The state of Indiana has passed a bill to end the sale of land to the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party, a bill that was passed and signed after a CCP-connected company was caught trying to buy land. The company that was identified was Fufeng who had just attempted to purchase land in Grand Forks, North Dakota but had to exit the deal after the U.S. Air Force issued a memo referring to the company as a “significant threat to national security.”
The exposure led to more discoveries of CCP purchases of land in Indiana that seems to have resulted from an intentional concentration on the state by the CCP. The network of CCP-connected companies was built under the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, The website openly states it exists to connect Chinese American entrepreneurs with Chinese-owned businesses to come in partnership with one another.
Indiana’s speedy passage of House Bill 1183 in March, prohibiting certain land sales to companies from China and other adversarial countries, has halted a pending real estate deal with the China-owned company Fufeng, according to LaPorte County Assessor records. Fufeng was looking for real estate in Indiana after being booted out of Grand Forks, North Dakota, following a U.S. Air Force memo that called it a “significant threat to national security.”
Fufeng managed to implant itself in North Dakota with a land purchase before being tarred and feathered out of the state. Fortunately, it was legislated out of Indiana — for now.
Fufeng’s short-lived appearance in Indiana was a smoking gun. What else is going on? The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), an unelected upgrade to the traditional commerce department, helps select and develop businesses in Indiana. The IEDC has set up many China-owned companies in the state, including 25 currently operational, according to the IEDC general counsel.
The trend of China-based companies in Indiana has not developed organically but through centralized planning with the help of a Chinese Communist Party-linked nonprofit. A contract on the IEDC’s website shows that it has been paying the America China Society of Indiana (ACSI) to facilitate deals with China-owned businesses. The contract outlines IEDC’s interest in “identifying and creating a pipeline of [foreign direct investment] prospects in China” and preparing trip itineraries, among other tasks.
A state contract to fill a requested “pipeline” of China-owned businesses wishing to engage in foreign direct investment, including the purchase of U.S. land, is concerning. The 2017 National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China directs that “any organization or citizen shall support, assist, and cooperate with the state intelligence work” and “state intelligence work institutions shall collect and handle the acts or acts of foreign institutions, organizations, and individuals….”
In other words, China-owned companies operating in the United States are expected to collect intelligence on the United States. Further, most large Chinese companies, especially those allowed to expand into the United States, have CCP members or even party committees within them ensuring loyalty to the CCP’s goals.
Beyond the concerns with Chinese companies taking root in the United States, an organization such as ACSI introduces additional issues when attached to state-level government. ACSI has implemented a series of influence operations and public relations events that may have compromised state decision-making through pressure, gain, or both.
You Will Know Them by Their Fruits
ACSI’s 2018 board of directors paints a picture of the IEDC’s exposure to CCP influence.
A member of the IEDC is on the board, guaranteeing that the IEDC is not only aware of, but actively has influence in, ACSI’s activities.
Westfield Outdoors is one of the China-owned businesses that ACSI brought in as part of the “pipeline.” Westfield Outdoors, along with other China-owned businesses, is one of ACSI’s member sponsors, which in turn influence businesses ACSI recommends to Indiana.
Dr. Zao (Joe) Xu, founder of the Confucius Institute at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, was on the ACSI board until 2018. The U.S. government defunded Confucius Institutes (CI) following expert testimony identifying CI as part of a CCP influence operation. The Confucius Institute at IUPUI closed in 2019 along with nearly all others in the United States.
A board that convenes Indiana government representatives alongside CCP-linked influence operators and oversees a society whose members include China-owned businesses with an intel-gathering mission is a recipe for compromised decision-making.
The Deepening
In 2019, Indiana Governor and IEDC Board Chairman Eric Holcomb took a trip to China likely arranged by ACSI “to renew the Indiana-Zhejiang sister-state relationship” established back in 1987. The Indiana legislature has since banned sister-city agreements with China, so Holcomb had to sign a bill that deeply criticizes the same kind of agreement he celebrated just five years ago.
