Arizona bill targeting ethnic studies signed into law
By Nicole Santa Cruz, Los Angeles Times
May 12, 2010
A bill that aims to ban ethnic studies in Arizona schools was signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Jan Brewer, cheering critics who called such classes divisive and alarming others who said it’s yet another law targeting Latinos in the state.
The move comes less than 20 days after Brewer signed a controversial immigration bill that has caused widespread protests against the state. The governor’s press office did not return requests for comment Tuesday evening….
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ethnic-studies-20100512,0,5313151.story?
‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’… Anything about Shariah Law
May 12, 2010
‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’… Anything about Shariah Law
By Alan Foster
Elena Kagan, current Solicitor General of The United States and former Dean of the Harvard Law School, exemplifies selective outrage. She knows a lot about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” when it comes to ROTC on the Harvard Campus, but wears official blinders when it comes to Islamic treatment of homosexuals….
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/05/dont_askdont_tell_anything_abo_1.html
Smoking www.TheTruth.com
For more information, please visit: www.TheTruth.com
1. In the U.S., about 50,000 people die each year from secondhand smoke-related diseases.
2. In the U.S., 30,000 to 60,000 people die each year from secondhand smoke-related heart disease.
3. Of current smokers in the U.S., 2,633,000 have chronic bronchitis from smoking.
4. Of current smokers in the U.S., 1,273,000 have emphysema from smoking.
5. Of current smokers in the U.S., 358,000 have a cancer other than lung cancer from smoking.
5. Of current smokers in the U.S., 46,000 have lung cancer from smoking.
6. Of current smokers in the U.S., 384,000 have had a stroke from smoking.
7. Of former smokers in the U.S., 1,872,000 have chronic bronchitis from smoking.
8. Of former smokers in the U.S., 1,743,000 have emphysema from smoking.
9. Of former smokers in the U.S., 1,755,000 have had a heart attack from smoking.
10. Of former smokers in the U.S., 1,154,000 have a cancer other than lung cancer from smoking.
11. Of former smokers in the U.S., 138,000 have lung cancer from smoking.
12. Of former smokers in the U.S., 637,000 have had a stroke from smoking.
13. In the U.S., smoking results in more than 5.6 million years of potential life lost each year.
14. Smoking causes impaired lung growth during childhood and adolescence.
15. Since 1964, there have been 94,000 tobacco-related fetal and infant deaths in the U.S.
16. Cigarette smokers are 20 times more likely to develop lung cancer than non-smokers.
17. 49% of middle school students who smoke say they want to quit.
18. One cigarette company genetically altered tobacco to have 50% more nicotine than regular tobacco.
19. Nicotine reaches the brain within 10 seconds after smoke is inhaled.
20. Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds.
21. 599 additives are on the composite list released to the government in 1994 by tobacco companies of what may be added to cigarettes. This list includes all ingredients that are used although it does not tell which companies they are used by or which brands they are used in.
22. 2-Naphthylamine, 4-Aminobiphenyl, Benzene, Vinyl Chloride, Propylene Oxide, Arsenic, Beryllium, Nickel,
Chromium (only hexavalent), Cadmium, and Polonium-210 are human carcinogens found in tobacco smoke.
23. Nicotine is in tobacco smoke.
24. Nicotine is addictive.
25. Ammonia is in tobacco smoke.
26. Ammonia boosts the impact of nicotine
27. Benzene is in tobacco smoke. Benzene contributes to lung and larynx cancer.
28. Arsenic is in tobacco smoke.
29. Acetaldehyde is in tobacco smoke. Acetaldehyde contributes to lung and larynx cancer.
30. Carbon monoxide is in tobacco smoke. Carbon monoxide contributes to cardiovascular disease and chronic obstructive lung disease.
31. Chromium is in tobacco smoke. Chromium contributes to lung and larynx cancer.
32. Nicotine has been found in the breast milk of smokers.
33. Cigarette smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the U.S.
34. Radioactive Polonium-210 is found in cigarette smoke. Polonium-210 contributes to lung and larynx cancer.
35. In the U.S., over 400,000 people die a tobacco-related death every year.
36. In the U.S.,128,922 people die each year from lung, trachea, and bronchus cancers caused by smoking.
37. In the U.S., 34,693 people die each year from cancers other than lung, trachea, and bronchus caused by smoking.
38. 128,497 people die from smoking-related cardiovascular diseases each year.
39. 103,338 people die from smoking-related respiratory diseases each year (pneumonia, bronchitis, emphysema, chronic airways obstruction).
40. In the U.S., 3,000 people die each year from second hand smoke-related lung cancer.
41. In the U.S., tobacco kills more Americans than auto accidents, homicide, AIDS, drugs and fires combined.
42. Hydrogen cyanide is in tobacco smoke. Hydrogen cyanide contributes to cardiovascular disease and chronic obstructive lung disease.
43. The tobacco industry spent $12 billion in 2005 on advertising and promotions.
44. Since 1964, there have been 12 million tobacco-related deaths in the U.S.
45. About 90% of lung cancer deaths among women who continue to smoke are tobacco related.
46. Today, in the U.S., tobacco products will kill about 1,200 people.
47. Cigarettes and other smoking materials are the number one cause of fire deaths in the U.S.
48. By the year 2020, tobacco is projected to kill about 10 million people a year worldwide.
49. In 1974, a tobacco company explored targeting customers as young as 14.
50. Maternal smoking during pregnancy and exposure to secondhand smoke in infancy double the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
51. Smoking during pregnancy results in the deaths of about 900 infants every year in the U.S.
52. Over 8.5 million Americans live with tobacco-related illnesses.
53. Of current smokers in the U.S., 719,000 have had a heart attack from smoking.
54. 736 people die each year in the U.S. from smoking-related fires.
