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Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on August 15, 2010 at 11:55pm

L.A. Times Compton Centennial High School News

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on August 16, 2010 at 1:01pm

Vigil to be held tonight for Mitrice Richardson

Daily News Wire Services
Posted: 08/16/2010 11:38:11 AM PDT

Mitrice Richardson is seen here in a photo distributed after she went missing following her September 2009 arrest in Malibu. A candlelight vigil for the missing woman whose remains were recently found was scheduled to be held tonight, according to a family member blog "Bring Mitrice Richardson Home."
The vigil for Mitrice Richardson was scheduled for 6 p.m. at Leimert Plaza Park near the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Vernon Avenue in South Los Angeles.

Richardson disappeared in September after being released in the middle of the night from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Malibu/Lost Hills Station. Her remains were found last Monday, a few miles away from the station.

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on August 23, 2010 at 12:30am

z Facts.com
KNOW THE FACTS. GET THE SOURCE.

2010:THE 5th YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF HURRICANE KATRINA IS THIS WEEK
Hurricane Katrina Dates
Date/Dates and Times for Hurricane Katrina
Formed August 23, 2005


You can argue over the details, but the government videos and White House photos make one thing clear. Bush is not a take-charge President. He did nothing during the crucial two days. He's not even a "can I lend a hand" President. In the briefing the day before, he made not one suggestion—did not even ask a question.
The day-ahead warnings were dramatically clear. Next morning, as Katrina hit New Orleans, Bush left his ranch for a drug-benefits, politicking tour starting with a birthday celebration for McCain, then a visit to "El Mirage Country Club", then on to Cucamonga, California. He missed that day's video conference on Katrina. Next day he continued his tour in California.
His sole contribution was to “assure the folks at the state level that we are fully prepared” the day before.” That assurance flies in the face of everything he had just been told, and could not have proved more wrong.
White House photos taken while Katrina destroyed New Oreans.
McCain Birthday El Mirage Country Club Rancho Cucamonga

Bush celebrates as levee breached

__________________________________________________________

Timeline of President Bush doing nothing to help:


Aug. 25, 6:30pm Katrina hits Florida (Category 1 Storm).

Aug. 28, 12:30pm Bush was warned "...whether the levees will be topped or not, that's obviously a very, very grave concern." Asked no questions.

Aug. 28 Mayor Nagin tells CNN "as soon as the levee systems are breached, there will be a tremendous amount of water, anywhere from 15 to 20 feet of water in some parts of New Orleans." Orders mandatory evacuation.

Aug. 29, 6:10am Hurricane Katrina reaches New Orleans.

Aug. 29, 8am Levees Overtopped.

Aug. 29, 9:12am National weather service gets report of levee breach.

Aug. 29, 11am After McCain birthday, Bush talks at El Mirage RV park, AZ.

Aug. 29, 12pm Bush misses video briefing on Katrina.

Aug. 29, 4:40 Bush appears at Rancho Cucamonga, California.

Aug. 30 Bush continues speaking tour in California.

Sept. 1, 7am Bush: "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." (Now a Category 5 Storm)

_________________________________________________________


Who Gets Money? Priorities
There's a Video that Shows that President Bush Was Fully Warned Before Katrina Hit
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, March 1, 2006
(Bush celebrates McCain's Birthday as Katrina breaches levees)

Bush celebrates as levee breachedWASHINGTON (AP)—In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage.

Bush didn't ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."

The footage—along with seven days of transcripts of briefings obtained by The Associated Press—show in excruciating detail that while federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, they were fatally slow to realize they had not mustered enough resources to deal with the unprecedented disaster.

Linked by secure video, Bush's confidence on Aug. 28 starkly contrasts with the dire warnings his disaster chief and a cacophony of federal, state and local officials provided during the four days before the storm.

A top hurricane expert voiced "grave concerns" about the levees and then-Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown told the president and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that he feared there weren't enough disaster teams to help evacuees at the Superdome.

"I'm concerned about ... their ability to respond to a catastrophe within a catastrophe," Brown told his bosses the afternoon before Katrina made landfall.

