As it turns out, Omar Thornton, the Connecticut shooting suspect who took eight lives then killed himself last week Wednesday, himself said his actions were all about race and racism.
When this blogger's initial post was issued expressing sadness for the action and concern that some younger black men may not have the mental strength to deal with race, some people went so far as to send emails explaining that his actions had "nothing to do with race."
Well, the 911 call that Omar Thornton made to police after the shooting put an end to all that, and brings my concerns up yet again.
I'm very concerned that we may be allowing a group of African American men to grow up without the mental discipline required to deal with racism. What to do about this is a topic for both discussion and action. It's also one that must include all races of people, not just blacks, because then society would not change.
Omar Thornton sent a dangerous message that, if we don't pay attention to it, could fester and develop in American society. We can't let that happen.
While it's no question that the workplace Omar Thornton was in had racial problems, what Omar Thornton did in response is not the answer. That must be communicated over and over again.
I was walking down the street here in NYC and I heard someone yell out, "Hey, Lady Gaga!" and it did look like her. Who knows...only Lady Gaga knows. TMZ has a racy video of her body surfacing with fans and their hands moving her like Niagara Falls...the movements rough, rapid and full of life.
I got the new Vanity Fair Issue to read the piece on disgraced money manger to king Mike Bloomberg but of course I read the cover story on Lada Gaga.
For Lady Gaga fans the issue of Vanity Fair is a must have. For those waiting for more corruption to be exposed at City Hall reading the Steve Rattner article is a must not only for what is reported but mostly what is not reported including Rattner and Bloomberg shifting some of Bloomberg's money to the Cayman Islands. If Steve Rattner gets banned by the SEC for three years than it will mean a third shift for king Mike Bloomberg's 5 billion Steve Rattner is suppose to be money managing. You see the first shift was out of Quadrangle because denial is Steve Rattner's cocaine, along with every corrupt politico and Rattner thought Quadrangle would take the fall not him. Wrong. So denial still in play, Rattner shifts Mike's 5 billion to a new created company. If and when Steve Rattner gets banned by the SEC the money will have to be shifted yet again or Rattner can sell the company yet again like he did Quadrangle but will Mike Bloomberg still be able to stand by his man? Ditto for the owners of The New York Times and The New York Daily news both very good friends and I believe both have had their money managed by Rattner. The Vanity Fair title "The Smartest Guy in The Room" but truly if you look at the big picture, perhaps the dumbest. From Albany to City Hall denial is the new crack cocaine. How ironic under Mike Bloomberg heroin is cheaper to buy and sell than cigarettes but denial is the new crack cocaine -- because it's free... most used and abused by politicians, rich people and celebrities in trouble with the law or those lucky so far to avoid getting busted.
Anyway, if you just want to think happy thoughts than stick to the Lady Gaga article and enjoy. Vanity Fair even smells delicious. For depressed people you might want to read Christopher Hitchens piece on his battle with cancer. There is a photo of him and it is shocking.
Lady Gaga may be the way to go. Her meteoric success is something I think she is still trying to absorb but one thing is very clear. Gaga loves her fans and deeply appreciates them. She spends time with them...there are peeks "peaks" in to this love affair in the fun piece. This issue of Vanity Fair has something for almost everybody.
Megan Avalon, the San Francisco Bay Area's super hot female bodybuilder, again shows why she should be one of FHM Magazine's Top 100 Sexiest Women In The World. In Megan Avalon Female Muscle Webcam - no sound, Megan shows her tanned, muscular, body that causes her to be called "Barbie with Muscles."
Megan Avalon is also an excellent personal trainer and spokes model. Her unique combination of personality, power, strength, female muscularity, and sexy hotness make Megan an excellent choice for FHM 100 Sexiest Women in The World.
Megan recently won the Sports Division of the Silver and Black Women's Bodybuilding Classic in Oakland, California.
Megan Avalon, the San Francisco Bay Area's super hot female bodybuilder, again shows why she should be one of FHM Magazine's Top 100 Sexiest Women In The World. In Megan Avalon Female Muscle Webcam - no sound, Megan shows her tanned, muscular, body that causes her to be called "Barbie with Muscles."
