Elin Lets Charity Loot Her Termite-Infested Tear-Me-Down

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Here I was about to call Habitat For Humanity to see if they wanted my old La-zy-Boy and somehow I feel like it won't amount to much after reading Bill DiPaolo's story about Elin Nordegren letting the charity outfit loot the to-be-demolished $12 million mansion in Florida. And I must say, a nice bit of ink to counter the demolition story. Taking notes Steiny?
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Tiger: "I've heard people question whether Fred would be a good Ryder Cup captain, and I just don't get it."

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Strong endorsement from Tiger for Fred Couples as a Ryder Cup captain in a lengthy diary post at TigerWoods.com:

I've heard people question whether Fred would be a good Ryder Cup captain, and I just don't get it. I think that Fred is a great captain. Whether it's The Presidents Cup or the Ryder Cup, it doesn't matter.

The way he keeps us loose and how much fun we have -- it's just great to play for him. He's a lot more competitive than people realize. He just doesn't show it. He shows it with us around, but the public doesn't see it.

"It was a significant win because it was significant to Woods."

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Regardless of how you feel about the strength/size of field, the course, the time of year or Tiger himself, Doug Ferguson's review of Woods's win sums up why this is a little different. He's stating the obvious, but sometimes the obvious gets lost in the obsession over numbers and personalities.
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This Weekend's Airplane Banner Won't Be Heckling Tiger

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For those wondering what that plane is doing at the Chevron World Challenge this weekend, here's a news release explaining what's up. Though I'm not sure about cleverness of announcing such a stunt in advance.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 3, 2011

Chevron Challenged for Environmental Crimes at Golf Tournament

Groups Demand Company Follow Court Orders and Clean up Toxic Mess in Ecuador

Thousand Oaks, CA – Today Rainforest Action Network (RAN) and Amazon Watch challenged Chevron Chairman and CEO John S. Watson with a high-flying demand that he clean up his company’s toxic mess in the Ecuadorian Amazon. An airplane banner will circle overhead for three hours on two days of the Chevron World Challenge golf tournament, calling on the executive to remediate the environmental disaster in Ecuador after three decades of contaminating the country's rainforest in reckless pursuit of profit.

RAN and Amazon Watch sponsored this message to Chevron, demanding that the company abide by the $18 billion judgment resulting from one of the world's largest oil-related disasters in history. In a historic ruling this fall, a group of Ecuadorian indigenous and farming communities prevailed over Chevron in both U.S. and Ecuadorian courts in their legal efforts to hold the company accountable for human rights violations and the ongoing environmental crisis it caused in Ecuador. CEO Watson and other Chevron executives routinely defy court orders by stating publically that they will never pay.

“Chevron has spent the last 18 years waging unprecedented public relations and legal campaigns to avoid dealing with the environmental and public health catastrophe it left in the Amazon rainforest,” said Ginger Cassady, Director of RAN’s Change Chevron campaign. “Today we’re challenging Chevron to clean more than their public image and repair the toxic legacy left in Ecuador.”

Today’s banner action comes on the heels of damning statements from another group of Latin Americans: government and regulatory officials in Brazil. After Chevron spilled an estimated 110,000 gallons of pure crude into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the state of Rio, Brazilian officials were outraged by Chevron executives’ response. At first Chevron lied about the origin of the spill, then they low-balled the number of barrels spilled into the ocean and told regulators the damage was contained when it wasn’t. Brazilian officials are threatening fines up to $145 million, as well as possible prison terms, for what they describe as Chevron’s "environmental crimes."

“From Ecuador to Brazil, Chevron has cemented its position in South America as an ambassador of arrogance and environmental racism,” said Mitch Anderson, Corporate Campaigns Director at Amazon Watch. “This is a company that consistently flouts the rule of law with tremendous hubris. As we know from the ancient Greeks, hubris comes with an awful price.”

The Brazil spill is the most recent embarrassment for Watson during his tenure as Chevron’s chief executive. The Ecuador disaster has generated negative publicity for 18 years and cost Chevron hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees.

Both Chevron and the Ecuadorians have appealed the $18 billion judgment in Ecuador. The Ecuadorians are arguing for a higher damage award. If the judgment is upheld by the country's appeals court, the Ecuadorians will prepare to seize Chevron's assets in other countries, possibly in Latin America, as the company no longer owns assets in Ecuador.