What Lurks Behind The Edwards For President Facade

What Lurks Behind The Edwards For President Facade

We do not know but we are looking.

With your help perhaps we can find out before it is too late.We feel

certain that

Democrats will choose a candidate who fits the profile that has

provided Democrats

with Presidential election victories in the past.

Democrats have won the White House with "white" Southern men,

ranging from Jimmy Carter of Georgia in 1976, to JFK's Vice

President, Lyndon Johnson of Texas, who became President after JFK

was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22nd, 1963, and who

was overwhelmingly elected President in 1964.

Another "white" Southern man, FDR's Vice President, Harry Truman of

Missouri, who became President after FDR's death in 1945, held onto

the Presidency in the election of 1948.

Yet another "white" Southern man, former Vice President Al Gore, in

2000, won more popular votes than Republican George W. Bush.

We look at some of the history and people we have come across in our

continuing search

for What Lurks Behind The Edwards For President Facade as we seek to

examine

everything we can about the person we think Democrats will choose to

run for President

in 2008: former 2004 Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards (or

is it Jon Edwards?).

"Friedrich (Frederik) Weyerhäuser (November 21, 1834 in Nieder-

Saulheim, Rheinhessen - April 4, 1914 in Pasadena, California) was a

German-American timber mogul and founder of the Weyerhaeuser

Company, which possesses large forested areas as well as saw mills,

paper factories and other business enterprises.

At the age of 18, Weyerhäuser emigrated from Germany to the United

States and began as a worker in a sawmill, which he later bought. He

also began to acquire interests, some of which were majority

interests, in many other timber companies. In 1872, he established

the Mississippi River Boom and Logging Co., an alliance that handled

all the logs that were processed on the Mississippi River. In 1900,

Weyerhäuser bought 900,000 acres (3,600 km²) of timberland in the

Pacific Northwest from James J. Hill and founded the Weyerhäuser

Timber Company. Weyerhäuser never changed the name of the company

which he controlled. One of the 30 factories in which he held an

interest was Potlatch, later Potlatch Corporation. He also owned

interests in the Boise Cascade Corporation. The Weyerhäuser Company

is still the world’s largest seller of timber.

In thanks to his home community of Saulheim, he established the

music hall there in 1904."

source for item above :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Weyerh%C3%A4user

"Weyerhaeuser is one of the largest pulp and paper companies in the

world; the world's largest private owner of softwood timberland; and

the second largest owner in the United States, behind International

Paper. Weyerhaeuser has approximately 41,000 employees in 18

countries, including United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,

China, Mexico, Ireland, France, and Uruguay.

In January 1900, Friedrich Weyerhäuser founded the company as

Weyerhaeuser Timber Company with 15 partners and 900,000 acres

(3,600 km²) of Washington timberland.[2] In 1929, the company built

what was then the world's largest sawmill in Longview, Washington.

Weyerhaeuser's pulp mill in Longview, which began production in

1931, sustained the company financially during the Great Depression.

In 1959, the company eliminated the word "Timber" from its name to

better reflect its operations. In 1965, Weyerhaeuser built its first

bleached kraft pulp mill in Canada. Weyerhaeuser implemented its

High Yield Forestry Plan in 1967 which drew upon 30 years of

forestry research and field experience. It called for the planting

of seedlings within one year of a harvest, soil fertilization,

thinning, rehabilitation of brushlands, and, eventually, genetic

improvement of trees.

Weyerhaeuser consolidated its core businesses in the late 1990s and

ended its services in mortgage banking, personal care products,

financial services, and information systems consulting. Weyerhaeuser

also expanded into South America, Australia, and Asia. In 1999,

Weyerhaeuser purchased MacMillan Bloedel Limited, a large Canadian

forestry company. Then in 2002 after a protracted hostile buyout,

the company acquired Willamette Industries, Inc. of Portland, Oregon.

[3] On August 23, 2006, Weyerhaeuser announced a merge with Domtar's

fine paper business in a $3.3 billion cash and stock deal.

Weyerhaeuser imports timber products from Malaysia, Chile, and

Brazil, and has timber operations or offices in 44 American states,

Canada, and 18 other countries. Weyerhaeuser is one of North

America's largest distributors of wood products; it owns more than

seven million acres (28,000 km²) of land in the U.S., and holds

logging rights to more than 35 million acres (142,000 km²) of land

in Canada. Weyerhaeuser has expanded beyond its roots in lumber and

wood products; it controls more than 100 subsidiaries in fields such

as construction, real estate sales, and development.

The company's operations are divided into five major business

segments:

Timberlands — Growing and harvesting trees in renewable cycles.

Wood Products — Manufacturing and distribution of building materials

for homes and other structures.

Pulp and Paper — Produces a variety of papers and the pulp used to

produce papers, absorbent products, photographic film, and several

others.

Containerboard Packaging and Recycling — Produces paper, boxes, and

bags to move products from factories to the household. The segment

collects and recycles wastepaper, boxes, and newsprint to make new

products.

Real Estate — Builds homes and develops land. Weyerhaeuser has six

subsidiaries collectively called WRECO, the largest of which is

Pardee Homes.

The company also operates an IT internship program to develop

professionals for employment in its IT department.

The Weyerhaeuser board of directors consists of: Richard Haskayne,

Robert Herbold, Martha Rivers Ingram, John W. Kieckhefer, Arnold

Langbo, Don Mazankowski, Nicole Piasecki, Steven Rogel, Richard

Sinkfield, D. Michael Steuert, James Sullivan, and Charles

Williamson.

References

Weyerhaeuser Company. Google Finance. Retrieved on 2006-12-1.

http://finance.google.com/finance?q=WY

Weyerhaeuser in Brief (PDF). Weyerhaeuser. Retrieved on 2006-11-

24.

Weyerhaeuser Welcomes Oregon Willamette Employees as Companies

Combine to grow Global Leader

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?

ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-18-2002/0001689036&EDATE=

External links

Weyerhaeuser Company Web Site http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/

iLevel by Weyerhaeuser : Structural Frame Business Web Site

http://www.ilevel.com/

Dryden Pulp & Paper Workers suffer from brain damage

http://www.cbc.ca/thunderbay/features/brain-poisoning/index.html?

dataPath=/photogallery/regions/thunderbay/gallery_339/xml/gallery_339

..xml

source for item excerpted from above:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weyerhaeuser

as usual in such things we were curious about the Board of Directors

of this company

as we are curious about Boards of Directors of many companies

we clicked on the link in the wikipedia article for:

Richard (Dick) Francis Haskayne, O.C., A.O.E., B.Comm., LL.D.,

F.C.A., (born 1934) is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist.

Raised in Gleichen, Alberta, he received a Bachelor of Commerce

degree from the University of Alberta in 1956 and became a Chartered

Accountant in 1959.

He spent more than twenty years with Hudson's Bay Oil and Gas

becoming President in 1980. He was Chairman, President and Chief

Executive Officer of Interhome Energy Inc. From 1996 to 1998, he was

Chairman of TransAlta Corporation. From 1996 to 1999, he was

Chairman of the Board of MacMillan Bloedel Limited when it was

acquired by Weyerhaeuser. From 1992 to 1998, he was Chairman of NOVA

Corporation when the company merged with TransCanada PipeLines

Limited. He retired from TransCanada Pipelines in 2005." and came up

with the above which may be found at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Haskayne

we found the item immediately below at

http://www.heritage.org/About/Departments/trustees.cfm

Robert J. Herbold, Heritage Trustee Since 2003

Retired Chief Operating Officer Microsoft

Herbold, Microsoft’s recently retired chief operating officer, runs

a consulting business and serves on the boards of Weyerhauser Corp.,

Agilent Technologies, Cintas Corp. and First Mutual Bank. Also,

President Bush recently appointed him to the President’s Council of

Advisors on Science and Technology.

He also works part time for Microsoft as an executive vice

president, assisting in the government, industry and customer areas.

He is also president of The Herbold Foundation, which focuses

primarily on providing college scholarships to science, mathematics

and engineering students."

for the record we liked what we read at

http://www.heritage.org/Research/MiddleEast/arab-israeli.cfm

The Heritage Foundation

214 Massachusetts Ave NE

Washington DC 20002-4999

ph 202.546.4400 | fax 202.546.8328

we hope that if enough people contact them they might prevail upon

good people like Robert J. Herbold, and others, to look more closely

at things like Weyerhauser's relationship to Fortress, and the

relationship of Fortress to John Edwards, or is it Jon Edwards?

we clicked on the link to Martha Rivers Ingram in the wikipedia

article

excerpted from above and came up with:Martha Rivers Ingram

>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Rivers_Ingram

Martha Robinson Rivers Ingram (born 20 August 1935) is the widow of

Erskine Bronson Ingram, who inherited his father's petroleum and

barge empire in 1963. Martha inherited the fortune after Bronson's

death, and took Ingram Micro public a year later. She owns Ingram

Industries, a business run by her three sons... She is listed in the

Forbes 400.

She is the mother of businessmen David Ingram, Orrin H. Ingram III,

and John Rivers Ingram

She is a member of the boards of Baxter International, Inc., First

American Corporation, and Weyerhaeuser Company. She is also chairman

of the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust and a trustee of Ashley

Hall School and Vassar College."

now we are starting to notice something about some of these

Weyerhauser directors. Some of them at least, seem to have some ties

to the oil business. We wonder why that might be. Does anyone have

any ideas on that?

We Googled John Kieckhefer

and came up with the item below at:

http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPer

sonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=877696

John I Kieckhefer

Director at

Weyerhaeuser Company

Federal Way, Washington

INDUSTRIAL GOODS / LUMBER, WOOD PRODUCTION

Director since 1990 62 years old

John I. Kieckhefer, 62, a director of the Company since 1990, has

been president of Kieckhefer Associates, Inc. (investment and trust

management) since 1989, and was senior vice president prior to that

time. He has been engaged in commercial cattle operations since 1967

and is a trustee of J.W. Kieckhefer Foundation, an Arizona

charitable trust."

We Googled Arnold Langbo and came up with the item below at:

http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPer

sonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=937882

"Arnold G Langbo Director at Johnson & Johnson

New Brunswick, New Jersey

HEALTHCARE / DRUG MANUFACTURERS - MAJOR

Director since 1991 69 years old

Mr. Langbo, 69, was elected to the Board of Directors in 1991 and is

a member of the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee and

Chairman of the Compensation & Benefits Committee. Mr. Langbo

retired as Chairman of the Board of Kellogg Company (cereals and

convenience foods) in 2000. He had held that position since 1992

after having been President and Chief Operating Officer of Kellogg

since 1990. He also served as Chief Executive Officer from 1992

until 1999. Mr. Langbo joined Kellogg Canada Inc. in 1956 and served

in a number of management positions in Canada and the United States

before being named President of Kellogg International in 1986. Mr.

Langbo is a Director of Weyerhaeuser Company and Whirlpool

Corporation."

"GUTIERREZ “ONE OF THE MOST POTENT FORCES” BEHIND WH IMMIGRATION

PUSH: When Carlos Gutierrez became U.S. secretary of commerce in

2005, he had so little clout that the White House vetoed his choice

of his own senior adviser. Two years later, that perception is

changing. Gutierrez, 53, has emerged as one of the most potent

forces behind the Bush administration’s most contentious domestic-

policy initiatives: an overhaul of immigration laws that splits the

president from his Republican base. Gutierrez... has spent about

three afternoons a week at the Capitol for the last two months,

negotiating the compromise legislation the Senate is considering

this week. The issue has a personal resonance for Gutierrez, a Cuban

refugee who worked his way up to become chief executive officer of

Kellogg Co… Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who

helped forge the compromise, calls Gutierrez “sort of our moral

compass.” Bloomberg: Gutierrez Becomes `Moral Compass’ of Bush’s

Immigration Effort

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?

pid=washingtonstory&sid=aiziYkWh50Bs

We clicked on the link for Don Mazankowski in the Wikipedia article

listing

the Board of Directors of Weyerhaeuser and found

Donald Frank Mazankowski, PC, OC, AOE (born July 27, 1935, in

Viking, Alberta) was a Canadian politician who served as a cabinet

minister under Prime Ministers Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney. He is

currently a consultant with the law firm Gowlings Lafleur Henderson.

He also serves as a director or trustee for a number of companies,

including Weyerhaeuser Co., ATCO Ltd., Shaw Communications Inc., and

Power Corporation of Canada.

Mazankowski was born to parents of Polish descent. He went into

business and became the manager of an auto dealership. Long

interested in politics, Mazankowski became an important member of

the Albertan Progressive Conservative Party, and in the 1968 federal

election, he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as the

Member of Parliament (MP) for Vegreville, Alberta.

During the short-lived Clark government, Mazankowski served as

Minister of Transport. When the Tories returned to power under

Mulroney in the 1984 election, Mazankowski again became Minister of

Transport. In 1986, he was promoted to Deputy Prime Minister and

Government House Leader. Mazankowski became one of the most widely-

known public faces of the Tory government. He played an especially

important role as an advocate for the Canada-U.S. Free Trade

Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The Mulroney government became increasingly unpopular, however, but

Mazankowski was less severely affected than others. In 1991, he

became Finance Minister, replacing the extremely unpopular Michael

Wilson.

Mazankowski retired from politics on June 7, 1993. When Kim Campbell

succeeded Mulroney as PC leader and prime minister two weeks later,

Mazankowski was replaced as Finance Minister by Gilles Loiselle.

Mazankowski did not run in the 1993 election that saw his party

reduced to two seats in the House of Commons. Mazankowski returned

to the private sector, and served on the boards of several

organizations, including the University of Alberta. He declined an

offer of a Senate seat made by Brian Mulroney in his final days as

Prime Minister.

