Free Republic

Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) is installing software which monitors diversity in all law firms it uses, regularly and just-in-time. Those firms falling short of Wal-Mart's diversity target numbers will be terminated. That move by Wal-Mart, which sets policy for how global supply chains are managed, will in itself radically change the composition of law firms - and eventually law schools.

Man bitten by Walmart rattlesnake From correspondents in Miami July 08, 2008 09:33amA POSIONOUS rattlesnake hidden among leafy plants in the garden section of a Walmart store in Florida sprang out and bit a man who was shopping there. The man was taken to hospital after the 30cm pygmy rattlesnake bit him in the right hand while he was looking at the plants at the store in Pembroke Pines, Florida, about 50km north of Miami. "This is an isolated incident and we're taking precautions to make sure that it doesn't happen again," said Walmart spokeswoman Ashley Hardie. "To ensure the...

The recent news that Wal-Mart is planning to buy more locally sourced food could be seen as a marketing ploy by the world's largest retailer. But Wal-Mart's decision to buy local will undoubtedly have an effect on American agriculture, just because of the scope of the giant corporation. The company expects to source about $400 million in locally grown produce from U.S. farmers in 2008. Wal-Mart officials announced July 1 that they intend to buy more local fruits and vegetables to keep produce prices down and provide affordable selections that are fresh and healthful. A news release said Wal-Mart's partnership...

ARLINGTON — Police are looking for two men accused of kidnapping a woman from a south Arlington Wal-Mart on Tuesday and then robbing her at gunpoint. The 51-year-old victim was shopping at the Supercenter at 4801 S. Cooper St. about 3 p.m. when she was approached by two men, one of whom asked her for change, police said Wednesday. Surveillance images show the men leaving the store at the same time as the victim. In the parking lot, she approached their vehicle to answer a question, and the men forced her into a silver or gray four-door car, police said....

Customers ask Wal-Mart stores to remove book Beloved by Mexicans for his dim wits, street smarts and playful disposition, long-running comic book character Memín Pinguín — a little black boy whose face resembles a monkey — is at it again. His zany adventures chronicled in a hugely popular book series for decades are up for sale at your neighborhood Wal-Mart store in the Libros en Español section, right next to the store's cadre of African-American books. The latest issue: Memín para presidente. By Shawnedria McGinty's American standards, the image was shocking. The African-American woman who was shopping at the store...

MIAMI, US - A POISONOUS rattlesnake hidden among leafy plants in the garden section of US retail giant Walmart sprung out and bit a man who was shopping there, a company spokeswoman said on Monday. The man was hospitalised after the 30-centimeter pygmy rattlesnake bit him in the right hand while he was perusing the plants at the store in Pembroke Pines, Florida, about 50 kilometers north of Miami. 'This is an isolated incident and we're taking precautions to make sure that it doesn't happen again,' Walmart spokeswoman Ms Ashley Hardie said. 'To ensure the well-being of our customers, we...

A High Point pastor faces misdemeanor charges after being accused of soliciting sex online. Randleman police said they arrested Otis Durham outside the Wal-Mart here at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Durham, 55, is pastor of the Sandy Ridge United Methodist Church in High Point. He was charged with solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of crimes against nature and is free on a $1,000 bond. Det. R.K. Hardy said today that a Randleman woman contacted police Friday after getting an unwanted sexual solicitation online. Hardy said he posed online as the woman and arranged for a time and place to meet the...

A Wal-Mart parking lot in Richland, Washington was the latest front-line in the battle against abortion-giant, Planned Parenthood. At the request of hundreds of pro-lifers, the store canceled an event in which Planned Parenthood would pass out information in the lot June 27. American Life League sent out a press release June 26 to pro-lifers across the country informing them of this latest Planned Parenthood encroachment into neighborhood retailers. "It's hard enough for parents to safeguard their children from Planned Parenthood's pervasive sexualized propaganda," said Marie Hahnenberg, a researcher with American Life League. "They shouldn't have to worry about exposing...

White working-class voters typically aren't in vogue, with the political chatter tending to revolve around "soccer moms," the "youth vote" or other boutique demographic groups of the moment. But the late charge of Hillary Clinton's doomed presidential campaign made white working-class voters surprisingly fashionable. They'll stay that way if the important new book "Grand New Party," by two young writers for The Atlantic, Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam, has the impact on the political debate that it should. In an incisive analysis of the past 30 years of our politics, Douthat and Salam puncture self-comforting delusions of both the right...