Some of the footage and transcripts from briefings Aug. 25-31 conflicts with the defenses that federal, state and local officials have made in trying to deflect blame and minimize the political fallout from the failed Katrina response:

—Homeland Security officials have said the "fog of war" blinded them early on to the magnitude of the disaster. But the video and transcripts show federal and local officials discussed threats clearly, reviewed long-made plans and understood Katrina would wreak devastation of historic proportions. "I'm sure it will be the top 10 or 15 when all is said and done," National Hurricane Center's Max Mayfield warned the day Katrina lashed the Gulf Coast.

"I don't buy the `fog of war' defense," Brown told the AP in an interview Wednesday. "It was a fog of bureaucracy."

—Bush declared four days after the storm, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees" that gushed deadly flood waters into New Orleans. But the transcripts and video show there was plenty of talk about that possibility—and Bush was worried too.

White House deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Brown discussed fears of a levee breach the day the storm hit.

"I talked to the president twice today, once in Crawford and then again on Air Force One," Brown said. "He's obviously watching the television a lot, and he had some questions about the Dome, he's asking questions about reports of breaches."

—Louisiana officials angrily blamed the federal government for not being prepared but the transcripts shows they were still praising FEMA as the storm roared toward the Gulf Coast and even two days afterward. "I think a lot of the planning FEMA has done with us the past year has really paid off," Col. Jeff Smith, Louisiana's emergency preparedness deputy director, said during the Aug. 28 briefing.

It wasn't long before Smith and other state officials sounded overwhelmed.

"We appreciate everything that you all are doing for us, and all I would ask is that you realize that what's going on and the sense of urgency needs to be ratcheted up," Smith said Aug. 30.

Mississippi begged for more attention in that same briefing.

"We know that there are tens or hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana that need to be rescued, but we would just ask you, we desperately need to get our share of assets because we'll have people dying—not because of water coming up, but because we can't get them medical treatment in our affected counties," said a Mississippi state official whose name was not mentioned on the tape.

Video footage of the Aug. 28 briefing, the final one before Katrina struck, showed an intense Brown voicing concerns from the government's disaster operation center and imploring colleagues to do whatever was necessary to help victims.

"We're going to need everything that we can possibly muster, not only in this state and in the region, but the nation, to respond to this event," Brown warned. He called the storm "a bad one, a big one" and implored federal agencies to cut through red tape to help people, bending rules if necessary.

"Go ahead and do it," Brown said. "I'll figure out some way to justify it. ... Just let them yell at me."

Bush appeared from a narrow, windowless room at his vacation ranch in Texas, with his elbows on a table. Hagin was sitting alongside him. Neither asked questions in the Aug. 28 briefing.

"I want to assure the folks at the state level that we are fully prepared to not only help you during the storm, but we will move in whatever resources and assets we have at our disposal after the storm," the president said.

A relaxed Chertoff, sporting a polo shirt, weighed in from Washington at Homeland Security's operations center. He would later fly to Atlanta, outside of Katrina's reach, for a bird flu event.

One snippet captures a missed opportunity on Aug. 28 for the government to have dispatched active-duty military troops to the region to augment the National Guard.

Chertoff: "Are there any DOD assets that might be available? Have we reached out to them?"

Brown: "We have DOD assets over here at EOC (emergency operations center). They are fully engaged. And we are having those discussions with them now."

Chertoff: "Good job."

In fact, active duty troops weren't dispatched until days after the storm. And many states' National Guards had yet to be deployed to the region despite offers of assistance, and it took days before the Pentagon deployed active-duty personnel to help overwhelmed Guardsmen.

The National Hurricane Center's Mayfield told the final briefing before Katrina struck that storm models predicted minimal flooding inside New Orleans during the hurricane but he expressed concerns that counterclockwise winds and storm surges afterward could cause the levees at Lake Pontchartrain to be overrun.

"I don't think any model can tell you with any confidence right now whether the levees will be topped or not but that is obviously a very, very grave concern," Mayfield told the briefing.

Other officials expressed concerns about the large number of New Orleans residents who had not evacuated.

"They're not taking patients out of hospitals, taking prisoners out of prisons and they're leaving hotels open in downtown New Orleans. So I'm very concerned about that," Brown said.

Despite the concerns, it ultimately took days for search and rescue teams to reach some hospitals and nursing homes.

Brown also told colleagues one of his top concerns was whether evacuees who went to the New Orleans Superdome—which became a symbol of the failed Katrina response—would be safe and have adequate medical care.

"The Superdome is about 12 feet below sea level.... I don't know whether the roof is designed to stand, withstand a Category Five hurricane," he said.

