Discontented, Destitute Cows: Borden is Bankrupt

Borden, the 163-year-old American dairy company, faces bankrupcy. Actually, in 1994 Borden was sold to private equity firm KKR, which skimmed off various Borden units and sold them. So far, Borden’s reorganization plan does not include selling Elsie the Cow for dogfood.

More:

“Borden Dairy becomes second major milk producer to file for bankruptcy in two months,” Rachel Siegel, Washington Post

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Purdue Pharma Succombs to Lawsuit Overdose

Purdue Pharma, the drug company that made billions pushing the prescripton opioid OxyContin, is dying of unnatural causes. The firm has filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to stave off responsibility for claiming its flagship pharmaceutical was nonaddictive, and aggressively marketing it to physicians. The firm is currently defending itself in 2,600 lawsuits blaming the company for the opioid epidemic that kills 130 American every day.

More:

“Purdue Pharma, drugmaker accused of fueling the opioid epidemic, files for bankruptcy,” Christopher Rowland, Washington Post

“OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma Files for Bankruptcy to Wipe Out 2,000 Lawsuits,” Jef Feeley and Steven Church, Bloomberg

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Purdue Pharma: OxyContin Poisoning

The pill pushing firm behind the opioid epidemic is ODing on lawsuits.

“OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP is exploring filing for bankruptcy to address potentially significant liabilities from roughly 2,000 lawsuits alleging the drugmaker contributed to the deadly opioid crisis sweeping the United States, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.”

— “OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma exploring bankruptcy -sources,” Mike Spector, Jessica DiNapoli, Nate Raymond, Reuters

More:

“Report: Purdue Pharma exploring Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing,” Alaric DeArment, MedCityNews

“One of America’s richest families is accused of profiting from the nation’s opioid crisis,” Tony Marco, CNN

“Allegations Against the Maker of OxyContin Are Piling Up. Here’s What They Could Mean for the Billionaire Family Behind Purdue Pharma,” Jamie Ducharme, Time

Update:

“Oklahoma judge refuses to delay first trial of responsibility for opioid crisis,” Lenny Bernstein, Washington Post

Related:

“Doctor Who Wrote 1980 Letter On Painkillers Regrets That It Fed The Opioid Crisis,” Taylor Haney and Andrea Hsu, NPR

“Purdue Pharma taps a Gilded Age history of pharmaceutical fraud,” Jonathan S. Jones, The Conversation

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Cambridge Analytica Calls It Quits

Cambridge Analytica and its British parent company SCL Elections are shutting down, according to a company statement. Cambridge Analytica is under attack for the shabby Facebook data mining operation and FB-based targeted advertising effort it mounted on behalf of the 2016 Trump presidential campaign, and SCL has been under pressure for its pro-Brexit disinformation campaign, and is the subject of investigations by UK prosecutors and Parliamentary committees.

Cambridge Analytica was set up by UK-based SCL to advance the fiction that foreign citizens weren’t engaged in US federal election work, and was funded by the conservative Mercer family. Steve Bannon, who claimed he thought up the company’s name, was a Vice President. In addition to its UK operations, SCL worked on election campaigns in a number of other countries.

Ironically, the firm blames “the siege of media coverage,” fake news and negative publicity, for driving it out of business.

More:

“Cambridge Analytica closing operations in wake of scandals,” Khorri Atkinson, Axios

“Cambridge Analytica is shutting down,” Emily Stewart, Vox

“Cambridge Analytica Files for Bankruptcy After Misuse of Facebook Data,” By Nicholas Confessore and Matthew Rosenberg, New York Times

“Cambridge Analytica: Facebook data-harvest firm to shut,” BBC News

“Cambridge Analytica and parent SCL Elections shutting down,” Reuters

“Cambridge Analytica Parent Company Ceases Operations,” Matt Shuham, TPM Livewire

Update:

“Cambridge Analytica dismantled for good? Nope: It just changed its name to Emerdata,”  Shaun Nichols, The Register

“The Cambridge Analytica power players set up a mysterious new data firm — and they could use it for a ‘Blackwater-style’ rebrand,” Shona Ghosh and Jake Kanter, Business Insider

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Freedom is Negligent, Goes Bankrupt

This may be the closest thing to good news coming out of West Virginia this week: Freedom Industries has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.  But does the Elk River chemical spill mean we’ll finally get tough, meaningful regulation and inspection of chemical storage facilities? Probably not.

Gingrich Think Tank Goes Bankrupt

Republican presidential candidate and disgraced former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, known for his deep thoughts, founded a health care policy think tank. The think tank just declared bankruptcy.  “While health-care costs have bankrupted many without insurance, Gingrich may be the first to go broke studying health-care delivery,” observed University of Georgia professor Charles S. Bullock III.

Endangered Icon

In case you haven’t heard, Hostess Brands, maker of Twinkies snack cakes, is filing for bankruptcy.

“I would like to think that Hostess Brands is yielding to a societal emphasis on artisanal eating — and the attractiveness of better-quality goods made down the street. But I fear that the reason involves management, distribution and commodity costs.”

— Peter P. Greweling of the Culinary Institute of America, quoted by Glenn Collins in “Imagining a World Without Twinkies,” New York Times Diner’s Journal blog.

Impending American Apocalypse: Save Our Twinkies!

The Hostess Snack Cake company has declared bankrupcy. No Twinkies? America is doomed. The Mayans were right about 2012.

The true impact of this catastrophe will be blunted by the legendary long shelf life of Hostess cakes and the Pentagon”s massive Strategic Twinkie Reserves, but the USA will run out of Ho-Hos sometime after mid-century. Freight sidings across the country are crammed with abandoned tank cars full of vanilla creme that will never see the inside of a cupcake. Someone call the EPA.

More:

“Costly ingredients, healthier eating habits put Hostess in bankruptcy,” Mae Anderson And Michelle Chapman, AP via Detroit Free Press

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Tareq’s Pique at the Post

Real Househusband Tareq Salahi blames the Washington Post for the fact that the world sees him and his wife as “delusional grifters.” He told the Daily Beast‘s Nicole LaPorte that the Post revealed the Salahi’s family lawsuits, bankruptcy filings, and unpaid debts out of revenge. For what? For unpaid advertising bills from his bankrupt polo event and winery.

Only it never was his winery. See:

“Salahi 101: A Guide To The Lawsuits & Lies,” Jezebel.com

The couple had their lawyer send a stern email to fellow reality show cast members cautioning them to cease calling the Salahis “White House crashers.” Other “Real Housewives” told the press about the email, claim the duo, because they crave media attention. 

When you Google “delusional grifters,” expect the search results to read “Tareq and Michaele Salahi.”

 

Hat tip: Matt Dornic, FishbowlDC.

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The Salahis are Polo-Playing Paupers

Tareq Salahi‘s polo club filed for bankruptcy last month. Total assets of America’s Polo Cup, Inc.: $67,000. Total liabilities: $329,850.

Tareq and Michaele Salahi are famous for being well-known. The couple’s winery went bankrupt in 2009.

October 1st was Michaele Salahi’s 45th birthday.

More:

“Accused White House crasher Tareq Salahi’s America’s Polo Cup Inc., files for bankruptcy,” AP via New York Daily News.

“DC Househusband Tareq Salahi Takes Another Business Into Bankruptcy,” Radar Online.

 

 

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