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Now Reading

cs — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:21:07 +0000

A good exploration of our 21st century food chain. The omnivore’s dilemma:

Choosing from among the countless potential foods nature offers, humans have had to learn what is safe, and what isn’t-which mushrooms should be avoided, for example, and which berries we can enjoy. Today, as America confronts what can only be described as a national eating disorder, the omnivore’s dilemma has returned with an atavistic vengeance. The cornucopia of the modern American supermarket and fast-food outlet has thrown us back on a bewildering landscape where we once again have to worry about which of those tasty-looking morsels might kill us. At the same time we’re realizing that our food choices also have profound implications for the health of our environment…

arrangement

cs — Sat, 21 May 2005 14:49:32 +0000

To be clear, the US Airways and AmericaWest “merger” is a shot gun wedding. The grouping of these airlines was not born from competitive scheming by either. The combination of two struggling carriers is at the behest of aircraft lessor, General Electric. GE’s capital risk exposure is minimized by consolidation. Collapse averted, GE will take back a much smaller, and manageable percentage for re-marketing to Europe and Asia. The entire industry is on a very short leash. The lenders are calling the shots.

and the meek shall inherit…

cs — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 22:51:40 +0000

Once proud mainline carrier, and in its second bankruptcy in so many years, US Airways has exhausted its ability to attract capital. In a last gasp it has secured financing from Wexford LLC and the Eastshore Group. These are corporate shell names for regional airlines, Chautauqua and Air Wisconsin which have each ponied up 125 million. One would hope that these two have first dibs on assets because their gamble could end up being only a noble contribution to US Air’s struggle. At their current rate of burn, and even though that’s a lot of dough, the 250 million equity commitment is a mere donation. Not likely that these regional carriers are buying their jobs just to hang on to feeder contracts. The evolution of the regional airline industry is amazing as they transform and influence more than anyone would have imagined. It wasn’t long ago when these carriers were known as “commuters”. Could it be that this is an epic David vs. Goliath transfer of the old guard industry shake up? Or, is it yet another string of naive investors in aviation with ego and money to lose?

NPR

cs — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

WAMU’s Jim Rosenberg reports, on the “drama at Dulles”
[listen ] to the broadcast (requires realaudio player)

pump up the volume

cs — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The heat has been turned up on the MESA raiders. ACA has hired big guns, Morgan Stanley & Co. (acting as financial advisor) and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP (these are the same folks representing PeopleSoft vs. Larry Ellison and his Oracle hostiles) The guns have been brought to bear and these power brokers are using their influence on the hill.