Filed under: PGA, US Open

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Northern Ireland’s scruffy-faced Graeme McDowell, the man who on Sunday won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach to become the tournament’s first European champion in 40 years, had everything needed to alter history. On his side were a hot putter (third in the field), a steady and dependable swing (12th in greens hit in regulation) and plenty of help (the only real final-day pressure applied came from the 391st ranked player in the world, Gregory Havret, a Frenchman.)

“I couldn’t believe it,” the winner said. “No one was going crazy.”

That depends. McDowell, no doubt, was expressing his surprise that not a single golfer with a marquee name and promising final-round position had managed to mount a charge because there were certainly more than a few who went home less than mentally stable.

The voices in their heads that Dustin Johnson, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson will be hearing long into the future are all saying pretty much the same thing: “One that got away.”

That’s because McDowell, the first Euro winner since Tony Jacklin took the title in 1970, won with a final-round 3-over 74, the highest last-day score by a U.S. Open winner in 25 years — Andy North in 1985.

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Graeme McDowell Has It All in Open Win : Sports Channel News

Essentially, last night, if you missed this episode of 24 (hours), they brought Renee back, who had last season quit the FBI, only to then go deep undercover with the Russians as an informant for the FBI.

Well, last night she came back with a vengeance, chopping off some guys hand to get rid of his tracking bracelet.

Renee is headstrong and independent, and has been shown to disobey orders or push the limits of the law when she believes such actions are necessary.

Throughout the season, she takes in what Jack Bauer does and gradually becomes more rogue and puts justice before the job.

Yeah, Renee is off her nut this season as she has become Jack Jr.

An awesome prospect, hey?

This show is starting off with a bang and no doubt will be very big this year.

You can catch some of the video here, or you can catch up with last season’s shows thanks to Amazon.

Seeing Rene in her season return will be enough motivation or inspiration required for most of the male fans of 24 to get the DVDs of last season!

24: Season Eight

*spoiler warning! Dont read if you dont want to know what happens*

24: Season 8

Renee Walker returns in episode 4 of the 8th season and is now a former FBI special agent after an incident with Alan Wilson in season 7 (it is implied that she tortured him to near death).

She is summoned to CTU because of her unique knowledge of the Russian Syndicate in New York after having worked as an undercover agent in their ranks six years prior.

Brian Hastings, the current director of CTU, requests that she resume her undercover identity to set up a competing buy for the nuclear fuel rods President Hassan’s brother is attempting to procure.

Unhappy with her decision to go back undercover, Jack attempts to convince her that she is too mentally fragile to handle the operation.

Despite her inability to return to a normal life, and recent suicide attempt, Renee decides that she will indeed agree to go back undercover.

After Jack fails to dissuade Brian Hastings from allowing Renee to go back undercover, he volunteers his field experience as her partner in the operation.

The initial stage of the operation involves locating the head of the Russian Syndicate in New York, a man named Vladamir.

Renee visits an old accomplice in the mob, who is presently on parole, to convince him to take her and Jack to Vladamir.

After a brief conversation with her contact, he declines to help her because of the monitoring device attached to his arm which is part of the conditions of his parole.

She convinces the contact that she is able to remove the device without alerting the authorities. She then proceeds to place her contact’s arm in a vise and without warning removes his thumb and the device with a nearby power saw.

Upon hearing the contact’s screams, Jack rushes into the contacts shop to see what Renee has done and says that she has gone too far.

24: Season Eight

Renee Walker 24

Whether Obama and Dems will succeed in passing reform on their own is anything but assured, to put it mildly. but there’s virtually no doubt anymore that they are going to try — starting as early as tomorrow.

That was the subtle but unmistakable message of Obama’s closing argument. after hours of hearing Republicans repeat again and again that only an incremental approach to reform is acceptable to them, Obama rejected that out of hand.

Here’s the key bit from Obama:

I’d like Republicans to do a little soul searching to find out if there are some things that you’d be willling to embrace that get to this core problem of 30 million people without health insurance, and dealing seriously with the pre-existing conditions issue. I don’t know frankly whether we can close that gap.

