Friday Blog Round-Up: Commencement Edition

Uh Oh- pop goes the Walmart image-again!

It really bothers WMW that WM is doing so well in spite of all of WMW’s efforts, the fact that they have remained unionized and in a bad economy.

Wal-Mart is doing well, John, because it’s a bad economy. Fewer and fewer people can afford to shop anywhere else. Kinda sad, don’t you think?

What is it you fellows don’t understand about the race to the bottom?

And if all these business blunders and the Anti Wal-Mart Movement are having no effect, why is Bentonville spending millions upon millions to combat all the negative PR?

There is no way of measuring how much business Wal-Mart is losing to competitors with more benign reputations. But the collective purchasing power of these “loyalists,” as Wal-Mart calls them, has shriveled in recent years as hourly wages have stagnated and the cost of housing and energy have soared. ~ Anthony Bianco

Lets see.  WM has been doing well in a good economy.  Now they are doing well in a bad ecnomy.  Face it losers.  They are doing well regardless of what you throw at them.  I bet that WM lasts longer than the SEIU, even if the democrats get in.

If you look at the video of their growth, you will note that their growth during the Clinton period was practically explosive.  So much for Walmart only growing during a bad economy.  If is hard to pick out a period when they have not grown and the video doesn’t show the overseas areas where they are doing even better.

http://blog.kiwitobes.com/?p=51

WalMart is no longer growing in the United States. Revenues are increasing outside the U.S. as WalMart expands overseas and continues to exploit suppliers and labor for wage differentials anywhere they can force them. This is the basis for WalMart operations to a dying and increasingly desperate consumerist culture in America. WalMart must continue to expand overseas where allowed. After the ruinous failures in Germany and South Korea, Mexico is where the growth is primary for Bentonville as China for a future in revenue growth. India probably won’t work out for WalMart, even by proxy. There was/is also no ‘public’ accounting for WalMart repatriation of overseas earnings at what was a 5.25% federal tax rate signed for by Bush. WalMart lost Chicago and will shut down other stores over approx. the next 20 months in the U.S.

[...Of course, we expect nothing different from a company that pays minimum wage & offers no health benefits,]

Wow, there is something I didn’t know, Wal-Mart “pays minimum wage & offers no health benefits”, now, that wouldn’t be a BIG FAT LIE, would it?  But, you heard it here, so it must be true, right?  After all, this site wouldn’t present something that isn’t true, right?

...and will shut down other stores over approx. the next 20 months in the U.S.

Just when I thought I heard it all, SVD went “one toke over the line"…

After all, this site wouldn’t present something that isn’t true, right?

Misinformation is a cornerstone of this place, Charles…

“Wow, there is something I didn’t know, Wal-Mart “pays minimum wage & offers no health benefits”, now, that wouldn’t be a BIG FAT LIE, would it?  But, you heard it here, so it must be true, right?  After all, this site wouldn’t present something that isn’t true, right?”

Charles in Brighton, Tn.
Friday, May 16 at 10:27 PM

Take it from Sam Walton himself genius…

Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton once said, “I pay low wages. I can take advantage of that. We’re going to be successful, but the basis is a very low-wage, low-benefit model of employment.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Wal-Mart#_note-
iswalmartgood
“Is Wal-Mart Good for America?” PBS. November 16, 2004. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.

Here is more information for bbrd and Charles…

“Wal-Mart has 390 empty stores on the market today.”

Al Norman, Sprawl-Busters
<http://www.pbs.org/itvs/storewars/stores3_2.html>

“This was not inclusive of the 85 stores sold in Germany to Metro. They would not be actual closures but there must be a number as well for foreign stores closed under the WalMart name or that of a subsidiary that WalMart owns and operates.”

