Free Republic

Conveyor Belt Sushi, Japan A dining concept that lets you pick from a wide range of one of Japan's best-known foods. NOTE: Click on the referenced link to watch the video. P.S. This technology will doom the SEIU/$15.00 minimum wage movement.

"MCDonalds Mcdonalds, can't you see...Seven-forty is not for me..." The chant, recited through a megaphone, was being led by a man identifed as a Christian Pastor ("Reverend Charles" we'll call him), near a McDonalds restaurant in Detroit last week. Dozens of people in the parking lot uttered the chant with him, as the crowd sought to malign McDonalds restaurants while at the same time demanding a $15.00 per hour wage. "They want fifteen, they want a union, they want to be organized" Pastor Charles told the tv news crews. "The McDonalds corporation should allow that to happen immediately." The illogic...

Want robots at McDonald's? Hike minimum wage: Zell Matthew J. Belvedere | @Matt_Belvedere Wednesday, 3 Sep 2014 Video Federal and state efforts to increase the minimum wage are misguided and pose serious risks to the economy and the job market, billionaire Sam Zell told CNBC on Wednesday. "The tinkering with the minimum wage is a very dangerous game," the chairman of Equity Group Investments said in a "Squawk Box" interview. "You start talking about a $13 or a $15 minimum wage, and you're going to have robots that are operating McDonald's."

Three things fast food workers should do with the “extra” money you’ll get if the national minimum wage is raised from $7.25 to $15 per hour. For argument sake, let’s call the average minimum wage $7.85 to account for California, New York, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Nevada, Ohio, Illinois and Florida, all of whom have something in the neighborhood of $8 (give or take).  Socialist enclaves of Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and Connecticut are in the $9 range, with Washington the winner at $9.32. Let’s also set the number of hours per week at 30 for the average burger-flipper or fry...

Police detained Rep. Gwen Moore, who was participating in a protest by fast food workers pressing for an increase in the minimum wage, according to news reports. Moore was picketing along with protesters outside of a restaurant in West Milwaukee. WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) reported that arrests were made at the event. The nonprofit group Wisconsin Jobs Now tweeted a photo of Moore apparently being handcuffed. WISN-TV (Channel 12) reported Moore was detained.

Dozens of fast food workers have been arrested at protests around the country where they are demanding higher pay at popular restaurants such as McDonald's, Burger King and Domino's. Fast food workers in New York City, Chicago, Detroit and possibly more cities were arrested for blocking traffic in front of restaurants early Thursday morning, while thousands more continued protesting peacefully, according to news reports. Backed by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), fast food workers in 150 cities are walking off the job and picking up picket signs to demand that they be paid no less than $15 per hour....

NEW YORK (AP) — Police handcuffed dozens of protesters in cities around the country on Thursday as they blocked traffic in the latest attempt to escalate their efforts to get McDonald's, Burger King and other fast-food companies to pay their employees at least $15 an hour. The protests, which were planned by labor organizers for about 150 cities nationwide throughout Thursday, are part of a campaign called "Fight for $15."

Tim Hortons coffee could soon be the property of Burger King Worldwide, with the two companies confirming late Sunday night that they are in discussions for the U.S. burger chain to buy Canada’s iconic coffee and donut chain. The big draw for Burger King, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, is the potential for tax inversion — effectively relocating the company’s home base to Canada to take advantage of the country’s comparatively lower tax base. The two companies issued a statement confirming they are in discussions “regarding the potential creation of a global leader in the quick...

A Nebraska diner who felt guilty for absconding with an extra piece of KFC chicken sent the restaurant owner a handwritten apology letter and $2. Rocky Rasmussen, the owner of a North Platte KFC, got the unsigned letter in the mail. "This $2 is for the piece of chicken I brought home with me on Tuesday," the letter read. "That's stealing. Sorry!" The conscience of the chicken connoisseur kicked in after he or she claimed an extra poultry piece from the buffet at the restaurant. "I took more on my plate than I could eat and I knew it would...

McDonald's on Friday reported July sales results that were much worse than analysts had expected. The dismal results prompted Janney Capital Markets to lower its estimates for the fast-food giant. Its analysts said the results "were the worst worldwide month in the last 10 years, once trading-day adjustments are taken into account."

