position:chairman

At Google we aspire to do the right thing. So we welcome a debate on international tax reform
▻http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/18/google-tax-reform-eric-schmidt

The chairman of Google responds to criticism that companies such as his are not paying their fair share of taxes

Le plus intéressant, ce sont les commentaires. J’en ai pas trouvé un favorable à Google.

French Banks Traded in Secrecy | International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
▻http://www.icij.org/offshore/french-banks-under-palm-trees

The active involvement of the two French banks in setting up these offshore firms contributes to international financial secrecy and contravenes the principles they have repeatedly asserted in public.

For example, on the 17th of April, 2012, Baudouin Prot, chairman of the BNP Paribas banking group, made a bullish declaration to the Senate investigative committee into tax evasion: “We make no compromises in this area: we insist on being absolutely exemplary.”

Bennett to Norwegian FM: Yair Lapid is ’not too crazy’ about the two-state solution - Diplomacy & Defense - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/bennett-to-norwegian-fm-yair-lapid-is-not-too-crazy-about-the-two-state-sol

Bennett said Israel should look to improve Palestinian economy, remove checkpoints on West Bank roads, reintegrate the Palestinians into Israeli workforce and, ’if conditions allow, even to remove the separation wall.’
By Barak Ravid and Jonathan Lis

In a meeting Wednesday with the Norwegian foreign minister, Habayit Hayehudi chairman Naftali Bennett said his political ally, Finance Minister Yair Lapid, was, like himself, “not too crazy about the two-state solution” and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

The industry, trade and labor minister told Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Espen Barth Eide, that he supported the removal of the West Bank separation barrier.

Before meeting with Bennett, Eide met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who affirmed his commitment to his own “Bar-Ilan speech” of 2009 and the two-state principle, and said he wanted to renew the negotiations with the Palestinians soon.

However, when he met with Bennett, Eide heard messages that were 180 degrees apart from the official Israeli stance on the peace process, as reiterated by Netanyahu. According to a senior Israeli official knowledgeable about the discussion between Bennett and Eide, Bennett spoke out harshly against the idea of a Palestinian state being established between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

Top Swedish judge defends Wikileaks’ Assange
▻http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/04/201344101924549129.html

A senior Swedish judge has said that the sex-crime allegations against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange are “a mess”, and praised him for leaking classified US documents.

Speaking on Wednesday at the University of Adelaide in Australia, Stefan Lindskog, chairman of the Supreme Court of Sweden, also listed legal obstacles to extraditing the 41-year-old Australian to the United States to face prosecution for exposing thousands of classified documents.

Lindskog was critical of the Swedish criminal investigation, and suggested that Sweden’s extradition treaty with the United States would not apply to Assange.

"I think it is a mess,’’ said Lindskog, referring to the Swedish criminal investigation. "Basically, I think there are some misunderstandings, especially when it comes to the issue of extradition.’’

"Extradition shall not be granted when alleged crimes [are] military or political in nature,’’ Lindskog said.

The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage

▻http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/03/26/us/politics/100000002139041/the-conservative-case-for-gay-marriage.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_

The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage

March 26, 2013By Ben Werschkul, Channon Hodge, Nathan Frandino and Alyssa Kim

Ken Mehlman, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, discusses the arguments before the Supreme Court.

Qataris stake their claim to a place at the top table of global dealmaking | World news | The Observer
▻http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/24/qataris-take-seat-top-table-dealmaking?CMP=twt_gu

... many see much of the real power residing with Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani (known as “HBJ”), a cousin of the emir whose position is thought to stem from his support for the 1995 coup.

HBJ is prime minister and foreign minister, chief executive of the QIA, and chairman of its subsidiary Qatar Holding – said to be the emir’s personal investment vehicle in a country where personal and state wealth are blurred.

One analyst says: “The current emir is a large man who does not look in perfect health. It is not clear what HBJ’s position will be once Tamim is in charge.”

Top general urges caution on Syria options, rebels | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/18/us-syria-crisis-usa-idUSBRE92H0ZA20130318

(Reuters) - The United States has a less clear understanding of Syria’s opposition than it did last year, the top U.S. military officer said on Monday, in comments likely to disappoint rebels hoping that America might be inching toward a decision to arm them.

“About six months ago, we had a very opaque understanding of the opposition and now I would say it’s even more opaque,” said General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Dempsey, who is President Barack Obama’s top uniformed military adviser, said he would also advise extreme caution when deliberating any military options in Syria - saying the conflict posed “the most complex set of issues that anyone could ever conceive, literally.”

Oh là !
New Israeli organization aims to be first right-wing Palestinian rights watchdog - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/new-israeli-organization-aims-to-be-first-right-wing-palestinian-rights-wat

Yoaz Hendel, chairman of the Institute for Zionist Studies, has set up the first rightist human rights organization of its kind. The organization intends to monitor the violation of Palestinians’ human rights at West Bank checkpoints, collate testimonies of apparent war crimes by IDF soldiers and provide medical assistance to Palestinians and African asylum-seekers.

Hendel, former head of the National Information Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office, quit his post a year ago.

The new organization, dubbed BlueWhite Human Rights, started operating under the IZS about a month ago as the rightist version of leftwing watchdog groups such as Machsom Watch, Breaking the Silence and Physicians for Human Rights.

Hendel announced the organization’s establishment in his Facebook page this week. Unlike the leftist organizations, the new group will act in cooperation with the IDF authorities to make sure the complaints are investigated and acted on, he wrote.

Foreigners Now Permitted To Carry Mobile Phones In North Korea | NK News – North Korea News

Voilà une nouvelle intéressante qui me laisse quand même perplexe vu l’inexistence des réseau (du moins pour l’instant). A suivre...

▻http://www.nknews.org/2013/01/exclusive-foreigners-now-permitted-to-carry-mobile-phones-in-north-korea

Change in national policy comes just days after Google chairman’s visit

January 19, 2013

NK NEWS can exclusively reveal that only days after Google chairman Eric Schmidt’s visit to North Korea, tourists may now bring cell phones into the country without having them confiscated by immigration officials at the border.

Up until now, bringing mobile phones into North Korea has been strictly forbidden, with all handsets confiscated at customs and only returned on exit. Despite this new development, tourists are currently neither able to roam on North Korea’s domestic KoryoLink network nor purchase local SIM cards, meaning that despite being allowed to carry their handsets, they are unusable.

The news that cellphones can be legally brought into North Korea comes just days after Google’s Eric Schmidt and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson’s returned from a high profile trip to North Korea.

Le Miami Herald est indigné: Latin America’s new leader: Raúl Castro - Andres Oppenheimer.
▻http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/16/3186072/latin-americas-new-leader-raul.html

It sounds like a joke, but it isn’t: At the end of this month, the 33-country Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) — a two-year-old organization that lists promoting democracy among its top goals — will swear-in Cuban dictator Gen. Raúl Castro as its new chairman.

What’s just as crazy, Gen. Castro will become Latin America and the Caribbean’s official spokesman in political and trade negotiations with the 27-country European Union and other world blocs during his 12-month tenure. Castro will take over CELAC’s leadership from Chilean President Sebastian Piñera at a CELAC-European Union summit in Chile on Jan. 28, and is to pass on the group’s leadership to the Costa Rican president in January 2014.

US accused of telecoms pact ‘propaganda’ - FT
►http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86d4baf4-4774-11e2-8c34-00144feab49a.html

“propagande de guerre”

Franco Bernabè, chairman of Telecom Italia and president of GSMA, the mobile operators’ association, has attacked what he described as “propaganda warfare” by the US that led to the collapse last week of talks over a telecom treaty.
(...)
Mr Bernabè, who as president of GSMA represents almost 800 mobile operators in 220 countries, said the suggestion by the US and its allies that those in favour of the treaty were from “authoritarian regimes” was “ridiculous”.
“This is propaganda warfare,” he told the Financial Times in an interview. “What is offensive is [the idea] that a legitimate portion of the industry has been associated with Iran and oppressive regimes. That is complete nonsense and unacceptable”.
Mr Bernabè, calling for regulators to reconsider their stance, joined other supporters of the treaty in suggesting that the US was using the principle of freedom as a cover to protect corporations such as #Google and #Facebook from global attempts to co-ordinate regulation.

►http://www.telecomitalia.com/content/dam/telecomitalia/it/archivio/documenti/media/Rassegna_stampa/2012/Bernab%C3%A8%20FT-17-12-12.pdf

#UIT #propagande #internet #Etats-Unis

Calif. Judge Says Victims’ Body Can Prevent Rape‏ « MasterAdrian’s Weblog
►http://masteradrian.com/2012/12/15/calif-judge-says-victims-body-can-prevent-rape%e2%80%8f

Calif. Judge Says Victims’ Body Can Prevent Rape‏
December 15, 2012

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California judge is being publicly admonished for saying a rape victim “didn’t put up a fight” during her assault and that if someone doesn’t want sexual intercourse, the body “will not permit that to happen.”

