McDonald's is funding homosexual activism--and I'm NOT lovin' it!

Charmaine and the Penta-Posse
at a McDonald's
somewhere in Middle America
circa 2005 Buying a McDonald's hamburger now promotes the homosexual lifestyle. Here's a sample open letter to the McDonald's leadership, supplied by the Family Research Council,

Dear Chairman McKenna,

We are writing to request that you end your "Corporate Partnership" with the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) and refrain from making corporate contributions to this or other homosexual organizations.

[If individual members of the board of McDonald's wishes to give to any charity, have it your way, so to say -- but a corporation should not
use earnings for charity. Charity is a test of the individual heart -- not corporate or government largess.]

We also request that you adopt a policy which would prevent your corporate officers from using the McDonald's corporate name to lend legitimacy to work they may do for such organizations. The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce exists to generate business for companies that are owned by homosexuals. While we do not object to McDonald's doing business with any suppliers who can provide a quality product or service at a good price, we also do not understand why anyone would engage in affirmative steps to seek out suppliers based on their sexual behavior, or assist in promoting businesses for that reason.

[Your Business Blogger(R) has spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours in McDonald's PlayPlaces. I'm not sure I've ever seen a homosexual in a McDonald's. The demographics do not fit the fast food market segment.

No. The homosexuals do not want to eat at McDonald's any more than they really want to serve in the military. Homosexuals are on a marketing campaign for normalcy. And they are looking for a stamp of approval in basic cultural institutions: Ronald McDonald, marriage and the military.]

However, the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce does not exist just to promote the economic interests of their members. They also promote an extensive political agenda, including explicit support for legislation and litigation that would:

* Undermine the unique treatment granted to marriage between one man and one woman under the law
* Treat homosexual and "transgender" behavior on the same basis as race under federal civil rights laws
* Label disapproval of homosexual behavior a form of "hate" under so-called "hate crime" laws.

[Parents should ask if McDonald's will embrace open unisex restrooms where transgenders and transvestites and cross-dressers can have proximity to the wee ones.]

The NGLCC promotes a controversial social and political agenda that is offensive to tens of millions of your customers. A corporation like McDonald's, which prides itself on providing a family-friendly product in a family-friendly environment, should not be associated with any narrow political agenda. Thank you for considering my views.

Let the homosexuals dine on fast food at Starbucks. With the rest of the liberals.

Nope. The next time I need to take the Penta-Posse out for fast food -- Lord, the money we spend -- we will not go to McDonald's. And neither should you.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Market Research for McDonald's

Your Business Blogger(R) has enjoyed eating at McDonald's the world over. I'm not sure of the support for homosexuals in, say, China. See China's New Statue for Brotherhood and World Peace. And learn where the ad, I'm Lovin' It was developed.

Posted at 9:04 PM | Permalink
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Obama talks about Change. He talks about avoiding conflict and leaving lands where some people may not want us there.

If there is a fight for a country, Obama will surrender.

On all fronts.

Obama can then take the Stars off the American Flag he won't salute; the Flag pin he won't wear.

Obama's only Absolut .

Thank you (foot)notes:

mymanmitt has alternatives to Absolut Vodka.

Before Obama surrenders, maybe we can get a refund on the Gadsden Purchase?,

In return for this vast territory, the United States gave [Mexico] $15,000,000 and assumed responsibility for paying $3,000,000 in claims of American citizens against the Mexican Government. A large body of public opinion in the United States had opposed the war against Mexico and felt that the Southern republic had been treated badly. The territory desired by Gadsden and his group was then a sort of no man's land, experiencing frequent Indian raids. The United States wanted to make certain "boundary adjustments"; Mexico needed money and wanted a settlement of her Indian claims against the United States; and Gadsden and his friends wanted a route for their railroad. In 1852 Gadsden agreed to pay Santa Anna $10,000,000 for a strip of territory south of the Gila River and lying in what is now southwestern New Mexico and southern Arizona. Many Americans were not especially proud of the Guadalupe-Hidalgo Treaty and considered the price of the Gadsden Purchase as "conscience money." The Gadsden Purchase has an area of 45,535 square miles and is almost as large as Pennsylvania.

Mexico reconquers California? Absolut drinks to that!,

The latest advertising campaign in Mexico from Swedish vodka maker Absolut promises to push all the right buttons south of the U.S. border, but it could ruffle a few feathers in El Norte.

The billboard and press campaign, created by advertising agency Teran\TBWA and now running in Mexico, is a colorful map depicting what the Americas might look like in an "Absolut" -- i.e., perfect -- world.

The U.S.-Mexico border lies where it was before the Mexican-American war of 1848 when California, as we now know it, was Mexican territory and known as Alta California.

Following the war, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo saw the Mexican territories of Alta California and Santa Fé de Nuevo México ceded to the United States to become modern-day California, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona. (Texas actually split from Mexico several years earlier to form a breakaway republic, and was voluntarily annexed by the United States in 1846.)

The campaign taps into the national pride of Mexicans, according to Favio Ucedo, creative director of leading Latino advertising agency Grupo Gallegos in the U.S.
...

Full Disclosure: Charmaine, the wife of Your Business Blogger(R), served as Senior Advisor to the Huckabee for President Campaign.

UPDATE: Read a first-hand account of John McCain on the campaign trail in Pensacola, Fl, Service to America Tour, courtesy, John Howland, USNA-AT-Large, at the jump.

Terry Pruitt, former military, has more on rendering a salute and respect for the Flag at Obama Seems to Get It Wrong.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 6:45 AM | Permalink
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Sherman Tank vs Ford Mustang,
Fort Knox, KY, ca 1978
credit: Your Business Blogger(R)
Back in the days of the horse cavalry, Your Business Blogger(R) served a tour of duty as an Armored Officer.

