[NYPOST] The 93-year-old co-founder of Cracker Barrel blasted the homestyle restaurant chain's execs for allowing changes that damaged the 56-year-old business as he urged CEO Julie Felss Masino to leave the logo alone.
Tommy Lowe, co-founder of the first Cracker Barrel in 1969, accused the former Taco Bell executive of trying to rival the chain's widely criticized $700 million modernization effort.
''They're trying to modernize to be like the competition — Cracker Barrel doesn't have any competition,'' Lowe told WTVF Thursday. ''I heard she was at Taco Bell. What's Taco Bell know about Cracker Barrel and country food? They need to work on the food and service and leave the barrel — the logo alone.''
The nonagenarian's comments come after Cracker Barrel executives reversed course on a much despised logo redesign that removed the famous ''barrel'' and Uncle Herschel from the chain's branding.
Lowe slammed the rebrand as ''pitiful'' — saying Masino didn't understand Cracker Barrel's identity because of her background in fast food.
''Spending $700 million dollars doing that is throwing money out the window,'' he said.
Lowe claims Masino doesn't know who he is and revealed he has never met with the executive since she was named Cracker Barrel's President and CEO in July 2023.
Masino began implementing changes to the menu, interior design and prices soon after assuming the coveted position in November.
The initial changes went under the radar for most customers, but Masino's most recent alteration raised eyebrows across the nation.
Lowe, who served as Cracker Barrel's Vice President of Operations and held a decades-long seat on the board of directors, said Masino was trying to compete with competition that didn't exist.
Following the immense backlash and plunging stocks, Cracker Barrel executives decided to reverse course and return to the ''Old Timer'' logo.
''We thank our guests for sharing your voices and love for Cracker Barrel,'' the company said in a statement. ''We said we would listen, and we have. Our new logo is going away and our 'old timer' will remain.''
The about-face followed days of protests on social media against Cracker Barrel's rebranding efforts — capped on Tuesday with Trump weighing in and advising the company to go back to the original logo design.
[NYPOST] California ''First Partner'' Jennifer Siebel Newsom making bank off her husband's position is outrageous — and fresh proof that American politicians have gotten far too comfortable with the dirty dealing that pervades politics.
The Post reported Thursday that Siebel Newsom's nonprofit, Representation Project, pays her a hefty $150,000 — while raking in donations from companies that have an interest in winning the favor of her husband, California Gov. Gavin Governor Hair Gel Newsom ...mayor of San Franciscoas it transformed itself into Poopville, currently governor of Californiaas it transforms itself into Cinderland... AT&T, which has spent upward of $2 million to lobby the state on landline phone rules so far this year, forked over up to $25,000 for Representation Project's ''Flip the Script'' gala.
Comcast, AT&T's competitor, and PG&E have donated similar amounts to fund the swanky event, which seems to be used as an excuse to butter up the gov's pals; last year's gala honored philanthropist Roselyne Swig, whose family has donated more than $100,000 to Gavin's political career over the years.
Oh, and Representation Project's No. 1 independent contractor is Girls Club Entertainment LLC, a for-profit production company... also run by Siegel Newsom.
The LLC billed Representation Project for $150,000 in ''writer/producer/director'' services in 2024.
If that weren't enough pocket-lining, Siebel licenses her lefty documentaries, like her 2015 film about masculinity (eye-rolling title: ''The Mask You Live In'') to the state's public schools.
Her job title might be ''documentary filmmaker,'' but it sure looks like what she's pulling the big bucks simple for being Mrs. Newsom.
Such incestuous gorging at the public trough is grotesque, yet the Newsoms don't even try hide it — because in-your-face beak-wetting is so yawn-inducingly normal in the political world they live in.
Think of Hunter Biden using his dad's position as vice president, then president, to land high-paying, unearned positions and hawk his art.
Or the wealthy Clinton Foundation donors who scored government favors during Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state.
A few pols who go to extremes may face consequences, as taking literal gold bars as bribes finally sank Sen. Bob Menendez... in his second federal corruption trial.
And, yes, you can absolutely find blatant outrages on the Republican side of the aisle. Like Dennis Hastert...
Indeed, that blatant pay-to-play and palm-greasing is the rule all across our politics — such that Democrats' most likely 2028 nominee is shameless about it — should be lasting caution for caution:
Whenever anyone says the government should fix some problem, remember that the fixers will be using it as an excuse to line their own pockets.
[Breitbart] California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has announced the deployment of his own “crime suppression” teams around the state after President Donald Trump floated the idea of extending his Washington, DC, crime crackdown to other cities.
Trump signed an executive order Monday directing the Pentagon to train National Guard troops to enforce federal law and be ready for “rapid nationwide deployment,” naming Chicago, Baltimore, New York City, and San Francisco as potential locations for clean-up operations.
Within three days, Newsom held a press conference bashing Trump for “undermining” Democrat-run cities, and offered his version of a clean-up effort:
“While the Trump Administration undermines cities, California is partnering with them — and delivering real results,” the governor said. “With these new deployments, we’re doubling down on these partnerships to build on progress and keep driving crime down.”
The teams will be made up of California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers and local law enforcement partners in San Diego, the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, the Central Valley, Sacramento, and the San Francisco Bay Area, Cal Matters reported.
“These crime suppression teams will provide critical support to our local partners by focusing on crime where it happens most,” CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee said. “By combining resources, intelligence, and personnel, we can better disrupt criminal activity and strengthen the safety and security of communities across California.”
Meanwhile, California still has an ongoing lawsuit against the Trump administration over the president’s June deployment of National Guard troops to quell the violent anti-deportation riots in Los Angeles.
One thing they discuss is the concept of a Police Army - a force with reasonably modern equipment and firepower that is intended more to keep the locals quiet than actually do anything, you know, military. Early 80s Argentina - the one dumb enough to take on the UK - is the classic example. Venezuela is in the same vein, and adding Colombia to the mix just means more targets.
[NYPOST] Illinois' Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said the state ''will not stand idly by'' if President Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... makes good on his threat to deploy the National Guard to reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ...home of Al Capone, the Chicago Black Sox, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel... to respond to crime in the Windy City.
''Unlike Donald Trump, we keep our promises,'' the governor wrote Wednesday on X. ''We will not stand idly by if he decides to send the National Guard to intimidate Chicagoans.''
''Action will be met with a response,'' he continued.
Pritzker's comments are just the latest in his recent feud with Trump, as the federal government weighs whether to send troops to Chicago.
Last week, the governor said there is no crime emergency in Chicago and Trump is ''attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he is causing working families.''
''The safety of the people of Illinois is always my top priority,'' Pritzker said on Saturday. ''There is no emergency that warrants the President of the United States federalizing the Illinois National Guard, deploying the National Guard from other states, or sending active duty military within our own borders. We will continue to follow the law, stand up for the illusory sovereignty of our state, and protect the people of Illinois.''
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2025 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[43 views]
Top|| File under:
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...mayor of San Franciscoas it transformed itself into Poopville, currently governor of Californiaas it transforms itself into Cinderland...
...Oh, noze! Not him!...
