jikThe Nation’s Biggest Companies Agree: Gay Marriage Is Good For Businessde

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(Scott Lynch)

Next month, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments with regard to the legality of state laws that prohibit same-sex marriages. And while the issue has been politically divisive, many of the nation’s most powerful corporations — from airlines to insurance to beer to baseball teams — agree that banning gay marriage is not good for business.

“State laws that prohibit or decline to recognize marriages between same-sex couples hamper employer efforts to recruit and retain the most talented workforce possible in those states,” reads an amicus brief [PDF] filed today with the Supreme Court in the matter of Obergefell v. Hodges.

“Our successes depend upon the welfare and morale of all employees, without distinction,” continues the brief, signed by 379 groups. “The burden imposed by inconsistent and discriminatory state laws of having to administer complicated schemes to account for differential treatment of similarly situated employees breeds unnecessary confusion, tension, and diminished employee morale.”

The companies signing onto the brief include Comcast, Coca-Cola, Aetna, Amazon, American Express, Apple, Citigroup, DirecTV, eBay, General Mills, Google, JetBlue, Marriott, MillerCoors, the New England Patriots, NIKE, the San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Rays, Verizon, Visa, Twitter, Prudential, Facebook, Staples, Office Depot, Disney and hundreds of other businesses.

They do not have a direct stake in the case before SCOTUS, but they argue that if the court decided to allow each state to decide for itself about marriage equality, “the costs and uncertainty imposed by inconsistent state marriage laws will only continue,” while establishing equality as the law of the land would “reduce current costs, administrative burden, and diversion of resources from our core businesses.”

In 2014, SCOTUS elected to not consider petitions regarding federal appeals court rulings that struck down bans on gay marriage. However, after another appeals court panel subsequently ruled against a fundamental right to marriage for gay couples, it has been brought to the Supremes for resolution.

Here is the full list of names signed to the brief:

A.L. Nella & Company, LLP, CPAs

A.T. Kearney

Aardema Whitelaw, PLLC

Acacia Home LLC

Accenture

Aetna Inc.

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.

AJ Leo Electric and Solar

Akamai Technologies, Inc.

Alaska Airlines

Alcoa Inc.

Amazon Services Inc.

Amazon.com, Inc.

American Airlines Group Inc.

American Apparel

American Express Company

American International Group, Inc

Aparicio-Mercado Law, L.C.

Apple Inc.

AppNexus Inc.

Aramark

Arbor Brewing Company, LLC

Arnold & Porter LLP

Aspen Skiing Company Assemble Sound LLC

AT&T Inc.

Atlas Cut Stone

Atticus Circle

The Austin Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce

Avanade Inc.

Bain & Company, Inc.

Bakehouse Art Complex

Baker & McKenzie LLP

Bank of America

The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation Barclays

Barnes & Noble, Inc.

bebe stores, inc.

Becton, Dickinson and Company

Belcampo Inc.

Ben & Jerry’s

Big Duck Studio, Inc.

Bigelow Villa LLC

Billy’s Farm

BlackRock, Inc.

Bloomberg L.P.

Blue Apron, Inc.

Blue Heron Ventures

Blue Moon Hotel / Winter Haven Hotel

Blume, Faulkner & Skeen, PLLC

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc

Boston Community Capital, Inc.

Boston Consulting Group

The Boston Foundation

Boston Medical Center Corporation

Boston Scientific Corporation

Brady Mills LLC

BrandQuery LLC

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

Broadcom Corporation

Brocade

Cablevision Systems Corporation

Capital One Financial Corporation

Captain Wendell’s Marine Services LLC

Cardinal Health, Inc.

Care Resource

CBS Corporation

CEB

Central Physical Therapy and Fitness, PSC

CGI

Charlotte Business Guild

The Chubb Corporation

CIGNA Corporation

Cisco Systems, Inc.

Citigroup Inc.

City Catering Company

City Lites Neon, Inc.

The City of Ann Arbor, Michigan

Civitas Public Affairs Group

Clean Yield Asset Management

CloudFlare, Inc.

