The Off Topic Topic

[Admiral Yi]

Kay.  Thanks guys.

[Ed Anger]

Autozone and places like that will put 'em in for free.

And if you buy a Die Hard, you're a sucker.

[Admiral Yi]

Yup.  Went to some Autozone knock off and they put in an off brand battery for free.  Well, I paid for the battery.  Not sure I would have had all the sockets needed.  He also plugged his booster box into the computer somehow to preserve the info.  No way I could have figured that out alone.

Also bought a booster box for 49 clams.

God bless America.

[11B4V]

Autozone and places like that will put 'em in for free.

Christ

[Ideologue]

Why do you hate good service?

[Ed Anger]

I don't do manual labor.

[11B4V]

Why do you hate good service?

I'm not lazy. Except when writing reviews. 

[Ed Anger]

CHINA- A company in China rewarded its best employee with a night with a Japan adult video actress at its appreciation dinner recently, Kwong Wah Yit Poh reported.

The company in Shanghai invited the actress to appear as the special guest at the dinner, which attracted a lot of her fans to take photographs with her, it reported.

It caused a stir among the employees when an announcement was made that the best employee of the year would spend a night with the actress.

When the news broke, some Netizens slammed the company for such a reward and questioned the company's stand on morality.

It is a common occurrence for some established companies in China to dole out cash and cars to its outstanding workers during appreciation dinners.

[CountDeMoney]

When the news broke, some Netizens slammed the company for such a reward and questioned the company's stand on morality.

Oh, that's a hoot, that one is. 

[garbon]

Seems kinda unethical, but immoral to a "Netizen"?

[DGuller]

Why do you hate good service?

I'm not lazy. Except when writing reviews. 

Saving on car servicing these days is false economy, unless you really, really know what you're doing.  Your time is worth money, and so are the repairs you'll need to do after you fuck something up.

[jimmy olsen]

Currently on page 1400

[Jacob]

Seems kinda unethical, but immoral to a "Netizen"?

"Netizens" are a big deal in modern Chinese discourse. I tried to tell them the term is ridiculous, but they didn't care.

[11B4V]

(Newser) – It's only January but the most bizarre lawsuit of the year may already have been filed: A pimp in Portland, Oregon is suing Nike for $100 million for failing to warn the public that its Air Jordan shoes could be used as a dangerous weapon, reports the Oregonian. Sirgiorgio Clancy, is serving a 100-year sentence for using his Jordans to repeatedly stomp on the face of a client who refused to pay one of his prostitutes.

Clancy was also convicted of robbing the man and savagely beating an 18-year-old woman he forced to work as a prostitute. "Under product liability there is a certain standard of care that is required to be up-held by potentially dangerous product," he wrote in his three-page legal complaint. Use of a dangerous weapon can lead to longer prison sentences in Oregon, and defendants in the state have been convicted of using things like rope, boiling water, and HIV-infected blood as dangerous weapons.

[Caliga]

 

Suntory of Japan to Buy Maker of Jim Beam for $13.6 Billion
BY JEFFREY CANE AND MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED
Updated, 7:21 a.m.

Suntory, a privately held giant known for producing Japan's first whiskey, has agreed to acquire the maker of Jim Beam and Maker`s Mark bourbons and Teacher's and Laphroaig Scotch whiskies, for $13.6 billion.

Osaka-based Suntory is offering Beam shareholders $83.50 a share in cash — a premium of 25 percent to Beam's closing stock price on Friday. It represents a multiple of more than 20 times Beam's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda for the 12 months ended Sept. 30.

Including the assumption of debt, the deal is valued at $16 billion.

The transaction is the first major takeover of 2014, as deal makers expect corporate chiefs to expand their businesses by buying other companies.

Monday's deal is the biggest ever struck by Suntory, whose beverage empire includes Yamazaki Japanese whisky, Bowmore Scotch and Midori liqueur. The company's previous largest transaction was its purchase of Orangina Schweppes from a consortium of investors for more than $3 billion in 2009.

Now it is adding Beam, one of the United States' most recognizable purveyors of bourbon and other spirits. The company was once known as Fortune Brands, a conglomerate that included disparate businesses like home and hardware products and golf balls. In late 2010, it announced that it would pursue a three-way split, becoming a liquor company.

Besides its namesake bourbon, the company also sells Canadian Club whisky and Courvoisier cognac.

Under the deal announced on Monday, the current chief executive of Beam, Matt Shattock, and his management team would continue to lead the business.

Suntory's chairman, Nobutada Saji, said in a statement: "I believe this combination will create a spirits business with a product portfolio unmatched throughout the world and allow us to achieve further global growth."

Suntory says it intends to fund the transaction through cash at hand and financing provided by the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. It's unclear how much the company will need to borrow, but it may be a substantial amount: the conglomerate reported holding just $2.2 billion in cash as of Dec. 31, 2012.

The deal is expected to close by June 30, pending approval by Beam's shareholders.

Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley and the law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton are advising Suntory. Centerview Partners and Credit Suisse are serving as financial advisors to Beam and Sidley Austin is serving as legal adviser.