Another excerpt-

“Criticized for deserting stores that under-perform, Wal-Mart has left behind more than 25 million square feet of unoccupied space across the country (May, 2000). The company claims it tries to sell these properties, but the only potential buyers are other big retailers, and Wal-Mart will not sell real estate to its competitors. In one Kentucky town, an empty Wal-Mart was torn down at the taxpayers’ expense.”

<http://www.pbs.org/itvs/storewars/stores3_2.html>

This data from 2006 provides some additional insight to the overall picture of WalMart store closures in the United States.

2006-02-20
Bentonville, AR.
Wal-Mart’s 24 Million Square Feet of Dark Stores

Wal-Mart discount stores are slowly disappearing. Over the past 5 years, Wal-Mart has shut down 35.3 million square feet of discount stores. Since 1999, Sprawl-Busters has monitored Wal-Mart’s abandoned stores. These are stores the company leaves behind to build bigger stores-what the company likes to call “dark stores.” Last year, for example, we reported that Wal-Mart had 356 dead stores, with 26.69 million square feet of empty space on the market. At that time, 31% of these dead stores were over 100,000 s.f. As of February, 2006, Wal-Mart Realty is still sitting on a colossal amount of dead air. A total of 310 stores in 38 states are on the list of “available buildings”, a total of 24.39 million square feet, or roughly 508 football fields of empty stores. The top ten states in 2006 with empty Wal-Mart’s are as follows:

Texas, 31
Tennessee, 26
Ohio, 19
Georgia, 17
Illinois, 17
Iowa, 14
Louisiana, 12
Kentucky, 11
Michigan, 11
North Carolina, 11

In the “million square foot” club of states carrying more than a million square feet of empty Wal-Marts, are the following 6 states: Georgia, 1.32 million; Illinois, 1.4 million; Michigan, 1.23 million; Ohio, 1.62 million; Tennessee, 1.8 million; and Texas, 2.3 million. Last year, states with over a million square feet of empty space included Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Michigan. In 2006, Illinois and Ohio are new on the million square foot list, while Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Oklahoma have dropped below a million. In 2006, a total of 91 stores (29%) are over 100,000 s.f. Most of these dead stores are former discount stores that Wal-Mart replaced with a larger format supercenter.

What you can do: According to the company’s SEC filings, between 2000 and 2005, Wal-Mart closed down a net of 35.305 million square feet of discount stores. In terms of discount store count, in 2005, Wal-Mart had 1,353 discount stores, or 448 fewer discount stores than the retailer had in 2000. The company’s number of discount stores began rolling backwards around 1995. In the past 5 years, Wal-Mart has closed the equivalent of 735 football fields worth of discount stores.

<http://www.sprawl-busters.com/search.php?readstory=2265>

“In terms of discount store count, in 2005, Wal-Mart had 1,353 discount stores, or 448 fewer discount stores than the retailer had in 2000. The company’s number of discount stores began rolling backwards around 1995.”

WalMart/Edelman- Apparently we could not tell the truth even if we wanted to.

...WM has been doing well in a good economy.

For the sake of the casual reader, here’s a short recap of Wal-Mart’s history.

Following the death of Sam Walton (1992) Wal-Mart began it’s transition from Sam’s Dream to the Beast of Bentonville. Several factors came together in 2000, Bush took over the White House, Lee Scott became CEO and Wal-Mart began a long downward spiral.

Granted 2007 was an uptick for Wal-Mart but following 2006 dismal numbers, there was hardly anywhere to go but up.
In 2006 Wal-Mart increased sales by $50 billion but only increased profits by $50 million. An increase of 0.047%.

Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me ~ Richard Fariña

The number of “discount stores” is decreasing because they are changing them into supercenters.  They are still Walmarts.  The total number of Walmart has increased in the US each of the last 10+ years from 2362 in 1998 to 2418 currently, and pretty much every year the expansion has been about 100 stores.  They plan to add 170 SC this year in the US, and international sales only account for 21.7% of their sales.  So I guess if you consider adding 100 stores a year a decrease than I guess they are cutting back, but if you do you aren’t all that bright. 

