c'mon, cut the crap. We're here to see presidential candidates in
dresses (you don't even have to photoshop pics of Guliani, he really
likes do thing that).
How can anybody worry about the honesty of Democrats when you have
Caligula in the VP office, and his thieving chimp cornholing us for
the last 6 years?
Sure the dems are petty crooks - so you like having the bush crime
family in charge better?
good on you, moron.
On 6/9/07, stoopnow <stoopnow@yahoo.
> Honest John Edwards Or Is It Jon Edwards A Member of The Terrible
> Trio
>
> While Edwards is the main topic of this piece we also discuss the
> other two members of the Terrible Trio, Hillary Rodham Clinton and
> Barack Hussein Obama.
> How Honest IS Honest John Edwards?
> Or is it Jon Edwards?
> We are never quite sure of anything with Edwards. So, our first
> question is: Is it Jon Edwards or John Edwards? If anyone knows the
> answer to that one please post it.
> We start off with a little blurb on Edwards below:
> "May 18, 2007, c.e. Edwards's Hedge-Fund Tie Hurts Populist Campaign
> John Harwood reports from the Wall Street Journal's Capital Bureau.
> HEDGE-FUND MONEY fattens Edwards's wallet but hurts populist
> message.
> The Democratic presidential candidate's $1.7 million in pay and
> investment income from Fortress Investment Group gives target for
> rivals after his campaign emphasis on poverty. Edwards has explained
> Fortress affiliation as part of effort to learn about financial
> markets.
>
> "What will get him in trouble is not the amount but rationales that
> seem false and weaselly to the voters,?says Democratic pollster
> Geoff Garin. Edwards's campaign says he paid regular personal-income-
> tax rates on his $479,512 salary, not preferential "carried
> interest?rates some hedge-fund principals use.
> Of $29.5 million in assets Edwards reported to FEC, aides say
> investments in Fortress represent $16.1 million.
> John Edwards for President "
> http://blogs.
> hurts-populist-
> OK, so who is Fortress Investment Group ? http://www.fortress
> "Fortress Investment Group is a leading global alternative asset
> manager with approximately $36 billion in assets under management as
> of March 31, 2007. Fortress is headquartered in New York and has
> affiliates with offices in Dallas, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong,
> London, Los Angeles, Rome, San Diego, Sydney and Toronto.
> Fortress was founded in 1998 as an asset-based investment management
> firm with a fundamental philosophy premised on its alignment of
> interests with the investors in its funds. Fortress raises, invests
> and manages private equity funds, hedge funds and publicly traded
> alternative investment vehicles. Fortress intends to grow its
> existing businesses, while continuing to create innovative products
> to meet the increasing demand by sophisticated investors for
> superior risk-adjusted investment returns.....
>
> Wesley R. Edens
> Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors
> Mr. Edens is the Chairman of the board of directors and the Chief
> Executive Officer of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Mr. Edens has
> been a principal and the Chairman of the Management Committee of
> Fortress since co-founding the Company in May 1998. Mr. Edens is
> responsible for the Fortress private equity and publicly traded
> alternative investment businesses. He is also the Chairman of the
> board of directors of each of Aircastle Limited, Brookdale Senior
> Living Inc., Eurocastle Investment Limited, GateHouse Media, Inc.,
> Mapeley Limited and Newcastle Investment Corp. and a director of
> Crown Castle International Corp. and GAGFAH S.A. Mr. Edens served as
> the Chief Executive Officer of Newcastle Investment Corp. since
> inception until February 2007. Mr. Edens was the Chief Executive
> Officer of Global Signal Inc. from February 2004 to April 2006 and
> the Chairman of the board of directors from October 2002 to January
> 2007. Mr. Edens serves in various capacities in the following five
> registered investment companies: Chairman, Chief Executive Officer
> and Trustee of Fortress Registered Investment Trust and Fortress
> Investment Trust II; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
> Fortress Brookdale Investment Fund LLC and Fortress Pinnacle
> Investment Fund LLC and Chief Executive Officer of RIC Coinvestment
> Fund GP LLC. Prior to forming Fortress, Mr. Edens was a partner and
> a managing director of BlackRock Financial Management Inc., where he
> headed BlackRock Asset Investors, a private equity fund. In
> addition, Mr. Edens was formerly a partner and a managing director
> of Lehman Brothers. Mr. Edens received a B.S. in Finance from Oregon
> State University."
>
> We were curious about those firms so we did a little research on
> them and came up with:
> "Prison Realty Announces Restructuring Led By Fortress And
> Blackstone
> Investor Group
> $350 Million Preferred Issue to Complement New $1.2 Billion Credit
> Facility; Company to Terminate REIT Status, Convert to Taxable
> Subchapter C Structure; New Management to Be Installed
> and New Board to Be Created NASHVILLE, Tenn., Dec.
> 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of Prison Realty Trust,
> Inc. (NYSE: PZN), today announced a comprehensive strategic
> restructuring program designed to reposition the company by
> strengthening its financial position, simplifying its corporate
> structure and creating a new management team and board of
> directors. As part of the program, which requires shareholder
> approval, the company said an Investor Group led by an affiliate of
> Fortress Investment Group LLC and affiliates of The Blackstone
> Group, together with an affiliate of Bank of America, would
> purchase $315 million in securities at closing and commit to
> purchase an additional $35 million in securities (for a total of up
> to $350 million) in a newly configured company that would be
> created through the merger of Prison Realty and the companies
> collectively operating under the name Corrections Corporation of
> America.
>
>
> Existing Prison Realty shareholders would be offered
> the opportunity, through a rights offering, to "co-invest" up to
> $75 million with the Investor Group and to receive preferred stock
> and warrants with terms identical to the securities being purchased
> by the Investor Group (with the exception of certain types of
> voting rights). The Investor Group has agreed to acquire those
> securities and warrants not subscribed for by current shareholders
> to ensure the $350 million total. The combined company, which
> would operate under the Corrections Corporation of America name, is
> expected to be a taxable subchapter C corporation, as Prison Realty
> would terminate its status as a REIT, in connection with the
> restructuring. As part of the combination with CCA, outside, or
> non-management, shareholders of CCA will receive cash equal to
> their original investment. Management and other employees of CCA
> will receive shares of the new public company in exchange for their
> interest. The per share value to be received by them is
> approximately 40% of the per share value received by the outside
> shareholders, and their shares will be subject to certain vesting
> and lock up provisions. The transaction, upon completion, will
> have the effect of eliminating liquidity concerns of CCA, Prison
> Realty's primary tenant.
>
> "This is a highly focused, decisive action on behalf of this
> company," said Joseph V. Russell, Chairman
> of the Special Committee of the Board of Directors, which was
> created in August 1999 to identify a strategic investor to invest
> in Prison Realty and to review the company's financial alternatives
> and organizational structure. "We are returning this company to the
> corporate structure under which it achieved its greatest growth and
> success and through which it became the leading company in the
> private prison industry."
>
> "Importantly, we also believe the new
> credit facility and the investment by Fortress and Blackstone, will
> ensure that the company has the financial resources to prosper.
> Finally, as part of the restructuring, our new investors and we
> have concluded that meaningful changes are necessary in the
> composition of our management team and in the creation of a new
> Board of Directors. These actions directly address the Company's
> desire to re- establish credibility with shareholders and with the
> financial community."
>
>
> Additionally, the company announced that,
> pending shareholder approval of the transaction, no further
> dividends of any kind would be paid on its common stock.
> Management Changes As part of the restructuring, the Special
> Committee announced that Doctor R. Crants, Chairman and Chief
> Executive Officer of Prison Realty, would resign as CEO upon
> closing of the transaction. In addition, he is stepping down as
> Chairman, effective immediately. Following his resignation, Mr.
> Crants will be named to the non-executive position of Vice Chairman
> of the company and will serve as an advisor to the Board.
> Thomas W. Beasley, the former Chairman of the Board and one of
> three founders, along with Mr. Crants, of the original company in
> 1983, will assume the position of Interim Chairman immediately and
> interim Chief Executive Officer following the closing of the
> transaction. J. Michael Quinlan will remain as President and Chief
> Operating Officer of CCA and will also serve as Interim President
> of Prison Realty, replacing D. Robert Crants, III, who also has
> resigned effective immediately.
>
>
> In addition, Mr. Beasley, along
> with Fortress and Blackstone, will oversee a nationwide search for
> a new Chief Executive Officer and a new Chief Financial Officer for
> the combined company.
> Financing Arranged upon completion
> of the restructuring, the combined company will have a $1.2 billion
> new term loan and revolving credit facility from a group led by
> Credit Suisse First Boston and Lehman Brothers. The facility would
> replace Prison Realty's existing $1 billion credit facility.
