Say Anything Blog

Actually, Rob, it should be “market forces”, but you got the idea across.  Good one.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

The union argument against Wal-Mart is weak. There are plenty of related jobs at other retail department chains and most of them are also non union and offer equal pay and benefits. Let’s be honest here, it doesn’t take a degree to stock shelves, run a check-out or work in shipping and receiving. The real lesson here is personal responsibility. Work harder in school, move on to any type of secondary education and improve your options in life. If your future looks dim where you live, move.

This is a nice gesture, and I buy a lot at WalMart and Sam’s club, but it won’t last.  This morning Dow Chem Ceo said he would raise the prices of everything they make by 20% as a result of fuel prices. http://dow.com/.  Dow uses about 1 million barrels of oil/day and about 1% of all US Electricity.  Their products go into everything - Check out the product mix here: http://dow.com/products_services/ .  This rise will affect all their downstream customers who will in turn raise their prices. Other suppliers of basic materials like Dow will follow suit very quickly.

The shit is hitting the fan people.  Hope you’ve got your raincoat on.

Yeah, Fred, the sky is falling.  Got that straight from Henny Penny or was it Ducky Lucky.  I’m glad you have so much faith in our capitalistic system that you are now cowering in fear.

You don’t have to be a moron to be a liberal Democrat but it sure helps.

Like I said before they are making the difference (profit) by bastardizing other products. Check their beef cuts. Under the package and in small print: “Injected with up to 15% saline and or broth to improve flavor.” Can anybody say why a good rib-eye, t-bone or any cut of beef needs that kind of improvement other than improving Wal-Marts bottom line?

Like I said before they are making the difference (profit) by bastardizing other products.

ellinas,

So, don’t buy those “other products.”

If the quality of the beef you buy is important, either patronize a local butcher shop, or get yourself a Sam’s Club membership and check out the quality of their steaks.  You will be pleasantly startled at both the quality and the price.

Of course, if loyalty to the leftist, anti-Walmart cause is more important than the quality of the steaks in your fridge, you can always sit there and complain in between bites of your bologna sandwich.

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

Bat one. Rob is pointing out price lowering by WAl-Mart and is crowing about lowering prices. I dared point some hokus-pocus magic they use to make extra profit and I get this from you?
Of course you are correct in saying I don’t have to buy their bastardized meat cuts. But why am I wrong in pointing out this?
By the way I shop at Costco. It is much better than Sam’s Club.

By the way I shop at Costco. It is much better than Sam’s Club.

Choice is the hallmark of the free market.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

ellinas,

Don’t get so indignant.  I wasn’t giving you grief, just alternatives.  I wouldn’t buy cut meat at Walmart either.  I get a lot of meat at a local butcher shop, and if I’m buying in bulk, I’ll usually get what I need at Sam’s.

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

Wal-Mart maybe “helping” poor people by giving them cheap crap made from China and reducing the cost of some food items, but they are also creating more poor people. 

I would say on balance that this is not a good thing.  They are undercutting the grocery stores who offered a lot of good paying jobs to average americans.  You want to support Chinas economy by buying from Wal-Mart, that is your choice.

But I happen to love my country more than that.

...but they are also creating more poor people.

Can you give either a factual or logical argument to back this up?

Since you are ignorant of economics, I doubt it, but would further tell you that we are using Chinese goods to support our own economy, but then you wouldn’t know anything about that, being economically ignorant.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

Like I said before they are making the difference (profit) by bastardizing other products.

Like most lefties, you have absolutely no idea what “profit” is, in the real world.  Spoken like a true ignoramus.

“Don’t criticize what you don’t understand...” - Bob Dylan

Save America; boycott the MSM.

but they are also creating more poor people.

The logic train left a long time ago, leaving poor Hannitized standing (drooling) in the station!
His talking points say that Wal-Mart is evil, so there’s just no reasoning with him!

