Apple is the second most valuable private company in the world, but steadily gaining on Exxon Mobil, which is currently worth about $338 billion to Apple’s $300 billion.

This shouldn’t be only of interest to investors. It holds far broader political and cultural significance. It’s not just about value, but values.

There couldn’t be a more stark contrast between the new economy and the old than the comparison of these two companies–a sleek tech giant versus a dirty fossil energy monster.

(READ the analysis in Discovery)

Wal-Mart joins a growing list of corporations supporting sustainable agriculture programs and small farmers, saying it is planning to double the sales of local produce in its U.S. stores by the end of 2015.

The world’s largest retailer said it would also sell more than $1 billion each year in food from 1 million small and medium-sized farms in emerging markets by the end of 2015, helping to increase income for those farmers 10 percent.

Wal-Mart also said it will require that palm oil from sustainable sources be used in all of its private-label products by the end of 2015.

(READ more from Reuters)

Suburban Philadelphia philanthropist Gene Epstein is promoting a $250,000 effort called Hire Just One, with plans to make $1,000 donations to charity in the name of businesses that hire an unemployed person and keep the worker on the payroll for at least six months.

One company estimating that Epstein’s program probably got the company to make the hires about six months before it would have otherwise.

Epstein is taking out full-page ads in local papers to keep the momentum going for his campaign, launched in September. More than 100 businesses have jumped on board.

(READ the AP Story via Yahoo News)

Mobile phones can improve the livelihoods of the poorest people in developing countries, a United Nations report released on Thursday said.

Mobile phone subscriptions will reach five billion this year (nearly one for each person on the planet), spawning a wealth of micro-enterprises, offering work to people with little education and few resources — like selling airtime on the streets and refurbishing handsets.

(READ the Reuters story at Yahoo News)