Don’t Feed The Gun Prohibitionists

The following companies and/or their decision makers have instituted anti-firearm corporate policy:

20/20 VisionCheryl PlankCEO
A&M RecordsHerb Alpert   CEO
AlleyCorpKevin RyanFounder and CEO
Alphabet, Inc.Sundar PichaiCEO
Amalgamated BankKeith MestrichPresident and CEO
AmbitionTravisTruettCo-Founder and CEO
AMC TheatresAdam AronCEO
AOL / Time WarnerJason KilarCEO
Ariel Investments LLCJohn W. Rogers, Jr.CEO
ArtsyMike SteibCEO
Ascend.ioSean KnappCo-Founder and CEO
AspirationAndrei ChernyCo-Founder and CEO
AT&TRandal StephensonCEO
AuraAbdur ChowdhuryCEO
AutoZoneWilliam RhodesCEO
BackpackFahim AzizFounder and CEO
Bad RobotFahim AzizFounder and CEO
Bain CapitalJohn ConnaughtonCo-Managing Partner / Co-Chairman
Bank of AmericaBrian MoynihanCEO
BeeswaxAriPaparoCEO
BeginRyan BlockCo-Founder
BetaworksJohn BorthwickFounder and CEO
Beyond MeatEthan BrownCo-Founder and CEO
Bloomberg LPPeter GrauerChairman
BonuslyRaphael Crawford-MarksCo-Founder and CEO
BratDarren LachtmanCo-Founder
Brookfield PropertyRic ClarkChairman
BrudTrevor McFedriesCEO
BumbleWhitney HerdCEO
Burger KingDaniel SchwartzCEO
CamblySameer ShariffCo-Founder
Catch & ReleaseAnalisa GoodinFounder and CEO
Cerebras SystemsAndrew FeldmanFounder and CEO
ChipotleBrian NiccolCEO
Circle MedicalGeorge FavvasCEO
ClassPassFritz LanmanCEO
ClearbitAlex MacCawCEO
CleverTyler BosmenyCEO
ClockwiseMatt MartinCo-Founder and CEO
CNNJeff ZuckerCEO
Color GenomicsOthman LarakiCo-Founder and CEO
ComcastBrian RobertsCEO
Conde NastRoger LynchCEO
CostcoCraig JelinekCEO
Credit KarmaKen LinFounder and CEO
CrunchbaseJager McConnellCEO
CuralateApu GuptaCo-Founder and CEO
CurtsyDavid OatesCo-Founder and CEO
DannonJuan DaltoCEO
Delta AirlinesEd BastianCEO
DICK’S Sporting GoodsEdward StackCEO
Disney CompanyBob ChapekCEO
DoorDashTony XuCo-Founder and CEO
Doxel, Inc.Saurabh LadhaCEO
EbayJamie IannoneCEO
EcolabDoug BakerChairman and CEO
EdelmanRichard EdelmanPresident and CEO
Elektra LabsAndy CoravosCo-Founder and CEO
Emerson CollectiveLaurene Powell JobsPresident
EnterpriseChrissy TaylorCEO
EventbriteJulia HartzCo-Founder and CEO
FarmsteadPradeep ElankumaranCo-Founder & CEO
Full PictureDesiree GruberCEO
FunderaJared HechtFounder and CEO
Gap Inc.Art PeckCEO
Gateway ComputersJames ColemanCEO
GELawrence CulpCEO
GEICOTodd CombsCEO
Goat GroupEddy LuCEO
GoldenJude GomilaFounder and CEO
Graphic PackagingMichael DossCEO
Group Nine MediaBen LererCo-Founder & CEO
GucciMarco BizzarriCEO
GuruRick NucciCo-Founder & CEO
Hallmark CardsMike PerryCEO
Hard Rock CafeJames AllenCEO
Havas GroupYannick BolloreCEO
HBORichard PleplerCEO
Hint, Inc.Kara GoldinFounder and CEO
HipDotJeff SellingerCo-Founder and CEO
HookedPrerna GuptaCEO
Horizon MediaBill KoenigsbergPresident CEO and Founder
HumbitionCyrus MassoumiManaging Partner
Impossible FoodsPatrick BrownMD, PhD, Founder and CEO
InterpublicMichael RothChairman and CEO
IntuitSasan GoodzariCEO
JOORKristin SaviliaCEO
Jumbo PrivacyPierre ValadeCEO
Kabbage Inc.Rob FrohweinCo-Founder and CEO
KadenaWilliam MartinoFounder and CEO
KangaJake Perlman-GarrCEO
KnowableWarren ShaefferCo-Founder and CEO
LatticeJack AltmanCEO
