Amazing. Perhaps, finally, people are realizing what happens to their soul when they buy plastic crap from WalMart -- it whithers and dies. It's not good for you. From that bastion of capitalism, the WSJ:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. posted its worst monthly same-store sales results in at least 28 years, tallying a 3.5% decline in April due to this year's early Easter as well as generally challenging economic conditions for consumers.

Wal-Mart's 3.5% drop in the four-week period ending May 4 at U.S. stores fell below its earlier forecast of "flat" sales to a 2% decline. In a recorded phone message Thursday, Wal-Mart blamed bad weather last month in most U.S. regions and the early Easter on April 8, which pushed many Easter sales into March.

I love how they're trying to claim it's because of Easter. Isn't that like blaming the baby Jesus for a bought of bad sales? How will that go over with the For-God-Country-and-Plastic-Lawn-Ornaments crowd? Petulant little money grubbers: "the weather and that damn cult festival with no fixed date screwed up our profits..."

One word: Ha! Of course, this'll just make them crack the whip all the harder over the poor souls who are forced to work in their sweatshops here and abroad, but at least they will now realize that the model doesn't always work, that consumers may, in fact, make choices based on more than simply the price of the plastic crap on display in isle 14.

(The great image from here).