Cerberus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerberus_Capital_Management
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History
Founded in 1992, Cerberus is named for the mythological three-headed dog that guarded the gates of Hades. Feinberg has stated to his employees that while the Cerberus name seemed like a good idea at the time, he later regretted naming the company after the mythological dog.^[1]
The company has been a very active acquirer of businesses over the past several years and now has sizable investments in automotive, sportswear, paper products, military services, real estate, energy, retail, glassmaking, transportation, and building products. In 2006, its holdings amounted to $24 billion.
On October 19, 2006, John W. Snow, President George W. Bush's second Treasury Secretary, was named chairman of Cerberus.
J. Ezra Merkin is a partner in Cerberus. Merkin invested his funds into Cerberus and its portfolio companies. His Gabriel fund invested $79 million in Chrysler, $66 million in GMAC and $67 million in Cerberus partnerships, according to year-end statements.^[2] The Gabriel Fund was a feeder fund for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC.^[3]
The Japanese bank, Aozora, a Cerberus company lost $137 million to Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. Aozora was part of the investment group that acquired 51 percent of GMAC from General Motors. ^[4]
On April 12, 2010 Cerberus acquired DynCorp International, a private military contractor.

[edit] Chrysler

In 2007, Cerberus and about 100 other investors purchased an 80% stake in Chrysler for $7.4 billion,^[5] promising to bolster the auto maker’s performance by operating as an independent company. In 2008, the plan collapsed due to an unprecedented slowdown in the U.S. auto industry and a lack of capital.^[6] In response to questioning at a hearing before the House committee on December 5, 2008 by Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, Chrysler President and CEO Robert Nardelli said that Cerberus' fiduciary obligations to its other investors and investments prohibited it from injecting capital.^[6]
On March 30, 2009, it was announced that Cerberus Capital Management would lose its equity stake and ownership in Chrysler as a condition of the Treasury Department’s bailout deal, but Cerberus would maintain a controlling stake in Chrysler’s financing arm, Chrysler Financial. Cerberus would utilize the first $2 billion in proceeds from its Chrysler Financial holding to backstop a $4 billion December 2008 Treasury Department loan given to Chrysler. In exchange for obtaining that loan, it promised many concessions including surrendering equity, foregoing profits, and giving up board seats:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participants_in_the_Madoff_investment_scandal#J._Ezra_Merkin
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On April 6, 2009, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed civil fraud charges ^[99] against J. Ezra Merkin alleging he "betrayed hundreds of investors" by moving $2.4 billion of clients' money to Bernard Madoff without their knowledge. The complaint states, he lied about putting the money with Madoff, failed to disclose conflicts of interest, and collected over $470 million in fees for his three hedge funds, Ascot Partners LP with Ascot Fund Ltd., Gabriel Capital Corp. and Ariel Fund Ltd. He promised he would actively manage the money, but instead, he misguided investors about his Madoff investments in quarterly reports, in investor presentations, and in conversations with investors. "Merkin held himself out to investors as an investing guru...In reality, Merkin was but a master marketer."

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Snow
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John William Snow, a "loyal lieutenant on the White House economic team, has signaled he is ready to resign" his position of Secretary of the Treasury once President George W. Bush "picks a successor," according to Bush administration officials "and people close to Snow." [1]
Speaking on condition of anonymity, these people said that "Snow has made clear to the White House that he eventually intends to return to the private sector." Snow has not discussed his plans publicly and "Bush said he had heard nothing about it." [2]
He is the US governor for the African Development Bank.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Home_Depot
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1) In 2007 the Home Depot sold its USD $13 billion revenue wholesale (trade) division, HD Supply, to a consortium of three private equity firms, The Carlyle Group, Bain Capital and Clayton, Dubilier and Rice (with each agreeing to buy a one-third stake in the division). Home Depot sold their wholesale construction supply business to fund a stock repurchase estimated at $40 billion

2) On January 2, 2007, the Home Depot and Robert Nardelli mutually agreed on Nardelli's resignation as CEO after a six-year tenure. Nardelli resigned amid complaints over his heavy-handed management and whether his pay package of $123.7 million, excluding stock option grants, over the past 5 years was excessive considering the stock's poor performance versus its competitor Lowe's. His severance package of $210 million has been criticized because when the stock went down his pay went up.^[11][15] His successor is Frank Blake, who previously served as the company's vice chairman of the board and executive vice president. Blake agreed to a much more conservative compensation package than his predecessor that is very heavily dependent upon the success of the company.

