Free Republic

WASHINGTON (TND) — The parent company of Jack Daniel’s on Wednesday announced it is ending its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals. Executives of the Brown-Forman Corporation wrote to employees in an email shared on social media Wednesday that the company is changing its diversity and inclusion strategy to account for a shift in the U.S.’ “legal and external landscape.” “With these new dynamics at play, we must adjust our work to ensure it continues to drive business results while appropriately recognizing the current environment in which we find ourselves,” Brown-Forman's Executive Leadership team said. The company noted it will...

Intel’s on a long, long road to recovery, and over 15,000 workers will no longer be coming along for the ride. The chipmaker just announced it’s downsizing its workforce by over 15 percent as part of a new $10 billion cost savings plan for 2025, which will mean a headcount reduction of greater than 15,000 roles, Intel tells The Verge. The company currently employs over 125,000 workers, so layoffs could be as many as 19,000 people. Intel will reduce its R&D and marketing spend by billions each year through 2026; it will reduce capital expenditures by more than 20 percent...

The U.S. viewing audience for the 2024 Paris Games is poised to be the smallest for any prior Summer Olympics Gallup has measured. Thirty-five percent of U.S. adults plan to watch a great deal (10%) or fair amount (25%) of the games, which is down from 48% measured for the 2016 Olympics and figures just shy of 60% from 2000 to 2012. Gallup has measured viewing intentions for each Summer Olympics since 2000, except for the 2020 Olympic Games that were delayed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the 35% who plan to watch at least...

Bud Light's popularity continues to decline more than a year after a boycott disrupted the US beer industry. A backlash that began last April - after the beer giant used a transgender influencer in an advert - has snowballed, new sales figures show. Back then, Bud Light was the undisputed top-selling beer in American stores by a margin. It had held the place for decades. It fell below Modelo Especial last summer - and now it has slipped to No3 behind Michelob Ultra. Coors Light could overtake Bud Light by the end of the year if the fall in sales...

US stocks again soared to fresh all-time highs on Wednesday as Jerome Powell's remarks on Capitol Hill buoyed rate-cut hopes and Big Tech stocks piled on the gains. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 1% for a 37th record close this year, breaching 5,600 for the first time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) jumped 1.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) gained 1.2%. The S&P and Nasdaq were each higher for the seventh straight session. Tech's biggest names continued to rise, powering the gains of the broader market. The AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) advanced more than 2%, while Apple, (AAPL),...

Link: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/jun/27/tractor-supply-co-backs-woke-policies-after-backla/ Rather than go broke, a merchant isn’t going woke. One of America’s leading rural-supply merchants announced Thursday that it is ending all “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion” programs and will no longer support LGBTQ and global-warming causes. Tractor Supply Co. posted a statement on social media detailing its new direction after three weeks of social-media and other backlash over the previous attachments to left-wing causes that are not popular with its customer base. “We work hard to live up to our mission and values every day and represent the values of the communities and customers we serve. We have heard...

Tractor Supply is facing controversy and calls for a boycott over its supposed "woke" agenda, diversity, and inclusive hiring policies. Founded in 1938, Tractor Supply has 2200 stores across the U.S. and over 46,000 employees across 49 states. The American retail giant is known for selling home, garden, land, and animal-related products. Tractor Supply's 'Woke' Controversy Explained Right-wing activist Robby Starbuck lashed out at Tractor Supply and CEO Hal Lawton in a viral post on X (formerly Twitter), which has over 2.7 million views. Starbuck criticized the company for having customers' "hard-earned money spent on these woke priorities" such as...

These dazzling minifigures are ready for Pride with their very own spectacular Pride celebration!” LEGO stated on its social-media accounts last week.

NEW YORK (AP) — With Pride Month in full gear, U.S. shoppers can find the usual merchandise many stores stock for the June celebration of LGBTQ+ culture and rights. But analysts and advocates say the marketing is toned down compared to previous years, and at some chains, there’s no trace of Pride at all. The more subdued atmosphere underscores the struggle of many retailers to cater to different groups of customers at a time of extreme cultural divisions. This year’s Pride Month is unfolding amid a sea of legislation and litigation over LGBTQ+ rights, especially the ability of transgender young...

<p>Comedian Jon Stewart gave voice to the growing number of Americans on both sides of the political divide who have become fed up with corporate pandering during Pride Month.</p><p>On Monday’s episode of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, Jon Stewart skewered corporate virtue signaling as just a cynical marketing ploy.</p>

Who’s ready for the nation to be covered in rainbows again this year? Apparently Walmart is, as it just released its newest collection for its gay clothing options this pride month. While the store seemed elated about its new clothes, users on social media, who are arguably tired of woke crap being literally everywhere, blasted not only the collection but Walmart as a whole. The video advertisement, which was shared on Walmart’s Instagram page, showed queer people gathered all together for a photo shoot. “Queer people have magic that we can share,” a man said at the start of the...