And if we can’t close that gap, then I suspect Mitch McConnell, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner are going to have a lot of arguments about procedures in Congress about moving forward.

Unless I’m misreading that, Obama is saying that unless Republicans support comprehensive reform as Obama and Dems have defined it — dealing with the problem of 30 million uninsured and, by extension, seriously tackling the preexisting condition problem — they will almost certainly move forward with reconciliation.

What’s more, Obama also essentially accused Republicans of approaching today’s summit in bad faith — after they had sat there with him for six hours. He said that even after the public option was taken off the table, Republicans continued to use the same “government takeover” slur.

“Even after the public option wasn’t available, we still hear the same rhetoric,” Obama said. “We have a concept of an exchange which previously has been an idea that was embraced by Republicans before I embraced it. somehow, suddenly it became less of a good idea.”

This accusation, combined with his assertion that Repubicans need to do some “soul-searching” on whether they wanted to join Dems in tackling reform as they have defined it, amount to an unmistakable vow to move foward without them.

Democratic aides are already interpreting Obama’s remarks along these lines. As one senior aide emailed: “We may make one last effort to try to get a Senate Republican.”

In terms of who “won” today’s debate, I tend to think Republicans actually accomplished much of what they needed to do today. it seems likely that some Congressional Dems will be just as skittish tomorrow as they were yesterday about moving forward alone via reconciliation. that means Dems still have an enormously difficult task ahead.

But Obama’s message to Dems and Republicans alike today was that barring some kind of major change on the GOP side, this is exactly what he and Dem leaders are about to attempt.

***********************************

Update: to clarify, this was a call to Dems, perhaps more than anyone else, that the time has come for them to stiffen their spines and move forward with reconciliation, which Republicans, and even some nonpartisan observers, have repeatedly characterized as akin to marching off a cliff.

Also: This summit was always about laying the groundwork for Dems to go forward alone, barring a major capitulation from Republicans. As noted here repeatedly, Dems will find themselves in exactly the same position tomorrow as they did yesterday: Confronting the enormously difficult task of passing ambitious reform on their own.

Update II: a GOP aide emails the Republican take: “They badly needed a win today and they didn’t get it. Not even close. Republicans were prepared. The President was pedantic and peeved.”

This blog’s homepage is here. RSS feed here. Twitter feed here. Email me here.

Obama to GOP: It's over | The Plum Line

Why? because Republicans aren’t following the playbook. The president wanted the summit to address bipartisan health care reform proposals. He wanted the summit to be about legislation not politics. this was a silly assumption. The GOP attendees have launched a full-scale assault on the Senate bill’s costs and mandates, and the way in which the bill was passed last Christmas Eve. they have public opinion on their side.

Obama is flummoxed. The president simply can’t defend the Cornhusker Kickback (which has since been removed), the Louisiana Purchase, and the Gator Aid that exempts Florida seniors from cuts to Medicare Advantage. So his voice rises, he attacks political gamesmanship, and he lectures. “The campaign is over,” he told John McCain, as though the 2008 election decided political debate for all time. McCain’s reply was classic. “I’m reminded of that every day, Mr. President,” he said.

The summit just broke for lunch. No doubt the president will use the break to consult with his advisers, regroup, and plan the counterattack. But at the moment, the GOP is holding its own. The summit’s a push. and in this political environment, score a push as a win for the opposition.

HCR Summit: Unhappy Obama

The cooking team for reunion night! YES, that includes ME!

I counted my fingers after that, all still intact!

Jing is the most non-serious chef ever! ;P

Mee goreng!!!

Our yam sweet potato cake!! (Had to self-improvise cos Wooly’s ran out of yam boo!!)

CNY at Sydneyyyyy! We were queuing for dim sum and the queue was 100 metres long FOL! T__T

VERY VERY GOOD DIM SUM! *rubs tummy* I had leftovers cos i ran off mid-queue to ‘explore’ the mall and ‘got lost’ WTF! ;P

Happy people!

Om-nom-nom-nommmm!

