- It can be shocking when you learn what seemingly trusted
companies are up to abroad. For example, Nestle, Mars and Hershey are typically thought of
as candy makers who bring joy (and excess calories) to the lives and waistlines
of folks around the world who lack dietary discipline. One would scarcely think
of them as rogue candy conglomerates charged with conspiring with others to fix
the price of chocolate in Canada….but that’s exactly what the three companies
are accused of being. Canada’s Competition Bureau issued those bold charges and
said in a statement that Hershey Canada was expected to plead guilty later this
month “for its role in the conspiracy to fix the price of chocolate
confectionery products in Canada.” However, both Nestle Canada and Mars Canada
said they would “vigorously defend” themselves against the claims. An
international chocolate conspiracy with price fixing and Big Chocolate
executives meeting in dank, dark back rooms to rig the market is hilarious and
sad all at the same time. So are CCB claims that Hershey had “cooperated” with
the investigation and it had recommended to prosecutors that it should receive
“lenient treatment,” as if Hershey were a snitch in a drug cartel and had
ratted out its dealers. John Pecman, the interim commissioner of competition,
boldly proclaimed that the bureau was committed to taking on “those who engage
in egregious anti-competitive behavior that harms Canadian consumers.” The
culprits in the case are: ITWAL Ltd., a national network of independent wholesale
distributors; Robert Leonidas, former president of Nestlé Canada; Sandra
Martinez, former president of confectionery for Nestlé Canada; and David Glenn
Stevens, president and chief executive of ITWAL. According to the CCB, it became
aware of the allegations under a program in which the first party to disclose
an offense “may receive immunity” from prosecution. Yes, Canada’s competition
bureau has a narc program. The accused individuals in the case face the
possibility of a fine of up to $10 million and/or imprisonment for a term of up
to five years. “Price-fixing is a serious criminal offence and today's charges
demonstrate the Competition Bureau's resolve to stop cartel activity in
Canada,” Pecman added……..
- Facebook is no longer that cool. It once was, back before
everyone’s grandma and weird uncle Terry were on the social networking site and
those under the age of 18 had all moved on to Vine, Instagram and Twitter.
Facebook has fallen behind and the days when people wanted to own its stock
have faded well into the rearview mirror. In an attempt to keep up with its
social networking competitors, Facebook has announced plans to add support for hashtags to help its members keep track of popular topics
being discussed on the site. In the past, having a hashtag on Facebook merely
annoyed friends who tersely reminded you that this was Facebook, not twitter.
Now, adding
the "#" sign to a word will turn it into a clickable link which
brings up a feed of what other people are saying about the same topic. Facebook
is one of the last social networking sites to add hashtags, as Pinterest,
Tumblr, Google+, Sina Weibo, LinkedIn and Instagram already make use of the
symbol. In an official company blog post, Facebook said clicking a hashtag
would bring up a chronologically ordered list of comments using the same term,
including posts from people and pages they were not friends with and had not
liked. "Hashtags are just the first step to help people more easily
discover what others are saying about a specific topic and participate in
public conversations," the post added. "We'll continue to roll out
more features in the coming weeks and months, including trending hashtags and
deeper insights, that help people discover more of the world's
conversations." Like other Facebook content, users will be able to limit
who can view their hashtagged posts. Coincidentally, advertisers love hashtags
and Facebook just might be hoping to increase its advertising revenues by
utilizing them. Not falling further behind in the social networking world
would be a nice fringe benefit…….
