Billings Montana no Wally Docking

On Tue, 02 Aug 2005 19:55:35 -0700, The Dead Senator
spake thusly:

Opus- wrote:
/rant_on

The tyranny of Walmart has no altruistic reason for you to camp on their
lot. They allow you to camp in their concrete campground for one reason
and one reason only:


Tyranny????

Yes, tyranny. Economic tyranny.

I think you're overstating things a bit.

So they can sell you cheap (Chinese) crap and lots of junk food. They
simply want your money. That is all.


You say that like it's a bad thing. They aren't forcing anybody to
walk in their doors. Walmart's motives were never a secret.

It is a bad thing. They aren't forcing you, but they also aren't
telling you the truth. People need to wake up. Wally alone has over
$18 billion in direct Chinese inventory. Many of the other products
purchased from "American" companies are from China, too. These are not
counted in that inventory. 70-80% of the goods within it's walls are
Chinese. Check next time you're there (I hope never). If they had $250
billion in sales last year, that means ~$185 billion went to China.
Wow. They are funneling the Wally-shopping American paychecks straight
to China. This is not good.

I do almost all of my grocery shopping at Walmart. After reading your
post, I checked the origins. With the exception of some cookies, every
grocery item I purchased was made in Canada [I live in Edmonton,
Alberta]. The electronic items I bought there were mostly made in
Japan. The RCA televisions there are made in Prescott, Ontario. I
checked.

Do not lionize Wally as they are not deserving of your praise.


I saw no praise in the above post.

It sounded like indirect praise to me. I wanted to be sure folks
understand why Wallyworld lets campers camp out front. It isn't just to
be nice to RVers.

There was no praise. I didn't even notice any suggestion that Walmart
was just being altruistic. Everybody knows that Walmart allows campers
on their lots to attract customers. It's no secret.

Yes, I hate Walmart. I could go on, but...


Why hate Walmart? Their actions, with regards to making a profit,
sound pretty American to me. Nothing wrong with that.

Okay, you asked...

Profit is one thing, all out greed is another. Remember when Sam
bragged about selling American products? They've come a long way from
that. They are now funding the Chinese worker and their
companies/government instead of our own. Do I sound like a
Protectionist? Yes. For good reason. Walmart is our leading exporter
of American money and jobs. Does Walmart care about America? Only so
far as Americans spend money there.

Here's more food for thought:
Walmart (which also runs Sam's Club) has long been known to move into
an area, soak up the money with cheap prices till the Mom-n-Pop stores
have to shut down, then when Mom-n-Pop (and family) move to better
pastures, the Walmart revenue dries up. Wally then pulls up stakes and
goes elsewhere. Community destroyed. This is why there is a non-prfit
group that follows Walmart around the country helping communities to try
and stop the contruction of new stores. Thankfully, sometimes they are
succesful.

Do you have any examples of where this has happened?

The workers that get the privilege to work for Wally get lower wages
and benefits that also lower the local areas standards of employment.
Workers at other stores/companies get lower wages, benefits and raises
as a result. I haven't even mentioned the abuses and wrongs levied on
many of the workers. Wally always sidesteps the legal issues or pays
out while admitting no wrong-doing (a tactic by all too many companies
these days).

Now this I can argue with. My cousin is a store manager and my
brother-in-law is an assistant manager. It's too easy to find many,
many people who love working at Walmart. Compared to any other retail
outlet, Walmart has an impressive rack of benefits and they promote
from within. A very good friend of mine is a hard-core union person.
He has spent many years as a union rep and shop steward. He has told
me on several occasions that he would have a hard time negotiating a
contract as good as what Walmart has. He has good knowledge of Walmart
benefits, as his wife works at a Walmart.

There is plenty more. Do a Google search and you'll see it for
yourself. Walmart is not the only company that employs these practices,
they just the largest abuser and the best at it. We have to start
somewhere.

I have more faith in the first-hand word of family members than some
web site probably cobbled together by a disgruntled ex-employee.

