Nexus - 0903 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

a vat of decomposing chicken pieces, investigating officers from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) were turned away by Tyson managers who demanded a search warrant. OSHA officials were admitted only after obtaining a court order. According to US press reports, more Tyson plants are named on the OSHA High Hazard Targeted Inspection list with more fre- quency than any other poultry company in the United States.° a vat of decomposing chicken pieces, investigating officers from after the rejection of Tyson's bid, a government inspectorate task- the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) were force under the control of Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman turned away by Tyson managers who demanded a search warrant. ‘visited’ Hudson Foods, where they very conveniently ‘found’ evi- OSHA officials were admitted only after obtaining a court order. dence of £. coli bacteria contamination. By the time Glickman's According to US press reports, more Tyson plants are named on _ taskforce had finished with Hudson Foods, the story had taken on the OSHA High Hazard Targeted Inspection list with more fre- national and international proportions, with the beleaguered’ com- quency than any other poultry company in the United States.° pany having to recall 25 million pounds of beef, costing the com- pany its largest customer, Burger King. The resultant fallout Birds of a Feather devalued Hudson corporate stock by 35 per cent.'” Tyson Foods' financial records show that the company had been The Wall Street Journal reported at the time:'"* funding former US President Bill Clinton in many of his political "Hudson's rapid tailspin has stunned some meat industry execu- campaigns, beginning back at the time when Clinton was tives, who blame the record beef recall pushed by the Agriculture Governor of Arkansas. Don Tyson was one of Bill Clinton's clos- Department for breaking the back of Hudson... 'What happened est friends and biggest supporters, according to grand jury testi- to Hudson Foods doesn't make sense,' said Patrick Boyle, presi- mony concerning Tyson's political misconduct. And Don Tyson dent of the American Meat Institute." was Bill Clinton's top fundraiser during his governorship and The presence of E. coli at the Hudson plant was never proved, presidential elections.’ but the damage had been done. In 1998, Tyson Foods managed to Joe Henrickson, a former Tyson airplane pilot, recently admit- acquire Hudson Foods at a rock-bottom price, in a deal described ted to transporting endless envelopes of cash from Tyson corpo- by Leonard Teitlebaum of Merrill Lynch & Co. as "adding beauti- rate offices to Governor Clinton—money that of course doesn't _ fully to Tyson's distribution and production system"."* feature in the annual accounting system.’ And recently, Tyson The Wall Street Journal commented:'* Foods was fined US$6 million as a result of confessing its dona- "Hudson's brush with Glickman's gang meant the Tyson's buyout tion of at least $12,000 in cash and gifts to former US Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy, up until his swift departure in early 1994.” The same " 6 article notes that "Espy had been ‘féted' In other words, Clinton gave by Don Tyson at a football game and | Yeltsin a blank check to kill as had outlined several regulatory deci- many Chechens as he wanted, sions that seemed to benefit Tyson Foods". provided the Russians bought In another instance, inside informa- D T 1 di hi k " tion on a swine futures market deal, on yson s irty chickens. supplied by Tyson Foods chief coun- sellor James Blair to Hillary Clinton, enabled the First Lady to make an overnight profit of approximately bid was an offer the company couldn't refuse." It is not difficult to see that, contrary to Patrick Boyle's comment, the E. coli raid made perfect sense. Commercial Advantage from Animal Diseases In December 1997, Associated Press reported that a 60-year-old woman in Hong Kong had died of suspected bird ‘flu. This report was swiftly followed by world media attention on the Hong Kong chicken flu ‘outbreak’. The US government immediately $100,000."° announced it would call an immediate halt to all chicken imports from China, in a move to curb the spread of the 'virus'. Days "Chechens for Chickens" later, pressured by the media and foreign governments, the Hong In return for favours such as these, Clinton's influence at inter- Kong authorities slaughtered 1.2 million Asian chickens to pre- nal affairs level was able successfully to head off various poultry vent the alleged ‘flu from spreading to other countries and species. food manufacturer practice investigations. Said a jubilant US Secretary of Heath and Human Services, Externally, at a 1995 summit meeting in Egypt, US President = Donna Shalala, at the time:'° Bill Clinton furthered Tyson business interests in a most extraor- "Perhaps the best example of the kind of worldwide monitoring dinary manner. He agreed to make clear his public support for the and surveillance system we need to have is the excellent system re-election of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who at the time that stopped the avian ‘flu outbreak in Hong Kong... Fortunately, was becoming increasingly unpopular for his war against the slaughter of over one million chickens seems to have halted Chechnya. In what became known as the "Chechens for the virus—at least for now." Chickens" affair, leaked notes of the Clinton—-Yeltsin meeting US author Dr Leonard Horowitz is a long-time researcher into revealed that Clinton's support would be offered in return for _ international industrial espionage. In a March 20, 2001 press Yeltsin's agreeing to lift Russia's embargo against American __ release, he states: chicken. "Few knew that, prior to these events, Tyson was vying to bring Up until that point, US chicken had been judged too polluted to the Asian poultry industry into its global, monopolistic fold. The meet Russia's environmental laws. Now, 90 per cent of US poul- emergency primarily targeted Tyson's Asian competition, mostly try exported to Russia comes from Tyson Foods. As City Pages small chicken farmers. What was most likely a CIA-directed ‘out- columnist Doug Ireland states: "In other words, Clinton gave break’ conveniently required the annihilation of Tyson's competi- Yeltsin a blank check to kill as many Chechens as he wanted, pro- tors. That would have been a very effective, albeit immoral, vided the Russians bought Don Tyson's dirty chickens.""' industrial espionage operation."" And separately, on March 15, 2001, USA Today reported that Industrial Sabotage of Competitors Tyson Foods stood to gain most from the recent foot-and-mouth In 1997, Tyson Foods expressed interest in buying beef giant _ disease 'crisis' in the UK. The international slaughter of cattle, the Hudson Foods. Hudson declined the Tyson offer. Very soon article said, was sure to reduce IBP profits, making Tyson's buyout "In other words, Clinton gave Yeltsin a blank check to kill as many Chechens as he wanted, provided the Russians bought Don Tyson's dirty chickens." "Chechens for Chickens" In return for favours such as these, Clinton's influence at inter- nal affairs level was able successfully to head off various poultry food manufacturer practice investigations. Externally, at a 1995 summit meeting in Egypt, US President Bill Clinton furthered Tyson business interests in a most extraor- dinary manner. He agreed to make clear his public support for the re-election of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who at the time was becoming increasingly unpopular for his war against Chechnya. In what became known as the "Chechens for Chickens" affair, leaked notes of the Clinton—-Yeltsin meeting revealed that Clinton's support would be offered in return for Yeltsin's agreeing to lift Russia's embargo against American chicken. Up until that point, US chicken had been judged too polluted to meet Russia's environmental laws. Now, 90 per cent of US poul- try exported to Russia comes from Tyson Foods. As City Pages columnist Doug Ireland states: "In other words, Clinton gave Yeltsin a blank check to kill as many Chechens as he wanted, pro- vided the Russians bought Don Tyson's dirty chickens.""' Industrial Sabotage of Competitors In 1997, Tyson Foods expressed interest in buying beef giant Hudson Foods. Hudson declined the Tyson offer. Very soon 16 ¢ NEXUS APRIL — MAY 2002 WWW.NeXU smagazi ne.com