Pixar Animation Studios is laying off about 14% of its workforce, or around 175 employees. The cuts are part of Disney CEO Bob Iger’s overarching mandate to focus on the quality of its content, not the quantity. Pixar will refocus on theatrical releases and move away from short-form series for Disney+. ... Pixar will lay off about 175 employees, or around 14% of the studio’s workforce ... Layoffs hit other Disney businesses last year, but Pixar’s cuts were delayed because of production schedules ... Iger, who returned to the mantle of CEO in late 2022, has been working to reverse...

An iconic American eatery's stock has plummeted in recent week after the company's CEO said the restaurant is no longer 'relevant'. Cracker Barrel, the Southern country-themed restaurants with 662 locations across the nation, has been diminishing in popularity over the past decade - with its loyal clientele of elderly people failing to return after the pandemic. The business tanked even more when its chief executive Julie Felss Masino told investors, 'We're just not as relevant as we once were.' While speaking on an investor call, Masino, who took over the CEO position nine months ago, admitted, 'Some of our recipes...

Just over one year following Bud Light’s terrible decision to hire transgender influencer and professional toddler Dylan Mulvaney to promote its once pro-America beer, the company's sales are plummeting. Again. According to the first-quarter earnings report released Wednesday, Anheuser-Busch, Bud Light’s parent company, has decreased 9.1% in revenue in the U.S. The news comes more than a year after Mulvaney dressed up as a wannabe Katherine Hepburn with black gloves, pearls and red lipstick in an attempt to help Bud Light sell more beer. Mulvaney was also gifted a custom Bud Light can with his face printed on it, which...

If you thought losing hundreds of millions of dollars would deter The Walt Disney Company from continuing its embrace of leftist politics, think again.On Saturday, Disney’s Lucasfilm released “Star Wars: Tales of the Empire,” an anthology series highlighting different characters from across the Star Wars universe. While the show is clearly marketed to children, that didn’t stop showrunners from featuring a character using “they/them” pronouns.In one of the episodes, the Galactic Empire dispatches two Inquisitors — force-wielding dark-side users — to hunt down a Jedi spotted on a distant world. Upon arriving at the planet, one of the Inquisitors asks...

Kim Godwin, the embattled president of ABC News, abruptly announced Sunday evening that she will exit the network, capping a tumultuous three-year run at the outlet after staffers said her polarizing leadership led to plummeting employee morale. I have decided to retire from broadcast journalism,” Godwin told staffers in a memo that rocked the ABC News newsroom. “I have been fortunate and blessed enough to have done almost every job there is in this business,” Godwin added. “But after considerable reflection, I’m certain it’s the right one for me as I look to the future and prioritize what’s most important...

Buzzy healthcare company Hims & Hers lost nearly $210 million in stock value in a single day after the company’s CEO said he and other executives were “eager” to hire anti-Israel student protesters who’ve faced disciplinary actions from their universities. The online sexual health and pharmaceutical company plummet 8% on Friday from its opening price of $12.24 to $11.26 — just two days after Palestinian-American CEO Andrew Dudum said companies would be happy to have the protesters and encouraged them to apply to Hims and Hers. “Moral courage > College degree,” Dudum tweeted on Thursday, amid the nationwide anti-Israel protests...

With tech layoffs at their highest since the 2001 dot-com crash, the job hunt is getting harder and many in the industry are being forced to settle for pay cuts if they can find a new gig at all. Allison Croisant, a data scientist with about a decade of experience in technology, was laid off by PayPal earlier this year, joining the masses of unemployed across her industry. Croisant has one word to describe the process of looking for a job right now: “Insane.” “Everybody else is also getting laid off,” said Croisant, who lives in Omaha, Nebraska, where she...

When Patricia Silva spotted a naked man shaving in front of a female child in the locker room at a Planet Fitness in Fairbanks, Alaska, she approached the individual and suggested he use the men’s locker room. Of course a disagreement ensued, at which point Silva got her phone out to expose the creep (without the nudity of course); shortly after the confrontation, Silva found herself banned from the gym, with managers filing a police report against her.When Silva’s story went viral, the company doubled-down on backing the pervert, and in the wake of the decision, Planet Fitness has lost...

Planet Fitness has refused to walk back its decision to ban a member who exposed a 'trans woman' shaving in the female locker room. The statement, which was shared by the Libs of TikTok Twitter account, said although some members may feel uncomfortable sharing facilities, 'This discomfort is not a reason to deny access to the transgender member.' The comments come after Patricia Silva detailed at incident at her Alaska gym where she saw a transgender woman shaving in her locker room. Silva had just finished working out at Planet Fitness' Fairbanks location, when she saw the person, whom she...