UPDATED — Factory now closed Gibson Guitar Forces Its Factory Workers in Nashville in the midst of the Coronavirus

UPDATE: According to the Tennessean, they’ve now closed too:

Nashville-based Gibson guitars closed facilities Friday in an effort to combat the spreading of the novel coronavirus.   

Gibson confirmed a temporary closure hours after an order Sunday from Metro Public Health Department to stop all non-essential Nashville business, beginning Monday, for the next 14 days.

The Les Paul and SG model guitar maker operates facilities in Nashville and Bozeman, Montana. In Nashville, Gibson employs about 350 to 400 factory workers and about another 120 in a Nashville-based custom guitar shop. 

There were no known coronavirus, or COVID-19, cases among employees at the time of closure, said J.C. Curleigh, Gibson CEO and president. Curleigh began leading the 126-year-old company in late 2018, after Gibson filed for bankruptcy.

“It’s unprecedented, and I think what we’re reading from the board to the leadership team to every individual at Gibson,” Curleigh said, “is no one’s been through this. It’s not as though there’s a playbook.” 

Gibson plans to pay factory employees a $1,000 stipend for the two week closure. Company leadership will re-evaluate production after two weeks, with guidance from city, state and federal officials, Curleigh said. 

“(There are) a lot of ways, as leaders, we’re navigating this unprecedented time together,” Curleigh said, later adding, “We have a prerogative as a leadership team … two weeks of a factory (closure) or a month of factory (closure) pales into insignificance of the rebuild we’ll all have to do.” 

The Montana-based Gibson facility, which manufactures acoustic guitars, also closed Friday. 

In Nashville, the brand migrated primary offices last July to Cummins Station. Gibson office employees, about 100 total, began working remotely last Wednesday, Curleigh said. 

Good job Gibson. Music is great, but not right now.

Original Story below…

This is not good, Gibson Guitars had better rethink this.

Via the Payday Report:

Nashville-based Gibson Guitars last week ordered its headquarters employees to work from home to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

However, out at its factory, on old Massam Drive in Nashville, over 300 blue-collar factory workers are being forced to come into Gibson’s factory to build guitars.

“The temperature in the plant is 80 degrees with 50-60% humidity. which is really not good if you are trying to keep a virus down,” says “Mel”, a Gibson Guitar worker, who declined to give their name out of fear of retaliation.

Workers at the plant say that it’s impossible to maintain 6 feet of social distance in the plant. Likewise, many workers haven’t been given protective gloves or masks to wear on the shop floor to spread of COVID-19.

“On the assembly line, people are working closely together. we all touch the guitars,” says Mel.

There is one turnstile in the plant and twice a day more than 300 workers try to exit the plant through the same turnstile. Likewise, all the workers use the same timeclock to check-in, a dangerous vector point for COVID-19.

Fear of the plant being a site of a potential outbreak of COVID was so intense that a local food truck that typically services the plant at break has stopped showing up.

However, workers say that Gibson Guitar management has told workers that they are going to continue production at the plant until there is a positive case of COVID among workers at the plant.]

Also the report says this:

In 2018, the company emerged from bankruptcy and has struggled since then; leading many to wonder if the company is risking workers’ lives for financial reasons.

“I don’t believe it is a necessity,” says Mel. “I realize they got a lot of backorders, but they are putting a lot of people at risk. There are a lot of people at this plant, who are older people, 50 and above, who have been there for many years and they are more at risk than others.”

Workers estimate that approximately 30% of the workforce is over the age of 50; making them at great risk of contracting COVID-19.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” says Mel. “We have the auto industry closing, the Nissan plant in Smyrna, Tennessee is closed because of coronavirus”.

Gibson Guitar has long had a reputation of being a hard-nosed employer.

In 1985, Gibson Guitars famously closed its unionized factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan to set up shop non-union in Nashville. The shop has remained non-union up to today, leaving many workers at the mercy of their employers as the pandemic strikes Nashville.