Levi Strauss & Co.Chip BerghPresident and CEO
Lucent TechnologiesPatricia RussoCEO
LyftLogan GreenCo-Founder and CEO
MetaProp.vcAaron BlockCo-Founder and Managing Director
MetLifeMichael KhalafCEO
MicrosoftSatya NadellaCEO
Modern FertilityAfton VecheryCo-Founder and CEO
MongoDB Inc.Dev IttycheriaPresident and CEO
MSNBCPhil GriffinCEO
MTVChris McCartheyCEO
NavientJohn RemonidCEO
NBC UniversalJeff ShellCEO
NCR Corp.Michael HayfordCEO
NeighborlandDan ParhamFounder and CEO
NewsCredShafqat IslamCEO
NextdoorSarah FriarCEO
NowThisAthan StephanopoulosPresident
NurxVarsha RaoCEO
Oaktree CapitalHoward MarksCo-Chairman
Oberndorf EnterprisesWilliam E. OberndorfChairman
OceansSteven RosenblattCo-Founder and General Partner
OfferUpNick HuzarCo-Founder and CEO
OktaTodd McKinnonCo-Founder and CEO
Omnicom GroupJohn WrenChairman and CEO
OpenpathJames SegilCo-Founder and President
Panera BreadNiren ChaudharyCEO
ParabolJordan HusneyCEO
ParavisionDoug AleyCEO
PaypalDavid SchulmanCEO
PinterestBen SilbermannCo-Founder and CEO
Plato DesignJohn MilinovichCEO
PostmatesBastian LehmannCo-Founder & CEO
PrestoRajat SuriCEO
PrimaChristopher GaviganFounder and CEO
Progressive InsuranceTricia GriffithCEO
PrologisHamid MoghadamChairman and CEO
Publicis GroupeArthur SadounChairman and CEO
QuartzyAdam RegelmannFounder and COO
RedditSteve HuffmanCEO
Ribbon HealthNate MaslakCo-Founder and CEO
RoZachariah ReitanoCo-Founder and CEO
RoofstockGary BeasleyCo-Founder and CEO
Royal Caribbean CruisesRichard FainCEO
RXR RealtyScott RechlerChairman and CEO
Sara LeeJohn BryanCEO
SelfMadeBrian SchechterCEO
Shoptiques Inc.Olga VidishevaFounder and CEO
Showtime Cable NetworkDavid NevinsCEO
Shutterstock Inc.Jon OringerFounder and CEO
Sidewalk LabsDan DoctoroffCEO
SiftJason TanCEO
SkillshareMatt CooperCEO
SkySafeGrant JordanCEO
Small DoorJosh GuttmanCo-Founder and CEO
SmartAssetMichael CarvinCo-Founder and CEO
Snapdocs, Inc.Aaron KingFounder and CEO
Solve.ioNeil CapelCEO
SonicJ. Clifford HudsonCEO
Southwestern BellMark KeifferCEO
SplashBen HindmanCo-Founder and CEO
Square and TwitterJack DorseyCEO
SquarespaceAnthony CasalenaFounder and CEO
Standard BotsEvan BeardFounder and CEO
SubwayTrevor HaynesCEO
Sundia CorporationBradford OberwagerCEO
Sunlight HealthRoss FeinsteinCEO
SuperplasticPaul BudnitzCEO
SurveyMonkeyZander LurieCEO
SV AngelRon ConwayFounder
SymantecVincent PiletteCEO
ThirdLoveHeidi ZakCo-Founder and Co-CEO
Thisopenspace inc.Ashar NejatiCEO
Thrive CapitalJoshua KushnerFounder and Managing Partner
Thrive GlobalArianna HuffingtonFounder and CEO
ThunderCore Inc.Chris WangCEO
TillableCorbett KullCEO
TinderSean RadCEO
TOMSBlake MycoskieFounder and CEO
TwilioJeff LawsonCo-Founder and CEO
UberDara KhosrowshahiCEO
Uniform TeethMeghan JewittCEO
Viosera TherapeuticsNicholas GoldnerCo-Founder and CEO
Virtual KitchenKen ChongCEO
VoxerIrv RemediosCEO
VoyageOliver CameronCo-Founder and CEO
WatsiChase AdamCo-Founder and CEO
WayUpLiz WesselCo-Founder and CEO
WhalarNeil WallerCEO
WizelineBismarck LepeCEO
WPPMark ReadCEO
X.ai, inc.Dennis MortensenFounder and CEO
Y CombinatorGeoff RalstonPresident
YelpJeremy StoppelmanCo-Founder and CEO
Yum BrandsGreg CreedCEO
ZolaShan-Lyn MaCo-Founder and CEO

