http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aX6znmP.VVxY
July 30 (Bloomberg) -- Taser International Inc., the world’s largest maker of stun guns, may cut its litigation costs in half with a video-recording system it plans to start selling by early 2010, Chairman Tom Smith said.
The Scottsdale, Arizona-based company estimates its $1.5 million in quarterly legal fees may fall over the next three to four years “just by video being present” at crime scenes, the co-founder said in an interview in New York yesterday.
Taser, whose weapons deliver an electric shock that can incapacitate and subdue crime suspects, was the defendant in 42 lawsuits alleging wrongful death or personal injury as of May, it said earlier this year.
For members of a jury, it may be hard to picture “somebody on drugs going berserk,” Smith, 42, said. “But now we’re going to give you a video image of it.”
The recording system works with the company’s Evidence.com product, which stores and processes data and video taken at crime scenes. Taser started testing it July 27, the day it introduced its newest stun-gun model, the X3. The company also plans to sell a portable recording system with a video camera worn on a headband that syncs with the Evidence.com software.
The recording system is “more likely to result in lower legal fees for police departments,” said Steve Dyer, an analyst with Craig-Hallum Capital
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Glaxo Adds Masks to Flu Franchise, Boosting Sales From Pandemic
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aWGa_HZqay1o
July 31 (Bloomberg) -- GlaxoSmithKline Plc may reap 1.53 billion pounds ($2.52 billion) of sales from the outbreak of pandemic flu in the next six months, and that’s before the drugmaker introduces its latest influenza product.
Glaxo makes Relenza, the second-biggest-selling drug for people who have caught swine flu, and is developing a vaccine to prevent the spread of the bug. The sales forecast from Royal Bank of Scotland Plc doesn’t take into account the company’s newest venture: A mask to shield wearers from the virus.
While it’s too early to estimate potential sales of the masks, Relenza and the swine flu vaccine might bring in 1.53 billion pounds over the next six months, said Michael Leacock, an analyst at RBS in London. Roche Holding AG, by contrast, forecasts sales of 1.39 billion Swiss francs ($1.28 billion) for its Tamiflu antiviral drug. Novartis AG’s swine flu vaccine will likely bring in $290 million, while Sanofi-Aventis SA’s own shot will generate $270 million, Credit Suisse Group AG estimates.
“Glaxo is one of the best-positioned companies to respond to and benefit from increasing demand for pandemic and seasonal flu products,” Jeffrey
July 31 (Bloomberg) -- GlaxoSmithKline Plc may reap 1.53 billion pounds ($2.52 billion) of sales from the outbreak of pandemic flu in the next six months, and that’s before the drugmaker introduces its latest influenza product.
Glaxo makes Relenza, the second-biggest-selling drug for people who have caught swine flu, and is developing a vaccine to prevent the spread of the bug. The sales forecast from Royal Bank of Scotland Plc doesn’t take into account the company’s newest venture: A mask to shield wearers from the virus.
While it’s too early to estimate potential sales of the masks, Relenza and the swine flu vaccine might bring in 1.53 billion pounds over the next six months, said Michael Leacock, an analyst at RBS in London. Roche Holding AG, by contrast, forecasts sales of 1.39 billion Swiss francs ($1.28 billion) for its Tamiflu antiviral drug. Novartis AG’s swine flu vaccine will likely bring in $290 million, while Sanofi-Aventis SA’s own shot will generate $270 million, Credit Suisse Group AG estimates.
“Glaxo is one of the best-positioned companies to respond to and benefit from increasing demand for pandemic and seasonal flu products,” Jeffrey
Pentagon, Eyeing Iran, Wants to Rush 30,000-Pound Bomb Program
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aMiQmByND.2A
The U.S. Defense Department wants to accelerate by three years the deployment of a 30,000-pound bunker-buster bomb, a request that reflects growing unease over nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea.
Comptroller Robert Hale, in a formal request to the four congressional defense committees earlier this month, asked permission to shift about $68 million in the Pentagon’s budget to this program to ensure the first four bombs could be mounted on stealthy B-2 bombers by July 2010.
