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ny0062405
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2014/01/19
|
Ex-Official Claims to Speak for Sidelined Syrians
|
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — For years, Jihad Makdissi was the urbane, outward-looking face of the Syrian government, proclaiming its views in perfect English as the Foreign Ministry’s spokesman. Then, about a year ago, he resigned and fled here, withdrawing his support from President Bashar al-Assad without throwing it to the opposition, quietly waiting, he said, for his chance to be of use. Now, with long-awaited but shaky peace talks set to begin in Switzerland on Wednesday, Mr. Makdissi has resurfaced, a rare high-profile dissenter who is seeking to position himself as a voice for the many Syrians who remain on the sidelines, skeptical of the armed uprising but still wanting deep change in their country. A feeling that he “could no longer change anything,” he said, drove him from his job nearly two years into a revolution that had evolved, amid a brutal government crackdown, from a largely peaceful movement against Mr. Assad into an armed rebellion that increasingly drew in foreign jihadists. Over several hours of interviews in Dubai coffee shops recently, Mr. Makdissi said he spoke for a broad center of Syrians that includes many Christians like himself, a center that fears extremism within the rebellion and wishes the revolt had remained a peaceful one but still believes the rebellion was rooted in valid political demands. “The aspirations of the Syrian street are totally legitimate,” he said. Mr. Makdissi’s message passes for optimism these days in a Syria so divided that there is no consensus on the goal of the coming talks or whether they will even take place. Even modest glimmerings of a political solution, he said, could help deflate the dangerous sectarianism of a conflict whose political roots, he said, could still be resolved through compromise. “People today are angry and furious because of their losses and the blood,” said Mr. Makdissi, whose father named him after a close Muslim friend. “Let’s not judge them at this historic moment. Once you stop the blood with a better social contract, things will begin to calm down. We have never faked our coexistence — this is us.” He said he hoped Syrians could reach a solution, through the internationally sponsored talks in Geneva, involving a deeply restructured and truly accountable government with safety for all members of Syria’s “mosaic.” Asked whether Mr. Assad should have a role, he said, carefully, “Change cannot be achieved if we link the destiny of Syria to one person.” He said he backed the official Geneva plan for a transitional body empowered to reshape the government, with members approved by both sides. That excludes “controversial figures,” he said, whether they “blessed beheadings” by jihadis or “spearheaded the intelligence services.” Then, he said, Syrians should choose a new parliament and president in elections open to any candidate. Obliquely but unmistakably, Mr. Makdissi made it clear that he wanted to counter, in a way acceptable to fence-sitters and critics of the armed opposition, Mr. Assad’s contention that the primary challenge to his rule comes not from domestic dissent but from foreign-inspired terrorist groups that he is fighting on behalf of the world. The idea that Mr. Assad should stay in place to battle jihadis has gained some traction in the West. Mr. Makdissi said he believes most Syrian Christians, as well as most Syrians, “believed in change and that this change is inevitable in Syria.” But, he said, “they wanted evolution instead of armed revolution.” Now, he said, facing the “real threat” of jihadis, most Christians “chose to be among the silent majority of Syrians, and that is so different from taking any side.” The government has emphasized, particularly to the West, what it portrays as near-unanimous support from Christians, claiming to protect them, other minorities and the Sunni majority from Islamist extremists. (Mr. Assad himself is part of a minority, the Muslim Alawite sect.) But Mr. Makdissi said Christians did not need singling out and, like all Syrians, could be best protected by a strong constitution enforced by good governance. “When Syria is O.K., Syrian Christians will be O.K.,” he said. “This should be our focus.” Mr. Makdissi, 39, is one of many former and current civil servants and technocrats newly reaching out to one another and to international mediators to restructure and stabilize their wounded country. Asked if he saw himself joining a transitional governing body — whose formation still seems remote — he said he was not seeking a political position but a way to heal the country’s rifts. “I am positioning myself in a centrist place where I feel comfortable belonging to reasonable people, not extremists,” he said. “So if there is room to serve the country in this area, I would do it.” Mr. Makdissi, a tall, broad-shouldered father of two, was long a fixture on Syrian state television, widely regarded as a competent technocrat. His departure in December 2012 was a blow to a government that seeks to portray itself as a responsible, sophisticated international player. “The polarization became lethal,” said Mr. Makdissi, whom some government opponents criticize for keeping his privileged post as Syrians died. He added: “A diplomat is not a lawyer. The lawyer can take one case and profit out of it; the diplomat can only fight for a whole country. The diplomat inside of me won over the lawyer.” He said he would have stayed in Syria if he had been sure his resignation would not endanger his family. Mr. Makdissi said the government aimed to drag out the diplomatic process, “betting on the change of mood in the Western sphere to get a better political deal.” But playing for time, he suggested, can be read as much a sign of weakness as of strength. “Everybody is tired,” he said. “Everybody realizes that he is not able to win over and wipe out the other party.” He said Iran should be invited to the talks to test its avowed commitment to a political solution. Being there, he said, would force Iran to temper its behavior as a spoiler, an effect he said he hoped participation in the talks would have on Saudi Arabia, a backer of the rebels. Eventually, he said, the government must engage in Geneva’s path to compromise or appear to be taking Syrian sacrifices lightly, ignoring chances to end the killing. That, he said, would anger Syria’s silent majority, including “reasonable” government supporters. “If both sides don’t take this seriously,” he said, “they won’t be silent anymore.”
|
Bashar al-Assad;Arab Spring;Syria;Jihad Makdissi
|
ny0108925
|
[
"sports",
"baseball"
] |
2012/05/28
|
Dickey and Bullpen Combine on Another Mets Shutout
|
That R. A. Dickey has become the lone remaining purveyor of the enigmatic knuckleball has not slowed his unending search for mastery over it. Dickey nimbly ushered the Mets to a 2-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field, striking out 10 batters in seven and a third innings while extending the dominance he showed last week, when he struck out 11 in Pittsburgh. Dickey would never be so bold as to claim he could control the capricious flight of the knuckleball. But he has begun to learn how to coax the pitch, gently, this way and that. “I’ve been able to make it do more of what I want it to do,” he said. “I’ve seen the knuckleball move as good as it has the last two outings, but it was” an accident. During these starts, Dickey has been able to guide the ball’s course by altering the angles and heights of his release point. After notching the 11 strikeouts, a career high, against the Pirates on May 22, he used his in-between days to hone a repeatable delivery and build on the minor revelations he has had in recent weeks. “I’m starting to get a little more of a feel on how to do some things with it,” Dickey said, “and that’s exciting.” Exciting for some. Mike Nickeas, his catcher, offered an alternative view on Dickey’s development, one seen from home plate and behind it. “That’s scary,” he said. Knuckleballs, for all their fickleness, tend to find their way downward though the zone eventually. Dickey rattled the Padres with one that sailed evenly through the zone on a higher plane. Dickey has also become adept at varying speeds, introducing what could be described as a changeup version of his regular knuckleball. The one he used in the fourth inning to strike out Jesus Guzman, the Padres’ cleanup hitter, was clocked at 60 miles an hour. “I threw him a hard one at about 78, and so I dialed it back 18 miles an hour,” Dickey said. “If you do that and still throw strikes with it, it can be ruthless.” Dickey has thrown strikes — he issued just one walk Sunday after walking none in his previous start — and he has indeed been ruthless. His excellence Sunday made up for his teammates’ rather quiet afternoon at the plate. David Wright, whose batting average reached .415 this month, went hitless for the third straight game. Afterward, he said, “I’m satisfied with — even if I’m not feeling too good at the plate — drawing some walks, trying to make some things happen on the base paths.” And he did that in the first inning, drawing a two-out walk from Padres starter Edinson Volquez before stealing second and going to third on a wild pitch. Wright scored when Daniel Murphy laced a single to center. The Mets added to their lead in the fifth when Mike Baxter, who had led off the inning with a double and scampered to third on a wild pitch, went home on a passed ball. After being blown out in the first game of the series Thursday, the Mets won the last three, allowing a total of one run against the Padres, who have 13 players on the disabled list. “I know the Padres are beat up,” Manager Terry Collins said. “But when they’re in their situation, we’ve got to take advantage of it.” Shortly before Dickey took the mound, the Mets revived Banner Day, a franchise tradition that ran from 1963 to 1996. Hundreds of fans paraded around the Citi Field warning track holding bedsheets and posters bearing artwork and slogans. Many carried messages of optimism. Others invoked singular moments in the team’s recent history, like Mike Piazza’s home run after Sept. 11 and Endy Chavez’s spectacular catch during the team’s 2006 playoff run. There did not seem to be any banners featuring overt negativity, but some displayed a bit of self-deprecating humor. One banner listed the “Top Ten Reasons to Love the Mets.” No. 10 on the list read, “No hitters are overrated,” while No. 2 read, “There is always tomorrow.” The sentiment could be applied to Dickey as well. For him, each day represents another chance to unearth a new layer of understanding in the mystery that is his signature pitch. INSIDE PITCH Josh Thole (concussion) will play a few innings in an extended spring training game Monday. ... Ruben Tejada (quadriceps) has been feeling residual soreness in his thigh, and the Mets have eased back on the running portion of his rehabilitation work. ... Chris Young, who had shoulder surgery last year, will start for the Mets’ Class AAA team on Thursday.
|
Dickey R A;New York Mets;San Diego Padres;Baseball
|
ny0127238
|
[
"sports",
"football"
] |
2012/01/16
|
Giants’ Defense Delivers in Playoffs Again
|
GREEN BAY , Wis. Sometimes it is most obvious in body language. Aaron Rodgers’s shoulders drooped. He put his hands on his hips and kicked at the dirt. His head turned from side to side, as if he were looking for something — because something was definitely missing. His stride shortened, and his walk back to the sideline took longer with each trip to the bench. This is what the Giants’ defense — at least the Giants’ postseason defense in 2012 and 2008 — can do to elite quarterbacks in big games. It’s all too easy, and commonplace, to try to compare the Giants’ current run through the playoffs to their Super Bowl championship postseason four years ago. But one unmistakable comparison rings true. As it did four years ago, the Giants’ defense has gone through a startling metamorphosis as the games have grown more important, and what it does best is make opposing quarterbacks — even future Hall of Famers — look confused, frustrated and dejected. As it once did to Tom Brady and his 18-0 New England Patriots, the Giants’ defense disrupted and flummoxed Rodgers and his 15-1 Green Bay Packers on Sunday until the game was a rout. The 37-20 Giants victory did the unthinkable: it made Rodgers, a most valuable player contender, look bad. And sent the Giants to the N.F.C. championship game next Sunday in San Francisco. The Packers, renowned for their big-play passing attack, had one completion longer than 20 yards, and that was for 21 yards. Rodgers nearly averaged more yards in seven rushing attempts (9.4) than he did when passing (10.2 yards per completion). “He looked a little out of sorts,” Giants defensive end Justin Tuck said of Rodgers. “I wouldn’t say rattled, but frustrated. It was tough sledding for him.” The easy analysis is that Rodgers was clearly not as sharp as usual. But the unease and inaccuracy Rodgers demonstrated late in the game developed over time. He seemed to grow more and more unsure of where the defensive linemen were, and more important, as he gazed downfield, he rarely saw a receiver running open. As the game went on, the Giants threw off Rodgers’s timing and, perhaps, made him doubt his decision-making. “They have a way of closing the pocket on you,” Rodgers said. “You’re forced to do something else.” Like run for your life. Which is how Rodgers kept the Packers afloat through a seesaw first quarter. But the Packers’ offensive line was beginning to lose the battle up front as the first half ended. Eli Manning’s desperation touchdown pass to Hakeem Nicks to end the second quarter gave the Giants a 10-point lead. The momentum was turning. Then the game really spiraled out of control for the Packers. “We’ve played some top quarterbacks tough before,” defensive tackle Chris Canty said. “We get energized by the challenge when the talk all week is about the other guy. We want to do something about that, and our performance today showed it.” No single unit on the Giants’ defense has improved as quickly and significantly as the secondary. Its goal Sunday was to keep the cadre of talented Packers receivers in front of them — to allow the 8- or even the 14-yard pass but not the long strike. “Even though they were completing some of those passes, you know they want more,” said safety Antrel Rolle, who twice batted away Rodgers passes in the end zone. “And eventually that forced Rodgers into some bad throws and got him out of his rhythm.” The Giants’ pressure seemed to unnerve Rodgers multiple times. Midway through the third quarter, in one of the few times that a Packers wide receiver had an advantage, Jordy Nelson was sprinting several steps behind cornerback Aaron Ross. But when Rodgers wound up to loft a pass 60 yards downfield, the ball fluttered and sailed ever so slighted; Ross easily batted the underthrown pass away. Early in the fourth quarter, Rodgers, a bit hurried by the pass rush, missed a wide-open Jermichael Finley at the Giants’ 25-yard line. That set up a fourth-and-5. Statistically, that situation has favored the Packers this season. Not this time. As Rodgers tried stepping up in the pocket to buy time, Osi Umenyiora grabbed at his feet, and then linebacker Michael Boley, who had a spectacular game, finished him off for a sack. Shortly thereafter, the Giants’ second-half domination was hitting full stride, with offensive touchdowns, fumble recoveries — and more stifling defense. Even Rodgers’s last pass of the day fit the theme. Intended for Finley, it was knocked in the air, and Deon Grant intercepted it. At the half, in a moment that few, if any, 15-1 teams have experienced, especially a team that is also the defending Super Bowl champion, the Packers were booed off the field. Maybe the fans sensed what was to come after intermission. By game’s end, the soundtrack had changed significantly. No one was booing. That would have seemed anticlimactic, and most Green Bay supporters had left anyway. The fans who remained, numbering in the thousands, wore Giants blue. They leaned over the lower grandstand railings and cheered, in no hurry to leave. Some took pictures of the Giants on their phones. Others talked on their phones. After all, they had a lot of catching up to do back home after another big Giants upset of a seemingly invincible team. Some were tapping the keys of their smartphones. They had reservations to make for San Francisco.
|
Rodgers Aaron;Green Bay Packers;Playoff Games;Football
|
ny0245391
|
[
"technology"
] |
2011/04/26
|
Location Data From Phones Is Valuable for Ads
|
SAN FRANCISCO — You may not know it, but if you carry a smartphone in your pocket, you are probably doing unpaid work for Apple or Google — and helping them eventually aim more advertising directly at you. As those two companies battle for dominance in mobile computing, they have increasingly been using their customers’ phones as sensors to collect data about nearby cell towers and Wi-Fi hot spots. Google and Apple use this data to improve the accuracy of everything on the phone that uses location. That includes maps and navigation services, but also advertising aimed at people in a particular spot — a potentially huge business that is just getting off the ground. In fact, the information has become so valuable that the companies have been willing to push the envelope on privacy to collect it. “Google envisions a world where even a small business can promote products to consumers nearby on a mobile device,” said Alistair Goodman, chief executive of Placecast, a location-based advertising company here. “That is a massive market.” The companies are using the cell tower and hot spot data to build maps of the world, maps that help smartphones quickly pinpoint their locations. Using the signals as navigational beacons is particularly useful in places where GPS satellite signals are weak, like urban areas or anywhere indoors. Shifting allegiances and legal battles in the world of location services suggest competition in this market is heating up. Apple initially relied on technology from Skyhook Wireless, a company that was a pioneer in the technique of using Wi-Fi hot spots for location. But last year it began collecting its own data as well. And late last year, Skyhook sued Google, charging that Google had copied its technology and persuaded Motorola to break contracts with Skyhook and use Google’s competing service. Google and Apple have said that they collect the information anonymously and use it to keep their databases of Wi-Fi hot spots up to date, not to track individuals. But because a person’s location is delicate information, the practices have raised privacy fears. The use of this data by the companies has been under scrutiny since last week, when two technology researchers reported that a file stored on many iPhones and iPads keeps track of all the locations visited by a user. The file is unencrypted and is copied to people’s personal computers when they sync their devices. The report prompted lawmakers in the United States to ask Apple for explanations. Several European governments said they would open investigations into Apple’s practices. On Monday, two customers sued Apple accusing it of privacy invasion and computer fraud. They contend the company is secretly recording and storing the location and movement of iPhone and iPad users. Late last week, Google said it was collecting information about nearby networks from Android users, though it said that it was not tracking individuals and that it allowed users to decline to participate. Lisa Madigan, the attorney general of Illinois, wrote to Google and Apple on Monday asking them to explain their location data collection practices. Apple has declined to comment on the matter. On Monday, the Web site MacRumors published an e-mail said to be from Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s co-founder and chief executive, in which he replied to a person who had said he planned to switch to a Google Android phone because Google did not track him. The reply said: “Oh yes they do. We don’t track anyone. The info circulating around is false.” Apple declined to confirm the authenticity of the e-mail. Some security specialists said they believed Apple was not tracking people, but rather collecting data to update its location databases, since Wi-Fi networks can quickly come and go. A letter sent from Apple in July to two members of Congress, Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Joe L. Barton, Republican of Texas, appears to confirm this and provides the most detailed explanation of the technology. In the letter, Apple said it collects the location data anonymously and only when consumers agree to use its location-based services like maps, or any apps that ask for a user’s location, and for its advertising system, iAds. The company said it began relying on its own databases for location information in 2010. Explaining its need to collect data from its customers’ phones, Apple wrote, “These databases must be updated continuously.” Security researchers said that they believed that the file with location data stored on iPhones and iPads was meant as a “cache” that would help the device pinpoint its whereabouts faster, and that it could help feed Apple’s giant database of network locations. But they said Apple should have been more diligent about encrypting the file and deleting old data. “I don’t know why they would want to keep all that data on the device,” said Mark Seiden, an information security consultant in Silicon Valley. Skyhook began collecting data about Wi-Fi hot spots by sending a fleet of more than 500 cars to drive around the streets of every major city in the United States, Europe and many Asian countries. “We drove the world,” said Ted Morgan, Skyhook’s chief executive. The company updates the database by sending its cars to remap certain areas and by using phones as sensors when a user requests location data. Google, which initially collected data on Wi-Fi hot spots with the same fleet of cars that was taking photos for its StreetView service, said it stopped doing so last year after it was found to have collected e-mails and other data streamed through those hot spots. It now collects much of that data and traffic information, through customers’ phones. Mobile advertising could be a $2.5 billion market by 2015, according to Frost & Sullivan, and ads tied to a location are much more lucrative than other ads. But Mr. Morgan said the location data could be valuable in areas beyond the Internet and mobile phones. For example, a retailer that has eight outlets in a city could use data about walking patterns to determine where to open its next outlet. “You are basically getting insight into human behavior that we’ve never had before,” Mr. Morgan said.
|
Apple Incorporated;Google Inc;Skyhook Wireless;Privacy;Smartphones;Android (Operating System);iPhone
|
ny0053393
|
[
"us"
] |
2014/07/16
|
California Approves Forceful Steps Amid Drought
|
LOS ANGELES — With rainfall this year at historically low levels and reservoirs quickly dwindling, California officials on Tuesday approved the most drastic measures yet to reduce water consumption during the state’s increasingly serious drought, including fines of up to $500 per day under some circumstances for watering a garden, washing a car or hosing down a sidewalk. The new measures come in response to an apathetic public that has ignored repeated pleas to save water since Gov. Jerry Brown declared a statewide drought emergency in January. Though the governor asked all Californians to reduce their water consumption by 20 percent, water use actually increased by 1 percent statewide in May, according to a state survey released Tuesday. “People really don’t understand the gravity of the drought, particularly in urban California, where people are hundreds of miles from their water source,” said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board , which voted on Tuesday to impose the new regulations. They are expected to take effect around Aug. 1. Persuading people in urban areas to take the drought seriously has proved difficult, Ms. Marcus said. “They’re not seeing the fact that there are communities on the verge of running out of water all the time,” she said. “We can’t afford to let any more areas get into that situation.” While none of the state’s 10 hydraulic regions have conserved as much as the governor asked for, most cut back at least 5 percent in May. The biggest exception is the South Coast region, which includes the Los Angeles and San Diego areas, as well as Orange County. There, water use increased 8 percent over previous years. After a lengthy hearing on Tuesday, the water control board imposed a series of mandatory restrictions on the use of potable water that will limit outdoor watering to two days a week, largely prohibit washing sidewalks and driveways, and ban washing cars without a shut-off nozzle on the hose. Violations may be punished with fines of up to $500 per day. The drought has already pummeled farmers in California, which is home to the nation’s largest agricultural sector. So far this year, about a third less water than usual has been available to the state’s farmers, according to a report released Tuesday by the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California, Davis. The report projected that the drought would cost about $2.2 billion in statewide revenue this year, and that 17,100 farm-related jobs would be lost. Richard Howitt, an environmental economist at the university and an author of the report, said that while much of the state had been able to deal with the drought economically, parts of the Central Valley, the state’s agricultural heartland, were being hit hard. Huge portions of farmland have been left unplanted. Video The state is experiencing the worst drought in its history. Find out just how bad the situation is getting and what it means for you. Credit Credit Stuart Palley/European Pressphoto Agency “In certain parts of the Central Valley, it’s extremely bad,” Mr. Howitt said. “And if you’re one of the 17,000 people who lose their jobs, it’s extremely bad.” The report projected that the drought would continue through 2015, even if this fall brings El Niño conditions, which sometimes lead to heavy rainfall. Ms. Marcus said that California could not count on the drought’s letting up, and that it was important to increase conservation measures right away. “There has been a misapprehension that El Niño will save us,” she said. “The key lesson is acting earlier.” Before the vote on Tuesday, only about 30 percent of the water suppliers in the state had imposed mandatory restrictions. Now, various kinds of outdoor water use — like fountains that use potable water that is not recirculated — will be banned outright. Officials estimate that half of residential water use in the state is outside the home. And if the new measures fail to produce results, Ms. Marcus said, even stricter restrictions on outdoor water use could be adopted. Some water suppliers complained that the new rules would unfairly hit residents who had already worked hard to cut back. Agriculture accounts for about 75 percent of water use in California, but the board’s regulations target use by urban Californians. Mark Madison, general manager of the Elk Grove Water District near Sacramento, said his customers had already reduced their water consumption by more than 18 percent. Imposing fines for water waste is like asking him to “thank them with a sledgehammer,” Mr. Madison said. “I think, in general, the approach is heavy-handed.” Lisa Brown, the water efficiency administrator for Roseville, Calif., echoed his concerns. She said that during a less severe drought in 2009, her city had issued hundreds of tickets to people wasting water and found that it was not an effective strategy. “We find if we cite them, they turn off their irrigation just to get us off their case,” Ms. Brown said, “but as soon as we leave, they turn it back on again.”
|
California;Water;Drought;Rationing;Agriculture;Regulation and Deregulation;Gardens and Gardening
|
ny0181123
|
[
"sports",
"soccer"
] |
2007/08/25
|
Sports Briefing: Soccer: U.S. Earns First-Round Bye
|
The United States is among 13 nations to receive a first-round bye in the North and Central American and Caribbean qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. The other byes went to Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Guatemala, Canada, Guyana and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
|
Soccer;World Cup (Soccer)
|
ny0131747
|
[
"us"
] |
2012/12/19
|
North Carolina: Brigadier General Faces Court-Martial
|
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair, a former deputy commanding general for the 82nd Airborne Division, will face a court-martial early next year on sexual misconduct charges, including forcible sodomy involving a subordinate, officials at Fort Bragg announced on Tuesday. The nine charges against General Sinclair also include having sex with a captain in Afghanistan, threatening the officer if she ended their affair and misusing travel funds. Supporters of General Sinclair, including his wife of 27 years, have acknowledged that he had an affair, but they say the relationship was consensual and did not involve coerced sex. General Sinclair is scheduled for arraignment on Jan. 22.
