Stevie did a Bat Mitzvah

[Jyqm]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

LOL - me either. I believe it was about the recall of some of the bullet proof vests, which the military says never placed any soldiers in harm's way (http://www.libn.com/breakingNews_detail.cfm?id=4238 ) and the that he is being investigated for some, I think, accounting/compensation issues (http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2004/1101/178.html ) -- so, it is possible to say the money is tainted, which was, I believe said by others earlier.

Okay. Well if the guy's indicted or anything, then I think that clearly raises some issues about the being "tainted." Until then, though, I'll presume Mr. Brooks innocent and believe that he at least earned his wealth legally, if not honorably, fairly or legitimately.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

I wish they hadn't done it in the first place for numerous reasons, but it does make it slightly better in my eyes if those artists involved take that "tainted money" and use it to do something good with it. That's how I see it anyway Strandie.

I do too. But and again, I am fine with them having done it and if they kept the money and spent it on Prada.

[cliffdweller]

Originally Posted by Jyqm

Oh lord. I don't even want to know.

I'm not a huge Dickens fan anyway. I think I'd be ruined on the man for good if I had to read a deconstructionist critique of Bleak House.

This is great.

Anyway, that's cool that Henley dontated his share of the money. I can only think that most of the rest of them did too. Okay, it's really that I just WANT to believe this .

[David]

I give Lionel Bart the last word on all this houhah . . .

"You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two"

In this life
One thing counts
In the bank
Large amounts
I'm afraid these
Don't grow on trees
You've got to pick-a-pocket or two

You've got to pick-a-pocket or two, boys
You've got to pick-a-pocket or two

Why should we
Break our backs
Stupidly
Paying tax?
Better get some
Untaxed income
Better pick-a-pocket or two

You've got to pick-a-pocket or two, boys
You've got to pick-a-pocket or two

Robin Hood
What a crook!
Gave away
What he took
Charity's fine --
Subscribe to mine!
Get out and pick-a-pocket or two

You've got to pick-a-pocket or two, boys
You've got to pick-a-pocket or two

Dear old gent
Passing by
Something nice
Takes his eye
Everything's clear
Attack the rear!
Get in and pick-a-pocket or two

You've got to pick-a-pocket or two, boys
You've got to pick-a-pocket or two

Have no fear, attack the rear
Get in and pick-a-pocket or two

When I see
Someone rich
Both my thumbs
Start to itch
Only to find
Some peace of mind
We have to pick-a-pocket or two!

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

But would it be okay if they kept the money and spent it in JC Penny's? Eh?

I do not care where they spend it and believe it or not, I frequent Sears and often, though not usually for clothing.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

Stevie wouldn't spend the money in Penney's though! Remember that interview with Courtney Love?

I know - I was laughing soooooo hard when I read that. I was like SNOBS

[Livia]

Stop saying "TAINTED"

[JazmenFlowers]

Originally Posted by Livia

Stop saying "TAINTED"

oh my - that's funny

margaret/marguerite should be a pop culture icon by now

[sparky]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I do too. But and again, I am fine with them having done it and if they kept the money and spent it on Prada.

I don't think any of the Mac are exactly Prada types. Maybe they have some silly slingbacks that Homegirl might use to sashay about the manse.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by sparky

I don't think any of the Mac are exactly Prada types. Maybe they have some silly slingbacks that Homegirl might use to sashay about the manse.

I know - maybe shades too.

[Livia]

A couple more articles:


MSNBC.com

Go shorty! It's your bat mitzvah
50 Cent, Aerosmith among acts gettin' rich performing at private functions

By James Sullivan
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 11:06 a.m. ET Dec. 2, 2005


Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: 50 Cent, Steven Tyler and Kenny G walk into a bar.

Actually, it’s a true story. That motley crew of top-shelf entertainers and an equally gaudy second tier all performed recently at the bat mitzvah — no kidding — of the daughter of a presumably well-connected New York defense contractor.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: What, no Gene Simmons?

But seriously, folks. 50 Cent may have a streetwise reputation to uphold, but we all know he’s gonna get rich or die tryin’. If a proud papa offers him hundreds of thousands of dollars to kick the hora with his daughter, Fitty’s definitely in.

Besides, the rapper’s hottest joint right now is “Window Shopping.” Safe to say that’s a pastime he might have in common with a pubescent Long Island girl whose parents reportedly gave their guests thousand-dollar gift bags stuffed with digital cameras and video iPods. Yeah, boychik.

