Michael Douglas supports son in court appeal

Gabriel Bouys / AFP/Getty Images

Cameron Douglas and Michael Douglas in 2009.

By Natalie Finn, E! Online

Michael Douglas simply played the role of Dad Wednesday in a Manhattan courtroom.?The Oscar winner turned up in support of son Cameron Douglas, who is currently appealing the 54 extra months of prison time that was slapped onto his initial five-year sentence for narcotics distribution after he was caught with heroin behind bars.?

Douglas wouldn't say much to reporters outside the courthouse, only noting that his son's case was "on appeal" and "clearly" he's hoping for the best, according to the New York Daily News.?

Michael Douglas opens up about his son's drug problem and prison sentence

Cameron's attempt to shorten the second leg of his sentence followed a report that he was nursing injuries after being attacked in prison. Officials said that any information pertaining to an alleged attack could only be released with the prisoner's permission.

"I'm not suggesting Cameron Douglas shouldn't be punished for this," defense attorney Paul Shechtman told the Second Circuit Court of Appeals today. In court documents he called his client's 54-month sentence "shockingly long " and "maybe the harshest sentence ever imposed on a federal prisoner for a drug possession offense."

The case is currently under review.

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Cameron, who was facing a minimum of 10 years, was sentenced to a relatively lenient five years in prison in January 2010 after copping to narcotics distribution and turning state's evidence.

Not long after he testified against an accused drug supplier in October 2011, prison staff caught him with the opioid dependence medication Suboxone, as well as a small amount of heroin. He pleaded guilty to having drugs in prison in a deal that entailed another 12 to 18 months behind bars.

Before he was sentenced, however, prosecutors learned via another defendant in a drug case that Cameron had lied about how he got his hands on the contraband and Judge Richard Berman threw the book at him, saying he had never seen a defendant act so "recklessly and wantonly and flagrantly and criminally."

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"While we recognize that many of the words that the district court used to describe Cameron's conduct -- 'reckless,' 'manipulative,' 'destructive' -- were apt, the simple truth is that Cameron Douglas is a heroin addict who has yet to shake his habit," Shechtman stated in his brief.

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Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2012/12/20/16040063-michael-douglas-appears-in-court-to-support-son-camerons-prison-sentence-appeal?lite

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RedBankGreen ? RETAIL CHURN: FUR, BOOZE & YOGURT

Steven Corn Furs plans to nestle in at 21 Broad Street, former showroom for Agostino Antiques. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

In:? a century-old fur retailer and a liquor store.

Out: the oldest of Red Bank?s three frozen yogurt shops.

It?s the never-ending Churn?

Royal Wines and Spirits is taking over the space at 24 White Street that was long the home of Space Interiors. (Click to enlarge)

? A sign in the window of the former Agostino Antiques, which was in wind-down mode at 21 Broad Street for many months, indicates the next tenant will be Steven Corn Furs.

Owner Steven Corn did not return a call from redbankgreen seeking comment. The company?s website says the business was launched by Corn?s grandfather in New York City in 1898 and now has stores in midtown Manhattan and Paramus.

Corn would be the town?s second furrier, joining Winters Furs on Monmouth Street.

? Also not returning calls: Bharat Patel, who?s listed in town records as the contact for Royal Wines and Spirits. According to signs in the papered-over windows at 24 White Street, Royal is coming soon to the 2,000-square-foot spot, at the corner of English Plaza. It follows Space Interiors, which decamped to Deal earlier this year.

The Bharat Patel who owns On the Rocks Wine & Liquor on Shrewsbury Avenue says he knows nothing about the White Street business.

Downtown Red Bank already has three liquor stores: Heritage Liquors, at Broad and East Front streets; the Wine Cellar, on Monmouth; and Red Bank Liquors, on West Street.

? As reported on redbankgreen?s Facebook page, Danny Natale held an auction Monday for all the equipment in his Frozs?rt frozen yogurt shop at 6 Monmouth Street.

The business, which opened in 2010, has kept spotty hours in recent months as it struggled to compete with two new, nearby competitors: Kravings, on Broad Street, and Yo Mon, in the City Centre shopping center on Water Street.

Natale could not be reached for comment.

Source: http://www.redbankgreen.com/2012/12/retail-churn-fur-booze-yogurt.html

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Nielsen's top programs for Dec. 10-16

NEW YORK (AP) ? Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Dec. 10-16. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.

1. NFL Football: San Francisco at New England, NBC, 23.23 million.

2. "60 Minutes," CBS, 19.63 million.

3. "NCIS," CBS, 17.65 million.

4. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 16.74 million.

5. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 15.12 million.

6. "Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick," NBC, 14.62 million.

7. "Person of Interest," CBS, 14.08 million.

8. "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 13.34 million.

9. "The Voice" (Monday), NBC, 12.33 million.

10. "Criminal Minds," CBS, 12.01 million.

11. "The Voice" (Tuesday), NBC, 11.52 million.