3) Major sponsorships
Since 1991, the company has become a large supporter of athletics, sponsoring the United States and Canadian Olympic teams, and launching a program which offered employment to athletes that accommodates their training and competition schedules. While remaining supportive of Canadian Olympians, the Home Depot ceased to be a sponsor of the Canadian Olympic Team in 2005.
Company co-founder Blank also purchased the Atlanta Falcons franchise of the National Football League in February 2002. The Home Depot is also the primary sponsor of NASCAR Sprint Cup 2009 Rookie Of The Year Winner Joey Logano of Joe Gibbs Racing in a Toyota Camry. Before Joey, it was the sponsor of 3-time Cup Champion Tony Stewart since his rookie year; in 2009 Tony left Joe Gibbs Racing to own half of Stewart Haas Racing. The Home Depot is also the title sponsor of The Home Depot Center in Carson, California, home to both the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA of (Major League Soccer), and Los Angeles Riptide (Major League Lacrosse), and many past major sporting events.
In 2006, The Home Depot partnered with Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering to create "The Home Depot Smart Home." The smart home is a live-in laboratory for 10 upper-class engineering students that allows them to immerse themselves in the work. The goal of the project is to help provide innovative solutions for the home in areas such as security and home monitoring, communications, energy efficiency, entertainment, environment and health.^[31]
In January 2007, the Home Depot became the official Home Improvement sponsor of the National Football League.^[32]
Seventy-three percent of the Home Depot's campaign contributions went to Republican candidates in the 2005-2006 US elections. "Home Depot's PAC gives money based on a candidate's voting record, committee assignment and leadership position," said company spokesman Jerry Shields.^[33] The CEO in this period was Bob Nardelli, a friend of U.S. President George W. Bush.^[34] Nardelli hosted a garden reception/fundraiser for Bush at his Atlanta home on May 20, 2004.^[35]

http://www.bellnursery.com/president.htm
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President Bush talks with employees of The Home Depot and small business representitives
at the Landsdowne, MD Home Depot on December 5, 2003.  Pictured L-R are Gary Mangum, Alison Anderson,
President Bush, Bob Nardelli (CEO of Home Depot), and Jessica Adamson of the Landsdowne store.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Ridge
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Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge (born August 26, 1945) is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives (1983–1995), the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania (1995–2001), Assistant to the President for Homeland Security (2001–2003), and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security (2003–2005). Since re-entering the private sector, Ridge has served on the boards of The Home Depot, The Hershey Company and Exelon Corporation and as a senior advisor to Deloitte & Touche, and TechRadium. Ridge is also the founder and CEO of Ridge Global, LLC, a Washington, D.C. based security consulting firm. Ridge spent time campaigning with Senator John McCain during his 2008 bid for the presidency and was believed by some to have been in the short list of potential running mates.

^{http://www.qorvis.com/events/qorvis-co-sponsors-national-press-club-event
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Qorvis co-sponsors a National Press Club event

On December 2nd David M. Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group, Governor Tom Ridge, former head of the DHS, Joseph E. Robert, founder, chairman, and CEO of the J.E. Robert Companies (JER), and Stephen Fuller, a Dwight Schar Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University, along with a panel of some of the best and most experienced observers of Washington business and politics, discussed what the impact of the new economic and political environment will be on the Washington, DC area. The morning event was hosted by Bisnow and co-sponsored by Deloitte, Patton-Boggs and Qorvis.

http://www.prwatch.org/node/7808
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FDA Tries to Pay Qorvis $300K Under the Table

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on October 2, 2008 - 2:07pm

After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was "pummeled by Congress for poor inspections of tainted vegetables, drugs and other products," the agency wanted public relations help. First, it hired Mildred Cooper as "a temporary FDA consultant ... on a two-year contract to advise FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach and other officials." Cooper, who previously did public affairs work for the Defense Department and Federal Emergency Management Agency, then contacted a friend at the PR firm Qorvis Communications. The friend directed her to Qorvis crisis communications director Don Goldberg. Goldberg worked with Cooper to steer an additional FDA contract to Qorvis. But, as Goldberg explained, "It was not appropriate [for the FDA] to hire Qorvis directly." Instead, the PR proposal came from Alaska Newspapers Inc. (ANI), "a firm owned by an Alaska Native corporation that does not have to compete for federal work." Emails between the FDA's Cooper and Qorvis' Goldberg show that ANI agreed beforehand to give the $300,000 no-bid contract to Qorvis. Qorvis also works for the drug industry group PhRMA. The FDA contract, which was supposed to "create and foster a lasting positive image of the agency for the American public," has since been suspended. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce may investigate the contract, according to chair John Dingell.



