| The power at Scotland’s heart
The Trident nuclear deterrent is the one issue that divides even the ruling Labour Party in Scotland, polarising the camps of those implacably opposed to atomic weapons and those willing to support the government line of "a prudent insurance policy in a dangerous world". Based at Faslane on the Clyde, the four Vanguard-class submarines that carry the missiles complicate the issue by providing work for 7100 local civilians and another 4000 sub-contractors across the central belt. The 100-acre site is the single largest industrial employer in Scotland, contributing £180m a year to the local economy through contracts for everything from catering to construction, and £280m to the wider wealth north of the border. Politicians of all parties for whom nuclear arms are anathema talk vaguely of "alternative" jobs if Faslane and the neighbouring armaments depot at Coulport are ever closed, but have few realistic ideas of what would replace them as the economic linchpin of an area where non-defence-related work is scarce and opportunities limited.
Digital TV sets, digital homes and digital services expanding ...
CCID Consulting, a leading research, consulting and IT outsourcing service provider in China, forecasts that digital TV sets, IPTV and related digital content and services will get closer to Chinese consumers in 2007, despite obstacles inhibiting the digital home market in China. CCID predicts that the boundaries between the major modules of the digital home will gradually blur, including boundaries between IGRS and ITopHome.
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Holly on the road back
HOLLY - Small towns have to be strong to survive and this small prairie community was bustling with trucks and volunteers Saturday, quickly cleaning up the broken trees and smashed houses that were left behind by the tornado that ripped through town Wednesday night, killing one young mother. As graders dumped shovels full of splintered wood, shredded insulation and smashed drywall into dump trucks, the Holly residents who were sifting through what was left of their homes didn't hesitate in saying they intend to rebuild in this little town about four miles from the Kansas border on U.S. 50. "Our lives are here," said Annalee Crum, her home lot having been scraped down to its concrete foundations. Mrs. Crum is postmaster in nearby Granada and her husband, Tom, is mayor of Holly.
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