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To: mishedlo who wrote (51833)	1/28/2006 12:54:50 AM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

Blame walmart - hehe DJ Source: Ex Wal-Mart Exec Coughlin To Plead Guilty Tuesday . FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP)--Former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) vice chairman Tom Coughlin will plead guilty in federal court Tuesday to defrauding the world's largest retailer and to not paying federal income tax, a person close to the case told The Associated Press. The source declined to be named because the case has been before a grand jury and grand jury proceedings are secret by law. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Coughlin had agreed to plead guilty to federal wire fraud and tax evasion charges. Coughlin, a former protege of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, resigned from the retailing giant in March 2005 when Wal-Mart asked federal prosecutors in Fort Smith, Ark., to look into allegations that Coughlin had tricked the company out of up to $500,000 over several years. Coughlin was the No. 2 executive of the company before he retired. He remained on the board until last March. Wal-Mart is based in Bentonville. (END) Dow Jones Newswires January 27, 2006 18:51 ET (23:51 GMT)

To: mishedlo who wrote (51833)	1/28/2006 1:01:14 AM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

DJ Russian Military Academy Head Fired After Hazing Incident . MOSCOW (AP)--Russia's defense minister on Friday fired the head of a military academy where a brutal hazing incident resulted in a conscript having his legs and genitals amputated. Maj. Gen. Viktor Sidorov was also charged with abuse of office for concealing the crime, the chief military prosecutor said. Pvt. Andrei Sychev, 18, of the Chelyabinsk Tank Academy in the Ural Mountains region, was beaten and tortured on New Year's eve, causing severe injuries and a gangrenous infection, which led to the amputations. Several other soldiers were beaten in the same incident, but they sustained lighter injuries, prosecutors said. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov ordered an investigation into why Sidorov and other military officials failed to immediately report the case. "The first questions we have are to our own officers and generals - why didn't you report it to Moscow for 25 days?" Ivanov said on Channel One television. A spokesman for the Defense Ministry's press service said Ivanov fired Sidorov as head of the Tank Academy, and also ordered tougher punishments for officers who conceal incidents and crimes. Seven soldiers were also detained and the Defense Ministry was conducting a "serious" internal investigation, Ivanov said. Sychev wasn't hospitalized until several days after the beating, when he was already in critical condition and unable to stand, and authorities were also probing why doctors at the unit denied him immediate treatment, prosecutors said. Sychev's mother Galina said she was notified about the incident only after he had already undergone his first amputation. Meanwhile, lawmakers in the State Duma, parliament's lower house, failed to win enough votes to call in Ivanov and Chief Military Prosecutor Alexander Savenkov for questioning in connection with the incident. Lawmakers voted 122-23, short of the necessary 226 votes. The legislators have ordered an investigation by the Duma's defense committee. Rights groups and experts accuse military officials of condoning vicious bullying, which is rampant in the Russian military, as a means to maintain discipline. They say bullying will continue until the nation abolishes the draft and turns to an all-volunteer army. All Russian men between the ages of 18 and 27 are required to serve two years in the armed forces - three years for the navy. Military officials plan to switch part of the cash-strapped and demoralized armed forces from conscripts to volunteer soldiers and reduce the conscription term by one year - a measure expected to take effect by 2008. They say, however, that this will require enlisting twice as many conscripts - around half a million per year. (END) Dow Jones Newswires

To: mishedlo who wrote (51833)	1/28/2006 1:05:32 AM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