Inside scoop … Shhhhhh … you did not hear it from me! I am not revealing the location to protect my source. When it is published by our local paper I will. Our local Wal-Mart called an employee (selected) meeting this evening to announce a change in scheduling and new procedures. It is expected that 9 employees will have their schedules drastically altered during the meeting. Law Enforcement Officers will arrive during the meeting and escort the 9 employees in handcuffs through the store to waiting vehicles. Or just out the back door, to avoid any kind of problems (law...

"But the pharmacist said not much has changed in the year since the behemoth from Bentonville, Ark., threw open its doors. His loyal clients have not strayed. They like the fact that he delivers for free and remembers most of his customers' names." "...But local proprietors and community leaders say the fears have not panned out."

The Gladys Porter Zoo will welcome today six tiger cubs that were confiscated June 15 in McAllen. Authorities seized the Bengal tigers, an endangered species, after the cubs' owners allegedly tried to sell them in a Wal-Mart parking lot. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service informed the zoo's facilities director Jerry Stones last week that the cubs could be formally added to the zoo's permanent collection, allowing staff to make preparations for their arrival. The public can view the six animals beginning at 9 a.m. today when they will make their public debut in the Small World exhibition space, where...

Did I witness a dry run for a terrorist attack?

HOUSTON -- A college student’s trip to Wal-Mart last month ended with her in handcuffs and a two-day stay in the Harris County jail. Nitra Gipson was charged with felony forgery after the Meyer Park Wal-Mart manager accused her of passing bogus money orders. Thing is, the money orders were legit and had been purchased at Wal-Mart to begin with. The cash-strapped college student had just sold her car to pay for her last two semesters at Texas Southern University, where she is studying criminal justice. She was paid with Wal-Mart money orders, which the giant retailer advertises as “good...

Employees and shoppers are being allowed back into the Rib Mountain Wal-mart after a bomb scare. The Marathon County Sheriff's Department tells NewsChannel 7 that the incident happened shortly before 4 p.m. After everyone was evacuated, the Marathon/Oneida County Bomb Squad swept the building. Employees were then allowed back in, followed by the shoppers. Stay tuned to www.wsaw.com and NewsChannel 7 for further details.

While it appears Jason Furman is clueless about inflation and the business cycle ...it does appear he understands Wal-Mart, which is causing trouble for him with the wacko left... ...the New York Sun wants full-fledged anti-Wal-Mart people around Obama, and thus headlines Obama’s choice of Furman this way: Wal-Mart Defender To Direct Obama’s Economic Policy: Appointment of Jason Furman Immediately Meets With Skepticism The Sun then brought out the “experts”: “It’s surprising because this guy seems to feel that Wal-Mart’s low-wage, low-benefit business model is good for America. That’s just flat-out wrong,” the executive director of Wal-Mart Watch, David Nassar,...

Business reporter Michael Barbaro has long patrolled the Wal-Mart beat for the Times and has taken his journalistic night stick out on the retail giant on several occasions. Thursday's Business section story, "Wal-Mart’s Detractors Come In From the Cold," heralding the successes of two anti-Wal-Mart groups, Wal-Mart Watch and WakeUpWalMart.com, is both a coronation and at last, an investigation. Barbaro has been pumping up Wal-Mart Watch in particular for years, but only today, when it appears that the pressure group has gotten much of what it wanted, does he go into the full extent of the Service Employee's International Union...

The retailer is using its clout with vendors to hold onto its everyday low prices. ...With gas, grain, and dairy prices exploding, you'd think the biggest seller of corn flakes and Cocoa Puffs would be getting hit by rising food costs. But Wal-Mart has temporarily rolled back prices on hundreds of food items by as much as 30% this year. How? By pressuring vendors to take costs out of the supply chain. Shrink the goods....some of its vendors have reengineered their packaging. General Mills' (GIS, Fortune 500) Hamburger Helper is now made with denser pasta shapes, allowing the same amount...

One young shopper at a Wal-Mart in West Virginia had to watch out for more than falling prices. A 12-year-old girl picking up a seedless watermelon from a bin was stung Sunday by a tan, inch-long scorpion that had apparently stowed away in a shipment from Mexico.

A young shopper at a Wal-Mart in West Virginia had to watch out for more than falling prices. A 12-year-old girl picking up a seedless watermelon from a bin was stung Sunday by a tan, 1-inch-long scorpion that had apparently stowed away in a shipment from Mexico.

