Eastman Kodak announced that the U.S. industry-leading cameras in early Thursday it had made the request and placed under the protection of Chapter atheist ten U.S. law on bankruptcy to restructure its founder, away from the pursuit of creditors.
The group that owns the credit facility worth $ 950 million obtained by negotiating with the bank Citigroup, said in a statement that it “believes it has sufficient liquidity to conduct its activities under Chapter atheist century and continue to ensure the products and services to its customers as usual.”
The group does not include a request that was submitted to the court in New York, its subsidiaries outside the United States, which will continue to honor its financial obligations, she said Kodak.
The company was founded more than a century, leading to the spread of photography and make it accessible to all. But they had difficulties in coping with the digital age and forced after years of poor performance on the demobilization of 47 000 employees and close 13 factories since 2003.
He said Group General Manager Antonio Perez, “The Board of Directors and senior management staff all agree that this step is necessary and it’s the right thing for the future of Kodak.”
Peres said in a statement that “Our goal is to increase the value to the fullest extent of the shareholders, including employees, retirees and creditors. We are also committed to working with our customers.”
On the eve of bankruptcy, were not exceeding the value of the group $ 150 million in the stock market after it stayed for more than seventy years in the club of thirty major companies closed for the Dow Jones.
Was withdrawn from the index in 2004 and remained its stock is threatened for weeks to stop pricing due to lack of funds

Source: French

With great sadness I feel compelled to submit to the Executive Board my resignation from the post as IMF managing director, reported DPA.

I think at this point in the first place my wife whom I love above all “, my children, my family, my friends.

I also think my colleagues in the Fund, together we have achieved great things in the past three years.

All I want to say I deny in the strongest possible all the accusations made ​​against me.

I want to protect this institution I have served with honor and devotion and especially-especially-I dedicate all my strength, my time and energy to prove my innocence. “

The IMF, which placed the letter on its website, adding it remains as Acting Managing Director John Lipsky, until now number two on Strauss-Kahn, and will soon report on the process of selecting his successor.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn announced his resignation Thursday morning resignation from the leadership of the IMF through an official statement in which he rejected all accusations of sexual assault against him. In the letter which announced his resignation, Strauss-Kahn and gesture motivated by the desire to “protect” the IMF the effects of this scandal: “I dedicate all my energy to prove I am innocent.”

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“The Board firmly condemn these statements and declare him persona non grata Lars Von Trier at Cannes, and this with immediate effect,” says management, in a statement.

Festival President Gilles Jacob, the Board of Directors convened Thursday morning in an extraordinary meeting to consider possible sanctions against the director.

Festival de Cannes offers a gallery of artists worldwide to showcase their outstanding work and defend freedom of expression and creation, “said the source.

Meanwhile, the festival highlights as “deeply regret that this gallery has been used by Lars Von Trier to expirma statements unacceptable, intolerable, contrary to the ideals of humanity and generosity of the very existence of chairing the Cannes Film Festival.”

During the press conference occasioned by the presentation of his “Melancholia,” the director said “we understand Hitler, even if it was not a good man, and he likes Jews,” but not too much, because Israel is a real nuisance. “ 

Lars Von Trier’s statements and festival organizers were shocked and caused outrage among Jewish organizations, the director and later asking apology and saying that his remarks were made in jest, said on Monday.

I thought for a long time as a Jew and I are very happy, “ said Von Trier. (According to his biography, Lars von Trier’s mother told her husband on his deathbed that he believed the director was not really the father or father true, writes Reuters).

“Then I met Susanne Bier (director Danish and Jewish) and suddenly I was so happy that I am a Jew. No, that was a joke, sorry (…) But it turned out I was not Jew .. . and even if I were a Jew, I was one second hand, because there is a kind of hierarchy in the Jewish population “ , he continued.

“In any case, I wanted to be a Jew, but I found out later that they are actually a Nazi, because my family was of German origin … and the thing that gave me some satisfaction” , said the director.

“What can I say? You understand Hitler. I think he did bad things, certainly, but I can imagine him sitting in his bunker at the end (…) I think you understand that man. It was not what we might call a good man, but I understand many things in his personality and even sympathize a little with it. Of course, do not support the Second World War and not the Jews. They are, of course, alongside Hebrew. But no, not too much, because Israel is a real nuisance … “ said Von Trier, who was then asked: “But how can I finish this sentence?”

