Helping the Helpless

Walmart, in there continued effort to put a smiley face on their operation, decided to cut off food for the homeless today:

"Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the nation's largest food retailer, said Thursday it will no longer donate nearly-expired or expired food to local groups feeding the hungry."

No wonder they were falling all over themselves yesterday.

Olan James, a Wal-Mart spokesman, said the policy, which applies to all 1,224 Wal-Marts, 1,929 Supercenters and 558 Sam's Clubs, is an attempt to protect the corporation from liability in case someone who eats the donated food gets sick.

I'm sure there are plenty of lawyers just hanging around homeless people-looking for a good case. By the way:

"Ernie Brown, a spokesman for Sacramento's Senior Gleaner- said Wal-Mart's concerns about liability seem misplaced in light of the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, a federal law passed in 1996 offering food donors wide-ranging protections from civil lawsuits or criminal prosecution. The law states that donors can be held liable only in instances of "gross negligence."

Jane has more: "Walmart is sparing no expense today to assure both traditional media and the internet that they are wracked with grief over the racially insenstive accident generated by their online "mapping" program...read on"