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Flap’s Links and Comments for October 3rd on 08:00

These are my links for October 3rd from 08:00 to 12:42:

  • The Bloomberg Hit Piece on the Koch Brothers – Bloomberg Markets has a print cover story on “The SECRET SINS of KOCH INDUSTRIES” (unusual capitalization and italicization choices theirs), which is plugged heavily in a long (nigh interminable) web item headlined:

    “Koch Brothers Flout Law With Secret Iran Sales”

    The nut of it is that, in 2008, a newly-hired Koch ethics officer discovered evidence of improper bribes paid by a French subsidiary to secure six different deals in Africa, India, and the Middle East. (I know, I know. But try to contain your shock that doing business in Africa could be anything but above-the-board.) Koch HQ then dispatched a larger investigative team that confirmed the findings and the parties responsible were terminated.

    Fast-forward to over a year later: The ethics officer who first discovered the impropriety, having since been promoted, is let go for emerging performance issues. She files suit against Koch for wrongful termination, and not only loses, but is ordered to pay Koch’s legal fees. Now she’s giving quotes to Bloomberg. Unrelatedly, and this is crucial, the Koch subsidiary also had some business (which has since completely desisted) with Iran at a time when — both Bloomberg and Koch reps seem to agree — that business was perfectly legal under U.S. law. Again, the Iran business was entirely separate from the alleged bribes. But go back and look at that headline. Would you ever know?

    I reached out to the Koch Industries and got this statement from general counsel Mark Holden:

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    Read it all

  • Koch responds to Bloomberg – In an exclusive interview with Right Turn, Koch Industries general counsel Mark Holden responded to a lengthy investigative piece by Bloomberg news citing various legal incidents and allegations of wrongdoing by the industrial conglomerate owned by the billionaire Koch brothers, who have become the target, if not the obsession, of left-wing groups who take issue with their libertarian politics and political activity.

    The two issues featured most prominently by the Bloomberg report, according to Holden, are rife with errors and/or are old, long-since resolved matters.

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    Read it all

    Pretty much answers the Bloomberg attack piece….

  • Do Mother and Baby Risk Factors Predict a Child’s Obesity? | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenens) Dentistry – Do Mother and Baby Risk Factors Predict a Child’s Obesity?
  • President 2012: South Carolina Moves GOP Primary Election to January 21 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012: South Carolina Moves GOP Primary Election to January 21 #tcot #catcot
  • Social media giving small firms a boost – Laid off after 23 years in the mortgage lending business, Dede Parise couldn't find a job. So she took a marketing class to reinvent her career, and before long she turned an assignment into a company.

    Parise invented the Bandee, a headband women wear while playing golf and other sports. She sells her product mostly on the Internet, working from home.

    Her audience is big, and growing. In a year, using Facebook, she has parlayed her reach into 15,000 fans.

    For small businesses such as Parise's, social media has become a portal to success.

    "It's really important," said Parise, 49, of Weston, Fla. "It's just the way the market has gone."

    No question, the use of social media by businesses is booming.

    According to a recent study by EMarketers, 80% of leading companies will participate in social media marketing in 2011, nearly double the number from three years ago.

    And a 2011 Social Media Marketing report by SocialMediaExaminer.com found that 90% of marketers said social media was important for their business. Eighty-eight percent said it generated more business exposure, and 72% said it increased traffic to their site.

    The most commonly used social media tools, the 2011 report found, are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs, in that order.

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    Read it all

  • Flap’s Links and Comments for October 2nd through October 3rd | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for October 2nd through October 3rd #tcot #catcot