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Saturday, February 4, 2012
MythBusters Was Banned from Talking About RFID Chips Because Credit Card Companies Are Little Weenies [Video]
BBVA Compass Sued for Alleged Labor Law Violations, According ...
HOUSTON, Feb. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ ??Compass systematically violated federal labor laws by denying overtime pay?to its mortgage banking officers, Lee & Braziel, LLP and the?Rowdy Meeks Legal Group, LLC allege in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Texas?federal court.
Filed on behalf of former mortgage?banking officer (MBO) Keith Vaughn, the lawsuit alleges that the bank illegally?misclassified MBOs nationwide as overtime-exempt employees until?approximately?April 2011 in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
In April 2011, the bank reclassified?its MBOs to make them eligible for overtime pay. Although Compass instituted a?time-tracking system last year, it discouraged MBOs ? who regularly?work?overtime ? from entering more than 40 hours per work week so the bank could?avoid paying overtime compensation, according to the lawsuit.
A resident of Katy, Texas, Vaughn?worked as an MBO at several Compass branch offices between November 2010 and?September 2011.
Vaughn is represented by Rowdy Meeks,?of the?Rowdy Meeks Legal Group LLC, in Kansas City, Mo.,?and J. Derek Braziel, of Lee & Braziel, LLP, in Dallas. More information about?the?litigation is available at www.BBVACompassOvertime.com.
J. Derek Braziel, of Lee &?Braziel, LLP, said, "FLSA violations have been pervasive throughout the?mortgage industry. We allege Compass Bank's deliberately illegal misclassification?of its?MBOs as exempt from overtime requirements, and not allowing them to properly?record overtime hours worked, demonstrates a willful violation of the FLSA."
Rowdy B. Meeks, of Rowdy Meeks Legal?Group LLC, said, "We believe the Defendants were well aware of their legal?obligations to the MBOs because Compass employs many hourly,?overtime-eligible?employees in their branch offices. We hope this case will convince BBVA Compass?and other banks to finally comply with the labor laws when it comes to their?treatment?of mortgage banking officers."
The law firms will seek to have the lawsuit?certified as a collective action to recover unpaid overtime wages,?liquidated damages, attorneys' fees, and other litigation costs.
The case is "Kevin Vaughn, et al., v.?Compass Bank, Compass Bank, Compass Bancshares, Inc., and BBVA USA Bancshares,?Inc.," Civil Action No.?4:12-cv-00316?in the U.S. District Court for the Southern?District of Texas, Houston Division.?
Attorney Contacts: Rowdy?B. Meeks, Rowdy Meeks Legal Group LLC, Kansas City, Mo., 816.977.2741,?www.rmlegalgroup.com, and?J. Derek Braziel,?Lee & Braziel, LLP,?Dallas, 214.749.1400,?www.overtimelawyer.com.
SOURCE Lee & Braziel, LLP
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Friday, February 3, 2012
Analysis: Canada plan to sell oil to China faces big hurdles (Reuters)
OTTAWA (Reuters) ? Prime Minister Stephen Harper may still be smarting from Canada's failed bid to ramp up oil exports to the United States, but his plan B could prove to be even tougher.
Harper heads across the Pacific next week in a bid to convince China to satisfy its growing energy appetite with Canada's vast oil reserves.
Though it appears a classic supply-demand match on the surface, the plan faces hurdles that range from how long it will take to build the pipeline to environmental dangers and questions about China's human rights record.
China imports no oil from Canada at present, and the infrastructure is not in place in Canada to get the crude from the massive tar sands of Alberta to the Pacific coast, forcing a long-term view of a partnership.
"China as an energy market directly for the delivery of (Canadian) oil is medium to long term. Five years is too short, 10 years is perhaps doable," said Gordon Houlden, a former Canadian diplomat with extensive Chinese experience who heads the University of Alberta's China Institute.
A myriad of legal and regulatory issues play a big role in the delay.
The most obvious supply route for crude headed to China is pipeline operator Enbridge Inc's proposed 1,177-km (731-mile) Northern Gateway pipeline from the northern Alberta oil sands to Kitimat on the British Columbia coast, which is strongly opposed by greens and some aboriginal bands.
Regulatory hearings into the pipeline opened last month and could drag on for years, after which the project looks set meander through Canada's slow-paced court system.
