Paul Chesser

Starbucks’ Refugees Move Costs Them With Customers

Posted on by Paul Chesser
PHOTO: sillygwailo/Creative Commons

Starbucks and its CEO Howard Schultz are known well for wading in to divisive political issues and in support for liberal candidates like Hillary Clinton, yet it never seems to cost them significantly in either sales or stock price.

Even when Schultz told shareholders to sell if they don’t agree with corporation stances on issues like gay marriage, customers and investors have largely stuck around.

That trend likely won’t change after the latest controversial stance that Schultz took, utilizing the policies of the company he leads (until early April, when he steps down) to advance his political goals. But some cracks are showing with this one.

Last month Schultz announced the company would hire 10,000 refugees in its stores around the world, after President Trump’s executive order that temporarily prohibited visits from citizens of seven nations that showed a heightened terror threat to … Read More ➡ “Starbucks’ Refugees Move Costs Them With Customers”

Clueless Tech CEOs Savage Trump Immigration Policies; Ignore Shareholders and Customers

Posted on by Paul Chesser
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg

When it comes to President Donald Trump and knee-jerk reactions to policy decisions without gathering all the facts, it seems the mostly liberal CEOs of the best-known Silicon Valley companies can’t help themselves. They would rather shoot from the lip first, taking their cues from all the president’s leftist enemies, instead of gathering all the evidence and speaking responsibly on the issues – if at all.

It happened again over the weekend, this time in response to the President’s executive order that temporarily suspended the admission of foreign nationals into the United States from seven countries – Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen – which are viewed as sources of potential threats, based upon security reviews by Obama administration officials. The reason for the suspension, Trump explained, is so appropriate security agencies that normally screen foreign nationals entering the country would have the time and … Read More ➡ “Clueless Tech CEOs Savage Trump Immigration Policies; Ignore Shareholders and Customers”

Apple CEO May Be ‘Boring,’ But He’s Also Political

Posted on by Paul Chesser

Earlier this month Apple Inc. announced that CEO Tim Cook (pictured) and other executives saw their pay reduced for 2016, due to a shortfall of revenues and profits against expectations.

Last year was the first time Apple’s annual revenues shrank since 2001, just before their late CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPod music device.

Business journalists cited various reasons for the disappointing results. Part of the blame was placed on weaker than expected sales of the iPhone 6s, which Apple anticipated would draw stronger interest in upgrades from current users. Others noted the lukewarm reception to Apple’s smartwatch, and the company’s failure to wow the public with any new products since Jobs died in 2011. And some point to the fact that the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant has fallen behind competitors at Amazon and Google in the development of voice-activated artificial intelligence.

In light of that complaint, … Read More ➡ “Apple CEO May Be ‘Boring,’ But He’s Also Political”

PayPal, Salesforce Strategize With Pro-Transsexual Activists; Ignore Customers, Shareholders

Posted on by Paul Chesser
Marc Benioff
Marc Benioff

After a tumultuous election year in which homosexual activist groups targeted battleground state North Carolina over a law that stifled inappropriate public restroom usage for self-declared transgenders, two northern California tech companies are strategizing with LGBT activists to further immerse themselves in state policies and politics over gay issues and religious freedom.

Liberal Web site Buzzfeed reported last month that San Jose-based PayPal and San Francisco-based Salesforce co-hosted a summit on November 16 – in conjunction with groups including Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal and the ACLU – to strategize against expected legislation in 2017 that does not comport with their radical agenda. The online news site said up to 100 leaders from business and LGBT groups attended the meeting.… Read More ➡ “PayPal, Salesforce Strategize With Pro-Transsexual Activists; Ignore Customers, Shareholders”

Election Prompts More Aggressive Twitter Censorship

Posted on by Paul Chesser
Scott Adams - Twitter
Dilbert Creator Scott Adams

Donald Trump won the presidential election, but the complaints about social media companies’ bias against conservatives that marked the 2016 campaign have not abated.

The latest charge is the purge by Twitter of accounts managed by members of the so-called “alt-right,” which the company justified because of alleged hate speech, abuse and harassment in the sharply-divided political climate.

Meanwhile, the Hamas-sympathizing, Israel-hating Muslim Brotherhood received Twitter’s validation as a legitimate and acceptable account.… Read More ➡ “Election Prompts More Aggressive Twitter Censorship”

Google/YouTube Censorship Alive and Well in Prager U Case

Posted on by Paul Chesser

When conservative talk radio personality Dennis Prager launched an

Dennis Prager
Dennis Prager

educational video project in 2009 that was named for him, he probably couldn’t have imagined that the widely utilized delivery platform he employed – YouTube – would be the biggest hindrance to reaching his audience.

