Budweiser goes to Belgium

Budweiser “The King of Beers” born in 1876 and one of the iconic American brands is no longer an American brand. It now belongs to a Belgian company. In a deal worth $52 billion, InBev, based in Leuven, Belgium, and run by a Brazilian management team, now owns the 130-year-old Anheuser-Busch founded by Eberhard Anheuser and Adolphus Busch. For an historical timeline and brief history of the company click here.

The deal, which amounts to $70 per share, was approved by the board of Anheuser-Busch but must still be approved by regulators and both companies’ shareholders. The deal, which is expected to be approved, would be the biggest in the industry and the third-largest ever foreign takeover of a US company.

It will make the new company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s third-largest consumer products company by market capitalization after Procter & Gamble of the United States and Nestle SA of Switzerland. It will easily become the world’s largest brewer, eclipsing SAB Miller, producing 12 billion gallons of beer per year. Anheuser’s home town of St. Louis, Missouri, will be the headquarters for the North American region and the global home of the flagship Budweiser brand.

InBev CEO Carlos Brito will be chief executive officer (click here for interview) of the combined company. The Board of Directors of the combined company will be comprised of the existing directors of the InBev Board, Anheuser-Busch President and CEO August Busch IV and one other current or former director from the Anheuser-Busch Board. Anheuser-Busch will become a wholly owned subsidiary of InBev. See the entire press release here.

Carlos Brito, CEO of InBev, said:

“We are very pleased to announce this historic transaction today, bringing together two great companies that share a rich history of brewing traditions. We are extremely excited about the opportunities that this combination will create for consumers worldwide, as well as our shareholders, employees, business partners and wholesalers. Together, Anheuser-Busch and InBev will be able to accomplish much more than each can on its own. We have been successful business partners for quite some time, and this is the natural next step for us in an increasingly competitive global environment. This combination will create a stronger, more competitive global company with an unrivaled worldwide brand portfolio and distribution network, with great potential for growth all over the world.”

August Busch IV, Anheuser-Busch President and CEO, stated:

“Today’s announcement brings new opportunities for Anheuser-Busch and its business, brands and employees. This agreement provides additional and certain value for Anheuser-Busch shareholders, while enhancing global market access for Budweiser, one of America’s true iconic brands. We will leverage our collective strengths to create a truly diversified, global company to sustain long-term growth and profitability. In the United States and Canada, both InBev and Anheuser-Busch have seen significant benefits from our existing relationship and we look forward to replicating this success in other parts of the world.”

The sale of Anheuser-Busch has had mixed reactions, a nostalgic sense of loss coupled with a feeling of powerless resignation, among the American public:

“It’s a crime,” Billy Arr said, sitting in Bobby’s Idle Hour Lounge on Nashville’s Music Row on Monday, a cold Budweiser in one hand and a cigarette in the other. “I’ve been drinking this stuff since the 1960s, and this is hard to take,” said Arr, 65, a successful songwriter and artist whose compositions have been recorded by some of Nashville’s most famous performers. He continued “I just hate to see another American company bite the dust,” he said. “Soon there’s not going to be anything left that’s American. But I doubt they’ll change anything about the beer except for raising the price. I’ll keep drinking it for now, but if they take that American eagle off the label, then I’m out.”

“Bud’s the biggest brand here, and we don’t even have any imported beer in the house,” said Bobby’s owner, Dianne Herald, 58. “I know the Budweiser folks, and they’re good people. But I don’t like them selling out to foreigners.”

Standing in the parking lot inhaling the thick smell of malt, Dale Anderson of Iowa, who is in St. Louis to take the famous Budweiser brewery tour, will never forget the timing of his visit.

“I’m a third-generation Budweiser drinker, and ironically, it’s kind of a sad day, a bittersweet day,” he said. “But I’ll continue to drink it if they make the same product. … I just wish it could have stayed American.”