Brown also wanted to know whether there were enough federal medical teams in place to treat evacuees and the dead in the Superdome.

"Not to be (missing) kind of gross here," Brown interjected, "but I'm concerned" about the medical and mortuary resources "and their ability to respond to a catastrophe within a catastrophe."

z Facts.com
KNOW THE FACTS. GET THE SOURCE.

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on August 23, 2010 at 1:01am

Spike Lee Explores New Orleans' Woes In New Film (Airing Monday 8/23/10 & Tuesday 8/24/10 on HBO at 9pm)

by FRAZIER MOORE
AP Television Writer


Published: Sunday, August 22, 2010 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 10:28 p.m.

NEW YORK — Spike Lee's new HBO documentary starts on a high note: Super Bowl Sunday 2010, when the New Orleans Saints claim victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

In this publicity image released by HBO, Phyllis Montana-Leblanc wears a New Orleans Saints football jersey in a scene from the Spike Lee documentary, "If God is Willind and Da Creek Don't Rise."
AP Photo/HBO, David Lee


Saints fans, many still reeling from Hurricane Katrina's aftershocks, are deliriously happy.

“It's a rebirth,” says an overjoyed New Orleans native.

“It's divine intervention, man,” says another local.

But cautionary words are voiced as well. The Saints are world champions, but in the real world there are bills to pay and neighborhoods to rebuild.

Then, only 17 minutes into “If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise,” the BP oil spill enters the narrative.

“We sold our soul for the Super Bowl,” says Dean Blanchard, fearful that he might lose his seafood business.

The party is over.

Lee, the gifted director and documentarian, had long planned a return to the Gulf Coast for a five-year follow-up to his acclaimed “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.”

He began shooting Feb. 7, when the Super Bowl was played. The triumph by the Saints seemed a glorious conclusion for his new film.

“We thought we had our ending on the first day,” Lee said in a recent interview. “Little did we know.”

By the time the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers and releasing a gusher of oil, Lee had wrapped production and was well into the editing process.

“But I knew we had to make that a part of the piece,” he said.

He does, dwelling on the BP disaster for roughly 40 minutes of the four-hour, two-part “If God Is Willing,” which premieres Monday and Tuesday on HBO (9 p.m. EDT).

But there is much more on his mind and in his film.


The stage is set with painful, all-too-familiar images of Katrina's immediate wrath in 2005.

Then, as the film goes on, the government's failure to protect New Orleans from the storm surge is compounded by seemingly endless failures to aid the recovery. Former residents who want to come home remain displaced. Public education continues to struggle. Health care needs are still unmet. The police department is in shambles. And on and on.

The five years didn't pass without successes, and the film covers those as well. They include a legal victory against the Army Corps of Engineers for shoddy maintenance of a navigation channel that resulted in some of the worst flooding. And there are nonprofit reconstruction efforts such as Make It Right, led by actor Brad Pitt, that have built affordable, storm-resistant homes in the Lower 9th Ward.

But then, just months after the Super Bowl win, the BP disaster struck.

“The story was changing every day,” Lee recalled. “We had to keep adapting, to stay on top of it as best as possible.”

Scores of people share their stories on-camera, including ordinary, often overlooked local figures. There are also experts and advocates, plus familiar faces such as former Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, as well as Pitt and fellow celebrity activist Sean Penn.

To his credit, former FEMA Director Michael Brown is among those who participate.

Like other interview subjects who, when it counted, fell short, Brown points fingers. He says former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff “didn't know what he was doing. Let's be frank.”

He also offers context for the widely derided tribute — “Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job” — laid on him by President George W. Bush.

“If you look at that video clip closely, you'll see me wince,” says Brown, and, replayed in the documentary, it bears out his claim.

The date was Sept. 2, 2005, in Mobile, Ala., and, prior to the live TV appearance, “I had been describing to the president how bad things were. Telling him what I needed. Why things weren't working. ... And then we walk out and he makes that comment, and I'm like, ‘What the hell!” '

Neither Bush nor Chertoff made themselves available to Lee, nor — flashing ahead to the oil spill — does Tony Hayward, then CEO of BP. Still, Hayward is well represented by the infamous clip where he expresses his longing to get “my life back,” as well as in the soothingly scripted commercial where he states his regret for the oil spill, promises to make it right and adds his thanks “for the strong support of the government.”

