Free Republic

China's Dalian Wanda Group and AMC Entertainment announced Monday a $2.6 billion deal to take over the U.S. theater group, forming the world's largest cinema chain, according to a new release on the deal. The move is the latest in a raft of deals between U.S. entertainment companies and Chinese firms, linking the world's largest theater market with the world's fastest growing. "This acquisition will help make Wanda a truly global cinema owner, with theatres and technology that enhance the movie-going experience for audiences in the world's two largest movie markets," said Wang Jianlin, chairman and president of Wanda.

AMC Theaters Purchased By Chinese Conglomerate Posted: May 21, 2012 AMC Theaters Bought By China CompanyU.S. owned AMC Theaters is being sold to Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group Co. for $2.6 billion, marking the largest China takeover of an American company to date. According to the Dalian Wanda Group the purchase will place them directly in charge of the world’s biggest movie theater operation. Based in Beijing the group says it will immediately invest $500 million to help expand AMC’s development, creating a much bigger machine. According to Wanda chairman Wang Jinlin: “We support AMC becoming bigger, not only in...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- J.C. Penney gave investors two reasons to ditch the stock: the retailer said Tuesday that it is suspending its dividend and that sales are dropping dramatically. The budget-conscious chain said same-store sales dropped roughly 19% in the first quarter of 2012.

Activist investor Ralph Whitworth says his firm has taken a $600 million stake in PepsiCo Inc., a move that could ramp up pressure on the company to make changes.

On his show Wednesday, radio host Rush Limbaugh denied he was hemorrhaging advertisers over the Sandra Fluke incident as has been widely reported. “People are reporting things that, A, are not true, and B, I don’t even think the people reporting it have the slightest idea what they’re talking about, nor do they have the ability to understand it,” Limbaugh fumed and shared that his own brother had asked him if he was bleeding sponsors. “No, we have not lost 28 sponsors! ‘Well, how can they say it?’ Because they lie and because they don’t understand how it works, and...

LARGO, FL, March 5, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Pepsi Company, which is set to release the new product Pepsi Next in the coming weeks, is facing a more robust boycott as pro-life activists protest the company use of cells derived from an aborted fetus in flavor-enhancing research. But Pepsi has succeeded, with help from the Obama Administration, in keeping its controversial operations from consideration by its shareholders. In a decision delivered Feb 28th, President ObamaÂ’s Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruled that PepsiCoÂ’s use of cells derived from aborted fetal remains in their research and development agreement with Senomyx to...

Alaska Airlines, America's seventh-largest carrier in terms of passenger traffic, said on Wednesday that it would end a decades-old tradition of handing out prayer cards with its in-flight meals. The prayer cards, which the Seattle-based airline began offering in the 1970s after an executive spotted them on another airline, were intended to serve as a marketing strategy and to put passengers at ease, a spokeswoman said. The airline sent an e-mail to its frequent flyers on Wednesday explaining the change, which takes effect February 1.

Janet Robinson, who will step down as chief executive of the New York Times Co on December 31, will receive an exit package in excess of $15 million, according to people familiar with the situation. In addition to a $4.5 million consulting fee, the Times Co will pay Robinson $10.9 million in pension benefits that she accrued over 28 years of service, they said. According to a regulatory filing, Times Co's policy previously stipulated that Robinson, 61, would not be eligible for full pension benefits until she was 63 and had been with the company for 30 years. But people...

A surprising piece of news was buried in an article this week. Friday, The Mercury News reported the three top executives at Google, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt, are offering to pay $33 million to finish the restoration of the historic airship hangar at Moffett Field. The giant structure, built in the 1930s and called Hangar One, sits a few miles from the Googleplex and it’s well known the Google executives have special permission from NASA to park their jets at Moffett.

WASHINGTON, November 22, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) — In a rare successful pushback against the pro-gay rights corporate culture, customers of Bank of America and the Cisco Corporation have won a promise from the two companies not to discriminate against employees or vendors who publicly oppose same-sex “marriage.” The National Organization for Marriage’s (NOM) Corporate Fairness Project announced Nov. 7 that both companies, which the leading gay rights group Human Rights Campaign had rated favorably, backtracked on a decision to cancel seminars by Frank Turek, who is a traditional marriage advocate. Frank Turek was 'fired' by both Cisco and Bank of America...