55. 7.5% of African American middle school students smoke cigarettes.
56. 11.4% of African American high school students smoke cigarettes.
57. 10.4% of all adult Asian Americans smoke.
58. 16.8% of Asian American men smoke compared to 4.6% of Asian American women.
59. 8.3% of White middle school students smoke cigarettes.
60. 25.4% of White high school students smoke cigarettes.
61. 21.4% of White adults smoke.
62. 13.3% of all Hispanic adults smoke.
63. 21.6% of Hispanic high school students smoke cigarettes.
64. Every year, tobacco-related disease kills over 174,000 women.
65. 27% of middle school, and 22% of high school students who smoke, smoke Newport.
66. High school students are more likely than middle school students to smoke light cigarettes.
67. 25% of middle and high school boys and 31% of middle and high school girls smoke light cigarettes.
68. In 2002, U.S. consumers spent about $88.2 billion on tobacco products.
69. In 1984, a tobacco company called younger adult smokers “replacement smokers.”
70. In 1972, a tobacco company considered adding honey to cigarettes because teenagers like sweet products.
71. The tobacco industry increased its spending on advertisements and promotions by $2.7 billion between 2002
and 2003.
72. In 1985, one tobacco company brainstormed targeting potential smokers in school bathrooms, playgrounds,
YMCAs, and city parks.
73. Cigarette companies advertised “light” cigarettes as less harmful to the smoker, although they can deliver
the same levels of tar and nicotine.
74. In 1993, one tobacco company executive thought it would be a good idea to have his employees mail
“grass roots” complaints to airlines about their smoking bans, pretending to be regular customers.
75. Tobacco companies actually went to court to fight for the right to keep tobacco advertising near high schools. They won. Congrats, Big Tobacco!
76. In 1993, the Supreme Court decided that an inmate could sue a prison claiming that exposure to his cell mate’s secondhand smoke could constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
77. In 1989, one tobacco company’s ideas for reaching minority customers included to “be seen as a friend,” “build on black history”, and “help them find jobs.”
78. In 1995, a major tobacco company decided to boost cigarette sales by targeting homeless people. They called their plan “Project SCUM: Sub Culture Urban Marketing.”
79. A tobacco company once gave $125,000 worth of food to a charity, according to an estimate by The Wall Street Journal. Then, they spent well over $21 million telling people about it. I guess when you sell a deadly, addictive product, you need all the good PR you can get.
80. In 1997, a Big Tobacco executive once said, under oath, that he believed Gummy Bears were addictive like cigarettes.
81. In the past, Big Tobacco has compared the addictiveness of cigarettes with M&M’s.
82. In the past, Big Tobacco has compared the addictiveness of cigarettes with coffee.
83. In the past, Big Tobacco has compared the addictiveness of cigarettes with that of television.
84. Adults below the poverty level have an average smoking rate of 28.9% compared to 20.3% for people
at or above the poverty level.
85. Higher smoking rates are associated with lower education levels.
86. In 2002, nearly 46 million Americans had successfully quit smoking.
87. 63% of high school smokers say they want to quit smoking.
88. In 1998, annual smoking-attributable medical expenditures were estimated at $75.5 billion.
89. During 1997-2001, smoking-attributable productivity losses totaled $92 billion per year.
90. During 2000-2004, smoking-attributable health care costs and productivity losses exceeded $193 billion per year.
91. 1995 estimates put the tobacco-related death toll among African Americans at 45,000 per year.
92. 37.3% of African Americans who have ever smoked have quit.
93. More than 25% of African American youth are exposed to secondhand smoke in the home.
94. 68.4% of African Americans reported wanting to quit smoking and 45% reported making a quit attempt in 2000.
95. 2.2% of Asian American middle school students smoke.
96. 28% of Asian American middle school students who smoke use light cigarettes.
97. 41% of Asian American high school students who smoke use light cigarettes.
98. In 2000, 44.7% of all Asian Americans who had ever smoked reported that they had successfully quit.
99. 1.2% of Asian American high school students smoke cigarettes.
100. Smoking-attributable productivity losses for men are approximately $61.9 billion per year.
101. Smoking-attributable productivity losses for women are approximately $30.5 billion per year.
102. 18.0% of Hispanic men smoke, compared to 8.3% of Hispanic women.
103. 30% of Hispanic youth in middle school smoke light cigarettes.
104. 35% of Hispanic high school students who smoke use light cigarettes.
105. In 2000, 33.6% of all people below the poverty level who had ever smoked reported that they had successfully quit.
106. 61.4% of people below the poverty level reported wanting to quit smoking and 41.2% reported making a quit
attempt in 2000.
107. How do infants avoid secondhand smoke? “At some point they begin to crawl.” Tobacco Executive, 1996.
108. 34.1% of middle school students report seeing advertisements for tobacco products on the Internet.
109. 39.2% of high school students report seeing advertisements for tobacco products on the Internet.
110. Every single day, in the U.S., the tobacco industry spends nearly $34 million on advertising and promotions.
111. According to one tobacco company VP, in 2001, a company name change could focus attention away from tobacco.
112. 23.1% of White men smoke compared to 19.8% of White women.
113. 46% of White high school students who smoke use light cigarettes.
114. 32% of White middle school students who smoke use light cigarettes.
115. It is estimated that as many as 22% of pregnant women and girls smoke.
116. 17.4% of women in the U.S. smoke.
117. Pregnant women who smoke increase their risk of pre-term delivery, low birth weight, and SIDS.
118. 47.3% of women who have ever smoked have quit.