But it goes beyond “strong support,” said Lee, who believes BP has been allowed to call the shots in its own interest, and often counter to the public good.

“What has been puzzling people, and I include myself, is how much BP has had control of the situation,” he said, echoing a sentiment heard from many in his film.

Heartbreaking but defiant, “If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise” picks up where “Levees” left off, as a catalog of plagues that largely could have been averted.

Why they weren't is not so puzzling, said Lee. “It's greed.”

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on August 28, 2010 at 4:56pm

6 Signs That You've Made It To The Middle Class

Not so long ago, most people viewed the hallmarks of success as something along the lines of a house, a white picket fence, two weeks vacation, two children and the ability to send those kids to college. Today, the middle class is a vanishing breed according to nearly every survey and statistic on the topic. Its disappearance is of such grave concern to the fabric of American society that the U.S. government launched a task force to explore the issue. Despite all of the attention to the subject, defining "middle class" remains a challenge, as everyone wants to be in the middle regardless of their income. Instead of focusing on the dollars, let's take a look at the lifestyle benchmarks that define middle class status.

Have You Made it to the Middle?
A wide variety of numbers have been thrown around in an effort to define the middle. People earning 20% of the average income and people earning 80% all claim to be part of the middle class. More than a few millionaires make the claim too. While there is no official financial standard, the middle class as defined by the government task force is characterized in terms of six financial aspirations, which we can view as benchmarks.

•Home Ownership
Home ownership remains the American dream. The step up from renting to owning signifies prosperity and achievement. With median home prices ranges differing by so much in different cities across the United States, the ability to achieve this goal varies significantly by geographical location. Someone earning an income in the 50% range in Detroit may not be able to afford even a small house in Los Angeles.


•Automobile Ownership
Owning an automobile provides freedom of movement and the luxury of avoiding the limited schedules and cramped quarters offered by mass transportation options such as buses and subways. Here again, the cost of cars varying widely, as does the kind of automobile required. For one driver, a used Hyundai will do the trick. For another, a new BMW signifies the achievement of this goal.


•A College Education for the Kids
Helping children get ahead in life is a primary goal for middle class families. Paying for a college education for children can cost anywhere from the low tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands. Decisions about which university of college to attend can have a significant impact on the price tag.

•Retirement Security
Retirement is a goal nearly everyone wants to achieve. It demonstrates success and provides a reward for decades of hard work. Once again, definitions make a difference. The amount of gold required to support your golden years will vary significantly depending on whether you want a staff of 10 at your villa in the South of France or a townhouse in Peoria, Illinois.


•Health Care Coverage
The ability to obtain healthcare is an important goal for middle class wager earners and their families. The high and rising cost of medical care and prescription drugs make healthcare coverage an ever-increasing need, as going without it can have serious negative financial implications in the event of a severe illness or injury.


•Family Vacation
The family vacation is a middle class staple. Vacations demonstrate that a family has disposable income and has been successful enough to take time away from work to focus on leisure.

What Happened on the Way to the Dream?
Globalization and technological advances began to reverse the growth of the middle class. The manufacturing base in the United States changed, as good-paying jobs in factories and heavy industries went overseas to lower-paying markets and labor unions lost much of their ability to bargain for high wages and good benefits. Later, white-collar jobs from accounting and data entry to reading medical images and answering telephones in call centers were also sent offshore. Many jobs that remained in the U.S. were eliminated by computers and other technological advancements that increased productivity.

To achieve or maintain a middle-class lifestyle, many households became two-income families. Achieving middle class goals became more difficult as employers eliminated their pension plans and defined-benefit plans, the cost of a college education continued to rise and the cost of healthcare jumped. For most of the 20-year period following 1990, the Commerce Department reports that real median income grew at a rate of about 20%, while the cost of a college education grew between 43% and 60%, the cost of housing rose 56% and healthcare costs jumped by 155%.

How to Get There
Although there are significant challenges to obtaining middle class status, there are some proactive steps that can help make the dream a reality. Budgeting is one of the most obvious. Understanding where your money goes each month can help you determine the exact makeup of the benchmarks you are trying to match. Are you looking for a Hyundai or a BMW?

Planning is another crucial step. Are the kids going to a state university or a private college? Are scholarships an option? Some savvy families find money for college by participating in programs which can aide families with the costs related to sending a child to university.

