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A property risk assessment report is prepared for Silverstein Properties before it acquires the lease for the World Trade Center (see July 24, 2001). It identifies the scenario of an aircraft hitting one of the WTC towers as one of the "maximum foreseeable losses." The report says, "This scenario is within the realm of the possible, but highly unlikely." Further details of the assessment, such as who prepared it, are unreported. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, 5/2003, pp. 16; Barrett and Collins, 2006, pp. 189; American Prospect, 9/1/2006]
Entity Tags: Silverstein Properties, World Trade Center
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline
Category Tags: WTC Investigation, 9/11 Related Lawsuits
Larry Silverstein.
[Source: Silverstein Properties publicity photo]Real estate development and investment firm Silverstein Properties and real estate investment trust Westfield America Inc. finalize a deal worth $3.2 billion to purchase a 99-year lease on the World Trade Center. The agreement covers the Twin Towers, World Trade Center Buildings 4 and 5 (two nine-story office buildings), and about 425,000 square feet of retail space. [New York Times, 4/27/2001; Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, 7/24/2001; IREIzine, 7/26/2001] Westfield America Inc. will be responsible for the retail space, known as the Mall. Silverstein Properties' lease will cover the roughly 10 million square feet of office space of the Twin Towers and Buildings 4 and 5. Silverstein Properties already owns Building 7 of the WTC, which it built in 1987. This is the only time the WTC has ever changed hands since it was opened in 1973. [International Council of Shopping Centers, 4/27/2001; Westfield Group, 7/24/2001; Daily Telegraph, 9/11/2001; New York Times, 11/29/2001; CNN, 8/31/2002] It was previously controlled by the New York Port Authority, a bi-state government agency. [Wall Street Journal, 5/12/2007] Silverstein and Westfield are given the right to rebuild the structures if they are destroyed. [New Yorker, 5/20/2002] Silverstein Properties Not the Highest Bidder - Silverstein Properties' bid for the WTC, at $3.22 billion, was the second highest after Vornado Realty Trust's, at $3.25 billion. Silverstein Properties won the contract only after protracted negotiations between the Port Authority and Vornado Realty Trust failed. The privatization of the WTC has been overseen by Lewis M. Eisenberg, the chairman of the Port Authority. Eisenberg, a financier, is involved in Republican politics. [New York Times, 3/17/2001; Forward, 8/20/2004] Banks Provide Most Money for Deal - Larry Silverstein, the president of Silverstein Properties, only uses $14 million of his own money for the deal. His partners, who include real estate investors Lloyd Goldman and Joseph Cayre, put up a further $111 million, and banks provide $563 million in loans. [Brill, 2003, pp. 156; New York Times, 11/22/2003; South Florida CEO, 2/2005; Wall Street Journal, 9/11/2008] Silverstein's Lenders Want More Insurance - The Port Authority had carried only $1.5 billion in insurance coverage on all its buildings, including the WTC, but Silverstein's lenders insist on more, eventually demanding $3.55 billion in cover. [American Lawyer, 9/3/2002] After 9/11, Larry Silverstein will claim the attacks on the World Trade Center constituted two separate events, thereby entitling him to a double payout totaling over $7 billion. [Daily Telegraph, 10/9/2001; Guardian, 8/18/2002] Eventually, after several years of legal wrangling, a total of $4.55 billion of insurance money will be paid out for the destruction of the WTC (see May 23, 2007). Most of this appears to go to Silverstein Properties. How much goes to Westfield America Inc. is unclear. [New York Post, 5/24/2007]
Entity Tags: Vornado Realty Trust, Larry Silverstein, Joseph P. Cayre, Lewis M. Eisenberg, Lloyd Goldman, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Westfield America, World Trade Center, Silverstein Properties
Category Tags: 9/11 Related Lawsuits, WTC Investigation
Alan Reiss. [Source: Eric Weeks]In the first week of September 2001, the real estate development and investment firm Silverstein Properties assumes control of the World Trade Center. The company had acquired the lease to operate the Twin Towers from the New York Port Authority in late July (see July 24, 2001). It has already begun managing the facility with its own executives. Selected Port Authority employees, including Alan Reiss, the director of the World Trade Center, have been assisting the firm during a three-month transition period. But in the weeks prior to 9/11, according to the New York Times, "Silverstein Properties asked Mr. Reiss to let it more fully operate everything from safety systems to tenant relations." [New York Times, 9/13/2001; New York Times, 10/14/2001; Weiss, 2003, pp. 338; 9/11 Commission, 11/3/2003; 9/11 Commission, 5/18/2004 ]
Entity Tags: Alan Reiss, Silverstein Properties, World Trade Center
David Childs. [Source: Publicity photo]Developer Larry Silverstein, who recently took over the lease of the World Trade Center (see July 24, 2001), later tells journalist Steven Brill that he'd been so sickened by the destruction on 9/11, and by the deaths of four of his employees in the WTC, that he did not focus on insurance or financial matters until "perhaps two weeks later." But according to two people who call him this morning to offer their sympathy, Silverstein soon changes the subject: "He had talked to his lawyers… and he had a clear legal strategy mapped out. They were going to prove, Silverstein told one of the callers, that the way his insurance policies were written the two planes crashing into the two towers had been two different 'occurrences,' not part of the same event. That would give him more than $7 billion to rebuild, instead of the $3.55 billion that his insurance policy said was the maximum for one 'occurrence.' And rebuild was just what he was going to do, he vowed." By mid-morning, he calls his architect David Childs, and instructs him to start sketching out a plan for a new building. He tells Childs to plan to build the exact same area of office space as has been destroyed. In fact, Silverstein's lawyers claim the developer had been on the phone to them on the evening of 9/11, wondering "whether his insurance policies could be read in a way that would construe the attacks as two separate, insurable incidents rather than one." [Brill, 2003, pp. 18-19 and 39-40; Real Deal, 1/2004] Yet Jerome Hauer, the former director of New York's Office of Emergency Management, had gone to Silverstein's office on 9/11, and later claims that Silverstein's primary concern that day had been his employees, and whether they had gotten out of the WTC. "Larry was absolutely devastated," he says. [Weiss, 2003, pp. 374] Following a lengthy legal dispute, Silverstein will eventually receive $4.55 billion in insurance payouts for the destruction of the WTC (see May 23, 2007). [New York Post, 5/24/2007]
Entity Tags: Larry Silverstein, David Childs, Jerome Hauer
Category Tags: 9/11 Related Lawsuits
Congress approves a $15 billion federal aid package for the battered US airline industry, and sets up a government fund to compensate 9/11 victims' relatives. [Los Angeles Times, 9/22/2001] However, relatives are only allowed to sue US-designated terrorists, and if they sue anyone else, they are not entitled to any compensation money. The law also limits the airlines' liability to the limits of their insurance coverage—around $1.5 billion per plane. [Los Angeles Times, 1/17/2002] Nevertheless, some later sue entities that make them ineligible for the fund, such as the Port Authority, owner of the WTC.