During that trip, Holcomb visited with the president of the China People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), known as the “‘public face’ of the CCP’s United Front Work Department.”
In contrast to ACSI’s description of CPAFFC as “focused on deepening international friendships,” the CPAFFC’s mission in its own words is “to make the foreign serve China.” This stunning whitewashing is readily available on Wikipedia.
Why did Indiana’s governor meet with the leader of the part of the CCP’s influence operation concerned with making other countries serve China? ACSI would have added the CPAFFC stop to the itinerary as part of its role arranging IEDC’s China-bound trips, at the direction of the CCP. It is possible that Holcomb thought he was innocently “deepened” by a nice lady with a panda plate. But from the CPAFFC’s and CCP’s point of view, he declared his subservience.
‘Mask Diplomacy’
During early Covid days, China hoarded masks while companies like MyPillow diverted production to manufacturing masks for donation. Then China decided it was time to share. ACSI worked diligently to ensure Indiana participated in the geopolitical phenomenon later coined “Mask Diplomacy.”
Mask diplomacy, the CCP’s effort to look generous and deflect suspicions that Covid came from the Wuhan Lab, involved distributing small quantities of masks for a photo op. Indiana was among the favored states and countries to receive the honor of free masks, per the July 2020 news story on ACSI’s website.
In reality, this publicity stunt was a favor the CCP called in, likely among those trusted partners who have pledged allegiance to the CCP’s head of foreign submission (the CPAFFC) and could be counted on to promote this effort. With both the general public and the carefully selected recipients, the self-serving “favor” was an investment that would be expected to produce a return.
To the recipients, it was likely a nuisance. In context, 100,000 masks is a very small number. The IEDC reported in 2020 with macabre glee that it took fiduciary charge of spending $49 million on 27 million masks for the state, the smallest order of which was 1 million masks. The Chinese gift came with a very detailed receipt — the only mention of this event on IEDC’s website:
The IEDC likely had little “desire” for such a small quantity of masks, other than to satisfy the CCP’s desire to give masks and take credit. But in doing so, the state of Indiana (through its contractor ACSI) accepted a public gift from the Zhejiang Provincial Government of the CCP with an approximate value of nearly $200,000. What are the odds that the CCP would parlay that “favor” into a return gesture?
Far-Flung Fufeng
These are some of the more interesting elements within a long pattern of CCP-linked business development activities, advertised little if at all by the IEDC. It may also explain why the IEDC accepted the disgraced Fufeng earlier this year after its Department of Defense-directed expulsion from North Dakota.
Will the IEDC cancel its contract with ACSI for a “pipeline” of China-based companies in light of the HB 1183 restrictions? Do other states have similarly low-profile links to the CCP buried deep within unelected departments? The nearly two-thirds of all U.S. states currently advancing anti-China bills similar to HB 1183 may be doing so at odds with influence operations hidden within their own governments.
Vanessa Battaglia is a defense engineer with experience designing software, hardware, and airborne systems for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Special Operations Command, and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Following the retail apocalypse of 2023, 2024 is looking to be even worse, with the year-over-year comparison showing a 5.2 percent increase in store closures this year over last year.
The retail apocalypse of 2023 has continued in 2024, with thousands of stores across the United States set to shut their doors. Under President Joe Biden’s administration, the economic strain on the retail sector has only deepened, leading to a retail bloodbath.
Major retailers, including Macy’s, Walgreens, CVS, Family Dollar, Walmart, and 7-Eleven, have announced significant closures. A staggering 2,599 store closures are planned for this year, marking a 2.5% increase from the same period last year, according to the DailyMail. The closures reflect the persistent struggles brick-and-mortar stores face amid rising costs and shifting consumer habits.
Family Dollar and the bankrupt 99 Cents Only stores are among the hardest hit, with discount retailers particularly vulnerable in the current economic climate. The discount sector, often seen as a lifeline for low-income families, is reeling from the losses. The 99 Cents Only chain’s bankruptcy has already led to the planned shuttering of numerous stores, though a recent acquisition by Dollar Tree has saved 170 locations from closure.
