Smooth Blog

_________       ___.   .__       _________       ________
\_   ___ \_____ \_ |__ |__| ____ \_   ___ \______\_____  \_  _  __
/    \  \/\__  \ | __ \|  |/    \/    \  \/\_  __ \_(__  < \/ \/ /
\     \____/ __ \| \_\ \  |   |  \     \____|  | \/       \     /
\______  (____  /___  /__|___|  /\______  /|__| /______  /\/\_/
\/     \/    \/        \/        \/             \/
—————————————————————-
Twitter: @CabinCr3w
—————————————————————-

—————–Target

Lloyd Craig Blankfein
57 years old (born September 20, 1954 in the Bronx)
Chairman & CEO at
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (2006-)

—————–Schools

Harvard Law School

—————–Recent Addresses

941 Park Ave, Unit 4, New York, NY, US
15 Central Park W, Unit 16a, New York, NY, US
Uknown – Bronx, NY, US

—————–Known Family

WE WANT LLOYD!!!

—————–Legal Troubles

Court:    New York Civil Supreme
Index Number:    650740/2009
Case Name:    SECURITY POLICE & FIRE vs. BLANKFEIN, LLOYD C.
Case Type:    E-Filed Corporate
Track:    Complex
RJI Filed:    01/08/2010
Date NOI Due:
NOI Filed:
Disposition Date:
Calendar Number:
Jury Status:
Justice Name:    FRIED, BERNARD J.

Attorney/Firm For Plaintiff:
GRANT & EISENHOFER, P.A.      Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record      Atty. Status: Active
485 LEXINGTON AVENUE – 29TH FL
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10017
1-646 772-8500

Attorney/Firm For Defendant:
SULLIVAN & CROMWELL LLP.        Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record        Atty. Status: Active
125 BROAD STREET ,5olddoldr6
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10004
1-212 558-1684
——————–

Court:    New York Civil Supreme
Index Number:    600036/2010
Case Name:    CENTRAL LABORERS’ PENSION vs. BLANKFEIN, LLOYD C.
Case Type:    E-Filed Corporate
Track:    Standard
RJI Filed:    01/12/2010
Date NOI Due:
NOI Filed:
Disposition Date:    09/21/2011
Calendar Number:
Jury Status:
Justice Name:    FRIED, BERNARD J.

Attorney/Firm For Plaintiff:
GRANT & EISENHOFER, P.A.      Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record      Atty. Status: Active
485 LEXINGTON AVENUE – 29TH FL
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10017
1-646 772-8500

Attorney/Firm For Defendant:
SULLIVAN & CROMWELL LLP.        Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record        Atty. Status: Active
125 BROAD STREET ,5olddoldr6
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10004
1-212 558-1684
———————–

Court:    New York Civil Supreme
Index Number:    650003/2010
Case Name:    BROWN, KEN, vs. BLANKFEIN,LLOYD C.
Case Type:    E-Filed Other Commercial
Track:    Complex
RJI Filed:    01/25/2010
Date NOI Due:
NOI Filed:
Disposition Date:
Calendar Number:
Jury Status:
Justice Name:    FRIED, BERNARD J.

Attorney/Firm For Plaintiff:
LASKY & RIFKIND, LTD      Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record      Atty. Status: Active
140 BROADWAY, 23RD FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10005
212-907-0800

Attorney/Firm For Defendant:
SULLIVAN & CROMWELL LLP.        Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record        Atty. Status: Active
125 BROAD STREET ,5olddoldr6
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10004
1-212 558-1684
————————-

Court:    New York Civil Supreme
Index Number:    650318/2010
Case Name:    GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP vs. BLANKFEIN, LLOYD C.
Case Type:    E-Filed Other Commercial
Track:    Complex
RJI Filed:    04/30/2010
Date NOI Due:
NOI Filed:
Disposition Date:
Calendar Number:
Jury Status:
Justice Name:    LOWE, RICHARD B. III

