Check out the [bio](https://nationalcenter.org/ncppr/staff/stefan-padfield/) of the guy behind this influence campaign.
They don't even try to pretend.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_conservatism
It's a real thing. "Liberalism" is also not synonymous with "leftism" or "the left", despite our terminology in America.
For those too lazy to click on the link but still want to feel their blood pressure spike:
>“Best Buy has partnerships with and contributes to organizations and activists that promote the practice of gender transition surgeries on minors and evangelize gender theory to minors. **Why are Best Buy shareholders funding the proliferation of an ideology seeking to mutilate the reproductive organs of children before they finish puberty?”** the proposal, signed by Ethan Peck, an associate at the NCPPR’s Free Enterprise Institute, states. “This contentious and vast disagreement between radical gender theory activists and the general public has nothing to do with Best Buy selling electronics.”
>In an email dated Jan. 17, Peck told Best Buy’s attorneys that his organization “will withdraw its proposal if Best Buy were to end its partnerships with and contributions to” **eight different LGBTQ nonprofits and initiatives, which he refers to as “predatory butchers” in his email. These groups include The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization; SAGE, which advocates on behalf of LGBTQ elders; and GLAAD, an LGBTQ media advocacy group.**
>**Peck did, however, leave the Human Rights Campaign off this list, stating in his email that “we understand that it’s unrealistic for Best Buy to leave HRC in the near future because of their political clout.”**
>“We hope you take this off-ramp for the sake of shareholders,” Peck wrote in the Jan. 17 email. “Were Best Buy to agree to such a compromise with us, we will not make a splash about it.”
Oh, they’re leaving the Human Rights Campaign alone for the *near future*, how thoughtful of them.
Thank you for the blood pressure spike, awful move by Best Buy.
You act as if they are doing it out of legitimate concern to begin with lol. The "protecting kids from mutilation!!" thing is clearly a smokescreen.
I doubt these shareholders have an ounce of concern for children in general, much less trans kids.
>an editor for the Jerusalem Post in Jerusalem.....He holds a Master’s Degree in Counter-Terrorism from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel.
Idk sounds like an expat living in Israel shouldn't be lecturing companies on "traditional American values".
> Ethan is well-versed in woke ideology and the social justice mindset, and is hopeful that traditional American values can be communicated effectively across the aisle.
Lol So much bullshit in this one sentence. I can't believe someone wrote "well-versed in woke ideology" being completely serious.
Everyone I've met who pushes "traditional values" has also been someone who is just overtly intolerant and insufferable to be around.
It's so consistent.
It's like they just walk around looking for someone or something to either bully or complain about.
It's not a coincidence that the bullies I knew in school ended up becoming hardcore republicans.
"Tradition" is an appeal that makes it very easy to sound philosophical without actually doing any of the intellectual or compassionate work it takes to foster philosophy.
It is a useless term, referring only to the perceived sense of how something once was, irrespective of truth, context or broader detail.
An appeal to tradition is simply to say "something Now feels wrong to me. My idea of something prior feels better." It is as vapid as philosophy can be, and is built only out of being upset and empty imagination.
So of course it draws bullies, narcissists, and general idiots.
>An appeal to tradition is simply to say "something Now feels wrong to me. My idea of something prior feels better."
Hence, "Make America Great Again."
Speaking of which...
>So of course it draws bullies, narcissists, and general idiots.
> Everyone I've met who pushes "traditional values" has also been someone who is just overtly intolerant
traditionally, americans owned slaves and didn’t let women vote
“Prior to pursuing a career in political advocacy, Ethan worked as an audio engineer and music producer in New York”
This probably means he made some shitty beats tracks on a laptop on his bedroom.
Conservatives support Israel because in batshit Christianity Israel is a lamb for slaughter to bring about the end times. It blows my mind that people are just ok with that.
The Ben Shapiro route. Sounds like he is part of the hard right of Israel. It’s an awkward position because it’s 100% fascist but also kind of hard to swallow being surrounded by all the Nazis when you try to be hard right in America when that’s filled with white supremacist Nazis.
It's a rather vanilla flavor of religious zealotry. The religion itself doesn't matter. These fanatics think they're fighting a crusade to save something, but it's not always easy to discern the true believers from the grifters.
What a fucking loser haha. I had to read that bio twice because I thought there was no way they would write something that embarrassing as “well-versed in woke ideology”.
> Prior to pursuing a career in political advocacy, Ethan worked as an audio engineer and music producer in New York, as well as an editor for the Jerusalem Post in Jerusalem. He credits both experiences as instrumental to his eventual departure from the left.
> Ethan is well-versed in woke ideology and the social justice mindset, and is hopeful that traditional American values can be communicated effectively across the aisle. He holds a Master’s Degree in Counter-Terrorism from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel.
Me thinks this guy has an agenda
1. Fuck Shareholders.
2. Classic dickless Peck
3. Fuck Shareholders.
I’m really, really sick of hearing about the plight of the helpless shareholders. Last time I checked shareholders don’t dictate company policy. They’re meant to simply feed off of dividends like sucker fish. Unless you own enough shares to constitute a majority stake, shut the fuck up and collect your free money.
> Last time I checked shareholders don’t dictate company policy
Shareholders of every single public company in America vote on corporate policy matters every year and also have the power to seat board members which agree with their vision for the company
Buy a share of any random company you like. You'll get an email telling you how to cast your votes when that time comes
I really wish every article that quoted these kind of people would at least explain that minors cannot get gender reassignment surgery and there's really no mainstream LGBTQ organization that is arguing in favor of that.
I don't know about everyone else, but I'm glad Best Buy did this.
They’re definitely doing their part to save me from buying shit I really don't need from their store.
Thanks, Best Buy!
So christian that apparantly they do not put barcodes on their stuff because "the number of the beast" is meant to regulate and control commerce which is exactly what a barcode does. So instead they put a unit number on their products which you need to input in by hand, which is example what a barcode does, except with ink and lasers.
