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Hizbullah distributes Leaflets claiming victory
Today's Headlines
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Three Army Rangers knock off Tacoma, WA bank
Edited for brevity.
A Canadian man suspected of helping three Fort Lewis [WA] Army Rangers rob a Tacoma bank last week turned himself in to U.S. authorities Sunday afternoon, said Michael Dion, an assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case. Tigray Robinson, 20, gave himself up to FBI agents in Washington near the Canadian border.

Robinson, the fourth suspect to be arrested in connection with last Monday's robbery, is scheduled to appear today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. A fifth suspect, believed to be Canadian, is still at large.

In court documents, an FBI agent said the robbers showed "military-style precision and planning" when they took over a Tacoma branch of Bank of America and stole $54,000. The suspects wore soft body armor and wielded what appeared to be AK-47 assault rifles. Alex Blum, 19; Chad Palmer, 20; and Luke Sommer, 20, three Army Rangers based at Fort Lewis, were arrested and charged with armed bank robbery last week. Palmer and Blum hold the rank of private first class.
What is it about BoA that attracts robbers with body armor and AK-47's? Besides the money, I mean...
Sommer, who holds the rank of specialist fourth class, is believed by law enforcement to be the ringleader. He was arrested Friday at a store in Peachland, British Columbia, his hometown. Sommer has dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship, according to a law-enforcement official.

According to charging papers, Blum said Sommer recruited two Canadians to take part in the robbery and paid Blum $10,000 to be the driver. A witness wrote down the license-plate number of the car Blum was driving, which is registered to Blum and his father.
Oops--it's always the little details that bite you in the left buttock.
Posted by: Dar || 08/14/2006 13:42 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Kelly's Heroes Part Deux

[the lone obstacle to the sought-after gold is a solitary Tiger tank guarding the bank]
Crapgame: Try making a DEAL!
Big Joe: What kind of DEAL?
Crapgame: A DEAL, deal! Maybe he's a Republican. You know, "Business is business."
Posted by: Hupasing Crath3963 || 08/14/2006 15:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Why do the newspapers hate army rangers? Nevermind, I think I know the answer.
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/14/2006 17:29 Comments || Top||

#3  What the hell were they thinking? The FBI has a 99.99% capture rate for bank robbers. But then they know that now.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 08/14/2006 18:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Article: A witness wrote down the license-plate number of the car Blum was driving, which is registered to Blum and his father.

I think it is now clear why Blum was a PFC.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/14/2006 18:20 Comments || Top||

#5  Robs a bank in his own car, what scared he might get grand theft auto. :)
Posted by: djohn66 || 08/14/2006 19:17 Comments || Top||

#6  Whadya expect with lowered recruitment standards and PC leadership? Gangs, thugs and even skinheads have enlisted. I was in Baghdad and saw American gang graffiti on some of the buildings. Not that these three were gang members prior to the military, but I wouldn't be surprised. Wake up, military. There's a cancer in your midst.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 08/14/2006 19:18 Comments || Top||

#7  Rangers should be thrice screened: basic, Airborne School, and Ranger Indoctrination Program. From the names, I would guess three surburban thrill seekers. Not too many gang bangers and punks make it into the Ranger Battalions.
Posted by: 11A5S || 08/14/2006 20:04 Comments || Top||

#8  They could be assigned to the Regiment, but still not be Rangers. I've got my doubts about this story.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/14/2006 20:06 Comments || Top||

#9  Whoever these guys were, they were a disgwace to duh wegiment.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/14/2006 21:51 Comments || Top||


Original Moon Landing Film Lost
The original film footage of astronaut Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon, one of the most important artifacts of the 20th century, has been lost.

The television broadcast seen by about 600 million people in July 1969 is preserved for posterity, but the original tapes from which the footage was taken have been mislaid, most likely in NASA's vast archives at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. The footage could transform our view of the moon landings, offering images far sharper than the blurred, grainy video shown around the world. It also could lay to rest the conspiracy theory that the landings were faked on a Hollywood soundstage.

Despite its iconic status, the television footage was the equivalent of a photocopy of a photocopy. It came from a camera that had been pointed at a black-and-white monitor on Earth. The image on the monitor, in turn, had been stripped of much of its detail. To make sure the transmission would make it back to Earth, the images sent from Apollo 11 were recorded at 10 frames per second, and had to be converted to 60 frames per second in order to be broadcast. In the process, much of the detail was lost.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 08/14/2006 12:12 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That's certainly sad from a historic point of view, but as for the loss of a sharper and more detailed clip of the moon landing don't we have clips from the subsequent landings?
Posted by: Dar || 08/14/2006 12:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes they do. In fact, many of them have been digitized. Unfortunately, we're talking about the original of the first landing. You just can't calculate the historical significance, as you pointed out.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 08/14/2006 12:41 Comments || Top||

#3  The original was lost because there is no original. The footage broadcast was all degraded on purpose to make it harder to see that it was really filmed on a back lot in Hollywood.

