Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Bjarne Riis doing the Barnyard Talk about Andy Schleck


Bjarne did his barnyard talking about Andy Schleck in the Danish Ekstrabladet: Baa, baa, Andy is not going to win; Oink, oink, Andy is not disciplined; Quack, quack, he lacks the final bit!

But, tweet, tweet, Alberto Contador is almost perfect. Meow, meow, me am going to work on just some details with him (like eating contaminated Moo, moo?), and neigh, neigh, Andy's problem is that he is a contemporary of Contador.

Not much value can be extracted from the spiteful declarations of a man who was directing Andy while negotiating a deal with his immediate opponent Contador during the Tour of 2010, and not much credence comes from the man who directed Contador in 2011 and failed to have him win his 4th Tour de France.

But that barnyard talk is good to light a fire. Maybe this doesn't make Andy Schleck perfect, but hopefully enraged enough to do Ruff, ruff on the Tour 2012. Here are our friends from Velonation:

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/10740/Bjarne-Riis-Andy-Schleck-lacks-the-will-to-win-the-Tour-de-France.aspx

Or the original bjarnyardish version:

http://ekstrabladet.dk/sport/cykling/article1681268.ece

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Attorney for Deutsche Borse Subsidiary Clearstream Says Transfer of Iranian Central Bank Money Not Legally Relevant


I cannot believe this quote:

Once Mr. Panopoulos completed his presentation, which included points on jurisdiction and the current location of Iranian assets, Judge Goldstein summarized Clearstream's position.

"...you're willing to assume the plaintiffs' allegations...you just think that they're not legally relevant," the judge stated.

"Yes," Mr. Panopoulos said.

http://www.istockanalyst.com/business/news/5592185/attorney-for-deutsche-borse-subsidiary-clearstream-says-transfer-of-iranian-central-bank-money-not-legally-relevant

I am pretty sure we are going to hear much more about this in the near future!

MF Global Execs Say They Don't Know Where The Money Is


Bottom line in this article: "The search for hundreds of millions of dollars in missing customer funds has sent reverberations through the farm belt and trading floors, and has attracted the attention of the FBI and federal prosecutors. Thousands of customers have had their money frozen."


Only one question out of so many is answered: I always wondered what MF in MF Global meant. It was so obvious! MF stands for Missing Funds....

Friday, December 9, 2011

CARGOLUX AIRLINE EXECUTIVES PLEAD GUILTY FOR FIXING SURCHARGE RATES ON AIR CARGO SHIPMENTS


CARGOLUX AIRLINE EXECUTIVES PLEAD GUILTY FOR FIXING SURCHARGE RATES ON AIR CARGO SHIPMENTS

December 9, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Airlines Executives Agree to Serve Prison Time

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, announced that two executives of Luxembourg-based Cargolux Airlines International S.A. have each plead guilty and agreed to serve 13 months in prison for participating in a conspiracy to fix cargo rates for international air shipments.

Ulrich Ogiermann, the former president and CEO, and current employee of Cargolux, and Robert Van de Weg, the senior vice president of sales and marketing for Cargolux, plead guilty yesterday to the charges contained in an indictment filed on Oct. 28, 2010, in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, Fla. Ogiermann and Van de Weg pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing and coordinating certain surcharges, including security and fuel surcharges, charged to customers located in the United States and elsewhere for air cargo shipments including shipments to and from the United States. According to the indictment, Ogiermann participated in the conspiracy from at least as early as October 2001 until at least February 2006, and Van de Weg participated in the conspiracy from at least as early December 2003 until at least February 2006. Under the plea agreements, Ogiermann and Van de Weg have also each agreed to pay a $20,000 criminal fine and to cooperate with the department’s ongoing investigation.

Air cargo carriers transport a variety of cargo shipments, such as heavy equipment, perishable commodities and consumer goods, on scheduled international flights.

Including Ogiermann and Van de Weg, a total of 22 airlines and 21 executives have been charged in the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into price fixing in the air transportation industry. To date, more than $1.8 billion in criminal fines have been imposed and four executives have been sentenced to serve prison time.

Ogiermann and Van de Weg are charged with price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum fine of $1 million and up to 10 years in prison. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

Yesterday’s guilty pleas are the result of a joint investigation into the air transportation industry being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s National Criminal Enforcement Section and the Atlanta Field Office, the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office, the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General. Anyone with information concerning price fixing or other anticompetitive conduct in the air transportation industry is urged to call the Antitrust Division’s National Criminal Enforcement Section at 202-307-6694, visitwww.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htmor call the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office at 404-679-9000.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida athttp://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida athttp://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or onhttp://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Technical comments about this website can be e-mailed to the Webmaster. PLEASE NOTE: The United States Attorney's Office does not respond to non-technical inquiries made to this website. If you wish to make a request for information, you may contact our office at 305-961-9001, or you may send a written inquiry to the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida, 99 NE 4th Street, Miami, Fl. 33132.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Netflix Opens in Luxembourg: Yes, Tax Rates Matter


This is no secret: Luxembourg is the place to be for internet commerce. It is simply a play on VAT differentials. As long as the prevailing regulation has the merchant charge the VAT rate of its host country rather than the VAT rate of the customer's country (difficult to determine), Luxembourg is the best deal. Until it gets steamrolled by those who think that it's not funny or logical that the smallest member state charges the smallest VAT tax.

Netflix just joins a list of prominent foreign corporations, mostly US, in Luxembourg, who easily were drawing the same conclusions.