March 29, 2014

Air Force commanders fired in nuke missile cheating scandal

http://gazette.com/air-force-commanders-fired-in-nuke-missile-cheating-scandal/article/1517205



This undated handout photo provided by the US Air Force shows Col. Robert Stanley II. The Air Force is firing nine mid-level commanders and disciplining dozens of junior officers at a nuclear missile base in response to an exam-cheating scandal that spanned a far longer period than originally reported. No Air Force general is being punished, but Stanley, the top commander at the Montana base, which is where the exam cheating was discovered in January, has resigned

Air Force commanders fired in nuke missile cheating scandal
Associated Press • Updated: March 27, 2014 at 5:57 pm • Published: March 27, 2014

WASHINGTON — The Air Force took the extraordinary step Thursday of firing nine midlevel nuclear commanders and announcing it will discipline dozens of junior officers at a nuclear missile base, responding firmly to an exam-cheating scandal that spanned a far longer period than originally reported.

A 10th commander, the senior officer at the base, resigned and will retire from the Air Force.

Air Force officials called the discipline unprecedented in the history of America's intercontinental ballistic missile force. The Associated Press last year revealed a series of security and other problems in the ICBM force, including a failed safety and security inspection at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., where the cheating occurred.

In an emotion-charged resignation letter titled "A Lesson to Remember," Col. Robert Stanley, who commanded the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom, lamented that the reputation of the ICBM mission was now "tarnished because of the extraordinarily selfish actions of officers entrusted with the most powerful weapon system ever devised by man."

March 29, 2014

Customers would get $1.4 billion in refunds in San Onofre deal

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-san-onofre-refund-20140328,0,307040.story



The proposed settlement between two Southern California utilities and ratepayer organizations is related to the closing of the San Onofre nuclear power plant.

Customers would get $1.4 billion in refunds in San Onofre deal
By Marc Lifsher
March 27, 2014, 6:27 p.m.

SACRAMENTO — Electricity customers in Southern California would receive $1.4 billion in refunds on their bills over the next eight years as part of an agreement between two utilities and ratepayer organizations over the closing of the San Onofre nuclear power plant.

The proposed settlement, announced Thursday, still needs approval from the California Public Utilities Commission.

Both ratepayer advocates and executives at Southern California Edison Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. said they were satisfied with the deal.

"The proposed settlement represents a huge win for consumers," said Matthew Freedman, an attorney with the Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco group known as TURN. "It will hold utility shareholders accountable for the fiasco" at the nuclear generating station and "expedite refunds to customers."

March 29, 2014

Resurrecting a stealthy giant

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-c1-rebuilding-billion-dollar-bomber-20140320-dto,0,285088.htmlstory



A 2010 fire on a ($2.2 billion dollar) B-2 stealth bomber in Guam left it heavily damaged. That sparked a four-year — and largely secretive — mission to repair the costly warplane

Resurrecting a stealthy giant
By W.J. Hennigan
March 20, 2014

It wasn't long after the morning sun came up over the Mojave Desert that Sean Byrne noticed a black speck fluttering just above the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

He knew what it was, as did the other workers from Northrop Grumman Corp. surrounding him. They were waiting on this wind-swept tarmac at the company's plant in Palmdale to catch a glimpse of the aircraft nicknamed "Lazarus" — the plane that died in a fire on the island of Guam only to be resurrected.

The dot grew larger and larger. Suddenly, the unmistakable bat-winged silhouette of the B-2 stealth bomber emerged. As it touched down for a landing, the crowd erupted in applause, hugs and tears.

~snip~

The four-year operation to rebuild the military's rarest — and most expensive at $2.1 billion — aircraft involved hundreds of hard-to-find parts, thousands of labor hours, and 300 Air Force and Northrop workers. Many of them, mechanics such as Byrne, left their families in Palmdale and flew 6,000 miles to Guam to work seven days a week for months at a time to restore the stealth bomber.

March 29, 2014

ANA splits huge plane order with Boeing, Airbus

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/03/28/3120844/ana-splits-huge-plane-order-with.html?sp=/99/261/

ANA splits huge plane order with Boeing, Airbus
By JOHN GILLIE
Staff writer
March 28, 2014

Despite having to wait more than three years beyond the original delivery date for its first Boeing Dreamliner and having seen its fleet of 787s grounded for three months because of battery issues, All Nippon Airways on Thursday signed an order for 14 more of the jets.

