Breitbart, Donald Trump and Chobani yogurt

[Phil1111 1,149]

60 Minutes on CBS had a good story on US immigration on Sunday. They mentioned the efforts that Brightbart used to attack an American business. All because the owner was a immigrant and Muslim.

Breitbart and Donald Trump’s alt-right troll brigade attacked Chobani yogurt because its founder likes immigrants

Death threats have been coming in from alt-righters believing Chobani yogurt wants to “drown the U.S. in Muslims"

The yogurt company Chobani has in the past made news for really great reasons: Six weeks of paid parental leave for every employee, as well as shares worth up to 10 percent of the company for full-timers if and when the company goes public. But in recent months, the New York-based company has come under much more negative scrutiny from right-wing media outlets — leading to death threats for the company’s founder.

Mobilized by the anti-immigration rhetoric that has propelled the presidential campaign of Republican nominee Donald Trump, alt-right trolls have targeted Chobani for daring to hire resettled refugees in the midst of what the United Nations has called the largest refugee crisis since World War II.

The New York Times’ David Gelles reported that 300 of the yogurt company’s 2,000 full-time employees are refugees from Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, and other countries. Chobani’s founder, Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant of Kurdish descent, now faces death threats for employing immigrants in his New York and Twin Falls, Idaho, factories.

In a January opinion piece for CNN Money, Ulukaya wrote about his advocacy efforts like creating the Tent foundation, an organization that aims to help the more than 65 million people who have fled armed conflict or persecution and now are displaced around the world, to motivate the private sector to help end the refugee crisis:

The Tent Pledge asks companies all over the world to step up and do more. We’re asking them to provide refugees with job training, employment opportunities, and the kind of direct assistance that experts have identified as a priority — everything from blankets and water, to debit cards and Internet access.

Shortly after the op-ed was published, the far-right website World Net Daily published a story titled, “American Yogurt Tycoon Vows to Choke U.S. With Muslims.” (The title has since been changed.)

But Ulukaya’s column never mentioned Muslims.

Ulukaya’s profile amongst right-wing hatemongers only exploded after he followed-up his column with an appearance at the Davos economic forum in January where he called on multinational corporations to hire more refugees.

“The minute a refugee has a job, that’s the minute they stop being a refugee,” he told the global business leaders.

And after the world’s largest yogurt factory announced plans to expand with a $100 million research and development center in the center of a small Idaho town earlier this year, the company attracted the attention of Breitbart, the right-wing website whose former executive chairman Stephen K. Bannon is now running Trump’s presidential campaign.

Idaho happens to be one of the five highest refugee-absorbing states per capita, due to its low cost of living and 3.9 percent unemployment rate, according to the Daily Beast. The state has welcomed about 30,000 refugees from more than 50 countries since the 1970s. And like he did with his New York factory, Ulukaya relied on a local refugee resettlement center to find new hires for his Idaho plant.

The coverage from Breitbart attempted to smear the company with annual yogurt sales of about $1.5 billion as a menace to society and scourge on the local community.

One Breitbart story suggested that Chobani’s hiring of refugees caused Idaho’s rise in tuberculosis with the headline, “TB spiked 500 percent in Twin Falls during 2012, as Chobani Yogurt Opened Plant.” Another titled “Twin Falls refugee rape special report: why are the refugees moving in,” attempted to link the company’s hiring of refugees with two sexual assault cases in the Idaho town. And a third article claimed Chobani has “deep ties” to a pro-Clinton advocacy group that imposed the refugee crisis in Twin Falls.

In August, a white nationalist organization that endorsed Trump for president issued robocalls across Idaho claiming that the “nonwhite invasion of their state and all white areas constitutes white genocide.”

As a result of Breitbart’s fearmongering, Shawn Barigar– the mayor of Twin Falls– and Ulukaya found themselves on the receiving end of racist epithets and death threats, the Times reported.

“It got woven into a narrative that it’s all a cover-up, that we’re all trying to keep the refugees safe so that Chobani has its work force, that I personally am getting money from the Obama administration to help Chobani hire whoever they want, that it’s part of this Islamification of the United States,” Barigar told the Times. “It’s crazy.”

According to Business Insider’s analysis of the hashtag “boycott Chobani” on Twitter, many of the threats are coming from supporters of Trump:
https://twitter.com/ThomasSickler/status/772951206079725568

Breitbart editor-in-chief, Alex Marlow, defended the website’s coverage of Chobani.

