Excerpt:
George W. Bush taping controversy
In 1987 Doug Wead began tape recording members of the Bush family, with their permission, providing a historical record of the family.[27] George Bush: Man of Integrity, which includes accounts of all family members, was published in 1988, written primarily from these taped conversations.[28]
Wead continued his taping of George W. Bush between 1997 and 2000, recording at least nine hours of telephone conversations with Bush, who was then Governor of Texas, as he engaged in his presidential run; the recordings were made without Bush's knowledge.[29] Wead stated that he wanted to create an ongoing record of Bush as a historical figure. In February 2005, a month after Bush was sworn into office for his second term as president, Wead revealed the existence of the tapes to The New York Times, and publicly released twelve excerpts from them, each one ranging in length from five minutes to half an hour.[29] He insisted that the taping was legal, having been made only in U.S. states where there was no law against taping someone without their consent.[29] Several newsworthy revelations emerged from the tapes, such as Bush appearing to acknowledge having previously used marijuana and other drugs, and saying he would not answer press questions about his drug use because he did not want to set a bad example for children; calling then-primary opponent Steve Forbes "mean-spirited" and saying Forbes could not rely on Bush's help if Forbes won the Republican nomination; and calling his eventual Democratic election opponent, Al Gore, "pathologically a liar".[29] Other excerpts seemed to match Bush's public persona, such as his statement that he was not worried about getting corrupted by the presidency because he read the Bible daily, which he called "pretty good about keeping your ego in check"; and his insistence that he was not anti-homosexual, regardless of his opposition to gay marriage.[29]
The release prompted some hostility from members of Bush's inner circle: Bush's wife, Laura Bush, said in an interview, "I don't know if I'd use the word 'betrayed,' but I think it's a little bit awkward for sure"; while Bush evangelical ally James Dobson said he was "shocked by [Wead's] breach of trust". Bush himself did not comment.[30] The tapes' release also provoked negative reaction from some commentators, such as Bill Press, who called Wead "scum", and Bill O'Reilly, who called Wead "the lowest form of debris in the country."[31]
[edit] Other activities
Wead is also a an independent business owner in Xango. In the past he was active with Quixtar and Network TwentyOne, and both Amway businesses. In 1995 he joined the Board of Canyonville Christian Academy,[32] a private boarding high school in southern Oregon. Since 2000, the school has enjoyed a full attendance and maintains an annual waiting list. He currently serves as its president.http://www.hiddenmysteries.org/conspiracy/conspiracy/amwaybush3.shtml
Excerpt:
Report of Actual Violence
Blakey found, "There are also reports of violence against those who attempt to take action against Amway." For example, Edward Engel was Amway's chief financial officer until he resigned in 1979, over a disagreement with DeVos and Van Andel. Engels claims he and his family received threats for years after his resignation. "It was a Big Brother organization," says Engel today. "Everyone assumed that the phones were tapped, and that Amway had something on everybody."
In 1983, while Engel's former secretary, Dorothy Edgar, was helping the Canadian authorities in their investigation of Amway, “She was roughed up in Chicago, after she was told to "stay away from Amway." Engel picked her up after the incident and says he believes her story, according to Paul Klebniov‘s article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassionate_conservatism
Excerpt:
Compassionate Conservatism is a political philosophy that stresses using traditionally conservative techniques and concepts in order to improve the general welfare of society. The term itself is often credited to U.S. historian and politician Doug Wead who used it as the title of a speech in 1979. This label and philosophy has been espoused by U.S. Republican and Democratic politicians since then though in recent times it has been strongly associated with former U.S. President George W. Bush who commonly used the term to describe his personal views. This philosophy has also been espoused in the United Kingdom by British Prime Minister David Cameron.
http://www.ex-cult.org/Groups/Amway/positive-inspiration.txt
Excerpt:
More bad publicity surfaced to hurt Amway in 1989, when it teamed with
Minneapolis' remainder magnate Irwin Jacobs to buy work in Avon Products,
Inc. as part of their respective takeover bids for Avon. Avon Chairman
James Preston hired private investigating firm Kroll Associates to dig up
some dirt on Amway, Kroll unearthed several lawsuits pending against
William Nicholson, who was hired in 1984 as Amway's chief operating
officer. Several days afterwards, Amway and Jacobs dropped their bid.
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/03/business/company-news-officer-quits-at-amway.html
Excerpt:
COMPANY NEWS; Officer Quits At Amway
The man who led the Amway Corporation through a 1984 corporate purge and reignited the direct sales company's growth has resigned as chief operating officer.
William W. Nicholson, 49 years old, who stepped down Tuesday, now will divide his time between consultant work for Amway, other unspecified business and lengthy expeditions to the Yukon, Africa and South Pole, the company said.
Mr. Nicholson, who met Amway's founders, Jay Van Andel and Richard M. DeVos, in 1974 while working at the White House under President Gerald R. Ford, said he had been planning his departure since spring 1991. That was just after he helped Amway through a $370 million public stock offering in Japan.
Mr. Nicholson was hired by Amway in March 1984, a time when the company was struggling with legal and public relations problems stemming from criminal and civil charges in Canada. Sales had slid from a $1.2 billion peak in 1982.
Amway is expected to post annual sales of about $3.9 billion for the fiscal year that ended Monday. The company has more than two million independent distributors worldwide.
William W. Nicholson, 49 years old, who stepped down Tuesday, now will divide his time between consultant work for Amway, other unspecified business and lengthy expeditions to the Yukon, Africa and South Pole, the company said.
