People With An Attitude

EGO TRIP OR TOO MUCH POWER?
By David Blum and Shoshanna Rosenstein

Ego trip or too much power? Perhaps, greed, shallowness, selfishness and vanity? People with an attitude make us sick. And usually, they forget where they came from. And by doing so, they lose their quality (if any), public sympathy, and those who supported them in their initial struggles, when they were obscure and fighting for their skin. Vanity is self-destructive. Humility is a virtue. And gratitude is a blessing. This week, we have a bunch of those "people with an attitude". Some are famous and rich, few are powerful, and the rest are blah blah baloney-balcony!

Fraud and Attitude: Coffin reports to jail

Photo: Paul Coffin

Absolute power corrupts absolutely and greed is the worst of all vices. Michael Douglas, once said: "Greed is Good", and he was referring to corporate America. He is right on! For, an overwhelming majority of top CEOs are the essence of greed and fraud. This week, Canadian, multi-millionaire and advertising executive Paul Coffin has begun serving his jail sentence for fraud related to the sponsorship program, according to two all-news TV channels. RDI and LCN say Coffin reported to officials at Bordeaux jail today, becoming the first player in the federal sponsorship scandal to be incarcerated. The Quebec Court of Appeal sentenced Coffin to 18 months in jail late last week and gave him 72 hours to report to authorities. Coffin could be paroled relatively early into the sentence. A lower-court judge had previously ordered Coffin to perform community service after he pleaded guilty to defrauding Ottawa of $1.5 million. Crown prosecutors, who wanted a 34-month prison sentence, pointed out that Coffin prepared 373 fraudulent invoices over more than five years. A reporter asked Coffin: "Any regret?". And Coffin replied: " I have done nothing wrong. It was not a fraud, simply a common practice." WOW! Is making multimillion Dollars a common practice? Or perhaps, he meant to say, in the high echelon of corporate world and big time business, cheating others is a common practice?! What an attitude!

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "Bush is a man with a bizarre attitude."

Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Iranians on Monday "George Bush has a nasty and unfriendly attitude toward Iranians. This man is a terrorist with an attitude". Ahmadinejad asked his countrymen not to be frightened by western threats over the country's nuclear ambitions, and his government dismissed as "psychological warfare" reports that Washington is drawing up plans for military action.

Associated Press reported that Ahmadinejad's comments came after several reports published over the weekend in U.S. newspapers claimed the Bush administration was studying options for military action, including a nuclear strike, to stop Iran's nuclear program. An account in The New Yorker magazine said U.S. officials were looking at the possibility of using nuclear bombs against Iran's underground nuclear sites. U.S. President George W. Bush said Monday that reports of plans for a military attack against Tehran were "wild speculation" and said his vow to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons "doesn't mean force necessarily." "In this case it means diplomacy," he said. Ahmadinejad replied: "Diplomacy has nothing to do with the internal affairs of Iran. As I said before, Bush is a man with a bizarre attitude." Ahmadinejad went on saying : "Iran would not be dissuaded from its nuclear goals. Tehran insists its nuclear program aims to develop energy, denying U.S. and western accusation that it intends to build nuclear weapons...Our enemies know that they can't cause a minute pause in our nation's motion forward," Ahmadinejad told thousands of people gathered in Mashad, capital of Razavi Khorasan province in northeastern Iran. "Unfortunately today some bullying powers are unable to give up their bullying nature." Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi added: "We see it as psychological warfare, resulting from the Americans' anger and despair" over stopping Iran's nuclear ambitions."

Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran's supreme National Security Council, also played down the reports. "If the U.S. commits such a mistake, it would receive a convenient answer," Larijani told the state-run Islamic Republic New Agency. So, is it an "attitude problem" as claimed by the Iranians, or simply Bush's personal vendetta against Islam, as strongly out cried by fundamentalist masses in the Middle East? And who is having an attitude syndrome? Bush or Ahmadinejad?

Jeffrey Skilling: He had plenty of time to make millions and none for his family

Photo: Jeffrey Skilling, Busted!

