Blog @ MoreWhat.com

Have we lost our sense of humor? Are actions by some defined as racist while similar actions by others are not? And what does the selective use of the race card tell us about America?

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

from VOA News….

Officials in the eastern U.S. state of New Jersey are investigating an incident at a Wal-Mart in which a man used the store’s public-address system to tell African-Americans to leave.

Customers were shocked Sunday when a male voice announced, “Attention Wal-Mart shoppers, all black people must leave the store now.”

Wal-Mart officials say they are reviewing security tapes to determine who made the announcement.

The local prosecutor’s office said it also is investigating.

Another report of how enthralled (had to add this, enthralled = beguiled, filled with wonder and delight) consumers are with electronics offerings from manufacturers. This post is another attempt to raise some issues regarding consumer electronics. Some long standing criticism from this blog toward those who market electronics and control the infrastructure on which much of it is used range from how internet access is manipulated between what is available, offered and how it is priced to similar issues living in other telecom areas like wireless communication. Have you noticed how cell phones are marketed and its relationship to the primary function of telephones. That’s right. Voice communication between humans has long been the need filled by telephone service. Text messaging, chocolate phones, camera phones and all manner of other bells and whistles have relegated speaking to another on the phone as an afterthought. Could it be that spending the money necessary to offer reliable and quality voice communication does not present the profit margin desired by the providers? Could it be the public has once again allowed the market to be driven by the easily manipulated younger demographic with all that loose change to spend being ‘cool’? The manufacturers know it. Ignore the more demanding demographic for the one you can manipulate and who may have the most discretionary income with the most liberal criteria for purchasing decisions.

The ridiculous nature of the coming switch from analog to digital broadcasts is a critical tipping point in electronics related markets that should require no explanation for using adjectives like ‘ridiculous.’ The reasonable method for introducing new products and services by offering value in terms of quality, utility, pricing and other factors has been supplanted by collusion between entities within the public and private sectors in the electronics industry just like the examples found in the current ‘financial crisis’ stemming from the subprime mortgage scheme and lack of regulation and oversight from Wall Street to Main Street to the halls of government.

That is all the angst this blog author can withstand for the current post on this topic. It would be gratifying if the consuming public could muster enough discretion over their buying decisions as an aggregate to apply the needed pressure on suppliers to do the right thing. The vendors certainly won’t do it on their own. But then the same could be said about the public reaction to activity in government. And we all know to well how that usually works out.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Retailers around the country are reporting a slower-than-usual holiday shopping season this year. But 2008 has been a terrific year for those who love consumer electronics - whether they are buying or just looking.

Despite the current economic downturn, large consumer electronics chains like Best Buy are doing brisk business this year

During lunch hour at the Midtown Manhattan outpost of Best Buy, the largest consumer electronics chain in America, the checkout line is 30 people deep and counting. That’s no surprise to Nicholas Thompson, a senior personal technology editor at Wired magazine.

“It’s been a cool year,” says Thompson. “There has been lots of stuff introduced that’s faster, smaller, sleeker, cheaper, better than anything we’ve had before.”

Thompson adds that product design also has improved this year, partly as the result of Apple products.

“Apple makes beautiful things, and these things sell. So now everyone is making beautiful things!”

Wired Magazine editor Nicholas Thompson says that in 2008, the smart money for portable music players is on the Sansa Fuze

One of the new products that Thompson believes deserve high marks for both design and affordability is the Sansa Fuze. It’s one of dozens of handheld digital music players on sale here.

“It’s about $80, which is much less than it would have cost a year ago, [and] you can watch TV shows. You can watch movies. You can listen to music, and you can look at photographs you can put on it, all your little media files.”

Thompson soon heads straight for the camera aisle, where he unhesitatingly picks up a stylish Sony T700. Unlike most digital cameras, which have smallish viewing screens, the entire back portion of the T700 is designed for viewing photos. He says people often put their photographs online, but relatively few people trouble themselves with viewing.

“But if you have a nice screen on your camera, it makes it a lot easier to share your photos with your friends,” he says.

The T700 digital camera has a screen almost as large as a traditional photograph

Another important feature of the Sony T700 Thompson touts is its Smile Shutter technology, which is able to detect when a person the camera is aimed at smiles. It then shoots the photo without the user having to press a button.

Nearby, shoppers are snapping up a surprisingly small and simple looking video camera called the Flip Ultra.

“Video cameras used to cost $300 to $400,” recalls Thompson. “And for a lot of people, all you want to do is take a little video of your dog and stick it on YouTube. And why pay $300 for that?”