Also the base pay for people greeters is even above minimum wage, and all they have to do is stand there and say welcome to Walmart so no Walmart doesn’t pay minimum wage.  I make just about 3 times minimum wage for my state, and I have health insurance through them so I guess both those statements are false.

“In 2006 Wal-Mart increased sales by $50 billion but only increased profits by $50 million. An increase of 0.047%. “

They still posted a 13% profit increase for the last two years which is pretty good for a company of that size, and they posted a 6.9% increase for the first quarter this year.  Also Their sales went from 308 billion to 344 billion according to their shareholder information which isn’t quite 50 billion some would say it is closer to 36 billion.

“overseas areas where they are doing even better.” ~John in OKC

Quick John!  Now might be a good time to swoop in on Myanmar and China to “explosively grow” the business!

“Hugely profitable corporation + superstar do-gooder WR buying bikes + underprivileged kids = no water and ice for event? Something doesn’t add up in this story.”

This looks like a math problem.  Where’s RDS with his “higher math skills” to solve this for us?

Screwedby,

According to SDV and Ken V., Wal-Mart is NOT a ‘highly profitable corporation’ and is:

“The company’s number of discount stores began rolling backwards around 1995.” ~ SDV

and,

“Wal-Mart began a long downward spiral.” ~ Ken V.

Therefore, your equasion doesn’t make sense, so it should read:

Going down the drain corporation + superstar do-gooder WR buying less bikes than agreed upon + underprivileged kids = no water and ice for event, as the superstar do-gooder was too cheap to get some with the money saved from buying LESS bikes!! 

Seems like the superstar do-gooder broke the agreement, by buying LESS bikes!!

With worldwide expansion and global profit, deying ice and water for downscaling the size of an order seems par for the course. Tax avoidance by multinationals such as WalMart is estimated to cost the lives of 1,000 children per day,under the age of five. ~~~~~~~ “We predict that illegal trade-related tax evasion alone will be responsible for the deaths of 5.6 million children under the age of five between 2000 and 2015. That’s almost 1,000 a day”. Christian Aid believes that up to $11 trillion of funds may be stashed away in tax havens.

The report notes the conventional distinction drawn between tax planning and tax avoidance, which are legal, and tax evasion, which is not, but says that avoidance is part of a “sliding scale of legitimacy”, in which ever more ingenious and complex methods are used to get around the rules and shelter corporate profits, notably through the use of tax havens, places where extreme secrecy in turn encourages a more general criminality.

It says: “The inescapable fact is that there are only four reasons for banking ‘offshore’: to avoid tax, to evade tax, to function in secret, to sidestep regulations controlling financial services or monopolistic practices. In each scenario, the pursuit of profit outweighs all other considerations, including good citizenship and social responsibility.

The widespread use of holding companies in tax havens to hold profits, licences and intellectual property, all to reduce tax bills, is also condemned: “Every transnational corporation uses holding companies”, it said, and listed BP, Wal-Mart, Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil and Ford Motor Company’s reinsurance group as benefiting from offshore holdings.

Christian Aid’s strongest words are reserved for the companies and firms of accountants who save billions through such activities as manipulating invoicing and cost structures to avoid paying taxes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daily Telegraph,May 2008

I “triple dog dare you”!

RDS… you once said:

“I would never call Bret Favre ‘stupid or arrogant’…”

I dare you to call Andre Johnson “cheap” to his face!

You never disappoint RDS!  You came through and gave this story the old “RDS Spin.”

baloney walmart is not growing in america tes it is.you can tell by their outstanding sales and the fact that millions of americans shop there and smartly ignore the bs on here by idiots like screwed by,ken v ddrb and etc on here.

“Tax avoidance by multinationals such as WalMart is estimated to cost the lives of 1,000 children per day,under the age of five’

That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.  First of all there is no way of knowing this.  That number is just one that they pulled out of their rectums.  Second, people shouldn’t rely on money from the government to keep their children alive.