The CEO of Starbucks is urging fellow business leaders to join him in getting Washington’s attention by refusing to give money to political campaigns until there is a serious plan to rein in deficits. “I am asking that all of us forgo political contributions until the Congress and the president return to Washington and deliver a fiscally disciplined long-term debt and deficit plan to the American people,” Howard Schultz wrote Sunday in an email to business honchos obtained by POLITICO. Schultz called on CEOs and other corporate executives to “voice your perspective publicly,” and he has done the same in...

MSNBC Contributor Goldie Taylor Says Corporate America Is "Literally Raping" Minorities (VIDEO) Megan Angelo Jul. 27, 2011, 4:40 PM MSNBC contributor Goldie Taylor just made a very questionable word choice. When Martin Bashir asked her about the recession's "catastrophic" effect on minorities, this was her answer: "Catastrophic is right, you know. If you look at african-american and hispanic households, fully a third of them report zero wealth. Not even a dollar in positive wealth. A lot of that wealth was tied up in the homes that they spent more than 75% of their income either buying or maintaining, and so...

On Friday evening the Department of Health and Human Services posted on its website 221 newly approved waivers from various provisions of ObamaCare, and for some reason, chose to forego issuing a press release celebrating the occasion. That brings the total to 1,372 businesses and 7 entire states that have now received exemptions from the law, while the rest of America bears its full oppressive weight, as many plaintively plea: Where’s MY Waiver? The waiver fiasco presents a significant problem for ObamaCare’s supporters in that while many Americans are still largely unaware of many of its most burdensome provisions, as...

Score one for the Coca-Cola Company. Diet Coke unseated Pepsi as the second most popular carbonated soft drink in 2010, according to data from Beverage Digest. -snip- The switch marks a sea change in the industry. According to John Sicher, the editor and publisher of Beverage Digest, Pepsi has held the second position "for decades." Sicher attributed the decline in Pepsi's market share to its Pepsi Refresh Project marketing campaign, which is focused on community service.

Editor's Note: Lyle J. Rapacki, Ph.D. is a frequent contributor to RFFM.org. Rapacki is an independent intelligence analyst. The head of SENTINEL INTELLIGENCE SERVICES, LLC, Rapacki receives and disseminates critical intelligence and policy information from and to law enforcement, intelligence and homeland security officials, and government and community leaders; Rapacki is the author of dozens of white papers, bulletins and briefings, and he is frequently called on to share his expertise with public and private security directors and organizations. A History Lesson: How Elite Replaced Founding Fathers' Grand Vision Of A Republic With Corporate America by Lyle J. Rapacki, Ph.D....

Washington (CNN) - President Obama used his weekly internet and radio address to once again call for passage of legislation regarding political advertising. "[W]e cannot allow the corporate takeover of our democracy," Obama says in the address. "So we’re going to continue to fight for reform and transparency. And I urge all of you to take up the same fight. Let’s challenge every elected official who benefits from these ads to defend this practice or join us in stopping it."

All over the country, corporate CEOs and trade groups are asking their lawyers the same question: How can we get our companies involved in this political election season without leaving tracks? After a landmark Supreme Court ruling this year freed executives to spend unlimited corporate cash on campaigns, some predicted that businesses would flood television airwaves with pro-industry political ads -- but that just hasn't happened yet. Image-sensitive corporations are still trying to make sure that, if they jump into 2010 politicking, they do so as anonymously as possible, according to Republican political operatives and trade group leaders. Many corporate...

The list of attendees at President Barack Obama's dinner with CEOs was released Monday evening. Obama dined with members of the Business Council, a group of 150 chief executives of leading private-sector companies. The president was expected to make his pitch for financial regulatory reform legislation, as well as solicit advice on how to grow the economy. Guests convened at 6:45 p.m. in the State Dining Room, but a list of attendees was only released after the dinner began. Several participants have drawn attention during the Obama administration.

A handful of advertisers, such as Apple, have abandoned Fox altogether. Network executives say they believe they could charge higher rates if the host were more widely acceptable to advertisers.

<p>WashPost: Apple, others boycotting Fox News According to a Washington Post story by Howard Kurtz, about 200 advertisers have "joined a boycott" of Glenn Beck's program, with Apple abandoning Fox News altogether.</p> <p>More than 200 companies have joined a boycott of Beck's program, making it difficult for Fox to sell ads. The time has instead been sold to smaller firms offering such products as Kaopectate, Carbonite, 1-800-PetMeds and Goldline International. A handful of advertisers, such as Apple, have abandoned Fox altogether. Network executives say they believe they could charge higher rates if the host were more widely acceptable to advertisers...</p>

When the Congressional Black Caucus wanted to pay off the mortgage on its foundation’s stately 1930s redbrick headquarters on Embassy Row, it turned to a familiar roster of friends: corporate backers like Wal-Mart, AT&T, General Motors, Coca-Cola and Altria, the nation’s largest tobacco company. Soon enough, in 2008, a jazz band was playing at what amounted to a mortgage-burning party for the $4 million town house... From 2004 to 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus’s political and charitable wings took in at least $55 million in corporate and union contributions, according to an analysis by The New York Times, an impressive...