He has remained involved in politics. In 2002, he headed an

investigation in Alberta's health care system. He also played an

important role in the merger between the Progressive Conservative

Party and the Canadian Alliance party, and is a strong supporter of

the new Conservative Party of Canada.

He is one of the few Canadians to be given the title of "The Right

Honourable" without having held an office that would entitle him to

it.

In 2000, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2003, he

was awarded the Alberta Order of Excellence.

at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Mazankowski

Which really does not shock us at all. If you are a big North

American

Timber Company, or however it might be described these days

or, for that matter a big North American Company in just about any

business, you are sure to try to find some North American politicans

to sit on your board.

We wonder how some of those big companies, be they in North America,

or Germany, or wherever will cozy up to President Edwards and which

of them

already have or may be about to.

Now here is another interesting pattern. John Edwards, (or is it Jon

Edwards?)

likes to talk about something he describes as "Two Americas". It

seems, however, that Edwards association with Fortress, and the

association of Fortress with other big companies like Weyerhaeuser

Company speak more to

an America that really is very well entrenched indeed on the

corporate landscape of our little planet.

Which America does John Edwards (or is it Jon Edwards?) really

represent?

We Googled another Weyerhaeuser Company director Nicole Piasecki,

and came up with:

Boeing Appoints Nicole Piasecki as President of Boeing Japan

CHICAGO, Nov. 13, 2006 -- The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) today named

Nicole Piasecki vice president of Boeing International and president

of Boeing Japan. Based in Tokyo, Piasecki will be responsible for

developing and strengthening Boeing's presence and partnerships in

Japan. She will report to Laurette Koellner, president, Boeing

International....

Her previous career experience includes working for Piasecki

Aircraft Corporation; Cresap, a Towers Perrin Company; Weyerhaeuser

Japan, Ltd.; and United Technologies, Sikorsky Aircraft Division.

Piasecki is a member of the board of directors of the Weyerhinaeuser

Company and serves on the (U.S.) Federal Aviation Administration's

Management Advisory Council." at

http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2006/q4/061113g_nr.html

We were able to find the $500 contribution below to one Maria

Cantwell

http://cantwell.senate.gov/ Official Web Site of Maria Cantwell -

(Democrat) US Senator from Washington State.

from Nicole Piasecki of Boeing in 2003 at http://www.opensecrets.org

PIASECKI, NICOLE

SEATTLE,WA 98112

BOEING COMMERCIAL

4/18/2003

$500

Cantwell, Maria

March 22, 2001

We looked at an article from

THE NEW YORK TIMES

By PHILIP SHENON

Published: March 22, 2001

at http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?

res=9504E7D6163CF931A15750C0A9679C8B63&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%

20Topics%2fPeople%2fC%2fCantwell%2c%20Maria

which is excerpted from below:

Money for Campaigns Debated, Then Raised

By PHILIP SHENON

By day, the Senate approved a campaign finance overhaul proposal

that would assist Congressional candidates who face challenges from

self-financed millionaires.

By night, Senate Democrats repaired to the palatial Embassy Row home

of a millionaire senator, John Edwards of North Carolina, to raise

money for Maria Cantwell, who used $10.3 million of her Internet

fortune to win her Senate seat from Washington State in November.

The long, black sedans snaked up and down 30th Street on Tuesday

night to drop off guests willing to help Senator Cantwell pay off a

$4.2 million campaign debt that became even more worrisome after the

collapse of her high-tech stock portfolio. ''Please make checks

payable to Cantwell 2000 Debt,'' the invitation said. ''$1,000

maximum donation.''

The timing was hard to ignore. In a week in which the Senate had

begun its debate on overhauling the campaign finance system -- a

system, lawmakers complain, that forces them into a never-ending

hunt for cash -- a group of senators had left Capitol Hill and gone

straight to a big-money fund-

and the $500 contribution below to one Norm Dicks at

http://www.opensecrets.orgPIASECKI, NICOLE W

SEATTLE,WA 98112

BOEING/SR. VP

11/2/2004

$500

Dicks, Norm

http://www.house.gov/dicks/ is the Official web site for

Representative Norman D. Dicks (D - WA)

Like so many Distinguished Gentlemen and Ladies Congress person

Dicks likes

to travel, we excerpted the material below from some data regarding

that which we found at:

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/congtravel/member_

report.php?member=7039

DICKS, NORM D, Democratic Party

Washington

Total number of trips - 18

Total cost of trips - $71,020.73

Average cost per trip - $3,945.60

Total number of days spent traveling - 81 days

Rank of representative - 72 (Out of 638)

Sponsor(s) - Council on Foreign Relations

Dates - May 13, 2002 - May 13, 2002 (1 days)

Location(s) - New York, NY

Purpose - to speak at CFR panel event on "Bush's defense policy

proposal"

Notes - Transportation breakdown is $256 for shuttle, $78 for car

service.

Travel Cost - $335.00

Lodging Cost -

Meal Cost -

Other Cost -

Total Cost - $335.00

Sponsor(s) - Boeing Inc.

Dates - April 7, 2004 - April 8, 2004 (2 days)

Location(s) - Los Angeles, CA

Purpose - Briefing and tour of C-17 aircraft and aircraft protection

system. Tour of AF satellite production facilities

Notes - 04/09/2004 to 04/18/2004 was at his personal expense

Travel Cost - $210.20

Lodging Cost - $741.00

Meal Cost - $166.13

Other Cost -

Total Cost - $1,117.33

We clicked on Steven Rogel in the Wikipedia piece on Weyerhauser

directors and found :

"Steven R. Rogel has been Chairman, President and Chief Executive

Officer of The Weyerhaeuser Company since April 20, 1999. Rogel has

been a member of the company's board of directors since December 1,

1997.

A University of Washington graduate, he received his Bachelor of

Science degree in chemical engineering in 1965. He has also

completed executive education programs at Dartmouth College and the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He was president and chief executive officer of Willamette

Industries until 1996. He later made sure the company was bought out

by Weyerhaeuser after becoming their CEO." at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Rogel

we looked at some campaign contributions from Weyerhauser's Steven

Rogel at

http://www.newsmeat.com/ceo_political_donations/Steven_Rogel.php

where we found :ROGEL, STEVEN R

TACOMA, WA 98499

WEYERHAEUSER/PRESIDENT AND CEO

contributed a number of politicians including:

LOTT, TRENT ®

Senate - MS

TRENT LOTT FOR MISSISSIPPI $1,000

in the general election 10/19/2006

and to

BAIRD, BRIAN N (D)

House (WA 03)

BRIAN BAIRD FOR CONGRESS $500

in the general election on October 16th, 2006

http://www.house.gov/baird/ is the Official web site for

Representative Brian Baird (D - WA).

BRIAN BAIRD (D-WA)

Top Contributors at

http://opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?

CID=N00007936&cycle=2006

included Weyerhaeuser Co as number 8 and Microsoft Corp as Baird's

number 1 contributor. If you can recall Weyerhaeuser board of

directors member

Robert J. Herbold is listed as the Retired Chief Operating Officer

Microsoft at

http://www.heritage.org/About/Departments/trustees.cfm

We Googled Weyerhaeuser board of directors member Richard Sinkfield

and came up with

Richard Sinkfield Director at

Weyerhaeuser Company

Federal Way, Washington

INDUSTRIAL GOODS / LUMBER, WOOD PRODUCTION

Director since 1993 64 years old

Richard H. Sinkfield, 64, a director of the Company since 1993, is a

senior partner in the law firm of Rogers & Hardin in Atlanta,

Georgia, and has been a partner in the firm since 1976. He was a

director of United Auto Group, Inc. (automobile retailer) from 1993

to 1999 and its executive vice president and chief administrative

officer from 1997 to 1999. He was a director of Central Parking

Corporation from 2000 to February 2005"

at

http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPer

sonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=903074

We also found a

Richard Sinkfield Contribution List in 2004 at

http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/richard-

sinkfield.asp?cycle=04

which included the following:

Sinkfield, Richard H III

WASHINGTON, DC

20002 Rogers & Harden/Attorney $250 07/12/2004 P JOHN KERRY FOR

PRESIDENT INC - Democrat

Sinkfield, Richard III

WASHINGTON, DC

20002 Rogers & Harden/Attorney $250 12/02/2003 P DEAN FOR AMERICA -

Democrat

Sinkfield, Richard

ATLANTA, GA

30315 Rogers & Hardin LLP Atlanta GA/Atto $250 09/25/2003 P EDWARDS

FOR PRESIDENT - Democrat

Sinkfield, Richard

ATLANTA, GA

30315 Rogers & Hardin LLP Atlanta GA/Atto $250 09/25/2003 P EDWARDS

FOR PRESIDENT - Democrat

we wonder if it is the same person described at

http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2005_06/house/bios/Sinkfield,%

20Georganna%20T/sinkfieldGeorgannaBio.htm

in some material on Representative Georganna Sinkfield

HD 60 (D-Atlanta)

which states that "Representative Georganna T. Sinkfield...

her husband, Richard Sinkfield..." but we do not know if it is the

same person or not.

We Googled Weyerhaeuser board of directors member D. Michael

Steuert and found

D. Michael Steuert is senior vice president and chief financial

officer of Fluor Corporation, where he is responsible for

implementing successful global financial processes.

Prior to joining Fluor in 2001, Steuert served as senior vice

president and chief financial officer of Litton Industries Inc.,

where he created and managed a variety of corporate initiatives

leading to a significant improvement in shareholder value. Prior to

joining Litton, Steuert served as senior vice president of GenCorp

Inc., a diversified automotive, specialty chemicals and aerospace

company.

Steuert earned both bachelor's and master's degrees from Carnegie

Mellon University and has completed post graduate training at

Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton

School of Business.

Active in a variety of professional and civic organizations, Steuert

serves as a trustee for ProLogis, a leading provider of distribution

facilities and services. He has served as president of the Board of

Trustees of the Mental Health Association of Summit County in Ohio,

regional director of the Financial Executives Institute, and as a

member of the Leadership Akron Alumni. He is a director of

Weyerhaeuser Company." at

http://www.fluor.com/about/eb_d_steuert.asp

The description of Fluor below is from

http://www.fluor.com/about/history.asp

"Fluor began as Fluor Construction Company in 1912 and quickly built

its reputation for applying innovative methods and performing

precise engineering and construction work within the emerging

petroleum industry. During the 1920s, Fluor developed expertise in

the oil and gas field in process construction. Incorporated in 1924,

the company began executing more complex engineering and

construction projects, which continue today to be a cornerstone of

Fluor's expertise.

During the 1930s, the company won contracts in Texas, Indiana,

Missouri, and Illinois that helped to establish Fluor as a major

competitor in the refinery construction field. The 1940's war effort

brought the company many opportunities for expansion. Even as its

domestic workload grew, the company secured contracts for refineries

and natural gas plants in Canada and Venezuela. Fluor's solid

reputation as a refinery engineering firm led to the company's first

Middle East assignment, in Saudi Arabia.

In the early 1950s, Fluor began working with the U.S. Government

executing contracts in the nuclear field. The company also

contracted for U.S. Air Force work at Dhahran Air Base, Saudi

Arabia, and for refineries in Puerto Rico. More projects followed,

and Fluor designed and built plants for the petrochemical industry

in Australia, Canada, Scotland, and South Africa. By the end of the

decade, Fluor had established offices worldwide, and was a publicly

traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. The company's

reputation helped to win many energy-producing projects.

In the 1960s, Fluor continued its international expansion with the

construction of the first refinery in South Korea. The company also

diversified into offshore drilling and mining.

By the 1970s, the company's activities focused heavily on the

international natural resource industries. Fluor set up subsidiaries

and management organizations in Alaska, Europe, Indonesia, Saudi

Arabia, and South Africa. It was during the 1970s, that Fluor

completed work on the Alaskan pipeline and constructed the world's

largest offshore facility. In 1977, the company acquired Daniel

International Corporation, a leader in establishing the design-

build, single-responsibility concept that allowed the company to

deliver projects months ahead of schedule.

In the 1980s, Fluor Engineers, Inc., and Daniel International became

a single worldwide operating unit, Fluor Daniel. Although facing a

cyclical downturn during the 80s, Fluor restructured the company to

meet the challenges of a dramatically changed business environment,

preparing the company for growth worldwide.

Fluor expanded its international operations in the 1990s,

successfully completing many petrochemical, infrastructure, and

environmental projects in Indonesia, Venezuela, Mexico, Thailand,

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Poland, and Argentina. Fluor acquired ADP

Marshall and expanded its services to the electrical,

pharmaceutical, commercial and manufacturing industries.

In the new millennium, Fluor successfully completed the spin-off of

its coal business and several acquisitions to expand its services

with the U.S. government and strengthen its operations and

maintenance capabilities."

We Googled Weyerhauser board of Directors member James Sullivan and

found

James Sullivan Director at

Weyerhaeuser Company

Federal Way, Washington

INDUSTRIAL GOODS / LUMBER, WOOD PRODUCTION

Director since 1998

69 years old

James N. Sullivan, 69, a director of the Company since 1998, is the

retired vice chairman of the board of Chevron Corporation

(international oil company) where he was a director from 1988 to

2000. He joined Chevron in 1961, was elected a vice president in

1983 and served as its vice chairman from 1989 to 2000."

at

http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPer

sonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=922112

hmmmmmm

There's yet another oil industry connected person listed....Wonder

what THAT means?

SAN FRANCISCO, May 31 -- Chevron Corp. today announced that Vice

Chairman James N. Sullivan has decided to retire Aug. 31 after a

highly distinguished 39-year career.

