Category Archives: News

Home Depot Changing Leadership

News, ,

After more than a year as head of Home Depot’s US stores division, Marc Powers will be stepping down, making way for longtime Home Depot employee Ann-Marie Campbell to take over. Powers, age 54, began his stint in 2014, taking over the US store division when Marvin Ellison left Home Depot to become chief executive at JC Penny.

As of February 1 Campbell, age 50, will take the reins from Powers. She is a 30-year veteran of Home Depot, rising through the ranks from cashier in South Florida to most recently president of Home Depot’s southern division.

The change in leadership comes one month after Home Depot announced its goal of increasing sales to $101 billion during the coming three years. Current overall sales stand at about $88 million. The home improvement giant plans to increase sales without opening any new stores. Instead it plans on selling more merchandise on-line, such as power tools, home furnishings and more.

US Expands Sanctions on Russia

News, , , , , , ,

The Obama administration angered Putin and the Kremlin by sanctioning 34 additional individuals and entities for assisting Russian and Ukrainian companies to avoid US penalties and other punishments.

The expansion of the sanctions will help to “maintain the efficacy of existing sanctions” which were put in place in reaction to the Russian annexation of the Crimea last year and for the support that Russian has given to eastern Ukrainian separatists.

Fourteen of the 34 are connected to “serious and sustained evasion,” or are divisions of firms already on the sanctioned list. The treasury department said that six separatists and two ex-government officials from the Ukraine are “complicit” in corruption, or in weakening the Ukrainian government. US citizens are restricted from doing business with those on this list, and any US assets held by these entities are now frozen.

The new sanctions match those put in place by America’s allies and demonstrate Washington’s “unwavering resolve to pressure Russia to respect the security and sovereignty of Ukraine,” John Smith, the acting sanction boss of the treasury department said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the US move:

“This is a continuation of the unfriendly line against Russia that runs counter to logic, ” he said.

Hysteria Grips US Malls as Thousands Evacuated in Multiple Bomb Scares

News, , ,

Saturday was a crazy day at the mall in America as thousands of Christmas shoppers were evacuated in light of bomb and other threats of violence.

The evacuations come on the heels of a highly publicized terrorist attack in San Bernardino in which 14 were killed and over 20 people injured.

At the outdoor Largo Mall near Tampa, Florida 500 people were told to leave after an empty suitcase caused concern. In Hackensack, New Jersey the two-floor Riverside Mall was evacuated when someone noticed a bomb threat written on a bathroom wall. Across the country in New Mexico, at the Animas Valley Mall in Farmington, another restroom message caused the police to evacuate and close the mall as they searched for the threat. On San Francisco’s iconic Embarcadero an ownerless backpack sent the police into suspicious mode, clearing the area and carefully examining the lone backpack for bombs or other threats.

No bombs or other threats were found in any of these incidents. The disruption and delays caused by the threats did interrupt the smooth flow of commerce on what was one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Are Syrian Refugees a Threat to US Security?

News,

One reaction to the terrorist attacks in Paris that left 129 dead and scores injured is the push-back from states against allowing Syrian refugees into the US. Over half of US states have informed President Obama that they will not accept refugees from Syria over their borders.

Texas Governor Greg Abbot sent a letter to the president requesting that the entire program to resettle refugees in the US be frozen.

“I urge you, as president, to halt your plans to allow Syrians to be resettled anywhere in the United States,” Abbott said in the letter. “Neither you nor any federal official can guarantee that Syrian refugees will not be part of any terroristic activity. As such, opening our door to them irresponsibly exposes our fellow Americans to unacceptable peril.”

The protests of the states might not have any teeth since immigration and refugee policies are set by the federal government and the State Department. However this fact does not mean the states can’t pressure the president, putting the administration on the defensive when they announce plans to permit as many as 10,000 refugees into the US during 2016.

Advocates of the resettlement of refugees in the US say there is nothing for the states to be afraid of. They would like to see the program proceed as planned, saying that there is a long and difficult vetting process that takes place before anyone is allowed into the US under refugee status.

“It is extremely unlikely that someone who is a terrorist will be sent through the refugee resettlement program,” Greg Chen, director of advocacy at the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “It takes a great deal of time, and it wouldn’t make sense for someone who is a terrorist for someone to go through that process. There are going to be easier ways for a terrorist to try to infiltrate, rather than going through the refugee resettlement program.”

Lawyer for Germanwings Crash Victims Considering US Venue for Lawsuit

News, , ,

Elmar Giemulla, the lawyer representing 39 families whose loved ones died in the Germanwings plane crash is weighing the possibility of taking his lawsuit to the United States. The advantage to moving the lawsuit to the US is American law allows for much larger settlements than in Germany.

Prosecutors who have investigated the March crash of the A320 Airbus have come to the conclusion that the co-pilot intentionally crashed the plane, killing all 150 people on board. The plane was flying from Barcelona to Duesseldorf.

Two of the victims were American citizens, and the co-pilot did some of his training in the United States. These facts, according to Giemulla, will allow him to bring his lawsuit to the US. The advantage to suing in the US is that much more money can be collected, for instance, the deceased future earnings and the emotional damage done by the event can be calculated into the settlement. In Germany, where more than half of the victims had citizenship, does not allow those calculations.

Lufthansa, which owns Germanwings, has already offered the victims’ families about $108,000 per family, depending on the size of the family. Giemulla says that offer is way too low. He does say that he will discuss the issue again with Lufthansa before he files any lawsuit.