The Dreamliner order was part of a $13 billion ANA order for a total of 40 wide-bodied aircraft from Boeing.

ANA also ordered 20 of Boeing's new 777-9X aircraft and six 777-300ERs. The first 777-X aircraft are due to be delivered to early customers at the end of the decade. The 777-300ERs are the present generation aircraft now in production. ANA's Dreamliner order was for the stretched -9 version of the plane. ANA's launch order was for the smaller 787-8 base model. The -9 model will carry about 35 more passengers than the -8. In addition to the big Boeing order, ANA also announced an order with Boeing rival Airbus Thursday. That $3.6 billion order was for seven Airbus A320 Neo and 23 A321 Neo aircraft.

The A320 Neo series aircraft are updated versions of Airbus' popular A320 single aisle planes. The plane features new fuel-efficient engines. Boeing's 737 Max aircraft are rivals to the A320 Neo series. The A321 Neo is a slightly larger version of the base A320 Neo.

March 29, 2014

Duke Energy seeks to keep records from regulators

http://www.adn.com/2014/03/28/3398294/duke-energy-seeks-to-keep-records.html?sp=/99/171/

Duke Energy seeks to keep records from regulators
By MICHAEL BIESECKER and MITCH WEISS
The Associated Press
March 28, 2014 Updated 5 minutes ago

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Worried about getting a fair shake from investigators, Duke Energy is asking a judge to shield its records from North Carolina regulators and environmental groups while a federal criminal probe is ongoing.

In a court motion, a defense lawyer for Duke argued that turning over records demanded as part of state lawsuits over the company's coal ash dumps could hurt the investigation's integrity, especially if the documents were to become public.

Federal prosecutors have issued at least 23 subpoenas as part of a widening criminal probe triggered by the Feb. 2 spill at Duke's plant in Eden, which coated 70 miles of the Dan River in toxic sludge. Duke has received two of the subpoenas, which order the company to provide reams of documents to a grand jury that has convened in Raleigh.

Federal investigators are looking at whether the company received preferential treatment from the state environmental agency. Duke has nearly three dozen other ash pits spread out at 14 coal-fired power plants across the state.

March 29, 2014

Alaska jury indicts Idaho firm over cleanup

http://www.adn.com/2014/03/28/3398671/alaska-jury-indicts-idaho-firm.html?sp=/99/171/

Alaska jury indicts Idaho firm over cleanup
The Associated Press
March 28, 2014 Updated 10 hours ago

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Anchorage grand jury has indicted an Idaho company accused of falsifying records related to the cleanup of a contaminated pad on Alaska's North Slope.

The Alaska attorney general's office said Friday that DMC Technologies Inc., of Rexburg was indicted Tuesday, along with CEO Daniel McNair and McNair's son, Daniel Ross McNair. Each faces 14 felony counts.

In a statement, the elder McNair's lawyer says his client and DMC "emphatically deny engaging in any criminal conduct whatsoever." Lawyer Robert Herz says McNair will fight the charges and "looks forward to vindicating himself in court."

Prosecutors claim the parties submitted falsified lab data to the state and to Little Red Services, which hired DMC Technologies to clean up the pad.

March 29, 2014

Domino's Pizza Owners Admit to Widespread Wage Theft

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/03/28-2



Owners of 23 outlets settle with workers for half a million dollars following waves of fast food workers' strikes, protests, and court battles

Domino's Pizza Owners Admit to Widespread Wage Theft
- Sarah Lazare, staff writer
Published on Friday, March 28, 2014 by Common Dreams

The owners of 23 Domino's Pizza outlets in New York admitted to rampant theft of workers' wages and agreed Thursday to a nearly half a million dollar settlement with hundreds of employees for numerous labor violations.

"Fast food corporations like Domino’s and McDonald’s cannot hide from their responsibility for these unlawful practices," said Naquasia LeGrand, a Brooklyn KFC employee and member Fast Forward. "They’re the ones in control of the daily operations of their franchisees."

The settlement was the result of an investigation by State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman into allegations of wage theft. According to a press release from Schneiderman's office, between and 2013, the owners admitted to numerous violations, including: paying below minimum wage, refusing or underpaying overtime pay, and refusing to adequately compensate delivery drivers for their car expenses.

