Kraft

Jonas Lüscher, the author of Barbarian Spring—“a most humorous and convincing satire of the ridiculous excesses of those responsible for the financial crisis” (The New York Times Book Review)—returns to the topic of neoliberal arrogance in his Swiss Book Prize-winning, hilarious, and wicked novel about a man facing the ruins of his life, and his world. Richard Kraft, a German professor of rhetoric and aging Reaganite and Knight Rider fan, is unhappily married and badly in debt. He sees no way out of his rut until he is invited to participate in a competition to be held in California and sponsored by a Silicon Valley tycoon and “techno-optimist.” The contest is to answer a literal “million-dollar question”: each competitor must compose an eighteen-minute lecture on why our world is still, despite all evidence, the best of all possible worlds, and how we might improve it even further through technology. Entering into a surreal American landscape, Kraft soon finds what’s left of his life falling to pieces as he struggles to justify as “best” a planet in the hands of such blithe neoliberal cupidity as he encounters on his odyssey to California. Still, with the prize money in his pocket, perhaps Kraft could finally buy his way to a new life . . . But what contortions—physical and philosophical—will he have to subject himself to in order to claim it? Jonas Lüscher's second novel, Kraft, is a hilarious and wicked tale about a man facing the ruins of his life, and his world.

The novel interrogates the dynamics of challenging relationships, betrayals, forgiveness, and healing. When the pressure of having a male child becomes overwhelming, Adaugo seeks for ways to save her failing marriage. She blames her husband's infidelity on her inadequacies. The many marital challenges she experiences seem to be machinations of her fate. Nothing seems to save her marriage but Adaugo's love for her daughters. Will she leave, or will she stay to fight for her marriage? She turns to God and finds strength, not just to move on, but to extend forgiveness to her husband.

More than a hundred years ago, Kraft started with one man's desire to make cheese accessible and long lasting. After many experiments in his kitchen, James L. Kraft came up with processed cheese by 1916. This innovation was the first of many successes! Today, Kraft is known for its cheese Singles, Macaroni & Cheese, and many more recognized items. Kraft will inspire hungry readers with its growing product line and powerhouse partnerships.

The story of Kar-Kraft began, as did many others in the automotive industry, with an axe to grind. In 1963, Ford was seriously interested in purchasing Ferrari. Ferrari was a legendary brand with considerable success in racing, and Ford saw the acquisition as a great way to be instantly successful in the racing arena. When Enzo Ferrari realized that Ford would not give him complete control of the racing program, he backed out of the deal late in the process. Ford had spent millions in vetting and audits, which then set in motion a vengeful response against Ferrari. The result was the unthinkable: Ford beat Ferrari at Le Mans. Ford wanted to become competitive quickly, but it did not have the race history or resources in house. To remedy the situation, Ford searched the U.K. for an independent company to help accelerate its race car development. It first settled on Lola Cars and set up Ford Advanced Vehicles. Later, Ford brought its LeMans effort to the U.S. and the Kar-Kraft relationship was established. Although Kar-Kraft was technically an independent company, it really only had one customer: Ford Special Vehicles. Kar-Kraft's story doesn't begin and end with the GT 40 that took the win away from Ferrari at Le Mans. Ford expanded upon the program and organized an all-out assault on racing in general. Cars were prepared for Trans-Am, NASCAR, NHRA, and Can-Am competition. Street versions of the Boss 429 were assembled under its roof. And fabled prototypes including the LID Mustang, Boss 302 Maverick, and Mach 2C were all assembled in Ford's contracted race shop. And then, out of the blue, its doors closed for good on a cold day in 1970. History tells us that Ford won Le Mans, the Daytona 500, and the Trans-Am championship. But it doesn't tell us how this was accomplished. Author Charlie Henry (a former Kar-Kraft employee) has enlisted the help of many of his former co-workers to bring you the very first book ever published on Ford's all-encompassing special projects facility, Kar-Kraft. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial}

In this report, Is Kraft working for Cadbury? (HC 871), the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee considers undertakings given by Kraft to the Committee in the previous parliament on manufacturing and job retention. The Committee is particularly concerned about a number of regrettable job losses at Cadbury headquarters in the months following the acquisition, and about transfer of management functions away from the UK. After evidence from Kraft, the Committee was encouraged to hear of Kraft's recent recruitment into research at Cadbury and its investment in Cadbury manufacturing in this country. Particularly welcome were the commitment to extending Kraft's international research activities at Bournville and the confirmation on the future of the Reading R&D facility. Some concerns remain, notably around pay harmonisation and transfer of strategic brand management to Zurich. The Committee trust that Kraft will now signal an extension of its commitment to Cadbury UK into the medium term through further sustained investment, and that that the synergy savings to be made from the takeover will be invested back for growth at Cadbury UK. In May 2010 the Takeover Panel criticised Kraft for its handling of the Somerdale factory closure announcement. That decision was a serious matter and the Committee hope that Kraft will fully accept the Takeover Panel criticism and the particular responsibility that it brings to value the efforts of the Cadbury workforce. Kraft must abide by its undertaking that the harmonisation of pay and conditions will not be about cost cutting.

When Irene Rosenfeld took the reins at Kraft Foods in 2006, she found a company weakened by excessive cost cutting and a hidebound, inward-facing management structure. She wanted to move decision-making closer to Kraft’s individual business units and their customers, but that meant she would have to make wholesale changes. Here are the lessons that apply not only to her business but yours: Get the facts. Get real. Get holistic. Get your people involved. Get the incentives right. Get local. And get organized. In the beginning, it was all about cheese, sold door-to-door in Chicago from a horse-drawn wagon operated by one James Lewis Kraft, a.k.a. J.L. Kraft. That was in 1903, and by 1914 his company was selling 31 kinds of cheese all around the country. As of the 1930s, the cheese no longer stood alone--salad dressing, ice cream, and margarine products were added to the Kraft cabinet of brands. And through a series of mergers and acquisition, the company was transformed over the following four decades into a global powerhouse. Then, in 1988, Philip Morris came calling. The tobacco giant, its internal growth stifled, had begun to compensate by way of acquisition. It had bought General Foods three years earlier, and now it paid $12.9 billion to take over Kraft. In 2000 it purchased Nabisco and merged it with Kraft, and by 2003, when Philip Morris renamed itself Altria, the company had put together a major food conglomerate under the Kraft label. New Word City, publishers of digital originals, contributes 10 percent of its profits to literacy causes.

Today’s top designers share 27 stylish sewing projects featuring the rugged craft paper that combines the best qualities of fabric and leather. Kraft•tex™ is a truly amazing material. It looks and feels like leather, but cuts, sews, and washes just like fabric. In kraft•tex Style, top designers demonstrate its endless creative possibilities with projects that involve stitching, embossing, painting, dyeing, embellishing, inkjet printing, washing, distressing, weaving, burning, and die-cutting. Kraft•tex Style features more than two dozen projects, from home décor to bags and accessories. The 18 well-known contributors include Jen Carlton Bailly, Carrie Bloomston (SUCH Designs), Rachel Gander (Imagine Gnats), Michelle Jensen (Mixi Heart), Maryellen Kim (Twist Style), Cheryl Kuczek (Paradiso Designs), Karen LePage (One Girl Circus), Nicole Mallalieu (YOU SEW GIRL!), Caro Sheridan (Splityarn), Alyssa Thomas (Penguin & Fish), and Annabel Wrigley (Little Pincushion Studio).