Instead, shop locally if at all possible. Think of the community and
what makes it unique. I enjoy buying from unique stores in different
areas of the country. Walmart (and others) make everything this
milktoast sameness that inspires nothing. Support Mom-n-Pop.

I live in a major city. Mom-n-Pop disappeared long before Walmart came
to town.

Local produce. Local dairies. Local hardware stores.

Most of the dairy products at the Walmart's here are locally produced
here in Alberta. I shop for hardware at Rona, a Canadian hardware
store, not because they are Canadian but because the selection is FAR
better than Walmart's pitiful hardware section.
I work as a mechanic at an outdoor power equipment dealership. I
repair everything from small trimmers to generators to 30 HP diesel
lawnmowers that can top $30,000 in value. We do a LOT of service work
for Walmart and ALL of the lawnmowers, tractors and snowthrowers they
sell are American made.
Ironically, the only Chinese-built engines I see on a regular basis
are on an American brand of ice-auger sold by local specialty shops.
The engine is called a "Gsmoon" and is it ever JUNK!!!

Oh you just GOTTA see the Gsmoon web site!! It's a riot!! Direct
translations usually are hilarious.
http://gsmoon.ec51.com/

Here is a sample:
- Provide energy for you free----BJSOLAR energy
- Step the Anto shose sheath machine lightly,both of the host and
- guest are not at embarrassed.
- The beautiful house of automatic overshoes set can't be
- little----Lightly step into the fine life
- Electric scooter, gasoline scooter---very good sports and
- entertainment tools
- Unbelievable power,control easily----the\"GS MOON\"electric(gasoline
- engine)tools
- Create safe by heart---SEEYES burglar-proof door
- With BJSOALR, with ture feelings---SEEYES electrical(gasoline) -
- bicycle

- The quality is diligently ,the price show interest.
- Credit obtains customers,honesty guides future.

It's just too funny


Try not to buy it if
it's made in China (I understand the difficulty here and yes, I own
Chinese products, too). You may pay more, but there is much solace in
knowing that the money is staying local and not lining some company or
government's pocket in China. I don't hate China, but I do love my
country. Let's start fixing some of what ails us.

Sorry for the long post. Best regards.

Don't apologize. Dialogue is always good. Best regards to you too.

--

(Jim, single dad to Lesleigh [Autistic] 04/20/94)

"What, Me Worry?" A. E. Newman

Please note: All unsolicited e-mail sent to me may, at
my discretion, be posted in this newsgroup verbatim.

The Dead Senator wrote . . .

It is a bad thing . . . Let's start fixing some of what ails us.

.. . . a great post!


Opus- wrote:
The Dead Senator said:
Community destroyed. This is why there is a non-prfit group
that follows Walmart around the country helping communities to
try and stop the contruction of new stores. Thankfully,
sometimes they are succesful.

Do you have any examples of where this has happened?

I believe the attempt to establish a place in Inglewood (Los Angeles)
failed when put to the people for a vote. I think Inglewood is a
predominantly Black town with high unemployment.

[it would be difficult to negotiate] a contract as good as what
Walmart has. He has good knowledge of Walmart benefits, as his
wife works at a Walmart.

That might be true in Edmonton. If it is in the USA, I haven't heard.


Ken Harrison wrote:
Very well put. You could have added how WalMart treated the
Canadian employees who attempted to form a union; the company
simply closed that department and fired the employees. So much
for dialogue between employer and employee.
__________________________________________________ _________________
A San Franciscan who's stickin' t'the union!
http://geocities.com/dancefest/ - http://geocities.com/iconoc/
ICQ: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/19098103 --- IClast at SFbay Net

They are employers and not charity. I applaud Walmart for using there
corporate rights.

If you want dialogue with your employer join the Marines - lol.

"Ken Harrison" wrote in message
ink.net...
Very well put. You could have added how WalMart treated the Canadian
employees who attempted to form a union; the company simply closed that
department and fired the employees. So much for dialogue between employer
and employee.

Opus- wrote:

Yes, tyranny. Economic tyranny.


I think you're overstating things a bit.

I've been know to do that. Okay, how about domination.