Attorney/Firm For Plaintiff:
FARUQI & FARUQI LLP.      Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record      Atty. Status: Active
369 LEXINGTON AVENUE, 10TH FL.
NEW YORK, N.Y. 10017
212-983-9330

GARDY & NOTIS, LLP      Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record      Atty. Status: Active
100 PARK AVE, 20TH FLR
NEW YPRK, NYIFF, NJ 10017
212-696-1212

Attorney/Firm For Defendant:
SULLIVAN & CROMWELL LLP.        Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record        Atty. Status: Active
125 BROAD STREET ,5olddoldr6
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10004
1-212 558-1684
———————–

Court:    New York Civil Supreme
Index Number:    650319/2010
Case Name:    SPIEGEL, MORTON vs. BLANKFEIN, LLOYD C.
Case Type:    E-Filed Other Commercial
Track:    Complex
RJI Filed:    04/30/2010
Date NOI Due:
NOI Filed:
Disposition Date:    08/04/2010
Calendar Number:
Jury Status:
Justice Name:    LOWE, RICHARD B. III

Attorney/Firm For Plaintiff:
FARUQI & FARUQI LLP.      Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record      Atty. Status: Active
369 LEXINGTON AVENUE, 10TH FL.
NEW YORK, N.Y. 10017
212-983-9330

—————–Business Entity Filing History PA

Business Name History
Name    Name Type
LLOYD C. BLANKFEIN INC.    Current Name

Business Corporation – Foreign – Information

Entity Number:    2875947

Status:    Active

Entity Creation Date:    5/6/1999 9:19:53 AM

State of Business.:    DE

Registered Office Address:    % CT CORPORATION SYSTEM
PA 0 -0
Philadelphia

Mailing Address:    No Address
Officers

Name:    LLOYD C BLANKFEIN

Title:    President

Address:    CO GOLDMAN SACHS CO P0 BOX 73
NEW YORK NY 10274

—————–Corp Registrant GA

Business Name History
Name    Name Type
THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, INC.    Current Name

Profit Corporation – Foreign – Information

Control No.:    K917803

Status:    Active/Compliance

Entity Creation Date:    4/29/1999

Jurisdiction:    DE

Principal Office Address:    200 West Street
NEW YORK NY 10282

Last Annual Registration Filed Date:    3/30/2011

Last Annual Registration Filed:    2011
Registered Agent

Agent Name:    CT CORPORATION SYSTEM/SHAKINAH EDWARDS

Office Address:    1201 PEACHTREE ST.
ATLANTA GA 30361

Agent County:    FULTON

Officers
Title:    CEO
Name:    LLOYD BLANKFEIN
Address:    200 West Street
NEW YORK NY 10282
Title:    CFO
Name:    DAVID A. VINIAR
Address:    200 West Street
NEW YORK NY 10282
Title:    Secretary
Name:    GREGORY K. PALM
Address:    200 West Street
NEW YORK NY 10282

—————————————-

I find it a bit funny how the FBI gets involved when a celebrities naked photos are leaked onto the internet.

Now that the photos have been leaked, probably the FBI team have seen them and wont investigate further.

“The FBI is investigating the person or groups responsible for a series of computer intrusions involving high-profile figures,” said Laura Eimiller of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office in Los Angeles.

The photos were obviously taken by herself to share them with one of the other fellow actors she has been dating.

If you are interested in looking at the photos then search in google for the following files:

• Scarlett-Johansson-Naked-Pictures-02-2011-09-14.jpg

• Scarlett-Johansson-Naked-Pictures-01-2011-09-14.jpg

Yep, thats it, only two files.

I will not be attaching the photos here though.

The FBI talks about computer hacking, but they probably have not thought that she probably has the photos synced to her mobile phone as well, these days phone hacking is on the rise – so this would be one of the first things I would check.