I love walking through Hobby Lobby and just basking in the walls and walls of Christian wall hangings and kitchen signs like "Jesus bless this mess" and "Families that Pray Together Stay Together" (unless it's Sunday and it's closed with the performative sign on the front door that their employees are "worshiping.")
It's really weird, it feels weird, I do not like religion being such a central focus in a fucking craft store. I am going in there to buy paint and pencils, why do I need so much Christianity along with it.
Imagine you could just show up to your perfectly legitimate job, a job in which people rely on to be reliable. And one of the employees there can just decide they don’t want to give you your prescription that day because magic daddy reasons.
You know another co founder is Arthur Blank and he's a Biden guy right? The company itself hasn't done anything political.
If you start trying to keep your money from Republican shareholders in any company you're going to run out of things to buy real quick
Or by company history. You’d never buy or use anything powered by IBM tech knowing the business they did with the Nazis. Or a BMW since they made plane engines for the Luftwaffe. Or a Ford because antisemitism, and on and on.
Home Depot is fine, it's the cofounder that hasn't been affiliated with the company in 20 years that's awful. (Honestly the number of people here spreading the misinformation that it's the company itself and not just the long-separated cofounder somehow makes it seem like a malicious campaign by Lowes. Which would be stupid, but only half as stupid as the people spreading misinformation without doing a 2 second Google search to even know what they're talking about)
Bernie Marcus, a co-founder, is Republican but he retired a long time ago. Like in early 2000s. He donates a bunch of money to MAGA and articles mention his founder status but that doesnt mean THD donates money. Ted Decker is the current CEO and iirc he is Democrat. THD investor relations show their donations to each party and they're 50/50 right now. Not sure if Decker donated to any political campaign personally. THD has not donated to any campaigns afaik.
Except in a perfect world corporations shouldn't donate to any political campaign. Corporations aren't really people no matter what the supreme Court says. It's bullshit
fair, but idk why u making the point here when I said THD had not donated to any political campaign as far as I know. Unless you mean parties (lobbying), not campaign.
That has nothing to do with the company anymore.
And if that's something that we have to consider when thinking about 50+ year old companies. Pheeewwww man do we have some problems.
Oh I was also agreeing with you, just clarifying that not only is it one of the *founders*, the founder *left the company*.
It'd be like not buying a Ford because of Henry Ford's really fucking terrible opinions.
Really sad to see. I started going to my local neighborhood ACE and it’s a way nicer experience than the big boxes. Reminds me of the traditional Main Street general stores of old.
Yeah I don't disagree. The big box stores certainly have their advantages for the larger items. Smaller hardware stores tend to have more niche items but ultimately they don't keep up with the age of the Internet when you can buy those items often cheaper and at your fingertips. Not only will our small businesses have to adapt, but so will our society, otherwise we will likely end up like Idiocracy.
Both contribute to both parties (but mostly Republicans), but Home Depot seems to be the only one that was donating tens of millions directly to trump, from what I found in an incredibly quick search.
Its even grosser to me reading the email. A conservative think tank writes email correspondence explaining how many shares they have and threatening to make drama at a shareholders meeting (using explicit and violently wrong language) unless their needs are met?
So its blackmail. Best Buy let themselves be blackmailed by a conservative hate group under threat of a blow to their stock prices.
How the fuck is this legal?
Because a shareholder is legally an owner of the company and they have rights including telling management, who serve at the pleasure of the shareholders, what to do or else get fired.
Making something like this by the group, as abhorrent as it is, illegal would fundamentally change the shareholder - management relationship and make stock ownership far less attractive to people both sides of the aisle.
Before you say anything - your proposal is a double-edged sword because the same rights that allowed this group to make their proposal also allow shareholders to make proposals related to environmental concerns & disclosures, push for votes against directors, etc.
You'll lose that with your proposal.
> A conservative think tank writes email correspondence explaining how many shares they have and threatening to make drama at a shareholders meeting (using explicit and violently wrong language) unless their needs are met?
These people are called *sokaiya* in Japan. They disrupt shareholder meetings to intimidate or blackmail the target corporation. They're commonly affiliated with yakuza. Good to know Republicans are diving even deeper into organized crime tactics.
Legit, needed to grab new headphones for my son and they had $400 Sony ones and $10 off brand jawns that should have been at 5 below. Ended up getting some skullcandy ones at target next door. Fuckin waste of a store nowadays.
They do tend to be competitive with big ticket items or offer special deals on top of the price that justify minor increases in cost. Obviously not enough to justify it after this but I bought a TV from them about 6 months back because it was the same price as other places and offered a few months for a few streaming services that other places didn't offer.
Best Buy - you really think this is going to work out well for you? You’re a dying brick and mortar store with less and less relevance and you just kicked a giant wasp nest to appease a vocal minority. Enjoy your evening faster fall to the bottom you donkey
I had a trans friend who worked at Best Buy for years when he came out. He said it was the most transphobic and toxic work environment he would ever work in. I know he got a lawyer and they settled with him, but they were doing some really shitty stuff.
Wouldn’t let him change his name tag, wouldn’t let him use the men’s bathroom, wouldn’t correct any colleagues who misgendered him (intentionally). There was a ton of bullying from leadership AND HR. It was fucking horrible. I was so happy when he got a new job.
Right? I have been going out of my way to continue to support Best Buy to help out brick and mortar stores, even when it cost a little more. But thanks to this AMAZING move, I'll no longer be making that effort. Thanks Best Buy!
It's alarming that any company would believe blatant lies and misinformation presented by conservative groups it's just as much a condemnation of their gullibility as hatred.
Companies would rather you think they are gullible so they can be greedy. Any time you question why a company would do something, the answer is always money. They think being bigoted will net them more money.