And volunteered at the Patton Museum at Fort Knox, KY. Working on restoring vintage military hardware.

One of the first lessons taught was that large armored tracked vehicles, ie, tanks, had limited fields of vision in close quarters. So a ground guide -- a human walking in front and behind -- was routinely assigned to keep the masses of metal from unnecessary collisions.

Not always successful.

Sometimes deadly.

Watch the video comparison test between another wheeled and a tracked vehicle. Surprise ending.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Credit to Marshall Manson from London for Twittering this comparison .

And no, I was not driving either vehicle...

Please email your comments.

Posted at 7:07 AM | Permalink
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Boo, The Diva and The Dancer
with Your Business Blogger's
Mao Man Bag (for diapers) I asked the woman why she wanted to work for us.

"The Terrorists are trying to kill me."

I knew this was not to be an ordinary job interview.

Charmaine and I were hiring a housekeeper in the early 90's, and Mrs. C was referred to us, because she was well qualified. She used to own a day-care business.

In Peru.

And her husband was a manager for a manufacturer for a US based company. The rebel communists, the Sendero Luminoso -- or Shining Path -- had picked up the local company organization chart and began picking off the managers in quick order.

A well executed plan.

Like a good org chart shaped like a pyramid, the terrorists started at the bottom and were working their way up the corporate ladder fast.

The hierarchy of the career path was easy to follow for the Shining Path. The communists are nothing if not consistent. Just as they were in Stalin's day, the communist's were executing the managers, killing their way up the org chart.

Mr. C thoughtfully decided to leave the company, wanting to spend more time with the family...in another country.

So Mrs. C packed up her two girls and hubby and moved to America and was given earned asylum. I admired her resilience. Her ingenuity. Her gumption.

Her green card.

Filled with compassion, as is my nature, I hired her and her valid status.

We learned a bit about Peru and the kind of terrorism that kills immediately and immediate family. The terrorists, with the accent on the last syllable. We learned that the people of Peru loved freedom, hated communism.

Cameron Diaz
with Mao bag in PeruSo we were surprised that the well-briefed commie babe Cameron Diaz would go to Machu Picchu, Peru with her trendy, yet practical, Mao Bag with bold Red Star and well-placed slogan Serve the People in the ever- popular military drab olive green.

Peruvians did not appreciate her "style."

The nation of Peru is still healing from the almost 70,000 murdered by the Shining Path. Not quite the head count of Stalin or Mao, but still a not-too-shabby benchmark in the Commie Accounting.

Cameron Diaz did apologize for her thoughtlessness.

But it is not just the thoughtless commies in Hollywood who are insulting the people of Peru. Our very own (elected) commies Democrats in Congress are insulting Peru.

Democrats are insulting the government of Peru by modifying trade deals. Not content with attempting to run our lives here in the States, the Dems are micro-managing in Peru. And are screwing up a good trade deal.

But Your Business Blogger wants to assure our friends in Peru that the American People are not represented (so to say) by the Democrats in our Congress. That our government really wants free trade and free people to do business.

So we put The Dreamer, our first born, on Copa Airlines this morning out of Dulles Airport with a suitcase full of new shoes for children in Lima.

The Peruvians fought communism and are now fighting Democrats, the least we can do is support these freedom fighters.

The Dreamer, being brighter than Cameron Diaz, did not take her Mao bag to Peru. She is taking our good will and a big heart and a suitcase full of shoes.

To make a difference one child to one child.

The Penta-Posse minus The Dreamer
at a Potomac Nationals minor league game in
Northern Virginia. We won beating the Salem Avalanche,
farm team for the Houston Astros.

Thank you (foot)notes:

The Dreamer blogs at A Different Kind of Drama. Visit for another shot of the Mao bag.

Last year, when our church went to share Jesus with the people of Peru, they found many children arriving to Bible studies in bare feet. . . this year, our group from McLean Bible Church will arrive with over 500 pairs of shoes so that they can practice "Feet-First" evangelism.

Your Business Blogger bought the Mao bag on a trip to China. It was, I believe the only item in the entire country that was not violating American intellectual property.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 1:18 PM | Permalink
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Two years ago Your Business Blogger sent the Little Woman to the G-8 with the B3: Bono and Branson and Bush. Scotland and England are still being bombed by the jihadists.

Not the US of A. Not yet. We must be doing something right.

Follows is a re-post of Charmaine's reporting from Edinburgh and London on 7.7.05.

Charmaine on the plane with Richard Branson

Following is an edited cross post from Charmaine's Reasoned Audacity, July 1 - 7, 2005.

A year ago, Charmaine calls early morning from Edinburgh. "I'm having trouble flying into London," she says.

I'm still waking up. I ask, "When can you come home?"

"I don't know," she says, her voice unsteady, "They're still clearing the bodies."

A wake up call.

London, welcome to the war.

It started, as most things these days do, with Powerline.

Following is original posting from London as Charmaine called it into me, when her site went down. Any inconsistencies may be due to transcription overload.

This is Jack, the husband: Charmaine called. Her site is still down, but she wanted to file a report to Powerline.

"Flew into Heathrow airport and took a $150 cab ride into north London to conduct interviews and document the bombsites. Bobbies cordoned off area around the sites sealing the scene of the explosions. I got to within a block or so of Edgware Tube station entrance with Londoners sitting calmly, relaxing in pubs. Everything is strangely calm, business as usual. I interviewed a woman, an interior designer, expecting some emotional display. There was none. "We don't do a lot of group hugging in England," she said, making me think of the stiff-upper lip. "We are not sentimental."

And she seemed to reflect the mood of the London population. Not for what they were doing but for what they were not doing: No candles, no out-pouring of grief, no hoards of gawkers milling around police tape, no teddy bears, no bouquets of flowers. No movement. No tears. Everything normal, except, maybe for that bus with the top blown off. Workers cleared and cleaned up the area real well. Spiffy. And got back to their pints.