Obama, the Muslim with a Terrorist Wife

On the cover of the July 21, 2008 issue of The New Yorker magazine is the picture above. It depicts Barak Obama in Muslim clothes doing a fist-bump with his wife, who has one hand on her hip and is dressed up as a Afro-wearing, gun-toting terrorist. The scene is set in the Oval office with the American flag burning in the fireplace. Above the fireplace is a partially hidden picture of a bearded Muslim resembling Osama Bin Laden. The New Yorker magazine describes the cover as satire:

“Satire is a part of what we do, and it is meant to bring things out in the open, to hold a mirror to prejudice, the hateful and the absurd.”

Well if that was the intention……Boy, did they miss the mark! When people were shown the picture, the vast majority thought it was in bad taste. The Obama campaign said: “…..most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.” John McCain said “I think it is totally inappropriate and frankly I understand if Senator Obama and his supporters would find it offensive.”

Below are two video clips that examine the controversy from different perspectives:

When Eileen Hafner looked at the political cartoon on the cover of the New Yorker magazine, her jaw dropped:

“I’m really offended by it,” Hafner, 55, of Bay Shore, said. “I plan on voting for McCain, but even still, I can’t believe they would go there,” she said of the magazine.

Others had similar reactions:

“There is nothing funny about it,” said Valerie Melhado, 47, of West Babylon. “And the Osama bin Laden painting on the wall in the corner — that just gave me chills.”

“If they did something of equal tastelessness about Bush or Cheney, I could say that I liked it,” Zipkin, of Bay Shore, said. “A lot of people are just gonna see the turban and think poorly of Obama and his wife. Quite honestly,” Zipkin added, “I find it offensive to my intelligence.”

However, some people saw it differently:

“I think it’s pretty comical,” DiMaggio, 84, said. “I don’t know much about his background, but he’s not going to win anyway. This won’t change that.”

“I think the picture depicted them the way they really are,” said Denise Demichele of Bay Shore, who plans to vote for McCain, the Republican candidate, for president. “They’re way too militant.”

In a published email to The Huffington Post, cartoonist Barry Blitt wrote, “I think the idea that the Obamas are branded as unpatriotic [let alone as terrorists] in certain sectors is preposterous. It seemed to me that depicting the concept would show it as the fear-mongering ridiculousness that it is.”

I want to know what you think. Is it, in the words of Shakespeare “Much ado about nothing” or were you offended by the imagery? Please post your thoughts in the comments section of this blog.

Elisabeth Fritzl Begins Testimony

Elisabeth Fritzl, 42, who was imprisoned for 24 years by her father, Josef Fritzl, and bore him 7 children; has been given medical clearance to begin testifying about her ordeal. She has already begun to answer questions and will continue to do so in the coming week. Elisabeth has said that she never wants to see her father ever again…..not even at trial. So in order to accommodate her wishes, all of her testimony is being videotaped so that she will not be forced to confront him in court.

The trial of Josef Fritzl is scheduled to begin later this year in front of one of Austria’s most senior female judges, Andrea Humer, 48, who is considered to be an expert in sex crimes. However, under Austrian law, Elisabeth is being questioned by the investigative judge Christoph Bauer, and not the trial judge Andrea Humer. Neither the contents of the questioning nor the upcoming trial will be open to the public.

The actual questioning of Elisabeth is taking place in two separate rooms of the same building via a video link up. In one room will be Elisabeth and her lawyer Eva Plaz, along with judge Christoph Bauer. In the other room will be state prosecutor Christiane Burkheiser and Josef Fritzl’s lawyer Rudolf Mayer. Defense lawyer Rudolf Mayer is allowed to ask questions, but his client, Josef Fritzl, who is also entitled to attend, has waived his right to be there. Rudolf Mayer, said: “My client will definitely not attend the questioning.” Elisabeth’s two oldest children, who spent their entire lives in the cellar, Kerstin, 19, and Stefan,18, will also be questioned by the court as soon as doctors give their approval. Josef Fritzl’s wife Rosemarie, 68, is also expected to be questioned.