Orgasmic!! Owh, Max (Yes, we’re on first name basis WTF!) how i have missed youuuu! T_T

RAWRRR, Jing had a ‘chocolate shot’ after the fruits and cakes – I downed the entire cup of chocolateeeeee!! ))

CHINATOWNNNN! I am sooo Chinese! *proud wtf*

OMG i miss my mamak sooo muchhh! but i am still quite sour that the price i paid can allow me 20 roti canai(s) and teh tarik (s) RAWR! T_T

And ang pow all the way in Aussie! )))

I had a pretty shitty week but this is no doubt my best weekend ever in Newcastle!! )) (And fattest too, we eat & eat & eat non-stop, that that i am complaining wtf!) Now i just need more ang pows and my CNY will be complete! =P

Happy CNY everyone! *loves*

Vanilla Whites: CNY in a Nutshell

Simply put, a child deprived of physical closeness early in life will develop an extraordinary need for affection, along with a paradoxical fear of it. Since this need is unlikely to be fulfilled in adult life leading to intense (usually unconscious) frustration and since fear (a common precursor to anger) is bound up with it, some emotionally and physically deprived persons are prone to act out periodically with violence.

And that’s not the only way bad love screws us up in childhood. Far from it. the less care we received, the less we are capable of giving. a well-known study found that parents who abused their children were abused as children themselves, deprived of physical affection and had poor sex lives. Female child abusers are usually nonorgasmic.

Most people don’t understand perversions. Take sadomasochism, for example. how does someone experience erotic pleasure from giving or receiving pain and humiliation? These people usually don’t understand it themselves and are astounded and ashamed by their own behavior. Look to their childhoods. a child will bond emotionally with bad love as readily as with good love. To a child, anything is better than abandonment. the child comes to associate pain with the only kind of security he’s ever known. Humiliation and pain are familiar, psychologically and physically linked with the bad love received from a neglectful or abusive parent.

It becomes a legacy in some families, often in those that are well meaning and want to produce healthy, happy offspring. many adults are terrified of their own sensuality and unconsciously deprive their children of the loving touch they need. This results in a spiral of obsessive sexuality (a poor substitute for love), emotional perversity and an increasing propensity for violence.

Early Deprivation and Love Defects

A model of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial during a ceremony announcing the approval of the construction process on the National Mall in Washington, DC, Oct. 29, 2009 (Getty Images)

LEGENDARY CIVIL RIGHTS BORN 81 YEARS AGO

Less than 20 months from now, more than 43 years after his death, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will finally be memorialized on the National Mall in our nation’s capital.

And that’s a fitting place for Dr. King, forever enshrined among some of the greatest Americans to ever live, from Thomas Jefferson to Abraham Lincoln to the brave soldiers who perished in wars both foreign and domestic.

It is a fitting place for man who championed the cause of civil rights and equal rights and human rights by marching without violence through Selma, Ala. and to Washington, DC; the man who inspired millions when, the night before he was assassinated, by prophetically proclaimed, “I’ve been to the mountaintop. … and I’ve looked over. and I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”

Today, three days after Dr. King would have turned 81, we honor his spirit, his dreams, and his hopes for our nation.

And we must ask ourselves, have we, as a community, as a country, and as a people made it to the promised land?

I personally feel it would be hard to say that yes, we have. There is no doubt we have a great many strides toward equality and understanding.

But I also believe we have made great strides since King said those words, albeit a bit too slowly for some. and it’s hard to imagine we would be so far along without the work of a countless many great Americans, shaped in King’s mold, who have continued to keep us on a path of which King could only dream.

So here’s hoping his spirit continues to move us forward, together.

Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.

In the book “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” the story focuses on a man whose job is to hunt down runaway androids. in the story, he is after runaways from the new Nexus-6 series of Androids. the homage is pretty interesting, as many science fiction fans are tech-aficionados who enjoy the novels as much as electronic gadgets. No doubt plenty of folks in Google are fans of Philip K. Dick’s work.

This is why it comes as a bit of a surprise that Google has not made any formal motions to acquire permission from Electric Shepherd Productions (which is the owned by Dick’s estate and is run by his daughter Isa Dick Hackett) to use the Android name and more importantly, “Nexus-One”.

Legally speaking, it is not that big of a problem. Dick never licensed the brand Nexus six nor does the book actually say the words “Nexus One”. the existence of Nexus One in the book is only implied as the Nexus six is a “series”. more importantly, the term Nexus has never been associated with the book itself, even though fans recognize the word.

