Free Republic

As Wal-Mart and other supermarket chains follow the high-end grocer's lead and promote local produce, farmers are becoming the new American idols After being pushed out of the spotlight for years, the local farmer is emerging as a new celebrity. From the foothills of Maine, through North Carolina in the South, the plains of Idaho, and the lush green valleys of California, a movement to celebrate the local farmer is sweeping the country. At the forefront of the movement has been supermarket Whole Foods (WFMI), which for years has put up photos of local farmers in its stores promoting their...

Shoppers Scuffle While Waiting for Xboxes 2 hours, 1 minute ago Shoppers waiting in line for the new Xbox 360 video game player scuffled outside a Wal-Mart Supercenter when a manager improvised rules for who would get the game first. It took more than 10 police officers to restore order, though no one was arrested.A crowd of about 300 people were waiting late Monday for the game to go on sale at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. Some of them had waited 12 hours when a night manager said the Xboxes would be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, instead of...

WASHINGTON — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) lowers consumer costs and adds jobs but has also led to a decline in wages and an increase in the number of people relying on government aid for health care, studies released on Friday show. At a conference sponsored by Wal-Mart to examine its impact on the U.S. economy, researchers found that the world's biggest retailer accounted for some 210,000 net jobs last year while driving nominal wages down 2.2 percent.

Some Uncomfortable Findings for Wal-Mart At a gathering sponsored by the retailer, economists will present studies of the giant's economic impact -- not all with flattering results Is Wal-Mart good or bad for the U.S. economy? A group of economists is attempting to answer that question. And the surprise is that the economists' studies, which aren't all complimentary to Wal-Mart (WMT ), are to be presented at a Nov. 4 conference sponsored by the giant retailer itself.

July 8, 2005 9:19 AM PDT Why so nervous about robots, Wal-Mart? Wal-Mart-bashing appears to be a national sport these days, with legions of Wal-Mart critics growing faster than the retail empire can build new stores. In particular, the company's labor practices are a lightning rod for criticism. So it's no wonder that the company has struck a rather defensive note regarding a rumored interest in robotic labor. I got a dose of Wal-Mart's defensive posture first-hand last week when reporting a feature story News.com published today on the future of inventory-checking robots. After an executive at Frontline Robotics informed...

<p>WASHINGTON China is sending nuclear technology to Iran in exchange for oil and allowing North Korea to use Chinese air, rail and seaports to ship missiles and other weapons, congressional investigators reported Tuesday.</p> <p>Although the Bush administration has emphasized a growing convergence with Beijing on halting the spread of weapons of mass destruction and countering terrorism, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission took a much harder line.</p>

In a recent poll on the CNN website, viewers were asked the "poll" question of whether or not they believed that Wal-Mart stores were "good" for the "community." Perhaps it is not surprising that a large majority answered "no." Now, this by itself does not mean much, since these online "polls" are not scientific and reflect only the views of the moment by people who choose to participate. What is more significant, however, was the anti-Wal-Mart content of a speech recently given by Teresa Heinz Kerry, John Kerry's wife and an influential person in her own right. Speaking at a...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow is disappointed by Pyongyang's response to its request for information on North Korea's nuclear programme, Interfax news agency quoted a senior Foreign Ministry official as saying on Thursday.Russia has formally asked Pyongyang to come clean on the state of its nuclear weapons programme after Washington said North Korea had admitted it was pursuing nuclear research in breach of a 1994 agreement to freeze it."There is certain ambiguity in the statements made by North Korean representatives," Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov told Interfax."We think this ambiguity is very dangerous as it leads to mutual suspicion and...