The California Commission on Judicial Performance voted 10-0 to impose a public admonishment Thursday, saying Superior Court Judge Derek Johnson’s comments were inappropriate and a breach of judicial ethics.

“In the commission’s view, the judge’s remarks reflected outdated, biased and insensitive views about sexual assault victims who do not ‘put up a fight.’ Such comments cannot help but diminish public confidence and trust in the impartiality of the judiciary,” wrote Lawrence J. Simi, the commission’s chairman.

Johnson made the comments in the case of a man who threatened to mutilate the face and genitals of his ex-girlfriend with a heated screwdriver, beat her with a metal baton and made other violent threats before committing rape, forced oral copulation, and other crimes.

Though the woman reported the criminal threats the next day, the woman did not report the rape until 17 days later.

Johnson, a former prosecutor in the Orange County district attorney’s sex crimes unit, said during the man’s 2008 sentencing that he had seen violent cases on that unit in which women’s vaginas were “shredded” by rape.

“I’m not a gynecologist, but I can tell you something: If someone doesn’t want to have sexual intercourse, the body shuts down. The body will not permit that to happen unless a lot of damage is inflicted, and we heard nothing about that in this case,” Johnson said.

The commission found that Johnson’s view that a victim must resist to be a real victim of sexual assault was his opinion, not the law. Since 1980, California law doesn’t require rape victims to prove they resisted or were prevented from resisting because of threats.

In an apology to the commission, Johnson said his comments were inappropriate. He said his comments were the result of his frustration during an argument with a prosecutor over the defendant’s sentence.

Johnson said he believed the prosecutor’s request of a 16-year sentence was not authorized by law. Johnson sentenced the rapist to six years instead, saying that’s what the case was “worth.”

Google’s tax avoidance is called ’capitalism’, says chairman Eric Schmidt - Telegraph
►http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/9739039/Googles-tax-avoidance-is-called-capitalism-says-chairman-Eric-Schmidt.h

“I am very proud of the structure that we set up. We did it based on the incentives that the governments offered us to operate.”
“It’s called #capitalism,” he said. “We are proudly capitalistic. I’m not confused about this.”

#fisc

Meet William Hauck (of Golden Pacific Bank / Blue Shield of California / California State University / California Forward / Goddard Claussen )

Golden Pacific Bank Profile of Director William Hauck:

“William Hauck is the Senior Advisor at Goddard Claussen/West. Based in the firms Sacramento office, he provides strategic counsel to its clients. He recently retired as President and CEO of the California Business Roundtable. In that capacity, Mr. Hauck is responsible for all operations of the organization. The Roundtable was created to provide policy leadership at the state level regarding the maintenance of a sound economy and business climate in California and is composed of the chief executive and senior operating officers of major corporations doing business in the state.

Bill Hauck most recently served as President and CEO of the California Business Roundtable. Hauck led the organization from 1996 to 2011. Prior to that, he held a number of executive positions in state government including Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Pete Wilson, Chief of Staff to two Assembly Speakers and Director of the Assembly Office of Research. Mr. Hauck also chaired the state’s Constitution Revision Commission (appointed by Governor Pete Wilson) and served as Co-Chair of the California Performance Review Commission (appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger).

Mr. Hauck currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the California State University system where he chairs the board of directors’ finance committee. He served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1998 to 2000. Mr. Hauck also serves on the board of directors of Blue Shield of California, where he chairs the nomination and governance committee, and serves on the finance and investment and compensation committees.”

Source: ►http://www.yourbankingsolution.com/about-us/management.html

TLR Notes:

1. In addition to Mr. Hauck, also serving as directors at Golden Pacific Bank are CaliforniaALL’s Pat Fong Kushida, Richard Claussen, and Donna Lucas — who may have abruptly quit recently)

2. Golden Pacific Banks does not mention Hauck’s involvement with California Forward.

3. Ally of MTO’s Jeffrey Bleich vis a vis California State University.

–--------------------------------------------------------

CSU Profile:
William Hauck

Chair (1998-2000), Board of Trustees
Vice Chair (1996-98), Board of Trustees
Member, Board of Trustees (1993-2017)
The California State University

Mr. Hauck joined Goddard Claussen/West as Senior Advisor in late 2011. Prior to joining GC/West, Hauck served as President and CEO of the California Business Roundtable and was responsible for all operations of the organization. The Roundtable is headquartered in Sacramento and is composed of the Chief Executive and Senior Operating Officers of major corporations doing business in the state. The organization’s mission is to provide policy leadership at the state level regarding the maintenance of a sound economy and business climate in California. He served in this capacity from 1996 to 2011.

Prior to joining the Roundtable Hauck was Executive Vice-President and major shareholder of Information for Public Affairs Inc., a Sacramento based national information services company now owned by Lexis/Nexis. Hauck also has held a number of executive positions in state government including Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor, Chief of Staff to two Assembly Speakers and Director of the Assembly Office of Research. Hauck also chaired the state’s Constitution Revision Commission (appointed by Governor Pete Wilson) and as Co-Chair of the California Performance Review Commission (appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger).

Mr. Hauck serves on the Board of Directors of Blue Shield of California. He is currently Chair of the Nomination and Corporate Government Committee and also serves on the Compensation Committee.

Additionally, Hauck is a member of the Board of Directors of the Blue Shield of California Foundation and chairs the Audit Committee.

Mr. Hauck received a B.A. in social science from San José State University (1963).
Source: ►http://www.calstate.edu/BOT/bios/hauck.shtml

–-----------------------------------------------------

California Forward Profile:

Bill Hauck is a senior advisor at Goddard Claussen/West and the former president of the California Business Roundtable, a statewide nonpartisan organization which brings the leadership of California’s top chief executive officers to public policy issues affecting the state’s business climate, economic growth and quality of life.

Mr. Hauck also is a founder, major shareholder and a member of the board of directors of Information for Public Affairs Inc., also known as State Net. State Net maintains a database of legislation introduced in 50 states and Congress.

Mr. Hauck previously served as deputy chief of staff for Governor Pete Wilson and was chairman of the California Constitution Revision Commission. Earlier in his career, he served as chief of staff to Assembly Speakers Bob Moretti and Willie L. Brown, Jr. Additionally, Mr. Hauck was a consultant to the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization, director of the Assembly Office of Research, and assistant city manager of Palo Alto.

Mr. Hauck serves as a member of the board of trustees of the California State University system, which he chaired for two years, and serves as chairman of the board’s finance committee. He also serves on the board of directors of Blue Shield of California and on the board of the Blue Shield of California Foundation. Mr. Hauck also served on the board of the California Journal, a monthly nonpartisan analysis of government and politics in California.

Source:

►http://www.cafwd.org/pages/william-hauck

TLR Note:

Also directors are Donna Lucas, CETF’s Sunne McPeak, CCPF’s Stweart Kwoh,

–--------------------------------------------------------

Blue Shield of California Foundation Profile:

Bill Hauck is Senior Advisor to Goddard/Claussen West, a Sacramento-based highly-regarded public affairs and ballot measure campaign firm.

Mr. Hauck recently stepped down as President of the California Business Roundtable, a statewide, non-partisan organization composed of senior operating officers of California’s leading corporations. He had held the position since November 1996.

Mr. Hauck’s Sacramento-based career has included stints in business and state government. Until its November 2010 sale to Lexis/Nexis, he was a major shareholder and member of the Board of Directors of State Net, a national information services company providing data on legislation introduced in 50 states and Congress.

Mr. Hauck also has served as Chairman of the California Constitution Revision Commission and Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Pete Wilson. Earlier in his career he served as Chief of Staff to Assembly Speakers Bob Moretti and Willie Brown Jr. More recently, Mr. Hauck served as Co-Chair of Governor Schwarzenegger’s California Performance Review Commission.

Mr. Hauck serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the California State University system. He chaired the Board from 1998 to 2000. Originally appointed by Governor Wilson, he was reappointed by Governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger and is now serving a third eight-year term. He currently is Chairman of the Board’s Finance Committee.

In addition, Mr. Hauck serves on the Board of Directors of Blue Shield of California and the Board of Trustees of Blue Shield of California Foundation. He also is a member of the Board of Directors of Golden Pacific Bancorp and California Forward.

Mr. Hauck is a graduate of San Jose State University and participated in the CORO Foundation Internship in Public Affairs.

Source: ►http://www.blueshieldcafoundation.org/about/board/william-hauck

URGENT- BREAKING NEWS: CleanTECH San Diego Removes Name of Deposed UC Scripps’s Tony Haymet From Website Amid Exposure on The Leslie Brodie Report; Red Flags Over Latham & Watkins, Lucas, Africa, Brosnahan;YR:Remain Calm - I’m on the Case

DEVELOPING STORY......

