Salt River Project (SRP), the utility monopoly with a voracious appetite for corporate excesses, and negligible appreciation of its ratepayers, has decided against outsourcing Arizona tech jobs to foreign nationals. For now.
Disingenuous responses from the utility’s Assistant General Manager Barbara Hoffnagle included this gem, “There were cost savings (with outsourcing), but not as high as anticipated,” she said of the bids from Accenture Ltd. of Ireland and Infosys Technologies Ltd. of India.
The public outcries of “Foul!” obviously didn’t merit her attention.
Unable to resist rubbing a bit of that famous Salt River salt in the wound caused by SRP‘s foreign overtures, Hoffnagle said outsourcing could be an option when the economy rebounds and the up-front costs are not such a critical issue. “Never say never,” she said. All that was missing was a all-knowing wink and crossed fingers held behind her back.
But don’t think Arizona Public Service is any better. It has also interviewed several outsourcing companies this year, researching the benefits of having computer-programming jobs done “offshore.”
We get it. Arizona’s taxpayers are good enough to foot the bill for these mega-buck companies, but not good enough to hire.
The daily’s Business section carries the report here.
For the first time ever, Phoenix firefighters will impose a $105 fine for false smoke alarms. Offenders will get a one-time warning followed by a fine for the second false call. First-time offenders can erase their initial citation by attending a smoke-alarm education class.
Property owners will also pay considerably more for alarms arising from malfunctioning security systems and will face penalties for faulty smoke detectors.
Phoenix Fire Deputy Chief David Carter said that within a 12-hour period earlier this week, 170 false-alarm calls were generated, many from heaters being turned on and stirring up dust.
A Phoenix City Auditor’s report reviewed earlier this month by the city’s Public Safety and Veterans Subcommittee — made up of four city council members – estimated the city would recover $537,000 through the fee increases, including a false-alarm inspection fee that would astronomically skyrocket from $60 to $200.
The old rule of “safety first” takes a back seat as revenue enhancement for the cash-strapped city trumps safety and security.
Without forward thinking innovators Charles Kline and Bill Duvall, information delivery would still be the purview of newspapers and broadcast media rather than the instant connections afforded each of us on our personal computers and cell phones.
Seeing Red AZ is particularly grateful to them and their colleagues for holding us captives without so much as a ransom note.
The White House has highlighted a new multi-million-dollar technology fund for Muslim nations, following a pledge made by President Obama in his unprecedented speech to the Islamic world at Cairo University last June. Obama argued that “education and innovation will be the currency of the 21st century” and that under-investment was rife in many Muslim nations.
The White House said the US Overseas Private Investment Company (OPIC) had issued a call for proposals for the fund, which will provide financing of between 25 and 150 million dollars for selected projects and funds.
The Global Technology and Innovation Fund will “catalyze and facilitate private sector investments” throughout Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the White House said in a statement. OPIC said sample projects could help foster the development of new computer technology or telecommunications businesses, or widen access to broadband Internet services.
In addition to the fund, Obama also said he will host a summit on entrepreneurship this year to deepen ties between business leaders in the United States and Muslim communities around the world.
In his speech on June 4, Obama vowed to forge a “new beginning” for Islam and America, promising to purge years of “suspicion and discord.”
We couldn’t make this stuff up.
Breitbart News carries a complete report here. We urge you to read it.
Gore’s costly status hybrid car company builds in Finland, gets $529 million taxpayer assist
A tiny car company backed by former Vice President Al Gore has just gotten a $529 million U.S. government loan to help build a hybrid sports carin Finland that will sell for about $89,000.
How’s that for raw nerve?
The award to California startup Fisker Automotive Inc. follows a $465 million government loan to Tesla Motors Inc., purveyors of a $109,000 British-built electric Roadster. Tesla is a California startup focusing on all-electric vehicles, with a number of celebrity endorsements that is backed by investors that have contributed to Democratic campaigns, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
The awards to Fisker and Tesla have prompted concern from companies that have had their bids for loans rejected, and criticism from groups that question why vehicles aimed at the wealthiest customers are getting loans subsidized by taxpayers.