They are undercutting the grocery stores who offered a lot of good paying jobs to average americans.(sic)

So, the folks who work for Wal-Mart are above average Americans?
Wal-Mart doesn’t pay union wages, but they pay above average wages.

But I happen to love my country more than that.

Yeah! The country of Unionistan.
Don’t you love America enough to allow folks the freedom to decide what wage they’ll work for and where?
No one is forcing anyone to work at or shop at Wal-Mart. Take your business elsewhere! No one is stopping you! Why do you hate the free market so much?

Barack Obama: All hat and no cattle since 1997!

but they are also creating more poor people.

The logic train left a long time ago, leaving poor Hannitized standing (drooling) in the station!
His talking points say that Wal-Mart is evil, so there’s just no reasoning with him!

They are undercutting the grocery stores who offered a lot of good paying jobs to average americans.(sic)

So, the folks who work for Wal-Mart are above average Americans?
Wal-Mart doesn’t pay union wages, but they pay above average wages.

But I happen to love my country more than that.

Yeah! The country of Unionistan.
Don’t you love America enough to allow folks the freedom to decide what wage they’ll work for and where?
No one is forcing anyone to work at or shop at Wal-Mart. Take your business elsewhere! No one is stopping you! Why do you hate the free market so much?

Barack Obama: All hat and no cattle since 1997!

They are undercutting the grocery stores who offered a lot of good paying jobs to average americans.

Hannitized, they are undercutting the grocery stores because they found this is one way to attract customers.  The second part is false.  Grocery stores have generally paid crap wages for a long time and this had nothing to do with walmart.  Walmart also pays much higher wages than most grocery stores.  A couple facts to dance to.

I avoid walmarts because I find them depressing (motif) and I LIKE to support the mom and pop places.  (Choice, go figger.)

but they are also creating more poor people.

The logic train left a long time ago, leaving poor Hannitized standing (drooling) in the station!
His talking points say that Wal-Mart is evil, so there’s just no reasoning with him!

They are undercutting the grocery stores who offered a lot of good paying jobs to average americans.(sic)

So, the folks who work for Wal-Mart are above average Americans?
Wal-Mart doesn’t pay union wages, but they pay above average wages.

But I happen to love my country more than that.

Yeah! The country of Unionistan.
Don’t you love America enough to allow folks the freedom to decide what wage they’ll work for and where?
No one is forcing anyone to work at or shop at Wal-Mart. Take your business elsewhere! No one is stopping you! Why do you hate the free market so much?

Barack Obama: All hat and no cattle since 1997!

I avoid walmarts because I find them depressing (motif) and I LIKE to support the mom and pop places. (Choice, go figger.)

Lockstep lefties hate it when people are free to act in their self-interest.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

Mr. Generalization rants:

Wal-Mart maybe “helping” poor people by giving them cheap crap made from China and reducing the cost of some food items

I buy groceries almost exclusively at Wal-Mart now. I also buy books and an occasional DVD.
No crap, Chinese or otherwise!
But, Hannitized is a well known authority on (and purveyor of) crap, so I will defer to his expertise!

Barack Obama: All hat and no cattle since 1997!

Wal-Mart maybe “helping” poor people by giving them cheap crap made from China and reducing the cost of some food items, but they are also creating more poor people.

H,

Au contraire, my liberal, snobbish friend.  The premium $8 bath towels are of no lesser quality than the $20 ones sold at Macys and Saks.  The TVs, and other electronics are also the same as are sold elsewhere, whether they are manufactured in China, Korea, or Taiwan.  The house brand dog food is made by the same Ralston-Purena as makes the other premium brands.  The packaged food items, from Campbell’s soups to Planter’s nuts are the same as are found in any Safeway, Kroger, or Alberson’s.

To follow up on an earlier comment, you are certainly free to shop where you choose, or not, and spend your money as you see fit.  As are all of us.  And you are just as surely free to criticize those whose ideas are not in harmony with yours.  But if all you have to offer is ignorant partisan drivel, you have no business expecting to have your criticisms taken seriously.