Following on the heels of exposure on The Leslie Brodie Report, San Diego-based CleanTECH quicly moved to redact the name of deposed Tony Haymet from its web-site.

Yesterday, The Leslie Brodie Report published a profile of CleanTECH, including the names of Leadership / Board of Directors See@:

►http://lesliebrodie.wordpress.com/2012/11/15/profile-of-cleantech-non-profit-launched-by-deposed-ucs-scri

MISSION

Our mission is to stimulate innovation and advance the adoption of clean technologies and sustainable industry practices for the economic, environmental and social benefit of the greater San Diego region. We accomplish this through a series of programs including education and outreach, policy advocacy and leadership opportunities. Our membership includes business and financial leaders, academic and research institutes, and government and non-profit organizations.

Leadership

Tony Haymet, Interim Chairman & Director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Kelley Gale, Vice Chairman & Partner, Latham & Watkins
Julian Parra, Vice Chairman & Senior Vice President, Bank of America

However, as of today, the name of Haymet is nowhere to be found.
Leadership

Jim Waring, Executive Chairman
Kelley Gale, Vice Chairman & Partner, Latham & Watkins
Julian Parra, Vice Chairman & Senior Vice President, Bank of America
Clark Crawford, Vice Chaiman & VP Sales & Business Development USA, Soitec

Energy

Jim Avery, San Diego Gas & Electric
Bryan Bjorndal, Assure Controls
Michael Kempa, Honeywell International
Joe Mahler, Synthetic Genomics
Bill Sahnd, GE
Daniel Sullivan, Sullivan Solar Power
Jared Quient, AMSOLAR

Business & Financial

Julia Brown, Forestview Advisors
Mike Elconin, Tech Coast Angels
Peter Fisher, LightSource Renewables, LLC
Josh Lampl, EcoElectron Ventures
Glenn Mosier, UBS Financial Services

Professional Services

Lee Barken, Haskell & White, LLP
Ed Bryant, KPMG
Ben Haddad, California Strategies
Patrick Hanson, Barney & Barney
John Lormon, Procopio
Darren Morgan, Cushman & Wakefield
Doug Regnier, Ernst & Young
Steven Rowles, Morrison & Foerster
Seth Stein, Green Talent Staffing

Non-governmental Organizations

Ruben Barrales, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
Timothy Kelley, Imperial Valley EDC
Joe Panetta, BIOCOM
Duane Roth, CONNECT
Lisa Easterly, San Diego Regional EDC
Bill Walton, Sports & Entertainment Innovation

Academic

Scott Anders, University of San Diego
Sandra Brown, UC San Diego
Alan Sweedler, San Diego State University
Stephen Welter, San Diego State University

Government

Eric Engelman, Office of Mayor Sanders, City of San Diego
Gabe Gutierrez, Office of Ron Roberts, County of San Diego
Jim Madaffer, City of San Diego
Scott Peters, Port of San Diego
Craig Ruiz, City of Chula Vista
Rear Admiral Dixon Smith, Commander, Navy Region Southwest

See @: ►http://www.cleantechsandiego.org/board-of-directors.html

Current List of Regents of the University of California(Note: According to YR Circumstances Surrounding UCI Foundation-Joe Dunn;UC Berkeley Foundation-Freada Kapor;Scripps-Tony Haymet-CleanTECH; If Money is Laundered is with Consent of Regents)

Appointed Regents:

Richard C. Blum
Appointed March 12, 2002 to a term expiring March 1, 2014 (by Davis); B.A., University of California, Berkeley; M.B.A, University of California, Berkeley; Chairman of Blum Capital Partners, L.P.; Co-Chairman of Newbridge Capital, LLC.

William De La Peña, M.D.
Appointed August 18, 2006 to a term expiring March 1, 2018 (by Schwarzenegger); Ophthalmologist and medical director of the De La Pena Eye Clinic; B.S., American School Foundation; M.D., Autonomous University of Guadalajara.

Russell Gould
Appointed September 13, 2005 to a term expiring March 1, 2017 (by Schwarzenegger); B.A., University of California, Berkeley.

Eddie Island
Appointed June 6, 2005 to a term expiring March 1, 2017 (by Schwarzenegger); retired attorney and executive; J.D., Harvard Law School.

George Kieffer
Appointed May 6, 2009 (by Schwarzenegger) to term expiring March 1, 2021; Partner and member of the Executive Committee of the national law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP; Bachelor’s degree, University of California, Santa Barbara; J.D. degree from UCLA.

Sherry L. Lansing
Appointed March 11, 1999 to a term expiring March 1, 2010 (by Davis);re-appointed in 2010 (by Schwarzenegger) to a term expiring March 1, 2022. Founder of the Sherry Lansing Foundation and former Chair and CEO of Paramount Pictures’ Motion Picture Group; B.S., Northwestern University. Ms. Lansing is the current Chairman of the Board.

Monica Lozano
Appointed September 21, 2001 to term expiring March 1, 2013 (by Davis); Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of La Opinión Newspaper

Hadi Makarechian
Appointed October 24, 2008 to term expiring March 1, 2020 (by Schwarzenegger); B.S. (Civil Engineering), B.A. (Economics), State University of New York; Chairman of Makar Properties Board of Directors and Banning Lewis Ranch Management Company Board of Directors.

Norman J. Pattiz
Appointed September 21, 2001 to a term expiring March 1, 2004 (by Davis); appointed September 4, 2003 to a term expiring March 1, 2014 (by Davis); Founder and Chairman of the Board of Westwood One.

Bonnie Reiss
Appointed March 27, 2008 to a term expiring March 1, 2020 (by Schwarzenegger); Operating Advisor to Pegasus Capital Advisors; BBA, University of Miami; J.D., Antioch Law School.

Fred Ruiz
Appointed July 2, 2004 to a term expiring March 1, 2016 (by Schwarzenegger); Co-founder and Chairman, Ruiz Foods.

Leslie Tang Schilling
Appointed September 13, 2005 to a term expiring March 1, 2013 (by Schwarzenegger); B.A., University of California, Berkeley; M.A, American Graduate School of International Management; Director of Union Square Investments, Inc.

Jonathan Stein
Student Regent, July 13, 2012- June 30, 2013; B.A., Harvard University (English); UC Berkeley student at Berkeley Law School and Goldman School of Public Policy.

Bruce D. Varner
Appointed August 18, 2006 to a term expiring March 1, 2018 (by Schwarzenegger); Partner in the law firm Varner & Brandt; B.A., University of California, Santa Barbara; J.D., Hastings Law School. Mr. Varner is the current Vice Chair of the Board.

Paul Wachter
Appointed July 2, 2004 (by Schwarzenegger) to a term expiring March 1, 2016; Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; J.D., Columbia School of Law;Founder, President and CEO, Main Street Advisors.

Charlene Zettel
Appointed May 6, 2009 to term expiring March 1, 2021 (by Schwarzenegger); Board member, San Diego Regional Airport Authority; B.S., University of Southern California.

Ex Officio Regents

Jerry Brown
Governor of California and ex-officio Regent, January 3, 2011 – present.

Gavin Newsom
Lieutenant Governor and ex officio Regent, effective January 10, 2011 – present.

John A. Pérez
Speaker of the Assembly and ex officio Regent, effective March 1, 2010 – present; Assemblymember from the 46th district.

Tom Torlakson
State Superintendent of Public Instruction and ex officio Regent, January 3, 2011 – present.

Mark G. Yudof
President of the University and ex officio Regent, effective June 16, 2008; B.A., University of Pennsylvania; LL.B, Law School, University of Pennsylvania.

Alan Mendelson
Alumni Regent from July 1, 2012- June 30, 2013 and Vice President of the Alumni Associations of the University of Calfornia; B.A., University of California, Berkeley; J.D., Harvard University.

Ronald Rubenstein
Alumni Regent from July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013, and President of the Alumni Associations of the University of California; B.A., University of California, Santa Barbara (Economics); J.D., University of California, Berkeley School of Law.

Regents-Designate

Ken Feingold
Regent-designate, July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013, and Secretary, Alumni Associations of the University of California; B.A., University of California, Santa Cruz (History); J.D., University of San Francisco.

Van Schultz
Regent-designate, July 1, 2012- June 30, 2013 and Treasurer, Alumni Associations of the University of Calfornia; B.S., University of California, Los Angeles; M.S., University of California, Los Angeles.

Cinthia Flores
Student Regent-designate, July 1, 2012- June 30, 2013; B.A., University of California, Los Angeles.

Faculty Representatives to The Regents

Robert Powell
Faculty Representative to The Regents, September 1, 2011 – August 31, 2013, and current Chair of the Universitywide Academic Senate of the University of California.