See how easy it is to be a conspiracy theorist!
Posted by: Glenmore || 08/14/2006 12:48 Comments || Top||

#4  That was scary glenmore. You do that too easily.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 08/14/2006 12:50 Comments || Top||

#5  When I was 16 many moons ago I believe all the govt. conspiracy crap. but when I started dealing with the govt. like SSA, Post Office, VA, hell the FBI none of these agency could keep a secret if it tried let alone hatch a conspiracy.
Posted by: djohn66 || 08/14/2006 13:06 Comments || Top||

#6  Conversation w/ 12 year old.,

"Did they reallty land on the moon ?"

ME: "did yoou study the space program in school ?"

"YEs"

Me : " The why did we go to the moon "?

" To beat the Russians "

Me " and who would hav had the equipment to know and been the first to cry foul had it not been true ?"

" The Russians"

ME "Did they ?"

"No"

ME "Case Closed".
Posted by: j. D. Lux || 08/14/2006 13:17 Comments || Top||

#7  Probably was in the WTC where the U.S. Government stuffed it along with hundreds of tons of other embarassing documents (not to mention Jimmy Hoffa's body) to be destroyed on 9/11...

If you look closely at the films you can see Hoffa's left testicle foot being blown thru a window in the initial blast - just before the airliner hit.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/14/2006 14:23 Comments || Top||

#8  Was Photoshop available in 1969?
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/14/2006 14:27 Comments || Top||

#9  Don't worry, boys. It's in a safe place.
Posted by: mojo || 08/14/2006 15:35 Comments || Top||

#10  No problem. Was biking out in Irvine this weekend and saw the old Airship hangers are still intact.

They can reshoot the landing anytime they want.
Posted by: kelly || 08/14/2006 17:00 Comments || Top||

#11  Get some pictures Kelly!
Posted by: 6 || 08/14/2006 19:28 Comments || Top||

#12  Anyone so dense as to doubt the moon landings is not worth convincing anyway. It is nearly impossible to comprehend how people can be so incredibly stupid. I rate them right up there with Holocaust deniers.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/14/2006 21:43 Comments || Top||

#13  This is what happens when you hire minimum wage high school students and work studies to do your filing.

To new work study: "Look at the file number, it goes *after* the littler numbers and *before* the bigger numbers. Can you understand that?"

It is to weep for, the amount of time I have spent looking for misplaced files.

Posted by: VA clerk || 08/14/2006 22:29 Comments || Top||

#14  Was Photoshop available in 1969?

Sure! So was MS Word. Just ask Dan Rather.
Posted by: DMFD || 08/14/2006 22:52 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Libido lags for ladies in luck
THE female sex drive starts sputtering to a halt as soon as a woman has got her man, according to a new study.

Researchers have found that women's libido plummets so rapidly when they believe they are in a secure relationship that after just four years the proportion of 30-year-old women wanting regular sex falls below 50 per cent. There are few things that appear able to keep a woman sexually interested, the study found, but living apart for extended periods can help.

The findings for women contrast with those for men, whose sexual appetite hardly flagged at all up to 40 years after marriage.

The study, by researchers at Hamburg-Eppendorf University in Germany, challenges the popular image of modern women as equal to men in sexual appetite. "Female motivation matches male sexual motivation in the first years of the partnership and then steadily decreases," concludes Dietrich Klusmann, the medical psychologist who conducted the study.

"Male motivation remains constant regardless of the duration of the partnership." Dr Klusmann questioned more than 500 people about their sex lives in order to measure changes in their libido.

He found that within a year of a relationship starting, female libido moved into steep decline. While 60 per cent of 30-year-old women reported wanting sex "often" at the start of a relationship, the figure fell to below 50per cent within four years and to about 20 per cent after 20 years.

Dr Klusmann, whose work will be published this week in the journal Human Nature, has compared his findings to the sexual habits of prairie voles and offers an evolutionary explanation. He believes that women, having found a man with whom to procreate, keep "resources" scarce to keep the man interested. Men, on the other hand, maintain a higher sex drive in the hope of keeping their mate faithful and other men at bay.

