor ole Chuck Grassley hasn’t gotten very far with his investigation. Especially that fella from your neck of the woods,Ken. Televangelist Kenneth Copeland told Grassley that the Copeland Ministries tax returns belonged to God!(BTW,Copeland was a BIG Huckabee supporter.)

Query: Why is it when (for want of a significantly improved term),Anti WalMarters quote WMW archived material it is deemed “desperation” by the Beeb(bbrd)?But, when the Pro-Walmarters such as he/she/it “mine” archived material to make he/she/it’s point, suddenly that’s considered acceptable--merely “researching references”?

Why is it....(?)

To paraphrase Alfred Lord Tennyson:

<i>"Ours is not to reason why.  Ours is but to do and...continue overwhelming the bullshit levees of the pro Wal-Mart side with a tsunami of facts!

We are not just paranoid bullshit internet levees!! We are the actual internet bullshit itself!!