The Koch Brother’s Karma

The Koch Brothers, et al.
Picture credit: Unknown

 

For the past few days, chicken and what evil may be lurking in it, has been on the news here quite a bit.

Can you guess who owns the producers of these chicken products that are being recalled?

That would be the Koch Brothers, et al.

Food safety should be everyone’s top priority in this and every Country and selling and/or eating contaminated food is just crazy, when the whole world is totally wired and connected right now.

This was not the Koch Brother’s first brush with either bad food, or trouble at their Plants, as they have had issues several times in the past few years, links to these stories are below.

One of the stories that came up while looking for more about this chicken recall, was not about a recall at all, but about a raid on one of the Koch Plants.

It seems that a few years ago, an Ohio plant was raided and 160 illegal immigrants were taken into custody by ICE or the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

This same Plant had been under surveillance for two years by their agents before the raid.

I am not quite sure, but don’t the Koch Brother’s belong to and give quite generous financial support to a political party that is highly opposed to any/all illegal immigrants in this country?

Oops~

But for now, if you have any of the above mentioned products in your freezer, please protect yourself and your family, dispose of them properly, or follow the directions at the USDA website.

Also listed below is a link to the USDA for Recalls, it would be good for you to check it as often as possible.

I have always been a great believer in Karma, but in the case of the Koch Brothers, I fear that they may outlive us all and never meet theirs.

Places to learn more:

USDA Current Recalls and Alerts

Aspen Foods recalls nearly 2 million pounds of chicken due to salmonella concerns

How Koch Foods Built a $3 Billion Chicken Empire

Immigration raids Koch Foods Ohio chicken plant

Nearly 2 million chicken products have been recalled due to Salmonella

Koch brothers: First they bought their way into politics, but now they’re in March Madness

Chicken Entrees Recalled for Salmonella Sold at Kroger, Giant, Schnucks, Aldi, Food Lion, Safeway

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Has the King Left the Building?

Public Domain Burger King logo

 

I did not want to write about this, ever.

As of right now, I guess I’m still living in denial.

But there it was in my mail this morning, the ugly news that was crystal clear.

Burger King is leaving its home state of over 50 years here in Florida and moving everything to Canada to avoid taxes?

Say it isn’t so, I beg you BK.

Whenever we are out running errands and get hungry, BK is usually my first choice because they have one of my favorite fast food combos, an awesome Veggie Burger accompanied by scrumptious sweet potato fries.

But, if this deal, this merger, does, or has already happened, there goes any hope I might have of finding a Veggie Burger on the run.

We have a few Burger Fi’s starting up here now and they have a nearly Organic Veggie Burger, that is out of this world, but the nearest one is nearly 45 miles away in Winter Park.

Not really convenient when you want a quick Veggie Burger, is it?

So Burger King will now have to be scratched off of my personal quick food out list.

According to the story this morning, this merger announcement has really ……… off their loyal customers, big time.

Burger King was never on the List because they are a favorite place to eat and are a very popular, well-managed and run, not bad fast food place here in Florida.

BK originally started in 1953 in Jacksonville and is now headquartered in the Miami area.

This whole merger story is beginning to smell really stinky.

If this merger is consummated and does go through, these two Corporations will become the third largest food chain in the world.

Yikes, that’s a lot of power.

In the meantime, BK’s 34-year-old CEO Daniel Shwartz, earning a reported $700,000 plus bonuses, says not to worry, that their potential merging with Canada’s Tim Horton’s Donuts, will keep the two companies separate.

Not so fast, is what most of their long and loyal customers think about this.

This may or may not, have been a Corporate containment reaction to the recent ugly public responses, that seems to have caught them off guard with the overwhelming public criticism of their proposed merger.

Some of the hundreds of public comments that have been made, are downright vicious.

Our own Florida Senator Bill Nelson is outright livid about this whole idea, knowing exactly how much Florida has to lose if it happens and said that if it does happen, he wants every single one of their restaurants removed from every Military Base in the United States.

Ouch!

Don’t mess with people and their burgers, even if it’s only a Veggie Burger.

So, Burger King, what’s it going to be, have you really left the building?