BARBOURSVILLE, WV (WSAZ)-A trip to Wal-Mart turned into a trip to the hospital for the Templeton family. A scorpion from Mexico found its way into a box of watermelons at the Wal-Mart in Barboursville. William Templeton says his daughter Megan was in the produce department picking out a watermelon Sunday afternoon. The scorpion stung her finger and then hung on. She had to shake her hand to get the scorpion to let go. William says store managers were very helpful. They even helped him catch the scorpion. He took his daughter to Cabell Huntington Hospital to see if she is...

Clayton County police have arrested a middle school student and charged him with biting or grabbing the buttocks of at least 10 women at the Lovejoy Wal-Mart. Capt. Greg Dickens said police believe there are more victims who have failed to report the assaults. Recent headlines: Miracle coming up, says Clayton schools superintendent Teen accused of biting butts at Wal-Mart Judge to rule on removal of school board member • Clayton County news The 15-year-old suspect has been charged with four counts of sexual battery and more charges are expected. Dickens said complaints of rear-end assaults at the store began...

In a move that reflects the changing demographics of its shoppers, Wal-Mart is making room for three new chains in its stores, two of which have a Hispanic flair. While their footprint within Wal-Mart will be small compared with Subway and McDonald's, the additions of Pollo Campero and Taco Maker are significant, since they represent the first ethnic concepts to score franchise agreements with the big-box retailer. "I think that [Wal-Mart is] looking to offer diversity, variety for the customer and products that are relevant for them," said Rodolfo Jimenez, exec VP-business development, Pollo Campero USA. His company opened its...

Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue owes his constituents an explanation of why he voted this week against a proposed development that would have included a Wal-Mart Supercenter and an indoor soccer training facility. Maintaining silence on why he broke a deadlocked Plan Commission and voted to reject the proposal is an insult to the people who put McCue in office. They deserve better. And the reason should be better than the idea that Cudahy's image somehow would be damaged by having a Wal-Mart within the city limits. There is nothing inherently wrong with having a one-stop, low-cost store that will bring...

Wal-Mart recently announced that it will be video-taping its gun sales and creating a computerized log of purchases for reference when a firearm is used in a crime. Wal-Mart clerks would thus be alerted and could refuse to make another sale. The recorded images will also be made available to law enforcement as part of any investigation. The move seems to be an understandable, even commendable a step toward plugging any leaks in the system. And, in fact, it might have been universally heralded if it weren't tied to an organization called Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which was founded and...

Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Thursday reported a stronger-than-expected 3.2 percent rise in sales at U.S. stores open at least a year in April. Analysts, on average, were expecting the company's same-store sales to rise 2.1 percent, according to Reuters Estimates, while Wal-Mart forecast a gain of 1 percent to 3 percent. The world's biggest retailer said net sales in the month, ended May 2, rose to $29.18 billion from $26.57 billion.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, announced Monday it would expand its discounted prescription drug program to offer 90-day supplies for $10 and add several women's medications at a discount. It also said it would lower the price of more than 1,000 over-the-counter drugs. The move marks the third phase of a company program that began in 2006 to provide a 30-day supply of generic prescription drugs for $4. The Bentonville-based company said the program has saved customers more than $1 billion. With the expansion, the company began filling prescriptions Monday for up to 350...

In another expansion of its prescription drug program that has helped to increase its pharmacy sales, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it's adding a 90-day supply of its prescription drugs for $10, increasing additional medications for women, and unveiling $4 over-the-counter medicines. Wal-Mart and its Sam's Club pharmacies will fill prescriptions for as many as 350 generic drugs costing $10 for a 90-day supply, an expansion from the existing 30-day supplies that cost $4. Wal-Mart also is adding $9 women's generic prescription drugs for up to a 30-day supply that are used to treat osteoporosis, breast cancer, menopause and hormone deficiency,...

Austin police say officers thwarted a possible shooting spree last week at a South Austin Wal-Mart by a former employee who was found in the store with a 9 mm handgun and numerous rounds of ammunition, according to arrest affidavits. Edward William Eberle, 51, had left a note Thursday morning to his wife giving her permission to "sell any story you wanna tell" and sent a text message to his sister the day of the incident telling her to turn her TV on. Investigators said they think he sent the text message because "something newsworthy was going to be done...

It's tax rebate time, and no one is hungrier for the tax rebate checks arriving in mailboxes today than Wal-Mart. The retailer is advertising tax-rebate sales and has offered to cash the checks for free -- all in hopes that consumers will spend their newfound money at Wal-Mart stores. But spending your tax rebate at Wal-Mart won't stimulate the economy -- and here's why.