The Germans found, however, that living apart slows the decline in female libido, confirming the maxim "absence makes the heart grow fonder". Women whose husbands or boyfriends have higher educational qualifications than their own also maintain their sex drive. This, speculates Dr Klusmann, is because such men are regarded as a "valuable mate of choice" by other women.

The German study is reinforced by an investigation by Mary Carole Pistole of Purdue University in Indiana, whose work suggests the healthiest relationships are among people whose loved ones live hundreds of kilometres away.

Dr Klusmann's findings were, however, attacked by Irma Kurtz, the agony aunt for Cosmopolitan magazine, who said: "Of course women in their 30s with children, careers and the house to run are too busy and tired for sex, but they have a great capacity for tenderness." Petra Boynton, a sex psychologist, agreed: "Surveys like this don't always tell the real truth.

"Women are more likely to divulge their problems while men feel under pressure to say they are good in bed because their masculinity requires it."

But Paula Hall, a sexual psychotherapist with Relate, a couples guidance service, backed the German study. She said that in the first two years of a relationship both partners produced phenylethylamine, a natural amphetamine that has been called the chemical of love.

"After those two years the woman's sexual drive changes," said Dr Hall. "She becomes receptive rather than proactive and unless there is a trigger she will prefer to have a cup of tea and watch Coronation Street."

Dr Klusmann's researchers also asked respondents whether they agreed with the statement "I just want to be tender". On this measure, men's performance fell off as quickly as women's sexual desire.
No .. kidding.
Women's desire for tenderness remains an almost constant 90 percent whatever their age and regardless of whether they have been with the same man for one year or four decades. Men claim to be just as doe-eyed as women at the start of the relationship, but this wears off very rapidly. Only a quarter of 30-year-old men who have been in a relationship for 10 years are still seeking tenderness.

"Cuddling is important for women and they may say they want tenderness because they do not like to express sexual desire and can only do so from the dialogue of romance," said Dr Boynton.
Posted by: tipper || 08/14/2006 13:30 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "absence makes the hard grow fonder"
Posted by: Frank G || 08/14/2006 15:27 Comments || Top||

#2  The German study is reinforced by an investigation by Mary Carole Pistole of Purdue University in Indiana, whose work suggests the healthiest relationships are among people whose loved ones live hundreds of kilometres away.

Ok, yeah.....if you are the type to constantly fight over how the toilet paper roll should face in the holder and how the towels should be folded. Otherwise, not so much.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie || 08/14/2006 16:50 Comments || Top||

#3  This is a typical example of a study without sufficient controls to be truly called science.

Too many variables - what about children, income levels, mean age at time of marriage, etc., etc., etc?

It is a sad tribute to the state of science education, and in particular, the understanding of the scientific method, that "studies" like this are funded and published and read and believed to be significant.
Posted by: no mo uro || 08/14/2006 20:00 Comments || Top||


Britain
Now Scotland To Have Knife-Control
A crackdown on the sale of swords has been launched as part of a campaign to tackle knife crime and violence.

Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson announced laws to ban swords unless sold for legitimate reasons.

Shops selling swords will need a licence, as will businesses dealing with non-domestic knives and other bladed weapons such as machetes.

The measures are the latest steps from the Scottish Executive to curb the problem of knife crime.

They come weeks after a nationwide knife amnesty.

A total of 12,645 blades - including lock knives, machetes, swords, meat cleavers, bayonets and axes - were handed in during the five-week amnesty...
It's those darn immortals at it again.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/14/2006 18:35 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I suggest a toothbrush-control.

You have no idea the harm that can be done by throwing a toothbrush into one's eye.
Posted by: leroidavid || 08/14/2006 19:12 Comments || Top||

#2  How about scissors? Or ball? "Mom always says, don't play ball in the house".
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 08/14/2006 19:15 Comments || Top||

#3  I'll surrender my dirk when the pry if from my blood soaked hose.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/14/2006 19:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Claw end of a framing hammer will do just fine. Go ahead, ban framing hammers!
Posted by: Iblis || 08/14/2006 19:26 Comments || Top||

#5  I guess Duncan Macleod will have to use a butter knife from now on?