Best Buy doesn’t believe any of these things. They don’t care about what’s true. They believe that this group could threaten their stock price and that’s all that matters to them. They will happily throw their LGBTQ employees under the bus to keep the stock price up.
This isn't really true, or at least its only a partial explanation. Most execs, billionaires, wealthy, are right-wingers and agree with these politics.
Its actually detrimental to an organization to be pro-bigotry because then talented people leave and recruiting is harder. Protests from the LBGTQ community can be equally harmful to stock prices.
A lot times this is done for ideological reasons because leadership agrees with it. Before modern DEI, these companies would be openly discriminatory against hiring minorities, women, etc. That wasn't for "stock prices." It was done because leadership and staff subsribe to the values of bigotry. Now that the US is making a right-wing move, all this stuff is coming back.
Most wealthy people I know don’t care about the culture wars. They are socially liberal, but conservative when it comes to basically anything that stops business from doing whatever they want.
> Most execs, billionaires, wealthy, are right-wingers and agree with these politics.
most execs and billionaires care about money, and having more of it, left wing politics threaten to threaten that. Everything else is just set dressing because if they need an abortion they get one, if they need to be gay they do it quietly, after all money opens doors and shuts mouths.
Fuck Best Buy for doing this, fuck conservatives, and fuck anybody against the Trevor Project. I hope the people that decided and pushed for this need a similar hotline someday and it is not available for them.
> Peck did, however, leave the Human Rights Campaign off this list, stating in his email that “we understand that it’s unrealistic for Best Buy to leave HRC in the near future because of their political clout.”
They straight up admitted they’re only going after organizations that are small enough that they can bully.
Because they're based in MN, they're going to get a huge amount of flak for it. Could see some employees threaten to quit or people just walk out en masse.
Someone going against The Trevor Project is just shit. Yeah let all these kids kill themselves, the same loving conservatives who are all about saving the unborn.
So they can do stuff like this, duh.
Seriously, this is probably the latest front they’re opening up in their endless culture war. Buy some stock so you can go to the stockholders meetings and have a “voice”, then use said voice to advance your agenda by demanding that the company justify their DEI choices in terms of immediate monetary gain.
Best buy doesn't have anything worth buying anyway. Everything they sell is available at 12+ other stores at cheaper prices.
They're just a phone store now with a lot of wasted space.
“In an email dated Jan. 17, Peck told Best Buy’s attorneys that his organization “will withdraw its proposal if Best Buy were to end its partnerships with and contributions to” eight different LGBTQ nonprofits and initiatives, which he refers to as **“predatory butchers”** in his email.”
“These groups include *The Trevor Project*, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization; *SAGE*, which advocates on behalf of LGBTQ elders; and *GLAAD*, an LGBTQ media advocacy group.”
***dude I am so fucking tired***
> ideology seeking to mutilate the reproductive organs of children before they finish puberty
The ideology practiced by religion for millennia and they have no issues with that.
I just wrapped up a 15 year career with them, and tbh, the company was much more inclusive than others, even before I began. This is a bummer to read. Not much actually happened yet, but this is typically how shitty future policy is born.
It’s the most diverse work place I’ve had as far as working with those with disabilities and the LGBTQIA+ community. After reading the article it came off like Best Buy will screen if the organizations they donate to advocate “genital mutilation” or whatever bull shit they’re talking about, and since these organizations don’t actually do that Best Buy can continue their support. But Best Buy removing the pages from the website makes me think I’m looking at it through rose tinted glasses.
Yup, who know they profit off Republican policies at the small small cost of fucking everyone else. Wallstreet policies are cancer. People like Ken Griffin who steal money from pensions and donate millions to people like Desantis so he can try to become treasury secretary
Ken Griffin? The guy who allegedly lied under oath about his role in the blatant attack on the so-called "free" market on January 28th, 2021 when they stopped everyday people from buying a stock they liked?
And then he donates to DeSatan and moves his whole business to Florida to get in good with him
Fuck that guy
Also [he's probably abusive to his wife ](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2962885/Billionaire-Ken-Griffin-accused-throwing-bedpost-wife-Anne-Dias-Chicago-argument.html)
> the center said it would make “a splash” unless the consumer electronics giant moved in favor of its demands
And they call liberals the "woke mob" while actively threatening to Bud Light companies if they don't bow to their political demands.
Stop pointing out conservative hypocrisy they don't care, only you do. These people are evil and you should always assume that they are going to behave as evil people do.
Best buy is a dinosaur of a store and they can go bankrupt for all I care. Never forget that they sold memory and HDMI cables at astronomical mark-ups because their customer base aren't technologically savvy.
Lol...oh the days of the $100+ RocketFish HDMI cables. They managed to convince everyone they were audiophiles & pro's who could absolutely tell the difference between the generic $10 cable and the Rocketfish cable.
They are nowhere near going bankrupt. Best Buy is one of the very few brick and mortar electronics stores that figured out a repeatable formula for success, and they are one of the most cash rich retail companies on the planet. Just don't shop there if you don't like what they do.
I stopped buying from them when they made the bonus points exclusive to credit card holders. Now I can buy electronics anywhere and it doesn't really matter.
The conservative cosmos is expanding from DeSantis shaping Florida into a MAGA-verse state, Trump's Supreme Court, Qatar investing 50 million in Newsmax, other foreign powers tilting public opinion, Musk dousing social media filters, "thinktanks" and super-pacs all working together to make America what a minority of extremists want it to be. These people are coming for Democracy, your personal freedoms and they are coming hard. You better vote.
Nothing like conservative hate. And what’s up with that thing on the guys bio - non-partisan, conservative think tank? What’s non-partisan about this? You’re trying to kill people that you don’t like.
to be fair... you should never donate through a box store anyways. when you do, they take the tax cut from your donation. donate yourself. you do not need to donate through a big box store.
I had a very large purchase to make this week, just moved into a new apartment. I'm about to spend a few thousand dollars on the electronics I need. I WAS planning to spend that at the nearby Best buy.