William Jacob
Faculty Representative to The Regents, September 1, 2012 – August 31, 2014, and current Vice Chair of the Universitywide Academic Senate of the University of California.

Staff Advisors to The Regents

Kathy Barton
Staff Advisor Designate, July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013.

Kevin Smith
Staff Advisor, July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013.

Source: ►http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regbios

School groping surge blamed on internet porn: Third of sixth-form girls have been abused by classmates

By Daniel Martin

PUBLISHED: 23:55 GMT, 13 November 2012 | UPDATED: 08:56 GMT, 14 November 2012

Comments (152)
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Ann Coffey said a third of sixth-form girls had been touched inappropriately by boys in their school

Ann Coffey said a third of sixth-form girls had been touched inappropriately by boys in their school

Easy access to internet porn is behind a worryingly high number of girls being groped or sexually manhandled at school, an MP claimed yesterday.

Ann Coffey revealed a third of sixth-form girls had been touched inappropriately by boys in their school.

The chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on runaway and missing children, put the blame firmly on the increasing impact of internet pornography, which she said was ’distorting’ teenage boys’ views of sex.

She warned that many boys were developing ’harmful attitudes and behaviours’ such as seeing girls simply as sex objects because they believe they have a ’sense of entitlement’ to do what they want to them.

The MP called for sex and relationship education to be made compulsory in schools, saying the situation was so bad that boys had to be supported to form ’respectful attitudes to girls’.

Unless the situation is changed, more girls would suffer ’physical and emotional harm’, which could damage their education and future career prospects.

The Daily Mail is campaigning for an automatic block on online porn to protect children from stumbling across it.

Over-18s would only be able to access adult images by ’opting in’ with their internet provider following a strict age verification check. Speaking during a debate on child sexual exploitation in the Commons, Miss Coffey cited a YouGov poll by the End Violence Against Women campaign, which surveyed 800 teenagers.

More...

An avalanche of junk mail: Nearly half daily postbag is now direct marketing... and the Royal Mail wants us to get even more!
Is Apple about to begin making the iPhone 5S (just as you’ve bought the 5)?

It found 29 per cent of 16 to 18-year-old girls had suffered ’unwanted sexual touching’ at school.

Almost as many, 28 per cent, said they had seen sexual images on mobile phones at school ’a few times a month or more’. And 71 per cent said they had heard sexual name-calling at school ’daily or a few times a week’.

Some 40 per cent said they had never had lessons teaching them about the need for sexual consent.

Miss Coffey said children should be taught what sexual coercion and exploitation is, as well as being alerted to signs of when they are being sexually groomed. She said lessons should also cover how to shape healthy relationships

’The focus needs to be on both boys and girls,’ she said. ’Boys need to be supported to form positive and respectful attitudes to girls.’
The Daily Mail is campaigning for an automatic block on online porn to protect children from stumbling across it. Over-18s would only be able to access adult images by ’opting in’

The Daily Mail is campaigning for an automatic block on online porn to protect children from stumbling across it. Over-18s would only be able to access adult images by ’opting in’ (stock pic)

The Labour MP for Stockport said one of the main problems was boys accessing adult websites. ’We know harmful attitudes and behaviours are developed at a young age, and there is growing evidence about the impact of pornography on boys’ attitudes to girls,’ she said.

’It is a problem that boys are accessing adult websites which give them a distorted attitude about what is appropriate in terms of their relationships with girls.’

Read more: ►http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2232582/School-groping-surge-blamed-net-porn-Third-sixth-form-girls-abused-clas
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Russian P.M. Medvedev ‘Glad’ Romney Lost

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said he is glad the U.S. presidential election had not been won by “someone who considers Russia enemy number one,” according to the official Russian news agency — a clear reference to Mitt Romney.

Another top official expressed the same sentiment. Alexey Pushkov, chairman of the State Duma’s powerful international affairs committee, said on his Twitter account that it was good the White House would not be occupied by someone who regards Russia as “the enemy.”

Obama’s victory was “better for the outside world,” he said.

Medvedev and Pushkov were alluding to comments first made by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney last March, when he called Russia “our number one geopolitical foe.”

Romney at the time was criticizing Obama for suggesting to Medvedev that he would be willing to make concessions to Russia on missile defense in Europe during a second term in the White House.

“This is my last election,” Obama told the Russian. “After my election I have more flexibility.”

The day after Obama’s re-election, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated him on his win, invited Obama to visit Russia next year, and “expressed his hopes for continued constructive work together,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

The following day, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told an international conference in Moscow: “We hope that President Obama after his re-election will be more flexible on the issue of taking into account the opinions of Russia and others regarding a future configuration of NATO’s missile defense.”

Writing on his Facebook page in October, Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion and leader of an anti-Putin movement, said Obama’s so-called “reset” of relations with Moscow “has been a disaster, giving Putin everything he wants despite his support of the Iranian nuclear program, arming [President Hugo] Chavez in Venezuela, protecting murderous [President Bashar] Assad in Syria, and increasing crackdowns here in Russia.

“Romney was criticized for calling Russia the U.S.’s top geopolitical adversary, but he was correct – although he should have specified it is Putin, and not the Russian people, who oppose peace and cooperation with the West.”

Irish Foreign Minister plans to push for EU ban on settlement products
Nov 09, 2012 11:06 am | Adam Horowitz

Ireland will be taking over as President of the Council of the European Union at the beginning of 2013, and Haaretz reports it will use the position to push for an EU ban on settlement products:

Ireland is planning to utilize its upcoming term as President of the Council of the European Union, which begins on January 1 2013, to advance efforts to achieve a joint decision between all 27 member states to ban products from West Bank Settlements.

The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore, revealed the plan in a letter to the chairman of the Irish parliament’s Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade (PDF).

In a letter obtained by Haaretz, dated November 2, Gilmore wrote that during a meeting of EU foreign ministers in October, he declared that Ireland will give rise to discussions and support a comprehensive EU boycott of goods from settlements.

In an interview with the Jerusalem Post Gilmore explains he supports the move on moral grounds:

Ireland supports a ban on West Bank settlement products even though the European Union is unlikely to impose one, its Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore stated.

“Ireland would support a ban at EU level, and put it forward as an option the Council might consider,” Gilmore said.

He wrote this opinion earlier this month in a letter to the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, the text of which was posted on the web Friday by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

Gilmore said he supported a settlement products ban on moral, not legal grounds.

He explained that while settlements were illegal under international law, the people that lived in them and the products they produced were not.

“I believe there is a moral case for banning settlement products, and I agree it could have a symbolic,” Gilmore wrote.

It would be consistent with EU values and positions to exclude settlement products from the EU, he wrote.

Gilmore cautioned, however, that he didn’t fool himself into thinking that such a ban would make an economic impact.

“I am somewhat concerned that attention is being focused excessively on the issue of settlement products, which form only one aspect, and a comparatively small one, of the problem. The key issue is settlements themselves and their relentless expansion,” he said.

Christian Lobby says marriage campaigners motivated by the devil | Gay Star News
►http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/christian-lobby-says-marriage-campaigners-motivated-devil051012

Christian Lobby says marriage campaigners motivated by the devil
The Australian Christian Lobby has suggested that support for marriage equality may be being inspired by demonic forces
05 October 2012 | By Andrew Potts
The Australian Christian Lobby logo

The chairman of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has told Australian public television that the fight over marriage equality represents a spiritual war and that supporters of marriage equality are supporting ‘evil’ and may be motivated by ‘the Devil.’

‘[Same-sex marriage is] against the kingdom of God by the Devil,’ ACL chairman Tony McClelland told ABC’s Lateline program.

‘The Devil doesn’t like God and doesn’t like everything God stands for. I would say that people who are trying to change the definition of marriage, which has its roots in Christianity, are obviously trying to deconstruct Christian’s views of what marriage should be. And they well may be motivated by the evil one to do that.’

The ACL has repeatedly called for ‘respectful debate’ in the issue but the Australian Marriage Equality campaign said that MClelland’s comments showed the far-right Christian group was unable to practice what they preach.

"The ACL has repeatedly called for supporters of marriage equality to show more respect to Christians who oppose reform, yet here it is slandering us by saying we’re “motivated by the Evil One”,’ Australian Marriage Equality national spokesman Rodney Croome said.

‘This comes on top of ACL representatives linking us to Nazis, paedophiles and the [Aboriginal] stolen generation.’

‘While it so blatantly fails to practice what it preaches, the ACL is without a shred of credibility.

‘Decent, respectful Christians on both sides of the marriage equality debate must take a stand against the ACL, its denigration of those it disagrees with, and its double standards.’