Megan Avalon is also an excellent personal trainer and spokes model. Her unique combination of personality, power, strength, female muscularity, and sexy hotness make Megan an excellent choice for FHM 100 Sexiest Women in The World.
Megan recently won the Sports Division of the Silver and Black Women's Bodybuilding Classic in Oakland, California.
First thanks for tuning in and I am reporting to you from NYC. If you do not live here than you might be unaware of the shocking injustices that are going on. There are many to tell but for today I am only talking about Artists' 1st Amendment rights being violated in Union Square and many places in NYC where artists are in theory allowed to be vendors but the city and at Union Square the Parks department is putting on the heat with the goal to drive artists out of Union Square. It seems king Mike Bloomberg wants to make the unemployment rates much higher than they are. They are high for the country and NYC and of course unemployment rates are under reported and for many earning a living many say they are not earning a living wage including the NYPD who often work two jobs just to survive and support their families.
I make reference to my blog which focuses on corruption in NYC politics. What is very disturbing is king Mike Bloomberg and his "ruling party class", (I say party -- because their emphasis is on partying and there are no "stop and frisk", metal detectors and drug sniffing dogs for the rich party class and most of all they want to feel they are above the law. In NYC more and more it is about two laws. One for the poor/middle class and one for the rich; actually mostly the rich are above the law. The goal seems to displace, drive out as many New Yorkers as possible from eminent domain abuse to simply ticketing New Yorkers up to their eyeballs. On my blog I show you how rich people are never ticketed and it is more than confusing when poor and middle class people are ticketed so unjustly. A working class man that sells water for a dollar and has a vendor's license was given a $1,000 ticket by an NYPD officer because the officer said water is food. This poor guy has a family to support. Back to the artists....
Special note to my loyal blog readers: In the interview with Miriam I ask her to tell me about one of her unique art works with clocks in it. She responds the title of the work is "Time Discovers Truth" the quote by Seneca.
This was very significant for me. I have more news and I am not posting on the blog. A "special" email went out and phone calls were made. Time does discover truth and the key is patience. Anyone following my blog knows the theme and perhaps the context...
Miriam and Tony explain to these young men about why they are here in the park protesting. I am so glad they stopped to talk with Tony and Miriam. They seemed to genuinely care.
Trapped By Fear -- Art by Miriam West
Tony and Miriam worked on the small Gandhi necklace together. Their visual is very beautiful. They have one more Gandhi left and I am buying it! I am so grossed out by rich people trying to get my work for as little as possible I happily pay fellow artists for their work.
If you click on this photo you can see Gandhi - the sculpture in the park. I had to walk around many trucks and tents to get to Gandhi and no artists were obscuring the Gandhi sculpture at all as Adrian Benepe thought and as far as the fountain -- the fountain area and the entire park is crowded so why single out artists and violate their 1st Amendment rights king Mike Bloomberg and Adrian Benepe?
We have no problem with the Farmers Market but please don't blame the artists for obscuring any thing to do with Gandhi with my photos give you just a hint of trucks and tents obscuring the sculpture, not artists!!
Inception's Leonardo DiCaprio, The Director's Guild of America (DGA), and actress and rainforest activist Trudie Styler (wife of rock musician Sting) who has been one of the most active promoters of the movie “Crude” by director Joe Berlinger, which paints Chevron as the culprit in polluting the Ecuadorian Amazon, have all been fooled in their campaign to block access to 600 hours of cut footage from the movie.
The movie may prove to be the biggest break in proving the innocence of Chevron (and Texaco, which it acquired in 2000), and lead to pointing the finger of the cause of real environmental damage where it should be: at Ecuador's government.
This week Chevron’s lawyers introduced outtakes from the movie that demonstrate the lead attorney, Steven Donziger met and virtually directed the ‘independent’ court report that found Chevron guilty of $27 billion dollars in damages.