Posted by: john || 08/14/2006 19:41 Comments || Top||

#6  A shovel takes an edge rather well....
Posted by: Mark E. || 08/14/2006 21:32 Comments || Top||

#7  Pathetic. As if this will do the least bit to deter Islamic beheadings. The world would be better served (so to speak), if they outlawed haggis.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/14/2006 21:34 Comments || Top||

#8  I suppose next their be banning teacups....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/14/2006 21:51 Comments || Top||

#9  The stupid Socialists. I really think killing every last one of them is the only recourse to their control freakery. Yea they can have my sword all 2 and a half feet of it sharp end first.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 08/14/2006 22:24 Comments || Top||

#10  I'd rather they concentrated on crime control, but that's just me....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/14/2006 22:40 Comments || Top||

#11  What about pointy sticks?
Posted by: DMFD || 08/14/2006 22:50 Comments || Top||

#12  Shillelaghs, anyone?
Posted by: Hupith Elmeth2832 || 08/14/2006 23:40 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Colby Cosh: paen to Castro is a "puerile, hallucinatory romance"
Communism is dead, possibly even deader than its sneering twin fascism. But the puerile, hallucinatory romance of the Dear Leader lives on--not just in the fungus-gnawed pages of forgotten propaganda manuals, but in an exclusive to your Sunday Toronto Star.

It has been a while since Western intellectuals made a habit of masturbating in public to comic-book fantasies of physically indomitable, universally erudite Communist revolutionaries. But then, an intellectual is someone who makes at least a modest effort to keep pace with the emergence of the historical record. . . .

Go read it all. The invective, and the fisking, are first-rate.
Posted by: Mike || 08/14/2006 16:36 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


"He's not dead, Jim. Dammit"
Cuba's official Communist Party newspaper has published new pictures of ailing President Fidel Castro. The photos show Mr Castro in bed, smiling and shaking hands with the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, on the Cuban leader's 80th birthday.
Wearing lovely matching red shirts
The six pictures appear on the online version of the newspaper Granma.

It follows the publication on Sunday of the first photographs of President Castro since he underwent intestinal surgery two weeks ago. Mr Castro's brother, Raul, 75, who has temporarily taken over the president's duties, appears in one of the pictures. Granma called the bedside visit "Three Hours of Emotional Exchange". The photos show gifts being exchanged and the two leaders eating what Granma called a "frugal snack".

The accompanying story quoted Mr Chavez - one of Mr Castro's closest political allies - as saying: "This is the best visit I've ever had in my life." He is reported to have expressed admiration for the Cuban leader's stamina, saying: "What kind of human being is this? What material is it made of?" The Venezuelan leader is quoted as saying that Mr Castro is made of caguairan - likening Cuba's revolutionary leader to a sturdy tropical hardwood tree.

Earlier Raul Castro made his first public appearance since taking over, welcoming Mr Chavez to Havana.

On Sunday, Mr Castro also released a statement, saying his health had improved considerably but warning that his recovery would not be quick. "I ask you all to be optimistic and at the same time to be ready to face any adverse news," the statement said. He thanked Cubans for their loving support and said he "felt very happy" on his birthday.
Posted by: Steve || 08/14/2006 13:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Photos, shmotos. Give me video. Photos are too easy to easy to publish as legitimate ala reuters fake.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 08/14/2006 13:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Where's Raul?

Everyone scrambles back into place as Franco Castro ends his staged honeymoon death.
Posted by: Hupasing Crath3963 || 08/14/2006 15:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Adidas shirts, no shots below waste. C-bag for sure.
Posted by: 6 || 08/14/2006 19:30 Comments || Top||


Raul Castro: Cocaine Connection?
Federal prosecutors in Miami were prepared to indict Raul Castro as the head of a major cocaine smuggling conspiracy in 1993, but the Clinton Administration Justice Department overruled them, current and former Justice Department officials tell ABC News.

The officials say Castro, as Cuban Defense Minister, permitted Colombian drug lords to pay for the use of Cuban waters and airstrips as staging grounds for smuggling runs into the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s.

"It was a major investigation involving numerous witnesses that was killed at the highest levels in Washington," said a former Justice Department official with direct knowledge of the case. . . .
Posted by: Mike || 08/14/2006 12:04 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I recall reading about Raul's cocaine connection several years back.

Are we outta brothers yet?
Posted by: Captain America || 08/14/2006 13:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Thanks Bubba!! You made our job so much more, er, challenging. On all fronts. From Afghanistan to Zimbobwe.

It all boils down to Liberal = Hoser. If there is a pile of geopolitical cow shit anywhere in the world within the last 2 decades, a democrat will have stepped in it and tracked it all over the house.
Posted by: Evil Elvis || 08/14/2006 13:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Isn't el dealer maximo one of the nicknames of fidel? I think the castro bros' links with cocaine narcotraffic is well known, for those who don't revere this pos.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/14/2006 16:13 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
US gives Jordan 247 million dollar aid
AMMAN - The US government has provided regional Arab ally Jordan with 247.5 million dollars in economic aid for 2006, the US embassy said on Sunday. Four grants were signed on Thursday with funds allocated to enhance economic growth and create jobs, as well as develop the water and health sectors, support education and the judiciary and reduce foreign debt, it said.

