The takeover announced Monday calls for the combined airline to be named Delta, remain based in Atlanta, and be run by Delta CEO Richard Anderson. If the share-swap becomes final, Delta shareholders will get a bigger company, while Northwest shareholders would get a 16.8 percent premium over Monday's closing stock prices. Based on those prices, the deal values Northwest at more than $3.6 billion.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty called a news conference late Monday to point out that Northwest could face financial penalties under its Minneapolis airport lease if it fails to keep a headquarters there, as it has done since the 1930s.

Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest could give up $215 million in rebates and discounts and be forced into early repayment of a $245 million bond.

"I would hope a few hundred million dollars, even to them, would give them pause," the Republican governor said, adding, "In my view, the documents are very clearly written."

The transaction calls for Northwest shareholders to get 1.25 Delta shares for each Northwest share. That values Northwest at almost $3.63 billion based on 277 million Northwest shares that the companies said are outstanding, although the final value will shift with the share prices until the day the deal closes.

The announcement comes a year after the two carriers emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Both are losing money again but are in much better shape than the four much-smaller airlines that have filed for bankruptcy or gone out of business in recent weeks. The joined Delta and Northwest would have combined annual revenue of $31.7 billion, vaulting it ahead of Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR Corp.'s American Airlines for the top spot in the U.S.

The combined carrier would be the biggest in the world in terms of traffic, before any capacity cuts and divestitures that might be required by antitrust regulators.

The agreement comes after several months of discussions between Delta and Northwest and at one time between Delta and Chicago-based UAL Corp.'s United Airlines. Analysts believe a Delta-Northwest combination will stand up better to regulatory scrutiny because the two carriers have less overlap.

Years of mounting losses forced Delta and Northwest to file for bankruptcy protection in New York on Sept. 14, 2005. Both emerged from bankruptcy as leaner carriers last spring, after shedding billions in costs.

Many analysts predicted an eventual Delta-Northwest tie-up after Anderson, a former Northwest CEO, was named last August to be the chief executive officer of Delta.

Anderson, who was Northwest's CEO from 2001 to 2004, immediately sought to quiet those suggestions, telling Delta's pilots union chairman the morning his appointment was announced that he believed in Delta's standalone plan and that "he was not coming in as CEO to facilitate a merger with Northwest."

But eight months later, that's what Anderson is doing, and many analysts believe he didn't have a choice amid plummeting airline market values and soaring fuel prices.

Wall Street and some airline executives have pushed for consolidation for years, arguing that too many seats are chasing too few passengers. The resulting discounting has made it hard for airlines to cover their expenses.

近来非常嗜睡，似乎要把以前所有亏欠自己的睡眠都补偿过来。当心态越来越好，一切变得无所谓的时候，睡觉就变成了很享受的事情。大抵从中学开始，睡觉就是我最喜欢的活动，时至今日，只有愈演愈烈之势。每次醒来，虽仍有小小愧疚，但终能为自己找到合适或牵强的理由。最低限度，睡都睡了，时光逝矣，尚能返否。

 

当慵懒的阳光透过窗玻璃，这个城市所有丑陋的建筑由灰色染作金黄，我就知道，春日已至。阳光下那些断壁残垣的酒吧和商店居然也会显得可爱。在美国已近三年的我，终于经历了由新鲜到厌倦再到接受的艰难的过程，终于不再以取笑美国的市容为乐。淡淡地我想，如果在一个阳光明媚的下午，用DV拍摄下美国随便一个城市的那些破破的方盒，墙上的涂鸦，或许观来也津津有味。就好比Gone Baby Gone里拍摄的波士顿的几个角度，看上去就颇为真实和亲切。于是觉得自己是走在电影里的人，自己做观众的电影。

 

昨天看了一场有些沉闷的以0比1结束的棒球赛。以我之愚见，棒球这种运动之所以能够经久不衰，很大程度上是因为它的不确定性酷似真实的人生。击到球似乎是一个目标，可是更多的时候击到了不如不击，徒增队友下场的人数而已。生活中很多时候都会迷茫，即使短时间内找到了目标，长远来看也不见得就是正确的目标。可是生活总要继续。也许一切本来就无所谓。人终要入土，又何必如此在乎路边的风景。念及这层，又何谓对于错，得与失，成或败。

 

我是一个悲观的人，但是悲观并不等于漠视人生。我会笑，会哭，会有开心和失落，只是这些情绪都不会持久。更多的时候我愿意一个人静静的品味生活的无聊，感受人生的无奈。我并非洞察一切的智者，也非看破红尘的信徒，只不过我比较习惯于面对人生的空白发呆。我更愿把自己看作一个牙牙学语的小孩，拖着鼓鼓的腮帮，用只有自己能懂的简单又复杂的眼睛，看着面前人潮涌动...