A desperate plea to the patrons of Wal-Mart!

To those of you who have lived in the dark the last several years, allow me to share some information that might enlighten you.

Wal-Mart (WM). Not a week goes by that I do not absorb some new, negative findings about this mega-retailer that strengthens my committment NOT to shop there. Thank-you, Robert Greenwald for making a powerful and informative film, Wal-Mart - The High Cost of Low Price. http://www.walmartmovie.com/ http://www.bravenewfilms.org/ I would like to recap several points. Acknowledge the following:

While addressing the WM "big-shots" in an annual meeting, CEO Lee Scott asked his leaders to consider two points. "Tell the Wal-Mart story" and "Stay the course." Scary. Especially after you read the following:

WM continues to cripple the communites they enter in several ways. What is listed below is just a "drop in the bucket." Sadly, most people will never know the whole story. Of all the tragedies that you see unfold through the media and on the streets, one can only imagine what occurs behind closed doors.

Economic impact: It's no secret that WM's business mission is to shut down small business and internal supply-chain. How can this be when they go on record stating that they are "too important" to people on tight budgets? How does putting people out of business help those trying to make a living? Everytime a WM enters a community, taxes go up, building values plumet and jobs are lost - to name a few. The public cost of a WM is unbelievable. According to UC Berkely, WM hit state taxpayers in California for $86 million. They cost California county taxpayers $25 million. This money went to health-care, income tax credits, housing subsidies and food stamps for those who were affected by a WM plowing through their communities. They're "Everday Low Price" was based on taxpayer subsidies. The really sad part: WM employees (associates) were a big chunk of those receiving assistance. Nationwide, WM cost the nation's taxpayers an astonishing, $240 billion in 2003.

Alabama - 3684 of WM associate's children on Public Assistance.
Arizona - 2700 associates on Public Assistance
Arkansas - 3971 associates on Public Assistance
Conneticut - 824 associates and children on State Health Care program
Florida - 12300 associates and dependants on MedicAid
Georgia - 10261 associate's children are enrolled in PeachCare for kids
Massachusetts - 4172 associates and dependants on State Health Care program
Tennessee - 9617 associates on TennCare
Texas - 4363 associate's children on CHIP
Wisconsin - 1252 associates and dependants on BadgerCare

Nationwide, it costs $1,557,000,000 to support WM employees.

Unions: I used to think that Unions in America had served their purpose and were
probably unnecessary today. However, WM probably needs them to protect their workers.
WM is so heavily anti-union (as to maximize their profits), that the following investments were made to protect their interests.

$7000 Anti-Union camera package per store
$30,000 Undercover spy van per store
$100,000 24hr. Anti-Union hotline
$7,000,000 Rapid-Response team with corporate jet

Wages: WM found themselves in a class-action lawsuit consisting of 31 states because of their failure to pay associates for their time worked. WM had cheated their associates in Colorado out of $50 million dollars. Associates in Texas were not paid an estimated $150 million in wages. District Managers actually coached store leaders to coerce their employees into working off the clock. Subtle threats, intimidation and scare tactics (though cleverly worded) are used to accomplish this feat. Furthermore, WM claims that 74 percent of their employees are full-time. However, full-time status is only comprised of 28 hours of work per week. This means that at starting wages, a full-time associate at Wal-Mart is only earning less than $12,000 a year. The federal definition of the poverty level for a family of four is a household income of less than $17,650! Even the average hourly WM employee wage is $13,861. 61 WMs were affected by an INS sting that discovered 250 illegal aliens working for WM.

Discrimination: WM found themselves in yet another class-action lawsuit regarding the discrimination of its employees. 1.6 million female employees initiated the largest, class-action lawsuit ever brought against a retailer. However, discrimination suits have been filed for other forms of discrimination besides sexism.

Subsidies: The negative financial impact of a WM does not stop with unfair wages or the abuse of taxpayer dollars. Subsidies granted to WM from local governments are also straining local economies. In Cameron, MS, $2.1 million was granted to WM to build a store. Brookfield, MS also fronted $300,000 to WM to build their store. Nationwide, WM is granted an estimated $1.008 a year to open their stores.