Waterford, Pennsylvania, USA August 1, 2023 Two storefronts together, a Family Dollar and a Dollar Tree in a strip mall on a sunny summer day
Retail experts point to a variety of factors contributing to the closures, including increased competition from online retailers, rising operating costs, and changing consumer preferences. However, the Biden administration’s economic policies have exacerbated the situation, creating an environment where traditional retailers struggle to survive. The planned closures represent lost jobs, deserted shopping centers, and communities grappling with reduced access to essential goods and services. For many Americans, the closure of the stores is a reminder of the challenges facing the retail sector and the economy.
“A lot of this year’s closures are related to bankruptcies of chains that have been in trouble for a while, like Rite Aid and Rue21,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said to CBS. “We’re also seeing several retailers, like Family Dollar, take action to weed out underperforming locations.”
This year has already seen nearly 3,200 retail store closures, a 24% increase from last year, as reported by CoreSight, a firm that monitors retail activity in the U.S. In contrast, store openings are down by 4%, with many major chains holding back on expansion plans.
New Hartford, New York – Nov 23, 2023: Rite Aid Pharmacy storefront, is a well-known American pharmacy chain that provides a range of health and wellness products with over 2500 locations nationwide.
Driving these closures are several factors, including shifts in consumer behavior, management difficulties, and a spate of bankruptcies affecting companies like Rite Aid and Rue21. Notably, Dollar Tree announced the closure of over 600 Family Dollar stores, attributing the decision to inflationary pressures on shoppers and a rise in shoplifting incidents. While some retailers are still planning to open new locations, the overall trend points to a more cautious approach in the industry.
Amid the highest inflation rates seen in decades, many consumers have felt the financial squeeze. “Persistent inflation and reduced government benefits continue to pressure the lower-income consumers that comprise a sizable portion of Family Dollar’s” customer base, CEO Rick Dreiling said on a Wednesday call.
As the retail landscape continues to evolve, the impact of some closures could be felt across the country.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released a report that shows 637,000 non-Americans are working in America during a period of time when 300,000 Americans lost their jobs. Economist E.J. Antoni is also claiming native-born jobs are still millions below pre-pandemic levels while foreign-born jobs have increased by millions since Feb. 2020.
Antoni stated, “No wonder Americans view economy so terribly: they aren’t the ones [with] the jobs; native-born employment is not only millions below pre-pandemic trend, but even below pre-pandemic level, while millions more foreign workers are employed today than Feb ’20, and back to trend.”
A new report finds that Joe Biden’s “great jobs” have mostly gone to illegal aliens and more illegals have gotten jobs than American citizens.
The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report released last week told us that there are 637,000 non-American citizen workers in the country. Yet nearly 300,000 native-born Americans lost their jobs during the most recent period.
Economist E.J. Antoni told The Federalist that the government has added a significant amount of jobs that are primarily only held by foreign-born workers, leaving Americans struggling to look for jobs.
While the Biden administration continues to deny that its “building electrification” agenda will lead to gas stoves being banned in the name of allegedly saving the planet from man-made climate change, experts continue to raise the red flag.
Dan Kish, a senior research fellow for the Institute for Energy Research, is warning the public that the administration’s claims are false. He told Daily Caller, “The whole ‘building electrification’ effort is part of the centralized control impulse of people who gravitate to government or stand to cash in on the latest fad, irrespective of its costs or impacts on regular Americans. It’s also part of the ‘electrify everything’ agenda of planners and masterminds. The U.S. established a Constitutional Republic to limit government control, and yet control freaks want to tell us how to live by expanding the government’s reach.”