"Jim Sullivan personifies the values of integrity, partnership and

achievement that we treasure at Chevron," said Chairman and CEO Dave

O’ Reilly. "He played a major role in shaping today's Chevron.

During the merger with Gulf in 1984 -- then the world's largest and

most complex business deal -- Jim helped assemble the best business

assets of both companies and bond them together at a human level

into something much greater than the sum of the parts.....Sullivan

is active in numerous organizations outside of Chevron. He is a

director of Weyerhaeuser Co., the American Petroleum

Institute ....He is a member of the National Petroleum Refiners

Association, the World Trade Club, http://www.worldtradeclub.net/

the Commonwealth Club and the World Affairs Council...."

http://www.chevron.com/news/archive/chevron_press/2000/2000-05-31-

1.asp

"The World Trade Club is managed by an Executive Committee elected

by the Board of Directors. They are assisted by a Board of Directors

drawn from the membership of the Club. We welcome your inquiries

about membership and activities of the Club. Please contact the

World Trade Club office, members of the Executive Board and other

WTC Committees, or Board of Directors.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

President

Mike Trail Hitachi Consulting

Treasurer

Tina Farmer Microsoft Corporation" above was excerpted from

some material found at:

http://www.worldtradeclub.net/board_of_directors.aspx

oh gosh, Microsoft AGAIN ! small world isn't it?

we looked at

http://www.commonwealthclub.org/governors.html

where we found

Bob Saldich is the current Chair of the Board of Governors.

Robert Saldich

President and CEO (Retired), Raychem Corporation

http://www.raychem.com/

now that seems interesting too

we looked at http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/product-compint-

0000932120-page.html

where we found: Raychem Saudi Arabia Ltd

Manufacturing: Manufacture and marketing of power and

telecommunication cable accessories and pipe protection products

we looked a bit further and found the material below at

http://www.unitedworld-usa.com/reports/saudiarabia/eajuffali.asp

one of the most inspiring examples of genuine diversified interests

and the way that Saudi companies can efficiently and successfully

enter into partnerships with foreign firms is E.A. Juffali &

Brothers. Established in 1946, the corporation began its business

activities in the electricity, communications and cement industries.

Soon after, Juffali moved into the field of commerce, becoming the

sole agency within the kingdom for some of the world’s largest firms

in various sectors. From agent, Juffali later turned to

manufacturing, producing these firms’ trademark items within the

country. Juffali purchased licenses from the original companies,

embarking on the production and assembly of trucks, tractors, air

conditioners, refrigerators, steel buildings, heat insulating

materials, industrial adhesives, sinks and hard surfaces, and cable-

welding material.

“We created the manufacturing plants for these companies wherever it

made sense. As well as cementing the relationship, this has served

the purpose of transferring the technology into Saudi Arabia,” says

Sheikh Khaled Al-Juffali, the corporation’s vice chairman and

managing partner.

The company has become involved in various collaborations, such as

printing with Heidelberg, computers with IBM, cars and trucks with

Mercedes-Benz, auto parts and accessories with Bosch, tires with

Michelin, and tractors and agricultural equipment with Massey

Ferguson. Likewise, they are working on petroleum well drilling with

Pool, prefabricated steel building with Butler, insurance with

Munich Reinsurance, cable welding with Raychem, medical equipment

with Siemens, and technical equipment used in workshops with Bosch,

among many others.

“Progress through diversity” has been the group’s motto, gaining

strength and credit through associations with big name companies

such as Kühne & Nagel, Ericsson, Carrier, Kelvinator, Electrolux and

Dow Chemical among others, and pursing projects in transportation,

telephones, air-conditioning, and chemicals. But profit is not the

firm’s sole motivator.

“We try to do something important by creating work rather than just

selling,” says Sheikh Al-Juffali. The corporation has established a

training center in association with several other companies,

providing technical training for young Saudis.

“For many years we have been advocating that the Saudi work force

needs to be working. It has paid off, for us as well,” is the vice

chairman’s view. “You have to train them. Sometimes you have to

retrain them. But the government today has supported Saudization

like never before by creating several avenues through which it

subsidizes salaries, encouraging companies like ours to increase the

percentage of Saudi staff as much as possible,” he adds.

the material above was found at material below at

http://www.unitedworld-usa.com/reports/saudiarabia/eajuffali.asp

"NEW SAUDI-GERMAN GROUP FORMED

"A new Saudi-German Business Group has been formed with Khaled

Juffali as chairman. The non-profit association, which has 12

members to begin with - six each from the Kingdom and Germany… …'The

group will serve the purpose of promoting bilateral business,

cultural and social ties and also improve the image of the Kingdom

in Germany'…"

http://www.arabialink.com/Archive/GWDigests/GWD2003/GWD_2003_05_26.ht

m#BS8

We also came across a rather interesting piece entitled: ISLAM AND

IDENTITY IN GERMANY which mentioned, among others: Sheikh Khaled

Juffali, as well as

Thomas Pickering Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Russia, India,

Israel, Jordan, El Salvador and Nigeria,George Soros Chairman,Open

Society Institute,

Zbigniew Brzezinski Former U.S. National Security Advisor to the

President,(Carter),James V.

Kimsey,Founder and Chairman Emeritus of America Online, Inc. (AOL)"

We Googled Weyerhauser Board of Directors Member

Charles Williamson who was listed as such at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weyerhaeuser

and came up with :

Charles R. Williamson Named to PACCAR Board

Business Wire, June 16, 2006

BELLEVUE, Wash. -- Mr. Charles R. Williamson has been named to

PACCAR Inc's (Nasdaq:PCAR) Board of Directors, effective July 1,

2006, according to Mark C. Pigott, PACCAR chairman and chief

executive officer.

Charles R. Williamson was chairman and chief executive officer of

Unocal, the California-based energy company, from 2001 until Unocal

merged with Chevron in August 2005. He served as a director of

Unocal from 2000 to 2005. During his excellent 28-year career with

Unocal, he served in a variety of technical and management positions

around the world including positions in the United Kingdom, Thailand

and the Netherlands. Mr. Williamson was the chairman of the US-ASEAN

Business Council from 2002-2005. He earned a Ph.D. in geology from

the University of Texas. He is a director of the Weyerhaeuser

Company (NYSE:WY) and Talisman Energy Inc. (NYSE:TLM).

"PACCAR is very pleased that Mr. Williamson will be joining the

Board. His thorough understanding of the Asian marketplace and his

background in operations provide a strong perspective that will

benefit PACCAR in its global growth," said Mark Pigott.

PACCAR is a global technology leader in the design, manufacture and

customer support of high-quality light-, medium- and heavy-duty

trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF nameplates. It also

provides financial services and information technology and

distributes truck parts related to its principal business.

PACCAR shares are traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market, symbol PCAR,

and its homepage can be found at http://www.paccar.com.

so once again, there's that oil industry connection....hmmmmm

Thomas R. Pickering

http://www.cfr.org/bios/299/thomas_r_pickering.html

listed above is also listed at

http://www.cfr.org/about/people/board_of_directors.html

as a member of the board of directors of the Council on Foreign

Relations and as

Vice Chairman, Hills & Company

an item at http://www.cfr.org/bios/299/thomas_r_pickering.html

also mentions Pickering Presiding over an event March 2, 2006 where

the speaker was none other than:

SSpeaker: Jimmy Carter, Chairman, the Carter Center; former

President of the United States

Presider: Thomas R. Pickering, Senior Vice President, international

relations, the Boeing Company

Boeing again? Interesting eh?

Richard N. Haass is listed as President of the Council on Foreign

Relations, (CFR), at

http://www.cfr.org/about/people/board_of_directors.html

David Rockefeller is listed as Honorary Chairman.

Some other Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Board of Directors

listed at http://www.cfr.org/about/people/board_of_directors.html

include: Madeleine K. Albright and

Colin L. Powell and Christine Todd Whitman

and Fareed Zakaria and

Peter G. Peterson

Chairman; Senior Chairman and Co-Founder, The Blackstone Group

you do recall The Blackstone Group don't you?

and

Laura D'Andrea Tyson

Professor, Haas School of Business at the University of California,

Berkeley

The article below is excerpted from material found at:

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?

UrlTitle=how_to_sell_anti-

semites_the_legitimization_of_dubai&ns=DickMorrisandEileenMcGann&dt=0

3/24/2007&page=2

"Laura Tyson, economic advisor to President Clinton, now speaking

for the Kerry-Edwards campaign. LAURA TYSON, Kerry-Edwards Economic

Advisor: The focus is on Two Americas. ...." source:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec04/economics_7-

26.html

"How to sell anti-semites: The Legitimization of Dubai

By Dick Morris and Eileen McGann

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Bill isn't alone in legitimizing Dubai. Other Clinton pals -

including disgraced former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger,

ex-Secretary of State Madeline Albright and Al and Tipper Gore -

have attended highly publicized events there. So have some

Republicans - including former Bush Sr. Chief of Staff John

Sununu.....Republican ex-Sen. Bob Dole and Democratic ex-Rep. Tom

Downey lobby for Dubai; so does The Glover Park Group, home of

Hillary Clinton spokesman

All of this helps legitimize Dubai. And no one mentions the problem

with Israel.

Bill Clinton even created a Dubai Scholars Program at the American

University in Dubai under the sponsorship of the William Jefferson

Clinton Foundation. Laura Tyson, Clinton's chairman of the Council

of Economic Advisers, created a similar Dubai study program at the

University of London.

But not everyone is blind.

Last month the University of Connecticut correctly abandoned plans

to open up a campus in Dubai after serious complaints about Dubai's

state-imposed discrimination of people based on their national

origin and religion and its documented violations of human rights.

(For example, Human Rights Watch has said Dubai abuses tens of

thousands of migrant workers from India and Pakistan.)

The Clinton Foundation certainly wouldn't sponsor a program in

America that banned Israeli students. It shouldn't sponsor one in

Dubai, either.

It's time to stop legitimizing an anti-Semitic state.

Morris, a former political adviser to Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and

President Bill Clinton, is the author of Condi vs. Hillary: The Next

Great Presidential Race. To get all of Dick Morris’s and Eileen

McGann’s columns for free by email, go to http://www.dickmorris.com

The item excerpted from below was found at:

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/gen/resources/fm.clinton/

"In 1974 as well as 1992, candidate Clinton has actually embraced

powerful corporate interests and much of their agenda despite his

rhetoric against them. When Clinton ran for Congress in 1974, the

largest employer in the Third District of Arkansas was Tyson Foods,

based in Springdale, which was well on its way to becoming the

nation's largest poultry producer. In 1995, Tyson Foods

ranked "110th on the Fortune 500 list, and sold 6,000 products in 57

countries, from fresh chickens to taco fillings," according to an

August 1994 company profile in The New York Times.

The chairman, Don Tyson, is a colorful figure who in the late 1970s

designed his corporate office as a replica of the Oval Office in the

White House, with doorknobs shaped like chicken eggs. Tyson was

estimated to be worth $800 million. He supported Clinton in the 1974

race, and according to author David Maraniss, the Tyson family

donated a campaign telephone bank which was operated from an

apartment near the University of Arkansas, although it should be

noted that no such "in-kind" contribution was reported by the

campaign to the Federal Election Commission. Clinton never talked

much about the company itself publicly, but instead spoke

empathetically about the plight of chicken farmers.

The Tyson-Clinton relationship continued in Washington, of course,

and it grew out of a special culture. Probably no one has better

captured the real essence of the political-financial nexus in

Arkansas than journalist Michael Kelly, who wrote that Arkansas "has

been ruled for almost all of its existence, and is largely ruled

still, by a thin upper crust of Democratic party officials and

Democratic legislative leaders and important landholders and

businessmen."

"This elite, bound together not by party or even ideology but by

mutually advantageous relationships, holds sway over a small and

politically disorganized middle class and a large but well-beaten

population of the poor....

To the masses, Clinton was portraying himself as an outsider to the

seat of power and government. By contrast, in a study about the

presidential candidates and their campaign advisers issued a week

after the 1992 New Hampshire primary, the Center for Public

Integrity discovered that more than half of Clinton's unpaid

campaign advisers were from "inside the Beltway" of Washington. No

fewer than six advisers came from the DLC or PPI. During their "day

jobs," several of Clinton's unpaid policy advisers got handsome fees

from foreign corporations and governments, tobacco companies, the

insurance industry, oil and gas firms, investment banks and other

business interests.

Judging from the people around him it was plain to see that

candidate Clinton was continuing the bipartisan Washington practice

of putting lobbyists first. According to the Center for Responsive

Politics, lawyers and lobbyists were Clinton's biggest campaign

contributors in 1992, donating $3.1 million.

Banking and financial interests were not bashful about supporting

the Arkansas governor. In 1992, candidate Clinton received at least

$853,295 in campaign contributions from the financial sector,

according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Servicing Business

The Clinton Administration has pursued and serviced the American

business community more aggressively and more systematically than

any previous administration. Clinton assiduously courted corporate

support for his economic program after he arrived at 1600

Pennsylvania Avenue....."

Honest John Edwards Or Is It Jon Edwards A Member of The Terrible

Trio

While Edwards is the main topic of this piece we also discuss the

other two members of the Terrible Trio, Hillary Rodham Clinton and

Barack Hussein Obama.

How Honest IS Honest John Edwards?

Or is it Jon Edwards?

We are never quite sure of anything with Edwards. So, our first

question is: Is it Jon Edwards or John Edwards? If anyone knows the

answer to that one please post it.

We start off with a little blurb on Edwards below:

"May 18, 2007, c.e. Edwards's Hedge-Fund Tie Hurts Populist Campaign

John Harwood reports from the Wall Street Journal's Capital Bureau.

