| Whistleblower legislation being readied
At least two lawmakers are working on a drafts for the next legislative session to address the state's protection of its whistleblowers.Rep. Tracy Potter, D-Bismarck, submitted a draft of a bill to the Legislative Council in an effort to better define the winding path a state employee must go down when reporting perceived violations in the workplace.Rep. Pam Gulleson, D-Rutland, also is drafting a bill that "ensures the law is meaningful in terms of providing protection ..."Currently, a state employee is ensured protection under the North Dakota Century Code, chapter 34-11.1, the public employees relations act; the act says an employee may report, without fear of reprisal, in writing to the employee's respective agency head, a state's attorney, the attorney general or an employee organization a job-related violation or misuse of public resources.For doing so, an employer should not retaliate against an employee.But the law seems to provide little by way of protection, perhaps only leaving an employee who may have been a victim of retaliation to follow up with a civil suit or to wait to see if the complaint of retaliation will be investigated and prosecuted.Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and Burleigh County State's Attorney Richard Riha have cited conflicts of interest with at least one agency that's seen the most recent eruption of whistleblower requests - Workforce Safety and Insurance.Five employees have filed for whistleblower protection from WSI, the state's workers' compensation agency, citing concerns of retaliation for reporting a myriad of issues.One, Jim Long, chief of support services, was put on paid administrative leave shortly after sending a 30-page document, which outlined perceived violations, including open meetings circumvention and disclosure of confidential information, among others, to the North Dakota Highway Patrol.Another whistleblower, Todd Flanagan in the special investigations unit, was fired in early December.Shortly thereafter, Stenehjem requested a highway patrol investigation into whether there was evidence of retaliation; that investigation, along with Long's 30-page document, was given to Grand Forks' State's Attorney Peter Welte.Welte, who was at the North Dakota State's Attorneys Association conference in Mandan this week, said his office has just begun reviewing the investigation."We haven't had time to completely review it, but we're in the process of doing that,"he said.Afurther section of North Dakota employment law, NDCC 34-01-20, provides only for private employees, ultimately allowing for civil action or mediation by the Department of Labor; however, the Department of Labor has no authority to investigate or enforce a complaint, only to act as a mediator between the company and the employee, said Lisa Fair McEvers, commissioner of the Department of Labor.The department does, however, investigate retaliation in relation to other complaints, but not for whistleblowers, she said.The two bills would seek to change the Department of Labor's role.Potter's bill would actually require the employee report the initial violation to the state auditor's office, which would be given the authority to investigate the claim.
Internet earnings week points up uncertainties
Sources familiar with the plan say fewer than 1,000 employees could lose jobs about half what was rumoured on some blog sites. Yahoo's fourth-quarter profit is seen down 31 per cent to 11 cents per diluted share, while Google is slated to post a 40 per cent rise, excluding stock options and one-time items. "We think at the moment, the most negative scenario for Yahoo is fully priced in," Lindsay said. Yahoo shares, which closed 5.3 per cent down Monday at $20.78, are down nearly 40 per cent from year-high levels in late October. He said Yahoo is likely to lose highly profitable broadband partnerships with AT&T Inc. and others in the next 18 months, while warning of further weakness in its corporate brand advertising business as the U.S. economy hits the skids.
Iran and its Economy
Many European and Asian banks have been forced to reduce or cut their financial ties to Iran. Even some Chinese banks have come under pressure to restrict their dealings with Iran, not to mention UAE and Bahraini banks. This coupled with two successive UN sanctions have been hurting the Iranian economy much more than the government has been willing to admit. Today, many Iranian businessmen find it increasingly difficult to do business with their foreign counterparts, simply because international business payments are mostly done through letters of credits which are issued by banks. In absence of a letter of credit, an importer has to pay cash; something that is risky and difficult. There are of course various ways to side-step these problems, but they all add to the cost of doing business, something that hurts the economy.
Safe at Home Interviews Stephen Flynn
Meet our Stephen Flynn, our first profile in resilience. Quite frankly, we couldn’t have begun with anyone else because Stephen is our inspiration for this whole project. His latest book The Edge of Disaster has an ominous title but in fact – while it demonstrates that we are living on borrowed time – it also shows what is possible if we as individuals – and as a society – decide to construct a more resilient society. His premise is that with the wounds of national disasters still relatively fresh in our minds, we need to act to ensure that our political leaders act to prevent future disasters.
It Turns Out Ahmadinejad Was the Truthful One
Bush is such a liar. Or is he just out to lunch on the most important issue that he faces? In October, he charged that Iran's nuclear weapons program was bringing the world to the precipice of World War III, even though the White House had been informed at least a month earlier that Iran had no such program and had stopped efforts to develop one back in 2003. Is it conceivable that Bush was telling the truth at his press conference Tuesday when he stated that he learned of the National Intelligence Estimate report, which contained that inconvenient fact, only last week? Even if Bush read the NIE report, he clearly doesn't respect it, for at his press conference he said "the NIE doesn't do anything to change my opinion about the danger Iran poses to the world-quite the contrary." Not that he has anything against the NIE, whose directors he handpicked.
Now, saline water worries flood-hit Malwa farmers
After suffering heavy losses due to water logging this kharif season, farmers of the Malwa region are a worried lot with their fields still inundated and the wheat-sowing season already in the offing. With over 50 per cent of their paddy and cotton crops totally perished, the land tillers in villages of Bahmanwala, Takhtmalana, Jhabelwali, Chadhewan, Thandewala, Widing, Udaikaran, Chauntara, Bajja, Vattoo, Haraj, Sarainaga and Jammuana helplessly watched the migratory birds in their flooded or marshy fields. They are looking for remedies to get rid of the menace of sem (saline water logging in fields). As one walks over these sem-affected fields, the feet sink in the earth as if the water below is waiting to come up. The sem has blackened the top layer of soil. A farmer will have to plough such a piece of land at least four times to make it fit for cultivation.
Obama: Change?
How 'bout signing a bill and stopping there. When's the last time Bush has signed something without adding "but I get to change the parameters of this bill if I feel like it" at the bottom of the bill. Hasso, maybe you know how many signing statements Bush has made... isn't it a couple hundred? I don't want to give you more than my fair share, that's a couple off the top of my head one Republican to another. " .
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