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To: pilapir who wrote (9895)	5/30/2002 3:57:50 PM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 19428

"Pitt's pay scale is the Pitts!" and "No more Enrons," U.S. SEC employees protest over salary talks By John Poirier WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - About 200 employees at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rallied on Thursday to protest agency management proposals over salary raises. A union representing 2,000 of the 3,000 SEC employees has sought a federal mediator after talks with SEC's management over how to implement $25 million of funding for "pay parity" stalled over a week ago. The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) is seeking about 60 percent of the money, which was approved by Congress last year and signed into law by President George W. Bush in January. Union officials estimate that SEC management wants to provide only about 40 percent for union-represented salaries for the remainder of the fiscal year but said they could not be certain because management has so far failed to disclose information on how the funding is to be used. At issue is a new pay scale unilaterally implemented by management this month that the union says favors managers and supervisors. The union also said it opposes a proposal for an initial 6 percent increase because it would not benefit workers over the next few years. "It's regrettable it has come to this," Solomon Cromwell, an accountant in the SEC's division of corporation finance, said at the afternoon rally. "In my opinion, morale is at an all-time low," Cromwell, who has worked at the SEC for about 24 years, added. The rally at the SEC's main office in Washington was often punctuated with chants by employees carrying signs expressing displeasure with the current status of stalled negotiations and deriding SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt. "Your version of pay parity sounds like the board of Enron -- Unfair." read one sign. "Pitt's pay scale is the Pitts!" and "No more Enrons," read others. Since the late 1990s, the SEC has sought to halt the flow of experienced staff, such as accountants, attorneys and examiners, leaving for higher-paying jobs in the private sector. The NTEU has sought to raise salaries by as much as 30 percent to bring them in line with salaries at other federal financial regulatory agencies. 05/30/02 14:43 ET

To: pilapir who wrote (9895)	5/30/2002 9:33:01 PM
From: StockDung	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19428

Arizona shuts down firm in alleged penis pill scam PHOENIX, May 29 (Reuters) - Authorities have shut down a local company and seized $30 million of its assets for allegedly selling bogus penile enlargement pills over the Internet, state officials said on Wednesday. C.P. Direct, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, was put out of business and its Web sites closed following complaints about the company and its product that promised results within months of taking its supposedly potent yet costly "Longitude" pill, officials said. Among the items seized were luxury cars, including a Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Ferrari and Bentley, $20 million in bank accounts, $3 million in cash and a bounty of luxury jewelry, according to a list of the items. Company officials could not be reached for comment. The initial cost of the pills was $59.99, plus shipping and handling for a month's supply and $39.99 a month thereafter. Records showed the pills cost $2.50 per bottle to manufacture. The company also allegedly sold pills that supposedly guaranteed height increases and bigger breasts, officials said. "It's going to take time to find out how many people bought the pills," said Pati Urias, a state Attorney General's spokeswoman. "It appears they did quite a bit of volume." Named in the civil forfeiture action was Michael A. Consoli, 44, and his mother, Geraldine Consoli, 76, and Vincent J. Passafiume, 28. The three were warned by the state in 1996 about fraudulent practices when they operated a business that sold computers and other electronic equipment. In 1999, the Consolis and Passafiume were barred from doing business in Arizona through the mail, Internet or using other telecommunication devices. 05/29/02 22:47 ET