Working is another one of the requirements. A second job or a side business might be just what you need to boost your income and achieve some of your goals. Putting your money to work is also an important consideration. Investing has helped build wealth for generations. In fact, income earners ranked in the top 1% enjoyed significant increases in wealth even as the middle class fell into decline. Most of that wealth came from investments. Even if you don't have the means to invest for current income, you can take a few dollars from each paycheck and save for your retirement.

The Bottom Line
Don't underestimate the role of hard work and luck. Sometimes being in the right place at the right time or taking one particular course of action over another can make all the difference. So keep watching for opportunities and make the most of them when you find them. As motion-picture mogul Samuel Goldwyn said, "The harder I work, the luckier I get."

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on August 29, 2010 at 12:58am

Social Networking Sites: Do You Send Out Friend Requests on Facebook, MySpace, Classmates.com, etc.?

How many Social Networking Sites are you a member of? There is every chance that if you are active online, then you are just not a member of one site, you are a member of probably 3 or even more.

And if you are an active online social networker, are you building a friend list of thousands or is your friends list just growing organically?

Everyone on the internet may have different strategies and ways of building their brand online – but how many of these people network online the same way that they do offline?

Most social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc. have the facility of letting you add a message when you send out a Friend Request or invitation to connect (wording depending on which site you are on). Yet, hardly anyone uses it.

If you were are at a face-to-face networking event, would you consider barging in to a group of people and start shoving your business card in to everyone’s hands?

No, probably you wouldn’t. (At least I hope you wouldn’t!)

You would introduce yourself. Probably shake a hand and ask who the other person was. You would start a conversation.

So, why can’t people do this online? It seems too easy to go down a big list of contacts and click the friend request button in the vague hope that the other person will confirm that request quicker than you can wink.

Now, if you are building a mailing list so that you can start sending out Class Reunion messages, then you go for it. You may as well start shoving business cards out at networking events and hiring a team of telesales reps to call from a list of yellow pages. You will get the same hit rate!

If you are networking online and using the social networking sites to help Classmates reconnect, raise awareness of your Classmates and generally reach out to Classmates and Alumni, then stop and ask yourself how you are inviting people to join your network.

If you would shake someone by the hand and introduce yourself at a face-to-face meeting, do the same online. It may take longer in the short term, but the Classmate and Alumni relationships will be stronger in the long term.

GO AHEAD AND MAKE FRIENDS: IN FACT MAKE AS MANY FRIENDS AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN AND MOST OF ALL GOOD LUCK ON YOUR NEXT CLASS REUNION!

P.S. For those Classmates who receive a Friend Requests: Go ahead and ACCEPT IT. Who knows it just may be the only FRIEND REQUEST that you receive (and it is at least from a Classmate or from an Alumni, someone that you have something in common with already because you both attended the same school).

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on August 29, 2010 at 11:14pm

Actor Brad Pitts' "MAKE IT RIGHT FOUNDATION" Builds Homes In The 9th Ward of Louisiana After Hurricane Katrina



Pitts goal was to build 150 Homes in the 9th Ward. As of today 73 Homes have been built for Families. The Homes are able to be built by Pitt as well as by those who donate for them.Families who receive the Homes pay a small cost as well.

Kudos to Mr. Pitt and his "Make It Right Foundation". Along with Pitt, Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, and many other Celebrities have started built Homes for Hurricane Katrina victims. Hurricane Katrina not only destroyed Homes in Louisiana but it destroyed Homes in Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama. But Louisiana was the hardest hit by the hurricane.


These are some of the Homes that have been built so far by Pitts Foundation (Oprah Winfrey's Homes & Tyler Perry's Homes were not found Online):

Permalink Reply by Tamara Johnson on August 30, 2010 at 12:54am

Phoebe,
Thanks so much for this article. I wondered just how the homes turned out. I also read that the smaller homes that Brad Pitts company built the ones that are close to the ground are called floaters. They were built to float in the water if another large hurricane hits. That way the homeowners will not lose their homes, their homes will be saved that way.

Thanks so much Phoebe for always keeping us informed and for taking the time and always posting the pics.

Love Tam

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on September 6, 2010 at 6:37pm

Photos Of The World's Shortest Man (Who Lives in Bogota, Columbia)!!

Photos of the (Guinness World Records) Shortest Man: Edward Nino Hernandez who is 24 years old, who is 70.21 cm (2 ft 3.46 inches), Edward has been recognized as the world's Shortest Man in the upcoming Guinness World Records 2011 book.