The ACL suffered a recent setback when Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard pulled out of a speaking engagement at the group’s national conference after its general manager and chief spokesman, Jim Wallace said being gay was more dangerous than smoking tobacco - something that many commentators have taken as a sign of the group’s waning political influence.

’Stunned’ by US no, Israel backing down from bellicose Iran-war threats
►http://www.ufppc.org/us-a-world-news-mainmenu-35/11186-news-stunned-by-us-no-israel-backing-down-from-bellicose-iran-war-threa

On Aug. 30, speaking to journalists in London, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the United States armed forces, Gen. Martin Dempsey, said of Israel’s threat to attempt a military strike at Iran’s nuclear program: "I don’t want to be complicit if they [Israel] choose to do it," the London Guardian reported.[1] — A week earlier, “the former American ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, termed Israel’s talk of attacking Iran ’a classic case of crying wolf,’” the Times of Israel reported on Aug. 30.[2] — On Tuesday, Reuters reported that “Stunned by a rebuke from the United States’ top general, Israel is preparing a climbdown strategy in its war of words over Iran’s nuclear program, aware that its room for maneuver is shrinking rapidly.”[3] — Crispian Balmer’s article ended with these words: "’All this talk of war is bullshit. If they could do it, then they would have already done it long ago,’ a senior European diplomat in Israel said."...

Arctique Groenland Matières premères Environnement Europe

Europe looks to open up Greenland for natural resources extraction | Environment | guardian.co.uk

►http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jul/31/europe-greenland-natural-resources?newsfeed=true

UE Jose Manuel Barroso with Greenland Prime Minister Kuupik Kleist
European commission chairman, Jose Manuel Barroso, (right) and Greenland prime minister, Kuupik Kleist. The EU sees potential in a massive opening up of mining operations across the world’s biggest island. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Europe is looking to open a new frontier in the ever more urgent quest for new natural resources – the pristine icy wastes of Greenland.

Oil and gas have been the focus of exploitation so far – but the EU sees just as much potential in a massive opening up of mining operations across the world’s biggest island, according to Antonio Tajani, the European commission’s vice-president and one of the most powerful politicians in the union. He called the move “raw material diplomacy”.

90% of Gaza water “unsafe for drinking,” says UN
►http://electronicintifada.net/content/90-gaza-water-unsafe-drinking-says-un/11544

After a fact-finding tour of the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip — and following hearings in Jordan and Egypt — a three-member United Nations committee has lambasted Israel for the harsh treatment of Palestinian children held in custody.

The Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices in the Occupied Territories has described the continued denial of fundamental human rights of the Palestinians as totally “unacceptable.”

The chairman of the special committee, Palitha Kohona, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the United Nations, has specifically blasted Israeli security forces for the rigorous crackdown on children, mostly accused of hurling rocks at a fully-armed military.

Amid Concerns of Cover-Up by DOJ’s Lanny Breuer YR Submit Narrative to FBI Re DOJ’s Tony West, Ambassador Jeffrey Bleich, HUD’s Ophelia Basgal, Keker & Van Nest’s Chris Young, Kamala Harris, Phantom Non-Profit CaliforniaALL, Obama for America :

Per our telephone conversation, following is a narrative describing the suspicious circumstances relating to non-profit entity CaliforniaALL (FEIN Number 51-0656213), Ambassador Jeffrey Bleich, United States Department of Justice’s Tony West, Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Ophelia Basgal, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, James Brosnahan of Morrison & Foerster, and Chris Young of Keker & Van Nest.

The narrative is divided to 4 parts: 1. General Introduction; 2. Introduction of Actors; 3. Fortuitous Discovery of CaliforniaALL; and 4. Factual Background Regarding CaliforniaALL.

1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION:

As described below, my inquiry began close to one year ago when I stumbled upon unusually large and highly peculiar financial transactions in conjunction with what appeared to me to be clear attempts to conceal and mislead. I immediately notified various entities, including submitting a tip to your agency. Due to circumstances which cannot be viewed as mere coincidence, I was under the impression that funds might have been misappropriated by Voice of OC — specifically, by its founders 1) Joe Dunn and 2) Martha Escutia (both former state senators who were overseeing utility companies and the CPUC and investigating the California energy crisis), and 3) Thomas Girardi and 4) James Brosnahan who were litigating cases involving the California energy crisis on opposite sides, and/or Geoffrey Brown, former Commissioner of the California Public Utilities Commission and 2007 Director of the California Bar Foundation (the “Foundation”) during the time of the suspicious transfer of funds to CaliforniaALL (an entity of which CPUC’s Peter Arth was one of the main initiators).

However futile, I also asked the State Bar of California to investigate this matter. Within a few hours of sending the request, Geoffrey Brown sent me a demand to cease and desist from insisting that he had done anything wrong under threat of litigation. In essence, Brown wanted me to ignore the circumstances dealing with the fact that he was both a CPUC Commissioner and a Director with the Foundation when it quietly made the largest grant in its history to an entity that was conceived by CPUC’s Peter Arth to absorb hundreds of thousands of dollars from utility companies.

While the Foundation alleges that the source of the (relatively) large sum of $774,247 which it transferred to CaliforniaALL was from four utility companies (AT&T, PG&E, Edison International, and Verizon Wireless — as reflected in the Foundation’s 2008 Annual Report and tax return showing contributions to CaliforniaALL), there is no corresponding entry in any Foundation tax return (for tax years 2007 or 2008), nor any mention in the Annual Report, showing the initial receipt of those funds. These facts raised suspicions that money may have been misappropriated from the Foundation, and places those individuals who controlled the Foundation (Jeffrey Bleich, Annette Carnegie, Douglas Winthrop, Ruthe Catolico Ashley, Geoffrey Brown, and others), who “legally” created CaliforniaALL (James Brosnahan, Tony West, Chris Young and the San Francisco office of Morrison & Foerster), who controlled the money (Ophelia Basgal of PG&E; Douglas Winthrop, attorney for PG&E; Jeffrey Bleich, attorney for Verizon Wireless; and Edison (client of James Brosnahan, Tony West, Chris Young, and Annette Carnegie), who controlled CaliforniaALL (Ruthe Ashley, Ophelia Basgal), and who controlled the finances for the Obama for America’s 2008 campaign (Jeffrey Bleich, Tony West, and Chris Young) in a very awkward position.

Other then collecting close to $2 million directly from utility companies (including the “hush-hush” transfer of $774,247, comprised of one installment of $5000 and another contribution of $769,247 from the Foundation which was never mentioned in the Foundation’s “newsroom” or by any other of its publications such as the California Bar Journal or by any of the newsletters and alerts published by CaliforniaALL), CaliforniaALL appears to have been be a sham, phantom entity from its inception in 2008 to the day it began to slowly be dissolved in approximately 2009, subsequent to the election of Barack Obama as president of the U.S. Its only alleged achievement was providing some money for the creation of the Saturday Academy of Law at UC Irvine ("SALUCI") in approximately 2008-2009. Here too vast and intense suspicious circumstances exist as the funds from CaliforniaALL actually went to the UC Irvine Foundation, where the present executive director of the State Bar of California (Senator Joe Dunn) serves as a member of the audit committee, and it turns out that the SALUCI was actually already created in 2005 and was fully operational before CaliforniaALL arrived on the scene. In addition, some records seem to indicate that Verizon Wireless funneled the money directly to SALUCI , while CaliforniaALL took the credit.

Nevertheless, I continued with the inquiry as large pieces of the puzzle were missing, and in fact stated so in a letter seeking information about one of the actor’s employment history. However, within the past several weeks, I believe that I finally managed to put all the pieces together. In my opinion, and based on the information I’ve discovered, it appears that funds were misappropriated and/or laundered through the California Bar Foundation by various individuals through the misuse of CaliforniaALL. Although other potential explanations certainly exist, based on these individuals’ involvement in the “Obama for America” 2008 presidential campaign (as discussed below), one likely possibility is that the funds were unlawfully misdirected to that campaign.

PART 2: INTRODUCTION OF MAIN ACTORS:

1. AMBASSADOR JEFFREY BLEICH — Mr. Bleich served as a director with the Foundation in approximately 2007-2008, as well as president of the State Bar of California.

In 2007, Mr. Bleich established Barack Obama’s National Finance Committee and served as its Chair.

He is a personal friend of President Obama, who served as President Obama’s personal attorney and subsequently was appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to Australia. Prior to joining the Obama administration, Mr. Bleich was a partner with the San Francisco office of Munger Tolles & Olson, which represents client Verizon Wireless.

Out of close to 230,000 lawyers in California, also serving as a director with the Foundation in approximately 2007-2008 was another attorney from Munger Tulles Olsen, Mr. Bradley Phillips. Presently, Ms. Mary Ann Todd (also of Munger Tolles & Olson) is a director with the Foundation.