The real issue is the fact that Google missed out on actually bringing a little sense of goodwill between itself and the Estate. while some might say that Google is a big company and a small hiccup like this is not an issue, many of the company’s core followers would certainly appreciate seeing the credit delivered where it is due.

Motorola has acquired permission from George Lucas in order to use the DROID label for their recently released Android smart phone. while mr. Dick has not taken the liberty to acquire a trademark for his work –and many would say that he should have; there is still plenty of time for Google to do something about this little snag.

Tags: Google-Nexus-One

this entry was posted on Monday, January 11th, 2010 at 11:39 am and is filed under Google Phones. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Nexus One's name Contested | best Mobile Contracts

PASADENA, Calif. — The college football season rarely ends without unanswered questions.

Yes, Alabama’s championship is undisputed. not even unbeaten Boise State is arguing about which team is no. 1. but it’s hard not to wonder how the BCS title game would have played out if Colt McCoy had not gotten hurt.

As for those Broncos, they must already be pondering the possibility of becoming the ultimate BCS busters in 2010.

Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban had the last word on the 2009 season Friday at a news conference in Newport Beach. about 12 hours after Alabama beat Texas 37-21 at the Rose Bowl, he was still harping on the fact that his team came out flat in the third quarter. that the Tide players were acting as if they had already won the national championship when they bounded into the locker room at halftime up 24-6.

“I had to stand up on a chair and say this is a 60-minute game,” he said.

No doubt there are Texas fans — maybe even some players and coach Mack Brown — who are thinking it was actually about a 4-minute game.

That’s how long McCoy played in the final college game of his spectacular career. The overwhelming consensus going into the BCS championship game was that the Longhorns’ chances rested on the shoulders of McCoy, the All-American quarterback with a record 45 victories as a starter.

When Tide defensive end Marcell Dareus injured McCoy’s right shoulder with a solid hit on Texas’ fifth offensive play, everything changed. The Longhorns’ offense went dark for the rest of the half.

Two great scoring opportunities Alabama gave Texas with special teams miscues resulted in only six points for the Longhorns. What if McCoy had been in to finish off those drives?

“After Colt got hurt, obviously we were limited in some of the things we could do,” Texas coach Mack Brown said.

Freshman backup Garrett Gilbert settled in after an awful first half, threw two touchdowns to Jordan Shipley and gave the Tide a scare.

Not until Alabama’s lead was down to 24-21 did the Tide rev its engines again and put away Texas.

Alabama played like the best team in the country for most of the season, even when the Tide was ranked behind Florida and Texas it seemed that Saban’s squad had the most depth and versatility, the most ways it could win a game.

With a virtually nonexistent passing game — Greg McElroy completed six passes for 58 yards against Texas — Alabama scored 37 points. The Tide ran over the top-ranked run defense in the nation with Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and freshman Trent Richardson. The Alabama defense, powered by three All-Americans, got the biggest plays from less-heralded players, such as Dareus and Eryk Anders.

There’s a good chance Alabama beats Texas even if McCoy doesn’t get hurt. but what if?

Of course, while Longhorns fans stew over that, the question the Tide fans are asking is ‘What about another one next season?’

That nasty Alabama defense has to be rebuilt. All-American nose guard Terrence Cody is gone. so is All-American cornerback Javier Arenas, who will be missed just as much as a punt returner. All-American linebacker Rolando McClain is a junior, but a projected top-10 NFL draft pick, so figure he’s played his last college game.

Still, Saban’s been cleaning up in recruiting since he arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007. Alabama will most likely be no. 1 to start next season, whether Saban likes it or not.

“We have some good young players, and it’ll be a great opportunity for them,” Saban said. “But every team is different, and every team as issues and problems that you have to resolve in terms of development of players that you have and your ability to recruit and replace the right people and develop the right chemistry.”

Which teams will stand in the way of the Tide making it two in a row?

Getting out of the toughest conference in the country might not be quite as difficult for Alabama next season. Florida, the Tide’s main competition the last two seasons, faces the uncertainty surrounding coach Urban Meyer and the likely loss of about 18 starters, including Tim Tebow.