Education: Another victim of WM is our school system. WM has cheated local governments out of millions of dollars that were intended for our school systems. Here are a few figures:

Denver, CO - $1.7 million
St. Louis County, MS - $31 million
Cathedral City, CA - $1.8 million
Washington State - $1 million
Illinois - $100 million

Not only does WM destroy the local environment (mentioned next) when they occupy a store,
they have abandoned 26,699,678 sq. ft. of vacant buildings across America. No other retailer or
business is capable of utilizing a facility as big as a WM store. This space could be used for an estimated 29,666 classrooms that could educate 593,326 students.

Environment: 7 WMs in the Catawba River Valley were in violation of improperly storing herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers. 60-plus pallets of these chemicals and poisons were stored in their parking lots - right next to a storm drain that fed the residential water supply. What about their Tire Lube Express department?

1999 - Pennsylvania halted the construction of all WMs due to these violations.

2001 - the EPA ordered WM to pay $1 million for water violations in Texas, Oklahoma and Massachusetts.

2004 - WM was fined $3.1 million by the EPA (the largest fine ever for a retailer) for Clean Water violations in Texas, Colorado, California, Delaware, Michigan, South Dakota, New Jersey and Utah.

2005 - The Connecticut EPA ordered WM to pay $1.15 million for Clean Water violations in 22 stores.

Global Sourcing / Sweatshops: In 2004, WM imported $18 billion of goods from China. Many of these products boast a gross profit of
China: Factory workers are making $3 per day. They work 7 days a week / 14 hours per day. They work in closed quarters without natural light and with no air conditioning. They are encouraged to live on-site in the dormitory. If you choose not to live on-site, rent is still deducted from your pay. Utilities are not deducted, but does it really matter?

Bangladesh: Factory workers make 17 cents an hour. Once again, they work 7 days a week / 14 hours per day.

The Walton family: Each of the 5 heirs to Sam Walton's fortune were entitled to an average of $18.2 billion. The jet-fleet for the family alone costs $125,350,000. Remember, the average annual earnings for a "full-time" WM associate is $13,861 per year. The Walton family has an underground compound in the event of the apocolypse.

WM started a "Critical Need Fund" which allows their associates to donate money for other associates in the company. In 2004, WM associates donated $5 million to help their fellow co-workers. The Walton family donated $6000. Lee Scott, CEO earned $27,207,799 in 2004. The Walton family received an estimated tax-cut of $91,500 per hour for the 2004 tax year.

Community: In Oxford California, a woman was brutally attacked in a WM parking lot. In fact, it has been estimated that 80 percent of all crime committed on WM property occurrs in their parking lots. In this particular instance, there were 200 cameras installed on the premises and 4 security guards. However, the security guards are ordered to stay INSIDE and the cameras were only a product of WM's "Anti-Union" camera package. This means that the few, WM cameras that were installed outside, were unmanned - with nobody monitoring them. This clearly indicates that WM is only interested in proctecting its financial investment - product and facility, not its customers. Here's some interesting statistics regarding crime in WM's parking lots:

Dunn, NC - Murder
Tyler, TX - Abduction
Allentown, PA - Rape
Boca Raton, FL - Robbery
Fayetteville, AR - Shooting
Upland, CA - Assault with a deadly weapon
Meridian, MS - Abduction
Mobile, AL - Abandonment after rape
Wichita, KS - Robbery
Okaloosa, FL - Purse snatching
Glens Ferry, ID - Kidnapping and rape
Huntsville, TX - Armed robbery
Woonsocket - Knife-point robbery
Houghton, MI - Assault with knife
Washington County, AR - Purse snatching
Erwin, NY - Assault
Grandview, MO - Armed robbery
Brownwood, TX - Mugging
Minnehaha County, SD - Assault
Pascagoula, MS - Theft
Spokane, WA - Shooting
Phoenix, AZ - Molestation
Pueblo, CO - Mugging
Rogers, AR - Assault
Tallahasse, FL - Robbery and kidnapping
Virginia Beach, VA - Attempted carjacking
Sugarland, TX - Purse snatching
Baltimore, MD - Armed robbery
D'Iberville, MS - Drive-by shooting
Myrtle Beach, SC - Stabbing
Murfreesboro, TN - Attack in car
Clackamos, OR - Stabbing
Katy, TX - Murder
Russelville, AR - Rape
Haines City, FL - Attempted robbery
Yuma, AZ - Carjacking
Jacksonville, FL - Purse snatching
Hazard County, KY - Robbery
Wilmington, NC - Carjacking
Cincinatti, OH - Purse snatching
Montgomery, AL - Robbery
Dekalb, IL - Purse snatching
Bullhead City, NV - Assault
Shreveport, LA - Purse Snatching
Edmond, OK - Attempted robbery and carjacking
Salt Lake City, UT - Groping
Rogers, AR - Assault
Granberry Township, PA - Sexual assault
Kingsport, TN - Purse snatching
Orlando, FL - Carjacking
Salem Springs, AR - Shooting
Fairfield, GA - Armed robbery
Wilkes-Barre Township, PA - Robbery
Atlanta, TX - Kidnapping
Pleasanton, CA - Purse snatching
Port Charlotte, FL - Multiple purse snatching
DeKalb, IL - Indecent Exposure
Pearland, TX - Multiple robbery and kidnapping
Springfield, MO - Purse snatching
Sioux Falls, SD - Attempted murder
Stow, OH - Aggrevated robbery
Elizabethtown, TN - Mugging
Bonsack, VA - Threat with gun
Grandview, MO - Armed robbery
Shreveport, LA - Purse snatching
Taylor, MI - Armed robbery
West Ashley, SC - Attempted robbery
East Greenbush, NY - Purse snatching
Hampton, VA - Body dumping
Woodbridge, VA - Shooting