I visited hospitals and learned that 'only' 37 were confirmed dead at that time. More confirmations were expected.

There were no moms with little children in downtown London. I interviewed middle-aged businessmen on cell phones and kids with Mohawks, none who were surprised.

Londoners gently reproached me about my concern over the bloodshed, "You Americans get sentimental over silly things. We're used to getting bombed." The IRA Troubles had hardened hearts as well as the London infrastructure.

I expected some grief, at least as much as there was when Lady Di died. And grief I got. I interviewed three very ordinary, normal teenaged English Muslims, one with short spiky hair (dressed not unlike my 10 year-old-dude). All three seems to be parroting Muslim talking points. "The bombings were a conspiracy by Blair to generate support for the war," they recited in a charming British accent.

The bombers were quite indiscriminate. Edgware is not far from the heart of Little Beirut, a Muslim ethnic neighborhood.

A young British black woman told me, "The bombings are Tony Blair's fault -- they killed a 100 thousand Iraqis -- and it's like a boomerang [coming back at the British]." Most everyone I talked to believed that the British caused the bombing or had it coming.

Of the dozen or so people I interviewed only white males in business attire expressed surprise that anyone would think the British were at fault in anyway.

But these gentlemen were the minority. Most felt that the Brits were complicit. The people at London's ground zero were sounding like the "wobbly" Spanish after their train bombings.

The day is a cloudy, cold, rainy 7.7."

Charmaine is still out on the streets -- 9pm local London time and will be sending pictures soon.

Read the entire story at My Wife Flew off with Bono and Branson; Bombed in London 7.7.05 .

See Charmaine and Michelle Malkin work to keep the Muslims from sawing off more heads.

CMR Salamander points to HotAir with video.

Posted at 10:40 PM | Permalink
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George H W Bush
41st President Attention to detail. The White House got it right this time with the Queen's visit.

But perhaps not on her last visit here with George H. W. Bush. Your Business Blogger received the following from Alert Reader Bob Morrison,

"When George H.W. Bush [the first Bush -- 41] welcomed the Queen to Washington, a bunch of us FRC staffers were invited to be part of the crowd of happy natives on the White House South Lawn. I was 30 yards away from the President, but could clearly see that the microphone had been left at the high position for the 6'2" Bush.

I could also see the red carpeted box inside the podium that was there, presumably, for the shorter Queen. Joseph Reed, the U.S. Chief of Protocol, was chattering away with Barbara Bush. I couldn't yell "HEY JOE, THE BOX, JOE!" When the Queen came to the podium, the only thing visible was her hat.

The Washington Post had a field day. When she later spoke to Congress, she drily commented: I hope you can all see me now.

Two weeks later, in a little notice in the Post, Joe Reed was made ambassador to one of those troubled little countries where you wouldn't want to vacation."

If the White House has trouble with getting the basics right, goodness, do mere mortal middle managers have a chance?

Alert Reader Bob Morrison was able to anticipate, adapt and learn because he had almost made the mistake that Joe Reed had committed,

I saw the crash coming because I had been a junior protocol officer in the Coast Guard. I was talking to the Commanding Officer's wife one time and almost missed standing for the American flag passing in review. When I saw it out of the corner of my eye, I shot up like a rocket. It was my duty to give the cue to the entire reviewing stands so I'd better not miss my moment. I got teased unmercifully by my buddies about being a super patriot then--and I still do!

Management challenges are not confined to government. This protocal reminder is a lesson for continuing education. According to a recent study released by Accenture and reported in Training and Development, 30 percent of middle managers worldwide from North America, Europe and Asia believe that their companies are “mismanaged.”

Which is why the American Society for Training and Development reports that 2006 saw over $109 billion in the United States invested on “employee learning and development.” Even board level leaders are continuing their continuing education tripling high-end executive seminar attendence.

Management training and the Management of Management Time is critical.

The manager can improve his attention to detail and reduce screw-ups with a three P process:

Plan, Practice, Praise, (or Punish)

The White House had all of the resources and equipment and the logistics ready for the Queen. But Plans are nothing; planning is everything. said Dwight D. Eisenhower. In the act of planning, staff will study and generate options and make recommendations -- learning what might go right or, more important, wrong. Because something will always go wrong. The Planning looked good for the Queen's speech.

But it is not known what rehearsing was done. Charmaine tells me from her White House days that the pace is so fast and brutal that a detailed dress rehersal was probably not done -- time wouldn't allow. And security would also complicate -- the guys with ear pieces don't like too many staff as stand-in actors moving about the stage before hand. A dry run is always needed for your business performance. Practice.

Praise in the after action report or evaluation is the most critical part of the learning process. The professional manager anticipates, adapts and learns -- with his staff.

Pay Attention to Detail. Or you, too, will suffer the final, alternative P: Punishment -- and be reassigned to some God-forsaken outreach of the org chart.

Thank you (foot)notes:

One of the first lessons I learned in the Army was to Praise in public and reprimand in private. See the Chief Happiness Officer for more on 4 kinds of Motivation.

Full Disclosure: Your Business Blogger is in league with the William Oncken Corporation presenting Managing Management Time: Who's Got the Monkey?

Posted at 8:56 AM | Permalink
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The Royal Visit
credit: The Dude I have never let my schooling interfere with my education, said Mark Twain.

So in keeping with the spirit of Samuel Clemmons, Your Business Blogger and Charmaine chose education over (public) schooling today and dispatched The Penta-Posse to the South Lawn of the White House for a glimpse of the Queen.

The Dude has pictures and the story of lessons learned at Panzer Commander.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Rob Bluey was also in crowd of 7,000. With more great shots.

