Apple

Tech Giants Bankroll Extremists; Fuel False Narrative

Posted on by Paul Chesser
Jack Dorsey/PHOTO: jdlasica (CC)

Following the death of George Floyd at the hands of an out-of-control Minneapolis police officer, and demonstrations mixed with riots across the country, many American corporations weighed in with official statements or financial support for causes – or both.

Unfortunately the involvement of some put them more on the side of divisiveness than unity, at a time when the country needs the latter the most.

Ultimately many of the companies and/or their top-ranking officers got behind (again) the dubious narrative that there is “systemic racism” in law enforcement, and that minorities are disproportionately treated as suspects – or singled out for violent police tactics – more than whites. As Manhattan Institute fellow Heather Mac Donald and former US Attorney Andrew McCarthy explained earlier this week, citing very convincing statistics, the idea there is structural bias in policing is a myth.

“However sickening the video of Floyd’s … Read More ➡

Why Won’t Apple Give Up Password for Pensacola Navy Base Shooter?

Posted on by Paul Chesser

William Barr/IMAGE: YouTube

In announcing yesterday that Saudi shooter Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani – an aviation trainee who killed three U.S. service members and wounded eight at the Pensacola (Fla.) Naval Air Station in a mass shooting last month characterized as “jihad” – Attorney General William Barr said Apple Inc. has provided no “substantive” help in unlocking the late assailant’s two iPhones.

Apple disputes that claim.

The disagreement boils down to whether Apple is providing any useful information from Alshamrani’s data for the Justice Department investigation, or not.

“Within one day of the shooting, the FBI sought and received court authorization based on probable cause to search both phones in an effort to run down all leads and figure out with whom the shooter was communicating,” Barr explained, adding that the shooter damage both phones, one of them by shooting a round into it.

“Our experts at the FBI crime lab … Read More ➡

American Corporations Push Paris Climate Accord as China Pushes Coal

Posted on by Paul Chesser

Apple CEO Tim Cook

As member nations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change take their 25thstab at an international agreement to limit so-called greenhouse gas emissions, some American corporations are trying to make up for the absence of the United States as part of the deal.

President Donald Trump famously announced in June 2017 the U.S. withdrawal from the nonbinding Paris Climate Agreement, which was previously negotiated in 2015 with the willful participation of then-President Barack Obama. Even though the U.S. Senate never ratified the treaty, as is required, the U.S. acted as though it was legal and pretended to adhere to the accord. But then last month Trump gave formal notification to the U.N. of America’s departure from the pact, effective the day after Election Day, in 2020.

There has been predictable outrage on the environmental left, from their allies in the media, … Read More ➡

Apple CEO Tim Cook Caves to Communist China, Again

Posted on by Paul Chesser

Apple Inc. and CEO Tim Cook have gone big in efforts to capture consumers and profits in the People’s Republic of China, so the current outrage from the rest of the world over its obedience to the communist government – as it cracks down on dissent – appears to be a minor irritant not worth addressing.

Following the NBA’s cowardice last week – as the normally media-savvy league known for outspokenness against injustice by its executives, coaches and players suddenly turned mute after a pro-Hong Kong tweet outraged the ChiComs – Apple acceded to China’s censorship wishes as well.

This time Cook removed a crowd-sourcing app called HKmap.live from its App Store, following complaints by the government (through its state-run media) that Hong Kong protesters used it to target individual police officers for attacks.

“The app in question allowed for the crowdsourced reporting and mapping of police … Read More ➡

Corporate America Gets Behind Deceptively Named ‘Equality Act’

Posted on by Paul Chesser

Rep. Vicki Hartzler

Much of corporate America is once again banding together to attack the social construct of the nation and many of its liberties, all in the name of conferring special rights and privileges upon individuals who don’t accept or acknowledge the gender they were born with.

The occasion this time was to get behind the “Equality Act,” which the Democrat-controlled U.S. House recently passed. The misnamed legislation purports to enact law that prohibits “anti-Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer (LGBTQ) discrimination,” but in practice would put the kibosh on almost all other rights and freedoms Americans possess –including speech, association, privacy, and property rights. Most of what the law would do is bastardize the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by adding “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin” discrimination protections.