In contrast, at $129, the Ultra is relatively inexpensive. It also has what Thompson considers another virtue: almost no buttons.

“Buttons can sometimes be good, but they can also confuse you. This very simple, very nice present for someone.”

“Next in line, please” is a request this cheerful Best Buy cashier calls out hundreds of time a day

Video games are bigger than ever in 2008. Thompson’s favorite this year is the FIFA 09 virtual football game based on the teams in the World Cup.

“For example, say you want to be the United States, or you want to be Brazil,” explains Thompson, “You actually have the simulation of all the soccer players who play on that national team. And if Brazil plays the United States, Brazil wins!”

When this Voice of America reporter asks him just why Brazil is sure to win, Thompson is quick to laughingly opine, “Brazil is better!” He adds that in the football-oriented video games of the past, the players would all look the same

“… and they would kind of run in the same direction, kick as hard, run as fast as each other. Now everybody is an individual,” he says.

Samsung high-end, flat-screen televisions offer images that can be almost too realistic for comfort

Thompson says hard-core couch potatoes who want excitement from their electronic toys without exercise - even of the virtual kind - will love Samsung’s new top-of-the-line, large-screen flat televisions. The store’s demonstration model uses liquid crystal display technology enhanced with light-emitting diodes as backlights.

“The colors are truer. The blacks are a lot better, and it’s much easier to watch for a long time,” Thompson says. “You actually feel like you are in a movie theater even though are just sitting in your own living room.”

Soon, a chase scene from The Dark Knight, the franchise’s most recent Batman film, begins to play on the television monitor. But Thomson says that virtually zooming through the streets of Gotham City at 250 kilometers per hour in the Batmobile - while sitting in one’s own living room at the same time - is only one of the high-tech thrills in store for gadget lovers during the 2008 holiday season.

Wal-Mart lobbies above retail value
Dec 26, 12:28 PM EST
By DIBYA SARKAR
AP Business Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wal-Mart’s message to America is “Save money. Live better.” Its motto in Washington might best be summed up another way: Spend more. Lobby harder.

The world’s largest retailer spent nearly $1.8 million in the first six months of 2007 and is on pace to break the nearly $2.5 million it spent for all of 2006.

While overall spending on lobbying appears to be slowing a bit, some industries, such as private equity, and companies, such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., are bucking the trend.

Still criticized for pay and benefits that often require employees to seek government sponsored alternatives to group insurance, Wal-Mart’s save money, live better slogan has taxpayers picking up the tab. There support of amnesty and keep wages lower to reduce prices as well as strong arming offshore vendors for their inventory contradict the idea of a well run business that offers quality at competitive prices.

Mega increases in lobbying expenditures may account for the quieter response to Wal-Mart practices in Washington. But don’t take this at face value, read the rest of this report and do a little research about the Walton family business.

Wal-Mart’s public relations effort to improve their reputation includes a press release for providing $100,000 dollars for assistance with Recovery operations after the Kansas tornadoes. It is good that the money is being offered to provide this help. But it would be unfair to allow this gift to buy Wal-Mart any goodwill. That is right, we don’t like Wal-Mart on this blog. That is right, it may appear mean-spirited to do such a thing. But read what we have for you.

This PR was listed at a US Newswire site under the category ‘corporate social responsibility’. And it was put there by Wal-Mart. Ordinarily, this type of contribution would be considered a generous gesture worthy of praise. But what it really means is Wal-Mart, not unlike other large corporations, knows the value of a dollar and how tough it is to present a positive image when so much of what you do is unethical. So the 100 grand worth of publicity to look generous and possessing qualities of good corporate citizens is worth much more than 100 grand to them. Even if people accepted paid advertising as truthful, the cost for that much good PR would vastly exceed $100,000.

Look below at what they spend on other projects. The 1 Billion on employee perks is more to show their financial muscle than any judgment of how much they spent on those transactions. But comparing the 100 grand gift to Kansas with the $36,000 paid to state lawmakers before a union vote puts things more in perspective. Over one million in the 2004 election cycle is another example. You can find more if interested. Point is, not to let Wal-Mart off the hook for a charitable donation that does more good for them than it does the victims of tornadoes. You might also remember that the history of the exceptionally grateful Red Cross is not exactly lily white either.

