On the one hand, everyone loves to hate on Wal-Mart, and I’m no exception. I don’t care for their business practices, particularly their aggressive union-busting stance. I don’t like that they put so much pressure on their suppliers to reduce prices that they end up driving more and more manufacturing jobs offshore. And, I can’t particularly say that I’m thrilled with the quality of most of their goods. 
On the other hand, I came across this article in my lifehacker feed this evening, and Wal-Mart is actually doing something that I think is good: they’re planning a marketing push to get people to buy compact fluorescent bulbs. Since I’ve been using CFLs heavily for the past four or five years, I think this is a terrific idea. Mine have more than paid for themselves in energy savings, and out of a dozen or so (I don’t have that many lights :)) I’ve only had one of them go bad on me.
If you haven’t tried CFLs lately, or you don’t like them because you think they’re crap, take another look. The ones you can get these days are actually rather nice. I’m just looking forward to being able to replace them with LED lights in a few years… 
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