“This is not for average Americans,” said Leslie Paige, a spokeswoman for Citizens Against Government Waste, an anti-tax group in Washington. “This is for people to put something in their driveway that is a conversation piece. It’s status symbol thing.”
Today, on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland, President Obama announced his new policy to abandon a large missile defense shield in Eastern Europe intended to protect U.S. allies against threats from a volatile and unstable Iran.
The stunning reversal of previous policy came although Obama conceded he agreed with the Bush administration’s assessment of the threat posed by Iran.
The British press has expressed dismay over Barack Obama’s plan to scrap the missile defense shield so despised by Russia.
Obama said he was dropping a plan to base interceptor missiles in Poland and build a radar system in the Czech Republic — a move that eases tensions with Russia but fans regional fears of resurgent Kremlin influence, Reuters reports. Eastern European nations viewed the missile plan as a symbol of U.S. commitment to the defense of the region against any encroachment by its former Soviet rulers 20 years after the end of communist rule.
Even Arizona’s Sen. John McCain, often in agreement with Obama, said the decision “has the potential to undermine perceived American leadership in Eastern Europe,” at a time when nations there “are increasingly wary of renewed Russian adventurism.”
You might want to reconsider commenting or placing YouTube videos on White House accounts with social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
It turns out the Obama administration is collecting and storing those comments and videos — without either notifying or asking the consent of the site users. This, like so many other matters, appears to be in direct opposition to President Obama’s promise of a transparent government and his pledge to protect privacy on the Internet.
Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said the White House signaled that it would insist on open dealings with Internet users and, in fact, should feel obliged to disclose that it is collecting such information, according to this exclusive report in the Washington Times: W.H. collects Web users’ data without notice.
In what is being called the worst accident since the light rail began service in December, the driver of a van and four passengers of the light rail were taken to Valley hospitals. The van – which police say ran a red light — and the rail car each sustained extensive damage, with the van knocking the train from the tracks. The early morning collision occurred near 32nd and Washington Streets causing closure of the system after power was halted to the rail. Buses were used to transport passengers around the accident scene for most of the day yesterday.
Accidents have been racking up since the system went into operation late last year. News reports here, here, here, here detail some of the previous collisions.
Monopoly utilities supported by Arizona consumers seeking workers overseas
Today we read that in an effort to cut costs, Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) is conducting research regarding having their IT work done “offshore.”
But in the most disingenuous of statements, the utility also claims the bid requests will not replace the approximately 800 employees and contractors who currently perform these services.
According to the latest report from the Commerce Department, Arizona lost 3,300 information-sector jobs in the past year, a 7.7 percent decline.
The report in the daily says APS asked specifically for the hourly rate cost of jobs to be performed “offshore” compared with those in Arizona, as they look for workers who can fulfill a variety of tasks, including Oracle databases, Web development and help-desk support.
Salt River Project (SRP) has also interviewed several outsourcing companies this year and eventually asked for bids to take over about 50 SRP computer-programming jobs.
Corporation Commissioners Gary Pierce and Kris Mayes have both expressed concern over these ventures by the Arizona utilities.
Mayes said she would prefer to see APS cut other expenses such as lobbying, and that the cost savings for using offshore labor do not compensate for the lost jobs in Arizona. “We are not talking about a competitive industry here,” Mayes said. “It is a monopoly utility that is supported by Arizona consumers.” Adding there likely were unemployed computer programmers in Arizona who could use the work from APS.
“The company has an obligation to do everything it can to keep these jobs in Arizona,” Mayes said. “The jobs are being financed by Arizona ratepayer dollars. I have hard time seeing Arizona ratepayer dollars going to India and Ireland.”
When asked about this misadventure, APS spokesman Dan Wool said, “I understand how it would look like that. We are trying to get information on all the different kinds of companies out there and the rates they charge for all kinds of work.”
Each Obama power grab seems more outrageous than the one preceding it.
Now we read that aides to Democrat Sen. Jay Rockefeller, (WV), have been hard at work drafting a bill that allows the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cyber security emergency — in effect handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet.
Posted by seeingredaz 
Posted by seeingredaz 
Posted by seeingredaz 
