+ I\’m not very familiar with Wal-Mart, other than the Lefty anti-corporate stance I take against any anti-worker business. Having read the following article, I\’m more open to them. Not that I want to see landscape changed to fit them in, but that I\’m open to a place for them near IKEA and the like.

The American Enterprise: In Praise of Ordinary Choices
Economists calculate that because of its soaring efficiency, Wal-Mart singlehandedly reduced the overall cost of living in the U.S. by 3.1 percent. That amounts, on average, to $2,329 of extra cash available to every American family, every year.

Contrary to snotty stereotypes, the company has done this not by piling clip-on ties and plastic shoes ever deeper on the tabletops, but rather via intensive, inventive, high-tech management. Wal-Mart has pioneered new computerized supply management, inventory tracking, and transport processes that other companies all over the world have raced to emulate. In the process, it has cut huge amounts of wasted resources and squandered opportunities from the ancient process of bringing consumers the goods they want.

+ Having read the article it became important to check out Wal-Mart Watch

“–with 36 employees in Washington, D.C. and a fat budget–a prize project of the Service Employees International Union. It’s run by a clutch of political hacks, including John Kerry’s 2004 campaign manager and other Kerry and Democratic National Committee strategists.”

–and what did I find there? Quotes from a secret Wal-Mart memo that point out stats on the dollar drain of unhealthy people. I’m not sure I totally disagree with Wal-Mart for considering these stats, having worked for a couple weeks with a lingering cold/flue. I see no reason to not work when your sick, unless you’re contageous. Too much coddling, not enough love of work for work sake.