Posted at 9:15 PM | Permalink
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The USS Pueblo
is a popular propaganda tourist attraction
on the Taedong River in Pyongyang
North Korea US Senator Wayne Allard, R-Colorado, (Republican, of course) reintroduced a resolution demanding the return of United States Navy property from North Korea.

The Pueblo is the only active-duty U.S. warship in the hands of a foreign power. It was taken Jan. 23, 1968, after being sent defenseless on an intelligence-gathering mission off the North Korean coast. Reports the Washington Post (with misplaced indignation).

The USS Pueblo may have been out-gunned, but she was armed and was not defenseless.

The reporter, Jennifer Talhelm, is a female feminist from the Washington Post; I'm not sure military armaments is her forte.

Allard said the USS Pueblo "belongs to the United States Navy and we should pursue all possible options to return her to a rightful resting place."

The USS Pueblo and her crew have been in the blogosphere recently. The Pueblo crew was a noble comparison with the ignoble captured British sailors. The Brits were subservient and groveling when held by pirates.

Americans were defiant. Americans gave our captors the Digitus Impudicus. As Mark Steyn says America is Alone.

That is not quite right: It is Conservative Republicans who are alone.

Pueblo Crew
Time Magazine 18 Oct 1968 Jennifer Talhelm from the Washington Post continues,

Navy records show the Pueblo was in international waters when it was captured, though the North Koreans insist it was inside the Korean coastal zone. One person was killed in an explosion during the attack, and 10 of the 82 surviving crewmen were wounded. All 82 were held 11 months before being sent to South Korea on Christmas Eve.

The North Koreans display the ship as a trophy and a monument to the rocky relationship between the two nations.

Indeed.

Pueblo Crew with
"Hawaiin Good Luck Sign"

Thank you (foot)notes:

See USS Pueblo Coming Home?

See Little Green Footballs British Sailors Party on Iranian TV

Posted at 11:08 AM | Permalink
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Translated below The Navy's nixed-mixed messages making the rounds with mil-bloggers from last year.

U.S. Navy Directive 16134 [Inappropriate T-Shirts]

The following directive was issued by the commanding officer of all naval installations in the Middle East, and it was obviously directed at the Marines.

To: All Commands

Subject: Inappropriate T-Shirts

Ref: ComMidEastFor Inst 16134//24 K

All commanders promulgate upon receipt, The following T-shirts are no longer to be worn on or off base by any military or civilian personnel serving in the Middle East:

"Eat Pork Or Die" [both English and Arabic versions]

"Shrine Busters" [Various. Show burning minarets or bomb/artillery shells impacting Islamic shrines. Some with unit logos.]

"Napalm, Sticks Like Crazy" [Both English and Arabic versions]

"Goat - it isn't just for breakfast any more." [Both English and Arabic versions]

"The road to Paradise begins with me." [Mostly Arabic versions but some in English. Some show sniper scope cross-hairs]

"Pork. The other white meat." [Arabic version]

"Infidel" [English, Arabic and other coalition force languages.]

Your Business Blogger's favorite: "Guns don't kill people. I kill people." [Both Arabic and English versions]

The above T-shirts are to be removed from Post Exchanges upon receipt of this directive.

In addition, the following signs are to be removed upon receipt of this message:

"Islamic Religious Services Will Be Held at the Firing Range At 0800 Daily."

"Do we really need 'smart bombs' to drop on these dumb bast*rds?"

All commands are instructed to implement sensitivity training upon receipt.

Thank you (foot)notes:

See I love Jet Noise.

Arabic above: I am NOT a terrorist.

Posted at 4:42 PM | Permalink
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L to R: Your Business Blogger,
Charmaine
Senator Guy Barnett
Our liberal homosexual activist friends will always cite foreign law as a precedence for new law here in the US of A.

But there is one country that the activists and mainstream media will never mention in this debate:

Australia.

Your Business Blogger and Charmaine joined Guy Barnett, a Senator from the Land Down Under for dinner the other night at the Occidental in DC. (Do try the crab cakes.)

Same sex marriage was one of our topics and our concerns.

But it is not a concern in Australia. It has been tested by their courts and is "settled law."

The Australian law states that,

Marriage means the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.

Certain unions are not marriages.

A union solemnised in a foreign country between:

(a) a man and another man; or
(b) a woman and another woman; must not be recognised as a marriage in Australia.

We should also look to the Aussies for homosexual adoption:

They don't allow it.

We should also look to the Aussies for Civil Unions.

They don't allow it.

Australia might also be ahead of us on the thought-control/mind-control/hate-crime nonsense. The Australian Supreme Court recently stood up to the Muslim victim-lobby when the courts permitted two pastors to quote from the Quran. WorldNetDaily reports,

Quran did tell men they could beat their wives [and]

Yes, it did have verses calling on Muslims to fight infidels until they submitted

Infidels. They would be non-Muslims in America: Republicans. (The Democrats have already submitted.)

WND continues,

Many of the "hate crimes" proposals in the United States are based on a similar concept: designating as "crimes" the statements people make about their own beliefs or convictions.

The Aussies are ahead of us on marriage, homosexuals and thought crimes.

Now if they could only get 'gays in the military' right...

Thank you (foot)notes:

Guy Barnett is the (classical) liberal senator for Tasmania. He was recently at the UN working with Bill Clinton on support for diabetes education.

Jihadists and homosexuals: please log you death threats here.

Posted at 10:43 AM | Permalink
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Your Business Blogger
in a central China
university amphitheater When Your Business Blogger was consulting in China, I visited a large university (redundant: there are no small Chinese universities) and had a conversation with a post-grad working on international contract law. His English was better than my Chinese.

In every Chinese town there is an "English Corner," just as every major American city has a "Chinatown." These corners in China are where the locals gather to practice speaking English.