The Tide and Gators play in the regular season in 2010. Alabama also faces a big nonconference game against Penn State on Sept. 11 in Tuscaloosa.

Nationally, plenty of the usual suspects will be expected to contend, including Ohio State and Texas. The Longhorns have to feel good replacing McCoy after the way Gilbert played in the second half against Alabama.

But the most intriguing contender is Boise State. The Broncos’ 17-10 victory against TCU in the Fiesta Bowl, combined with the prospect of returning about 20 starters, means they will start the season in prime position to make a serious run.

And if they have another perfect regular season — which would mean victories against what should be a highly ranked Virginia Tech team and a very solid Oregon State squad — the Broncos probably won’t have to settle for just any BCS game.

Boise State is in position to become the first team from a conference without an automatic bid to the BCS to play in the championship game.

Boise State vs. Alabama in Arizona for the title?

Ohio State and two different Big 12 champions haven’t been able to stop SEC teams from winning the last four national titles.

Maybe it’s time to give one of the so-called little guys a shot.

Ralph D. Russo covers college football for The Associated Press. Write to him at rrusso(at)ap.org.

Crimson Tide's title is undisputed, but not without mystery, after …

A 1-10 record in 1998 forced Brad Scott’s ouster. Lou Holtz’s first season, an 0-11 year, was even worse.

Efforts last decade by Steve Spurrier, Ryan Brewer, Lou Holtz, and Eric Norwood give USC fans reason to be optimistic.

There were few reasons to be hopeful about the years ahead. South Carolina was a football wasteland in many respects.

“When I got here, we were the team you automatically put a ‘W’ by,” said former Gamecocks receiver and running back Ryan Brewer, who arrived in ’99.

Mash fast forward, and look at the changes for a program that hasn’t had a losing season since 2003 and is playing here Saturday in its sixth bowl game of the 2000s.

The 7-5 Gamecocks will play 7-5 Connecticut in the Papajohns.com Bowl at Legion Field.

South Carolina had been to eight bowls (one win) in its history before 2000. It’s 3-2 in bowls so far this decade (Saturday counts, since it’s the 2009 season).

There are more bowls now than ever, some would argue. but USC has been to the Jan. 1 Outback Bowl three times since 2000.

Beyond the measurement of bowls, South Carolina went 68-53 in the decade for its winningest 10-year stretch in school history. The 35 wins in Steve Spurrier’s five seasons are also a high-water half-decade mark for the school.

It’s modest, no doubt, but you’ve got to start somewhere.

“That’s not a lot to brag about yet,” Spurrier said this week. “Hopefully we can get that average up higher in the near future here.”

This point in time is a good one for reflection on the positive decade that was — and to gaze into the decade ahead.

Even those without garnet-tinted glasses can see this South Carolina team is closer than ever to where it wants to be.

In 2010, the Gamecocks will return 19 players from its defensive two-deep and 19 players from its offensive two-deep.

‘It says a lot for coach Spurrier, to come in here and win at a place where it’s hard to win. obviously he’s doing something right.’- USC captain Moe Brown

Essentially the whole team comes back, except for a couple of linemen and All-America linebacker Eric Norwood.

“It’s definitely in a better place,” Norwood said of the program’s state. “We definitely think we laid the foundation for all the younger guys on the team. We hope so. I think it can be. It just depends on how things go.”

A glance around the rest of the SEC East, and every team has glaring 2010 concerns such as breaking in a new quarterback (Florida, Georgia, Tennessee) or a new defensive coordinator (Florida, Georgia) or, perhaps, a new head coach (Kentucky).

There’s reason to believe the Gamecocks will receive more than a few votes as preseason favorites in the East. Could you have said that a decade ago? or ever at USC?

Spurrier said the program’s progress under his watch is measured best off the field. at least that’s what has led, both directly and indirectly, to some on-field success.

“Certainly, I think the attitude is better,” Spurrier said. “Players are more into it. We don’t have guys missing and skipping. our guys are all going to class.

“We’re doing a lot of things the right way. hopefully that’ll translate into nine, 10 — or more — wins real soon.”