Why would anyone with a mirror associate with (or support) Augusta National Golf Club?

This week golf celebrates the first of it’s four “majors.”  The Masters tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia is on the PGA schedule every year during the first full weekend in April.  It was first played in 1934.  The course, and by extension the club, will be fawned over and spoken about in reverent tones on CBS.

But shouldn’t we be repulsed by the past discrimination which was as natural to it’s membership as the famous magnolias and pine straw.  By all accounts the environment has not really changed very much.  The story is not pretty.

Augusta kept black golfers out of the Masters tournament for 40 years. Lee Elder was able to play in the 1975 Masters not because he was invited.  It was only because he won a PGA tournament (1974 Monsanto Open) which granted automatic qualification to the Masters that he gained entrance.

But it would be another 16 years before a black man would be invited for club membership.

Augusta did not admit its first African-American member until 1990, at a time when controversy was erupting over Shoal Creek, an all-white Alabama club where the PGA Championship took place only after it admitted its first black member.

While limiting membership to white males for so long it also required all caddies to be black.

“As long as I’m alive,” said Clifford Roberts, one of the club’s founders in 1933 and a longtime Masters chairman, “all the golfers will be white and all the caddies will be black.”

No women were admitted to Augusta as members until 2012.  In August of that year, it admitted its first two female members,Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore.

The reality is clear:  Augusta had to be dragged kicking and screaming into changing their membership criteria.  And it is still barely acceptable.

In my opinion the club should be able to admit (and not admit) whomever they want.  They are a private club and should control their membership requirements.   If it were up to me I would overturn the “public accommodation” findings in the 1964 Civil Rights Act and other state provisions.  In a truly free society a business owner should be allowed to decide with whom he trades.  But the other side of that right is the freedom of potential customers to take their business elsewhere.

Few are the private golfers who would turn down an opportunity to play Augusta.   Many are willing to overlook past transgressions, and current practices, for a chance to experience Amen Corner, et al.

But shouldn’t you ask yourself whether you would patronize a restaurant or other private business which was so discriminatory?

Let them control who they allow in.  I will control who I patronize.

Sinclair freak out

Lefties heads are exploding over a statement which was read on air by many news anchors at Sinclair Broadcast Group owned television stations.  The blogosphere and sites run by the usual liberal suspects are outraged.  Here is a typical headline:

CNY Central, other Sinclair TV stations caught reading same right-wing script

That is from syracuse.com which one would expect to be a straight shooting news source.  But why the visceral reaction?