119. 72. 2 % of women reported wanting to quit and 41.9% made a quit attempt in 2000.
120. The majority of smokers begin before the age of 18 (80% before age 18, 90% before age 20).
121. 1 out of 3 smokers begin smoking before the age of 14.
122. Every day, about 3,900 youth ages 12 to 17 try a cigarette for the first time.
123. Every day, about 1,500 youth become daily smokers.
124. About one third of youth smokers will eventually die from a tobacco-related disease.
125. In just one year, cigarettes leave about 12,000 kids motherless. That’s 33 mothers a day.
126. In just one year, cigarettes leave about 31,000 kids fatherless.
127. 8.1% of middle school students smoke.
128. 22.3% of high school students smoke.
129. About 70% of smokers say they want to quit.
130. Each year 40% of smokers quit for at least a day.
131. Each year only 4.7% of smokers succeed in quitting.
132. Every 6.5 seconds, someone in the world dies from a smoking-related disease.
133. In 1985, one tobacco vice president wondered, in reference to smoking-related deaths, if we should ban sleep
since according to him the majority of people die in their sleep.
134. In 1997, one tobacco company CEO said he would probably “instantly” shut his doors “to get a better hold on
things” if it were proved to his satisfaction that smoking causes cancer. That same company now admits on
their website that smoking causes cancer, but they’re still open for business.
135. There are 4.8 million deaths worldwide from smoking each year.
136. 5.6 trillion cigarettes are produced by tobacco companies each year, amounting to nearly 900 cigarettes per year for every man, woman, and child in the world.
137. 10 million cigarettes are smoked every minute of every day around the world.
138. The U.S., China, Russian Federation, Japan, and Indonesia are the five countries that consume more than
half of the world’s cigarettes.
139. There were 100 million deaths worldwide from tobacco use in the 20th century.
140. There will be 1 billion tobacco deaths worldwide in the 21st century if current trends continue.
141. One half of all lifetime smokers will die prematurely as a result of smoking.
142. Smoking is responsible for the premature deaths of approximately 3 million women since 1980.
143. 15% of college students smoke daily.
144. 25.7% of college students smoke.
145. 43.9% of young adults who are college age, but do not attend college, smoke.
146. Female college students are more likely to smoke daily than male college students.
147. 69 animal and/or human carcinogens are in tobacco smoke.
148. Every day, cows release methane gas into the air. From you know where. But methane is also found
somewhere else. Yesiree, in cigarette smoke.
149. As late as 1999, tobacco companies placed in-store advertising signage at a child’s eye level.
150. Tobacco companies have been targeting women with their advertising for the last 70 years.
151. Hydrogen cyanide has been used in prison executions. It’s also found in cigarette smoke.
152. There’s hydrogen cyanide in rat poison. The same stuff is in cigarette smoke.
153. Because of the tobacco industry’s products, about 339 people in the U.S. die of lung cancer every day.
154. In 1989, millions of cases of imported fruit were banned after a small amount of cyanide was found in just
two grapes. There’s 33 times more cyanide in a single cigarette than was found in both of those grapes.
155. Smoking can lead to cataracts, the number one cause of vision loss in the world.
156. In 1985, a tobacco industry brainstorming session came up with the idea of reaching their
“younger adult smoker” in candy stores.
157. Sunburns can cause wrinkles; so can cigarettes.
158. As of 2006, tobacco was still depicted in three-quarters of youth rated movies and 90% of R-rated movies.
159. Problems with self-esteem. Has menial, boring job. Emotionally insecure. Passive-aggressive. Probably leads fairly dull existence. Grooming not a strong priority. Lacks inner resources. Group conformist. Non-thinking. Not into ideas. Insecure follower. These are all terms taken from Big Tobacco’s files that have been used to describe different groups of potential customers for their deadly, addictive products.
160. Tobacco kills over 20 times more people than murder.
161. Sodium hydroxide is a caustic compound found in hair removal products. It’s also found in cigarettes.
162. Tobacco companies’ products kill 36,000 people every month. That’s more lives thrown away than there are
public garbage cans in NYC.
163. Human sweat contains urea and ammonia. So do cigarettes.
164. In 1985, one tobacco company brainstormed the idea of reaching younger adult customers in record stores.
165. In 2006, a former Russian spy was allegedly murdered using Polonium-210. This radioactive chemical is also found in cigarette smoke, a fact at least one tobacco company was aware of in 1964.
166. On their websites, tobacco companies encourage people to quit smoking. However, in 2006, a court found that tobacco companies manipulate nicotine levels to keep smokers addicted.
167. Big Tobacco labels their cigarettes with things like light, ultra-light and low-tar even though they can be as deadly and addictive as regular cigarettes.
168. As long ago as 1969, a tobacco company executive agreed to “avoid advertising directed to young people.”
Yet 10 years later, they supplied their products to be featured in The Muppet Movie.
169. Around the 1980’s, tobacco companies labeled African Americans – less educated, prefer malt liquor, have
problems with their own self-esteem.
170. In 1996, the tobacco industry said that drinking one to two glasses of whole milk a day was riskier than
second-hand smoke.
171. In 1971, when one tobacco executive was reminded that smoking can lead to underweight babies, he said,
“Some women would prefer smaller babies.”
172. According to the New York Times, in 1998, one tobacco executive said, “Nobody knows what you’d turn to
if you didn’t smoke. Maybe you’d beat your wife.”