Director then expressed “admiration” for Albert Speer (Hitler’s chief architect – no), considering it one of the great God-given talents, and surprisingly concluded saying , “Okay, are Nazis!”

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It was first just a rather ordinary meeting of the Florida school board, when Clay Allen Duke interrupted the meeting and stood in front of everyone.

He had spray painted the letter “V” for vendetta on the wall. (Vendetta is Italian for revenge.) He pulled out his handgun and started ranting about the school board firing his wife and tried to shoot six board members, until  he was shot in the leg by meeting’s security guard. After this, Duke turned the handgun towards himself and shot himself in the head in front of the whole school board. Actually, in front of the whole word.

Before this tragedy the school board had brought a video camera to record this meeting, though they did not know this awful event was about to happen. The video has been published on the internet, and here they are:

http://www.youtube.com/v/N-X2w0Pn09k?version=3

http://www.youtube.com/v/ReJn0kmobnI?version=3

http://www.youtube.com/v/6JNCLBEvko4?version=3

It is hard to wonder what would make a man, even one who had been inflicted with mental handicaps, such as Mr. Duke, to go to such extremes in their attempts to make a better world. While not condoning what he did; his use of the gun, and threatening the lives of innocent people, I do somewhat understand the position he took, or to better phrase, how he saw the world as being filled with its possible, and what would make him feel the emotion to act against it.

But what does Mr. Duke represent in our society? How does his story fit into the story of America, of ourselves, and the direction of our own nation. Quite a lot when you look at the situation as a whole. And while many would chuck Mr. Duke’s situation off as the occasional lunatic, that man who we see as the reject of society, never to return to our thoughts once his time in the national spotlight has ended. But is this right? Is this how we should see his story, and the story of hundreds who make such a violent last stand? I don’t feel this attitude is the best interest of ourselves, or our nation.

I think a great discourse is needed, and quickly, if we are to remedy this situation, a situation that is getting increasingly worse with each passing year. For to avoid this discussion is to avoid the symptoms of a growing cancer that can and will, if left untreated, do harm this nation to a point that it will never recover.

Does Mr. Duke have the right to be made into a hero of the common man? Of course not, but we calls to attention the problems that we are now facing. He shows us the need to see what gave birth to this situation, to learn, and to avoid continuing these mistakes any further. What was it that led to this crisis, and, ultimately, what led to Mr. Duke taking his own life?

It seems there has been a great failure, on many levels, to help Mr. Duke and others like him. Having suffered from at least one mental illness, and having served time within our correctional system, there was at least, for some time, a chance to locate and rectify what it was that was ailing this man. But much like others who have been through this institution, he was returned to society as far from corrected as one could possibly be.

He also had, judging from his now suicide note, appeared to have a growing discontent against the wealthy members of our society. Which is showing how ineffective the economy is actually recovering, given the continual inaction of the Democrat and Republican members of our government, and how little is being done by the major parties of the private sector to help stimulate the economy once again. We now see how anyone who is of a government title is now becoming a target of potential violence, regardless of their affiliation, if they have one at all.

And while we have people who care more about what goes on with people who matter little at all with the welfare of the nation, with pointless arguments on close door meetings of former and current Presidents, or other issues that will be forgotten long after we have passed and our descendants have inherited the devastated world that we are making today. And by leaving these problems, among the many others like them, unattended to, we will never truly rid ourselves of this problem.

This is a growing attitude against the wealthy, who continue to enjoy lives of luxury and content while the rest of us struggle to keep ourselves from drowning from our troubles, that I myself share with the rest of the nation. To be against the rich right is somewhat justifiable, at least to those who helped to start their portion of the crisis. But Mr. Duke’s methods to fix this problem were not. The use of violence, violence against innocent people, violence for the sake of violence, using the symbol of a comic book character whose tactics dealt with the slaughter of innocent lives, simply for him to achieve his own vision of a perfect world, can and must never be the answer. We are a nation that prides itself on responsible compromise. And the first step that must be taken is to take responsibility for our actions, and the direction that our nation is heading to.