 

Blacks are whining in Detroit….Again

It seems that the “social justice” crowd is at it again, trying to subtly suggest that because Detroit has a white Mayor, that blacks are being discriminated against.

Via NBC News black division:

Downtown Detroit has been fashionably in redevelopment and undergoing resurgence since the economic downturn, but not everyone is feeling welcome.

With its shiny new facades on chic eateries, cafes and microbreweries, the bright transformation and new attitude has often been called “New Detroit.” It’s all a point of pride for Mike Duggan, the first white mayor elected in 40 years who took office last year. His efforts ranging from urban landscaping to lowering the crime rate to incubating booming businesses have brought new hope for the Motor City—consistently plagued for decades with scandals, crime and blight.

Yet, many black Detroiters are crying foul, saying Detroit is becoming a tale of two cities; while young, white residents enjoy a stylish, prosperous downtown, black business owners say they are being systematically forced out of business.

Not everyone is buying that little lie however:

Charlie Beckham, Detroit’s Group Executive for Neighborhoods, who invited the first group of business owners to talk, is adamant there is no effort to push out black businesses. Instead, he said, the economy has changed, and people are repositioning.

“There are plenty of successful black business owners doing the right thing. They scratched and saved and paid their workers before they bought the Cadillac,” said Beckham, who has served six mayors since the late Coleman Young, the city’s first black mayor. “The responsibility is on us. When you’ve had a month-to-month lease for 25 years, and you get pushed out of your lease or when you lose your property because you didn’t pay your mortgage or taxes, that’s just bad business.”

Meanwhile, Smith negotiated a lease with new building owners and Spectacles is staying put. Mo’ Better Blues, which in October won a $50,000 Motor City Match grant from the city of Detroit, is celebrating its grand opening in another downtown location on November 7. The Mongos continue to run Café D’Mongo’s Speakeasy, a downtown bar/restaurant.

“We’ve got to tighten up in this new environment,” Beckham said. “Buy the building. Negotiate a strong lease. If the economy goes up or down, you will not get pushed out. Is there still racism? Yes. But we can’t let that be an excuse.”

Here’s what I wrote in the comments section of this story:

Amazing, the same people that are largely responsible for the downfall of my great city are now @!$%#ing because they’re not being allowed to do it again. How quaint. 

The truth is, if you don’t have the money to be in business, you shouldn’t be in business to start with! NO ONE is entitled to anything! If you can’t hang with the big dogs, get off the porch!

Racist? No. Racial Realist? Yes. 

If you ain’t got the flow to be in business, than take your broke black a$$ on down the road and let someone who does have the building, it is just that simple. 

Amazing how blacks think that they’re entitled to everything. This is what happens when you give them special treatment. Give them an inch and they try to take a mile. 

I stand behind that comment 100%.

 

A follow up: That story on CEO Don Gillispie is load of crap

As you might recall I posted this here:

I received an e-mail from someone linking to the story below. It sounds like an interesting one. Please, go check out:  Divine America: When Using Your Powers for Good, Expect Government Delays

Well, a man by the first name of Tom contacted me today from Virginia. I suspect that Tom is either Don Gillispie’s lawyer or friend and is desperately trying to get this story in the media. So far, they have failed. Here is the reason: Don Gillispie broke the law and in more than one way.

What happened was this: This Tom character calls me earlier this evening. From the minute I said hello, this man was talking a mile a freakin’ minute. I told him he had emailed me and that’s about all I got in, except to finally holler, “Hey! shut up a minute! I have a question!”

I asked him simply, “Did Don break any laws?” His answer, “Oh, he didn’t fill out an IRS 1099 Form and a few other documents…” And then, he took a breath and started to talk, this time, I cut him off.

I said, “If Don Gillispie didn’t fill out required documents for the IRS and other Government agencies to run his company; then he broke the law and he is getting what he deserves!” and I hung up.