Hale, in his July 8 request, said there was “an urgent operational need for the capability to strike hard and deeply buried targets in high-threat environments,” and top commanders of U.S. forces in Asia and the Middle East “recently identified the need to expedite” the bomb program.
The bomb would be the U.S. military’s largest and six times bigger than the 5,000-pound bunker buster that the Air Force now uses to attack deeply buried nuclear, biological or chemical sites.
Accelerating the program “is intended to, at the very least, give the president the option of conducting a strike to knock out
The U.S. Defense Department wants to accelerate by three years the deployment of a 30,000-pound bunker-buster bomb, a request that reflects growing unease over nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea.
Comptroller Robert Hale, in a formal request to the four congressional defense committees earlier this month, asked permission to shift about $68 million in the Pentagon’s budget to this program to ensure the first four bombs could be mounted on stealthy B-2 bombers by July 2010.
Hale, in his July 8 request, said there was “an urgent operational need for the capability to strike hard and deeply buried targets in high-threat environments,” and top commanders of U.S. forces in Asia and the Middle East “recently identified the need to expedite” the bomb program.
The bomb would be the U.S. military’s largest and six times bigger than the 5,000-pound bunker buster that the Air Force now uses to attack deeply buried nuclear, biological or chemical sites.
Accelerating the program “is intended to, at the very least, give the president the option of conducting a strike to knock out
Geithner Says Unemployment May Peak in Second Half of 2010
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aFgRG8QbeKNY
The U.S. unemployment rate may not peak until the second half of 2010, possibly necessitating another extension in unemployment benefits, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said.
“I think that is something that the administration and Congress are going to look very carefully at as we get closer to the end of this year,” Geithner said in an interview today on ABC’s “This Week” program.
The U.S. economy contracted at a better-than-forecast 1 percent annual pace in the second quarter, the Commerce
The U.S. unemployment rate may not peak until the second half of 2010, possibly necessitating another extension in unemployment benefits, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said.
“I think that is something that the administration and Congress are going to look very carefully at as we get closer to the end of this year,” Geithner said in an interview today on ABC’s “This Week” program.
The U.S. economy contracted at a better-than-forecast 1 percent annual pace in the second quarter, the Commerce
Afghan mission falls short of expectations: Lawmakers
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...show_article=1
Clear direction, seems to be the root problem in quite a few different areas doesn't it.
The international military mission in Afghanistan has delivered "much less than it promised" due to the lack of a realistic strategy, an influential committee of lawmakers said Sunday.
In a report, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said without a clear strategy stabilising Afghanistan had become "considerably more difficult than might otherwise have been the case."
Lawmakers criticised US policies in Afghanistan and Pakistan and warned the "considerable cultural insensitivity" of some coalition troops had caused serious damage to Afghans' perceptions that will be "difficult to undo".
"We conclude that the international effort in Afghanistan since 2001 has delivered much less than it promised and that its impact has been significantly diluted by the absence of a unified vision and strategy grounded in the realities of Afghanistan's history, culture and politics," the report said.
"Although Afghanistan's current situation is not solely the legacy of the West's failures since 2001, avoidable mistakes, including knee-jerk responses, policy fragmentation and overlap, now make the task of stabilising the country considerably more difficult than might otherwise have been the case."
As for Britain's roughly 9,000 troops in Afghanistan -- who in July suffered their worst month since the 2001 invasion with 22 deaths -- the members of parliament (MPs) said their role has seen "significant mission creep".
They were initially sent to counter international terrorism and are now working on areas like fighting the drugs trade and counter-insurgency, it said, adding the military had not been given "clear direction".
Clear direction, seems to be the root problem in quite a few different areas doesn't it.
The international military mission in Afghanistan has delivered "much less than it promised" due to the lack of a realistic strategy, an influential committee of lawmakers said Sunday.
In a report, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said without a clear strategy stabilising Afghanistan had become "considerably more difficult than might otherwise have been the case."
Lawmakers criticised US policies in Afghanistan and Pakistan and warned the "considerable cultural insensitivity" of some coalition troops had caused serious damage to Afghans' perceptions that will be "difficult to undo".