|
Adultery;Sinclair Jeffrey A;United States Defense and Military Forces;Fort Bragg (NC);Sex Crimes
|
ny0199079
|
[
"sports"
] |
2009/07/31
|
A New Group Seeks to Ease the Risks of Freestyle Motocross
|
LOS ANGELES — Two weeks ago, Cameron Sinclair, a professional freestyle motocross rider from Australia, crashed hard during a competition in Madrid, hitting the dirt head-first after failing to execute a double back flip on his motorcycle. With serious injuries, and with no one among his friends, family or support staff who were present able to speak Spanish, Sinclair needed help. As he was whisked to a hospital in critical condition with bruising of his brain, a concussion, a ruptured liver and a fractured cheekbone and shoulder, members of the American Freestyle Motocross Association began to put plans into practice: Doctors in California who are fluent in Spanish soon called their counterparts in Madrid to consult on Sinclair’s care, and they translated for his fiancée, who was at the hospital. Now that Sinclair’s condition has been upgraded to stable, a freestyle motocross association insurance policy will help defray the costs of a $190,000 air ambulance to his home in Melbourne, where he is expected to make a complete recovery. “Those guys have been fantastic,” said Adam Bailey, Sinclair’s agent, who was in Madrid before returning to the United States last week to attend the X Games, where the freestyle motocross events began Thursday night here at the Staples Center. “Throughout the whole ordeal, we’ve never felt alone.” In freestyle motocross, in which riders perform aerial maneuvers while soaring dozens of feet through the air while being scored by judges, competitors operate almost without a safety net, regularly flirting with danger and death. Although risk is a big part of the sport’s appeal, founders of the association are hoping to succeed where previous efforts have failed in trying to mitigate some of the risk by focusing on rider safety and assisting with medical care when things go wrong. The association, a collective of riders and action sports industry figures, was formed almost six months ago after the death of Jeremy Lusk, 24, a top freestyle rider who won a gold medal at the 2008 X Games. Lusk, of Temecula, Calif., died Feb. 9 after he crashed while attempting a Hart Attack back flip at a competition in San José, Costa Rica. Lusk failed to fully rotate while soaring more than 20 feet above the ground, landing on his front tire and crashing face-first into the dirt. He sustained severe head injuries and died three days later. Riders say they believe he is the only professional to have died in competition. Horrible crashes are part of the game in freestyle motocross. Brian Deegan, who has won more X Games medals in freestyle motocross than any other rider, lost a kidney — and nearly his life — after a crash in 2005 while filming a jump for a television program. He attributed the crash to windy conditions. He also said wind and a lack of adequate practice time were factors in Lusk’s fatal crash. While mourning his friend in a Costa Rica hotel room last winter, Deegan hatched the idea of the American Freestyle Motocross Association. In addition to coordinating medical care, the association intends to create a unified voice to address safety at professional and recreational events and demonstrations. “The sport of freestyle motocross is only 10 years old,” said Deegan, 34, who runs a freestyle team through his clothing brand, Metal Mulisha. “There’s so much money being thrown at it, but the riders are still on their own. There’s no voice for them.” An offshoot of motocross, freestyle developed during the 1990s in Southern California when racers took to the hills to pull maneuvers while launching through the air. Soon small-scale competitions were organized. When freestyle made its debut at the 1999 X Games, the sport exploded in popularity. Still, freestyle remained largely unorganized, with riders competing as independent contractors around the world. Past attempts to unify failed, in part because of aggressive negotiating tactics by some athletes. Those efforts rankled promoters and cost athletes opportunities and money in a sport where many events are invitational. “At this point we’re going against the fact that a lot of people have tried and failed,” Deegan said. The association hopes to build its membership through corporate sponsors and membership from professionals and recreational riders through its Web site, www.afmxa.com , while working with promoters. Tim Reed, the senior director of sports and competition for the X Games at ESPN, said network officials believed that “we feel we have the proper stuff in place to make the athletes safe” at events like the X Games, like safe courses and proper medical care. But he said the association could help improve standards at smaller and newer events. Travis Pastrana, who will compete Friday in the Moto X Best Trick event at the X Games, said a group like the freestyle association was not necessarily needed for the large, televised events, but was for smaller operations, where up-and-coming riders are pushing to prove themselves. “This is a sanctioning body for the younger guys, who don’t have as much pull, and are afraid to speak up,” he said. “I think it’s a good time.” At the 2007 X Games, Pastrana landed the first double back flip, leading to an exponential progression in tricks’ risk factor. “It’s become more dangerous with people pushing the bar for the level of tricks that are being thrown now,” said Toby Bost, a member of the freestyle association’s board. “Somebody does a double back flip and then it’s, well, one-up that. Not only has it been dangerous, but it’s becoming more and more dangerous and that’s where we fit in.” Bost is chief executive of the La Jolla Group, a licensing company for several prominent action sports brands. His involvement, along with that of an ESPN executive and two doctors on the freestyle association’s advisory board, should give the association the kind of credibility previous efforts have lacked. The successful response to Sinclair’s injury, which occurred at one of the sport’s largest events — a Red Bull X-Fighters tour stop — has already demonstrated that the association can get things done. “This is an example of what can go wrong,” Bailey said about Sinclair’s crash. “But this is a success story.” NOTES Two years after he made television highlights with a 45-foot fall from the mega ramp, Jake Brown of Australia won the gold medal in skateboard Big Air as the X Games opened. Brown and Bob Burnquist, the two time-defending champion, tied with a score of 94.0, but Brown won a tie breaker.
|
Motocross;X Games;Accidents and Safety;Sinclair Cameron;Lusk Jeremy;American Freestyle Motocross Association;Pastrana Travis
|
ny0042296
|
[
"world",
"africa"
] |
2014/05/28
|
Sierra Leone: Ebola Virus Spreads From Guinea
|
West Africa’s Ebola outbreak appears to have spread to Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization said Monday. One death in a village near the border with Guinea has been confirmed by a laboratory as Ebola, and four other deaths are considered suspect. Sierra Leone health officials told the Voice of America that the confirmed case was a woman who had just returned from the funeral of an Ebola victim in Guinea; the suspect cases included her relatives. The outbreak began in Guinea in March and spread to Liberia; of the 259 cases reported to the W.H.O., 175 have been fatal.
|
Sierra Leone;Guinea;Ebola;Fatalities,casualties;WHO;Voice of America
|
ny0245557
|
[
"sports",
"hockey"
] |
2011/04/21
|
To Continue Trend, Bruins Need 3 Wins
|
James Neal scored 3 minutes 38 seconds into the second overtime to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series Wednesday night. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots — 12 in the extra periods — to help the Penguins take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 5 is Saturday in Pittsburgh, with the Lightning needing a victory to keep a turnaround season alive. Neal gathered a loose puck along the boards and sent the winning shot past goalie Dwayne Roloson, who had 50 saves for host Tampa Bay. Martin St. Louis scored late in the second period and Sean Bergenheim added his first career playoff with less than four minutes remaining in regulation as Tampa Bay rallied from a 2-0 deficit for the second straight game. But unlike in Game 3, when Pittsburgh’s Tyler Kennedy countered with the winning goal just 31 seconds after the Lightning tied the score, Tampa Bay took this game to overtime. The Lightning failed to take advantage of a power-play opportunity in the first overtime, and got off only one shot in the second extra period before Neal ended it with his first goal of the playoffs. SABRES 1, FLYERS 0 Ryan Miller made 32 saves for his second shutout of the playoffs and host Buffalo tied its first-round playoff series with Philadelphia at 2-2. Jason Pominville scored at 9:38 of the first period to help the Sabres rebound from two straight losses. It was Miller’s second shutout of the series; he stopped 35 shots in Game 1, another 1-0 victory by Buffalo. Miller’s best stops came in the final nine minutes. First, he made a glove save on Danny Briere, who was set up alone in front. A few minutes later, Miller reached back with his stick to prevent Mike Richards from slipping a shot into an open left side. DUCKS 6, PREDATORS 3 Corey Perry’s short-handed goal at 1:17 of the third period put Anaheim ahead to stay and the Ducks beat host Nashville to tie the first-round series, 2-2. Game 5 is Friday night in Anaheim, with Ducks forward Bobby Ryan set to return from a two-game suspension. Perry also had two assists. Cam Fowler had a power-play goal and an assist, and Ryan Getzlaf, Brandon McMillan, Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu added goals. Patric Hornqvist, Joel Ward and Matt Halischuck scored for Nashville, which could not convert a chance for its first 3-1 series lead.
|
Boston Bruins;Hockey Ice;Playoff Games;Montreal Canadiens;Tampa Bay Lightning;Pittsburgh Penguins;Buffalo Sabres;Philadelphia Flyers;Anaheim Ducks;Nashville Predators
|
ny0137769
|
[
"business",
"media"
] |
2008/05/09
|
In a Weak Economy, Quirky Restaurant Ads Yield to Tried and True
|
ONE of latest victims of the sagging economy is a sass-talking “spokes- apple” that briefly starred in a campaign for Applebee’s, the budget restaurant chain. Applebee’s introduced the apple — a regular-looking red one that exhorted people to get together and go out to eat — in October. The campaign, on television, the Web and in print, was supported by a budget of $180 million. But now the apple is gone, its mission far from accomplished. Early tests showed mixed results — some people loved the apple’s attitude, though others found it off-putting — but the real problem was that the fruit in question failed to give the company’s bottom line an immediate lift. And Applebee’s was in no mood to be patient. Throughout 2007, the company had not shown a quarterly increase in sales at stores open at least a year, or same-store sales, and its customers were being pummeled by the mortgage crisis, leaving little money to spend on dining out. Rather than give the campaign time to catch on, Applebee’s pulled the plug in late February. “Typically you would give a campaign a couple rounds of testing to give it a chance to work,” said Shannon Scott, Applebee’s executive director for creative services. “We walked away quicker than we normally would have, because we had to get people in the seats now.” There was also a certain cringe factor for some people, a few of whom complained in blogs. In one commercial, the chatty apple sits on a park bench with a young man who is sending text messages to his friends. The apple, in the voice of the stand-up comedian Wanda Sykes, asks, “That’s how you carry on a friendship, baby? With your thumbs? Of course, it ain’t my business.” Applebee’s is not the only restaurant to withdraw a quirky new branding symbol in these tough times. A similar situation has played out at Wendy’s, which dropped its “red wig” campaign in late January after eight months. In the ads, young men wore pigtails reminiscent of the Wendy’s character and demanded fresh burgers. Some strong parallels exist: not only did the red wig campaign fail to lift Wendy’s sales in a significant way, its tone — perhaps too arch for a family-oriented chain — was called into question. Both campaigns were meant to attract younger diners. Advertising and restaurant executives point to several reasons that neither campaign was a hit. The bizarre red wig commercials were too much of a departure from Wendy’s folksy brand; the apple was not a strong enough image to represent Applebee’s. It is unlikely, though, that either one would have been ended so quickly in better economic times. Instead, both marketers have opted for a more recession-proof approach: glamour shots of food that are intended to make mouths water and prompt consumers to reach for their wallets. For the last two months, Applebee’s, of Overland Park, Kan., has been running ads that star its food — none of it making conversation — and a voice-over by John Corbett (Aidan of “Sex and the City”) encouraging viewers to take advantage of lunchtime specials. The campaign is the second one created by Applebee’s new agency, McCann Erickson, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies; the spokesapple one had been the first. Wendy’s has taken a similar approach. Its new spots feature lingering shots of cheeseburgers and fish sandwiches, and the script talks up fresh ingredients and Wendy’s “promise” of quality food. The ads hew much closer to the restaurant’s down-home image. Wendy’s, based in Dublin, Ohio, turned to a different agency, Kirshenbaum Bond and Partners, a unit of MDC Partners, to compose its ads. The red wig campaign had been the first effort for Wendy’s by Saatchi & Saatchi, part of the Publicis Groupe. Bob Holtcamp, senior vice president for brand advertising at Wendy’s, said that regardless of economic circumstances, it was important to keep the focus on meals, something the red wig campaign had failed to do. “The consumers are now seeing the quality of our food in our advertising,” Mr. Holtcamp said. “The economy can go back and forth, but our brand is built on the quality of our food as opposed to other fast-food restaurants.” Perhaps a lesson from these failed efforts is that difficult times are not the right times to try to create momentum for a quirky corporate mascot. “Building an icon takes time,” said Hayes Roth, chief executive of the branding firm Landor Associates, a unit of the WPP Group. McDonald’s, he said, has spent decades using Ronald McDonald in everything child-related that the company does, making him one of the most recognizable characters in the world. “That’s how you build an icon,” he said. But the irreverent mascots tried by Wendy’s and Applebee owe less to Ronald McDonald than they do to the King from Burger King, whose slightly unnerving presence Mr. Roth likened to the Wanda Sykes apple. But the King has proven highly effective in reaching Burger King’s core audience of younger men, now that he has been given the time to take root. Some see a missed opportunity for Applebee’s. The apple “really did cut through the clutter,” said Malcolm Knapp, a restaurant analyst and consultant who has his own firm in New York. “It was good and sassy, and gave some attitude to a brand that was lacking it.” “Applebee’s is not a cool brand,” he said. “If they are going to become cool, they are going to have to find a way to resonate with consumers.” Perhaps the current strategy is paying off for Applebee’s. The chain, which was acquired by IHOP for $2.1 billion last year, reported a 0.5 percent increase in same-store sales for the first quarter. Among company-owned stores (and excluding franchisees), the increase was 2.1 percent. “The first quarter release is our first positive same-store sales in two years,” Ms. Scott of Applebee’s said. “It’s safe to say this campaign is working for us, so we’re going to stick with it.” Wendy’s, which is being bought by Triarc, the parent of Arby’s, for $2.3 billion, showed a 1.6 percent drop in same-store sales in the first quarter in contrast to a 0.9 percent increase in the fourth quarter of 2007. On the plus side, Wendy’s says that its new ads are scoring much higher with focus groups than the red wig ads, particularly in important categories like “makes me want to eat at Wendy’s.”
|
Advertising and Marketing;Wendy's International Inc;Applebee’s;Economic Conditions and Trends
|
ny0134893
|
[
"business"
] |
2008/04/29
|
When Your Laptop’s Flight Is More Interesting Than Yours
|
I RUN my global project management business virtually. So my backpack contains everything I need for work: my iPhone , G.P.S. locator, emergency snacks and, of course, my laptop, my link to the world and my business. When I fly, I almost always carry my backpack aboard. A few months ago when I had to speak at an engagement in Chicago , I had to check it with baggage because I was injured from a freak accident. My Harley fell on my leg (don’t ask), and I was having a tough time maneuvering. I got to Chicago just fine. Unfortunately, my laptop found a new home in South America. When I discovered my laptop was missing, I was frantic. I immediately notified the airline, the authorities in Oakland and everyone in my company. All of the data was backed up, but it was still an incredible hassle. I was worried about possible security implications and I had to do some housekeeping, which included changing my passwords and my instant messenger, or I.M. name. Plus, I had to shell out cash to buy a new laptop. No one ever contacted me about my missing computer. And to tell you the truth, I thought it was in a computer chop shop someplace. But a month after the incident, I received an I.M. from my assistant who told me that my old I.M. name from that missing laptop was being used online. I.M. would automatically come online any time my computer was connected to the Internet. The user spoke Spanish and identified himself as a fellow named Rafa. Rafa lived in Nicaragua and was looking for a girlfriend. We decided to supply him one in the guise of a woman we named “Bonnie.” Our hope was that we could recover my laptop. My team, several of whom are conversant in Spanish, pretended to be “Bonnie,” kept I.M. conversations going with Rafa for two days. They even sent him a photo of “Bonnie,” a gorgeous, young woman we knew, who agreed to have her picture used in our sting operation. After Rafa received “Bonnie’s” picture, he was smitten, ending I.M. messages with “I love you” and “You’re so beautiful.” He gave us his full name, address, phone number, age, and told us that he worked at his father’s car dealership. We contacted authorities in Nicaragua, the United States Consulate, the F.B.I., the T.S.A. and pretty much anyone we could think of. No one seemed eager to help. So we tried another tack by having “Bonnie” reveal she was in the business of buying and selling computers. Rafa told us the brand and model number of his laptop (it was mine) and said that it was a gift from a relative in the United States who, by the way, works for a company that makes baggage handling systems. Go figure. Eventually, Rafa got peeved at “Bonnie,” for wanting to talk more about the laptop, than their budding relationship. In a final message, Rafa signed off with “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” We never heard from him again so we gave up the cyberchase. Fortunately, Rafa wasn’t malicious, just a naïve young man looking for love. My team likes to call the caper, “When Rafa met Bonnie.” We do hope Rafa meets the girl of his dreams. But we hope that next time he’ll use his own computer.
|
Chicago (Ill);Nicaragua;Computers and the Internet;Laptop Computers;Airlines and Airplanes;Luggage
|
ny0272613
|
[
"world"
] |
2016/05/26
|
Last Liberia Sanctions, Vestige of Civil War, Are Lifted
|
UNITED NATIONS — More than a decade after the end of Liberia’s last civil war, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to lift the remaining sanctions against the West African country, enabling it buy arms on the global market and ushering in a new era of normalcy for a long-brutalized land. A resolution to rescind the remaining sanctions ended a gradual easing of restrictions on Liberia. The Security Council acted late last year to lift travel bans and asset freezes against several individuals and entities. The Council had earlier lifted the ban on Liberian timber and diamonds. Liberian warlords had traded in the country’s natural resources for years, turning a land of abundance into one of the worst killing fields of West Africa. The Council vote was in many ways a vote of confidence in Liberia’s ability to maintain peace. The war ended after Charles G. Taylor, Liberia’s warlord-turned-president, stepped down and left the country in 2003. He was convicted by an international court for war crimes in connection with his role in the conflict in Sierra Leone, Liberia’s neighbor. The United States, which had pushed for the original array of sanctions against Liberia, used the Wednesday vote as an occasion to argue the case for sanctions as an effective tool — and to say that sanctions need not last forever. “Just as we must never hesitate to strengthen sanctions and their enforcement if necessary to address threats to international peace and security, we must move expeditiously to wind down and end sanctions when they are no longer serving the purpose or when they have achieved what was sought,” David Pressman, the American alternate representative to the United Nations, said . Even as the Council voted to end sanctions, two prominent Liberian politicians, including the speaker of the House of Representatives, were accused in a bribery scheme that involved changing a mining law in favor of a British firm interested in an iron ore concession.
|
Liberia;Embargoes Sanctions;Charles G Taylor;UN Security Council;Sierra Leone;War Crimes,Genocide,Crimes Against Humanity;Arms Trade
|
ny0188984
|
[
"us"
] |
2009/05/03
|
As Bats Die, Closing Caves to Control a Fungus
|
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The federal Forest Service is preparing to close thousands of caves and former mines in national forests in 33 states in an effort to control a fungus that has already killed an estimated 500,000 bats. A Forest Service biologist, Becky Ewing, said an emergency order was issued last week for caves in 20 states from Minnesota to Maine. A second order covering the Forest Service’s 13-state Southern region should be issued this month. The sites will be closed for up to a year, Ms. Ewing said. The orders follow the request in March by the Fish and Wildlife Service for people to voluntarily stay out of caves in 17 states. Bats have been dying at alarming rates from what scientists call “white-nose syndrome,” so named because it appears as a white powder on the face and wings of hibernating bats. The problem was first spotted in New York and in two years has spread to caves in Virginia and West Virginia. Researchers believe the fungus is spread from bat to bat, but they have not ruled out a human connection, said Dennis Krusac, a biologist with the service’s Southern region. “We don’t have the answers at this point,” Mr. Krusac said. Biologists are concerned that the fungus could wipe out endangered species like the gray, Indiana and Virginia and Ozark big-eared bats. The fungus affects bats’ hibernation habits and causes them to starve. Bats play a important role in keeping insects like mosquitoes under control. Bats eat from April to October, usually consuming their body weight in bugs each night. Ms. Ewing said the loss of 500,000 bats meant 2.4 million pounds of bugs not eaten in a year. Peter Haberland, a caver from New York, said organized caving groups should not object to the closings. “For a period of a year, most people can deal with that,” said Mr. Haberland, who serves on the Northeastern Cave Conservancy ’s board. Peter Youngbaer, white-nose syndrome liaison for the National Speleological Society, a caving group, said it made sense for the Forest Service to issue umbrella orders to communicate a clear message. “There is a huge concern,” Mr. Youngbaer said. “The recreation aspect is probably the least of our concerns.” Yet many people who explore caves are not part of organized groups, he said, so education will be important. The Forest Service order says people found in a cave or mine face up to six months in jail and fines of up to $10,000. Ms. Ewing said Forest Service officials would enforce the bans. Mr. Youngbaer said he was not convinced that humans helped to transmit the fungus. A study based on soil samples taken from 200 sites in 30 states should help resolve that question. Results should be available in September. Mr. Youngbaer said better financing from the federal government was needed to research the problem.
|
Caves and Caverns;Bats;Fungi;Endangered and Extinct Species
|
ny0163677
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2006/02/12
|
Charles Henry, 78, Housing Police Chief, Dies
|
Charles O. Henry, a former chief of the New York City housing police who commanded some of the city's toughest precincts in troubled times, died at his home in Las Vegas on Feb. 1. He was 78. He died after a brief illness, his family said. Mr. Henry joined the New York Police Department in 1951. In his 31-year career, he was often in command of precincts with high crime levels, and he worked to improve relations with people in those communities. He was among the first black officers to rise to high rank. As a lieutenant in 1966 he was assigned to the 75th Precinct, which covers East New York, Brooklyn. He also served during the Ocean Hill-Brownsville riots in 1968, and in 1977, after being promoted to inspector, was appointed commanding officer of the 103rd Precinct. At the time it had one of the highest crime levels in the city. In 1979, in initial efforts to unify the city's three police departments (the third was the transit police), Mayor Edward I. Koch appointed Mr. Henry chief of the housing police. He remained there until his retirement three years later. Charles Oscar Henry was born in New York City in 1927. He attended night school at Brooklyn College while he worked with the Police Department, earning a bachelor's degree in 1968. He moved to Las Vegas in 1994. Mr. Henry is survived by a son, Laurence, a retired New York City police detective, of Spring Valley, N.Y.; two daughters, Andrea, of Queens, and Melanie Turner of Norwalk, Conn.; and four grandchildren.
|
NEW YORK CITY;POLICE DEPARTMENT;HENRY CHARLES O;BLACKS;POLICE;DEATHS (OBITUARIES)
|
ny0105378
|
[
"business",
"economy"
] |
2012/03/22
|
Europe’s Debt Crisis Eases, a Relief for U.S.
|
WASHINGTON — For the United States, the looming threat from the long-simmering European sovereign debt crisis seems finally to have started to subside. European leaders did not combat the crisis with the force American policy makers had urged. But a Continent-wide agreement to slash deficits and lifelines tossed to European banks have helped reduce borrowing costs, and Washington now seems to be breathing a tentative sigh of relief. Serious concerns remain about Europe’s impact on financial markets and growth, the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke , and the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner , said Wednesday in testimony before the House oversight committee. But Europe has made progress in assuring investors of the safety of the euro and ensuring that all euro zone economies retain financing for their debts at sustainable rates. “In the past few months, financial stresses in Europe have lessened, which has contributed to an improved tone of financial markets around the world, including in the United States,” Mr. Bernanke said. Mr. Geithner said, “The European economies at the center of the crisis have made very significant progress.” In Europe, bond yields have dropped in Italy and France, among other countries. Action by the European Central Bank, particularly the long-term refinancing operations that provide cheap financing for cash-starved banks, has shored up European banks. Fears that a crisis over sovereign debt might turn into a crisis over the viability of the euro have largely evaporated. The threat to the United States has diminished in turn, buoying economic confidence. Despite those positive trends, the policy makers said the troubles in Europe would continue to depress American growth. The euro zone entered a period of economic contraction at the end of 2011. Countries like Spain are still struggling with the toxic combination of high borrowing costs, nonexistent growth and austerity budgeting. That means fewer customers for American goods, less European investment in American markets and continued concerns about financial stability — given that the euro area accounts for nearly one in every five dollars of global economic output, and the United States and the European Union account for about a third of global trade flows. Even if Europe avoids financial catastrophe, it “is still growing on average at very weak levels, and that will mean that growth in the United States is weaker than it otherwise would be,” Mr. Geithner said. But Mr. Bernanke tried to allay fear among members of Congress about American exposure to the crisis. American financial institutions have “limited exposure” to the euro zone’s periphery, he said, but retain “more material” exposure to the bigger core countries, including France and Italy. Money market funds in the United States remain “structurally vulnerable,” Mr. Bernanke said, given that European holdings represent about one-third of their assets. “You’re comfortable today that there’s no A.I.G. hiding in the woods?” in the United States, asked Representative Darrell Issa, Republican of California and the chairman of the committee, referring to the American insurer that received a multibillion-dollar bailout. “We don’t see any similar problem,” said Mr. Bernanke, citing recent stress tests of American financial institutions. Mr. Geithner maintained that the United States was in a “much stronger position than the Continent as a whole.” He cited the relative youth of the American work force and health and welfare provisions that are less costly than those in Europe. He also said that the United States had a better growth outlook than Europe because it had been “much more aggressive” in responding to its financial crisis. Several lawmakers suggested that the United States could follow the path of unstable European countries like Greece because of its significant debt load. Mr. Geithner said that there was “no basis for comparison” to Greece. Mr. Bernanke agreed, noting that Greece does not control its own currency and has a smaller and less diverse economy than the United States. Mr. Bernanke also defended the role of the United States in aiding the Europeans. The Federal Reserve has been pumping dollars into the European financial system, now about $65 billion, to help combat the crisis. That has helped strengthen the European financial system and the global financial system, and improved confidence, he said. He said he was confident there was virtually no risk the United States would lose money on those dollar liquidity swap lines. “We’re not taking any credit risk. We’re not taking any foreign-exchange risk. The chances of losing any money are very low.” He and Mr. Geithner emphasized that Europe needed to finish its 500 billion euro, or $661 billion, firewall — a pool of cash to fight off any speculative attacks on weaker euro zone members — to ensure that the crisis did not intensify again. Recently, world leaders have expressed concern that the relative calm in the markets might reduce the urgency to complete a strong bailout mechanism for countries having trouble financing themselves on the debt markets, stabilizing heavily indebted countries and bolstering growth. European leaders are close to adding more money to their firewall at the prodding of the I.M.F. and the United States, Group of 20 officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Mr. Geithner reiterated that there were no plans to ask Congress for more money for the I. M. F. and said Europe had the resources to end its crisis.