CMIT Solutions of Seattle Downtown

The Coca-Cola Company

Cohen & Associates

Colgate-Palmolive Company

Columbia FunMap, Inc.

Comcast Corporation

The Computer Butler

ConAgra Foods, Inc.

The Corcoran Group

Corner Brewery, LLC

Corning Incorporated

Cox Enterprises, Inc.

Crazy Misfits Pet Services

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC Cummins Inc.

Cupcake Royale

CVS Health Corporation

Dallas Voice

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Inc.

Danaher Corporation

David J. Jarrett, P.C.

David Kosar Insurance Agency

David Mack Henderson Income Tax Preparation

DCI Group AZ, L.L.C.

Deloitte LLP

Delta Air Lines, Inc.

Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation

The Desert Business Association

Deutsche Bank AG

Diageo North America, Inc.

DIRECTV

DocuSign

Domini Social Investments LLC

The Dow Chemical Company

Dreamcatcher Arts and Publishing Ltd.

Dropbox, Inc.

DuPont

eBay Inc.

Edelman

Eldercare Consulting

Electronic Arts Inc.

EnduringHydro, LLC

Ernst & Young LLP

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.

Event Rents

Everything Real Estate LLC

Express Movers Inc.

Facebook, Inc.

Farella Braun + Martel, LLP

Fastsigns

Fenwick & West LLP

First Data Corporation

1st Security Bank

1stdibs.Com, Inc.

FIT Technologies

Flanery CPA

Full Court Press Communications

G.A.W., Inc.

The Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Nevada

General Electric Company

General Mills, Inc.

Gensler

Gilt Groupe Holdings, Inc.

GlaxoSmithKline LLC

Gleason & Associates Claims Services

Go Factory, Inc.

Goethel Engelhardt, PLLC

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Google Inc.

Goulston & Storrs, P.C.

Great Officiants LLC

The Greater Connecticut Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce

Greater San Diego Business Association

Greater Seattle Business Association

Greensulate

Grossman Marketing Group

Group Health Cooperative

Groupon

Growing Hope

Harrell Remodeling

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.

Healthline

Hewlett-Packard Company

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.*

Holdredge Wines

Homeward Pet Adoption Center

Horizon Air Industries, Inc.

House Packard LLC

HSBC

Ikard Wynne LLP

The Independence Business Alliance

The Inland Northwest Business Alliance Insala, Ltd

Inspirato, LLC

Integrated Archive Systems, Inc.

Integrity Law Group

Intel Corporation

Intuit Inc.

INUS Group, LLC

Jackson Hole Group LLC

Jagod Designs

Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Jenn T. Grace International LLC

Jennifer Brown Consulting

JetBlue Airways Corporation

The Jim Henson Company

Johnson & Johnson

Johnston, Kinney and Zulaica LLP

Jonathan L. Bowman, Attorney at Law, PS

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Julian Chang Consulting, Inc.

kapchur.us photography

The Kathy A. Janssen Foundation

Kazan, McClain, Satterley, & Greenwood, PLC

Keir Jones Agency – State Farm

Keker & Van Nest LLP

KEO Marketing Inc.

Kimberly-Clark Corp.

Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, LLC

Kollmar Sheet Metal Works, Inc.

Kotzan Chiropractic

KPMG LLP

Lambda Business Association

Laparoscopic Institute for Gynecologic Oncology

Larson Marketing & Communications LLC

Laughton Properties

Law Offices of Joel L. Sogol

Law Office of Lisa E. Schuchman

Law Office of Lorie L. Burch, PC

Law Offices of Robin L. Bodiford, P.A.

The Law Office of Susan K. Fuller, PLLC

Levi Strauss & Co.

Liberty Burger

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP

Life & Love Celebrations

Link in the Chain Foundation, Inc.

Littler Mendelson, P.C.

LNT, Inc.

The Long Beach Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce

Lori Karbal et al

Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge Trust, LLC

The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce

Main Street Hair Shoppe Ltd.