"We conclude that the international effort in Afghanistan since 2001 has delivered much less than it promised and that its impact has been significantly diluted by the absence of a unified vision and strategy grounded in the realities of Afghanistan's history, culture and politics," the report said.
"Although Afghanistan's current situation is not solely the legacy of the West's failures since 2001, avoidable mistakes, including knee-jerk responses, policy fragmentation and overlap, now make the task of stabilising the country considerably more difficult than might otherwise have been the case."
As for Britain's roughly 9,000 troops in Afghanistan -- who in July suffered their worst month since the 2001 invasion with 22 deaths -- the members of parliament (MPs) said their role has seen "significant mission creep".
They were initially sent to counter international terrorism and are now working on areas like fighting the drugs trade and counter-insurgency, it said, adding the military had not been given "clear direction".
Ala. county prepares for government shutdown
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090801/D99PT4UO1.html
As a government shutdown loomed, residents of Alabama's most populous county lined up Friday to renew their car registrations and settle their tax bills.
By Monday, at least a quarter of the county's 3,600 employees will be on unpaid leave and many county offices will be closed or cutting back hours.
The county, with 640,000 residents, has been on the brink of filing the nation's largest municipal bankruptcy for the past year due to a sewer bond fiasco that remains unresolved. Then things got worse: A judge ruled the county's occupational tax is illegal and courts refused to let the county spend the revenue from it while officials appeal.
Long lines formed at the Jefferson County courthouse and satellite offices Friday. Some anticipated the long waits and brought lawn chairs.
"This is disgraceful and it's only going to get worse," said retired attorney Robert Eubank, who got in line at 7:30 a.m. and waited more than two hours to renew a car tag.
At least 900 county workers will be furloughed beginning Monday, a number that could grow if the situation isn;t resolved.
The news isn't all bad: Two of the county's largest agencies - the sheriff's office and Cooper Green Mercy Hospital, each with more than 700 employees - will be spared. A judge blocked cuts to the sheriff's staff, and the nonprofit hospital has a separate source of funding.
But satellite courthouses, where residents can buy tags and licenses and pay taxes without having to go to the downtown site, are closing, and offices at the main
As a government shutdown loomed, residents of Alabama's most populous county lined up Friday to renew their car registrations and settle their tax bills.
By Monday, at least a quarter of the county's 3,600 employees will be on unpaid leave and many county offices will be closed or cutting back hours.
The county, with 640,000 residents, has been on the brink of filing the nation's largest municipal bankruptcy for the past year due to a sewer bond fiasco that remains unresolved. Then things got worse: A judge ruled the county's occupational tax is illegal and courts refused to let the county spend the revenue from it while officials appeal.
Long lines formed at the Jefferson County courthouse and satellite offices Friday. Some anticipated the long waits and brought lawn chairs.
"This is disgraceful and it's only going to get worse," said retired attorney Robert Eubank, who got in line at 7:30 a.m. and waited more than two hours to renew a car tag.
At least 900 county workers will be furloughed beginning Monday, a number that could grow if the situation isn;t resolved.
The news isn't all bad: Two of the county's largest agencies - the sheriff's office and Cooper Green Mercy Hospital, each with more than 700 employees - will be spared. A judge blocked cuts to the sheriff's staff, and the nonprofit hospital has a separate source of funding.
But satellite courthouses, where residents can buy tags and licenses and pay taxes without having to go to the downtown site, are closing, and offices at the main
College Grad Can't Find Job, Wants $$$ Back
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local...-52304162.html
She went to college to boost her chances of finding a great job once she got out of school, but now that that hasn't happened, Trina Thompson wants her money back.
Thompson, a graduate of Monroe College, is suing her school for the $70,000 she spent on tuition because she hasn't found solid employment since receiving her bachelor's degree in April, according to a published report.
The business-oriented school in the Bronx didn't do enough to help her find a job, Thompson alleges, so she wants a refund. The college says it does plenty for grads.