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

Wait a second here; does anyone here really believe that a company like Walmart--renowned for cost cutting and pressuring its vendors on price--actually left 30% fat on the table and only now identified it all?

Sorry, I don’t buy it.  Wal-Mart is relentless this way.  It’s not just cutting costs (as the article makes clear, by the way), but also significant cuts in profits for its vendors.  From the article; Bushwick potatoes saw a 10% rise in costs to produce, but realized only a 5% increase in prices paid.

That’s a BIG slice out of their profits.

That’s a BIG slice out of their profits.

BB,

And that’s no small potatoes!

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

Wal-Mart maybe “helping” poor people by giving them cheap crap made from China and reducing the cost of some food items, but they are also creating more poor people. 
I would say on balance that this is not a good thing.  They are undercutting the grocery stores who offered a lot of good paying jobs to average americans.  You want to support Chinas economy by buying from Wal-Mart, that is your choice.
But I happen to love my country more than that.

The average grocery store is paying around 7 an hour. The average Wal Mart employee is making around 9.25. It’s true that a new Wal-Mart will put small businesses out of business, but there’s 2 things to consider there:
1. Each new Wal-Mart employs hundreds of people. Assuming the average Wal-Mart puts 5 mom and pop shops down, and assuming they each have 10 employees (generous), the WalMart is still employing more people.
2. Big businesses put small ones out of business in every field. Bob’s Screw Emporium simply can’t compete with Home Depot. Given the choice between Martha’s 30 year old gas station and QT, people will choose QT. Schnucks will always ground a mom and pop grocery shop under. Etc. It’s the nature of the beast.

Wal-Mart is the best thing that has ever happened to our economy.

For the first time in my adult life, I am ashamed of my country.

That’s a BIG slice out of their profits.

Only if they choose to do business with WalMart; after all, it’s not compulsory.  Apparently, they made the decision that a smaller slice of a very large pie is preferable to a big slice of a small pie.  It’s a management decision, made on a cost/benefit basis.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

Furthermore the pharmacy is a Godsend. If it weren’t for them, my mom couldn’t afford her prescriptions for her cancer treatment. Getting various prescriptions for 5-10 dollars has made life easier on everyone.

For the first time in my adult life, I am ashamed of my country.

Only if they choose to do business with WalMart; after all, it’s not compulsory.  Apparently, they made the decision that a smaller slice of a very large pie is preferable to a big slice of a small pie.  It’s a management decision, made on a cost/benefit basis.

Well said.

Barack Obama: All hat and no cattle since 1997!

And who are those vendors Wal-Mart is pressuring?  The same Americans who have to shop there!  Derp!

My god, you’re dense.

Proof: The one thing the totalitarian lefties can’t stand, and that’s free people making free choices.

Collectivism requires coercion; individualism only requires freedom.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

And who are those vendors Wal-Mart is pressuring?  The same Americans who have to shop there!  Derp!
My god, you’re dense.

That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard. I can just imagine that meeting in your head…

“You either sell us your products at a reduced price or we won’t sell them back to you at a higher price!”

Man you got something there fool.

For the first time in my adult life, I am ashamed of my country.

Kenny,

Your remarks about Walmart and the economies of scale was very well said.

It’s also worth remembering that each Walmart hires a good many more people than did the Mom ‘n’ Pops they displace, and pay one helluva lot more in sales tax, property tax and state and local income tax as well… not to mention workman’s comp and unemployment insurance, which are often beyond the financial abilities of those Mom ‘n’ Pop stores.

Most of the anti-Walmart stuff out there is simply regurgitated union bile, and not thoughtful economic analysis.

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

Most of the anti-Walmart stuff out there is simply regurgitated union bile, and not thoughtful economic analysis.