Some photos seem to be on tumblr – enjoy

  Volvo revealed its newest concept luxury car at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show and finally answers the question of how many touch screens you can cram into a car’s interior. Hint: It’s four.

Dubbed the Concept You, this prototypical luxury sedan is packed to the gills with technology. The control center consists of a digital Driver Information Center (aka a dashboard), a Heads-Up Display that projects onto the front windshield, two large touch screens—one on the center console, the other between the rear seats, and two smaller screens on the aluminum and glass shifter paddles mounted on the steering wheel.

The main screen, the one on the center console, activates just by looking at it. Granted it’s just a hidden infrared camera that registers the driver’s eye movement but that’s still pretty slick—though I’d find myself constantly trying to catch a glimpse of the screen before it turns on. And, rather than the unholy input puck of the BMW iDrive, the Concept You registers hand movements to turn on the system’s control mode. The front passenger can also use gesture activation but the menu options will differ from those offered to the driver.

“Certain functions, such as surfing the web, are only accessible from the passenger side while the car is rolling. The technology knows who is the present operator and adapts itself automatically,” said Peter Horbury, Vice President Design at Volvo Car Corporation.

Data can even be transferred from the main screen to the HUD or back to the rear depending on the direction the driver “flips” it.

The 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show runs from September 15 to September 25, 2011.

Source: Gizmodo

Here is what Carol Bartz thinks of the Yahoo (YHOO) board that fired her: “These people fucked me over,” she says, in her first interview since her dismissal from the CEO role late Tuesday.

Last evening, barely 24 hours after Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock called Bartz on her cell phone to tell her the news, she called from her Silicon Valley home (“There are reporters at the gate… a lot of them.”) to tell Fortune, exclusively, how the ax came down.

On Tuesday, Bartz was in New York, to speak at Citigroup’s (C) technology conference the next day, when she was supposed to call Bostock at 6 p.m. “I called him at 6:06,” she recalls. When he got on the line, she says, he started reading a lawyer’s prepared statement to dismiss her.

“I said, ‘Roy, I think that’s a script,’” adding, “‘Why don’t you have the balls to tell me yourself?’”

When Bostock finished reading, Bartz didn’t argue—”I got it. I got it,” she told the Yahoo chairman. “I thought you were classier,” she added.

Source: CNN

Blockbuster Canada’s remaining stores are set to close soon, and hundreds of retail jobs at the national movie rental chain are about to disappear, victims of the digital movie revolution.

The receiver in charge of selling Blockbuster Canada wants a court order to shut down the movie rental company’s 253 remaining retail locations, saying Wednesday it had been unable to find a buyer willing to invest in the business.

Each Blockbuster store employs an average of 10 people, meaning about 2,500 people could be out of work. An estimated 1,400 people lost their jobs during the first round of store closures earlier this summer.

About 150 Blockbuster Canada stores were closed in June, as it grappled with a shift to digital downloads, a tepid economy and new ownership of the U.S. Blockbuster chain which left the Canadian chain in debt.

“As a result of the significant changes in Blockbuster Canada Co.’s competitive landscape, the company’s ‘bricks and mortar’ business model has experienced significant challenges over the last few years, largely due to the proliferation of various alternatives available to media consumers in Canada,” the receiver said in a statement issued late Wednesday.

The receiver said Wednesday the closure process should begin in the next few days, and existing gift cards and rewards programs will no longer be accepted.

A court hearing to consider the full-out closure is scheduled for next Tuesday.

No liquidation plans outlined

There were long lines at stores set to be shuttered when the first round of liquidation sales began in June, with customers stripping the shelves bare in only a few hours as they bought stacks of $4 DVDs.

Wednesday’s statement from the receiver did not outline liquidation plans.

The receiver said it has tried to sell the company, but was unable to reach a deal with a buyer that was willing to make the necessary investments to keep the business going.

Blockbuster Canada was placed into receivership by an Ontario court in May in the face of US$70 million in claims from various movie distributors, including Hollywood studios that provide its DVDs, and other suppliers.

