| Honeymoon is over for new Delta CEO Anderson
Airways in early 2007. Creditors stopped it amid vigorous opposition by employees, politicians and Delta management. Delta's current market value now is about half of U.S. Airways' bid. Combined, Delta and Northwest would have a market value of about $8.5 billion, based on Friday's closing stock prices. "If Delta and Northwest merge, we will not even recognize the new airline in three years," said Minneapolis-based airline consultant Terry Trippler, a friend of Anderson's who insists he has not discussed a potential merger with his old pal. "It will be a lean, mean flying machine and a force to be reckoned with. Everybody in the business will be playing catch-up to Delta." The man leading the charge is seen by those in the industry as a fast-paced, no-nonsense leader, a general whose calm exterior masks a hard-charging ambition to change the face of the aviation industry.
Men's behavior at restaurant unmannerly
So, a crippled redhead walks into a bar. Well, a restaurant actually, and I had my little sister in tow. If you think this sounds like a bad joke, just wait. It gets worse. Now, I'm in a full leg brace and an Igor-like limp because of knee surgery, and she wears braces on both legs because of a birth defect. I give our name to the impossibly small hostess (where do they get these girls anyway, day care?) and turn to find a place to sit while we wait. .
Obama rides the wave
But rather than opt for the Clinton "safe zone", Iowans have indicated a willingness for bold change. "Both parties have opted for change," David Yepsen, of the Des Moines Register, said. Meanwhile, the negatives that seemed likely to trip up Mr Obama a few months ago are in the rear-view mirror. The voters of Iowa seemed not to mind that he had a few years in a Muslim pre-school in Indonesia, or even that his name sounds so similar to America's arch-enemy, Osama bin Laden. Nor does his lack of experience – after only three years as a senator – seem like much of a block. Supporters point out that, by definition, nobody gets to the White House with presidential experience, while the experienced old hands now running the White House, some tracing political careers back half a century, are perceived as having made a hash of both the economy and the war in Iraq.The turning point for Mr Obama was probably on 3 December, when Oprah Winfrey, the talk-show host who is the US's most popular celebrity, led an 18,000-strong rally to support him.
44 is the age of depression, say researchers
Scientists believe that although we are closer to death as pensioners and powerless in youth, it is the "reality check" years of our 40s that are the most depressing. In one of the biggest surveys into human happiness and mental health ever conducted, more than two million people - including a million in Britain - were interviewed by researchers from the University of Warwick and Dartmouth College in America. .
The trouble with British men
She can see some benefits to this diffidence. 'Iranian men say, "I love you, you are a queen." They're nice words but they don't mean anything. With an Englishman you know it's sincere, and I like that.' Yet while we may be slow to say, 'I love you,' we waste little time getting physical - as underlined by our teenage pregnancy rate, the highest in western Europe. Inevitably, this poses problems for Maryam, who, while not a practising Muslim, grew up in an Islamic culture. 'In Iran people do sleep together before they are married but not before maybe five, six years,' she says. 'Here men expect it of you after perhaps the third date. It makes things awkward for me, because I cannot do that. Then the Englishman thinks I don't like him when the opposite is true. I feel guilty about it but it's too much part of my culture to oppose.' And while Maryam left Iran for a society where women had more freedom, egalitarianism, she feels, can go too far.
Housewarmers shifting HQ to Atlanta
After more than eight years in North Texas, Housewarmers, a franchisor of resident welcoming services, will shift its headquarters from Dallas to Atlanta Feb. 1. The move is being spurred by strategic hires in that city and the desire for expansion, said Kerry Johnson, part-owner and senior vice president. The company's CEO and president, Mark Goldman, and Kathy Hopkins, senior vice president, were both hired in November and live in Atlanta. Johnson was president until mid-November; he says he gave up the position because it wasn't his forte. "The only thing that's moving is where the president of the company sits. All the operations and training remain here," Johnson said. "It lets us open another market by having a presence in the southeast." People receiving a gift basket from Housewarmers don't open their doors to a singing-telegram chicken, nor a dancing clown.
|