Yes; the “outrage” of the lefties is very selective; they never complain about corrupt union practices or govt rigging of markets to the advantage of their supporters or favored groups, but squeal in anger that a businessman makes a profit to feed his family, pay his employees, etc.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

Um, Whistler, the real reason Wal-Mart pays those things is because the interstate commerce regulations apply to them (which does business across state lines) and not the mom & pops.  They even do a fair amount of lobbying to get eminent domain land a la Kelo and even to increase the regulatory burden on themselves and their competitors. 

So to claim that all of this is simply “capitalism” is to over-simplify.  Certainly taking a lower profit (which is what is actually going on, not huge cost-cutting measures) is a time-honored way of getting through a real or perceived recession.  However, Wal-Mart’s an iceberg, and there’s a lot more below the surface than what the PR guys want you to see.

And yes, part of that does include relentless cheapening of many products, to the point where vendors are driven out of business.  This may be another case of “just because you CAN doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.”

mygodyouredumb: Leftard’s autobiography in one compound word!

Barack Obama: All hat and no cattle since 1997!

BB: Competition is a bitch; someone wins and someone loses.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

robert108.  True, and in a free economic environment, prices go down, employment goes up and union murders are almost zero.  UMW.  Jock, his wife, children and pets.  Where were the SPCA?

Communism is evil

BB: Competition is a bitch; someone wins and someone loses.

Actually, the great liberal (meaning conservative/libertarian today) economists like Smith and Bastiat note that the defining characteristic of capitalism is not competition, but cooperation.  Those who run what should be a cooperative enterprise as a competition quickly find that “the other boys quietly take their marbles and go elsewhere.” If you don’t leave a little bit on the table, what reason is there for your vendor to say “hey, let’s do this again?”

BB: You forget the Doctrine of the Invisible Hand; you seem to have confused free enterprise with collectivism.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

We all know that grocery and department stores offered high wages before Wal-Mart took the helm.

Oh wait, we don’t. Because that isn’t reality.

The “reality based liberals” are just making shit up.

Nope; is not the “invisible hand” Smith’s way of describing the cooperation of innumerable producers to meet the needs of consumers in self-interest?  And do not both supplier and consumer benefit from the transaction, if the market be truly free?

The trick is that you’re assuming that socialism actually implies cooperation; reality is that it doesn’t, as setting up a system that precludes self-interest and the price motive must be done by force.

And force is not cooperation, unless you call a lash across your back “cooperating” with your slave-driver.  I’m assuming you don’t.  :^)

No, real free markets cooperate in a very real way, and as such it makes me very uneasy to see the “one wins one loses” paradigm being given as one for good business.  The opposite is the truth; both must win for free markets to operate.

And who are those vendors Wal-Mart is pressuring?

Pressuring. That’s an interesting, if somewhat loaded word! Other folks might call it “negotiating”.

If you want to sell your product to me (Wal-Mart) I will give you this price.

I do much the same thing when I buy a car.

If you want to sell your car to me (proof) I will give you this price.

If I don’t like the price or the terms, I walk away. Am I “pressuring” the car dealer? Well, yes! Depending on how much pressure there is on him to “make his nut”, he might take a lower price than he’d ideally like or than he would accept in good times!

Am I “evil” for “pressuring” the car dealer? No. We’re either coming to a mutually advantageous deal or one of us will walk. Simple as that!

Barack Obama: All hat and no cattle since 1997!

Nope; is not the “invisible hand” Smith’s way of describing the cooperation of innumerable producers to meet the needs of consumers in self-interest? And do not both supplier and consumer benefit from the
transaction, if the market be truly free?

No, it isn’t; it’s a statement about the superior results stemming from self-interest, not “cooperation”.
The term “free market” means “freedom of entry and exit”.  It has nothing to do with outcome.
Sellers compete with each other to win the business of buyers; buyers compete with each other for resources; we have laws against what you describe, which are called anti-trust laws.

Here’s a direct quote of the Doctrine of the Invisible Hand:

A term coined by economist Adam Smith in his 1776 book “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”. In his book he states:

“Every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it... He intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for society that it was no part of his intention. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good.”