|
European Sovereign Debt Crisis (2010- );United States Economy;Economic Conditions and Trends;Bernanke Ben S;Geithner Timothy F;Treasury Department;Federal Reserve System
|
ny0240874
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2010/12/13
|
On Natural Gas Drilling, Paterson Pleases Everyone, for Now
|
On the surface, it looked as if Gov. David A. Paterson threaded the needle over the weekend when he addressed one of the most far-reaching environmental and economic issues facing New York: the future of natural gas drilling upstate. On Saturday, Mr. Paterson vetoed legislation that would have placed a moratorium on drilling that uses a technique called hydraulic fracturing, which involves injecting millions of gallons of chemically treated water underground to crush shale and release the gas inside. Instead, he issued an executive order instituting a longer moratorium that extended until July 1, 2011, but that more narrowly defined the types of drilling to be restricted. In apparent contradiction of the laws of physics, both the gas industry and the environmentalists seemed pleased. “IOGA of N.Y. praises Governor David Paterson for courageous veto of moratorium bill,” began the statement from the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York. “We’re hopeful that the governor’s veto today will set the stage for a more reasoned and rational public discussion about these issues going forward,” said the group’s executive director, Brad Gill. The environmental group Catskill Mountainkeeper called the same action a “historic victory for the citizens of New York State.” Kate Sinding, a senior lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said it was the first time a state imposed a moratorium on the industry. “I think it sets the tone for the next administration that New York is not going to get rolled like other states have been,” she said. Beneath the surface, things were not so balmy. The industry deems any moratorium unnecessary and misguided. Environmentalists were almost as hyperbolic about what they did not like — allowing vertical rather than the more obtrusive horizontal hydrofracking in emerging gas fields upstate — as they were about what they did. Still, the basic dynamic showed two things: the future of gas drilling in New York remains up for grabs, and the issue has now been tossed into the lap of the incoming governor, Andrew M. Cuomo. To noncombatants, gas drilling remains an impenetrable and distant issue, an inherent my-eyes-glaze-over topic. But increasingly, for the industry, upstate landowners, farmers, environmentalists, for people concerned with water, food and the state’s economy, it is becoming inescapable. When New York’s oil and gas industry emerges from decades of total obscurity and the Park Slope Food Co-op feels obligated to weigh in with its policy statement on hydrofracking, you can assume the issue is reaching critical mass. NEW YORK has already taken steps to bring down the temperature of the debate by limiting (but not eliminating) the opportunity to drill in the New York City Watershed. Yet the economic and environmental stakes remain enormous. And to many, natural gas remains a more palatable option than other available energy sources. Still, it’s not at all clear how much long-term economic activity gas exploration would bring. Susan Christopherson, an economic geographer at Cornell, said that almost 70 percent of the economic gains would go to upstate landowners and that most of the industry jobs and long-term economic gains would go elsewhere. “The oil and gas industry is much more like financial services than manufacturing,” she said. “You don’t have continuous jobs and long-term production. What you usually get is a boom and bust cycle.” Economic and environmental doubts are unlikely to derail drilling in the Marcellus Shale, the rich gas fields in New York, Pennsylvania and nearby states. But industry critics say they are an argument for going slow and ensuring best practices in drilling to avoid some of the environmental degradation experienced across the border in Pennsylvania. The next big issues will be the future of the environmental review process that has produced a draft policy environmentalists would like to scrap, and calls for extending the moratorium pending a federal review that could take two years. Both seem like uphill battles in a state desperate for more economic activity and tax revenue. Mr. Paterson on his way out the door found an issue in which he was able to split the difference and make everyone happy. Mr. Cuomo should be so lucky.
|
Natural Gas;Drilling and Boring;Paterson David A;New York State
|
ny0130247
|
[
"sports",
"golf"
] |
2012/06/12
|
Casey Martin Returns to the U.S. Open, Where a Cart Is Waiting
|
SAN FRANCISCO — The symbolism and juxtaposition were not lost on Casey Martin on Monday when he returned to the Olympic Club for the first time in 14 years. In 1998, the last time the United States Open was contested at Olympic, Martin was among the most notable participants not for his golf but because he had successfully sued golf’s establishment for the right to use a cart in a tournament. Martin, who has a rare circulatory condition in his right leg that makes him unable to walk long distances, won his case but only after some of the game’s biggest names testified or spoke out against his cause. During his first 1998 practice round, the cart provided to Martin broke down. Martin, then 26 years old and without much professional pedigree, continued with a quiet aplomb — despite sleepless nights, he said — and finished a respectable 23rd in the event. It was a highlight of the prime of Martin’s career. For some in golf, it is an episode not eagerly recalled. Martin was warmly greeted Monday by tournament officials, who showed him a strategic hole-by-hole route map for where he could ride his cart during the competition. He was assigned a cart caddie, someone who will helpfully bring the cart from an area near the green to the next tee while Martin is putting. Fans cheered him on the Olympic grounds, and the United States Golf Association hosted Martin for a standing-room-only news conference. “Everyone has been overly accommodating,” said Martin, now 40. “The controversy fades, and maybe because in some way, there is an appreciation. I’m just somebody trying to pursue his dreams like anybody else. I’m just trying to play this great game we all love.” That Martin was back at Olympic was a nearly magical confluence of diligence and destiny. Martin had not played in a bona fide golf competition for six years when he decided to enter the demanding qualifying process for this year’s United States Open. That the event was at Olympic was a motivating factor. But Martin, who became the golf coach at the University of Oregon shortly after he retired from professional golf in 2006, had almost no recent playing experience. Martin has Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome, and while his right leg has not gotten drastically worse, it continues to be painful. He said Monday that 14 years ago he probably expected that his leg would be amputated by 2012. “But not playing the last six years has been a reprieve for my leg,” he said. “It’s not great, but it’s hanging in there.” In the qualifying last week, Martin shot back-to-back 69s, scores that were aided considerably in the second round when an errant tee shot that appeared lost was discovered all but hidden in mud just as Martin was heading back to the tee to hit again — with a penalty stroke. He clinched his United States Open spot by one stroke. “That is when I thought that something was going on here,” Martin said Monday. The time since has been a whirlwind with thousands of people sending their congratulations, including his former college teammate Tiger Woods, who posted online: “Simply incredible. Ability, attitude and guts. See you at Olympic, Casey.” Martin joked that it was not long after he qualified that he began to wonder what he had gotten himself into. “I am very excited to be here,” he said. “But there is a borderline fear factor. “It’s a great challenge for anyone, let alone a disabled 40-year-old golf coach.” Looking back on his court case, which reached the United States Supreme Court, Martin says he rarely thinks of the negative reaction his stance attracted. “I try not to focus on it too much and I don’t take it personally,” he said. “I realize that there is another side to my story and people can certainly — we can agree to disagree. But there’s a lot of people that are pulling for me.” If Martin still feels stung by the overwhelming chorus of golf voices who lined up in dissent against him, he does not show it. “Life is too short for that,” he said. Instead, on Monday, Martin told stories about gambling games with Woods on the Stanford golf team and how Woods once had to give him a check for $192. Martin had a copy of it made, which his mother put in Casey’s scrapbook, and then he cashed it. He added that he might play a practice round with Woods on Tuesday and give him a chance to win his money back — or not. “I know that it’s tough to get that wallet out,” Martin said. “That’s what I’ve been told.” More than anything, Martin was clearly happy to be back, and with no regrets, even if his professional career never led to the PGA Tour victories or the on-course acclaim some in golf predicted for him. “I am here at 40,” he said. “Even though I’m not playing for a living, I’m still playing. So I am grateful for that.” TEEN ENTERS U.S. OPEN Paul Casey’s withdrawal on Monday because of a shoulder injury paved the way for a milestone at the United States Open. The alternate taking Casey’s place is Andy Zhang, a 14-year-old Florida resident of Chinese descent who will become the youngest competitor in the Open since World War II. KAREN CROUSE
|
Golf;Martin Casey;United States Open (Golf);Olympic Club (San Francisco Calif)
|
ny0075280
|
[
"us"
] |
2015/04/22
|
Freddie Gray in Baltimore: Another City, Another Death in the Public Eye
|
BALTIMORE — In life, friends say, Freddie Gray was an easygoing, slender young man who liked girls and partying here in Sandtown, a section of west Baltimore pocked by boarded-up rowhouses and known to the police for drug dealing and crime. In death, Mr. Gray, 25, has become the latest symbol in the running national debate over police treatment of black men — all the more searing, people here say, in a city where the mayor and police commissioner are black. Questions are swirling around just what happened to Mr. Gray, who died here Sunday — a week after he was chased and restrained by police officers, and suffered a spine injury, which later killed him, in their custody. The police say they have no evidence that their officers used force. A lawyer for Mr. Gray’s family accuses the department of a cover-up, and on Tuesday the Justice Department opened a civil rights inquiry into his death. But as protests continued Tuesday night — with hundreds of angry residents, led by a prominent pastor and Mr. Gray’s grieving family, chanting and marching in the streets — the death has also fueled debate on whether African-American leadership here can better handle accusations of police brutality than cities like Ferguson, Mo., and North Charleston, S.C., with their white-dominated governments. “Unlike other places where incidents like this have happened, they understand what it means to be black in America,” said City Councilman Brandon Scott, an ally of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and a frequent critic of Police Commissioner Anthony Batts. “They understand how something like this can get out of hand very quickly,” Mr. Scott said. “They understand the community’s frustration more than anyone else. But at the same time they also understand the opposite — they understand the need to have law enforcement in neighborhoods. So it puts them in a bind.” This week the mayor and police commissioner have appeared repeatedly in public promising a full and transparent review of Mr. Gray’s death. On Tuesday, the police released the names of six officers who had been suspended with pay, including a lieutenant, a woman and three officers in their 20s who joined the force less than three years ago. Officers canvassed west Baltimore, looking for witnesses. Mr. Batts turned up in Mr. Gray’s neighborhood, chatting with residents and shaking hands. And Ms. Rawlings-Blake said in an interview that she had asked Gov. Larry Hogan for help in getting an autopsy on Mr. Gray performed by the state medical examiner made public, even piecemeal, as quickly as possible. The mayor said she supported the Justice Department inquiry. Chanting “Black Lives Matter” and “Justice for Freddie,” protesters marched Tuesday evening on the block where Mr. Gray was arrested. The Rev. Jamal Bryant asked for a moment of silence. Mr. Gray’s relatives — including his mother, her head shrouded in the hood of a sweatshirt — paused quietly. Mr. Gray’s arrest, which was captured on a cellphone video that shows him being dragged, seemingly limp, into a police van, has revived a debate in this city over police practices. “We have a very challenging history in Baltimore,” Ms. Rawlings-Blake said, adding that she had worked hard “to repair a broken relationship” between black residents and the police. She called Mr. Gray’s death “a very sad and frustrating setback.” Ms. Rawlings-Blake and Mr. Batts had been talking about the problem long before the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., in August spawned national protests and the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. But the officials’ actions are doing little to assuage angry residents here. Rosa Mobley says she witnessed Mr. Gray’s arrest from her bedroom window, and heard him screaming as the police dragged him into a transport van. “We got this so-called black mayor, but she don’t care nothing about us,” Ms. Mobley said as Mr. Batts pulled up in the neighborhood in a black SUV just before noon on Tuesday. “They don’t come around here. Just because we’re poor, we don’t need to be treated like this.” Because there are no national statistics on police-involved killings, it is impossible to say whether their numbers are increasing. But the growing prevalence of cellphone and police video, coupled with heightened scrutiny by the news media and the public after Ferguson, has focused intense attention on such cases, especially when officers are white and victims are black. The police here did not release the racial breakdown of the six suspended officers. Now the Justice Department will look into whether they violated Mr. Gray’s civil rights. Such inquiries are not unusual; in Ferguson, the department did not find Mr. Brown’s rights were violated. However, a second broader Justice Department review of the Ferguson Police Department resulted in a scathing report detailing abusive and discriminatory practices by the city’s law enforcement system. Image Police Commissioner Anthony Batts spoke at a news conference on Monday, joined by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Credit Kevin Richardson/The Baltimore Sun, via Associated Press In Baltimore, police-community tensions date at least to 2005, when the Police Department, following a practice known as “zero-tolerance policing” made more than 100,000 arrests in a heavily African-American city of then roughly 640,000 people. In 2006, the N.A.A.C.P. and the American Civil Liberties Union sued the city, alleging a broad pattern of abuse in which people were routinely arrested without probable cause. The city settled in 2010 for $870,000, agreed to retrain officers and publicly rejected “zero-tolerance policing.” Ms. Rawlings-Blake became mayor that year. In 2012 she brought in Mr. Batts, who had run the police department in Oakland, Calif. In 2013, he proposed that police officers wear body cameras to capture encounters like the one that injured Mr. Gray; plans are now in the works for a pilot project. Ms. Rawlings-Blake has also eliminated a police unit that had a reputation for treating suspects harshly. Last year, she and Mr. Batts asked the Justice Department to investigate after The Baltimore Sun reported that taxpayers had paid nearly $6 million since 2011 in judgments or settlements in 102 lawsuits alleging police misconduct. That investigation is ongoing. William Murphy Jr., the lawyer for the Gray family, said Tuesday in an interview that “the commissioner’s heart is in the right place,” and that the mayor — whose father, Pete Rawlings, was a civil rights advocate and powerful Maryland politician — “understands police brutality and the extent to which it has a cancerous effect on our society.” But Mr. Murphy said they had inherited “a dysfunctional department” whose officers “had no probable cause” to arrest Mr. Gray, who was stopped early on the morning of April 12 after a police lieutenant made eye contact with him and he ran away. That lieutenant was one of the six officers who were suspended. “He was running while black,” Mr. Murphy said of Mr. Gray, “and that’s not a crime.” At a news conference Monday, Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said Mr. Gray “gave up without the use of force.” Mr. Gray, who was apparently asthmatic, then asked for his inhaler, but he did not have one; he was conscious and speaking when he was loaded into the van to be taken to the police station, Mr. Rodriguez said. In interviews on Tuesday, witnesses gave various accounts. Michelle Gross, who took cellphone video of the arrest, said she saw two officers standing over Mr. Gray as people said: “He’s just lying there? Why don’t you call an ambulance? Why don’t you get him some help?” Another witness, Kiona Mack, who said she took the cellphone video that showed Mr. Gray being dragged into the van, said she saw officers “sitting on his back, and having his leg twisted.” Members of Mr. Gray’s family have said he suffered three fractured vertebrae in his neck and that his larynx was crushed, according to The Baltimore Sun ; Mr. Murphy, the lawyer, said Mr. Gray’s spinal cord was 80 percent severed. Those details have not been confirmed by doctors or authorities, but experts on spinal cord injury said even less obvious neck trauma could be life-threatening. “It doesn’t necessarily take huge force to fracture or dislocate a vertebra, and have a traumatic compression of the spinal cord,” said Ben A. Barres, professor of neurobiology at the Stanford School of Medicine. “It gets worse very rapidly if it’s not treated.” And, he said, “moving the person, like lifting him into a van, or even the ride in the van, could make the injury much worse.” The police have said they will complete their inquiry by May 1 and turn it over to the state’s attorney in Baltimore — Maryland’s name for local prosecutors — who will determine whether to bring criminal charges. Ms. Rawlings-Blake has said she will also convene an independent commission. In Mr. Gray’s neighborhood, which is adjacent to a public housing development called the Gilmor Homes, people remembered him Tuesday as a likable young man who sometimes got into trouble with the law — Maryland court records show he had at least two arrests for drug-related charges since December. Mr. Gray had a twin sister, and a brother who died, friends say, and he also suffered lead poisoning as a child. They are furious about his death, and particularly about police conduct. “He wasn’t out causing any trouble,” said Roosevelt McNeil, 26, who had known Mr. Gray since Mr. Gray was a child. “He had some arrests, but he wasn’t a big drug dealer or something like that. He was a great guy over all — he didn’t deserve to be handled like that. Why won’t the cops say how they ended up going after him, from that to him having his neck broken?”
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Baltimore;Freddie Gray;Police Brutality,Police Misconduct,Police Shootings;Black People,African-Americans;Civil Rights;ACLU;NAACP
|
ny0194416
|
[
"world"
] |
2009/11/26
|
Samak Sundaravej, Former Thai Prime Minister, Dies at 74
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BANGKOK (AP) — Samak Sundaravej , a firebrand right-wing politician and television cooking show host who served a brief and tumultuous term last year as prime minister of Thailand , died Tuesday in Bangkok. He was 74. His death, after a long battle with liver cancer, was confirmed by Navachamol Sangkaew, an official at Bumrungrad International Hospital. Mr. Samak had a four-decade political career in which he was associated with military-backed, authoritarian governments. Critics accused him of helping to stir up the bloody lynching of students by anti-Communist vigilantes and the police at Thammasat University in Bangkok in 1976, which led to a military coup. He became prime minister after agreeing to act as a stand-in for Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup and barred from politics. As the proxy for Mr. Thaksin, who was living in exile, Mr. Samak became the focus of street rallies by anti-Thaksin protesters who demanded his resignation. Before being named prime minister Mr. Samak was best known to many Thais for “Tasting and Complaining,” the cooking show he hosted for seven years. Ironically, it was his television job that was his ultimate political undoing: a court ruled in September 2008 that his acceptance of payments for appearing on the program while he was prime minister constituted a conflict of interest. As a result, little more than seven months after Mr. Samak took office, the court removed him.
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Samak Sundaravej;Thailand;Coups D'Etat and Attempted Coups D'Etat;Deaths (Obituaries)
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ny0153772
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2008/01/29
|
Europe Offers Serbia Deal to Sway Vote
|
BRUSSELS — The European Union sent a clear signal to Serbia on Monday that its path to membership would be opened if it rejected a nationalist pro-Russian candidate in the presidential runoff next Sunday and apprehended war criminal suspects who remained at large from the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s. The signal emerged here from a meeting of European Union foreign ministers, who were looking for ways to give a political lift to the pro-Western liberal incumbent in Serbia, President Boris Tadic, who faces a close race with the pro-Russian nationalist challenger, Tomislav Nikolic. Originally the group had hoped to offer a generous package of far-reaching economic and political ties to Serbia and expedited membership. But they scaled it back to an offer of expanded cooperation in trade and visas. The Netherlands and Belgium had objected to the more generous agreement, saying that could not happen until Serbia made progress on handing over indicted war criminals, most notably Gen. Ratko Mladic, who is charged with masterminding the 1995 massacre of more than 7,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica. Dimitrij Rupel, the foreign minister of Slovenia, which holds the European Union’s rotating presidency, hinted that if Serbia elected a moderate president, it could become a member within a few years. “It would be possible for this to happen relatively soon,” he said. Analysts said the European Union’s attempt to link the outcome of the Serbian elections with future membership could backfire by emboldening nationalists in Serbia. Mr. Nikolic has sought to exploit wounded national pride by playing on the disenchantment over American and European Union support for Kosovo, the breakaway province poised to declare independence next month.
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Serbia;European Union;Politics and Government;Elections
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ny0040255
|
[
"world",
"asia"
] |
2014/04/01
|
Years After Obama Hailed Warming Ties With India, the Temperature Has Fallen
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NEW DELHI — When President Obama visited India in 2010, he called the warming relationship between it and the United States the “defining partnership of the 21st century.” Decades of disagreements, from Cold War ideological battles to squabbles over the United States’ close relationship with India’s archrival, Pakistan, would take a back seat to the many shared interests of two of the world’s largest and most diverse democracies. But almost four years later, the United States and India have found themselves on opposite sides of the world’s most important diplomatic issues, from the crisis in Ukraine, in which India came to Russia’s defense, to a long-awaited vote to investigate Sri Lanka’s government for atrocities committed at the end of its civil war (India abstained). Even critical military coordination over the reduction of troops in nearby Afghanistan has suffered. Far from coordinating on major global issues, the two countries are embroiled in a series of spats over privileges, visas and even swimming pools in a nasty fight stemming from the arrest and strip-search in New York City of Devyani Khobragade, an Indian consular official, in December on charges of submitting false documents to obtain a work visa for a housekeeper whom she then severely underpaid. The arrest infuriated senior members of India’s diplomatic service, many of whom had paid their maids comparably when posted in New York, a plum assignment. For them, the arrest was one of a series of American actions deemed insensitive here. And on Monday, the United States’ ambassador in New Delhi, Nancy J. Powell, announced her resignation after a 37-year diplomatic career. While Ms. Powell told a gathering at the embassy that her departure was unrelated to growing problems with India, she had become a focus of unhappiness among Indian diplomats and politicians. Indian news media had reported speculation that the United States was considering replacing Ms. Powell in hopes of improving ties. “There is a growing feeling among Indian policy makers that no matter what concessions or policy adjustments our leadership pushes through at the request of American businesses and the administration, there is always something new to complain about,” said a senior Indian diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. “There is a feeling that no one in this administration is a champion of the India-U.S. relationship.” American diplomats have largely refused to speak publicly about the growing problems, describing the disputes as routine disagreements that other countries would resolve quietly. “Like any two large and vibrant democracies we have differences reflecting our respective cultures and histories,” said Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman. “But it’s a sign of the maturing nature of our relationship that we work through our differences and focus on the important work we have to do together.” Several top American officials said they hoped that a new Indian government, likely to be in place in May, would help reset relations. But that will not be easy. After Russia invaded Crimea, much of the world criticized Moscow, with even China and Iran obliquely expressing concerns. India, almost alone among major countries, supported Russia, with its national security adviser, Shivshankar Menon, citing “legitimate Russian and other interests involved.” In response, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia praised “India’s reserve and objectivity” in a March 18 speech before the Duma. On Thursday, India was among 58 countries that abstained from a United Nations General Assembly vote seen as condemning Russia. Image Nancy J. Powell announced her resignation Monday as the ambassador to India. Credit Pool photo by Jim Watson That same day in Geneva, at the United Nations Human Rights Council, India was one of 12 nations to abstain on a resolution, strongly backed by the United States, calling for an independent investigation into war crimes committed during Sri Lanka’s civil war. The abstention came after India had supported two previous resolutions backed by the United States regarding Sri Lanka’s civil war. “The Indians have not made it easy,” said R. Nicholas Burns, a former senior American diplomat and now a professor of diplomacy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. “It would certainly be of benefit if the Indians were stronger partners in the major challenges to peace like Iran and Russia in recent years.” In person, Mr. Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India have demonstrated affection for each other, with Mr. Obama calling Mr. Singh his guru and Mr. Singh referring to Mr. Obama as a personal friend. But Mr. Singh is not expected to remain as prime minister past May, no matter who wins coming elections, and he has all but disappeared from Indian politics in recent weeks. Senior Indian diplomats also complain that Mr. Obama has ignored India. “We can’t get any attention from this administration, but you can’t solve serious problems without them,” said another senior Indian diplomat who also was not authorized to speak publicly. “They’re busy with Russia, Syria, the Middle East and Iran. But in the current circumstances, it is vital that they also pay attention to the India relationship soon, since the current drift could get much worse.” Jonah Blank, an analyst at the RAND Corporation, a nonpartisan research institution, said Indian complaints about the Obama administration’s centralized decision-making process had merit. “In this administration, there is a small group of people in the White House making all the decisions, so issues that are important but not urgent rarely get the attention they deserve,” Mr. Blank said. And so, in response to Ms. Khobragade’s arrest, officials here have revoked some privileges of American diplomats, removing security barriers in front of the American Embassy and investigating the American Embassy School . Indian officials also point to a host of other irritants, including a potential downgrade in status by the American trade representative in response to complaints by companies such as the drug maker Pfizer that India does not protect patents; an investigation by the United States International Trade Commission that Indians consider insulting; complaints about the quality of Indian-made pharmaceuticals; and disagreements over taxes, immigration and manufacturing policies that could hurt Indian interests. To American diplomats, these issues are the natural result of a deepening economic and strategic relationship. To India, the disputes reflect the demands of an overbearing superpower. Both sides emphasize that the relationship is far better than it was during the Cold War when President Richard M. Nixon sent the Seventh Fleet into the Bay of Bengal to threaten India. As recently as 2000, an episode of “The West Wing” showed a fictional President Josiah Bartlet mediating between a reasonable and urbane Pakistani ambassador and a bellicose and unhinged Indian one — views of the two countries that have flipped almost entirely since then. “This relationship is one that still needs nurturing,” said K. Shankar Bajpai, a former Indian ambassador to the United States. “And there doesn’t seem to be anyone on either side doing that.”
