End of an era: BAE Systems ends shipbuilding in Portsmouth

BAE Systems cuts 1,775 jobs at English and Scottish shipyards


BAE Systems is to cut 1,775 jobs at its yards in Scotland and England and end shipbuilding altogether at Portsmouth.

The firm said 940 staff posts and 170 agency workers will go at the Portsmouth site, which will retain repairs and maintenance work.

Some 835 jobs will be lost at yards in Govan and Scotstoun, on the River Clyde in Glasgow, and Rosyth in Fife and at the firm's Filton office, near Bristol.

The cuts follow a drop in work after the end of aircraft carriers work.

BAE Systems employs 1,200 in Portsmouth and 3,200 across Govan, Scotstoun, Rosyth and Filton.

The company said it had made the cuts because of a "significant" drop in demand.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-24831779

Ships have continually been built in Portsmouth since 1497, if not earlier...

Charlie Bryan, Who Led Eastern Air Lines Strike, Dies at 79

The labor movement has produced its share of heroes, but it’s hard to say whether Charlie Bryan was among them. Bryan was a leader of the most dramatic labor conflict in the history of the airline industry, but 24 years later it is impossible to say whether he won or lost.

Bryan, who was born Dec. 11, 1933, died Saturday at a retirement community outside Orlando. He had suffered from leukemia and Parkinson’s disease. He was president of District 100 of the International Association of Machinists, which represented about 10,000 Eastern Air Lines workers, including mechanics and fleet service workers. The members struck in 1989, and the airline’s other unions followed. Two years after the strike, Eastern Airlines shut down.

That may be viewed negatively, but it is also true that sometimes a union needs to go on strike. The right to strike, which people died for, means nothing if it is never exercised.

Bryan’s adversary was Frank Lorenzo. Lorenzo made a good adversary. He managed to get many of his employees and much of American to dislike him. He appeared to be trying to kill Eastern, partially because he moved Eastern assets to Continental , setting it up to become the leading U.S. airline after he left. Now Continental management leads United, the world’s biggest airline.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tedreed/2013/11/05/charlie-bryan-who-led-the-eastern-airlines-strike-was-a-hero-to-some-but-not-to-all/

The Night Johnny Carson Found Out His Wife Was Banging Frank Gifford

Tucked inside the Hunger Games promotional pamphlet that was last week's issue of Entertainment Weekly was a rather amazing book excerpt from Henry Bushkin, lawyer to the late Johnny Carson. In the excerpt (not yet online), Bushkin describes accompanying Carson on a late night break-in of his second wife's apartment—an apartment she had leased without Carson's knowledge. "I have reason to believe my wife is cheating on me," Carson told Bushkin. "I also have an idea who the son of a bitch is that she's shacking up with."

Turns out, that son of a bitch was none other than former MNF announcer and flight attendant enthusiast Frank Gifford. During the break-in, Carson and Bushkin found that Carson's wife, Joanne Copeland, kept "six or seven framed photographs" of Gifford in the secret apartment. According to Bushkin, Carson did not take the news well:

Carson leaned against the living room wall and began to weep. [...] I could see that Carson's raincoat had fallen open. I was shocked to see that Johnny was carrying a .38 revolver in a holster on his hip.

Later that night, a shitfaced Carson phoned Bushkin at 2 a.m. and demanded that he come meet him at a nearby bar (Ed McMahon was also there!) to lament the failure of second marriage. "I get drunk every night and I chase all the pussy I can get," Carson said, in Bushkin's recollection. "I'm shitty in the marriage department. Make sure you understand this."

But Carson being Carson, he couldn't resist a joke about the identity of his cuckold: "Why Frank Gifford? What's that asshole got that I don't have? That guy plays three positions on the field. I could never get Joanne to go for more than two."

http://deadspin.com/the-night-johnny-carson-found-out-his-wife-was-banging-1442056831/@drewmagary

July 10, 1974: NSC Orders Freedom of Infomation Act Sealed for 50 Years?

Egypt ex-president Morsi tells trial: 'I am president'

Egypt's ousted leader Mohammed Morsi has gone on trial in Cairo, telling the judge the case is illegitimate as he remains president.

He and 14 other Muslim Brotherhood figures face charges of inciting the killing of protesters outside the presidential palace in 2012.

After Mr Morsi's remarks and his refusal to wear a uniform, the judge adjourned the trial until 8 January.

