ShortFormBlogAugust 4, 2011

The Associated Press got unprecedented access to North Korea. The photos from The Atlantic website are absolutely stunning and show a different side to North Korea. Easily the most interesting thing you’ll see today. (Thanks to ProducerMatthew for these!)source

Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

Officials knew that the infected ground turkey came from Cargill, inc. They just didn’t want to say anything because there was no way to know for sure. Cargill issued a voluntary recall yesterday, and the outbreak began in March. That’s kind of a long time — but with good reason. At first it was confusing to investigators because some people who didn’t eat the turkey would get sick, but when more cases of this particular strain of Salmonella became more widespread, an earnest investigation was started. Eventually it was traced back to Cargill, and the recall was issued — the third largest of its kind on record. Yikes. source

Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

» It’s becoming more and more apparent that we might be heading for a double-dip recession here. The Dow fell for eight days straight, only ending the losing streak yesterday — but it could fall steeply today. The new jobless numbers are mostly to blame for the weak market. There were 400,000 new unemployment claims in the week that ended July 30. That, in addition to a spreading debt crisis in Europe, has been enough to convince investors that the U.S. economy isn’t in a great spot right now, and it’s hurting our stock market bad.

Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

They talk a lot about jobs. They give good speeches about it. I want them to walk the walk. Put hard-working Americans to work so they can get a paycheck just like Congress is receiving on their vacations.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood • Offering up some harsh words on the situation with the FAA shutdown, which will likely last a more than a month due to Congress’ August recess. LaHood, a former Republican congressman, notes that “safety is not compromised” but this is mostly a labor issue. One reason this has become such a political football is that, behind the scenes, it’s a bit of a proxy battle over unions — see, the National Mediation Board made it easier for these workers to unionize, if they so choose. This was part of the reason a short-term deal got blocked — Sen. Orrin Hatch wasn’t having it. Ultimately, it’s the same thing we said yesterday — a business should pay its employees instead of squabbling over minor issues. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

before About 18 months ago, Kraft (an already big global brand it its own right) bought an equally big global brand — Cadbury, a brand which sells much more than chocolate eggs outside of the U.S. It was a buyout that Cadbury long rebuffed, by the way. Because, really, who wants to mix Velveeta and Trident gum, anyway?
now The company, seeing that it had two distinctly different product portfolios with different strengths — groceries (like Maxwell House and Kraft cheeses) and snacks (like Oreo cookies and, well, Cadbury), decided to take these two halves and pull them apart, like an Oreo filled with sweet, sugary financial success. source

» Part of a larger trend: A number of other companies have followed this splitting-the-company path lately — including Motorola, Sara Lee and Fortune, Inc. And just you wait. In a year or two, they’re all gonna want to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Aug 2011 15:38