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A commitment to our better values

att-logo1We received a very nice reply from AT&T’s State President Gregg F. Morton to our letter to the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce this morning and got permission to share a portion of it with you.

We have yet to hear from the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce member services regarding our concerns as a prospective member.

Below is the kind of commitment we look forward to seeing in action as Sen. Jim Kyle demonstrates an equal commitment to Tennessee’s strongest business values by filing a repeal of HB600.

While the timing of the announced change by the Chamber was not ideal, I believe their public statement sent a positive message to show that the business community stands against discrimination. AT&T does not support any laws, or legislative efforts, that discriminate against populations based on race, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity, and I know businesses across our state similarly oppose any form of discrimination.

That opposition should be clearly reflected by those who represent us in Nashville, and I am confident that this will be the case going forward. I know AT&T will work with NGLCC and other advocacy groups to oppose measures that we believe to be discriminatory against these populations, not only in the state of Tennessee, but also across the nation, and we will encourage the Chamber to adopt similar positions in the future.

The Tennessee Chamber’s most prominent job creators FedEx, AT&T, Comcast, DuPont, Pfizer, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Caterpillar, KPMG, Whirlpool, Embraer and United HealthCare all have since expressed far better values than those misrepresented by the Tennessee GOP in HB0600.

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An open letter to the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce

tnchamberThe following open letter was sent this morning to membership development and Board of Director members of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce from prospective member Short Mountain Distillery. Our letter repeats concerns posted publicly by Alcoa, Nissan, FedEx, Comcast, AT&T, Embraer, KPMG, UnitedHealth and other prominent business leaders.

As a small business owner in Tennessee, I’m very interested in what the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce can offer us as members. However, recent events involving your president, Deb Woolley, are a cause of great concern.

I’m referring to the Chamber actively lobbying Tennessee lawmakers for legislation (HB600) that does not represent the values and business practices of the Chamber’s very best known brands and job creators.

Since Friday, several of these members, including Alcoa, Nissan, FedEx, Comcast, AT&T, Embraer, KPMG, and UnitedHealth, learned of the Chamber’s support of HB600. Within weekend hours, these business leaders issued statements distancing their successful brands from the Chamber’s misrepresentation of their values to lawmakers, our governor and the voters of Tennessee. It should have been as immediately clear to Chamber President Deb Woolley that this legislation was bad for business.

Once these brands reiterated their strong and successful values in public opposition to the Chamber’s actions, Mrs. Woolley blamed activists for the united actions of the Chamber’s best members and then issued a statement of opposition to the legislation after Gov. Bill Haslam had already signed the bill.

My concern is how the very best brands and job creating members were represented by the Chamber. What assurances do other businesses have that Chamber leadership will adequately represent the values of its best members? What can the Chamber do to ensure the values of the Chamber’s most valued brands wont be co-opted by personal political agendas causing members to issue embarrassing press releases to create distance from Chamber mistakes?

The Chamber benefits from diverse membership and leadership that stands for the values that make its best members as successful as they are. I appreciate your understanding and any effort you make to address these concerns.

Sincerely,

Billy Kaufman, CEO
Short Mountain Distillery

http://shortmountaindistillery.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Short_Mountain
Facebook: http://facebook.com/ShortMountain
YouTube: http://youtube.com/user/shortmountainshine

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Domestic Assault charge against former TN GOP Spokesman Bill Hobbs

December 11th, 2009 No comments

(AUTHOR NOTE: the following story is a reprint of my breaking news post on WKRN’s “Nashville Is Talking” on December 11, 2009)

Former Tennessee GOP spokesman and political consultant Bill Hobbs has been ordered by a Williamson County court to undergo counseling and pay $100 to a domestic violence shelter.

The judgment stems from an alleged domestic assault charge filed by his wife Anna Hobbs in October. An arrest warrant was issued October 12, 2009 charging William H. Hobbs with domestic assault. His bail was set at $1,500. You can view the public documents here.

Here’s what the affidavit of complaint says:

On 10-12-2009 at approx 5:30 PM, BPD Officer Huddleston was dispatched to Vanderbilt Med Ctr, 21st Ave, Nashville, in response to a reported domestic violence assault. Upon arrival, Officer Hudleston spoke with Anna Hobbs. Mrs Hobbs stated that on 10-11-2009 at approx 11:15 PM she and her husband William got into an argument that turned physical when Mr. Hobbs struck the left side of Mrs Hobbs head and knocked her down. Mrs Hobbs also suffered visible injuries to her left wrist. A short time later, Mr Hobbs left the residence. On 10-12-2009 Mrs. Hobbs head was so painful that she went to Vanderbilt ed Ctr for treatment. Vanderbilt reported the incident to BPD. Mrs Hobbs gave a written statement to Officer Huddleston.

According to the order granting bail that was signed by the defendant: “The defendant is directed to vacate or stay away from the home of the alleged victim and to stay away from any other location where the victim is likely to be.” Hobbs could not be reached for comment as of this post.

A scheduled court appearance on February 2, 2010 at 9 a.m. will be waived if Hobbs incurs no new charges and abides by court ordered counseling.

Hobbs’s only other known run in with the law was in June of 2006 on a class B misdemeanor for driving on a suspended license.

