Nbadan
12-02-2005, 03:31 AM
It's your money...
NOTE: The David H. Brooks who threw this party for his 13-yr-old daughter is the same defense contractor who sold our troops defective body armor.
Not-so-Petty cash to rock bat mitzvah
History will forever record Elizabeth Brooks' bat mitzvah as "Mitzvahpalooza." For his (13-year-old) daughter's coming-of-age celebration last weekend, multimillionaire Long Island defense contractor David H. Brooks booked two floors of the Rainbow Room, hauled in concert-ready equipment, built a stage, installed special carpeting, outfitted the space with Jumbotrons and arranged command performances by everyone from 50 Cent to Tom Petty to Aerosmith.
(snip)
The party cost an estimated $10 million, including the price of corporate jets to ferry the performers to and from. Also on the bill were The Eagles' Don Henley and Joe Walsh performing with Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks; DJ AM (Nicole Richie's fiance); rap diva Ciara and, sadly perhaps (except that he received an estimated $250,000 for the job), Kenny G blowing on his soprano sax as more than 300 guests strolled and chatted into their pre-dinner cocktails.
"Hey, that guy looks like Kenny G," a disbelieving grownup was overheard remarking - though the 150 kids in attendance seemed more impressed by their $1,000 gift bags, complete with digital cameras and the latest video iPod.
(snip)
I'm told that at one point Brooks leapt on the stage with Tyler and Perry, who responded with good grace when their paymaster demanded that his teenage nephew be permitted to sit in on drums. At another point, I'm told, Tyler theatrically wiped sweat off Brooks' forehead - and then dried his hand with a flourish.
(snip)
NY Daily News (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/col/story/369995p-31473...)
About David H. Brooks and his company DHB:
...the Pentagon’s sole supplier of body armor--Point Blank Body Armor--is swimming in scandal. Point Blank is owned by DHB Industries--which stands for "David H. Brooks."
Brooks is a corporate crook of the highest order. In 1992, he was implicated in an insider-trading scam, and since then, he’s racked up several Securities and Exchange Commission complaints for shady deals. DHB is also known for union-busting. Last year, it was found guilty of labor law violations for firing, locking out and threatening employees at its Fort Lauderdale, Fla., plant.
But none of that stopped the Pentagon last month from awarding DHB a $77 million contract to supply troops overseas--the largest order for body armor in Defense Department history--just months after it had handed DHB a $60 million contract. Specifically, the new Pentagon contract is for thousands of Interceptor vests--a heavier version of the type of vests that DHB has supplied to the New York Police Department.
In 2002, DHB was forced to settle out of court with the NYPD--after it was revealed that as many as 5,000 of the vests that the company supplied were defective. Former Point Blank employees have reportedly come forward to say that they were ordered to place updated labels on out-of-date body armor, that vest sizes were mislabeled, and that vest shells were mismatched with their ballistic liners.
Link (http://www.socialistworker.org/2004-1/495/495_06_BringT...)
NOTE: The David H. Brooks who threw this party for his 13-yr-old daughter is the same defense contractor who sold our troops defective body armor.
Not-so-Petty cash to rock bat mitzvah
History will forever record Elizabeth Brooks' bat mitzvah as "Mitzvahpalooza." For his (13-year-old) daughter's coming-of-age celebration last weekend, multimillionaire Long Island defense contractor David H. Brooks booked two floors of the Rainbow Room, hauled in concert-ready equipment, built a stage, installed special carpeting, outfitted the space with Jumbotrons and arranged command performances by everyone from 50 Cent to Tom Petty to Aerosmith.
(snip)
The party cost an estimated $10 million, including the price of corporate jets to ferry the performers to and from. Also on the bill were The Eagles' Don Henley and Joe Walsh performing with Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks; DJ AM (Nicole Richie's fiance); rap diva Ciara and, sadly perhaps (except that he received an estimated $250,000 for the job), Kenny G blowing on his soprano sax as more than 300 guests strolled and chatted into their pre-dinner cocktails.
"Hey, that guy looks like Kenny G," a disbelieving grownup was overheard remarking - though the 150 kids in attendance seemed more impressed by their $1,000 gift bags, complete with digital cameras and the latest video iPod.
(snip)
I'm told that at one point Brooks leapt on the stage with Tyler and Perry, who responded with good grace when their paymaster demanded that his teenage nephew be permitted to sit in on drums. At another point, I'm told, Tyler theatrically wiped sweat off Brooks' forehead - and then dried his hand with a flourish.
(snip)
NY Daily News (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/col/story/369995p-31473...)
About David H. Brooks and his company DHB:
...the Pentagon’s sole supplier of body armor--Point Blank Body Armor--is swimming in scandal. Point Blank is owned by DHB Industries--which stands for "David H. Brooks."
Brooks is a corporate crook of the highest order. In 1992, he was implicated in an insider-trading scam, and since then, he’s racked up several Securities and Exchange Commission complaints for shady deals. DHB is also known for union-busting. Last year, it was found guilty of labor law violations for firing, locking out and threatening employees at its Fort Lauderdale, Fla., plant.
But none of that stopped the Pentagon last month from awarding DHB a $77 million contract to supply troops overseas--the largest order for body armor in Defense Department history--just months after it had handed DHB a $60 million contract. Specifically, the new Pentagon contract is for thousands of Interceptor vests--a heavier version of the type of vests that DHB has supplied to the New York Police Department.
In 2002, DHB was forced to settle out of court with the NYPD--after it was revealed that as many as 5,000 of the vests that the company supplied were defective. Former Point Blank employees have reportedly come forward to say that they were ordered to place updated labels on out-of-date body armor, that vest sizes were mislabeled, and that vest shells were mismatched with their ballistic liners.
Link (http://www.socialistworker.org/2004-1/495/495_06_BringT...)