Tag Archives | Black Friday

Police Arrest Black Friday Protesters On Behalf Of Walmart

By on November 26, 2012 in News 22

On Black Friday, peaceful protest is a jailable offense, while violent mobs are acceptable so long as they are spending money. Rania Khalek writes:

The treatment of peaceful protesters compared to the unruly and sometimes violent crowds of stampeding Black Friday shoppers couldn’t be more different. While the former is ostracized and forcibly removed by police, the latter is encouraged to come out for a competitive brawl over marked off goods. Nowhere is this contrast more clearly defined than in the police treatment of Walmart protesters over the last 24 hours.

On Friday, at least 1,000 Walmart employees throughout the country walked off the job to protest Walmart’s poor labor practices. Local police departments have been happy to disperse and even arrest strikers and their supporters on behalf of the world’s largest retailer.

At a Walmart store in Paramount, just outside of Los Angeles, some 1,500 people rallied against Walmart. Josh Eidelson, live-blogging about the Walmart strikes at The Nation, reports that “Nine people have been arrested for sitting in the street on Lakewood Boulevard, including three striking Walmart retail workers from area stores.

… Read the rest

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Woman Pepper Sprays Shoppers To Get Xbox

By on November 25, 2011 in News 43

walmartNBC Los Angeles reports on some Black Friday action. Over the past two months, in our society, pepper spraying anyone, anytime to get what you want has become completely normalized:

A customer shot pepper spray at other customers at a busy Northridge Wal-Mart store late Thursday night, causing minor injuries to at least 10 people who had been waiting hours for Black Friday savings, according to Los Angeles firefighters and a police lieutenant. The Associated Press later reported 20 injuries.

A witness told NBC4 that the incident started as people waited in line for the new Xbox 360. The witness said a woman with two children in tow became upset with the way people were pushing in line. The witness said she pulled out pepper spray and sprayed the other people in line.

It appeared only one person would need to be transported to a hospital for treatment.

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Occupy-Themed Best Buy Marketing Campaign

By on November 22, 2011 in News 23

Have you been curious how the Occupy movement would be co-opted? Occupy Best Buy combines the red-hot protest movement with Black Power fist iconography in an effort to get people pumped up about buying plasma screen TVs or whatever it is they sell at Best Buy. Definitely the worst of the occupations to spring up so far. Best Buy claims that no affiliation with the web site, though one would suspect that it’s a viral marketing effort:

occupy… Read the rest

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24/7 Consumerism Is Killing Us

By on November 27, 2010 in News 28
Image Courtesy of Colorado Indymedia

Image Courtesy of Colorado Indymedia

While it’s certainly an interesting and laudable idea — trying to reclaim time and head space back from the hyper-capitalist/consumerist society — do we need to use a piece of religious dogma to do it? What’s the difference between doing what we can as a society to free ourselves from corporate mind control and creating laws that would prevent someone from picking up something as simple as a gallon of milk on a certain day?

Denise Civiletti writes at the Riverhead Local:

County Executive Steve Levy wants to force stores to shut down between noon and 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day and has proposed a law forcing them to close or face penalties of up to $1,500. (See story.)

I think he’s right.

There are no days off any more, and it’s making us sick as a society. I don’t mean physically ill (though there’s likely a connection there, too); I’m talking about every other kind of wellness: spiritual, emotional and — yes — even moral health and well-being.

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Tightwads and Spendthrifts: A Black Friday Tradition

By on November 26, 2010 in News 10
Black Friday at a Walmart

Black Friday shoppers at Walmart. Photo: Dustin (CC)

From ScienceDaily:

Every year about this time, on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that traditionally begins the holiday shopping season, early-morning consumers stand in long lines eager to purchase some sought after prize. From the outside, it looks as if these holiday shoppers can’t wait to plunk down their cash, but University of Michigan Marketing Professor Scott Rick says consumers often behave differently than they would ideally like to behave.

“Some consumers chronically spend more than they would like, and some consumers chronically spend less than they would like,” he says. Where an individual falls within the range of desiring to spend more or less largely determines whether he or she is a tightwad or a spendthrift, characteristics that determine quite a bit about a person’s spending habits.

Rick says anticipating the psychological pain that goes along with paying money drives some people to spend less than they would like, while not experiencing enough pain causes others to spend more.

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