HEDGE-FUND MONEY fattens Edwards's wallet but hurts populist message.

The Democratic presidential candidate's $1.7 million in pay and

investment income from Fortress Investment Group gives target for

rivals after his campaign emphasis on poverty. Edwards has explained

Fortress affiliation as part of effort to learn about financial

markets.

"What will get him in trouble is not the amount but rationales that

seem false and weaselly to the voters," says Democratic pollster

Geoff Garin. Edwards's campaign says he paid regular personal-income-

tax rates on his $479,512 salary, not preferential "carried

interest" rates some hedge-fund principals use.

Of $29.5 million in assets Edwards reported to FEC, aides say

investments in Fortress represent $16.1 million.

John Edwards for President "

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/05/18/edwardss-hedge-fund-tie-

hurts-populist-campaign/

OK, so who is Fortress Investment Group ? http://www.fortressinv.com/

"Fortress Investment Group is a leading global alternative asset

manager with approximately $36 billion in assets under management as

of March 31, 2007. Fortress is headquartered in New York and has

affiliates with offices in Dallas, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong,

London, Los Angeles, Rome, San Diego, Sydney and Toronto.

Fortress was founded in 1998 as an asset-based investment management

firm with a fundamental philosophy premised on its alignment of

interests with the investors in its funds. Fortress raises, invests

and manages private equity funds, hedge funds and publicly traded

alternative investment vehicles. Fortress intends to grow its

existing businesses, while continuing to create innovative products

to meet the increasing demand by sophisticated investors for

superior risk-adjusted investment returns.....

Wesley R. Edens

Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors

Mr. Edens is the Chairman of the board of directors and the Chief

Executive Officer of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Mr. Edens has

been a principal and the Chairman of the Management Committee of

Fortress since co-founding the Company in May 1998. Mr. Edens is

responsible for the Fortress private equity and publicly traded

alternative investment businesses. He is also the Chairman of the

board of directors of each of Aircastle Limited, Brookdale Senior

Living Inc., Eurocastle Investment Limited, GateHouse Media, Inc.,

Mapeley Limited and Newcastle Investment Corp. and a director of

Crown Castle International Corp. and GAGFAH S.A. Mr. Edens served as

the Chief Executive Officer of Newcastle Investment Corp. since

inception until February 2007. Mr. Edens was the Chief Executive

Officer of Global Signal Inc. from February 2004 to April 2006 and

the Chairman of the board of directors from October 2002 to January

2007. Mr. Edens serves in various capacities in the following five

registered investment companies: Chairman, Chief Executive Officer

and Trustee of Fortress Registered Investment Trust and Fortress

Investment Trust II; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of

Fortress Brookdale Investment Fund LLC and Fortress Pinnacle

Investment Fund LLC and Chief Executive Officer of RIC Coinvestment

Fund GP LLC. Prior to forming Fortress, Mr. Edens was a partner and

a managing director of BlackRock Financial Management Inc., where he

headed BlackRock Asset Investors, a private equity fund. In

addition, Mr. Edens was formerly a partner and a managing director

of Lehman Brothers. Mr. Edens received a B.S. in Finance from Oregon

State University."

We were curious about those firms so we did a little research on

them and came up with:

"Prison Realty Announces Restructuring Led By Fortress And

Blackstone

Investor Group

$350 Million Preferred Issue to Complement New $1.2 Billion Credit

Facility; Company to Terminate REIT Status, Convert to Taxable

Subchapter C Structure; New Management to Be Installed

and New Board to Be Created NASHVILLE, Tenn., Dec.

27 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of Prison Realty Trust,

Inc. (NYSE: PZN), today announced a comprehensive strategic

restructuring program designed to reposition the company by

strengthening its financial position, simplifying its corporate

structure and creating a new management team and board of

directors.

As part of the program, which requires shareholder

approval, the company said an Investor Group led by an affiliate of

Fortress Investment Group LLC and affiliates of The Blackstone

Group, together with an affiliate of Bank of America, would

purchase $315 million in securities at closing and commit to

purchase an additional $35 million in securities (for a total of up

to $350 million) in a newly configured company that would be

created through the merger of Prison Realty and the companies

collectively operating under the name Corrections Corporation of

America.

Existing Prison Realty shareholders would be offered

the opportunity, through a rights offering, to "co-invest" up to

$75 million with the Investor Group and to receive preferred stock

and warrants with terms identical to the securities being purchased

by the Investor Group (with the exception of certain types of

voting rights).

The Investor Group has agreed to acquire those

securities and warrants not subscribed for by current shareholders

to ensure the $350 million total. The combined company, which

would operate under the Corrections Corporation of America name, is

expected to be a taxable subchapter C corporation, as Prison Realty

would terminate its status as a REIT, in connection with the

restructuring. As part of the combination with CCA, outside, or

non-management, shareholders of CCA will receive cash equal to

their original investment. Management and other employees of CCA

will receive shares of the new public company in exchange for their

interest. The per share value to be received by them is

approximately 40% of the per share value received by the outside

shareholders, and their shares will be subject to certain vesting

and lock up provisions.

The transaction, upon completion, will

have the effect of eliminating liquidity concerns of CCA, Prison

Realty's primary tenant.

"This is a highly focused, decisive action on behalf of this

company," said Joseph V. Russell, Chairman

of the Special Committee of the Board of Directors, which was

created in August 1999 to identify a strategic investor to invest

in Prison Realty and to review the company's financial alternatives

and organizational structure.

"We are returning this company to the

corporate structure under which it achieved its greatest growth and

success and through which it became the leading company in the

private prison industry."

"Importantly, we also believe the new

credit facility and the investment by Fortress and Blackstone, will

ensure that the company has the financial resources to prosper.

Finally, as part of the restructuring, our new investors and we

have concluded that meaningful changes are necessary in the

composition of our management team and in the creation of a new

Board of Directors. These actions directly address the Company's

desire to re- establish credibility with shareholders and with the

financial community."

Additionally, the company announced that,

pending shareholder approval of the transaction, no further

dividends of any kind would be paid on its common stock.

Management Changes As part of the restructuring, the Special

Committee announced that Doctor R. Crants, Chairman and Chief

Executive Officer of Prison Realty, would resign as CEO upon

closing of the transaction. In addition, he is stepping down as

Chairman, effective immediately.

Following his resignation, Mr.

Crants will be named to the non-executive position of Vice Chairman

of the company and will serve as an advisor to the Board.

Thomas W. Beasley, the former Chairman of the Board and one of

three founders, along with Mr. Crants, of the original company in

1983, will assume the position of Interim Chairman immediately and

interim Chief Executive Officer following the closing of the

transaction. J. Michael Quinlan will remain as President and Chief

Operating Officer of CCA and will also serve as Interim President

of Prison Realty, replacing D. Robert Crants, III, who also has

resigned effective immediately.

In addition, Mr. Beasley, along

with Fortress and Blackstone, will oversee a nationwide search for

a new Chief Executive Officer and a new Chief Financial Officer for

the combined company.

Financing Arranged upon completion

of the restructuring, the combined company will have a $1.2 billion

new term loan and revolving credit facility from a group led by

Credit Suisse First Boston and Lehman Brothers. The facility would

replace Prison Realty's existing $1 billion credit facility.

In addition, up to $350 million will be generated from the sale of a

new issue of 12% cumulative convertible preferred stock and

warrants, primarily to the Investor Group.

The new issue would be

convertible into the combined company's common stock at a price of

$6.50 per share and the warrants would be exercisable at $7.50 per

share. Depending on the degree to which existing shareholders

participate in the rights offering, the Investor Group would own

approximately 20% to 25% of the combined company and warrants to

purchase between 11% and 14% of the combined company's common

stock, on a fully diluted basis. Proceeds from the debt and

equity financings will be used to refinance the company's existing

bank debt and to provide capital to fund the company's continued

growth. "We are extremely pleased with this important

restructuring," stated Mr. Beasley.

"The new credit facility is

not only larger than the one it replaces, it also has more

favorable terms, reflecting the lending community's renewed

confidence in CCA. "In addition to providing a sizable infusion

of new equity capital, our Board of Directors -- and the daily

operation of our company -- will be enhanced by the active

involvement of two of the nation's most successful investment

groups.

We view these as positive steps and we are looking forward

to working closely with our new partners." "This transaction is

intended to position CCA once again as a growth company with

tremendous prospects and re-establish transparency to shareholders

regarding the fundamental strength of CCA's business. Our belief

is that a greatly simplified and more efficient capital structure

will allow the company to fund future growth internally and will

assist the company in maximizing shareholder value," said Wesley R.

Edens, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fortress. Added

Thomas J. Saylak, Senior Managing Director of The Blackstone

Group, "CCA is the market leader in a growing industry. We believe

this capital infusion and CCA's new corporate structure will allow

the company to realize enhanced financial flexibility to maximize

growth prospects.

Over time, we believe this new direction will

be recognized and rewarded by investors." Board of

Directors As part of the restructuring, the new CCA would have

a 10-person Board of Directors. Four persons would represent the

Investor Group, and four persons, including Mr. Beasley, Mr.

Russell, and Jean-Pierre Cuny, would be drawn from the existing

Prison Realty Board. Two new independent directors, subject to the

approval of the Investor Group and the current board, also would be

appointed.

Conditions

In addition to being subject to

the approval of Prison Realty's shareholders, the transaction is

subject to certain financial and non- financial conditions, which

the company expects to be satisfied prior to the closing. The

transaction will also require customary regulatory review. It is

expected that the shareholder vote would take place in March or

April 2000, and that the transaction would close in the second

quarter of 2000.

About the Companies Prison Realty's

business is the ownership of correctional and detention

facilities. The company provides financing, design, construction

and renovation of new and existing jails and prisons that it leases

to both private and governmental managers. At September 30, 1999,

the company owned, or was in the process of developing, 51

correctional and detention facilities, of which 40 facilities were

operating, eight were under construction or expansion and three

were in the planning stages.

At September 30, 1999, CCA leased 32

facilities from the company, government agencies leased five

facilities, and private operators leased three facilities.

Fortress Investment Group LLC is a real estate investment and asset

management company with headquarters in New York City. Fortress was

founded in April 1998 by a group of senior professionals led by

Wesley R. Edens. Fortress manages approximately $760 million of

private equity, and invests primarily in undervalued real estate-

related assets and companies on a domestic and international

basis.

The Blackstone Group is a private investment bank in New

York City. It was founded in 1985 by its Chairman, Peter G.

Peterson, and its President and CEO, Stephen A. Schwarzman.

Blackstone is engaged in six business areas including Corporate

Principal Investing, Private Equity Real Estate Investing, Mergers

and Acquisition Advisory, Restructuring and Reorganization

Advisory, Private Mezzanine Investing, and Liquid Alternative Asset

Investing. Merrill Lynch & Co. acted as advisor to the Board of

Directors and Special Committee of Prison Realty, as well as the

Board of Directors of CCA.

Disclaimer on Forward Looking

Statements This news release contains statements that are

forward looking, including statements relating to the amount and

timing of the proposed offering transactions. These statements are

not projections or assured results. Actual results may differ

materially from the results anticipated in the forward looking

statements due to a variety of factors, including but not limited

to, changing market conditions.

Additional factors will be

described in the company's filings with the SEC. The company does

not undertake an obligation to update its forward-looking

statements to reflect future events or circumstances. Accordingly,

individuals should not place undue reliance on such

statements. Note: The company will schedule a conference call

with analysts and the media the week of January 3 to further

discuss the transaction.

SOURCE Prison Realty Trust, Inc."

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?

ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-27-1999/0001103950&EDATE=

So let us get this straight, If we follow the money of Honest John?

or is it Jon? Edwards?

"Of $29.5 million in assets Edwards reported to FEC, aides say

investments in Fortress represent $16.1 million." Seems like a

pretty big chunk to us.

And Fortress is involved with Prison Realty per the material above.

And Edwards, let's forget about whatever his first name actually

turns out to be, Edwards wants to be President of the United States.

In that job Edwards could really influence a lot of things,

including, for instance things affecting prisons. Hmmmm? Did anyone

say "conflict of interest"?

Now let's take a little look at a few other things:

Wesley R. Edens

Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors and

the Chief Executive Officer of Fortress Investment Group LLC is also

the Chairman of the board of directors of each of Aircastle Limited,

http://www.aircastle.com/aircastle-clients.html

aircastle clients

› Aerosvit

› Aigle Azur

› Air Canada

› Air India

› Air Italy

› Air One

› Air Europa

› Air Sahara

› British Airways

› Capital Aviation Services

› China Eastern

› Excel Airways

› Futura

› GOL

› Hainan

› Icelandair

› Jet Airways

› KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

› Korean Air

› Lan Chile

› LOT

› Lotus Air

› Magnicharters

› Malaysian Airlines

› Martinair

› Monarch Airlines

› SAS Braathens

› Sibir

› Skyservice Airlines

› SN Brussels

› Southwest Airlines

› SriLankan

› Sterling Airlines

› Swiss International

› TAM

› Thomsonfly

› TUI AG

› Turk Hava Yollari

› Ukraine International

› US Airways

As President of the United States Edwards could affect a lot of

things, including American

relations with the nations that run some of those airlines. There's

that "conflict of interest"

phrase again.

Fortress Investment Group LLC's Mr. Edens is also the Chairman of

the board of directors of

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. Hmmmm, wouldn't the President of the

United States be able to affect policy concerning senior citizens?

Say regarding Health Care and Social Security for starters? There's

that "conflict of interest" phrase again.

