Short Form History Podcast

ATLANTA – Coca-Cola (KO) and Pepsi (PEP) are usually bitter enemies, but when PepsiCo Inc. got a letter offering Coke trade secrets, it went straight to its corporate rival. Six weeks later, three people were scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday to face charges of stealing confidential information, including a sample of a new drink, from The Coca-Cola Co., and trying to sell it to PepsiCo. "Competition can sometimes be fierce, but also must be fair and legal," Pepsi spokesman Dave DeCecco said. "We're pleased the authorities and the FBI have identified the people responsible for this." The suspects arrested Wednesday — the day a $1.5 million transaction was to occur — include a Coke executive's administrative assistant, Joya Williams, who is accused of rifling through corporate files and stuffing documents and a new Coca-Cola product into a personal bag. Williams, 41, of Norcross, Ga., Ibrahim Dimson, 30, of New York and Edmund Duhaney, 43, of Decatur, Ga., were charged with wire fraud and unlawfully stealing and selling Coke trade secrets, federal prosecutors said Atlanta-based Coke thanked Pepsi for its assistance. Chief executive Neville Isdell said in a memo to employees Wednesday that the company is cooperating with federal authorities. "Sadly, today's arrests include an individual within our company," Isdell wrote. "While this breach of trust is difficult for all of us to accept, it underscores the responsibility we each have to be vigilant in protecting our trade secrets. Information is the lifeblood of the company." He said Coke will review its information protection policies, procedures and practices to make sure it safeguards intellectual property. Coke spokesman Ben Deutsch said the formula for trademark Coca-Cola was not stolen in the theft. According to prosecutors, on May 19, Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo provided Coke with a copy of a letter mailed to PepsiCo in an official Coca-Cola business envelope. The letter, postmarked from the Bronx in New York, was from an individual identifying himself as "Dirk," who claimed to be employed at a high level with Coca-Cola and offered "very detailed and confidential information." "Dirk" was later identified as Dimson, the FBI says. Coca-Cola immediately contacted the FBI and an undercover FBI investigation began. Prosecutors say Williams was the source of the information Dimson offered to provide to Pepsi. They say that "Dirk" provided an FBI undercover agent 14 pages of Coca-Cola documents marked classified and confidential. The company confirmed that the documents were valid and highly confidential and were considered trade secrets. Williams works for a senior Coke manager, Javier Sanchez Lamelas, who is a global brand director for the beverage giant, the company said. A spokesman would not say if Williams has been fired. Prosecutors say "Dirk" requested $10,000 for the documents. Later "Dirk" produced other documents that Coca-Cola confirmed were valid trade secrets of Coca-Cola and highly confidential. He also agreed to be paid $75,000 for the purchase of a highly confidential product sample from a new Coca Cola project, prosecutors said. An undercover agent later paid "Dirk" part of that money, placing the cash inside a yellow Girl Scout cookie box. "Dirk" handed the agent some documents in an Armani bag and the Coke product sample, an FBI affidavit says. Then on June 27, an undercover FBI agent offered to buy other trade secret items for $1.5 million from "Dirk." The same day a bank account was opened under the names of Duhaney and Dimson, and the address used on the account was that of Duhaney's residence, prosecutors said.

Also, a story about 19th Century British Farmers putting a Chimpanzee on Trial For Being A French Spy. Happy Canada Day fellas.

The year is 1912, you just received a gold medal for a fart joke. You and your friends volunteer for WW1 because the press says it won't last more than a few weeks.

This one is spooky, would not listen too if you're prone to heart attacks!

Dang history is so cool fellaz and if you want to be cool in the future you gotta learn about the past! Cuz history... repeats itself :O Paul and I go over the War of Roses! Quick summary for the fools: The Wars of the Roses were a series of English civil wars for control of the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival cadet branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the House of Lancaster, represented by a red rose, and the House of York, represented by a white rose. Eventually, the wars eliminated the male lines of both families. The conflict lasted through many sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1487, but there was related fighting before and after this period between the parties. The power struggle ignited around social and financial troubles following the Hundred Years' War, unfolding the structural problems of bastard feudalism, combined with the mental infirmity and weak rule of King Henry VI which revived interest in the House of York's claim to the throne by Richard of York. Historians disagree on which of these factors was the main reason for the wars. With Richard of York's death in 1460, the claim transferred to his heir, Edward. After a series of Yorkist victories from January–February 1461, Edward claimed the throne on 4 March 1461, and the last serious Lancastrian resistance ended at the decisive Battle of Towton. Edward was thus unopposed as the first Yorkist king of England, as Edward IV. Resistance smouldered in the North of England until 1464, but the early part of his reign remained relatively peaceful. A new phase of the wars broke out in 1469 after the Earl of Warwick, the most powerful noble in the country, withdrew his support for Edward and threw it behind the Lancastrian cause. Fortunes changed many times as the Yorkist and Lancastrian forces exchanged victories throughout 1469–70 (and Edward was even captured for a time in 1469). When Edward fled to Flanders in 1470, Henry VI was re-installed as king on 3 October 1470, but his resumption of rule was short-lived, and he was deposed again following the defeat of his forces at the Battle of Tewkesbury, and on 21 May 1471.

Friction runs high with the new co-host. Will they last?