Thus, the invisible hand is essentially a natural phenomenon that guides free markets and capitalism through competition for scarce resources.

Socialism, btw, subjugates self-interest for self-sacrifice, which is what you describe.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

Like most lefties, you have absolutely no idea what “profit” is, in the real world.  Spoken like a true ignoramus.
robert108 on May 30, 2008 at 09:54 am

There you go again, you lying old geezer.
When are you going to stop?
There was a time when I respected you. But you are like a one night stand: Nobody respects the morning after.

e: Nothing factual or logical, just lies and personal attack.  Typical, like I said.  Define “profit”, if you can.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

About 6 or 7 years ago, there was a city outside of San fran sick-o that outlawed any Wal-mart from coming and putting up a store. I don’t remember the name of the town, but it was one of the richest towns in the Bay area. They said it was to keep the local stores from going out of business. I wonder was it the feeling of helping the overpriced stores stay in business, or was it a measure to keep poor people out of town. It seems to me that people against wal-mart are also against poor people. If you don’t like how much they pay employes then bitch to your congressman or women and increase the national minimum wage. People that make minimum wage need a place to shop too, its just now that people making good money shop there and Sams, and that bugs rich people or should I say the elite types. You know the white trash types that cling to guns, religion, and family values. The ones that wont be voting for Obama in 08, the far left would love to pass laws to try and put wal-mart out of business.

About 6 or 7 years ago, there was a city outside of San fran sick-o......
lucky13 on May 30, 2008 at 07:46 pm

I see a fan of Michael Savage here.

Lucky 13:
That was the public policy in Sonoma, a major wine growing area near Napa; but mainly because the rich owners of vineyards did not want low income people, like Mexicans, to shop in their tourist community and scare away the money.

No matter the age or state of health, for a military man it is always glorious to tilt at windmills, rescue a fair Dulcinea and be a gallant knight in armor in a glorious cause.

I believe you might be thinking about Hercules, CA. Back in 2006 the city council voted against Wal Mart building a superstore on property they had already purchased.

Barack Obama: All hat and no cattle since 1997!

e: Nothing factual or logical, just lies and personal attack.  Typical, like I said.  Define “profit”, if you can.
robert108 on May 30, 2008 at 07:09 pm

This accussation comes from the master of the art.
As far as defining profit I am not going to play your silly game, in part because you never respond to such challenges, and in part because you are attempting to insult my intelligence.
However I am going to say this. If supermaket A,or butcher shop Aa sells, lets say rib eye steak at $7.00 per pound and Wal-Mart sells said rib-eye infused with a 15% saline solution and/or broth for $6.75 then I believe you are smart enough to calculate the chicanery and extra profit made by Wal-Mart.
Have a very nice day.

Lucky 13:
That was the public policy in Sonoma, a major wine growing area near Napa; but mainly because the rich owners of vineyards did not want low income people, like Mexicans, to shop in their tourist community and scare away the money.
Neiman on May 31, 2008 at 09:00 am

Yet those same Mexicans lived and worked in the Napa vineyards.Shame on those rich owners of vineyards.
First they hire Illegals to increase their profit, then they don’t want them seen in their communities.

First they hire Illegals to increase their profit, then they don’t want them seen in their communities.

Actually, those invader parasites were lucky to even be here; their invading asses should have been shipped back to Mexico immediately.  They steal something from us, then complain about the conditions they invaded to get.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

As far as defining profit I am not going to play your silly game, in part because you never respond to such challenges, and in part because you are attempting to insult my intelligence. You don’t know!
However I am going to say this. If supermaket A,or butcher shop Aa sells,lets say rib eye steak at $7.00 per pound and Wal-Mart sells said rib-eye
infused with a 15% saline solution and/or broth for $6.75 then I believe you are smart enough to calculate the chicanery and extra profit made by
Wal-Mart.  In the first place, there is no such thing as “extra profit”; it’s just profit.  To calculate profit margin, you need to know the cost side of the equation, and that varies between vendors.  Duh.  To calculate total profit, you need to multiply the net profit margin X the number of units sold.  You insult your own “intelligence”, e.