Fortress Investment Group

LLC's Mr. Edens is also the Chairman of the board of directors of

Eurocastle Investment Limited

http://www.eurocastleinv.com/

"Eurocastle Investment Limited is a

Euro denominated Guernsey closed-end investment company that invests

in and manages a diverse portfolio consisting primarily of German

commercial real estate assets. Eurocastle is traded on Euronext

Amsterdam Exchange under ticker symbol "ECT". The Company is managed

by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC." Ah ha! As

President of the United States

Edwards could sure affect things like U.S.- German relations, which

in turn could impact on the value of those assets. There's

that "confict of interest" phrase again.

Fortress Investment Group LLC's Mr. Edens is also the Chairman of the

board of directors of GateHouse Media, Inc.

http://www.gatehousemedia.com/

"GateHouse Media, Inc., headquartered in Fairport, New York, is one

of the largest publishers of locally based print and online media.

GateHouse Media currently serves local audiences of more than 10

million per week across 20 states through hundreds of community

publications and local websites.

GateHouse Media is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the

symbol "GHS."

Ahh! The better to get you nominated, elected, and re-elected, with

nary a peep about

"conflict of interest" to be read by our truly well-informed

electorate, Honest John? or is it Honest Jon? Edwards?

"More than 70 percent of our daily newspapers have been published

for more than 100 years and 93 percent have been published for more

than 50 years. If you click the headline above, you can view a list

of all of our daily newspapers and click through to the detail page

for each individual publication."

http://www.gatehousemedia.com/publications/

Fortress Investment Group LLC's Mr. Edens is also the Chairman of

the board of directors of Mapeley Limited

http://www.mapeley.com/ "Mr Edens, the Chairman may not be regarded

as `independent' since he is the Chairman of Fortress Investment

Trust which has a controlling interest in the Company."

Mapeley was formed in 1999 to invest in UK real estate leased to

high quality tenants, initially by capitalising on the growing trend

of UK government and corporate occupiers of selling property

portfolios and outsourcing the management of their leasehold

estates.

Mapeley's first two major acquisitions were Abbey National's UK

occupational portfolio (2000) and the HMRC portfolio (2001) - the

portfolio of the departments of the Inland Revenue, HM Customs &

Excise, and Valuation Office Agency.

In 2004 Mapeley made its first direct property investment and has

since then acquired properties at a cost of approximately £840

million.

In March 2006, Mapeley was awarded its second outsourcing contract

with the government, with the Identity and Passport Service. This

contract is to acquire, fit-out and service 69 interview offices

across the UK."

As President of the United States Edwards could certainly influence

U.S.-British relations,

which in turn could have all sorts of impacts on the value of thoe

investments now couldn't it? There's that "conflict of interest"

phrase again.

Fortress Investment Group LLC's Mr. Edens is also the Chairman of

the board of directors of Newcastle Investment Corp.

http://www.newcastleinv.com/ "Newcastle Investment Corp. (NYSE: NCT)

is a publicly traded real estate investment and finance company that

invests in and manages a diverse portfolio consisting primarily of

real estate securities.

Newcastle Investment Corp. is a real estate investment and finance

company located in New York City. The Company invests in a

diversified portfolio of real estate securities and other real

estate-related assets with a disciplined approach to managing assets

and financing.

The Company, which is taxed as a real estate

investment trust, seeks to deliver a strong dividend and superior

risk-adjusted returns on equity to stockholders in varying interest

rate and credit cycles. In October 2002, Newcastle completed the

initial public offering of its common stock, which is listed on the

New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NCT.

Newcastle is managed by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group

LLC, a premier investment and asset management firm. Fortress has

provided a dedicated Newcastle executive management team with

extensive experience across the key disciplines necessary to

successfully execute our business model.

Newcastle also benefits

from its manager's investment and structuring expertise as well as a

consistent track record of delivering high returns to investors. In

addition, Fortress has a significant equity investment in

Newcastle."

As President of the United States Edwards could sure

have an impact

of the value of those goodies. Ahh, there's that "conflict of

interest" phrase again.

Fortress Investment Group LLC's Mr. Edens is also a director of

Crown Castle International Corp. http://www.crowncastle.com/

"Crown Castle International rules over a kingdom of radio towers.

Its subsidiaries and joint ventures provide broadcast, data, and

wireless communications infrastructure services in Australia, Puerto

Rico, and the US. The company's clients include AT&T Mobility

(formerly Cingular), Optus, Sprint Nextel, Verizon Wireless, and

Vodafone Australia. They lease antenna space on Crown Castle's more

than 24,000 owned or managed towers. The company has sites primarily

in the US and Puerto Rico, and has about 1,400 towers in Australia.

It also designs networks, selects and develops sites, and installs

antennas."

http://www.hoovers.com/crown-castle-international/--ID__57353--/free-

co-factsheet.xhtml

Wouldn't President Edwards have some influence on regulating lots of

that stuff?

Fortress Investment Group LLC's Mr. Edens is also a director of

GAGFAH S.A. http://www.gagfah.de/en/about_us.html "About Us

We are a nationwide Group that owns and manages a portfolio of

approximately 159,000 residential units. That makes us one of the

largest landlords in Germany." As President of the United States

Edwards could sure affect things like U.S.- German relations, which

in turn could impact on the value of those assets. There's

that "confict of interest" phrase again.

Mr. Edens was the Chief Executive Officer of Global Signal Inc. from

February 2004 to April 2006 and the Chairman of the board of

directors from October 2002 to January 2007.On October 6, 2006,

Crown Castle announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to

acquire Global Signal Inc. (NYSE: GSL)

http://investor.crowncastle.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=218828

Edens serves in various capacities in the following five registered

investment companies: Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Trustee

of Fortress Registered Investment Trust and Fortress Investment

Trust II; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fortress Brookdale

Investment Fund LLC and Fortress Pinnacle Investment Fund LLC and

Chief Executive Officer of RIC Coinvestment Fund GP LLC. Prior to

forming Fortress, Mr. Edens was a partner and a managing director of

BlackRock Financial Management Inc., where he headed BlackRock Asset

Investors, a private equity fund.

In addition, Mr. Edens was

formerly a partner and a managing director of Lehman Brothers. Mr.

Edens received a B.S. in Finance from Oregon State University."

"Fortress Brookdale Investment Fund, LLC (the "Company") was formed

on September 6, 2000 ...The members of the Company include

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company ("Northwestern"),

Weyerhauser Company Master Retirement Trust

("Weyerhauser"), and FIG Advisors LLC ("FIG", and together with

Northwestern and Weyerhauser, the "Members"), with FIG acting

as Advisory Member."

http://www.secinfo.com/dsvr4.389t.htm

http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/ "Weyerhaeuser Company is an

international forest products company with annual sales of $21.9

billion. Our company was founded in 1900 and currently employs about

41,000 people in 18 countries. We've ranked in the Fortune 200 since

1956"

Timberlands: Australia Canada New Zealand United States Uruguay."

Wonder what President Edwards policy towards firms like Weyerhaeuser

will be?

"Fortress Pinnacle Investment Fund LLC (the "Company") was formed on

July

24, 2002 The members of the Company include Weyerhauser Company

Master Retirement

Trust ("Weyeryauser"), Aurora Cayman Limited ("Aurora"), Morgan

Stanley

Private Markets Fund I ("Morgan Stanley"), Howard Hughes

Medical Institute

("HHMI") and FIG Advisors LLC ("FIG" and together with Weyerhauser,

Aurora, Morgan Stanley and HHMI, the "Members"), with FIG acting as

Advisory Member."

http://www.secinfo.com/dsvr4.22aw.htm

"Published on June 15, 2006 By Don Bauder...When taking control of

companies, Aurora Capital set up entities in the Cayman Islands

controlled by the Aurora partners...

"Published on June 15, 2006

By Don Bauder

...... Aurora Capital set up entities in the

Cayman Islands controlled by the Aurora partners, This strategy

raises numerous questions, as do most corporate

adventures in offshore tax and secrecy havens. There are no capital

gains taxes in the Caymans. Nor are there corporate or personal

income taxes, withholding taxes, gift or inheritance taxes, sales

taxes, or employment taxes.

I asked one of San Diego's foremost securities lawyers, who did not

want to be identified, about Aurora's Cayman Islands entities. The

response: "It probably means hidden ownership or tax avoidance,"

although there could be other explanations....

David Dunn of La

Jolla's Idanta Partners has long been San Diego's most prominent

venture capitalist. ...I described to Dunn the Caymans

structures. "There are several reasons people locate over there. I

have never done it," says Dunn. "Lack of disclosure requirements is

one, and two is tax avoidance." Such an offshore operation can

relieve a U.S. company of "a lot of securities regulations in the

U.S. and a lot of disclosure rules." The company may be able to

delay disclosure of deals. Use of offshore havens can facilitate

asset transfers within families too.

"It's bad to generalize," says Dunn. "There may be other reasons and

valid reasons." The big tax advantage could be on relief from

capital gains taxes when shares are sold, he says....

I scoured documents filed with the Securities and Exchange

Commission. In 1994, Aurora Capital organized a company called

Aftermarket Technology, which distributes rebuilt auto and truck

parts. To put the company together, Aurora purchased four auto parts

companies. Aftermarket is now based near Chicago.

In late 1996, Aurora made a public offering of the shares. Aurora

Equity Partners, based in the United States, had 10.7 million

shares. A group of Cayman Islands-based entities with the

name "Overseas" in them had 4.5 million shares. ...

The insiders such as Aurora paid $1.67 per share, and outside

investors paid $13.50 each.

By late March of 2005, the Aurora entities, including those based in

the Caymans, had sold all their shares for between $14 and $18....

In late 2004, the Aurora group paid $1 billion for K&F Industries,

which makes aircraft wheels, brakes, and brake-control systems. It's

the largest supplier of wheels and brakes to the U.S. military.

Aurora financed the buyout mainly with debt and in 2005 took the

company public. Most of the proceeds from the offering went to pay

off the debt incurred for the buyout and to pay a fat dividend to

the insiders. The prospectus warned, "We do not intend to use any of

the proceeds of this offering to grow our business or develop new

products, which could negatively impact the value of your

investment."

In short, the leveraged buyout had little economic

purpose other than to enrich the insiders. It's called financial

engineering.

K&F had been spun off by Loral, a bankrupt aerospace company. When

Aurora took K&F public, there were accounting changes made. "It's

buyer beware on this kind of stuff," analyst Francis Gaskins of

Ipodesktop.com told Reuters at the time. In addition, he was

concerned about the debt piled up in the buyout. K&F warns in its

filings that it has "substantial debt," now two-thirds of its

capitalization....The Aurora partners...own more than half of K&F

(now called K&F Industries Holdings) through both domestic and

Cayman Islands entities. The Caymans units have names like Aurora

Overseas Equity Partners II and Aurora Overseas Capital Partners II.

The K&F insiders, including the Caymans units, paid $2.16 a share,

and the new investors paid $17.50.

When Aurora partners start

selling their shares, questions will be raised: Are capital gains

taxes being paid? Is Aurora taking advantage of other offshore tax

breaks? Is Aurora dodging some disclosure requirements? Are there

hidden partners taking shelter in the Caymans? If Aurora is not

using the tax and secrecy advantages offered by the Caymans, why

bother setting up these entities?"

http://www.sdreader.com/php/cityshow.php?id=20060625

"BlackRock is a premier provider of global investment management,

risk management, and advisory services. As of March 31, 2007, the

firm manages US$1.1 trillion across fixed income, equity, liquidity,

asset allocation/balanced, real estate, and alternative strategies.

Clients include corporate, public, and union pension plans,

insurance companies, mutual funds, endowments, foundations,

charities, corporations, official institutions, and individuals

worldwide.

Through BlackRock Solutions, the firm offers risk management and

advisory services that combine capital markets expertise with

proprietarily-developed systems and technology. BlackRock Solutions

provides risk management and enterprise investment services for

US$4.5 trillion in assets.

BlackRock's story has always been one of evolution. Since our

founding in 1988 as a primarily institutional fixed income manager,

we have continually looked for ways to enhance our ability to serve

clients. Not only have we sought to broaden and deepen our general

capabilities, we have also tried to capitalize on the key macro

trends that are shaping the future of asset management. The most

recent step in our development is our merger with Merrill Lynch

Investment Managers, which closed September 29, 2006, significantly

increasing our assets under management and, more important,

transforming our business into a truly global one.

In Merrill Lynch Investment Managers we found a partner that gives

us extraordinary global scale and enhances our collective ability to

serve institutions, financial intermediaries and individuals.

Learn more about our combination with Merrill Lynch Investment

Managers.BlackRock has long focused on a cross-disciplinary team

approach in which clients benefit from the pooled expertise of the

firm's resources: our investment and risk management professionals

and our proprietary analytical tools. In addition to excellent

performance, BlackRock is committed to delivering a high level of

service tailored to the needs of each client.

BlackRock's client base includes corporate, public and Taft-Hartley

pension plans, insurance companies, mutual funds, endowments,

foundations, nuclear decommissioning trusts, corporations, banks and

individuals across the globe. Headquartered in New York, BlackRock

has offices around the globe, and maintains a major presence in key

markets in Asia, Australia, Europe, Japan, the Middle East, the

United Kingdom, and the United States.

BlackRock is independent in ownership and governance, with no single

majority stockholder and a majority of independent directors. In

terms of equity, Merrill Lynch's stake is approximately 49%, while

PNC Financial Services Group retains an interest of about 34%; the

remaining 17% is held by BlackRock employees and the public."

http://www2.blackrock.com/global/home/AboutUs/index.htm

http://www2.blackrock.com/global/home/index.htm

President Edwards could sure affect lots of those things now

couldn't he?