12. "Survivor: Philippines" (Sunday), CBS, 11.46 million.

13. "2 Broke Girls," CBS, 11.04 million.

14. "Modern Family," ABC, 10.94 million.

15. "2 Broke Girls" (Monday, 9:30 p.m.), CBS, 10.78 million.

16. "Football Night in America," NBC, 10.47 million.

17. "Elementary," CBS, 10.46 million.

18. "Survivor: Philippines," CBS, 10.37 million.

19. "Vegas," CBS, 10.33 million.

20. "Hawaii Five-0," CBS, 9.84 million.

___

ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.; CBS is a division of CBS Corp.; Fox is a unit of News Corp.; NBC is owned by NBC Universal.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nielsens-top-programs-dec-10-16-204800822.html

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Wal-Mart seen facing sizable fines in U.S. bribery probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores may be facing sizable fines related to allegations of widespread bribery at its Mexican affiliate, after a second report from the New York Times provided more details about the scope of the alleged misconduct.

Experts said the latest report, published online late on Monday, is significant because it appears to show that the alleged bribes were a substantial part of its business methods, and more than routine payments to speed up approvals, which are allowed under U.S. law.

The newspaper said the world's largest retailer opened some 19 stores by using hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to get what local laws otherwise prohibited.

On Monday, Wal-Mart said the allegations in the Times report have been part of the investigation of potential FCPA violations the company began conducting more than a year ago. Wal-Mart declined to provide additional comment on Tuesday.

In April the newspaper reported that Wal-Mart had stifled an internal probe of bribery at its Mexican affiliate Walmex , but gave the impression that many of the bribes paid may have been used to facilitate approval processes already in motion.

"I think the Times story, if it is true, changes the perception of the Wal-Mart matter from being about facilitating payments to something larger than that," said Danforth Newcomb, an expert on the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act who defends such cases at the law firm Shearman & Sterling.

The latest story describes, for example, $765,000 in bribes that helped Walmex build a refrigerated distribution center in an environmentally fragile area where electricity was scarce and smaller developers were turned away. It also describes in detail how Walmex allegedly paid $52,000 to change a zoning map so it could open a store near the ancient pyramids in Teotihuacan.

It is difficult to put a ballpark figure on any settlement, especially because the U.S. investigation of Wal-Mart is in early stages, but experts said it could rival other major FCPA cases.

In the largest FCPA case to date, Siemens paid $800 million to resolve allegations of widespread bribery in 2008. In other sizable cases, KBR and its former parent Halliburton paid $579 million in 2009, and BAE Systems paid $400 million in 2010.

The company is cooperating with the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on the matter.

Representatives of the SEC and DOJ declined to comment.

Shares of Wal-Mart rose 30 cents to close at $69.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.

POTENTIAL FINES

The Justice Department usually calculates fines in foreign bribery cases either by levying a per-violation fine or a penalty tied to the profits a company earned through the alleged bribery. Related SEC settlements usually also involve disgorging profits earned due to the bribery.

Including Walmex's profits at stores throughout Mexico could prove a sizable fine. It is unclear how many of the roughly 2,000 locations in Mexico could be included.

In 2011, Walmex posted gross profit of nearly 83.7 billion pesos ($6.58 billion).

In 2004, the year in which it allegedly pushed for zoning to open the store near the ancient pyramids, Walmex's gross profit was 28.84 billion pesos ($2.27 billion). The 2011 results include Central America.

When calculating potential fines, prosecutors take into account how widespread the conduct was and whether senior management knew about it or was involved in any way. Wal-Mart has said it is investigating allegations related to its operations in Brazil, India, and China.

"Wal-Mart de Mexico didn't stumble into a bit of bribery. If the allegations are correct, it used systematic bribery as part of its business strategy as a way to grow," said Richard Cassin, an FCPA expert and author of a popular FCPA blog.

The company's costs to conduct the entire investigation - which already stand at $100 million - could be larger than its eventual fines, lawyers said.

Wal-Mart has also been proactive with other measures that could blunt some demands from authorities. When settling FCPA cases, companies are usually required to make some management changes and overhaul their compliance programs.

In October the company said it reorganized its compliance department and created a new global chief compliance officer position as part of an overhaul of its anti-corruption efforts.

The company has spent some $35 million to update its anti-corruption program and has named a new chief compliance officer for Wal-Mart International and a new vice president of global investigations, which are both new positions for the company. It also named a new chief compliance officer for Walmex, and created a new global FCPA compliance officer position.

($1 = 12.7213 Mexican pesos)

(Reporting by Aruna Viswanatha in Washington, Additional reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago; Editing by Karey Wutkowski, Tim Dobbyn and Dan Grebler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wal-mart-seen-facing-sizeable-fines-u-bribery-205641928--finance.html

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Emily Harris emphasizes total wellness, announces new campus rec ...

Posted on 17 December 2012.

Emily Harris emphasizes total wellness, announces new ...