So they can sell you cheap (Chinese) crap and lots of junk food. They
simply want your money. That is all.


You say that like it's a bad thing. They aren't forcing anybody to
walk in their doors. Walmart's motives were never a secret.

It is a bad thing. They aren't forcing you, but they also aren't
telling you the truth. People need to wake up. Wally alone has over
$18 billion in direct Chinese inventory. Many of the other products
purchased from "American" companies are from China, too. These are not
counted in that inventory. 70-80% of the goods within it's walls are
Chinese. Check next time you're there (I hope never). If they had $250
billion in sales last year, that means ~$185 billion went to China.
Wow. They are funneling the Wally-shopping American paychecks straight
to China. This is not good.


I do almost all of my grocery shopping at Walmart. After reading your
post, I checked the origins. With the exception of some cookies, every
grocery item I purchased was made in Canada [I live in Edmonton,
Alberta]. The electronic items I bought there were mostly made in
Japan. The RCA televisions there are made in Prescott, Ontario. I
checked.

After posting (doesn't it always work this way?) I realized that I
should have excludes grocery items from the China references. They can
still come from other areas of the world (usually Western Hemisphere),
though. Not as big of a deal.


Do not lionize Wally as they are not deserving of your praise.


I saw no praise in the above post.

It sounded like indirect praise to me. I wanted to be sure folks
understand why Wallyworld lets campers camp out front. It isn't just to
be nice to RVers.


There was no praise. I didn't even notice any suggestion that Walmart
was just being altruistic. Everybody knows that Walmart allows campers
on their lots to attract customers. It's no secret.


It was an interpretation and yours can differ from mine. That's okay.


Yes, I hate Walmart. I could go on, but...


Why hate Walmart? Their actions, with regards to making a profit,
sound pretty American to me. Nothing wrong with that.

Okay, you asked...

Profit is one thing, all out greed is another. Remember when Sam
bragged about selling American products? They've come a long way from
that. They are now funding the Chinese worker and their
companies/government instead of our own. Do I sound like a
Protectionist? Yes. For good reason. Walmart is our leading exporter
of American money and jobs. Does Walmart care about America? Only so
far as Americans spend money there.

Here's more food for thought:
Walmart (which also runs Sam's Club) has long been known to move into
an area, soak up the money with cheap prices till the Mom-n-Pop stores
have to shut down, then when Mom-n-Pop (and family) move to better
pastures, the Walmart revenue dries up. Wally then pulls up stakes and
goes elsewhere. Community destroyed. This is why there is a non-prfit
group that follows Walmart around the country helping communities to try
and stop the contruction of new stores. Thankfully, sometimes they are
succesful.


Do you have any examples of where this has happened?

It's part and parcel to any big store entering an area, really. Wally
is just the most aggressive with the tactic of predatory pricing. I
have read several stories of displaced businesses from Walmart, and
short of doing several hours of research right now, this is probably the
best link I have for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wal-Mart



The workers that get the privilege to work for Wally get lower wages
and benefits that also lower the local areas standards of employment.
Workers at other stores/companies get lower wages, benefits and raises
as a result. I haven't even mentioned the abuses and wrongs levied on
many of the workers. Wally always sidesteps the legal issues or pays
out while admitting no wrong-doing (a tactic by all too many companies
these days).


Now this I can argue with. My cousin is a store manager and my
brother-in-law is an assistant manager. It's too easy to find many,
many people who love working at Walmart. Compared to any other retail
outlet, Walmart has an impressive rack of benefits and they promote
from within. A very good friend of mine is a hard-core union person.
He has spent many years as a union rep and shop steward. He has told
me on several occasions that he would have a hard time negotiating a
contract as good as what Walmart has. He has good knowledge of Walmart
benefits, as his wife works at a Walmart.

This is an exception to everything that I've heard. I have no friends
or relatives that work there, but I'm glad yours are happy. How well
are the underlings taken care of? Management and worker-bees are
sometimes handled differently. Perhaps this is also a difference
between the Canadian and American stores...?

