| Company leaders face complex problems
The good news? Salem has a number of factors working in its favor and can ultimately come out on top of this issue. Initiatives like NO Meth -- Not in MY Neighborhood and the Salem and Keizer chambers' Ready to Learn -- Ready to Work partnership with Salem-Keizer School District are just two examples of creative solutions that can have a long-term payoff for our community. Shifting demographics It is true that we face a shrinking population due to lower birth rates in the U.S. and across the globe, resulting in fewer future workers. This demographic trend is exacerbated in the U.S. by the looming retirement of the baby boomers. In fact, many employers in manufacturing, utilities, health care and the public sector indicate that as many as 40 percent of their workers will be eligible for retirement by 2010.
Times Article Rallies Support for McCain
A Feb. 21 New York Times article examined the relationship between Sen. John McCain and lobbyist Vicki Iseman. The article created a firestorm by asserting, Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself. The Times quoting John Weaver, a friend and adviser to McCain reported, He [Weaver] had warned Ms. Iseman away [in 1999] because of 'what she had told people' that had 'made its way back' to the McCain campaign." According to the Daily News, McCain, when asked directly if he ever had a romantic relationship with Iseman, replied, "No." He added that if aides were concerned about the possibility of such a relationship, as the Times article said, "They didnt communicate it to me.
The Slow Traveller
In Brisbane we swapped our gargantuan cargo ship for an aged panel van, vaguely fitted out as a camping vehicle and sporting a graffiti-inspired paint job of dubious taste. The 'Flames of Hell' motif on one side was hardly going to allow us to blend in sensitively among the foliage of the national parks on our slow journey to Sydney. Unless we wanted to pose as a forest fire, which was probably unwise given the drought-induced tinderbox state much of the countryside was in. We soon learnt that the main hazard on Australian roads is not other drivers but suicidal wildlife. Evolution has given the unique marsupial fauna of the continent many attributes to cope with the harsh environment. However, dealing with speeding hunks of metal while crossing the road isn't one of them. On the dashboard a huge sticker warned us: 'Don't fucking swerve for Kangaroos or you'll roll real bad! Who's going to survive? The Roo, the Emu ...
Blueprint to learn lessons of history
We wanted something down on paper so that they know where we are coming from." Tom Monaghan, the SATH secretary, added: "If Peter Peacock hadn't said what he said, this wouldn't have happened but these ideas have been floating around for years and it has forced us to act. "This is only the first step in ensuring a new history syllabus but we are determined to safeguard the subject. "In many ways we are now acting like a pressure group to ensure the best outcome." At the moment, teachers are free to decide what history is taught, and subjects studied can vary from school to school. However, the new syllabus, titled: History and a Curriculum for Excellence, lays down a detailed series of the historic events that children should study and when. For example, local history will dominate schooling until the end of Primary Three, with the next two years being used to learn about the "Making of the Scottish Nation".
Cyclists get back to basics: Fixed-gear bicycle riders take simplicity ...
Some ride them to train, some ride them for the thrill and some ride them just for the bragging rights, but whatever the reason, many local cyclists are ditching their derailleurs to ride fixed-gear bicycles. Fixed-gear bikes, or "fixies," are as basic as a bike gets -- a frame, two wheels, one gear and often times, no brakes. The defining feature of a fixie is its lack of a freewheel, the mechanism that allows the rider of a normal bike to stop pedaling and coast. On a fixed-gear, there is no such thing as coasting. The chain of a fixed-gear directly connects the pedals to the back wheel. So if the wheel is moving, so are the pedals. And for fixed-gear riders, this is both the allure and the advantage. "It's a different style of riding," said Winston Sauber, a Humboldt State University student who rides a fixed-gear to and from classes every day.
Serbia and Russia reject Albanian rule in Kosovo
Tensions have risen in Kosovo's first full week as a separate state as Serbs vent their anger and determination to reverse the move. In the Serb stronghold of north Mitrovica, over 1,000 people demonstrated for a seventh day, burning not only an EU flag but also a picture of Tadic. Eighteen Kosovo police officers were injured when dozens of Serb war veterans lobbed stones and bottles during a protest at a border crossing into northeastern Kosovo. Police used teargas to disperse the demonstrators. U.N. governor Joachim Ruecker urged Serbia to confirm its respect for the U.N. mandate, following Belgrade's endorsement of mob attacks on U.N.-run border posts and disruption of police and justice in the Serb-dominated north. Ruecker said he reminded visiting Serb Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardzic that Resolution 1244 puts the United Nations and the KFOR peacekeeping force KFOR "in charge of the whole territory of Kosovo." "I made it very clear to him that the condoning of violence, direct or indirect support for violence, is totally unacceptable," Ruecker said, referring to a remark by Samardzic saying that attacks on border posts were "legitimate." Samardzic said Serbia would do all it could to maintain peace and order "in the areas that it controls, where Serbs live." Serbia would also provide jobs, schooling and infrastructure in Serb areas of Kosovo.
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