> In addition, up to $350 million will be generated from the sale of a
> new issue of 12% cumulative convertible preferred stock and
> warrants, primarily to the Investor Group. The new issue would be
> convertible into the combined company's common stock at a price of
> $6.50 per share and the warrants would be exercisable at $7.50 per
> share. Depending on the degree to which existing shareholders
> participate in the rights offering, the Investor Group would own
> approximately 20% to 25% of the combined company and warrants to
> purchase between 11% and 14% of the combined company's common
> stock, on a fully diluted basis. Proceeds from the debt and
> equity financings will be used to refinance the company's existing
> bank debt and to provide capital to fund the company's continued
> growth. "We are extremely pleased with this important
> restructuring,
>
>
> "The new credit facility is
> not only larger than the one it replaces, it also has more
> favorable terms, reflecting the lending community's renewed
> confidence in CCA. "In addition to providing a sizable infusion
> of new equity capital, our Board of Directors -- and the daily
> operation of our company -- will be enhanced by the active
> involvement of two of the nation's most successful investment
> groups.
>
>
> We view these as positive steps and we are looking forward
> to working closely with our new partners." "This transaction is
> intended to position CCA once again as a growth company with
> tremendous prospects and re-establish transparency to shareholders
> regarding the fundamental strength of CCA's business. Our belief
> is that a greatly simplified and more efficient capital structure
> will allow the company to fund future growth internally and will
> assist the company in maximizing shareholder value," said Wesley R.
> Edens, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fortress. Added
> Thomas J. Saylak, Senior Managing Director of The Blackstone
> Group, "CCA is the market leader in a growing industry. We believe
> this capital infusion and CCA's new corporate structure will allow
> the company to realize enhanced financial flexibility to maximize
> growth prospects.
>
>
> Over time, we believe this new direction will
> be recognized and rewarded by investors." Board of
> Directors As part of the restructuring, the new CCA would have
> a 10-person Board of Directors. Four persons would represent the
> Investor Group, and four persons, including Mr. Beasley, Mr.
> Russell, and Jean-Pierre Cuny, would be drawn from the existing
> Prison Realty Board. Two new independent directors, subject to the
> approval of the Investor Group and the current board, also would be
> appointed.
>
>
> Conditions
> In addition to being subject to
> the approval of Prison Realty's shareholders, the transaction is
> subject to certain financial and non- financial conditions, which
> the company expects to be satisfied prior to the closing. The
> transaction will also require customary regulatory review. It is
> expected that the shareholder vote would take place in March or
> April 2000, and that the transaction would close in the second
> quarter of 2000. About the Companies Prison Realty's
> business is the ownership of correctional and detention
> facilities. The company provides financing, design, construction
> and renovation of new and existing jails and prisons that it leases
> to both private and governmental managers. At September 30, 1999,
> the company owned, or was in the process of developing, 51
> correctional and detention facilities, of which 40 facilities were
> operating, eight were under construction or expansion and three
> were in the planning stages.
>
>
> At September 30, 1999, CCA leased 32
> facilities from the company, government agencies leased five
> facilities, and private operators leased three facilities.
> Fortress Investment Group LLC is a real estate investment and asset
> management company with headquarters in New York City. Fortress was
> founded in April 1998 by a group of senior professionals led by
> Wesley R. Edens. Fortress manages approximately $760 million of
> private equity, and invests primarily in undervalued real estate-
> related assets and companies on a domestic and international
> basis. The Blackstone Group is a private investment bank in New
> York City. It was founded in 1985 by its Chairman, Peter G.
> Peterson, and its President and CEO, Stephen A. Schwarzman.
> Blackstone is engaged in six business areas including Corporate
> Principal Investing, Private Equity Real Estate Investing, Mergers
> and Acquisition Advisory, Restructuring and Reorganization
> Advisory, Private Mezzanine Investing, and Liquid Alternative Asset
> Investing. Merrill Lynch & Co. acted as advisor to the Board of
> Directors and Special Committee of Prison Realty, as well as the
> Board of Directors of CCA.
>
> Disclaimer on Forward Looking
> Statements This news release contains statements that are
> forward looking, including statements relating to the amount and
> timing of the proposed offering transactions. These statements are
> not projections or assured results. Actual results may differ
> materially from the results anticipated in the forward looking
> statements due to a variety of factors, including but not limited
> to, changing market conditions. Additional factors will be
> described in the company's filings with the SEC. The company does
> not undertake an obligation to update its forward-looking
> statements to reflect future events or circumstances. Accordingly,
> individuals should not place undue reliance on such
> statements. Note: The company will schedule a conference call
> with analysts and the media the week of January 3 to further
> discuss the transaction.
>
>
> SOURCE Prison Realty Trust, Inc."
> http://www.prnewswi
> ACCT=104&STORY=
> So let us get this straight, If we follow the money of Honest John?
> or is it Jon? Edwards?
> "Of $29.5 million in assets Edwards reported to FEC, aides say
> investments in Fortress represent $16.1 million." Seems like a
> pretty big chunk to us.
> And Fortress is involved with Prison Realty per the material above.
> And Edwards, let's forget about whatever his first name actually
> turns out to be, Edwards wants to be President of the United States.
> In that job Edwards could really influence a lot of things,
> including, for instance things affecting prisons. Hmmmm? Did anyone
> say "conflict of interest"?
> Now let's take a little look at a few other things:
> Wesley R. Edens
> Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors and
> the Chief Executive Officer of Fortress Investment Group LLC is also
> the Chairman of the board of directors of each of Aircastle Limited,
> http://www.aircastl
> aircastle clients
> ?Aerosvit
> ?Aigle Azur
> ?Air Canada
> ?Air India
> ?Air Italy
> ?Air One
> ?Air Europa
> ?Air Sahara
> ?British Airways
> ?Capital Aviation Services
> ?China Eastern
> ?Excel Airways
> ?Futura
> ?GOL
> ?Hainan
> ?Icelandair
> ?Jet Airways
> ?KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
> ?Korean Air
> ?Lan Chile
> ?LOT
> ?Lotus Air
> ?Magnicharters
> ?Malaysian Airlines
> ?Martinair
> ?Monarch Airlines
> ?SAS Braathens
> ?Sibir
> ?Skyservice Airlines
> ?SN Brussels
> ?Southwest Airlines
> ?SriLankan
> ?Sterling Airlines
> ?Swiss International
> ?TAM
> ?Thomsonfly
> ?TUI AG
> ?Turk Hava Yollari
> ?Ukraine International
> ?US Airways
>
> As President of the United States Edwards could affect a lot of
> things, including American
> relations with the nations that run some of those airlines. There's
> that "conflict of interest"
> phrase again.
> Fortress Investment Group LLC's Mr. Edens is also the Chairman of
> the board of directors of
> Brookdale Senior Living Inc. Hmmmm, wouldn't the President of the
> United States be able to affect policy concerning senior citizens?
> Say regarding Health Care and Social Security for starters? There's
> that "conflict of interest" phrase again.
> Fortress Investment Group
> LLC's Mr. Edens is also the Chairman of the board of directors of
> Eurocastle Investment Limited
> http://www.eurocast
> "Eurocastle Investment Limited is a
> Euro denominated Guernsey closed-end investment company that invests
> in and manages a diverse portfolio consisting primarily of German
> commercial real estate assets. Eurocastle is traded on Euronext
> Amsterdam Exchange under ticker symbol "ECT? The Company is
> managed
> by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC." Ah ha! As
> President of the United States
> Edwards could sure affect things like U.S.- German relations, which
> in turn could impact on the value of those assets. There's
> that "confict of interest" phrase again.
> Fortress Investment Group LLC's Mr. Edens is also the Chairman of the
> board of directors of GateHouse Media, Inc.
> http://www.gatehous
>
> "GateHouse Media, Inc., headquartered in Fairport, New York, is one
> of the largest publishers of locally based print and online media.
> GateHouse Media currently serves local audiences of more than 10
> million per week across 20 states through hundreds of community
> publications and local websites.
> GateHouse Media is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the
> symbol "GHS."
> Ahh! The better to get you nominated, elected, and re-elected, with
> nary a peep about
> "conflict of interest" to be read by our truly well-informed
> electorate, Honest John? or is it Honest Jon? Edwards?
> "More than 70 percent of our daily newspapers have been published
> for more than 100 years and 93 percent have been published for more
> than 50 years. If you click the headline above, you can view a list
> of all of our daily newspapers and click through to the detail page
> for each individual publication.
> http://www.gatehous
>
> Fortress Investment Group LLC's Mr. Edens is also the Chairman of
> the board of directors of Mapeley Limited
> http://www.mapeley.
> as `independent?
> Trust which has a controlling interest in the Company."
> Mapeley was formed in 1999 to invest in UK real estate leased to
> high quality tenants, initially by capitalising on the growing trend
> of UK government and corporate occupiers of selling property
> portfolios and outsourcing the management of their leasehold
> estates.
>
> Mapeley's first two major acquisitions were Abbey National's UK
> occupational portfolio (2000) and the HMRC portfolio (2001) - the
> portfolio of the departments of the Inland Revenue, HM Customs &
> Excise, and Valuation Office Agency.
> In 2004 Mapeley made its first direct property investment and has
> since then acquired properties at a cost of approximately ?40
> million.
>
> In March 2006, Mapeley was awarded its second outsourcing contract
> with the government, with the Identity and Passport Service. This
> contract is to acquire, fit-out and service 69 interview offices
> across the UK."