The New York Daily News dubbed it “Mitzvahpalooza.” Earlier this week the paper reported that 50, jazz smoothie Kenny G and Tyler and his Aerosmith bandmate Joe Perry — not to mention Tom Petty, Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, “Goodies” girl Ciara and DJ AM, Nicole Richie’s boyfriend — all performed for big money at a gala bat mitzvah at Manhattan’s glitzy, skyscraping Rainbow Room. Tyler and Perry alone supposedly got $2 million in exchange for their 45-minute headlining set.

Singing for their suppers
By now such insider trading shouldn’t come as any great shock. Pop acts have been cashing some of their biggest checks to play private parties for years now. In the past decade, million-dollar corporate paydates have become routine for acts such as the Eagles, Elton John and the Rolling Stones. Bill Graham Presents, the legacy of the late San Francisco rock promoter, has a lucrative Special Events division, and there are entire agencies devoted to producing such exclusive gigs.

It’s the bat mitzvah aspect — all raging hormones and complicated dental correctives — that makes this particular affair so amusing. The first bat mitzvah in America took place in 1922, when the forward-thinking Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan decided to give his daughter the same opportunity to mark her impending adulthood that the boys had. Judith Kaplan later recalled that the event wasn’t as earth-shattering as it appeared to some members of her faith: “No thunder sounded,” she said. “No lightning struck.”

Last weekend, they might have been trying to make up for lost time. We can hear it now: “Party people! Throw your hands in the air, and wave ‘em like you’re all farblondjet.”

Now, Kenny G, we can understand. I have it on good authority that little Kenny Gorelick used to blow the shofar, the traditional ram’s horn, in his family’s synagogue on the High Holy Days.

And the web site Jewsrock.org features Aerosmith in its Challah Fame, alongside such bar mitzvahed luminaries as the Beastie Boys, David Lee Roth and yes, Kiss’s Gene Simmons (who was born Chaim Witz). The band snared its membership through its drummer, Joey Kramer.

What did he say?
Pop music, in fact, is not new to the mitzvot. In the book “Jews Who Rock,” Ben Stiller recalled his own bar mitzvah, at which his youthful band, Capital Punishment, performed. They did a cover of the Beatles’ “Hey Jude.”

It was just the kind of painfully awkward moment that Stiller would later make his comic specialty. His father, he wrote in the book’s foreword, panicked. To him, of course, it sounded like “Hey Jew.”

Jewish culture has gotten a lot hipper since. There’s Heeb Magazine (“The New Jew Review”), He’Brew Beer (just chosen as one of Bravo’s 100 “Great Things About the Holidays”) and the new book “Bar Mitzvah Disco,” in which Sarah Silverman and other brave souls share pictures and stories from their own gawky fulfillment of the Commandment. Neil Diamond, the Jewish Elvis, has a trendy new album out.

And on “The Simpsons,” Krusty the Clown got belatedly bar mitzvahed, with a little help from Mr. T (“I pity the shul”). A parody band called the Beach Boys Experience provided the entertainment, sung to the tune of “Kokomo”: “Mezuzah, menorah, created from the Torah/Pastrami, knishes, on to set some dishes”…

For the right price, the real Beach Boys will sing it at your next Hanukkah party. Either them, or maybe 50 Cent.

James Sullivan is a pop culture writer and a regular contributor to MSNBC.com.

© 2005 MSNBC Interactive

© 2005 MSNBC.com

URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10295486/

[Livia]

Looks like the media is now piecing together the who, what, when and where - have they been lurking here??

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DEFENSE CONTRACTOR CEO PARTIES

Friday, December 02, 2005 - FreeMarketNews.com

A corporate CEO recently spent $10 MILLION. . .for his daughter's Bat Mitzvah party! It's none of our business what he does with his money, you say? What if you found out he's CEO of a huge defense contractor, DHB Industries, whose subsidiary, Point Blank Body Armor Inc., makes the allegedly "bulletproof" vests supposed to help protect our soldiers in Iraq? What if you knew that over 18,000 of these vests had been recalled by our Armed Forces, as being substandard for outfitting those troops?

David H. Brooks is the CEO responsible, but according to Joe Bua in the Daily KOS, he's been too busy hobnobbing with Aerosmith to notice. While the faulty vests were apparently pulled before they got to the field, they represent a significant portion of the company's contracted allotment.