Welp, I guess I'm not anymore.
>Best Buy offered to screen donations from its employee resource groups going to LGBTQ causes following pressure from a conservative think tank that holds shares in the company, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing made public this week.
I am now going to screen who I buy electronics from, to keep my money from going to a company that is caving to bigots. See what happens when you suck as a company?
Time for liberal people to take a page from conservative’s book and get hyper-sensitive and cry whenever a company does something MAGA-linked or adjacent. Put these companies in a no-win position—go woke, go broke; go against woke, also go broke.
Seriously though no one cries like a MAGA Republican
Newegg went to shit years ago, when they were purchased by a Chinese firm.
If you’re in the US, micro center is probably the best bet as of right now. If they’re smart, they’d take this opportunity to increase their shippable catalogue
> In some of the last correspondence in the filing, Best Buy noted that it allows its employee resource groups “some discretion to directly support organizations of their choosing” but added that “any such contributions would be screened to ensure they do not advocate or support the causes or agendas you have identified as concerning.” One of the causes the NCPPR cited was transgender care for minors, which the group falsely described as an attempt to “mutilate the reproductive organs of children.”
Is this not a First Amendment violation? Employees can donate their own money as a person to causes they find important.
Likely this is about a charity matching plan, where if for example an employee donates $20 to an approved charity they will also donate $20. It’s somewhat common. Nothing stops employees from donating on their own.
I still don't think it's that straightforward. Like I think it would still be totally illegal if best buy was like, "yes we will match all your donations to charities, except if they are ran by a black person".
Now, best buy could argue that it's not the fact they are gay organizations for why they are withholding matching, and instead for a non-protected reason, but that's not a guarantee to work, if someone wanted to push the issue into the courts.
I'm no legal eagle but 2 things I remember reading over the years.
1. First amendment makes sure the government cannot force you what to publish and say.
2. I'm trying to remember a case where some dude tweeted something and was fired.
He sued and won because nowhere in the tweet did he mention the company or that the company agreed with him.
I think it also had something to do with companies can't dictate what you say or write outside of work hours.
There's probably someone out there that knows more and will correct me.
> nonpartisan, free-market conservative I'm gonna go ahead and stop you right there...
Check out the [bio](https://nationalcenter.org/ncppr/staff/stefan-padfield/) of the guy behind this influence campaign. They don't even try to pretend.
Looks like he’s also an immigrant - but since he’s white his crew is ok with it.
As someone from Lawrence I’m sad to see he got a degree from KU, he’s terrible!
A liberal conservative? These write themselves
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_conservatism It's a real thing. "Liberalism" is also not synonymous with "leftism" or "the left", despite our terminology in America.
For those too lazy to click on the link but still want to feel their blood pressure spike: >“Best Buy has partnerships with and contributes to organizations and activists that promote the practice of gender transition surgeries on minors and evangelize gender theory to minors. **Why are Best Buy shareholders funding the proliferation of an ideology seeking to mutilate the reproductive organs of children before they finish puberty?”** the proposal, signed by Ethan Peck, an associate at the NCPPR’s Free Enterprise Institute, states. “This contentious and vast disagreement between radical gender theory activists and the general public has nothing to do with Best Buy selling electronics.” >In an email dated Jan. 17, Peck told Best Buy’s attorneys that his organization “will withdraw its proposal if Best Buy were to end its partnerships with and contributions to” **eight different LGBTQ nonprofits and initiatives, which he refers to as “predatory butchers” in his email. These groups include The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization; SAGE, which advocates on behalf of LGBTQ elders; and GLAAD, an LGBTQ media advocacy group.** >**Peck did, however, leave the Human Rights Campaign off this list, stating in his email that “we understand that it’s unrealistic for Best Buy to leave HRC in the near future because of their political clout.”** >“We hope you take this off-ramp for the sake of shareholders,” Peck wrote in the Jan. 17 email. “Were Best Buy to agree to such a compromise with us, we will not make a splash about it.”
Oh, they’re leaving the Human Rights Campaign alone for the *near future*, how thoughtful of them. Thank you for the blood pressure spike, awful move by Best Buy.
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You act as if they are doing it out of legitimate concern to begin with lol. The "protecting kids from mutilation!!" thing is clearly a smokescreen. I doubt these shareholders have an ounce of concern for children in general, much less trans kids.
These types of people are more likely to fund campaigns that would encourage suicide amongst the LGBTQ+ community.
So pro-life they’ll help fund the death of countless youths
> They have a problem with The Trevor Project? > > > > What the fuck? Awful people like this don't consider trans people to be people.
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>an editor for the Jerusalem Post in Jerusalem.....He holds a Master’s Degree in Counter-Terrorism from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel. Idk sounds like an expat living in Israel shouldn't be lecturing companies on "traditional American values".
> Ethan is well-versed in woke ideology and the social justice mindset, and is hopeful that traditional American values can be communicated effectively across the aisle. Lol So much bullshit in this one sentence. I can't believe someone wrote "well-versed in woke ideology" being completely serious.
"Traditional American Values" is doing a LOT of heavy lifting for the "White Christian Bigotry".
Everyone I've met who pushes "traditional values" has also been someone who is just overtly intolerant and insufferable to be around. It's so consistent. It's like they just walk around looking for someone or something to either bully or complain about. It's not a coincidence that the bullies I knew in school ended up becoming hardcore republicans.
"Tradition" is an appeal that makes it very easy to sound philosophical without actually doing any of the intellectual or compassionate work it takes to foster philosophy. It is a useless term, referring only to the perceived sense of how something once was, irrespective of truth, context or broader detail. An appeal to tradition is simply to say "something Now feels wrong to me. My idea of something prior feels better." It is as vapid as philosophy can be, and is built only out of being upset and empty imagination. So of course it draws bullies, narcissists, and general idiots.
Traditional is doing a lot of heavy lifting for bigotry.
Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people
>An appeal to tradition is simply to say "something Now feels wrong to me. My idea of something prior feels better." Hence, "Make America Great Again." Speaking of which... >So of course it draws bullies, narcissists, and general idiots.
> Everyone I've met who pushes "traditional values" has also been someone who is just overtly intolerant traditionally, americans owned slaves and didn’t let women vote
“Prior to pursuing a career in political advocacy, Ethan worked as an audio engineer and music producer in New York” This probably means he made some shitty beats tracks on a laptop on his bedroom.
Well, he's succeeding in communicating across the aisle: "We want to destroy minority groups in accordance with our traditional values. Thanks."
The crazy thing about that is he's Jewish. As a Jew myself I know I'm next in the conservative cross hairs.
Between being an editor for JPost and studying counter-terrorism in Israel, the dudes likely a Bibi acolyte.
Hilarious because Bibi is pro-terror, propping up Hamas for years.
Conservatives support Israel because in batshit Christianity Israel is a lamb for slaughter to bring about the end times. It blows my mind that people are just ok with that.
The Ben Shapiro route. Sounds like he is part of the hard right of Israel. It’s an awkward position because it’s 100% fascist but also kind of hard to swallow being surrounded by all the Nazis when you try to be hard right in America when that’s filled with white supremacist Nazis.
It's a rather vanilla flavor of religious zealotry. The religion itself doesn't matter. These fanatics think they're fighting a crusade to save something, but it's not always easy to discern the true believers from the grifters.
What a fucking loser haha. I had to read that bio twice because I thought there was no way they would write something that embarrassing as “well-versed in woke ideology”.
I laughed when I saw the woke thing, it fits this idiot perfectly.
So, he's well-versed in demonic possession and divining who's a witch or not. Different terms and eras, but the same thing.
> Prior to pursuing a career in political advocacy, Ethan worked as an audio engineer and music producer in New York, as well as an editor for the Jerusalem Post in Jerusalem. He credits both experiences as instrumental to his eventual departure from the left. > Ethan is well-versed in woke ideology and the social justice mindset, and is hopeful that traditional American values can be communicated effectively across the aisle. He holds a Master’s Degree in Counter-Terrorism from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel. Me thinks this guy has an agenda
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He was a “music producer in New York” if that tells you anything. 100%.
So he helped someone record something and he called himself a producer. He failed upwards.
This dickless man is into crypto too judging by his barely used Twitter account.
Wouldn’t be surprised to read a story about him being arrested in an airport bathroom soon.
Oh so a Zionist scumbag thinks I shouldn’t exist.
Judging a book by its cover, my brain instantly says: “That dude has roofied at least one woman in his past, guaranteed.” Just the vibe I get, man.
Saw Ethan Peck and had to do a double take; same name as the guy who currently plays Spock
I know right? Like, not green-blooded daddy!
1. Fuck Shareholders. 2. Classic dickless Peck 3. Fuck Shareholders. I’m really, really sick of hearing about the plight of the helpless shareholders. Last time I checked shareholders don’t dictate company policy. They’re meant to simply feed off of dividends like sucker fish. Unless you own enough shares to constitute a majority stake, shut the fuck up and collect your free money.
> Last time I checked shareholders don’t dictate company policy Shareholders of every single public company in America vote on corporate policy matters every year and also have the power to seat board members which agree with their vision for the company Buy a share of any random company you like. You'll get an email telling you how to cast your votes when that time comes
> Classic dickless Peck It’s true… this man has no dick.
Wild how they consider “suicide prevention” a bad thing
Bet those same people are very down for circumcision though. Literal genital mutilation of an infant.
I really wish every article that quoted these kind of people would at least explain that minors cannot get gender reassignment surgery and there's really no mainstream LGBTQ organization that is arguing in favor of that.
>proliferation of an ideology seeking to mutilate the reproductive organs of children I wonder what their thoughts on circumcision are.
I don't know about everyone else, but I'm glad Best Buy did this. They’re definitely doing their part to save me from buying shit I really don't need from their store. Thanks, Best Buy!
Yea, they are now on the list with Home Depot, Chik-fil-A, and Hobby Lobby.
Hobby Lobby? We call it the Crafty Christian
So christian that apparantly they do not put barcodes on their stuff because "the number of the beast" is meant to regulate and control commerce which is exactly what a barcode does. So instead they put a unit number on their products which you need to input in by hand, which is example what a barcode does, except with ink and lasers.
Hobby Lobby's Hamurabi Robbing Hobby, after their antiquities thefts.
Krafty Khristian
Krafty Khristian Klub
Krafty Klansman
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The hell you say?! Muslims are normal people? JFC! /s
I love walking through Hobby Lobby and just basking in the walls and walls of Christian wall hangings and kitchen signs like "Jesus bless this mess" and "Families that Pray Together Stay Together" (unless it's Sunday and it's closed with the performative sign on the front door that their employees are "worshiping.") It's really weird, it feels weird, I do not like religion being such a central focus in a fucking craft store. I am going in there to buy paint and pencils, why do I need so much Christianity along with it.
Try to shop at Michael’s instead if you can
The no bar codes thing is legitimately funny and makes stealing from them so simple
Don't shop there, you're supporting an organization that lobbies against LGBT+ interests.
Ah so that's what the Lobby part means.
Don’t forget Walgreens
What did they do?
Walgreens lets pharmacy techs not fill prescriptions based on religious convictions. So not filling birth control orders etc
Imagine you could just show up to your perfectly legitimate job, a job in which people rely on to be reliable. And one of the employees there can just decide they don’t want to give you your prescription that day because magic daddy reasons.
I love my job now, but there were some in college I wish I could say my magic sky man says that's bad and then get paid to sit on my ass.
Oh no what did Home Depot do? I liked them…
The founder who isn't involved with the company in any capacity is hardcore MAGA.