Spurrier deserves a lot of credit for continuing — and increasing — the momentum Holtz brought, his players say.

“It says a lot for coach Spurrier, to come in here and win at a place where it’s hard to win,” outgoing senior receiver Moe Brown said. “Obviously he’s doing something right.”

Brown, a captain, said he’s seen the character of Spurrier’s recruiting classes improve. Not just the talent of the recruits, but the talent is there, also.

The Gamecocks feel as if they’re on the verge of another top 10 recruiting class, what would be Spurrier’s third. Another positive: In-state prospects are the very best that will sign in February.

Spurrier arrived in November 2004 with a firm message about his intentions at USC. Some thought it was foolish. Others wondered if he’d follow through.

He asked, rhetorically, why not South Carolina? why couldn’t the Gamecocks win, and win big?

It now seems more plausible than ever. This is as close as USC has ever gotten to what Spurrier was talking about in ’04.

Better coaches … facilities … recruits. The Gamecocks are on the verge, at least.

“Every year, we’ve kind of grasped at what we could’ve done,” Brewer said. “We’re that close to being where we want to be in the SEC.”

In reality, these Gamecocks probably wouldn’t be where they are without the early-decade contributions from Brewer, Holtz and the teams that brought the program out of the SEC’s pit.

A 1995 Carquest Bowl victory against West Virginia was the only postseason accomplishment the Gamecocks had on which to hang their hats. That is, until Brewer’s outstanding performance in the 2001 Outback Bowl, capping the 2000 season with a 24-7 victory against Ohio State.

The Gamecocks beat the Buckeyes in the same bowl the following year.

The victories provided the finest bowl moments in the school’s history. A program that needed something good to happen finally had those trophies and memories.

“Back then, it was like an out-of-body experience. I didn’t know what to think,” said Brewer. “You look at it now, and it was a big deal. with the history of South Carolina, it was a big deal. It put a little spark into what’s going on now.”

One knife that opposing fans, especially those in the Upstate, like to dig into South Carolina is the fact that its all-time record has typically been below .500.

A win Saturday would get South Carolina to .500 entering that promising 2010 season.

“Compared to some of these schools around here, that’s not very good,” Spurrier said, referring to Alabama. “But, hopefully, we’re headed in the right direction.”

Thinking back to Jan. 1, 2000, there’s no questioning that.

Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com and check out the South Carolina blog at postandcourier.com/blogs/gamecocks.

'in a better place'

Anyone who has been to a company holiday party where alcohol was served, no doubt have some interesting stories to tell. Stories that seem funny enough until something deadly happens. If your company is still serving alcohol at company functions today- you are begging for a lawsuit. And sooner or later you are sure to get it. In this white paper I present some real life stories which should serve as an ice cold glass of water in the face.

This scenario is played out in organizations all across the country. It’s the holidays; time to relax, unwind, and reflect on the successes, and assess the failures of the company during the past year. So the company decides, as an end-of-year celebration, to host a holiday party at a local hotel. They decide on a theme and decorate the room accordingly. Employees are invited and encouraged to bring their spouses as well.

On the big night there is magic in the air. As employees enter this huge, beautifully decorated room, the band hired for the gig is really hot. There is an air of excitement and fun. The first thing you notice walking in the door is a wet bar. As your eyes span the room you notice there are six other wet bars- with very little waiting. You are ready for a fun-filed night. But as the night wears on, something becomes painfully obvious to you and other partygoers. Some employees have had a little too much to drink. All of a sudden, your fun turns to frustration as you watch some ugly scenes unfold. It’s another year of the same scenario.

You see the problem with serving alcohol at company holiday parties is alcohol affects everyone differently. And it affects everyone differently on different days. This is why alcohol is an infinite variable. A person can drink liquor on one day and act docile and calm. The same person drinking alcohol on a different day may want to start a fight. Go figure.

Anytime you introduce alcohol into an environment, you lose control of that environment. In other words the environment is no longer yours to control. You can’t control how employees will act once they are inebriated on alcohol. But the one thing you can always count on when serving liquor, at least one person is going to act out. And all it takes is one person to ruin the party. You see this even at family reunions. At least one person is going to act out. The problem for companies is, you are directly responsible for the acts of your employees, especially supervisors and managers.

