United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that asks the Department of Defense (DOD) to accelerate efforts to provide American-made athletic shoes to Armed Forces recruits. A statute known as the Berry Amendment requires DOD to spend appropriated funds only on products made in the U.S. that pass the military’s performance standards. U.S. companies, including Massachusetts-based New Balance, are able to manufacture Berry Amendment-compliant footwear, but DOD continues to delay its purchase of these products.Shou

“Long ago Congress required the Department of Defense to purchase American-made supplies whenever possible, giving our troops high-quality equipment while supporting U.S. businesses,” said Senator Warren. “American companies are ready and able to manufacture athletic shoes that meet the military’s needs, but DOD continues to delay their purchase. Now that American-made footwear has been tested and approved for military use, DOD should move quickly to provide this gear to servicemembers.”

“If U.S. companies like New Balance commit to manufacturing American-made sneakers, we should commit to putting them on our servicemembers’ feet,” said Senator Markey. “We can support our troops with high-quality gear and U.S. companies and workers with good jobs, but we need DOD to do what they committed to doing. It’s time for DOD to stop the delays and move quickly to purchase these products, and I will continue to work with Senator Warren and Rep. Tsongas to make sure this gets done.”

In 2013, Congress required DOD to determine whether there are domestic manufacturers of Berry Amendment-compliant athletic footwear that meet the military’s needs. More than a year ago, in April 2014, DOD issued a new policy stating that the Armed Services would seek to ensure recruits use Berry Amendment-compliant footwear.

A New Balance shoe was approved as the first Berry Amendment-compliant footwear earlier this year; however, DOD testing of other shoe models could delay the purchase of American-made footwear into winter of 2015 or early 2016, a full eighteen months after DOD issued its new policy.

Michael Grogan writes:  While Slovakia is a member of the Eurozone, its growth trajectory has been markedly different to that of many Eurozone countries. Private consumption has been a driver of growth in the country, with the same rebounding by 2.2 percent in 2014, which was the product of higher disposable income and decreasing unemployment rates. Moreover, Slovakia is on track to obtain a budget deficit below 2 percent, standing at a current rate of 2.8 percent of GDP; which is just slightly higher than the 2.3 percent figure for Germany.

Moreover, the country’s financial system appears to be in very good shape. For instance, in the 2014 Global Competitiveness Report, Slovakia received a “Soundness of banks” measure of 20th out of 144 countries. This lies in contrast to a measure of 55th place for Germany. Slovakia’s financial sector has benefited from high capital adequacy ratios and high net interest income. With quantitative easing by the ECB, use of such financial capital has been highly efficient with lower interest rates resulting in the second-fastest growth in credit for Slovakian households – which has disproportionately allowed Slovakia a higher rate of private consumption than other EU countries.

Moody’s Investors Service also affirmed positive sentiment for Slovakia’s banking system at the end of last month, upgrading their outlook for the industry to stable from negative. Moreover, in spite of increased credit lending, it is anticipated that the non-performing loans ratio for Slovakian banks will rise by less than 50 basis points. In this regard, return on equity is expected to remain at 10 percent while net interest margins will still remain at 3 percent; Slovakian banks have the advantage of being able to increase lending growth even in a low-interest rate environment thanks to adequate capitalisation.

In conclusion, while the effects of the ECB’s quantitative easing has not been universal across all euro member states, Slovakia’s financial system has benefited quite substantially. In this regard, I am optimistic on Slovakia’s prospects, and expect it to continue producing among the highest growth rates across eurozone countries.

There have never been more ways to watch TV without actually paying a cable or satellite company each month for a bundle of channels, many of which you probably never watch.  Streaming services over the internet are offering customers the opportunity for paying only for what they want to watch.  The forces driving this change are at least partially demographic as younger viewers are more and more opting out of the traditional TV distribution model.

Mark Drajem and Jim Snyder write:  Hydraulic fracturing has contaminated some drinking water sources but the damage is not widespread, according to a landmark U.S. study of water pollution risks that has supporters of the drilling method declaring victory and foes saying it revealed reason for concern.
The draft analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency, released after three years of study, looked at possible ways fracking could contaminate drinking water, from spills of fracking fluids to wastewater disposal.

“We conclude there are above and below ground mechanisms by which hydraulic fracturing activities have the potential to impact drinking water resources,” the EPA said in the report. But, “we did not find evidence that these mechanisms have led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources.”  The study was commissioned by Congress and represents the most comprehensive assessment yet of the safety of fracking.

Thomas Burke, the EPA’s top science adviser,said “the number of documented impacts on groundwater resources is relatively low.” Still, it’s not accurate to say that there have been no cases of contamination.

The American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group, said the study was a validation of the safety of fracking. It said it showed existing oversight from state regulators is working..

“The process of fracking itself is one risk factor. But in fact it’s not the biggest one,” said Mark Brownstein, vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund. “Ongoing physical integrity of the wells and handling the millions of gallons of wastewater coming back to the surface after fracking, over the lifetime of each well, are even bigger challenges.”
Amy Mall, a senior policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the study provides “solid science that fracking has contaminated drinking water across the country.”

Mall said, however, that a lack of cooperation from industry meant EPA lacked key data necessary to fully assess its safety.
Another environmental group, Earthworks, said EPA analysis points to the need for regulation.

The EPA said as many as 30,000 fracked wells were drilled annually between 2011 to 2014, as oil production reached its highest level in more than three decades.
“People in favor of drilling will see this as vindication,” said Rob Jackson, a Stanford University professor who has tested drinking water near fracking sites in Texas, Pennsylvania and other states. “People opposed to it will see this as a whitewash.”