[inglor]

From People magazine:

The eldest step son of the Dem. Presidential Nominee, John Heinz IV is a blacksmith in rural Pennsylvania.

He sits on the board of a $900,000,000 company (Heinz Ketchup is one of their products) and is a freaking blacksmith. He MAKES swords and armor. That's right, a near billionaire uses a hammer to pound metal into archaic weapons and such. The site has been taken down but it was www.herugrim.com (the name should sound familiar it is the name of Theoden's sword, but is also a translation of an "Fierce in war" from Old English)

HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT

Inglor

[BittenBuggy]

I don't eat Heinz products anymore because I don't like the heiress to the company

However, that is a very odd piece of trivia! I'm sure that's not something I'll forget.

[sindohte]

That is a very cool factoid you shared with us Inglor.

BB, as for boycotting Heinz ketchup, you better make sure to avoid these other Heinz products as well - Jack Daniels Grilling Sauce, Ore Ida potatoes, Bagel Bites, Weight Watchers Smart Ones frozen dinners, Boston Market frozen dinners, Classico pasta sauce, Heinz pickles, Heinz relish, Heinz mayonaise, Heinz soups, and Heinz jams.

Methinks somebody will be a very hungry pregnant person It is difficult if not impossible to boycott all of the products produced by multinational corporations such as Heinz, because we truly live in a global economy.

[Aerin]

pardon my ignorance, who is she, and should I really switch to Hunts? Heinz is just better! I got a wierd something in a weight watchers meal, I even called the company to complain, they had me send it (the thing) to them, I told them I never ever want to know what it was, they sent me free coupons for 8 meals, but I never could buy another one!

[Roisin]

I tried to boycott Nestle but gave up b/c they make my contact lens solution and the only cat food my cat likes. Also, I believe, the Wine Pastilles I devour by the truckload when I visit Ireland.

I put the Heinz boycotts on the same level as the Freedom Fries debacle.

Roisin

[sindohte]

I will answer Aerin's question and then return us back to the subject that Inglor brought up inititally. The Heinz corporation is owned by Theresa Heinz, who is the wife of John Kerry, who is the Democratic nominee for President.

And here is something interesting that I uncovered http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/7/1012252991 I wonder how many other streets or businesses are named after people or places in LOTR. It goes to show that there are tons of LOTR fans out there. And that folks is a beautiful thing indeed.

[Roisin]

Does anyone ever listen to Led Zeppelin and look for LOTR references?

I was doing that some driving in Ireland. It's an oddly appropriate soundtrack to the Irish countryside, somehow. Much better than Prince.

Roisin

[Moralanqua]

Sorry, let me try to understand this -

You are boycotting Heinz because the owner is the wife of a democrat?

And thats all? Not because the company knowingly caused the deaths of hundreds of babies in a 3rd world country (Nestle) or because they fund companies who do animal research (RBOS)?

I think you need to be getting your priorities straight. There are worse things in the world then a democrat.



Inglor - Thats a great find! That guy sounds like hes living his life to the fullest!

[NancyBrooke]

There are a lot of people out there who don't like Theresa Heinz-Kerry for lots of reasons, not just her husband or her party affiliation.

Inglor - wouldn't it be nice to have enough money to then do what one wants? hmmmm ....

There's a lovely ice cream parlor near where I live owned by a local who made all the money he wanted/needed being a stock-broker, and decided to try out his dream of making ice cream and owning ice cream parlors. I think it's nice that at least some people know the value of money.

[Moralanqua]

[Roisin]

[Hathor]

Pulling away from American politics (only on the basis it confuses the hell out of me and also because my political affliations are too far left for traditional American politics) I have to point out that blacksmiting appears to be a generally fun occupation. *grins* I like swords - bloody expensive things that they are.

Oh, and Blind Guardian are a recent discovery of mine. They are fabulous and ALL about Tolkien. Every song, every album. A friend of mine is a big fan and every so often will send some lyrics and ask me what they're about. Ah, the joys of being a Tolkien fan!

[Andreth]

Roisin is absolutely right. It's frightening how vicious some of the extremists on both sides can be at election time. From what I understand this boycott was begun as a marketing ploy by a ketchup called W Ketchup, which claimed to be a 'patriotic' alternative. But a lot of people fell off the bandwagon when they discovered (or were reminded) that Teresa Heinz's deceased husband was a Republican senator, that she only makes money from the company but has no control in it, and that the Heinz company makes hefty donations to the GOP, not the Democrats. But that's just what I've been told/read and can't swear to its accuracy. This boycott is just as ridiculous as the opposite side calling for boycotts of all the companies that donate to the Republican party. The real power lies in getting out there and casting your votes when election time rolls around.

So that was my contribution. Back on topic, I had seen that website before but didn't realize who it was that owned it. That would be nice to be rich enough that you could work in whatever profession you wanted. I would start a landscaping company and a publishing company. The lanscaping for fun and the publishing so that I could see some real books published for a change instead of some of the drivel that climbs the best seller charts.

We have blacksmiths who come out to our state's Scottish Games every year and set up shop to demonstrate their work. That is a rough job from what I've seen and all I can say is that he must really love it if he chose that out of everything else.

[Aerin]

Sorry, I missed the topic...Bad Aerin! Any way moor on topic...I used to live on Rivendell in Portland OR, And the dummy that I was did not make the connection....untill I left....

And as for the Presidential stuff, Just ignore it, I vote, that is all that matters...

[inglor]

Thanks for that little bit of info Andreth.
Heinz makes some great products and I can feel better about eating them now.

I don't know, i just thought how cool it was that somebody with that much money is a down to earth person and not a greedy sob. I wonder if he is a "dissapointment" to the rest of the family. I also read that his fiance or wife, can't remember now, is getting a master's in english (I think).

I wonder if he goes to the board meetings in a tie...

In Forestry School, we had some rediculously rich folks like that who were there so they could take care of thier thousands of acres of timberlands.

I once had a client (one of the Russels from Russel Athletics) and it was amazing how far removed from reality people like that are. She was telling me and my partner about a wedding she was in. It was in Kenya... Africa...The bride chartered a jet for her friends to attend. Ms. Russel was completely ignorant to the extravagance she was talking about. Went on like everyone could just take a trip to Kenya when they wanted. Sweet, friendly, genuinely nice woman, but clueless.

A Banker friend of mine had a OB-GYN client who was amazed that anyone could live on less that $75k a year...

Morons


Inglor