The Brady Campaign trying to drag Starbucks Coffee into the anti-open carry debate is, like the core mission of the gungrabbers, senseless, punitive of the innocent and fundamentally unfair. The coffee giant just wants to sell its wares, and is reluctant to alienate a large market segment simply because anti-rights bluenoses get all hissy when they see anyone pushing beyond social norms they deem acceptable. Here's a company that's not innocent--in fact, they are willful leading collaborators in the global citizen disarmament movement: "American icon," Levi Strauss. Some of us have been waving that denim flag for years--here's an early...

A lot of people have blamed short-term thinking for causing our current economic troubles, which has set off a debate about what time window we should use to assess a CEO’s performance. Today boards of directors, senior managers, and investors intensely want to know how CEOs handle the ups and downs of running businesses over an extended period. Many executive compensation plans define the “long term” as a three-year horizon, but the real test of a CEO’s leadership has to be how the company does over his or her full tenure. This article contains the first ranking that shows which...

PepsiCo shareholders' enthusiasm for CEO Indra Nooyi is beginning to fizzle. Amid a stock that has lagged archrival Coca-Cola's, and flagging beverage sales, a number of investors say Nooyi faces a significant test in 2010 to turn around the Purchase, NY, company's fortunes or get an earful from an increasingly impatient shareholder base.

<p>It certainly is a remarkable speech. Under Immelt’s eight years at the helm, General Electric has lost almost two-thirds of its value. Earlier this year, GE was on the verge of a total meltdown. So was GE’s “leadership” to blame?</p>

One lesson that Democrats learned from the failure of HillaryCare in 1994 is that they had to buy the silence, if not the outright support, of the business class. They've done this brilliantly by peddling the illusion that ObamaCare will "lower costs" for employers. But slowly as the legislative details become clear, it is dawning on executives of businesses large and small that reform is boiling down to a huge tax increase to finance a gigantic new entitlement. The cost and quality of care are afterthoughts that will both suffer, as a growing roll of medical experts have been writing...

AOL and Time Warner have finally called it quits. James Quinn looks at the souring of the dotcom match that appeared to have been made in mergers and acquisitions heaven It was an auspicious occasion, the business titans of the West standing shoulder to shoulder at the dawn of a new century. On the stage of the Shanghai International Convention Centre, in late September 1999, the crème de la crème of business achievement smiled at the hundreds of delegates, both Chinese and from around the world, who had gathered for the Fortune Global Forum. From AIG's Hank Greenberg to Viacom's...

Coca-Cola is spearheading a coalition of more than 100 companies pushing a United Nations climate treaty to bind the U.S. to cap-and-trade emissions regulation, commit the world's wealthiest nations to a potential $10 trillion in foreign aid and, possibly, form a proposed international "super-grid" for regulating and distributing electric power worldwide. Together with the SAP and Siemens corporations, Coca-Cola launched a website called Hopenhagen, leading up to the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, which opens on Dec. 7. The website invites the citizens of the world to sign a petition demanding world leaders draft binding agreements on climate...

100 companies push '16 days left to seal deal' on $10 trillion treaty Coca-Cola is spearheading a coalition of more than 100 companies pushing a United Nations climate treaty to bind the U.S. to cap-and-trade emissions regulation, commit the world's wealthiest nations[. . .] Other "friends" of Hopenhagen include media outlets Newsweek, Discovery Channel, Huffington Post, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, The Wall Street Journal and Clear Channel, among others, Internet giants Yahoo, Google and AOL and dozens of other companies and organizations. WND:link

Unemployment is foremost on everyone's mind today. Yet jobs can continue to leave the U.S. because of the threat of new taxes, the convergence of technology, the ease of digital collaboration and ready access to abundant foreign engineering talent. Multinational corporate executives may have to move R&D, product development, management and manufacturing overseas when there is no longer a comparative advantage to staying in the United States. A shocking thought for sure, but it's the new reality. After Japan, the U.S. has the world's highest corporate tax rate, and there is seemingly no willingness by Washington to bring rates down....

