in the stage of meltdown and within 24 months will be coming apart.

a supporting but lesser aspect of a strategy that will be based fundamentally on diplomatic and economic leverage to compel cooperation with international law.

The state average is between 22 and 24 percent.

Our team is ready and willing to negotiate 24/7. It is our strong desire to reach a competitive, cost-effective agreement by the Feb. 28 expiration.

Bluntly, there are still too many areas of substantial difference. It will be a long 24 hours.

This is not a matter of: When the gates open -- let's say, April 24, 2006 -- consumers will have this thing and that thing and sit there and be puzzled. It's a question of which one is there first and how compelling a proposition it is.