An American Lion

Agriprocessors, Inc. Postville, Iowa

I realize that a number of good people are complaining about the high price of kosher meats these days. I like to have kosher food once in a while, and there really are a dearth of decent delis in Maryland. If I had the time, I’d be excoriating all of the so-called local delis on my Yelp account. Sadly, all I have are problems and naps and high phone bills to keep me company.

Part of the problem with the lack of good kosher meats, and the high prices some people are seeing, is that one of the processing plants that makes this tasty stuff was raided a while back and, in a further setback, today the owner of the plant was convicted of being a less than stellar boss:

A federal jury Thursday convicted the former manager of an Iowa kosher slaughterhouse, which was the site of a massive immigration raid, on 86 of 91 financial fraud charges.

Jurors returned the verdict against Sholom Rubashkin, 50, on its second day of deliberations after the nearly monthlong trial. He faces a sentence that could add up to hundreds of years in prison - as well as a second federal trial on 72 immigration charges.

“We respect the jury’s hard work. It was a difficult case. We disagree with the verdict,” defense attorney Guy Cook said after the decision. “There were many legal errors made by the prosecution in the trial of this case and following sentencing we will appeal.”

Prosecutors offered no immediate comment.

Prosecutors had alleged that as a manager of the former Agriprocessors, Inc., plant in Postville, Iowa, Rubashkin intentionally deceived the company’s lender.

Former Agriprocessors employees testified that Rubashkin personally directed them to create fake invoices in order to show St. Louis-based First Bank that the plant had more money flowing in than it really did.

Kudos to the government for actually catching and prosecuting a criminal. Please note, however, that the problem is not solved. In fact, thanks to all of your ill-considered stimulus spending, there are probably as many, if not more, illegal workers in this country. As much as I detest unions, they do bring wages that allow a blue collar joe sixpack to provide for his family. I guess I could tolerate them for a bit, but only if that means I can get a better selection of meat when I go out for sammiches.

If you’d like a bit more info, please check out this video:

I wish I could think of something back to say about unions. Right now, I’m just trying to figure out if I want to stay home and make something in the microwave or have Peej go and get me something. Perhaps I’ll turn the tables on Peej and go buy him a muffin. He’d like that. He’s a muffin sort of person.