Folks, here is the deal: As much as I know that the Government under President Barack Obama is not a good one for businesses, of all sorts; I also am a Conservative that believes in rule of law and if you run a business and you do not follow the rule of law, whether it be state, local or federal, when it comes to running a business, you really should not expect any sympathy from anyone at all.

I do not care what sort of so-called “good” this person was doing, abiding by the law is a bedrock principle of running a business. Especially one like owning a nuclear power plant. In fact, here is a interesting story about this guy. Here’s a google search on the guy; and this joker is trying to get sympathy from the Conservative blogosphere?

Here’s hoping that they lock this idiot up for a very long time. 😡

Vietnam veteran Joe Koblenzer thinks that his Veteran status entitles him to steal from Cracker Barrel

The video:

The story via Fox News:

A 73-year-old Vietnam veteran paid a high price for a free muffin.

Joe Koblenzer says he was fired by a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Florida after he gave a needy person a corn muffin for free, WWSB reported.

Koblenzer, who had been with the eatery in Sarasota for three years, told the station that he was previously written up twice before the muffin infraction: once for having a fountain drink while on duty, and another time for allegedly giving a woman a free cup of coffee. In the latter instance, Koblenzer says the customer paid for the coffee.

Cracker Barrel, however, says the muffin giveaway was Koblenzer’s fifth violation of company policy, which includes not giving away food and not consuming food without paying for it.

Koblenzer told WWSB that on the day he was fired, a man who looked like he may be homeless asked him for mayonnaise and tartar sauce.

“He said he was going to cook fish,” Koblenzer told the station.

Koblenzer said he got the man the condiments, and added a corn muffin to the bag as he handed it over.

The kindness cost the Vietnam vet his job, but he understands why he was fired.

I have news for Mr. Koblenzer; being a United States Veteran does not entitle him to rob a business of its merchandise. Furthermore, being a Military Vet does not entitle him to rob a business of its profits. Here is why I say this: If Cracker Barrel allows this guy to do this; then, they would have to allow ALL of their employees to do such a thing. Then, if word gets out that people who are needy and want free food, can go over to Cracker Barrel and tell a sob story; and they will get free food — this would cause Cracker Barrel to go out of business in short order. The last time I checked, Cracker Barrel is a business and is not a charitable organization like gleaners.

I understand the mans moral argument; but morals are one thing. However, running a business is another entirely. Cracker Barrel is not in the business of feeding the poor; they are in the business of preparing food for customers who have money to buy it. This is why the founder of this business, decided to go into business for himself in the first place!

I noticed the comments of this story at Fox News channel; and the only people who are making an issue of this; are obviously liberals who are anti-business anyhow. Furthermore, I am quite shocked that Fox News even went with this story in the first place. Perhaps Rupert Murdoch’s conservative influence is waning over there.

Again, if the poor want free food; let them get it from organizations who are in the business of providing for the poor; not from a business who are in the business of profit.

Trader Joe’s drops plan to build store in Portland, Oregon because of black racism

No, this isn’t a joke.

This story comes via TopConservativeNews.com, who notes the following:

Notice that it is perfectly acceptable for black people to oppose the demographic change of their neighborhood. If the races had been reversed, the national media would be screaming “RACISM!”

Consider this statement from the Portland African American Leadership Forum. They “remain opposed to any development in N/NE Portland that does not primarily benefit the Black community.” This would be a national controversy if the races were reversed. They would be denounced as the Ku Klux Klan.

The story via AP:

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Trader Joe’s grocery-store chain has dropped a plan to open a new store in the heart of the city’s historically African-American neighborhood after activists said the development would price black residents out of the area.

 

The grocer, whose stores are found in urban neighborhoods across the nation, said Monday it wouldn’t press its plan, given community resistance, The Oregonian (http://bit.ly/1n7Jyqb ) reported.

“We open a limited number of stores each year, in communities across the country,” it said in a statement. “We run neighborhood stores, and our approach is simple: If a neighborhood does not want a Trader Joe’s, we understand, and we won’t open the store in question.”