173. Benzene, arsenic and cyanide are all poisons. They’re all in cigarette smoke too.
174. In 1978, one tobacco executive said that “unhappiness causes cancer.”
175. In 1953, Phillip Morris advertised low-tar cigarettes as “the cigarette that takes the FEAR out of smoking.”
176. A tobacco executive said that smoking is only as addictive as “sugar and salt and internet access.”
5.6 trillion cigarettes are produced by tobacco companies each year, amounting to nearly 900 cigarettes
for every man, woman and child in the world.
177. There are 11 known human carcinogens in cigarette smoke.
178. An ingredient in mothballs- naphthalene- is also found in cigarette smoke.
179. Cigarettes kill over 50 people an hour.
180. Urea is found in cigarettes. Urea is also found in Pee.
181. Methanol is found in cigarettes. Methanol is also found in antifreeze.
182. Cinnemaldyhyde is found in cigarettes. Cinnemaldehyde is also found in pet repellant.
183. Cadmium is found in cigarettes. Cadmium is also found in batteries.
184. Toluene is found in cigarette smoke. Toluene is also found in gasoline.
185. Hydrazine is found in cigarettes. Hydrazine is also found in rocket fuel.
186. Acetone is found in cigarette smoke. Acetone also removes nail polish.
Geraniol is found in cigarettes. Geraniol is also found in pesticides.
187. Formaldehyde is found in cigarette smoke. Formaldehyde preserves the dead.
188. Toluene is found in cigarette smoke. Toluene is also found in dynamite.
189. Acetanisole is found in cigarettes. Acetanisole is also an ingredient in some perfumes.
190. Acetic Acid is found in cigarettes. Acetic Acid is also found in floor wipes.
191. In 2006, over 5 million people around the world died from tobacco products.
192. 3% of middle school students and 6% of high school students use smokeless tobacco.
193. Adolescents who use smokeless tobacco are more likely to become cigarette smokers.
194. Smokeless tobacco use is higher among males (5%) than females (1%) for adults.
195. Smokeless tobacco use increased for 12th-grade males from 1986 until the early 1990’s, but has declined
since in all grades.
196. In 2005, three quarters of new smokeless tobacco users were male, and more than half were under
age 18 when they first tried it.
197. The average age of first smokeless tobacco use for those aged 12 to 49 in 2005 was 18 years.
198. In 2005, among adults aged 26 or older, 3% had used smokeless tobacco in the past month. Among youths aged 12 to 17, the rate was 2%, and among young adults aged 18 to 25, the rate was 5% percent.
199. Smokeless tobacco use among men declined between 1987 and 2000. The largest declines were among those aged 18 to 24 years, people 65 years and older, African-Americans, residents of the South, and persons in more rural areas.
200. Revenues from smokeless tobacco sales reached $2.36 billion in 2002 and $2.61 billion in 2005.
201. Since 1987, Big Tobacco has increased their spending on advertising and promotions every year,
reaching $250.8 million in 2005.
202. From 2002-2005, the two top advertising and promotional categories for smokeless tobacco were promotional allowances (payments made to retailers to facilitate sales) and retail value added (offers in which a smokeless tobacco product and bonus item are packaged together as a single unit).
203. Between 2002 and 2005, sales of moist snuff increased while sales of loose leaf chewing tobacco and dry snuff and plug/twist fell. Nearly 76 million pounds of moist snuff were sold in 2005, more than the other three types combined. Advertising and promotional expenditures were also highest for moist snuff.
204. Smokeless tobacco is addictive.
205. Smokeless tobacco causes, or is strongly associated with, adverse effects on both oral and systematic health.
206. Smokeless tobacco increases the risk of oral cancer.
207. Long-term smokeless tobacco users are nearly fifty times more likely to have cancers of the cheek and
gum than non-users.
208. Using smokeless tobacco is also associated with gingivitis, dental caries, abrasion, and staining.
209. Nicotine is absorbed into the bloodstream more slowly with smokeless tobacco than with cigarettes, but
it continues to be absorbed more even after tobacco has been removed from the mouth.
210. An average of 4.5mg of nicotine is absorbed from 7.9g of chewing tobacco and an average of 3.6mg of nicotine is absorbed from 2.5g moist snuff. You only absorb 1mg of nicotine per cigarette.
211. One tobacco company proposed reaching its target consumer from ice cream trucks.
212. In high school, 79% of African American students who smoke, smoke menthol cigarettes.
©2009 truth
Source: http://www.thetruth.com/facts/
Smoking may double the risk of Alzheimer’s
For more information, please visit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/115829.stmHealth
Smoking may double the risk of Alzheimer’s
Smoking could double your chance of getting Alzheimer’s
Smokers are more than twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s Disease as people who have never smoked, according to new research.
The study – the largest ever of its kind and the first major research to look at people before they develop Alzheimer’s – followed 6,870 men and women aged 55 and over.
None of the people had Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia, before the study by the Erasmus Medical School in Rotterdam began.
Dementia
Over a two-year period, any who developed signs of dementia were assessed and, where possible, given a brain scan.
A total of 146 people developed dementia during the course of the study, with 105 being diagnosed as having Alzheimer’s.
People who smoked were found to be 2.3 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than those who had never smoked.
They were also more likely to get Alzheimer’s at a younger age.
Protective
However, the researchers found that smoking does not increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s for people with a gene linked to the disease.
Indeed, they believe smoking may offer protection against the disease for people with the gene – APOE epsilon 4.
“It seems that if you have the gene, you’re better off if you smoke,” said Dr Monique Breteler, one of the senior researchers.
Beneficial
Previous research said smoking protected from dementia
Previous studies of the links between smoking and Alzheimer’s have suggested smoking could have a beneficial effect on the disease. But their findings have been inconclusive.
