It’s been a busy week in Wally World: the Universe’s source of cheap plastic crap. On The Writing On The Wal — the blog USA Today says should be on its readers’ radar — Jonathan Rees, Robert Feinman and I continue our work dedicated to drawing back the curtain on the Bentonvile Behemoth’s corporate disinformation and other flackery.

POUNDING TACKS WITH A SLEDGE HAMMER… In discussing Walmart, Chicago and that city”s food deserts, the conversation has moved to alternate routes of providing healthy food to residents and part of the focus is on small, resident-farmed plots and farmers” markets that could grow and sell locally. Keep reading…

WHY DOES WALMART HATE AMERICA SO MUCH…? I”ve written before about Walmart”s anti-greeters demanding the papers of private citizens simply trying to get the merchandise they just paid for out to their cars so they can get home and put their feet up. It still seems it”s not really yours until then. Keep reading…

ARE WE FINALLY LEARNING THAT BIG IS BAD…? For most of my lifetime, the primary economic mantra for growth and the creation of wealth has been economies of scale. Company A buys Company B and lays off redundant employees and churns the no-longer-paid wages, salaries and benefits into profits. Keep reading…

MOTHER WOULD APPROVE… There is a school of attitude that seeks to seek the sunny side of life, to embrace the half-full glass, to emulate their goddess Pollyanna. I”m not a member. But neither am I a pessimist. On balance I think the world is a good place with a lot of bad actors. Keep reading…

MORE ON HOW TAX INCENTIVES GO WRONG… Tax incentives are back in the news, this time in Oregon where Walmart has managed to buy a multi-million dollar tax break because its accountants are smarter than the politicians in Oregon. Once again, Al Norman has jumped in.
Keep reading…

DYING FOR FASHION CHEAP PLASTIC CRAP… I imagine that we could do a blog just about the recalls of merchandise from Walmart, and the shoes recall has been in the back of my mind for a few days as I contemplated whether or not it was worth posting the story. Frank made my decision easier. Keep reading…

WALMART”S TWO-CENTS WORTH… The blogger at Durango Texas noticed a two-cent difference between the post price of milk ($1.98/gallon) and the price at the check-out ($2/gallon). Two cents isn”t enough to make you hassle with customer service, but how much is it worth to Walmart?
Keep reading…