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US Foreign Policy;Diplomats Embassies and Consulates;Nancy Jo Powell;Devyani Khobragade;India;US
|
ny0168371
|
[
"politics",
"politicsspecial1"
] |
2006/01/25
|
On Party Lines, Panel Approves Alito for Court
|
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 - The Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines Tuesday to approve the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. as senators turned the occasion into a broader and sometimes heated debate over the rancorous and partisan nature of the confirmation process. Republicans threatened retaliation against future Democratic nominees, saying Democrats had rallied party members to vote against Judge Alito's confirmation for political reasons unrelated to his qualifications. Democrats said a close vote would warn President Bush not to name such conservative judges. Judge Alito's confirmation to the court is now all but assured, by a vote of the full Senate roughly along party lines. In contrast, the president's previous nominee, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., was confirmed just a few months ago with the support of three of the eight Democrats on the committee and half of the 44 Democrats in the Senate. Recalling the overwhelming and bipartisan majorities that approved President Bill Clinton's Supreme Court nominees, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer, several Republican senators said their party had evaluated the qualifications of nominees on less ideological terms. They said the Democratic opposition to Judge Alito could alter the judicial confirmation process for years to come. Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, warned that Republicans might apply the same political tactics to future Democratic nominees in return: "So I say to my Democratic friends, think carefully about what is being done today. Its impact will be felt well beyond this particular nominee." Democrats countered that the Bush administration had politicized the confirmation process by nominating a roster of staunch conservatives to the federal courts. "It's a very different day and time" than during the Clinton administration's nominations, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said. "There was not the polarization within America that is there today and not the defined move to take this court in a singular direction." The committee vote, with all 10 Republicans voting to confirm and all 8 Democrats voting to reject the nomination, sets the stage for equally contentious if predictable debate beginning Wednesday on the Senate floor. Many Democrats have indicated Judge Alito appeared too well qualified and unthreatening in his confirmation hearings to justify a filibuster, and without one his confirmation by a majority vote is virtually guaranteed. Democratic leaders are nonetheless pushing for a lengthy debate over the nomination to make their case against Judge Alito. And Democratic aides say privately that they also hope to hold off the final vote until Tuesday, when the president's State of the Union speech will overshadow the news. Republicans had talked about holding the vote this weekend, but some senators plan to be in Davos, Switzerland, mingling with international business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum. Behind the public arguments about the importance of the courts and the confirmation process, strategists for both parties say they are planning to use the Senate vote as a political weapon in the midterm elections. Such elections are typically decided by the turnout of party loyalists, and such voters would most likely have passionate views on the Alito nomination. Republicans are laying the groundwork to attack Democrats who vote against Judge Alito as beholden to liberal interest groups. Democrats plan to make an issue of his votes on subjects like abortion rights or environmental regulations. Speaking to reporters after the committee vote, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, said that even if Judge Alito was confirmed, the strong Democratic opposition should send a message. "I would hope it sends a message to the president that he should be more careful," Mr. Reid said. "I think it sends a message to the American people that this guy is not King George, he's President George." Still, if Judge Alito joins Chief Justice Roberts on the bench, Mr. Bush will have put a substantial mark on the court. On many social issues, the court has been the biggest obstacle to the goals of conservatives now in control of the other branches of government, and Judge Alito would replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who often had been a pivotal vote. After his statement to reporters, Mr. Reid met privately with representatives of a coalition of liberal groups opposing Judge Alito, a group that included People for the American Way, the Alliance for Justice, and labor, abortion rights and environmental groups. Democratic aides briefed on the meeting said officials of the groups made a last-ditch plea for a filibuster. People present said Mr. Reid agreed only that the Democrats would discuss their plans at a party meeting on Wednesday. Democrats also began making an issue of Chief Justice Roberts's decisions on the court in explaining their opposition to Judge Alito. Mrs. Feinstein said that in the recent Gonzales v. Oregon decision, involving an Oregon law allowing doctor-assisted suicide, Chief Justice Roberts sided with conservative justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas in finding that the Bush administration could block the practice. Chief Justice Roberts's vote ran counter to some of the statements he made during his confirmation hearing, suggesting that the court should stay out of "end-of-life" decisions, Mrs. Feinstein said. She quoted from his testimony: "The basic understanding is that it's a free country, and the right to be left alone is one of our basic rights." She said that Judge Alito's record suggested he was also likely to join the same conservative faction of the court, especially on abortion rights. "If one is pro-choice in this day and age, in this structure," Mrs. Feinstein said, "one can't vote for Judge Alito. It is simply that simple." Republicans said that making an issue of Judge Alito's rulings would redound to their benefit, asserting that his legal views were more in line with the American electorate than those of his liberal critics. "I'll just tell you right now we welcome that debate on our side," Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, told the Democrats. "We'll clean your clock."
|
SUPREME COURT;ALITO SAMUEL A JR
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ny0075250
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2015/04/14
|
As Libya Crumbles, Calls Grow for Feuding Factions to Meet Halfway
|
MISURATA, Libya — Libyans have puzzled for four years over what might arrest their country’s disintegration. Feuding factions have consistently reached for guns instead of compromises in their battle to fill the vacuum left by the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi , ultimately breaking the country into two warring coalitions of militias and city-states. Leaders on both sides vowed that Libya ’s only hope was their own military victory. But now a growing number of politicians on both sides of the conflict say that the dual threats from colonies of the Islamic State and a looming collapse of the economy may finally jolt Libya out of that spiral. In a series of interviews in five Libyan cities on both sides of the fight, political leaders were for the first time trying in earnest to reverse that trend, calling for unconditional negotiations and reciprocal concessions. “It is the realization that Libya is in danger,” said Fathi Bashaagha, a businessman who leads the pro-unity faction now ascendant in the pivotal city of Misurata, whose powerful militias have been fighting in several places around the country. “Nobody can win. We have only one way we can survive, and that is a unity government.” Abubakr Buera, an influential lawmaker who last year led the Parliament to move to the side opposing Misurata, said he now agreed, “to save the misery of the people.” Their efforts give at least a glimmer of hope to United Nations-sponsored reconciliation talks now taking place in Algeria. But they still face long odds, in part because of the presence of extremists averse to any compromise and in part because of the personal ambitions and mutual distrust among leaders of both factions. Against doves warning of an imminent catastrophe, hawks continue to minimize the threats, insisting that a military triumph is the only lasting solution. “It will take some time, but it is possible to win the war, and the winner is going to be the winner,” asserted Abdulrahman Swehli, previously the most influential political figure in Misurata and still the leader of a hawkish camp opposed to Mr. Bashaagha. The reports about the growth of the Islamic State in Libya are “propaganda,” Mr. Swehli said, and the economic situation is “bad but not dire.” He accused the United Nations diplomat leading the unity talks of “making things worse” by trying to isolate those like himself who still saw the domestic conflict as an existential battle. Still, the chiefs of Misurata’s civilian and military councils both said that the majority of the city was backing Mr. Bashaagha and the unity talks, because of fatigue with the battle and a sense of the growing dangers. “We are not as united as we once were,” Mr. Swehli conceded. “Some people are getting tired.” Each of the two coalitions now has its own rival provisional government, each riven with internal divisions. The side that is recognized internationally, centered in the eastern cities of Tobruk and Bayda, is dominated and defined by Gen. Khalifa Hifter, 72, who once fought for Colonel Qaddafi but later broke with him to join the exiled opposition. General Hifter last year announced his own attempt at a military takeover, promising to purge Libya of both moderate and extremist Islamists. Libyans fearful of the extremists have embraced him as a hero, while others have denounced him as a second Qaddafi. The western city of Zintan has allied with him mainly in shared opposition to the expanding influence of the coastal city of Misurata. The other coalition, centered in Misurata, controls the capital, Tripoli. It includes both moderate and extremist Islamists as well as Berber tribes and much of the former exiled opposition to Colonel Qaddafi — all united mainly by a fear of General Hifter. Their battles killed more than 2,800 people last year and displaced about 400,000, according to a recent United Nations report . They have destroyed or incapacitated Libya’s two main airports, flattened districts of major cities, and disabled much of the oil and energy infrastructure. Libya, despite its oil wealth, now suffers widespread blackouts, gas lines and even shortages of cooking oil. Both factions have continued to draw on the same central bank to meet increasingly inflated payrolls, often for no-show jobs or inflated militia budgets. Public payroll costs tripled to $24 billion in 2014 from $8 billion in the year before the uprising of 2011, said Musbah Alkari, manager of the reserves department at the Central Bank of Libya, while oil revenue plunged. Libya could run a deficit of more than $40 billion in 2015, quickly burning through its foreign reserves of about $90 billion, according to Central Bank figures. The currency may collapse in less than two years, Mr. Alkari said, but many Libyan politicians still believe that Libya is rich and that “we can’t go broke.” Fighters pledging loyalty to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, control the midcoastal city of Surt and a militia in the eastern city of Derna. They have claimed responsibility for attacks on Misurata militias, a Tripoli hotel, government buildings, foreign embassies and a major oil field as well as the beheading of a group of Egyptian Christians. The Tobruk-Bayda government’s leaders say their current war is against extremism, but a growing number of lawmakers in its Parliament now argue that a unity government is the only way to defeat it. “I hope we can all stand up and expel the terrorists together,” said Muad Rafa Mosod, 30, a lawmaker from the south. Elected last year and now based in Tobruk, the Parliament confers legitimacy on the Tobruk-Bayda government and it has named General Hifter its top military commander. But it does not disclose its attendance or vote counts. In part because of a boycott by members opposed to General Hifter, fewer than 110 members in the 200-seat chamber usually attended last year, and attendance has since fallen below 90. In the first vote last year on the unity talks, more than 50 voted against and fewer than 50 voted in favor, several lawmakers said. But the most recent vote had flipped to 65 in favor and 12 against, according to Mr. Buera, the first speaker and an influential member. In Tripoli, even the chief of staff overseeing his faction’s war effort said that neither side could win on the battlefield. Without a unity government, said the chief, Jedalla al-Obeida, “we will have city-states and a Somalia scenario.” But like the Misuratan hawks, the military leaders in Tobruk and Bayda show no sign of relenting. In an interview, Saqr al-Jarushi, chief of General Hifter’s small air force, accused the Misuratans of plotting to bring Jews to Libya and praised Colonel Qaddafi for his crackdowns on Islamists. “It was better that he killed them,” Mr. Jarushi said, “because otherwise they would be heads of militias just as they are now. This is what Qaddafi was afraid of.” But how to deal with genuine extremists also remains an unanswered question for the Misurata coalition. The coalition includes Ansar al-Shariah of Benghazi, the extremist group linked to the attack that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens in 2012 and widely blamed for a campaign of bombings and assassinations against security and other perceived foes. Misurata-Tripoli leaders tend to dodge questions about their Ansar al-Shariah allies. Jamal Naji Zubia, head of the Tripoli foreign media office, recently suggested that the Benghazi Islamist fighters should address the problem by better explaining themselves through the news media. “I told them, ‘You say you are mujahedeen and you are not afraid of death, so why are you afraid to show your faces?’ ” Mr. Zubia said. Mohamed Dayri, foreign minister of the Tobruk-Bayda government, said he told the United Nations envoys that talks were “necessary but not sufficient” to defeat the extremists. “A political track, yes, but what about a military track?” he said. On the other side, even the most conciliatory leaders of the Misurata-Tripoli faction are dead set against any role for General Hifter. “He just wants to be on top of the throne,” Mr. Bashaagha said. “We had that experience for 40 years, under Qaddafi.” Then any unity government would face the same challenge that undermined its predecessors: how to exert civilian control over the feuding militias. “At some point, they are going to realize that you can point as many guns as you want and you still can’t pay salaries,” said Motasim Elalem, 39, a banker in Tripoli. “I keep waiting for Libya to hit rock bottom,” he added, “but I think we are going to have to burn it down first.”
|
Libya;ISIS,ISIL,Islamic State;Khalifa Hifter;Misurata Libya;Tripoli;Ansar al-Shariah;Terrorism
|
ny0153260
|
[
"us"
] |
2008/01/02
|
Louis Wolfson, Central to the Fall of a Justice, Is Dead at 95
|
Louis E. Wolfson, a self-made industrialist and financier whose legal troubles were central to the resignation of a Supreme Court justice and who later achieved a cliffhanging sweep of the 1978 Triple Crown as a thoroughbred owner, died Sunday at his home in Bal Harbour, Fla. He was 95. On both counts, Mr. Wolfson’s mark has proved lasting. The Triple Crown victory of his colt, Affirmed, has not been matched in the three decades since, and Justice Abe Fortas, who stepped down in 1969, remains the only member of the Supreme Court in modern times to have been forced from the bench amid a public outcry. Louis Elwood Wolfson was born in St. Louis on Jan. 28, 1912, and attended the University of Georgia. Rising from his immigrant father’s scrap-metal lot in Florida, he started with $10,000 in borrowed capital, traded big and bigger in war surplus materials, and put together a diverse group of industrial and commercial holdings. Total assets under his control once came to an estimated quarter of a billion dollars, and he drew national attention in 1955 with an unsuccessful effort at a hostile takeover of Montgomery Ward, then the country’s second-largest mail-order house. But his career in high finance effectively ended with a tortuous legal case in the mid-1960s involving his sale of unregistered stock in a company he controlled. Wending its way to the Supreme Court, the case made him a pivotal figure in the downfall of Justice Fortas. A report in Life magazine disclosed that in 1966, the year after Justice Fortas had been appointed to the court by President Lyndon B. Johnson, Mr. Wolfson’s foundation had started paying him what was to be a $20,000 annual retainer for life, in return for unspecified consultation. Mr. Wolfson was then already under investigation on suspicion of securities violations, and in September 1967 he and an associate were convicted of 19 counts of conspiracy and illegal stock sales. He was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and a $100,000 fine, but battled his conviction to the Supreme Court, which did not hear the appeal. Justice Fortas, who had recused himself from the case and returned the retainer, nonetheless resigned from the court in May 1969. Mr. Wolfson spent nine months at a federal minimum-security prison in Florida. After his release, he took up the cause of prison reform. In racing, meanwhile, Mr. Wolfson in the 1960s had established Harbor View Farm, near Ocala, Fla., which he operated for years as a wellspring of winning thoroughbreds. Together with his second wife, the former Patrice Jacobs, he bred, raised and ran Affirmed, who captured the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes by a cumulative total of just two lengths over the equally gifted Alydar. Affirmed was only the 11th horse since 1919 to win the Triple Crown, an honor the Wolfsons shared with two other stars of racing: Laz Barrera, Affirmed’s trainer, and Steve Cauthen, the colt’s jockey. Mr. Wolfson’s first wife, Florence Monsky Wolfson, died in 1968. In 1972, he married Ms. Jacobs, whose father, Hirsch Jacobs, was one of racing’s most successful trainers. In addition to his wife, Mr. Wolfson’s survivors include three sons, Stephen, of Ormond Beach, Fla.; Gary, of Boca Raton, Fla.; and Marty, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; a daughter, Marcia Drake of New York; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
|
Supreme Court;Fortas Abe;Horse Racing;Deaths (Obituaries);Decisions and Verdicts;Wolfson Louis E;Belmont Stakes;Preakness Stakes;Kentucky Derby;Triple Crown
|
ny0197231
|
[
"business",
"global"
] |
2009/10/23
|
In Saving Jobs, Mixed Efforts in E.U.
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PARIS — As recession spread across Europe, the steel maker Corus, a unit of Tata Steel of India, moved to cut jobs at its plants in Britain. But even as it went ahead with layoffs at English plants, jobs in the Welsh steel towns of Port Talbot and Llanwern were being saved. Efforts to fight the recession in the European Union have been highly varied even between the closest of neighbors. The Welsh jobs were saved by a program funded by the E.U. and inspired by similar projects on the Continent. With industries in Wales already losing jobs to low-cost competitors in Eastern Europe, the local authorities moved quickly as the financial crisis unfolded late last year. While much of the initial action taken by E.U. governments focused on the financial markets, some, including the partially autonomous Welsh authorities took early and direct steps to limit job losses. A Welsh program, ProAct, offers employee training and a wage subsidy. Announced by the Welsh Assembly Government in December, it became active in February with a budget of £48 million, or $78.3 million, of which £38 million was provided by the European Social Fund. “We believe it has helped reduce unemployment by about 10 percent,” said First Minister for Wales Rhodri Morgan. “It allows employers expecting post-recession bounce-back to hold on to their employees.” An estimated 7,000 jobs have been saved so far and 300 companies have applied for funding. Officials attribute the program’s success to its consultative approach that involves political and business leaders; to the country’s small size; and to its timeliness, saying it was there when it was needed. Michael Artis, an economics professor at universities in Swansea, Wales, and Manchester said it was worth comparing developments in Wales and in England, which did not implemented such a policy. Many regions in Wales suffered fewer job losses than comparable regions in England, he said. “Most of us think that the credit for that is down to this program.” Mr. Artis said that such initiatives demonstrated that some European governments had learned the crucial lesson — “not to allow short-term unemployment to become long-term unemployment.” Italian policies using state subsidies to keep employees in companies have caught on in France and the Netherlands, he added, and free training programs for laid-off workers have been widespread. But Jérôme Creel, an economist at the ESCP Europe school of management and Sciences Po, the political sciences school, in Paris, said governments and E.U. policy makers mostly had failed to react until the collapse of Lehman Brothers, though the financial slump started months earlier, in the first quarter of 2008. “It was initially a tardy response, then an uncoordinated one,” Mr. Creel said. “The results are weak but quite proportional to a slow and timid effort.” Action, when it finally came, depended largely on individual governments, and results were mixed, he said. Still, a broad policy to accelerate large investment projects, designed to knit the E.U. more closely together, was a pillar of the European Economic Recovery Plan adopted in November 2008; and, in response to the crisis, an additional advance of €6.25 billion, or about $9.3 billion, was approved in April for so-called cohesion policy spending this year. “With the crisis, tax revenues have come under pressure,” said Dennis Abbott, the European Commission’s spokesman on regional policy, “and the commission wants to ensure we don’t slow up investment. Obviously we want Europe to emerge stronger from this crisis.” Newer members of the E.U., in particular, were given help to increase spending on infrastructure and transport, not only limiting unemployment but also encouraging future investment. Poland, the country entitled to the most funding — €67.3 billion for 2007 through 2013 — has been able to maintain spending on infrastructure and transport, as well as on training and education. For longstanding members, like Germany, the funding has helped to continue investment in research and technological development and, to a lesser extent, in transport and infrastructure. Though spending objectives were decided before the crisis, Mr. Abbott said, there has been greater flexibility on choices of projects and, in some cases, requirements for funding from national governments has been lowered. Cohesion policy funding helped to attract additional money from other sources, Mr. Abbott said, “to ensure that the investment pipeline continues to flow.” And European Social Fund money underpinned job-saving programs like ProAct. Mr. Creel agreed that public sector investment had helped to mitigate the recession. Still, he said, the E.U.’s Stability and Growth Pact, the budget rules underpinning the euro, limited what governments might otherwise have done. While the pact has been loosened to give governments more room to maneuver, he said, “it hasn’t completely disappeared.” In Spain, for example, one of the countries hit hardest by the crisis, the stability pact clearly constrains the government’s scope for stimulus spending. A common thread that has colored European recession policies has been giving priority to the financial sector, Mr. Creel said This may be partly because the crisis began in the financial sector, he said, but the result has been to soak up resources, leaving little for dealing with other problems, like unemployment. “Unemployment is going to continue to grow in the months and years to come,” Mr. Creel warned. Data gathered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris supported that prognosis. An O.E.C.D. economic survey of the E.U. in September said the mix of short-term measures and accelerated structural changes in the union’s recovery plan was “a welcome answer to the crisis.” But it also said further measures might be unwise for many member states with already high deficits and debts. At the same time, however, it warned of the risks of structural unemployment and the stress that long-term welfare spending would place on Europe’s coffers. For all its limits, Mr. Artis said, the E.U. response has strengthened the feeling among many policy makers and citizens that it is better to be in the E.U. than outside it — especially in a recession. The recent Irish “yes” vote in favor of E.U. changes, he said, showed a realization that “exposure to global capital can be weathered more easily from within a bigger outfit.”
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European Union;European Commission;Wales;Unemployment
|
ny0038870
|
[
"us"
] |
2014/04/27
|
Easy to Target, but Often Hard to Send Packing
|
Ross Ramsey, the executive editor of The Texas Tribune, writes a regular column for the Tribune. A Texas House committee is considering whether Wallace Hall, the University of Texas System regent appointed by the governor, should be impeached. Whatever legislators do with the case, they will be looking at a larger question: Is this a one-time adventure or something lawmakers will use whenever they disagree with appointees and the governors who appoint them? Most lawmakers can usually find a public appointee they would like to expel. The possibilities seem endless — outright crooks, partisans, incompetents and, perhaps most often, well-meaning people who have been put in jobs that do not suit them. Employees who exhibit those traits are easy enough to fire, but political appointees operate under different rules. If all else fails, their terms end. Every so often, however, a governor or a legislature will decide not to wait for the end of a term. In the case of appointees, simply asking for a resignation is often enough. Asking publicly instead of privately raises the stakes. But it generally works, too. If those efforts fail, other ways can be used to purge unwanted appointees. A Texas governor can ask the state Senate to remove an appointee by a simple vote. Often that is threat enough to persuade someone to leave. When Gov. Rick Perry wanted to clear the board of regents at Texas Southern University in 2007, most left at his request. The board chairwoman, Belinda Griffin, initially refused but changed her mind and quit after Mr. Perry threatened to ask the Senate to vote her out. That was messy but relatively uncomplicated. The Legislature can get rid of an appointee without the governor’s consent. In Texas, that never happens — or it never used to. Mr. Hall, who was appointed by Mr. Perry, might be the appointee who changes the rules. A House committee hired a lawyer, Rusty Hardin, to investigate and report on the propriety of his investigations into operations at University of Texas at Austin and whether Mr. Hall illegally mishandled student records. Mr. Hall has said he was fulfilling his duties by digging into potential misconduct at the university. (The university is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. Mr. Hardin has been a major donor to The Tribune.) Legislators referred some of the information in Hardin’s report to the Travis County district attorney, who would be responsible for pursuing any possible criminal charges. The House committee is also considering whether everything else in the report would justify a recommendation of impeachment to the full House. The House could impeach Mr. Hall and send it along to the Senate, which would hold a trial to decide Mr. Hall’s fate as a regent. This is a big deal. Texas legislators have been powerfully annoyed by appointees throughout the state’s history. Timing is important. Last year, state senators lost confidence in Eleanor Kitzman, the state’s commissioner of insurance, before they voted on her appointment. Mr. Perry had appointed Ms. Kitzman in 2011, while lawmakers were recessed, and she served almost two years. But the Senate’s refusal to approve her appointment when it returned in 2013 cost her the job . She now works for an insurance company. That one, too, happened in public, but it was relatively straightforward. Both Ms. Griffin and Ms. Kitzman quit. Mr. Hall may yet quit. But the governor has stuck by him. Mr. Hall has supporters outside the government and the vast network of U.T. alumni. The U.T. faction was still working to get Mr. Hall to resign last week as the House committee met to talk about the situation. For instance, Paul Begala, the Democratic political strategist and former adviser to Bill Clinton, joined several other former student body presidents in signing a letter asking Mr. Hall to step down. “The Legislature has far bigger fish to fry, I suspect, than grinding through the long process of impeachment,” Mr. Begala said. We are about to find out. If Mr. Hall hangs in there, the next move will come from the House, or the prosecutors. And when this one is over, there will be another appointee annoying the people in office. There is always at least one.