As with most lefties, you are an economic know-nothing.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

.....their invading asses should have been shipped back to Mexico immediately.  They steal something from us, then complain about the conditions they invaded to get.
robert108 on May 31, 2008 at 09:41 am

Not before they prunned and weeded the vineyards

Not before they prunned and weeded the vineyards

Thus depriving our own teenagers of much-needed employment.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

In the first place, there is no such thing as “extra profit”; it’s just profit.
robert108 on May 31, 2008 at 10:13 am

Dearest Robert 108. No matter how you define it, it is profit (extra or otherwise)above and beyond what they would have realised without bastardizing their meat cuts (injecting them with saline solution and/or broth).

Back to the topic, here’s how it works: WalMart, in seeking a decent return, also ends up using its economic power to negotiate in favor of the consumer.

It’s called “The Invisible Hand Doctrine”; you can Google it.  It’s what makes the free enterprise economic system superior to all others.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

Thus depriving our own teenagers of much-needed employment.
robert108 on May 31, 2008 at 12:11 pm

Dearest Robert108. I despise illegal imigration as much as you do. However I don’t believe you will find many of our own teenagers to prunne the vines.

Those nasty facts: as the invasion has proceeded, teenage unemployment has skyrocketed.  Not a coincidence, but cause and effect.  The invaders now take the jobs that teenagers used to do to enter the job market.  You can Google it.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

No matter how you define it, it is profit (extra or otherwise)above and beyond what they would have realised without bastardizing their meat cuts (injecting them with saline solution and/or
broth).

As usual, you’ve got it wrong.  Without knowing what their cost is, you have no idea what their profit margin is, nor their total profit.  You are just spewing your Marxist ideology about profit, in total ignorance of the reality.
WalMart clearly labels their meat, so the consumer gets to choose whether he or she buys it, or not.  No victims here, only your misguided victimology.
Free people making free choices.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

e: For all you know(since I doubt you have even thought of taking a survey) WalMart meat buyers may actually prefer their meat that way, due to enhanced flavor(a possibility you haven’t even considered).  If nobody wanted their meat that way, no one would buy it.  Like I said; basic economics.  You should take a course.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

Dearest Robert108. However I don’t believe you will find many of our own teenagers to prunne the vines,
Because they are in school during prunning season, Which is during the month of January.

Dearest Robert108. All other things being equal, you have your opinions I have mine. Nice debating with you.

The definition of profit is not a matter of opinion.  You made a factual accusation(...bastardizing their meat cuts..., extra profits) without making a factual determination of either accusation.
At the very least, that’s being dishonest.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

However I am going to say this. If supermaket A,or butcher shop Aa sells, lets say rib eye steak at $7.00 per pound and Wal-Mart sells said rib-eye infused with a 15% saline solution and/or broth for $6.75 then I believe you are smart enough to calculate the chicanery and extra profit made by Wal-Mart.
Have a very nice day.
ellinas on May 31, 2008 at 09:04 am

As usual you are inserting a lot of variables to a simple equation in hopes of mudding the obvious to your advantage.
For example: “e: For all you know(since I doubt you have even thought of taking a survey) WalMart meat buyers may actually prefer their meat that way, due to enhanced flavor(a possibility you haven’t even considered).  If nobody wanted their meat that way, no one would buy it.”

Ask Pilgrim about Wal-Mart’s flavourfull steaks.

People are paying a premium for water and salt.
Is that hard to understand?
You know the answer,however you would never concede the obvious because God forbid someone else may be right.

Ask Pilgrim about Wal-Mart’s flavourfull steaks.