http://www.odwyerpr.com/blog/index.php?/archives/2009/03.html
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http://www.theoi.com/Ther/KuonKerberos.html
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Bacchylides, Fragment 5 (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric IV) (Greek lyric C5th B.C.) :
"Once, they say, the gate-wrecking, unconquerable son [Herakles] of thunder-flashing Zeus went down to the house of slender-ankled Persephone to fetch up to the light from Hades the jagged-toothed dog [Kerberos, Cerberus], son of unapproachable Ekhidna. There he perceived the spirits of wretched mortals by the waters of Kokytos, like the leaves buffeted by the wind over the bright sheep-grazed headlands of Ida."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TPG_Capital
Excerpt:
The firm was founded in 1992 by David Bonderman, James Coulter and William S. Price III. Since inception, the firm has raised more than $50 billion of investor commitments across more than 18 private equity funds.^[1]
TPG is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas and San Francisco, California,^[2]. The company has additional offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=David_Bonderman
Excerpt:
David Bonderman "has been a non-executive director of Gemalto since June 2, 2006. Prior to that, Mr. Bonderman was Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gemplus. Mr Bonderman is a founder of TPG Capital, LP and serves as a partner in the firm. Prior to forming TPG in 1993, Mr Bonderman was Chief Operating Officer of the Robert M. Bass Group, Inc. (now doing business as Keystone, Inc.) in Forth Worth, Texas. Prior to joining RMBG in 1983, Mr. Bonderman was a partner in the law firm of Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in corporate, securities, bankruptcy and antitrust litigation. From 1969 to 1970, Mr. Bonderman was a Fellow in Foreign and Comparative Law in conjunction with Harvard University and from 1698 to 1969, he was Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division. From 1967 to 1968, Mr. Bonderman was Assistant Professor at Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans. Mr. Bonderman serves on the Boards of the following public companies: Burger King Holdings, Inc, CoStar Group, Inc., Ryanair Holdings, plc and Washington Mutual, Inc. He also serves on the Boards of The Wilderness Society, the Grand Canyon Trust, the World Wildlife Fund, and the American Himalayan Foundation. Mr. Bonderman graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard Law School in 1966. He was a member of the Harvard Law Review and a Sheldon Fellow. He is a 1963 graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle."

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=World_Wildlife_Fund
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Founder - Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilderberg_Group
Excerpt:
Retinger approached Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands who agreed to promote the idea, together with former Belgian Prime Minister Paul Van Zeeland, and the head of Unilever at that time, Dutchman Paul Rijkens. Bernhard in turn contacted Walter Bedell Smith, then head of the CIA, who asked Eisenhower adviser Charles Douglas Jackson to deal with the suggestion.^[3] The guest list was to be drawn up by inviting two attendees from each nation, one of each to represent conservative and liberal points of view.^[2] Fifty delegates from 11 countries in Western Europe attended the first conference, along with 11 Americans

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=C.D._Jackson
Excerpt:
According to the Eisenhower Library files in Abilene, Kansas, C.D. Jackson's "area responsibility was loosely defined as international affairs, cold war planning, and psychological warfare. His main function was the coordination of activities aimed at interpreting world situations to the best advantage of the United States and her allies and exploiting incidents which reflected negatively on the Soviet Union, Communist China and other enemies in the Cold War."



http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/bdodge/scaffold/gg/creature.html
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When Perseus cut her head off Pegasus and Chrysaor, her children by Poseidon, sprang forth. Drops of her blood fell into the Libyan desert and turned into snakes. Later one of these snakes killed Mopsus. After Perseus left with her head Athena took charge of what was left of her body. She flayed off Medusa skin and made it into her trademark Aegis. She two drops of the blood to King Erichthonius explaining that one would cure disease and the other was a deadly poison. She gave a lock of the hair Heracles hidden in an urn.

Ash Tree Nymphs

The Ash Tree Nymphs were generated from Uranus blood resulting from his castration by Cronus .

Typhoeus

Typhoeus, was a fire breathing dragon with a hundred heads that never rest. It was birthed by Gaea as a last ditch effort to keep the Olympians from defeating her children the Titans. It came close to succeeding, setting most of the gods to flight and capturing Zeus. Hermes was able to free Zeus. Zeus was then able to dispatch Typhoeus with his lighting bolts. Typhoeus is buried under Mount Etna in Sicily.

Cerberus

Cerberus is one of the offspring of Typhoeus and Echidna. It is a three headed dog with a snake tail and snake heads proturding from his back. He guards the entrance to the underworld, allowing the dead to enter but, never to leave. One of the few living mortals to get past Cerberus was Orpheus who charmed it to sleep with his song during his attempt to rescue Eurydice from death. Fetching Cerberus from the underworld and displaying him to King Eurystheus was the last labor of Heracles .