LCO Congratulates our Latest Intern Graduate Morgan Z.

LCO would like to extend our deepest thanks and congratulations to Morgan Z. who recently graduated from our intern program.  A few weeks back, Morgan was a past Intern Idol of the Week and during her time here has made a huge contribution to our organization.  We are sad to see her go, but wish her the best in all of her future endeavors.

LCO’s internship program is one of the longest running in North America, with over 4,000 graduates. LCO interns have gone on to hold top jobs throughout the entertainment industry, and the program itself has been praised by such prominent names as Joseph Lieberman, Michael Bloomberg, David Geffen, George Bush, John McCain and Bill Clinton.

If you are looking to jumpstart your career in the Entertainment Industry, the LCO Internship Program is just the thing for you!

We are currently accepting applicants. Please send your resume and a brief letter of interest to: LCO.internships@gmail.com

To find out more about LCO, follow us on Twitter @lcoonline or please visit us on the web at: www.LCOonline.com

Tech Talk: Will the Verizon iPhone Debut Tomorrow?

The tech rumor that simply will not die got even more life this weekend when the blogs were buzzing about a possible announcement unveiling the new Verizon iPhone.  This past weekend The Wall Street Journal’s tech blog All Things Digital said that their “inside sources” haven’t given them too many details, but the partnership between Verizon and iPhone is pretty much a done deal and will be announced on Tuesday in NYC.  There are also rumblings that Apple head honcho Steve Jobs will also be on hand for the announcement.

Usually most Apple news comes directly from the horse’s mouth (Jobs) out of Cupertino, but since there probably aren’t any major hardware modifications for the Verizon iPhone,  tomorrow will just be a partnership announcement.

But we’ve been down this road before so well see.  With the start of every new year, this rumor gains more speed but there are a few noticeable details that give this rumor more credibility:

1. The “alleged” announcement is being made AFTER CES , The International Consumer Electronic Show that just concluded this weekend.  Perhaps that was done in a move NOT to overshadow Verizon/HTC partnership for its new wonderphone the “Thunderbolt”
2. The very popular tech blog Gizmodo has been left out of the party.  To our knowledge there is no “known” beef between Verizon and Gizmodo, but Apple and Gizmodo is a “whole-nother-story”.  Apple banned the blog from all of their press events after they purchased a “lost” (Apple says stolen)  iPhone 4G prototype months before its unveiling and dissected it on their blog for the whole world to see last year.
3. Verizon employees have been notified that they aren’t allowed to take any time off for the month of February (in preparation for all that new business running in from AT&T perhaps?)

We’ve been down this road before but tomorrow hopefully there will finally be some truth to the rumors.

iSmashPhone will be live blogging from the event so check out their site and check back here for updates.

Arizona Shooting: Alleged Shooter to Appear in Court Today

Tragedy struck Tuscon, Arizona this weekend when a shooter took the lives of 6 people and attempted the assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona)  at a “Congress on Your Corner” event  Saturday.  The lone gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, 22, is scheduled to be arraigned in court today at 2pm MT.

Loughner opened fire on the crowd gathered in the Tuscon Safeway grocery store  parking lot shortly after 10am inquiring 14 and killing 6 people: Chief Federal Court judge John Roll (63) 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green, Gifford’s Director of Communications, Gabe Zimmerman (30)and retirees and Arizona residents Dorwin Stoddard (76),  Dorothy Morris (76) Phyllis Schneck (79).  His main target however was U.S. Rep Giffords (40) whom Loughner shot in the head at point black range.  Giffords remains in critical condition following the attack, however her doctors are “optimistic” about her recovery.

Loughner has been charged on three counts: first degree murder, attempted murder and attempting to kill a member of congress.  The state is set to also bring charged against the gunman.

This weekends’ events have also sparked a heated conversation about the climate of the current political rhetoric and what role it had to play in this tragedy.   Oddly enough, prior to her shooting, Giffords felt that the rhetoric did in fact need to be turned down and she expressed this in an email written to Arizona Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R).    In her note to Grayson, Gifford said

“After you get settled, I would love to talk about what we can do to promote centrism and moderation,” wrote Giffords. “I am one of only 12 Dems left in a GOP district (the only woman) and think that we need to figure out how to tone our rhetoric and partisanship down.”

Pima County Sheriff Clarance Dupnik has also been very vocal this weekend.  During an interview with ABC News, Sheriff Dupnik explained his feeling towards the recent events saying:

“We have become a very angry country, part of it very ugly. And that even though we have free speech in this country, constantly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, making the people angry at government . . . may benefit some party, but I think those people have to consider that they may have some responsibility when incidents like this occur and may occur in the future.”

Authorities are still conducting an investigation into what led Loughner to commit this crime and if he did in fact act alone.  There has been no concrete evidence disclosed at this time linking him to any specific agenda.

Stay tuned for emerging details.