(WASHINGTON) -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Friday retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is voluntarily recalling charm key chains, saying the charms could contain high levels of lead. The commission said the product, called the "Hip Charm" Key Chain, was found at the home of a 9-month-old child who had high blood-levels of lead. The child was seen putting the key chain in its mouth...... The commission said the key chain was manufactured in China......

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683 NRA Statement on Bloomberg - Wal-Mart Initiative to Retain Store Records of Gun Sales and Force Employee Background Checks Monday, April 14, 2008 Statement by Chris Cox: “Today’s announcement by New York City (NYC) Mayor Mike Bloomberg comes as no surprise to National Rifle Association (NRA) members across the country. None of these joint Wal-Mart/Mayor Bloomberg initiatives will lower crime, because they ignore the real cause of crime -- criminals. Mayor Bloomberg has long confused his NYC mayoral podium for a national bully pulpit from which he feels entitled to push his...

Largest seller of firearms will also videotape all transactions Changes at Wal-Mart will affect about 1,100 stores that sell firearms. WASHINGTON - Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest seller of firearms, announced Monday it will toughen rules for gun sales, from storing video of purchases to creating an internal log of which guns they sell that are later used in crimes. J.P. Suarez, the chief compliance officer for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., appeared with outspoken gun control advocate Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York to announce the changes at a gathering of Bloomberg’s group Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Changes to come at about...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, unveiled plans on Monday to film its gun sales in the United States and create a computerized log of purchases in a bid to stop guns falling into the wrong hands. Wal-Mart, which is the largest seller of firearms in the United States, agreed a 10-point code, which also includes rigid inventory controls, with a bipartisan coalition of Mayors Against Illegal Guns led by New York's Michael Bloomberg.

Not shopping at Wal-Mart is inconvenient and costly, but just as I was weaning myself off Sam’s Choice animal crackers, it turns out that avoiding the only place that will sell you The Breakfast Club for $5 is not enough. The liberal yuppie peer pressure has moved on to boycotting all products made in China. Would you like me to stop breathing to not pollute the environment while I’m at it too? Actually, don’t answer that. The new pet project of the J.Crew-clad Inquisition has the right foundation – China’s record of human rights abuses in prisons and in the...

Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, unveiled plans on Monday to film its gun sales in the United States and create a computerized log of purchases in a bid to stop guns falling into the wrong hands. Wal-Mart, which is the largest seller of firearms in the United States, agreed a 10-point code, which also includes rigid inventory controls, with a bipartisan coalition of Mayors Against Illegal Guns led by New York's Michael Bloomberg. The retailer said it will develop a first-of-its-kind computerized crime gun trace log that will flag purchases by customers who have previously bought guns later...

Wal-Mart, the nation's largest seller of firearms, which Azi notes has been unsuccessful to date at getting a toehold in the city, agreed today a 10-point "responsible firearms" code championed by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the group fronted and funded by prominent anti-illegal gun activist, Mayor Bloomberg. The deal, announced at the Mayors Against Illegal Guns National Summit underway in Washington, D.C., calls for Wal-Mart to implement the following standards "over time" (no exact schedule was given): 1. Videotaping the Point of Sale for All Firearms Transactions. Participating retailers will videotape the point-of-sale of all firearms transactions and maintain videos...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A 24-year-old man held a gun to the head of a 15-month-old girl while he raped her mother for 25 minutes in a Wal-Mart parking lot, according to an arrest report. David Welker is accused of raping a woman in broad daylight at a Wal-Mart parking lot located on John Young Parkway after forcing her into her car at gunpoint. The gun was placed against the child as Welker raped the woman twice, Thursday's arrest report said. The document also said "he ordered her to dump out her purse. He then took her cellular phone, her debit...

Sen. Clinton served on Wal-Mart's board of directors from 1986 to 1992, when she was first lady of Arkansas. During her presidential campaign, she has faced some criticism over Wal-Mart's labor record and the lack of women in upper management.There is footage in the archive of Mrs. Clinton joining Mr. Walton, Wal-Mart's founder, on a stage at the 1991 opening of a store in Rogers, Ark. "I'm so proud of this company and everything it represents," Mrs. Clinton said. "It makes me feel real good about what we've been able to do."Mr. Walton responded: "You're a great associate, Hillary." Turning...