Marriott International, Inc.

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company

McGraw Hill Financial, Inc.*

McKesson Corporation

McKinsey & Company, Inc.

Merca Property Management

The Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce

Microsoft Corporation

The Mid-America Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce

Miller & Olson, LLP

Miller Shelton Group, LLC

MillerCoors LLC

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.

Mona Smith PLLC

Moody’s Corporation

Morgan Miller Plumbing

Morgan Stanley

MWW Public Relations

NAMI Dallas, Inc.

The Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce

The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company

Neumann Capital Management, LLC

The New England Patriots

New Leaf Columbus

New York Life Insurance Company

Nifty Hoops, LLC

NIKE, Inc.

Nixon Peabody LLP

North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce

Northrop Grumman Corporation

OBOX Solutions

Office Depot, Inc.

The Ogilvy Group, Inc.

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.

ONE Community Media, LLC

1 Source Consulting Solutions

Oracle America, Inc.

Orbitz Worldwide, Inc.

Out & Equal Workplace Advocates

Outerwall Inc.

Pakmode Publications, LLC d/b/a Pakmode Media + Marketing

Pandora Media, Inc.

PATH

Peabody & Arnold LLP

Pepper Hamilton LLP

PepsiCo

Pfizer Inc.

Pixelligent Technologies LLC

Plexus Education Foundation

Plexus LGBT and Allied Chamber of Commerce

Portland Area Business Association

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

PrideFest

The PrintingWorks

Pro-Tec Data, Inc.

Procter & Gamble

ProTrials Research, Inc.

Prudential Financial, Inc.

Puma Spring Vineyards

Qualcomm Incorporated

Quorum

RAFI Architecture and Design

Rainbow Chamber of Commerce Silicon Valley Ralph’s Regal Weddings

Ray Holley Communications

RBC Capital Markets, LLC

Replacements, Ltd.

Restaurant Management Concepts

Reverberate! Marketing Communications, Inc.

Rising Tide Brewing Company

RJR Photography

Robert H Stutz Jr CPA

Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Rotella & Hernandez, LLC

The Sacramento Rainbow Chamber of Commerce

Sadek Bonahoom PLC

The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce

The San Francisco Giants

The Seattle Lesbian, LLC

Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce

Sempra Energy

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Shingles Roofing LLC

Sidetrack, Inc.

Simon, Schindler & Sandberg LLP

Skellenger Bender, P.S.

Skyworks Solutions, Inc.

Sleeves Up Productions, LLC

Sōw

Spectra Law PS

Spry Vision, Inc.

St. Jude Medical, Inc.

Staples, Inc.

Starbucks Corporation

Starrtek LLC

State Street Corporation

Steven Graves Insurance Agency

Stonewall Behavioral Health

Stonewall Columbus

Stuffed Cakes, LLC

Sun Life Financial (U.S.) Services Company, Inc.

SunDaily

Support.com, Inc.

Sweet Dixie Kitchen

Symantec Corporation

Taber Food Services, Inc.

dba Hobee’s California Restaurants

The Tampa Bay Rays

Target Corporation

TD Bank, N.A.

TD Securities (USA) LLC

Tech Data Corporation

TestTracks

Thinking Cap Communications & Design

Third Point LLC

Thomson Reuters

Tiwary Entertainment Group LLC

TNT Promotions, LLC

TOCA Events, LLC

TravelOut, Inc.

Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria

Twitter, Inc.

206 Inc.

UBS AG

The Ultimate Software Group, Inc.

United Air Lines, Inc.

United Therapeutics Corporation

Uptown Physicians Group

VCB Consulting & Accounting Services

Verizon Communications Inc.

Viacom Inc.

Visa Inc.

VitaPerk

VMware, Inc.

W. M. Martin Advertising

W.W. Grainger, Inc.

W/S Development Associates LLC

Walsh Wellness Center

The Walt Disney Company

Wasserman Media Group

Wells Fargo & Company

Whey Natural! USA LLC

Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce

Witeck Communications, Inc.