Edward leaning on his Mom's leg

Edward eating with his 11 year old brother

Walking with brother

Walking with mother

With his Guinness Framed Certificate

Bedtime for Edward

With the family dogs

Break Dance Performer at his Job

Edward waiting for the bus to go to work

Edward holding the 2011 Guinness World Record Book

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on September 17, 2010 at 12:51am

World's Most Valuable Brands Named


Top 100 Global Brands: Apple Soars, BP Slumps and Coke's Still No. 1

Brand consultant Interbrand is out with its annual top 100 "Best Global Brands" ranking, with Coca-Cola topping the list for the eleventh straight year.

"They are ruthlessly consistent in the way they deliver their brand," says Jez Frampton, group CEO at Interbrand. "They are a fantastic case study about how to do it properly. "

On the other hand, BP could be a case study in what not to do when it comes to managing a brand. In the wake of the Gulf spill, BP fell out of the top 100 rankings after being on the list for nine years.".

"We all know how they handled the tactical issues around the spill itself. What they really haven't given us is a clear view to where BP is going in the longer term," Frampton says. "How would you feel right now as a BP employee? Companies are only as good as the people that work for them. Giving a clear vision to people inside and out is very important to them right now."

In contrast to BP, Toyota was able to better manage its recall scandal, he notes, although the carmaker did drop to number 11 in the rankings vs. number 8 in 2009.

The Top 10 (value in millions)

1. Coca-Cola: $70,452

2. IBM: $64,727

3. Microsoft: $60,895

4. Google: $43,557

5. GE: $42,808

6. McDonald's: $33,578

7. Intel: $32,015

8. Nokia: $29,495

9. Disney: $28,731

10. H-P: $26,867

In the accompanying clip, Frampton and I discuss these and other trends in the brand ranking, including:

Tech Rules: Technology firms -- IBM, Microsoft, Google, Intel, Nokia and HP -- comprise six of the top 10 global brands. Apple is "only" number 17, which seems low given its mindshare (and growing market share). But Apple is the "fastest-grower in terms of brand value" among the Top 100 firms, and should continue to rise in the years ahead, Frampton predicts; barring any issues with iconic CEO Steve Jobs, that is. Yahoo! made the list at No. 66, ahead of names like Porsche and Gap.

Financial Follies: The credit crisis and its aftermath -- big bailouts and big bonuses -- did great damage to the brand value of firms like Citigroup and UBS, Frampton says. Amazingly, Goldman Sachs' actually moved up in the top 100 rankings (to number 37 vs. 38 in 2009) despite all the negative press it received last year. "Brands take time to react," Frampton says. "This has certainly affected Goldman's reputation and its brand. How this plays out in the future will depend largely on them. They have an opportunity to take a much stronger lead in the rebuilding of the financial services market."

Watch the accompanying video for Frampton's predictions on which emerging market-based companies are most likely to make the list in the future, how HP's brand looks after the scandalous departure of Mark Hurd and which company was the biggest surprise in this year's top 100.


To see the Full List of the Top 100 Brands click here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-16/coca-cola-retains-title-as...

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on September 21, 2010 at 2:12pm

Ex-City Manager Among 8 Arrested This Morning in Bell, California Scandal

By JOHN ROGERS, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES – The mayor and ex-city manager of the Los Angeles suburb of Bell were among eight current and former city officials arrested Tuesday in a corruption scandal that authorities said cost the city more than $5 million in excessive salaries and illegal personal loans.


The district attorney's office said several former and current City Council members were taken into custody along with ex-city manager Robert Rizzo and Mayor Oscar Hernandez.


"This, needless to say, is corruption on steroids," District Attorney Steve Cooley said at a news conference, standing next to a display of pictures of the suspects.


The district attorney, state attorney general and others have been investigating officials in the small working-class city since it was disclosed this summer that they were paying themselves huge salaries.


Rizzo, who was making nearly $800,000 a year, was booked on 53 counts of misappropriation of public funds and conflict of interest.


The investigations involve allegations of corruption, misuse of public funds and voter fraud in the city where one in six of the 40,000 residents live in poverty.


A message left at Rizzo's Huntington Beach home was not immediately returned.


