One of the hottest recent discoveries by investigative journalists is the sleazy practice known as "dead peasants’ insurance," which is allegedly used by some of our best known big corporations — such as Wal-Mart and Enron. Officially called Corporate-Owned Life Insurance (COLI), this practice has been going on below the radar since the 1980s, and P&J were turned on to it by our favorite lefty in the bullpen, Dick Walton. P&J agree with Dick Walton when he says, "Just when you thought corporate America could sink no lower, you find that your imagination cannot equal that of these fiends."

Here’s how it works. Big companies with a number of low-paid employees (the practice is also known as "dead janitors’ insurance") buy life insurance on those low-ranking employees — sometimes without their knowledge — to get tax breaks, as well as to collect benefits when a covered employee died. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, "Corporations gain not merely from the tax-free life insurance benefits they receive when current or former employees die, but also can borrow money against these policies. Many companies even deducted the interest on these loans from their taxes." It is legal in some states, but not in others (which have emerged from the ghoulish Dark Ages of squalid business dealings). For some of these companies, death benefits go to pay for executive bonuses and perks.

<clip>Enough already. There is not anything for sale in Wal-Mart even free that is worth a human life. We should be ashamed of ourselves as a country for lapsing into such mindless consumerism. Even in a time of economic trouble, too many amongst us would rather mindlessly consume than reflect on what the most important things are in life.