Entity Tags: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, US Congress
Industrial Risk Insurers agrees to make a full payment under its $861 million policy for the loss of World Trade Center Building 7, a 47-story office building which completely collapsed late in the afternoon of 9/11. [Insurance Journal, 6/7/2002; Wall Street Journal, 7/10/2002; Newsday, 10/21/2003] WTC 7 was owned by Silverstein Properties, which also acquired the lease on the Twin Towers six weeks before 9/11. [International Council of Shopping Centers, 4/27/2001; Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, 7/24/2001] Larry Silverstein, the president of Silverstein Properties, intends to use $489 million of the insurance payment to cover an existing mortgage on WTC 7, and $65 million of it for other debts and costs. The remaining $307 million will go toward the construction costs of the new WTC 7. [Bloomberg, 1/14/2003; New York Daily News, 1/14/2003] He is currently in a dispute with the carriers of his insurance on the Twin Towers, over whether the 9/11 attack constituted one or two separate events, and this will not be settled until mid-2007 (see May 23, 2007). [Wall Street Journal, 9/11/2002; New York Times, 5/23/2007]
Entity Tags: Larry Silverstein, Silverstein Properties, Industrial Risk Insurers, World Trade Center
Deena Burnett, wife of Flight 93 passenger Tom Burnett, speaks on behalf of the victims' relatives suing the Saudis. [Source: Associated Press]More than 600 relatives of victims of the 9/11 attacks file a 15-count, $1 trillion lawsuit against various parties they accuse of financing al-Qaeda and Afghanistan's former Taliban regime. The number of plaintiffs will quickly increase to 2,500 after the suit is widely publicized. Up to 10,000 were eligible to join this suit. The lawsuit does not allege that Saudi defendants directly participated in the 9/11 attacks, or approved them. Instead, it is alleged they helped fund and sustain al-Qaeda, which enabled the attacks to occur. [Washington Post, 8/16/2002; Newsweek, 9/13/2002] Defendants named include: The Saudi Binladin Group, the conglomerate owned by the bin Laden family. [CNN, 8/15/2002] The National Commercial Bank, one of the largest banks in Saudi Arabia. [Associated Press, 8/15/2002] The government of Sudan, for letting bin Laden live in that country until 1996. [Washington Post, 8/16/2002] The World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY). [Washington Post, 8/16/2002] The SAAR Foundation. [Washington Post, 8/16/2002] Al-Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp., which the plaintiffs contend is the primary bank for a number of charities that funnel money to terrorists. (This bank will later be dismissed from the suit (see November 14, 2003-September 28, 2005).) [Washington Post, 8/16/2002] The Benevolence International Foundation. [Washington Post, 8/16/2002] The International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) and its parent organization, the Muslim World League (MWL). The suit claims that the IIRO gave more than $60 million to the Taliban. [Washington Post, 8/16/2002] Khalid bin Mahfouz, one-time prominent investor in the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) who had to pay a $225 million fine following the collapse of that bank. It is claimed he later operated a bank that funneled millions of dollars to charities controlled by al-Qaeda. (Mahfouz denies supporting terrorism and has filed a motion to dismiss the complaint.) [Washington Post, 8/16/2002] Mohammed al Faisal al Saud, a Saudi prince. (His name will later be dismissed from the suit because of diplomatic immunity (see November 14, 2003-September 28, 2005).) [Washington Post, 8/16/2002] Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan. (His name will later be dismissed from the suit because of diplomatic immunity (see November 14, 2003-September 28, 2005).) [Washington Post, 8/16/2002] Prince Turki al-Faisal, former chief of Saudi intelligence. (His name will later be dismissed from the suit because of diplomatic immunity (see November 14, 2003-September 28, 2005).) [Washington Post, 8/16/2002] "The attorneys and investigators were able to obtain, through French intelligence, the translation of a secretly recorded meeting between representatives of bin Laden and three Saudi princes in which they sought to pay him hush money to keep him from attacking their enterprises in Saudi Arabia." [CNN, 8/15/2002] The plaintiffs also accuse the US government of failing to pursue such institutions thoroughly enough because of lucrative oil interests. [BBC, 8/15/2002] Ron Motley, the lead lawyer in the suit, says the case is being aided by intelligence services from France and four other foreign governments, but no help has come from the Justice Department. [Star-Tribune (Minneapolis), 8/16/2002] The plaintiffs acknowledge the chance of ever winning any money is slim, but hope the lawsuit will help bring to light the role of Saudi Arabia in the 9/11 attacks. [BBC, 8/15/2002] A number of rich Saudis respond by threatening to withdraw hundreds of billions of dollars in US investments if the lawsuit goes forward (see August 20, 2002). More defendants will be added to the suit later in the year (see November 22, 2002). [Daily Telegraph, 8/20/2002]
Entity Tags: Saudi Binladin Group, Sudan, Taliban, SAAR Foundation, Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Ron Motley, International Islamic Relief Organization, Khalid bin Mahfouz, Al-Qaeda, National Commercial Bank, Al-Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp., Turki al-Faisal, World Assembly of Muslim Youth, Benevolence International Foundation
Category Tags: Saudi Arabia, Terrorism Financing, BIF, Bin Laden Family, Other 9/11 Investigations, 9/11 Related Lawsuits, 9/11 Investigations
The Financial Times reports that "disgruntled Saudis have pulled tens of billions of dollars out of the US, signaling a deep alienation from America." Estimates range from $100 billion to over $200 billion. Part of the anger is in response to reports that the US might attack Saudi Arabia and freeze Saudi assets unless Saudi Arabia makes a serious effort al-Qaeda and other Islamic militant groups. It is also in response to a lawsuit against many Saudi Arabians that also may lead to a freeze of Saudi assets (see August 15, 2002). Estimates of total Saudi investments in the US range from $400 billion to $600 billion. [Financial Times, 8/20/2002]
Entity Tags: United States
Category Tags: Saudi Arabia, 9/11 Related Lawsuits
Over 1,400 relatives of 9/11 attack victims sue Iraq for more than $1 trillion, claiming there is evidence Iraq conspired with al-Qaeda on the 9/11 attacks. [CBS News, 9/5/2002] One of the key pieces of evidence cited is an article in a small town Iraqi newspaper written by Naeem Abd Muhalhal on July 21, 2001. He describes bin Laden thinking "seriously, with the seriousness of the Bedouin of the desert, about the way he will try to bomb the Pentagon after he destroys the White House." He adds that bin Laden is "insisting very convincingly that he will strike America on the arm that is already hurting," which has been interpreted as a possible reference to the 1993 bombing of the WTC. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein apparently praised this writer on September 1, 2001. The lawsuit is based largely on the idea that "Iraqi officials were aware of plans to attack American landmarks," yet did not warn their archenemy, the US. [Associated Press, 9/4/2002] Former CIA agent and terrorism consultant Robert Baer is hired by the prosecuting legal team to find evidence of a meeting between Mohamed Atta and Iraqi agents on April 8, 2001, but despite the help of the CIA, he is unable find any evidence of such a meeting. [CBS News, 9/5/2002]
Entity Tags: Robert Baer
Timeline Tags: Events Leading to Iraq Invasion, 9/11 Timeline
Category Tags: Alleged Iraq-Al-Qaeda Links, 9/11 Related Lawsuits
Right before the expiration of a one-year legal deadline, the Port Authority, the government body that owns the WTC complex, is sued by five insurance companies, one utility and 700 relatives of the WTC victims. The insurance companies and utility are suing because of safety violations connected to the installation of diesel fuel tanks in 1999 that many blame for the collapse of WTC Building 7. [Dow Jones Business News, 9/10/2002] The relatives' lawsuit is much more encompassing, and even blames the Port Authority for the Flight 93 hijacking (the Port Authority owns Newark airport, where the flight originated). The relatives' lawsuit is likely to lie dormant for at least six months as evidence is collected. Relatives are also considering suing the airlines, security companies, and other entities. [Newsweek, 9/13/2002]
Entity Tags: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, World Trade Center
An engineering report is released concluding that the destruction of one of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers would have rendered the other unusable. Swiss Re and other insurance companies involved in the WTC coverage commissioned the study, which was written by California-based Exponent Failure Analysis Associates. It is released the same day as a report on the collapses by WTC leaseholder Silverstein Properties Inc. (see October 23, 2002). Contradicting the Silverstein report, it concludes: "[T]he collapse of one tower in the World Trade Center complex would have severely compromised the future viability of the entire complex." This supports the insurance companies' contention that the WTC attacks constituted one loss event, not two, as claimed by Silverstein Properties, thereby entitling Silverstein to a policy limit of $3.5 billion instead of $7 billion. The report, along with the underlying data, computer models, and engineering analyses, have been passed on to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is conducting an investigation into the collapses (see August 21, 2002). [Business Insurance, 10/23/2002; Insurance Journal, 10/23/2002; Engineering News-Record, 11/4/2002] In late 2004, a jury will rule that the WTC attacks were two events, and Silverstein Properties will be tentatively awarded $2.2 billion in insurance for the destruction of the Twin Towers. [BBC, 12/7/2004; Insurance Journal, 12/7/2004]
Entity Tags: Silverstein Properties, Exponent Failure Analysis Associates, Swiss Reinsurance, World Trade Center
Category Tags: WTC Investigation, 9/11 Related Lawsuits, 9/11 Investigations
Some of the 9/11 victims' relatives hold a rally at the US Capitol to protest what they fear are plans by the Bush administration to delay or block their lawsuit against prominent Saudi individuals for an alleged role in financing al-Qaeda. [Washington Post, 11/1/2002] US officials say they have not decided whether to submit a motion seeking to block or restrict the lawsuit, but they are concerned about the "diplomatic sensitivities" of the suit. Saudis have withdrawn hundreds of billions of dollars from the US in response to the suit. The Guardian previously reported that "some plaintiffs in the case say the Bush administration is pressuring them to pull out of the lawsuit in order to avoid damaging US-Saudi relations, threatening them with the prospect of being denied any money from the government's own compensation scheme if they continue to pursue it. Bereaved relatives who apply to the federal compensation scheme must, in any case, sign away their rights to sue the government, air carriers in the US, and other domestic bodies—a condition that has prompted some of them to call the government compensation 'hush money.' The fund is expected, in the end, to pay out $4 billion. They remain, however, free to sue those they accuse of being directly responsible for the attacks, such as bin Laden, and—so they thought—the alleged financers of terrorism."
[Guardian, 9/20/2002]
Entity Tags: Bush administration (43), Al-Qaeda
9/11 victims' relatives add nearly 50 defendants to their $1 trillion lawsuit against mostly Saudi citizens and organizations (see August 15, 2002). The suit alleges the defendants knowingly provided money and other aid to terrorists, which enabled the 9/11 attacks and other attacks to occur. There are now a total of 186 defendants named in the suit. [Wall Street Journal, 11/22/2002; Los Angeles Times, 11/23/2002] Newly-named defendants include: Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef. The suit claims he was engaged in payoffs to al-Qaeda. Additionally, as interior minister he controls the activities of numerous Islamic charities said to help finance al-Qaeda. (His name will later be dismissed from the suit because of diplomatic immunity (see November 14, 2003-September 28, 2005).) [Wall Street Journal, 11/22/2002; Los Angeles Times, 11/23/2002] Minister of Defense and Aviation Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. The suit claims he also was engaged in payoffs to al-Qaeda. (His name will later be dismissed from the suit because of diplomatic immunity (see November 14, 2003-September 28, 2005).) [Wall Street Journal, 11/22/2002] The Saudi American Bank, that nation's second largest financial institution. The suit alleges that this bank, partly owned and managed by Citibank, financed development projects in Sudan benefiting bin Laden in the early 1990s when he was living there. (This bank will later be dismissed from the suit (see November 14, 2003-September 28, 2005).) [Wall Street Journal, 11/22/2002] Bank Al Taqwa, for raising, managing, investing, and distributing funds for al-Qaeda. [Los Angeles Times, 11/23/2002] Mohamed Jamal Khalifa, bin Laden's brother-in-law. [Third Amended Complaint. Thomas E. Burnett, Sr., et al. v. Al Baraka Investment and Development Corporation, et al., 11/22/2002 ] Yassin al-Qadi. [Third Amended Complaint. Thomas E. Burnett, Sr., et al. v. Al Baraka Investment and Development Corporation, et al., 11/22/2002 ] Saleh Kamel and the Dallah al-Baraka Group. [Third Amended Complaint. Thomas E. Burnett, Sr., et al. v. Al Baraka Investment and Development Corporation, et al., 11/22/2002 ] Individual members of the bin Laden family, including Bakr bin Laden, Tarek bin Laden, Omar bin Laden, Abdullah Awad bin Laden, and Yeslam Binladin. The suit claims that in the early 1990s, Tarek bin Laden was the general supervisor of the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), a Saudi charity suspected of terrorist ties (see October 12, 2001). [Third Amended Complaint. Thomas E. Burnett, Sr., et al. v. Al Baraka Investment and Development Corporation, et al., 11/22/2002 ]
Entity Tags: Saleh Abdullah Kamel, Saudi American Bank, Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Yeslam Binladin, Yassin al-Qadi, Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz, Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, Abdullah Awad bin Laden, Al Taqwa Bank, Al-Qaeda, Bakr Mohammed bin Laden, Dallah Al-Baraka, Omar bin Laden, Tarek bin Laden
Category Tags: Saudi Arabia, Al Taqwa Bank, Other 9/11 Investigations, Terrorism Financing, Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, 9/11 Related Lawsuits, 9/11 Investigations
Ellen Mariani.