>
> As President of the United States Edwards could certainly influence
> U.S.-British relations,
> which in turn could have all sorts of impacts on the value of thoe
> investments now couldn't it? There's that "conflict of interest"
> phrase again.
>
>
> Fortress Investment Group LLC's Mr. Edens is also the Chairman of
> the board of directors of Newcastle Investment Corp.
> http://www.newcastl
> is a publicly traded real estate investment and finance company that
> invests in and manages a diverse portfolio consisting primarily of
> real estate securities.
>
> Newcastle Investment Corp. is a real estate investment and finance
> company located in New York City. The Company invests in a
> diversified portfolio of real estate securities and other real
> estate-related assets with a disciplined approach to managing assets
> and financing.
>
> The Company, which is taxed as a real estate
> investment trust, seeks to deliver a strong dividend and superior
> risk-adjusted returns on equity to stockholders in varying interest
> rate and credit cycles. In October 2002, Newcastle completed the
> initial public offering of its common stock, which is listed on the
> New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NCT.
> Newcastle is managed by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group
> LLC, a premier investment and asset management firm. Fortress has
> provided a dedicated Newcastle executive management team with
> extensive experience across the key disciplines necessary to
> successfully execute our business model.
>
> Newcastle also benefits
> from its manager's investment and structuring expertise as well as a
> consistent track record of delivering high returns to investors. In
> addition, Fortress has a significant equity investment in
> Newcastle."
>
> As President of the United States Edwards could sure
> have an impact
> of the value of those goodies. Ahh, there's that "conflict of
> interest" phrase again.
> Fortress Investment Group LLC's Mr. Edens is also a director of
> Crown Castle International Corp. http://www.crowncas
> "Crown Castle International rules over a kingdom of radio towers.
> Its subsidiaries and joint ventures provide broadcast, data, and
> wireless communications infrastructure services in Australia, Puerto
> Rico, and the US. The company's clients include AT&T Mobility
> (formerly Cingular), Optus, Sprint Nextel, Verizon Wireless, and
> Vodafone Australia. They lease antenna space on Crown Castle's more
> than 24,000 owned or managed towers. The company has sites primarily
> in the US and Puerto Rico, and has about 1,400 towers in Australia.
> It also designs networks, selects and develops sites, and installs
> antennas."
> http://www.hoovers.
> co-factsheet.
>
> Wouldn't President Edwards have some influence on regulating lots of
> that stuff?
> Fortress Investment Group LLC's Mr. Edens is also a director of
> GAGFAH S.A. http://www.gagfah.
> We are a nationwide Group that owns and manages a portfolio of
> approximately 159,000 residential units. That makes us one of the
> largest landlords in Germany." As President of the United States
> Edwards could sure affect things like U.S.- German relations, which
> in turn could impact on the value of those assets. There's
> that "confict of interest" phrase again.
> Mr. Edens was the Chief Executive Officer of Global Signal Inc. from
> February 2004 to April 2006 and the Chairman of the board of
> directors from October 2002 to January 2007.On October 6, 2006,
> Crown Castle announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to
> acquire Global Signal Inc. (NYSE: GSL)
> http://investor.
> Edens serves in various capacities in the following five registered
> investment companies: Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Trustee
> of Fortress Registered Investment Trust and Fortress Investment
> Trust II; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fortress Brookdale
> Investment Fund LLC and Fortress Pinnacle Investment Fund LLC and
> Chief Executive Officer of RIC Coinvestment Fund GP LLC. Prior to
> forming Fortress, Mr. Edens was a partner and a managing director of
> BlackRock Financial Management Inc., where he headed BlackRock Asset
> Investors, a private equity fund. In addition, Mr. Edens was
> formerly a partner and a managing director of Lehman Brothers. Mr.
> Edens received a B.S. in Finance from Oregon State University."
> "Fortress Brookdale Investment Fund, LLC (the "Company") was formed
> on
> September 6, 2000 ...The members of the Company include
> Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company ("Northwestern"
> Weyerhauser Company Master Retirement Trust
> ("Weyerhauser"
> Northwestern and Weyerhauser, the "Members"), with FIG acting
> as Advisory
> Member."
> http://www.secinfo.
> http://www.weyerhae
> international forest products company with annual sales of $21.9
> billion. Our company was founded in 1900 and currently employs about
> 41,000 people in 18 countries. We've ranked in the Fortune 200 since
> 1956"
> Timberlands: Australia Canada New Zealand United States Uruguay."
> Wonder what President Edwards policy towards firms like Weyerhaeuser
> will be?
> "Fortress Pinnacle Investment Fund LLC (the "Company") was formed on
> July
> 24, 2002 The members of the Company include Weyerhauser Company
> Master Retirement
> Trust ("Weyeryauser"
> Stanley
> Private Markets Fund I ("Morgan Stanley"), Howard Hughes
> Medical Institute
> ("HHMI") and FIG Advisors LLC ("FIG" and together with Weyerhauser,
> Aurora, Morgan Stanley and HHMI, the "Members"), with FIG acting as
> Advisory Member."
> http://www.secinfo.
> "Published on June 15, 2006 By Don Bauder...When taking control of
> companies, Aurora Capital set up entities in the Cayman Islands
> controlled by the Aurora partners...
> "Published on June 15, 2006
> By Don Bauder
> ..... Aurora Capital set up entities in the
> Cayman Islands controlled by the Aurora partners, This strategy
> raises numerous questions, as do most corporate
> adventures in offshore tax and secrecy havens. There are no capital
> gains taxes in the Caymans. Nor are there corporate or personal
> income taxes, withholding taxes, gift or inheritance taxes, sales
> taxes, or employment taxes.
> I asked one of San Diego's foremost securities lawyers, who did not
> want to be identified, about Aurora's Cayman Islands entities. The
> response: "It probably means hidden ownership or tax avoidance,"
> although there could be other explanations.
> Jolla's Idanta Partners has long been San Diego's most prominent
> venture capitalist. ...I described to Dunn the Caymans
> structures. "There are several reasons people locate over there. I
> have never done it," says Dunn. "Lack of disclosure requirements is
> one, and two is tax avoidance." Such an offshore operation can
> relieve a U.S. company of "a lot of securities regulations in the
> U.S. and a lot of disclosure rules." The company may be able to
> delay disclosure of deals. Use of offshore havens can facilitate
> asset transfers within families too.
> "It's bad to generalize," says Dunn. "There may be other reasons and
> valid reasons." The big tax advantage could be on relief from
> capital gains taxes when shares are sold, he says....
> I scoured documents filed with the Securities and Exchange
> Commission. In 1994, Aurora Capital organized a company called
> Aftermarket Technology, which distributes rebuilt auto and truck
> parts. To put the company together, Aurora purchased four auto parts
> companies. Aftermarket is now based near Chicago.
> In late 1996, Aurora made a public offering of the shares. Aurora
> Equity Partners, based in the United States, had 10.7 million
> shares. A group of Cayman Islands-based entities with the
> name "Overseas" in them had 4.5 million shares. ...
> The insiders such as Aurora paid $1.67 per share, and outside
> investors paid $13.50 each.
> By late March of 2005, the Aurora entities, including those based in
> the Caymans, had sold all their shares for between $14 and $18....
> In late 2004, the Aurora group paid $1 billion for K&F Industries,
> which makes aircraft wheels, brakes, and brake-control systems. It's
> the largest supplier of wheels and brakes to the U.S. military.
> Aurora financed the buyout mainly with debt and in 2005 took the
> company public. Most of the proceeds from the offering went to pay
> off the debt incurred for the buyout and to pay a fat dividend to
> the insiders. The prospectus warned, "We do not intend to use any of
> the proceeds of this offering to grow our business or develop new
> products, which could negatively impact the value of your
> investment." In short, the leveraged buyout had little economic
> purpose other than to enrich the insiders. It's called financial
> engineering.
>
> K&F had been spun off by Loral, a bankrupt aerospace company. When
> Aurora took K&F public, there were accounting changes made. "It's
> buyer beware on this kind of stuff," analyst Francis Gaskins of
> Ipodesktop.com told Reuters at the time. In addition, he was
> concerned about the debt piled up in the buyout. K&F warns in its
> filings that it has "substantial debt," now two-thirds of its
> capitalization.
> (now called K&F Industries Holdings) through both domestic and
> Cayman Islands entities. The Caymans units have names like Aurora
> Overseas Equity Partners II and Aurora Overseas Capital Partners II.
> The K&F insiders, including the Caymans units, paid $2.16 a share,
> and the new investors paid $17.50. When Aurora partners start
> selling their shares, questions will be raised: Are capital gains
> taxes being paid? Is Aurora taking advantage of other offshore tax
> breaks? Is Aurora dodging some disclosure requirements? Are there
> hidden partners taking shelter in the Caymans? If Aurora is not
> using the tax and secrecy advantages offered by the Caymans, why
> bother setting up these entities?"