The inverse parallel is, of course, that the Chinese speak English in both China and America, and the Americans speak English in both China and America.

Anyway, I asked the student what he wanted to do with his advanced degree. Without prompting, he says, "I want to work for Wal*Mart. It is big and powerful."

"Powerful?" I ask.

"Yes, more powerful than some countries."

And Wal*Mart is getting powerful in China. To make the move to world-wide acceptance, Wal*Mart is assuming the triple-threat position: Unions, Communism, Homosexuality.

Alert Readers will recall that Your Business Blogger is was an enthusiastic cheerleader for the Bentonville World Dominator. The Penta-Posse et. al. consumed $4,328.37 in consumable goods in the 12 trailing months at Sam's Club.

The embrace of Unions and Communism are in China, of course. As a compromise to get sales. The embrace of Homosexuality is here in the U S of A as a compromise... to get more sales?

A source close to Wal*Mart who preferred to be off-the-record, emailed Your Business Blogger:

...the [homosexual] chamber that Wal-Mart has joined is simply that -- a chamber of commerce -- and organization of businesses. And, as I said, Wal-Mart is a member of dozens of them. Wal-Mart isn't trying to make a political statement by joining. And it's certainly not ascribing to any particular agenda.

But Wal*Mart/Sam's does fit a particular agenda because of the particular demographic. Wal*Mart shoppers have lots of kids, and those parents of lots of kids are conservatives: Liberals don't breed. Which gives us the Roe Effect. Allan Carlson, President of the Howard Center wrote in The Weekly Standard that,

IN THE INTERNAL POLITICS OF the Republican coalition, some members are consistently more equal than others. In particular, where the interests of the proverbial "Sam's Club Republicans" collide with the interests of the great banks, the Sam's Club set might as well pile into the family car and go home.

Go home, stay home. Indeed. Dr. Carlson reminds us that,

...when push comes to shove, social conservatives remain second class citizens under the Republican tent. During the 2004 Republican convention, they were virtually confined to the party's attic, kept off the main stage, treated like slightly lunatic children. Republican lobbyist Michael Scanlon's infamous candid comment--"The wackos get their information [from] the Christian right [and] Christian radio"--suggests a common opinion among the dominant "K Street" Republicans toward their coalition allies.

Conservatives are maligned from the right and the left.

Tony Perkins, the President of Family Research Council, says:

In an apparent concession to the heat from the radical left, Wal-Mart has entered into a new partnership with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC).

... Recently, they described efforts to defend traditional marriage as an attempt to "write discrimination into the Constitution..."

The NGLCC also advocated attaching a pro-homosexual "hate crimes" amendment to legislation intended to protect children from violent sex offenders. Their advocacy delayed the legislation for several months.

What demographic is Wal*Mart pursuing? What new market segment? Do the boys in Bentonville really think boy-toys from the Tenderloin will truck to Sam's for the two-gallon jar of pickles?

"Dee Breazeale, vice president of divisional merchandise for SAM'S CLUB Jewelry will serve on the organization's [National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce] Corporate Advisory Council," reports 247gay.com.

As if. As if any homosexual would buy jewelry from Sam's.

Goodness, even I wouldn't buy the jewelry from SAM'S.

Oh no, I do have something in common with gay men!

Was this helpful? Do comment.
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Thank you (foot)notes:

Full Disclosure: Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D., is the Vice President of Communications at The Family Research Council and is the wife of Your Business Blogger. And I have a mail box on "K Street" in Washington, DC.

A Lady's Ruminations has more: Sickening news.

The Bleechers has the Christmas story.

Starling Hunter, Ph.D. has all the news on Wal*Mart.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 3:09 PM | Permalink
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United Nations
Korean War Medal The United States hasn't gotten our money's worth from our dues to the UN. But my dad did get a nifty UN medal. He got some others with a "V" device. But US troops are still in Korea.

The UN continues its poor track record. A few years ago Charmaine wrote an article detailing how the UN thinks and presents global legislation. None of it good for the US of A.

And the UN has improved little since then.

Beware of big sister: Charmaine Yoest exposes a troubling treaty with a teflon title. Get ready for more shenanigans at the UN

AN OBSCURE TRIBUNAL known as The Committee has urged China and Mexico to decriminalize prostitution, chided the tiny nation of Belarus for reintroducing Mother's Day--the holiday promotes a "sexual stereotype"--prodded the U.K. to begin sex education in primary school, and informed the Irish that "the time had come" to revise their restrictive abortion law.

Although The Committee can express displeasure with any U.S. policy that strikes its fancy; it currently has little impact in this country. But that may soon change. Its mission is to assess the status of women in countries that have ratified the UN's Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, known as CEDAW Iraq, Cuba, and other global model citizens have ratified the convention, but the United States hasn't--at least not yet.

Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Joseph Biden (D-DE), member and chairman respectively of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, are trying to change this. They have held hearings aimed at ratifying the convention. Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the UN, described CEDAW as a "key pillar of international human rights law," which stands as a milestone" in the quest to define "the universal norms of gender equality." The United States is the only western industrialized democracy that has nor ratified....

Continue reading at the jump.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D. blogs at Reasoned Audacity and FRCBlog.

The article first appeared in the Women's Quarterly, Autumn, 2002.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 12:10 PM | Permalink
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Your Business Blogger
with back office hardware
Bangalore, India In India it's called "Speed Money." In Mexico it's call "Facilitation." In China it's called a "Relationship."

In the US of A, it's called a "Bribe."

Except in Washington, DC, where it's called "Love."

Frank Robinson, an Inspector for the Washington, DC Department of Transportation was caught on tape asking for love; asking for a bribe. According to The Washington Times, May 25, 2006:

Mr. Robinson: You want your permit right away, right?

Contractor: D*mn right I want my permit.