[Source: Ellen Mariani]9/11 victim's relative Ellen Mariani sues the US government, claiming that certain officials had foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks. "I'm 100 percent sure that they knew," she says. In doing so, she is ineligible for government compensation from what she calls the "shut-up and go-away fund." She believes she would have received around $500,000. According to a statement by her lawyer, her lawsuit against President Bush, Vice President Cheney, the CIA, Defense Department, and other administration members "is based upon prior knowledge of 9/11; knowingly failing to act, prevent or warn of 9/11; and the ongoing obstruction of justice by covering up the truth of 9/11; all in violation of the laws of the United States." As the Toronto Star points out, this interesting story has been "buried" by the mainstream media, at least initially. Coverage has been limited mostly to Philadelphia where the case was filed and New Hampshire where Mariani lives. [Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/23/2003; Toronto Star, 11/30/2003; Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/3/2003; Village Voice, 12/3/2003; Al Jazeera, 12/9/2003; Associated Press, 12/24/2003]
Entity Tags: United States, Central Intelligence Agency, Ellen Mariani, George W. Bush, Richard ("Dick") Cheney, US Department of Defense
Category Tags: 9/11 Related Lawsuits, US Government and 9/11 Criticism
Saudi Defense and Aviation Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz.
[Source: Public domain]In a series of rulings, a number of defendants are removed from a 9/11 lawsuit filed in August 2002 (see August 15, 2002). The lawsuit, filed on behalf of 9/11 victims' relatives, accuses a number of individuals and organizations of funding and supporting al-Qaeda and thus helping the 9/11 attacks to occur. A number of Saudi princes are dropped because they work for the Saudi government. One judge writes in a ruling, "Whatever their actions, they were performed in their official (government) capacities." According to the court ruling, only the US president, not the courts, has the authority to label a foreign nation as a terrorist supporter. Judges rule that the plaintiffs failed to provide sufficient facts to overcome the kingdom of Saudi Arabia's immunity. Saudi defense minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi ambassador to Britain Prince Turki al-Faisal, and Prince Mohammed Al-Faisal Al-Saud, among others, are dismissed from the lawsuit, but the lawsuit is allowed to proceed against many more defendants, including the Saudi Binladin Group, the multibillion dollar bin Laden family company. [Associated Press, 11/16/2003; Charleston Post and Courier, 11/18/2003; Associated Press, 1/19/2005; New York Law Journal, 9/28/2005] A judge writes in a ruling that "the Saudi Binladin Group maintained close relationships with Osama bin Laden at certain times" and that it remains "unclear" whether these ties continued since bin Laden became involved in terrorism. [Der Spiegel (Hamburg), 6/6/2005] The International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) is allowed to remain as a defendant, even though this charity has considerable ties to the Saudi government. [New York Law Journal, 9/28/2005] Some of the Saudi princes, such as Prince Sultan and Prince Salman, are represented in the case by the prestigious Dallas-based law firm of Baker Botts. James Baker, former Secretary of State and close associate of the Bush family, is one of the senior partners of the law firm. [Newsweek, 4/16/2003; New York Law Journal, 9/28/2005]
Entity Tags: Al-Qaeda, Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Saudi Binladin Group, Baker Botts, International Islamic Relief Organization, Turki al-Faisal, Osama bin Laden
Category Tags: Saudi Arabia, Other 9/11 Investigations, 9/11 Related Lawsuits, 9/11 Investigations
The deadline arrives for 9/11 victims' relatives to apply for government compensation. [Toronto Star, 12/23/2003] By receiving an award from the fund, families give up their right to sue the airlines, airports, security companies, or other US organizations that may be faulted for negligence and inadequate security measures. [CBS News, 3/7/2002; USA Today, 7/13/2003; Washington Post, 9/10/2003] Relatives may still sue "knowing participants in the hijacking conspiracy" without losing compensation. [USA Today, 7/13/2003] Ninety-seven per cent of the 2,973 eligible families apply to the fund; compensation averages about $2.1 million per family. However, 70 families decide to forego the fund, and instead sue various government agencies and private companies for alleged negligence. [New York Times, 6/16/2004; Guardian, 6/16/2004] Widow Beverly Eckert explains her decision: "I am suing because unlike other investigative avenues… my lawsuit requires all testimony be given under oath and fully uses powers to compel evidence. The victims' fund was not created in a spirit of compassion.… Lawmakers capped the liability of the airlines at the behest of lobbyists who descended on Washington while the September 11 fires still smoldered." [USA Today, 12/19/2003]
Entity Tags: Beverly Eckert, Relatives of September 11 Victims
Sibel Edmonds. [Source: Linda Spillers/ Getty]US District Judge Reggie B. Walton, appointed by George W. Bush, dismisses Sibel Edmonds' lawsuit (see June 2002) against the Justice Department, accepting the government's argument that allowing the case to proceed would jeopardize national security [Associated Press, 7/6/2004; CNN, 7/7/2004] and infringe upon its October 2002 declaration (see October 18, 2002) that classified everything related to Edmonds' case. Walton refuses to explain his ruling, insisting that to do so would expose sensitive secrets. "The Court finds that the plaintiff is unable to establish her First Amendment, Fifth Amendment, and Privacy Act claims without the disclosure of privileged information, nor would the defendants be able to defend against these claims without the same disclosures… the plaintiff's case must be dismissed, albeit with great consternation, in the interests of national security," Walton says in his ruling. [CNN, 7/7/2004] Walton never heard evidence from Edmonds' lawyers. [Associated Press, 7/6/2004; Associated Press, 7/7/2004]
Entity Tags: Reggie B. Walton, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Sibel Edmonds
Category Tags: Sibel Edmonds, 9/11 Related Lawsuits
Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, a bond-trading firm that lost 658 employees in the World Trade Center attacks, files a $7 billion lawsuit against the government of Saudi Arabia for allegedly supporting al-Qaeda prior to 9/11. The lawsuit names dozens of other defendants, including many Saudi banks and Islamic charities. Many of the defendants had also been named in the still-pending $300 billion Ron Motley lawsuit (see August 15, 2002). The Cantor Fitzgerald lawsuit claims the Saudi Arabian government "knew and intended that these Saudi-based charity and relief organization defendants would provide financial and material support and substantial assistance to al-Qaeda.… This uninterrupted financial and material support and substantial assistance enabled the al-Qaeda defendants to plan, orchestrate and carry out the Sept. 11 attacks."
[Associated Press, 9/3/2004]
Entity Tags: Ron Motley, Saudi Arabia, Al-Qaeda, Cantor Fitzgerald Securities
Category Tags: Saudi Arabia, Other 9/11 Investigations, Terrorism Financing, 9/11 Related Lawsuits, 9/11 Investigations
Riggs Bank is added to the list of defendants in a 9/11 lawsuit filed on behalf of 9/11 victims' relatives (see August 15, 2002). The amended lawsuit alleges, "Riggs' constant failure to comply with banking oversight laws resulted in funds being forwarded from high risk Saudi Embassy accounts at Riggs Bank to at least two September 11 hijackers." [Wall Street Journal, 9/13/2004] Riggs Bank is under investigation at the time and will later plead guilty to violating banking laws (see March 29, 2005). The bank also appears to have a long standing but murky relationship with the CIA (see July 2003 and December 31, 2004).
Entity Tags: Riggs Bank
Category Tags: Saudi Arabia, Terrorism Financing, Other 9/11 Investigations, 9/11 Related Lawsuits, 9/11 Investigations
Omer Marmari. [Source: Public domain via Israeli TV]Four of the five Israelis arrested on 9/11 (see 3:56 p.m. September 11, 2001), Paul and Sivan Kurzberg, Omer Marmari, and Yaron Shmuel, file a multimillion dollar lawsuit against the US Justice Department. They claim they were arrested illegally, then held without charge and interrogated and tortured for months. Their lawyer claims the case will serve as a venue to debunk theories that Israel was behind the 9/11 attacks. [Ha'aretz, 9/16/2004; Jerusalem Post, 9/16/2004] Forward, a publication geared towards the Jewish population in the US, reported in 2002 that the FBI concluded at least two of the five were Mossad agents and that all were on a Mossad surveillance mission. [Forward, 3/15/2002] As of early 2011, there have been no further media reports about this lawsuit.