"The challenge of exporting energy from Canada to China is a domestic challenge ... so I would not place any false hopes on the China visit with respect to a breakthrough on the energy file," said Yuen Pau Woo, president of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.
Harper nevertheless says he is serious about diversifying the market for oil exports after U.S. President Barack Obama last month vetoed TransCanada's Corp's Keystone XL pipeline that would have carried crude from Alberta to Texas refineries.
The Keystone pipeline is a hot political issue in the United States, where the Republicans are choosing a presidential candidate to run against Obama in the November 2012 election.
"My message to the people of Canada is don't cut a deal with the Chinese, help is on the way. By January (2013), you're going to build the right pipeline to the right place," Republican contender Newt Gingrich told supporters on Tuesday night.
Canada, now the single largest supplier of energy to the United States, says it is unwise to keep on relying on one customer. Beijing welcomes the idea of Canadian diversification.
"China is undergoing rapid industrialization and urbanization, and its demand for energy and resources is simply huge," said Zhang Junsai, China's ambassador to Canada.
"The two countries have every reason to forge a stable and win-win partnership in the long run in the field of resources," he said in a statement on the embassy's website this week.
Chinese firms are interested in the oil sands and since July 2011 have quietly snapped up around C$5.5 billion ($5.5 billion) worth of Canadian assets. On Thursday, PetroChina Co Ltd announced the latest deal, an agreement to buy a 20 percent stake in a shale gas project in Canada from Royal Dutch Shell Plc for an estimated $1 billion.
More Chinese purchases are set to follow.
"Before the negative sides of the investment(s) surface, such as poor profitability and the massive challenges in managing an acquired foreign target, Chinese energy firms will maintain strong appetite for mergers and acquisitions," said a Beijing-based Chinese oil executive.
At some stage this could cause domestic friction, since a major poll last year showed 76 percent of Canadians opposed the idea of a state-owned Chinese firm trying to buy a controlling stake in a Canadian company. It also said more Canadians saw China's growing strength as a threat than as an opportunity.
Houlden said the Canadian government's position on foreign purchases had yet to be tested and the real challenge would be if a Chinese company decided to buy a Canadian oil giant such as Nexen Inc or Suncor Energy Inc.
"I personally think the Chinese would like to have that scale of participation - it's well within their means. But I think they're ... becoming more politically sophisticated as they recognize there probably is a tolerance limit," he said.
Harper kept China at a distance after his Conservative Party took power in early 2006. But under pressure from companies keen to take advantage of the enormous Chinese market, the government has since warmed up to the idea of much more trade with China.
"That's consistent with the message that the business community has been sending to them. China is just too important," said John Manley, CEO of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.
Ottawa's stance is complicated by the complaints of some Conservatives about human rights in China. Activists say Harper must raise the issue in Beijing.
"With obvious Chinese interest in Canada's natural resource sector ... it is time to be confident and recognize that human rights can be put on the table without damaging trade," Amnesty Canada Secretary-General Alex Neve told reporters on Thursday.
Although Foreign Minister John Baird last week slammed China for what he called "abhorrent acts" against religious believers, both Houlden and Woo said the attack would not cause China inordinate grief.
"These comments ... allow the venting of frustrations and well-held concerns about human rights challenges in China and may in fact take the pressure off the prime minister," Woo said.
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Thursday, February 2, 2012
In Israel: UN chief argues against attack on Iran (AP)
JERUSALEM ? The U.N. chief has told Israel the international standoff over Iran's suspect nuclear program must be resolved peacefully.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered his message at a time of growing concerns that Israel could be planning an attack on Iran. Israel, like the West, believes Iran is developing nuclear weapons and says no option, including force, can be ruled out in stopping it. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful
At a news conference with Israel's prime minister, Ban urged the Iranians to prove their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. When asked whether he fears an Israeli attack, he said "there is no alternative to a peaceful resolution of these issues."
U.N. nuclear inspectors said Wednesday they would soon return to Tehran after a "good trip" to the Iranian capital.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
VIENNA (AP) ? A senior U.N. nuclear expert on Wednesday announced plans to revisit Tehran soon after a "good trip," indicating progress on his team's quest to probe suspicions that the Islamic Republic is secretly working on an atomic arms program.