Dave: Read it again. The article refers to the patterns of MANY multinational companies,in toto, who choose to use offshore accounts to avoid paying taxes to underdeveloped countries around the world.These combined together,disenfranchise economies least able to afford tax avoidance schemes.

They still posted a 13% profit increase for the last two years...

Where did they post this?

2008 Sales: $374,526.00 / Profit: $12,731.00 3.4%
2007 Sales: $344,992.00 / Profit $11,284.00 3.3%
2006 Sales: $308,945.00 / Profit: $11,231.00 3.65%
2005 Sales: $281,488.00 / Profit: $10,267.00 3.65%

Perhaps your numbers are ‘skewed’, Dave?

Seems like the superstar do-gooder broke the agreement, by buying LESS bikes!!

RDS in

Is this person for real or a plant?????????/

Hang Around WallStreet… Feel Our Pain!

Unfortunately, RDS does exist!  He’s been known to make references to cavemen, but admits to being a “20th century kind of person.” Personally, I’d place him somewhere in the decade 1958-1968.  I bet he’s still got a leisure suit or two still hanging in his closet.

Screwedby,

Like I said, Brett Farve is my favorite player (well, now ex-player), who played for my favorite team: THE GREEN BAY PACKERS!!

As for Andre Johnson, who is he?  If he is not on the Packers team, why should I care about him?  Besides, doesn’t he make enough money to buy some ice for those kids?  The water should be FREE from any available tap!!  Why the ‘big deal’ over a few bags of ice?

As he plays for the Texans, and as I hate the Dallas Cowboys (even though they were bought by Jerry Jones, an Arkansan), I guess the Texans would be my 2nd LEAST favorite team!!

Wal-mart sucks the big one.

Just The Thought of It Gives Me the Chills!

Are you trying to “brown nose” me, RDS?  The thought of you being a Green Bay Packer fan is almost too much to comprehend.

But that’s probably another difference between us.  While I’m a diehard Packer fan, I’m no “Cheesehead.” You on the other hand, probably think one of those foam cheesehats goes well with your plaid bermuda shorts, white knee socks, and sandals.

Screwedby,

“The thought of you being a Green Bay Packer fan is almost too much to comprehend.”

Why is that?  Did you forget that I was born and raised in Wisconsin and lived for 20 years, just 50+ miles from Green Bay?  And, I have only lived 18 of my 64 years here in Arkansas?

“While I’m a diehard Packer fan, I’m no “Cheesehead.””

If you are not a “cheesehead”, you aren’t a ‘real’ DIEHARD Packer Fan, they are one in the same!!

Sorry, while I don’t have any cheesehats, I do have a room that is decorated in a Green Bay Packers motif, painted Green and Gold, with many Packers items, including 2 Farve jerseys, hanging on the walls!!  Also, I have a Packer plate on the front of my car and wear one of my many Packer hats, all the time in public!!  After all, #4 is #1!!

And, while I do have some sandals, I don’t have any bermuda shorts or white knee socks, do you?  Or are you into speedos and sockless?  I guess you just picture what you will be wearing when you are my age and project that on me!!

“They still posted a 13% profit increase for the last two years…

Where did they post this?

2008 Sales: $374,526.00 / Profit: $12,731.00 3.4%
2007 Sales: $344,992.00 / Profit $11,284.00 3.3%
2006 Sales: $308,945.00 / Profit: $11,231.00 3.65%
2005 Sales: $281,488.00 / Profit: $10,267.00 3.65%

Perhaps your numbers are ‘skewed’, Dave? “

Perhaps you need to learn what a profit increase is.  You’re percentages are the profit margin.  The profit increase would be $12,734-$11,231= $1503 $1503/$11231=.1338 or 13.38%.  I should really be getting paid for teaching you business math.

