Category Archives: Business

BLACK THURSDAY: ECSTATIC RETAILERS VOW TO TO DO IT EVERY YEAR.

November 27, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

MILPITAS, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – There was a time on Thanksgiving evening that the vast parking lot at The Great Mall in Milpitas, California would be eerily deserted, except for the one directly across from the movie theaters. But Thanksgiving Day 2015 was different. There was not a single parking spot left by 8pm.

This scenario played over and over in shopping malls across the U.S. as retailers experimented on opening their stores early Thanksgiving evening and not wait for the traditional Black Friday to sell their discounted merchandise.

It was a huge success and proved that Americans don’t really care about Thanksgiving or what it means.

As cash registers rang and rang all evening Thursday and into the early morning on Friday, a consensus among shopping malls, department and box stores has formed: consumers will now expect two days of black shopping next year and every year.

In America, there’s so much to be thankful for. Thankful for what you have in the year just passed, and thankful for the things that you buy on Black Thursday and Black Friday this year. It’s an unending cycle.

Perhaps we should pardon all turkeys every year and just focus the celebration on shopping and more shopping.

Business, Government, Law Enforcement

SAFEWAY, WHOLE FOODS, TRADER JOE’S TO SET UP SPY CAMERAS IN THEIR STORES

November 23, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (The Adobo Chronicles) – Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said Monday mosques, schools, supermarkets, car repair shops and “any place where radicalization is going on” should be monitored in light of terrorist threats.

Campaigning in Nevada, the retired neurosurgeon addressed the need for increased surveillance of people in the United States during an appearance about an hour west of Las Vegas.

Reacting to Carson’s statement, three popular supermarkets — Safeway, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s — have announced that effectively immediately, they will be setting up spy cameras in all their stores to help with the anti-terrorism campaign. “We’re happy to do our part to help secure our people and nation,” spokespersons for the supermarket chains told The Adobo Chronicles.

So the next time you go grocery-shopping, make sure to smile because you’re on candid camera!

Business, International, Travel

REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS OPPOSE TIGHTENING OF U.S. VISA WAIVER PROGRAM

November 23, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles) – Senate Democrats, in an effort to head off legislation that would overhaul a program to take in Syrian and Iraqi refugees, are focusing instead on tightening a program that makes it easier for foreigners to travel to the U.S. without obtaining a visa. And Republicans are vehemently against the move.

The visa waiver program (VWP) allows foreign citizens of 38 countries to enter the U.S. for as long as 90 days without a visa, thereby avoiding an in-person interview at an embassy or consulate. At least 19 million foreign nationals enter the U.S. each year through the visa waiver program.

The program is under scrutiny following the Paris terror attacks over concerns that it could be a weak spot in the security system. Islamic State operative Abdelhamid Abaaoud, suspected of organizing the Paris attacks, was a citizen of Belgium, which participates in the visa waiver program. Richard Reid, a British citizen who is now in prison for attempting to blow up a plane flying to the U.S. with a bomb in his shoe, is a citizen of the U.K., which also participates in VWP.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, speaking to reporters at the Capitol on Monday, said that his party strongly opposes any changes to the existing VWP on the grounds that this would be discriminatory.

“If we are going to do this, we must also do it for Mastercard, American Express and Discover,” Ryan pointed out.