The Sky Is Falling In

Or Maybe Walmart is Just a Really Dangerous Place to Hang Out

2011-01-23T18:56:00.000-08:00

Ok, maybe I've been wrong about all this, aside from what I've said from the beginning, that the Walmart clientele are not at the top of my list for dinner guests. Four people were shot today out front of a Walmart just a few hours north of me. Perhaps the Department of Homeland security just happens to know a little more about American culture than I do: that "bad guys" really do love to hang out at Walmart. You can read the article HERE if you'd like.

WALMART/DHS UPDATE: VIDEOS INSTALLED, PR CAMPAIGN BEGINS

2011-01-14T21:21:00.000-08:00

Police: Loughner up all night at Walmarts, Circle Ks before shooting

The above headline is
from a CNN thread which can be found HERE, detailing the timeline of Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of gunning down 19 people including US Representative Gabrielle Giffords, the night before the shootings. I found the title to be a little odd, especially after reading through the article to find that he was actually up all night at 6 different places: Walgreens, Chevron, Motel 6, Walmart, Circle K and Safeway, and that he merely visited them briefly. Understandably a headline containing all six of these places would not be the most compelling of headlines, but my question is: "Why mention the locations at all?" There is a lot more pertinent and interesting information in the article than the fact that he went into a Walmart before going on a shooting rampage. Take for example the fact that he was pulled over a few hours before the tragedy for running a red light and just given a verbal warning and let go. At the time he had the gun and the ammunition in the car with him. And when reading the headline one is given the impression that Loughner had been stalking about for hours at Walmart and Circle K when the fact is he just went into Walmart to grab his ammunition and into Circle K for his donuts. Now this may be just a strange coincidence, but the Department of Homeland security just recently implemented their controversial "if you see something say something" video greeting from Janet Napolitano, secretary of DHS, at the checkout stands of a number of Walmart stores. Is this headline somehow a pitch from DHS legitimizing these videos which many have criticized are very reminiscent of 1984? I mean if the Tucson killer was "up all night at Walmarts", maybe someone would have contacted the proper authorities if prompted by our friend Janet here to do so. I don't know. It could just be a coincidence after all, but it definitely caught my eye.

THE UNITED WALMART SHOPPERS OF AMERICA

2011-01-10T20:32:00.000-08:00

First of all I find it interesting that this video from the department of homeland security, soon to be played at the checkout stands of 588 Walmart stores, has a rating of only one star on youtube. This gives me hope in the American populous, for it is usually the decisions of corporate entities and shady branches of government that tend to implement such Orwellian tactics, not the people themselves. Thank God for net neutrality; let's keep it that way! Secondly, I find it frightening that such a video is being aimed at an equally frightening target audience: WALMART SHOPPERS!!! I mean could you pick your audience any better? I'll admit, I have felt compelled to visit a Walmart a few times in my life, but there in between the Miley Cyrus clothing line and the plastic-made armageddon that IS Walmart, I find myself feeling anxious and angry. I usually knock over a couple signs to assuage the fact that yes, I am standing in a goddamned Walmart, the asshole of America available at an infinitesimal amount of convenient locations for you bathe in the glow of a million watts of florescent lights and Walmart television.

But now to know that my well-intentioned anxious disruptions could not only put me in direct contact with underpaid Walmart security employees but that I could also receive a visit from the Department of Homeland Security... well let's just say I will avoid Walmart like the plague, and the plague it may well become, infecting millions of angry, scared, and well primed Americans to turn in their fellow citizens who just feel slightly out of place in these overly-gigantic, prison-like box stores of America.

PICTURES BELOW USED TO ILLUSTRATE MY POINT ABOUT HOMELAND SECURITY CHOOSING THEIR AUDIENCE WELL. PICTURES ARE TAKEN FROM THE "PEOPLE OF WALMART" WEBSITE WHICH CAN BE FOUND HERE.