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Impeachment;Texas;Ethics Misconduct Malfeasance;Texas Tribune;Governors
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ny0208560
|
[
"technology",
"personaltech"
] |
2009/12/03
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A Variety of Reasonably Priced Audio Products Available
|
AMERICANS love their flat panel TVs, thanks to the great picture quality. But fewer people get worked up over a good pair of speakers. With audio, out of sight is often out of mind. While sound gets short shrift, a number of clever and (usually) reasonably priced audio products are worth considering for an innovative gift this year. FILLING THE HOUSE Sonos created a market for sending music wirelessly from PC to speakers throughout the home. Each unit can replicate every other room’s sounds, or each can play distinct music in its room. But getting connected has always been an expensive commitment. To reach out to a wider market, the company is selling the S5 , a self-contained music dock that uses an iPhone or iPod Touch as the remote control. To make it work, one unit is hard-wired to a router, or the company’s $99 wireless bridge can be used if the router is relatively inaccessible. While less expensive than earlier Sonos products, at $400 per unit the S5 is still not cheap. But if you love the idea of sending personalized, mood-appropriate music to each room from your PC, the Sonos is worth a look. CUTTING THE CORD Getting your favorite music to play both outside and in the house has never been easy. You can crank up the volume on your living room stereo and open the windows, but you run the risk of damaging the eardrums of anyone inside. Or you can connect outside speakers to your stereo with very long wires and hope no one trips on them. Or a pair of wireless speakers can receive the sound through the ether. Setup is simple: you attach a small, powered transmitter to the stereo or iPod’s headphone jack; the signal is sent wirelessly and picked up by the remote speaker’s built-in receiver. Wireless speakers typically operate up to 150 feet from the transmitter. Many run on batteries, but they can each take as many as six cells. Some speakers can also be plugged into an outdoor power outlet. The most popular wireless unit sold on Amazon, Audio Unlimited’s SPK-VELO-001 model, is $79. Additional units that run on the same 900 MHz frequency can also be connected. If you can’t be without your music when you’re swimming, consider Audio Unlimited’s $66 poolPOD, a waterproof, wireless speaker that floats and comes with a remote control; volume and mood lights can also be controlled from the speaker itself. With the poolPOD, you’ll be stuck using batteries; stringing an electrical cord through the water would not be the cleverest idea. Wireless speakers are also available in various colors (including pink) and shapes, including rocks, capable of turning your walkway into the likes of a Hawaiian hotel. LPS LIVE AGAIN If you know someone with a vinyl collection gathering dust, consider giving a USB-connected turntable that will copy the music onto a computer’s hard drive. If you want to maintain the mood, retro models from Crosley with wooden cases look like they’re fresh out of a thrift shop. Unlike the portable record player you may have used as a child, some of these models include cassette decks and built-in radios. By connecting a USB cable to a PC, you can easily digitize and record the audio. Several models, including the $350, 1940s-looking Crosley CR247 Composer, play records in all three speeds (if you need to ask: 33 1/3, 45 and 78 R.P.M.) and include a built-in CD recorder, allowing you to create your own CDs without using a computer. If you never want to get your turntable near a computer, Crosley’s CR7002A Troubadour model includes USB and SD card slots; you record your vinyl directly onto flash drives that you plug in to the front of the record player. For a more modern look, ION Audio makes a range of brushed-aluminum USB turntables. When connected to powered speakers or a stereo receiver, they can be used to play 33 1/3 or 45 (but not 78) R.P.M. records; included software allows all three speeds to be digitized and recorded to a PC hard drive. ION’s TTUSB10, including software and a dust cover, is available for around $100 at Amazon, while its Profile model can be found for $90 at Costco. Other manufacturers also make USB turntables; Sony’s PSLX250H model can be found for about $90. IPOD DOCKING POWER When first introduced, iPod docks — devices that allow you to play your iPod’s music through external speakers — were utilitarian affairs. Today, iPod connectivity is built in to a wide range of products, from the expected to the unusual. Panasonic’s $177 SC-HC3 is a stylish, slim 4-inch-deep unit with built-in speakers, iPod docking, an AM/FM clock radio and a CD player. It can be configured to let you wake to your iPod music. Buying for a young person? Then consider what Kicker, a well-known car audio manufacturer, contends is the loudest iPod docking station on the market: the iKICK iK501 . The model, available for about $200, includes a 6-inch rear-facing sub-woofer, remote control, and 20 watts of power per channel. The $139 Miller MG15I , available at Adirondackguitar.com , adds an iPod dock to a guitar amplifier, making it easy to play or sing along to your favorite songs or karaoke. The two-speaker system offers 15 watts per unit and a built-in iPod charger. If it’s whimsy you’re after, Speakal sells the iPig, the iPanda, and other mammalian models — iPod docks embedded in cute, hard-plastic animals. In time for next year’s World Cup, the company will release the miSoccer in December, an iPod dock embedded in the top of a soccer ball. Models cost around $100. In the world of arthropods, Vestalife’s Firefly spreads its wings to reveal the product’s iPod docking station. It joins the company’s Ladybug and Mantis, all three of which come in red, silver and black. They’re available at Apple’s retail and online stores for $100 to $180, depending on the model.
|
Computers and the Internet;iPod;Speakers (Audio);Recordings and Downloads (Audio);Digital Audio Players
|
ny0206603
|
[
"business",
"global"
] |
2009/06/05
|
Rio Tinto Ends Plan to Sell $19.5 Billion Stake to Chinalco
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SHANGHAI — The Chinese government’s largest investment ever in a Western company, a proposed $19.5 billion stake in the Australian-British mining giant Rio Tinto Group, collapsed early Friday, dealing a blow both to China’s global corporate ambitions and to its efforts to gain clout in the natural resources market. The board of Rio Tinto announced the decision after meeting in London on Thursday, saying the company had ended the deal it struck in February to sell the stake to China’s state-owned Aluminum Corporation of China, also known as Chinalco. The board said in a statement early Friday that it had ended the deal with Chinalco and would raise about $20 billion by issuing new stock and forming a joint venture with its longtime rival, the Australian mining giant BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company. The China deal, which would have effectively expanded Chinalco’s existing 9.3 percent stake in Rio to 18.5 percent, had drawn stiff political opposition in Australia, where mineral riches have fueled the country’s prosperity and where some have begun to fear China’s power in the region . Institutional investors have also expressed skepticism about the agreement, with some calling it a sweetheart deal for the Beijing government. In a statement posted on its web site Friday, Chinalco's chairman, Xiong Weiping, said: “We're very disappointed the agreement failed.” Rio Tinto said in a statement that it had agreed to raise $5.8 billion by forming a joint venture with BHP Billiton and that it planned to raise $15.2 billion more through a stock offering. In Australia and elsewhere, the Rio-Chinalco deal has been viewed as a corporate landmark, a crucial test of whether the West’s shareholder-driven capitalism could mesh with a Chinese model that is ultimately under state control. By collapsing, the deal will rank alongside the failed attempt by a Chinese company to take over Unocal, the American oil company, in 2005 and will provide new evidence that China’s attempts to extend its global corporate reach are often limited by nationalistic backlashes abroad. The Unocal deal collapsed amid furious debate in the United States about the wisdom of selling strategic assets to China and over China’s human rights record. Until recently, officers of both Rio and Chinalco had strongly defended the investment, which would have made the Chinese government Rio’s single biggest shareholder by far and given it an advisory role in the company’s operations. Chinalco would also have gained substantial stakes in individual mines in several countries. In return, Rio would have received a sorely needed injection of cash to retire a portion of its $39 billion in debt, amassed mostly in an ill-timed 2007 purchase of the Canadian aluminum maker Alcan. Rio would have formed a strategic partnership with Chinalco that company officials say would have given it greater access to Chinese customers and opportunities to search for ores in Chinese territory. The deal was struck at the depths of the collapse in the global commodities and stock markets last year. The share price for Rio, the world’s third largest mining conglomerate, had been severely depressed not only by falling commodity prices, but also by a costly defense against a proposed and potentially lucrative takeover by its major rival, BHP Billiton. But the tentative agreement had come under increasing fire as the global economy bounced back, pushing metals prices and Rio’s own stock price up considerably from their earlier lows. Last February, shares in Rio Tinto were selling for $26.31 in London. On Thursday, they were trading at $44.56. Institutional shareholders have complained bitterly that Rio should raise money through a new stock issue instead of selling a dominant stake to the Chinese government, which they argue has a vested interest in keeping the price of ores as low as possible. Chinalco had insisted that it was independent of its owners in the Chinese government, and Australian regulators ruled that the Chinese would not be able to affect the price of iron ore, one of Rio’s main products, even with the proposed stake in the company. But those declarations failed to sway some critics, who argued that Chinalco’s proposed investment followed the government’s declared strategy of diversifying its global investments in resources as a way of hedging against price increases. The Chinese are such voracious consumers of some metals, like iron ore, that they already have some sway over its price. Australia’s political opposition savaged the proposed deal, calling it evidence that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking former envoy to Beijing, was too cozy with the Chinese government. A nationally broadcast television commercial this week showed scenes of the Chinese army’s 1989 assault on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square and charged that Mr. Rudd “bears gifts to the Chinese military regime by allowing control of strategic mineral resources in Australia.” In its statement early friday, Rio said that market conditions had recently changed and that it had found alternatives to raising a large amount of capital. “The boards have concluded that the formation of an iron-ore production joint venture in western Australia with BHP Billiton together with the rights issues deliver the best solution.” In ending the deal, Rio said it would continue to work with Chinalco and had agreed to pay Chinalco a $195 million break up fee. Such moves are possible now, experts say, because the global financial markets have strengthened in recent weeks and commodity prices have rebounded. As the debate over the Rio investment grew louder, Chinese officials complained about what they called protectionism and nationalism. The Australian Foreign Investment Review board, which scrutinizes deals that involve big stakes in Australian companies, was expected to rule on the China investment this month or early next month. The proposed investment was seen as another sign of China’s growing global clout and its voracious appetite for the ingredients that help produce the steel needed for the country’s fast-paced building boom. Chinese companies have been on the prowl around the world over the past few years, striking supply contracts and buying corporate stakes that secure long-term access to oil, iron ore, rare earth metals and other natural resources. The Chinese have also made major investments in recent years in real estate, agriculture and international finance. Just this week, China’s sovereign wealth fund agreed to spend more than $1 billion to increase its already significant stake in Morgan Stanley, the Wall Street investment bank. Under the Rio deal, Chinalco had offered $7.2 billion to purchase convertible bonds in Rio Tinto and $12.3 billion in cash for stakes in Rio’s aluminum, iron ore and copper assets in the United States, Australia and Chile. The bonds would eventually have converted to stock.
|
Rio Tinto PLC;Chinalco;Mines and Mining;Foreign Investments
|
ny0093522
|
[
"business",
"international"
] |
2015/08/12
|
Tentative Greek Debt Accord Might Do Little to Revive Economy
|
ATHENS — The Greek government on Tuesday appeared to be on the verge of clinching a deal for a new international bailout worth as much as $95 billion in exchange for accepting harsh austerity terms and making sweeping changes to the way the country does business. European officials on Tuesday cautioned that approval of the accord was far from certain. And Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany told Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in a phone call that Berlin was skeptical about the deal, saying talks should continue “for a few weeks,” according to a Greek government official. Even if it becomes final, the bailout deal — agreed to in principle last month but only now drafted in extensive detail — would grant Greece billions of euros in fresh aid to avoid an imminent default but would not help revive the Greek economy, which has plunged into a deep recession. The deal in its current form offers no relief on Greece’s staggering debt, which now exceeds €315 billion, or $345 billion, despite insistence by International Monetary Fund and Greek officials that an easing of that burden be part of any package. And the uncertainties surrounding months of bailout negotiations have further damaged the Greek economy, potentially making an eventual recovery more difficult than ever. Image A shop in Thessaloniki, Greece. In recent weeks, the Greek Parliament passed hundreds of pages of laws to overhaul the economy. Credit Giannis Papanikos/Associated Press While Greek officials were quick to announce early Tuesday that an agreement worth up to €86 billion had been reached after a 20-hour negotiating session in an Athens hotel, European officials said that a final accord had not yet been achieved. “What we have is a technical-level agreement,” Annika Breidthardt, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, told a daily news conference on Tuesday. “What we don’t have at the moment is a political agreement.” Ms. Breidthardt said that the deal was worked out by representatives of the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the I.M.F. and the eurozone’s bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism. It was unclear whether all members of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s leftist Syriza party would support the bailout plan as it moved to Parliament for a vote this week. As it is, Mr. Tsipras has hinted that he may call new elections as soon as next month, a move that could usher in another period of instability. Any deal also needs approval from other European countries, in some cases requiring a vote by national parliaments, most notably that of Germany. The deadline is Aug. 20, when Greece needs help to make a crucial €3.2 billion payment to the European Central Bank. It remained unclear late Tuesday whether the draft accord will satisfy Germany, which several weeks ago exhorted Greece to get a deal done or risk crashing out of the euro currency union. Video Annika Breidthardt, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, said on Tuesday that “the technical agreement has been reached in principle.” Credit Credit EBS The German government has said numerous times since then that it would prefer to arrange a short-term loan to let Greece avoid defaulting on that payment to the European Central Bank, rather than rush through an agreement that might not prove to be durable. At issue is whether Greece will stick to pledges to make fundamental economic changes that creditors say are needed to revive the depleted economy, including cracking down on corruption and improving tax collection. In the last few weeks, the Greek Parliament has passed more than 900 pages’ worth of new laws, containing measures like tax increases and further cuts to state spending on pensions, steps that creditors had demanded to begin discussions on the new bailout plan. Some of the measures had been promised but not put into effect by previous Greek governments. In telephone conversations Monday and Tuesday, Mrs. Merkel told Mr. Tsipras that Germany would prefer to grant the short-term loan rather than hurry to seek approval for the broader bailout package, according to a Greek official with knowledge of the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Why are you rushing?” Mrs. Merkel asked Mr. Tsipras, according to the official. Mr. Tsipras responded that talks between Greece and creditors were proceeding on the basis of the agreement struck by eurozone leaders on July 13, when both sides agreed to begin talks on a third loan program. A spokesman for the German government confirmed that the first call had taken place but would not discuss the content. He was unable to be reached about the second call. Image Euclid Tsakalotos, the Greek finance minister, in Athens on Tuesday, after a meeting with international creditors. Credit Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters In a sign that other European officials were pushing back against Germany, a prominent European lawmaker late Tuesday urged Mrs. Merkel not to use “diversional tactics” to derail a deal, saying the accord reached between Greece and its creditors should be good enough for Berlin, too. “We ask the chancellor to keep the commitment taken at the last European Council and not to bring to the table further conditions, like the full involvement of the International Monetary Fund,” said Gianni Pittella, the president of the Socialists and Democrats group at the European Parliament. Mr. Tsipras had also spoken by phone on Monday with President François Hollande of France and the European Commission president, Claude Juncker, among others, according to the Greek official. Mr. Hollande and Mr. Juncker were “very positive” about the prospective agreement, the official said. Still unknown is whether the board of the I.M.F. will approve the draft agreement. In recent months, the fund and its managing director, Christine Lagarde, have indicated they will not participate in a new bailout that does not include somehow relieving Greece’s debt burden, on the assumption that otherwise Athens will never be able to repay its loans. The I.M.F. had no immediate comment on Tuesday, but indicated its position had not changed. The draft agreement reflects the damaging dynamic that this year has gripped the Greek economy, which in 2014 had begun to recover from a nearly five-year recession. Explaining Greece’s Debt Crisis European authorities have agreed to disburse $8.4 billion in fresh funds to Greece, allowing the country to keep paying its bills in the coming months. Because of the turmoil in Greece since Mr. Tsipras took office in January , and the more recent hit to the economy after Greek banks and the stock market temporarily shut down this summer, the economy is expected to contract as much as 2.3 percent this year and 0.5 percent next year, before beginning to recover in 2017, according to documents on the draft bailout as reported by Greek news media. “The good news is that Greece has given up its confrontational strategy and seems to be willing to collaborate with its creditors to avoid ‘Grexit,’” Peter Vanden Houte, an analyst at ING Bank, wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday. He was alluding to the prospect that Greece might be forced to leave the euro currency union if no agreement could be reached. “However,” he wrote, “the economic situation has strongly deteriorated over the last eight months.” Athens did apparently win at least one major concession that Mr. Tsipras had been seeking since he rode to power on pledges to repeal austerity. Creditors agreed to reduce the amount of money that Greece is required to set aside in its coffers, the so-called primary surplus, which is cash left over before debt and interest payments. Greece has long argued that the creditors’ insistence that Athens hold a large surplus was keeping money from being invested in the economy. According to the draft, Greece will be allowed this year to run a primary deficit of 0.25 percent of gross domestic product, in contrast to the 3 percent surplus that the creditors had demanded in an earlier bailout proposal. The deal would allow Greece’s teetering banks to be shored up until end of this year with €10 billion in new capital. That means there is “no longer any risk whatsoever” that the Greek government might need to confiscate money in savers’ accounts, the Greek official said, addressing a widespread fear that had gripped the country just a few weeks ago. Under the draft accord, Greece agreed to follow through on promises, including some that previous governments had pledged to undertake — but had not put in place — as conditions for receiving two earlier bailouts, totaling €240 billion. The so-called prior actions that Greece must legislate, according to the Greek daily newspaper Kathimerini, include ending fuel subsidies for Greek farmers, opening all professions that are closed to competition, deregulating the energy and natural gas market, and proceeding with the privatization of major national assets like seaports, airports and the railway. But a European official with knowledge of the discussions, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity, said the unresolved issues included a disagreement over how to handle consumer insolvencies. Greek banks have been struggling with increasing numbers of problem loans, which amount to more than a third of all outstanding bank loans. Creditors have been pushing for changes to Greek law that would make it easier for banks to foreclose on borrowers who are unable to repay their loans. The Greek government would not agree to demands by the creditors for legislation that would allow bundles of problem loans to be sold on the open market to investors who would then have the right to pursue repayment. The investment companies try to collect what they can from borrowers or, in some cases, repossess homes and other property. The government wants to preserve, at least through the end of this year, a law that prevents banks from foreclosing on a borrower’s primary residence. The spending discipline required of Greece will be “quite a challenge in a country that is tired of austerity,” said Mr. Vanden Houte, the analyst. “And the complete structural overhaul of the Greek economy the creditors are imposing seems a herculean task.”
|
Greece;Recession and Depression;European Central Bank;Euro Crisis;IMF;EU;Eurozone
|
ny0182396
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2007/12/29
|
New York Is Said to Have Inquiry in Tankleff Case
|
New York State has begun an official inquiry into Suffolk County law enforcement’s handling of the investigation into the 1988 murders of a Long Island couple, Arlene and Seymour Tankleff, according to people involved with the inquiry. The inquiry began quietly more than a year ago when the State Investigation Commission started gathering legal documents in the long-disputed case, people familiar with the inquiry said. The Tankleffs were fatally bludgeoned and slashed in their home in Belle Terre overlooking Long Island Sound. Their son, Martin, was imprisoned after being convicted of the crimes in 1990, but last week an appeals court vacated his convictions. Extensive new evidence pointing to other suspects probably would have changed the jury’s verdict, the court ruled. “The S.I.C. is viewing this as a serious and significant investigation,” said a person who works with the officials overseeing the investigation and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the matter was confidential. “The commission is looking at how Suffolk County handled this case.” As a matter of policy, the commission does not confirm or deny that it is working on an investigation. But Jay Salpeter, a private investigator who has worked on behalf of Mr. Tankleff, said, “I have met with and spoken to investigators for the S.I.C. on more than one occasion.” Though the commission has no enforcement powers, it can refer evidence of crimes to the authorities or propose a special prosecutor — something Mr. Tankleff and his supporters have urged as a means to reopen the case and pursue other suspects. The commission is taking special interest in the Tankleff case as a follow-up to its investigation of Suffolk County law enforcement in the 1980s, which found entrenched misconduct among the police and prosecutors. “This is certainly an outgrowth from the commission’s 1989 report,” said the person associated with officials at the agency. One police officer named in that report, K. James McCready, became the lead detective in the Tankleff murder case. The report had cited him as having lied as a witness in another murder trial. As soon as the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Tankleff were found, Martin Tankleff accused his father’s embittered business partner, Jerard Steuerman, of being involved. Mr. Tankleff and his supporters have complained for years that the police never investigated Mr. Steuerman as a suspect even though he owed Seymour Tankleff $500,000, was in the house the night of the attacks, left suicide notes a week later, changed his appearance and fled to California under an assumed name. At the time of the first state investigation, Thomas J. Spota — now the Suffolk County district attorney — was the police union lawyer. In that role he went to court to try to block the state inquiry and defended Mr. McCready and others who were under investigation. Later, when Mr. McCready had retired and was charged with assault and robbery, Mr. Spota was his private lawyer and won an acquittal. The new evidence in Mr. Tankleff’s appeal included testimony implicating three ex-convicts in the killings and accusing them of acting in concert with Mr. Steuerman. Under oath, Mr. Steuerman and two of the ex-convicts have denied any guilt, though other witnesses said that the men have privately admitted involvement. The other accused man has said he was the getaway driver for the attackers. Although Mr. Tankleff was freed on Thursday, his original indictment still stands. The Suffolk County district attorney’s office says it is considering appealing the decision and is preparing the retry Mr. Tankleff. Winning a conviction at a second trial would be difficult, some legal experts say. The original jury deliberated for a week before convicting Mr. Tankleff. Since then, there has been no new evidence against Mr. Tankleff and numerous new witnesses have pointed to other suspects. Lawyers for Mr. Tankleff said that if prosecutors were threatening a new trial to get Mr. Tankleff, who served 17 years in prison, to agree to a plea bargain, he did not appear to be receptive. “There is this talk that this is going to go away with some kind of a plea, but I don’t see that happening,” said one of his lawyers, Bruce A. Barket of East Garden City. “Either the D.A. is going to dismiss it, or it’s going to trial. I had Marty in my office today setting up a work station and talking about a strategy for a trial.” Suffolk prosecutors said the state’s inquiry caught them by surprise. “I haven’t heard anything about it,” said Leonard Lato, the assistant district attorney in the case. He said he could not comment on what effect it might have on the case. The state commission had kept a low profile in its inquiry to avoid any perception that it was interfering with Mr. Tankleff’s appeal, two people familiar with the inquiry said. Now that the appeals court has ruled, however, the commission will be dispatching field investigators to interview potential witnesses, they said. “Now they will be intensifying the investigation,” said the person who works with officials overseeing the inquiry. “They want to find out: was this issue handled appropriately or not by Suffolk County, are there still systemic problems and should anyone be held accountable for the arrest and prosecution of Mr. Tankleff.” The inquiry is said to be directed by a special counsel at the state commission, Joseph Kunzeman, a retired state appellate judge. While Mr. Tankleff’s case is pending, his lawyers have asked him not to comment. A spokesman for his relatives, Lonnie Soury, said: “Marty’s case has cried out for an independent investigation of Suffolk County prosecutorial and law enforcement misconduct. We’re pleased that the S.I.C. is conducting a full inquiry into alleged illegal activity going back to the original prosecution of Marty’s case, all the way through to his hearings for a new trial.”
|
Tankleff Martin;Police Brutality and Misconduct;Murders and Attempted Murders;Suffolk County (NY)
|
ny0198361
|
[
"business",
"global"
] |
2009/07/16
|
Latvia Says I.M.F. Is Imposing Fresh Conditions on Rescue Package
|
FRANKFURT — Latvia said Wednesday that the International Monetary Fund had imposed fresh conditions for it to qualify for rescue funds, exacerbating an emerging split with the European Union over a €7.5 billion bailout last year. Latvia’s rescue program has run into trouble repeatedly since it was agreed upon last autumn. Since then, there have been riots in Riga, the capital, and a change of government. Assistance funds have been disbursed late or not at all. Analysts said other countries that have gotten help from the I.M.F., like Hungary and Ukraine, could also be affected by uncertainty over Latvia, raising the prospect of renewed financial turbulence in emerging markets. The stakes are particularly high because Latvia has pegged its currency to the euro, the common European currency, and is loath to give it up. Teams from both the I.M.F. and the E.U. are in Riga again this week, and the prime minister, Valdis Dombrovskis, said the negotiations had turned contentious, largely over how quickly to cut the country’s budget deficit. “The talks are fairly difficult,” he told Latvian radio. “The conditions the I.M.F. is proposing are also fairly difficult.” A devaluation would hit banks from other E.U. countries that are heavily invested in Latvia, particularly Sweden, especially hard. It also could highlight the dwindling credibility of plans across the region for countries in Eastern Europe to eventually adopt the euro. An outright Latvian default, however, seems unlikely, analysts said. “A default of a sovereign government in the European Union is simply not going to be contemplated, politically speaking,” said Daniel Gros, director of the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels. “No one considers that acceptable.” Christian Keller, chief economist for emerging Europe at Barclays Capital in London, said that a more orderly devaluation might be possible. The fund has long been skeptical that Latvia could restructure its economy at a time of crisis without devaluing its currency, but swallowed its reservations for the sake of a quick solution last year, according to two former I.M.F. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were no longer with the fund. Now that the crisis has eased, the I.M.F. seems to be more willing to make tougher demands that could lead to a devaluation. But to publicly call for such a move would roil markets. The E.U., by contrast, has focused on supporting one of its members. Both the I.M.F. and the E.U. declined to comment on the continuing talks. A currency devaluation would be a standard prescription to ease Latvia’s pain, as it would promote exports and ease pressure to cut wages at a time when domestic demand is collapsing at a harrowing pace. Latvian officials have countered that heavy euro-denominated debts among households and companies would make a devaluation suicide. It also would put off the day Latvia could adopt the euro. But critics point out that the current policy of budget and wage cuts is no cakewalk either. Latvia is trying to rebalance an economy that shrank by 18 percent in the first quarter of this year by cutting government spending and wages, a process known as an “internal devaluation.” It wants to reduce a budget deficit, which could hit 10 percent of gross domestic product this year, to 3 percent by 2012, a vital threshold for euro membership. But that has proved political dynamite in Latvia. The E.U. delayed disbursement of a €1.2 billion, or $1.7 billion, portion of the rescue fund, which it eventually provided, until the Latvian Parliament passed a package of budget cuts in June. The I.M.F. has not yet provided a $200 million loan that was due in March. The differences between the I.M.F. and the E.U. appear to boil down to an assessment of the political will in Latvia to reduce government spending, with the E.U. more sanguine than the fund. The fund is also haunted by memories of Argentina, which had pegged its currency to the U.S. dollar with I.M.F. support before defaulting in 2001, while the E.U. is standing behind one of its smallest members. “It is so clear that Latvia’s peg is ultimately unsustainable, all protestations by Latvian government officials notwithstanding,” said Kenneth Rogoff, a former chief economist at the I.M.F.. “But ultimately unsustainable pegs can go on for years before crashing and burning, and Brussels seems to be willing to pay a lot to get past the financial crisis before cutting the cord on Latvia.”
|
Economic Conditions and Trends;Latvia;International Monetary Fund;European Union
|
ny0025064
|
[
"sports",
"basketball"
] |
2013/08/09
|
Griner’s Team, Phoenix, Fires Coach
|
The Phoenix Mercury fired Corey Gaines, the team’s coach and general manager, after a five-year run that included a W.N.B.A. title but a disappointing 2013 season. Russ Pennell, a former University of Arizona coach, will serve as interim coach and president. Despite adding No. 1 overall draft pick Brittney Griner, the team is only 10-11.