Mr. Robinson: You need to love me, baby, you need to love me. I did my part; you didn't get no fines or anything.

Contractor: Give me a price. I got to talk to my people about money. Tell me how much.

Mr. Robinson: What you think man? If you had somebody ...watch something so you didn't get a $2,500 ticket?

Contractor: Frank, I need a price.

Mr. Robinson: Give me $500.

Sounds much like doing business in a Third World Nation. Or maybe it is. As Washington, DC has often been compared.

Your Business Blogger once had a boss in the medical device business working the Washington, DC hospitals. He advised me on how to deliver "the gratuity" which was usually in a brown paper bag, to the key influencers and decision makers. My boss was a pro. He directed me to give the goods only after the contract was signed as a "reward." Rather than before the signed order.

The "thank you" was a box of donuts.

A difference of degree from $100K Congressman Jefferson received as a "gratuity" I suppose.

As Your Business Blogger consults with international clients, particular attention is paid to the difference between a gratuity and a gratuity.

And I would lecture smugly on the superiority of God-fearing English-speaking Capitalists (that'd be us) ruling the world.

(Test: Find something in your house made in China Syria.)

People always ask, "What is the main difference in business between USA and [country X]?

The short answer is that North America has trust as then central tenet of business. The Puritan Work Ethic. I would advise, discreetly, that Americans expect an honest deal. The rest of the world expects to get screwed.

Nobel laureate Milton Friedman spoke to this. He said that a cultural prerequisite of making money is the holding of truthfulness as a common virtue.

When you can trust a merchant's word, says Friedman, "it cut[s] down transaction costs."

The North American flavor of capitalism makes the most money and leaves the best taste. Even with an occasional rotten apple in Your Nation's Capital.

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Posted at 1:04 PM | Permalink
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It is good to have health
and strength
...number one...
a strong country
It is good to support
your country... Your Business Blogger was touring a large Chinese university. (Goodness, every Chinese university is large.)

Anyway, I was interested to see China's interest in American marketing. American ideals. American riches. The American source of riches:

Wal*Mart
Narnia
Corvettes
The United States of America Internal Revenue Service.

...Strength through taxes
IRS Form 1040 signs
at a university
in the Middle KingdomThe IRS. China uses the IRS Form 1040 as ...inspiration.

For Heaven's sake.

China's leadership looks to the American model of tax collection as the enlightened path to good government funding.

China looks in amazement at the American population compliance to the tax code. Population control. Clean compliance.

Without revolution.

But this is depressing. I wish Americans were more revolting.

On taxes.

Happy Tax Day.

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Thank you (foot)notes:

China doesn't need to look half around the world for a taxing template. Hong Kong would be a terrific start: a 15% flat tax. And no capital gains tax. Steve Forbes would be pleased if the USofA were more like this part of China. Compliance is easy when the cost of tax payment is less than the opportunity costs of tax evasion.

See AllFinancialMatters.

Visit Simon World for reasons to move to China.

Few have traveled to China as much as Director Mitch at The Window Manager.

Blogroll Virtual Handshake for references.

More at the jump.

Jeff Cornwall has a great graphic. Go visit.

Visit the Tax Carnival at Don't Mess Wtih Taxes.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 8:53 AM | Permalink
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Chinese Snacks in Chengdu Your Business Blogger was looking for a bit to eat. Maybe some local flavor. In Chengdu, in the middle of China.

A traditional snack. I dropped into a small grocer and loaded up. Pringles, Oreos, washed down with a Coke. And Cheetos chaser.

Then I noticed something. As I looked down into my feed bag, I saw international brand names.

(Nothing escapes Your Business Blogger.)

Peter Drucker said that innovation and marketing were the only competitive advantages the USA needed.

The raw ingredients in Coke and Cheetos are commodities. Available anywhere. Cheap.

The real added value is in the marketing. From America.

Pepsi ad at The Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Wyeth formula ad in the Beijing subway

Starbucks at Beijing Airport

Coke bench ad in Chengdu, China

Narnia sidewalk poster, Chengdu Narnia? In the Middle Kingdom?

Narnia at a theater near you, Chongqing, China American marketing on the move.

Aslan's on the move.

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Thank you (foot)notes:

Interested in Narnia? If you are near Glen Burnie, Maryland, be sure to come to the C S Lewis lecture Thursday nite.

More pics at The Travel Bug

See Snacking Across China.

Visit Basil's Blog for his pick of good posts.

Posted at 11:00 AM | Permalink
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Internet Cafe in Chongqing, ChinaYour Business Blogger just bought The Big Blogger, Glenn Reynolds' new book An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths.

The Instapundit thesis is not, I think, limited to the US of A.

Technology; people; institutions face the same challenges the world over. Your Business Blogger has become, gasp! a globalist.

An Army of Davids

When working in China I was reminded of another army -- an army of blue ants. Twenty years ago, foreign visitors noted, not unkindly, the ubiquitous blue Mao suits. A hard-working populous; one mind; one suit.

Fashion has changed in China.

Colors, style, trend. Pushed by teenagers and embraced by all.

And the teens are pushing, as they do the world over, in other directions.

Your Business Blogger visited an internet cafe on my last China trip. Etiquette hint: Don't ask for the non-smoking terminals. A non-smoking section? Heh, as Reynolds would write. The whole country is, well, Marlboro country.

Directions to the cafe were complicated. It was hidden in a dimly lit smokey warehouse accessible thru a back alley -- safety was never a concern -- workstations as far as the eye could see. 100's of them. An hour on a keyboard sets a hacker back one yuan. 12.5 cents.

The arena was filled with 20-somethings all gone gaming. Smoking and practicing English.

The kids looked like they were there for days. I was there a few hours myself.

And not a Mao suit in sight.