The Canadian operations had acted as a guarantor for Blockbuster’s U.S. business, which went into bankruptcy protection in September and was later auctioned off for $320 million US to American satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp.. Dish did not buy Blockbuster Canada, which was left to pay the bills. Dish shares closed 6.5 per cent higher on the Nasdaq Wednesday at $24.86 US.

Earlier this month, a New York court delayed a hearing that would have decided whether Blockbuster Canada could legally use the brand name as it went through receivership.

Struggled to stay relevant

The new owner of Blockbuster USA had said it did not want the Canadian retailer to use the name, while Blockbuster Canada argued it had paid fees for that right. Blockbuster stores had operated in Canada for 21 years.

The receiver in charge of selling Blockbuster Canada had argued that stripping the chain of that right would “devastate” its business.

Blockbuster Canada had been struggling to stay relevant in a time of increasing digital movie downloads.

U.K.-based HMV, once a top music retailer, sold off its Canadian arm in June to Hilco, a company that agreed to invest up to $25 million to fund the evolution of the national music, video and game retailer as it adjusts to the new world of digital entertainment. HMV was drowning in debt and needed to sell off HMV Canada to pay its bills.

HMV Canada had recently been boosting its offerings to focus on a broader selection of music and film-related products, including T-shirts, headphones, video game controllers, mobile phones and other electronics, in an effort to curb declining revenues as disc sales weaken and more shoppers opt for downloads.

No, Google didn’t hire me nor did they extend an offer to me. That’s right ladies and gentleman – the big G turned me down. Why you ask? I’ve thought a lot about it and in all honesty I don’t know why. Unfortunately Google didn’t tell me why I didn’t receive the job but in in their defense withholding that type of information is a pretty standard HR practice amongst large corporations.

Maybe it was my personality? Maybe it was my GPA? Maybe I answered a question wrong? Maybe I presented an incorrect solution to a theoretical problem? Maybe I didn’t do enough to verbalize my thought process? Maybe I posted something on my blog they didn’t like?

From day one of my campaign I told you all I wasn’t entitled to a job at Google just because I dug into my savings and created a campaign for them. At the end of the day they judged me on the same criteria they judge every other candidate on and I didn’t meet those criteria – plain and simple. Regardless of the reasoning behind Google’s decision, I fully respect their choice and think no less of them. Google has great people and great products. Everyone at Google was nothing but kind to me – from the employees that e-mailed me with good luck wishes to the recruiters that made me sweat during my interviews.

It turns out that scattering cash into the wind would have been more efficient than the United States’ system for awarding reconstruction contracts during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. A two-year inquiry by a congressionally created panel finds that at least15 percent of the $206 billion-with-a-B spent on wartime contracts thus far has been lost to waste, fraud and abuse. That very conservative estimate is likely to grow — and it amounts to an indictment not just of wartime contracts, but the wars themselves.

The Commission on Wartime Contracting concludes that “vast amounts” of contract money in Iraq and Afghanistan provided “little or no benefit” to the war efforts. (.PDF) The commission confirmed $31 billion in contractor cash lost to corruption or dysfunction. But it warned that the true figure could be as high as $60 billion, or “$12 million every day for the past 10 years.”

And even that massive figure — almost 30 percent of all wartime contract dollars — isn’t the whole story. Iraq and Afghanistan remain riddled with corruption. That corruption endangers all the “apparently well-designed projects and programs” that the U.S. has launched in both countries. Untold “billions of dollars” are liable to “turn into waste” in the future “if the host governments cannot or will not commit the funds, staff, and expertise to operate and maintain them” — especially money spent on the Afghan military and on Iraqi health-care centers.