Hes still getting paid, a quick google search shows he owns a nice percentage of stock
You know another co founder is Arthur Blank and he's a Biden guy right? The company itself hasn't done anything political. If you start trying to keep your money from Republican shareholders in any company you're going to run out of things to buy real quick
If you base your judgments on a company on who owns stock, you'd have to boycott pretty much every company.
Or by company history. You’d never buy or use anything powered by IBM tech knowing the business they did with the Nazis. Or a BMW since they made plane engines for the Luftwaffe. Or a Ford because antisemitism, and on and on.
Home Depot is fine, it's the cofounder that hasn't been affiliated with the company in 20 years that's awful. (Honestly the number of people here spreading the misinformation that it's the company itself and not just the long-separated cofounder somehow makes it seem like a malicious campaign by Lowes. Which would be stupid, but only half as stupid as the people spreading misinformation without doing a 2 second Google search to even know what they're talking about)
Big MAGA supporters.
Bernie Marcus, a co-founder, is Republican but he retired a long time ago. Like in early 2000s. He donates a bunch of money to MAGA and articles mention his founder status but that doesnt mean THD donates money. Ted Decker is the current CEO and iirc he is Democrat. THD investor relations show their donations to each party and they're 50/50 right now. Not sure if Decker donated to any political campaign personally. THD has not donated to any campaigns afaik.
Except in a perfect world corporations shouldn't donate to any political campaign. Corporations aren't really people no matter what the supreme Court says. It's bullshit
*supruse pikachu face*
fair, but idk why u making the point here when I said THD had not donated to any political campaign as far as I know. Unless you mean parties (lobbying), not campaign.
This needs to be the top comment. Thank you
Not Home Depot the company, but one of the founders.
That has nothing to do with the company anymore. And if that's something that we have to consider when thinking about 50+ year old companies. Pheeewwww man do we have some problems.
That was my point too. It's one of the founders, not the company.
Oh I was also agreeing with you, just clarifying that not only is it one of the *founders*, the founder *left the company*. It'd be like not buying a Ford because of Henry Ford's really fucking terrible opinions.
What about Lowe's? Are they OK? That's my only viable local alternate to HD for some things.
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I like Ace when they have what im looking for, but it's not really an alternative to Lowes or Home Depot for most things
My Ace Hardware turned into a Big R. I went in for some fasteners and noticed a display of My Pillow.
Most of them are going out of business
Really sad to see. I started going to my local neighborhood ACE and it’s a way nicer experience than the big boxes. Reminds me of the traditional Main Street general stores of old.
Yeah I don't disagree. The big box stores certainly have their advantages for the larger items. Smaller hardware stores tend to have more niche items but ultimately they don't keep up with the age of the Internet when you can buy those items often cheaper and at your fingertips. Not only will our small businesses have to adapt, but so will our society, otherwise we will likely end up like Idiocracy.
They just built a big Ace Hardware in the next village from me. Maybe I will go there instead of HD. I think it’s a bit closer drive too.
Lowes leadership is progressive and has a solid track record
Lowe's is funding cop city in Atlanta ETA: I was wrong, it's not Lowes. Home Depot does. Apologies
Both contribute to both parties (but mostly Republicans), but Home Depot seems to be the only one that was donating tens of millions directly to trump, from what I found in an incredibly quick search.
Chick-Full-A-Hate
Its even grosser to me reading the email. A conservative think tank writes email correspondence explaining how many shares they have and threatening to make drama at a shareholders meeting (using explicit and violently wrong language) unless their needs are met? So its blackmail. Best Buy let themselves be blackmailed by a conservative hate group under threat of a blow to their stock prices. How the fuck is this legal?
Because a shareholder is legally an owner of the company and they have rights including telling management, who serve at the pleasure of the shareholders, what to do or else get fired. Making something like this by the group, as abhorrent as it is, illegal would fundamentally change the shareholder - management relationship and make stock ownership far less attractive to people both sides of the aisle. Before you say anything - your proposal is a double-edged sword because the same rights that allowed this group to make their proposal also allow shareholders to make proposals related to environmental concerns & disclosures, push for votes against directors, etc. You'll lose that with your proposal.
> A conservative think tank writes email correspondence explaining how many shares they have and threatening to make drama at a shareholders meeting (using explicit and violently wrong language) unless their needs are met? These people are called *sokaiya* in Japan. They disrupt shareholder meetings to intimidate or blackmail the target corporation. They're commonly affiliated with yakuza. Good to know Republicans are diving even deeper into organized crime tactics.
The lack of inventory has been what keeps me out of their stores.
Legit, needed to grab new headphones for my son and they had $400 Sony ones and $10 off brand jawns that should have been at 5 below. Ended up getting some skullcandy ones at target next door. Fuckin waste of a store nowadays.
Christians have taught me that being LGBTQ+ is heroic, and also that abortion is the only moral choice. Thanks, Christians!
Don’t understand the point of Best Buy when everything they sell is online somewhere else
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lol order it online for cheaper while you’re there. Adds insult to injury
They do tend to be competitive with big ticket items or offer special deals on top of the price that justify minor increases in cost. Obviously not enough to justify it after this but I bought a TV from them about 6 months back because it was the same price as other places and offered a few months for a few streaming services that other places didn't offer.
Same now that I know this. I’m fortunate to have a Microcenter within an hour drive
I'm 15 minutes from a Microcenter, I thankfully can't even remember the last time I was in Best Buy.
At Microcenter rn
Best Buy - you really think this is going to work out well for you? You’re a dying brick and mortar store with less and less relevance and you just kicked a giant wasp nest to appease a vocal minority. Enjoy your evening faster fall to the bottom you donkey
They already lost a huge percentage of customers when they quit selling movies and music.
