Episode 820 – I’m Going to Have a Steak Tonight!

The goal of schools pitting their students against their parents is no longer a secret operation.

The televisions show, South Park, hits it on the nose again when it comes to the culture.

And the United Nations has decided the best way to deal with starvation in Africa and around the world is to starve the United States. Let’s talk about it.

Part of the Plan

According to the Post Millennial:

On Saturday, parental rights group Moms for Liberty posted pictures of a package they received in the mail which contained letters that students from a Seattle Middle school allegedly made in class, claiming that the organization was “bullying” LGBTQ youth.

The package had a return address of SPS (Seattle Public Schools) and JSCEE (John Sanford Center for Educational Excellence), the headquarters of the district.

In the package were cards that appeared to be drawn by children, directly calling out the organization with phrases such as “Say Gay,” “Gay is slay, stop being a rat” and “stop bullying and excluding LGBTQ youth.”

The same messages were repeated on multiple cards.

A letter was in the enclosed packaging from Ann Christianson, a social studies teacher and coordinator of the Gay-Straight Alliance at Jane Addams Middle School in Seattle. The letter read, “Dear Moms For Liberty, Please read the enclosed cards from concerned middle school students in Seattle, WA.”

When The Post Millennial reached out for comment to the teacher, school, and district, an auto-response came from Christianson’s email that read, “Thank you for contacting me. I am currently on a leave of absence and not checking email. If you have an urgent issue or question, please contact Assistant Principal Madeline Benz… I look forward to connecting when I return.”

https://thepostmillennial.com/gay-is-slay-seattle-middle-schoolers-forced-to-send-hate-mail-to-moms-for-liberty

Could They Be Seeing the Light

According to Fox News:

The Walt Disney Co. seems to have admitted “its controversial political and social agenda” has hurt the company and shareholders, according to Jonathan Turley

Turley, a George Washington University law professor and Fox News contributor, used the 300th birthday of famed economist Adam Smith, whose “invisible hand” metaphor explained how people could exercise their choice between particular products, to put a spotlight on Disney’s struggles. 

“Disney appears to acknowledge that Smith’s invisible hand is giving the ‘House of Mouse’ the middle finger. In a new corporate disclosure, Disney acknowledges that its controversial political and social agenda is costing the company and shareholders,” Turley wrote in a piece for The Hill

Turley then cited a recent SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) annual report in which Disney acknowledged that “we face risks relating to misalignment with public and consumer tastes and preferences for entertainment, travel and consumer products.” 

“In an implied nod to Smith, the company observes that ‘the success of our businesses depends on our ability to consistently create compelling content,’ and that ‘Generally, our revenues and profitability are adversely impacted when our entertainment offerings and products, as well as our methods to make our offerings and products available to consumers, do not achieve sufficient consumer acceptance. Further, consumers’ perceptions of our position on matters of public interest, including our efforts to achieve certain of our environmental and social goals, often differ widely and present risks to our reputation and brands,’” Turley wrote. 

He noted that Disney and other companies ignore consumer backlash over corporate campaigns and that the company “reportedly lost a billion dollars just on four of its recent ‘woke’ movie flops” but has “continued to roll out underperforming movies” as revenue dropped. 

“For shareholders, it may seem counterintuitive that corporate executives would trade off profits for political or social agendas. However, it does serve as a rationale for individual corporate executives who are professionally advanced when they champion such causes,” Turley wrote. 

Turley pointed out that Bud Light exec Alissa Heinerscheid famously said the brand needed to drop its frat boy reputation and was “heralded by colleagues, even though her move went on to tank that brand as a whole.”

“In fairness to Disney, there is an expressive element to its products. Movies are artistic creations that emphasize certain motivations and values. At one time, those values included some that are now viewed as offensive, including racist tropes,” Turley wrote. 

“The question is the balance and degree of the political and social agenda. Disney’s products are now viewed by many conservatives as empty virtue signaling and endless attempts to indoctrinate children,” he continued. “Moreover, when the company publicly declares its opposition to a popular parental rights bill in Florida, it is moving away from a commercial to a political focus.”

This, according to Turley, is exactly the problem with the invisible hand. 

“You can bring movies to the public, but you cannot make them sell. Once an unassailable and uniting brand, Disney brand is now negatively associated with activism by a significant number of consumers. The company is now even reporting a decline in licensing revenue from products associated with Star Wars, Frozen, Toy Story and Mickey and Friends — iconic and once-unassailable corporate images,” Turley wrote. 

“The question is how long Disney (or its shareholders) can tolerate falling revenues tied to its ‘misalignment with the public.’ It is a massive corporation and it can lose billions before facing any truly dire decisions,” he added, noting that CEO, Bob Iger appears ready to tone down the company’s involvement in culture wars. 

More evidence that Disney is falling apart outside of the fact their stock went from $250 a share to $98 a share. According to the Post Millennial:

Disney’s latest animated movie Wish, which centers around the entertainment giant’s first Afro-Latina heroine, tanked at the box office during the usually profitable Thanksgiving weekend.

The movie had been projected to take in between $45 million and $65 million during its opening three-day weekend but instead only grossed $19.7 over the traditional weekend and $31.7 million over the five-day holiday weekend.

The budget was $200 million and that doesn’t count marketing. It is expected this movie is going to have to make a billion dollars to break even.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/disney-admitted-foray-politics-culture-wars-hurt-bottom-line-sec-filing-jonathan-turley
https://thepostmillennial.com/newest-disney-film-featuring-first-afro-latina-heroine-flops-at-box-office-over-extended-thanksgiving-weekend

Mind Your Own Business

According to Fox News:

lead United Nations agency overseeing food and agriculture policy is expected to issue a road map in the coming weeks which will call on the West, including America, to dramatically reduce its meat consumption.

The UN’s Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) will publish its so-called global food systems’ road map during the upcoming COP28 climate summit in Dubai which will kick off on Thursday and extend nearly two weeks until mid-December. FAO’s first-of-its-kind document will recommend nations that “over-consume meat” to limit their consumption as part of a broader effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Bloomberg reported.

“The failure of leading meat and dairy companies to reduce emissions underlines the urgent need for more policy focus on the food and agriculture sector,” Jeremy Coller, the chair and founder of the FAIRR Initiative, an investor network that works with financial institutions to promote climate-friendly agriculture worldwide, said in a recent statement.

“Food system emissions deserve a place at the top of the table, alongside energy and transport, as they represent an estimated third of greenhouse gas emissions and 40% of methane,” he continued. “Investors hope the first-ever publication of a food and agriculture road map at COP28 this month will catalyze the transition to 1.5 degrees and a more sustainable food system.”

In addition to issuing guidelines for reducing meat consumption in the West, the FAO is expected to highlight how farmers should adapt to “erratic weather” and tackle their emissions produced from food waste and use of fertilizer, according to Bloomberg. The recommendations, which the U.S. COP28 delegation may sign onto, will not be binding.

Overall, the road map will seek to guide policy on lowering the climate impact of the global agriculture industry, which has rarely received such attention at past UN climate conferences. Past COP summits have been far more keen to address emissions generated from the global power, transportation and manufacturing sectors.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/united-nations-set-call-americans-reduce-meat-consumption

Dumbasses of the Day