‘The agreement constitute the overall US regular economic assistance package to Jordan for fiscal year 2006,’ the statement said. Jordan is a major beneficiary of US financial assistance, receiving more than 4.7 billion dollars since 1952, it said.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Why are we providing aid to a country that abets/tolerates honor killings (murders of women for real or perceived sexual behavior)? What century do you think it will be before an American politician puts up a fight about aid to such countries? Tom Tancredo, are you out there? You have the cajones-you are one of few who could lead such an important and virtuous legislative drive.

We should prohibit aid to ANY countries with honor killing histories unless they prove they are aggressively prosecuting and punishing such behavior. We should do the same for countries with histories of executing ex-Muslims. That'll end a lot of wasted money.
Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands || 08/14/2006 0:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Protection money.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/14/2006 7:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Possibly because Jordan is the only country in that part of the world other than is Israel that is worth a bucket of warm spit.
Posted by: RWV || 08/14/2006 7:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Countries that religiously sanction MURDERING teenage daughters, mothers and wives because they are offended by their sexuality are no friends of America-only country in the region or not.
Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands || 08/14/2006 8:51 Comments || Top||

#5  "There are no accurate statistics on the number of honour crimes committed in Jordan annually, but according to a report by the Christian Science Monitor in March 2005, honour crimes account for one-third of all violent deaths in Jordan.

This runs counter to the perception of Jordan as one of the most liberal countries in the Middle East, where gender discrimination is officially minimal; women have voting rights, are present in parliament and government and hold influential positions in other sections of society."

http://www.irinnews.org/S_report.asp?ReportID=46677&SelectRegion=Middle_East
Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands || 08/14/2006 9:06 Comments || Top||

#6  Possibly because Jordan is the only country in that part of the world other than is Israel that is worth a bucket of warm spit.

Jordan is where GB (when G meant it) and later USA keep the alternative to the House of Saud.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/14/2006 9:59 Comments || Top||

#7  Cold, hard cash is a great way to keep friends around. Heck, the only reason Egypt stopped trying to kill Isreal is the billions in bribes that we give them every year. And the Isrealis gracefully allow us to bribe them, as well.
Posted by: gromky || 08/14/2006 10:14 Comments || Top||

#8  Dangit, Israel. I always get that one wrong.
Posted by: gromky || 08/14/2006 10:17 Comments || Top||

#9  Our leaders need to read history, specifically the Greek city state tribute flow.
Posted by: ed || 08/14/2006 10:21 Comments || Top||

#10  Cold hard cash is exactly what Hezbollah and rogue nations use, too. We don't want to be in that same league, do we?

What is it that we hear from people all over the thrid world-their pet peeve? Corruption. Payoffs not only build expectations for future handouts to the ME from us (which I, for one American, have had enough of), they make our government less distinguishable from other corrupt governments.
Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands || 08/14/2006 11:25 Comments || Top||

#11  That's "third" world. Geesh.
Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands || 08/14/2006 11:26 Comments || Top||


Home Front Economy
Indra "Middle Finger" Nooyi promoted to CEO at Pepsico
The Pepsico CFO who likened the US to a middle finger has now been pushed upstairs.
PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE:PEP - news) on Monday promoted its president and chief financial officer, Indra Nooyi, to chief executive, succeeding Steve Reinemund, whose decision to retire after a successful five-year run caught some on Wall Street by surprise.

Nooyi, who has been involved in much of the major strategic planning for the company for several years, was expected to lead a smooth transition, and the stock rose slightly.

"I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that the choice was Indra. The surprise was Steve stepping aside," said David Kolpak, an analyst at Victory Capital Management, which owns 1.5 million PepsiCo shares.

Reinemund, 58, said he will leave next May to spend more time with his family. He will serve as executive chairman and as a director of PepsiCo, which makes Pepsi soda and Frito-Lay snacks, until his retirement.

The 50-year-old Nooyi, who takes over effective October 1, has been president and chief financial officer of PepsiCo since 2001, and was favored to take over the helm.

"Given Indra's involvement in the company's strategy, vision and her current role as president and chief financial officer, we would expect a seamless transition," William Pecoriello, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said in a research note.