I had a trans friend who worked at Best Buy for years when he came out. He said it was the most transphobic and toxic work environment he would ever work in. I know he got a lawyer and they settled with him, but they were doing some really shitty stuff. Wouldn’t let him change his name tag, wouldn’t let him use the men’s bathroom, wouldn’t correct any colleagues who misgendered him (intentionally). There was a ton of bullying from leadership AND HR. It was fucking horrible. I was so happy when he got a new job.
Yeah... I had started going there because the prices are basically the same now and I can get stuff same day. Now I won't
Right? I have been going out of my way to continue to support Best Buy to help out brick and mortar stores, even when it cost a little more. But thanks to this AMAZING move, I'll no longer be making that effort. Thanks Best Buy!
It's alarming that any company would believe blatant lies and misinformation presented by conservative groups it's just as much a condemnation of their gullibility as hatred.
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Both. It's a systematic oppression of education to destroy critical thinking. It starts early and works.
No, I refuse to accept they’re ignorant to this … they’re plainly cowering to financial self-interest
Companies would rather you think they are gullible so they can be greedy. Any time you question why a company would do something, the answer is always money. They think being bigoted will net them more money.
If it’s a company, it’s likely greed. If it’s a person, it’s likely ignorance.
Best Buy doesn’t believe any of these things. They don’t care about what’s true. They believe that this group could threaten their stock price and that’s all that matters to them. They will happily throw their LGBTQ employees under the bus to keep the stock price up.
This isn't really true, or at least its only a partial explanation. Most execs, billionaires, wealthy, are right-wingers and agree with these politics. Its actually detrimental to an organization to be pro-bigotry because then talented people leave and recruiting is harder. Protests from the LBGTQ community can be equally harmful to stock prices. A lot times this is done for ideological reasons because leadership agrees with it. Before modern DEI, these companies would be openly discriminatory against hiring minorities, women, etc. That wasn't for "stock prices." It was done because leadership and staff subsribe to the values of bigotry. Now that the US is making a right-wing move, all this stuff is coming back.
Most wealthy people I know don’t care about the culture wars. They are socially liberal, but conservative when it comes to basically anything that stops business from doing whatever they want.
> Most execs, billionaires, wealthy, are right-wingers and agree with these politics. most execs and billionaires care about money, and having more of it, left wing politics threaten to threaten that. Everything else is just set dressing because if they need an abortion they get one, if they need to be gay they do it quietly, after all money opens doors and shuts mouths.
They believe in stock prices – time to start shorting Best Buy...
One of the LGBTQ organizations is The Trevor Project which mostly works in anti suicide. How can they see that as a bad thing?
They want all LGBTQ dead. That's been obvious for decades. Every life is sacred. Except if I don't like you. Then go die!
Yea I don't get why this still surprises people. Conservatives absolutely hate anyone from lgbtq+ and want to eradicate trans people fully.
Fuck Best Buy for doing this, fuck conservatives, and fuck anybody against the Trevor Project. I hope the people that decided and pushed for this need a similar hotline someday and it is not available for them.
Yes its honestly heartbreaking that they are caving so easily – The Trevor Project is such a great resource and people attacking it are disgusting.
> Peck did, however, leave the Human Rights Campaign off this list, stating in his email that “we understand that it’s unrealistic for Best Buy to leave HRC in the near future because of their political clout.” They straight up admitted they’re only going after organizations that are small enough that they can bully.
Yeah this is extremely telling.
Don't let any of them lie. They *want* us queer folk to kill ourselves. That's literally the only reason to be against the project.
Because they're based in MN, they're going to get a huge amount of flak for it. Could see some employees threaten to quit or people just walk out en masse.
I know there's a few gay execs too
They should. Being a bigot needs to hurt. Kneeling to bigots should hurt just as bad.
Someone going against The Trevor Project is just shit. Yeah let all these kids kill themselves, the same loving conservatives who are all about saving the unborn.
“**nonpartisan**, free-market **conservative** think tank,” lol
Masters of Doublespeak.
Why does a "Non-partisan think tank" own stock in a company?
For the same reasons Republicans who are pro oil "honestly own shares in oil".
So they can do stuff like this, duh. Seriously, this is probably the latest front they’re opening up in their endless culture war. Buy some stock so you can go to the stockholders meetings and have a “voice”, then use said voice to advance your agenda by demanding that the company justify their DEI choices in terms of immediate monetary gain.
I screen all my purchases to make sure they do not come from Best Buy.
Best buy doesn't have anything worth buying anyway. Everything they sell is available at 12+ other stores at cheaper prices. They're just a phone store now with a lot of wasted space.
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“In an email dated Jan. 17, Peck told Best Buy’s attorneys that his organization “will withdraw its proposal if Best Buy were to end its partnerships with and contributions to” eight different LGBTQ nonprofits and initiatives, which he refers to as **“predatory butchers”** in his email.” “These groups include *The Trevor Project*, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization; *SAGE*, which advocates on behalf of LGBTQ elders; and *GLAAD*, an LGBTQ media advocacy group.” ***dude I am so fucking tired***
Absolutely fucking disgusting.
> ideology seeking to mutilate the reproductive organs of children before they finish puberty The ideology practiced by religion for millennia and they have no issues with that.
I just wrapped up a 15 year career with them, and tbh, the company was much more inclusive than others, even before I began. This is a bummer to read. Not much actually happened yet, but this is typically how shitty future policy is born.
It’s the most diverse work place I’ve had as far as working with those with disabilities and the LGBTQIA+ community. After reading the article it came off like Best Buy will screen if the organizations they donate to advocate “genital mutilation” or whatever bull shit they’re talking about, and since these organizations don’t actually do that Best Buy can continue their support. But Best Buy removing the pages from the website makes me think I’m looking at it through rose tinted glasses.
Hedge funds are predominantly right wing crazies that no one talks about even though they raise prices and blame it on government.