The “Equality Act” would produce draconian outcomes, including (list compiled by staff of Rep. Vicki … Read More ➡

Is Tim Cook Above it All, or Just Arrogant?

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

Apple CEO Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook claimed recently that he and his company do not engage in the dirty business of “politics” but only “policy.” He is supposedly above it all, guided instead by doing “what’s right.”

Cook acknowledges that some may not like his “policy” decisions, but that he thinks they admire Apple’s leadership for sticking to their principles. He added that the company only weighs in where it has a “legitimate position or lens on the issue,” like climate change, education, immigration, and transgender restroom policies.

“I think people appreciate that, even when they do disagree,” he said, explaining his beliefs about the role of business in public issues. “We do them out of believing deeply that they’re right and we do have a unique lens. We focus on the policy, not the politics.”

Cook has a self-serving definition of “politics.” It apparently does not include … Read More ➡

Tim Cook Intensifies Apple Censorship Through App Store

Posted on by Paul Chesser

Apple CEO Tim Cook

Most of the time when conservatives and libertarians think of censorship by the large technology companies, the image that comes to mind is some leftwing millennial in a Silicon Valley cubicle who is blocking their article post from others’ view.

They are often told they have “violated (company’s) terms of use” or something similarly mysterious, then are left to stew without any explanation from an actual human being.

But the extermination of conservative thought from accessing the Internet is becoming more comprehensive.

The effort by the Left and the platforms they control (think Google and Apple, as well as Facebook and Twitter) has escalated from muting these voices, to cutting off their oxygen.

For a while conservatives could count on at least having equal access to Big Tech’s platforms, whether they were search engines; phone, tablet and computer operating system applications (or “apps”); or social media.… Read More ➡

Google, Facebook, Apple Weigh in AGAIN for DACA Amnesty

Posted on by Paul Chesser

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

It is February 2019, and major corporate CEOs – who are in most cases reluctant to weigh in on controversial political issues lest they repel significant segments of their customer bases – have no hesitation advocating for the amnesty for DACA recipients, or “Dreamers.”

They have been at it since President Trump was elected.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, initiated by President Obama’s executive order in 2012, granted protections from deportation and work permits to illegal immigrants who entered the United States as children (including teenagers) and have been here five years. President Trump intended to rescind DACA in 2017 but delayed the decision to await a Congressional fix, which never happened, but now the status of the program remains as the efforts to phase it out are tied up in the courts.

In a letter addressed to the top leaders of both … Read More ➡

Corporations Mobilize to Attack Gender Normality

Posted on by Paul Chesser

Apple CEO Tim Cook

An effort to confer special rights upon individuals who want to “decide” their gender, rather than go with the biology they were born with, was greatly energized and expanded by the Obama administration.

Now the Trump administration is attempting to return that policy to normalcy, which predictably has a number of liberal technology companies steaming.

The likes of Apple and Amazon, and 50-something other companies, have joined to sign a letter opposing plans by the Department of Health and Human Services to restore definitions of sex to remove “identity” and limit it according to the genitalia an individual is born with, for the purposes of Title IX enforcement of gender discrimination in civil rights law.

The change has implications in education, health care, employment, and just about every other walk of life.

TheNew York Times reported late last month about the draft memo being composed … Read More ➡

Apple Shareholder Files Proposal on Free Speech

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

National Legal and Policy Center has submitted a shareholder proposal asking Apple Inc. to made a report on human rights, and specifically, free speech. The 2019 Apple annual meeting will take place in Cupertino, California in early 2019. Here is the text of the proposal and supporting statement:

Whereas, the Securities and Exchange Commission has consistently recognized that human rights constitute a significant policy issue.

Freedom of speech and association are fundamental human rights.

The Company operates in nations with systematic human rights abuses. The Company has abetted certain governments and non-governmental organizations in suppressing freedom of speech and association.

For example, our CEO in March 2018 co-chaired the so-called China Development Forum, sponsored by the Communist Chinese government. In December 2017, our CEO keynoted the World Internet Conference, another Chinese government event.

In February 2018, the Company transferred operation of its iCloud data center in mainland China to … Read More ➡