> http://www.sdreader
>
> "BlackRock is a premier provider of global investment management,
> risk management, and advisory services. As of March 31, 2007, the
> firm manages US$1.1 trillion across fixed income, equity, liquidity,
> asset allocation/balanced
> Clients include corporate, public, and union pension plans,
> insurance companies, mutual funds, endowments, foundations,
> charities, corporations, official institutions, and individuals
> worldwide.
> Through BlackRock Solutions, the firm offers risk management and
> advisory services that combine capital markets expertise with
> proprietarily-
> provides risk management and enterprise investment services for
> US$4.5 trillion in assets.
> BlackRock's story has always been one of evolution. Since our
> founding in 1988 as a primarily institutional fixed income manager,
> we have continually looked for ways to enhance our ability to serve
> clients. Not only have we sought to broaden and deepen our general
> capabilities, we have also tried to capitalize on the key macro
> trends that are shaping the future of asset management. The most
> recent step in our development is our merger with Merrill Lynch
> Investment Managers, which closed September 29, 2006, significantly
> increasing our assets under management and, more important,
> transforming our business into a truly global one.
>
> In Merrill Lynch Investment Managers we found a partner that gives
> us extraordinary global scale and enhances our collective ability to
> serve institutions, financial intermediaries and individuals.
> Learn more about our combination with Merrill Lynch Investment
> Managers.BlackRock has long focused on a cross-disciplinary team
> approach in which clients benefit from the pooled expertise of the
> firm's resources: our investment and risk management professionals
> and our proprietary analytical tools. In addition to excellent
> performance, BlackRock is committed to delivering a high level of
> service tailored to the needs of each client.
> BlackRock's client base includes corporate, public and Taft-Hartley
> pension plans, insurance companies, mutual funds, endowments,
> foundations, nuclear decommissioning trusts, corporations, banks and
> individuals across the globe. Headquartered in New York, BlackRock
> has offices around the globe, and maintains a major presence in key
> markets in Asia, Australia, Europe, Japan, the Middle East, the
> United Kingdom, and the United States.
>
> BlackRock is independent in ownership and governance, with no single
> majority stockholder and a majority of independent directors. In
> terms of equity, Merrill Lynch's stake is approximately 49%, while
> PNC Financial Services Group retains an interest of about 34%; the
> remaining 17% is held by BlackRock employees and the public."
> http://www2.
> http://www2.
> President Edwards could sure affect lots of those things now
> couldn't he?
> "Mr. Edens serves in various capacities in the following five
> registered investment companies: Chairman, Chief Executive Officer
> and Trustee of Fortress Registered Investment Trust and Fortress
> Investment Trust II; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
> Fortress Brookdale Investment Fund LLC and Fortress Pinnacle
> Investment Fund LLC and Chief Executive Officer of RIC Coinvestment
> Fund GP LLC."
>
> We do not know if the firm called Fortress Pinnacle Investment Fund
> LLC has any connection whatsoever with Pinnacle Development Partners,
> LLC ("Pinnacle")
> If anyone knows please post
> that information one way or another. We are seeking the truth here
> and could use your help to find out if there is any connection at all between
> these firms.
> "March 8th, 2007 ATLANTA, GA - GENE A. O'NEAL, 36, of Atlanta,
> Georgia, made an initial appearance today before a United States
> Magistrate Judge on federal charges of mail and wire fraud. O'NEAL
> allegedly ran a scheme that defrauded investors in Pinnacle
> Development Partners, LLC ("Pinnacle")
> investment fund based in Atlanta.
> HEAD OF PURPORTED REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT FUND
> INDICTED IN $69
> MILLION PONZI SCHEME; MAKES FIRST APPEARANCE IN
> COURT"
> http://www.usdoj.
>
> " FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> THURSDAY, March 8, 2007
> WWW.USDOJ.GOV/
> PHONE: (404) 581-6016
> FAX: (404) 581-6160
>
> HEAD OF PURPORTED REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT FUND
> INDICTED IN $69
> MILLION PONZI SCHEME; MAKES FIRST APPEARANCE IN
> COURT
> Defendant Gene O'Neal Guaranteed A 25% Return On Investment In 60
> Days
> Atlanta, GA - GENE A. O'NEAL, 36, of Atlanta, Georgia, made an
> initial appearance today before a United States Magistrate Judge on
> federal charges of mail and wire fraud. O'NEAL allegedly ran a
> scheme that defrauded investors in Pinnacle Development Partners,
> LLC ("Pinnacle")
> Atlanta. O'NEAL was indicted by a federal grand jury on the charges
> earlier this week.
>
> "O'Neal's promises of huge returns in a short period opened the
> floodgates to investment," said United States Attorney David E.
> Nahmias. "He allegedly raised more than $69 million in 15 months by
> making promises of exorbitant returns from the purchase, improvement
> and sale of real estate. He then used the capital contributions of
> later investors to pay the returns promised to earlier investors.
> Contrary to what he told his investors, O'Neal allegedly did not
> realize the hefty returns he guaranteed but rather continued to draw
> in everincreasing amounts of investment from other investors and
> therefore ever-increasing amounts of unsustainable but undisclosed
> debt."
> FBI Special Agent In Charge Greg Jones said, " This case not only
> demonstrates that the FBI is well suited to pursue such cases of
> large scale fraudulent investments or ponzi schemes, with their
> victims scattered over many states, it also demonstrates that we are
> committed to such a pursuit. The economic losses sustained by the
> victims of such schemes reverberates throughout our community in
> many ways. We hope that this investigation and the resulting
> indictment will serve notice to others contemplating any similar
> type financial schemes."
>
> Inspector-in-
> the boardroom, United States Postal Inspectors work around the clock
> enforcing more than 200 federal laws in support of its mission by
> protecting the nation's mail system from criminal misuse. We will
> always remain steadfast in our efforts to investigate those 2
> individuals or corporations who are responsible for illegally using
> the U.S. Mail in the furtherance of their fraudulent schemes.?
> lt;BR>According to the indictment and the documents and information
> presented in court: Beginning in July 2005, Pinnacle, which was
> founded by O'NEAL and headquartered in Atlanta, allegedly began
> telling investors they could make a 25% profit in 45 days, which
> later became a 25% profit in 60 days, upon investment in
> partnerships Pinnacle formed to acquire real property. Investors
> were told that Pinnacle was in the business of purchasing
> distressed, foreclosed or bank-owned real estate, which Pinnacle
> intended to "flip?for a profit after making minor repairs and
> cosmetic improvements. Pinnacle solicited investment by running more
> than $2.5 million worth of advertising in national and local media
> publications.
>
> As a result of his aggressive advertising campaign
> promising 25% returns in either 45 or 60 days, O'NEAL induced more
> than 2,000 investors from throughout the United States and some
> foreign countries to invest more than $69 million in just 15 months.
> Pinnacle allegedly represented in its offering materials that its
> real property had been and continued to be sold at a substantial
> profit to third parties, that it contributed 50% of its own capital
> to the acquisition costs of its real property and that its investors
> were secured by being individually named on the deeds to Pinnacle
> real estate.
>
> The indictment alleges that, in fact, Pinnacle never
> sold, or for that matter significantly developed or improved, any of
> the real property it bought with investor funds and therefore never
> generated any income with which to pay the 25% profits, plus a
> return of principal, O'NEAL had guaranteed his investors. To pay the
> false returns promised to Pinnacle investors, which upon
> reinvestment was compounding 25% every 60 days, O'NEAL
> allegedly "recycled?more than $25 million in invested capital from
> later investors to earlier investors, who were falsely told that
> their returns were being paid from the development and sale of
> Pinnacle real property.
> According to the indictment, over a period of time, as huge amounts
> of investment poured in, Pinnacle allegedly acquired larger and
> considerably more expensive, both in terms of acquisition and
> development costs, parcels of real estate. Investors were told that
> this real estate would be developed in phases, with Pinnacle
> partnerships holding the properties, for 60 days at a time, during
> the various stages of development. In fact, however, of the 21 real
> estate parcels Pinnacle bought, only half were assigned to a
> Pinnacle partnership and less than half of the partnerships Pinnacle
> formed ever appeared as record owners or partial record owners of
> Pinnacle real property, meaning that investors associated with the
> majority of Pinnacle's partnerships were never assigned to a
> property, much less individually named on its deed.
>
> In addition, the multi-family structures and raw land Pinnacle
> purchased (using 100% investor assets) required extensive and
> lengthy
> rehabilitation and development to ever generate income or be sold at
> a profit.
>
> To conceal the fact that Pinnacle was neither selling nor otherwise
> developing its properties, O'NEAL allegedly directed that certain of
> them be transferred between and 3 among Pinnacle partnerships.
> Although these were merely paper transactions and did not involve an
> actual sale, the transfer prices were as much as 10 times the
> initial acquisition price, thereby fostering the illusion that
> properties were being developed and sold at significant profits.