The Retailer's Initiative To Offer Fair-Trade Coffee Is Pleasing Environmentalists But Reheating A Debate Over Treatment Of Its Workers. With a simple cup of coffee, Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) finds itself back in the charged debate over how it treats workers. The world's largest retailer is introducing three house-brand coffees that are certified as fair trade. And that, of course, renews the prolonged discussion about just what sort of treatment the world's largest retailer offers its own workers. After all, fair trade, in essence, is about paying a fair wage -- and much of the criticism heaped upon Wal-Mart in recent...

Excerpt - Over the past few years, we have watched Apple climb the music sales chart courtesy of the iTunes. Last month we learned that Apple passed Best Buy to become the number two retailer in the the US in December. Now, Apple has ascended to the top of the charts, surpassing Wal-Mart for the first time ever, according to an NPD MusicWatch Survey for the month January contained in an internal Apple e-mail which was leaked to Ars Technica but has not been officially published. The news was announced in an e-mail sent this afternoon to some Apple employees,...

Hurricane season is just around the corner, so Americans should know where to turn to if disaster strikes. It's not the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A new study suggests Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowe's would be a lot more helpful. **** The study, by Steven Horwitz, a professor of economics at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., **** "Profit-seeking firms beat most of the government to the scene and provided more effectively the supplies needed for the immediate survival of a population cut off from life's most basic necessities," Horwitz wrote in the study, which was published by the Mercatus...

An ounce of competition is worth a pound of government. In January 2006, the federal government began implementing the controversial Medicare Part D program, which pays most or all of the cost of most senior citizens’ prescription drugs, regardless of income level. The program has basically been successful at what it set out to do, providing drugs through competing insurers at low premiums. Between 2005 and 2006, the taxpayers’ burden for drug payments shot up by 35 percent, from $55 billion to $74 billion. American consumers’ out-of-pocket prescription-drug spending dropped only $1.2 billion, to $47.6 billion. In September of 2006,...

The Wal-Mart company health insurance plan won't seek to take other assets from a family that has lost its last court battle to keep a severely injured woman's trust fund from being seized, a company representative said. Former Wal-Mart employee Debbie Shank of Jackson racked up $469,000 in medical costs after a 2000 traffic collision. In a subsequent lawsuit, GEM Transportation Inc. agreed to pay $1 million as a settlement of her claims. Debbie Shank received $417,477 from her share after legal fees; her then-husband, Jim Shank, received $200,000, and about $119,000 remained after legal bills.

Who did the most to help victims of Hurricane Katrina? According to a new study, it was the company everyone loves to hate.

I’m grateful to an article in the National Post on Friday, 28 March, by Colby Cost for bringing this item to my attention. It is about Wal-Mart, but has nothing to do with the legendary business model of that company. Or, does it? As the article recites, shortly before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on 29 August 2005, Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart, send a memorandum to all the regional and store managers in the region about to be hit. His message said: “A lot of you are going to have to make decisions above your level. Make the best...

In Wal-Mart We Trust Who did the most to help victims of Hurricane Katrina? According to a new study, it was the company everyone loves to hateShortly before Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast on the morning of Aug. 29, 2005, the chief executive officer of Wal-Mart, Lee Scott, gathered his subordinates and ordered a memorandum sent to every single regional and store manager in the imperiled area. His words were not especially exalted, but they ought to be mounted and framed on the wall of every chain retailer -- and remembered as American business's answer to...

DHARAMSALA, India (CNN) -- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday criticized China for its crackdown on anti-government protesters in Tibet and called on "freedom-loving people" worldwide to denounce China. The Dalai Lama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi greet each other Friday in Dharamsala, India. "If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China's oppression in China and Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world," Pelosi told reporters. "The situation in Tibet is a challenge to the conscience of the world." She made the comments during...

ASHLAND, Ky. (WSAZ) -- A mother says the straws she bought for her three-year-old daughter were shaped like a male sex organ. Andrea Bailey says she went shopping at the Ashland Wal-Mart on Thursday, February 28th, and bought a package of fun straws for her three 3-year-old daughter, Ashlynn. Bailey says Ashlynn came in and used one shaped like a heart. A couple others in the package, though, were shaped like something different. “There are two of them that are shaped like the male private area,” said Bailey. “I called Wal-Mart and they very rude with me about it. They...

Faten Saad knew she wasn't in a typical Wal-Mart when she saw an end-of-the-aisle display featuring Mamool. Boxes of the date-filled, whole wheat cookie from the Middle East welcomed the 21-year-old Lebanon native into the international aisle of the new Wal-Mart store in this Detroit suburb known as the capital of Arab America. Aisle 3, which also features Eastern European and Hispanic food, represents many of the 550 items geared toward Arab-American shoppers in the store that opened last week.