- Will Smith, Jay-Z and Sandra Bullock…the gang
may be getting back together again. How often has this Hollywood power trio
worked together again? Wait….never? Well, this will be the first time if
reports are true that Bullock is in early talks to join Jamie Foxx and Quvenzhane
Wallis in “Annie,” the update of the classic comic strip-turned-musical Sony
is making with producers Smith and
Jay-Z. Reports have suggested
that Bullock would play Miss Hannigan, the mean lady who runs the orphanage
inhabited by Annie (Wallis) and her friends. Foxx is already on board and is
set to play a slightly different and more modern incarnation of Daddy Warbucks,
a billionaire named Benjamin Stacks. This will undoubtedly be the most unusual
version yet of the classic comic strip-turned-musical, but Bullock’s involvement is
anything but a done deal. She and the studio were in talks in March, Bullock
ultimately backed out of talks. She must not have found anything better to do
with her time because the two sides have since returned to the negotiating
table. Bullock would be filling the role that Carol Burnett played in the 1982 movie. Will Gluck has already
signed to direct the film, with Smith and his Overbrook Entertainment
partners James Lassiter and Jada Pinkett-Smith at the helm and Jay-Z, Jay Brown and Tyran “Ty Ty” Smith tied to the movie through Marcy Media. If
Bullock passes on a role for a second time, look for producers to move quickly
because this musical train is moving forward with or without her and remains on
track for a late fall production start and an anticipated 2014 release……..
- The Miami Heat were smacked down for all the world to see
in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night. Their 113-77 defeat opened a lot
of eyes around the basketball world, but the 36-point defeat seems like a
development that one basketball visionary saw coming. Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace, a.k.a. Ron Artest, wasn’t
surprised to see LeBron James and the Miami Heat obliterated by the San Antonio
Spurs in the third game of the league’s championship series. The loss put the defending
NBA champs in a 2-1 deficit and World Peace, himself a former champion,
believes the reason for the deficit is the Heat’s own mental weakness. "Mentally,
the Spurs are strongest right now," World Peace said. "I think LeBron
and (Chris) Bosh, they want it to be given to them. I don't think
they're taking it upon themselves like a (Michael) Jordan would have
done." He did admit that the Heat are still the best team, but said he
believes “they're going to lose and the Spurs will take advantage of
opportunities.” James did have a terrible Game 3 by his standards, finishing with
15 points on 7-for-21 shooting, 11 rebounds, five assists and two turnovers
while registering a plus-minus of -32 in 39 minutes of playing time. Bosh was
virtually worthless for a third straight game, posting 12 points on 4-for-10
shooting and 10 rebounds in 32 minutes. To remedy those issues, World Peace believes
Miami's role players will have to step up if the Heat are going to have a shot
at winning back-to-back titles. That would include Game 3 goat Mario Chalmers,
who scoring a team-high 19 points in Game 2 but went AWOL with zero points on
0-for-5 shooting, four fouls and four turnovers Tuesday. World Peace insisted
he was not looking to knock LeBron, but back in 2010-11, he ranked Kobe Bryant
and Kevin Durant as the league's top two players and when asked about James
said, "I only count to two.” However, he claimed prior to Game 3 that he
has nothing against James. "Everybody knows I'm a LeBron fan, I always
tweet good things about LeBron," World Peace said. "This is straight
as a fan.” Whatever you say, Ron Ron…….
- Everyone has their breaking point. For Flint, Mich.
resident Trisca Barrett, that breaking
point was surprisingly not another year of living in Flint. Instead, her snap
from sanity came after a prolonged period of seeing purveyors of the world’s
oldest profession plying their trade in front of her apartment building.
Barrett and her neighbors say they have long believed the goings on they see in
front of their place of residence are on the shady side of the ledger, so much
so that the corner of Crawford Street and Fenton Road is often referred to
as the city's red light district. "It's just a constant, nonstop, 24 hour,
red light special on Crawford and it's just overwhelming and it's
ridiculous," Barrett lamented. Seeing prostitutes do business right in
front of her home is a problem, largely because Barrett has a 9-year
old daughter who could be influenced by the skanks in fishnets and leather
miniskirts turning tricks on the corner. "Hopping out of cars, hopping
into cars in front of everybody's house, they're turning tricks in parking
lots, anywhere they want," Barrett added. She has urged Flint police to
take action but so far has seen no discernable results. Faced with law
enforcement apathy, Barrett took matters into her own hands and hung a sign
from her window that reads, “No hoe zone.” Some of Barrett’s neighbors have
denied her allegations, but others say the hookers on the street have tried to
solicit their husbands and boyfriends for business. Expecting a sign to
do much good is wishful thinking, but a spray-painted banner on a piece of
dirty canvas always adds a certain touch of class to a neighborhood that is
already infested with prostitutes…….
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