Entity Tags: Sivan Kurzberg, Yaron Shmuel, Israel Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks (Mossad), Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Israeli art students", Paul Kurzberg, Omer Marmari
Category Tags: Israel, 9/11 Related Lawsuits
Insurance companies reach a $2 billion settlement with real estate development and investment firm Silverstein Properties for the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11. The agreement, which involves seven of the two-dozen insurers for the WTC, ends more than five years of legal wrangling. The other insurance companies involved have already paid out about $2.55 billion, meaning the total payout will be $4.55 billion. In September 2006, Silverstein Properties and the New York Port Authority had agreed to split the reconstruction of the WTC site between them, and to divide up the remaining insurance proceeds accordingly. Consequently, the Port Authority is to receive about $870 million from the latest settlement, while the remaining $1.13 billion will go to Silverstein Properties. [New York State, 5/23/2007; New York Times, 5/23/2007; Newsday, 5/23/2007; Reuters, 5/23/2007] Silverstein Properties acquired the lease on several of the World Trade Center buildings, including the Twin Towers, in July 2001 (see July 24, 2001). [Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, 7/24/2001] As the New York Times summarizes, "At that time, two dozen insurers had signed binders pledging to provide $3.5 billion in insurance coverage, but had not finished the documentation." Therefore, after 9/11, an "ugly dispute developed over which insurance policy was in effect at the time of the attack. Mr. [Larry] Silverstein [the president of Silverstein Properties] argued that since two jetliners slammed into the two towers, he was entitled to a double payment on the $3.5 billion policy. But many of the insurers countered that they had agreed to a different policy that did not permit double claims." [New York Times, 5/23/2007] In 2004, federal juries had decided that Silverstein Properties could collect a maximum of $4.68 billion for the loss of the WTC. The current settlement therefore means the insurers are obliged to pay 97.2 percent of that maximum. [Bloomberg, 5/23/2007; New York State, 5/23/2007; Newsday, 5/23/2007; Reuters, 5/23/2007] Silverstein Properties had separately been awarded $861 million of insurance money in 2002 for the loss of World Trade Center Building 7, which also collapsed on 9/11 (see May 2002).
Entity Tags: Larry Silverstein, Silverstein Properties, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, World Trade Center
Abdallah Higazy, an Egyptian national who falsely confessed to owning a suspicious airline transceiver after the 9/11 attacks because the FBI threatened to have his family tortured (see December 17, 2001), December 27, 2001, and January 11-16, 2002), has his lawsuit against the FBI reinstated by a US appeals court. The majority opinion finds, "An officer in [FBI agent Michael] Templeton's shoes would have understood that the confession he allegedly coerced from Higazy would have been used in a criminal case against Higazy and that his actions therefore violated Higazy's Constitutional right to be free from compelled self-incrimination." [New York Sun, 10/18/2007] Decision Issued and Withdrawn - Interestingly, the appeals court posts its full opinion on the case, then within minutes withdraws that opinion and issues another one, with an identical conclusion but with much of the details of Higazy's allegations redacted. The new ruling reads: "This opinion has been redacted because portions of the record are under seal. For the purposes of the summary judgment motion, Templeton did not contest that Higazy's statements were coerced." But the initial opinion has already been downloaded by dozens of legal observers and bloggers, and the evidence redacted by the court is in the public view. "People Don't Do that Voluntarily" - Washington Post reporter Dan Eggen writes, "The fresh details about his interrogation in December 2001 illustrate how an innocent man can be persuaded to confess to a crime that he did not commit, and the lengths to which the FBI was willing to go in its terrorism-related investigations after the Sept. 11 attacks." A Justice Department spokesman says that although it does not concede that Higazy's allegations are true, it has agreed to proceed under the assumption that they are true in order to argue the case. The appellate court does not rule on the veracity of Higazy's story, but instead concludes that Templeton lacks the "qualified immunity" that would shield him from a civil suit. Redacted Information - Appellate court clerk Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe says that the original Higazy ruling contained information that should have been sealed from the outset. The decision to seal the information was the court's, she says, and not the Justice Department's or the FBI. She says that the decision to seal the information about Templeton's coercion, and Higazy's fears of the Egyptian intelligence service, was made out of concern for the safety of Higazy and his family. "Prior to the world of the Internet, a decision would be issued and then withdrawn without any consequences of any moment," Wolfe says. "Now if that happens it raises the specter of interference or some nefarious intent at work, which is not the case." Appellate lawyer Stephen Bergstein says that the redacted information "was more embarrassing than worthy of secrecy." He continues: "Had they left it in, a lot of people probably wouldn't have noticed. With the Internet, nothing ever goes away." [Howard Bashman, 10/18/2007; New York Times, 10/20/2007; Washington Post, 10/25/2007]
Entity Tags: Michael Templeton, Dan Eggen, Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, Stephen Bergstein, Abdallah Higazy, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Timeline Tags: Torture of US Captives
It is revealed that Larry Silverstein, the developer of Ground Zero, is seeking $12.3 billion in damages from airlines and airport security companies for the attacks on 9/11. Silverstein sought the damages in a claim filed in 2004, alleging that the companies failed to prevent the hijackers from taking over the planes that destroyed the World Trade Center buildings. The size of his claim was previously unknown, but is now revealed at a status conference in the US District Court in Manhattan. [New York Times, 3/27/2008] Of the $12.3 billion sought, $8.4 billion would be to replace the property destroyed in the attacks, and the other $3.9 billion would cover lost income and expenses associated with renting the new buildings. Companies named in the suit include American Airlines, United Airlines, Continental Airlines, Boeing, and the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), which manages Logan Airport in Boston, from where the two planes that hit the WTC took off. [CNN, 3/27/2008] Silverstein's case is consolidated with similar, earlier lawsuits by other property owners and some families of 9/11 victims. Silverstein is by far the biggest of the claimants. A lawyer for the airlines says that if Silverstein wins, it could push the total claims beyond the amount of insurance the airlines and security companies have available. Silverstein, the CEO and president of Silverstein Properties, only signed the 99-year lease on the World Trade Center six weeks before 9/11 (see July 24, 2001). He has already won nearly $4.6 billion in insurance payments stemming from the attacks (see May 23, 2007). [New York Times, 3/27/2008; NY1 News, 3/28/2008]
Entity Tags: Boeing Company, Continental Airlines, American Airlines, Massachusetts Port Authority, United Airlines, Larry Silverstein
FBI special agent and whistleblower Robert G. Wright Jr. wins the right to publish most of the information over which he has been fighting the FBI in court for nearly seven years (see May 9, 2002). US District Court Judge Gladys Kessler rules that Wright can publish most of the information in his 500-page manuscript, all of the information in two complaints he had filed with the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General regarding the FBI's handling of terrorism investigations, and his answers to New York Times reporter Judith Miller's questions. Kessler also rules that Wright's colleague and co-plaintiff, FBI Special Agent John Vincent, can publish his answers to Miller's questions. Judge Repeatedly Faults FBI - In her 41-page memorandum opinion, Kessler repeatedly finds fault with the FBI. The preface to the opinion summarizes the proceedings and the related issues in this way: "This is a sad and discouraging tale about the determined efforts of the FBI to censor various portions of a 500-page manuscript, written by a former long-time FBI agent, severely criticizing the FBI's conduct of the investigation of a money laundering scheme in which United States-based members of the Hamas terrorist organization were using non-profit organizations in this country to recruit and train terrorists and fund terrorist activities both here and abroad. The FBI also sought to censor answers given by both plaintiffs to a series of written questions presented to them by a New York Times reporter concerning Wright's allegations about the FBI's alleged mishandling of the investigation. In its efforts to suppress this information, the FBI repeatedly changed its position, presented formalistic objections to release of various portions of the documents in question, admitted finally that much of the material it sought to suppress was in fact in the public domain and had been all along, and now concedes that several of the reasons it originally offered for censorship no longer have any validity. Unfortunately, the issues of terrorism and of alleged FBI incompetence remain as timely as ever." [Memorandum Opinion: Wright, v. FBI (PDF), 5/6/2009 ] A 'Pyrrhic Victory' for Wright - Reporting on the case for Politico, Josh Gerstein will call the outcome "a pyrrhic victory for [Wright], since the passage of time appears to have diminished the market for his book." Gerstein will quote one of Wright and Vincent's lawyers, Paul Orfanedes of Judical Watch, as saying, "It's a perfect example of how delaying somebody's ability to publish is a clear violation of their rights." Gerstein will also report, "Orfanedes said Wright's book 'might be made public in a reduced format,' but that the group's main hope now was to expose how the government system for pre-publication reviews of books by FBI, CIA, and other national security-related officials, is dysfunctional." [Politico, 5/11/2009] FBI Attempts to Censor Judge's Memorandum Opinion and Fails - In an ironic twist, an FBI demand for redaction of a portion of Kessler's memorandum opinion calls attention to that portion of the text, which is easily readable due to improper redaction technique; the text under the blacked out portion can be copied and pasted. The redacted portion is an FBI argument for why a portion of Wright's manuscript must be redacted. It reads, "[D]isclosure of the location and use of this infrastructure could allow individuals to survey, attempt to penetrate, or disrupt the activities that take place in the infrastructure." It is unclear why the FBI believes that a general reference to sensitive infrastructure is sensitive in itself. [Memorandum Opinion: Wright, v. FBI (PDF), 5/6/2009 ; Memorandum Opinion: Wright, v. FBI (PDF), 5/6/2009; Memorandum Opinion: Wright, v. FBI (PDF), 5/6/2009]
Entity Tags: John Vincent, Gladys Kessler, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Office of Inspector General (Justice Department), Josh Gerstein, Judith Miller, Paul Orfanedes, Robert G. Wright, Jr.
Timeline Tags: Civil Liberties
Category Tags: Robert Wright and Vulgar Betrayal, US Government and 9/11 Criticism, 9/11 Related Lawsuits
Key Events
Day of 9/11
The Alleged 9/11 Hijackers
Alhazmi and Almihdhar: Specific Cases
Projects and Programs
Before 9/11
Counterterrorism before 9/11
Warning Signs: Specific Cases
The Post-9/11 World
Investigations: Specific Cases
Possible Al-Qaeda-Linked Moles or Informants
Other Al-Qaeda-Linked Figures
Al-Qaeda by Region
Specific Alleged Al-Qaeda Linked Attacks or Plots
Miscellaneous Al-Qaeda Issues
Geopolitics and Islamic Militancy
Pakistan / ISI: Specific Cases
Terrorism Financing: Specific Cases
'War on Terrorism' Outside Iraq
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The Nightmare Before Christmas Merchandise
What's this, you ask? What's this? In the words of someone very, very important to us—this is Halloween.