Tom Borelli October 15, 2009 Nike, Starbucks and Other Team Up With the Left to Sell Cap-and-Trade Every day we have an opportunity to vote with our wallets by letting companies know there is a price to pay for colluding with those who oppose our values. "Yes We Can!" the slogan used by then-Senator Obama during last year’s presidential campaign – is now being used by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) to launch a last ditch effort to jumpstart cap-and-trade legislation in the Senate. Graham and Kerry’s commentary, “Yes We Can (Pass Climate Change Legislation)” published in...

Public Discourse: Our energy secretary applauds and encourages companies to leave the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over its position on climate change. Should any Cabinet secretary, with the powers of government behind him, be threatening U.S. companies? Part of the climate-change mantra is that the debate is over and the science is settled. Just to make sure, environmental groups have sought to pressure businesses to go green or at least keep silent. Now it would appear the whole weight of the federal government is being thrown behind this campaign to coerce and silence real and potential opposition. On Thursday, Steven...

A massive energy bill that has already passed the House, and is currently before the Senate, would create new government programs that would not only encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by utilities and energy companies, but set limits over time as to the quantity of that reduction over the next several years. The US Chamber of Commerce (USCC), a private business federation that is not affiliated with the federal government, went on record last August as being skeptical of any legislative or regulatory effort that assumes greenhouse gasses truly endanger human health. Late last month, the Chamber voiced...

Not only do they profit billions from Obama’s policies, they shut out dissenting voices on their “news” networks!Obama and the Democrats love to slam Fox News for presenting opposing points of view. So, it’s no surprise that Obama prefers to give interviews to NBC which he feels is more sympathetic to his cause. NBC has been in the tank for Obama from the beginning.Further proof of NBC’s favoritism came this week when the network rejected the following ad from the League of American Voters:

“MOST VALUABLE BOSSES” At a time of economic pain and insecurity, populist outrage inevitably focuses on corporate leaders who pocket huge paychecks despite the wretched performance of their companies. For instance, since Kenneth D. Lewis took over as top executive of Bank of America in April, 2001, the firm’s annual return of -8% (as reported by Forbes Magazine) significantly trailed the record of the S & P 500, but Mr. Lewis has received compensation that averages more than $30 million annually. Fortunately, many other bosses offer a wholesome contrast to the well-publicized instances of lavish pay for poor performance. Since...

Linked to FR post regarding P & G product line (Corporate Wall-of-Shame). Here is one of my letters... TO: Men's Warehouse From the reports I have seen, Men’s Warehouse has either 1). Independently determined that there is an inflammatory nature to the comments posed on ‘The Glenn Beck Show’ that just happens to coincide in time with a threatened boycott by an organization called “Colors of Change”, or 2). That in order to avoid controversy, Men’s Warehouse will cave to any organization that threatens to Boycott? I want to remind you that Men’s Warehouse didn't seem to have a problem...

Drastic cuts boost bottom line at U.S. firms But profits unlikely to last unless consumers open their wallets again July 24, 2009 NEW YORK - Corporate America is turning a profit again, but only by spending less, not making more. While recent bullish profit reports have fueled the stock market, a true economic revival will depend on consumers opening their wallets. So far, there's little evidence of that. Big names such as Caterpillar, IBM, Whirlpool, Pfizer, 3M and Lowe's boosted profit forecasts for 2009 following a slew of second-quarter earning reports that blew past lackluster expectations. Yet the gains aren't...

Behind the bipartisan motives for employer-provided health insurance. On Tuesday the CEO of Wal-Mart, long the bête noire of the American left, issued a joint statement with SEIU head Andy Stern and Center for American Progress President John Podesta, two close allies of Barack Obama, supporting the administration's health reform efforts. The letter called for bipartisan reforms that include an employer mandate to purchase health insurance for their employees. An odd alliance? Maybe. But when two camps eye the same goal for separate reasons, they can become unlikely bedfellows.

On Tuesday the CEO of Wal-Mart, long the bête noire of the American left, issued a joint statement with SEIU head Andy Stern and Center for American Progress President John Podesta, two close allies of Barack Obama, supporting the administration's health reform efforts. The letter called for bipartisan reforms that include an employer mandate to purchase health insurance for their employees. An odd alliance? Maybe. But when two camps eye the same goal for separate reasons, they can become unlikely bedfellows. For the Obama administration, this announcement comes at a particularly convenient time. The president's health reform effort has hit...