Early on Monday Mr Morsi was brought into the sprawling Police Academy compound by helicopter. Other defendants, including Essam el-Erian, Mohammed al-Beltagi and Ahmed Abdel Aatie, were said to have arrived in armoured personnel carriers.

No television pictures were broadcast from the court although journalists were allowed in for the former president's first public appearance since he was deposed on 3 July.

As he entered the courtroom, Mr Morsi refused to remove his blue suit and put on the required white prison uniform. The defendants, who were being held in a cage in the courtroom, chanted "illegal, illegal".

When asked to give his name, the former president gave a defiant response, according to reporters inside the court.

"I am Dr Mohammed Morsi, the president of the republic. I am Egypt's legitimate president. You have no right to conduct a trial into presidential matters."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24801882

Space Shuttle Endeavour Exclusive: A Timelapse of the Final Ride

Young man linked to 79 killings in Mexico

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- The most shocking thing about the arrest of a man linked to 79 killings may be that authorities don't find it shocking.

At 20 years old, Juan Pablo Vazquez is accused of killing rivals, a policeman, a stripper and other innocent bystanders.

But you won't find authorities in the northern economic hub of Monterrey, Mexico, using any superlatives to describe the alleged killer. Not the worst they've ever seen, not the most ruthless, not the youngest or most prolific.

That's because Monterrey and its surroundings are an area disputed by rival drug cartels. From 2010 to the present, an average of 108 people have been killed each month in the state of Nuevo Leon, according to official statistics. Monterrey, the capital, has recorded 223 homicides so far this year.

Vazquez's arrest, then, merited a press conference, but no celebration as if an alleged serial killer had been brought down.

"We are witnessing a very severe crisis because of the war between cartels," one Mexican official said.


Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/25/world/americas/mexico-killings-arrest/index.html

Australia pensioners 'used as drug mules' to Canada

An elderly Australian couple were unwittingly used as drug mules in a ruse involving a free trip to Canada, Australian police have revealed.

The couple, from Perth, were told they had won a week-long trip, with flights, hotel and new luggage included. But when they landed back in Perth, they told customs officials they feared something was wrong with their luggage.

Officials subsequently found 3.5kg (8 pounds) of methamphetamine in the lining of each bag. The incident happened on 13 October. A 38-year-old man was arrested later that day at Perth airport and has since been charged with drug-related offences.

Local reports put the value of the drugs at A$7m ($6.7m, £4.1m) and said police believed the suitcases were swapped while the couple, aged 72 and 64, were in Canada.

In a statement, police said the subsequent investigation had revealed "a complex and highly-organised scam in which older Australians appear to be targeted by a bogus Canadian-based tour company identifying itself as 'AUSCAN Tours'".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24668072

Space Shuttle Endeavour Exclusive: A Timelapse of the Final Ride

Anti-bullying video may have played a role in fatal Nevada school shooting

A student at the Nevada middle school where a 7th grader allegedly went on a shooting spree on Monday said that she remembered the suspect as friendly, and said he might have gotten the idea from an anti-bullying video.

Police say the 12-year-old student, who has not been identified, brought a 9mm Ruger handgun to school in Monday and used it to kill a math teacher and wound two classmates before he fatally shot himself in the head. While investigators worked on Tuesday to trace the origin of the gun, the boy was thought to have brought it from home, and there was the "potential" that his parents could face charges, police said.

Sparks Middle School eighth-grader Amaya Newton remembered the suspected shooter as a nice kid who got pushed around by some of his schoolmates, according to local NBC News affiliate KRNV. She remembers other students "tripping him in the hallways" and "bugging him for money," Newton told the station.

Newton also recalled an anti-bullying video that was shown at the school on Oct. 11, just before the students went on their fall break. The video showed a girl bringing a gun onto a school bus to frighten bullies, Newton told KRNV.

"It was an anti-bullying movie, but it could have gotten into his head about the girl scaring the bullies with the gun," Newton said, according to the station. "She brought a gun on the bus to scare them and threatened to kill them."

The video might suggest to students "that maybe it's easier to scare your bullies than just to tell a teacher," Newton said. KRNV spoke with another student who described the anti-bullying video in the same way. A spokesperson for the Washoe County School District told the station they were not aware of the particular video but would look into it.

http://www.12newsnow.com/story/23771344/anti-bullying-video-may-have-played-a-role-in-fatal-nevada-school-shooting-student

So far the contents of the video haven't been officially confirmed, but if true; holy damn....