There is plenty more. Do a Google search and you'll see it for
yourself. Walmart is not the only company that employs these practices,
they just the largest abuser and the best at it. We have to start
somewhere.


I have more faith in the first-hand word of family members than some
web site probably cobbled together by a disgruntled ex-employee.

There are more than disgruntled employees complaining about Wally.
Organized entities are battling them. This is widely known.


Instead, shop locally if at all possible. Think of the community and
what makes it unique. I enjoy buying from unique stores in different
areas of the country. Walmart (and others) make everything this
milktoast sameness that inspires nothing. Support Mom-n-Pop.


I live in a major city. Mom-n-Pop disappeared long before Walmart came
to town.

That's too bad. Sadly, ours are a dying breed, too because of the
Big-Box stores. We still have a locally run hardware store. I use them
when I can. I like shopping at the small businesses.



Local produce. Local dairies. Local hardware stores.


Most of the dairy products at the Walmart's here are locally produced
here in Alberta. I shop for hardware at Rona, a Canadian hardware
store, not because they are Canadian but because the selection is FAR
better than Walmart's pitiful hardware section.
I work as a mechanic at an outdoor power equipment dealership. I
repair everything from small trimmers to generators to 30 HP diesel
lawnmowers that can top $30,000 in value. We do a LOT of service work
for Walmart and ALL of the lawnmowers, tractors and snowthrowers they
sell are American made.

I would expect power equipment and such to be from N. America. Though
I've seen cheap Chinese motorcycles showing up in the auto parts stores
(Flywing). The girlfriend's son got one from his dad. What a POS. It
had broken many parts by the end of it's first weekend. Throttle cable
was the last thing to go.

Ironically, the only Chinese-built engines I see on a regular basis
are on an American brand of ice-auger sold by local specialty shops.
The engine is called a "Gsmoon" and is it ever JUNK!!!

Oh you just GOTTA see the Gsmoon web site!! It's a riot!! Direct
translations usually are hilarious.
http://gsmoon.ec51.com/

Here is a sample:
- Provide energy for you free----BJSOLAR energy
- Step the Anto shose sheath machine lightly,both of the host and
- guest are not at embarrassed.
- The beautiful house of automatic overshoes set can't be
- little----Lightly step into the fine life
- Electric scooter, gasoline scooter---very good sports and
- entertainment tools
- Unbelievable power,control easily----the\"GS MOON\"electric(gasoline
- engine)tools
- Create safe by heart---SEEYES burglar-proof door
- With BJSOALR, with ture feelings---SEEYES electrical(gasoline) -
- bicycle

- The quality is diligently ,the price show interest.
- Credit obtains customers,honesty guides future.

It's just too funny


I'm reading their homepage. They make engines, pumps, generators ~and~
burglar-proof doors??? You are right: This is choice stuff.

Check out http://www.engrish.com Quite funny, but some of it is a
little risque, so beware.



Try not to buy it if
it's made in China (I understand the difficulty here and yes, I own
Chinese products, too). You may pay more, but there is much solace in
knowing that the money is staying local and not lining some company or
government's pocket in China. I don't hate China, but I do love my
country. Let's start fixing some of what ails us.

Walmart is the largest culprit of tactics used by many stores. These
tactics are eroding us from within while pumping up the Chinese economy.
At some point the people who cross their thresholds must be the ones
that change their purchasing style to promote more local products.
Local can simply even mean North America. (It would appear that the
NAFTA/CAFTA agreements mean 'local' now stretches down through Central
America, too.) The more local the product is that you buy, the more
effective you are at promoting your own economic environment instead of
leaching it away. Take a stand and fight back a little.

If not us, who? If not now, when?

"Ken Harrison" wrote in message
ink.net...
Very well put. You could have added how WalMart treated the Canadian
employees who attempted to form a union; the company simply closed that
department and fired the employees. So much for dialogue between employer
and employee.

Ken H



In Quebec, they closed the entire store, for the same reasons.
Wade

Your are a damn liar.
TS
"The Dead Senator" wrote in message
...
Opus- wrote:
/rant_on

The tyranny of Walmart has no altruistic reason for you to camp on their
lot. They allow you to camp in their concrete campground for one reason
and one reason only:


Tyranny????

