But Did Cher Sing? Prosecution singers against grad gala thrower, David Rosen, accused of under reporting by $700 thousand Hillary’s Hollywood bash, include James Levin (after copping a plea to have his sentence for past sins—ripping off Chicago public schools—reduced to something less than the twenty years of rock pounding he currently faces), and Raymond C. Reggie (friend of Bill and brother-in-law of EMK, the senator from Massachusetts) who, it seems, likes to defraud banks and impersonate police officers and wants to get his five years and $3.5 million fine slashed in return for blabbing and having a wired dinner with Rosen. P.S. Cher sang at the gala, twice; and the tape, the Rosen/Reggie tape that is, didn’t make it into the evidence pile.
Okuda, 28º C, and Body Odor What do they have in common? Visit Japan this summer and you may find out. To save energy, Japan’s public and private offices will be a toasty 82.4º F. But fear not, Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of Toyota Motor (think GM when GM was GM) will dance down the runway in a short-sleeved shirt (sans tie no less) and slacks thereby announcing to the plebes (Japan calls them ‘salarymen’) that they too can shuck the sweltering suit. Even the rules committee of the lower house of parliament will vote next week to allow its members to hang their coats on a hook in office and committee rooms—can jeans and tees be far behind?
Chainsaw Massacre You gotta stay with me on this one. Remember Chainsaw Al as in Al Dunlap, former CEO of bankrupt Sunbeam Appliances, the guy who perpetrated a huge accounting fraud, getting abhorrently rich while screwing Sunbeam shareholders and creditors in the process? (And who, in my humble opinion should be in the slammer instead of sipping gin and tonic on his private beach). Meanwhile Ron Perlman, CEO of Revlon, the guy who bankrupted Marvel Entertainment (WAM! POW! SOCK! the investors) the same guy who drives Revlon’s bus of beauty while it’s ugly stock $2.86 sits at about one-eighth of ’96 issue price of $24 and about one-twentieth its 1998 high of $56.37, gets $1.5 billion because Morgan Stanley (yes, the same people who are trying to dump their CEO) arranged the financing in 1998 when Sunbeam acquired a bunch of camp stoves and lanterns (Coleman) from Perlman for $1.5 billion. Because Perlman didn’t cash out, he got ‘chainsawed’ like Dunlap’s other investors. But unlike Dunlap’s other investors, it seems Perlman might be the only one getting his loot. This cesspool emits more stink than justice.
Real Estate - $600MM PSI That’s what the white space on Google’s home page seems to be worth based on its market cap of $66 billion. Shareholders better pray that’s what Google gets, i.e., $600 million per square inch, or the Google bubble is going to burst and splatter green googley gobs on everyone who paid $200 ++ bucks per share.
Doomed Marriage? You’ve heard it before: one partner lives on the West Coast, the other on the East Coast, a commuting marriage they call it. It doesn’t work. Soon, one or the other or both will start looking around, maybe innocently at first, but one night and a few drinks and bang, into someone else’s bed. If one partner had a ton of money, maybe the other would decide the risk wasn’t worth getting caught in sweaty sheets, but in the case of money losing America West and US Airways, the saints of saved airline mergers will need to put in a lot of overtime.
Irony Quit smoking, gain weight. It happens to everyone. Durham, NC used to be the home of big tobacco. Now, it calls itself the ‘Diet Capital of the World and one in four residents is employed in healthcare.