The 27-year-old information-technology student accuses the school's Office of Career Advancement for not living up to its end of the deal and offering her the leads and employment advice it promised
She went to college to boost her chances of finding a great job once she got out of school, but now that that hasn't happened, Trina Thompson wants her money back.
Thompson, a graduate of Monroe College, is suing her school for the $70,000 she spent on tuition because she hasn't found solid employment since receiving her bachelor's degree in April, according to a published report.
The business-oriented school in the Bronx didn't do enough to help her find a job, Thompson alleges, so she wants a refund. The college says it does plenty for grads.
The 27-year-old information-technology student accuses the school's Office of Career Advancement for not living up to its end of the deal and offering her the leads and employment advice it promised
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Little gems from the Health Care Bill
http://www.blacklistednews.com/news-5059-0-6-6--.html
• Page 16: States that if you have insurance at the time of the bill becoming law and change, you will be required to take a similar plan. If that is not available, you will be required to take the gov option!
• Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!
• Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!
• Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)
• Page 42: The "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None.
• Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free healthcare services.
• Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard.
• Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.
• Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans (example: SEIU, UAW and ACORN)
• Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.
• Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans)
• Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services; translation: illegal aliens
• Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up individuals for Government-run Health Care plan.
• Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled: you have no choice in the matter.
• Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No "judicial review" is permitted against the government monopoly. Put simply, private insurers will be crushed.
• Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the government will set wages.
• Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the government-run public plan. No alternatives.
• Page 126: Employers MUST pay healthcare
• Page 16: States that if you have insurance at the time of the bill becoming law and change, you will be required to take a similar plan. If that is not available, you will be required to take the gov option!
• Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!
• Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!
• Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)
• Page 42: The "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None.
• Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free healthcare services.
• Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard.
• Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.
• Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans (example: SEIU, UAW and ACORN)
• Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.
• Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans)
• Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services; translation: illegal aliens
• Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up individuals for Government-run Health Care plan.
• Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled: you have no choice in the matter.
• Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No "judicial review" is permitted against the government monopoly. Put simply, private insurers will be crushed.
• Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the government will set wages.
• Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the government-run public plan. No alternatives.
• Page 126: Employers MUST pay healthcare
US job cuts, foreclosures mount
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/ju...econ-j31.shtml
This week brought new indications that any economic “recovery” in the US will not be shared by the working class. Telecommunications giant Verizon announced that it would eliminate 8,000 jobs by the end of the year, new data showed that the foreclosure crisis is continuing to mount, and weekly initial jobless benefit claims rose.
What is emerging is a protracted period of extremely high unemployment and growing social misery, which will be used to further slash wages, increase productivity and lower the standard of living and social position of the working class.
Verizon will reduce its workforce by 8,000 for the second year in a row, after announcing a 21 percent decline in quarterly profits. The staff reductions will come largely through attrition, the company said, and will be focused on its land-line traditional phone service, which a growing number of consumers are abandoning.
Among other layoff announcements, some 1,000 workers will be dismissed from Ormet Aluminum in Monroe County, Ohio on September 1. Only 15,000 people live in the county, which is located close to the border with West Virginia.
The motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson will lay off 398 workers in Milwaukee at the end of September.
The small business web site firm, Intuit, is carrying forward plans to lay off 120 workers nationwide. And Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz has confirmed that her company's new search engine venture with Microsoft will lead to an as yet unknown number of redundancies.
More widespread job losses appear imminent. Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis said this week he intends to close over 600 branches. No time frame was given for the closures, which could affect thousands of workers.
It is anticipated that the other embattled financial giant, Citigroup, will follow suit. As the on-line business analysis journal 24/7 Wall Street reported, "[T]he financial industry is not done pruning jobs, not by a long shot."
The United States Postal Service (USPS) has said that it is considering shutting down a sizable majority, 3,105 of 4,851, of its post office branches and stations. Citing a growing operating deficit, USPS said the closures would target metropolitan areas.
It is not clear how many layoffs might result, but last year USPS said that 16,000 workers with fewer than six years experience—and hence unprotected by union seniority rules—could face layoffs. If carried forward, this would mark the first mass layoff in the history of the US postal system. Last year USPS reduced its workforce by 41,000 through attrition and a hiring freeze.