The Portland Development Commission had offered a steep discount to the grocer on a parcel of nearly two acres that was appraised at up to $2.9 million: a purchase price of slightly more than $500,000. The lot is at Northeast Alberta Street and Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and has been vacant for years.

So, why did Trader Joe’s decide not to build there, well for two reasons:

Critics said the development would displace residents and perpetuate income inequality in one of the most rapidly gentrifying ZIP codes in the nation.

…and the biggest reason? This:

The Portland African American Leadership Forum said the development commission had in the past made promises about preventing projects from displacing community members but hadn’t fulfilled them.

It sent the city a letter saying it would “remain opposed to any development in N/NE Portland that does not primarily benefit the Black community.” It said the grocery-store development would “increase the desirability of the neighborhood,” for “non-oppressed populations.”

Mayor Charlie Hales and the urban renewal agency’s executive director, Patrick Quinton, signed a letter in January that described what they said was the commission’s contributions “to the destructive impact of gentrification and displacement on the African American community.

Translation:

We don’t want no honkeys in our neighborhood! If you ain’t black, we don’t want your business here!

Now, could you imagine, if a business, who was owned by a black man, wanted to open a store, say in like Troy, Michigan or Rochester Hills, Michigan; which are, for what it is worth, predominantly upper middle class/wealthy class, white neighborhoods and a group of white people starting complaining about it and starting saying that it would cause the neighborhood to go into decline? Man, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would be all over it!

There would huge protests and it would be all over the media. However, because this is a black thing, and the company is white owned; it is no big deal, nothing to see here, move along. 🙄

This is why I continue to run this blog; regardless of the fact that I make little or nothing on this blog at all, despite the fact that I make little or nothing on this blog, since Google Adsense dropped me. Because this sort of stuff is NOT reported by the national media; least of all by MSNBC and CNN. Fox News most likely will not touch it either, because of the taboo subject.

Furthermore, I believe that the Conservative right just will not touch this one; because they are afraid of being called racists. I do not have such issues. I simply do not care what blacks really think of me; least of all black liberals. Considering what happened to my cousin and myself; I think I’ve earned the right to point this stuff out.

By the way; these are Obama’s people and don’t you ever forget it. 😡

 

Blockbuster Video RIP

Some shocking news, Blockbuster video goes the way of the 8-track tape.

The Story:

Englewood, Colo. — The final curtain is falling on the Blockbuster video-rental stores that Dish Network Corp. owns in the U.S.

The closures announced Wednesday will affect about 300 Blockbuster locations scattered across the country. Dish Network expects the stores to be closed by early January. Dish Network says about 2,800 people will lose their jobs.

There are over a dozen Blockbusters in metro Detroit.

The Englewood, Colo. satellite-TV provider also is shutting down Blockbuster’s DVD-by-mail service next month.

Dish Network’s retreat will render Blockbuster’s once-ubiquitous brand nearly extinct. About 50 U.S. stores operating under franchise agreements will remain open.

Blockbuster’s downfall began more than a decade ago with the rise of Netflix Inc.’s DVD-by-mail service, followed by the introduction of a subscription service that streams video over high-speed Internet connections.

Dish Network bought Blockbuster out of bankruptcy court in 2011.

via Blockbuster shutting down 300 remaining U.S. stores | The Detroit News.

I am old enough to remember when Blockbuster video started back in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s.(*) Sad to see them go; but times change, the advent of high speed internet, basically rendered the rental of Video tape and DVD’s old hat.

Still though it is a bit of a shock to see something like that go away.

* = Update: Least I that should be accused of not knowing what I am talking about; According to Wikipedia, Blockbuster Video was formed in 1985. However, I lived in Southwest Detroit from my date of birth, which was in 1972 till 1989 and we never saw them there at all. My family moved from Detroit to the southern suburbs of Detroit in 1989; and around 1990 or 1991 is when we noticed the first blockbuster opened around here. I guess I am showing my age a bit. 😳 

 

 

Left Wing Jewish Hatchet Job on Hobby Lobby?