Hey, boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange? How about strange AND amazing? Well, good news—you're in the right place, the mecca of all The Nightmare Before Christmas fandom, merchandise, apparel and more. Hot Topic doesn't care what day it is—Christmas, Easter, a typical night-before-the-workweek where you're chasing away the Sunday scaries. To us, with our The Nightmare Before Christmas collection, every dang day is Halloween. That means there's never not a time to go full-out Pumpkin King on everyone you know.
Whether you're after something special from your favorite Tim Burton flick just to treat yourself or you're looking for the ultimate gift for that Jack Skellington fanatic in your life, Hot Topic's huge collection of The Nightmare Before Christmas merchandise, clothing, fan favorites, and more is guaranteed to have everything you could ever want to rep your favorite cult classic.
Ready to transform your room into an exact replica of Halloween Town? Check out Hot Topic's home goods (like our Sandy Claws Wreath Wood Wall Art or the Sugar Skull Jack Plush Throw Blanket) to give your residence a spooky makeover. Prefer to rep your love for the scary with your wardrobe? We're glad to hear it—we've got the Christmas leggings, creepy hoodies, dresses, socks, bikinis and more, that you need to bring your vision of The Nightmare Before Christmas to life!

subset: commoncrawl


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- News
- Business
- Sports
- Entertainment
- Lifestyle
- Health
- Travel
- Technology
OTTAWA — The federal government is overhauling its environmental review process for natural resource projects, announcing in Thursday's budget it will implement defined timelines, hand over some reviews to the provinces and dedicate fewer resources to examining small projects.
In a move sure to rankle some environmental groups, the Harper government said it will soon introduce legislation aimed at having "one project, one review" in a defined time period.
"There will be timelines and the environmental process will go ahead. But we won't have these, well, quite frankly, ridiculous situations where we have assessments going on for years over projects that are sometimes abandoned because the process itself takes so long and at such great expense," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters Thursday.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver have recently criticized "foreign money" and "radical" environmental groups, which they claim are attempting to hijack regulatory hearings and ultimately derail major resource projects, such as the Northern Gateway pipeline project currently under review. The pipeline would ship oilsands crude from northern Alberta to the port of Kitimat, B.C., for shipment by tankers to Asia.
The government is looking to eliminate duplication on environmental reviews, provide more certainty to companies investing billions of dollars in major petroleum and mining projects across the country and help expand Canada's energy export markets beyond the United States.
The Harper government will limit joint panel environmental reviews to 24 months (such as the Northern Gateway project), National Energy Board hearings to 18 months and standard environmental assessments to one year.
The federal government will now also recognize some provincial environmental assessments for resource projects as equivalent to federal assessments, and will also transfer some decision-making for permits from Ottawa to other jurisdictions.
Flaherty said the one project, one review "applies to all major projects, including the Northern Gateway."
Green party leader Elizabeth May noted the government has already weakened the environmental review process in recent years and is now planning to cut the budget of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency by more than 40 per cent in the new budget year.
Streamlining the regulatory process for major resource projects "is the last few nails in the coffin of environmental review," May said.
"It's all about railroading projects through as fast as possible without having them adequately reviewed for environmental impacts," she said.
The changes are sparking concerns over whether the government's plans for "one project, one review" — including leaving some reviews with the provinces — will provide sufficient environmental oversight.
The federal government, for example, rejected in 2010 a proposal to turn a picturesque British Columbia fishing lake into a tailings dumping ground for a new mine after the project was approved by the B.C. government.
The budget dedicates nearly $14 million over two years to integrate consultations with aboriginal peoples into project reviews.
Furthermore, $13.5 million will be spent over two years (with the cash to be cost-recovered from industry) to increase the number of oil and gas pipeline inspections to 150 per year from 100 and double from three to six the number of major annual audits to flag issues before incidents occur.
New cash will also be invested for more tanker inspections, as well as to continue funding the Major Projects Management Office that helps shorten review times. The government is also promising to amend the Coasting Trade Act to advance exploration for new offshore oil and gas developments and improve access to seismic data.
"Those who wish to invest in our resources have been facing an increasingly complicated web of rules and bureaucratic reviews that have grown over time, adding costs and delays that can deter investors and undermine the economic viability of major projects," says the budget document.
Ottawa says more than 500 major economic projects — representing $500 billion in new investments — are planned across Canada over the next decade, but regulatory burdens threaten the viability of them.
The government noted that several major projects have been delayed in recent years by a heavy regulatory burden, including a pipeline project between Alberta and Manitoba, a uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan and the Joslyn North oilsands mine in northern Alberta. The oilsands mine alone needed about five years to complete the regulatory and environmental review process.
John Manley, president of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, said reducing the regulatory burden by having one review per project is a positive step because it provides more certainty to businesses making potentially multibillion-dollar investment decisions.
"There's a lot that needs to be done in Canada by way of project development, infrastructure and energy development that needs to be done with a view to public health and safety, but it can be done more efficiently than in the past," Manley said.


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Tag Archives: turkey kebab
Turkey kofte kebab
Here's another recipe with yogurt and it's great. I was hoping to use lamb for this recipe but ground lamb wasn't to be found so I used ground turkey and I think I'll stick with turkey in the future. This … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized


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• Ed Markey of Massachusetts, first elected in 1976, helped to ram the cap-and-tax bill through the House and has pushed relentlessly for the EPA to declare carbon a pollutant under the Clean Air Act that didn't mention carbon.
• Wisconsin's David Obey, elected in 1969, is the House Appropriations chairman who steered the $787 billion stimulus to focus on Medicaid expansion and other transfer payments that have done nothing for economic growth.
• Henry Waxman, first elected in the Watergate class of 1974, deposed John Dingell in 2008 as too moderate to run the Energy and Commerce Committee. The Hollywood liberal is co-author of the cap-and-tax vote that will cost numerous Blue Dogs their seats.
• Pete Stark, class of 1972, runs the health subcommittee on Ways and Means and has written most of the House health reform that has forced moderates to walk the plank on the "public option."
• George Miller, class of 1974 and chief enforcer for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has pushed to nationalize the college student loan market. Like Mr. Stark, he's from California.
• Barney Frank of Massachusetts, class of 1980 and chief protector of Fannie Mae, wrote the financial reform that would make too-big-to-fail the law for the largest banks. He has also pushed the mortgage foreclosure programs that have extended the housing recession by preventing home prices from finding a bottom.
Barney Frank; Ed Markey
It is the combination of all of these and other policies that has ignited the political revolt we are now seeing in Massachusetts, and first saw last November in Virginia and New Jersey. Had Democrats modified their agenda to nurture a fragile economy and financial system, they could now claim their policies worked and build on them later.
It's striking how most of these entrenched liberal Democrat Congressional lifers have been at this power game for as long or longer than many of us have been alive (and I'm pushing 40).
It's bad enough these people have been getting it wrong for 30-40 years, now they are getting so old they likely won't even be around to see the wreckage their ideology will visit on the country if brought even close to fruition.
Time to hang it up, fellas. Give the country a break and let the next generation of leadership throw the last shovels-full of dirt on your misguided, ever-failing Quixotic quest to socialize America.
From a Washington Post poll last weekend:
Fifty eight percent of respondents favor smaller government with fewer services while 38 percent prefer a larger government and more services, according to the poll.
The small government preference has climbed 4 points since the last time our pollsters asked the question in June and 5 points from almost the same time a year ago.
But by all means, Democrat statists, keep swimming upstream, endlessly scheming to fleece the people into muddling socialized mediocrity and dependency.
Your electoral fate awaits you. Hopefully sooner than you think.


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Newbie facts for kids
Newbie is a slang term for a new person in a community, group, or video game, and especially on the internet (see internet slang). "Noob" is short for "newbie", another slang term that comes from the word "new". A noob usually means a bad player in a game, or someone who does not know the rules of a community. Being a noob is usually not a good thing.
Many times in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG)s or other internet based games, the word newbie is used. It can also mean someone who has a high level in a game, but is not a skilled player. A person new to a game or a younger player can be referred to as a newbie.
Many places, such as internet forums or online communities, use the word "noob" differently than the word "newbie". A newbie is simply someone who is new to the forum or game. But a noob or n00b is someone who is thought of as having no respect for the rules and does not seem to want to do anything for himself. So noob has become an offensive term on the internet. To behave like a noob can mean getting disrespect and a lack of interest from other players.
Noobs are usually referred to by the 1337 (pronounced "leet") or skilled players, who have marginally higher experience in the game. When a leet soundly defeats a noob, he is said to be "pwning noobs".
The use of the word "newbie" originated in World War II. It was a word veterans used to describe new recruits.
Recently "noob" is used mainly just as a name to refer to other players in various online games. It's usually a derogatory term, but can be exchanged as a friendly greeting.
A noob is sometimes confused with a "choob" (a low skilled person in a game, but having acquired nice things as a result of playing).


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From the Air Trainer 1 to the Bo Jackson Trainers, the Trainer is one of the pinnacle sneakers in the Nike cannon. Present day iterations of the Trainer like New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz's Air TR. V. Cruz PRM only continues the lineage.
Getting fresh takes training. Let's get committed.
Select trainers from Nike Sportswear.
Celebrate Spring with Stadium Goods! Enjoy 15% off site-wide until
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Peterson defense argues new trial needed because lawyer botched case
CHICAGO -- Drew Peterson's defense lawyers were a united, wisecracking front during most of the former suburban Chicago police officer's 2012 trial, and rarely without their dark sunglasses. But by the time Peterson was found guilty of killing his third wife, the attorneys' bond was irreparably fractured.