 

Places to learn more:

Burger King – Wikipedia

Looks Like The ‘Burger King’s’ Subjects Are Royally Pissed Off

Burger King Heads North Of The Border

Here’s Why Warren Buffett Is Investing $3 Billion in the Burger King-Tim Hortons Deal

Burger King’s Tim Hortons Offer Is Part Of A Huge Cost-Cutting Plan

Is Burger King moving to Canada?

Burger King’s Tax Inversion and Canada’s Favorable Corporate Tax Rates

How companies shrink their taxes by leaving U.S.

Burger King-Tim Hortons Cross-Border Merger Much More Than Tax Inversion

Burger King Is Run by Children

 

The Koch Brothers

Picture/Graphic credit:
Koch Brothers Exposed FB Page

 

I must beg forgiveness for the lapse that kept these two off of  The List.

They will be added later today, as they are once again, in the spotlight that seems to follow their every move.

But I digress, let us begin at the beginning, with these two siblings from a family that came to define the word, dysfunctional family!

It began with the father, Fred, one of the founding members of the John Birch Society, who had four sons, who then made an art out of trying to steal from each other.

Charles and David, the two middle sons of this Dutch Duo, are the ones who remain active in the family business and are two of the most feared and despised of all the world’s Oil Icons.

The Brothers rule over the Koch Industries, which was last said to be in 2012, worth more than $115 Billion and the family owns about 84% of this!

I suppose calling these people ruthless, cunning, devious and driven is probably a compliment.

Their Company, Koch Industries, is called a Conglomerate and they aren’t kidding.

These Brothers, this family, own a little bit of this and a little bit of that and a whole lot of everything and anything to do with the Oil Industry at large.

If it is about Oil, they are in it, own it and control it, period!

The very long list of what they own or control, is so long, in fact, that you will need a snack mid way through, to have the strength to finish.

You could spend days reading about all of this, the name Koch  gives a new meaning to total, absolute control in an Industry and Oil is just the tip of this powerful Duo’s Iceberg.

But, for now, let us discuss just the top, most egregious offenses that they are making.

An odd thought just ran through my mind, as I was writing that sentence.

When they say ” you’re not in Kansas anymore Dorothy, ” they probably mean that if your were, it is already owned by the Koch family!

A wee little point needs to be made first, to demonstrate the Koch tenacity and power, between 1999 and 2003, their Corporation was fined more than $400 million in fines, penalties and judgements.

Understand?

The frequently illegal, questionable, or bordering on criminal practices of this group, sadly brings to mind the often unscrupulous behaviour of some in our very own Government.

Anything and everything is on the table for a price and the desired result that it will bring.

Bear in mind that Papa Koch long ago was driven out of America and forced to do business in Russia.

He found both the Country and the Communists that he had to do business with there, intolerable, claiming the USSR to be,
” a land of hunger, misery, and terror. ” –  Wikipedia.

He returned to America and perhaps with a bit of revenge on his mind, never looked back, gobbling up one Company after another on his way to the very top of the Oil Refining business in America.

Not satisfied in being the ruler of that world, the family got into, of course, politics, the media and all that their endless funds could buy for them.

” Between 2006 and 2011 they spent more than $50 million to Lobby in Washington. ”  –  Wikipedia.

And you guessed it, they of course have a PAC,  ” the company funds the political action committee  KochPAC   –  Wikipedia.

There is so much everywhere, about this family, these two brothers, that you could simply spend a lifetime working on it, but for this Blog Posting and on this day, let it just be said, that these two Koch Brothers are the most fearsome, terrifying Brothers that this country is likely to ever see.

The 60 minute Documentary film, explains it all in detail:    Koch Brothers Exposed

 

Places to learn more:

Koch Industries

Koch Brothers-Style Free Society

Koch brothers get rolling on their first tar-sands project

Buying Up Newspapers: It’s the Media, Stupid!

11 Things The Koch Brothers Don’t Want You To Know, From Robert Greenwald’s Newly Updated Documentary

Koch Brothers Wealth Surges Past $100 Billion as They Try to Buy the Senate With Expensive Lies