“Mr. Ulukaya hasn’t merely involved himself in this issue, he’s been one of the leaders in expanding refugee resettlement in the United States. Breitbart’s explosive growth is due in large measure to the mainstream media’s refusal to cover vital topics like this one,” Marlow said in a statement.

Despite Trump’s army of alt-right trolls, however, Ulukaya stands as a perfect rebuke to those who want to scare the United States into shutting its doors to immigrants.

“He’s the xenophobe’s nightmare,” Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, told the Times. “Here’s an immigrant who isn’t competing for jobs, but is creating jobs big time. It runs completely counter to the far-right narrative.”
http://www.salon.com/2016/11/03/breitbart-and-donald-trumps-alt-right-troll-brigade-attacked-chobani-yogurt-because-its-founder-likes-immigrants/

Two stories on the company the first a short 60 minutes one that mentions the threats and the second where the founder gave 10% of the company to employees.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyHVLq-KtFo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m01zagmwB68

[normiss 798]

That was a great story.
Disgusting hatred is just downright sickening. The owner's response when asked was what everyone's response should be.
Laugh, shrug, then beat them at the game.

That 10% of the business to employees is admirable.
He is a shining example of what immigration is.

[JerryBaumchen 1,362]

Hi Phil,

Quote

the efforts that Brightbart used to attack an American business

Fear not; I'm sure that rushmc will soon be here giving us other links that support the Brightbart claims.

I saw that story last night; you have to give him kudos for doing some very right things. We are still the land of opportunity.

Jerry Baumchen

[billvon 2,991]

>Disgusting hatred is just downright sickening.

Agreed. Unfortunately, we are living in the age of Trump.
=================================
Woman says she was denied lodging on Airbnb during storm because of her race

Amy B. Wang
The Washington Post
April 8, 2017

An Airbnb host near Big Bear has been banned after an Asian American guest claimed her reservation was canceled at the last minute because of her race.

According to local media reports, Dyne Suh, a law student in Riverside, said she and her fiance had been looking forward to a short vacation over Presidents Day weekend in Big Bear Lake, a popular ski getaway about a two-hour drive east of Los Angeles.

About a month before their trip, Suh booked a mountain cabin on Airbnb listed as a "Tree House Loft and Private Bathroom" in Running Springs, Calif. Suh said she later messaged the host to ask if she could add two friends to the reservation and was told it would not be a problem.

"We were looking forward to it, especially with law school and working and being really busy," Suh told NBC Los Angeles on Wednesday. "It was a welcome break."

On Feb. 17, the group of four set out up the mountain. An intense winter storm was then hitting the area, making road conditions hazardous and prompting flash-flood warnings, according to local reports.

When they were minutes away from the cabin, Suh sent a message to the host through the Airbnb app to let her know they were close and asked how they might pay for adding the two friends to the reservation, according to the news station.

That's when their trip took a turn.

"If you think 4 people and 2 dogs ate getting a room fir $50 a night on big bear mountain during the busiest weekend of the year.... You are insanely high," the host texted her, according to Suh's screenshots of the exchange. The host, identified as "Tami" in the images, also called Suh "a con artist" and canceled the reservation.

Suh said she was shocked, then protested, telling the host that she had screenshots of their earlier messages showing she had agreed to the reservation changes.

"Go ahead. I wouldn't rent to u if you were the last person on earth," the host wrote back to Suh. "One word says it all. Asian"

When Suh replied that she would report the host to Airbnb for being racist, the host told her to "Go ahead" and "It's why we have trump."
===========================

[sonnyblu 0]

normiss

That was a great story.
Disgusting hatred is just downright sickening.

What's disgusting about that story is the part where a 5-year old was sexually assaulted. The sickening part is where you just glossed over it like it never happened.

I get the feeling that if Trump supporters ganged raped a Muslim refugee, the story would've gotten a bit more attention. "We're living in the age of Trump!"

BTW, in case you didn't get the memo, the tabloid known as "the Salon" (snicker) can hardly be considered a reliable source nowadays.

[wmw999 2,445]

The perpetrators were caught and punished. Just as you gloss over the more numerous (because Christians are more numerous) Christian fathers who molest their daughters.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[sonnyblu 0]

wmw999

The perpetrators were caught and punished. Just as you gloss over the more numerous (because Christians are more numerous) Christian fathers who molest their daughters.