McDonald's on Friday reported July sales results that were much worse than analysts had expected. Following the report, the company's shares traded lower. The fast-food giant reported global same-store sales fell 2.5 percent, compared with the 1.1 percent drop forecast by Consensus Metrix. The dismal results prompted Janney Capital Markets to lower its estimates for the fast-food giant. Its analysts said the results "were the worst worldwide month in the last 10 years, once trading-day adjustments are taken into account."

<p>Apparently, after waiting in line in front of a careless mother and her screaming small child, a man who was having a bad day (and had a headache) decided to ruin that family's day: The child was screaming "I want fucking pie!" so the man bought up every last pie — all 23 of them — and walked out of the Burger King location, turning only to see the enraged mother and child, helpless as the cashier told them that the restaurant had just sold out of pie.</p>

A pizza vending machine takes convenience food to a whole new level, delivering fresh pies to customers in just three minutes 24/7. The Let's Pizza unit invented by Claudio Torghele, an entrepreneur from Rovereto, Italy, mixes flour and water together and presses the dough flat to create a 10.5 inch base. Desired toppings are then added and the meal is flash-cooked in a high temperature infrared oven at 380 degrees Celsius. While the baking process is underway, a takeaway box is prepared. The finished pie is then placed in the cardboard container and delivered through a slot. As they wait...

McDonald's is coming under intensifying pressure for labor practices at its U.S. restaurants. The National Labor Relations Board said Tuesday that the world's biggest hamburger chain could be named as a joint employer in several complaints regarding worker rights at franchise-owned restaurants. The decision is pivotal because it could expose McDonald's Corp. to liability for management practices in those locations. It also comes as protests for higher pay have captured national attention, with labor groups calling for pay of $15 an hour and the right to unionize. Organizers had been pushing to get McDonald's named as a joint employer at...

VILLA PARK, Ill. — Comparing their campaign to the civil rights movement, fast food workers from across the country voted today to escalate their efforts for $15-an-hour pay and union membership to include nonviolent civil disobedience. More than 1,300 workers gathered in a convention in center in suburban Chicago to discuss the future of a campaign that has spread to dozens of cities in less than two years. Wearing T-shirts that said “Fight for $15” and “We Are Worth More,” the workers cheered loudly and said they would win if they stuck together. “People are just fed up,” said Cindy...

Shanghai (AFP) - A scandal involving expired meat sold by a China unit of US food supplier OSI Group spread to Japan Tuesday, as McDonald's confirmed that the now shut factory provided Chicken McNuggets to its restaurants. Shanghai authorities on Sunday shut an OSI plant -- a supplier to McDonald's and KFC in China -- for mixing out-of-date meat with fresh product, re-labelling expired goods and other quality problems following an investigative report by a local television station. A Tokyo-based spokesman for McDonald's Japan told AFP the restaurant chain had sourced about 20 percent of its McNuggets from the Shanghai...

McDonald’s Corp. and Yum Brands Inc. are facing a new food safety scare in China, denting the fast food giants’ efforts to shore up reputations and businesses that were hurt by a 2012 safety scandal in one of their biggest markets. McDonald’s and KFC-parent Yum apologized to customers on Monday after Chinese regulators shut a local meat supplier following a TV report that showed workers picking up meat from a factory floor, as well as mixing meat beyond its expiration date with fresh meat. The firms said they’ll stop using the supplier. The report, which focused on McDonald’s and Yum,...

We think Cheryl Cole’s missed a trick with her quickie wedding on Macaroni Beach in Mustique. Just look at what she could have had – her very own McWedding (Drive Thru or marry in). Yes, McDonald’s has the answer for all those normcore brides out there. Well, at least the ones willing to travel to Hong Kong. The fast food chain has been slowly expanding its wedding party program since 2011 and now boasts 11 restaurants that double up as budget wedding venues, all in Hong Kong. And not only can you have the wedding ceremony there, they’ll also host...

She’s got copper-colored locks, a peppy personality, an ethnically diverse group of friends, and she knows how to talk millions of Americans into buying a Monterey Ranch Crispy Chicken Sandwich. She’s the Wendy’s Girl. The actress who has played the all-knowing, slightly kooky burger lover for two years is a 28-year-old Alabama native named Morgan Smith Goodwin. (She added her second surname after marrying Dave Goodwin, manager of New York City restaurant Gramercy Tavern.) And while her character has remained nameless in the fast food chain’s TV commercials, it’s not a far stretch to assume she’s Wendy, the freckled little...