Mr. Nicholson, who met Amway's founders, Jay Van Andel and Richard M. DeVos, in 1974 while working at the White House under President Gerald R. Ford, said he had been planning his departure since spring 1991. That was just after he helped Amway through a $370 million public stock offering in Japan.
Mr. Nicholson was hired by Amway in March 1984, a time when the company was struggling with legal and public relations problems stemming from criminal and civil charges in Canada. Sales had slid from a $1.2 billion peak in 1982.
Amway is expected to post annual sales of about $3.9 billion for the fiscal year that ended Monday. The company has more than two million independent distributors worldwide.
http://www.cigaraficionado.com/webfeatures/show/id/Corporate-PIs_7449
Excerpt:
In another well-known case, Kroll had a hand in rebuffing Amway's $2.1 billion takeover bid of Avon. Kroll investigators discovered that Amway's chief operating officer, William W. Nicholson, was a defendant in a $1.8 million embezzlement suit and had been sued numerous times for allegedly defaulting on bank notes. The revelations reportedly dislodged Amway's board, prompting the company to drop its bid for Avon. By 1989, Kroll's services were so popular that in the $25 billion battle for RJR Nabisco, the company's detectives were reportedly forced from the game: all the competing parties were clients.
http://www.nysut.org/cps/rde/xchg/nysut/hs.xsl/mediareleases_16699.htm
Excerpt:NYSUT blasts no-bid contract to company headed by Joel Klein
NYSUT Media Relations - June 9, 2011
ALBANY, N.Y. June 9, 2011 - New York State United Teachers today expressed outrage at a Daily News report that the state Education Department appears ready to award a $27 million no-bid contract to a company headed by former New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and owned by News Corp., publisher of the New York Post.
“When a deal smells as bad as this one, you have to ask: Is the push to use standardized test scores to evaluate teachers really about improving teaching and student achievement? Or, is it about finding ways for Wall Street and big corporations to cash in on Race to the Top?” asked NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi.
Iannuzzi said NYSUT would ask the state comptroller to reject the contract, and the state attorney general’s office to investigate any conflicts of interest in the awarding of the Race to the Top contract, less than a month after the Board of Regents rushed through new regulations that allow school districts to potentially double the weight of standardized tests in teacher evaluations.
NYSUT Vice President Maria Neira questioned why the state Education Department tried to quietly award the contract to the Wireless Generation/Klein/News Corp. enterprise. “The Regents chancellor and state Education Department leaders demand ever-increasing transparency and accountability from teachers, but pay lip service to transparency and accountability when it comes to awarding lucrative contracts to their friends and political allies,” she said.
The Daily News reported today that Wireless Generation, a company purchased for $360 million by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. in November 2010, was in line to receive the no-bid contract. Wireless Generation has developed software to track student test scores and is one of Murdoch’s first forays into for-profit education technology. In a speech in Paris last Month, Murdoch said Wireless Generation could be a gateway to a $500 billion education technology market, according to The Wall Street Journal.
NYSUT, the state’s largest union, represents more than 600,000 teachers, school-related professionals, academic and professional faculty in higher education, professionals in education and health care and retirees. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/business/media/joel-klein-ex-schools-chief-leads-internal-news-corp-inquiry.html?pagewanted=all
Excerpt:
Ex-Schools Chief Emerges as Unlikely Murdoch Ally
By JEREMY W. PETERS, MICHAEL BARBARO and JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ
Published: July 23, 2011
Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters
Joel I. Klein, foreground, leaving Parliament last week with Rupert Murdoch and his wife, Wendi Deng Murdoch.
Parliamentary Broadcasting Unit Ltd.
James Murdoch testified before a Parliamentary panel last week in London. Joel I. Klein, seated behind him, has become one of Rupert Murdoch's closest and most visible advisers throughout the News Corporation's crisis related to the phone hacking scandal.
Joel I. Klein, the former New York City schools chancellor, was in a tricky position. Three weeks ago, Rupert Murdoch asked Mr. Klein, now his trusted deputy, to oversee an investigation into the phone hacking scandal that has deeply wounded the News Corporation and its chairman, something Mr. Klein was eager to avoid.
Excerpt:
Joel Klein "is Chancellor of New York City Department of Education, which serves more than 1.1 million students in 1,430 schools. He has introduced a comprehensive reform program, Children First, which is raising student performance, providing more and better choices for students, and increasing autonomy and accountability for educators. Prior to his appointment as Chancellor in 2002, Klein was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bertelsmann, Inc., and Chief U.S. Liaison Officer to Bertelsmann AG. From 1997 to 2001, he was Assistant Attorney General in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division where he led landmark litigation against Microsoft, WorldCom/Sprint, Visa/Mastercard, and General Electric. Previously, he was a partner in the Washington DC law firm of Onek, Klein & Farr." [1]
- Director, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
- Director, America's Promise
- Board of Govenors, Partnership for Public Service
- Notable Participant, Renaissance Weekend
Excerpt:
In the United States, federal agencies may be authorized to engage in wiretaps by the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a court with secret proceedings, in certain circumstances.[3]
Under United States federal law and most state laws, there is nothing illegal about one of the parties to a telephone call recording the conversation, or giving permission for calls to be recorded or permitting their telephone line to be tapped. However the telephone recording laws in most U.S. states require only one party to be aware of the recording, while 12 states require both parties to be aware. It is considered better practice to announce at the beginning of a call that the conversation is being recorded.[4]
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