What's the matter with kids these days? Beijing is wondering.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that China is attempting to limit the Web's influence on young people.

Goodness. Attempting to limit access to the web! Big Brother stopping freedom! Big Government controlling all behavior!

Except.

Except Beijing wants to limit kids under 18 to five hours -- five hours of on-line gaming each day.

Maybe that's not such a bad law after all.

Now if China could keep the kids from smoking...

Like our Government does.

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Thank you (foot)notes:

More on Mao suits at the jump.

Dana Blankenhorn has his limits. An excellent review.

Tim Wu, from the Columbia Law School has a white paper at The World Trade Law of Internet Filtering.

For the best in business in China, visit David Daniels at Global Market Development and Internet Adoption in China.

Median Sib has excellent review of Davids.

Don Surber has best of Thursday Posts. Bookmark him.

Mudville Gazette has Open Post.

See Feld's Thoughts on A Different View on China.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 1:51 PM | Permalink
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Ronald and Jack pledge global unity
at a shopping mall in Shanghai.

Many pundits forecast war with China within two decades.

I would forecast lunch.

The I'm Lovin' It ad McDonald's popular ad campaign is well known across America. The boys in Hamburger University near Chicago came up with a brilliant branding tag line winner that is well recognized. And well received around the world.

Yep, nothing beats good ol' Yankee innovation and marketing. American know-how.

Ni Hoa?

Hello...

The ad was created in Shanghai, China.

We have more in common than we realize: making friends; making (Star)bucks.

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Thank you (foot)notes:

There are more than 700 McDonald's in China with over 50,000 staff. See more at the jump.

From the China Daily

China's creative history goes back centuries. The world's first print ad for Liujia Zhenpu (Liu's Needle Workshop) in Jinan City, Shandong Province dates back to the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127).

This predates the first European advertisement, a British Bible poster from 1473, by more than 300 years.

Visit Basil's Blog for the best blogs.

Don Surber has best of Saturday and is looking for a job at the Washington Post.

Mudville Gazette has Open Post.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 8:42 PM | Permalink
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"It's all fake," said the young man who lived in town.

We were looking at acres of a bazaar, that was, well, bazaar bizarre. Rolex, North Face, Mont Blanc, DVDs as far as the eye could see.

None of it was real.

There was a 'new' word that swept thru elite American campuses a few years ago: Authentic. Professors liked the word because it had three syllables instead of the single syllable 'real.'

Inauthentic for the academy was even better -- it has four syllables instead of single syllable 'fake.'

So.

In this (new) age of exploring our feelings, few ask any questions about the emotion of fake goods; stolen brand names.

How does the fake North Face make you feel?

Your Business Blogger owns a real Armani suit, purchased some time ago from a reputable establishment. (Yes, only one.) Every time I slip the coat on, I stand a bit taller.

Tragically, few people have ever recognized or identified the brand name suit on its smug owner. No one knows it's an Armani.

But I do.

And that is the difference. The suit is real. The emotion is real. Ergo I am real.

The feeling is authentic.

Not everyone is as shallow as Yours Truly. A fake brand, a fake suit would make me feel like... a fake.

And feelings are the only things that count.

Full Disclosure: Your Business Blogger did a little shopping in East Asia. And bought a North Face duffle bag to haul all the loot home. I was assured that it was real. A sign, in English!, said so.

The Carnival of the Capitalists is up at CaseySoftware.

Posted at 6:25 PM | Permalink
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Milton Friedman
Trusting TransactionsThe biggest challenge my American female clients have is learning effective negotiations.

They should spend a month in East Asia.

Most retail shoppes in that part of the world are modest mom and pop store fronts. Where evey price is negotiated.

Designed to extract the last yuan in consumer surplus.

Shopping in this environment is exhausting for Your (western) Business Blogger. Different cultures. But when in Rome...

So I ask one of my local clients his opinion on the custom of haggling over everything. Everything.

I thought he would wax nostalgic on the old style interaction of true competition: buyer vs seller. The best pricing equalibrium of quantity demanded with quantity supplied. A romantic Asian metaphysical transcendence of commerce.

Did he like the East Asian pure sales process...?

He hated it.

(Your Business Blogger can be such a dope.)

He said:

Everytime you buy something it takes so long to reach an agreement...it takes too much research for little items

Another local said the non-stop haggling was "draining."

So why does this system continue?

Lack of trust. It is all buyer beware in Mandarin.

There is no trust in a fair offer. And,
There is every expectation to be cheated.

Nobel laureate Milton Friedman spoke to this. He said that a cultural prerequisite of making money is the holding of truthfulness as a common virtue.

When you can trust a merchant's word, says Friedman, "it cut[s] down transaction costs."

Without adherence to common moral principles we must substitute external controls to govern business behavior; efficiency demands a framework of standards and accountability.

But there are modifications a-coming. Large retail shops in new malls have established set price policies.

Large international retailers coming to East Asia, such as Wal*Mart, have set prices. And they are reintroducing old traditions from the world over.

There is an ancient Jewish tradition of the prohibiting of "differing weights" for commodities. Established known weights would be used with a fair scale to measure items, grain to gold. A dishonest merchant would use a lighter or heavier weight to tip the scales for unjust enrichment.

Different prices for different people. Which is frightfully inefficient.

East Asia loves speed. Loves making money. Loves making money fast.

To get rich is glorious.

East Asia will tolerant no wasted motion.

So.

Honesty is not only the best policy. East Asia is a bit more pragmatic. And a bit more demanding:
Honesty and trust make for good business.

Posted at 6:34 PM | Permalink
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Read the above-the-fold headline story. And to get this growth the government wants to:

...raise personal income by scrapping [some] taxes.

Is this another evil plot hatched by George Bush and Karl Rove?

Cooked up by the the Rascally Republicans wanting to reduce taxes?

