Free Republic

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Wachovia Corp., the new owner of SouthTrust Corp., plans to cut 829 jobs in Birmingham between January 2005 and March 2006. More layoffs are expected to follow. The job losses represent about 20 percent of the 4,000 people SouthTrust employs in Birmingham. Charlotte-based Wachovia, which bought SouthTrust last month, told state officials about the job cuts Wednesday, as required by laws that demand disclosure of mass employment cuts. Wachovia, the country's fourth-largest bank, has said it can eliminate $255 million in annual expenses by combining its operations with those of SouthTrust, once Alabama's biggest financial institution. The...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.We couldn't help but be struck by the real message conveyed by a recent brief in the Washington Post Sunday business section on job gains and losses near the nation's capitol. The item juxtaposed the shuttering of General Motors' van assembly plant in Baltimore with the announcement that new high tech jobs were being created in Northern Virginia. At first glance, these developments seemed like an unalloyed triumph of the New Economy and a clear sign that traditional manufacturing is fading into irrelevance. After all, the Post writer emphasized that the GM...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. WASHINGTON - A nearly 13 million-year-old ape discovered in Spain is the last probable common ancestor to all living humans and great apes, a research team says in Friday's issue of Science magazine. A husband-and-wife team of fossil sleuths unearthed an animal with a body like an ape, fingers like a chimp and the upright posture of humans. The ancient ape bridges the gap between earlier, primitive animals and later, modern creatures. This newest ape species, Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, is so significant that it adds a new page to ancient human history....