"Mr. Edens serves in various capacities in the following five

registered investment companies: Chairman, Chief Executive Officer

and Trustee of Fortress Registered Investment Trust and Fortress

Investment Trust II; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of

Fortress Brookdale Investment Fund LLC and Fortress Pinnacle

Investment Fund LLC and Chief Executive Officer of RIC Coinvestment

Fund GP LLC."

We do not know if the firm called Fortress Pinnacle Investment Fund

LLC has any connection whatsoever with Pinnacle Development Partners,

LLC ("Pinnacle"), a purported real estate investment fund based in

Atlanta. If anyone knows please post

that information one way or another. We are seeking the truth here

and could use your help to find out if there is any connection at all

between these firms.

"March 8th, 2007 ATLANTA, GA - GENE A. O'NEAL, 36, of Atlanta,

Georgia, made an initial appearance today before a United States

Magistrate Judge on federal charges of mail and wire fraud. O'NEAL

allegedly ran a scheme that defrauded investors in Pinnacle

Development Partners, LLC ("Pinnacle"), a purported real estate

investment fund based in Atlanta.

HEAD OF PURPORTED REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT FUND INDICTED IN $69

MILLION PONZI SCHEME; MAKES FIRST APPEARANCE IN COURT"

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan/press/index.html

" FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THURSDAY, March 8, 2007

http://WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/GAM CONTACT: Patrick Crosby

PHONE: (404) 581-6016

FAX: (404) 581-6160

HEAD OF PURPORTED REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT FUND INDICTED IN $69

MILLION PONZI SCHEME; MAKES FIRST APPEARANCE IN COURT

Defendant Gene O'Neal Guaranteed A 25% Return On Investment In 60

Days

Atlanta, GA - GENE A. O'NEAL, 36, of Atlanta, Georgia, made an

initial appearance today before a United States Magistrate Judge on

federal charges of mail and wire fraud. O'NEAL allegedly ran a

scheme that defrauded investors in Pinnacle Development Partners,

LLC ("Pinnacle"), a purported real estate investment fund based in

Atlanta. O'NEAL was indicted by a federal grand jury on the charges

earlier this week.

"O'Neal's promises of huge returns in a short period opened the

floodgates to investment," said United States Attorney David E.

Nahmias. "He allegedly raised more than $69 million in 15 months by

making promises of exorbitant returns from the purchase, improvement

and sale of real estate. He then used the capital contributions of

later investors to pay the returns promised to earlier investors.

Contrary to what he told his investors, O'Neal allegedly did not

realize the hefty returns he guaranteed but rather continued to draw

in everincreasing amounts of investment from other investors and

therefore ever-increasing amounts of unsustainable but undisclosed

debt."

FBI Special Agent In Charge Greg Jones said, " This case not only

demonstrates that the FBI is well suited to pursue such cases of

large scale fraudulent investments or ponzi schemes, with their

victims scattered over many states, it also demonstrates that we are

committed to such a pursuit. The economic losses sustained by the

victims of such schemes reverberates throughout our community in

many ways. We hope that this investigation and the resulting

indictment will serve notice to others contemplating any similar

type financial schemes."

Inspector-in-Charge Martin D. Phanco said, "From the boiler room to

the boardroom, United States Postal Inspectors work around the clock

enforcing more than 200 federal laws in support of its mission by

protecting the nation's mail system from criminal misuse. We will

always remain steadfast in our efforts to investigate those 2

individuals or corporations who are responsible for illegally using

the U.S. Mail in the furtherance of their fraudulent schemes."

According to the indictment and the documents and information

presented in court: Beginning in July 2005, Pinnacle, which was

founded by O'NEAL and headquartered in Atlanta, allegedly began

telling investors they could make a 25% profit in 45 days, which

later became a 25% profit in 60 days, upon investment in

partnerships Pinnacle formed to acquire real property. Investors

were told that Pinnacle was in the business of purchasing

distressed, foreclosed or bank-owned real estate, which Pinnacle

intended to "flip" for a profit after making minor repairs and

cosmetic improvements.

Pinnacle solicited investment by running more

than $2.5 million worth of advertising in national and local media

publications.

As a result of his aggressive advertising campaign

promising 25% returns in either 45 or 60 days, O'NEAL induced more

than 2,000 investors from throughout the United States and some

foreign countries to invest more than $69 million in just 15 months.

Pinnacle allegedly represented in its offering materials that its

real property had been and continued to be sold at a substantial

profit to third parties, that it contributed 50% of its own capital

to the acquisition costs of its real property and that its investors

were secured by being individually named on the deeds to Pinnacle

real estate.

The indictment alleges that, in fact, Pinnacle never

sold, or for that matter significantly developed or improved, any of

the real property it bought with investor funds and therefore never

generated any income with which to pay the 25% profits, plus a

return of principal, O'NEAL had guaranteed his investors. To pay the

false returns promised to Pinnacle investors, which upon

reinvestment was compounding 25% every 60 days, O'NEAL

allegedly "recycled" more than $25 million in invested capital from

later investors to earlier investors, who were falsely told that

their returns were being paid from the development and sale of

Pinnacle real property.

According to the indictment, over a period of time, as huge amounts

of investment poured in, Pinnacle allegedly acquired larger and

considerably more expensive, both in terms of acquisition and

development costs, parcels of real estate. Investors were told that

this real estate would be developed in phases, with Pinnacle

partnerships holding the properties, for 60 days at a time, during

the various stages of development.

In fact, however, of the 21 real

estate parcels Pinnacle bought, only half were assigned to a

Pinnacle partnership and less than half of the partnerships Pinnacle

formed ever appeared as record owners or partial record owners of

Pinnacle real property, meaning that investors associated with the

majority of Pinnacle's partnerships were never assigned to a

property, much less individually named on its deed.

In addition, the multi-family structures and raw land Pinnacle

purchased (using 100% investor assets) required extensive and

lengthy

rehabilitation and development to ever generate income or be sold at

a profit.

To conceal the fact that Pinnacle was neither selling nor otherwise

developing its properties, O'NEAL allegedly directed that certain of

them be transferred between and 3 among Pinnacle partnerships.

Although these were merely paper transactions and did not involve an

actual sale, the transfer prices were as much as 10 times the

initial acquisition price, thereby fostering the illusion that

properties were being developed and sold at significant profits.

Aside from the $2.5 million spent on advertising, O'NEAL also

allegedly used investor assets to pay more than $2.5 million in

salary and commissions, more than $700,000 to furnish Pinnacle's

offices, and more than $3.5 million in general and administrative

expenditures. Pinnacle's investors also bought, among other things,

a $72,000 Land Rover, a $69,000 Cadillac Escalade and, for O'NEAL's

personal benefit, a $117,000 Maserati and $26,000 worth of jewelry.

The indictment's 19 mail and wire fraud counts each carry a maximum

term of imprisonment of 20 years and a maximum fine of $250,000 per

count.

The indictment also seeks forfeiture of all proceeds of the

alleged fraud.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against

the Defendant and Pinnacle Development Partners, in October 2006,

seeking an injunction against the alleged fraudulent activity,

appointment of a receivership, and other relief. A federal judge in

Atlanta issued a preliminary injunction and appointed a receiver,

who has taken charge of the business and assets of Pinnacle

Development Partners.

The pleadings and reports filed by the

receiver are publicly available in the court's docket, under the

civil action entitled U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v.

Pinnacle Development Partners LLC and Gene O'Neil, 1:06-CV-2431-JTC

(N.D.Ga October 11, 2006).

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains

charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it

will be the government's burden to prove the defendant's guilt

beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the Federal

Bureau of Investigation and Postal Inspectors with the United States

Postal Inspection Service.

Assistant United States Attorneys Justin Anand and Paul Monnin are

prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact David E. Nahmias (pronounced

NAH-meus), United States Attorney, or Charysse L. Alexander,

Executive Assistant United States Attorney, through Patrick Crosby,

Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Attorney's Office, at (404) 581-6016.

The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney's Office

for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan.

http://atlanta.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/ponzischeme030807.htm

GENE A. O'NEAL

Office Address: 2221 D. PEACHTREE ROAD, N.E.

SUITE 476

Atlanta GA 30309

If it helps we were able to find an address for GENE A. O'NEAL

However keeping track of who is who here is not an easy thing. There

may be no connection whatsover between Pinnacle Development

Partners, LLC ("Pinnacle"), a purported real estate investment fund

based in Atlanta, and the firm called Fortress Pinnacle Investment

Fund LLC.

Please post your findings one way or the other.

"Harry Macklowe paid $7 billion for the 568,060-square-foot Park

Avenue Tower at 65 East 55th Street; the 465,173-square-foot 717

Fifth Avenue; the 1.8-million-square-foot 1301 Sixth Avenue; the 1.7-

million-square-foot Worldwide Plaza at 825 Eighth Avenue; the

215,322-square-foot 527 Madison Avenue; the 906,287-square-foot 1540

Broadway; the 562,567-square-foot 850 Third Avenue; and the 182,000-

square-foot Tower 56 at 126 East 56th Street. Financing was provided

by Deutsche Bank and Fortress Investment Group, ... The deal came

just before the Blackstone Group closed on its $39 billion

acquisition of Equity Office Properties, saving Blackstone $212

million in transfer taxes."

http://www.therealdeal.net/deals/sales.php?

deals_sales_sort_order=DESC&deals_sales_sort_field=price

We wonder what the conflicts of interest, if any might be on things

like "Federal Contracts for Lease or rental of facilities, FY 2001,

list ...FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP LLC, FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP

LLC; FORTRESS GSA PARFET ... CMD REALTY INVESTMENT FUND III, RMI

CAPITAL MANAGEMENT CO LTD, $954000 ...

http://www.fedspending.org/fpds/fpds.php?

database=fpds&reptype=r&detail=0&datype=T&sortby=f&... - 157k

"Federal Contracts for Lease or rental of facilities, FY 2002,

list ...

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, CITY OF ATLANTA, $22573258 ...

FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP LLC, FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP LLC;

FORTRESS GSA PARFET; ...

http://www.fedspending.org/fpds/fpds.php?

database=fpds&reptype=r&detail=0&datype=T&sortby=f&... - 157k -

and how those alleged "conflicts of interest", if they existed,

would be handled by President Edwards.

"Edwards Discusses Time at Hedge Fund

By NEDRA PICKLER

The Associated Press

Tuesday, May 8, 2007; 9:48 PM

WASHINGTON -- Democrat John Edwards said Tuesday that he worked for

a hedge fund between presidential campaigns to learn about financial

markets and their relationship to poverty _ and to make money too.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the former North Carolina

senator said his yearlong, part-time position with Fortress

Investment Group helped his understanding of the connection but he

has more to learn. Edwards has made eradicating poverty a focus of

his second White House bid.

Edwards, a multimillionaire after years as a trial lawyer, would not

disclose how much he got paid for a year of consulting beginning in

October 2005. He said the amount will be revealed when he releases

his financial disclosure forms due May 15.

Asked if he had to join a hedge fund to learn about financial

markets, Edwards replied, "How else would I have done it?"

He said he considered going to an investment firm such as Goldman

Sachs, but Fortress was the most natural fit. Presented with the

suggestion that he could have taken a university class instead, he

said, "That's true.""It was primarily to learn, but making money was

a good thing, too," the 2004 vice presidential nominee said in an

hourlong interview with AP reporters and editors.

Hedge funds, now numbering more than 9,000 in the U.S. with assets

estimated to exceed $1 trillion, traditionally cater to the rich, as

well as pension funds and university endowments, but are

increasingly luring less wealthy investors.

Fortress Investment Group, founded in 1998, describes itself as "a

leading global alternative asset manager" with approximately $35.1

billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2006. The

company is headquartered in New York with affiliates around the

world.

Fortress was the single biggest employer of Edwards donors during

the first three months of the year. Donors who listed "Fortress" as

their employer contributed $67,450 to Edwards' campaign and

supporters who identified their employer as "Fortress Investment

Group" gave $55,200 to the campaign, according to Federal Election

Commission records.

Hedge funds also have another connection to the Democratic

presidential race _ Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Edwards' rival Sen.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, works for a firm called Avenue Capital Group.

Edwards said it's fair to ask questions about whether there is a

contradiction between campaigning against poverty while working for

a hedge fund designed to make rich people richer. But he said the

job was a complement to his position as the head of a poverty center

at the University of North Carolina, something he said he didn't

describe adequately when asked about the hedge fund during the first

Democratic debate last month."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-

dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050800899_2.html

Fortress Buying Florida's Flagler Development in $3.5B Deal

Sale of Florida East Coast Industries Inc. Includes 8.8M-SF

Portfolio of Office, Industrial Assets

One day after announcing it had $2.84 billion in commitments for a

newly launched private equity fund, Fortress Investment Group LLC

(NYSE:FIG) struck a deal to acquire Florida East Coast Industries

Inc. (NYSE: FLA), a Jacksonville, FL-based real estate developer and

railway owner in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.5 billion.

Funds managed by Fortress will pay about $84 per share for Florida

East Coast Industries, broken out into a special dividend of $21.50

and $62.50 per share. The total price represents a 13.3% premium to

the stock's closing price on Monday. The deal also includes the

assumption of debt.

Fortress, a hedge fund manager and private equity investor that

recently went public, said the new fund will invest in asset-based

businesses and asset portfolios, primarily in North America and

Western Europe.

Florida East Coast Industries owns and operates Flagler Development

Group, one of the premier developers in the state with a portfolio

of office and industrial properties totaling about 8.8 million

square feet, primarily located in Jacksonville, Ft. Lauderdale,

Orlando and Miami. Flagler also provides construction, consulting,

brokerage and property management services.