Just thought you should know.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Wal-Mart Donates $100,000 to Assist With Recovery Following Kansas Tornadoes
Donation to The Salvation Army and American Red Cross will boost efforts to
help those affected by the storm

PRATT, Kan., May 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
announced today that it is donating $100,000 to assist with recovery
efforts following the devastating tornadoes that ripped through Greensburg,
Kan., earlier this week. The contribution from the Wal-Mart & Sam’s Club
Foundation will enable The Salvation Army and American Red Cross to assist
those affected by the storm.
Since the storm hit on May 4, The Salvation Army and Red Cross have
been providing shelter, clothing, food, counseling and other assistance to
the tornado victims. Wal-Mart’s donation of $80,000 to the Red Cross and
$20,000 to The Salvation Army will help these organizations continue with
their relief efforts.

Wal-Mart: Employee Perks at $1B in 2006

Forbes, NY - May 3, 2007
31, Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) paid $667 million in profit sharing and 401K contributions, $51.4 million toward the company’s stock purchase plan …
WMT

Largess Preceded Md. Vote on Wal-Mart

Two Unions Vastly Outspent Company in Run-Up to Legislative Session
By John Wagner and Ann E. Marimow
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, February 10, 2006; B05
Two labor unions pushing for legislation that could expand Wal-Mart’s health benefits made campaign contributions to 48 members of the Maryland General Assembly in the month before the high-profile vote.
The contributions, totaling more than $36,000 in the run-up to the January vote, came to more than a quarter of the state’s legislators from affiliates of the Service Employees International Union and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, according to analysis of campaign finance reports filed last month.

The five biggest campaign donors in the 2004 elections1:

Goldman Sachs — $1,598,230

Wal-Mart — $1,014,600

Laborers union — $875,230
SBC — $852,071
Machinists/aerospace workers union — $810,700

1 — As of Nov. 1, 2003
Source: Center for Responsive Politics

Wal-Mart, the Democratic Party, Sens Barbara Boxer and Blanche Lincoln may not know it but they are helping me with a series of posts on Women in Politics. Some credit should be given here to the Washington Post and writer Jeffrey H Birnbaum for providing this enlightening story of how Wal-Mart will mend its ways. Do you suppose since the Dems are credited here with harrassing Wal-Mart over employee treatment that the strategy would be for Wal-Mart to give lots of money and make nice with Dems to get more publicly funded healthcare for their employees? Without the Dems harrassing them of course.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Wal-Mart, the Democrats’ New Friend

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Tuesday, April 3, 2007; Page A21

Wal-Mart has taken its lumps lately, especially from the Democratic Party over its treatment of employees. So the company has been courting the new majority on Capitol Hill by doing a lot of the standard stuff: hiring Democratic executives and donating more to the campaigns of Democratic candidates. Its political action committee has given 49 percent of its funds to Democrats this year, up from 32 percent in last year’s election……

….Last Tuesday evening, the world’s largest retailer sponsored a fancy reception in the Capitol’s LBJ Room off the Senate floor to celebrate a yet-to-be-completed documentary about female members of the chamber called “14 Women.” The film’s three producers include Mary Lambert, the older sister of Sen. Blanche Lincol n (D-Ark.), and Nicole Boxer, the daughter of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

Wal-Mart, Unions Team Up On Health Care

Wal-Mart and three other major U.S. employers are teaming up with union leaders in setting a goal of providing “quality, affordable” health care for millions of workers by 2012.

This is a good idea for Wal-Mart since most people will forget about it by 2008.

C. Harris
MoreWhat.com

Court OKs class action suit against Wal-Mart

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court ruled on Tuesday that a discrimination lawsuit on behalf of women who have worked for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. could go forward as a class-action suit.

How about their suppliers? Wal-Mart has long disputed any wrongdoing. Whether their employees were subsidized by government programs for health insurance or their buiness practices were scrutinized for use of sweatshops or brutally using their advantage over suppliers, Wal-Mart reacts more like a victim. There was a time when they proudly displayed “made in the USA” banners throughout the store. It was tough explaining the absence of that information on store products. But their supporters denounce the criticism as envy of Wal-Mart’s success. The jury is still out.

C. Harris
MoreWhat.com

Wal-Mart launches movie, TV download service

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Tuesday introduced a test version of its new video download service, making it the first major retailer to offer such a service with the backing of all of Hollywood’s big studios.

Of course the big studios support this. The good old days are gone in most places. Hollywood has been feeling the crunch for some time. That’s right, get in bed with and become beholding to Wal-Mart. Then parade Hollywood types all over the planet telling the rest of us how we should live. You can act. Not well in this case, but you can act.

First it was netflicks. Then Blockbuster entered the fray with “by mail” or in the store. Now it’s Wal-Mart.

C. Harris
MoreWhat.com

Rush Limbaugh’s lambasting of the John Edwards/PS3/WalMart story may be a little premature. Some advice for Rush: Take a pill.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com