Brooks, meanwhile, according to "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 50 Cent, Tom Petty, Aerosmith, Eagles Don Henley and Joe Walsh, Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks, DJ AM, rap diva Ciara, and Kenny G. for over 300 guests, who listened during their pre-dinner cocktails. The 50-year-old Brooks allegedly alternated between a black-leather, metal-studded suit-with biker-chic necklace chains and diamonds from Chrome Hearts jewelers-and a hot-pink suede version of the same ensemble. As Bua comments, "it certainly gives you a look into the world of defense contractors. They are rolling in blood money and happy to spend a lot of it to spoil their kids rotten. My country 'tis of thee ..."


staff reports - Free-Market News Network




Web Address: http://www.FreeMarketNews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=2925

[Livia]

And still more backlash:

Why the world's best 13th birthday party has Iraq vets' blood boiling

On the day the President told the American people to prepare for the long haul in Iraq, here’s a story that seems to perfectly sum up our priorities as a nation. They’re calling it Mitzvahpalooza. It may go down in history as the world’s most obscene birthday party (eat your heart out Dennis Kozlowski). David H. Brooks, CEO of bulletproof vest maker DHB Industries, spared no expense for his 13-year old daughter’s entry into adulthood. The girl and 300 of her closest BFFs were entertained recently in New York’s Rainbow Room by Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, Kenny G, Aerosmith and, believe it or not, 50 Cent (I guess 500 large can make you forget all about street cred). It was hosted by Tom Petty. The reported cost: $10 million. See the pics here.

First off, what 13-year old is a fan of Don Henley, Fleetwood Mac and, for God’s sake, Kenny G? Who was this party really for? Second, and more importantly, where does a guy get $10 million to blow on a Bat Mitzvah? Well, it appears, from you, the American taxpayer. According to United for a Fair Economy, Brooks and Co. have made a tidy profit outfitting our nation’s fighting men and women in body armor that allegedly couldn’t take a hit from a 9mm round:

David H. Brooks, CEO of bulletproof vest maker DHB Industries, earned $70 million in 2004, 13,349% more than his 2001 compensation of $525,000. Brooks also sold company stock worth about $186 million last year, spooking investors who drove DHB’s share price from more than $22 to as low as $6.50 [DHB was trading at $4.20 Wednesday]. In May 2005, the U.S. Marines recalled more than 5,000 DHB armored vests after questions were raised about their effectiveness. By that time, Brooks had pocketed over $250 million in war windfalls.

Read UFE’s full report Executive Excess 2005 (PDF, 3.81 MB).

According to a government memo uncovered in an eight-month investigation by the Marine Corps Times, the company’s vests, made by DHB subsidiary Point Blank Body Armor, failed tests when they suffered “multiple complete penetrations” of 9mm pistol rounds and other ballistics. In the memo, government ballistics expert James MacKiewicz said his office “has little confidence in the performance” of the body armor.

The Marines later disputed the results of the tests.

A spokeperson for the Marines issued a statement at the time saying, “Even though they may not have met contract specifications there’s no evidence to suggest (troops) would be or had been at risk.”

Nevertheless, the Marines recalled 5,277 of the company’s “Interceptor” vests in May.

“It’s shocking to see a guy who has no shame like this. He may be the world champion war profiteer,” said the Institute for Policy Studies’ Sarah Anderson, who co-authored the report. “The shareholders are up in arms over the defective equipment, the military is up and arms, and he’s out partying.”

Indeed, Iraq war veterans are not pleased. Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq war veteran and founder of Operation Truth (and my frequent radio partner), told me, “It is already disturbing that anyone can live the high-life as a result of the booming war business, but it is particularly disheartening to hear about someone having their own private Lollapalooza, in part from the sale of defective equipment that put our troops in harm’s way. America must take a long, hard look at the idea of profit on the battlefield.”

Another OpTruth Iraq vet, Bobby Yen, had a darker take, “I guess it just goes to show the state of affairs and the state of mind of this tired, old (of mind) veteran that when this story came up it didn’t even make me blink. So some rich guy somewhere who made tons of money selling defective bulletproof vests to the military has a filthy rich party for his daughter’s Bat Mitzvah. ‘Oh, wow, someone wants to endanger my life for a few bucks?’ Sounds like the entire war. So the soldiers get paid poorly, on occasion shell out there own few bucks to buy gear, lose a year of their life, lose their sanity, lose their limbs, lose their lives, and a very few, very select group closely connected to our government get very, very rich. OK, if that’s what the American people want. If that’s what they voted for.”

Bruce S. Rubin, of rbb Public Relations, sent this reply on Brooks’ behalf:

“The party was to commemorate his daughter’s Bat Mitzvah, a cherished tradition in the Jewish religion, marking the passage into adulthood. The costs of the reception are private, although I can acknowledge that figures which have been reported are wildly exaggerated and untrue. All other aspects of the reception are private.

I do not accept your use of the word ‘decadence.’ I think it’s inappropriate and inaccurate. I have not seen any criticism from Iraq war vets. I have, however, seen hundreds and hundreds of letters, notes, etc. that Mr. Brooks has received from current and former members of our Armed Forces thanking him and his company for the protective vests which have saved countless lives.