How is it that people that make up only 2% of the population of the United States of America can be so controlling over Christian Businesses, American Banking, American Politics — liberal and Conservative, and our entire entertainment industry? It just does not make sense.

Sure looks like it to me.

Via HuffPo:

(RNS) Hanukkah comes early this year. But it apparently never comes to Hobby Lobby.

The national craft store owned by conservative billionaire Steve Green seemingly refuses to carry merchandise related to Hanukkah because of Green’s “Christian values,” and some Jews are taking offense.

“I will never set foot in a Hobby Lobby. Ever.” wrote Ken Berwitz, the New Jersey blogger who brought the Hobby Lobby Hanukkah flap to light in a Friday (Sept. 27) blog post.

Berwitz’s outrage has spread to other bloggers who are taking Hobby Lobby to task as a store that courts the general public, but refuses to stock anything related to Judaism — even in communities with significant Jewish populations.

“If they want to sell all over the nation then they must include all people within that nation,” wrote a Jewish visual artist named Abbey on a blog post entitled “Is Hobby Lobby Anti-Semitic?”

Of course, the vultures are coming out of the woodwork to take their swipes at the so-called “Intolerant Christian”.  See here, here, here, and here. I will make a accusation: This is nothing more than a left winged Jewish attack against a Conservative Christian business, who refused to bow down to President Barack Obama’s stupid Nationalized healthcare plan. Obama figured out a way to get this guy and he called on some left-wing Jewish friend of his to do the job. Sad part is, some right-wing Jews got in on the act as well.

Of course, Hobby Lobby’s President fearing his company might be picketed or boycotted by these idiot pukes, issued the following statement:

UPDATE 10/4/13 10:15am: Hobby Lobby President Steve Green has issued the following statement on behalf of the company:

We sincerely apologize for any employee comments that may have offended anyone, especially our Jewish customers and friends. Comments like these do not reflect the feelings of our family or Hobby Lobby. Our family has a deep respect for the Jewish faith and those who hold its traditions dear. We’re proud contributors to Yad Vashem, as well as to other museums and synagogues in Israel and the United States. We are investigating this matter and absolutely do not tolerate discrimination at our company or our stores. We do not have any policies that discriminate; in fact, we have policies that specifically prohibit discrimination. We have previously carried merchandise in our stores related to Jewish holidays. We select the items we sell in our stores based on customer demand. We are working with our buyers to re-evaluate our holiday items and what we will carry in the future.

This is my problem: I just do not see why ANY business of any sort should have to apologize for its owner’s Christian values, to ANYONE. I agree, what the employee said, was mildly offensive. But, this idea that the owner of the company has to grovel before these pukes is an outrage! 😡

Now, had this been my company? This is the statement I would have put out:

Hobby Lobby is owned by a born again Christian. A Born again Christian who happens to know that the Jews of the Bible arrested Jesus of Nazareth; They charged him with false charges, brought him before a rigged trial, of which they could not even agree on the accusations — and then ordered him crucified.

Because of the knowledge of this fact; Hobby Lobby does not sell items for Jewish holidays. This is still the United States of America, and if a business owner chooses not to cater, suck up to or kiss the ass of a protected minority, that is his business. Hobby Lobby is a multi-billion dollar company and I am sure we will not miss the business of a group of people, who make up 2% of the population of the United States of America.

Signed,

Steve Green
Owner Hobby Lobby AKA Your Mom.

That, is how things like this, should be handled.

This is why the GOP needs to wise up about this shut down

Because we are going to lose businesses. Government shutdowns hurt everyone, not just those in Government employment.

The Story:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Business leaders have failed to persuade their traditional Republican allies in Congress to avert a government shutdown. And they fear that bigger problems lie ahead.

