| Road to recovery paved in cold, hard cash
Canadian officials see the paved road that replaces Ambush Alley, and the compensation to farmers that goes with it, as a good-news story in a bleak land, writes Graham Thomson.
ZHARI DISTRICT, Afghanistan - Last September, convoys of Canadian armoured vehicles arrived in this area of southern Afghanistan loaded with soldiers heading into battle. This week, under the kind of security Brinks guards back home could only dream of, a special convoy arrived carrying a strongbox loaded with cash -- 40 million Afghanis, the equivalent of $1 million Cdn.
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Election issues beset new secretary of state She faces early ...
(01-29) 04:00 PST Sacramento -- Secretary of State Debra Bowen is only halfway moved into her new office, with stacks of bubble-wrapped artwork and pictures still leaning against the walls. But after less than three weeks in office, the state's top election official already is under fire. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders from both parties are pushing to move California's 2008 presidential primary to the first week in February in an effort to give the state more clout in selecting the nominees for president. The legislators can take weeks to move the measure through committees and debate the plan, but Bowen already is fielding calls from local election officials worried about the possibility of running three major elections in 2008, when they had only planned on paying for the expected June and November votes.
Investors urge sale of Brinks security
Brink's Co., the Richmond security firm, is under pressure from stockholders to sell the company despite high fourth-quarter earnings.
Even with robust quarterly returns, Brinks has been confronted by investors who think the stock is undervalued and should sell its assets in 2007.
The company saw net income grow 165 percent to $126.6 million ($2.71 per diluted share) for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with $47.7 million (83 cents) a year ago.
Brinks got a big boost from the sale of its freight transportation subsidiary, BAX Global Inc., in the first quarter of 2006. The asset was sold for $1.1 billion to Deutsche Bahn AG, a transportation and logistics company in Germany.
"It was the last of our non-core businesses to be sold," said Ed Cunningham, a spokesman for Brinks.
Advanced Home Security Systems Offer Homeowners Better Security ...
Austin, TX (PRWeb) February 21, 2007 -- After a fun-filled vacation at the beach, on the slopes or visiting relatives, the last thing families want to do is come home to a ransacked, burglarized house. According to the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association, each year nearly 5 million families become victims of household burglary, often when they�ve been on vacation.
�There are simple, lo-tech things that homeowners should do to protect their home while on vacation � from stopping their newspaper delivery to keeping lights on,� says Jim Johnson, CEO of uControl, an advanced home security service. �But for homeowners who want greater assurances and protection, there are some hi-tech, yet very affordable, products that provide better security and more control for homeowners.
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