The Dutch researchers said this could be because smoking altered the chemistry of the brain and defused some of the effects of Alzheimer’s.
Another reason could be the fact that many smokers do not live long enough to develop the disease, which particularly affects the very elderly.
Powerful
Dr Anthony Mann, an expert in the treatment of elderly people from the Institute of Psychiatry in London, said the new research presented “powerful” evidence.
“They are the first to do a prospective study and it’s the largest to show a positive link,” he said. “It’s the best we’ve had. It takes forward the notion that things that put you at risk for vascular disease, put you at risk for dementia in general.”
Harry Cayton, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Society, said: “Clearly, smoking causes serious health problems. Whether dementia is one of these needs to be further investigated. The Alzheimer’s Disease Society would welcome further research to validate today’s report.”
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/115829.stm
Now Playing: Weinstein’s Finance Drama
By LAUREN A.E. SCHUKER
The surprise hit “Inglourious Basterds” appears to have breathed some life into Weinstein Co., but the independent movie studio is still facing a serious cash squeeze.
Several people familiar with the finances of the company, founded by independent film producers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, said it needs a fresh capital infusion or successive box-office blockbusters to ease the growing pressure.
The four-year-old film company has burned through most of the roughly $1.2 billion in debt and equity financing raised for its launch in 2005, these people said. Now, these people said, the company likely has to do one of two challenging feats: either raise at least $50 million or turn its upcoming slate of films into a series of hits that build on the success of “Inglourious Basterds.”
In a statement, Weinstein said, “The company has the resources to meet all our obligations, from production to release of our films. As far as new financing opportunities, we will always be interested in new deals, provided we see mutual profitability.”
Weinstein Co. is a relatively small studio in the Hollywood landscape. But its financial woes reflect the challenges facing many independent production companies, some of which have closed their doors in recent years, as film financing has dried up and audiences’ tastes have shifted.
In a sign of its troubles earlier this year, Weinstein did not pay back a $75 million bridge loan from Ziff Brothers Investments, according to people familiar with the situation. Interest is accruing on that loan, adding to their debt. That investment firm’s chairman, Dirk Ziff — one of the company’s early backers and a friend of Harvey Weinstein’s — resigned from the Weinstein Co. board this year.
People familiar with the matter said Mr. Ziff continues to work with and support the company. A spokesman for Mr. Ziff declined to comment.
As its woes deepened, the studio hired New York-based investment bank Miller Buckfire to explore restructuring the terms of roughly $600 million in debt financing raised by Goldman Sachs Group. Weinstein Co.’s other startup capital at the time included roughly $500 million in equity financing from, among others, advertising giant WPP PLC. WPP did not return a call seeking comment.
In July, Miller Buckfire completed its work with Weinstein. The investment bank was able to restructure $500 million in securitized debt that starts to mature in 2014, said people familiar with the matter. These people said the firm engineered what people familiar with the arrangement called a “status-quo” restructuring, giving the Weinstein Co. access to cash previously earmarked for loan repayment.
People close to the situation said the insurer of that debt, a division of Ambac Financial Group Inc., has waived some bond covenants, allowing the company to finance marketing and operating expenses from its film library revenue for now.
People familiar with the situation said that money will give the Weinsteins time to produce the rest of the company’s ambitious upcoming slate, which this fall includes “Nine,” based on a Broadway musical, and a version of Cormac McCarthy’s apocalyptic novel, “The Road.” Additionally, the company was able to spend $35 million marketing “Inglourious Basterds,” Quentin Tarantino’s World War II revenge fantasy, which has taken in more than $100 million at the domestic box office alone. That makes it one of the biggest successes in the company’s short history.
Still, the gains have been diluted. A year before “Inglourious Basterds” hit theaters, Weinstein Co. entered into a profit-sharing deal with Universal Pictures. That allowed it to split costs, but also watered down its income.
More broadly, said people familiar with the situation, Ambac’s waiving of covenants is on a case-by-case basis. The insurer’s aim for now, they said, is to give the studio time to release its scheduled films.
To be sure, the company has other ways to access liquidity, including selling foreign distribution rights to future movies or exploring joint ventures, said a person close to the situation.
Cost cutting has begun. The company has said it plans to cut about 30 employees to shrink the staff of the studio down to 90 employees — at least half its staff size at its peak. Those layoffs come after several earlier rounds of cutbacks and bring its staffing to levels comparable to those of studios producing about the same number of films.
In a statement released by the company, a board member, Richard Koenigsberg, said, “The board is very pleased with the recent successes of ‘Inglourious Basterds’ and ‘Halloween 2,’ as well as ‘Project Runway’s’ record breaking season on the Lifetime Network. The strong upcoming film slate, including ‘The Road,’ ‘Nine,’ ‘Hoodwinked 2′, ‘Youth In Revolt’ and ‘Piranha 3D,’ also make us very optimistic about the company’s potential for continued success at the box office.”
The Weinsteins rewrote the rules of Hollywood in the 1990s, as their Miramax Films turned small-budget pictures like “Pulp Fiction” into blockbusters, and turned literary adult dramas into mainstream fare, including “The English Patient” and “Shakespeare in Love.”
The brothers sold Miramax in 1993 to Walt Disney Co. When they left Miramax in 2005 and announced their next venture, Wall Street banks and other investors were eager to hitch their wagon to the Weinsteins’ star.
An initial offering from Goldman projected that the company would release about 30 films a year, and would rack up more than $160 million in profit by the end of 2009. With three months left in 2009, the brothers appear to have fallen short of that goal, and they are now aiming to release just eight to 10 movies next year.
