FedEx drops NRA deal by snail-mail

NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - Mass shootings happen in an instant and grab headlines. A business and investment shift away from the firearms industry is happening more subtly. FedEx, the U.S. shipping group, is ending a program that offers discounts for business members of the National Rifle Association, the company confirmed to Breakingviews.

It’s a quiet reversal: eight months ago, FedEx stood by the gun-rights lobby group as other companies scrapped deals. They were reacting to the NRA’s stance after 17 students and staff members were murdered at a Florida high school by a former student. Companies including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and car-rental firm Enterprise swiftly ended member discounts. At the time, FedEx said that while assault rifles of the kind used in most American mass shootings shouldn’t be in civilian hands, it did not believe in “discriminating” between organizations it works with.

The change of tack comes just days after a gunman killed 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue. The $56 billion logistics company says the closure of its NRA discount program from Nov. 4 has no connection to that incident or any other shooting. Rather, the NRA just didn’t bring in enough business to merit its own deal. It’s among dozens of organizations FedEx plans to move to new pricing programs, and the company has been notifying customers since early October.

That, though, is still significant – perhaps more so than largely political gestures. It suggests the NRA no longer has the economic clout to inspire fear in the corporate world. The group nearly put gunmaker Smith & Wesson out of business in 2000 when it branded the company a “sellout” for agreeing to back stronger gun controls. Boycotts from NRA members followed, and Smith & Wesson’s chief executive lost his job.

Gun-rights lobbyists have resisted both technology that could make firearms safer and no-brainer efforts like making more federal data on firearms incidents readily available. But companies are becoming less timid. When retailers Dick’s Sporting Goods, Walmart and Kroger pledged to end sales of assault rifles earlier this year, their shares didn’t suffer. As customers and investors change their views, businesses no longer need to take an overtly political stance – they can just follow the money.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-crash/indonesian-rescue-workers-believe-fuselage-of-crashed-plane-found-idUSKCN1N5051

9/11 terrorist back on the streets… and treated like a hero

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6335197/9-11-terrorist-Mounir-el-Motassadeq-freed-prison-home-Morocco.html

One of only two men to be jailed over the 9/11 terror attacks is back in his home country as a free man – where he is being given a hero's welcome.

The Daily Mail tracked down Mounir el-Motassadeq to a suburb of Marrakesh where he is now living in the family home with his wife and children.

In the first sighting of him since he was deported from Germany following his early release from prison, he was seen being greeted by well-wishers as he returned from prayers at his local mosque.

A friend of the family described scenes of jubilation on his return and said people were coming from all over Morocco to see him.

El-Motassadeq, 44, who was described in German courts as the 'treasurer' for the 9/11 hijackers, spent less than 15 years in prison for his part in the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon which killed 2,977 people in September 2001. (continued in article)

Red Light Camera Fight Heads to Texas Supreme Court

https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/10/30/as-red-light-camera-fight-heads-to-texas-supreme-court-many-cities-may-be-operating-them-illegally

When the Texas legislature approved the measure that allowed the installation of red light cameras, it added a provision to the bill that was theoretically supposed to ensure that red light cameras, when used, would be used to promote safety and not merely to raise revenue for Texas municipalities.

According to the bill, “Before installing a photographic traffic signal enforcement system at an intersection approach, the local authority shall conduct a traffic engineering study of the approach to determine whether, in addition to or as an alternative to the system, a design change to the approach or a change in the signalization of the intersection is likely to reduce the number of red light violations at the intersection.” The law further specifies that the study must be performed by an outside professional engineering firm, and not by the city’s own engineers.

However, an investigation conducted by KTVT-TV in Dallas found that many North Texas cities are operating red light cameras at intersections where no engineering study has been done, in apparent violation of the law. When KTVT asked 25 North Texas municipalities to provide them with copies of engineering studies required by the law, only one city was able to provide a compliant report.

(continued at above link)

The Left is Pushing to Abolish the Electoral College

https://www.theblaze.com/video/the-left-is-pushing-to-abolish-the-electoral-college-heres-why-its-more-important-than-ever

Earlier this month, Democratic socialist congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted her assertion that the Electoral College should be “eliminated,” calling the time-tested system “a shadow of slavery’s power on America today.”

It is well past time we eliminate the Electoral College, a shadow of slavery’s power on America today that undermines our nation as a democratic republic. https://t.co/00HZN3MI6F

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) October 6, 2018

Ocasio-Cortez isn’t the only leftist clamoring for an end to the Electoral College. Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Dianne Feinstein, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Michael Moore, to name a few, have called for the Electoral College to be abolished.

As Glenn Beck explained on Monday’s show, “populism” is on the rise around the world, and the increase in attacks against the Electoral College is a symptom of the growing populist trend.

He noted that populous movements always concentrate on the will of a minority in order to unfairly dominate the will of the masses.

“It’s what America always stood against, the idea that a small faction of society, through fear and persuasion, would be able to harness the power of over 50 percent of the population,” said Glenn.

“Luckily, here in the United States it is harder for some of these movements to gain power than anywhere else in the world,” he added. “To stave off some of the ramifications of populism, our framers built our government in a way that makes it nearly impossible for populists to seize control … one of the things they put in there was the Electoral College, and populists hate it.”

Old anti-Semitic Tweets from Gab's Official Account Resurface

https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/10/29/social-media-site-gab-circles-the-drain-old-anti-semitic-tweets-from-its-account-resurface

Mediaite reported on a number of anti-Semitic tweets that had been sent by Gab’s verified Twitter account in the past but that have subsequently been taken down. In one of the tweets, Gab’s verified account responded to criticism from HillReporter editor Ed Krassenstein by saying, “Dude named ‘Krassenstein’ doesn’t support free speech. Imagine my shock.” Social media site, Gab (@getongab), which allowed the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter to spread anti-semitism, claims they are not anti-semitic, but rather supporters of free speech.

(continued at above article link)