In the nearly fourteen years traveling the country as a consultant and trainer on employment law and compliance, I have heard and witnessed some unbelievable situations dealing with companies and alcohol. Here are a few holiday parties gone wild:

1. The case where a company gives a holiday party and serves liquor to the employees. An employee files a sexual harassment lawsuit against a supervisor who got drunk and tried to stick his tongue down her throat the entire night. Needless to say her husband was not thrilled. Can you say lawsuit?2. Then there is the case of the supervisor who ends up in bed with another employee’s wife. The next day she claims he raped her, he maintained it was consensual. It tore the company apart as lawsuits begin to fly.3. How about the case of one employee who felt his supervisor had been riding him all year long and in anger cracked a glass picture over his head at the holiday party. The company was in litigation for many years to come. 4. Then there’s the case of employees on the dance floor with alcoholic drinks in their hands. One employee is so wasted he drops his drink (in a glass) and another employee slips and falls on the glass, cutting her face. She sued the company. 5. Then there’s the case of a holiday party given at one of the vice presidents’ home. An employee (who drank too much) drowned in the pool VP’s pool. The vice president and the company were both sued.

The list of lawsuit goes on and on. Rapes, robberies, sexual harassment, assaults, battery, false imprisonment, melees, alcohol poisoning, even death. If your company wants to make the list of holiday parties gone wild, then continued to serve alcohol at your functions. The liabilities are endless. And keep in mind; everyone is an eyewitness today because they have a camera phone with all the evidence. With the rise of social media, overnight your company can become a YouTube sensation. If I could be so bold as to make a recommendation to you, it would be this: Stop serving alcohol at company functions-period.

I’ve heard people say “if we don’t serve alcohol at our holiday party no one will come. Well no one is going to die if you don’t have a holiday party. But someone may die if you have a holiday party and serve them liquor.

If your company is still serving alcohol at company functions today- you are begging for a lawsuit. And sooner or later you are going to get it. If I could be so bold as to make a recommendation to you, it would be this: Stop serving alcohol at company functions-period.

2009 Cubie Davis King. All Right Reserved Internationally.

Company Holiday Parties – Liquor, Laughter, & Lawsuits

There’s no doubt celebrities are eager to make sure their fans are being entertained. They liked to do every single thing to get close to their best performance where the certainty makes them a talk of town and it sometimes becomes scandal. It serves as the most influencing and mind blowing with their public images.

Anna Nicole Ex-Boyfriend charged: Anna Nicole Ex, Howard, former lawyer is charged for drug abuse and writing prescription for a man that is truly an addict. Lately, he died in an accident with the overdose of the prescription. Anna had a great faith in Howard and see how it comes to her?

Gibson’s girlfriend is pregnant: Gibson’s girlfriend Oksana Grigoneva has become pregnant after the Gibson announcement that he’s about to get break up with her lovely wife. Before, figuring out the fact about their 28 years old marriage we learned that he made himself found a new girlfriend.

Madonna’s new adoption: Madonna has made a formal request for adopting a 4 year’s old little girl from a local orphanage in Malawi. After the David Banda, her last adopted son, she wasn’t permitted to get this girl. The Malawi official judge has rejected her request saying that she is perfectly fine there.

Liz Smith’s remain no longer from NY: It was all of sudden for Liz Smith, the NY post writer to be announced to remain no longer with her column on NY post. It catalysts like a fire and later she explained that 33 years of history has never gone that bad for her and her column on NY post. She was very upset since she has been fall apart from the NY post.

Chris Brown surrendered to LA police: Chris brown had made his surrender to LA police on possibly battery charges this was the only reason why he was away from the Grammy awards. Rihanna sent a wrong message to the crowd by forgiving Chris and enjoying her vacation with him later on.

Madonna sex tape out there: Madonna found color handed with her boyfriend A-Rod in a sex tape. The daily star UK had spice it up and the man who claimed to owe the tape, he shot the video with the camera he hide in the apartment. It will be nice to know that how he’s going to squeeze them out.

Top Celebrity Scandals in 2009