The Biden administration contends that it is not targeting gas stoves and other domestic conveniences afforded by fossil fuels, but its “building electrification” agenda is poised to effectively do just that, several energy policy experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The notion that the federal government would like to ban gas stoves is a “myth” and “misinformation,” according to the Department of Energy (DOE), which uploaded the blog post in May 2023 after Consumer Product Safety Commission Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. suggested that a gas stove ban is “on the table” in a January 2023 Bloomberg interview. However, the administration is also working to advance its “building electrification” agenda that would bring about similar outcomes under a different name, energy policy experts told the DCNF.
A Trump co-defendant in the Fulton County GA Election Fraud case has won his day in court before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee.
The judge has granted Harrison Floyd a hearing on his petition to have access to 500,000 ballots to prove his efforts to “expose” 2020 election fraud were based in fact, it was NOT an attempt to overthrow a legitimate election, as he and former President Donald Trump (along with others) has been charged with doing.
ED.NOTE: The article excerpted below is a clear example of DNC-CCP agit prop using the crypto-noramlizing technique when it uses such phrases as “debunked voter fraud theories,” a tactic of importing an opinion as a foregone conclusion fact everyone already agress with.
A Fulton County judge will allow a co-defendant of Donald Trump in the Georgia election subversion case to continue his effort to access thousands of 2020 ballots to argue debunked voter fraud theories.
Harrison Floyd, who led the organization Black Voices for Trump in 2020, argued during a hearing Tuesday that he should not have been charged in the racketeering case because his concerns about voter fraud and questions about the election results were legitimate.
Floyd’s attorneys are pushing to access more than 500,000 ballots from Fulton County, claiming they intend to produce “evidence” that thousands of votes were improperly excluded from the final vote tally.
ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil announced a merger worth $22.5 billion. “This acquisition of Marathon Oil further deepens our portfolio and fits within our financial framework, adding high-quality, low cost of supply inventory adjacent to our leading US unconventional position,” ConocoPhillips chairman and chief executive Ryan Lance said.
After failing to make an impact on Disney during the recent shareholders’ meeting, activist investor Nelson Peltz is washing his hands of the mouse. Peltz was seeking to get a seat on the board but lost his bid to current CEO Bob Iger’s handpicked board members.
Peltz sold his stake at $120 a share for a total of $1 billion. The move by Peltz is a possible signal to many that he has little to no faith that Disney will turn things around, which would first require the company to reject its woke ideological activism.
Billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz has sold his stake in The Walt Disney Co., nearly two months after losing a bruising and expensive proxy battle with the entertainment giant.
CNBC reported Wednesday that Peltz, the founding partner of hedge fund Trian Partners, had disposed of his entire stake in Disney for $120 a share, worth $1 billion.
In January, Peltz, who through Trian and various other partners, such as former Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter, controlled $3.5 billion of Disney stock, officially launched a proxy fight with Disney to win a seat on the company’s board. The investor was sharply critical of the management of the company, particularly the high costs associated with the streaming business, as well as the direction Disney was taking under CEO Bob Iger.
Peltz ultimately failed in his attempts to be selected for the company’s slate of board nominees in April. Peltz’s exit will therefore be seen as a victory for Iger after the proxy fight became a battle for the soul of the company and cost both Disney and Trian tens of millions.
The first major hurdle to a merger between two energy giants, Hess and Chevron, has been overcome despite early reports suggesting the vote by the Hess shareholders could be delayed. The delay never happened so the vote went forward successfully for those supporting the merger.
Hess Corp. CEO John Hess (left) and Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said, “We are very pleased that the majority of our stockholders recognize the compelling value of this strategic transaction.”
Hess Corp. CEO John Hess (left) and Chevron CEO Mike Wirth. “We are very pleased that the majority of our stockholders recognize the compelling value of this strategic transaction,” Hess said.
Hess Corp. shareholders approved Chevron Corp.’s $53 billion takeover despite reservations among several prominent investors about a dispute with Exxon Mobil Corp. over a key asset.
Hess shareholders approved the deal during a meeting May 28, the company said in a statement. The company’s shares initially fell on the news but then recovered, climbing as much as 1%.
“We are very pleased that the majority of our stockholders recognize the compelling value of this strategic transaction,” CEO John Hess said.