But in 2016 we are in a hotly contested election year, and the parent company of the popular and diverse service is deeply embedded in the Clinton campaign. That may or may not be why some of the increasingly popular videos produced by Prager University have been restricted by the subsidiary of unabashedly liberal-leaning Google. But if it isn’t, the obstruction is at minimum a byproduct of the intolerant Left’s incessant wailing against anything that touches race relations, gender, homosexuality, abortion, religious absolutes, or Islam.

Not surprisingly, reports of the discrimination against PragerU have only been reported in conservative-leaning media such as … Read More ➡ “Google/YouTube Censorship Alive and Well in Prager U Case”

Successor to ‘Clintons’ Favorite Bank’ in Trouble With FDIC

Posted on by Paul Chesser

In a series of articles six years ago, National Legal and Policy Center detailedshorebank-logo how politically connected ShoreBank – a community development lending institution based on Chicago’s South Side – was granted a bailout under unusual terms from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the U.S. Treasury after political pressure from area congressmen.

Now its successor, Chicago-based Urban Partnership Bank, is also in trouble with the FDIC and will try to raise an emergency $15 million, according to the Chicago Tribune. UPB continued the effort established by ShoreBank under the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act to “serve economically distressed communities and underserved people by providing access to financial services and products that are often unavailable” in “economically distressed urban areas,” where the financial institutions hoped to spur economic growth.… Read More ➡ “Successor to ‘Clintons’ Favorite Bank’ in Trouble With FDIC”

The Cult of Tesla Survives Another Round of Bad News

Posted on by Paul Chesser

Tesla MotorsElon Musk’s quarterly earnings reports for Tesla Motors always offer a little razzle, a little dazzle, soon-to-be-unfulfilled promises, and rationalized failures.

This go-round was no exception, and after yet another shortfall of financial and vehicle delivery expectations, perhaps the biggest surprise was the revelation that $1.3 billion in subsidies from Nevada taxpayers won’t be enough to get the hyped Gigafactory completed.

Spending and construction have only just begun on what is supposed to be Tesla’s battery-making monster. According to its 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, $431 million was spent on the Gigafactory through June of this year, and $520 million is expected to be spent by the end of 2016. Tesla’s partner in the project, Panasonic, said last month it would raise $3.86 billion, with most of it targeted for the Gigafactory. Another $1.7 billion came in via yet another equity sale. Alas, it apparently … Read More ➡ “The Cult of Tesla Survives Another Round of Bad News”

Brit Investment Company Gives Up on US Electric Truck Maker

Posted on by Paul Chesser

Frito Lay Electric TruckA British investment company has thrown in the towel on an electric delivery truck manufacturer that it once wholly owned, saw fail, then spun off in the United States at the height of President Obama’s green energy stimulus subsidy mania.

U.K.-based Tanfield Group announced at the end of June that it wrote down the value of the last 5.76 percent ownership stake it held in Smith Electric Vehicles, which received $32 million in U.S. taxpayer funds as a formerly British entity that reconstituted and relocated in Kansas City in 2009. The move by Tanfield followed Smith’s legal action filed against business partner FDG Electric Vehicles, in which it alleged “fraudulent misstatements” against the Chinese company that had enticed it into an agreement.

“The [Tanfield] board of directors has carried out a review of the investment in Smith resulting in a decision to impair the investment value to nil,” the … Read More ➡ “Brit Investment Company Gives Up on US Electric Truck Maker”

Just In Time for Tesla’s Latest Losses, Senate Wants to Waste More on EVs

Posted on by Paul Chesser

Ernest MonizNothing of greater significance can be said about the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program other than it was a wasteful failure. Nonetheless 85 U.S. Senators have determined that an additional, similar $1.6 billion program must be created, as part of a larger energy bill that passed last month.

Those who favored the extension of corporate welfare for alternative energy-fueled automobiles justified their decision with the same phony claims they made ten years ago when the ATVM program was established.

“Our measure will help manufacturers and suppliers research and develop innovative technologies to make the next generation of fuel-efficient vehicles, spurring job growth and reducing our dependence on foreign oil,” said Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.

NLPC has documented the stumbles of the stimulus-fueled ATVM program – which still has $16 billion available – extensively. Two of its loan recipients, Fisker Automotive… Read More ➡ “Just In Time for Tesla’s Latest Losses, Senate Wants to Waste More on EVs”