Nope.

The headline is not from capitalists in the good ol' US of A.

The headline is from the communists in East Asia.

The communists.

Goodness.

Jiao Xiao Yang has the byline in China Daily on 16 March. The government's leadership would not be happy with the mere 12% GDP eye-popping growth.

It is not enough that 50% of the world's concrete is poured in China. Or that 40% of the world's steel is consumed in China.

To get even more growth, the communists want to cut taxes.

Something the communists in our own Congress won't do.

Let us put the Democrats on a slow boat to, well, China.

Thankyou (foot)notes:

The US economy needs 3% growth to keep even with population growth. China needs only 0.6% growth to keep even and maintain existing standards of living.

Posted at 4:01 AM | Permalink
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The Sons of Thunder...is a common prayer in East Asia. Done with incense by devout and cultural Bhuddahists.

Your Business Blogger was a bit curious about this superstitous nature when visiting an ancient temple.

Until.

Until, I remembered a nifty BMW advertisement a few decades ago:

Every man should plant a tree, raise a son and drive a 12 cylinder car

What may be superstition 4,000 years ago,

Is called marketing today.

Full Disclosure: Totally unrelated to the BMW advertisement, Your Business Blogger has planted a tree, is raising the sons of thunder, but has never owned a 12 cylinder car. Unless a 1957 Chevy counts.

Posted at 7:21 PM | Permalink
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The biggest complaint among US school teachers is that parents are not actively involved in the training of morals of children.

In contrast, parents in East Asia are not expected, indeed do not see themselves adequate to teach moral development. In East Asia moral training is seen as the job of the child's teacher.

The Confucious model. Teachers are revered as being more enlightened. Teachers are seen to be closer to the divine. Closer to god.

Little wonder elite USA university professors love the overseas system of hierarchy.

In East Asia, parents put the government between the parent and child.

In USA, the teachers put the teachers' union between the parent and child.

In East Asia, parents think teachers are gods.

In USA, teachers think teachers are gods.

Posted at 7:37 PM | Permalink
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Yesterday, Your Business Blogger was on a major university campus in East Asia watching students play basketball outdoors. Acres of concrete courts. A football-sized outside arena with dozens and dozens of hoops.

The play is not quite like the intramural competition in USA. On this side of the world the students don't play defense. Just shooting.

So I ask my host about this -- offense only, no defense.

I'm expecting a deep relevelation of cultural differences. A difference in innovation or strategies or team play or ego or losing face. Maybe something about DNA differences?

Nope.

The answer?

American TV.

These students watch ESPN. They learned to play basketball watching America's NBA.

Where you will never see any defensive play.

The basketball style of play will probably change when college ball is broadcast into East Asia.

So. The world is watching the USA. And picking up some bad habits, in addition to watching Spong Bob Square Pants.

Posted at 7:38 PM | Permalink
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...in the same sentence? Your Business Blogger is a-travelling in East Asia.

So I'm on a subway and studying local people.

And notice a two year-old little boy held safely by his mum and dad. I smile: The little guy has a US Army patch on his shoulder. As a brand name decoration.

And back in my hotel room, Spong Bob is on. In English.

It's just like being home.

Posted at 7:14 PM | Permalink
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Jack left Friday morning for East Asia -- I just heard from him that he was safe. . . . and could I please put a post up for him? Um. Hm. Such is the life of a blogger-wife.

For security reasons he was not able to take any electronic devices, but he has managed to locate a way to send email, so we should soon be able to get more reports from him.

Tonight he'll be giving a speech to a group of physicians on health care management.

Do check back in! I'll keep you posted.

Posted at 9:04 PM | Permalink
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Questions or Comments? Please click on comments and leave your questions. Jack will answer and publish as soon as possible.

Posted at 8:42 PM | Permalink
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GoogleIn Chinese there is no word for "privacy."

Google's business practices in China are under question. In having a different product for different counties. I am not so sure Google is departing from a sound business theory. I think Google's strategy deserves a case study. On doing business in different cultures.

Yoest, Faisal Alam in
New Delhi, IndiaYour Business Blogger was in India working with North American and Indian managers. Having thrown off our British rulers, we still shared a common English language.

But cultural communication was another matter.

American managers were frustrated that Indian executives and staff were not always truthful.

Or so it seemed.

If a supervisor (of any nationality) would ask an Indian subordinate a closed question such as "Does the report include the budget from Bangalore?" The Indian subordinate reply always would be 'yes.' Even if the answer was 'no.' Accompanied by a side-to-side movement of the head -- which corresponds to the up and down affirmative head nod in America.

Was the Indian employee lying to his superior?

It depends on cultural perspective.

(Yes, yes I know -- Alert Readers know well that Your Business Blogger subscribes to Timeless Truth: Truth is not relative.)

But the Indian culture is one of deference and respect for authority. It is not within the languages or culture to say "no" to the boss. Immediate compliance -- obedience -- is something every boss, in every culture really wants -- but American's seldom openly admit.

The culture is different. Where change to USA standards should not be forced.

Supervisors working with Indian subordinates should only ask open ended questions. A question allowing something other than 'yes' or 'no.' "Show me the line item for employee taxi expenses for Bangalore."

The USA manager should understand also that the Indian manager will seldom say 'please' or 'thank you' to a subordinate.

Additional questions are time consuming. But necessary to do business across cultures. And to respect differences in culture and tradition.

I think we should ask more questions. And take the first step.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." says China's Confucius.

A single step from a single person. Countries don't do business. People do business.

President Nixon meets with
China's Community Party Leader,
Mao Tse-Tung on
February 29, 1972

Nixon went to China. Google went to China.

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Thank you (foot)notes:

In Chinese, in The Common Language (Mandarin) there are no words for "private" or "privacy" as we understand in English.