The affirmation is a major win for Chevron and CEO Mike Wirth, who sought to secure a stake in the biggest oil discovery of the past decade by acquiring Hess and its 30% interest in a Guyanese field. In the final days leading up to the vote, John Hess, the longest-serving major oil boss, personally lobbied shareholders to back the deal.
The 11th U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that employers’ health care programs must cover transgender mutilation surgery, regardless of religious conviction.
The leftist court, led by Clinton-appointed Judge Charles R. Wilson, used the Title VII law against discrimination because of race, religion, and sex, while forcing employers to be discriminated against (face possible criminal and civil charges) for their religious beliefs. The ruling is expected to be appealed. The judges in this case have not been removed despite making a blatantly unconstitutional ruling.
A federal court is declaring that employers must cover gender transition surgeries for their employees in their health insurance plans.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled last week that a refusal by an employer to cover gender transition surgeries in an employee’s health insurance violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which “prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.”
In the court’s majority opinion, Clinton-appointed Judge Charles R. Wilson wrote, “Generally, discrimination in the Title VII context occurs when an employer intentionally treats an employee worse than other similarly situated employees.” Citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, he then explained that “an employer who discriminates based on transgender status is intentionally treating that employee differently ‘because of their sex.’”
The case began when Anna Lange, a biological male who identifies as a woman, sought a gender transition surgery in 2018. Lange had at the time been employed by the Houston County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia for more than 10 years. Houston County’s health insurance plan, which also covers employees of the Sheriff’s Office, excludes coverage of “[d]rugs for sex change surgery” and “[s]ervices and supplies for a sex change and/or the reversal of a sex change … .” Lange filed an appeal with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, the organization which administers Houston County’s health insurance plan, but was denied.
Professors Lawrence M. Cathles and Adam C. Simon have released a report claiming the expected and mandated expanding Electric Vehicle (EV) market will soon outstrip the available supply of copper. The solution the report offers is to lower the EV benchmarks and replace that EV production with hybrid car production.
The report claims “Hybrid electric vehicles could have almost as large an impact on reducing CO2 emissions and city pollution, and the likelihood of the copper required for their manufacture being available is much greater. This is not a perfect solution, but it is a much more resource-realistic one.”
Penning a report called Copper Mining and Vehicle Electrification, Professors Lawrence M. Cathles and Adam C. Simon claim that a key mineral in EV production, copper, isn’t being mined at a strong enough rate to support long-term EV sales goals.
Cobalt, graphite, lithium, manganese, and nickel are all essential to electrification in their own ways, but copper fulfills a particularly important responsibility in the production of EVs. Found in everything from the electric motors, batteries, inverters, and the wiring of an electric car as well as in the charging stations themselves, copper is attractive for electrification due to its ability to conduct heat, resist corrosion, and relatively low cost of production.
The Copper Development Association says that each electric vehicle can have up to a mile of copper inside of it. Similarly, the report notes that the manufacturing process of an EV uses around 132 pounds of copper, as compared to 52 pounds of copper used to produce an equivalent gasoline-powered vehicle.
The Republicans of West Virginia are anxious to out-woke the left after the Republican State Treasurer announced plans to boycott Citigroup Inc., TD Bank, Northern Trust Corp., and HSBC Holdings for investing in climate-change-causing energy sources like coal and oil.
The RINO said of the decision, “We cannot allow institutions that seek to destroy our state’s critical energy industries and the economic activity they generate to also profit from handling the very taxpayer dollars they seek to diminish.”
Citigroup Inc., TD Bank, Northern Trust Corp., and HSBC Holdings have been added to a list of companies that state treasurer Riley Moore’s office determined engage in such a boycott based on a review of each institution’s environmental, social and governance policies and public statements. The financial firms will now be ineligible to provide banking services to the state, Moore’s office said in a press release Monday.
“We cannot allow institutions that seek to destroy our state’s critical energy industries and the economic activity they generate to also profit from handling the very taxpayer dollars they seek to diminish,” Moore, a Republican, said in the statement.