Write to Lauren A.E. Schuker at lauren.schuker@wsj.com
Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125384614564239973.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTWhatsNews
Capitalism
Although my personal belief is that Mr. Moores films are often skewed or misleading, his new film “Capitalism” sets an honest tone on the corruption of our “free” market.
September 15th, 2009 7:23 pm
Michael Moore Takes on Capitalism Itself
PITTSBURGH—After leading a march for single-payer health insurance from the AFL-CIO convention in Pittsburgh to a movie theater, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore gave the official U.S. premiere of his new film to an audience of unionists and progressive activists Tuesday night, one day before its Hollywood premiere.
Capitalism: A Love Story tackles the financial crisis in Moore’s established style of guerrilla filmmaking, attempting to confront Wall Street titans and sympathetically portray its victims.
“I called this film ‘Capitalism: A Love Story’ because they love their money,” he explained, referring to Wall Street. “But this film has a twist: They also love our money.”
Moore’s new film ranks with his best work, but he tackles a more abstract, or at least complex, topic–capitalism. He sees the film as the culmination of 20 years of work, starting with his breakthrough account of the decline of Flint, Michigan, in Roger and Me.
Starting with bank videos of bank robbers—one shown kissing his money— Moore uses old educational and other film clips to link the fall of Rome and contemporary America, then explores home foreclosures and a self-proclaimed “vulture” investor in foreclosures.
He asks, What is capitalism?, and examines how a system that enriches an elite and preys on the weak can survive in a democracy. It worked in the years after World War II as unions and government made the economy more egalitarian, Moore argues, but Reagan began a corporate takeover of government that led to a casino economy and eventual collapse.
Moore recounts the tale with personal stories and interviews. A top Wall Street trader who can’t explain derivatives. Priests explaining why capitalism is “radically evil.” Families of deceased workers whose employers had taken out “dead peasant” insurance policies on their employees to profit from their death.
He also tells the stories of those who fought back, from Republic Windows sit-in factory occupiers to a community group helping to return foreclosed families to their homes.
In lost film footage Moore’s team found, Franklin Roosevelt outlines his Second Bill of Rights, such as a right to a living wage job, healthcare and education. Workers at an employee-owned factory demonstrate how democracy can work on the job. Indeed, that’s Moore’s alternative to capitalism–democracy.
That’s a love story for those left out of the “plutonomy,” as Wall Street labels the new American economy Moore so devastatingly portrays.
Source: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php
New Tourism Improvement District Provides A Boost For Downtown
New Tourism Improvement District Provides A Boost For Downtown
The Las Vegas City Council created a very important tourism improvement district (TID) that will not only help the city generate new revenue but help create a more vibrant downtown area. The tourism improvement district is in the area bounded by Stewart Avenue, Casino Center Boulevard, U.S. Highway 95 and Fourth Street. State law authorizes municipalities to create tourism improvement districts within their respective jurisdictions in order to encourage economic development and development related to tourism.
The creation of the TID supports a public-private partnership to attract $247 million in new development. Development on this site, including retail, restaurants and office space, would generate new taxes from property currently off the tax roll, with a net benefit of $5.4 million. It also creates a revenue stream of $3.1 million per year to help fund public improvements including public parking and streetscape improvements. Another benefit is that it supports the city’s investment in the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, located at Stewart Avenue and Fourth Street.
Source: http://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/index.htm
Culture of Corruption
By Michelle Malkin • July 26, 2009 07:27 AM
Meet Urban Czar Adolfo Carrión, Jr. He’s one of my Culture of CorruptionDirty Dozen collectibles. In conjunction with the book launch tomorrow, my friend Tennyson Hayes (whose terrific graphic art has been featured here sincelast spring) and I cooked up 12 trading cards featuring some of Team Obama’s most interest-conflicted, ethics-compromised, crony officials chronicled in the book. You’ll read more here about The Dirty Dozen throughout the week. But as you’ll see after you dive into Culture of Corruption (officially out tomorrow, but readers tell me they’re seeing it in stores this weekend), those 12 are just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve got enough profiles of Team Obama corruption and cronyism to fill an entire 54-card set.
Below is my special piece for the New York Post today on Carrión and my other nominees for Obama’s worst czars. Auto czar Steve Rattner, entangled in anSEC investigation of his former company, Quandrangle, topped that list until he stepped down earlier this month amid the darkening ethics cloud. And I’ve already reported extensively on transparency-undermining energy czar Carol Browner. So I chose three of the shady czars who haven’t been on the public’s radar screen — and should be: health care czar Nancy DeParle, Carrión, and technology czar Vivek Kundra.
Looking for an up-to-date list of czars?
Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is keeping track here.
Taxpayers for Common Sense has a chart here.
And there’s a czar chart on Wikipedia here.
What can we do to fight the phantom menaces controlling huge swaths of the economy and government? The Rattner resignation shows that sunlight can indeed be the best disinfectant. Stay informed. Keep pressuring Congress for accountability and disclosure. And know your enemy. I wrote Culture of Corruption to give readers a comprehensive road map of the Team Obama members undermining transparency, cashing in on the Washington revolving door, and short-circuiting representative government. Use it!
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CZARS OF THE OBAMA UNDERWORLD
By Michelle Malkin
Special to the NYPost
If you can’t beat ’em, czar ’em. This is the standard operating procedure in Obama World. The time-honored Senate confirmation process proved to be a dangerous landmine for one too many of the president’s picks. But the White House found the perfect cure for Obama Nominee Withdrawal Syndrome: Avoid future debacles by circumventing the nomination process altogether.
So far, czars have been installed in at least 35 posts through presidential executive orders that require no Senate approval. No Senate review, no questions. No questions, no problems.