Pecoriello called Reinemund's retirement a surprise, adding he had the "highest confidence" in Nooyi's ability to "lead the organization going forward into many years of solid performance."

The stock rose 25 cents to $63.58 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. The shares are up about 44 percent since April, 2001, compared with a 5 percent decline in Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO - news) shares over the same period.

PepsiCo stock is also up nearly 80 percent from a low under Reinemund of $35.60 in September 2002.

The largest U.S. company in terms of revenue run by a woman is grain processor Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE:ADM - news), which named Patricia Woertz as CEO in April. With Nooyi's appointment, PepsiCo would become the second-largest company headed by a woman.

Reinemund had moved back to Dallas about three years ago to be closer to his family, so the decision to retire was not a surprise, said Ken Harris, a partner in consulting firm Cannondale Associates.

Harris, who used to work with Nooyi, said that she brings several important qualities to the chief executive's job.

"No. 1, she's smart, smart, smart," Harris said. "The next thing is that she is a very good people manager."

Richard Goodman, 57, currently CFO of PepsiCo International, will become CFO of the corporation, and Hugh Johnston, 44, was promoted to the newly created position of executive vice president, operations. He had been PepsiCo's senior vice president, transformation.

Since Reinemund became chairman and CEO in May, 2001, PepsiCo has expanded its business. Most notably, it acquired Quaker Oats Co. for $13 billion three months after he took over, adding Gatorade sports drink and a host of food brands to the company's portfolio.

During his tenure, PepsiCo evolved from a company known mostly for selling soda pop and salty snacks into a $33 billion food company that has embraced the push into healthier options like Tropicana juices, Aquafina water and whole grain Quaker Oats Cereals, while seeing earnings soar.

"He's an ex-Marine. He prides himself on staying in shape, and health and wellness has been a real mantra for him at the company," said analyst Kolpak.

Kolpak noted that PepsiCo was ahead of most, if not all, of the food industry, in removing artery-clogging trans fats from its products.

From 2001 to 2005, the company's earnings per share jumped 80 percent, its dividend doubled, and its market capitalization increased to more than $100 billion.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/14/2006 14:03 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ken, I don't care if she's smart, smart, smart.

Her attitude, both elitist and anti-American, caused me and mine to buy not another Pepsico product. Dumped my stock and I haven't bought any Pepsico products since that Commencement address.
Posted by: Quana || 08/14/2006 14:36 Comments || Top||

#2  If she continues her little habit of making assumptions about her audience, the transition may go smoothly but the tenure... maybe not so good. I'm surprised by this promotion; PepsiCo is known in this part of the world as one of the places where Procter&Gamble graduates go to make money. And Proctoids as a group are pretty patriotic -- they know P&G is the best company to work for, and the US is the best country to live in (even those who leave the company, either sad because it just wasn't a good fit, or for more rapid opportunities available elsewhere). As a group they're awfully cute about it all. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/14/2006 14:49 Comments || Top||

#3  So I just buy RC.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/14/2006 15:25 Comments || Top||

#4  One more of the many reasons for me never to buy Pepsi.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/14/2006 15:29 Comments || Top||

#5  So glad I've never liked Pepsi. Always drank Coke and currently own Coca-Cola shares. Never will buy Pepsico and this really seals it.
Posted by: SOP35/Rat || 08/14/2006 15:58 Comments || Top||

#6  Haven't you heard? Soft drinks kill ya.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 08/14/2006 15:59 Comments || Top||

#7  I just drank my last Mountain Dew. Man this is going to be tough, I love that crap. Thanks a pantload Pepsi.
Posted by: Mike N. || 08/14/2006 16:06 Comments || Top||

#8  Here's the powerline blog link with some details. I'll venture if she's that smart, she won't make the same mistake twice. Boycotted Pepsi since I read this...

http://powerlineblog.com/archives/010478.php
Posted by: Warthog || 08/14/2006 16:29 Comments || Top||

#9  She's been promoted?

I'll pop open a DIET COKE in celebration.

Oh, wait....
Posted by: Clesh Ebbealing8178 || 08/14/2006 16:36 Comments || Top||

#10  Well, crud. #9 was me. And on my home computer, too! :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/14/2006 16:37 Comments || Top||

#11  I had to go back and look. May 2005. I haven't had a Pepsi in 15 months. Just tell Indra to consider it my middle finger...
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/14/2006 17:02 Comments || Top||

#12  For a company that hails its roots from Fayetteville NC they have really gone to hell. Guess Pepsi and Fritos are now RC cola and Moon Pies instead!!!!
Posted by: 49 Pan || 08/14/2006 18:02 Comments || Top||

#13  Pepsi sponsors Jeff Gordon's 24 car - enough reason to dislike em. That said - I drink it
Posted by: Frank G || 08/14/2006 18:11 Comments || Top||

#14  Coke Zero.

