Why I feel the need to spew on about things.

Well, as I said last post, because I can, and because as a single human being, there's not much else I can do. Believe it or not, these writings are very therapeutic for me. I really don't care if they are read, but if they are, I hope they get people to think. I know it's cliche to say this, but if I get one person thinking, then haven't I accomplished something? Do I have to share music to get people to take a look at this blog? So far, no, but who knows in the future.

I have searched through phone books, the net, called various people who were supposedly "in the know" because I don't want to just sit on my ass in front of this computer, rant, and do nothing more. But finding a cause worthy of what little time I have to donate to it is proving harder than I expected it to be. Are there any groups out there that are devoted to trying to end global corporate takeovers? I can't find them. Is anyone trying to do anything about the seemingly endless influx of illegal immigrants into this country? No, but I heard yesterday New Haven (Mexico's new haven!!) Conn. is now going issue them identification so they can open bank accounts and get drivers licenses. I am eager to see how that turns out. Run to your New Haven all you illegal aliens!!!

Why has this country turned into a bunch of pacifists? Why is there no public outcry about this, and a million other issues that need some serious attention. When there are citizens of this countrywho are poverty stricken and homeless, there should be a battlecry from depths of hell about letting more fucking people in this country. Until our people's own needs are met, why is this country out helping everyone else?
Blah, blah, blah, and fuck it. I could go on until I'm blue in the face, and it wouldn't do a goddamn bit of good.
Folks quit walking around with your eyes closed.



On another topic:

I had a sad conversation with an older African American gentlemen yesterday. He was looking for a street in the area to go apply for a job. We were very busy so I handed him a street map and he spent about 10 minutes looking through it. As the store got a bit lighter in traffic, I watched him, and it hit me, that the man couldn't read. I walked over to where he was standing and tried to help him find the street he was looking for and we began to talk about the lack of jobs. He mentioned it was very tough for him, as he had gotten laid off, and nobody wanted to take a chance on a 54 year old man, but he had been working and helping to support his family since his father died (the man I was speaking to was 13 when his father died). He refused to have any part of welfare, as he had never taken any in his life. He was a proud guy, and looking at his stature, I betting he could work rings around guys half his age. He said he didn't care what job he got as long as it was good honest work.

We never did find the street he was looking for, he said he got it over the phone, and he would try to call them and get better directions, but I hope he found it and got the job. The world needs more people like him.




And a bit of good news:

The Ohio minimum wage has been upped 1.50. Mama can go buy a new pair of shoes!! Ohio lawmakers, no doubt inspired by the Drowning in a Sea of Madness blog, got off their dead sorry asses and made a move that helps the little guy for a change. They put aside their rare coin scams, and their "let's see how fucking rich we can get in a week" campaigns and did it!! Kudos to you Gov'na Brown! You da man!!! WalMart contemplates a move out of the state, and the people shout, Hurrah! Now we're only 60% below poverty level!


TT-

I could take this in 50 different directions but here we go.......

You can hit the google search engine and find hundreds, probably thousands of websites devoted to the evils of the corporate giant Wal Mart. From huge sites that post hate mail from virtually thousands of people with horror stories of what Wal Mart did to their communities to small sites created by former disgruntled employees. So why do I insist on bringing them up here?

Because I can, and one more blog shouting about the evils of the United States' largest employer can't be wrong, can it? Maybe it will get a few folks googling them and seeing for themselves how much one company is responsible for a lot of the ills in the world. If not solely responsible then at least a BIG contributor.

A lot of people ask me why I beat up on the corporate whore so much, and I guess my best retort would have to be "Because they make it so easy".

I hate WalMart on many levels. Two of my good friends got jobs there (against my advise) and got screwed over in so many ways, from being denied days off when they asked weeks in advance to being dicked out of raises for reasons that were either ridiculous, untrue or both. And constantly lied to.

I hate them for what they've done to the job market. They have created a system where the middle class is shrinking at a rate faster than anytime in history except for maybe the "Great Depression" . By doing this they create a situation where more and more people have to shop from them. But it doesn't end there.

They sell everything low which on the surface seems great, but they don't do this innocently. They are the biggest buyer of goods in the world, so if they don't buy from a certain company they can effectively cause that company serious if not fatal blows. If that isn't bad enough they can basically dictate the prices they pay for the items they sell in their stores. This in turn lowers the profit margin for the companies they buy from who in turn have to cut their costs. Guess what usually gets cut. That's right, salaries. And not CEO and other high level executive salaries. It's middle class workers, barely surviving as it is, who see their hours cut, wages cut or both. And WalMart will be happy to come and show you how how to get the work of 10 people out of 5. They are masters of doing it. And let's not even mention lay offs which are usually inevitable.

Wait, let's mention those because they lead to another of the complaints I have against the Almighty Goliath. The tax burdens they lay on the states they worm their way into. From the day they move in, they create burdens on all tax payers of whatever state their are in. From WalMart's own personal tax reliefs states and cities gladly give when they move in (that often never get made up because WalMart will spend millions to move a mile down the road to get out of paying any taxes) to the tax burdens they cause the counties they move into in welfare costs for it's employees that can neither afford health care or ever become eligible due to WalMart's shifty & shady ways of conducting it's business almost constantly. And although you can argue that taxes are paid heavily by the rich of the world, my question is this: Weather it's fair or unfair, who can afford to pay taxes easier in the world, a multi-millionaire paying 44 percent taxes on 20 million a year or a family of 5 or 6 paying 22 to 30 percent a year on 40 thousand (if they are lucky). Either way, and whatever you answer to the question, it's just not fair that a company making the kind of profits yearly that WalMart makes should be causing ANY tax burden on ANYONE other than themselves!!!!

I think what astounds me the most about WalMart is, with all the negative press they get, with all the horror stories (there is even a movie out about their shady practices which I highly recommend even though it's a bit biased like a Michael Moore movie), with all the websites decrying this bastard of society which is slowly contributing to a major depression coming soon to a nation near you.....................

Their parking lots are always full.

Always.