For Emily Harris, director of campus recreation, physical activity and good nutrition aren?t just her job. They?re a vital part of her lifestyle.

Harris, who has Type 1 diabetes, thyroiditis and a chronic kidney disease, said her health struggles contribute to her passion for helping college students achieve wellness.

?My own personal battles with my own health makes me passionate for teaching people how to be healthy,? she said. ?With the chronic diseases that I have ? which most people don?t even know that I have ? I understand how hard it is to balance your health. Some people it?s a choice; some people it?s not. And if you have the choice to prevent it, by all means, prevent that from happening.?

Harris is a 2007 Lipscomb graduate, who competed four years on the university tennis team, before accepting a job opening here in fall 2008.

When Harris began working at Lipscomb, there was only an intramurals program. Harris said during her interview for the position, she presented a comprehensive approach to campus recreation.

?I basically presented a whole model for Lipscomb that would be a comprehensive program that would meet more students? needs than just sport,? she explained. ?There would be this whole component of being active in body, mind and spirit. We still encompass that whole approach of spiritual, physical, mental, emotional training.?

In addition to her campus recreation duties, Harris runs the Lipscomb University Racquet Club with her husband Andrew, who coaches the university men?s and women?s tennis teams.Harris said the two first met while both were competing on Lipscomb?s tennis team during the undergraduate education here.

Harris said her constant goal with campus recreation is to provide an abundance of opportunities for students to be physically active.

?My biggest goal at Lipscomb is having as many opportunities for people to try as many types of things as they want to try to figure out what they like,? she said. ?We?re always developing new programming that might only impact 10 people on this campus, but again, it?s something where they can form relationships and enjoy something.?

This fall, campus recreation started ?a personal training crash course,? which allowed eight students each month to work with a personal trainer for free for one month.

?Our goal there is for them to be exposed, to see what personal training is like so later on down the road, say they?re 30 and they want to hire a personal trainer, they have eliminated this hokeyness of ?oh a personal trainer, I can?t hire them, it?s too hard,?? Harris explained.

Harris said the personal training crash course was ?partner established? so that two students were able to do the training sessions together.

Campus recreation also purchased an inflatable four-sided rock climbing wall, which stands 30 feet high and has real harnesses and karabiners, according to Harris. She said since they can?t afford to install a real rock wall, this is just one way to try to accomplish what students want.

?Our goal is, if students really want something, we want to provide that,? she said.

Before starting at Lipscomb, Harris worked as a corporate wellness trainer at D1 Sports Training. Harris said working with people ages 25 to 60 taught her that it?s often too late for preventive health efforts.

?It was almost too late at that point,? she said of people in that demographic. ?People already had hypertension, they already had Type 2 diabetes, they were already battling chronic obesity.?

During her undergraduate work, Harris spent time with elementary, middle and high school students. She said students at that age are too young to truly ?absorb that information, to actually implement it in their life.?

Harris said college students seem to be at the right age for understanding the need for physical activity and good nutrition and are capable of taking action to prevent health complications later in life. Harris said she tries to ?educate and equip? students to prevent chronic diseases and to find balance in life.

?I want people to enjoy life, and you can enjoy life when you?re healthy,? she said.

According to Harris, American culture doesn?t demonstrate how to maintain a balanced lifestyle.

?There?s nothing feeding our culture, specifically media, on how to be healthy, how to eat for optimum health, how to be physically active,? she said. ?The only things we see, as far as being physically active, is the extreme end on TV. You?ve got Biggest Loser and then all you add to that is your Olympic athletes being idolized on TV. So, there?s no balance on, how do you live in moderation?physical activity or nutrition. It?s either McDonald?s or you?re an extreme athlete; there?s no in between.?

Harris said one major lesson she?s learned is that everyone?s experiences have a unique influence on who they are.

?Every individual person has such a unique journey that really shaves the lens on how they perceive the world,? she said. ?For me, in my profession, to truly help someone, I have to understand everything in their childhood up to where they are now and then where they want to be on top of that.?

Harris said her staff often asks, ?What?s really going on here?? when working with students to determine what?s preventing them from achieving personal goals.

?We really have to understand where someone has come from to help them get to where they want to be,? she said. ?It might be that something is holding them back from their past that they don?t even realize is holding them back from reaching a specific goal.?

Harris encourages students to find appropriate balance because she believes it influences their ability to be successful in life.

?Really spend time finding balance in your life,? she said. ?Use the model that if you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, then everything will be added to you. And ?everything? that I believe will be added to you would be physical health, emotional health, mental and spiritual. When those things are balanced, then you can be successful in your career, you can be successful as a boyfriend and girlfriend or husband and wife. God will put you in the right place for your life. When you have that balance in your life, anything is possible.?

Source: http://www.luminationnetwork.com/2012/12/17/emily-harris-emphasizes-total-wellness-announces-new-campus-rec-opportunities/

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Source: http://richards79.typepad.com/blog/2012/12/emily-harris-emphasizes-total-wellness-announces-new-campus-rec.html

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