As part of a 2022 GOP law, the state treasurer develops a list of financial institutions that have “publicly stated they will refuse, terminate or limit doing business with coal, oil or natural gas companies without a reasonable business purpose,” according to the statement. There are now nine financial services companies on the state’s list, including BlackRock Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo & Co.
In a further effort to undermine law and order and cultivate more violence and chaos, the DNC-CCP-controlled Illinois legislature has just sent a bill to far-left anti-Americanist billionaire Governor Pritzker that will change the name of “offender” in government documents to “justice impacted individual.”
The phraseology cultivates the lie that there are no such things as criminals because people only do crimes when they are oppressed by the white devil. Republican State Senator Steve McClure of Springfield said of the bill “Change this, change that, the only thing you don’t want to change is the behavior of criminals, guess who is paying for that right now? Victims all across the state. I urge a no vote.”
CHICAGO — State lawmakers have passed a bill that, if signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker, will change the term “offender” in state law to “justice impacted individual.”
The proposed change blew up on social media, with some people mistakenly thinking that people who commit crimes would get a rebranding. Instead, it would only apply to participants in one program meant to rehabilitate people and keep them out of prison.
The specific proposed law, House Bill 4409, would remove the term “offender” and replace it with “justice impacted individual” for men and women in the state’s “Adult Redeploy Illinois” program, commonly referred to as A.R.I.
President Joe Biden has announced plans to once again raid America’s strategic oil reserves with a hope of lowering gas prices to protect his election chances. The Energy Department justified putting America at a critical risk with the claim that this move will help “lower costs for American families and consumers,″
Neuralink Patient Looks To Monetize Himself On Social Media, Gets Elon Musk’s Support For Streaming, Raising Money Through X
The first Neuralink patient has passed the 100-day milestone since the Elon Musk founded company’s chip was implanted in his brain.
Noland Arbaugh is now ready to begin earning money or raising money as his story grows in popularity.
What Happened: Arbaugh, who was previously the anonymous Neuralink patient, is now publicly known and has done a series of interviews with Bloomberg, “Good Morning America,” and several social media influencers.
After announcements by Red Lobster they would be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closing a significant number of stores, TGI Friday’s announced they would be closing select restaurants as well. Applebee’s kicked off the month with an announcement it would be closing 35 more locations after closing 46 in 2023.
When people can barely afford to eat at home, they can’t exactly go out to dinner. That’s a lesson in Bidenomics that several chains are finding out the hard way.
The latest chain casual restaurant to feel the pinch is TGI Friday’s; according to an article in the U.K.’s Daily Mail on Tuesday, the restaurant announced it had closed one restaurant in New Jersey on Sunday and was planning to close another in Buffalo, New York in June.
That would bring the total for restaurants the family dining chain has closed to 40 this year, including eight in New Jersey and six in New York.
“We’ve identified opportunities to optimize and streamline our operations to ensure we are best positioned to meet — and exceed” a “brand promise” to close “underperforming” restaurants, said Ray Risley, TGI Friday’s U.S. president.
Janet Yellen, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, has let the world know the United States will not be participating in the global billionaire tax scheme cooked up by nations like Brazil and France. The global tax would be intended to redistribute wealth to poor countries, though the methodology through which that wealth would be distributed was not made clear.
Yellen said of the imitative, “We’re not supportive of a process to try to achieve that. That’s something we can’t sign on to.”
Yellen emphasized that while the U.S. supports progressive taxation, it cannot back a worldwide initiative of this nature, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
“We’re not supportive of a process to try to achieve that. That’s something we can’t sign on to,” she said.
As the leader of the Group of 20 major economies, Brazil has urged the group to develop a unified approach to taxing extremely wealthy individuals who often relocate their funds to low-tax jurisdictions.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has regained his position as the world’s second-richest person, surpassing Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.
