| Ferry services are disrupted by strike
Unions representing the workers said they decided to take industrial action because talks with the local authority had broken down. Unison and Unite are angry over a proposed pay and grading structure the council wants to introduce. They claim this could lead to its members losing between £5000 and £6000 a year. Last night hopes of a breakthrough in the dispute seemed remote with the sides no nearer to reaching agreement or agreeing to further talks. Donald Brown, Unison Argyll branch chairman, said that the strike was "solid". But, according to the council, services were "not overly affected". The unions had agreed to exemptions for ferry services, piers and winter maintenance where the emergency services make a specific request.
Tax panel rejects proposal to revive school voucher program
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A proposal designed to restore an unconstitutional school voucher program has been rejected by a state panel. But it's a thumbs up for a plan that would lift a constitutional ban on state aid to religious schools.
The Taxation and Budget Reform Commission can put state constitutional amendments on the ballot. But it decided today against the voucher proposal that also was intended to help create more programs to send students to private schools at public expense, and protect existing ones against court challenges.
The commission that meets every 20 years has until May 8 to put amendments on the ballot.
A proposal that moved a step closer to the ballot would make exceptions to Florida's ban on direct and indirect aid to religious organizations.
Pimp Out Your Air. Paint and Customize
Just finished writing about a too-good-to-be-true story and while this here image would have you thinking the same thing, I can assure you that this is not the case. You can indeed pimp out your MacBook Air to look like the one in the image to the left, or even better, but it's gonna cost you. Oh, it's gonna cost you a lot! About $500 in cash (no, actually I'm pretty sure you can pay .
Dreams, bullpen stressing me out
Last night I dreamed I was sent out to Turner Field in the middle of a Braves game, having seen not one minute of spring training and told to come up with something to write, ready to turn in at the end of the game. Oy. I used to have the old recurring stress-out dream in my beat-writing days. But now? Here I am the back-up beat writer in the middle of January. I'm dreaming this the night before I'm supposed to write one lousy fill-in blog for DOB? Such high standards you see, for the Braves/Man in Black. Or so sayeth my subconscious. Let me back up for a second. For those not reading carefully it's CARROLL again - hey! Wassup? Long time! - and I'm feeling a little out of it after submersing myself in hockey (hockey?) and a little Hawks and Falcons for the last three months.
Schein hands out final grades
Adam Schein hosts the Afternoon Blitz on Sirius NFL Radio from 3-7 ET. He is also the NFL insider for Sports Net New York. Schein's columns appear every Tuesday and Thursday on FOXSports.com. His weekly video picks and video reports appear every Friday. Email Adam here. .
With no takeover in sight, WaMu stock falls
Washington Mutual stock fell for the fifth time in six days after a Bank of America analyst said a takeover of the largest U.S. savings and loan is unlikely. Seattle-based Washington Mutual slid $1.28, or 7.1 percent, to $16.80 Monday. The stock has tumbled 62 percent over the past year and 23 percent so far this year. "With an uncertain credit outlook, we think a takeover remains unlikely but have factored in a 25 percent probability," analyst Robert Lacoursiere wrote in a note to investors. He recommends selling shares of the lender because of concerns about continued credit losses. "In the face of deteriorating industry fundamentals, we expect a decline in assets, slow earnings growth and increased credit exposure," Lacoursiere wrote. Saflink New name, state for security firm Kirkland biometric security firm Saflink said Monday it is shedding its name and packing up for Texas after completing a merger with Austin-based IdentiPHI.
Bubble bursting?
No wonder the Fed has chosen to repeat the formula today. But this episode seems more serious than the dotcom one however, and it probably won't be resolved quite as easily. Why? Because in 2000, we only managed to soften the landing from the crashing of the stock market bubble by creating a housing bubble. That supported American consumer spending, (enabling Asia to carry on exporting). Alas this time there are no more obvious bubbles to create. So today's cut in interest rates will struggle to support consumer spending at the levels necessary to act as a motor to the global economy. Indeed, fiscal policy will struggle to do that either. If you want to know the challenge facing the world, it is summarised by the American savings ratio - the proportion of disposable income saved by American households.
What does 2006 have in store? (part one)
Pure national interest and security are not viable. By acting as if the world system of states was that of fifty years ago, Im afraid, some governments in 2006 will drive us deeper into chaos and disorder. back to top
Neal Ascherson: Fears and hopes For 2006, I fear: That the hopeful people of Iraq who go out to vote against all the threats of death and destruction will see their country fall apart into new destruction created by foreign meddling and megalomaniac clerics; That the provincial fools who rule Iran will betray their long-suffering subjects, by driving the country into follies which will tempt Bush and the neocons to strike at them; That Israel will press forward with the colonisation of the West Bank, until yet another Palestinian uprising and yet another wave of Israeli military reprisals postpones Palestinian statehood; That China's growing demand for energy, raw materials and food will overwhelm all the world's efforts to conserve the rainforests and reduce the consumption of fossil fuels; That the European Union will fail to replace its abortive constitution or to reconstruct the budget crippled in the fiasco of the British presidency by Tony Blair's unforgivable obsession with the rebate, and will begin to drift backwards towards disintegration; That the Blair government, faced with more illegal outrages by the Bush presidency, will once again fail to protest and shame us with another display of hand-wringing servility.
Kayakers battle fatigue and competition
TWO men attempting to become the first Australians to paddle across the Tasman are battling physical and emotional exhaustion, as well as the likelihood a competing craft will steal their glory. Eight-metre swells continue to swamp their custom-built kayak as Sydneysiders James Castrission, 25, and Justin Jones, 24, paddle towards Auckland in rough conditions. The pair set out on their 2200km journey on November 13 from Forster, on the NSW mid-north coast. They reached their halfway point in early December but went around in circles for two weeks in attempts to dodge persistent head winds and a whirlpool of ocean currents. They are now 540km from Auckland, but their support team estimates the men have paddled an extra 1000km as a result of their unplanned detours. "They're physically and mentally exhausted, and morale has gone to its lowest point in the journey," support team member Tom Mitchell told AAP.
Debt-ridden customers banned from using credit cards
They will receive letters in the next few days warning them their Egg credit cards will stop working in 35 days' time. It is the first time a credit card company has resorted to such a drastic move to curb over-spending, but others are expected to follow their lead as the global credit crunch tightens its squeeze on the beleaguered banking industry. If they do follow suit, it could lead to a retail crisis in Britain because credit card spending has fuelled the "spend, not save" shopping culture. Many adults rely on their credit cards to pay for a lifestyle they cannot afford. On Friday Egg said its dramatic move affects seven per cent of its two million credit card customers. They are being targeted because they have a "higher than acceptable risk profile", the company said.
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