Wendy P.

Where in the OP is there a reference to a christian molester that I supposedly ignored?

I'm saying that if there was anything truly disgusting and sickening in that story, it was the gang rape of a 5-year old girl by refugees.

But the Salon rather focus on Trump and his "alt-right troll brigade." The story really had nothing to do with Trump. I don't recall him commenting on it. The Salon was just pissed at how Brietbart reported the facts, or that they even reported them at all.

The headline really should've been about white supremacist groups, but "White nationalists Hate Muslims" isn't really news, so they turn it against Trump and the media.

Yes, the hatred in this country is disturbing, and it will probably be with us for quite awhile. White nationalist have turned their focus toward Muslims, but overall, white nationalism has been on the decline while black separatists groups like the Black Panthers and the Nation of Islam have been on the rise. According to SPLC figures, they are also certainly over represented when it comes to the level of hate groups in this country.

I understand that there are a lot of sick things that are going on, but when it comes to a father molesting his daughter, what are we supposed to do about that? How can we prevent it? For the most part, we feel helpless.

Maybe if the victim was the same age as the refugee boys, this story would've been a bit easier to digest. But the fact that she was only five-years old, makes it difficult for me to grasp - and if there are cultural implications here, they need to be addressed, if any.

I understand that you don't want people to stereotype all refugees based on this one incident, but that doesn't mean we should ignore it.

[normiss 798]

"Brietbart reported the facts"

Ha! Good one!

[tkhayes 348]

Quote

What's disgusting about that story is the part where a 5-year old was sexually assaulted.

Which is not a basis for immigration policy...or anything else actually. It is simply an anecdotal story about something that happened. spinning it into 'hatred' is EXACTLY what Breitbart does very well. And you and far too many others bought it.

[Phil1111 1,149]

Here is a longer and more detailed account of the sexual assault. trump and Idaho.

“If You Want to Live Here, You Need to Live by the Rules Here”

Last month, rumors began to ricochet around the city of Twin Falls, Idaho, that three Syrian refugees had raped a 5-year-old girl. Some in town said that the attackers, all juveniles themselves, held the girl at knifepoint. It was said that they urinated on her naked body and that one of the boys’ fathers high-fived his son when he learned what he had done....

Soon the story of the alleged rape spread beyond Twin Falls. One resident provided an anonymous report to a right-wing website called BehindMyBack.org. The anti-Muslim blog Creeping Sharia picked up the report, and by June 20, it had migrated to Infowars.com, a conspiracy site favored by Donald Trump. The Drudge Report trumpeted the Infowars story with the headline “Syrian Refugees Rape Little Girl at Knifepoint in Idaho.”

The story circulating online was wrong in all its particulars. On June 20, Twin Falls county prosecutor Grant Loebs told the local newspaper, “There were no Syrians involved, there was no knife involved, there was no gang rape.” He blamed anti-refugee groups for circulating misinformation. “There is a small group of people in Twin Falls County whose life goal is to eliminate refugees, and thus far they have not been constrained by the truth,” Loebs said.

Yet as wild as the rumors were, they’d grown from a kernel of truth. There had been an incident involving three boys, ages 7, 10, and 14, and a mentally disabled 5-year-old girl; Loebs described it to me as a “very serious felony.” On June 2, an 89-year-old neighbor discovered the children in the laundry room at the Fawnbrook Apartments, a low-income housing complex. The youngest boy is from Iraq while the older ones, brothers, are from an Eritrean family that passed through Sudanese refugee camps. (Most news reports have identified the older boys as Sudanese.) Only the youngest boy, Loebs said, is alleged to have touched the girl, though investigators suspect the 10-year-old might have as well; the elder boys reportedly made a video.

Because everyone involved in the case is a minor, the records were sealed. Nevertheless, on the evening of June 20, Twin Falls Police Chief Craig Kingsbury appeared at the weekly City Council meeting to update the anxious public as best he could. He announced that police had arrested the two older boys the previous Friday and that they were being held in juvenile detention. (Loebs later told me that the 7-year-old was also charged with a felony but wasn’t taken into custody because of his age.) Kingsbury laid out how the investigation had been conducted, elaborating the police department’s procedures for questioning children in sexual abuse cases and explaining why it took weeks to charge the boys....