The Workplace Equality Index

Wyndham Worldwide Corporation

Xerox Corporation

Xfund

YES DESIGN GROUP

Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority

Zausmer, Kaufman, August & Caldwell, P.C.

Zingerman’s Community of Businesses

ZoomSystems

Zynga Inc.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

jikAmtrak Funding Bill Approved By House Includes Provision Allowing Pets On Trainsde

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(Schumin Web)

After embarking on a trial allowing dogs and cats to travel on some trains along with their owners last spring, it seems Amtrak could soon have pet cars on all its trains nationwide. In a bill passed by the House that approved Amtrak funding, legislators rewrote the rules regarding furry companions riding the rails.

Written into the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act along with reforms aimed at improving the railroad’s fiscal performance is a provision allowing passengers to carry on dogs and cats the same way they might on planes, reports NPR News.

Amtrak will designate at least one car per train for pets under the pilot program, where circumstances allow it, so passengers “may transport a domesticated cat or dog in the same manner as carry-on baggage” for a fee. During a trial of a similar program, passengers paid Amtrak a $35 surcharge for pets.

Behind this part of the bill is Rep. Jeff Denham, who has been trying to get pets on trains since he was barred from bringing his French bulldog on an Amtrak in the past.

“Lily often accompanies me when I fly across the country, and it just doesn’t make sense that I can bring her with me on a plane, but she can’t come with me on a train,” he wrote in a Facebook post when reintroducing the bill back in February.

The bill heads to the Senate next, and has the support of the White House.

House Approves Amtrak Funding, Rewrites Rules To Allow Furry Riders [NPR News]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

jikBrach’s Introduces Easter Chick Shaped Candy Corn For Some Reasonde

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Fear not, candy fans: Brach’s is now able to fill in the bleak waiting time between Valentine’s Day candy corn and Independence Day candy corn with Easter candy corn. Except they’re not “corn,” they’re candy corn chicks. We live in a world where this kind of thing is acceptable.

(The Impulsive Buy)

Well, technically, candy corn chicks, which led Marvo over at The Impulsive Buy to wonder whether candy corn turkeys will be next. Only if we’re lucky.

Alert readers will point out that Easter candy corn already exists. Brach’s has made pastel-colored candy corn for Easter before; it’s these chicks that are new. You can buy “Jesus promise seeds,” which do not sprout into actual plants, but are pastel-colored, appropriate for Easter, and come in individually packets printed with Bible verses.

The chicks are obviously trying to sneak in on Peeps territory. We can’t wait until candy corn chick milk hits the market. Maybe next year.

SPOTTED ON SHELVES – 3/4/2015 [The Impulsive Buy]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

jikDunkin’ Donuts Says It Will Remove Controversial Whitening Agent From Powdered Sugarde

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(sameold2010)

Dunkin’ Donuts announced today that it’s planning to remove titanium dioxide, a whitening agent often used in toothpaste and sunscreen as well as other products, from all powdered sugar used on its doughnuts.

The move comes after pressure from an advocacy group that voiced concerns about nanoparticles, which are teeny tiny particles that can have different physical properties than their larger, macro counterparts.

The Food and Drug Administration says it “does not categorically judge all products containing nanomaterials or otherwise involving the application of nanotechnology as intrinsically benign or harmful.”

But critics have said not enough is known about the potential for health issues that could result from ingesting nanomaterials: A nonprofit group called As You Sow lobbies companies on environmental and social-responsibility issues, and had pressured Dunkin’ to remove titanium dioxide from its powdered sugar, dubbing the additive a nanoparticle.

While Dunkin’ has agreed to pull the ingredient, it disagrees with the group’s characterization of titanium dioxide as a nanoparticle.

“The ingredient used in our powdered donuts does not meet the definition of ‘nanoparticle’ as outlined under FDA guidance,”a Dunkin’ Brands spokeswoman said in a statement via CNBC. “Nevertheless, we began testing alternative formulations for this product in 2014 and we are in the process of rolling out a solution to the system that does not contain titanium dioxide.”

