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What drug chains will follow Walgreens’ cave-in… Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal has fired off letters to the CEOs of CVS, Walmart, Kroger, Rite Aid, Albertsons and Costco seeking assurances that they will not follow Walgreens “cowardly decision” to not offer the mifepristone abortion medication in 21 states.
He said Walgreens “capitulated to Republican attorneys general.” In deciding to put profits over people, Walgreens “is succumbing to bullying and intimidation by hard right ideologues, saying, ‘you win, women lose,’” wrote Blumenthal.
The Democrat wrote that "during this moment of crisis for access to reproductive rights, healthcare providers, such as your company, should be using every tool at its disposal to assure everyone access to care no matter where they live."
On March 9, he joined 48 Senate Democrats in support of the Women’s Health Protection Act to guarantee access to abortion throughout the country. It is their response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
FT loves ESG. The Financial Times ran an editorial on March 7 that supported Joe Biden’s expected first veto to preserve a rule allowing fiduciaries of private investment funds to include environmental, social and governance considerations in their investment decisions.
The Republican “woke capitalism” crowd, which is led by Florida governor Ron DeSantis, has barred state fund managers from taking ESG factors into consideration.
The FT notes the Biden rule permits, but does not compel, managers to take ESG into account.
“And asset managers increasingly realize that earning the best returns and avoiding losses, means considering all risks and externalities related to any investment,” according to the FT’s editorial board. “Company values can be affected by more than just financial performance.”
Financial PR firms should rejoice at the FT’s position.
Earthquake relief for Turkey and Syria. US Chamber of Commerce Foundation tracks $110M in corporate donations of cash and services to benefit victims of the earthquakes that rocked Turkey and Syria.
The Moderna Charitable Foundation has committed $1M to the International Medical Corp. to help the people of both nations.
PepsiCo is providing shelter for employees and their families in Turkey and Syria and donating $1.2M to local relief groups.
Meta has partnered with the Turkish Red Crescent to amplify campaigns promoting the blood donation tool on Facebook and with the Turkish AKUT rescue operation for an information helpline on WhatsApp.
The PwC Charitable Foundation is giving $300K to CARA and Project HOPE to help those impacted by the disasters.
The CoC has a corporate aid tracker submission form for companies that want to highlight their relief efforts.
New York mayor Zohran Mamdani, an outspoken critic of Israel, is more popular among American Jews than prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu... Donald Trump is the first leader since Benito Mussolini in 1934 to intervene publicly in his national team’s favor... It's surprising that JD Vance hardly uses the word "Catholic" in his memoir about his conversion to Catholicism.
President Trump killed much of the positive PR that the US has enjoyed as one of the co-hosts of the World Cup... Pride in the US sinks to 25-year low, Gallup finds... White House trashes Smithsonian's US History Museum as the MAGA version of un-American.
Donald Trump claims we are all profiting from Wall Street's rising prices, but the billion-dollar president sure did a lot better than the rest of us... Venezuela hopes the $300M in US reconstructiion aid will follow the same growth trajectory as the White House's East Wing ballroom project.
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LLYC has prepared a comprehensive must-read report on the rise of “Rainbow Ghosting” which it defines as the progressive withdrawal of public support for diversity... Success of the US men's World Cup team highlights the benefits of a welcoming immigration policy... Omnicom develops system to help marketers decide which sports fans to connect with.