2. DEREK ANTHONY WEST OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE — Mr. West, who goes by the name “Tony West,” presently serves as third in command within the Department of Justice below Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer.

Around 2007-2008, Mr. Tony West also served as Chair of the “California Finance Committee” of “Obama for America.”

Prior to joining the DOJ, Mr. West was a partner at the San Francisco office of Morrison & Foerster, the law firm which assisted with the legal aspects of creating CaliforniaALL.

Along with attorneys Raj Chaterjee and Susan Mac Cormac, Mr. West was part of senior partner James Brosnahan’s clique. For example, it was Brosnahan, West, and Chaterjee who defended John Walker Lindh, who is more widely known as the “American Taliban.” (It should be noted that it was actually Mr. Brosnahan who initially agreed to the representation since he knows Lindh’s father — Frank Lindh — who served as in-house Chief Legal Counsel at PG&E; Mr. Lindh is presently the Chief Legal Counsel of the CPUC.)

Mr. West is married to Maya Harris, sister of Kamala Harris, who was part of CaliforniaALL.

3. JAMES J. BROSNAHAN OF MORRISON & FOERSTER - Mr. Brosnahan is presently a senior partner at the San Francisco office of Morrison & Foerster.

He considers himself to be the “mastermind behind the Democratic Party.” CaliforniaALL was created by Morrison & Foerster, under the supervision of Mr. Brosnahan (known as the prosecutor of Caspar Weinberger). Specifically Susan Mac Cormac and Eric Tate assisted with the legal aspects of creating the entity. Mr. Brosnahan represented utility companies during California’s energy crisis (which Joe Dunn, Martha Escutia, and Geoffrey Brown were investigating) opposite Thomas Girardi.

Later, Dunn, Escutia, Brosnahan, and Girardi launched the online publication known as Voice of OC.

4. CHRISTOPHER JACOB YOUNG OF KEKER & VAN NEST — Mr. Young, commonly known as “Chris Young,” is currently listed on the State Bar of California’s database as an associate with Keker & Van Nest. Around 2007-2008, Mr. Young was an associate at Morrison & Foerster.

Around 2007-2008, Mr. Young served as “Northern California Deputy Finance Director” for “Obama for America.”

As noted above, State Bar of California records still show that Chris Young is an employee of Keker & Van Nest. However, very recently, Keker & Van Nest ( at the direction of partners John Keker and Jon Streeter, who also worked on the 2008 campaign as a “bundler” and is presently a director with the Foundation) abruptly removed Chris Young’s name from its web-site.

5. ANNETTE CARNEGIE — Ms. Carnegie is presently employed at the Kaiser Foundation. Around 2007-2008, she was a partner at Morrison & Foerster and served as a director of the Foundation. In 2008, the Foundation poured into CaliforniaALL the large sum of $774,247; by comparison, most other donations were around $10,000 to $20,000. As shown below, the transfer of said money appears to be imbued with fraud and secrecy, especially in connection with four utility companies (Verizon, PG&E, Edison, and AT&T).

6. KAMALA HARRIS — In around 2007-2008, Ms. Harris served as the District Attorney in San Francisco while at the same time she was also Co-Chair of “Obama for America.” Ms. Harris was part of CaliforniaALL’s “Advisory Council.” She is the sister of Maya Harris, who is married to Tony West. Media reports provide that parliamentarian Willie Brown served as mentor to both Tony West and Kamala Harris, and was Ms. Harris’s paramour. John Keker of Keker & Van Nest (known as the prosecutor of Oliver North) is also considered to be a “mentor” of Kamala Harris. (Incidentally, State Bar of California Board of Governor member Gwen Moore — also a “mentee” of Willie Brown — was honored by CaliforniaALL at a lavish dinner in a Sacramento hotel. Parliamentarian Moore is no stranger to your agency, having been the target of a sting operation known as Shrimpscam.)

7. OPHELIA BASGAL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT ("HUD") — In around 2007-2008 , Ms. Basgal was Vice President of Civic Partnership and Community Initiatives at PG&E, where she managed the company’s $18 million charitable contributions program, and oversaw its community engagement programs and partnerships with community-based organizations. Separately, around that time she surprisingly served as “Treasurer” with the “California Supreme Court Historical Society.” In that role, she presumably had contact with many judges, including those who were handling matters dealing with PG&E, such as Justice (Ret.) Joseph Grodin who acted as the mediator in a case Attorney General Bill Lockyer advanced against PG&E, which Jerry Brown (cousin of Geoffrey Brown) later dismissed in his capacity as the new Attorney General for California.

Ms. Basgal served as a director of CaliforniaALL.

8. VICTOR MIRMAONTES — Mr. Victor Miramontes, a resident of San Antonio, TX and business partner of former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros in an entity known as CityView, was the chairman of CaliforniaALL.

Mr. Miramontes has various connections to Orange County, and is otherwise familiar with its various legal circles.

9. SARAH E. REDFIELD — Ms. Redfield is presently a professor at the University of New Hampshire School of Law, and served as the interim director of CaliforniaALL. Events surrounding Redfield, as shown below, also appear to be imbued with fraud and deceit, and it appears her role was to create a subterfuge to justify the existence of CaliforniaALL. Since CaliforniaALL’s main achievement was the purported creation of a “Saturday Academy of Law” at UC Irvine ("SALUCI"), Ms. Redfield pretended to have engaged in Requests for Proposals ("RFP"), as well as falsely claiming that she “launched” SALUCI. For her services as interim executive director and an alleged consultant of CaliforniaALL, Professor Redfield was paid approximately $160,000 as an “independent contractor.” She gave very little, if anything, in return for the $160,000 she was paid. In fact, she took credit for the extremely hard work of others, especially that of Rob Vacario of Santa Ana who co-founded SALUCI several years earlier.

10. JUDY JOHNSON – Ms. Johnson is the former Executive Director of the State Bar of California. Ms. Johnson (along with Robert Hawley and Starr Babcock) is no stranger to financial schemes. For the past 8 years, she has been quietly serving as the president of an entity with a misleading name (California Consumer Protection Foundation AKA “CCPF”). This entity absorbed close to $30 million in class action cy pres awards, as well as fines and settlements imposed by the CPUC on utility companies. CCPF forwarded those funds to mostly questionable ACORN-like entities in South Los Angeles or to an entity headed by Michael Shames known as UCAN — presently under federal grand jury investigation in San Diego. It appears that Ms. Johnson used her position as executive director of the State Bar of California (which is supposed to supervise and discipline lawyers) as “clout” to obtain cy pres awards from the settlement of class actions prosecuted and defended by various law firms in courts and before the CPUC. In addition, while never prosecuted for the scheme, some have speculated that Johnson and cohorts Hawley (whom Johnson labeled the “Wizard of OZ”) and Babcock were “in” on a financial scheme perpetrated by former State Bar employee Sharon Pearl, who was lightly prosecuted by then-attorney general Jerry Brown, cousin of Geoffrey Brown.

Ms. Johnson was part of CaliforniaALL’s Advisory Council and was responsible for maintaining secrecy over the project by misleading the public, including a quadriplegic law-student, litigant Sara Granda.

11. RUTHE CATOLICO ASHLEY — Ms. Ashley is a former employee of McGeorge School of Law who later served as a “Diversity Officer” at Cal PERS. Ms. Ashley also served as member of the State Bar of California Board of Governors alongside Mr. Bleich, and came up with the idea to create CaliforniaALL during a meeting with Sarah Redfield and Peter Arth, Jr. (the assistant to CPUC President Michael Peevey). After CaliforniaALL came into existence, Ms. Ashley, after a simulated search, was selected to serve as CaliforniaALL’s executive director.

12. SONIA GONZALES — Ms. Gonzales presently serves as the Foundation’s executive director as of earlier this year, after the former executive director (Ms. Leslie Hatamyia) suddenly quit. Ms. Gonzales is a close friend and confidante of Ms. Maya Harris, the wife of Mr. Tony West.

She presently serves the same function as current Foundation directors Mary Ann Todd of Munger Tolles & Olson, Jon Streeter of Keker & Van Nest, Douglas Winthrop of Howard Rice, and Raj Chatterjee of Morrison & Foerster.

PART 2: FORTUTIOUS DISCOVERY OF CaliforniaALL

At the outset, and to deflect potential allegations that I am motivated by politics, I wish to assure you and the agency that my inquiry into these issues was not and is not motivated by politics. In fact, the only actor referenced above that I have ever met is James Brosnahan, who I met once for a short period of time while a volunteer with BASF - VLSP, a volunteer organization that awarded me a volunteer of the year award. In fact, I initially suspected the misconduct described herein was committed primarily by various other people (i.e. Holly Fujie, Leslie Hatamiya, Ruthe Catolico Ashley, Robert Hawley, Starr Babcock, and Judy Johnson). However, the facts eventually led me to Mr. Brosnahan. Following is a brief overview describing how I stumbled upon this information.

