United Auto Workers (UAW) union which is responsible for starting the second strike at Chrysler affecting 18 manufacturing plants and 30 other facilities across 14 states, ended just seven hours later, after reaching an agreement: “shifting an estimated $18 billion in future retiree health costs from the company to a union-controlled trust fund.”

It all started when negotiations failed to deliver better healthcare for aprox. 31,000 UAW members working for Chrysler and it looks the deal they’ll sign these days is indeed good if the strike lasted only 7 hours. It’s also true, that the union wanted a quicky this time so that production won’t be greatly affected.

Sources say, the deal might be a “$3,000 signing bonus, along with three subsequent lump-sum payments equal to between 3 and 4 percent of the workers’ annual pay” and not a raised base-pay rate for employees.

Next on the strike list, with about 58,000 UAW members could be Ford Motors in a few weeks or maybe months, this time.

News came today announcing that the two producers of the well renowned beers, Coors and Miller Lite, have teamed up to create a joint venture that will have to compete with Anheuser-Busch (NYSE:BUD), leader with over 40% of the brewing operations in U.S. and producer of Budweiser, Michelob and Bud Light.

The joint venture between Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP), with 42% and London’s SABMiller plc (LON:SAB) with 58% will be called MillerCoors and will be responsible for selling Miller Lite, Miller Genuine Draft, Coors, Coors Light and Molson Canadian.

Beside the fact that they want MillerCoors to become the number one beer producer in the US with an estimated production of 69 million barrels that accounts for $6.6 billion, the $500 million cost saving in the next three years sounds pretty good. They will reduce shipping distances, optimize production and eliminate duplicate departments like marketing to make their joint-venture more profitable but killing costs brings up a few problems.

Who will handle the marketing campaigns and who will be the mind behind the TV spots because I am sure some like Miller’s and some like Coors’. Another problem I can see is, delivering the news to the employees. It’s not easy to tell people they need to search for another job.

Though I brought up those negative things up, I do believe that MillerCoors will do great  fighting for the first place in such a market. Investors should also be happy, because from what Cramer said, this is an under evaluated company with great financial support.

We’re always into finding some buzz from these big companies we always hear about and it looks like we got something. Sprint - Nextel’s (NYSE:S) CEO, Gary Forsee is no longer with the company after resigning from the top position without even using an lie excuse.

Gary Forsee has been under the eye for some time now, because the company was “quietly” looking to replace him since August. Apparently a few investors were a little bit unhappy with the latest acquisitions (Nextel and WiMAX) that never confirmed and with the lousy results for the last year. Sprint never managed to catch Verizon (NYSE:VZ) or AT&T (NYSE:T) in sales, staying calmly on the 3rd place after losing about 337,000 contract subscribers in the third quarter.

Sprint announced that until December, when a new CEO is supposed to arrive, the interim will be realized by CFO Paul Saleh and James Hance, Jr.  as acting chairman. and that the new CEO that will take over the management, will not be from within the company. I guess those head hunters will have something to do now.

The stock price dropped by 51 cents after the news was confirmed, sending the company down to $18.50 a two-year low.

It turned out to be true. Former athlete, Marion Jones, admitted that she’s been making false statements to federal agents in regard with her using steroids. She went live today to tell all her fans, family and in fact to all the Americans that she’s been dishonest and she actually used performance enhancements before and after the 2000 Olympics Games in Sydney.

This is not a single event with American athletes because the list is pretty big with names like Kelli White, Jerome Young or Dennis Mitchell. Of course there are others that tried to beat the system: Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, Russian bi-athlete, Olga Pyleva.

Why is it that one can’t resist from using steroids in the battle for power and quick reputation? I guess the answer was already offered by Victor Conte, a very disputed character in the sports business that supposedly helped Marion Jones to cheat the system. “The anti doping rules that are in place, are so easy for the athletes to beat, it’s like taking candy from a baby.”

Conte, also admitted for helping Jones just before the 2000 Olympics with an illicit drug that no one knew about, including her sponsors or family. He gave Marion the substance called “the clear”, EPO, growth hormones and insulin none of them detectable by tests. The excuse he’s using for supplying her with these substances is that she was competing against athletes that used drugs for the same reason, to win the Olympics. This is true if we think that second after Jones in 100m was Greek Katerina Thanou who was later found out to be on steroids, too.

Marion Jones, after the Olympics dismissed the fact that she ever met Victor Conte but apparently pictures of the two of them together have been released. The partnership between the two of them started on 1st of August 2000 and lasted till 1st of September 2001, with Marion taking drugs almost on a daily basis and declaring she’s “one hundred percent drug free”.

Today Jones put an end to all of these, coming out and telling the truth. She’s hoping her fans and family won’t be too disappointed and she asked for forgiveness. I really wonder what the consequences will be in her case because losing her medals could be just one thing. I don’t think lying to a federal agent is a good thing, however acknowledging a lie in front of the whole nation is something I can admire. Better late than never.