The “Crude” outtakes provide a shocking look at the arrogance of Donziger. Donziger calls his own case against Chevron "… just a bunch of smoke and mirrors and bullshit. It really is."
Steven Donziger's admission of lack of evidence against Chevron reveals to what degree people will go to win a ton of money from an entry perceived as having a lot of it. This blogger's working to get the actual film clip, as it will be damning.
Bottomline: the case against Chevron for alleged pollution is all but over now that Donziger has been captured on film admitting the false charges against Chevron were created to “get money” and that there is no evidence to support the lawsuit against the oil company.
The point here is just because an oil company is an oil company, does not mean anyone can file false claims against them and expect them to stick.
What a way to make $40 million: Mark Hurd became Hewlett Packard's CEO, then got into alleged sex scandal and sexual harassment trouble, only to be ousted from HP with a $40 million severance package, including $12 million payable in 30 days from his departure.
(But to put that in perspective, Hurd earned $24.2 million in 2009, just down from $42 million in 2008, according to TechCrunch.)
According to Business Week, while HP's investigation found that Hurd, who's married according to TechCrunch, was not guilty of sexual harassment of a now former marketing contractor, Hurd did violate the tech firm's business practices policy.
What Hurd did that really got him into trouble was filing a false expense report to cover up his relationship. A letter to HP employees by HP's CFO Cathie Lesjak, who's now interim CEO, tells the whole story from overview perspective and was posted at Engaget. Here's what it reads:
This is to advise you that Mark Hurd, Chairman and CEO of HP, has resigned from the company effective immediately. Mark's resignation was submitted at the request of the company's Board of Directors as a result of inappropriate behavior in which he engaged that violated HP's Standards of Business Conduct and undermined his ability to continue to lead the company.
At the request of the Board I have agreed to serve as interim CEO until a new, permanent CEO is hired. During this time I also will continue to perform my duties as CFO. The Board has formed a committee to undertake a search for a new CEO, and candidates from inside the company as well as outside the company will be considered. I have informed the Board, however, that I do not wish to be considered for the role of permanent CEO, and I have removed myself from being a candidate for that position.
While this news is unexpected, HP remains in an exceptionally strong position both financially and in the marketplace. It is essential, however, that we remain focused and continue to achieve – if not exceed – our operational and financial objectives.
Because there is likely to be considerable media coverage of this announcement during the next few days, I wanted to be the first to share the facts with you.
Mark's resignation followed an internal investigation into a claim of sexual harassment asserted against Mark and HP by a woman who is former contractor to HP. The investigation was conducted by outside counsel in conjunction with HP's General Counsel's office and was overseen by the Board. Based on the investigation it was determined that the former contractor's claim of sexual harassment was not supported by the facts.
The investigation did reveal, however, that Mark had engaged in other inappropriate conduct. Specifically, based on the facts that were gathered it was found that Mark had failed to disclose a close personal relationship he had with the contractor that constituted a conflict of interest, failed to maintain accurate expense reports, and misused company assets. Each of these constituted a violation of HP's Standards of Business Conduct, and together they demonstrated a profound lack of judgment that significantly undermined Mark's credibility and his ability to effectively lead HP.
As we regularly remind all employees, each of us is expected to adhere strictly to the Standards of Business Conduct in all of our business dealings and relationships. This expectation applies with even greater force to HP's CEO and other senior executives who, given their positions, must set the highest standard for professional and personal conduct. The investigation that was conducted revealed that Mark had failed to meet this standard.
We recognize that this change in leadership is unexpected news. We also know that HP's success in recent years is due to the collective efforts and hard work of more than 300,000 talented employees who have formulated far-reaching strategies and achieved our objectives better than anyone else in the industry.
On Monday morning we will conduct an all-employee webcast to discuss this matter further and answer your questions. To join the webcast please click on this link.
In closing, I would like to thank each of you for your contributions to HP, and to ask that in the weeks and months to come we do everything to ensure that HP's future, like its past, is one of innovation, operational excellence, and the delivery of world-class products and services.