In 2010, the United States Federal Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit issued its final ruling in the disciplinary matter of In Re Girardi by imposing close to $500,000 in sanctions on Walter Lack of Engstrom Lispcomb & Lack and Thomas Girardi of Girardi & Keese stemming from an attempt to defraud the court and cause injury to Dole Food Company in the underlying litigation. You may have heard of Walter Lack and Thomas Girardi as they are the lawyers who were featured in the movie “Erin Brokovich” involving utility company PG&E.

The court ruled that Walter Lack (who stipulated to special prosecutor Rory Little that his prolonged acts of misconduct were intentional) and Thomas Girardi intentionally and recklessly resorted to the use of known falsehoods for years. The Ninth Circuit ordered Girardi and Lack to report their misconduct to the State Bar of California.

The State Bar of California disqualified itself from handling the matter since Howard Miller (of Girardi & Keese) served at that time as its president, and had also made the decision to hire then-chief prosecutor, James Towery.

Mr. Towery, in turn, appointed Jerome Falk of Howard Rice (now Arnold & Porter) as outside “special prosecutor” to determine whether or not to bring charges against Girardi and Lack. (Mr. Falk is a colleague of Douglas Winthrop, and both represented PG&E in its massive bankruptcy proceedings.)

Mr. Falk, in turn, exercised prosecutorial discretion and concluded that he did not believe Lack acted intentionally and that no charges will be brought against the two attorneys.

Within days of Mr. Falk’s decision, I filed an ethics complaint with the State Bar of California against Jerome Falk, James Towery, Howard Miller, and Douglas Winthrop (managing partner of Howard Rice and then-elected president of the Foundation), alleging that it was improper for Mr. Towery to appoint Mr. Falk given the close personal relationship between Howard Miller and Douglas Winthrop. Specifically, Howard Miller — in his capacity as president of the State Bar — had appointed Douglas Winthrop as president of the California Bar Foundation, a foundation maintained and controlled by the State Bar. (Much later I also discovered that Jerome Falk is actually the personal attorney of Thomas Girardi, and that Howard Rice and Jerome Falk represented Walter Lack, Thomas Girardi, Engstrom Lispcomb & Lack, and Girardi & Keese in approximately 2007, and for a period of 2 years, in a malpractice action.)

As such, while at the time I was not familiar with those individuals, I reviewed the Foundation’s annual reports to familiarize myself with the names of the Foundation’s board of directors, and to try to resolve various inconsistencies regarding who was serving as the Foundation’s president and why Robert Scott Wylie appeared to be the president when data showed that he had relocated to Indiana in 2006. I checked the Foundation’s tax returns and it was then that I fortuitously stumbled upon the fact that the Foundation ended 2008 close to $500,000 in the negative. Specifically, the Foundation reported to the IRS that REVENUE LESS EXPENSES in 2007 equaled plus +$373.842.00. However, in 2008, the Foundation reported to the IRS that REVENUE LESS EXPENSES equaled minus -$537,712.

I was also troubled by the fact that the 2008 California Bar Journal Annual Report noted that the Foundation was the “fiscal sponsor” of CaliforniaALL, while the same report also mentioned that the source of the money was 4 utility companies.

In its 2008 Annual Report ( See ), the Foundation alludes to CaliforniaALL by stating:

“In 2007-2008, the Foundation supported the launching of CaliforniaALL and, as the project filed for incorporation and 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, served as CaliforniaALL’s fiscal sponsor. A collaboration between the California Public Employment Retirement System, the California Public Utilities Commission, the California Department of Insurance, and the State Bar of California, CaliforniaALL was created in an effort to close the achievement gap among California students from preschool to the profession and, specifically, to bolster the pipeline of young people of diverse backgrounds headed for careers in law, financial services, and technology. Once CaliforniaALL obtained its tax-exempt status and was able to function as a fully independent nonprofit organization, the foundation granted the balance of funds raised for the project – totaling $769,247 – to the new entity.”

Also cleverly buried in the California Bar Foundation’s 2008 annual report was the following sentence (which should be scrutinized by your agency):

“We thank the following corporations for their gifts in support of CaliforniaALL:

AT & T

Edison International

PG & E Corporation Foundation

Verizon”

*

I believe that the statement that the Foundation granted “the balance” of funds raised for the project most likely refers to a previous $5000 sum which the Foundation awarded to CaliforniaALL for “research,” also in 2008. As such, $769,247 plus $5000 equals $774,247, which is the sum the Foundation reported to the IRS.

However, I find mildly problematic the claim that the Foundation raised funds specifically for “the project” in 2007 (per the sentence “granted the balance of funds raised for the project”), especially in conjunction with a separate disclosure by which the Foundation thanks four utility companies (which are incidentally clients of Morrison & Foerster, Howard Rice, and Munger Tolles Olsen). In my opinion, this may reflect an attempt to engage in financial shenanigans through the Foundation — otherwise, why wouldn’t the four utility companies just give the funds to CaliforniaALL directly?

Even more troubling, while I was able to ascertain from Foundation’s tax records an “exit” of the $774,247 in 2008 (the apparent source of which was allegedly the above-referenced 4 utility companies), I was unable to ascertain when and where the Foundation reported to the IRS — either in 2008 or 2007 or 2006 or 2005 — an “entry” of those funds which it allegedly held in trust for CaliforniaALL.

(Later, Jill Sperber of the State Bar of California, in a letter she sent to me dated July 28, 2011 claimed that “....No State Bar or California Bar Foundation funds were used for CaliforniaALL creation...The California Bar Foundation served as CaliforniaALL’s escrow holder only to hold fundraising funds before its formal incorporation... Once CaliforniaALL was formed as a non-profit entity, the funds were paid over to it...”

Ultimately, by conducting further research into the actors and events surrounding the Foundation, CaliforniaALL, and related entities, individuals, and events, I unearthed what appears to be a lengthy trail of attempts to mislead and defraud.

PART 3: FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In approximately 2007, Ruthe Catolico Ashley — an attorney from Sacramento and a member of the State Bar of California Board of Governors — was employed by Cal PERS as a “Diversity Officer.” Prior to her employment with Cal PERS, Ms. Ashley was employed as a career counsel at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento. While at McGeorge, Ms. Ashley met diversity expert Sarah Redfield. At that time, Jeffrey Bleich of Munger Tolles & Olson was serving as President of the State Bar. Both Bleich and Ashley are politically active, and were supporting the 2008 campaign of Barack Obama for President. Ruthe Ashley was involved in the Asian-Americans for Obama branch in Sacramento.

In April 2007, Ashley and Sarah Redfield were urged to meet Peter Arth, Jr. of the California Public Utilities Commission at a restaurant in San Francisco. During that meeting, the idea to create CaliforniaALL (initially named CaAAL or CaALL) was conceived. Eventually, Cal PERS, the CPUC, and the State Bar of California endorsed in principle the creation of CaliforniaALL – a Section 501(c)(3) entity that would raise funds to be used to support a more diverse workforce in California.

At that time, both Ashley and Redfield were also part of the State Bar of California’s Council on Fairness and Access, as well as a separate project by the State Bar of California known as The Diversity Pipeline Task Force, through which both presumably amassed vast amounts of data and information on the topic of diversity pipeline projects.

Subsequent to the meeting with Peter Arth, on June 26, 2007 State Bar BOG member Ruthe Catolico Ashley and Patricia Lee presented to the entire BOG a proposal (see ►http://www.scribd.com/doc/48713393/1-In-June-26-2007-Member-of-State-Bar-Board-of-Governors-Ruthe-Ashley-Presen ) urging the BOG to support the creation of California Aspire Achieve Lead Pipeline Project (CaAAL), later named CaliforniaALL.

Eventually, Cal PERS (Ashley’s employer), the CPUC, and the State Bar of California endorsed in principle the creation of CaAAL. For reasons that are not clear to me, CaAAL was apparently a secret project since the California Bar Journal never bothered to report about it, and a press release issued by the State Bar of California was only delivered to CaAAL. Specifically, on August 1, 2007, California Bar Journal’s editor Diane Curtis issued a very limited press release on behalf of the State Bar which I was only able to locate on CaAAL’s now defunct website (www.calall.org) stating:

"STATE BAR JOINS DIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP

San Francisco, August 01, 2007 — The State Bar of California is joining forces with the California Public Utilities Commission, the California Public Retirement System and the state Department of Insurance in a united effort to promote diversity in the workplace.

California Aspire Achieve Lead Pipeline Project (CaAAL Pipeline Project) will focus on education and mentoring, starting as early as pre-school, to provide skills and instill motivation in young people who are not well represented in the legal, financial and information technology professions.

