Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Police have arrested Lord Levy, chief fundraiser to the Labour Party and close associate of Tony Blair. Lord Levy was arrested by the Specialist Crime Directorate of London’s Metropolitan police as part of an on-going investigation into the cash-for-peerages row which has troubled the Labour government since the start of the year. He was bailed on Wednesday afternoon without charge pending further enquiries.

In a statement, Lord Levy said the arrest was “totally unnecessary”. A spokesman also said: “He has not been charged and does not expect to be, as he has committed no offence.”

The cash-for-peerages affair erupted earlier this year, after an independent body reported that Tony Blair had sold peerages (the title of Lord) to businessmen in exchange for secret donations to the Labour Party. This potentially breaks the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act of 1925 which was originally introduced after Prime Minister Lloyd George was caught selling peerages for personal funds.

The ruling Labour Party admitted soon after that it had borrowed over £14 million before the last general election in 2005. The opposition Conservative Party also admitted it had been loaned £16 million by wealthy businessmen. It’s believed that as chief fundraiser, Lord Levy arranged the Labour Party’s loans.

All political parties deny any wrong-doing, although the arrest of one of the Prime Minister’s closest allies is going to provide yet more scandal for the already troubled party.

Downing Street has so far declined to comment on what they call a “party matter” and Levy himself has accused the police of “over-reacting”. Some politicians have commented that the situation could be very serious for Mr. Blair.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

On Monday night, New Jersey, US-based toy retail giant Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy in the US as well as in Canada. The retailer filed it from Richmond, Virginia for Chapter 11 bankruptcy code in the US, and a judge allowed a loan of over US$2 billion.

According to the filing, the retail chain owns US$6.6 billion in assets, but has a debt of US$7.9 billion. They were under a roughly US$5 billion debt since the company underwent a three-way acquisition in 2005. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Bain Capital, and Vornado Realty Trust acquired Toys R Us for around US$7 to US$7.5 billion. After the US judge approved a loan, Toys R Us received about US$3 billion from the lenders to continue the business and survive a competitive market, and restructure their business model. E-commerce giant Amazon.com, Walmart and Target are some of the competitors for the conventional ‘brick and mortar’ toy shop, with lower priced-merchandise and fast, cheap delivery. In a conference call in June, CEO Dave Brandon said “very, very aggressive pricing online” was causing problems. He also said the company was experiencing “significant weakness in demand for their products globally”. Toys R Us are to clear a debt of US$400 million by May 2018.

Toys R Us said they would continue to operate for the holiday season. Bankruptcy lawyer Jeff Gleit said Toys R Us “need to do both a financial restructuring as well as an operational restructuring” and “needs to modernize with the times”. Last holiday season, Toys R Us made sales around US$4.5 billion. Overall, the company reported a US$29 million loss in 2016. CEO Brandon said, “Our objective is to work with our debt holders and other creditors to restructure the US$5 billion of long-term debt on our balance sheet, which will provide us with greater financial flexibility to invest in our business”.

Toys R Us employs more than 60 thousand people in 38 countries around the world in more than 1600 stores. The company’s stocks fell by six percent after filing for Chapter 11 protection. US bankruptcy code Chapter 11 allows the company to restructure under a plan approved by the court. The company would also be shielded from creditors’ claims during the process. For the stores located in Canada, Toys R Us filed bankruptcy in Ontario and are to undergo reorganisation. However, 259 stores located outside the US or Canada will not undergo reorganisation, the company said.

Over 300 US-based retailers have filed for bankruptcy this year, and hundreds of stores closed.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney formally announced his presidential candidacy yesterday outside of Detroit.

“I don’t believe Washington can be transformed from within by lifetime politicians, there’ve been too many deals, too many favors, too many entanglements — and too little real world experience managing, guiding, leading,” said Romney, who was a successful businessman before entering politics. Romney focused on his leadership experience outside of government.

