Bonum Certa Men Certa

The American Media's Gaslighting Continues

Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer. Also available in Gemini.

Yahoo Finance: People Are Stealing From the Cheap Dollar Store Because They’re Richer Than They Think They Are. The Gaslight Continues…



I’d like to share with you some more Mainstream Media Bullshit I wandered into that I was getting at in my previous posts today.



In the first article, Bank of America says Americans have tons of money in the bank and they just think they’re broke because the savings aren’t as high as they were during the illegal “lockdown”.



In the second and third articles, retail stores, including Dollar Tree (where some items are apparently $1.25 and $1.50 now), are experiencing massive theft, and are locking items up.



Apparently, you must lock things that cost $1, $1.25, and $1.50 to protect them from the people who are “richer than they think they are”.



Consumers are richer than they think they are, says Bank of America. They just need to stop comparing their savings to those during lockdown.



U.S. consumers could be forgiven for thinking they’ve rarely been more strapped for cash than in 2023: Inflation is still high, the Fed has hiked up rates, and fiscal support from the government is beginning to run dry.



However, Bank of America’s analysis paints a different picture, highlighting robust spending growth and relatively high household deposits compared with 2019.



The resilience of consumer spending has surprised economists and may have even caused a headache for the Fed—which, in a bid to wrestle down inflation, has had to push consumers to the “point of pain” with the highest rate levels in more than a decade.



However, signs of a spending slowdown are emerging, with Deloitte forecasting a drop in growth from 2.8% in 2022 to 1.9% this year. Bank of America suggests this slowdown might be linked to the public’s perception that their financial situation has deteriorated somewhat during 2022–23.



How ‘shrink’ became the biggest story in retail.



Retail theft, or “shrink,” as business executives put it, has run wild.



In waves of earnings calls, references to shrink resemble the retail industry’s upside-down version of mentioning AI. But instead of generating hype, citing shrink softens the blow of sinking profits.



[…]



The theme of missing merchandise also featured in recent calls from Dollar Tree (DLTR), Macy’s (M), Home Depot (HD), and Target (TGT).



“Nobody wants to come out and say, ‘We are not in control,'” said David Johnston, NRF vice president of asset protection and retail operations. “To see the number of CEOs coming out and talking about shrink and loss — it’s an issue.”



Dollar Tree, for instance, told investors it is installing locked cases on more items and even taking some SKUs out of stores in response to elevated theft. “We are now taking a very defensive approach to shrink,” Dollar Tree CEO Rick Dreiling told analysts this week.



Dollar Tree adding locked cases, removing items from stores amid rising theft costs.



“We are now taking a very defensive approach to shrink,” Rick Dreiling, CEO of Dollar Tree, said during the earnings call. “I do not see any trouble to getting to more realistic margin levels.”



In response, the company plans to introduce anti-theft initiatives including moving certain items behind the checkout stand and removing some SKUs altogether.



You’re richer than you think you are. Now quit stealing from the damn dollar store!



The KrugmanBot3000 will have you know there is a “Biden Economic Miracle” going on.



“I stole Tide from the Dollar Tree today. Now I can do two loads of laundry!” – Very successful country.



“We’re locking up the toothpaste.” -Very Robust Economy.



“And the baby formula.” -Totally not a failing country at all.



Recent Techrights' Posts

Coming Soon: Microsoft Fake Results, Mass Layoffs, and Silence About All the People Microsoft Pressured to "Quit" (So That They Don't Get Counted as Layoffs)
there will be more mass layoffs
Speed of GNU/Linux
The media seldom speaks of the dangers of "proprietary software"
Proprietary Windows Versus "Linux" News (Trying to Keep People on Windows, Never Exploring GNU/Linux)
Good editors know better how to recognise threats and not give them lip service
Ensuring That Every Computer User Anywhere in the World Can Take Control of All His or Her Computers
We must fight the people who attack general-purpose computing, in particular those who push this agenda very aggressively inside Linux
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: Autism and Structural Navigation
Links for the day
What Happened to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Elections: The Purge, the Cover-up, and the Witch-hunts
OSI has gone "full Microsoft"
 