Julie Ruf, head of the local chapter of ACT for America—the country’s largest grassroots anti-Muslim organization—took the microphone during the part of the City Council meeting set aside for public comment. “...

speaker after speaker stood up to denounce Islam and warn that terror had come to Twin Falls. A white-haired woman named Vicky Davis said, “The nation of Islam has declared global jihad on us. And Obama, this administration, is bringing them in as fast as he possibly can. And why do you think he’s doing that? Do you think it’s out of the goodness of his heart? It isn’t! There is a war on the American people! And you people are allowing the importation of these people, these people who have declared war on us.”
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/07/sexual_assault_case_involving_refugees_in_idaho_in_the_age_of_donald_trump.html

Twin Falls Police Chief Craig Kingsbury has said that all three boys had been in the United States for less than two years at the time of the assault, but he wasn't certain of their refugee status.

The prosecutor's office said the family of the victim and the victim's attorney approved the the following settlements reached in the three cases presided over by the Hon. Thomas H. Borresen:

- One defendant pleaded guilty to felony sexual exploitation of a child and misdemeanor battery.

- The second defendant pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting felony lewd conduct and aiding and abetting misdemeanor battery.

- The third boy pleaded guilty to accessory to the commission of a felony.
Twin Falls authorities last summer said other misinformation that circulated on social media and online included that the boys gang-raped the girl, that they were armed with a knife, or that a parent of one of the children "high-fived" or congratulated them on the sexual assault.

Because the boys are juveniles, specific details about the case are sealed.

Sentencing dispositions will be held later, the prosecutor's office said.
http://www.ktvb.com/news/crime/boys-plead-guilty-in-assault-of-girl-at-twin-falls-apartments/428601503

[sonnyblu 0]

Phil1111

Because the boys are juveniles, specific details about the case are sealed.

Correct, but we still have the account of the victim's parents and the prosecutor that actually saw the video.

[sonnyblu 0]

tkhayes

Quote

What's disgusting about that story is the part where a 5-year old was sexually assaulted.

Which is not a basis for immigration policy...

Not necessarily. This story is news regardless of who the perpetrators are. I could be wrong, but the specifics of this story don't seem to be a common occurrence among groups of 7-14 year old boys in this country - I sure as hell hope not. I'll spare you the details out of respect for other rape victims that might be reading this.

I want to know why this happened. Did they do it for the same reasons other rapists/molesters do what they do? Were they bullied? Was this some type of revenge? Were they victims themselves? Did they do this because of cultural issues? Did they do this because of something they saw back in their homeland?

Perhaps refugees should under go psychological evaluations, and if there are issues, perhaps treatment should be a part of their financial/medical assistance.

Another sickening aspect of this story is how Twin Falls’ City Councilman Greg Lanting attacked the family of the victim by calling them liars - that the father wasn't even part of the child's life and that no way did he see the video of his daughter's attack. Lanting later apologized at a city council meeting saying that his claims were false.

Anyway, I'm glad we're talking about this. It's been nine months, and the victim's gofundme page still hasn't met it's goal of 100k.


https://www.gofundme.com/2a6rst6g

[Phil1111 1,149]

sonnyblu

***
Because the boys are juveniles, specific details about the case are sealed.

Correct, but we still have the account of the victim's parents and the prosecutor that actually saw the video.

Not sure what you mean.
"The prosecutor's office said the family of the victim and the victim's attorney approved the the following settlements reached in the three cases presided over by the Hon. Thomas H. Borresen:"
from the last link. They all plead guilty so there was no trial per say.

[sonnyblu 0]

Phil1111

******
Because the boys are juveniles, specific details about the case are sealed.

Correct, but we still have the account of the victim's parents and the prosecutor that actually saw the video.

Not sure what you mean.

Back in August, the parents gave an interview about what they saw in the video.

[jakee 1,489]

sonnyblu

Quote

Which is not a basis for immigration policy...

Not necessarily. This story is news regardless of who the perpetrators are. I could be wrong, but the specifics of this story don't seem to be a common occurrence among groups of 7-14 year old boys in this country - I sure as hell hope not. I'll spare you the details out of respect for other rape victims that might be reading this.