Romney made the announcement at the Henry Ford Museum, something which the National Jewish Democratic Council heavily criticized saying that they were, “deeply troubled by Governor Romney’s choice . . . to kick (off) his presidential campaign on the former estate of a well-known and outspoken anti-Semite and xenophobe.” A spokesman for Romney said, “Governor Romney believes our country needs to put innovation at the forefront if we are to ensure a stronger, safer and more prosperous America, the Ford Museum embodies that bold, innovative spirit.”

Romney’s record as a moderate and his Latter-day Saint faith are expected to be his primary campaign challenges.

Romney, born in Detroit, the son of former Michigan Governor, Republican Presidential candidate, and automotive pioneer George Romney, attended Cranbrook School of Michigan and Harvard Business and Law Schools. Romney ran against senior Massachusetts senator and Kennedy family member, Ted Kennedy. Romney won 41% percent of the vote against Kennedy in the closest election in Kennedy’s entire tenure in the United States Senate. Romney was also CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee which was in charge of planning the 2002 Winter Olympics from 1999 to 2002, he took charge after the 2002 Winter Olympic bid scandal. He also sat on the board of Massachusetts-based office supply giant, Staples, Inc.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

A Scottish woman who set out before Christmas to purchase a turkey finally made it home on Monday, after being cut off by snow for a month. Kay Ure left the Lighthouse Keeper’s cottage on Cape Wrath, at the very northwest tip of Great Britain, in December. She was heading to Inverness on a shopping trip.

However on her return journey heavy snow and ice prevented her husband, John, from travelling the last 11 miles to pick her up. She was forced to wait a month in a friend’s caravan, before the weather improved and the couple could finally be reunited.

They were separated not just for Christmas and New Year, but also for Mr Ure’s 58th birthday. With no fresh supplies, he was reduced to celebrating with a tin of baked beans. He also ran out of coal, and had to feed the couple’s six springer spaniels on emergency army rations.

“It’s the first time we’ve been separated”, said Mr Ure in December. “We’ve been snowed in here for three weeks before, so we are well used to it and it’s quite nice to get a bit of peace and quiet.”

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

One thousand residents of the Defense Department-managed Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, D.C. filed a class-action lawsuit on May 24, asserting that the cut-backs in medical and dental services imposed by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld are illegal. The operating budget for the home was reduced from $63 million in 2004 to $58 million for 2005. The residents cite cuts in on-site X-ray, electrocardiogram, physical and dental services, and the closing of the home’s main clinic and an on-site pharmacy.

Chief Financial Officer Steve McManus responded that the changes not only save money but also achieved improved efficiencies. “We’re really trying to improve the benefits to our residents,” he said.

Most of the home’s costs are paid for by a trust fund and monthly fees paid by residents. By law, the Armed Forces Retirement Homes are required to fund, “on-site primary care, medical care and a continuum of long-term care services.”

Tuesday, May 2, 2006

Beginning Monday morning, many BlueFrog and Blue Security users began receiving an email warning them that if they did not remove their email addresses from the Blue Security registry, they would begin to receive huge amounts of unsolicited email. As quickly as four hours after the initial warning message, some users began to receive an unprecedented amount of spam. Most of the messages were simply useless text. Users reported that Blue Security’s website was unavailable or extremely slow in responding.

Blue Security is an online community dedicated to fighting spam. As they became more popular, their member list increased substantially. The members’ email address is encrypted and added to a list of e-mail addresses that wish to stop receiving spam. Blue Security maintains the encrypted list, which uses an encrypted hash function. Spammers are encouraged to remove all addressed from their email list that are also in Blue Security’s Do Not Intrude Registry by using free compliance tools available at Blue Security’s web site.

According to Blue Security’s web site, “A major spammer had started spamming our members with discouraging messages in an attempt to demoralize our community. This spammer is using mailing lists he already owns that may contain addresses of some community members.” Reportedly, Blue Security has received complaints from users about spam allegedly sent from Blue Security promoting their anti-spam solution and web site.

Blue Security states they are “an anti-spam company determined to fight spam and as such never has and never will send unsolicited email.” There are also reports of non-users of BlueSecurity/BlueFrog receiving the warning emails, which now seems is also being sent to email addresses of people who have never added their email address to Blue Security’s Do Not Intrude Registry.