> Aside from the $2.5 million spent on advertising, O'NEAL also
> allegedly used investor assets to pay more than $2.5 million in
> salary and commissions, more than $700,000 to furnish Pinnacle's
> offices, and more than $3.5 million in general and administrative
> expenditures. Pinnacle's investors also bought, among other things,
> a $72,000 Land Rover, a $69,000 Cadillac Escalade and, for O'NEAL's
> personal benefit, a $117,000 Maserati and $26,000 worth of jewelry.
> The indictment's 19 mail and wire fraud counts each carry a maximum
> term of imprisonment of 20 years and a maximum fine of $250,000 per
> count. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of all proceeds of the
> alleged fraud.
>
> The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against
> the Defendant and Pinnacle Development Partners, in October 2006,
> seeking an injunction against the alleged fraudulent activity,
> appointment of a receivership, and other relief. A federal judge in
> Atlanta issued a preliminary injunction and appointed a receiver,
> who has taken charge of the business and assets of Pinnacle
> Development Partners. The pleadings and reports filed by the
> receiver are publicly available in the court's docket, under the
> civil action entitled U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v.
> Pinnacle Development Partners LLC and Gene O'Neil, 1:06-CV-2431-
> (N.D.Ga October 11, 2006).
> Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains
> charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it
> will be the government's burden to prove the defendant's guilt
> beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
>
> This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the Federal
> Bureau of Investigation and Postal Inspectors with the United States
> Postal Inspection Service.
> Assistant United States Attorneys Justin Anand and Paul Monnin are
> prosecuting the case.
> For further information please contact David E. Nahmias (pronounced
> NAH-meus), United States Attorney, or Charysse L. Alexander,
> Executive Assistant United States Attorney, through Patrick Crosby,
> Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Attorney's Office, at (404) 581-6016.
> The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney's Office
> for the Northern District of Georgia is www.usdoj.gov/
> http://atlanta.
> GENE A. O'NEAL
> Office Address: 2221 D. PEACHTREE ROAD, N.E.
> SUITE 476
> Atlanta GA 30309
> If it helps we were able to find an address for GENE A. O'NEAL
> However keeping track of who is who here is not an easy thing. There
> may be no connection whatsover between Pinnacle Development
> Partners, LLC ("Pinnacle")
> Atlanta, and the firm called Fortress Pinnacle Investment Fund LLC.
>
> Please post your findings one way or the other.
> "Harry Macklowe paid $7 billion for the 568,060-square-
> Avenue Tower at 65 East 55th Street; the 465,173-square-
> Fifth Avenue; the 1.8-million-
> million-square-
> 215,322-square-
> Broadway; the 562,567-square-
> square-foot Tower 56 at 126 East 56th Street. Financing was provided
> by Deutsche Bank and Fortress Investment Group, ... The deal came
> just before the Blackstone Group closed on its $39 billion
> acquisition of Equity Office Properties, saving Blackstone $212
> million in transfer taxes."
> http://www.thereald
> deals_sales_
> We wonder what the conflicts of interest, if any might be on things
> like "Federal Contracts for Lease or rental of facilities, FY 2001,
> list ...FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP LLC, FORTRESS
> INVESTMENT GROUP
> LLC; FORTRESS GSA PARFET ... CMD REALTY INVESTMENT
> FUND III, RMI
> CAPITAL MANAGEMENT CO LTD, $954000 ...
> www.fedspending.
> database=fpds&
> "Federal Contracts for Lease or rental of facilities, FY 2002,
> list ...
> DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, CITY OF
> ATLANTA, $22573258 ...
> FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP LLC, FORTRESS
> INVESTMENT GROUP LLC;
> FORTRESS GSA PARFET; ...
> www.fedspending.
> database=fpds&
> and how those alleged "conflicts of interest", if they existed,
> would be handled by President Edwards. "Edwards Discusses Time at
> Hedge Fund
> By NEDRA PICKLER
> The Associated Press
> Tuesday, May 8, 2007; 9:48 PM
> WASHINGTON -- Democrat John Edwards said Tuesday that he worked
> for
> a hedge fund between presidential campaigns to learn about financial
> markets and their relationship to poverty _ and to make money too.
> In an interview with The Associated Press, the former North Carolina
> senator said his yearlong, part-time position with Fortress
> Investment Group helped his understanding of the connection but he
> has more to learn. Edwards has made eradicating poverty a focus of
> his second White House bid.
> Edwards, a multimillionaire after years as a trial lawyer, would not
> disclose how much he got paid for a year of consulting beginning in
> October 2005. He said the amount will be revealed when he releases
> his financial disclosure forms due May 15.
> Asked if he had to join a hedge fund to learn about financial
> markets, Edwards replied, "How else would I have done it?"
> He said he considered going to an investment firm such as Goldman
> Sachs, but Fortress was the most natural fit. Presented with the
> suggestion that he could have taken a university class instead, he
> said, "That's true.""It was primarily to learn, but making money was a good
> thing, too," the 2004 vice presidential nominee said in an hourlong
> interview with AP reporters and editors.
>
> Hedge funds, now numbering more than 9,000 in the U.S. with assets
> estimated to exceed $1 trillion, traditionally cater to the rich, as
> well as pension funds and university endowments, but are
> increasingly luring less wealthy investors.
> Fortress Investment Group, founded in 1998, describes itself as "a
> leading global alternative asset manager" with approximately $35.1
> billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2006. The
> company is headquartered in New York with affiliates around the
> world.
>
> Fortress was the single biggest employer of Edwards donors during
> the first three months of the year. Donors who listed "Fortress" as
> their employer contributed $67,450 to Edwards' campaign and
> supporters who identified their employer as "Fortress Investment
> Group" gave $55,200 to the campaign, according to Federal Election
> Commission records.
>
> Hedge funds also have another connection to the Democratic
> presidential race _ Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Edwards' rival Sen.
> Hillary Rodham Clinton, works for a firm called Avenue Capital Group.
> Edwards said it's fair to ask questions about whether there is a
> contradiction between campaigning against poverty while working for
> a hedge fund designed to make rich people richer. But he said the
> job was a complement to his position as the head of a poverty center
> at the University of North Carolina, something he said he didn't
> describe adequately when asked about the hedge fund during the first
> Democratic debate last month."
> http://www.washingt
> dyn/content/
>
> Fortress Buying Florida's Flagler Development in $3.5B Deal
> Sale of Florida East Coast Industries Inc. Includes 8.8M-SF
> Portfolio of Office, Industrial Assets
>
> One day after announcing it had $2.84 billion in commitments for a
> newly launched private equity fund, Fortress Investment Group LLC
> (NYSE:FIG) struck a deal to acquire Florida East Coast Industries
> Inc. (NYSE: FLA), a Jacksonville, FL-based real estate developer and
> railway owner in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.5 billion.
> Funds managed by Fortress will pay about $84 per share for Florida
> East Coast Industries, broken out into a special dividend of $21.50
> and $62.50 per share. The total price represents a 13.3% premium to
> the stock's closing price on Monday. The deal also includes the
> assumption of debt.
> Fortress, a hedge fund manager and private equity investor that
> recently went public, said the new fund will invest in asset-based
> businesses and asset portfolios, primarily in North America and
> Western Europe.
> Florida East Coast Industries owns and operates Flagler Development
> Group, one of the premier developers in the state with a portfolio
> of office and industrial properties totaling about 8.8 million
> square feet, primarily located in Jacksonville, Ft. Lauderdale,
> Orlando and Miami. Flagler also provides construction, consulting,
> brokerage and property management services.
> The company currently has about 1.8 million square feet under
> construction and also owns about 853 acres of entitled land in
> Florida, which could accommodate about 16.1 million square feet of
> development. In addition, Flagler has more than 3,000 acres of
> Florida real estate in its land bank that is not yet entitled.
> The company's other line of business is the Florida East Coast
> Railway LLC, a regional freight railroad that operates 351 miles of
> mainline track between Jacksonville and Miami.
> The buyout, which is scheduled to close in the third quarter of
> 2007, comes at an opportune time for Florida East Coast Industries,
> which suffered a drop in earnings by about 50% in the first quarter
> of the year. Net income plummeted by 50% to $9.04 million from $18.7
> million for the first three months of 2006. Revenue during the
> quarter dropped to $108 million from $136 million.
> The company attributed the decline in revenue to a $43.9 million
> decrease in land sales and a $7.3 million dip in railway revenue.
> Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as legal advisor to
> Fortress."
> http://www.costar.
> id=59003BE247EF59D0
> AND CONSIDER THIS FROM ANOTHER SOURCE:
> "Kerry's top contributor, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, has
> given nearly $106,000 to his campaign."
> AND THIS FROM YET ANOTHER SOURCE:
> "Trouble With Uranium Processing Co. H. Josef Hebert
> Associated Press April 11, 2000 WASHINGTON (AP) - Less than two
> years after the government sold its uranium business, the private
> company it created to take on the job is mired in financial
> quicksand. The deal is also jeopardizing a crucial nuclear security
> agreement with Russia , critics say. USEC Inc.'s (NYSE:USU -news)
> first 20 months as a private company have been anything but smooth.
> Its stock has dropped 70 percent, its credit rating is in junk bond
> territory, and its earnings have nose dived. Amid the financial
> turmoil, lawmakers and others are questioning the sale.