General Electric is getting yet more taxpayer money, possibly laundered federal money, to subsidize its business. A GE press release announced that the state of Michigan will provide GE with $60 million to build a $100 million “technology & software center” — what used to be known as an “office building.”

Matthew Yglesias proudly announces that his employer the liberal thinktank Center for American Progress has convinced Wal-Mart (WMT) to support a law that would legally obligate employers to pay for their employees' health insurance. The Center for American Progress, the Service Employees International Union, and Wal-Mart joined forces today to release a letter (PDF) endorsing the dual ideas of an employer mandate to provide health insurance and “triggers” to automatically reduce costs if health care spending gets too high (more on that here). The highly ideological behavior of the business community, and high degree of class solidarity exhibited by the...

In a major break with most other large companies, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Tuesday told the White House that it supports requiring employers to provide health insurance to workers, a centerpiece of President Barack Obama's effort to provide near-universal coverage to Americans. The support of Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, could give momentum to one of the most-contentious aspects of legislation taking shape in Congress to fix the health system. To help pay for covering the 46 million uninsured, lawmakers have proposed mandating that all but small employers provide insurance for workers or help pay for it. Lobbies for large...

It pays to be in the tank for the president. All of the "tinkle down my leg" news coverage is paying off big for NBC News' parent company. By taking advantage of its ownership of two tiny banks in Utah, GE has been able to issue $80 Billion dollars worth of federally backed loans about one out of every four dollars available in the program. And true to being a friend of the President, General Electric didn't have to go through any of the burdens other participants had to go through like the financial stress test. Nor did they have...

HR 2998 American Clean Energy and Security Act. The Congressional record minutes of yesterday can be accessed at Thomas.gov. The Corporations and Associations that are backing this legislation can be found on pages H7685 & H7686. Listing below:

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life organization that monitors corporations that donate money to Planned Parenthood has released a new list of companies that give money to the nation's largest abortion business. New corporations on the boycott list include jeweler Tiffany & Company and Blackjack Pizza restaurants. Life Decisions International has been monitoring companies for over 15 years and says that at least 137 corporations have stopped funding Planned Parenthood as a result of the pro-life boycotts. That's cost Planned Parenthood an estimated $35 million. "This should be a testament to those who believe it is impossible to change corporate...

The next shoe is dropping in an effort to end what is described as decades of persistent and systemic bias at the agencies that create, buy and place television commercials and other forms of media advertising. The N.A.A.C.P. is calling on the nation’s 25 biggest advertisers — on TV and in other media — to require that their agencies use racially diverse teams of employees in creative and account-management posts. The first letter in the initiative is to be sent to Procter & Gamble, the No. 1 advertiser in the United States with ad spending last year, according to the...

The climate is warm, there's no shortage of exotic food, and the cost of living is rock bottom. That's IBM (NYSE: IBM)'s pitch to the laid-off American workers it's offering to place in India. The catch: Wages in the country are pennies-on-the-dollar compared to U.S. salaries. Under a program called Project Match, IBM will help workers laid off from domestic sites obtain travel and visa assistance for countries in which Big Blue has openings. Mostly that's developing markets like India, China, and Brazil. His challenge? Creating open environment for Internet users without compromising information security and privacy."IBM has established Project...

From what the experts are saying, the economic crisis of 2008 would be the buggest since the Great Depression that started in 1929. So in this new crisis, the stock market is going down, unemployment is going up, banks are filing for bankruptcy, some Americans automakers barely survive, etc. With this current situations, big enterprises are even thinking about changing their corporate logos.

The guys hawking Barack Obama T-shirts and trinkets on the corners of downtown Washington have some new competition in the selling frenzy building up to the president-elect's inauguration Tuesday — Corporate America. Companies ranging from global giants like soda and snacks maker PepsiCo to a local grocery chain offering cakes with Obama's face in icing are jumping on the Obama commercial wave. Others, like the Swedish home store Ikea, are hoping consumers take Obama's mantra of "change" to heart so much that they go out and buy furniture to mark the change in the White House. It is relatively rare...

Lobbyists and corporations have found an opening in the latest congressional-ethics law that allows them to pay for special access to lawmakers and members of the incoming Obama administration during next week's inaugural festivities. President-elect Barack Obama was a vocal champion of rules enacted last year that prohibit companies and lobbyists from buying anything worth more than $10 for lawmakers. But well-heeled interests have found a way to circumvent the ban by partnering with "state societies" that are throwing parties to celebrate Mr. Obama's inauguration. These Washington-based nonprofits, whose members include lawmakers, congressional aides, lobbyists and executives from a given...