The math is great.
Take a course in HUMANITY and Moral Ethics! Pass on what you learn to Walmart!

a,

Charities and religion deal with humanity and morality, businesses deal with making a profit, when you learn that, maybe you can pass that on to the other anti people!!

Humanity could mean, giving things away for free, a business cannot survive doing that!!  Morality can be different to different people, businesses have to deal with PEOPLE in general!!  Example: one of the articles here, dealt with some orthodox jews, who fought a Wal-Mart store because they sold swimsuits, underware and other so-called immoral things out in the open, should that make Wal-Mart stop selling these things out in the open, because it violates those people’s morality?  People here from India, might find it immoral to sell BEEF, should Wal-Mart stop selling BEEF to accomodate these people’s morals?

I should really be getting paid for teaching you business math.

“Business math” seems to be focused on relatively meaningless feel-good numbers. Tell me, teach, what’s the point of isolating the ‘profit increase’ for two years?

Wal-Mart’s sales increased, but their profit margin has been stagnant for several years now.  Apparently there are no more inefficiencies to be squeezed out of the system.

Meanwhile, the Anti Wal-Mart Movenment does everything it can to increase Bentonville’s cost of doing business.

If you recall you were saying that the reason that Walmart’s numbers were good last year was they were up against bad numbers with very little increase the year before.  I was just showing you that your argument didn’t work since they still averaged nearly a 7% increase in profit for the two fiscal years from 2007 and 2008 which is a good increase. 

Also I don’t understand your obsession with margins, Walmart’s business model is to keep a low profit margin and to keep increasing sales and profit, which they have been doing.  Their margin now with supercenters is actually higher than it was in the mid to late 90’s when they were increasing sales and profit like crazy and stock was taking off.  Also as I pointed out in the other thread their profit margin for last year was higher than SHLD, and Cost, and was just below TGT so their margin is in line with other retailers.  Here’s some more math for you if you increase sales and keep your margin the same you are going to increase your profit which is what they are going for and doing.

Meanwhile, the Anti Wal-Mart Movenment does everything it can to increase Bentonville’s cost of doing business.

This is the second time, today I’ve heard you say something along these lines.

According to the numbers, it’s obvious today’s consumer could care less about the “Movement”.

According to the numbers, it’s obvious today’s consumer could care less about the “Movement”.

bbrd in ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Then why should you?

Then why should you?

OK (I’m speaking to everyone, collectively)…

You folks tell us specifically how “Wal-Mart hurt you”, and I’ll tell you my side of the story (though I’ll warn you, it’s really not all that interesting).

So far, the only story I’ve heard from you anti-types that was your motivator is that WM built a store 30 feet from *s home.

And every now and then, Ken takes on the persona of a tree-hugger to throw everyone off…

Their margin now with supercenters is actually higher than it was in the mid to late 90’s when they were increasing sales and profit like crazy and stock was taking off.

Well, dear readers, you now have to choose. Who to believe?
Dave or Business Week.

Meanwhile, the underlying economics of expansion have turned against Wal-Mart, even as it relies increasingly on store-building to compensate for sagging same-store sales. On balance, the new Supercenters are just not pulling in enough sales to offset fully the sharply escalating costs of building them. Part of the problem is that many new stores are located so close to existing ones that Wal-Mart ends up competing with itself. All in all, the retailer’s pretax return on fixed assets, which includes things such as computers and trucks as well as stores, has plunged 40% since 2000.

None of that disproves any of what I said.  Their profit margin for each of the years from 1996-1998 was 2.9%, and 1999 was 3.2%.  Last year it was 3.4%.  Which one is the highest?

Dave: So, the WalMart profit margins increase as the U.S. trade deficit also, increases ,while U.S. jobs are decreasing in those same years.

