from 24/7WallStreet:



FedEx Slashes Earnings Forecasts
Posted: September 4, 2012 at 6:37 pm


There are not many companies the results of which are a nearly complete mirror of the global economy. FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) comes close, as it ships tens of millions of packages a month for individuals and companies great and small based in well over 100 nations.

FedEx cuts its earnings forecasts today, based on, of all things, a damaged economy.

The shipper reported



As might be expected the company’s stock plunged — 3% — after hours, to $84.85. That is against a 52-week high of $97.19, and a low of $64.07. It is surprising the figure is not much lower, based on how bad the news is.

-- Douglas A. McIntyre


http://247wallst.com/2012/09/04/fedex-slashes-earnings-forecasts/#ixzz25ar9nmKu

from the Detroit Metro Times:


Drug-war booty

By Larry Gabriel
Published: September 5, 2012


There are reasons why police smile when they trot out the booty from a drug bust. And it's not just because they got a bunch of drugs off the street. In addition to drugs, they usually confiscate money, computers, jewelry, guns, cars, bank accounts, homes and more. What makes the police officers' smiles so big is that, other than the drugs, they get to keep everything they took.

Asset forfeiture is the confiscation by police or governments of the alleged ill-gotten gains of crime. If the police deem you to be a drug dealer, or even user, they can pretty much take whatever you have up to $100,000 without having to get anyone's permission. If the amount is more than $100,000, law enforcement must institute a court proceeding in order to keep the asset.

The intent of the law is to take the profit out of crime and financially hamper the criminal element. The problem is that they can keep anybody's stuff even if they are never convicted of a crime. Hell, they don't even have to charge you with a crime to take your stuff. And police are taking plenty in Michigan.

"If you total everything together, in 2009 forfeitures totaled a net of $33,941,000," says state Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor). "It's a big number." ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://metrotimes.com/mmj/drug-war-booty-1.1368275

from CBC News:


Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will testify in court Wednesday about allegations he violated conflict of interest rules when he spoke and participated in a council vote regarding a financial penalty he was ordered to pay in relation to donations he solicited for his football charity.

Ford will be questioned on the first day of the three-day hearing by high-profile lawyer Clayton Ruby, who is representing Toronto resident Paul Magder in a legal challenge that could have massive implications.

The following is a rundown of key facts and background information pertaining to the case.

What's at stake

Technically, the mayoralty. If Ford is found to have violated the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act (MCIA), he would be automatically ejected from office. Justice Charles Hackland, who will oversee the hearing, can also bar him from being able to run for office for up to seven years. .........................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/09/04/toronto-mayor-ford-conflict-case321.html

MONTREAL (Reuters) - A gunman shot and badly injured two people inside the Montreal theater where separatist leader Pauline Marois was giving a speech in the wake of a narrow election win, police said early on Wednesday.

Bodyguards rushed Marois from the stage in the wake of the shooting. She later returned to the podium to finish her speech.

Police spokesman Danny Richer said a man of around 50 had been arrested. The suspect also set fire to the back of the building, he told reporters.

The incident is highly unusual for Canada, where rates of gun crime are relatively low and many politicians move around without bodyguards. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-quebec-maroisbre884047-20120904,0,3620448.story

By Andy Grimm Tribune reporter
7:03 p.m. CDT, September 4, 2012


A Tinley Park man was charged with a felony hate crime for allegedly attacking a man who had been hired by a bank to maintain a neighbor’s foreclosed home Sunday.

Joseph Berndt, 47, allegedly shouted racial slurs at the 51-year-old African-American man as he was working outside a house in the 6200 block of West 179th Street, then threw a beer can and a brick at the man, chased him through the yard while brandishing a pipe, and attempted to strangle him, prosecutors said.

The victim said Berndt approached him as he was checking the gas and electric meters at the house, which he had been hired to maintain and had visited several times during the week prior, according to a Tinley Park Police report.

“Hey, what are you doing? You are probably breaking in you (expletive),” Berndt said, the report states. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/tinley_park/chi-tinley-park-man-charged-with-hate-crime-for-attacking-black-worker-20120904,0,337128.story

via truthout:


This article was translated from the Spanish by Clayton Conn.


At least 40 struggling companies have been converted into cooperatives with workers assuming management. In some cases, the former owner of the company has joined the initiative.

Daniel Martinez, 33, was fired from the company where he worked in Mazarron (Murcia), like so many others who have been crushed by the crisis. Half a year later, he is once again onboard - and is an owner.

The economic crisis has led to scores of workers in Spain taking over and directly managing declining enterprises. Instead of just being content with a strike, they have dismissed owners and are trying to keep their companies-turned-cooperatives afloat.

The situation in Spain is not as dramatic and sudden as it was in Argentina a decade ago, when the crash of 2002 left thousands of workers in charge of their factories as their bosses fled. Their struggle was captured on camera by Naomi Klein and Avis Lewis in "The Take." However, the flow in Spain is constant: last April, Daniel Martinez and six colleagues created the Akami Tuna Cooperative, where they work in the same factory, and with the same machinery, that once belonged to the company that had fired them; the metal workers of Metalva joined with those of Alcaniz (Teruel), who went to work one day to find that the owner had fled; the cooperative of Zero-Pro in Porriño (Pontevedra) is developing robotics projects that were previously prepared for their boss. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://truth-out.org/news/item/11201-economic-crisis-encouraging-factory-takeovers-in-spain

[font size="6"].....FROM HELL !!!!![/font]




Ragweed has gotten medieval on me this year. ..... Anybody else REALLY eager for cooler, wetter weather?