Free Republic

Chinese authorities ‘arrest’ Ronald McDonald statue Chinese authorities weren’t lovin’ Ronald McDonald this week, hauling away a statue of the clown that was blocking sidewalk foot traffic. Uniformed code enforcement officers in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou ripped the Ronald McDonald figure off its base, leaving only his big red shoes behind, as shoppers in the Huadu District of commerce hub Guangzhou looked on in amazement Sunday. The city had been warning operators of this McDonald’s that its statue was hindering pedestrian traffic, according to state organ the People’s Daily. “We’ve asked them to remove the Ronald McDonald statue...

Here’s an unusual story out of Texas which seems to defy all the conventional wisdom about employment trends and wages. The local press has noticed that nursing homes are having trouble filling the health care jobs at their facilities these days. That’s particularly curious when you consider that healthcare has consistently been one of the fastest growing job markets in the country for several years now. So where are all of the trained healthcare workers who would normally fill those jobs? It seems that an increasing number of them have packed it in and left for jobs flipping burgers. (KXAN...

When it comes to jobs growth in the US, all one can say is thank god for waiters and bartenders: after all, a Starbucks barista is precisely what a recently fired oil chemical engineer making half a million dollars really wants to do with their life.  However, the days of easy job gains for the BLS may be coming to an end (even if on a seasonally adjusted, goalseeked basis the trend has a long way to go).According to Brand Eating, fast food king McDonald's has been spotted testing a self-serve McCafe coffee station/kiosk out in downtown Chicago. The...

In a case currently before the National Labor Relations Board, an administrative law judge will rule whether McDonald's Corp. (MCD) is a joint-employer of the tens of thousands of workers employed by the company's franchisees. Such a determination could make the fast-food giant, the largest restaurant chain in the world, culpable for alleged violations of labor law at some of its franchised outlets. The ruling also could raise pressure on McDonald's to boost wages and accept more responsibility for working conditions at franchisees. In addition, it could give firepower to unions and other other labor groups pressing for change in...

Religious groups in Taiwan are calling for a boycott of McDonald’s after the fast food giant premiered a commercial they say promotes “gay issues." The minute-and-a-half ad features a boy coming out to his father by writing, “I like boys” on a McCafe coffee cup and sliding it across the table.

The ‘McBarge,’ a floating McDonald’s abandoned for nearly 30 years, is set for a secret Super Size makeover. The restaurant, which cost almost $9 million to build, was originally part of Expo 86, a World’s Fair held in Vancouver in 1986. The original plan for the barge was to move it to a new location after the expo ended. However, the restaurant lost its novelty and was abandoned. The site, formerly known as Friendship 500, is only accessible by boat. Photos of the structure shared on Reddit last week went viral, resurfacing national interest in the barge. Howard Meakin, president...

Police say they have arrested two suspects in connection to the brutal beating of a Marine veteran outside of a McDonald's in Washington, D.C., last week. However, there is still a third suspect on the loose. All three suspects -- two males and one female -- are juveniles, according to police. While the two males assaulted Chris Marquez, the female suspect allegedly stole his wallet. According to a press release from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, one of the males and the female is in custody. The male has been charged with aggravated assault, while the female has been charged...

Marine Allegedly Assaulted Mid-Burger At McDonald's, As Gang Yelled 'Do You Believe Black Lives Matter?' Steve Birr 02/15/2016 A former Marine became the target of an alleged assault in a McDonald's Friday night, as a crowd of youths cornered him and demanded he answer the question, "do you believe black lives matter?" Before knocking him unconscious and robbing him. Christopher Marquez, a veteran of Iraq and recipient of the Bronze Star for valor, said he was dining at a McDonald's in northwest D.C. when a group of black teenagers came up to him and allegedly began harassing him about the...

A woman who bought a Happy Meal from McDonald’s six years ago says the food has not rotted. Jennifer Lovdahl says the meal of chicken nuggets and french fries has been sitting in her office for six years. She bought the meal as an experiment to show her patients how unhealthy the food is. Even after all these years, the food has not decomposed. She posted photos of the food and the box it came in on her Facebook page saying on one of the pictures, “the box will decompose before the food does!” Her Facebook post has gone viral,...