A number of industries are likely to pile on further layoffs in the coming months. The biggest blow could
This week brought new indications that any economic “recovery” in the US will not be shared by the working class. Telecommunications giant Verizon announced that it would eliminate 8,000 jobs by the end of the year, new data showed that the foreclosure crisis is continuing to mount, and weekly initial jobless benefit claims rose.
What is emerging is a protracted period of extremely high unemployment and growing social misery, which will be used to further slash wages, increase productivity and lower the standard of living and social position of the working class.
Verizon will reduce its workforce by 8,000 for the second year in a row, after announcing a 21 percent decline in quarterly profits. The staff reductions will come largely through attrition, the company said, and will be focused on its land-line traditional phone service, which a growing number of consumers are abandoning.
Among other layoff announcements, some 1,000 workers will be dismissed from Ormet Aluminum in Monroe County, Ohio on September 1. Only 15,000 people live in the county, which is located close to the border with West Virginia.
The motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson will lay off 398 workers in Milwaukee at the end of September.
The small business web site firm, Intuit, is carrying forward plans to lay off 120 workers nationwide. And Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz has confirmed that her company's new search engine venture with Microsoft will lead to an as yet unknown number of redundancies.
More widespread job losses appear imminent. Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis said this week he intends to close over 600 branches. No time frame was given for the closures, which could affect thousands of workers.
It is anticipated that the other embattled financial giant, Citigroup, will follow suit. As the on-line business analysis journal 24/7 Wall Street reported, "[T]he financial industry is not done pruning jobs, not by a long shot."
The United States Postal Service (USPS) has said that it is considering shutting down a sizable majority, 3,105 of 4,851, of its post office branches and stations. Citing a growing operating deficit, USPS said the closures would target metropolitan areas.
It is not clear how many layoffs might result, but last year USPS said that 16,000 workers with fewer than six years experience—and hence unprotected by union seniority rules—could face layoffs. If carried forward, this would mark the first mass layoff in the history of the US postal system. Last year USPS reduced its workforce by 41,000 through attrition and a hiring freeze.
A number of industries are likely to pile on further layoffs in the coming months. The biggest blow could
After $182 billion taxpayer rescue, is AIG on the verge of collapse?
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/07/...erge-of-colla/
You may remember American International Group (AIG). The U.S. government gave it $182 billion of taxpayer money last fall in exchange for a 78 percent stake. Of that money, $165 million went for bonuses to a handful of people in its Financial Products Group (FPG), which sold Credit Default Swaps (CDSs) on which AIG lacked the capital to make good. And $200 million more is slated for those good folks in 2009.
Another $12.9 billion of our taxpayer money went to Goldman Sachs Group (GS) so AIG could pay Goldman 100 cents on the dollar for its CDSs. Hank Paulson wanted to keep the names of Goldman and the other recipients secret -- since so many of them were foreign banks, but the information leaked out in March 2009 after Paulson left office.
Now, thanks to some solid reporting in The New York Times, it looks like the rot at AIG is not limited to FPG. While AIG officials have claimed that its problems were isolated to FPG, the reality is that AIG seems to have been running something akin to a shell game of massive proportions
You may remember American International Group (AIG). The U.S. government gave it $182 billion of taxpayer money last fall in exchange for a 78 percent stake. Of that money, $165 million went for bonuses to a handful of people in its Financial Products Group (FPG), which sold Credit Default Swaps (CDSs) on which AIG lacked the capital to make good. And $200 million more is slated for those good folks in 2009.
Another $12.9 billion of our taxpayer money went to Goldman Sachs Group (GS) so AIG could pay Goldman 100 cents on the dollar for its CDSs. Hank Paulson wanted to keep the names of Goldman and the other recipients secret -- since so many of them were foreign banks, but the information leaked out in March 2009 after Paulson left office.
Now, thanks to some solid reporting in The New York Times, it looks like the rot at AIG is not limited to FPG. While AIG officials have claimed that its problems were isolated to FPG, the reality is that AIG seems to have been running something akin to a shell game of massive proportions
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