The company currently has about 1.8 million square feet under

construction and also owns about 853 acres of entitled land in

Florida, which could accommodate about 16.1 million square feet of

development. In addition, Flagler has more than 3,000 acres of

Florida real estate in its land bank that is not yet entitled.

The company's other line of business is the Florida East Coast

Railway LLC, a regional freight railroad that operates 351 miles of

mainline track between Jacksonville and Miami.

The buyout, which is scheduled to close in the third quarter of

2007, comes at an opportune time for Florida East Coast Industries,

which suffered a drop in earnings by about 50% in the first quarter

of the year. Net income plummeted by 50% to $9.04 million from $18.7

million for the first three months of 2006. Revenue during the

quarter dropped to $108 million from $136 million.

The company attributed the decline in revenue to a $43.9 million

decrease in land sales and a $7.3 million dip in railway revenue.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as legal advisor to

Fortress."

http://www.costar.com/News/Article.aspx?

id=59003BE247EF59D01FB5A1E23434E674&ref=1

AND CONSIDER THIS FROM ANOTHER SOURCE:

"Kerry's top contributor, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, has

given nearly $106,000 to his campaign."

AND THIS FROM YET ANOTHER SOURCE:

"Trouble With Uranium Processing Co. H. Josef Hebert

Associated Press April 11, 2000 WASHINGTON (AP) - Less than two

years after the government sold its uranium business, the private

company it created to take on the job is mired in financial

quicksand. The deal is also jeopardizing a crucial nuclear security

agreement with Russia , critics say. USEC Inc.'s (NYSE:USU -news)

first 20 months as a private company have been anything but smooth.

Its stock has dropped 70 percent, its credit rating is in junk bond

territory, and its earnings have nose dived. Amid the financial

turmoil, lawmakers and others are questioning the sale.

A congressional investigation has been under way for a year, with the

first public hearings scheduled this week. While investors have lost

millions of dollars, some of the people who pushed hardest for an

initial stock offering have profited handsomely.

"A number of lobbyists, company insiders and investment bankers made

a killing financially," said Charles Lewis, director of the Center

for Public Integrity, a private government watchdog.

In all, Wall Street bankers, Washington lawyers and lobbyists – many

with close ties to the Clinton administration – earned more than $75

million on the $1.9 billion sale, according to contracts and

interviews. Among those talking up the stock offering in 1998 on

Capitol Hill and in the White House were Susan Thomases, a New York

lawyer and confidante of Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Greg Simon,

formerly Vice President Al Gore's domestic policy adviser. The law

firm of Skadden Arps, which represented President Clinton in the

Paula Jones case, was USEC's lead attorney in the deal.....

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY)

Top Contributors source:

http://www.opensecrets.org

Citigroup Inc $205,160 2 Goldman Sachs $171,290 3 Metropolitan Life

$154,350 4 Corning Inc $133,900 5 Time Warner $128,410 6 JP Morgan

Chase & Co $115,350 7 Morgan Stanley $110,010 8 Skadden, Arps et al

$91,030 9 International Profit Assoc $88,400 10 Ernst & Young

$88,225 11 New York Life Insurance $86,250 12 Viacom Inc $84,380 13

Cablevision Systems $82,800 14 Kirkland & Ellis $73,150 15 Cendant

Corp $72,450 16 Akin, Gump et al $64,250 17 Lehman Brothers $57,190

18 Patton Boggs LLP $54,138 19 Debevoise & Plimpton $51,500 20

Verizon Communications $51,020 We hope that you will remember the

name of Skadden, Arps et al in the list of contributors to Hillary

Rodham Clinton from http://www.opensecrets.org above can you find

any other contributors to Hillary from the list above in the list of

clients of SKADDEN, ARPS, SLATE, MEAGHER, & FLOM LLP

below?

"SKADDEN, ARPS, SLATE, MEAGHER, & FLOM LLP" is the lobbyist.

The following were listed as their clients:

AK STEEL CO

ALCATEL NORTH AMERICA

AMERICAN COUNCIL OF LIFE INSURERS

AMERICAN ELECTRONICS ASSN

AMERICAN INTL GROUP

AOL-TIME WARNER

AX THE DOUBLE TAX COALITION

BEAR STEARNS & CO

BELL ATLANTIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS

BETHLEHEM STEEL CORP

BOND MARKET ASSN

BURLINGTON RESOURCES OIL & GAS CO

CHICAGO DEFERRED EXCHANGE CORPORATION

CINERGY CORP

CITIGROUP MANAGEMENT CORP

COLGATE-PALMOLIVE CO

COMSAT CORP

COOLGAS INC

CORNING

COUNTY OF WILL , IL

DIAGNOSTIC RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS

DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

ENRON CORP

ENTERGY CORP

ENTERGY-KOCH LP

EVANS, BILLY LEE

EVERGREEN INTL AVIATION

FIDELITY CHARITABLE GIFT FUND

FMR CORP

FORT HOWARD CORP

FRUIT OF THE LOOM

FSC COALITION

GLAXO SMITH

GLOBAL CROSSING

GRANITE BROADCASTING

GREATER MEDIA

INSCAP

ISPAT INLAND INC.

KIEWITS SONS,

LOCKHEED MARTIN GLOBAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS INC

LTV STEEL

MCI TELECOMMUNICATIONS

MERRILL LYNCH

MEYER-CHETFIELD3

NATL ASSN OF BROADCASTERS

NATL ASSN OF ENERGY SERVICE COS

NATL STEEL

NBC AFFILIATES BOARD

NEW WORLD COMMUNICATIONS GROUP

NEWS CORP

NOL COALITION

PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH & MANUFACTURERS OF AMERICA

RAYON YARN CORP

SARA LEE CORP

SEQUENT COMPUTER SYSTEMS

SIGNET GROUP PLC

STANLEY WORKS

TAX FAIRNESS COALITION

TELIGENT

TEMPLE-INLAND

TENANT IN COMMON ASSN

TOSHIBA POWER SYSTEMS

UNION PACIFIC

US AIRWAYS

US STEEL GROUP

VERIZON COMMUNICATION

Source:

http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/b_three_sections_with_te

asers/clientlist_page_S.htm

"Nature of Practice

Established in 1990, the Paris office of Skadden, Arps, Slate,

Meagher & Flom LLP and affiliates ("Skadden, Arps" or "Skadden") has

four partners, one of counsel, four counsel and 20 associates. The

Paris office advises clients principally in the areas of mergers and

acquisitions, corporate and structured finance, taxation,

litigation, and international arbitration, banking and real estate.

The Paris office is registered with the Paris Bar and most of its

attorneys are admitted as avocats with the Paris Bar. A number of

the attorneys in the Paris office are also qualified in New York .

Practice Areas Mergers and Acquisitions Corporate and Structured

Finance General

Corporate" "

http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2006/09/allen_

critics_e.html

http://newsbusters.org/node/8893

BARACK OBAMA (D)

Top Contributors

UBS Americas $162,200

Exelon Corp $159,800

Goldman Sachs $146,100

Sidley Austin LLP $105,750

Jenner & Block $81,322

Jones, Day et al $76,000

Kirkland & Ellis $72,251

Time Warner $63,300

Williams & Connolly $58,350

Harvard University $57,500

Citigroup Inc $56,000

Credit Suisse Securities $47,500

Skadden, Arps et al $43,550

WilmerHale $41,950

Morgan Stanley $41,850

Level 3 Communications $38,900

Viacom Inc $38,700

Lehman Brothers $38,400

Ariel Capital Management $37,900

Pajcic & Pajcic $36,800

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.asp?id=N00009638&cycle=2008

"From the NewsMax.com Staff

For the story behind the story...

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 9:07 p.m. EDT

John Edwards is Stakeholder in Sunken Treasure

TheStreet.com was questioning Wednesday how much of the $500 million

sunken treasure found in the Atlantic last weekend belongs to

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.

The treasure ship, brimming with gold and silver, was found at the

bottom of the Atlantic by exploration company, Florida-based Odyssey

Marine Research (OMR).

TheStreet.com has ferreted out that Edwards is the senior advisor

and major investor in the major shareholder of OMR, New York-based

Fortress Investments, a private equity and hedge fund manager.

Furthermore, according to TheStreet, Edwards' personal financial

disclosures show he's an investor in the exclusive Drawbridge Global

Macro Fund, which owns the 9.9 percent stake in OMR.

In a complex holding, Fortress owns 3.1 million shares, plus

millions more in preferred stock and warrants. Total economic

interest is the equivalent of 6.98 million shares. Profits in the

last week already come to $19 million, reported TheStreet.

OMR stock, which closed at $4.60 before news of the discovery, has

climbed to $7.35. The value of Fortress' stake could be as much as

$51 million.

While OMR stock peaked Monday morning at just over $9, valuing the

company at well above $400 million, the shares have come off sharply

since claims by the Spanish government that the treasure might be

Spanish and they may elect to sue for ownership. "

Speaking of Fortress

"Dr. Richard N. Haass

Director

Dr. Haass has been a member of Fortress Investment Group's board of

directors since February 2007. Dr. Haass is president of the Council

on Foreign Relations, a position he has held since July 2003. Prior

to his current position, Dr. Haass was director of policy planning

for the U.S. Department of State, where he was a principal adviser

to Secretary of State Colin Powell on a broad range of foreign

policy concerns, and acted as U.S. coordinator for policy toward the

future of Afghanistan and the lead U.S. government official in

support of the Northern Ireland peace process. From 1989 to 1993,

Dr. Haass was special assistant to President George Bush and senior

director for Near East and South Asian affairs on the staff of the

National Security Council. Previously, he served in various posts in

the United States Departments of State and Defense. Dr. Haass has

received the State Department's Distinguished Honor Award and the

Presidential Citizens Medal.

Dr. Haass has been director of foreign

policy studies at the Brookings Institution and taught at or been

associated in various capacities with Hamilton College, the Carnegie

Endowment for International Peace, Harvard University's Kennedy

School of Government and the International Institute for Strategic

Studies. Dr. Haass holds a bachelor's from Oberlin College and both

a Master and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Oxford University."

http://www.fortressinv.com/site_content.aspx?s=17

"ZOA Disappointed That Richard Haass, Who Has Blamed Israel For Arab

Violence, Is Keynote Speaker At Y.U. Dinner

March 29, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Morton A. Klein, 212-481-1500

NEW YORK - The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is disappointed

that Yeshiva University has chosen as the keynote speaker for a Y.U.

dinner this week Richard Haass, a veteran State Department official

who during his years in office repeatedly criticized and pressured

Israel and justified the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, and more

recently blamed Israel for "provoking" Palestinian Arab terrorism.

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein has sent a letter to Yeshiva

University president Richard Joel, expressing the ZOA's strong

disappointment over the choice of Haass, in view of Haass's record

on Israel.

Haas is scheduled to be the featured speaker at Yeshiva University's

dinner at the Park East Synagogue in New York City on March 31,

2004.

Blamed Israel for "provoking" Palestinian Arab terrorism: In a June

1997 policy brief that he authored for the Brookings Institute,

Haass said that Israeli housing construction in the Jerusalem

neighborhood was a "provocation" that was to blame for Palestinian

Arab terrorism—ignoring the countless terrorist attacks that took

place in the weeks and months prior to the Har Homa controversy.

Haass wrote: "Violence does not occur in a vacuum. What has provided

a context or even impetus for the latest surge in Palestinian acts

of violence are Israeli decisions. The most provocative was the

decision in February to break ground for new housing at the Har Homa

settlement in eastern Jerusalem." (Forward, Jan. 28, 2000)

Authored Bush's infamous `91 speech against loan guarantees for

Israel: According to Newsweek (June 1, 1992), Haass "wrote Bush's

comments last September [1991] attacking Israel's congressional push

for loan guarantees."

The Long Island Jewish World reported that "Jewish leaders and rank

and file" regarded Bush's comments "as one of the most mean-spirited

addresses by an American president in recent memory." Shoshana

Cardin, chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American

Jewish Organizations, called Bush's remarks "disturbing." Dr. Daniel

Pipes, then of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said that "Jew-

haters will cite [bush's speech] as a reference point for years to

come." After Bush made his statements, "the White House received a

rush of congratulatory letters with decidedly anti-Semitic

overtones," according to the Metro West Jewish News (Oct. 2, 1992)

Tried to stifle Jews' criticism of Bush: In April 1992, when many

American Jews were expressing concern over the Bush-Baker policy of

pressuring Israel, Haass appeared at a meeting with Jewish leaders

in New York City and urged them "to make special efforts to `cool

the rhetoric' over U.S. policy in the Middle East." (New York Jewish

Week, April 24-30, 1992)

Justified Syria's occupation of Lebanon: Speaking at the University

of Miami in 1992, Haass "asserted that Lebanon was better off now,

with Syria having imposed de facto control, than it was two years

ago with chaos caused by Lebanese militia." (Miami Jewish Tribune,

April 10-16, 1992)

Moment Article Called Haass a "Jewish Arabist": Haass was described

as a "Jewish Arabist" in an article in Moment magazine (April 1991)

by former Near East Report editor Eric Rozenman. He wrote that Haass

was one of those responsible for shaping the Bush-Baker policy that

was "indifferent to what Israel claimed as vital interests and

undiplomatically hostile to Israel's prime minister" and had made

it "the least sympathetic American government toward Israel in that

country's 43 years."

The Zionist Organization of America, founded in 1897, is the oldest

pro-Israel organization in the United States. The ZOA works to

strengthen U.S.-Israel relations, educates the American public and

Congress about the dangers that Israel faces, and combats anti-

Israel bias in the media and on college campuses. Its past

presidents have included Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and

Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver."

http://www.zoa.org/2004/03/zoa_disappointe_6.htm

"John Edwards Calls War on Terror Bush's 'Bumper Sticker' Slogan

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

NEW YORK — Democratic White House hopeful John Edwards, in a major

foreign policy speech Wednesday, minimized the Bush administration's

War on Terror as nothing more than a "bumper sticker slogan" used to

justify the war in Iraq and "bludgeon political opponents."

