night reader's blog

Wal-Mart Parody Site Censored

The following site has been threatened and censored by Wal-Mart's lawyers. It copied the Wal Mart Foundation's site, and then rewrote the pages so they were satirical. Wal's lawyers went and sent them a cease-and-desist letter under a law called the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. What that draconian law does is restrict your right to duplicate digital data, and, as seen in this situation, potentially infringes on the First Amendment (it hasn't been tested yet). Satire is a "fair use" of material, but if you do it on the Internet, and you duplicate data that's copyrighted, the DMCA takes effect, and they can send a cease and desist letter.

The Asbestos Issue

On several mornings and afternoons from April 5th to the 10th, around ten people made public protests against Southern California Edison, our neighbor, about the presence of asbestos found on the site at Rush and Walnut Grove. In late March, plastic tape marked with "Asbestos" danger indications deliniated over a dozen areas where small bits of asbestos-laden roof tiles were found (according to SCE).

Wal-Mart in Songs

I found a couple songs that refer to Wal-Mart. The first is by Dave Lippman, a protest singer. The second is sung by Tracy Byrd, a popular country singer. (That one isn't anti-Wal-Mart.) Third is by Carla U. (Look them up on Google.) There are a couple more that mention the store that I've heard on the radio, but don't know what they are.

I HATE WAL-MART by Dave Lippman

I've always hated Blockbuster

Rollback on Wages

The satirical website The Onion had a funny story about Wal-Mart.

The Onion

What's up with the pro-WM group?

Rosemead PRIDE, toward the deadline date when petition signatures were due, sent out an inflammatory mailer saying that we were being paid by "the union" (I guess the AFL-CIO) to get signatures, to the tune of $5 a signature. Then they said that we'd take this money and use it to bring Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to town.

I smell race-baiting.

This wasn't the only letter they sent, either. There were a few. Someone needs to look into the finances of these mailings, because the Chamber of Commerce, which is funded partly by the City, may be paying for them.

Retail Giant Roams State's Political Landscape

SACRAMENTO -- After years of waging its political wars almost exclusively on the local level, Wal-Mart is spending aggressively this election in support of favored statewide candidates and ballot measures -- including donations to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state Republican Party.

The world's largest corporation, which once had a tradition of trying to stay out of politics, has given more than $2.4 million on California races so far this year -- well beyond any previous sum the company has spent here in one year. On Tuesday, the Bentonville, Ark.-based company announced it would donate an additional $500,000 to the opponents of Proposition 72, a measure that will require employers to provide basic health insurance to workers.

Read the rest of this article...

Another Report about Retail, and a Bit about Wages

Are shopping centers a drain on city budgets? An Oct 6 report about retail in Ohio gives a guarded "yes" answer. They take more services and don't pay enough in taxes to cover the expense.

Also, I came across an article by Dorothy Day about the GM strike in the 1930s.

Up from Ultimate Urban Dystopia

Up from Ultimate Urban Dystopia, by William Frey, details some descriptions of growth in Los Angeles and Southern California.

A lot of the people coming here are educated and help the economy to grow, by doing well-paid, complex work. Despite this, LA's poverty rate is higher than the national average, and some of the highest percentages of people without high-school educations. In other words, our current policies are fostering a split economy of haves and have-nots. (I added this last part. The author seems to be a conservative. Probably doesn't like the phrase "incipient class war.")

The article suggests that improved education is in order.

Like Dickens said, it was the best of times, and it was the worst of times.