In what may be a surprising development, it turns out that Austrian law, does not allow for cumulative convictions. This means that even if Josef Fritzl is convicted of multiple crimes he will only effectively serve one punishment, for the offense that carries the longest prison sentence.

Fritzl is facing potential charges of manslaughter for the newborn that died, as well as rape, coercion, deprivation of freedom and incest. But prosecutors told The Times that since the baby died in 1997, the manslaughter charges would be “extremely difficult” to prove. Even the rape charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, could be impossible to probe because of a lack of forensic evidence.

What this means is that the only charge that is certain to be proved in court is deprivation of freedom, a crime that can only be punished with ten years in prison under Austrian law. Josef Fritzl could be a free man after only 10 years in prison.

However, here’s the irony in the situation….. Josef Fritzl, who incarcerated his own daughter in a windowless dungeon for 24 years, has admitted that he can’t stand being locked up after only two months in prison. In spite of his fear of being beaten up or killed by other inmates, who routinely target child sex offenders, Josef has demanded his right to 30 minutes exercise outside every day. At night fellow inmates bang on the walls and shout: “Come on out Satan, we want to play.”

Fritzl, who remains held in pretrial detention in St. Poelten, about 50 miles west of Vienna, now has half-hour walks, protected from other inmates by a close guard of prison officers. Fritzl even told prison guards he enjoyed having the sun on his face during his walks.

“Mr Fritzl is accommodated in a cell for two and recently he has made use of his right to go outside for half an hour per day,” the Telegraph quoted prison spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Erich Huber-Guensthofer, as saying.

A source is quoted as saying: “He usually sits there watching television all day, especially news programs about him. He’s terrified that someone will attack him or try to kill him.”

In encouraging news about the Fritzl family; Lisa, 15, one of Elisabeth’s daughters, was sneaked out of the compound where the family has been staying to attend a summer camp. It is reported that the girl enjoyed four carefree days of outdoor fun under an assumed name with 4,000 other young campers. Armin Blutsch, who commands Amstetten’s fire brigade, and Hans-Heinz Lenze, a local official, said camp organizers took it upon themselves to include her after she said it was her “ardent desire.”

Other family members also have ventured, always in disguise, from the Amstetten-Mauer psychiatric clinic where they have been recovering to make day trips, including swimming outings. The clinic however remains under police guard to shut out the paparazzi who have laid siege to the building in an effort to photograph Elisabeth and her children.

“Fortunately, everything is going very well,” said Christoph Herbst, a lawyer representing the victims. He said they were spending some time each day trying to answer the hundreds of letters sent by well-wishers from around the world.

For the complete story of Elisabeth Fritzl and her ordeal at the hands of her father click the following link for a 5-part video presentation of The Josef Fritzl Story.

Weird Sex Laws

We are told that ignorance of the law is no defense. Well here are some sex-related laws that are on the books in various states that may just shock, surprise or entertain you. The following list was compiled by the College Times.

1. In Arizona and 18 other states oral sex is illegal
2. In Virginia, it is illegal to have sex with the lights on
3. In Willowdale, Oregon, it is illegal for husbands to talk dirty during intercourse
4. In Georgia, it is illegal for unmarried couples to have sex
5. In Washington, DC, it is illegal to have sex in any other position than “missionary”
6. In Connorsville, Wisconsin, it is illegal for a man to fire his gun while his female partner is having an orgasm
7. In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, it is illegal to have sex with a truck driver inside a toll booth
8. In Florida, it is illegal to have sex with a porcupine
9. In Utah, it is illegal to marry your first cousin if she/he is under the age of 65
10. In Washington state, it is legal to have sex with animals as long as the animal weighs less than 40 pounds

Remember that if you have committed any of the above offenses, you need to get a good lawyer, because you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Mass Murderer Caught

Nicholas T. Sheley, 28, of Sterling, Ill, an ex-convict and suspect in 8 killings across two states, was taken into custody Tuesday evening July 1 2008, outside of Bindy’s, a bar in Granite City about 10 miles north of St. Louis, Mo.  His arrest marked the end of a massive police hunt in which $25,000 was offered for information leading to his arrest. His victims ranged from a 2-year-old child to a 93-year-old man. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

The sequence of events leading to the arrest of Sheley began two weeks earlier:

• Saturday, June 14:

Sheley forces his way into the home of a 90-year-old woman and robs her. A warrant is issued for his arrest.

