Monthly Archives: September 2010

Even Wal-Mart Can’t Avoid Food Inflation Anymore

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From Bloomberg:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s prices rose in September to the highest level in at least 21 months, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co., as the world’s largest retailer scaled back discounts from earlier this year.

The cost of a 31-item basket of goods at a Wal-Mart in Virginia was $95.75, a 2.7 percent increase from August and a 5 percent gain from the start of 2010, analyst Charles Grom said today in a report. The price is the most since the New York- based analyst began the survey in January 2009.

Prices for produce climbed as Wal-Mart offered almost no discounts on food last month, Grom said. Price cuts on items such as cereal and ketchup failed to attract as many consumers as Wal-Mart anticipated, dragging down sales in the latest quarter, U.S. stores chief William Simon said last month.

Produce accounted for 7 of the 31 items in the basket, with prices 10 percent higher in September than the previous month. Prices for dairy products rose 2 percent, and meat was unchanged.

The article goes on to point out that Wal-Mart is still cheaper than most other grocers. Canned goods are especially good deals there and long lasting foods that you will end up paying more for later so stock up while they’re still reasonable.

Polish Nationals Caught Trying to Procure Fake Identification in New Mexico

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I guess being concerned about this makes me a hater of brown people:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Three Polish nationals are in federal custody Friday night after federal authorities said they were trying to get New Mexico driver’s licenses illegally.

The trio were caught last week at a Motor Vehicle Division office in Albuquerque when a clerk thought the stamp on Rafal Marzec’s birth certificate didn’t look right, according to Michael Sandoval of the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division.

“Our clerks are becoming more and more familiar with some of the techniques that are trying to be used, so they’re pretty much able to look at documents and view that,” said Sandoval.

Agents were called in and interviewed Marzec and Piotr Stelmach. According to court documents, both men told the agents that they contacted Jaroslaw Kowalczyk through an ad in a Polish-language newspaper in the Chicago area promising to get New Mexico driver’s licenses for those in the U.S. illegally in exchange for $1,000.

I’d usually end with something like “ready for that fence yet?” but let’s be honest, it’s too late for that. The borders are open and no one knows exactly who is coming through. Europeans sneaking over the Mexican border should raise many alarms for people given Al-Qaeda’s strategy of using “westerners” as operatives. Get prepared.