China is Already Culling GAFAM (Not Just Microsoft Windows)
OS monoculture or "OS hegemony" may be coming to an end
The "Telephone Operating System in the Vatican" is 95 Years Old, Vatican Moved to GNU/Linux
Maybe Microsoft is down to zero already
If Tesla Shares (and Alleged Value) Fell 55% (From $489 to $222) in a Few Months Maybe It's Not Worth Anything At All (It's Just Gambling)
Tesla swasticars have turned from a "status symbol" into a "public embarrassment" and cause for casual humiliation
Chromebooks' Adoption in Sweden No Longer Depends on Schools
School breaks are when classrooms are shut
No, IBM is Not Investing $150 Billion in the US and It Doesn't Even Have That Kind of Money
Here we go again... media as a vehicle of lobbying and misinformation
Leak: The EPO's General Consultative Committee (GCC) Does Not Consult Staff on Crucial Matters and Bypasses the Administrative Council (AC) to Do Illegal Things
violations against the EPO's very staff
New Leaks Coming Soon, We Maintain 100% Record of Successful Resistance to Censorship
We won't be told what we can and cannot say (especially when it's true)
Central African Republic (CAR): Vista 11 is Only ~0.2% Market Share
99.8% to go!
BSD and GNU/Linux Replaced Microsoft in Secure Servers, All Microsoft Has Left is LLM Slop for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD)
the FUD machine never rests
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: A Simple Task Tracking and Auto-Prioritization Tool and Other Programs
Links for the day
Links 28/04/2025: Canada's Election, Pakistan-India Conflict
Links for the day
Glue Inside Your Pizza (or Why People Will Get Fed Up With Slop)
People are given "answers" from non-intelligence word dumpsters
Links 28/04/2025: Cyberattacks Happening, Chatbots Disappointing, and "Free Speech Under Fire"
Links for the day
Phone Adoption Very Low in Vatican, Windows Usage Fell Nonetheless
Even in places where people still use desktops/laptops most of the time (and have access to these) Windows is gradually losing ground
GNU/Linux 9% in Cuba, Vista 11 Waning, Android Dominant
Microsoft has pretty much lost Cuba
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 27, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, April 27, 2025
In 24 Countries Observed by statCounter Vista 11 is Still Less Than a Quarter of Windows Users Despite All Other Versions Being 'Expired'
They ought to move to GNU/Linux
Links 27/04/2025: Pope Goodbyes, "Politics of Fear", Slop Redux and More Google Shutdowns (Google Debt Had Grown This Year)
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Serenity Dialectics, Hockey Jersey Ethics, and More
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Death of Nest Thermostats, Death of Metaverse
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Projects Workflow and Discovering Technology
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, April 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, April 26, 2025
Microsoft Isn't on the Map in USSR
To them, it's either Google or Yandex
In Central America Windows Became a Small Force
These are countries where Windows used to have well over 95% of the "market"
What's Very Vexing to GAFAM, EPO and Others Is That It's Incredibly Hard to Censor Us (and Nobody Ever Successfully Did That Before)
resist, do not capitulate
Site May be Even Faster Now
It basically takes less than a tenth of a second to serve the page
Receiving SLAPPs and Collecting Them Like Trophies (the SLAPPs Always Fail)
People who file lawsuits bring even more attention to themselves (or to embarrassing statements about them)
Year of GNU/Linux on the Laptop?
It's not happening only in Lenovo
What People Must Understand About the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
some facts about the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
Many of the Scandals Are Interconnected (Overlapping People and Corporations)
We're only getting started
More Copyright Lawsuits Against LLM Slop Providers and Suppliers of LLM Slopfarms Would Benefit Society
It's not just bad for the Web and for society; it's also legally dangerous
Links 26/04/2025: General Assassinated in the Town of Balashikha, US Promoting Seafloor Mining
Links for the day
Links 26/04/2025: Facebook Layoffs Again, Remembering What's Real, and Say No to Mass Surveillance
Links for the day
Links 26/04/2025: NOAA Budget Cuts and "Dog Days Ahead"
Links for the day
In defence of JD Vance, death of Pope Francis
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Three Years in Prison for Disney Employee’s ‘Menu Hacking’: The Economic Fallout of Digital Menus
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 25, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, April 25, 2025