When Nature Turns Savage, Like the Dogs of War.
Boulders the size of sedans rained down from the mountainsides and crushed residents rushing from their homes. Heads were sheared off. One thousand children were trapped in a middle school collapse.

The earthquake placed China on a wartime footing. The afternoon I rode up to Beichuan in the back of a flatbed lorry, three helicopters buzzed overhead while convoys of army trucks passed us. Entire tent villages had sprung up on the sides of the road, some housing the soldiers who would be working here for weeks or months, the others sheltering the thousands of refugees who had hiked, hobbled and crawled from the wreckage of Beichuan.

‘I saw bodies all the way here,’ said Li Yalan, a 24-year-old computer specialist now sleeping on blankets with her family in a stadium in Mianyang.

An iconoclast with a sense of humor.
‘In Normandy,’ he says fondly, ‘there are about 12 houses in our village. I spend whole days watching centipedes attack each other.’ He finds it harder and harder to understand, much less participate in, the ‘outrage,’ the everyday ’sidewalk rage’ of cities. In this new collection, Sedaris writes about his travels in Japan, where he and Hugh rented a Tokyo apartment for several months and Sedaris took language classes. These were kinder and gentler than his French classes in Paris, but still the writer felt he was by far the least adept of the students.

Does he, in general, feel that it”s gotten harder to be an American in Europe and Asia?

‘The worst I ever heard in Japan,’ he says, ‘is that we smell like butter. I”ve been accused of worse. It”s a bit much to expect people to be sincere when you can”t even speak the language.’

Sedaris is thrilled to have realized his long-held dream of writing for the New Yorker.

Lancing homeless site sell out.
Last July 15-year-old Michael Morgan was found dead in one of the mobile homes on the site after a drink-fuelled all-night party. He had been stabbed with a kitchen knife and a screw-studded table leg 30 times in the head. His friend Kieran Wright, 17, was jailed for life in December after admitting murdering Michael. An Adur council spokeswoman said one of the reasons for selling the site was because the mobile homes were coming to the end of their life and to continue would no longer be a viable option. She refused to disclose at this stage how much the site had been sold for and what the council would be doing with the proceeds of the sale. The site had 38 units for families who found themselves temporarily homeless. They have now moved into other accommodation around the district. But the council says it still needs to find more temporary homes for families and is looking for people who have a flat or house they would like to rent out to contact them on 01273 263354.

Surrenden Farm land for playing fields possibly.
Selectman Peter Cunningham said the town”s options were indeed open, but the land had recently been considered for a possible affordable housing project. ‘There were a lot of drawbacks,’ he said, noting that the Surrenden Farm land was too remote from the town center to make a comfortable fit for affordable housing.

Still, there was a question of whether the Land Use Committee”s decision to reserve the 14 acres for playing fields could be reversed, .

The Scottish professor who moulded the young Obama.
Currently the Macneil of Barra, the law professor was praised in 2004 after he agreed to donate his 9000-acre crofting estate to the islanders.

Although he no longer keeps abreast of the fine detail of US politics, he has some advice for his former student as he heads towards the presidential election.

On whether Hillary Clinton would make a good running-mate, he says: ‘No, I don”t think it would help Obama. He is a great conciliator, he focuses on people interacting successfully. The difference between him and Senator Clinton is that he reaches out to people.’

And on what the UK should expect from an Obama presidency, he says: ‘I don”t hold much for the special relationship” between the US and Britain, which I think is a farce. It was important up until 1944, but we have since been playing second fiddle in the special relationship.

INDEPENDENTS FILE FOR COMMISSION SEATS.
He will face Democrat Pat Piper, a retired real estate saleswoman. She defeated Daniel Somers in the primary election.

Bill Waddle of Brookings defeated Gold Beach Mayor Karl Popoff for the Republican nomination for Position 3, now held by Lucie La Bont?, who did not seek re-election. The Democrat in that election is Steve Nagel, who had no primary opposition.V

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White collars wilt in the city.
‘However, given the subdued supply outlook until the 2010-11 financial year, real estate investment trusts are reasonably well placed to weather negative market rent growth from current peaks,’ Citigroup says.

‘We now forecast negative white-collar employment growth, of about 0.5 per cent, and negative net absorption over the next two years. [Reserve Bank] monetary policy tightening and the impact of the credit crunch should negatively impact white collar employment growth. Financial services jobs cuts could partly be offset by the Australian infrastructure boom helping design and engineering services jobs.’

Jenine Cranston, director of CB Richard Ellis”s office services business, said Sydney CBD vacancy was at record lows and limited new supply should avert big rent declines.

Titan wonderdogs, the 65000 burglar alarm.
Titan wonderdogs are taught to track and trap intruders until police arrive, protecting families and their homes.

The Schutzhunds - protection dogs - spend two years being trained at specialist German camps where they are schooled in odour detection and search and rescue as well as being tested for their strength, courage and endurance.

This and their impeccable pedigree means that they can fetch up to £65,000.

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Spreadsheet-based planning? Pick an outcome.
As numerous research houses, such a Metagroup and PricewaterhouseCoopers, will tell you, spreadsheet planning and analysis process simply does not permit companies to alter plans, reforecast or modify budgets in real-time. Says McWilliam: ‘The effort to consolidate hundreds (or thousands) of spreadsheets inhibits quick reaction to changes in the economy, market conditions or competitive conditions. And, when real-time information is lacking, executives may be forced to rely on educated guesswork or gut reactions.

‘In fairness, it must be said that spreadsheets have proven to be useful productivity tools, but they are not for enterprise planning. They can assist to manipulate numbers, but their limitation lies in their reliance on fallible human users to generate complex formulas and macro routines.

McKennan Park celebrates one hundred years.
When Donna Dexter moved to Sioux Falls from Columbus, Ohio, she and her husband only looked for houses near the Cathedral and park districts. She has lived at her house one block off of McKennan Park for six years.

Dexter says she continues to enjoy the easy accessibility of her home. She has started walking to the farmer”s market, Kaladi”s and other locations with the onset of higher gas prices.

‘We love being so close to the city,’ Dexter says. ‘We”ll walk down to Phillips [Avenue] and have dinner.’

Dexter sees the importance of celebrating the park”s centennial.

‘Whenever you have anything historical, it”s important to upkeep [that tradition],’ Dexter says. ‘History is the number one draw. It”s so important. The people here really feel an ownership [in the park.}’

Erica Beck, city senior planner, says that organizers hope for an even greater turnout at the next planning meeting.