The public verbal sparring between former lead trial counsel Joel Brodsky and colleague-turned-nemesis Steve Greenberg was expected to come to a head Tuesday at a hearing in Will County. The defense planned to argue that Peterson deserves a new trial because Brodsky botched the first.
If Will County Judge Edward Burmila rejects the motion for a retrial, he has said he would move on to the sentencing phase.
Peterson, 59, faces a maximum 60-year prison term for murdering Kathleen Savio, who was found dead in her bathtub with a gash on her head. He entered court Tuesday in blue prison garb and shackles -- a stark contrast from the business suits he donned for his trial.
The legal team's infighting is the latest twist in the peculiar saga of the former Bolingbrook police sergeant, who gained notoriety after his much younger fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, vanished in 2007.
Disagreements among the counsel during trial are not uncommon, said Chicago-area defense attorney Gal Pissetzky, but such spats spilling into public view are.
"A new team of lawyers might accuse an old team of lawyers of making mistakes at the trial -- but lawyers on the same trial team blaming each other? I've never heard of anything like this," he said. Pissetzky is not connected to the Peterson case.
The feud escalated earlier this month when Brodsky filed a defamation lawsuit against Greenberg, which claims Greenberg became "irrationally fixated and obsessed with destroying Brodsky" and held Brodsky up to "great public scorn, hatred, contempt (and) ridicule."
In an open letter to Brodsky in September, Greenberg accused him of "single-handedly" losing the trial, adding he "wafted the greatest case by ignorance, obduracy and ineptitude."
The current acrimony is in stark contrast with the beginning of the trial, when the limelight-seeking defense team faced the media horde together. Several times, they insisted that Stacy Peterson -- whose body was never found -- could show up any day to take the stand.
If Brodsky takes the stand Tuesday, he could face aggressive cross-examination by Greenberg and his other erstwhile colleagues. There's even an outside chance Peterson could be asked testify.
Among the accusations against Brodsky, chief is that he was so bent on publicizing himself that he pressed Peterson into a damaging pretrial media blitz.
But the hearing's focus is expected to be a decision that backfired during trial -- calling divorce lawyer Harry Smith to be a witness for the defense. Greenberg says that was Brodsky's decision; Brodsky says all the defense lawyers agreed on it.
Under questioning by Brodsky, Smith told jurors that Stacy Peterson had asked him a question before she vanished: Could she squeeze more money out of her husband in divorce proceedings if she threatened to tell police that he murdered Savio three years earlier?
Brodsky hoped Smith's testimony that Stacy Peterson allegedly sought to extort her husband would dent the credibility of statements she made to others that Drew Peterson threatened to kill her.
Savio's death was initially deemed an accident, a freak slip in the tub. But after Stacy Peterson vanished, Savio's body was re-examined and her death was reclassified as a homicide.
During Smith's testimony, he repeatedly stressed how Stacy Peterson seemed to sincerely believe her husband had killed Savio. Prosecutors could barely contain their joy, with chief state's prosecutor James Glasgow calling it "a gift from God." And some jurors said later that Smith's testimony persuaded them to convict Drew Peterson.
Judges rarely grant retrials, even in egregious cases of missteps. And when they do, it is usually because an attorney didn't make a certain argument or call a witness who might have exonerated a defendant, explained Kathleen Zellner, another Chicago-area defense attorney.
"It's usually not for something an attorney did but for what they did not do," she said.
But seemingly nothing can be ruled out in this case, which has been full of oddities since first making headlines in 2007. Peterson's trial was the first in Illinois history where prosecutors built their case on hearsay, thanks to a new law tailored specifically for the case, dubbed "Drew's Law."
Still, most legal observers agreed that the motion for a new trial is a longshot, at best.
"Nothing in this case has been usual," Pissetzky said. "But the chances for this motion to succeed are slim to none -- and slim just left the building."


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Symbol: NMMG
Market: OTC.BB
Sector: L.E.D. TECHNOLOGY
Barcharts Rate NMMG an 80% BUY - http://quotes.barchart.com/texpert.asp?sym=NMMG
BREAKING NEWS in technology - New Millennium Media International (OTCBB: NMMG) announces that it has officially filed its patents---with over 50 claims---protecting its revolutionary technology, a breakthrough in (LED) architecture. The OnScreen� LED Display Architecture is a radical new type of Bright LED video display architecture that is expected to revolutionize the 1.5 billion dollar LED display market. This breakthrough technology will give NMMG great potential to capture significant market share in the the 19 billion dollar outdoor advertising market.
With all the new initiatives in Homeland Security and the Amber Alert, Intelligent Message Signs (IMS) are the future, and with the recent signing of new laws and federally mandated funds in the billions of dollars, NMMG and its patent-pending OnScreen technology is poised to lead the way. NMMG currently has the only technology that allows it to build onto exisiting infrastructure, i.e. road signs, billboards, etc. Imagine one day you are driving home on the freeway past a road sign you have seen a thousand times before--but this time you notice something different. This time you see a WARNING lit up--truck overturned 1 mile ahead--hazardous chemicals spilled. The sign advises you to exit immediately and to safety. Such a warning was broadcast instantly and using NMMG's OnScreen technology. You never noticed, as you drove by the roadside every day, that OnScreen was draped over the sign all this time. Now it has sprung into action by the punch of a button on a PC from a central station--instantly and just in the nick of time. You have just experienced OnScreen technology. And that is just one example. The possibilities are limitless. And because OnScreen can be applied to existing structures like road signs or billboards, its cost-effectiveness makes it far and away the technology choice.
NMMG will unveil its breakthrough technology at the STRATEGIES IN LIGHT conference on February 2-4, 2004 at the San Mateo Marriott Hotel in San Mateo, California. This unique event is considered to be the premier annual forum for addressing commercial developments in high-brightness LEDs, as well as an unparalleled networking opportunity for suppliers and users of these devices. The growing interest in, and expanding attendance at, this event, reflects the excitement associated with a market that has grown by 50% since 2000, while other semiconductor and optical component industries have stagnated or experienced large declines.
OnScreen� is expected to create a broad-range of products with much better resolution and brighter pictures than the current generation of displays. OnScreen� will be visible in direct sunlight yet avoid many of the issues associated with current displays including sun-loading, wind-loading and excessive weight. In addition, the new LED architecture produces an advantage that is not available in today's marketplace: a more lightweight, pliable display that can fit any application. These are important advantages as the High Brightness LED market is expected to grow from 1.2 billion dollars in 2000 to 4 billion in 2006. In addition, according to Stanford Resources, the LED sign market value alone is expected to exceed 1 billion by 2006. These projections are made based on existing technology and do not take into account emerging technologies, such as OnScreen�, that can rapidly alter the size and shape of this market.
NMMG's initial marketing strategy revolves around licensing intellectual property (IP) to worldwide manufacturers of LED display products and components. The LED sign market is projected to reach over 1 billion dollars by 2006. Lumiled's projects that high brightness LED's, used in LED signs alone, will exceed 1.2 billion by 2007. If these projections hold, the fully manufactured signs would represent a $5 billion market. Whichever number is accurate, they both point towards a robust market for these new LED displays. Many projections don't take into account emerging high growth applications such as the Amber Alert project, Homeland Security and roadway �intelligent message transfer�.
An article in Media Post's Media Daily News in March of 2003 noted that the outdoor industry has successfully weathered the recession and that �our large members say they're having a great first quarter� in 2003. They go on to note that technology is expected to transform both the display and measurement of outdoor advertising. According to Media Daily the most exciting news is coming on the display side, where �Lamar Advertising is converting their key boards to LED units whose messages can be changed at will and sold in day-parts by the hour or even the minute.� They added that �Clear Channel's backlit subway panels in stairwells are being converted to LED as well�. Together these companies represent two of the three largest outdoor US advertisers.
Recent Federal Government legislation has also placed a spotlight on expanding the �Amber Alert� network nationwide. The highly publicized success in locating a number of kidnapped children shortly after their abduction in California has now triggered federal funding for U.S.-wide expansion of these variable-message signs. Homeland Security issues have also increased the number of early warning signs being planned and funded as part of an overall information sharing network. Traffic safety is also becoming a much higher priority in the U.S.. It is estimated that just over 60,000 roadway dynamic message signs are in operation in the United States. In Japan alone there are over 1.5 million of these signs. The United States represents a huge growth market for LED displays.
In addition to the outdoor television market, another interesting and exciting application for OnScreen� arrays is artistic lighting in dramatic curved and shaped displays in places like Las Vegas, New York City or really virtually any venue. The tensile, flexible structure of OnScreen� provides unlimited opportunity for creativity.
The anticipated cost reductions of OnScreen� will also provide ample opportunity for growth of the large-scale LED display market itself. OnScreen�'s unique architecture opens the door for new applications such as curved implementations, billboards on the sides of buildings where tenants can still see out, and lower cost mobile applications on the sides of existing vehicles.
Homeland Security, Amber Alert variable message signage and instant message transfer applications can also benefit significantly from the advantages of OnScreen�. Reduced wind-loading and weight can significantly lower the cost of the superstructures required to support these signs and also reduce the cost to install and maintain them.
New Millennium has established a Technology Breakthroughsentific Advisory Board comprised of leading experts in key categories in the research and marketing of LED technology.
David Pelka, Ph.D.- Chairman � Well known expert in physics, founded TIR Technologies Inc. to pursue patents for his LED lighting systems and LCD backlits. Dr. Pelka secured more than $2 million in venture capital and licensing for TIR before it was acquired by Teledyne Electronic Technologies (NYSE:TDY). Since the buyout, Dr. Pelka has served as Director of Product Development for Teledyne Lighting and Display Products. Dr. Pelka's accolades include fellowships and awards from the Smithsonian, National Defense, Northrop University and Ebell Fellowship, as well as countless articles published in both classified (the U.S. Air Force and Army) publications and various non-classified publications. He has founded several technology companies, which he successfully expanded by building strong revenue streams and securing venture capital investments and government contracts.