“The real winners are the young people of California who will advance from these programs and the entire populace of California that will have the benefit of a diverse and vibrant pool of bright young people from all sectors of our diverse population,” said State Bar President Sheldon Sloan. Sloan beefed up a bar diversity pipeline project put in place by his predecessors that has been embraced by lawyers and jurists statewide.

Bar Vice President Ruthe Ashley, who chairs the bar’s Pipeline Task Force and recently became Cal PERS’ Diversity Officer for External Affairs, “has done a fantastic job of moving this initiative forward,” added Sloan. “Now that she has brought in Cal PERS and CAL PUC, this program is here to stay for the foreseeable future.”

In large part because of the bar’s experience and success in identifying programs that help young people move on to successful careers in law, CaAAL’s first-year focus will be on diversifying the legal profession. “We have relationships in place. We have best practices. We have done the research,” said Ashley. The second-year focus will be on financial institutions and the third year on information technology. Funding for the new nonprofit is expected to come from private partners and public sector grants.

Ashley said the nonprofit will be the umbrella organization that will coordinate activities in five different geographic “centers of excellence.” She is hoping that the board for the new nonprofit will promote replication proven programs, such as Street Law, Pacific Pathways and the Council on Legal Education Opportunity, and that the new entity “will be a model for other states.”

“The vision is that it will change the face of the future in the workplace and of our leaders,” said Ashley."

Papers were filed with both state and federal agencies to allow CaliforniaALL to operate as a tax exempt entity. Victor Miramontes listed himself as Chairman of the Board, and Sarah E. Redfield served as CaliforniaALL’s interim executive director for a period of 6 months. Serving as CaliforniaALL’s legal counsel were Susan Mac Cormac and Eric Tate of Morrison & Foerster.

Despite the fact that she served as interim executive director, and despite the fact that it was a given that Ruthe Catolico Ashley would be hired as the permanent CEO, Sarah Redfield nevertheless apparently engaged in an RFP (request for proposal) which was closed just as quickly as it started even before Ms. Ashley was hired as the permanent CEO.

CaliforniaALL’s web site (www.calall.org) stated:

“Saturday Law Academy RFP

PLEASE NOTE:

The application process for this RFP is closed. Please contact Sarah Redfield at sarah.redfield@gmail.com or (207) 752-1721.

RFP PROPOSAL INFORMATION

California ALL seeks proposals to implement its law career pathway starting with the 2008-09 academic year (AY).

The following and attached document describes a program area in which California ALL has particular interest based on its initial research. An additional RFP will follow for college level prelaw work. Self generated proposal for other parts of the pipeline will also be considered, and another round of RFPs is possible. California ALL has not attached a specific dollar amount to the RFP, though cost effectiveness and the presence of a competitive match will be part of its consideration. California ALL has some funding in hand from a generous grant from Verizon for the Saturday Academy and intends to seek additional funding as needed to support programs selected. It is anticipated that funding will be provided for year one of the (3 year) proposal, with following years contingent on successful completion of the prior year(s).”

The California Attorney General RCT reflects that CaliforniaALL obtained its “Charity” status on March 14, 2008 (FEIN Number 510656213). The address for CaliforniaALL is listed as 400 Capitol Mall, Suite 2400, Sacramento, California. This is actually the address of the law firm of DLA Piper, where CaliforniaALL resided free of charge courtesy of partner Gilles Attia — an attorney specialized in the representation of wi-fi companies.

CaliforniaALL’s 2008 tax-return shows an expense of around $16,000 for “occupancy.” See ►http://www.scribd.com/doc/48714110/6-CaliforniaALL-2008-Tax-Return

In June 2008, after a nationwide search and aided by a pro bono head-hunting firm in its search for a permanent CEO, CaliforniaALL not surprisingly hired Ruthe Catolico Ashley as its chief executive officer. (See Press Release ►http://www.scribd.com/doc/48717715/5-California-ALL-Announces-Hiring-of-Ruthe-Ashley-as-CEO-on-June-4-2008 )

As the purpose of CaliforniaALL was to transfer funds forward, it did so by awarding small grants to the UCI Foundation (FEIN Number 952540117), where State Bar of California executive director Joe Dunn serves as trustee and chair of the Audit Committee, for the purported purpose of establishing a Saturday Law Academy at UC Irvine known as SALUCI.

Sarah Redfield’s CV, which states (falsely) that she launched SALUCI, can be found at: ►http://www.scribd.com/doc/48772426/10-Resume-CV-of-University-of-New-Hampshire-School-of-Law-Professor-Sarah-E-

In September 2009, Ruthe Catolico Ashley exited CaliforniaALL (►http://www.scribd.com/doc/48713268/7-Ruthe-Ashley-Announces-Departure-from-CaliforniaALL-in-September-of-2009 ), the entity which she previously proclaimed to Diane Curtis that it “will change the face of the future in the workplace and of our leaders,” "will be a model for other states," and “is here to stay for the foreseeable future.”

Ultimately, the following events prompted me to ask Voice of OC to make its tax returns available for my review, as required by IRS regulations: the sham RFP by Sarah Redfield, who pre-selected the UCI Foundation as the only recipient of funds from CaliforniaALL; Joe Dunn served as chair of the UCI Foundation audit committee; in September 2009 Ruthe Ashley abruptly exited CaliforniaALL; in September 2009 Joe Dunn (together with his business partner Martha Escutia, James Brosnahan — who created CaliforniaALL, and Thomas Girardi of In Re Girardi, Erin Brokovich, and the one who James Towery appointed his personal attorney (Jerome Falk of Howard Rice) to act as special prosecutor against him) launched an online “news agency” known as Voice of OC. I also suspected that James Brosnahan of Morrison & Foerster (who represented various utility companies during California’s energy crisis) may have engaged in a scheme with Joe Dunn, as Dunn was the person investigating those utility companies and California’s energy crisis. In fact, Dunn was discredited by the media for claiming that he was the one who “cracked” Enron.

Voice of OC ignored my request for its tax records, whereupon I filed a complaint with the IRS. To date, I have not received a response from the IRS indicating that it has taken any steps to help me obtain those much needed records and impose the appropriate sanctions against Voice of OC.

Nevertheless, I continued with the inquiry as large pieces of the puzzle were missing. Later, when Mr. Tony West was appointed third in command at the DOJ, I learned of his identity due to wide media coverage and his association with Morrison & Forester and James Brosnahan. From there, it became harder to ignore the common denominator of “Obama for America” involving Morrison & Foerster’s James Brosnahan, Tony West, Chris Young, Annette Carnegie, and Susan Mac Cormac, in conjunction with Geoffrey Bleich and Ruthe Ashley — which is that money was misappropriated or laundered through the Foundation.

Thank you for your assistance. I will keep you updated if I obtain any further information. In the interim, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

BREAKING NEWS: KEITH WETMORE — CHAIR, MORRISON & FOERSTER — RESIGNED AMID CONTEREVERSY

Keith Wetmore — controversial chair of San Francisco-based powerhouse Morrison & Foerster resigned his position, TLR has learned.

Wetmore would be stepping down after 12 years as chairman. He will be replaced by Larren Nashelsky — current co-chair of the firm’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring practice and member of the firm’s Executive Committee.

Nashelsky joined Morrison & Foerster as a partner in 1999 from Weil Gotshal & Manges. He earned his B.S. from the University at Albany, State University of New York, and his J.D., with distinction, from Hofstra University School of Law. He has been highly ranked by Chambers USA and Legal 500 US and is regularly listed in The Deal as one of the top 35 individuals in bankruptcy. He regularly lectures and publishes on U.S. and international insolvency matters, according to a press-release the firm has issued.

Wetmore abrupt departure comes in the aftermath of revelations involving attorneys James Brosnahan, Tony West, Chris Young, Annette Carnegie, Lori Schechter, Sonia Gonzales, Raj Chatterjee, Susan Mac Cormac, Dian Grueneich, Eric Tate as well as attorney Jonathan Dickstein, which came on the heels of a crisis of confidence in Wetmore’s leadership, sources seeking anonymity speculated.

Please continue @:
►http://lesliebrodie.wordpress.com/category/keith-wetmore

Histoire Economie : Ils l’ont fait 2000 ans d’histoire économique en un (petit) graphique

The Economic History of the Last 2,000 Years in 1 Little Graph
The Atlantic

►http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/06/the-economic-history-of-the-last-2-000-years-in-1-little-graph/258676

Jun 19 2012

That headline is a big promise. But here it is: The economic history of the world going back to Year 1 showing the major powers’ share of world GDP, from a research letter written by Michael Cembalest, chairman of market and investment strategy at JP Morgan.

I’m guessing that your first question, if you started scanning from the left, is: Wait, India was by far the biggest economy at the dawn of AD? Yup, India.