And, for the ultimate in "More Americana Than Thou", remember that Disneyworld only serves Coke products.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 08/14/2006 18:30 Comments || Top||

#15  Perhaps she secretly craves that "Middle Finger". Wouldn't be the first time an accuser had a crush on the accused. Be it on or off, she can nonetheless get f&cked. Time to short Pepsico, they must not value their American consumer base too much.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/14/2006 21:38 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Al Gore to speak at real estate investing seminar
Posted by: Mike || 08/14/2006 07:31 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He did invent the Multiple Listing....right?
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/14/2006 7:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Tim Blair: "Gore Your Way To Wealth"

the funniest part is he's speaking about Leadership. "No Controlling Legal Authority"
Posted by: Frank G || 08/14/2006 7:40 Comments || Top||

#3  He'll be giving the lecture in front of his yacht with 2 bikini models at his side.
Posted by: ed || 08/14/2006 8:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Ah, yes, sucker seminars. $99 and you too can be a powerful sales machine, investing wiz, and just an all around better person! A perfect match for ol' Al, when you think about it.

I loved it when I was a stockbroker, way back when, and a client or friend would ask me about them. They never had a good answer when I would ask them, "Look, if I had a guaranteed way to make 100k with an investment of 2k in less than a month, wouldn't it make more sense for me to work that system than to waste four hours talking to you for $99 and turning you into a competitor for all these sweet deals?"

Can't wait for ol' Al to start hawking a series of books and cassettes on late night TV next. I already have a perfect one for him....."How to Make Millions in Real Estate During the Global Warming Meltdown!! Find where the next oceanfront property will be and make your fortune now!!!"
Posted by: Swamp Blondie || 08/14/2006 8:04 Comments || Top||

#5  Good Lord, Swamp Blondie, is there nothing you haven't done?
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/14/2006 8:23 Comments || Top||

#6  a guaranteed way to make 100k with an investment of 2k in less than a month

Hillary did it and so can you.

/Al Gore
Posted by: ed || 08/14/2006 8:24 Comments || Top||

#7  The real estate selling biz = ripe for disintermediation.
Posted by: phil_b || 08/14/2006 8:50 Comments || Top||

#8  Hey Al, I thought you were 'carbon'neutral'? It takes an awful lot of greehouse gas emissions to build a house. Not to mention all those lovely trees you have to hack down for the lumber and the space.

Oh, I forgot... Your environmental wackoism doesn't apply to you and other liberal elites. You just want to apply it to the rest of us.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 08/14/2006 9:05 Comments || Top||

#9  greenhouse....errrrr
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 08/14/2006 9:05 Comments || Top||

#10  tw, there's plenty of things I haven't tried yet.

I had a relatively brief career in investment sales when my overlords realized I was reluctant to put ol' granny's life savings into penny stocks and other questionable things. Did ok, but didn't rack up the commissions like some others did, so we, um, mutually parted ways so I could explore other possibilities. Yeah, that's it!

Then I went into guvmint service and got myself into all kinds of trouble. Some of which I even had legal authority to do, others, well, not so much. But we were short-staffed and I was available, with an above average ability to bs, so....you get the idea. ;)

(I think all of that is going to be cake compared to what's coming up soon with the little guy-to-be, however. ;) )
Posted by: Swamp Blondie || 08/14/2006 10:39 Comments || Top||

#11  A Baby Blondie? (Swamp Baby?)

Congratulations and good luck!!
Posted by: Mike || 08/14/2006 12:08 Comments || Top||

#12  That's quite a lineup of speakers.
My one question is what the hell do any of them have to do with real estate investing? It'd be like sending my kid to Steven Hawking's Football Camp.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/14/2006 12:21 Comments || Top||

#13  Swamp Blondie sed (I think all of that is going to be cake compared to what's coming up soon with the little guy-to-be, however. ;) )

cake and the little unit.

now thats a good investment!

»:-)

Posted by: RD || 08/14/2006 12:30 Comments || Top||

#14  Thanks, Mike & RD! Little Joey's gonna be more like a Giant Swamp Thang if he keeps this growth rate up. Latest guesstimate is 10 lbs if he goes to due date in October. Could be the future star linebacker for the Seminoles or Gators someday.

Anyway...