McDonald's sales were better than expected in the fourth quarter, helped by the launch of all-day breakfasts in the US. Global same-restaurant sales at the fast food giant grew 5%. McDonald's extended US breakfasts beyond 10:30am in October, saying it was customers' number one request. The company, working to turnaround its business under chief executive Steve Easterbrook, said the breakfast change helped US sales grow 5.7%. Fourth-quarter revenue fell 4% to $6.4bn (£4.5bn) due to the strong dollar, but profits rose 10% to $1.2bn, McDonald's said.

McDonalds is testing a spin on it's classic French fries, drizzling them with chocolate and calling them McChoco Potato. You can have your fries with two types of chocolate sauces: chocolate with cacao flavor and white milk chocolate. McDonald's hopes this combination will give customers a salty and sweet harmonious taste, so the customer can eat them as a side to a burger, or as a dessert.

How McDonald's gets to Tehran American titans like McDonald's or Apple are left in a very awkward place by the deal. There's clear demand for their products (at least from some Iranians), and it's a "new" market of 80 million people, about 60% of which are under age 30. The problem is, U.S. companies still can't open a store or restaurant in Iran. However, a European subsidiary could. "If a company like Apple or HP wants to get involved with Iran, it would have to do it with their foreign subsidiaries," explains Patrick Clawson, research director at the Washington Institute...

During Customs week, in PAF sessions, and in everyday discourse here at Haverford, we are taught to ask for help when we feel we need it, speak up when we feel uncomfortable, and prioritize our own well being over most other things. At McDonald's, acting in this way could have cost me my job, a job I needed to afford college... Those of us who need to work in order to support ourselves and pay tuition cannot afford to internalize the soft, self-centered mindset presented by our peers and customs folk at Haverford -- had I gone to a manager...

Two female McDonald's workers have been caught on camera brawling in the parking lot of a Georgia restaurant. The women were captured fighting outside on a customer's cellphone who was sat filming from her car. She later uploaded the video online where it has been seen more than 120,000 times.It is not yet known what sparked the vicious fight between the pair.Both wearing their blue McDonalds uniform shirts, the footage begins with the pair squaring up to each other in the parking lot. Their co-workers quickly attempt to intervene in the row, and stand in between the women.The video shows...

A McDonald’s restaurant in Tennessee is showing its Christmas spirit with a painted nativity scene that has now gone viral. On Monday, Amy Basel posted a photo of a McDonald’s located in Spring Hill, TN with a nativity scene in between the messages “His name is Jesus” and “Rejoice” painted on the windows of the storefront.

McDonald’s settled a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice. According to a DOJ statement, McDonalds and its affiliates and subsidiaries thus resolved allegations that the corporation had discriminated illegally against immigrant employees at corporate-owned restaurants. In a press release, DOJ declared, “…the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) prohibits employers from placing additional documentary burdens on work-authorized employees during the employment eligibility verification process because of their citizenship or immigration status.”   The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) at DOJ initiated its investigation after it had received information on its worker...

It's the Dollar Menu, take two. McDonald's hopes it has a catchy, new deal that will be as hugely popular as its Dollar Menu. Starting Jan. 4, the fast-food chain will launch the "McPick 2" menu, which will let customers pick two of the following items for $2: a McDouble, a McChicken, small fries and mozzarella sticks. The offering has gained the necessary votes from franchisees to make it onto the national menu, and will be available in U.S. restaurants for a five-week run starting Jan. 4. After that, McDonald's said it may change the details of the offering, but...

The good news is that McDonald's is selling french fries again in Venezuela for the first time in 10 months. The bad news is that Venezuela's economy is in such shambles a large bag of fries costs about 10% of a monthly minimum wage. The "new" fries, which are now being sourced from Venezuelan farms because it's too difficult and costly to import potatoes, were introduced this week with a cheeky social media campaign, that displayed them as somewhat of a mystery item that's coming to a McDonald's near you.

I saw a sad but not totally unexpected news item from John Hawkins this morning regarding one of America’s premiere dining outlets… McDonald’s. The House That Ronald Built has fallen on hard times, with some estimates indicating that a significant portion of the franchises are currently insolvent or seriously in the red. The dire warnings from franchise owners are including phrases such as, “these are the final days.” (Yahoo News)