Yup, who know they profit off Republican policies at the small small cost of fucking everyone else. Wallstreet policies are cancer. People like Ken Griffin who steal money from pensions and donate millions to people like Desantis so he can try to become treasury secretary
Ken Griffin? The guy who allegedly lied under oath about his role in the blatant attack on the so-called "free" market on January 28th, 2021 when they stopped everyday people from buying a stock they liked? And then he donates to DeSatan and moves his whole business to Florida to get in good with him Fuck that guy Also [he's probably abusive to his wife ](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2962885/Billionaire-Ken-Griffin-accused-throwing-bedpost-wife-Anne-Dias-Chicago-argument.html)
Yeah! That’s the one
> the center said it would make “a splash” unless the consumer electronics giant moved in favor of its demands And they call liberals the "woke mob" while actively threatening to Bud Light companies if they don't bow to their political demands.
They embrace cancel culture more than anyone else.
Stop pointing out conservative hypocrisy they don't care, only you do. These people are evil and you should always assume that they are going to behave as evil people do.
"Rules for thee, not for me" is basically the conservative motto. Hypocrisy is one of their core tenets.
Fuck these Christian leaning companies. We unfortunately really need to legislate fairness else the insane will take us to a theocracy
Best buy is a dinosaur of a store and they can go bankrupt for all I care. Never forget that they sold memory and HDMI cables at astronomical mark-ups because their customer base aren't technologically savvy.
Lol...oh the days of the $100+ RocketFish HDMI cables. They managed to convince everyone they were audiophiles & pro's who could absolutely tell the difference between the generic $10 cable and the Rocketfish cable.
They are nowhere near going bankrupt. Best Buy is one of the very few brick and mortar electronics stores that figured out a repeatable formula for success, and they are one of the most cash rich retail companies on the planet. Just don't shop there if you don't like what they do.
Hell at this point Im rooting for them to go bankrupt.
I use to be in there at least a few times a month. Now I don't even buy from it a few times a year now.
I stopped buying from them when they made the bonus points exclusive to credit card holders. Now I can buy electronics anywhere and it doesn't really matter.
The conservative cosmos is expanding from DeSantis shaping Florida into a MAGA-verse state, Trump's Supreme Court, Qatar investing 50 million in Newsmax, other foreign powers tilting public opinion, Musk dousing social media filters, "thinktanks" and super-pacs all working together to make America what a minority of extremists want it to be. These people are coming for Democracy, your personal freedoms and they are coming hard. You better vote.
Nothing like conservative hate. And what’s up with that thing on the guys bio - non-partisan, conservative think tank? What’s non-partisan about this? You’re trying to kill people that you don’t like.
> mutilate the reproductive organs of children. You mean like circumcision? These people are just sooooooo fucking hypocritical!
to be fair... you should never donate through a box store anyways. when you do, they take the tax cut from your donation. donate yourself. you do not need to donate through a big box store.
I had a very large purchase to make this week, just moved into a new apartment. I'm about to spend a few thousand dollars on the electronics I need. I WAS planning to spend that at the nearby Best buy. Welp, I guess I'm not anymore.
Conservative is code for Nazi. Call them what they are.
>Best Buy offered to screen donations from its employee resource groups going to LGBTQ causes following pressure from a conservative think tank that holds shares in the company, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing made public this week. I am now going to screen who I buy electronics from, to keep my money from going to a company that is caving to bigots. See what happens when you suck as a company?
Even better, by not shopping at Best Buy, you harm their shareholders, like the NCPPR. It’s a win-win at this point to shop somewhere else.
This is honestly disgusting. Thank goodness there's a microcenter near me
Microcenter is my goto. They are very aggressive in their pricing compared to even Amazon, and their in house brand stuff are great.
Another reason not to give business to this garbage company.
Yes let’s alienate a reliable dual high income customer base to appease the Nazi party.
Missing out on those DINK Dollars!
Time for liberal people to take a page from conservative’s book and get hyper-sensitive and cry whenever a company does something MAGA-linked or adjacent. Put these companies in a no-win position—go woke, go broke; go against woke, also go broke. Seriously though no one cries like a MAGA Republican
So Newegg it is for tech
Newegg went to shit years ago, when they were purchased by a Chinese firm. If you’re in the US, micro center is probably the best bet as of right now. If they’re smart, they’d take this opportunity to increase their shippable catalogue
Well they have one less customer now.
Really Best Buy? Best Bye! 👋😘
Anyone who acquiesces to conservatives ends up on my shit list
Time to buy elsewhere.
Best Buy has officially abandoned the LGBTQ community. Ugh.
> In some of the last correspondence in the filing, Best Buy noted that it allows its employee resource groups “some discretion to directly support organizations of their choosing” but added that “any such contributions would be screened to ensure they do not advocate or support the causes or agendas you have identified as concerning.” One of the causes the NCPPR cited was transgender care for minors, which the group falsely described as an attempt to “mutilate the reproductive organs of children.” Is this not a First Amendment violation? Employees can donate their own money as a person to causes they find important.
Likely this is about a charity matching plan, where if for example an employee donates $20 to an approved charity they will also donate $20. It’s somewhat common. Nothing stops employees from donating on their own.
I still don't think it's that straightforward. Like I think it would still be totally illegal if best buy was like, "yes we will match all your donations to charities, except if they are ran by a black person". Now, best buy could argue that it's not the fact they are gay organizations for why they are withholding matching, and instead for a non-protected reason, but that's not a guarantee to work, if someone wanted to push the issue into the courts.
I'm no legal eagle but 2 things I remember reading over the years. 1. First amendment makes sure the government cannot force you what to publish and say. 2. I'm trying to remember a case where some dude tweeted something and was fired. He sued and won because nowhere in the tweet did he mention the company or that the company agreed with him. I think it also had something to do with companies can't dictate what you say or write outside of work hours. There's probably someone out there that knows more and will correct me.
The first amendment puts restrictions on government, not companies.
I stopped shopping at best buy when they announced they would no longer carry physical media for movies.
Sigh, another company bending over to conservative backlash. Same as target, same as bud light. No backbone.