The gap between rich and poor! In the United States this gap has manifested to the point it has triggered horrific consequences through-out our society. The gap between our society’s rich and poor has risen so disproportionately that the United States is now faced with startling revelations. For the past 35 years we have had a continual steady escalation in teen pregnancies, infant mortality, obesity, mental illness, drug use, incarceration, and homicide. We now lead the rest of the world in almost every one of these categories. All of which are costing the United States billions of tax payer dollars annually. Money the United States does not have, pushing our nation further in debt. The rise of all of these factors in America has destabilized our whole economy rendering the United States almost helpless in providing the services that are mandated by law to the majority of our population. Another disturbing factor in the continued widening of the income gap is that most business have been and are continuing the practice of hiring more tempoary workers so that companies will save billions of dollars, gain an unfair advantage over competitors, and deprive the federal government of billions of dollars in tax revenue. Over 50% of today’s workforce are now classified as temporary workers. Not only does this practice save companies allot of money but contributes to the widening income gap that is expanding more every day. It also poses another, greater concern. Even though this looks good an a companies balance sheet is actually detrimental to business all over the United States and to the whole economy. When employees no longer qualify for workers compensation, unemployment insurance, medical leave, and other benefits that are routinely granted to full and some part time company employer’s payrolls is a vital factor in the decline of quality in American produced goods and services. This is because there is a greater turnover rate of temporaries, and there is no longer a real authentic motivation to produce quality in the goods and services by non company workers. When quality in products deteriorate sales plummet and a domino effect in business contraction escalates creating more retardation in economies. The cut-throat ideology of today’s business climate also is a vital factor in the inequality of today’s workers. In 1978 the average CEO earned 35 times what their average employee made. Today the gap has risen to now the CEO makes over 300% of what their employee makes. From 1979 to 2010 the highest 10% of wage earners in the United States are now making more than 12 times as much as the poorest 10% now make. Today 90% of the population in the United States are making 30% less than they did 35 years ago. A very sad reality of today’s workers. In other industrializes nations the income gap is more balanced. There societies are better economically equipped to offer the public services that their population requires. The Scandinavian countries continually spend over 10% of their national income on social services for their citizens where the United States only spends less than 2%. This comparison only shows how inefficient our current governmental policies and business ideologies really are. If the United States ever expects to fully recover from the current economic crisis the gap between rich and poor must close. There must be more balance of incomes between the citizens to where the discrepancy is not blatantely so vast. An important step toward narrowing this gap is the reformation of today’s business attitudes of Corporate Executives, Board of Directors and Business owners to one that recognizes the importance of living wage employees and the contributions that they make in producing and producing the quality, durability, and affordability of goods and services that are produced. Only when the income gap in American Society closes will the United States actually be capable of achieving real authentic economic expansion.  

The clear formulation of policy, in general and in sections, and its announcement within and without the organization in a written declaration, can be of the highest importance in promoting the effectiveness of management. Policy is obviously the basis of the structure of organization needed for carrying on the affairs of the enterprise: unless policy is clearly defined, it is not possible to frame an organization, because it is not possible adequately to determine the appropriate executive responsibilities and relationships; nor can the appointed managers carry out these responsibilities with effectiveness and co-ordination. Perhaps more obviously, the clear formulation of policy underlies planning, whether in relation to the capital and equipment required, the premises, the channels of trade, the levels of employment, the purchase of materials, or many other more detailed aspects of the programmer for getting the enterprise into operation and keeping its activities moving. It is also important to appreciate that policy has a considerable contribution to make to co-ordination, especially in the larger organizations, and to the maintenance of morale. Where policy is clearly defined, in its general and sectional aspects, the organization is already a long way advanced towards ensuring that its managers will keep in step in the day-to-day discharge of their responsibilities.

The relevance of policy to morale is not often realized. Information as to objectives and policy is a known means of promoting and securing co-operation. In a organization where managers keep all these things to themselves, and argue that workers or staff should get on with the job and “do as they are told”, morale is often low: ignorance breeds indifference and suspicion, moods which manifestly hinder co-operation and will to work. Clear policy is an aid to information. It removes the sense of aimlessness, and promotes a sense of participation, besides inspiring in employees confidence in the soundness of management. They know what the company is trying to do; they know how plans are formulated for the attainment of the known ends; they are aware of the standards of trading and employment that have been laid down. They have in this knowledge a lead towards co-operation and the response of good effort in the performance of their own part of the total job. This is of particular importance to the managers and supervisors, for whom a clear understanding of the company’s policy affords a firm basis for the daily practice of their responsibilities and the continuous promotion of sound employee relations.