The announcement from mission leader Herman Nackaerts came shortly after his group landed at Vienna airport after three days of discussions with Iranian officials in Tehran.
While Nackaerts gave no details on what the International Atomic Energy Agency experts had achieved, diplomats had said before their departure that their main focus was to break Iranian resistance to talking about the weapons program allegations.
"We had three days of intensive discussions about all our priorities, and we are committed to resolve all the outstanding issues," Nackaerts told reporters. "And the Iranians said they are committed, too.
"But, of course, there's still a lot of work to be done," he said. "So we have planned another trip in the very near future."
Asked how the visit was, he replied, "we had a good trip."
Diplomats familiar with IAEA strategy told The Associated Press before the trip that the agency delegation was unlikely to settle for vague promises or complicated plans that could further stall their probe. Nackaerts' announcement that a new visit would soon take place ? plus his praise of a "good trip" ? therefore suggested that he was coming back to Vienna with some progress made.
Any progress on the issue would be significant. Iran has refused to discuss the alleged weapons experiments for more than three years, saying they are based on "fabricated documents" provided by a "few arrogant countries" ? a phrase authorities in Iran often use to refer to the United States and its allies.
Faced with Iranian stonewalling, the IAEA summarized its body of information in November in a 13-page document drawing on 1,000 pages of intelligence. It stated then for the first time that some of the alleged experiments can have no other purpose than developing nuclear weapons.
The IAEA team was seeking progress on its efforts to talk to key Iranian scientists suspected of working on a weapons program. They also hoped to break down opposition to their plans to inspect documents related to nuclear work and secure commitments from Iranian authorities to allow future visits.
Beyond concerns about the purported weapons work, the United States and its allies want Iran to halt uranium enrichment, which they believe could eventually lead to weapons-grade material and the production of nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes ? generating electricity and producing medical radioisotopes to treat cancer patients.
Since the discovery in 2002 that Iran was secretly working on uranium enrichment, the nation has expanded that operation to the point where it has thousands of centrifuges churning out enriched material ? the potential source of both nuclear fuel and fissile warhead material.
Iran also has started producing uranium at a higher level than its main stockpile ? a move that would jump start the creation of highly enriched, weapons grade uranium, should it chose to go that route. And it is moving its higher-enriched operation into an underground bunker that it says is safe from attack.
Tehran is under four sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions because of its refusal to heed international concerns about its nuclear programs, as well as penalties imposed by the United States and Western nations meant to force it into dialogue.
The European Union last week imposed an oil embargo on Iran and froze the assets of its central bank. In December, the United States said it would bar financial institutions from the U.S. market if they do business with Iran's central bank.
___
AP video reporter Philipp Jenne contributed.
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Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Private employers add 170,000 jobs
The situation for private employment in the U.S. improved in January as private employers added 170,000 jobs in the month bringing the total employment level 1.77 percent above the level seen in January 2011.
Today, private staffing and business services firm ADP released the latest installment of their National Employment Report indicating that the situation for private employment in the U.S. improved in January as private employers added 170,000 jobs in the month bringing the total employment level 1.77% above the level seen in January 2011.
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Looking at the chart (click for full-screen dynamic version) showing ADP?s total private nonfarm payrolls since 2001 as well as the year-over-year and month-to-month percent change, you can see that while the job recovery had been anemic throughout most of 2010, more recently the trend had been picking up momentum.
Although the level of jobs is still far below the peak seen in late 2007 and still near the lows seen during the worst period of the "dot-com" recession, the bottom looks to be clearly defined and the trend is looking comparable to past recoveries.
Perusing the rest of the data in the ADP?dataset you can see the the economy is currently showing the most growth for small to mid-sized service providing jobs with goods-producing jobs remaining near trough levels.
Look for Friday?s BLS Employment Situation Report to likely show somewhat similar trends.
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here.To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on paper-money.blogspot.com.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/gFSme2QKwEE/Private-employers-add-170-000-jobs
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Video: What has the Obama campaign learned about Romney to defeat him?
Search called off for missing cruise ship passengers
Italian emergency officials say they are calling off a search for missing people in the submerged part of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, due to the danger to rescue workers, according to the Associated Press.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/46195825#46195825
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