The HP Board seeking strategic changes

The Hewlett-Packard Co. director said on Wednesday that the board would look to newly named chief executive Mark Hurd to recommend the sweeping changes in strategy at the ailing computer and printer maker.

The HP director Patricia C. Dunn, who headed the executive search committee that announced Hurd’s appointment Tuesday, said the board would ask Hurd to make major decisions about the company including whether to break HP into two or more pieces and how to improve financial performance in all five divisions. Also on the call was HP Chairman Patricia Dunn, who added, “We were looking for a CEO whose strategy was to execute the businesses performance to their highest level. There were not litmus tests [concerning a no-divestiture strategy].”

Some the analysts and shareholders previously have advocated spinning off HP’s printing or PC businesses to raise shareholder value. Though Hurd didn’t dismiss that possibility, he tempered his comments by saying, “That’s not the first thing I’m going to work on.” The Hurd, formerly the president and CEO of NCR, said his top priority is to meet with HP employees, customers and partners to gain a better understanding of the company’s business. Speaking to reporters at the company’s headquarters here, Mr. Hurd, who takes the reins on Friday, said it would take time to acquaint himself with the challenges facing the company’s five divisions, but he would not rule out anything that might be necessary to put the company back on track. (more…)

The Deputy Says that the Red Lake Gunman Was Wounded

The student’s rampage at the Minnesota high school renews the discussion of school security, & nationally and here in the Westmoreland County. Will it touch off another round of spending on all manner of security? If school the shootings across the country and threats of violence locally demonstrate anything, it’s the proven value of proactive, informed students and staff who are vigilant and mindful of the origins of violence.

“My son Louis … is a good boy with a good heart who never harmed anyone in his entire life,” Floyd “Buck” Jourdain Jr. said in a written statement. “As events unfold, it will be proven that the individual who committed this horrible crime did so of his own choice and that he acted alone.” (Video: Teen arrested)

Louis Jourdain was arrested Sunday, six days after 16-year-old Jeff Weise fatally shot nine people, including five students at Red Lake High School, before killing himself in a classroom Weise, 16, shot and killed five students, a security guard and a teacher at the school on March 21. Before going to the school, he shot and killed his grandfather, who was a tribal policeman, and the elder’s longtime female companion. (more…)

Zimbabweans vote in polls

Opposition Movement for Democratic Change, the cowed by government pressure, appears weaker than in the last two elections when it came close to achieving shock victories. MDC and Western observers said both those votes were rigged.

This election has already been branded unfair by both the US and the European Union.
The EU blasted the polls as “phoney” and warned it would take unspecified steps against Zimbabwe after the election. Mike Sibanda strode down the dingy streets of Zimbabwe’s second-largest city with a swagger, chest out, shoulders rolling, a broad, wise-guy smile on his face. The image exuded a single message: I’m nobody’s fool.

So when the subject of Thursday’s national election came up, Sibanda, 24 and long attracted to opposition politics, swiped his right hand in the air and said dismissively, “Ah, it’s useless.” That week, as opposition activists braved possible arrests by gathering for a nighttime rally at a suburban park near here, Sibanda gathered instead with friends to drink beer.

Court Rejects New Schiavo Request

The Terri Schindler-Schiavo lay drying out like the desert palm in a Pinellas Park nursing home, I am reminded of proud Prometheus, who once foolishly attempted to steal heaven’s fire. In return, the gods punished him for his arrogance and presumption by chaining him to a rock, where eagles daily devoured his continually regenerating flesh. In this way, the gods made sure he would never steal their fire again.

Today in Florida, the Prometheus is once more on the prowl, and is even now filching the celestial flame. He is busy playing God, determining for us our appointed hour. Let loose by the guards who were sleeping at the gate, he shadows our every move, black-robed and insidious, a solemn statutory Grim Reaper.Justices did not explain their decision and there was no indication how they voted.

Schiavo’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, filed their request shortly after 9 p.m. and the court released its order at 10:40 p.m. Their attorney, David Gibbs III, had characterized the request as “pretty much our last appeal.” (more…)