Dave,

From what I have seen, these people tend to interchange things!!  They see:

Same store sales = Total sales

Profit margins = Total Profits

What they fail to understand, is that Wal-Mart tries to keep their ‘profit margin’ within a certain limit, by adjusting prices to sell a higher volume at a certain ‘profit margin’!!  (Increased sales volume X set ‘Profit margin’ = Increased Total Profits)!!  While sales volume may affect Total Profit, it may have little effect on Profit margins!!  Profit margins are usually based on yearly expenditures, higher costs cause a ‘profit margin’ rise, and lower costs cause a ‘profit margins’ to be lowered!!  In other words, the less it costs to operate, the less income is needed to produce a profit, so margins can be lowered (thus price rollbacks)!!

Wal-Mart tries to keep their ‘profit margin’ within a certain limit....

Have some more Kool Aid, RDS.

Their profit margin for each of the years...

Why don’t you give figures pre-1992, when Sam died? All the glory you claim for Wal-Mart came during that era. Once the Walton bunch fully realized Sam wasn’t coming back, they set about milking his Dream for all it’s worth.

In his book ironically titled Made in America Sam Walton sets out the prinicples that led to the success of Wal-Mart. Compare those to the current business model.

Ken V,

Don’t feel bad about not knowing how the Wal-Mart “profit margin’ model works, the reason Wal-Mart got to number 1, was because the other retailers didn’t understand it either!!  That is why K-Mart, Sears, Mongomery Ward, J C Pennys and many others, fell to where they are today!!  Before Sam, most businesses looked for at least a 7% profit margin, so they sold their products ‘priced’ to obtain that!!  Sam, had the idea of selling MORE items, at a lower price and lower profit margin, his conclusion was that higher volume at lower prices would generate higher total profits, and, he was right!!

That was then, RDS, this is now. The Beast is running faster and faster just to stay in the same place.

You pro Wal-Marters are willing to settle for so little. As I’ve said before, in my business experience I wouldn’t have gotten out of bed for a 4% profit.

“You pro Wal-Marters are willing to settle for so little. As I’ve said before, in my business experience I wouldn’t have gotten out of bed for a 4% profit. “

That would be why you don’t own a company that made nearly $13 billion last year.  I could see why you wouldn’t want to get out of bed for that. 

Also increasing profit by 1.5 billion or nearly 13% is hardly staying in the same place.

Dave: And WalMart’s increased profit correlates to the increasingly iunprofitable and ballooning U.S. trade deficit. Expect the trade deficit to go through the roof and the bottom fall out of the economy,starting when the 2,000,000 containers of Communist Chinese goods will begin rolling up from the Lazaro Cardenas ,Mexico port.WalMart is not only importing Chiese goods,they are in business with the Chinese ,together,building the port to flood this country with Chinese imports.

BTW: No one has addressed the increased carbon emissions that the influx of MORE 18 wheelers trucking up these goods in the U.S. will have. Wonder what would be the carbon emissions of this vast fleet in comparison to the meme of reducing carbon by the alleged"one stop shopping “of WalMart’s customers?

Ken V,

“You pro Wal-Marters are willing to settle for so little.”

So, you are not only in favor of HIGH PRICES, you are also in favor of HIGH PROFITS!!  You must LOVE the oil companies then!!

RDS: Is it actually possible for ANYONE to love and enable the OIL companies MORE than George W.Bush and Dick Cheney?

Not to mention lovin’ the Saudis?

RDS: Is it actually possible for ANYONE to love and enable the OIL companies MORE than George W.Bush and Dick Cheney?

Yes, indeed—namely the environmentalists and their puppets in the House and Senate.

If we could drill in places like Alaksa the Western Slope of the Rockies, we wouldn’t have to kiss-up to the Saudis and others for favors.