Former Enron Corp. Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling declared he was "absolutely innocent", Monday as he began to testify in his own defense in his fraud and conspiracy trial. One of his statements confused the hell out of us. Skilling said: "I guess you could say I was obsessed with Enron," he said. "Every day was intense, and I had not spent the time I should have spent with my family. ... As time went on, and the company became more successful, that was something that mattered more to me." Yah Right! He had no time for his family, but plenty to make millions! What an attitude. A reporter asked him: "You claim you are honest. How are you going to prove your innocence?" and Skilling answered: "I will fight those charges until the day I die, I have integrity and character", Skilling said. Obviously, he forgot to add : I have attitude too! Although he has faced tough questioning from federal investigators before, this is the first time prosecutors will have an opportunity to grill him, according to his co-workers. Asked by another reporter about the Enron executives who pleaded guilty to crimes and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors were Skilling's friends and co-workers if he thought were guilty. "I would say the vast majority who testified here are in my opinion are not guilty," Skilling said without naming names. Avoiding to enter into more details, Skilling went on describing how Enron consumed his life and how, as it grew into a successful company, he decided to find some personal balance. But he also said he told Enron founder Kenneth Lay on "that fateful day, Friday, the 13th of July," that he wanted to resign after 11 years with the company because he was bothered by Enron's falling stock. He also said he told Lay that he believed he had lost credibility with Wall Street after calling a hedge-fund worker an obscene name during a conference call when the worker questioned Enron's financial figures. "The now-infamous ... quote was used as an example of, I don't know, arrogance or something. It wasn't meant that way," said the former CEO, who has a reputation for arrogance. Earlier, prosecutor John Hueston continued pressing former general counsel Jim Derrick on Monday to highlight Enron's cursory response to August 2001 memos from Sherron Watkins, then an Enron vice president, who warned Lay about possibly shady accounting related to financial structures backed by the company's stock. The note, which won Watkins fame when released by Congress the next year, came days after Skilling unexpectedly resigned as chief executive officer. Last week, Derrick in part served as a lead-in to Skilling. Through him, Skilling's lawyers sought to counter prosecution testimony that he failed to approve deals Enron conducted with partnerships run by former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow, as required. Derrick testified that Enron's board approved procedures that required the review and approval of former Chief Accounting Officer Richard Causey and former Chief Risk Officer Rick Buy, but not Skilling. Fastow testified earlier in the trial that he used the partnerships, with Skilling's knowledge, in part to help Enron manufacture earnings. Lay and Skilling are accused of repeatedly lying to investors and employees about Enron's financial health when they allegedly knew fraudulent accounting propped up weak business ventures. The two men say there was no fraud at Enron other than that committed by Fastow and a few others, who skimmed millions from secret schemes, and that bad publicity coupled with lost market confidence drove the company to seek bankruptcy protection in December 2001. Skilling is charged with 28 counts of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and lying to auditors, while Lay faces six counts of fraud and conspiracy.

ODDITIES:

EBay buyer of Bridgeville puts the California town back on auction block

The tiny town of Bridgeville is up for sale again on EBay, complete with its dozen houses, cafe and post office. Two years after Bill Krall bought the entire northern California town for $700,000 on the Internet auction site, he's flipping it. Minimum bid this time: $1.75 million. Krall, a Southern California financial adviser, said personal family commitments prevented him from ever moving to the town about 48 kilometres from the Pacific Ocean, according to his EBay listing. He said he "spent a lot of money and a lot of effort" cleaning up the 33 hectares among the redwoods northwest of San Francisco. The town was once a hub for a local stagecoach route and a stop on the historical Pony Express mail service. A fire station and a school for elementary students are nearby. Krall said he has received e-mails and phone calls from as far away as China and Germany inquiring about the sale. "The world has a fascination with being able to buy a town," Krall said. "You can come in and name it after yourself if you want and be the mayor, chief of police and secretary of interior all at the same time." The auction, which started Tuesday, ends May 4. As of midday Thursday, there had been no bids.

British teacher whose noisy chair caused her grief loses case

An employment tribunal has ruled against a British teacher who claimed a noisy chair made classroom life a misery. Bristol City Council confirmed Monday that the tribunal last week dismissed the complaint by Sue Storer, 48, former deputy head teacher at Bedminster Down Secondary School. Storer said the school failed to replace a chair which made an embarrassing noise whenever anyone sat on it, although other staff received new chairs. She said the chair was a source of embarrassment, especially at parent-teacher evenings. She also claimed that male colleagues were favoured over her.

Australian cop suspended for asking clairvoyant about threat to PM

An Australian federal police officer has been suspended for consulting a clairvoyant as part of an investigation into a death threat made against the country's prime minister, a newspaper reported Sunday. The officer, whose identity has not been released, was reported to have consulted clairvoyant Elizabeth Walker after inquiries into the threat against Prime Minister John Howard hit a dead end, the Sunday Age reported. In a statement to the newspaper, an Australian Federal Police spokesman confirmed an officer was being investigated. "I can confirm we are currently investigating the matter. A member of the AFP has been suspended," the statement said. "The AFP takes seriously all allegations of misconduct by officers and does not condone the use of psychics in security matters." Details of the threat against Howard were not released.

British court jails mailman for hoarding thousands of letters and parcels

A mailman who hoarded thousands of letters and parcels at his home was jailed for four months on Friday. Christopher Meek, 19, admitted hoarding 13,819 postal items, saying he had taken them home because his mailbag was too heavy for him to carry. He was arrested in December after the Royal Mail received complaints from people who had not received Christmas gifts sent through the mail, prosecutors told Sunderland Magistrates' Court in northern England. Meek opened more than 1,400 of the items and stole the contents, including compact disks and DVDs, jewelry and gift vouchers, prosecutors said. "When he was interviewed he denied any wrongdoing, saying the work was too heavy and he had always intended returning the mail," said prosecutor Paul Herron. "He admitted spending the money he had stolen and giving other items away." Meek's lawyer, Peter Thubron, said his client - who is short and slight - had struggled to carry his mailbag and had taken the mail items home to deliver later but then let the situation get out of control. Magistrate Alex Hendry told Meek he had "brought unhappiness to a lot of people."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MARTHA STEWART KNOWS BEST. REALLY?