Others arrested were former assistant city manager Angela Spaccia, Vice Mayor Teresa Jacobo, council members George Mirabal and Luis Artiga, and former council members George Cole and Victor Bello.


Former Police Chief Randy Adams, who was also scrutinized in the salary scandal, was not taken into custody.


Cooley, who knew Adams when he was the police chief in Glendale, said there was no evidence he committed any crimes.


"Being paid excessive salaries is not a crime," Cooley said. "Illegally obtaining those salaries is a crime."


Prosecutors allege the suspects misappropriated more than $5.5 million, including making illegal personal loans.


The complaint also said Rizzo made $4.3 million by paying himself through different employment contracts that were not approved by the City Council, and that council members paid themselves a combined $1.25 million for what Cooley called "phantom meetings" of various city boards and agencies.


Rizzo also was accused of giving $1.9 million in loans to himself, Spaccia, Hernandez, Artiga and dozens of others, authorities said.


Most of the arrests went smoothly, though police used a battering ram at the home of Hernandez before he opened the door.


The suspects were booked into county facilities and will be kept away from other inmates for their protection, sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said.


The arrests were the latest twist in a scandal that emerged in July with the disclosure that Rizzo was paid almost twice the salary of President Barack Obama.


It also was revealed that Adams was making $457,000 a year, and Spaccia was paid $376,288. Four of the five City Council members paid themselves nearly $100,000 a year for their part-time service.


Rizzo, Adams and Spaccia resigned and the council members reduced their salaries to about $8,000 following the disclosures and angry public reaction.


The four council members are currently the target of a recall.


Last week, Attorney General Jerry Brown sued eight current and former officials of Bell, accusing them of defrauding taxpayers by granting themselves salaries he said were far higher than warranted for the jobs they were doing.


Cooley said the investigation was not over and more charges could be filed.


"They used the taxes of the hardworking citizens of Bell as their own piggy bank, which they looted," he said.

___

Associated Press Writer Thomas Watkins also contributed to this report.

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on September 24, 2010 at 6:46pm

(NEWS EXCLUSIVE)
New York: Rikers Island Guard Wins $54 Million Lottery Jackpot

E-X-C-L-U-S-I-V-E


She's been homeless, bankrupt, a robbery victim and assaulted on the job -- but radiant Rikers Island guard Garina Fearon now has 54 million glorious reasons to start living la dolce vita.


The 34-year-old single mom from East New York, Brooklyn, who has endured a lifetime of hardship and poverty, told The Post she's the mystery winner of last Friday's Mega Millions drawing.


"I wanted a better life. I was struggling as a single parent," a beaming Fearon said yesterday. "I've really come back from nothing."


She never imagined such joy was possible when she was down to her last $25 six years ago and forced to file for bankruptcy.


Hard times struck again two years later, when burglars robbed her apart ment while she was at work guarding danger ous inmates.


Fearon, who spent part of her youth in a homeless shelter with no stable family, went on to endure sickening abuse from the monsters in her care.


"She's had feces thrown in her face and on her uniform in the years that she's been there," said a fellow jail guard. "She's a tough young lady."


How she won is as re markable as her change of fortune.


Fearon said she bought the wrong ticket at a Sutter Ave nue bodega, where she went to play Powerball, not Mega Millions.


"I only play every six months or so," said Fearon, who has a 16-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter.


She held on to the ticket all weekend, and didn't think about it until Monday, when she asked a co-worker for a newspaper. She scribbled the winning numbers on the back of an inmate pass as her shift ended.


As she waited for the bus, she made the amazing discovery.


"I was about to fold up the lottery ticket," Fearon said. "Then I saw the numbers, and I started running from one part of the parking lot to the other screaming."


She still hasn't come down from her high.


"I don't know what I'm going to do," she said. "It's something unexpected."


The first thing on her "to-do" list was to talk to supervisors at the Correction Department. She said she feels too loyal to the job to let it go, even with all that money coming her way.


"I'm going to go to my job to get some days off," Fearon said. "I don't want to resign."


Fearon said it was her correction career that rescued her from her financial ruin.


Her top priority is taking care of her ailing mom.


"I'm from Jamaica," Fearon said. "I have a sick mother. She has diabetes, and I'm going to buy my mom a house in Jamaica."


Fearon said she will take the lump-sum option, which will pay her about $30 million before taxes. Beyond that, she's not sure what she'll do next.


"I don't know anything about all this kind of money," she said.

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