For those of you counting, that was 74 reported instances of criminal activity. All of these crimes took place in the 1st 7 months of 2005! That's an average of 11 reported crimes per month in a WM parking lot. Does this sound safe? How do you feel about shopping in a WM at night? These victims were fathers, mothers, brother, sisters, husbands, wives and children that could have easily been your own. Studies show that parking lot crime can easily be reduced to almost 0 percent by a security guard patrolling the lot.

Now, please recall Lee Scott's request of company leaders at their annual meeting.

The Wal-Mart story? The story of crime, neglect, deception, discrimination and poor ethics? Is this a retailer you want to patronize?

Stay the course? Is this the continuation of their current practices? When does it stop? When there is no more money to be made? When they have destroyed every community in America? When they have ruined every life and family they employ? When they have completely destroyed our environment? You decide!

Is Catholicism a theatrical production?

I know a lot of people are going to be upset with this blog, but just consider the following:

I've never seen a denomination that is more interested in the perception of their religion than anyone else. How can a group of people be so comitted to a set of ideals when it is inherently contradictive to what God teaches us?

What merit does all of the physical gestures have? Kneel, stand, bow, cross your heart, splash holy water, etc. Do Catholics actually believe that God cares about this? It's one thing to show reverance, but it is quite another to live it.

Have you ever heard the word "devout" precede any other denomination? No. Nobody ever says, "He / she is a devout Lutheran (arbitrarily chosen - substitute your denomination of choice)." What makes them so devout? Is it the act of going to church and doing aerobics or is it living your life for God?

Why was this country founded? Was it the search of a new land or was it to escape religious persecution from a certain sect?

Why do Catholics not accept divorce? Does God want us to strictly conform to certain ideals, even if it destroys us as a person? How is this any different than destroying our own humanity by using drugs, waging wars or living recklessly?

Why is re-marriage not permitted? Everyone deserves a second chance. Does God not give us second chances every day?

The Bible was written by man. How can it not be inerrant? The big picture is what's important.

How can some Catholic churches not show tolerance to other religions? There is not one church. There are many. Catholicism is not right or wrong. How can the clergy state that other churches of worship are "imperfect?" What makes the catholic church perfect?

Why are women not permitted in church leadership? God knew that evolution would follow free-will. Although we have a long way to go as a society, why is equality being fought by the church - of all people?

Why does one confess to a priest? Is it to further advertise a "comittment" to a belief? Should we not ask God for forgiveness? Priests, reverands, etc. are a resource. They are human, not omnipotent. Does every priest have the divine influence to truly forgive us?

Are we not taught to "let go" by the bible? Are we not told to "drop our nets" and follow God? At the risk of sounding morbid - Why do we mourn at a funeral? Loss is tough. However, shouldn't the acknowledgement and celebration of life be more important? Death is a part of life. God calls us home every day. We are needed in his kingdom more than we are on earth.

I'm really not trying to convert people or alter a set of ideals/beliefs - but I really am curious! Is the chief purpose of human existance to love and worship God or is it to act superior through show-boating through a set of beliefs that were established by man, not God?