Right. And since this is only one story I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's not common for boys from any of the countries they might have been from either. Hang on, did I say limb? I actually meant I'm going to use common sense.

Look, here's a case of two 10 year olds brutally torturing, sexually abusing and murdering a 2 year old boy before leaving his body to be run over by a train.

Would you now have a problem with white, christian, english speaking families from Liverpool moving into your hometown?

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[normiss 798]

Yahtzee.

[tkhayes 348]

I am not suggesting that it is not news or even that it did not happen. But 'policy' comes from systemic or repeated societal issues, not from anecdotal incidents.

No one called for the banning of Catholic churches, which arguably has done more systemic raping than any single entity in the history of modern civilization

Action taken upon a group of people or policy implemented based upon a single or even rare incidents is called 'knee-jerk' and does nothing to solve the thousands of other issues you are consciously ignoring, even though they are EXACTLY the same problem.

In other words, if you care about children getting raped and want institutions shut down because of children getting raped, then I would ask for consistency across all platforms where children are getting raped....

we already have a system to deal with the consequences of it - it is called the criminal justice system, which investigates, hunts down, captures and convicts the offenders.

[sonnyblu 0]

jakee

Would you now have a problem with white, christian, english speaking families from Liverpool moving into your hometown?

Where did I say I have a problem with people moving to my hometown? I've grown up surrounded by arabs/muslims. My hometown has practically been the North American Mecca for refugee muslims/arabs for the last 40 years.

I just want to understand why and how we can address the situation, even if it means discussing cultural issues that liberals obviously have a problem talking about.

Besides, how many Liverpool refugees do you send over here to the U.S? I doubt those children have seen what some of these middle eastern refugees have had to deal with. Regardless tho, I'd still recommend psychological evaluations for anyone trying to enter this country, especially those from the U.K.

[sonnyblu 0]

normiss

Yahtzee.

Ya, I know. This is all just a fucking game to you.

If you have something with some substance to add, I'm willing to listen.

[kallend 2,026]

tkhayes

I am not suggesting that it is not news or even that it did not happen. But 'policy' comes from systemic or repeated societal issues, not from anecdotal incidents.

No one called for the banning of Catholic churches, which arguably has done more systemic raping than any single entity in the history of modern civilization

Even at the height of the IRA bombing campaign the UK did not ban Roman Catholics or Irish citizens from entering the country.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[sonnyblu 0]

tkhayes

No one called for the banning of Catholic churches, which arguably has done more systemic raping than any single entity in the history of modern civilization

I'm not calling for a banning. But at least the Catholic Church has received plenty of negative press for their actions that hopefully improved the situation.

tkhayes

In other words, if you care about children getting raped and want institutions shut down because of children getting raped, then I would ask for consistency across all platforms where children are getting raped....

I never said anything about shutting down institutions. I want want to understand why.

tkhayes

we already have a system to deal with the consequences of it - it is called the criminal justice system, which investigates, hunts down, captures and convicts the offenders.

Great, but how can we prevent it? If there are cultural/parental issue that need be addressed through the use of mental health for refugees, then that would be a good starting point. These families have gone through a lot - they might need a lot more than cash and a job at some yogurt factory.

[jakee 1,489]

Quote

I just want to understand why and how we can address the situation,

What situation? The situation of this one crime? It's been addressed by local law enforcement, like any other individual crime.

If you admit more refugees, you get more refugee criminals. Just like when your population grows from literally any other source, you get more criminals. But no-one's out there screening the maternity ward.

Quote

Besides, how many Liverpool refugees do you send over here to the U.S?

What the two kids from Liverpool did was far more horrific than what the kids in TF did. Why isn't it problem just because they aren't refugees? Those people emigrate and immigrate too.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[mistercwood 287]

sonnyblu

Great, but how can we prevent it? If there are cultural/parental issue that need be addressed through the use of mental health for refugees everyone, then that would be a good starting point.

Careful, your bias is showing...

You are playing chicken with a planet - you can't dodge and planets don't blink. Act accordingly.

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

sonnyblu

***Yahtzee.

Ya, I know. This is all just a fucking game to you.

If you have something with some substance to add, I'm willing to listen.

Substance?

You mean like the fact that the more you post, the more obvious it becomes who you really are?

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[jakee 1,489]

Question is why bother changing the naming pattern - did his keyboard run out of 'e's?

Do you want to have an ideagasm?