Martha Stewart is building houses, now. From designing to construction and from lecturing on how to live to how to create the perfect house for you. Creative but strong-headed, Stewart wants to do what she wants to do, and this includes deciding on basic and advanced architecture and building standards and requirements. Is she listening to her architects and engineers? Are you kidding? Of course not! She is telling her fleet of interior designers and architects what to do, what to design, how to design the thing and how to built the stuff. "I know what I am doing, you do what I am telling you to do. I know best.", said Stewart to her architects and engineers.

Did she learn anything from her past experience? No! Did jail sojourn teach her anything? No! Does she believe in humility? No! Does she know best? Oh Yes! Is she the best of the best? She thinks so. But insiders are telling outsiders they got it wrong. Stewart is building ice cream and chocolate cakes houses, not real houses. "Sugar cubes and royal icing serve as the bricks and mortar for this confectionery Christmas house., with a few architectural details—peppermint sticks for roof shingles, jelly beans to line the windows, and rock candy along the rooftop", said Martha Stewart Living assistant holiday and crafts editor Kelli Ronci, who helped Martha creating these enchanting houses. But the outsiders came back and told the insiders "Bull....t. Martha is building brick and cement houses. We looked at her chimneys design. And Stewart's instructions were clear.

This is what she told her architects "To make the chimney, cut a small rectangle from a thin piece of cardboard. Score it with a knife three times (to create the four sides of the chimney), and fold it into a box shape." Confusing? You bet! But do not be confused, for de facto, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia officially announced a new licensing agreement with KB Home, one of America's largest and most successful community developers, in which the designs of three of Stewart's personal residences will be used as the only inspiration for the construction of new homes to be built by the developers.

But whether it is a cake house or a brick house, Stewart will not take instruction or advice from architects, interior designers, investors and community developers. She kept on telling her crew: " I know best. And it is going to be my way or else..."And what do we call this? Attitude. And Martha is here to crown our list of "people with an attitude"! Welcome, dear!

New York Post's Jared Paul Stern:

"We know how to destroy people, it's what we do. We do it without creating liability. That's our specialty."

Photo: Columnist Jared Paul Stern, shown at a fashion show in 2003, is accused of trying to extort money from a billionaire. "We know how to destroy people," Stern said.

Yes sir! The media can make you or break you. And some greedy and malicious reporters are in a powerful position to destroy your life. They know pretty well, you are hopeless, because you cannot sue them, for they are protected by the 1st Amendment; The Freedom of Speech, that is! What the New York Post's Jared Paul Stern allegedly said, according to The New York Times: "We know how to destroy people, it's what we do.

We do it without creating liability. That's our specialty." echoes this alarming tragedy...and threat, IF it is true. If Mr. Stern's statement turned out to be true, then, and only then, Mr. Stern is a troubled man with an attitude. Read the whole story/article "Federal Investigation: Powerful gossips columnist allegedly tried to extort money from a California billionaire in the " in the Gossips Page" of this issue."

THE ULTIMATE BOOK OF WORLD LIST: The best and worst people, ideas, talents and accomplishments of all time

It Is The Ultimate, The Funniest, Best Book Of Lists! PERIOD!

If you are a list fanatic, and who isn't these days, this book is for you. I have never seen such an authoritative compilation of lists and commentary, and of course I am a list fanatic myself, so I have seen many. The author is in a privileged position to write the book and compile all those lists. Maximillien de Lafayette visited forty-six countries He is fluent in seven languages, and the author of numerous books and encyclopedias. His interest and accomplishments in various disciplines range from classical and abstract art to international law, with writing dramas and plays, ancient civilizations, entertainment, music, customs, cultures, animals, and psychology in between. But the lists are not generated solely by Mr. De Lafayette. They are a prism of global opinions, scholarly research, essays, polls, and surveys, by the world media and various journalists, as well as readers from around the globe. The commentaries are all personal opinions of the author, and they are fun, impressive and priceless. But what is the best, what is the worst? Who can really say? When you have a list of the most influential people in history, some would say Napoleon and Alexander the great take precedence. I will argue vehemently that Jonas Salk and Louis Pasteur were much more important. The most effective invention of the 20th Century? Some would say television. Others would nominate the airplane. I am sure many would say that it was the computer. Would we all agree? Of course not. And as for the best novels ever written, the violence of the discussions generated by such a list can be devastating by the heat, the violence, and the hatred that would be expressed. Believe me, when the proponent of War and Peace defends his or her choice against Moby Dick, the innocent observer should take cover. And that is the fun of this book. It has just about every list you can wish for. It spans politics, war, art, literature, entertainment, nations, ethnicity, and gender. Ideas, mistakes, customs, and funny events, mix up with Nobel Prize winners and the most hated people in history. There is no end to the variety and the fun.

This book will give you hours of reading enjoyment, wonderful opportunities to argue with your friends, and a reference that is more than valuable for your research. Not too many books can claim for so many places in your library and your heart. Rating: 5 Stars!