Prosecutors, public guardians deserve pay-hike justice

If it's galling to you, as a taxpayer, to see Cook County payingsix figures to someone who has no clear duties, imagine what a wearyprosecutor must be feeling. Assistant state's attorneys have beendenied raises for several years due to the county's fiscal mess, yetthe county somehow finds a way to pay Gerald Nichols, former CountyBoard President John Stroger's patronage chief, $114,000 a year.Raises have also gone to the unionized lawyers in the publicdefender's office, while prosecutors got nothing.

The result is a disparity in pay between public defenders andprosecutors that is undermining morale in the state's attorney'soffice and threatening to create an exodus of …

5 Killed, Over 500 Hurt in Japan Quake

KASHIWAZAKI, Japan - A 6.7-magnitude earthquake rocked Japan's northwest coast on Monday, killing at least five people and injuring more than 500. The area was plagued by a series of aftershocks, the strongest of which was magnitude 5.8.

The quake flattened hundreds of buildings and triggered a fire at a nuclear power plant.

Five people in their 70s and 80s - four women and one man - died after being crushed when buildings collapsed on them in the quake, said Takashi Morita, a spokesman for the National Police Agency in Tokyo.

"I was so scared - the violent shaking went on for 20 seconds," Ritei Wakatsuki, an employee of convenience store Lawson, told The …

Geithner: Major banks have raised $48 billion

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says banks identified in stress tests as having capital shortfalls have raised $48 billion of the $75 billion that the government said they needed to get through an adverse turn in the economy.

Geithner told the Senate Banking Committee in written testimony that the government's review of the nation's 19 biggest banks has helped increase …

PROFILES OF CLINTON PICKS

Robert Reich hardly fits the conventional mold of secretary of labor,in fact, he might more properly be named secretary of the workplace.A fast-talking intellectual who has been controversial when writingabout economics, Reich is a strong advocate of the working person.He believes the fate of the economy lies not with corporations butwith laborers' skills.

Reich is 46 and a friend of President-elect Clinton's since theysailed off to Oxford University and then attended Yale Law Schooltogether, and his ideas formed the basis for many of the economicproposals in the campaign.

The reaction from organized labor to Reich was swift andoverwhelmingly favorable. Reviews …

Silence: True Communication/SILENCE, VRAIE COMMUNICATION

Abstract:

This paper examines the issue of communication in Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter. The main characters Gus and Ben are simple characters and their means of communication are the central theme in this play. It shows that even though the two characters interact and talk and discuss, they don't really communicate. The essence of the difference between just talking and really communicating is analyzed.

Key words: Silence, communication

R�sum�: L'article pr�sent examine le probl�me de communication dans Le Serveur muet de Harold Pinter. Les personnages principaux Gus et Ben sont des figures simples, et leur sens de communication est le th�me central de cette …

Relief in Washington over Taiwan's election of president looking to engage with China

After eight years of often strained U.S.-Taiwan relations, the United States is welcoming with relief Taiwan voters' choice of a president committed to engage, not antagonize, rival China.

President-elect Ma Ying-jeou has promised to defuse tensions and expand trade with China. As always, the United States did not take sides in Saturday's vote. But President George W. Bush said later in a statement that the election "provides a fresh opportunity" for Taiwan and China to begin peacefully settling their differences. The two sides split in 1949 during China's civil war.

Taiwan potentially is the most sensitive issue in U.S.-China relations. Beijing …

Blaze rips through family fish factory Fire ripped through a family owned fish factory leaving the building badly damaged.

Fire ripped through a family owned fish factory leaving thebuilding badly damaged.

Flames could be seen pouring from the side of the building whenfirefighters arrived.

The ground, first and mezzanine floors of A Christie Junr Ltd werebadly damaged in the blaze, which 35 firefighters spent two hoursbattling.

Two workers were in the building at the time of the blaze.

Grampian Fire and Rescue were called to the North Esplanade Westfactory at 5.30am to deal with the fire.

Station manager Alan Fleming said: "When the fire was discoveredflames were coming out of the side of the building through the edgeof the metal cladding.

"In response we sent …