• Thursday, June 26:

The body of 93-year-old Robert Reed is found in the trunk of his car.

• Monday, June 30:
  1. The bodies of a man and a woman (Tom and Jill Estes) are found behind a gas station in Festus, Mo.
  2. Police find the body of a man (65-year-old Ronald Randall) beside a trash bin behind a Galesburg Hy-Vee Food Store.
  3. The bodies of four people: Two men (Brock Branson, 25 and Kenneth Ulvey, 29), a woman (Kilynna Blake, 20) and a 2-year-old child (Dayan Blake) are discovered in a Rock Falls apartment building.
• Tuesday, July 1:
  1. Authorities announce a $25,000 reward for Sheley.
  2. At about 7 p.m., Sheley is arrested after being recognized by a bartender and patron.

On the evening of July 1, Sheley walked into a bar in Granite City, ordered a glass of water and went to the bathroom. He was recognized by the bartender and a customer, Gary Range from news reports on the TV. Gary then went outside and approached a police officer who was parked in the parking lot outside the bar.

“I told (the police officer) the description and the officer said, ‘That’s him.’ He got on the radio and eventually there were police all over the place,” Range said.

Minutes later authorities took Sheley into custody while he smoked a cigarette outside the bar. Illinois State Police, the FBI, and the St. Louis Major Crimes Task Force arrested the 28-year-old Nicholas Sheley without incident. Sheley had been spotted earlier in the area. Tim Lewis, the police chief in the St. Louis suburb of Festus, Mo., said publicity from news reports paid off after 6 p.m. when a number of Granite City residents reported seeing Sheley.

“He was desperate and he gave up without a fight,” Lewis said.

Authorities said Sheley crisscrossed three states in five days and was last seen in St. Louis. He was named as a suspect in all eight killings. Investigators said the victims all appeared to have died in the same manner, blunt force trauma to the head, and that evidence linked to Sheley was recovered at each scene, but both the FBI and Illinois State Police declined to elaborate.

Public records show Sheley has multiple convictions for robbery, drugs and weapons charges, racking up seven felony cases since 1997. He also faces an upcoming trial in a 2007 home invasion, in which authorities said he entered the home of Cory Olalde and allegedly fired a gunshot at the Rock Falls man. He had previously spent three years in prison.

Sheley’s uncle, Joe Sheley, 47, of Sterling, told The Associated Press that Nicholas Sheley recently struggled with drugs. The uncle didn’t know of any connection between his nephew — a father of four by two wives — and the St. Louis area.

“He’s been in trouble many times over the years, but something like this, yeah, it’s out of character,” Joe Sheley said. “He’s got a temper like anybody else. Just doesn’t want to be messed with. Won’t back down. But to go looking for a fight, looking for trouble, no.”

Sheley’s wife, Holly, said her husband has struggled for years with substance abuse, but that he was basically a good man and a good father. She told the Daily Gazette of Sterling that Sheley was, without drugs or alcohol, “kind-hearted. He’s caring. He has respect for people. He’s a hard worker, he’s a loving dad.” She said most of all, she feared the effect this would have on their two children.

Sheley made a brief appearance before Knox County Judge William Davis to answer charges stemming from one of the eight slayings authorities think he committed in two states. He told the judge that he could not post the $1 million bail set for the five criminal charges stemming from the killing of Ronald Randall, 65, of Galesburg in Knox County. He also declined the judge’s offer to appoint a public defender. Instead, he asked for 30 days to find a private attorney. Davis set the next court hearing for July 21. More charges are expected to follow.