Multiple, nation-wide waves of fast food worker strikes and protests have forced into the national discourse problems of pay theft, "starvation wages," and poor working conditions that are rampant in the fast food industry.

March 29, 2014

NAFTA At 20: “A Vehicle To Increase Profits At The Expense Of Democracy”

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/03/28-1

NAFTA At 20: “A Vehicle To Increase Profits At The Expense Of Democracy”
by Dave Johnson
Published on Friday, March 28, 2014 by Campaign for America's Future Blog

Thursday the AFL-CIO released a new report, NAFTA at 20. The report makes the point that, “On the whole, NAFTA-style agreements have proved to be primarily a vehicle to increase corporate profits at the expense of workers, consumers, farmers, communities, the environment and even democracy itself.”



In a press release accompanying the report AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says that working people and democratic governance on all sides of NAFTA’s borders are now worse off, and Congress should recognize this before approving any more “NAFTA-style” trade agreements.

“There is no success story for workers to be found in North America 20 years after NAFTA,” said Trumka. “The NAFTA model focuses on lifting corporations out of reach of democratic governance, rather than solely reducing tariffs. This report should serve as a cautionary tale to the Obama Administration and Congress as they consider negotiating and implementing new trade deals.”

Trade Agreements Should Stop Following The NAFTA Model

Preceding the report, Trumka gave a major speech on trade at the Center for American Progress. He talked about the history of “a disastrous, outdated, failed model of global economic policies.” He said that trade agreements should abandon the NAFTA model and instead offer a “global new deal … to bring the basic infrastructure of modern society—electricity, water, schools, roads, internet access—to everyone on Earth.”

March 29, 2014

Ukraine’s IMF Deal Means Greece-Like Depression

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/03/28



A Greek riot policeman stands in front of graffiti written on the wall of a bank during violent demonstrations over austerity measures in Athens, May 5, 2010.

Ukraine’s IMF Deal Means Greece-Like Depression
by Jack Rasmus
Published on Friday, March 28, 2014 by Common Dreams

On Thursday, the IMF released the broad outlines of its terms and conditions for loans and other measures for the Ukrainian economy. What those terms and conditions mean is less a rescue of the Ukrainian economy than the onset of a Greece-like economic depression for the Ukrainian populace.

Ukraine’s economy had clearly entered a recession, its third since 2008, sometime in the latter half of 2013. Some recent estimates of the likely contraction of the economy in 2014-15 have ranged from 5%-15% in GDP decline.

The ‘IMF Standby Agreement with Ukraine’ text released March 27, acknowledges the current severe economic instability of the Ukrainian economy. What it fails to acknowledge, however, is how the IMF package will further adversely impact that economy.

The IMF deal calls for $14-$18 billion in IMF financial support provided over the next two years, 2014-15. Another potential $9 billion reportedly will come from other countries, although in yet unspecified form. The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development apparently will provide $2 billion of that $9 billion. Presumably the US aid package of around $1-$2 billion now currently working its way through the US Congress represents another element of the $9 billion. The remaining $5 of the $9 billion non-IMF funding is yet unidentified.

March 29, 2014

Obama blesses new authoritarian order in Middle East: Siddiqui

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/03/26/obama_blesses_new_authoritarian_order_in_middle_east_siddiqui.html



Barack Obama condemns Russia for squelching democracy, but is silent about the same thing happening in Arab countries.

Obama blesses new authoritarian order in Middle East: Siddiqui
By: Haroon Siddiqui Columnist, Published on Wed Mar 26 2014

Fresh from condemning Russia for punishing Ukraine for daring to be democratic, Barack Obama goes to Saudi Arabia Friday to bless the squelching of democracy in the Middle East.

There once was an Arab Spring. While it lasted, it helped topple dictators in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen. It unnerved monarchs from Jordan and Morocco to the oil-rich Persian Gulf. But the autocrats have since regrouped and crushed popular revolts to establish a new order. It is a reinforcement of the old order of authoritarianism and wholesale repression.

Obama is OK with it. Stephen Harper positively welcomes it.

Egypt, ruled by the army since its coup last July, is once again crushing all democratic opposition.