He said, as I remember, that he no longer shops there.  Free people making free choices.
The most generous thing I can say about what you have written here is that your analysis is incomplete.  You have lots of emotion, few facts, and no logic.
If you are so desperate to be “right”, then you will have to do a considerable amount of homework on this subject.
The bottom line is this: companies are free to do business the way they choose.  If you don’t like what they sell, don’t shop there.  Your uninformed opinions about profit are simply wrong, because you don’t even know the definiton of the term, and have no idea of how to calculate it.  Therefore, any “conclusions” you may have drawn are fated to be entirely false.  Educate yourself before you speak about a subject; you won’t appear so foolish then.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

People are paying a premium for water

Nearly every grocery store I know sprays water on their vegetables to keep them fresh. Do you not suppose that an added benefit to the grocer is whatever additional water weight that clings to the produce?
Adding water to meat, fresh or canned, is hardly new nor exclusive to Wal*Mart.

Barack Obama: All hat and no cattle since 1997!

Proof now you are being silly like my beloved friend Robert108. Infused with, and sprayed on are two different things. Go ahead and infuse cellery, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce etc with a 15% solution of water and salt to “enhance flavor” and see the results.
Most if not all vegetables and herbs that I see sprayed with water are sold in bunches with a predetermined weight and fixed price.

fixed price.

Shop there frequently. Most veggies I see are sold by the pound.
Again, infusing meats fresh and canned is not an exclusive problem to Wal*Mart.

Barack Obama: All hat and no cattle since 1997!

People are paying a premium for water and salt.

People are paying what they regard as the right price for the right product, you moron!  Otherwise, they would shop elsewhere.  Not only don’t you know what “profit” means, you don’t even understand how free people make free choices!

Save America; boycott the MSM.

Injecting meat with water is nothing new; my grandmother’s 1920s era home ec textbook warns that unscrupulous vendors will do this. 

Emphasis on “unscrupulous,” as when someone presents products in a deceitful way.  Other examples of this include sheets; I’ve noticed that vendors today are counting both the warp and weft in thread count, so a 400 thread count sheet today is actually rougher than a 250 thread count sheet of 8 years ago.  Another example is the “Schwinn” bicycles sold at Wal-Mart--Ignaz Schwinn would never have tolerated that.

Yet another example is the abuses recorded by Upton Sinclair in “The Jungle” of Swift and other meatpackers--things that sometimes even exceed what goes on with “Le Mart du Wal.”

Sorry, but “capitalism” does not excuse the businessman from the basic duty of honesty to his customers.  I believe Smith warned about this, as does Bastiat.  Just because “you can get away with it” or “you can turn a quick buck doing it” doesn’t mean it’s right, and it certainly doesn’t mean that people are wrong to protest.

And no, 108, the norm between vendor and customer is NOT competition, but rather cooperation.  Look at relationships between GM and its vendors if you want to see the results of a customer squeezing the last drop of blood from the turnips of its vendors.  They lose billions annually due to this.

Look up Bastiat on this, 108.  It’s legitimate to want to get a good deal.  Using one’s market power to squeeze vendors into bankruptcy is not.  Using one’s market power to force vendors to bastardize their products is not.

Bike Bubba thank you for your insightfull and brutaly honest post.

And no, 108, the norm between vendor and customer is NOT competition, but rather cooperation.

Nice mischaracterization, BB.  I never made any such statement.  The competition is between sellers, and it benefits the buyers. I don’t think it’s proper to describe the relationship between vendor and customer as “cooperation”, either; it’s more like a continuing negotiation, with the underlying understanding that if the vendor falls behind the competition(other vendors), he will lose the customer’s business.  This is simply another aspect of the Invisible Hand Doctrine.

It’s legitimate to want to get a good deal.  Using one’s market power to squeeze vendors into bankruptcy is not. Entirely false; the reward of being successful is having greater clout in the market.  It’s not monopoly, you know. Using one’s market power to force vendors to bastardize their products is not. You’re just making that up, since it isn’t happening, except in the deluded mind of e man. The article cites WalMart as using its clout in the market to get lower food prices for its customers.  Nothing nefarious about that.  You have been misled by a leftie trying to distract, out of his irrational hate for WalMart.