> A congressional investigation has been under way for a year, with the first
> public hearings scheduled this week. While investors have lost millions of
> dollars, some of the people who pushed hardest for an initial stock offering
> have profited handsomely.
> "A number of lobbyists, company insiders and investment bankers made
> a killing financially,
> for Public Integrity, a private government watchdog.
> In all, Wall Street bankers, Washington lawyers and lobbyists ?many
> with close ties to the Clinton administration ?earned more than $75
> million on the $1.9 billion sale, according to contracts and
> interviews. Among those talking up the stock offering in 1998 on
> Capitol Hill and in the White House were Susan Thomases, a New York
> lawyer and confidante of Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Greg Simon,
> formerly Vice President Al Gore's domestic policy adviser. The law
> firm of Skadden Arps, which represented President Clinton in the
> Paula Jones case, was USEC's lead attorney in the deal.....
>
> HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY)
> Top Contributors source:
> http://www.opensecr
> Citigroup Inc $205,160 2 Goldman Sachs $171,290 3 Metropolitan Life
> $154,350 4 Corning Inc $133,900 5 Time Warner $128,410 6 JP Morgan
> Chase & Co $115,350 7 Morgan Stanley $110,010 8 Skadden, Arps et al
> $91,030 9 International Profit Assoc $88,400 10 Ernst & Young
> $88,225 11 New York Life Insurance $86,250 12 Viacom Inc $84,380 13
> Cablevision Systems $82,800 14 Kirkland & Ellis $73,150 15 Cendant
> Corp $72,450 16 Akin, Gump et al $64,250 17 Lehman Brothers $57,190
> 18 Patton Boggs LLP $54,138 19 Debevoise & Plimpton $51,500 20
> Verizon Communications $51,020 We hope that you will remember the
> name of Skadden, Arps et al in the list of contributors to Hillary
> Rodham Clinton from http://www.opensecr
> any other contributors to Hillary from the list above in the list of
> clients of SKADDEN, ARPS, SLATE, MEAGHER, & FLOM LLP
> below? "SKADDEN, ARPS, SLATE, MEAGHER, & FLOM LLP?is the
> lobbyist.
> The following were listed as their clients:
> AK STEEL CO
> ALCATEL NORTH AMERICA
> AMERICAN COUNCIL OF LIFE INSURERS
> AMERICAN ELECTRONICS ASSN
> AMERICAN INTL GROUP
> AOL-TIME WARNER
> AX THE DOUBLE TAX COALITION
> BEAR STEARNS & CO
> BELL ATLANTIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS
> BETHLEHEM STEEL CORP
> BOND MARKET ASSN
> BURLINGTON RESOURCES OIL & GAS CO
> CHICAGO DEFERRED EXCHANGE CORPORATION
> CINERGY CORP
> CITIGROUP MANAGEMENT CORP
> COLGATE-PALMOLIVE CO
> COMSAT CORP
> COOLGAS INC
> CORNING
> COUNTY OF WILL , IL
> DIAGNOSTIC RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS
> DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS
> ENRON CORP
> ENTERGY CORP
> ENTERGY-KOCH LP
> EVANS, BILLY LEE
> EVERGREEN INTL AVIATION
> FIDELITY CHARITABLE GIFT FUND
> FMR CORP
> FORT HOWARD CORP
> FRUIT OF THE LOOM
> FSC COALITION
> GLAXO SMITH
> GLOBAL CROSSING
> GRANITE BROADCASTING
> GREATER MEDIA
> INSCAP
> ISPAT INLAND INC.
> KIEWITS SONS,
> LOCKHEED MARTIN GLOBAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS INC
> LTV STEEL
> MCI TELECOMMUNICATIONS
> MERRILL LYNCH
> MEYER-CHETFIELD3
> NATL ASSN OF BROADCASTERS
> NATL ASSN OF ENERGY SERVICE COS
> NATL STEEL
> NBC AFFILIATES BOARD
> NEW WORLD COMMUNICATIONS GROUP
> NEWS CORP
> NOL COALITION
> PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH & MANUFACTURERS OF
> AMERICA
> RAYON YARN CORP
> SARA LEE CORP
> SEQUENT COMPUTER SYSTEMS
> SIGNET GROUP PLC
> STANLEY WORKS
> TAX FAIRNESS COALITION
> TELIGENT
> TEMPLE-INLAND
> TENANT IN COMMON ASSN
> TOSHIBA POWER SYSTEMS
> UNION PACIFIC
> US AIRWAYS
> US STEEL GROUP
> VERIZON COMMUNICATION
> Source:
> http://www.senate.
>
> asers/clientlist_
> "Nature of Practice
> Established in 1990, the Paris office of Skadden, Arps, Slate,
> Meagher & Flom LLP and affiliates ("Skadden, Arps?or "Skadden? has
> four partners, one of counsel, four counsel and 20 associates. The
> Paris office advises clients principally in the areas of mergers and
> acquisitions, corporate and structured finance, taxation,
> litigation, and international arbitration, banking and real estate.
> The Paris office is registered with the Paris Bar and most of its
> attorneys are admitted as avocats with the Paris Bar. A number of
> the attorneys in the Paris office are also qualified in New York .
> Practice Areas Mergers and Acquisitions Corporate and Structured
> Finance General
> Corporate??
> http://www.riehlwor
> critics_e.html
> http://newsbusters.
>
> BARACK OBAMA (D)
> Top Contributors
> UBS Americas $162,200
> Exelon Corp $159,800
> Goldman Sachs $146,100
> Sidley Austin LLP $105,750
> Jenner & Block $81,322
> Jones, Day et al $76,000
> Kirkland & Ellis $72,251
> Time Warner $63,300
> Williams & Connolly $58,350
> Harvard University $57,500
> Citigroup Inc $56,000
> Credit Suisse Securities $47,500
> Skadden, Arps et al $43,550
> WilmerHale $41,950
> Morgan Stanley $41,850
> Level 3 Communications $38,900
> Viacom Inc $38,700
> Lehman Brothers $38,400
> Ariel Capital Management $37,900
> Pajcic & Pajcic $36,800
> http://www.opensecr
> id=N00009638&
>
> "From the NewsMax.com Staff
> For the story behind the story...
> Wednesday, May 23, 2007 9:07 p.m. EDT
> John Edwards is Stakeholder in Sunken Treasure
> TheStreet.com was questioning Wednesday how much of the $500 million
> sunken treasure found in the Atlantic last weekend belongs to
> Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.
> The treasure ship, brimming with gold and silver, was found at the
> bottom of the Atlantic by exploration company, Florida-based Odyssey
> Marine Research (OMR).
> TheStreet.com has ferreted out that Edwards is the senior advisor
> and major investor in the major shareholder of OMR, New York-based
> Fortress Investments, a private equity and hedge fund manager.
> Furthermore, according to TheStreet, Edwards' personal financial
> disclosures show he's an investor in the exclusive Drawbridge Global
> Macro Fund, which owns the 9.9 percent stake in OMR.
> In a complex holding, Fortress owns 3.1 million shares, plus
> millions more in preferred stock and warrants. Total economic
> interest is the equivalent of 6.98 million shares. Profits in the
> last week already come to $19 million, reported TheStreet.
> OMR stock, which closed at $4.60 before news of the discovery, has
> climbed to $7.35. The value of Fortress' stake could be as much as
> $51 million.
> While OMR stock peaked Monday morning at just over $9, valuing the
> company at well above $400 million, the shares have come off sharply
> since claims by the Spanish government that the treasure might be
> Spanish and they may elect to sue for ownership. "
> Speaking of Fortress
> "Dr. Richard N. Haass
> Director
> Dr. Haass has been a member of Fortress Investment Group's board of
> directors since February 2007. Dr. Haass is president of the Council
> on Foreign Relations, a position he has held since July 2003. Prior
> to his current position, Dr. Haass was director of policy planning
> for the U.S. Department of State, where he was a principal adviser
> to Secretary of State Colin Powell on a broad range of foreign
> policy concerns, and acted as U.S. coordinator for policy toward the
> future of Afghanistan and the lead U.S. government official in
> support of the Northern Ireland peace process. From 1989 to 1993,
> Dr. Haass was special assistant to President George Bush and senior
> director for Near East and South Asian affairs on the staff of the
> National Security Council. Previously, he served in various posts in
> the United States Departments of State and Defense. Dr. Haass has
> received the State Department's Distinguished Honor Award and the
> Presidential Citizens Medal. Dr. Haass has been director of foreign
> policy studies at the Brookings Institution and taught at or been
> associated in various capacities with Hamilton College, the Carnegie
> Endowment for International Peace, Harvard University's Kennedy
> School of Government and the International Institute for Strategic
> Studies. Dr. Haass holds a bachelor's from Oberlin College and both
> a Master and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Oxford University."
> http://www.fortress
> "ZOA Disappointed That Richard Haass, Who Has Blamed Israel For
> Arab
> Violence, Is Keynote Speaker At Y.U. Dinner
> March 29, 2004
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> Contact: Morton A. Klein, 212-481-1500
> NEW YORK - The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is
> disappointed
> that Yeshiva University has chosen as the keynote speaker for a Y.U.
