Toyota

Did you hear? Toyota posted a profit in its most recent financial quarter of $242 million. It made the news because Toyota has recently been losing money - since about a year ago, in fact. Prior to the Great Recession, Toyota had never, ever had a negative quarter. It was simply expected that it would post a profit year after year after year. That's why this is news. Imagine Walt Disney all of a sudden deciding not to license the sale of Mickey Mouse merchandise. That would be unheard of. However, it probably makes absolutely no difference to this topless woman - she's on vacation in Bermuda.

Wal-Mart

I recently got this in an email. I don’t know what it means. 1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart every hour of every day. 2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute! 3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day than Target sells all year. 4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot, Kroger, Target, Sears, Costco, and K-Mart combined. 5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people and is the largest private employer. 6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world. 7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger & Safeway combined. 8. During the last 15 years, 31 supermarket chains have gone bankrupt. 9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world. 10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super Centers; this is 1,000 more than it had 5 years ago. 11. This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at a Wal-Mart store. (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 billion.) 12. 90% of all Americans live within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart. Maybe Wal-Mart should bail out Wall Street?

Church on Sunday

From Yahoo! News: “VATICAN CITY – The Vatican says Pope Benedict XVI is getting his own channel on Google. It says the Vatican TV Center and Vatican Radio are collaborating with Google on the project. The Vatican's press office said Saturday that texts and video of the pope's speeches as well as news about the pontiff would be posted directly onto the channel. It says more information will be given next week. The Vatican began using its Web site widely to publish teachings and pronouncements under the late Pope John Paul II.” This might make it easier for the Church and the State to re-unite. What do I know? Nothing, that’s what. If commerce can be globalized, why not religion?

Target or Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart seems to be the store of choice for many. Not so much for me. I prefer Target. The reason is simple. Target is not as messy and not as cluttered and not as dirty as Wal-Mart. I'm not saying Wal-Mart is dirty or cluttered or messy. I'm saying it's just got a little bit more of that lived-in look and feel. Of course, one feels more at home at Wal-Mart. At Target, you probably feel like you should not disturb or handle the merchandise too much because the housekeeper might get mad at you. It's like going to a house where a friend has put everything in its place and you have to watch where you step and where you put your glass and all that. That makes one feel uncomfortable. However, the quality at Target is just a tad better, though the prices are higher.