"It is now clear that George Bush's misnamed 'War on Terror' has

backfired — and is now part of the problem," Edwards told the

Council on Foreign Relations in New York. "

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,275028,00.html

"Critics heap scorn on Edwards

Speaking fee, remarks draw fire

CHARLOTTE - Critics have blasted Democratic presidential candidate

John Edwards for calling the "war on terror" "a slogan designed only

for politics" and "a bumper sticker, not a plan."

Edwards made the comments Wednesday in a speech to the Council on

Foreign Relations in New York. He offered a stinging critique of the

Bush administration's global war on terrorism.

"He has used this doctrine like a sledgehammer to justify the worst

abuses and biggest mistakes of his administration," Edwards told the

council. "The war on terror has damaged our alliances and weakened

our standing in the world."

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, the former New York

mayor, said Wednesday, "When you go so far as to suggest the global

war on terror is a bumper sticker or a slogan, it kind of makes the

point that I have been making over and over again, that the

Democrats, or at least some of them, are in denial. There is not a

global war on terror because of George Bush."

Commentator Rush Limbaugh called Edwards' comments "truly dangerous

and just ignorant." S.C. GOP Chairman Katon Dawson said

Edwards "endangers the lives of Americans at home and abroad by

trivializing terrorist threats." read the rest at:

http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/579509.html

" Friends of Jimmy Carter

In a Newsweek interview, a Mideast leader has kind words for a

former president and several other prominent Americans:

You weren't encouraged at all by the recommendations of the Baker-

Hamilton report?

[President] Bush ignored the Baker-Hamilton report and the positions

and reports of a number of American figures and former officials,

such as [former national-security adviser Zbigniew] Brzezinski,

[Council on Foreign Relations president] Richard Haass and former

U.S. president Carter. Bush continues to adopt the same philosophy:

if power does not succeed in achieving the objective, then more

power will.

Still, some Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer seem to be

making an effort to reach out.

I believe [Pelosi's recent visit to Syria] was a step in the right

direction. Wise people in the U.S. should realize that Israel and

the fundamentalist American conservative right have both become

burdens on the interests and the future of America.

And who's saying this? Khaled Meshal, described by Newsweek as

the "most powerful figure" in the terrorist group Hamas. With

friends like these . . .

http://opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110010052

"Khaled Meshal prays with Mahmoud Abbas and Ismail Haniya yesterday

in Mecca"

http://fpwatch.blogspot.com/2007/02/khaled-meshal-prays-with-mahmoud-

abbas.html

Hamas and Israel

12 July 2006

Khaled Meshal, a leader of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas,

says that Israel should free Palestinian prisoners in exchange for

Corporal Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier whom Hamas kidnapped two

week ago. From his safe haven in Syria, Mr. Meshal says this is what

the Palestinians want.

U.S State Department spokesman Sean McCormack questions how Khaled

Meshal "knows exactly what the Palestinian people want":

"It might be easy for him to dictate from Damascus and to speak on

behalf of the Palestinian people, but it is really the Palestinian

people themselves who suffer as a result of the fact that Khaled

Meshal and Hamas are now head of the Palestinian Authority that is

not a negotiating partner for the Israeli government or the rest of

the world."

Hamas, says Mr. McCormack, is "not interested in turning away from

terror":

"They're not interested in recognizing Israeli's right to exist. So

it is really Khaled Meshal and the Hamas-led government that is

standing in the way of a better way of life for the Palestinian

people. So, you know, it's easy for him to sit up in Damascus and

make pronouncements, but he and his organization are the ones who

are standing in the way of a better way of life and a better future

for the Palestian people."

In response to the capture of one of its soldiers, Israel has sent

troops into Gaza to search for him. Mr. McCormack says the

kidnapping of Corporal Shalit is "the root cause of the current

situation."

"We're working towards -- and the states in the region are working

towards – gaining his release. Israel. . . .certainly has the right

to defend itself. We have called upon Israel to avoid any civilian

casualties that it possibly can in its activities."

The Palestinian Authority has "certain internationally recognized

responsibilities to stop terror and to dismantle terrorist

networks," says State department spokesman Sean McCormack. The

U.S. "call upon them to do so."

The preceding was an editorial reflecting the views of the United

States Government. "

http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/archive/2006-07/2006-07-12-voa2.cfm

And what will the views of the United States Government be under

President Edwards?

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007

Here is Peter Bart's direct quote about Edwards: "Perhaps the

greatest short-term threat to world peace, Edwards remarked, was the

possibility that Israel would bomb Iran's nuclear facilities." The

Edwards campaign is now attempting to tamp down the damage of Bart's

report and is, accordingly, retracting the quote. According to the

Associated Press, "Edwards says one of the greatest short-term

threats to world peace is Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon."

I find it interesting that the Edwards Campaign is disputing the

accuracy of an essentially friendly story.

As far as the language characterizing Edwards remarks as "labeling

Israel the greatest threat to world peace," that characterization is

indeed mine as Jonah Goldberg states, and not the direct quote taken

from Peter Bart above. If the Bart version of the facts is true —

and the AP reports that Bart and Variety are standing by his story —

I stand by my analysis below.

Posted in Blogs and the NetRoots, Jews and Judaism, Middle East

Politics |

Wonkette Jumps the Shark; John Edwards, Empty Suit

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007

It's encouraging to read the kind of thoughtful, intelligent

discussion of foreign affairs, I discovered on Wonkette today. Over

the years, I have found that Wonkette has done an admirable job of

dishing up a tasty mix of political gossip and Washington-based

insight. Today, I visit the site to see what it has to say on John

Edwards jaw-droppingly appalling remarks labeling Israel, in effect,

the greatest threat to world peace.

(In case you missed it, Peter

Bart of Variety wrote the initial story here.)

Wonkette suggests, in response to critiques on NRO and elsewhere,

that Edwards' act of "stating the obvious" is impossible in today's

world and "requires taking your lips off Israel's ass for a few

seconds, and that's fatal for any American politician with

presidential ambitions. This isn't because Jews get upset or

Israel's feelings will get hurt or anything. It's because of batshit

insane evangelical American Jesus Freaks who have to love and

protect Israel so Jesus will come back and destroy it."

Wonkette is incorrect here on a couple of things. First, it is a

canard to suggest as Wonkette and others that supporters of Israel

block debate on Israeli policy.

The very smart and up-and-coming

writer James Kirchick offered a devastating rebuttal to this notion

in a Washington Examiner piece.

Here is Kirchick's point in relevant

part:

"When prodded to identify an instance in which legitimate criticism

of Israel has been labeled "anti-Semitic," the promoters of this

meme come up with nothing. Indeed, the debate in the United States

could not be more fair and vigorous, especially compared to how the

subject is discussed in the rest of the world. In Europe, Israel is

always to blame for whatever trouble boils in the Middle East; in

Arab and Muslim nations, there is little deviation from the

viewpoint that Israel itself is illegitimate and should be

destroyed. The United States is the only place where Israel gets a

fair hearing. To claim that critics of Israel are unfairly maligned

and silenced is a pathetic means of avoiding debate on the actual

issues that matter."

Second, the appalling thing about Edwards comment is that it is just

another way of blaming the victim. Here we have Iran, a nation whose

leader has sponsored a hateful Holocaust denial conference and has

vowed to wipe out Israel on the brink of developing a weapon to

destroy Israel, and, for Edwards and Wonkette, the nation that seeks

to protect itself is the "threat". What would Edwards and Wonkette

have Israel do? Vote itself out of existence perhaps? (At least,

Israel's citizens, including Arabs can vote, which they aren't

allowed to do in other parts of the Middle East.)

Regarding Edwards, the former senator's comments are just the latest

sign that this guy is an absolute empty suit who has been in search

of a political identity since 2000. I first encountered this guy at

a Democratic breakast at the Beverly Hilton during the 2000 DNC in

Los Angeles. The room filled with Massachusetts's seasoned politicos

didn't give him a second look. Everybody at the level of City

Councillor and above saw him for what he was — a shallow neophyte.

In 2002, I went up to New Hampshire to see him again and came away

only marginally more impressed.

"When he got to the subject of income disparity between the rich and

poor, Edwards seemed ready to discuss a substantive problem in

depth — as if he were going to deliver some innovative solution that

would restore the vital center of American politics. He started out

promisingly: `I think you could ask the American people tomorrow —

and I'm talking about people who live in rural North Carolina, who

sometimes vote Democratic and sometimes vote Republican, I think we

can convince them tomorrow — that every child in America ought to

get a first-class education.'

And then … nothing. While packaged as

a unique statement delivered by a Democrat who managed to win an

election in Jesse Helms's own state, Edwards's comment scaled the

pinnacle of banality, if such a thing is possible. Who among serious

Americans — including the Republicans — doesn't think students ought

to receive the best possible education? Policy fights involve how

best to achieve this — not the general principle, which was all

Edwards had to offer."

In the beginning, he was a DLCer in the mold of Bill Clinton. Then,

he was an economic populist. Now, he is going after the NetRoots.

In search of a political identity, he hired David Bonior, a longtime

critic of Israel, as his campaign manager. Ben Smith of Politico has

already reported on the striking similarity between a 1996 Bonior

speech and Edwards' address to the DNC last month. Now, Edwards is

taking on Bonior's anti-Israel portfolio as well.

To Wonkette, my suggestion is to tread on familiar territory. In

other words, keep it light.

I fear, however, that Edwards is too light to be considered a

serious candidate for the presidency.

CLARIFICATION: The phrasing "labeling Israel the greatest threat to

world peace" is my own. Peter Bart direct quote is as

follows ""Perhaps the greatest short-term threat to world peace,

Edwards remarked, was the possibility that Israel would bomb Iran's

nuclear facilities." For more on Edwards statement today see above.

Posted in Blogs and the NetRoots, Jews and Judaism, John Edwards,

National Politics | 37 Comments »

http://gitell.wordpress.com/tag/jews-and-judaism/

In our view Edwards will end up as the nominee of the Democrats for

President in 2008

and in our view Edwards will win the election and be sworn in as

President of the United

States at noon on January 20th, 2009.

We need your help to spread the word about Edwards before it is too

late. We need

to stop Edwards from being nominated, and failing that, if he is

nominated, we need to stop

Edwards from being elected.

This does not mean that we support any of the other Democrats

running for President at

this writing. In fact we oppose all of the other Democrats running

for President at this writing.

However, we could support the person Al Gore chose as his Vice

Presidential running mate in 2000. Senator Joe Lieberman of

Connecticut. Senator Lieberman ran as an Independent when he was

defeated in the Senate primary in 2006 but he is currently caucusing

with the Democrats.

If Senator Lieberman ran for President in 2008,

as he did in 2004 he would be the only one running for his Party's

nomination who currently supports the liberation of Iraq.

Clearly he is not running yet but a DRAFT LIEBERMAN movement should

not be entirely ruled out. It should be noted that AL GORE is also

not running yet and neither are Fred Thompson or Newt Gingrich, yet

all 3 of them would make formidable competitors for their Parties

Presidential nominations in 2008 if they did run.

While we could easily have supported the AL GORE who was a hawk in

2000 and who chose an even bigger hawk: Joe Lieberman, as the person

he wanted to become President of The United States of America if

anything were to happen to AL GORE, we can no longer support AL GORE

for President because he has turned into a dove. We do not support

surrender.

If you want to contact Senator Lieberman to urge him to enter the

race for his Party's Presidential nomination you may reach him at:

his Washington, D.C. Office

706 Hart Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

(202) 224-4041 Voice

(202) 224-9750 Fax

or at his Connecticut Office

One Constitution Plaza

7th Floor

Hartford, CT 06103

(860) 549-8463 Voice

(800) 225-5605 In CT

(860) 549-8478 Fax

In fact if Senator Lieberman decides to switch Parties you might

find

yourself supporting him for the Republican Presidential or Vice

Presidential nomination. If John Kerry had been wise enough to

choose

Senator Lieberman as his running mate in 2004 John Kerry would be

President of the United States of America today because Senator

Lieberman would have brought that Kerry-Lieberman ticket Florida's

27 electoral votes, more than the 20 electoral votes Ohio might have

brought if the voters of Ohio had switched to Kerry.

In 2008 Senator Lieberman running as Vice President in either Party

might make the difference in who carries Florida and in who carries

New Jersey.

We could easily see a situation in which a Republican dove like

Senator Hagel got the Republican nomination in 2008, and a hawk like

Senator Lieberman was nominated for President by the Democrats in

2008, so hold onto your hats, and everything else, the 2008

nominations are far from locked up by anyone yet in either Party.

If Senator Lieberman did enter the Presidential primaries of his

Party, as the only Democrat running as a supporter of the liberation

of Iraq running in his Party, he could easily get a very substantial

portion of the votes from Democrats in his party who support the

liberation of Iraq.

It should be noted that Senator Lieberman was able to beat

BOTH the Democrat AND the Republican when he ran for re-election to

the US Senate in Connecticut in 2006 as a hawk who fully supported

the liberation of Iraq.

So,if anything, the vote for Senator Lieberman by Connecticut voters

in the general election in 2006 was A MANDATE FOR THE CONTINUATION

OF THE U.S. ROLE IN IRAQ AND FOR THE LIBERATION OF IRAQ.

It also represented a DRAMATIC DEFEAT for the cut and run surrender

crowd of Democrats who backed Senator Lieberman's opponent in the

general election.