Robert V. Steele, Ph.D. � Director of Optoelectronics Programs and Chairman of the annual conference �Strategies in Light� for Strategies Unlimited. Steele is responsible for all of Strategies Unlimited's activities in the area of optoelectronic components, for which the 23-year-old market research firm has specialized in providing market research reports and consulting services. Co-author of �Solid-State Lighting: New Growth Opportunities for High-Brightness LED's�, Dr. Steele writes regularly for industry publications on high-brightness LED markets and applications such as Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist and more.
John Biondo � Owner and President of Silicon Robotics Corporation, which provides various product development services including electronic and electromechanical design, software development, optics, and project management. Biondo also has extensive patent-process experience. In 1980, Biondo launched Electric Filmworks, which produced computer-generated visual effects for the television and motion picture industry. He also designed an apparatus using newly available and inexpensive microcomputers, which allowed the company to compete successful against older, more established firms. To transfer from the service-sector into manufacturing, Biondo sold Electric Filmworks in 1989 and co-founded Amazing Photos. Amazing Photos designed, manufactured and sold a variety of innovative coin-operated photo booths. Polaroid Corporation licensed and marketed the two most popular and cost effective booths under their own name.
Richard Reis, Ph.D. � Executive Director of the Alliance for Innovative Manufacturing at Stanford and Director for Academic Partnerships in the Stanford Learning Laboratory. Dr. Reis' impressive career includes serving as; the Executive director of the Stanford Center for integrated Systems, a major research partnership between Stanford and 15 industrial companies; a Consulting Professor in both the Stanford University Electrical and Mechanical Engineering departments; professor of a year-round seminar that is part of the Stanford University Future Professors of Manufacturing program; a professor of astronomy at the College of San Mateo, Calif.; and a curriculum consultant at Menlo College, Calif.
Ben Jacobson, Ph.D. � Dr. Jacobson has worked on numerous impressive LED projects that have exponentially increased beam density and brightness and reduced system costs. Additionally, these projects have improved power requirements, heat load and LED count, while improving compactness, efficiency and performance over competitors' products. Dr. Jacobson was instrumental in positioning Illumitech as a new company developing high-performance LED lighting systems with thermal packaging. Dr. Jacobson has over a decade of experience developing and marketing new technology for the display industry, both in his previous positions and currently at Illumitech. Prior to Illumitech, Dr. Jacobson held various executive and research directorial positions at EG Controls Inc., ARCH Venture Partners, NiOptics Corporation and the University of Chicago. He has seven U.S. patents, and has published 13 research articles and seven conference presentations.
Joseph D. Tajnai, Ph.D. � Dr. Tajnai is a consultant in Optical Radiation Safety, LED's & Applications and Optics & Optical Measurement Training. He was an engineer, Technology Breakthroughsentist and technical manager for 23 years at Hewlett-Packard and Agilent Technologies. He has focused on fiber optic development, LED development and measurements, new product processes, mathematical modeling and international and US standards and regulations. He also worked with GE Sylvania for nine years and contributed heavily to their YAG laser development. Dr. Tajnai received his BS, MS and Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology in Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics.
Please note that NMMG had absolutley nothing to do with this report and is not a participant in any way.
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New blood pressure–associated loci identified in meta-analyses of 475 000 individuals
Aldi T. Kraja, James P. Cook, Helen R. Warren, Praveen Surendran, Chunyu Liu, Evangelos Evangelou, Alisa K. Manning, Niels Grarup, Fotios Drenos, Xueling Sim
Genetic analysis of over one million people identifies 535 novel loci for blood pressure
Evangelos Evangelou, Helen R. Warren, David Mosen-Ansorena, Borbala Mifsud, Raha Pazoki, He Gao, Georgios Ntritsos, Niki Dimou, Claudia P. Cabrera, Ibrahim Karaman
Novel blood pressure locus and gene discovery using Genome-Wide Association Study and expression data sets from blood and the kidney
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Novel blood pressure locus and gene discovery using GWAS and expression datasets from blood and the kidney
Louise Wain, Ahmad Vaez, Rick Jansen, Roby Joehanes, Peter J. van der Most, A. Mesut Erzurumluoglu, Paul O'Reilly, Claudia P. Cabrera, Helen R. Warren, Lynda M. Rose
Genome-wide association analysis identifies novel blood pressure loci and offers biological insights into cardiovascular risk
Helen R. Warren, Evangelos Evangelou, Claudia P. Cabrera, He Gao, Meixia Ren, Borbala Mifsud, Ioanna Ntalla, Praveen Surendran, Chunyu Liu, James P. Cook


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We've all been there. You're trying to eat more greens but you just can't face another lunchtime salad. Maybe it's because of the prep involved, maybe it's because it feels like the North Pole outside, or maybe it's because you're just sick and tired of chomping your way through a big bowl of raw veggies.
So you either reach for something a little (or a lot) less nutritious or you use all your willpower to just force down that salad. If you're lucky, you discover mid-salad that "Hey, I kinda like this salad." If you're not lucky, you wind up feeling either guilty for choosing something less nutritious or resentful for having had a less than thrilling lunch. So what to do? I have a few tips to make salad-eating easier and more enjoyable, plus a vegan ranch dressing that you can personalize to your taste buds' content.
But first, a check-in for those of you following my KISSS healthy eating plan. As you know, a little over a week ago I made a commitment to eat simple meals of soup and salad while cutting out the sugar and flour. I'm happy to report that though there have been moments of temptation, I've completely resisted sugar and, for the most part, flour. I stuck to my resolution to have salads every day last week and managed to enjoy soups 4 out of 7 nights, opting for a huge veggie-tofu stir-"fry" over shirataki noodles (flourless noodles) one night, bean burritos made with 60-calorie multi-grain tortillas another, and oven-fries and a hummus wrap another.
So though I didn't stay away from flour completely, I used the lightest tortillas I could find (many of the white flour ones contain over 200 calories each) and filled them with lots of veggies and beans. I find that these tortillas don't set off my flour cravings like bread does, a huge plus in my opinion.
Those of you who have been eating this way for a while will not be surprised to hear that I felt much more focused and had more energy, even though I was recovering from a cold during the first half of the week. By the end of the week, I had started a new workout routine (and have the sore glutes to prove it). And though, as I said before, my primary goal is health, I did lose a little over 4 pounds.
Best of all, I did it without feeling deprived or hungry. Whenever I wanted to eat, I ate. If I was still hungry after one bowl of soup, I had another. I snacked on fruit (mostly oranges), no-oil popcorn, and chickpeas sprinkled with Creole seasonings whenever I felt tempted to eat something off-plan. In the coming weeks, I will probably reduce the number of snacks I eat, but when you're just getting started, I think it's important to keep from getting so hungry that you go crazy and eat everything in sight. (Been there, ate that!)
If you've been following along, I'd love to hear how you're doing, as well as any tips you have for making this plan easier. Please feel free to leave a note in the comments or on the FFV Facebook page.
Tips for Making Salad Your Meal (When You'd Really Rather Eat Pasta)
Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
You're much more likely to stick to your salad resolution if your salad isn't a chore to make. Have your salad ingredients prepped and ready to grab and throw together. To me, the most time-consuming part of making a salad is washing, drying, and chopping the greens. For a while, I was buying packages of those prewashed salad greens, but not only are they expensive, they often go bad quickly.
Now I make my own ready-to-eat lettuce packets by using a FoodSaver to seal cleaned and chopped romaine lettuce in quart jars (see this great post for details). Once a week I prep all my lettuce and then, when lunchtime rolls around, all I need to do is empty a jar into a bowl and add the rest of my salad ingredients. (You don't need to have a FoodSaver; a few of those "green bags" or containers will work almost as well.) Other ready-to-use salad greens to have on-hand include broccoli slaw, baby spinach, and alfalfa or clover sprouts. With the greens already chopped, you can throw together a salad in just minutes.
Top It
Start thinking of your huge salad as the base for something else. Hummus I've already mentioned, but get even more adventurous and top that big bowl o'greens with Chickpea Salad. Or think outside the fridge and top your salad with something hot: balsamic chickpeas, chili beans, red beans, spaghetti sauce, or even your leftover bean soup. The hot topping will wilt the greens and warm up the whole salad, making it much more comforting on a cold day.
If giving up bread has left you craving sandwiches, let your salad be your bun! Try your favorite burger crumbled over your salad. Some of my favorites are Curried Eggplant-Lentil-Quinoa Burgers, Roasted Beet Burgers, Sweet Potato Falafel, and Red Bean-Chipotle Burgers.
Spice It Up
Don't count on your salad dressing to deliver all the flavor to your salad. Add spicy, sweet, or tangy ingredients that make every bite sparkle with flavor. If you're a fire lover, sliced or chopped jalapenos add an interesting heat, but if you're looking for a tamer flavor, toss on a little salsa. Throw on some diced apples or pears or a few raisins or dried cranberries for a hint of sweetness. You may not think you like fruit in your salad, but give it a try. (My favorite combo is balsamic vinaigrette or ranch dressing, chickpeas, diced apples, raisins, and walnuts.)
Just Do It
A few times this week I was not in the mood for a salad…until I started eating it. Sometimes you just have to push past your aversion and make that salad. You may be pleasantly surprised at how satisfying it is.
Your turn: Leave me your best advice for making salads a part of your daily life.
A good salad dressing can make even a plain Jane salad interesting. Here's the basic template I use to make a creamy salad dressing that my daughter loves. It's highly adaptable, and though it uses cashews for creaminess, it still contains less than 30 calories per 2-tablespoon serving.