Yes, tyranny. Economic tyranny.



So they can sell you cheap (Chinese) crap and lots of junk food. They
simply want your money. That is all.


You say that like it's a bad thing. They aren't forcing anybody to
walk in their doors. Walmart's motives were never a secret.

It is a bad thing. They aren't forcing you, but they also aren't telling
you the truth. People need to wake up. Wally alone has over $18 billion
in direct Chinese inventory. Many of the other products purchased from
"American" companies are from China, too. These are not counted in that
inventory. 70-80% of the goods within it's walls are Chinese. Check next
time you're there (I hope never). If they had $250 billion in sales last
year, that means ~$185 billion went to China. Wow. They are funneling the
Wally-shopping American paychecks straight to China. This is not good.


Do not lionize Wally as they are not deserving of your praise.


I saw no praise in the above post.

It sounded like indirect praise to me. I wanted to be sure folks
understand why Wallyworld lets campers camp out front. It isn't just to
be nice to RVers.


Yes, I hate Walmart. I could go on, but...


Why hate Walmart? Their actions, with regards to making a profit,
sound pretty American to me. Nothing wrong with that.

Okay, you asked...

Profit is one thing, all out greed is another. Remember when Sam bragged
about selling American products? They've come a long way from that. They
are now funding the Chinese worker and their companies/government instead
of our own. Do I sound like a Protectionist? Yes. For good reason.
Walmart is our leading exporter of American money and jobs. Does Walmart
care about America? Only so far as Americans spend money there.

Here's more food for thought:
Walmart (which also runs Sam's Club) has long been known to move into an
area, soak up the money with cheap prices till the Mom-n-Pop stores have
to shut down, then when Mom-n-Pop (and family) move to better pastures,
the Walmart revenue dries up. Wally then pulls up stakes and goes
elsewhere. Community destroyed. This is why there is a non-prfit group
that follows Walmart around the country helping communities to try and
stop the contruction of new stores. Thankfully, sometimes they are
succesful.
Walmart's suppliers are forced to drop prices further and further to
support the Happy Face's pricing model of lower and lower prices. This
causes the supplier to make cutbacks such as laying off workers in the
supply chain, cutting wages and outsourcing jobs to factories in other
countries and furthering unemployment in the area of the suppliers. If
suppliers don't comply, they're cut off and will probably wither and die
since the bulk of their sales go to Wally. It has happened (Vlasic, Apex,
etc).
The workers that get the privilege to work for Wally get lower wages and
benefits that also lower the local areas standards of employment. Workers
at other stores/companies get lower wages, benefits and raises as a
result. I haven't even mentioned the abuses and wrongs levied on many of
the workers. Wally always sidesteps the legal issues or pays out while
admitting no wrong-doing (a tactic by all too many companies these days).
There is plenty more. Do a Google search and you'll see it for yourself.
Walmart is not the only company that employs these practices, they just
the largest abuser and the best at it. We have to start somewhere.

Instead, shop locally if at all possible. Think of the community and what
makes it unique. I enjoy buying from unique stores in different areas of
the country. Walmart (and others) make everything this milktoast sameness
that inspires nothing. Support Mom-n-Pop. Local produce. Local dairies.
Local hardware stores. Try not to buy it if it's made in China (I
understand the difficulty here and yes, I own Chinese products, too). You
may pay more, but there is much solace in knowing that the money is
staying local and not lining some company or government's pocket in China.
I don't hate China, but I do love my country. Let's start fixing some of
what ails us.

Sorry for the long post. Best regards.

The unions have nearly destroyed the American automobile manufacturers. The
Canadians are like the French...all agitators for socialism. I am glad
Walmart kicked their asses.
TS
"Ken Harrison" wrote in message
ink.net...
Very well put. You could have added how WalMart treated the Canadian
employees who attempted to form a union; the company simply closed that
department and fired the employees. So much for dialogue between employer
and employee.

Ken H

The Dead Senator wrote:

Okay, you asked...