Elon Musk, the big boss of Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and X, has jumped back to being the second richest person in the world. He’s now richer than Jeff Bezos, the guy who started Amazon, with his wealth close to $200 billion as of Tuesday. But, he’s still not the richest – that title goes to Bernard Arnault, the top guy at LVMH, a big fashion company.
The increase in Elon Musk’s net worth was caused by a 6% surge in Tesla shares, which are now valued at over $185 each. Despite a dip in late 2021, Tesla’s shares have rebounded, climbing nearly 30% over the past month.
Walt Disney Co.’s Pixar subsidiary, the pioneering animator that made Toy Story and Finding Nemo, is cutting 14% of its staff, part of an ongoing belt tightening by its parent.
About 175 employees are getting layoff notices Tuesday, the company said.
The reductions reflect a decision to refocus Pixar on feature films and move away from the production of TV series for the Disney+ streaming service. Pixar President Jim Morris outlined the shift in a memo to employees that was seen by Bloomberg.
Following its imposition of sweeping tariffs on a range of Chinese green technology goods, spearheaded by a 100 percent charge on electric vehicles [EVs], the United States is trying to draw the European Union into its economic warfare against Beijing.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen issued what amounted to a call to arms in a major speech yesterday in Frankfurt, Germany, on the importance and strength of the Transatlantic alliance.
After recalling the collaboration with Europe from the Cold War to the NATO operations against Russia in the Ukraine war, she turned to the issue which is front and centre for the US—the existential threat to its global economic dominance it considers is posed by the economic rise of China.
Boeing will have five extra years to build its 767 freighters in its Everett plant thanks to a provision in the newly passed Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill.
Boeing won’t say what these extra years will mean for the aviation company beyond 2028, when it originally planned to shutter its 767F program because the plane doesn’t meet global aviation carbon emissions standards. Boeing could now sell the plane until 2033, but those planes would be out of compliance with international regulations and could only be flown in the United States.
Still, the company’s machinists and engineering unions last week hailed the extension as a win for workers as the FAA bill was passed by Congress and then signed by President Joe Biden.
International Business Machines Corp is winding down its business in Russia and has started to lay off its employees in the country, according to a memo to staff sent last week and emailed to Reuters on Tuesday.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, IBM joined hundreds of other companies in suspending business in the country. Many others had announced a complete exit from Russia.
“As the consequences of the war continue to mount and uncertainty about its long-term ramifications grows, we have now made the decision to carry out an orderly wind-down of IBM’s business in Russia,” Chief Executive Arvind Krishna wrote to employees.
Krishna told Reuters early last month that he was not sure how much longer the company could pay its employees in Russia in light of escalating sanctions.
The employees of the Penske Truck Rental company in Nashville and Minneapolis have voted to eliminate their employee union, and in a vote told the International Association of Machinists union to take a hike.
The vote came after the employees officially notified the federal National Labor Relations Board that they were going to move to oust the union.
David Saylor filed the Nashville petition and Kyle Fulkerson filed the Minneapolis petition with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
The Minnesota workers voted 26-7 on May 1 to remove the union while the Tennessee workers voted 15-8 on May 8 for the removal.
In a letter to US District Judge Julien X. Neals, Apple said “far from being a monopolist, Apple faces fierce competition from well-established rivals, and the complaint fails to allege that Apple has the ability to charge supra-competitive prices or restrict output in the alleged smartphone markets.”
In the letter to the judge, Apple said the DOJ relies on a new “theory of antitrust liability that no court has recognized.”
WARREN, Michigan — In her 11th year as CEO of General Motors Co., Mary Barra’s latest test is to ensure that the Detroit automaker’s coming electric vehicles reach profitability by getting mainstream consumers to buy them in competitive global markets.
But in the time since GM first declared it would become all-electric, industry regulations have changed and the pace in the demand for EVs has slowed. Even though EV sales surpassed 1 million for the first time in 2023, data shows they are slowing quarter to quarter. First-quarter EV sales rose 2.6% year over year, but fell 15.2% from the fourth quarter of 2023, according to Kelley Blue Book.