|
Basketball;Coaches;Phoenix Mercury;Brittney Griner
|
ny0013571
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2013/11/08
|
Rules to Require Equal Coverage for Mental Ills
|
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday will complete a generation-long effort to require insurers to cover care for mental health and addiction just like physical illnesses when it issues long-awaited regulations defining parity in benefits and treatment. The rules, which will apply to almost all forms of insurance, will have far-reaching consequences for many Americans. In the White House, the regulations are also seen as critical to President Obama’s program for curbing gun violence by addressing an issue on which there is bipartisan agreement: Making treatment more available to those with mental illness could reduce killings, including mass murders. In issuing the regulations, senior officials said, the administration will have acted on all 23 executive actions that the president and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced early this year to reduce gun crimes after the Newtown, Conn., school massacre. In planning those actions, the administration anticipated that gun control legislation would fail in Congress as pressure from the gun lobby proved longer-lasting than the national trauma over the killings of first graders and their caretakers last Dec. 14. “We feel actually like we’ve made a lot of progress on mental health as a result in this year, and this is kind of the big one,” said a senior administration official, one of several who described the outlines of the regulations that Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, will announce at a mental health conference on Friday in Atlanta with the former first lady Rosalynn Carter. While laws and regulations dating to 1996 took initial steps in requiring insurance parity for medical and mental health, “here we’re doing full parity, and we’ve also taken steps to extend it to the people covered in the Affordable Care Act,” the senior official said. “This is kind of the final word on parity.” With the announcement, the administration will make some news that is certain to be popular with many Americans at a time when Mr. Obama and Ms. Sebelius have been on the defensive for the bungled introduction of the insurance marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act. According to administration officials, the rule would ensure that health plans’ co-payments, deductibles and limits on visits to health care providers are not more restrictive or less generous for mental health benefits than for medical and surgical benefits. Significantly, the regulations would clarify how parity applies to residential treatments and outpatient services, where much of the care for people with addictions or mental illnesses occurs. Any geographic or facility-type limitations would have to be comparable for medical and mental health benefits. For example, an administration official said, an insurer “can’t say you can only get substance-abuse treatment in state but you can go anywhere for medical/surgical.” The regulations, which specifically put into effect the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, would affect most Americans with insurance — roughly 85 percent of the population — whether their policies are from employer plans, other group plans, or coverage purchased in the market for individual plans. The final parity rules do not apply to health plans that manage care for millions of low-income people on Medicaid. However, the administration has previously issued guidance to state health officials saying that such plans should meet the parity requirements of the 2008 law. The parity law does not apply to Medicare, according to Irvin L. Muszynski, a lawyer at the American Psychiatric Association. The rules have been awaited since the 2008 law by patient advocate groups. As it happened, the groups’ complaints about regulatory delays were the subject of a Senate hearing on Thursday. Interest picked up further last month as individuals could begin enrolling in the new insurance marketplaces, or exchanges, provided under Mr. Obama’s health care law. Under that law,treatment for mental health and substance abuse is among 10 categories of benefits considered essential and thus mandatory in plans marketed in the new exchanges to individuals and small groups. Although many insurers already provide extensive mental health coverage, some have found ways to get around existing rules and to deny payment for treatment, or to otherwise limit the benefits. Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, said the five-year delay in issuing a final rule had real-world consequences. “In mental health, uncertainty kills,” he said. “If an individual poses a threat to himself or others, he cannot be told he will get the care he needs as soon as his insurance company decides what ‘parity’ means.” Insurance companies have raised concerns about the expense involved in paying for the lengthy and intensive courses of treatment that the final regulations address. But experts have said the rules are not expected to significantly add to the cost of coverage because so few patients require these levels of care. Mental health services are scarce in many parts of the country, particularly for children, so experts have questioned whether changes in the law will have much impact in practice. Former Representative Patrick J. Kennedy of Rhode Island, a co-sponsor of the 2008 law, said the rules could particularly help veterans. “No one stands to gain more from true parity than the men and women who have served our country and now need treatment for the invisible wounds they have brought home from Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said. Administration officials consulted closely with mental health groups. “What we are hearing is very positive,” said Andrew Sperling, a lobbyist at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, based on what he had been told of the final language. Under the 2008 law, treatment limits — like restrictions on the number of doctor visits or days in a hospital — cannot be more restrictive for mental health benefits than for medical and surgical benefits. But interpretation of the law left much in question. For example, Mr. Sperling said, policyholders can easily determine whether numerical limits on doctor visits are comparable in their plans for mental and medical health care. But, he said, it is more difficult to challenge “nonquantitative limits” — like some insurers’ requirements that people get their authorization before seeing a psychotherapist. The provision of the rule that will seek to clarify the amount of transparency required of health plans “is important,” Mr. Sperling said. Patients advocates say they need to be able to see the criteria by which insurers find a particular service to be medically necessary, so policyholders can judge whether standards for mental health treatments are more restrictive. Carol A. McDaid, the leader of a coalition of patients and providers of mental health and addiction services, said: “This is the beginning, not the end, of our work to make the vision of the law a reality. We have to make sure that the law and the rules are fully enforced.” Insurers and business trade groups said they did not know enough about the rules to comment. Dr. Paul Summergrad of Tufts University, president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association, said he hoped the final rules would end “the uniquely discriminatory form of prior authorization and utilization review” applied to emergency care for patients with mental illness. A person who has a heart attack or pneumonia and goes to a hospital will routinely be admitted, with electronic notice sent to the insurer on the next business day, Dr. Summergrad said. By contrast, he said, if a person who is profoundly depressed and tried to commit suicide goes to a hospital, an emergency room doctor must call a toll-free telephone number, “present the case in voluminous detail and get prior authorization.” State insurance commissioners will apparently have the primary responsibility for seeing that commercial insurers comply with the parity standards. They already have their hands full, however, enforcing new insurance market rules, and in some states insurance regulators are considered close to the industry. “We need enforcement,” Mr. Kennedy said in an interview. “The notion of delegating this to the states, which are looking to the federal government for direction, is problematic.”
|
Health Insurance;Obamacare,Affordable Care Act;Mental Health;US Politics;Gun Control;Regulation and Deregulation;Drug Abuse
|
ny0154318
|
[
"sports",
"ncaafootball"
] |
2008/01/07
|
Jones Torn as Hawaii Makes Third Offer
|
The agent for Hawaii Coach June Jones said late Sunday night that his client was torn between taking the head-coaching job at Southern Methodist and a third offer from the University of Hawaii. “It’s been gut-wrenching,” the agent, Leigh Steinberg, said. Since Jones left Hawaii on Saturday to interview for the S.M.U. job in Dallas, there has been an outpouring of hundreds of calls and e-mail messages, saying that if Jones left it would indelibly alter the culture and tourism industry in Hawaii, Steinberg said. Hawaii’s third offer includes a significant list of facilities and infrastructure updates, which Steinberg has said are critical to Jones’s future at Hawaii. “It’s never been about his salary,” Steinberg said. Among those who had reached out to Jones were Gov. Linda Lingle and David McClain, the president of the University of Hawaii system. McClain has taken over the salary negotiations for the university. Steinberg said Jones’s decision was expected to be reached Sunday night, but now it would come some time Monday. Jones, 55, has been the Hawaii coach since 1999, compiling a 75-41 record. The Warriors were 12-0 this season before a loss to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl last week. TULSA ROLLS IN GMAC BOWL Paul Smith had his N.C.A.A. -record 14th consecutive 300-yard passing game, and Tulsa converted four fumble recoveries into first-half touchdowns on the way to a 63-7 rout of Bowling Green in the G.M.A.C. Bowl in Mobile, Ala. The Golden Hurricane (10-4) ran up a 35-0 halftime lead and capped Coach Todd Graham’s first season by reaching 10 wins for the first time since 1991. Smith passed for 312 yards and 5 touchdowns, the last one with 3 minutes 22 seconds left in the game. He broke the record of 13 300-yard efforts in a row he shared with Brigham Young’s Ty Detmer, whose streak stretched over the 1989 and 1990 seasons. Smith also became only the seventh Division I player to reach the 5,000-yard mark in a season. Tulsa outgained Bowling Green, 562-229, in total yards. Running back Tarrion Adams scored touchdowns running, passing and receiving before halftime and ran for 112 yards. Bowling Green finished 8-5. (AP) U.C.F. STAR LEAVING EARLY Central Florida’s Kevin Smith, the nation’s leading rusher this season, changed his mind and will make himself available for the N.F.L. draft, he confirmed. Smith challenged Barry Sanders’s N.C.A.A. record of 2,628 rushing yards in a season in 2007, but he finished 61 yards short. He was hailed as a hero three weeks ago for deciding to stay to earn a degree. (AP)
|
Jones June;National Collegiate Athletic Assn;College Athletics;Football;Hawaii
|
ny0254566
|
[
"sports",
"baseball"
] |
2011/07/08
|
Dodgers Denied Access to M.L.B. Files in Bankruptcy Court
|
The Dodgers’ attempt to show that Major League Baseball is treating them punitively was rejected Thursday by a bankruptcy court judge in Delaware who ruled that the trove of evidence they sought was not relevant to the issue of the team’s interim financing. The bankruptcy judge, Kevin Gross, said at a telephone hearing that a July 20 hearing on competing financing proposals for the team — one favored by the Dodgers and another by M.L.B. — should not become a “trial of the commissioner,” according to Reuters. Although Gross denied the Dodgers’ request for discovery, he said their demand for the evidence might come up later in the case, according to Reuters. The Dodgers wanted a broad assortment of documents, ranging from those showing how baseball has treated other teams to Commissioner Bud Selig ’s approval of other clubs’ TV deals. Selig rejected a 17-year deal between the Dodgers and Fox Sports as one that would overly benefit Frank McCourt, the team’s owner, and his estranged wife, Jamie. McCourt blames Selig for denying him the resources that that would have stabilized the Dodgers’ finances and allowed them to avoid bankruptcy. Selig has cited McCourt’s financial mismanagement. The Dodgers’ need for cash late last month led Gross to approve giving them access to $60 million out of a $150 million one-year loan from a hedge fund, Highbridge Capital.
|
Decisions and Verdicts;Los Angeles Dodgers;Selig Bud;McCourt Frank H Jr;Baseball;Gross Kevin
|
ny0002765
|
[
"business",
"media"
] |
2013/03/14
|
At NBC, a Struggle to Revive the Morning Magic
|
Staff members at NBC’s “Today” show huddled for a performance review last month, 10 months after the longtime morning show leader first fell behind ABC’s “Good Morning America” in the ratings. The mood was anxious, according to several attendees, as network executives discussed the findings from focus groups with hundreds of viewers. The employees were reassured that “Today” viewers didn’t want their show to turn into “Good Morning America,” the ABC rival that has become Americans’ No. 1 choice in the mornings. But then they were told this: “What matters most is the anchor connection to the audience; what we need to work on is the connection.” As the word “connection” was repeated, some people in the room started to chuckle because of a name that went unspoken: Matt Lauer. “What they meant was Matt. But no one would say it,” said a senior staff member who, like the others, spoke on condition of anonymity. Image With Matt Lauer commiserating, the former co-host Ann Curry made a tearful departure from NBC’s “Today” show last summer. Credit NBC Mr. Lauer was not there, but it is clear that the once-popular host’s relationship with his audience is in peril. Last April, Mr. Lauer signed a contract said to be worth $25 million a year , the most lucrative deal in the 60-year history of morning television. And then the bottom fell out. The following week, “Today” fell to second place in the morning ratings for the first time in 16 years. When his co-host, Ann Curry, was forced out over the summer, it was Mr. Lauer and not network executives who shouldered most of the blame. Since then, his popularity among viewers has plummeted and NBC has been forced to deny what was unthinkable a year ago: the rumor that Mr. Lauer, 55, who first took over the co-host chair in 1997, could soon be replaced by a younger host like Willie Geist, 37, or David Gregory, 42. Image Matt Lauer, the “Today” host. Credit Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images Mr. Lauer’s year is a lesson in how a combination of missteps — NBC’s and his own — can precipitate a star’s fall. NBC News is still, by some measures, the No. 1 network news division in America, and it will emphasize that point at a presentation for advertisers in New York on Thursday. But the continuing struggles of “Today” threaten to overshadow the network’s strength at other times of day. “Today” pays a lot of the bills for the rest of the news division; it was responsible for roughly half a billion dollars in revenue in 2011. That total dipped by at least $50 million in 2012, according to industry estimates, as “Good Morning America” capitalized on the show’s stumbles. NBC declined to comment. But managers at NBC News were told this week that they would receive smaller bonus checks for 2012 because of the “Today” show ratings slump. A belated image campaign began this week when Mr. Lauer spoke publicly for the first time about what he thought had gone wrong — namely, that his bosses botched Ms. Curry’s departure from “Today.” Those bosses took pains to suggest that Mr. Lauer wasn’t at fault. But the claim, in The Daily Beast, must have come as news to Ms. Curry, who, according to her associates, still feels betrayed by Mr. Lauer and the top producer of “Today,” Jim Bell, who left the show last fall . Image David Gregory of NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He was rumored to be a possible replacement for Mr. Lauer. Credit William B. Plowman/NBC News Mr. Lauer’s Q Score — a measure of likability, treated as gospel by the TV industry — has fallen by more than half since he was paired with Ms. Curry in June 2011. It was a 19 that September; by this January it was a 9. For the first time his counterpart on “Good Morning America,” George Stephanopoulos, has a higher score. For Mr. Lauer “the drop started happening in the beginning of 2012, and it’s slowly eroded since then,” said Henry Schafer of Marketing Evaluations, the company that surveys thousands of viewers to come up with the scores. NBC executives said its focus groups found otherwise. Ms. Curry has been gone for nine months, yet “Today” is still losing to ABC’s “Good Morning America” by about 800,000 total viewers a day. (In the 25-to-54-year-old group, it is losing by fewer than 100,000 viewers.) The ratings are scrutinized now by NBC and ABC for signs that “Today” is stronger on the days when Mr. Lauer is on vacation. Image People have also said that Willie Geist, a co-host on “Today,” could be a possible replacement for Mr. Lauer. Credit Peter Kramer/NBC He is criticized routinely in the media; one columnist this week said simply, “He’s got to go.” And even members of his own staff are sharply divided: some say he, and “Today,” can recover from the last year, while others say his reputation is irreparable. The employees spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution from Mr. Lauer and their bosses. They all agreed that his contract, thought to keep him at “Today” through at least 2014, would be his last. While “we are aware of all the ridiculous rumors and gossip,” said Alex Wallace, the NBC News executive in charge of “Today,” “we would like Matt Lauer to be in the chair as long as he would like to be. We hope that’s for many years to come.” Mr. Lauer has declined interview requests. Video After the NBC News Group’s upfronts, Bill Carter and Brian Stelter join David Gillen to discuss the challenges and changes in the network’s future. Certainly Ms. Curry’s removal from “Today” hurt Mr. Lauer, just as he privately predicted it would, and just as his best friend, Bryant Gumbel, was hurt 20 years earlier when Jane Pauley made way for Deborah Norville in a similarly operatic situation. In both Mr. Lauer’s and Mr. Gumbel’s case, NBC failed to shield them from criticism. But something more happened on Ms. Curry’s last day, June 28: seemingly every negative word ever uttered about Mr. Lauer was reprised. While he stayed silent, tabloid Web sites reran old items about his personal life and blogs said he was undeserving of his contract. All of this is still searchable on Google. The top 10 searches for his name include “divorce,” “salary,” “Ann Curry,” and “fired.” Martin Kaplan of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism said the suggestion that Mr. Lauer forced Ms. Curry out might be unfair, but it looked that way to many viewers. “TV lives by that illusion” of a family, he said. “Sometimes, it also dies by it.” What NBC may do next, according to outsiders contacted by the network, is add another cast member to “Today.” Even if the person appeared only on the 9 a.m. hour, which Mr. Lauer is not a part of, such an addition would make “Today” more of an ensemble show, seemingly less dependent on his star power.
|
NBC News;Matt Lauer;Today;Ratings;TV;Ann Curry;News media,journalism
|
ny0218592
|
[
"us"
] |
2010/05/26
|
Bias Payments Come Too Late for Some Farmers
|
On a recent Sunday in rural Macon, N.C., John W. Boyd Jr., the president of the National Black Farmers Association, went to his fourth funeral in a week. Mr. Boyd has been burying his group’s members with bitter frequency, attending two or three funerals most weeks. Each death makes him feel as if he is running out of time. Wrangling over the federal budget in Washington has delayed payouts from a $1.25 billion settlement that Mr. Boyd and several others helped negotiate with the federal government to compensate black farmers who claimed that the Agriculture Department had discriminated against them in making loans. “I thought that the elderly farmers would get their money and get to live a few happy days of their lives,” Mr. Boyd, a Virginia farmer who is not a plaintiff in the settlement, said in an interview. “They deserve the money before they leave God’s earth.” A lawyer at one of the firms handling the farmers’ claims said last week that a majority of eligible farmers were over 65 and most were in poor health. Younger relatives, she said, often filed claims for farmers who are ill or dead. The lawyer, who asked that her name and that of her firm be withheld because she was not authorized to speak on the matter, added, “We have a lot of death certificates.” Their cases are an outgrowth of Pigford v. Glickman, a federal discrimination lawsuit brought by Timothy Pigford and about 400 other black farmers. They alleged that from 1981 through mid-1997, Agriculture Department officials ignored complaints that they were denied aid comparable to what white farmers received because they were black. In 1999, the government agreed to settle the suit and has paid just over $1 billion for nearly 16,000 claims while denying another 7,000. An estimated 80,000 farmers were shut out of the case on the grounds that their claims were filed too late. In 2002, the judge presiding over Pigford decided not to admit their claims, which the farmers said resulted from insufficient notice by the government and clumsy work by their lawyers. But the judge warned the lawyers that their work was “bordering on legal malpractice.” In 2008, Congress set aside $100 million to address late claims. Then in February, the farmers and the Obama administration reached a settlement to pay out an additional $1.15 billion, and President Obama, who co-sponsored the 2008 measure as a senator, included the money in his proposed budget for the 2011 fiscal year. The amount each farmer will receive will not be determined until all the claims have been vetted, said Andrew Marks, a lawyer with Crowell & Moring in Washington, one of the firms representing the farmers. Some 30,000 claims have been filed, he said, and lawyers expect a “significant” number of additional claims. In the 1999 settlement, successful plaintiffs filing basic claims received $50,000 tax free. The money is half what the farmers sought, but the administration’s promise of a quick resolution prompted them to accept the deal, Mr. Boyd said. Congress missed a March 31 deadline set by the administration to provide financing, which would have allowed payments to start by the summer of 2011. The farmers agreed to give the government an extension through May 31. The House is expected to vote Wednesday on a bill that includes the settlement. The settlement has strong support across party lines, but some lawmakers are worried that the bill’s costs have not been offset by corresponding cuts in spending. If Congress misses another deadline, the farmers can withdraw from the settlement, which most are reluctant to do. Mr. Boyd suggested that Mr. Obama circumvent Congress and pay farmers out of the same special Treasury Department fund used to pay Pigford claims. So far, Mr. Obama has deferred to Congress. Some farmers have speculated that the president is shying away from the issue because it involves race. The White House said that was untrue. “The president’s approach to this is not based on the color of skin but because of what is right,” said Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary. One of the farmers who had filed a claim was Addie Haynes, who inherited an 18-acre tobacco and corn farm in Whiteville, N.C., when her husband died in 1958. She and their five children worked for years to pay off $56,000 in debt on the farm. The Agriculture Department turned down her 1983 request for a loan to help buy seed and equipment. “That’s when the trouble really began,” said her oldest daughter, Pauline Haynes-George. “All along my dad could do the farming and pay on his bill. But by my mother being a little black lady and a widow, it was just getting to be hard for her.” Eventually, the Hayneses surrendered equipment and 14 acres to pay off the debt, which had grown to more than $80,000. Mrs. Haynes died in 2004. “It would relieve her heart to know that her children could get a rebate from the hardship that she went though,” Mrs. Haynes-George, 69, said. At 78, Harvey White wonders what might happen to his 200-acre soybean and cotton farm in Prentiss, Miss. He said Agriculture Department officials told him every year from 1967 to 1986 that they could not lend him money for equipment, seed and fertilizer. The settlement would help him to repay the loans he used to sustain the farm, build a home and put five children through college. Mr. White, who still farms, said he would also buy a car with air-conditioning to take his 76-year-old wife, Mary, to her thrice-weekly dialysis appointments. “I just want to make a living off my farm,” he said.
|
Pigford v. Glickman;Farmers;Suits and Litigation;Agriculture Department;Discrimination;Race;Blacks
|
ny0273912
|
[
"business",
"dealbook"
] |
2016/05/25
|
Peter Thiel Is Said to Bankroll Hulk Hogan’s Suit Against Gawker
|
Hulk Hogan had a secret financial backer in his legal fight against Gawker Media for invasion of privacy. Peter Thiel, a billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist, helped fund the case brought by the wrestler, Terry Gene Bollea, better known as Hulk Hogan, against Gawker, said a person briefed on the arrangement who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Mr. Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and one of the earliest investors in Facebook, privately agreed to help pay the expenses of Mr. Bollea’s legal team, this person said. A self-described libertarian, Mr. Thiel has a long history with Gawker, which published an article in 2007 outing him as gay. Mr. Thiel, who is now open about his sexual orientation, once described the Gawker-owned site Valleywag as “the Silicon Valley equivalent of Al Qaeda.” Video A Florida judge denied an appeal from Gawker Media for a new trial in the Hulk Hogan sex tape case. Mr. Hogan’s lawyer criticized Gawker for a lack of accountability. Credit Credit Eve Edelheit/Tampa Bay Times, via Associated Press The details of Mr. Thiel’s arrangement to support Mr. Bollea’s case are protected by a confidentiality agreement and could not be learned. A Florida jury awarded Mr. Bollea $140 million in March over a sex tape Gawker published in 2012. The revelation of Mr. Thiel’s involvement in Mr. Bollea’s case, which has captured headlines this year for its salacious disclosures, came a day after Nick Denton, Gawker’s founder, was quoted in The New York Times as saying that he believed that Mr. Bollea’s case was being supported by a mysterious third party. “My own personal hunch is that it’s linked to Silicon Valley,” Mr. Denton said. Mr. Denton called on Mr. Bollea’s legal team, which refused to comment on the possibility of an outside funder, to disclose the backer. Mr. Thiel’s identity was first reported late Tuesday by Forbes magazine. There is nothing illegal about funding such legal cases; there is an entire industry known as litigation finance that often helps invest in and financially support lawyers working on contingency in small and large cases. It is not common for a lawsuit to be backed by a third party that may have other motives. Questions about the independence of Mr. Bollea, who never mentioned a third-party backer, first emerged when his lawyer removed a claim from his complaint that had the effect of eliminating Gawker’s insurance company from the case. That struck many legal observers as odd, given that most lawyers seeking large payouts want to include claims that are insured against because doing so increases the chances of a settlement.
|
Gawker;Hulk Hogan;Peter A Thiel;Lawsuits;Privacy;PayPal;Nick Denton
|
ny0227332
|
[
"business",
"media"
] |
2010/10/14
|
Cablevision Subscribers Facing Loss of Fox Shows
|
Cablevision customers may want to make backup plans for watching this Sunday’s Giants football game. There is a possibility that Cablevision’s three million customers in the New York metropolitan area will lose access to Fox programming if the cable company cannot come to new terms with the News Corporation , the owner of Fox Broadcasting, by Friday night. The two media giants are locked in contentious negotiations over retransmission consent, which gives Cablevision the right to carry local Fox stations like WNYW Channel 5 and WWOR Channel 9. As is common in these disputes, an advertising battle is now under way, and viewers are being asked to choose a side. The News Corporation’s biggest cable channels, like Fox News and FX, are not directly affected by the negotiations, but three of its smaller channels, the Fox Business Network, Fox Deportes, and Nat Geo Wild, are. Cablevision’s current contract expires at midnight Friday, so the programming will stop early Saturday morning unless the parties agree to new terms or agree to extend negotiations. “It is News Corp.’s decision whether or not to pull the plug,” a Cablevision spokesman said on Wednesday night. Retransmission disputes routinely go to the wire, but rarely result in the loss of programming. Cablevision and the News Corporation, though, have each played hardball in other recent disputes. At stake, according to Cablevision, is at least $80 million, which eventually is paid by TV subscribers. In a print advertisement Wednesday, Cablevision claimed that the News Corporation wants “over $150 million per year” in fees for the Fox stations and for some of its cable channels, up from the “over $70 million a year” that Cablevision currently pays for the channels. In the ad, Cablevision accuses the News Corporation of “threatening” to take away sports matches that are to be televised by Fox, like Sunday’s Giants-Bears game. In a competing ad on Wednesday, the News Corporation placed the onus on Cablevision, claiming that “Cablevision could be taking your teams away from you!” The ad directed customers to two competing distributors, DirecTV and Verizon. Lew Leone, vice president and general manager at Channel 5 in New York, said in a televised commentary Tuesday night, “Personally, I pay Cablevision $211 per month, and on Sunday, I hope to be able to enjoy the Giants game from my home. If not, it’s off to my parents’, where they have a service that already recognizes the exceptional value of our two TV stations.” Television production is expensive, and stations say retransmission deals create a critical source of revenue. Distributors like Cablevision push back, saying that the stations are still available free over the public airwaves and on the Internet. Confrontations between channel owners and the distributors of those channels are now a regular event, and in March, customers of Cablevision lost access to the ABC network, and the beginning of the Academy Awards show, for almost a full day before a new retransmission deal was struck. Invariably, the two sides eventually come to a compromise. Separately, the News Corporation is also fighting with the Dish Network over carrying its Fox regional sports networks and two entertainment channels, FX and the National Geographic Channel. They were all taken off of Dish’s system on Oct. 1 and remain off because of the impasse. The loss of access to Dish’s 12 million subscribers seems to be having an impact on the entertainment channels: Viewing on FX has declined since Dish was cut off. For the 10-day period from Oct. 1 to 11, FX averaged 565,000 viewers for its total day of programming. For the comparable period in September, the channel averaged 765,000 viewers. National Geographic Channel has seen a similar decline, to 200,000 viewers from 260,000. The FX fall-off is notable because in mid-September, the network brought back its most popular hourlong program, “Sons of Anarchy.” The show is down about 10 percent in the ratings from last year. Executives at FX declined to comment on the record because they have been discouraged from speaking about the fee dispute with Dish. But one executive who works for Fox Cable Networks said it was assumed at the company that the loss of viewers could be tied, at least to some degree, to losing Dish access. The dispute between Dish and the News Corporation could intensify at the end of the month, when Dish’s contracts for retransmission of local Fox stations come up for renewal in the midst of the World Series, to be televised by Fox.