How did wartime contracting turn into a sludge of waste and fraud? It’s not just the Pentagon’s sole-source contracting jones, which Sharon Weinberger has shone a spotlight onto all week long here at Danger Room. (Although the Commission writes that the U.S. has “awarded task orders for excessive durations
without adequate competition.”) It’s also the sheer ignorance of U.S. war planners.

“U.S. officials lack an understanding of the need to reconcile short-term military and longer-term development goals and objectives,” the Commission finds, “realistically assess host-country conditions and capabilities, and work within the constraints of local economies’ absorptive capacity for influxes of cash.”

Afghanistan’s GDP is about $27 billion. Yet onto that barren economic landscape, the U.S. has dumped about $450 billion in war-related cash. Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies incisively observed last year that the huge cash infusion made corruption “an ‘existential necessity’ for those who could get the money.” Yet the U.S. never considers its own war spending to be a systemic driver of the corruption that squanders it.

Nor does prolonged time on the ground in either Iraq or Afghanistan rectify that ignorance. “Lack of knowledge of local contractor and subcontractor companies” is rampant, the Commission finds. Look no further than the warlords and insurgent pals that the U.S. has hired to guard its military bases, a trend that’s accelerating for special operations forces in Afghanistan. Not only can that ignorance undermine the very goals of the war, but it’s a “major contributor” to wasted money.

And on top of all of that is another systemic failure. The Commission finds that the Pentagon still lacks sufficient numbers of dedicated personnel to perform basic oversight of its mega-contracts. There isn’t an “acquisition personnel and structures needed to manage and oversee an unprecedentedly large contractor force that at times has outnumbered troops in the field.”

That helps explain how a company like Blackwater could set up a shell company called Paravant to win a contract training Afghan soldiers without anyone at the Pentagon noticing. Astonishingly, the supposed watchdogs at the Defense Contract Audit Agency has a backlog of unaudited incurred costs that will “exceed $1 trillion in 2016.”

Ten years of war haven’t changed the Pentagon’s acquisitions mindset. War contracts get less emphasis than big-ticket items like planes and ships. ”More than half of Defense’ contract spending is for services and not for hardware procurement,” the Commission finds. “Yet Defense’s culture and processes remain focused on weapons systems.”

One major oversight of the Commission’s own: it doesn’t focus on the CIA’s contract personnel. CIA cash receives extremely little public scrutiny, and it can go to things that undermine U.S. war goals, like, say, propping up Afghan warlords like Ahmed Wali Karzai.

The Commission provides numerous recommendations for what it calls “urgent” reform, from hiring tons more contract overseers to curbing the use of private security contractors. And one of the Commission’s sponsors, Sen. Jim Webb, a Virginia Democrat and Reagan-era Navy Secretary, promises that its report will be more than unhappy bedtime reading. “I would like to express my strong view that these recommendations will be listened to and, when appropriate, acted on by the United States Congress,” Webb told reporters on Wednesday.

But it’s been ten years of waste, fraud and abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan, and both wars are winding down. If there ever is any contractor reform, it may come too late for the wars the U.S. is actually waging. And the Commission finds that a major driver of all the wasted cash is basic ignorance — a problem that can’t be solved by implementing any well-intentioned set of reformist bullet points.

Source: Wired.com

On Wednesday, Scientists from Seoul National University in South Korea announced that they have created a glowing dog while utilising a cloning technique designed to find cures for diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Pictured is the team’s genetically modified female beagle, Tegon, which was born in 2009 and was found to glow in a fluorescent green colour while under ultraviolet light.After two years of testing, the research team has found that the glowing ability is triggered by a doxycycline antibiotic and can be turned on or off by adding or removing certain drugs to the dog’s food.

“The creation of Tegon opens new horizons since the gene injected to make the dog glow can be substituted with genes that trigger fatal human diseases,” explained lead researcher Lee Byeong-chun. He went on to state that humans and dogs have 268 common diseases, and that creating dogs with artificial symptoms could help in the treatment of these deadly diseases that affect humans.

Full story and pics at Toms Guide