| Industrial disputes and minority shareholders
While the now confirmed crossovers to government ranks from the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress hogged the headlines of the national press, there were other issues that drew the attention of the business community. Among them are industrial disputes and some new innovative methods that benefits all sides; drama over COPE recommendations and slamming of state firms and finally a meeting between a group of minority shareholders and the Colombo Stock Exchange.
While there are encouraging signs that private sector firms like in the case of SriLankan Airlines renewing its collective agreement with unions and Coca Cola doing a similar pact, are ensuring industrial calm, there are also worrying signs that the JVP is flexing its muscles for a period of strikes.
Sen. Biden in Denial about Female Violence
Senator Joe Biden is planning to propose a new bill called "International-VAWA," a law modeled on his earlier Violence Against Women Act. The bill is designed to eradicate domestic violence from the farthest reaches of the globe.
This is certainly welcome news, because research is now saying that women are more likely to be the instigators of abuse. [http://pubpages.unh.edu/mas2/ID41E2.pdf] We guys need all the help we can get -- Im not kidding. A recent report from Japan said increasing numbers of women are hauling off on their husbands. Mitsuko, a woman in her late 30s, openly admits to being a batterer: I punch guys for the same reasons people discipline their children. I've got expectations in love and I want them to improve. [http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/news/20061229p2g00m0dm011000c.html] Some would say that doesnt really count as domestic violence Mitsuko was just putting a deadbeat in his place.
Swapping airport for rails not a done deal
The sailing won't be altogether smooth in the King County Council for an ambitious plan to swap county-owned Boeing Field to the Port of Seattle for an Eastside rails-to-trail corridor, council members say. The tensions provoked by the proposal, which was announced in October by County Executive Ron Sims and port Chief Executive Mic Dinsmore, are reminiscent of the squabbling over Sims' 2006 plan to lure Southwest Airlines to Boeing Field from Sea-Tac Airport, which is operated by the port. That idea crashed and burned because of fierce opposition on the council, in the community and from the port. This time around, the port is on board. In fact, Sims' chief of staff, Kurt Triplett, said the new proposal was born of an effort to smooth county-port relations after the Southwest dust-up.
Health briefs
Holistic fairMore than 100 professionals in the fields of holistic medicine and alternative practice will be on hand at the Northeastern Holistic Health Fair Jan. 27, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Jan. 28, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Salaam Shriners Center, 369 E. Mount Pleasant Ave., Livingston. The fair will also feature swing music by Joe Licari on clarinet and Larry Weiss on piano, a display of hand-made pottery and an art exhibit by surrealist artist Jay Hoffman. For more information, call fair coordinator Dara Winters at (201) 230-5927. People's Pharmacy Joe and Terry Graedon, authors of the syndicated newspaper column "The People's Pharmacy" and hosts of a radio show of the same name, offer simple remedies for heartburn caused by too many goodies and rich foods in their new book, "Best Choices from the People's Pharmacy." Among their suggestions: Chew gum for heartburn.
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