Free Republic

Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee has opened a new satellite health center in Johnson City. Located at 409 E. Unaka Ave., the Planned Parenthood office is open to patients... ...That's all you need to know. Go straight to the first comment!

Scandalous $10 Million Bat Mitzvah David Brooks of DHB Industries Arrested for Embezzling Company Funds Oct. 27, 2007 — The headliners read like a who's who of music: Aerosmith, 50 Cent and Don Henley of the Eagles. No, it wasn't the Grammys, it was 13-year-old Elizabeth Brooks' birthday party -- a $10 million mega bat mitzvah. Aerosmith alone was paid a $1 million to perform -- flown in on her father's company jet. Her father is David Brooks, who was then the CEO of DHB Industries, the leading body armor provider to U.S. soliders in Iraq. And he had his...

Auto insurer's repair program crashes straight into criticism By Penni Crabtree STAFF WRITER May 20, 2007 The advertising for Progressive Insurance Co.'s Concierge program makes the prospect of a fender bender seem almost like a vacation. A man lies back in a hammock, arms folded behind his neck, eyes closed, with a broad smile. “Announcing the only claims service that lets you relax while the insurance company does all the work,” Progressive's brochure proclaims. Earnie Grafton / U-T Maria Vasquez Lopez says her car still had problems, such as a faulty back hatch, after she had it repaired through the...

One of the nation's most prominent hedge funds, Pequot Capital Management, is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for possible insider trading, according to government officials briefed on the case.

IN a world where executive perp walks have lost their novelty, where's the justice? Investors who have seen executives drive their companies off a cliff don't necessarily gain succor from such parades, or from the dry sentences and fines that may be doled out by a jury. They crave that deeper, more satisfying sense of justice that comes from seeing somebody get what they think he truly deserves. The difference between court justice and what I'd like to call "sublime justice" is not a difficult concept. But it's a bit nuanced, so here's an example. It seems that Kenneth L....

Once a month for many years, a group of travelers bribed their way into Colombia via a remote border crossing from Venezuela, met with their contacts and then bribed their way home, the better to leave no record of the trip in their passports. The illicit commodity they were trading was not cocaine, as might be expected, but cigarettes. So contends a lawsuit filed last week in a U.S. court by the European Union. According to the suit, the clandestine travelers were employees of companies affiliated with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Their goal, the EU says, was to receive cash...

Associated Press HP to Cut Additional 1,800 Jobs Citing Continued Weak Demand, Hewlett-Packard Co. Will Cut 1,800 Jobs Beyond the 15,000 Planned Wednesday September 25, 9:55 pm ET By MATTHEW FORDAHL, AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Citing continued weak demand, Hewlett-Packard Co. said Wednesday it will cut 1,800 jobs beyond the 15,000 reductions planned as part of its Compaq Computer Corp. acquisition. In a note sent to employees Tuesday, the company blamed the latest reductions on a "continued market slowdown and HP's clear intent to have a competitive, world-class cost structure." As of the third quarter, which...

Ex-Air China Official Executed August 28, 2002, 4:28 AM EDT BEIJING -- The former deputy chief of the finance department of Air China was executed this week on embezzlement charges, a court official said Wednesday. Yang Ning was convicted of stealing more than $3.1 million, said an official of China's Supreme People's Court. She would give only her surname, Wang. Yang was put to death Tuesday after the court rejected his appeal, Wang said. Between 1992 and 1995, Yang used phony tickets and other tricks to defraud the Chinese flag carrier of $2.9 million, according to state media. The reports...

At the 10 the to hour business segment on NPR, Morning Edition ran an interesting business news story about "apparent reluctance" to indict corporations that have been found cooking the books. For the most part individuals have been accused of financial misdeeds and with the exception of Arthur Anderson, no other company has seen the inside of a court room for their actions. The NPR story reveals that back in 1999, Asst. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder changed the indictment guidelines towards corporations to focus more on the actions of individuals instead of the corporation at large. Mr. Holder, who was...

Former Enron, WorldCom and Arthur Andersen Workers and Thousands of Working Men and Women Call on Business Leaders for Accountability NEW YORK, July 30 /PRNewswire/ -- "American consumers can shop with more assurance of quality and safety at their corner grocery store than American investors have when they shop for equities in our stock market," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in a sweeping address today as he called for business leaders and government to curb "crippling greed" with a five-point action plan. Outside the New York Stock Exchange and surrounded by more than a thousand workers, including laid-off Enron Corp.,...

NEW DELHI: In a fresh twist to the Xerox bribery scandal, accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers says Xerox ModiCorp made sizeable payments to fictitious companies in cash as well as through bank drafts of which a percentage was deducted and the rest paid back to the company. PwC, which conducted a detailed investigation into the Indian arm's functioning after the US parent was alerted about the possibility of XML's books of accounts not being in order, has submitted its report to the Department of Company Affairs. As per this report, fictitious companies - which may not have existed at all - were...

President's speech helped little . . . by Wayne Woodlief Thursday, July 11, 2002 With a press conference that put him on the defensive about his past and a passionless speech on the national scandal of corporate fraud, President Bush has whipped up a mini-Whitewater type of issue that threatens to derail his agenda and sap his strength. His heroics on terrorism are receding from the public consciousness, perhaps, ironically, because of the administration's quick success in scattering Osama bin Laden's forces and preventing new attacks on the homeland. Now, the president faces storm clouds at home: Analyses and headlines...

Larry Klayman, chairman and general council of Judicial Watch, holds a news conference on suit filed against Vice President Dick Cheney in Miami Wednesday, July 10, 2002. The group said it was suing Cheney and Halliburton Co., the oil services company he ran for five years, alleging fraudulent accounting practices at the company. (AP Photo/Hillery Smith Garrison) Larry Klayman, chairman and general counsel of Judicial Watch, holds a news conference in Miami to announce that Judicial Watch has filed a lawsuit against Vice President Dick Cheney Wednesday, July 10, 2002. The group said it was suing Cheney and Halliburton...