Rape Culture: Weinstein's employment contract anticipated and allowed his preying on women

Surely his wasn't the only contract with that provision

Surely his wasn't the only contract with that provision

In fact, he has an excellent argument that he was wrongfully fired by Miramax

Serial sexual harasser Harvey Weinstein's contract with The Weinstein Company (TWC) included a clause that allowed for his sexual harassment as long as he paid the costs of settlements out of his own pocket, TMZ reported Thursday.
According to Weinstein's 2015 employment contract, as seen by TMZ, if he got sued for sexual harassment or any other "misconduct" resulting in a settlement or judgment against TWC, as long as Weinstein paid the company what the company paid out, plus a fine, he was good to go.
The contract reportedly states: "You [Weinstein] will pay the company liquidated damages of $250,000 for the first such instance, $500,000 for the second such instance, $750,000 for the third such instance, and $1,000,000 for each additional instance."
According to the contract, a payout by Weinstein constituted a "cure" for the misconduct and no further action could be taken.
In other words, TMZ explained, "Weinstein could be sued over and over and as long as he wrote a check, he keeps his job."

After seven years on the market, can a Greenwich Time puff piece really help find a buyer for this house?

Nothing like a flat roof in a connecticut winter

Nothing like a flat roof in a connecticut winter

GT's out with an "article" profiling a back country contemporary up at 66 Cherry Valley Road, currently priced at $10.888 million. I've always felt a pang of guilt about this property because back in 2003, when it came on the market at $18 million, I wrote about it in a newspaper column that was running at the time. I scoffed at the price, and the design, and mentioned that it adjoined a pond so choked with algae that the seller should be expected to throw a lawnmower into the deal. The owner was so incensed that he called, not me, but his own listing agent, and tore his ears off for a full half-hour, or so I'm told. That poor guy, new to the business, was sufficiently traumatized that he quit the business, permanently, immediately after his client hung up. Sorry, pal.

I don't know where that young man ended up, but a new agent was assigned to the property and she eventually sold it 9to her own client) in 2005 for $11.4 million. No mention in the sales report whether a lawnmower was included.

In any event, those buyers have been trying to unload it since 2010, starting at $13 million and barely budging as the years crept by. Personally, I'd put more faith in a substantial price cut than a glowing article in Greenwich Time, but perhaps that's just me.

Oops! Farricker agrees to pay $11,000 back to state for improper payments received

Though I'll always admire him for goosing Peter Tesei during their debate

Though I'll always admire him for goosing Peter Tesei during their debate

State Ethics Board concludes that he shouldn't have been reimbursed for cable TV, mileage and other expenses while serving as interim Lottery Chief.

Frank and I are friends, but I really haven't spoken to him in the past couple of years: I keep my real estate license with him, and that's about it, so I don't know his side of the story. I do know that one of the reasons we haven't communicated much is that he was always traveling to Hartford. I'd have thought the mileage for those trips would have been a justified expense, but again, I don't know the story. I do know that Frank served as the unpaid Lottery Commissioner for years, driving to Hartford many times a week, so why someone in Hartford is now complaining about mileage reimbursement is, to me, a mystery.

Price cut on building site in Mead Point

When the leaves Are down, you can see Long Island sound

When the leaves Are down, you can see Long Island sound

28 Windrose Way. The former Carl Bennett estate (of Caldor's, for those with long memories, and reputedly one of the kindest gentlemen of his era). Dropped $700,000 today, to $8.250 million. The heirs priced this at $17.950 back in 2009 before finally selling it to this owner for $6.5 in 2011.

These sellers tore down the original house (built in 1985; how soon our current housing stock becomes obsolete) but otherwise haven't done much. Presumably, their plans to build new were scrapped.

Decent lot, but not high enough to offer the spectacular view down Long Island Sound that its location would otherwise suggest, and the land mass to its right is one the market as one, perhaps two building lots, so there will be neighbors.

Still, it's Mead Point, and that's worth a lot.

Same, tired old philosophy, and yet as a Democrat, she's guaranteed a voice on the School Board

Hey, big spender

Hey, big spender

BOE candidate debate was held last night. This quote from one of the two Democrat "contenders" (they're automatically given a seat at the table), Kathleen Stowe, illustrates exactly what's wrong with our town's spending. Speaking of the proposed New Lebanon School, Stowe recommended that we go full-steam ahead with the$37 million project, regardless of whether the state will contribute $23 million.

Stowe, an investment banker, agreed money for the New Lebanon project should be released by the town right away.
“It should be up to the standards for the rest of Greenwich,” she said. “We can build it. We’re Greenwich. "

Music halls, swimming pools, police and firemen palaces, money's no object - we're Greenwich.

Mark Twain summed up the situation a long time ago:

In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made School Boards.
Following the Equator; Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar

The getaway vehicle was an ambulance

step on it!

step on it!

Educator who was awarded $1 million as winner of "The Nobel Prize of Teaching" arrested for shoplifting, again.

The founder of an Edgecomb school who in 2015 won a $1 million prize Global Teacher Prize has been charged for a third time with shoplifting, this time allegedly stealing a $28 dog leash from Ames True Value in Wiscasset.
Nancie Atwell, 66, of Southport received a summons for theft and violating conditions of release on Friday, according to Wiscasset Police Chief Jeffrey Lange.
Security personnel at the store on Route 1 reported to police that while reviewing security camera footage, they saw Atwell take the leash.
Atwell founded the Center for Teaching and Learning in 1990 and has written numerous books about education methods. In March 2015, she traveled to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to accept what is known as the “Nobel Prize of teaching.”

No mention of whether she'll be running for political office.

Don't let Hartford's budgeteers or their pet unions see the study; it'll ruin their day

We just need a keener knife!

We just need a keener knife!

Fairfield County has slowest economic growth in the nation

Fairfield County led the nation in wage stagnation in the recession recovery, according to a new study, with people making less in 2015 than they did in 2010.
On a per capita basis over five years, the Fairfield County area saw income decline 5.3 percent to $81,225, GoBankingRates determined from U.S. Census Bureau data, with economists have attributed the area’s inability to generate momentum to gains in lower-wage jobs in hospitality and entertainment compared to previous periods when the region added finance and corporate jobs at a rapid clip.
GoBankingRates.com listed the Tulsa, Okla. area as having the fastest wage growth nationally, with per capita income up 35.7 percent over five years through 2015, the result of ample new commercial development in downtown Tulsa according to the study’s authors.

I'm a tad skeptical of this report, because there are some ares of the country that seem to be dying, rather than merely withering on the vine, like Fairfield County's, but who knows? If it is accurate, Maybe Hartford should direct its attention to figuring out how to tax Tulsa.