That’s driving business leaders to take sides with a Democratic president whose health care and regulatory agenda they have vigorously opposed.

President Barack Obama is embracing the business outreach. On Wednesday, Obama is set to host chief executives from the nation’s 19 biggest financial firms.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has sent a letter to Congress signed by about 250 business groups urging no shutdown and warning against a debt ceiling crisis.

The partial closing of the government and the looming confrontation over the nation’s borrowing limit highlight the remarkable drop in the business community’s influence among House Republicans.

via Associated Press.

This is why I sort of thought that this shutdown was a bad idea. What the Tea Party Reps in the house forget is that the Republican Party’s biggest constituents are business owners; big and small. This could hurt the GOP in a huge way. Now, while I think that Obamacare was a bad idea; I happen to know that the GOP lost the battle, it is now law, affirmed by the supreme court.  So, why not play the long game, and try to actually win elections in 2014, and 2016 — including the White House? Then, once that happens, try to tweak the Affordable care act to make it a bit less intrusive and get rid of the mandate.

What the Republicans are doing now in the house is basically going to undermine any attempts to win any sort of an election come 2014 and 2016. In other words, the Republicans in the house are playing the wrong game for the situation. However, the truth is that Harry Reid could bring up what the house sent, for a vote;  which wouldn’t pass. But he is playing political games and keeping the government shut down to make a point. This will work against the Democrats in senate and the house and will play against whomever is running in 2016.

Simply put, this is an game of political brinkmanship, which is putting a good deal of people, like my friend John; out of work. It is not like the shutdown is going to stop Government totally, that is a farce. Simply Put, the Governmental employees who ARE out of work, should not be punished, because of the idiot divide, between the House and the Senate; it just does not make any sense and it is going to hurt those who actually campaigned to serve their Country as public servants.

In other words: Let’s cut the stupid stuff and get back to work.

 

JCPenney, Business and Snobbery

It is a sign of the times, but it is happening:

Thompson talks about the economic trends that spelled doom for JCP. I don’t know about economics, but I do know that it’s strange, in an emotional sense, for me to see so many of the iconic retailers from my childhood fall by the wayside. I couldn’t tell you the last time I shopped at Penney’s. Probably when my mom took me there as a kid. Sears was the big retail presence in our family’s life in the 1970s. I went to a Sears store for the first time in decades last fall, looking for a kid’s coat, and I was shocked by how depressing and low-rent everything looked. This is not a store that has life in it, I thought.

Montgomery Ward used to be a big part of my childhood too. It died a while back.

via Poor JCPenney | The American Conservative.

A couple of things:

  1. Low rent. Low Rent?!?! Seriously? 😯 Is this the image that Rod Dreher wants to convey? As an snobby asshole, who thinks he is better than anyone else? I do not know the guy — but as someone who grew up in Southwest Detroit in the 1980’s, that little remark really tripped my “this guy is a racist, elitist asshole” alarm. Also too, I still have family, in the form of Cousins who still live down there, including the daughter of my Father’s kid sister, who works TWO jobs to survive down there. She also is a registered gun owner. Something that I just found out here recently. Needless to say, I was most impressed with that! 😉 😀 😛
  2. JCPenney, Montgomery Wards, Sears are all relics of the past. They are pre-internet businesses that did well, when brick and mortar businesses ruled the world. K-Mart is having the same problems. But, K-mart learned to adapt to the changing business world. Sears and the others, have not been so smart about it and because of it, some have failed and others are coming close to failing.

But still, Low Rent?!?! Egad.  🙄 It just struck me as quite snobbish and bit racist. Why didn’t he just say that the place looked bad and had black people in it or something? It would have had the same effect. One thing I have never done is judged those who live in different situation as me; money-wise or whatever. Because I well know that I could very be in that place myself. I mean, I  not might have the best circumstances, but things could be much, much worse for me. For that, I am very grateful. I have said that before and I try to keep it in mind.