Tuesday, October 9th, will be 40 years since famous Argentinian Ernesto “Che” Guevara was killed in order to stop his Revolution. It’s very interesting that so many years after his death, Che never ceased to exist as a fighter and will always be associated with the saying “Viva la revolucion!” be it on t-shirts or big posters, people’s minds, tv shows or anything like that.

Fidel Castro, a close friend of Che Guevara, always considered him “not a man who could have been taken prisoner” if the gun wouldn’t malfunction, considering him a heroic figure, but Gary Prado a retired Bolivian General only remembers him as a sad, hungry and dressed in rags man, that surrendered in front of him. With Che, wounded and without a working gun, he was an easy target to capture. Next day, October 9th, “they killed him in cold blood” in a small town, La Higuera.

In 1997, his remains were laid to rest in Cuba, with thundering cannons.

40th anniversary of Che’s death

The celebrations will be held in a few South American countries including Bolivia, making Gen Prado mad because Bolivian officials are not celebrating those 50 soldiers that died trying to capture Che Guevara. He is also furious because the order to kill never came from CIA or other organizations but from the Bolivian resident itself.

In Cuba, at the tomb where his remains rest, a ceremony will be held Monday, October 8th, Che’s Day. Now you can also read it as chess day, because this was his favorite game and 1,500 people will be invited to play chess and view the gigantic bronze statue with his image in Santa Clara battle.

Gatherings will also be held in Bolivia, in the city Che was killed, La Higuera and in the jungle where he was captured. Venezuela will also celebrate 40 years from Che’s death with an art and music festival, and his native country Argentina plans to create a statues for their hero. If Ernesto Che Guevara would have lived, he would have been 79 this year.

“Hastra La Victoria Siempre”!

[image copyright AssociatedPress]

Yahoo News reported today that Debbie Cole, a county garbage operations employee in St Petersburg, FLA did just that.

Seems a bag full of $50 and $100 fell out of the back of a Loomis truck about 1/2 hour before Cole found it. She immediately contacted her supervisor who in turn notified authorities. So far she has been offered no reward from Loomis and her boss says the best he can give her is the possibility of time off.

When asked if she thought, even for a second, about keeping the money she replied, “To be honest, no. It didn’t even cross my mind.”

I know I’d have turned it in but not until I took a long time to think about it. $65,000 would sure clear up some debt and leave me enough for a massage too. It would have been very tempting, but I am happy honest people, still exist. How about you? Would you have turned it in, without a moment’s hesitation? Would you have kept it?

Today, in Kentucky, started the deliberations on a trial that’s been advertised so much until now. Louise Ogborn, 21, is suing one of the biggest fast food companies in the world, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), after being fooled intro stripping by a hoax policeman named “Officer Scott” that pretended she has stolen a purse from a customer. Louise was 18 at that time, with a “white as milk” clean record and great references.

Summers, 51, conceded later that she had never known Ogborn to do a thing dishonest. But she nonetheless led Ogborn to the restaurant’s small office, locked the door, and — following the caller’s instructions — ordered her to remove one item of clothing at a time, until she was naked. Courier Journal

Ogborn is also suing Donna Jean Summers, her manager at that time that never protected her from the fake cop or investigating if the case was real, hiding under a very “solid” excuse of running the restaurant on a busy Friday night. Why is she on trial here, is pretty obvious. Though she followed the general rule in business, “the client always comes first”, she failed in being a moral person that can decide between good and wrong and that thing cost her a conviction for unlawful imprisonment.

All I can say right now is that Louise Ogborn has a pretty good case and that I hope her to win, because this is not just a McDonald’s lawsuit, is a trial to demand good morals and dignity, besides money.

via AssociatedPress

** Update: Friday, October 5th, the jury awarded $5 million in punitive damages and about $1.1 million in compensatory damages to Louise Ogborn. Donna Summers and Kim Dockery, another assistant manager for McDonald’s were named as defendants in Ogborn’s suit, but the jury ruled they did not have to pay any damages.

We’re fans of technology and the news we’ve heard today really made us think if Apple’s iPhone will have a real candidate to fight with . There’s lot of buzz today about the new lineup of cellphones, Verizon will launch in the next couple of weeks that consists of Samsung Juke (U470), Blackberry Pearl (8130), LG Venus (VX8800) and of course the one I’m going to give full attention, LG Voyager (VX10000).

LG Voyager is a full touchscreen display cellphone with a QWERTY keyboard that sports a secondary display if you unfold it. The biggest advantages I can see are internet functions that should work great on Verizon’s Wireless network, which supports much higher speeds than AT&T and if I were to make a comparison with the iPhone, it has everything. Expandable memory slot to reach 8GB - checked, camera - checked, web browsing - checked, email -checked, and so on.

With all the buzz created, I really think there will be some damage done to iPhone sales, even if the marketing campaign wasn’t anything like Apple’s. I guess people need something new every half a year. If you would like to find out more about Verizon’s LG Voyager, check the link. Meanwhile I’m waiting a confirmation for the $250-$300 price that’s been rumored and a clear release date.