The Obama administration has created a two-tiered government—fronted by Cabinet secretaries able to withstand public scrutiny (some of them, just barely) and then managed behind the scenes by shadow secretaries with broad powers beyond congressional reach. Bureaucratic chaos serves as a useful smokescreen to obscure the true source of policy decision-making. Energy czar Carol Browner epitomized the secretive dealings of these offices when she advised auto industry executives this month “to put nothing in writing, ever” about their meetings with her.
While past administrations dating back to the Nixon era have designated such “super aides,” none has extended the concept as widely as Obama has. Currently, 35 out of 44 current “czar” slots are presidential appointments. They are among thehighest-paid staffers at the White House. Most of Obama’s key czars have Cabinet counterparts already in place.
It’s not just the unprecedented quantity of White House-appointed bureaucratic commissars that galls. It’s their shockingly compromised ethics and integrity. Here are three of Obama’s most interest-conflicted, superfluous, and criminal czars and czarinas:
Nancy DeParle, health czar
Former Kansas Democrat Governor Kathleen Sebelius won Senate confirmation as Health and Human Services Secretary. But the real power lies with with newly-created health czar Nancy-Ann Min DeParle. Her official title: Director of theWhite House Office for Health Reform.
DeParle ran the behemoth Medicare and Medicaid programs under Bill Clinton. She parlayed her government experience into a lucrative private-sector stint. Over the past three years, she made nearly $6 million from her work in the health care industry. Despite President Obama’s loud denunciations of the revolving-door lobbyist culture in Washington, DeParle’s industry ties didn’t bother the White House.
She served as an investment advisor at JP Morgan Partners, LLC; sat on the board of directors at Boston Scientific Corporation; and held directorships at Accredo Health Group Inc., Triad Hospitals (now part of Community Health Systems), and DaVita Corporation. In all, she sat on at least ten boards while advising JP Morgan and working as managing director at a private equity firm, CCMP Capital.
From 2002 to 2008, while holding all those titles, DeParle also served as a member of the government-chartered Medicare Payment Advisory Committee (MedPAC), an influential panel that advises Congress on what Medicare should cover and at what price. Last month, former MedPAC member DeParle cozily announced that Obama was “open to making recommendations of [MedPAC] mandatory unless opposed by a joint resolution of Congress.”
Obama famously signed an early executive order requiring appointees to pledge not to participate “in any particular matter involving specific parties that is directly and substantially related to any former employer or former clients” for a period of two years from the date of his or her appointment. But it’s hard to imagine any health care reform-related issue that won’t involve one of DeParle’s former employers, clients, and corporate boards in the health care industry. She earned at least $376,000 from Cerner Corporation, for example, which specializes in health information technology. As health czar, DeParle has unmeasured clout in directing $19 billion of federal stimulus money earmarked for, yes, health information technology.
Last week, a Washington, D.C. citizen watchdog filed suit to force the White House to disclose which health care lobbyists and executives it had met with this year to discuss insurance takeover legislation. White House counsel Greg Craig refused to disclose which administration officials attended the meetings. But at least two of the industry visitors have ties to DeParle. William C. Weldon is chairman of Johnson & Johnson, which paid DeParle $7,500 for a recent speech. Wayne Smith is chief executive of Community Health Systems, which merged with Triad Hospitals – where DeParle served on the board of directors. DeParle’s options were converted to cash payments worth $1.05 million.
Despite Obama’s lip service to transparency, the public is in the dark about which assets DeParle has divested and how many times, if any, DeParle has recused herself from policy matters and meetings. Czardom has its privileges.
Adolfo Carrion, urban czar
Former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión Jr., the nation’s “urban czar” is a man in Obama’s own image: Son of immigrants. Charismatic. Ambitious. And embroiled in pay-for-play scandals that would make the Chicago political machine proud.
Carrion’s official title: Head of the White House Office of Urban Affairs. But doesn’t the president already have a Secretary of Housing and Urban Development? Yes. That spot went to Harvard grad and former Clinton HUD official Shaun Donovan, who moved up from his role as New York City commissioner of housing and development. Grievance groups, however, were miffed that the HUD job didn’t go to a racial or ethnic minority. (Donovan is white; HUD is a notorious bastion of cronyism of color.) Enter Carrión.
As a reward for turning out the Latino vote, Obama gave Carrion the unprecedented power to shower federal dollars on urban areas and coordinate urban policy across several bureaucracies. In practice, the job empowers Carrión to carry out the kind of pay-to-play schemes that sullied his tenure in the Bronx on a nationwide scale. It’s Obama-approved old school patronage dressed up as the new urban renewal.
As Bronx Borough president, Carrion took tens of thousands of dollars in donations from real estate firms just before and after the developers snagged lucrative deals or crucial zoning changes for their projects. In turn, he made millions in public tax dollars available to his cronies. And Carrion rubber-stamped three housing projects for an architect whom he hired to renovate his City Island Victorian home. It is illegal for an elected official to accept such a gift, but Carrión failed to pay the architect until after he was tapped for his urban czar post. The White House shrugged.
Similar arrangements involving home renovation freebies from corporate suitors resulted in multiple criminal convictions (later set aside over prosecutorial misconduct) for entrenched Alaska GOP Senator Ted Stevens and forced the resignation of Republican former Connecticut Governor John Rowland. But there was barely a peep from the Beltway’s clean government types about Carrión’s smelly deals. He is also a lavish spender – squandering nearly $20,000 on a teleprompter, junkets to San Juan, and $50,000 on a going away party for himself. Viva la Hope and Change.
