Out of this World

A friend of mine is a teacher for the New York City Board of Ed and as part of her union membership receives the NY Teacher, the official publication of the NY State Teacher Union. They always have an anti-Wal-Mart article is each issue, because Wal-Mart is the root of all evil. She shared an article with me today which lauded the wonderful, poor, hard-working Jack Powell. As a substitute assistant, he makes $70 per day about 3 times a week when he has work, sometimes works for a funeral home for extra money, and his shawl doubles as his blanket.

"I do whatever it takes to survive and live a socially conscious life," said Powell, who has a tepee in his yard.

Part of this socially conscious living is no longer shopping at Wal-Mart. His decision was based on a conversation he had with a member of the Board of Directors of New York State United Teachers. Therefore,

He and his partner agreed to go on food stamps for their family rather than shop at Wal-Mart any longer.

What heroes! Especially, because there is a box on the same page as the article which reads:

Suffolk County last year passed a law protecting workers' rights to health care. This was in response to public concern about Wal-Mart managers around the country who encouraged underpaid employees to use government social programs such as Medicaid and food stamps.

Which planet????