DJ Bush Defense Budget Plans Army Reserve,Aircraft Cuts-Report . WASHINGTON (AP)--U.S. President George W. Bush will use his new budget to propose cutting the size of the U.S. Army Reserve to its lowest level in three decades and stripping up to $4 billion next year from two fighter aircraft programs. The proposals, likely to face opposition on Capitol Hill, come as the U.S. Defense Department struggles to trim personnel costs and other programs to pay for an expensive war in Iraq and a host of other pricey aircraft and high-tech programs. Bush will send his 2007 budget to Congress on Feb. 6. The proposed Army Reserve cut is part of a broader plan to achieve a new balance of troop strength and combat power among the active Army, the National Guard and reserves to fight the global war on terrorism and to defend the homeland. The Army sent a letter to members of Congress on Thursday outlining the plan. A copy was provided to The Associated Press. Under the plan, the authorized troop strength of the Army Reserve would drop from 205,000 - the current number of slots it is allowed - to 188,000, the number of soldiers it had at the end of 2005. Because of recruiting and other problems, the Army Reserve has been unable to fill its ranks to its authorized level. Army leaders have already said they are taking a similar approach to shrinking the National Guard, which the Army is proposing to cut from its authorized level of 350,000 soldiers to 333,000, the number now on National Guard rolls. Some in Congress have vowed to fight the proposed cuts in the National Guard. Its soldiers and resources are controlled by state governors unless Guard units are mobilized by the president for federal duty, as Bush did after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. "I remain convinced that we do not have a large enough force," Republican Congressman Ike Skelton said in a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. Skelton is the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. Proposals to cut funding in two key jet fighter programs were described by defense analysts and congressional aides, some of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because the reductions have not been announced. Information was also contained in documents obtained by The Associated Press. One plan would eliminate funding for an alternative engine for the Joint Strike Fighter, the military's next generation jet fighter. The second would cut money for F-22 fighters during 2007. But it is actually a contract restructuring that would add that money back - and more - over the long run by stretching out the program for two additional years and buying up to four more aircraft. The new plan calls for buying 60 aircraft through 2010, rather than 56 over the next two years. The Joint Strike Fighter engine is being built by General Electric (GE) and England-based Rolls Royce (RR.LN), and the plan to dump it has already triggered lobbying from as far away as Britain's 10 Downing Street, including a handwritten note from Prime Minister Tony Blair to Bush. On the home front, the nearly $2 billion cut would affect General Electric engine plants, and possibly jobs, in Ohio and Massachusetts, and a Rolls Royce plant in Indiana. "This is a big question for GE," said Loren Thompson, military analyst with the Lexington Institute. "They could get shut out of the fighter engine business over the next 10 years." The proposal would benefit Connecticut-based Pratt & Whitney, which got the original contract for the Lockheed Martin (LMT) aircraft, and delivered its first engine last month. GE spokesman Dan Meador said the alternate engine program provides competition for Pratt, helping to drive down costs while also providing a backup if problems arise. "It's very important to GE and Rolls Royce, and we're performing well," he said. Defense officials, however, said the Pratt engine has performed well and within budget, and noted that a number of other jet fighter programs - including the F-22 - have just one engine maker. For the F-22 fighters, original plans to buy 29 in 2007 and 27 the next year were changed to cut funding for production aircraft in 2007, but to buy 20 in 2008, 2009 and 2010. The change would save about $2.3 billion in 2007. The new plan would allow the Air Force to save money next year, while keeping the production line going through 2010. (END) Dow Jones Newswires January 28, 2006 00:51 ET (05:51 GMT)

To: mishedlo who wrote (51833)	1/28/2006 1:06:47 AM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

DJ FBI Arrests Two FEMA Employees In Alleged Kickback Scheme . NEW ORLEANS (AP)--The FBI arrested two Federal Emergency Management Agency employees Friday after each allegedly accepted $10,000 in cash kickbacks from a food services contractor, the U.S. Attorney said. The contractor, who wasn't immediately identified, notified the government of attempts to bribe him soon after he arrived in New Orleans at a FEMA camp in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans. U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said both suspects - identified as Andrew Rose and Loyd Hollman, both of Colorado - took the contractor into a locked room to discuss how they could artificially inflate the head count of FEMA workers taking meals at the camp, which would increase the contractor's revenue. They allegedly told the contractor they would need $20,000 in kickbacks to inflate the figures. Hollman and Rose each were charged with soliciting bribes as public officials. Both were in custody Friday afternoon and Letten said prosecutors would argue that they should be held without bail as flight risks. (END) Dow Jones Newswires

To: mishedlo who wrote (51833)	1/28/2006 1:07:42 AM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

DJ Fannie Mae Debt Outstanding $756.3B At Dec 31 >FNM . WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Fannie Mae (FNM) on Friday disclosed debt figures for recent years and said its total outstanding debt at Dec. 31, was $756.3 billion. The home mortgage lender said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the debt amount represents redemption values, which exclude the effect of currency adjustments, debt basis adjustments, and amortization of discounts, premiums, issuance costs and hedging results. Fannie Mae filed data from 2002 through 2005, and it also posted the information on its Web site. The lender said it had $172.5 billion in short-term debt and $583.8 billion in long-term debt at Dec. 31. -By Tony Cooke, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-1347; tony.cooke@dowjones.com

To: mishedlo who wrote (51833)	1/28/2006 10:39:17 AM
From: GraceZ	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

Companies are slashing benefits and raising co-pays and deductables You are making a fundamental logic error here. Because companies are asking the employee to share a higher proportion of the cost you think that the cash value of what the employee is provided has fallen, it hasn't, it has risen sharply and this is the primary reason why companies are so keen to get employees to cover more of the cost. Companies are attempting to raise co-pays primarily because the cost of the non cash compensation benefits have risen sharply as their workforces have aged. A rising cost of health insurance doesn't lower the benefit, it raises it. The data that I linked to measures that, why not see if it confirms your suspicion that it is falling? I pay my own health insurance, always have, so I'm acutely aware of the price (which isn't far off from what large employers pay per employee). Our premiums are about 4x what they were in 1987, so if I was employed and that same plan were offered by my employer on my behalf (my husband's company offers almost an identical plan to their employees) it would be equivalent to a raise on that portion of my compensation, minus whatever increases the employer may have wanted me to "share" with them. There are also many other non-cash benefits aside from health insurance. Some low paying jobs come with housing. I was just asked to do a cost analysis for a friend who lives in a NYC coop that has a super and two porters that all receive an apartment as part of their compensation package. How much has that benefit been reduced in the past few years?