My one question is what the hell do any of them have to do with real estate investing? It'd be like sending my kid to Steven Hawking's Football Camp.

Answer....not really one damn thing, tu3031, and they're not intended to, either. Here's the basic scenario.

1) You get together some marquee names to pull in the public. Sports stars are always good, high ranking former politicos aren't bad either (that's where Algore comes in). They give their little platitude laden speeches with the usual "Reach for the stars!" stuff.

A good chunk of the 72 other experts will be motivational speakers who are not as well known, but will be giving basically the same speech as the headliners. Throw in a few "financial speakers" like the fetching Ms Chatzky, and yeah, technically you *did* provide the opportunity to find out about real estate and other investments, so it's all cool.

2) Market it heavily in the local top newsrag, and be sure to show that the price has been slashed to 50% or so of the "original" cost. Title it after some current big idear/hot topic like "leadership", "sales success", "investing secrets", etc.

Real estate's gets everyone's attention right now, so that's why it's squeezed in at the top. Check in a couple of years, and if the market takes a dump and something else is riding high, that will be prominently featured instead.

And the "money back guarantee"? It's only if they didn't provide you with some kind of investment advice, not if it was any good or even relevant to your situation. That's why they have the other topics like using your IRA for real estate, vending machines as a side business, etc.

3) The promoter will probably just break even, might even lose some money based on the admission fee. Again, not the point of the whole thing.

Get the warm bodies in there and some of them will buy books, tapes, etc. None of them are cheap, either. The promoter gets a cut of all that. Also, your name goes on a sucker list, oops, I meant "list of people interested in exciting investment opportunities", and brace yourself for the junk mail and cold calls after they sell your info to every weird little "investment" firm under the sun, and motivational speaker bureau that holds seminars in your locality. That's where the bigger bucks come in to make it all worthwhile.

Hello, sucker! Don't forget to check out the wonderful educational materials our vendors have provided....many not available in stores, and priced low for this day only! Please be sure to bring a friend next year, 'mkay??
Posted by: Swamp Blondie || 08/14/2006 13:33 Comments || Top||

#15  Speaking of future carbon-aholics, congrats on your upcoming "download", there SB. Of course, I, for one, would like to see lil' Joey head to Auburn if he's that large, lol!
Posted by: BA || 08/14/2006 13:38 Comments || Top||

#16  Nah, Blondie's already got him set aside for West Point, right?
Posted by: lotp || 08/14/2006 14:19 Comments || Top||

#17  Congrats Swamp Blonde on your incoming 'package' :). I take it he's a boy (guy-to-be).

Babies are great. Looks like he's going to be half grown when he comes.

Hint: Get all the sleep you can *now* :^)
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/14/2006 14:50 Comments || Top||

#18  So when I see a woman driving at 80 in Phoenix with oven mits on and a baby strapped in the back seat I will know it's SB! Congrats!!
Posted by: 49 Pan || 08/14/2006 14:59 Comments || Top||

#19  You have to upload a baby picture when the big day comes.
Posted by: Mike || 08/14/2006 15:10 Comments || Top||

#20  Latest guesstimate is 10 lbs if he goes to due date in October.

Whew! That's a lot of baby!
Posted by: Ptah || 08/14/2006 15:14 Comments || Top||

#21  Latest guesstimate is 10 lbs if he goes to due date in October.

Whew! That's a lot of baby!
Posted by: Ptah || 08/14/2006 15:14 Comments || Top||

#22  Hey, whatever school Joey wants to go to is fine with us....all scholarship offers will be appreciated when the day comes.

And yes, will upload a pic when he arrives. Might need a wide angle lens, but we'll do it. :P
Posted by: Swamp Blondie || 08/14/2006 16:43 Comments || Top||

#23  He did invent the Multiple Listing....right?

Altho ye are dawghoused that was purdy damn funny.
Posted by: 6 || 08/14/2006 19:32 Comments || Top||

#24  So did Al end up buying the timeshare?
Posted by: eLarson || 08/14/2006 20:44 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2006-08-14
  Hizbullah distributes Leaflets claiming victory
Sun 2006-08-13
  Lebanese Cabinet Approves Cease-Fire
Sat 2006-08-12
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Fri 2006-08-11
  ‘Quake money’ used to finance UK plane bombing plot
Thu 2006-08-10
  "Plot to blow up planes" foiled in UK. We hope.
Wed 2006-08-09
  Israel shakes up Leb front leadership
Tue 2006-08-08
  Lebanese objection delays vote at UN
Mon 2006-08-07
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