Point Blank takes great pride in the quality, design and workmanship of all of our products, especially our life saving body armor products. To our knowledge, none of the hundreds of thousands of Outer Tactical Vests that Point Blank has manufactured have failed in the field—an extraordinary achievement. All testing procedures for these vests were approved by, and conducted under the close supervision of, the U.S. government. For specific information, I would refer you to the military, which conducted the recall action.

Mr. Brooks’ compensation for DHB is fully disclosed in the company’s annual report. For 2004, it was approximately $3 million.”

According to the company’s 2004 annual report, Rubin is correct. Brooks earned around $3 million in salary and “other compensation.” But he also pocketed an additional $69,930,000 in cash from exercising stock options. This does not include Brooks’ $186 million stock sale, which is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

On November 21, the Army Times reported, “The Army and Marine Corps are recalling more than 18,000 body armor vests because they failed ballistic requirements when they were manufactured in 1999-2000. Many of those vests may now be in the war zone. The Nov. 16 recall order is the second in six months for the Marines. The Corps recalled more than 5,000 vests in May. All of the vests involved were produced by the same manufacturer, Point Blank Body Armor Inc. of Pompano Beach, Fla., under contract to the Marine Corps.”

http://www.gnn.tv/articles/1915/50_C...on_Bat_Mitzvah

[David]

Originally Posted by Livia

And still more backlash:

Why the world's best 13th birthday party has Iraq vets' blood boiling

On the day the President told the American people to prepare for the long haul in Iraq, here’s a story that seems to perfectly sum up our priorities as a nation. They’re calling it Mitzvahpalooza. It may go down in history as the world’s most obscene birthday party (eat your heart out Dennis Kozlowski). David H. Brooks, CEO of bulletproof vest maker DHB Industries, spared no expense for his 13-year old daughter’s entry into adulthood.

This Brooks is being blamed for a couple of things: first of all, they say he's crass (which seems beyond doubt), & secondly, they say his body armor doesn't work.

Why blame him -- or at least only him -- for the bad body armor? The guys to blame are the guys in the Department of Defense who awarded Brokks's company the contract to supply that armor. Why did they award the contract to a manufacturer of bad product? The DoD has plenty opportunities to verify the products & services they buy for the military. Did they just conveniently "overlook" the crappy armor because someone in the DoD owed Brooks a favor?

The whole Bat Mitzvah brouhaha is just a smokescreen. The real (potential) story here is this contract between the U.S. Department of Defense & DHB Industries & the possibility of inadequate or nonfunctioning equipment being hush-hushed.

Also, someone in another thread said earlier that the average cost of a Bat Mitzvah is $40,000. That's ridiculous. Where did that info come from? First of all, all it really costs for a Bar Mitzvah is the cost of membership with a congregation & some peripheral costs & fees associated with the Men's Club or Sisterhood providing wine, challah, etc., for the oneg. Temple membership depends on where, but runs from a few hundred a year to a couple of thousand a year -- still nowhere near $40,000. Secondly, you have to differentiate between the Bat Mitzvah & the party AFTERWARDS. The Bat Mitzvah is the religious ritual itself -- calling the child to the Torah as an adult in the Jewish community. As long as you are a paid member of a congregation, your child is "eligible" to have a Bat Mitzvah there. Thirdly, Bar Mitzvah parties (for boys) probably cost more than parties for girls because many parents feel they're going to give their daughters big weddings, so traditionally the boys get the bigger parties at Bar Mitzvah time.

So as far as costs & Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, it's like a wedding: You can party for hundreds of dollars, or you can party for hundreds of thousands of dollars. But to have the actual ceremony BEFORE the partying you plan to do, it doesn't cost much at all.

So now let's dig up some REAL dirt on this DHB Industries ... did they know the armor they were selling to the military was bad?

[sodascouts]

Originally Posted by Jyqm

Can you post your source, Nancy?

Thanks!

No sweat. I would have done so earlier but in the past I have been told by a moderator that linking to other message boards was against the TOS and thus posts containing such links would be deleted. Therefore, I'll simply put the content of it here. The admins of the Eagles' only active message board received the following from his office:

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PETTY, EAGLES, NICKS: All Together Now

How’s this for entertainment at a bat mitzvah -- Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the Eagles’ Don Henley and Joe Walsh with Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty, rapper 50 Cent, Kenny G and others. That’s what you got if you went to the bat mitzvah of Elizabeth Brooks last weekend in New York. Her dad is David H. Brooks, the C-E-O of D-H-B Industries, and he doled out the big bucks for the rock legends, including a reported two-million to Tyler and Perry, who did a 45-minute set. Petty did an acoustic set. Henley did not receive a check for his performance, but a check was sent to his Walden Woods Project.

------------------------------

You will find this on the message board of http://www.eaglesfans.com .