Here is the actual script which was personalized by each station inserting appropriate names and call letters.

 

Hi, I’m [name] with [station]. Our greatest responsibility is to serve our communities. I am extremely proud of the quality, balanced journalism that [station] produces, but I’m concerned about the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country.

The sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media. More alarming, some media outlets publish these same fake stories without checking facts first. Unfortunately, some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control exactly what people think. This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.

At [station], it is our responsibility to report and pursue the truth. We understand the truth is neither politically left nor right. Our commitment to factual reporting is the foundation of our credibility now more than ever. But we are human, and sometimes our reporting might fall short. If you believe our coverage is unfair, please reach out through our [station] website by clicking on “Content Concerns.” We value your comments and we will respond back to you.

We work very hard to seek the truth and strive to be fair, balanced, and factual. We consider it our honor and privilege to responsibly deliver the news every day. Thank you for watching, and we appreciate your feedback.

Not sure what is “right wing” about committing to pursue and report truth.  You have to wonder if any of the people freaking out about this actually read the statement.  Or did they just see a leftie criticism and decide to use the statement as their own “fake news.”

The Hazards Of Doing “Something”

Parkland HS students returning to school after spring break were not happy with some of the safety improvements, including a change to only allow backpacks if they are clear.

Students are learning what happens when strangers show up and say “We’re from the government and we’re here to help you.”  They end up pushing for post-shooting “solutions” such as low capacity magazines, waiting periods,  or stronger background checks, none of which would have prevented this heinous shooting.

Right, like an “assault weapons” ban.

H.L Mencken said that people might be sorry if they got what they wanted, Democracy, “good and hard.”

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.

 

Gowdy votes for $1.3 trillion budget, wants to question Zinke on “expensive” door

I love Trey Gowdy (R-SC) and was sad when he announced that he would not run for reelection.

But the irony of him voting for the disgusting omnibus bill while calling out Interior Secretary Zinke for “overspending” on an office door is too much.

Reuters says:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Republican head of a government oversight panel in Congress asked U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke this week to provide details on a contract to replace doors in his office that initially ran to $139,000, one of several inquiries by lawmakers of spending by Trump administration officials.

In a letter dated March 22 and seen by Reuters, U.S. House of Representatives oversight committee chairman Trey Gowdy asked Zinke to brief him on the need to replace the doors and provide details on the acquisition process, bidding and receipts.

Those following the recent budget process will note that Gowdy voted FOR HR1625, the “Omnibus” spending bill loaded with pork, which will add trillions to the national debt.

 

Citi preempts your constitutional rights

Citi has placed several conditions on new clients/partners

Announcing Our U.S. Commercial Firearms Policy

Under this new policy, we will require new retail sector clients or partners to adhere to these best practices: (1) they don’t sell firearms to someone who hasn’t passed a background check, (2) they restrict the sale of firearms for individuals under 21 years of age, and (3) they don’t sell bump stocks or high-capacity magazines.

1 – In many states a private  seller does not have the ability to do a NICS background check

2 – How does Citi decide that a state which allows 18 -21 year old citizens is a problem?

3 – What is a “high-capacity magazine?”  5,6,7,10,30?

They are telling 2A proponents that they don’t want your business.  Act accordingly and take your business elsewhere.  That’s what I am doing.  I’ve already opened a new CC account with a friendly company.

There Ought To Be A Law…..

…..or maybe not.

In today’s world it seems that every good idea needs to be codified, legislated, and forced on everyone.

J.D. Tuccille thinks otherwise

Because people are forever looking to the law as the solution to the ills they perceive in the world around them—often only to spackle over the failures of the previous round of laws. In the process, they’re forever forgetting that laws are usually nothing more than codified prejudices, imposed against resistant populations, by sometimes incompetent and often corrupt enforcers.

Read the whole thing.