Hobbs worked in communications for Belmont University before parting ways in 2006 following a controversial blog post denigrating the Islamic faith. Hobbs later went on to work as the Communications Director for the Tennessee Republican Party where he made international news for depicting then Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama as a Muslim.

Bible Theme Park backer photographed women for adult magazines

penthouse bartur

(AUTHOR NOTE: the following story is a reprint of my exclusive breaking news post on WKRN’s “Nashville Is Talking” on May 5, 2008)

One of the backers of the proposed Bible Theme Park USA in Murfreesboro is a very successful businessman but was once more known for his photographs of cover girls and “Pets of the Month” for Penthouse Magazine.

Amnon Bar-Tur’s photographs graced the covers of at least one other adult magazine and spanning from the late 60s to the early 80s. A quick online search revealed this and also reference to a 2001 Chapter 11 filing of a photography and media company Bar-Tur co-founded that reportedly owed $34,000,0000 to J.P. Morgan Chase.

J.P. Morgan Chase had given the company a loan of about $35 million to finance a number of mergers, according to an affidavit of David J. Manning, C2 Media’s president and chief executive.

C2 Media acquired seven companies just before it began operations in May 1999. It purchased four other companies during the first quarter of 2000, the affidavit said.

Amnon Bar-Tur is in his element bringing big money to big deals. In October of last year, Amnon Bar-Tur was interviewed in a New York Times article about a high end investment club he’s a part of called Tiger 21 (The Investment Group for Exceptional Returns in the 21st Century). As Amnon and others suggest in the article, Tiger 21 is also a kind of therapy group from millionaires.

The very act of giving a narrative shape to one’s life story, he said, not only helps the rest of the group better understand that person and his issues and priorities; it also helps the presenter focus on the rationale for decisions he has made and decisions he is considering. That level of depth means the group is uniquely qualified to challenge someone when he is veering off track or dreaming of something that from the perspective of one or more members of the group could prove disastrous.

Amnon’s life journey more recently involves organizing capital to back creative theme parks ventures with the help of fellow Tiger 21 members.

Amnon Bar-Tur, managing partner of SafeHarbor Holdings, an investment holding company, recently joined a fellow Tiger member, and together they raised $330 million from investors to build a Hard Rock Theme Park in Myrtle Beach, S.C. “We’re wealthy enough where we can pool our assets and open our own doors into alternative investments,” says Sonnenfeldt. Indeed, the group’s total assets surpass $5 billion.

In 2006, Amnon Bar-Tur announced that partnership on behalf of Safeharbor Holdings, LLC with a fellow Tiger 21 member to bring Hard Rock Park to Myrtle Beach, SC. Two years later, Hard Rock Park’s grand opening is now a month away. But two weeks before that grand opening is a May 15 date with the Rutherford County Commission to learn whether another one of Safeharbor’s theme park projects will get the county’s stamp of approval. Hard Rock Park plans to publish their first quarter earnings on the same day.

According to the proposed park’s website, Bible Park USA will be a “park that brings the Bible to life through well-loved, familiar stories and ancient historical experiences.” The park is proposed for the Blackman community near 840. The park developer and project sponsor is Amnon Bar-Tur’s son, Safeharbor Holding co-founder and managing director Armon Bar-Tur. You might have seen him quoted in stories about the park’s progress throughout Rutherford County’s approval process.

One person you won’t see quoted often in this deal is Armon’s father. Amnon has a keen sense for business and made Hard Rock Park a reality, but in the late 60s, 70s and 80s he had a good eye for something entirely different. Amnon, it turns out, is somewhat famous to those who now collect his work published in the pages of Penthouse Magazine. Several editions throughout the early 1970s featuring Amnon’s cover girls and Pets of the Month go for as much as $30 online. Editions of Club, a more hard core adult magazine featuring Bar-Tur’s work, now go for as much as $300.

Before word of this latest revelation was known to many of the businesses now supporting the developer’s plans, local business owner Sharon Petty put the proposed uses of the Blackman Community property in stark religious terms (listen to the audio).

“I mean, we’re right smack in the middle of all the Bible belt. So people really look at Murfreesboro as kind of a Mecca. It’s a place to actually join in together. Blackman community is really going to benefit from this rather than hurting them. They could have had all kinds of ugly things. They could have even had adult entertainment on that highway, on that freeway. You can actually have adult entertainment. Which one would they rather have? Something with God’s book on it, or would they rather have the Devil’s den out there?”

It is not clear what the impact, if any, this news will have on supporters of Bible Theme Park USA. but it does raise one very important question. How much due diligence have county commissioners and supporters done when a simple Google search would have revealed this and more?

UPDATE 3:57pm – Jeff Diamond with The Ingram Group, a firm retained by Safeharbor Holdings, LLC as a consultant on public and government relations for Bible Theme Park USA, sent a bio for Amnon Bar-Tur (view full word doc). Ingram Group also shared the following statement from Amnon’s son Armon in response to this developing story.

“Surely what a young immigrant photographer did 35 years ago to make a living in his first job out of college as a fashion photographer has no relevance to the development of our world-class tourist attraction in Rutherford County in 2008.

“I am proud of what my father, Amnon Bar-Tur, has accomplished in his lifetime — from young Israeli soldier and veteran newspaper photographer to head of European operations for SafeHarbor Holding. He has been a wonderful father and mentor to me, and I am saddened that this has become a matter for tabloid-style journalism.”