|
Cablevision Systems Corp;News Corporation;Fox Broadcasting Co;WNYW;Cable Television;Television;Prices (Fares Fees and Rates);Channel 5;Fox Business Network
|
ny0152279
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2008/08/06
|
After Years in Prison, Now a Break
|
In May 1994, Kareem Bellamy stood outside his home on Beach Channel Drive in Far Rockaway, Queens, drinking a beer. He was violating the “open container” law. A detective car pulled up. Mr. Bellamy was handcuffed. Without being asked more than his name, one of the detectives later testified, Mr. Bellamy blurted: “This must be a mistake — someone must have accused me of murdering someone.” If that was a guess, it was a good one. Six weeks earlier, a man named James Abbott had been stabbed to death outside a C-Town supermarket a few blocks away. What led detectives to Mr. Bellamy was a call from one of the supermarket cashiers. She said that a man who had been in the store with the victim just before the killing was, at that very moment, drinking a beer on Beach Channel Drive. No one ever said Mr. Bellamy had any motive for the killing, or any real connection with the victim beyond his supposed presence in the supermarket that day. The sole eyewitness to the stabbing was not able to identify him with much certainty. Even so, the words Mr. Bellamy uttered in the car effectively put him in prison, a judge ruled, because they showed a jury his “consciousness of guilt” and buttressed what was otherwise thin evidence. The jurors struggled with their deliberations for four days, then returned to court — every man and woman weeping — and pronounced Mr. Bellamy, then 26, guilty of murder. He was sentenced to 25 years to life. Many years ahead of schedule, Mr. Bellamy, now 41, is due back in court on Thursday, no longer guilty of the murder. His conviction was vacated on June 27 by Justice Joel L. Blumenfeld of State Supreme Court in Queens. Mr. Bellamy will be seeking bail while prosecutors decide whether to try him again. That Mr. Bellamy will have a second chance to fight the murder charge is due not to any particular diligence by law enforcement authorities, but rather because the final link in a chain of lucky breaks delivered him a secret tape recording. On it, a man says that he and another man actually did the killing. Over the last two decades, DNA tests have been a powerful force in setting right many wrongs, but they were not a factor in Mr. Bellamy’s case. In fact the vast majority of crimes do not involve biological evidence, so DNA tests are of no use. However Mr. Bellamy’s case turns out, the sequence of events that brings him back to court this week shows how many pieces must fall into place for most wrongly convicted people to get another meaningful day in court. Four years ago, Thomas Hoffman, a defense lawyer in Manhattan, got a letter pleading for help from Mr. Bellamy. He tossed it in the trash, thought better of it, then asked some of the city’s big law firms to help for no fee. Darin P. McAtee of Cravath, Swaine & Moore took on the case and hired private investigators. In January 2008, word spread around Far Rockaway that those investigators, a retired homicide detective, Edward Hensen, and a retired F.B.I. agent, Joseph O’Brien, were trying to scare up evidence that would reopen Mr. Bellamy’s case. As they canvassed a housing project, a man rode up on a bicycle. He knew Mr. Hensen from his years as a detective. He said he had to talk to them. Inside his home, he told the investigators that an old friend, Leon Melvin, had been upset that his girlfriend had become too cozy with Mr. Abbott. According to the informant, Mr. Melvin confided that he and another man had stabbed Mr. Abbott. In fact, those same two men had been implicated 14 years earlier by another person — a woman who called the detective bureau to give their names. At the trial, the detectives said they couldn’t find the woman. After the new informer surfaced this year, the private investigators wired him with a hidden tape recorder. On Feb. 2, the informer met with his jealous friend, and they spoke about a stabbing that took place somewhere near 40th Street in Far Rockaway. A partial transcript of the conversation was included in Judge Blumenfeld’s ruling. “You mean you told him to leave her alone, and he wouldn’t leave her alone,” the informer says. “Yeah, he wouldn’t listen to me, so I had to do what I had to do,” Mr. Melvin said. “So you stabbed him?” the informer asks. “Yeah,” Mr. Melvin says. “How many times you stabbed him?” the informer asks. “Stabbed him about seven times or something like that,” Mr. Melvin said. No charges have been brought against Mr. Melvin. The district attorney’s office argued that it wasn’t clear in the taped conversation that they were referring to the murder of Mr. Abbott, but Justice Blumenfeld dismissed that. The police files showed, he said, that the killing of Mr. Abbott “was the only stabbing homicide in the Beach 40s for many years.” Mr. Bellamy says that he was guilty only of drinking a beer.
|
Murders and Attempted Murders;Prisons and Prisoners;Courts;Bellamy Kareem
|
ny0185634
|
[
"world",
"asia"
] |
2009/03/31
|
In Cambodia, Trial of Khmer Rouge Prison Chief, Duch, Opens
|
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Testimony opened Monday at the first trial of a Khmer Rouge official, with a detailed description of the internal workings and methods of interrogation in the regime’s central torture house. In statements included in a long indictment read by court officials, the defendant, Kaing Guek Eav , known as Duch, admitted ordering and taking part in systematic torture that sometimes continued for days. In his statements, made during pretrial investigations, he said he was working on orders from the top Khmer Rouge leadership, an assertion that appeared to implicate four other defendants who are awaiting trial. Thirty years after the regime was deposed, Duch is the first person to take the stand and answer for one of the most horrific episodes of mass killing in the past century, in which 1.7 million people are estimated to have died from 1975 to ’79 of starvation, overwork, disease or execution. The trial has opened, with the backing of the United Nations, amid controversy over allegations of corruption and political influence by the government, which critics contend has tried to limit the scope of the indictments. The former commandant of Tuol Sleng prison, Duch, 66, is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes and murder in the deaths of at least 14,000 people ; almost all were tortured before they were executed. Only a handful of the prisoners at Tuol Sleng survived . Some inmates were also subjected to medical experiments, including “live autopsies” and experimentation with homemade medications, according to Duch’s statements in the indictment. Testimony on Monday involved the reading of a detailed description of the charges against Duch (pronounced DOIK). Statements from the prosecution and the defense should follow, and then accounts from witnesses and the defendant. The trial is expected to last about four months. Through his French lawyer, François Roux, Duch has admitted his role and apologized to the victims, but he was quoted Monday as saying that he feared for his life if he did not follow orders. Neatly dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt, Duch stood at the start of the proceedings to give his name and a string of aliases, and to confirm that he understood the charges. A former schoolteacher, Duch disappeared after the Khmer Rouge were routed by a Vietnamese invasion in 1979. He was found in 1999 by a British journalist, living quietly in a small Cambodian town, where he said he had converted to Christianity. He was arrested shortly afterward. According to the charges read Monday, the prisoners brought to Tuol Sleng were presumed guilty. Even if they had been mistakenly arrested, they were killed to preserve the secrecy of the prison, the indictment said. Much of the prison’s work involved internal purges that consumed the Khmer Rouge regime, according to the indictment. Those who were arrested were not told the charges against them, but were forced to confess to crimes in coerced statements often hundreds of pages long. Many of the arrests were made on the basis of names given by prisoners under torture, and were followed by further arrests of the new prisoners’ family members and associates in a widening net — an attempt to root out supposed enemies. Duch implicated his superiors directly, according to the indictment, telling investigators, “I always reported to the superiors and they always ordered the arrest of the persons implicated.” The four other defendants are surviving members of the Khmer Rouge leadership: Ieng Sary, who was foreign minister; Nuon Chea, known as Brother No. 2; Khieu Samphan, who was head of state; and Ieng Thirith, who was minister of social affairs. All have denied the charges against them, which include crimes against humanity and war crimes. Several other top figures have died, including the Khmer Rouge leader , Pol Pot, known as Brother No. 1, in 1998. Witnesses quoted in the indictment said Duch instructed them in methods of torture that included beatings, electric shocks, putting plastic bags over prisoners’ heads and removing fingernails and toenails. Duch was quoted as saying he introduced three methods of interrogation: “cold,” “hot” and “chewing.” The cold method employed propaganda without the use of torture or insults. The hot method included “insults, beatings and other torture authorized by the regulations.” The chewing method consisted, in Duch’s quoted words, of “gentle explanations in order to establish confidence, followed by prayers to the interrogated person, continually inviting her or him to write” a confession. Another witness told investigators that torture could be used if “chewing” failed to bring results in two or three days. One quoted witness said Duch took part in an interrogation in which a woman was stripped to her underwear and beaten long into the night. The witness said Duch beat her until he tired, then had another torturer take over. Interrogations followed a schedule: 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., and 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. But they could last long past midnight, the indictment said. They could go on for days and were considered complete only when a confession was obtained. The indictment quoted Duch as saying that he and his superiors were “skeptical of the veracity of the confessions,” which he said were used as “excuses to eliminate those who represented obstacles” to the regime. The indictment said untrained medical workers, sometimes including unsupervised children, worked to keep prisoners alive until they confessed.
|
Kaing Guek Eav;Khmer Rouge;War Crimes Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity;Cambodia
|
ny0181568
|
[
"technology"
] |
2007/06/12
|
Apple Releasing a Windows Browser
|
SAN FRANCISCO, June 11 — Apple said Monday that it would make its Safari Web browser available for Windows-based PCs, opening a new front in its rivalry with Microsoft. The announcement came at the end of a presentation made by Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s co-founder and chief executive, at the company’s annual World Wide Developers Conference. It indicates that Apple is increasingly confident in its ability to compete against Microsoft’s desktop computing monopoly. Shares of Apple dropped sharply after the announcement, falling $4.30, to $120.19. Several Wall Street analysts said the decline proved that Mr. Jobs was, after all, mortal. In recent years, Apple’s chief executive has refined product announcements into an art form that leaves his audience cheering and then rushing to a store. Wall Street has come to hope that each new event will create a new iPod -style billion-dollar market. “This was pretty underwhelming,” said Gene Munster, a financial analyst at Piper Jaffray. “He hit a double instead of a homer.” With his usual showmanship, Mr. Jobs said that Safari would have twice the performance capability of Microsoft’s browser, Internet Explorer. He also expressed confidence that Apple would be able to increase its market share against the dominant software company, pointing to half a billion downloads of Apple’s iTunes software, most of them by Windows users. A test version of the program was available Monday for downloading from Apple’s Web site. In an interview after his presentation, Mr. Jobs said he had no concerns that the new competition might anger Microsoft or lead to retaliation, such as slowing the development of the version of Office for the Macintosh. “After all, we are developing for Windows,” he said. Like many of Apple’s strategic moves, the implication of an Apple browser for Windows was not immediately clear. It is likely that Mr. Jobs is now plotting a broader business strategy that will allow Apple to grow beyond its niche position in the computer market of about a 5 percent share. “Who knows? Maybe we can grow our Safari share in the future,” Mr. Jobs said. “We’re going to try.” Apple’s move is significant, industry executives said, because it indicates that despite the end of the browser wars of the late 1990s, Microsoft’s continued ability to retain more than 80 percent market share is a continuing threat to its competitors. Mr. Jobs said that Safari’s market share was currently about 5 percent and the share of Firefox, the open source browser, was about 15 percent. There has been a persistent fear that Microsoft would be able to create new standards that would force computer users to adopt its software to reach certain Web sites and Internet services. The broader appeal of the browser might have implications for Apple’s iPhone . In his presentation, Mr. Jobs said that the company was encouraging Apple software developers to use modern Internet software standards to make applications compatible with Apple’s iPhone, which will go on sale June 29. The announcement is likely to touch off a frenzy of activity because Mr. Jobs said that applications that are written to Internet standards like AJAX and designed to work with Web browsers would work from the first day the iPhone is available. “It will create a much more significant consumer platform for the iPhone,” said Mike McGuire, a research analyst at Gartner, an industry research firm in San Jose, Calif. By moving software development away from personal computers and cellular phones and toward the Internet, Apple is attempting to persuade its developers that they can achieve new economies of scale while permitting the computer and consumer electronics firm to build more secure devices and computers. “There is something very clever going on here with Apple releasing Safari for Windows,” said Scott Love, president of Aquaminds Software, a Macintosh developer based in Palo Alto, Calif. “Don’t ever underestimate S. J.’s motives.” Some developers said they were disappointed that Apple would continue to restrict software development for the iPhone. However, a number of them said that they were intrigued by the company’s new Windows-oriented Web browser strategy. Much of the rest of the presentation focused on showing 10 new features of the company’s Leopard version of the OS X operating system. Mr. Jobs had shown many of the features, such as a new backup system called Time Machine and a new more powerful version of the Apple instant messaging system called iChat. On Monday, Mr. Jobs showed several refinements to the company’s operating system appearance and graphical user interface. At previous events announcing the Leopard version of Apple’s Mac OS X operating system, Mr. Jobs has hinted at important new features. However, Monday’s event indicated that Leopard, which was originally supposed to be commercially available by now and then was delayed until October when the company shifted resources toward its iPhone, had no major surprises. Mr. Jobs teased the audience of about 5,000 software developers, saying the company would have multiple versions of Leopard, all priced at $129. “I’m sure most of you will want the Ultimate version,” he said. The reference was a not-so-subtle jab at Microsoft, which offers Windows Vista at a variety of price points with different features. Apple, of course, will sell just one version. Electronic Arts and Id announced that they would begin releasing popular games for the Macintosh simultaneously with Windows versions.
|
Apple Inc;Software;Computers and the Internet
|
ny0041738
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2014/05/18
|
San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro Is Said to Be HUD Pick in Cabinet Reshuffling
|
WASHINGTON — President Obama is preparing to nominate Mayor Julián Castro of San Antonio as his new secretary of housing and urban development, elevating one of his party’s Hispanic rising stars as part of a cabinet shuffle that has possible implications for the 2016 presidential race, Democrats informed about the plans said on Saturday. Mr. Castro, who has often been mentioned as a potential vice-presidential candidate for the Democrats, would take the place of Shaun Donovan, who is to become director of the Office of Management and Budget. That job is being vacated by Sylvia Mathews Burwell, whom Mr. Obama tapped to be secretary of health and human services and who seems headed to Senate confirmation. Mr. Castro, 39, won national attention in 2012 as the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention, and he and his twin brother, Representative Joaquin Castro, have become popular speakers on the party’s fund-raising circuit. Mr. Obama and the Democrats have predicated their electoral hopes on appealing to the country’s growing Hispanic population as House Republicans have blocked their efforts to overhaul the immigration system. Mr. Obama’s failure to push through immigration legislation has increased the political pressure on him and his Democratic allies from some Latino groups, which have demanded in recent weeks that the president act to reduce deportations that break up immigrant families. Mr. Obama had tried to lure Mr. Castro to the cabinet before. After the 2012 election, the president approached the mayor about serving as transportation secretary, but Mr. Castro, whose third term ends next year, indicated that he preferred to stay in San Antonio. He also passed on the chance to run for governor of Texas this year. “Just like I decided not to run in 2014, I told the voters of San Antonio I would remain mayor until my tenure was over,” Mr. Castro said in an interview last month . He could not be reached on Saturday, and it was not clear what had prompted his change of heart. But Mr. Castro, a Mexican-American whose mother once worked at the San Antonio Housing Authority, found the HUD post appealing because it would allow him to work on issues he has focused on as mayor, according to associates familiar with his thinking. Asked last month if he thought he might be wasting a political opportunity if he did not move to the national stage, Mr. Castro said: “I’m going to be 40 this year. I feel like I have a decent amount of time either way. Whatever happens in the next two years to eight years, I’ll have time.” But he has been advised to raise his profile in the hope of securing a slot on the national ticket. Democrats said that by taking an executive position in Washington, he would bolster his résumé after serving as mayor of the nation’s seventh-largest city since 2009. “You take somebody who is a very successful and appealing politician, who has regional strength, and put them on the national stage, and by definition you raise their stature and increase the possibility that they are going to get a look by the nominee,” said Jonathan Prince, a Democratic consultant. Image Mayor Julián Castro, 39, of San Antonio, was expected to be become the new HUD secretary. Credit Pool photo by Deborah Cannon Some of Mr. Castro’s allies also believe that with income inequality becoming a focal point for Democrats, the HUD job offers the mayor an opportunity to burnish his credentials on issues of poverty and to raise his appeal among those on the party’s left. The post will also let him develop relationships with and win favors from city leaders and activists in a way he cannot on the Democratic lecture circuit. In a move that raised eyebrows about his political future, Mr. Castro shared lunch in February with former President Bill Clinton and Henry Cisneros, a former San Antonio mayor who went on to serve as housing secretary in Mr. Clinton’s cabinet. “I advised that he accept a position for President Obama,” Mr. Cisneros said in an interview this year about the previous offer. “I thought that if he was going to be vice-presidential material in 2016, then he needed to be more than mayor at that time.” Few prominent Hispanic Democrats are positioned to be considered for vice president in 2016, but several Republicans are thought to be prospects for their party’s next ticket, including Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida and Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico. “That puts them in a bit of a pinch, and this may be an effort to move the pieces around on the chessboard,” Danny Diaz, a strategist who advises Ms. Martinez, said of the Democrats. Given how crucial Hispanics’ votes were in Mr. Obama’s two victories, some Democrats believe that former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, should she run and win the nomination, would be wise to pick a Hispanic running mate. Mr. Castro is one of the leading voices predicting that changing demographics will eventually favor Democrats. “A couple years ago, I said Republicans should enjoy it because it’s not going to get any better for them,” he said, “and it’s only getting better for Democrats moving forward.” The San Antonio Express-News first reported that Mr. Castro had been offered a cabinet post and was undergoing the standard background vetting, but the newspaper had not identified which position he would take. The Democrats who described the fuller cabinet shuffle on Saturday asked not to be identified because the plans had not been announced. The White House declined to comment. The HUD job would become available to Mr. Castro with Mr. Donovan’s move to the budget office, replacing Ms. Burwell. She would succeed Kathleen Sebelius, who announced last month that she was resigning as secretary of health and human services after presiding over the disastrous rollout of the online exchanges for the Affordable Care Act in the fall. While not formally part of the statutory cabinet, the budget office position has cabinet rank under Mr. Obama, and its director can play an outsize role in shaping administration policy. Mr. Donovan, a former commissioner of housing preservation in New York City and an original member of Mr. Obama’s cabinet, has been a favorite of the president’s. At a Democratic fund-raiser on Wednesday in New York, Mr. Obama offered effusive praise for Mr. Donovan, singling out his work on recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy. “When we thought about who was somebody who we had confidence” could take on the task, “Shaun came to mind,” Mr. Obama said. He added that Mr. Donovan had “done a terrific job.”
|
Barack Obama;Julian Castro;HUD;Appointments and Executive Changes;2016 Presidential Election;Hispanic Americans
|
ny0220764
|
[
"business",
"global"
] |
2010/02/17
|
Germany Offers Extra Cash for Airbus Military Transport
|
BERLIN — The German government is prepared to offer up to €1.2 billion in cash and loan guarantees to help Airbus pay for cost overruns for the A400M military transport plane, according to a person involved in the negotiations. The offer was part of a package presented to European Aeronautic Defense & Space, the parent company of Airbus, this week by the seven governments participating in the much-delayed project. Germany, which has ordered the most planes, is expected to have to cough up the most to cover some €5.2 billion, or $7.1 billion, in extra costs. The other participating countries in the A400M — Belgium, Britain, France, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey — have also put offers on the table. Even so, the person involved in the talks said there was still “a hole of €400 million to be filled.” The person spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations had not been concluded. Berlin’s contribution will be divided into two parts, half in cash and the rest in loan guarantees, the person said, adding: “We are still waiting for an answer to our offer.” Depending on the response, Germany could decide to reduce its initial order, he said. Germany, Belgium, Britain, France, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey, ordered 180 A400Ms in 2003 for €20 billion, with one-third of the planes going to Germany. The person said that EADS want to close the issue as soon as possible for accounting reasons. EADS is under pressure to clarify what its share of the overruns will be soon so it can book them in its 2009 financial results, rather than carry them over into 2010. EADS’s 2009 accounts are scheduled to be published March 9, and have to be audited first by an outside firm. An EADS spokesman, Alexander Reinhardt, said the company had received the offers Monday night and was studying them, but provided no details. “We will answer it in due time,” he said.
|
Airbus Industrie;Military Aircraft;Germany;Europe;European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co;EADS N.V
|
ny0286198
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2016/09/23
|
Presenting America’s Newest Comedy Team: Mel Brooks and Obama
|
WASHINGTON — Mel Brooks performed a bit of slapstick near the portrait of George Washington. President Obama tried his hand at stand-up comedy beside his lectern. Audra McDonald almost missed her moment on stage. The ceremony Mr. Obama hosted on Thursday to award the nation’s highest honors for achievement in arts and the humanities was a raucous celebration in the stately East Room. The president recognized what he called an “impressive crew” of two dozen from the worlds of art and literature, including Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records; the composer Philip Glass; the authors Sandra Cisneros and Ron Chernow; the poet Louise Glück; and the chef José Andres. “We’ve got Terry Gross,” Mr. Obama said, referring to the host of the NPR program “Fresh Air” who is known for her questioning of celebrities and public figures, “and a whole bunch of people who Terry Gross has interviewed.” They were at the White House to receive the National Medals of Arts and Humanities, striding one by one onto a raised stage alongside Mr. Obama, who regularly hosts such functions — most of them formal affairs that unfold according to well-rehearsed protocols. But before attendees even took their seats on Thursday, the event took on a lighthearted air, as the United States Marine Band played a rendition of “Springtime for Hitler,” the title song of the fictional Broadway musical within Mr. Brooks’s film and stage play “The Producers.” By the end, laughter was echoing from the room’s gilded moldings and silk damask draperies. Maybe it was the presence of Mr. Brooks, whose knees buckled theatrically when Mr. Obama placed the large medal around his neck, sending the audience into hysterics. Image “It must weigh five pounds,” said the director Mel Brooks, joking about the weight of his National Medal of Arts, presented to him on Thursday by President Obama during a ceremony at the White House. Credit Al Drago/The New York Times “That was a joke — it’s heavy!” Mr. Brooks, 90, said later in an interview. “It must weigh five pounds.” The president chuckled at Mr. Brooks’s routine, and teased him in return. “We’ll catch you if you sell it on eBay,” Mr. Obama said. (Mr. Obama need not have worried, Mr. Brooks said later; he is planning to pass the medal on to his grandchildren. “In the meantime,” he added, “I’ll use it as something to put a hot cup on, so that it doesn’t burn the table.”) For Mr. Obama, consumed this week with the serious business of terror attacks and racial unrest at home, and a crumbling cease-fire in Syria, it was a moment to let loose and reflect on the lighter side of his job. “I can tell this is a rowdy crowd,” the president said. “Historically, this has been a much more staid affair.” Mr. Obama improvised when the naval aide reading the official medal citations neglected to include Ms. McDonald, a six-time Tony Award winner, who exchanged glances of amusement with the president as her turn in the program’s alphabetical order passed without mention of her name. “We skipped Audra McDonald,” Mr. Obama said quietly to the aide, as staffers shuffled papers and scrambled to locate the proper script. “She was feeling kind of left out,” Mr. Obama said aloud as he waited, smiling impishly. “I can make up the citation if you want.” Image President Obama hugged the actress and singer Audra McDonald on Thursday after she had been inadvertently skipped during the presentation ceremony. Credit Al Drago/The New York Times In the end, it was not necessary, and Ms. McDonald was recognized for her “rich, soulful voice,” and for becoming one of Broadway’s brightest stars. The jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, another honoree, could not attend the event on Thursday, Mr. Obama noted, nor could the actor Morgan Freeman, who, he said dryly, “undoubtedly is off playing a black president again. He never lets me have my moment.” But those who were there acknowledged how fortunate they were to be among Mr. Obama’s final class of honorees. “We were all talking about it, how cool it is that we got in while he’s still president,” Louis Menand, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and Harvard professor, said in an interview. Ms. Gross, the NPR host, said she had been thrilled to find out from Mr. Obama that he used to listen to her program “back in the days when he used to be able to drive, before he was president.” “I just find it remarkable that he can handle all these grave situations that he handles, and also have such grace and such a sense of humor,” she said in an interview. Mr. Obama said that he and Michelle Obama had tried to make elevating the arts and humanities a priority during their years in the White House, and that the final round of honorees reflected the nation’s diversity. The group included several artists whose work explores race and culture in America, including the historian Isabel Wilkerson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times journalist; the writer James McBride; the Texas conjunto musician Santiago Jiménez Jr.; and Luis Valdez, a playwright, actor, writer and director. “It’s an incredible confirmation of your struggle to communicate your dreams to America, and an incredible pat on the back from your country for your work,” Mr. Brooks said of the medal. As for the wilder-than-usual ceremony, he said: “I’m probably responsible for that. I just make trouble wherever I go.”