As You Sow says it will now withdraw a shareholder proposal that urged Dunkin’ to assess its use of nanomaterials on concerns that the particles are toxic when ingested.

Dunkin’ Donuts to remove nanomaterials from powdered doughnuts [MarketWatch]

Dunkin’ to ditch powdered sugar additive: Report [CNBC]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

jikResearchers Teaming With Oxfam To Develop Toilet That Uses Urine To Generate Electricityde

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(UWE Bristol on YouTube)

In an effort to bring sustainable sources of light to dark places, researchers working with Oxfam are working on a toilet that uses urine to generate electricity, in turn lighting up lavatories in places like refugee camps.

The new lavatories are being tested by students in England before they’re employed in places like refugee camps, according to a press release from the University of the West of England or UWE Bristol.

Having light in the cubicles is especially important in refugee camps, “which can often be dark and dangerous places, particularly for women,” the release notes.

“Oxfam is an expert at providing sanitation in disaster zones, and it is always a challenge to light inaccessible areas far from a power supply,” says Andy Bastable, Head of Water and Sanitation at Oxfam in the release. “This technology is a huge step forward. Living in a refugee camp is hard enough without the added threat of being assaulted in dark places at night. The potential of this invention is huge.”

The prototype urinal collects pee and uses microbial fuel cell stacks to generate electricity from the waste, says the head of the research team, Professor Ioannis Ieropoulos.

“We have already proved that this way of generating electricity works. Work by the Bristol BioEnergy Center hit the headlines in 2013 when the team demonstrated that electricity generated by microbial fuel cell stacks could power a mobile phone,” he says. “This exciting project with Oxfam could have a huge impact in refugee camps.”

‘Pee-power’ to light camps in disaster zones [UWE Bristol]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

jikExperimental Crocs Store In Tokyo Brings You Shoes With Dronede

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If you’ve always thought that shoe stores would be improved by replacing salespeople with drones, well, you’re going to have to wait a while before you can experience your dream. The technology apparently isn’t quite here yet. As a promotion for a new shoe line, Crocs has a store in Tokyo where customers tap on a pair of shoes on an iPad, and a green Crocs-branded drone fetches the item and brings it to them.

This sounds pretty cool, but reports from the press event are that it doesn’t work 100% of the time. The drone has to hook a clip that holds the shoes in pairs with a dangling magnet, and sometimes it fails to grab the shoes. Also, there’s the important flaw that the store space is just a shoe-fetching promotion: Engadget points out that shoppers have to actually buy the slip-on sneakers somewhere else.

While the FAA is still not keen on deliveries using unmanned aircraft, maybe shuttling items within a store or within a building is a fun and even useful application for drones. Just keep it away from reporters’ faces.

Here’s a video of one of the test runs last week:

Here’s a longer demonstration that’s more realistic:

Flying Norlin Project [Crocs] (via Engadget)

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

jikPassengers Safely Taken Off Delta Jet That Skidded Off Snowy Runwayde

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Two-thirds of the flights scheduled to arrive today at New York’s LaGuardia airport have already been canceled, mostly due to the latest snow storm to slam the Mid-Atlantic region. And there are 130 who probably wish their Delta flight to LGA had called off after it slid off the runway this morning.

The Delta MD-88 jet was arriving in New York from Atlanta shortly after 11 a.m. this morning when it slid off the runway and into an airport fence.

While some on the plane may have endured minor injuries, including at least one person spotted being transported on a stretcher, the airport operators from the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey tell ABC News that “All 125 passengers and five crew members were safely taken off the plane.”

A statement from Delta explains that “Customers deplaned via aircraft slides and have moved to the terminal on buses.” The airlines says it will “work with all authorities and stakeholders to look into what happened in this incident.”

One of the best photos of the accident’s aftermath was taken by New York Giants tight end Larry Donnell:

He also captured a short video of the scene:

by Chris Morran via Consumerist