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DECEMBER 3,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

THIS IS NUTTY – FROM FOX:   U.S. labor board prosecutors have alleged that Amazon-owned Whole Foods Market illegally banned employees from wearing "Black Lives Matter" masks and punished workers who did, according to Bloomberg.  The grocery store chain maintained appearance rules at U.S. locations to prohibit staff from displaying Black Lives Matter messages on their apparel, the National Labor Relations Board’s San Francisco regional director wrote in a complaint issued Friday on behalf of the agency’s general counsel.  The company is also accused of firing, sending home and otherwise punishing employees around the country during 2020 for wearing apparel such as BLM masks or pins, according to the suit.  "Our dress code policy is designed to ensure we are giving Team Members a workplace and customers a shopping experience focused entirely on excellent service and high-quality food," Whole Foods said in a statement. "We do not believe we should compromise that experience by introducing any messages on uniforms, regardless of the content, that shift the focus away from our mission."   Workers’ rights to engage in collective action related to workplace issues are protected by Federal labor laws.  Democrats leading the NLRB under President Biden have signaled they take a broader view of that protection than their predecessors under former President Trump.   I'll side with Whole Foods on this.  Seems to me that businesses have a right to impose reasonable restrictions on political messages that employees want to send while on company time.  Workers have the right, of course, to express their views on their own time.

December 3, 2021       Permalink

REALITY SINKS IN – OVERNIGHT:  The latest round of Iran nuclear talks has ended, with essentially no progress in getting Iran to agree to ending its quest for nuclear weapons.  But beware the appeasers in the Biden administration and the Democratic Party.  From Reuters: 

VIENNA, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Indirect U.S.-Iranian talks on saving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal broke off until next week as European officials voiced dismay on Friday at sweeping demands by Iran's new, hardline government.

The seventh round of talks in Vienna is the first with delegates sent by Iran's anti-Western President Ebrahim Raisi on how to resuscitate the agreement under which Iran limited its nuclear program in return for relief from economic sanctions.

Raisi's election in June caused a five-month hiatus in the talks, heightening suspicions among U.S. and European officials that Iran is playing for time while advancing its nuclear program.

"Iran right now does not seem to be serious about doing what's necessary to return to compliance, which is why we ended this round of talks in Vienna," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Reuters Next Conference. read more

"If the path to a return to compliance with the agreement turns out to be a dead-end, we will pursue other options," he added, without elaborating.

Diplomats said the Iranian delegation had proposed sweeping changes to a text that was painstakingly negotiated in previous rounds and that European officials had said was 70-80% finished.

"Over five months ago, Iran interrupted negotiations. Since then, Iran has fast-forwarded its nuclear program. This week, it has back-tracked on diplomatic progress made," senior officials from France, Britain and Germany said in a statement, adding that Iran was demanding "major changes" to the text.
It is "unclear how these new gaps can be closed in a realistic time frame", they added.

The three European powers expressed "disappointment and concern" at Iran's demands, some of which they said were incompatible with the deal's terms or went beyond them.

COMMENT:  Anyone shocked by this?  Iran is ruled by a fanatical, hardline regime intent on regional domination.  It's absurd to think they'll give up their drive for nuclear weapons.  The American negotiating team is made up of the same characters who negotiated the original Iran nuclear agreement under the ultra-appeasing Barack Obama.  They should now be gently retired.  We will be stuck with a nuclear Iran, and with Russia and China as hostile, growing nations.  Happy New Year.

December 3, 2021       Permalink

DECEMBER 2,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

THE SINKING SHIP – FROM FOX:   Symone Sanders, a senior adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris and her chief spokesperson, will depart at the end of the year.  "Symone has served honorably for 3 years," a White House official told Fox News. "First as a valuable member of the President‘s 2020 presidential campaign, then as a member of his transition team and now deputy assistant to the President and senior advisor/chief spokesperson to the Vice President."  The White House official also told Fox News that President Biden and Harris "are grateful for Symone’s service and advocacy" and said she "will be missed."  The official said Sanders will be "working through the end of the year."  She's the second major adviser to leave Harris in the last three weeks.  Harris is polling at 28% approval, and may well have to fight to stay on the 2024 ticket.  She is becoming toxic.  She never improves.  To get to know her is to dislike her more.  There is talk of retiring her to the Supreme Court, should there be an opening.  But would the Senate actually confirm Kamala Harris, the Edsel of American politics?

December 2, 2021       Permalink

BUSINESSMEN MAKING BAD CHOICES – OVERNIGHT:  Many corporate executives have involved themselves in political action.  They must be very proud of themselves, and no doubt they get invited to the right cocktail parties.  All those Dunhill suits.  And the Prada stuff too.

But how does the consumer public feel about their favorite labels getting involved in politics?  Not very favorably, it turns out.  From the New York Post: 

A new warning to woke CEOs: Americans don’t want corporations meddling in divisive political issues, and they perceive such activism as phony pandering. There’s also a huge gap between what consumers believe about woke activism compared with out-of-touch executives, according to a study conducted by the Brunswick Group, a management firm.

Amazon yanks a documentary about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. EBay scraps Dr. Seuss books. Disney fires actress Gina Carano. Do consumers agree with these moves?

Brunswick found 63 percent of corporate executives “agree unequivocally that companies should speak out on social issues,” but a mere 36 percent of voters agree. Corporate brass also has “a highly inflated sense of how effective corporate communication has been on social issues compared to voters.”

An overwhelming 74 percent of business executives think corporate activism is effective, compared with just 39 percent of voters. Companies spend billions of dollars building brand equity through marketing campaigns. Turns out their virtue-signaling could be counterproductive because voters believe it’s inauthentic.

The study found more than 60 percent of voters think “companies only speak out on social issues to look better to consumers and are not being sincere,” even as 57 percent of executives said companies “speak out on social issues because they want to achieve real change.”

Talk about disconnected narcissism. Will these brands wake up from their woke fantasies?

“Authenticity” is a buzzword corporate bigwigs throw around in hopes of reaching younger consumers. Instead, they come across as hovering, obnoxious parents in mom jeans and dad fanny packs.

“On Beyond Zebra!” and “And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street” are among six Dr. Seuss books that will no longer be printed due to accusations of racist and insensitive imagery.

Brunswick’s findings echo an April Rasmussen Reports survey finding 37 percent of American adults said Coca-Cola’s swipe against Georgia’s voter-integrity law made them less likely to purchase Coke products. (Incidentally, Coke twice won worst company for global plastic waste.)

COMMENT:   You'd think corporate executives would be more sensitive to the opinions of the marketplace.  There is a real disconnect between the suits and their customers, and the customers will eventually win.

December 2,  2021     Permalink