Hidden Cashew Ranch Dressing
- 1/4 cup raw cashews (see note about soaking)
- 1 1/4 cup plain , unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used Westsoy)
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (more if using Meyer lemons)
- 1 clove garlic (or 1/4 tsp. garlic powder)
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated onion
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper , freshly ground
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (optional or to taste)
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons chives , raw or freeze-dried, snipped
- Place all ingredients except parsley and chives into blender and process on high until smooth. Add parsley and chives and blend on low briefly to incorporate them. Check seasonings and add more as needed, but remember that the flavor will get stronger over time. Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow flavors to blend. Stir or shake before serving.
Nutritional info is approximate.


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Just so you know, as painful as some of the pieces we'll look at this week are, the Macalope did you all a favor. Not only did he pass up a piece by Rob Enderle, he also passed up a piece by John Dvorak. So ... don't say the horny one never did anything for you.
What we will be wading through, however, is more Apple acquisition porn of the shoddiest kind, reasons why an unshipped Apple product will fail (SEEN IT), and the thick, viscous fluid that drips from Dan Lyons's brain.
We just did this!
No sooner had the Macalope closed the book on a list of five reasons why an Apple watch will fail than someone else published a list of seven reasons why it will fail. It's like a recursive Apple fail! Each call to the function brings you ever more failing!
InformationWeek's Thomas Claburn ups the ante with "Apple iWatch: 7 Reasons It Won't Fly" (tip o' the antlers to Shawn King).
You know, this is really annoying. The Macalope doesn't necessarily believe Apple will ship a "watch" (remember that the company was rumored to be working on a netbook before people realized, no, it was a tablet) and, yet, he has to defend the idea against the slings and arrows of outrageous dumb.
Understandable as it may be that the tech industry would like to see wearable devices follow the same explosive growth trajectory as the mobile market experienced over the last six years, Apple, Google and other companies in this space have yet to demonstrate there's any mass-market value to buckling, strapping, mounting or otherwise attaching small, Internet-aware computers to one's body.
"Apple, Google and other companies." Uh-huh. You know that not one of those companies has actually released a wearable computer, right?
There is certainly niche-market value: The Nike + iPod sensor, the Nike Fuelband and other activity-tracking gadgets like the Jawbone UP wristband are loved by some. But these specialized gizmos will never have the broad impact of the iPhone.
Which is probably why an Apple watch would do more than that.
The lack of imagination here is breathtaking. And, as the Macalope noted on Thursday, it happens every time. Apple is rumored to be working on a new kind of device so pundits look around at the existing, failed devices in the same category and conclude Apple's will fail, too. iPod, iPhone, iPad. All declared failures before anyone even understood them.
Squeezing a processor into an iPod Nano form factor mostly means a less-capable computing device, and adding a wristband doesn't change that.
Claburn apparently thinks that the 100 designers the company supposedly has working on this are just sitting around shrugging and saying "Well ... we could just shove a processor into an iPod nano." "Yeah, let's do that." "OK. So ... lunch?"
Because that sounds so much like Apple designers.
We haven't even gotten to his seven reasons yet.
1. Subscription Fees
Ah, yes. No one wants to pay for another cellular contract. This, of course, is why the iPad was such a big failure.
2. Battery Life
Translation: "I got this off a list of generic things to complain about."
3. Sensors Don't Matter
What Apple will do is just slap some sensors into an iPod nano and you'll get a bunch of dumb data, which is dumb and stupid and so is an Apple watch, QED.
Let's pause for a second to point out that a) Claburn has no idea what an Apple watch might do and b) we don't even know that Apple is working on a "watch."
4. Everything Watches Can Do, Phones Can Do Better
You can't argue with subjective, unprovable truths about devices that don't exist, my friends! It can't be done!
5. Notifications Are The New Spam
"In my day, the newspaper boy delivered the news promptly at 5 a.m. We didn't get any more news until the following morning. And that's the way we liked it!"
6. NFC Isn't A Point of Differentiation
The iWatch has potential for near-field communications ...
So does the iPhone. Does it actually have NFC? No. So what are the chances an Apple watch will?
It seems unlikely that Apple will be able to reinvent the watch in a way that matches its reinvention of the mobile phone.
I can't imagine how Apple could do this thing, so there must not be any way they can.
7. Cost
Apple products cost too much! That's why no one buys them.
Like the Macalope said, he's not even a proponent of an Apple watch, but now he wants the company to ship one just so Claburn will have to print this article out and eat it.
All mixed up and backwards
Back when Apple was in the doldrums (the Macalope means years ago, when it was actually in the doldrums, not now when it's just perceived to be in the doldrums), there were all kinds of dumb acquisition ideas floated about the company. Now that it's big, there are still dumb acquisition ideas about it, just with the company on the other side of the table.
Writing for Forbes, Greg Satell asks "Should Apple Buy Dell?" (no link because, really, look at that title).
Writing for Macworld, the Macalope says "No."
Well, I'm glad we settled th ...
Dell's recent announcement ...
Oh, my God, you're serious with this?
... of a $24 billion deal to take the company private through a leveraged buyout raised many questions and one near certainty: the investors will be looking for an exit in 3-5 years. Who will buy it? As strange as it may sound, Apple would be a prime candidate.
Why is it that this kind of ridiculous acquisition porn, like most porn, is only exciting for one party? And it's never the star.
While this is just mere speculation and I don't have any inside knowledge ...
Wow, really?! You don't know that this brilliant idea isn't being executed as we speak?! That's a shocker.
... when you take into account the history of both companies and their most likely future needs, an Apple purchase of Dell doesn't seem that crazy after all.
Compared to what? That scene in Poltergeist where the guy rips the skin off his face? Because it actually seems crazier than doing that.
So, why are we supposed to think this unholy union would be a good idea?
... while Dell has made headway building supercomputers, they lack the second part of the puzzle, a natural language processing solution. It is the marriage of both that makes platforms like IBM's Watson possible. Dell doesn't have one and will find it difficult to acquire a top-notch product, but Apple's Siri would make a great fit and that's why the idea of an Apple-Dell union could make a whole lot of sense.
For Dell.
Further, while Apple can still expect 3-5 years of strong growth from its existing lines of business, the future beyond that is unclear.
Whereas Dell's prospects are rock-solid!
Er ...
It could very well be that they will need to make a significant back-end acquisition to augment its legendary front-end prowess at about the same time that Dell's bankers are looking for an exit.
Dell is looking to focus on selling high-end servers to companies for their data crunching needs. Apple is never going to be in that business. It doesn't even sell its own server anymore. Other than a brief period where Dell resold iPods, these two companies have been like oil and water forever. Is it too much to ask that these things make at least a modicum of sense?
Dan Lyons, at his new home on ReadWrite In Crayon, is dishing it back to Apple bloggers!
Wait, does he actually do anything else?
"Who's Manipulating Apple Stock With This iWatch Story?" (no link but tip o' the antlers once again to iHKDesign, who is well on his way to that free set of steak knives for being this quarter's biggest Macalope tipster).
What's got Lyons's Underoos in a twist this time? Turns out Apple bloggers who mentioned how whispers that demand was low for the iPhone 5 might be stock manipulation are now ignoring the very obvious fact that Apple is manipulating its stock by leaking information about an upcoming watch!
That was the cry from Apple fanbloggers last month when the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple had reduced component orders, a possible sign of softening demand for Apple products. That story broke nine days before Apple was to report its earnings, and sent the stock reeling downward.
But if that was the case ...
Lyons glosses over whether or not that was the case in his rush to create false equivalencies. A-gain.
Does no one else think it's kind of remarkable that this unreleased product suddenly starts showing up in dozens of blog posts and press stories? And that these leaks happened, coincidentally, right after Apple's stock endured a brutal slide from just above $700 in September to a low of $435 in January?
The Macalope doesn't know if you noticed, Dan, but Apple rumors are pretty much a 24/7 business. The Macalope's not saying Apple didn't leak this information—heck if he knows, but he's not naive enough to think Apple is above doing that. But if Apple has the ability to reverse a slide, why didn't it do that when its stock was at $600? Or $500?
The reason Apple bloggers (and others) suggested stock manipulation might be occurring was because there was a demonstrable reason for investors to suppress the stock, tied to actual dates and numbers. Also because the story about weak iPhone 5 demand made no sense.
But let's not interrupt a man engaged in his favorite pastime: bashing Apple bloggers.
Apple wanted to get the stock back up, and so its flacks were reaching out to reporters and briefing them on background, trying to convince them that things at Apple were better than what Wall Street believed.
Which, you know, they are. But that's some kind of Kremlin-esque plot to Lyons who is shocked—SHOCKED!—to find out there is marketing going on here!
Here's the disconnect in Lyons's complaint. He doesn't seem to be saying that an "iWatch" doesn't exist or isn't a product Apple's working on. Apple's perfectly in its rights to leak information about upcoming products, as long as it's true. The stories about Apple cutting iPhone 5 orders "in half" were bogus.
Bits and pieces about Apple doing a watch have been floating around since at least last year.
Oh! And here the Macalope thought it all had to do with Apple stock dropping.
Slow news day over at ReadWriteFlopSweatPratFall, the Macalope supposes.
[MG] Siegler, who basically operates as an unpaid Apple PR guy ...
Ask yourself why someone would do that. He probably does it because he believes it. Siegler is certainly opinionated and antagonistic against Apple's competitors (although not all of them—he liked the Kindle Fire), but he's right more often than Lyons is. Not that that's saying much.
The story has been everywhere. Huffington Post, CBS, ABC. Everywhere. We've even seen photos of what it might look like, long descriptions of all the amazing features it might have, and all the problems it might solve.
Are you new here or something? This is Apple, Dan. This is the company that, regrettably, made you famous. Does Apple play the news cycle? Good god, yes. That's called smart marketing. The fact that you can't see the difference between that and outside parties making crap up about iPhone demand ... well, that just fits your character profile, actually.