Next time you fill up at the pump—don’t curse...contact your elected representatives and let ‘em know how you feel!

bbrd: Did you happen to watch the hearings this week with the heads of the majoroil companies? According to the hearings, Exxon Mobil as well as Chevron hold,and have been paying leases for years to the U.S. government,excluding Alaska or the Western Slope-yet have NOTosen to drill on them.As CEO Simon of Exxon eplied,"Well we wouldn’t coninue to pay leases if there wasn’t the probability of oil ther”. Problem? THEY ARE SITTING ON THE LEASES-drilling is NOT a priority with the oil companies here in U.S.=they are doing 85%,and the profits being used to develop ALTERNATE FUELS ( which would be cutting their nose to spite their face) is very, very minimal ,according to testimony.

Excuse-didn’t include spell check.

“BTW: No one has addressed the increased carbon emissions that the influx of MORE 18 wheelers trucking up these goods in the U.S. will have. Wonder what would be the carbon emissions of this vast fleet in comparison to the meme of reducing carbon by the alleged"one stop shopping “of WalMart’s customers? “

Really?  This is your best argument now?  If Walmart wasn’t around would the merchandise magically beam to the consumers?  I’m curious what carbon free method Walmart’s competitors have found to get merchandise to their stores.

Dave: Is this really your best retort?I am referring to ,I’ll repeat,the INCREASED volume of merchandise coming u0p from Lazaro Cardenas,that will require an INCREASE in the fleet of 18 wheelers,to truck up the 2,000,000 cargo containers of goods into U.S.Will this not offset whatever carbon reduction could ostensibly be gained from the customers’ emissions? What about the amount of fuel these vast fleets consume ?Isn’t that a drain on the supply side for consumers in general?

ddrb,

Where are these 2,000,000 containers going now?  And, wherever that is, doesn’t it still require trucks to move the merchandise across the U.S.A.!  No matter where the port is or if the goods are manufactured in the U.S., trucks are still needed to move them from point A, to point B!!  A product manufactured in New York, still has to move by truck to California!!

RDS:Duh,ya think? Are you really that obtuse? WalMart rarely addresses these issues when spinning the “sustianability” issues.  Do you EVER see WalMart talk about how much fuel their present and future fleet uses/will use? Or the amount of greenhouse gas produced?The onus seems to be aimed at the consumer,just like the onus for RFID is put upon the vendor. Then WalMart steps in and grabs the glory,at another’s expense.And the Bushies create an investment firm to read the RFID tags,and make lots of $$$$ off it.

Superhighway a cash cow?
NASCO to collect each time RFID containers tagged

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: September,07
North America’s SuperCorridor Coalition, Inc., or NASCO, has figured out a way to cash in on the Chinese containers passing along the NAFTA Superhighway from the Mexican ports of Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas to U.S. and Canadian destinations.

WND has obtained a copy of a draft preliminary joint venture contract between Savi Networks and NASCO, specifying that NASCO will get paid 25 cents for each “revenue-generating intermodal ocean cargo container” registered by the RFID sensors the communist Chinese are now installing along Interstate 35.

As WND reported, Savi Networks is a joint venture between U.S. military defense contractor Lockheed Martin and Hutchison Ports Holdings, a Chinese ports management company with close ties to the Chinese military and the communists running China’s government.~~~~~~~~~~

ddrb,

“Do you EVER see WalMart talk about how much fuel their present and future fleet uses/will use? Or the amount of greenhouse gas produced?”

Tell us all right now, how much fuel YOU use/will use in the future!! And, what the amount of greenhouse gas YOU do/will produce!!  There are so many variables, it is almost ‘impossible’ to predict either!!

* ,

The question begs—are you, my dear, really that obtuse?

I’m guessing “narrow-minded” is a better descriptor, as you tend to take the first Google result as “gospel”.

If you did some real research every now and then, you would know that Lazaro Cardenas is linked to the Kansas City Southern Railway, which stretches from the Mexican East and West Coasts up through Texas to the U.S. South and Midwest.  Check it out, sometime.

That said, it’s the railroads, not truckers, doing most of the long-hauling of bulk (read: container) shipments from Mexico to the U.S.

I’m sure Big D, er, I mean “Stock Watcher” would even have to agree on this one…

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