| The Media
Ever wish you could whisper in the president's ear? Give him advice on issues plaguing the nation? Well, here's your chance to tell the world what you would do if you were president of the United States. Twice weekly, we'll ask our readers a question about an issue facing the nation and post your responses here. Today's topic: The Bush administration and The New York Times are again at odds over national security, this time with new reports of a broad government effort to track global financial transfers. The newspaper, which in December broke news of an effort by the National Security Agency to monitor Americans' telephone calls and e-mails, declined a White House request not to publish a story about the government's inspection of monies flowing in and out of the country.
Carriers on hold as gov't mulls awarding potentially $48B in telecom ...
Getting on the so-called Networx contract was a big deal, but it didn't guarantee business. It gives agencies, already contending with tight budgets, the option to select services and products from any of the companies. Other analysts point to the pace of bureaucracy in the face of a dizzying array of technology options and layers of spending authorizations. While not exactly dying on the vine, carriers could use a good drenching of government spending. Telecom analyst Craig Mathias of FarPoint Group said the industry overall is doing well in terms of sales, but that the slowing economy is a concern and it could affect how government spends. AT&T reported revenue nearly doubled to $30.1 billion in the third quarter that ended Sept. 30, up 93 percent from same period in 2006.
A victory for Daniel Chopra, and a trip to the Masters
I looked at it and I'm like, 'You know, that's my area where I need to go.' But what are the odds of me hitting that?" Stricker said. Turns out they were pretty good. "It was a rather large ball mark," Stricker said. "It wasn't a coin. In hindsight, I should have had him mark with a penny." Instead, the ball ran over the mark and hopped in the air, causing it to lose speed and stop 10 feet short of the hole. Stricker pulled that birdie putt, and only survived when Chopra left his putt 7 feet short and missed. Asked about the ball mark, Chopra said with a smile, "It actually propelled his ball forward." It was the second break that the 34-year-old Chopra got from a large, circular object. After his 3-wood to the par-5 15th tumbled off the steep slope right of the green, his chip was fat and didn't make it up the hill.
Co-operation forged over eight years is brought crashing down
It set in train a series of events that will certainly change the basis for all future relations between Holyrood and Westminster and could even push Scotland further along the road to independence. As a direct result of the row, The Scotsman has discovered senior Labour politicians have taken the extraordinary step of warning all Whitehall departments not to share any information with the Scottish Government which could be used by the SNP for political purposes. At a stroke, the carefully constructed edifice linking the governments in Scotland and Westminster for the past eight years has come crashing down, and the tremors will be felt right across Scottish life. Mr Benn's irritable reaction to his Scottish counterpart is hardly unusual in Whitehall - there have been many of these spats since devolution - but what is different is the presence of an SNP government in Edinburgh.
Lobby group plans class action against Gunns
THE company behind a planned $1.7 billion pulp mill in northern Tasmania could be hit with a $2 billion class action. Timber giant Gunns already has State and Federal government permission for the Tamar Valley proposal, north of Launceston, subject to conditions. But Tasmanians Against the Pulp Mill (TAP) has begun a register of potential litigants against Gunns, its shareholders and its financiers. TAP chairman Bob McMahon said property and business evaluations could be used as evidence in "thousands'' of potential claims. "What you do is register your interest as a potential litigant, then you gather your evidence,'' Mr McMahon said on ABC radio. "It's very simple in relation to property, you have a property evaluation done.
Why Central Banks Are 'Experimenting'
On Dec. 18, in an operation that was both huge and unprecedented in its design, the European Central Bank made 16-day loans of $500 billion worth of euros to European banks. The significance of 16 days is that it means the banks won't have to borrow again until after Jan. 1. The banks want to be able to show investors and borrowers that they have plenty of funding in place when they close their books Dec. 31. Ordinarily the ECB auctions off a certain quantity of money, allowing the banks' demand for that sum to determine the interest rate on it. In this case, the bank simply announced the rate (a low 4.21%) and allowed unlimited borrowing at that rate. It was a bold move because central bankers don't like making open-ended offers of money, but the ECB was determined to quell fears of a money squeeze.
Sewer status, meetings and economic direction
Council member Heidi Omerza said she agreed with Novak, but had a problem with city hall not being ADA compliant. She said she didn�t want to go down the road of forcing city meetings to be held in such a building. The motion was restated to make exceptions for ADA requirements, however, Omerza voted against it. The topic of ADA compliance came up again later in the meeting during a report from Zupec regarding a needs assessment for city buildings. Zupec stated that none of the city buildings are ADA compliant or in line with the Minnesota Human Rights Act. In addressing the needs for building upgrades and maintenance, he indicated this would be a good time to also look at ways to make the necessary changes for ADA. Discussion ensued among council members regarding how much building space would be needed, affordability, potential bonds available for ADA access, and prioritizing maintenance and upgrade needs.
Tri-S Security lands $25M credit line
Tri-S Security Corp. has reworked its line of credit in an effort to improve cash flow and liquidity. The Atlanta-based security services firm reported Monday its senior lender LSQ Funding of Orlando, Fla., has amended and restated its line of credit to give Tri-S Security a $25 million asset-based line of credit. This will replace a pre-existing $12 million factoring facility and gives Tri-S Security (NASDAQ: TRIS) an unused borrowing capacity of $13 million. "We believe that this new credit facility will improve our liquidity position and will allow us to accelerate organic growth opportunities as well as pursue any acquisition opportunities which we may identify," said Ronald Farrell, CEO of Tri-S Security. Given our top line growth, the new credit facility could also enable us to reduce other debt currently on our books in the future." Tri-S Security is a security provider to the federal government and private entities.
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