> dinner this week Richard Haass, a veteran State Department official
> who during his years in office repeatedly criticized and pressured
> Israel and justified the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, and more
> recently blamed Israel for "provoking?Palestin
> ZOA National President Morton A. Klein has sent a letter to Yeshiva
> University president Richard Joel, expressing the ZOA's strong
> disappointment over the choice of Haass, in view of Haass's record
> on Israel.
> Haas is scheduled to be the featured speaker at Yeshiva University's
> dinner at the Park East Synagogue in New York City on March 31,
> 2004.
> Blamed Israel for "provoking?Palestin
> 1997 policy brief that he authored for the Brookings Institute,
> Haass said that Israeli housing construction in the Jerusalem
> neighborhood was a "provocation?
> Arab terrorism—ignoring the countless terrorist attacks that took
> place in the weeks and months prior to the Har Homa controversy.
> Haass wrote: "Violence does not occur in a vacuum. What has provided
> a context or even impetus for the latest surge in Palestinian acts
> of violence are Israeli decisions. The most provocative was the
> decision in February to break ground for new housing at the Har Homa
> settlement in eastern Jerusalem.?(
> Authored Bush's infamous ?1 speech against loan guarantees for
> Israel: According to Newsweek (June 1, 1992), Haass "wrote Bush's
> comments last September [1991] attacking Israel's congressional push
> for loan guarantees.?
> The Long Island Jewish World reported that "Jewish leaders and rank
> and file?regarded Bush's comments "as one of the most mean-spirited
> addresses by an American president in recent memory.?Shoshana
> Cardin, chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American
> Jewish Organizations, called Bush's remarks "disturbing.
> Pipes, then of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said that "Jew-
> haters will cite [Bush's speech] as a reference point for years to
> come.?After Bush made his statements, "the White House received a
> rush of congratulatory letters with decidedly anti-Semitic
> overtones,?accordin
> Tried to stifle Jews?criticism of Bush: In April 1992, when many
> American Jews were expressing concern over the Bush-Baker policy of
> pressuring Israel, Haass appeared at a meeting with Jewish leaders
> in New York City and urged them "to make special efforts to `cool
> the rhetoric?over U.S. policy in the Middle East.?(New York Jewish
> Week, April 24-30, 1992)
> Justified Syria's occupation of Lebanon: Speaking at the University
> of Miami in 1992, Haass "asserted that Lebanon was better off now,
> with Syria having imposed de facto control, than it was two years
> ago with chaos caused by Lebanese militia.?(Miami Jewish Tribune,
> April 10-16, 1992)
> Moment Article Called Haass a "Jewish Arabist? Haass was described
> as a "Jewish Arabist?in an article in Moment magazine (April 1991)
> by former Near East Report editor Eric Rozenman. He wrote that Haass
> was one of those responsible for shaping the Bush-Baker policy that
> was "indifferent to what Israel claimed as vital interests and
> undiplomatically hostile to Israel's prime minister?and had made
> it "the least sympathetic American government toward Israel in that
> country's 43 years.?lt;BR>
> The Zionist Organization of America, founded in 1897, is the oldest
> pro-Israel organization in the United States. The ZOA works to
> strengthen U.S.-Israel relations, educates the American public and
> Congress about the dangers that Israel faces, and combats anti-
> Israel bias in the media and on college campuses. Its past
> presidents have included Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and
> Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver."
> http://www.zoa.
> "John Edwards Calls War on Terror Bush's 'Bumper Sticker' Slogan
> Wednesday, May 23, 2007
> NEW YORK ?amp;nbsp; Democratic White House hopeful John
> Edwards, in a major
> foreign policy speech Wednesday, minimized the Bush administration'
> War on Terror as nothing more than a "bumper sticker slogan" used to
> justify the war in Iraq and "bludgeon political opponents."
> "It is now clear that George Bush's misnamed 'War on Terror' has
> backfired ?and is now part of the problem," Edwards told the
> Council
> on Foreign Relations in New York. "
> http://www.foxnews.
> "Critics heap scorn on Edwards
> Speaking fee, remarks draw fire
> CHARLOTTE - Critics have blasted Democratic presidential candidate
> John Edwards for calling the "war on terror" "a slogan designed only
> for politics" and "a bumper sticker, not a plan."
> Edwards made the comments Wednesday in a speech to the Council on
> Foreign Relations in New York. He offered a stinging critique of the
> Bush administration'
>
> "He has used this doctrine like a sledgehammer to justify the worst
> abuses and biggest mistakes of his administration,
> council. "The war on terror has damaged our alliances and weakened
> our standing in the world."
>
> Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, the former New York
> mayor, said Wednesday, "When you go so far as to suggest the global
> war on terror is a bumper sticker or a slogan, it kind of makes the
> point that I have been making over and over again, that the
> Democrats, or at least some of them, are in denial. There is not a
> global war on terror because of George Bush."
>
> Commentator Rush Limbaugh called Edwards' comments "truly dangerous
> and just ignorant." S.C. GOP Chairman Katon Dawson said
> Edwards "endangers the lives of Americans at home and abroad by
> trivializing terrorist threats." read the rest at:
> http://www.newsobse
>
> " Friends of Jimmy Carter
> In a Newsweek interview, a Mideast leader has kind words for a
> former president and several other prominent Americans:
> You weren't encouraged at all by the recommendations of the Baker-
> Hamilton report?
>
> [President] Bush ignored the Baker-Hamilton report and the positions
> and reports of a number of American figures and former officials,
> such as [former national-security adviser Zbigniew] Brzezinski,
> [Council on Foreign Relations president] Richard Haass and former
> U.S. president Carter. Bush continues to adopt the same philosophy:
> if power does not succeed in achieving the objective, then more
> power will.
>
> Still, some Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer seem to be
> making an effort to reach out.
> I believe [Pelosi's recent visit to Syria] was a step in the right
> direction. Wise people in the U.S. should realize that Israel and
> the fundamentalist American conservative right have both become
> burdens on the interests and the future of America.
> And who's saying this? Khaled Meshal, described by Newsweek as
> the "most powerful figure" in the terrorist group Hamas. With
> friends like these . . .
> http://opinionjourn
>
> "Khaled Meshal prays with Mahmoud Abbas and Ismail Haniya yesterday
> in Mecca"
> http://fpwatch.
> abbas.html
> Hamas and Israel
> 12 July 2006
> Khaled Meshal, a leader of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas,
> says that Israel should free Palestinian prisoners in exchange for
> Corporal Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier whom Hamas kidnapped two
> week ago. From his safe haven in Syria, Mr. Meshal says this is what
> the Palestinians want.
> U.S State Department spokesman Sean McCormack questions how Khaled
> Meshal "knows exactly what the Palestinian people want":
> "It might be easy for him to dictate from Damascus and to speak on
> behalf of the Palestinian people, but it is really the Palestinian
> people themselves who suffer as a result of the fact that Khaled
> Meshal and Hamas are now head of the Palestinian Authority that is
> not a negotiating partner for the Israeli government or the rest of
> the world."
> Hamas, says Mr. McCormack, is "not interested in turning away from
> terror":
> "They're not interested in recognizing Israeli's right to exist. So
> it is really Khaled Meshal and the Hamas-led government that is
> standing in the way of a better way of life for the Palestinian
> people. So, you know, it's easy for him to sit up in Damascus and
> make pronouncements, but he and his organization are the ones who
> are standing in the way of a better way of life and a better future
> for the Palestian people."
> In response to the capture of one of its soldiers, Israel has sent
> troops into Gaza to search for him. Mr. McCormack says the
> kidnapping of Corporal Shalit is "the root cause of the current
> situation."
> "We're working towards -- and the states in the region are working
> towards ?gaining his release. Israel. . . .certainly has the right
> to defend itself. We have called upon Israel to avoid any civilian
> casualties that it possibly can in its activities."
> The Palestinian Authority has "certain internationally recognized
> responsibilities to stop terror and to dismantle terrorist
> networks," says State department spokesman Sean McCormack. The
> U.S. "call[s] upon them to do so."
> The preceding was an editorial reflecting the views of the United
> States Government. "
> http://www.voanews.
> And what will the views of the United States Government be under
> President Edwards?
> Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
> Here is Peter Bart's direct quote about Edwards: "Perhaps the
> greatest short-term threat to world peace, Edwards remarked, was the
> possibility that Israel would bomb Iran's nuclear facilities.?
> Edwards campaign is now attempting to tamp down the damage of Bart's
> report and is, accordingly, retracting the quote. According to the
> Associated Press, "Edwards says one of the greatest short-term
> threats to world peace is Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon.?lt;BR>
> interesting that the Edwards Campaign is disputing the
> accuracy of an essentially friendly story.
>
> As far as the language characterizing Edwards remarks as "labeling
> Israel the greatest threat to world peace,?that characterization is
> indeed mine as Jonah Goldberg states, and not the direct quote taken
> from Peter Bart above. If the Bart version of the facts is true ?