As far as WalMart’s meat is concerned, it’s labeled, so none of your hyperbole applies.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

Most veggies I see are sold by the pound.
Again, infusing meats fresh and canned is not an exclusive problem to Wal*Mart.
Proof on June 1, 2008 at 11:21 am

Proof you are right. Most veggies I also see are sold by the pound. But not all. I was refering to the ones that are sold by the bunch, like green onions for example.
Care to point out who else infuses their fresh cuts of beef with a up to 15% saline solution or broth? I am sophisticated enough to know the difference.
Stop trying to insult my intelligence with nonsense arguments. It makes you look silly. The water drips off the sprayed veggies and one can certainly shake it off. But the saline infused meat? Methinks that you have been shaking your meat (masturbating) way too often and you confuse the two meats.

As far as WalMart’s meat is concerned, it’s labeled, so none of your hyperbole applies.
robert108 on June 2, 2008 at 09:08 am

How often do you go to let’s say Safeway with a magnifying glass in tow, go to their fresh meat section, pick up a nice package of T-bone steaks turn it over and proceed to read the fine print?
And being labled as such makes no difference. The bottom line is the “extra” profit they realize versus the non infused meat.

How often do you go to let’s say Safeway with a magnifying glass in tow, go to their fresh meat section, pick up a nice package of T-bone steaks
turn it over and proceed to read the fine print? Are you sure it’s “fine print”, or are you just bullshitting, as usual?  Anyone who doesn’t read the label on something before buying it is a fool.
And being labled as such makes no difference. Of course it does; what a ridiculous statement! The bottom line is the “extra” profit they realize versus the non infused meat. Since you are ignorant of what “profit” is, you are simply lying again.

I’m planning a trip to my local WalMart to take some pictures, and your lies will be exposed for all to see.  Simply packaging meat with either water or broth is not “injecting” or “infusing”, so you lie there, as well.  It’s time to shut up your lies with the truth.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

Here’s the link to Pilgrim’s original post on Wal-Mart meats:

http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/a_bit_of_a_caveat_if_youre_buying_meat_check_the_back_of_the_package/

Back of the package, 108, and in fine print.  Should we all need to read the fine print on every bag of sugar or flour we buy to make sure that Wal-Mart didn’t put sand in it, too?

Good grief, I feel like we’re reading “The Jungle” again--well, as long as Swift notes that this meat came from a pregnant cow on the back of the can, and that it wasn’t able to walk when it entered the plant, everything’s all right!

I had heard on the radio just this morning that Wal-Mart injects their meat with 10% water…

Also, nothing about “fine print”, in fact, the print in the original article was large and quite readable.  Also, nothing factual about “injecting the meat”, only “I heard on the radio...”

Try again.

BTW, “The Jungle” was populist propaganda, meant to inflame the public emotionally.  Guess it worked on you, BB.
In spite of your errors, this thread is about WalMart obtaining good food prices for all of us who choose to take advantage of them, and about WalMart using market forces(not govt coercion) to accomplish that.
This whole “meat” thing is just a hater’s attempt to distract from the good that WalMart is doing.
If you don’t like WalMart’s meat, don’t shop there; you have plenty of choices, due to the competition engendered by the free market in our free enterprise system.  You are not “forced” to buy anything anywhere.

Save America; boycott the MSM.

The difference between butchered and packaged meat and butchered, processed, and packaged meat is the addition of water and preservatives. Look on the back side of the meat package and it will clearly state what has been added. And it is not just Wal Mart that does this. Want unprocessed meat? Shop at a store that does all their meat cutting in house. Lots and lots of stores do.

Una Salus Victus Nullam Sperare Salutem

He! he! he!. Got taken by Wal Mart.

Rejoicing in the pain of others to serve your partisan crap.  Nice.
robert108 on January 22, 2008 at 10:55 pm

This is what you said in a prior post.
Do you wish to retract?

Do you wish to retract your lies and your ignorance of what “profit” is?  Instead of