Vivek Kundra, technology czar
Who thinks putting a shoplifter in charge of the entire federal government’s information security infrastructure is a good idea? The Obama White House has complete confidence in Vivek Kundra, the 34-year-old “whiz kid” named Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) in March 2009 despite his criminal history. As first reported by Ed Morrissey at HotAir.com, Kundra was convicted of misdemeanor theft. He stole a handful of men’s shirts from a J.C. Penney’s department store and ran from police in a failed attempt to evade arrest. Kundra was a 21-year-old adult at the time of his attempted thievery and attempted escape from the police. From the White House’s pooh-poohing of the incident as a “youthful indiscretion,” you might have thought the digits in his age were reversed.
Whitewashing the petty thief’s crimes, Obama instead effused about his technology czar’s “depth of experience in the technology arena.” As the nation’s CIO, Kundra “will play a key role in making sure our government is running in the most secure, open, and efficient way possible.” But the aura of security and openness was further thrown into doubt in March when an FBI search warrant was issued at Kundra’s office. He was serving as the Chief Technology Officer of the District of Columbia before moving over to the White House.
During the transition, two of Kundra’s underlings, Yusuf Acar and Sushil Bansal, were charged in an alleged scheme of bribery, kickbacks, ghost employees, and forged timesheets. Kundra was put on leave for five days and then reinstated after the feds informed him that he was neither a subject nor a target of the investigation. Team Obama emphasized that Kundra had no idea what was going on in his workplace, which employed about 300 workers.
But if his claimed ignorance is supposed to exonerate Kundra, what does it suggest about his ability to police government technology operations across the entire federal government? And what responsibility and oversight exactly did Kundra have over the indicted employees in his office?
Veteran D.C. newspaper columnist Jonetta Rose Barras reported that Acar “was consistently promoted by his boss, Vivek Kundra, receiving with each move increasing authority over sensitive information and operating with little supervision.” The raid was no surprise to city and federal watchdogs, who had identified a systemic lack of controls in the office. Now, Kundra promises to create “a culture of accountability and innovation” in order to prevent “theft and fraud.” The anti-crime prevention strategy of Obama’s technology security chief: Takes one to know one.
The czar explosion illustrates the first law of political physics: As government grows, corruption flows. Unchecked, these super-bureaucrats have the power to wreak major havoc on the economy and our lives. Who will stop them?
Michelle Malkin is author of the new book Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies (Regnery).
New Policy Delays Arlington Burials
There is nothing so impressive or sobering as a burial at Arlington National Cemetery. The caisson, the gun salute, the bugler, and the folded flag — all reinforce the absolute sacredness of the cemetery itself and the massive weight of sacrifice made by those buried there.
It is an amazing honor to be buried at Arlington, but it’s one that has become increasingly difficult and delayed.
Like many others around the country, the family of Capt. Ronald G. Luce will have to wait a bit longer for the active duty 20th Special Forces Group National Guard soldier to reach his final resting place at Arlington. Luce, who was 27 years old, died in Afghanistan on Aug. 2 after insurgents attacked his vehicle with an IED. Within a few days his body was brought to Fort Bragg and a memorial service was held for him there on Aug. 13. His funeral at Arlington National Cemetery is scheduled for Oct. 21. Until then, Capt. Luce’s body waits in a funeral home in Fayetteville, NC as his family waits to make the final leg of a miserable journey.
Funeral directors say that it currently takes about two months to schedule a burial at Arlington and they say they typically have to spend thirty to forty-five minutes on hold just to talk to Arlington officials to schedule a burial there.
“They’re doing about 30 funerals a day there, with people from all over the country. They are busy,” said Harry Carter, a funeral director with Rogers and Breece Funeral Home in Fayetteville, NC, the city which neighbors Fort Bragg. Carter said this is not a problem for his funeral home, as they typically only arrange four or five Arlington burials each year.
Arlington officials are well-aware of the long delays and they are quick to express their regrets and apologize for keeping military families waiting.
“No one wants these families to wait a day longer than they have to,” said Dave Foster, a public affairs officer for Arlington National Cemetery. “This is closure for them. These men and women have paid the ultimate price and they deserve these honors.”
In fact, granting full honors to service members is one of reasons for the long delay, Foster said.
A policy change in January now allows any service member who dies from wounds as a result of enemy action to receive an Arlington burial with full military honors. Before the change, some of these honors were reserved for Flag Officers. Enlisted soldiers, regardless of the circumstances of their death, were granted pall bearers, a firing party and a bugler, but not the caisson, band and escort troops — though some additional honors were available for certain E-9’s depending on their branch of service.
But the change has brought a glut of requests for a full honors burial. Coordinating the caisson, band and escort troops takes time, Foster said. He said the increased op tempo in Afghanistan has also led to more requests for full honors burials. Foster is quick to add, however, that the majority of the 27 to 30 burials that take place each day at Arlington are not for troops killed in present-day military actions.
“We have all of these veterans from past wars — World War II, Korea, even Vietnam — they also made the ultimate sacrifice and are deserving,” Foster said.
Scheduling services can be a delicate balancing act as Arlington officials strive to plan each service so that the ceremonies don’t intrude on one another. There are 70 sections in the cemetery so many times it is not a problem to have two services occurring at once. But, he said, most of the time the families of troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan want their loved ones to be buried in Section 60 with other veterans of those wars. Scheduling those burials so they don’t conflict can be tough.
“The key point,” Foster said, “is that each service member deserves our utmost respect and everyone here understands and strives to give that. We will do everything in our power to make that happen.”
Source: http://www.military.com/news/article/new-policy-delays-arlington-burials.html?col=1186032310810
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