Profit is one thing, all out greed is another. Remember when Sam
bragged about selling American products? They've come a long way from
that. They are now funding the Chinese worker and their
companies/government instead of our own. Do I sound like a
Protectionist? Yes. For good reason. Walmart is our leading exporter
of American money and jobs. Does Walmart care about America? Only so
far as Americans spend money there.

Here's more food for thought:
Walmart (which also runs Sam's Club) has long been known to move into
an area, soak up the money with cheap prices till the Mom-n-Pop stores
have to shut down, then when Mom-n-Pop (and family) move to better
pastures, the Walmart revenue dries up. Wally then pulls up stakes and
goes elsewhere. Community destroyed. This is why there is a non-prfit
group that follows Walmart around the country helping communities to try
and stop the contruction of new stores. Thankfully, sometimes they are
succesful.
Walmart's suppliers are forced to drop prices further and further to
support the Happy Face's pricing model of lower and lower prices. This
causes the supplier to make cutbacks such as laying off workers in the
supply chain, cutting wages and outsourcing jobs to factories in other
countries and furthering unemployment in the area of the suppliers. If
suppliers don't comply, they're cut off and will probably wither and die
since the bulk of their sales go to Wally. It has happened (Vlasic,
Apex, etc).
The workers that get the privilege to work for Wally get lower wages
and benefits that also lower the local areas standards of employment.
Workers at other stores/companies get lower wages, benefits and raises as
a result. I haven't even mentioned the abuses and wrongs levied on many
of the workers. Wally always sidesteps the legal issues or pays out
while admitting no wrong-doing (a tactic by all too many companies these
days).
There is plenty more. Do a Google search and you'll see it for
yourself. Walmart is not the only company that employs these practices,
they just the largest abuser and the best at it. We have to start
somewhere.

Instead, shop locally if at all possible. Think of the community and
what makes it unique. I enjoy buying from unique stores in different
areas of the country. Walmart (and others) make everything this
milktoast sameness that inspires nothing. Support Mom-n-Pop. Local
produce. Local dairies. Local hardware stores. Try not to buy it if
it's made in China (I understand the difficulty here and yes, I own
Chinese products, too). You may pay more, but there is much solace in
knowing that the money is staying local and not lining some company or
government's pocket in China. I don't hate China, but I do love my
country. Let's start fixing some of what ails us.

"The Dead Senator" wrote in message
news
After posting (doesn't it always work this way?) I realized that I
should have excludes grocery items from the China references. They can
still come from other areas of the world (usually Western Hemisphere),
though. Not as big of a deal.


Take a look at the fresh fish display. Fresh "Frozen" Taipei from China!!

"Rich256" wrote

Take a look at the fresh fish display. Fresh "Frozen" Taipei from China!!



I dare you to find a shrimp from American waters, too.

Steve

In article ,
says...

Snip


It's part and parcel to any big store entering an area, really. Wally
is just the most aggressive with the tactic of predatory pricing. I
have read several stories of displaced businesses from Walmart, and
short of doing several hours of research right now, this is probably the
best link I have for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wal-Mart

Snip

And you are assuming that ONLY WalMart is the only entity that has ever
indulged in "predatory pricing"? I find this interesting. When I was
going to college in Huntington in the early 70's, I used to lease a
parking space on a lot that surrounded a gas station that had closed
several years previously. One evening when coming back to my car from
classes, the owner and I got to talking and he was telling me that his
family used to operate the station as a family owned business. He was
telling me that he would still have the station available if it hadn't
been for "predatory pricing". He explained that there used to be
several stations along the street that were privately owned and then
Standard Oil acquired a station on each side of the station and then
they started to drop the prices. They would do this until it got to the
point that they were forced out of business. He then told me that
Standard closed one of the stations and then moved to the next family
owned station and did the same thing until they had basically closed all
of the family owned stations in the area. Of course this was in the hey
day of the great robber barons but this "predatory pricing" tactic
"ain't" nothing new...John D. did it many years before Sam was ever
thought about...:-)

--
Robin
Charleston, WV