> and the AP reports that Bart and Variety are standing by his story ?
> I stand by my analysis below.
> Posted in Blogs and the NetRoots, Jews and Judaism, Middle East
> Politics |
> Wonkette Jumps the Shark; John Edwards, Empty Suit
> Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
> It's encouraging to read the kind of thoughtful, intelligent
> discussion of foreign affairs, I discovered on Wonkette today. Over
> the years, I have found that Wonkette has done an admirable job of
> dishing up a tasty mix of political gossip and Washington-based
> insight. Today, I visit the site to see what it has to say on John
> Edwards jaw-droppingly appalling remarks labeling Israel, in effect,
> the greatest threat to world peace.
> (In case you missed it, Peter
> Bart of Variety wrote the initial story here.)
> Wonkette suggests, in response to critiques on NRO and elsewhere,
> that Edwards?act of "stating the obvious?is impossible in today's
> world and "requires taking your lips off Israel's ass for a few
> seconds, and that's fatal for any American politician with
> presidential ambitions. This isn't because Jews get upset or
> Israel's feelings will get hurt or anything. It's because of batshit
> insane evangelical American Jesus Freaks who have to love and
> protect Israel so Jesus will come back and destroy it.?lt;BR>Wonkette is
> incorrect here on a couple of things. First, it is a
> canard to suggest as Wonkette and others that supporters of Israel
> block debate on Israeli policy.
> The very smart and up-and-coming
> writer James Kirchick offered a devastating rebuttal to this notion
> in a Washington Examiner piece.
> Here is Kirchick's point in relevant
> part:
> "When prodded to identify an instance in which legitimate criticism
> of Israel has been labeled "anti-Semitic,
> meme come up with nothing. Indeed, the debate in the United States
> could not be more fair and vigorous, especially compared to how the
> subject is discussed in the rest of the world. In Europe, Israel is
> always to blame for whatever trouble boils in the Middle East; in
> Arab and Muslim nations, there is little deviation from the
> viewpoint that Israel itself is illegitimate and should be
> destroyed. The United States is the only place where Israel gets a
> fair hearing. To claim that critics of Israel are unfairly maligned
> and silenced is a pathetic means of avoiding debate on the actual
> issues that matter.?lt;/
>
> Second, the appalling thing about Edwards comment is that it is just
> another way of blaming the victim. Here we have Iran, a nation whose
> leader has sponsored a hateful Holocaust denial conference and has
> vowed to wipe out Israel on the brink of developing a weapon to
> destroy Israel, and, for Edwards and Wonkette, the nation that seeks
> to protect itself is the "threat? What would Edwards and Wonkette
> have Israel do? Vote itself out of existence perhaps? (At least,
> Israel's citizens, including Arabs can vote, which they aren't
> allowed to do in other parts of the Middle East.)
> Regarding Edwards, the former senator's comments are just the latest
> sign that this guy is an absolute empty suit who has been in search
> of a political identity since 2000. I first encountered this guy at
> a Democratic breakast at the Beverly Hilton during the 2000 DNC in
> Los Angeles. The room filled with Massachusetts'
> didn't give him a second look. Everybody at the level of City
> Councillor and above saw him for what he was ?a shallow neophyte.
> In 2002, I went up to New Hampshire to see him again and came away
> only marginally more impressed.
>
> "When he got to the subject of income disparity between the rich and
> poor, Edwards seemed ready to discuss a substantive problem in
> depth ?as if he were going to deliver some innovative solution that
> would restore the vital center of American politics. He started out
> promisingly: `I think you could ask the American people tomorrow ?
> and I'm talking about people who live in rural North Carolina, who
> sometimes vote Democratic and sometimes vote Republican, I think we
> can convince them tomorrow ?that every child in America ought to
> get a first-class education.?And then ?nothing. While packaged as
> a unique statement delivered by a Democrat who managed to win an
> election in Jesse Helms's own state, Edwards's comment scaled the
> pinnacle of banality, if such a thing is possible. Who among serious
> Americans ?including the Republicans ?doesn't think students ought
> to receive the best possible education? Policy fights involve how
> best to achieve this ?not the general principle, which was all
> Edwards had to offer.?lt;/div>
>
> In the beginning, he was a DLCer in the mold of Bill Clinton. Then,
> he was an economic populist. Now, he is going after the NetRoots.
> In search of a political identity, he hired David Bonior, a longtime
> critic of Israel, as his campaign manager. Ben Smith of Politico has
> already reported on the striking similarity between a 1996 Bonior
> speech and Edwards?address to the DNC last month. Now, Edwards is
> taking on Bonior's anti-Israel portfolio as well.
>
>
> To Wonkette, my suggestion is to tread on familiar territory. In
> other words, keep it light.
> I fear, however, that Edwards is too light to be considered a
> serious candidate for the presidency.
> CLARIFICATION: The phrasing "labeling Israel the greatest threat to
> world peace?is my own. Peter Bart direct quote is as
> follows ""Perhaps the greatest short-term threat to world peace,
> Edwards remarked, was the possibility that Israel would bomb Iran's
> nuclear facilities.?
> Posted in Blogs and the NetRoots, Jews and Judaism, John Edwards,
> National Politics | 37 Comments ?
> lt;BR>http://gitell.
> In our view Edwards will end up as the nominee of the Democrats for
> President in 2008
> and in our view Edwards will win the election and be sworn in as
> President of the United
> States at noon on January 20th, 2009.
>
> We need your help to spread the word about Edwards before it is too
> late. We need
> to stop Edwards from being nominated, and failing that, if he is
> nominated, we need to stop
> Edwards from being elected.
> This does not mean that we support any of the other Democrats
> running for President at
> this writing. In fact we oppose all of the other Democrats running
> for President at this writing.
> However, we could support the person Al Gore chose as his Vice
> Presidential running mate in 2000. Senator Joe Lieberman of
> Connecticut. Senator Lieberman ran as an Independent when he was
> defeated in the Senate primary in 2006 but he is currently caucusing
> with the Democrats. If Senator Lieberman ran for President in 2008,
> as he did in 2004 he would be the only one running for his Party's
> nomination who currently supports the liberation of Iraq.
>
>
> Clearly he is not running yet but a DRAFT LIEBERMAN movement
> should
> not be entirely ruled out. It should be noted that AL GORE is also
> not running yet and neither are Fred Thompson or Newt Gingrich, yet all 3
> of them would make formidable competitors for their Parties Presidential
> nominations in 2008 if they did run.
> While we could easily have supported the AL GORE who was a hawk in
> 2000 and who chose an even bigger hawk: Joe Lieberman, as the person he
> wanted to become President of The United States of America if anything
> were to happen to AL GORE, we can no longer support AL GORE for
> President because he has turned into a dove. We do not support surrender.
>
> If you want to contact Senator Lieberman to urge him to enter the
> race for his Party's Presidential nomination you may reach him at:
> his Washington, D.C. Office
> 706 Hart Office Building
> Washington, DC 20510
> (202) 224-4041 Voice
> (202) 224-9750 Fax
> or at his Connecticut Office
> One Constitution Plaza
> 7th Floor
> Hartford, CT 06103
> (860) 549-8463 Voice
> (800) 225-5605 In CT
> (860) 549-8478 Fax
>
> In fact if Senator Lieberman decides to switch Parties you might
> find
> yourself supporting him for the Republican Presidential or Vice
> Presidential nomination. If John Kerry had been wise enough to
> choose
> Senator Lieberman as his running mate in 2004 John Kerry would be
> President of the United States of America today because Senator
> Lieberman would have brought that Kerry-Lieberman ticket Florida's
> 27 electoral votes, more than the 20 electoral votes Ohio might have
> brought if the voters of Ohio had switched to Kerry.
> In 2008 Senator Lieberman running as Vice President in either Party
> might make the difference in who carries Florida and in who carries
> New Jersey.
>
> We could easily see a situation in which a Republican dove like
> Senator Hagel got the Republican nomination in 2008, and a hawk like
> Senator Lieberman was nominated for President by the Democrats in
> 2008, so hold onto your hats, and everything else, the 2008
> nominations are far from locked up by anyone yet in either Party.
> If Senator Lieberman did enter the Presidential primaries of his
> Party, as the only Democrat running as a supporter of the liberation
> of Iraq running in his Party, he could easily get a very substantial
> portion of the votes from Democrats in his party who support the
> liberation of Iraq.
>
>
> It should be noted that Senator Lieberman was able to beat
> BOTH the Democrat AND the Republican when he ran for re-election to
> the US Senate in Connecticut in 2006 as a hawk who fully supported
> the liberation of Iraq.
>
>
> So,if anything, the vote for Senator Lieberman by Connecticut voters
> in the general election in 2006 was A MANDATE FOR THE
> CONTINUATION
> OF THE U.S. ROLE IN IRAQ AND FOR THE LIBERATION OF
> IRAQ.
> It also represented a DRAMATIC DEFEAT for the cut and run surrender
> crowd of Democrats who backed Senator Lieberman's opponent in the
> general election.
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
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