Policy is also the basis on which the results of management can be assessed. The establishment of criteria of effectiveness and their use in assessing the achievements of the organization is the other half of the responsibility of the Board of Directors, the higher level of management. It falls to them to ensure that the objectives of the enterprise are being attained and that the policies that have been laid down are being followed. They have then to ensure that all operations and activities are being carried out at an adequate level of effectiveness and economy: it is in this connection that the various types of control data and higher financial accounts come into play. At the lower levels of control, the function of such data is to ensure that plans are being followed and reasons for departures known, but in addition, the daily, weekly or monthly data are contributing to the overall periodic picture which will enable “top management”, and the Board of Directors, to ensure that adequate standards of effectiveness and economy are being achieved and maintained throughout in the fulfillment of policy.

Policy must be clearly related to facts; in an industrial or commercial organization this must mean that policy is based on forecasting, to ascertain market or production requirements and other fundamental factors of economic operation. Whether such forecasting is in the form of a systematic analysis based on techniques of market assessment, or whether it is a more formal review of economic conditions and expectations, is not of immediate moment in the present context. How the approach is made must largely be determined by the nature of the industry or trade, the type of product handled, and other specific circumstances of the company concerned. However attained, a factual basis is the first requirement in the formulation of policy, and in this direction important contributions can be made by the executives and functional specialists below the level of the Board of Directors. Responsibility for the formulation of policy necessarily and formally lies with the Board of Directors themselves, but this does not and should not preclude their obtaining substantial and valuable guidance from the members of the organization below: in the first place these members specialist knowledge can be the basis on which accurate and factual forecasts of markets and sales potentials are made. Their daily dealings with the problems of management afford them a more realistic appreciation of the circumstances in which trading has to be carried on – material supplies, machine capacity, man-power, and the many other factors that can so easily play havoc with even the best-sounding policy, if inadequately considered. They also have a closer view of the structure of management and so of the weaknesses and deficiencies that can be a bar to carrying a policy into effect. Apart from such positive contributions from the managers to the formulation of policy, there is another morale aspect here: if managers are to be expected to carry heavy responsibilities for the affairs of the organization, they should rightly be consulted on and invited to contribute to the fundamentals of that organization, its policy. They cannot be expected to show a high level of co-operation, or to secure it from their subordinates, if their own superiors adopt the “theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do or die” attitude in this all-important direction.

How can we keep their inspiration with us, all the time? Create a personal Board of Directors. Many leadership and business books suggest we should all keep a brain trust of successful people around us to bounce ideas off or help us through the countless decisions we make daily. But, we can also create a historical brain trust of those we may not interact with every day; however, we can gain inspiration from nonetheless.

Here are the steps I take with my historical Board of Directors:

1. Pick 10 Personalities

   Write down your top 10 influential personalities. OK, this is actually the hardest part. We can all think of three or four right off the back. But, pick those who you may not know the detailed history of, but know the principles they stood for: Abe Lincoln’s honesty or Martin Luther King’s equality message. Most importantly, pick 10 who you consider to have your values and follow the principles you want to live up to.

2. Sort Them Out

   Now, create a notebook with sections for each person. A three-ring binder works best with sheet protectors you can insert paper into.

3. Research your Board

   Look up and printout news articles and research on each of your board members. Take your time to highlight how they became the person they are, what guided their decisions, and what their toughest struggles were. As you gain material, place them in your binder, highlight the main points, and write down your notes that are important to you.

4. Find Some Books

   As you progress in your research, find books written by and about each of them. If it’s a relative or friend of yours, talk to those that were around them throughout their lives and take an oral history.

5. Here’s The Fun Part

   Now, as your board of directors has taken up a life in your notebook, you have a resource to turn to as you face daily decisions. Ask yourself, what would your board of directors suggest? And, start incorporating their daily habits into your own. One of my influences has always been Thomas Jefferson who stated “no person will have occasion to complain of the want of time, who never loses any.” And, I try to fill my schedule, as he did, with actions that reward myself in health, knowledge, and friendship.