|
Awards;Art;Humanities;Mel Brooks;Barack Obama;Washington DC;The arts
|
ny0237744
|
[
"business"
] |
2010/06/30
|
Wal-Mart Names New Head of U.S. Operations
|
Eduardo Castro-Wright, who was once seen as a candidate for chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , has been replaced as head of Wal-Mart’s United States operations. His successor will be Bill Simon, Wal-Mart United States’ chief operating officer, Wal-Mart said Tuesday. Mr. Castro-Wright will continue in other roles at the company, overseeing international e-commerce and sourcing. The heads of Wal-Mart’s United States and international divisions are considered among the most powerful executives at the company, so Mr. Castro-Wright’s move is a significant one. It makes room for Mr. Simon as a possible heir to the chief executive, Michael T. Duke. Wal-Mart United States has recently been a weak spot in the company. For the most recent quarter, as other retailers began to report growth, Wal-Mart’s sales at United States stores open at least a year declined 1.4 percent from a year earlier. It was the fourth consecutive quarter of decline. Though the average purchase increased, shoppers made fewer visits to Wal-Mart during that period, Mr. Castro-Wright said in a conference call to discuss the company’s earnings. To retain shoppers, the company said it would cut prices on basics like cereal, ice cream and detergent during the summer. It already reduced the prices of paper towels and toothpaste, among other items. Analysts said that Mr. Simon was a strong successor for Mr. Castro-Wright. Mr. Simon joined the company in 2006, and among his innovations were Wal-Mart’s popular program that offers many generic prescription drugs for $4. “It doesn’t appear to be a shift in strategy,” said Bill Dreher, a senior analyst with Deutsche Bank Securities. “It’s breaking up one big job into two separate but very important jobs.” Mr. Castro-Wright will continue to oversee global sourcing and will direct the company’s international e-commerce group, called global.com . Like the global sourcing unit, the global e-commerce division had already been under his direction, but he had been looking for a chief executive to run its day-to-day operations. Mr. Castro-Wright will also keep the title of vice chairman. In a memorandum to employees, Mr. Castro-Wright said the change would allow him to relocate to California, where his wife was recovering from a heart transplant. “Since she can’t move from California, I need to move there,” he wrote. “At the same time,” he wrote, “the company and the board have placed even more importance on the need to lead in e-commerce and multichannel retailing.”
|
Wal-Mart Stores Inc;Appointments and Executive Changes
|
ny0090586
|
[
"us"
] |
2015/09/15
|
Officers Kill Suspect in Death of Kentucky State Trooper
|
A Kentucky state trooper was killed during a traffic stop in western Kentucky on Sunday night, and officials said on Monday that the suspected gunman had been fatally shot after refusing to drop his weapon. The trooper, Joseph Cameron Ponder, 31, stopped a vehicle that driving 103 miles per hour on Interstate 24, and the vehicle then took off with Trooper Ponder in pursuit, according to the State Police. After a short chase, the fleeing vehicle stopped suddenly, causing the trooper’s cruiser to “make contact” with the rear of the suspect’s vehicle, the police said. The gunman then fired several times into the police cruiser, hitting Trooper Ponder, the police said. The suspect, who was identified as Joseph Thomas Johnson-Shanks, 25, of Missouri, then ran, the police said. Trooper Ponder was taken to a hospital in Princeton, Ky., where he died shortly before midnight. Four other people, two of them younger than 6, were in Mr. Johnson-Shanks’s car at the time of the shooting, said Trooper First Class Jay Thomas, a public affairs officer. One of the others, Ambrea R. J. Shanks, 18, was arrested on charges of hindering prosecution or apprehension. Image Joseph Cameron Ponder, a Kentucky state trooper who was killed during a traffic stop, had graduated from the state’s training academy in January. Credit Kentucky State Police, via Associated Press Mr. Johnson-Shanks was found by state troopers in the woods near the highway on Monday morning after an eight-hour manhunt, the police said. Mr. Johnson-Shanks was shot multiple times by the police after he refused to drop his weapon and then aimed it in the troopers’ direction, said Sgt. Michael Webb, the public affairs commander for the Kentucky State Police. Mr. Johnson-Shanks later died at the same hospital in Princeton. The Kentucky State Police said Trooper Ponder had graduated from the state’s training academy in January and been stationed at the State Police post in Mayfield. He had served as a special Navy diver and been decorated with a Combat Action Ribbon. He was the second first-year officer with Kentucky’s State Police to die in the line of duty this year. Trooper Eric K. Chrisman was killed in a car accident while on his way to respond to a report of a reckless driver in June. Gov. Steven L. Beshear said in a statement that Trooper Ponder should be remembered for “how he lived, his selfless service to others and his willingness to give his life for that commitment.” Mr. Johnson-Shanks lived in Florissant, Mo., and had recent run-ins with law enforcement. Shawn McGuire, a media relations officer with the St. Louis County Police Department, said Mr. Johnson-Shanks was the leading suspect in a May theft of $1,285 in lottery tickets and winnings. Officer McGuire also said Mr. Johnson-Shanks was arrested in 2014 for failing to appear on charges that included “interfering with a police officer by flight on a traffic stop.” Image Joseph Thomas Johnson-Shanks was fatally shot after he refused to drop his weapon and then aimed it in troopers’ direction, the state police said. Credit Kentucky State Police, via Associated Press Trooper Ponder was one of several officers to have been killed during traffic stops this year, including officers in Louisiana, California and New Mexico. “The dangerous thing about a traffic stop, as opposed to responding to a call that the officer has been dispatched to, is the lack of information,” said Seth W. Stoughton, a former police officer and assistant law professor at the University of South Carolina. “They don’t know whether that person is armed. They don’t know that person’s mind-set in a way that they might know or they might at least have better information when they respond to a call for service.” According to the F.B.I. , 54 of the 511 police officers killed from 2004 to 2013 died during stops for traffic violations. “We’re talking about 54 tragic and horrific murders, out of 170 to 180 million traffic stops,” Mr. Stoughton said. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page , which tracks deaths of police officers in the line of duty, Trooper Ponder was the 25th officer fatally shot in 2015, not including two officers accidentally killed by gunfire. An analysis of data from that website by a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning research organization, found that 2015 was on track to be “one of the safest years for police officers in history,” along with 2013, and that, over all, gun-related police deaths had been declining for 35 years.
|
Joseph Cameron Ponder;Murders and Homicides;Attacks on Police;Joseph Thomas Johnson-Shanks;Kentucky
|
ny0075668
|
[
"world",
"asia"
] |
2015/05/05
|
Thailand to Open Inquiry Into Human Trafficking Network
|
BANGKOK — The Thai authorities said Monday that they were investigating the complicity of local officials and police officers in a human trafficking network along the border with Malaysia where a mass grave has been unearthed . The head of the national police, Gen. Somyot Poompanmoung, said that three local officials and one man from Myanmar had been arrested and that investigations would be opened into the border guard force, which has a base near the site of the mass grave discovered on Friday. As of Monday, 26 bodies had been exhumed. “If there is anyone involved with this case, we will arrest them all — no exception,” General Somyot said. “This problem has seriously damaged the country.” A Thai state-owned radio station reported Monday that 13 police officers had been transferred and were under investigation for their involvement in a human trafficking ring, saying it was related to the continuing case. Thailand is under pressure from the United States and the European Union to stop what has for several years been a thriving business of human smuggling, trafficking and slavery both on land and in its fishing fleets. Bangladeshis and members of the Rohingya ethnic group, a Muslim minority in Myanmar that for the most part is denied citizenship, have taken to the sea in great numbers in recent years seeking jobs in Muslim-majority Malaysia. Chris Lewa, coordinator of the Arakan Project , a human rights group that tracks migration and human trafficking in the Andaman Sea, calculates that 57,000 people have embarked on the often-perilous boat journeys since October. The migrants, many of whom are lured by trafficking groups, are held for ransom, abused and in some cases killed by their handlers, the Thai police and human rights groups say. The United States government last year downgraded Thailand and Malaysia to the lowest rank in its annual assessment of how countries handle human trafficking. The Thai junta that came to power in a coup last May has said it is determined to crack down on human trafficking and raided a number of jungle encampments along the border with Malaysia. “We want to show that we are seriously tackling this issue,” Gen. Udomdej Sitabutr, the head of Thailand’s army, told the Thai media on Monday. “This has been an issue for years,” he said. “It’s time to fix it.” The discovery of the mass grave in the hills of the Sadao district a few hundred yards from the Malaysian border was described as a “turning point” by The Bangkok Post on Monday. “This government must bring justice to the dead of Sadao or face unmitigated shame at home and abroad,” the newspaper said in an editorial. The camp was made up of bamboo cages, watchtowers and what the Thai police described as a “torture room,” without giving more details. One survivor of the camp who was found by Thai officials and quoted in the Thai news media said several hundred would-be migrants were in the camp but had fled with their handlers before the police raid. “Right now it is clear that the detention camp and dead bodies we discovered are related to human trafficking,” Mr. Somyot said. “It is also clear that this is a transnational operation.” Ms. Lewa of the Arakan Project said the crackdown did not address the reason for the exodus from Myanmar. The Rohingya are restricted from travel within Myanmar and have been persecuted by the country’s Buddhist majority. Tens of thousands now live in camps after their villages were burned by Buddhist mobs over the past three years. “The Rohingya turn to smugglers because they have no other options,” Ms. Lewa said. “Offshore camps on boats have now replaced those jungle camps. The result of all this is more people dying at sea.”
|
Thailand;Human trafficking;Malaysia;Human Rights
|
ny0244019
|
[
"sports",
"soccer"
] |
2011/03/14
|
Manchester City to Meet Rival United in F.A.Cup
|
Manchester City set up an F.A. Cup semifinal against its rival Manchester United by defeating Reading, 1-0, on Sunday. Micah Richards’s second-half goal advanced Manchester City to the competition’s semifinals for the first time since 1981. Danny Higginbotham’s 68th-minute free kick earned Stoke a 2-1 win over its Premier League rival West Ham. Stoke, in the F.A. Cup semifinals for the first time in 39 years, will play Bolton.
|
Manchester City (Soccer Team);Reading (Soccer Team);Soccer;Manchester United (Soccer Team);Football Association Cup (Soccer)
|
ny0094999
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2015/01/17
|
Prince Andrew, Back in News, Faces Curse of the ‘Spare’
|
LONDON — It’s not easy being the spare, the second son trained for little except hanging around waiting for your older brother to die, or to have children who then outrank you. Being Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, is a lot like being the vice president of the United States — only for life. As he has aged, and fallen further down the line of succession (at 54, he is now fifth in line to the throne), Prince Andrew has faced the problem of what to do with himself — being public but not prominent — and has not always made the best choices, even he has admitted. To be a spare means to have a vague but unclear purpose in life, said Peter York, a social commentator. “There are lots of things by definition you cannot do, that are potential embarrassments. And there are lots of things you cannot do because you’re not trained for them.” Prince Andrew is back in the news with the resurgence of old allegations that he had sex with a minor provided by an old, wealthy friend of his, Jeffrey E. Epstein, who was jailed in 2008 and served 13 months of an 18-month sentence for soliciting a minor for prostitution. In 2011, when the allegations against Prince Andrew surfaced, and again this month, when they re-emerged in a filing in a Florida court, Buckingham Palace issued explicit denials, saying that Andrew did not have sex with the woman bringing the complaint or, for that matter, with any minor. The allegations by the woman, whom the palace named as Virginia Roberts, now 30, married and with three children, were well ventilated in 2011 by the British press and in the magazine Vanity Fair. The controversy over Prince Andrew’s continuing friendship with Mr. Epstein caused the prince to resign that year after a decade as Britain ’s special representative for international trade and investment. The main difference now appears to be a direct allegation by Ms. Roberts through her lawyers of specifically sexual contact with Prince Andrew and other public figures, like the lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who has said he intends to countersue to put Ms. Roberts under oath. The new attention to old allegations has brought renewed embarrassment to the monarchy, which had been basking in friendly British news coverage of Prince William and his wife, the former Kate Middleton, and their young son, and of the dutiful Queen Elizabeth II. The Prince Andrew furor erupted just days after another controversy over a postponed BBC documentary about how Prince Charles, Andrew’s elder brother, tried to rebuild his own damaged public reputation after the death of his first wife, Diana, Princess of Wales. And it has raised a familiar problem of carving out a life as a royal family member who has no role. The problem only worsens when the generations pass, military service is no longer feasible and the line of inheritance grows implausibly distant. “Andrew was rather handsome when young, the best looking of those children,” Mr. York said, but he was “old-fashionably philistine and gaffe-prone, like his father,” Prince Philip, whose sometimes rude and insensitive remarks have been collected in books. Image Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, then the Duchess of York, in 1986 after their wedding. The two divorced in 1996. Credit Associated Press “Unless you create a rock-solid purpose for yourself, it’s a very considerable challenge, and you drift into a half-world of people who are very keen on royals,” Mr. York said. “Andrew did live in the Mayfair subworld that was a bit ratty — if you’re a royal person, and you don’t have a role, you tend to fall into that world. And if you are rather randy, and he was known as ‘Randy Andy,’ then you’re more likely to fall into it.” “To be a spare is a horrendously difficult human position,” said a person who has been close to the royal family and spoke only without attribution, because of continuing relationships. “It’s hard to be royal in any case, with the lack of freedom involved. But if you’re the spare, and people look up to you to preserve all family values, but you have no real role, it’s immensely frustrating.” The most successful royals, the person continued, “are those who completely understand the difference between their public and private lives, as the queen and Anne have done, and Philip has almost done. They are the hardest-working royals, as well, so they earn credibility and privacy.” In a tough editorial titled “Royal Reform,” The Times of London urged the royal family, as an institution, to slim down and send its children to work. “It is striking,” the newspaper notes, that “the queen’s children have been most constructive while gainfully employed.” Outside such roles, “they represent more of a risk than a benefit to the royal family.” Prince Andrew is held up as an object lesson. “For too long Prince Andrew has lacked a real role,” the newspaper said. “He has tried and failed to find one because he has been looking in the wrong place.” Instead of a profession, “he has been content to craft for himself the portfolio existence of a freelance royal” and has “depended too much on his friends to help support a lifestyle” that he could not afford himself, “even as a scion of one of Britain’s richest families.” As the Times of London columnist Libby Purves wrote about the latest scandal, “Prince Andrew dazzles easily when confronted with immense wealth and apparent power. He has fallen for ‘friendships’ with bad, corrupt and clever men, not only in the U.S. but in Libya, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tunisia, wherever.” The media frenzy continues, with the British tabloids printing excerpts from what are said to be Ms. Roberts’s diaries describing her frolic with Prince Andrew in a bathtub, though apparently written only five years ago, in 2009, eight years after she says the encounter occurred. Nor did it help when it emerged recently that Andrew bought a Swiss chalet with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, for $20 million with a joint mortgage. Roy Greenslade, a media critic, said the press was right to pursue questions about how Prince Andrew finances such a lifestyle on a naval pension and a modest stipend from his mother, the queen. But Mr. Greenslade also cautioned that Ms. Roberts’s allegations “have not been tested in court,” noting that Mr. Dershowitz, who also denies the allegations, wants to do precisely that. Still, some were also reminded of the dangers that lie in the latest generation’s escapades. Prince Harry was photographed frolicking naked in Las Vegas and playing strip billiards with a naked woman in August 2012, and there were photos of the prince surrounded by young women in bikinis on the same trip. He was on his way to Afghanistan and apologized when the pictures emerged, saying that “I probably let myself down, I let the family down, I let other people down.” It was, he said, “probably a classic example of me probably being too much army, and not enough prince.” The person close to the royals said: “Not everyone did think it was charming, but it was spun to be ‘just young oats.’ But there’s a potential area of trouble there.” Mr. York said: “I think he’ll work out better than Andrew because he’s been brought up, due to his mother, in a slightly more modern world. But he still has to find a role and a way of life.”
|
Duke of York Andrew;Royal family;Great Britain;Rape;Child Abuse;Virginia Roberts;Buckingham Palace
|
ny0246912
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2011/05/04
|
Russian Is Charged in Absentia With Betraying Spies in U.S.
|
MOSCOW — After a group of Russian sleeper agents were arrested in the United States last summer, an angry Vladimir V. Putin , Russia ’s prime minister, promised to punish the person who betrayed them. Now, a former Russian intelligence officer suspected of blowing the agents’ cover has been officially charged, and could, if he is ever caught, face up to 20 years in prison. The officer, Aleksandr Poteyev, was charged in absentia with treason and desertion, a spokesman from Russia’s Federal Security Service said on Tuesday. He said all other details about the case were classified. Little is known about Mr. Poteyev. It is not even clear where he is. Anonymous law enforcement officials cited in earlier Russian media reports said he had directed spy operations as a deputy head at the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service’s American section. There, he oversaw a group of at least 10 Russian agents working deep under cover in the United States, living and working as Americans. Mr. Poteyev, the officials say, fled to the United States just before F.B.I. agents swooped into metropolitan Boston and New York and the suburbs of northern Virginia last summer to arrest the agents. The operation uncovered the largest Russian spy network in the United States since the end of the cold war and dealt a major blow to the prestige of Russia’s intelligence services. The agents, who appeared to have gathered no significant information, were deported to Russia after pleading guilty. They were traded for four men imprisoned in Russia, including Igor V. Sutyagin, a Russian scientist convicted of spying for the United States. Mr. Sutyagin always maintained his innocence, and on Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that he had been wrongly imprisoned and ordered Russia to pay nearly $30,000 in compensation. It is unclear what exactly will happen to Mr. Poteyev. He will be tried in absentia in a Moscow military court, though a court spokeswoman said hearings in the trial would be classified.
|
Espionage;Russia;Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia);Putin Vladimir V;Intelligence Services;Poteyev Aleksandr
|
ny0282358
|
[
"sports"
] |
2016/07/29
|
Mets Lose as Familia and Offense Again Fail to Convert
|
When the Mets look back at the 2016 season — however it may end, playoffs or not — July 28 may still elicit anguished bewilderment. The Mets have sputtered for months, propped up by their pitching yet undermined by their inept offense. And in Thursday’s 2-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies , the pitching was terrific for the most part, the offense was poor, and the result was maddening. “We could have blown that game open with some ground balls, and we weren’t able to do it,” Mets Manager Terry Collins said afterward in frustration. “That’s what it came down to. Our pitchers live on the edge. It’s hard to do every night.” Jeurys Familia, the Mets’ All-Star closer, had gone nearly a full year without blowing a regular-season save opportunity, a streak of 52 consecutive games saved that ranked as the third-longest streak ever in baseball. But with Thursday’s loss, he has now blown saves in back-to-back games. And while Wednesday night’s setback for Familia came as a result of some good ninth-inning hitting by the St. Louis Cardinals, Thursday afternoon’s failure grew out of a succession of discombobulated moments. Collins did not even want to use Familia on Thursday because it would be his third day of work in a row, and Familia had already compiled one of the heaviest workloads of any reliever in the majors this season. But Familia told Collins and the pitching coach Dan Warthen that he was available to pitch, and in the end, he did. He went to the mound to start the ninth with a 1-0 lead that could have been bigger except for the Mets’ baffling inability this season to hit with runners in scoring position. Familia gave up a leadoff single to Trevor Story on a sinker over the plate and then walked David Dahl. And from there, it only got worse. Daniel Descalso tried a risky two-strike bunt that seemed to be rolling foul for strike three. Catcher Rene Rivera gambled and let it roll, and the ball instead stopped dead on the first-base foul line. Base hit, and the bases were loaded. “My gut said let it go foul, and it didn’t roll foul,” Rivera said. “It’s one of those plays where you try to do your best, and what happens happens.” Familia rebounded to strike out Tony Wolters, but first baseman James Loney then fumbled a slow ground ball by pinch-hitter Cristhian Adames that allowed the tying run to score and left the bases loaded. Image Mets catcher Rene Rivera had no play when a bunt came to rest on the foul line in the ninth inning. Credit Frank Franklin Ii/Associated Press So after all that, what was left to further drive Mets fans crazy? A wild pitch by Familia that gave the Rockies the lead and, ultimately, the game. “I come into the game trying to do the best I can,” Familia said as he tried to make sense of what happened. He added that he gives “100 percent” every time he pitches, although Thursday even that was not enough. Wasted in all this were seven shutout innings by the Mets’ starter, Jacob deGrom. Yet again, deGrom pitched with little room for error because the Mets’ offense revolved around a few players: Neil Walker (three hits) and Rivera (the lone hit to drive in a run). The Mets demonstrated yet again why they have one of the more meager offenses in baseball this season and are dead last with a .204 average with runners in scoring position. “I’ve talked to some of the great R.B.I. guys in the game,” Collins said. “The one thing they talk about is driving in runs is mental. The approach you have at the plate, your mind-set of all you’re trying to do is put the bat on the ball. You’re not looking for a home run, you’re not looking for anything, you just work the middle of the field. That’s been kind of the common denominator with those guys, and we’re just not doing it.” The worst moment of futility Thursday came in the bottom of the seventh, when the Mets loaded the bases with no outs — and could not score. Rivera singled to start the inning. Alejandro De Aza followed with a double. With first base open, Collins sent up Yoenis Cespedes, who did not start because of a sore quadriceps, as a pinch-hitter for deGrom, although Collins knew Cespedes would draw an intentional walk. The Mets’ bench was short because Jose Reyes was still nursing a muscle strain, so Collins had to ask pitcher Steven Matz to pinch-run for Cespedes. The Rockies brought the infield in; the Mets looked to capitalize. They did not. Facing the right-handed reliever Scott Oberg, pinch-hitter Kelly Johnson chopped a ball to shortstop, which resulted in a force play at home. Curtis Granderson, who has been one of the worst hitters in baseball with runners in scoring position this season, then struck out. Wilmer Flores, one of the Mets’ best hitters this month, then flied out to center field. No runs, three left on base. “They made some pitches on us,” Loney said. “It’s tougher than it looks sometimes.” The Mets’ run came in the second inning when Rivera doubled in Loney. Over all, the Mets stranded nine runners. With little support, deGrom protected the 1-0 lead; Familia did not. INSIDE PITCH Outfielder Juan Lagares , who went 0 for 3 on Thursday, was probably headed to the disabled list, a person familiar with the situation said. Lagares has been playing with a partially torn ligament in his left thumb. He has hit .160 since his return from the disabled list on July 2, but the Mets believed then that surgery was an option if he could not play. He was scheduled to visit a doctor on Friday. Brandon Nimmo , the logical replacement, did not play Thursday for Class AAA Las Vegas.
|
Baseball;Rockies;Mets;Jeurys Familia
|
ny0022554
|
[
"sports",
"ncaafootball"
] |
2013/09/08
|
Rutgers Rebounds With Blowout
|
The sophomore Paul James ran for 119 yards and 3 touchdowns, and Rutgers bounced back from a season-opening shootout loss by beating Norfolk State, 38-0, at home on Saturday. James, who has progressed from a walk-on to a scholarship player, scored on runs of 1, 10 and 25 yards for his first three collegiate touchdowns. The Rutgers defense, which allowed 543 yards and its highest point total in three years in a loss to Fresno State, responded by limiting Norfolk State (0-2) to 133 yards and setting up two touchdowns with turnovers. PENN STATE 45, E. MICHIGAN 7 Christian Hackenberg threw for 311 yards and a touchdown, leading Penn State (2-0) to a win in its home opener. Hackenberg set a Penn State mark for passing yards in a game by a freshman. Penn State’s Sam Ficken also set a team record by making a 14th straight field goal. Eastern Michigan (1-1) scored off a fumble to avoid the shutout. MARYLAND 47, OLD DOMINION 10 C. J. Brown, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, threw for two touchdowns and ran for two, and host Maryland (2-0) capitalized on three interceptions in a rout of Old Dominion (0-2). BALL STATE 40, ARMY 14 Keith Wenning passed for 325 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Ball State won at home. Larry Dixon, who finished with 107 rushing yards, broke away for a 71-yard run to give the Black Knights (1-1) the lead 56 seconds into the game. But the Cardinals (2-0) scored 37 straight points. LEHIGH 51, C.C.S.U. 44 Isaiah Campbell successfully defended a pass for the decisive stop in Lehigh’s double-overtime victory at home against Central Connecticut State (0-2). Lehigh (1-0) trailed by 20 with 10 minutes 46 seconds left in the game. MAINE 24, UMASS 14 Marcus Wasilewski threw for 267 yards and rushed for 76 as Maine (2-0) scored 17 straight points to win at Massachusetts (0-2). STONY BROOK 24, R.I. 0 Marcus Coker rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown, leading visiting Stony Brook (1-0) to a victory in its first meeting with Rhode Island (0-2). IN OTHER GAMES Quarterback Michael Nebrich scored his second touchdown of the day on a 4-yard run in the fourth quarter, and Fordham rallied for a 27-24 home win over Villanova, which lost five fumbles. ... Brandon Wesley threw two touchdown passes as Bucknell beat Marist, 27-14, at home. ... Ron Coluzzi kicked a 27-yard field goal as time expired to cap Central Michigan’s comeback in a 24-21 home win, spoiling New Hampshire’s attempt to beat a Football Bowl Subdivision foe in its opener.
|
College football;Rutgers;Penn State;University of Maryland;Norfolk State University
|
ny0130581
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2012/06/25
|
Washington Memo: Polarized Over Health Care, United on Drama of Ruling
|
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are not usually eager to get back to Washington after a weekend in their districts, especially during campaign season. But Representative Michele Bachmann boarded a flight from Minnesota on Sunday night — even though the House will not meet until Tuesday — to make sure she would not miss the Washington moment she has been excitedly anticipating, the Supreme Court ruling on President Obama ’s health care law . “The decision on Obamacare goes well beyond health care,” Mrs. Bachmann, a Republican and a vocal opponent of the law, wrote in an e-mail. It “will determine whether or not the court believes the government has a right to mandate that Americans buy a product or service, a direct impact on our freedom and liberty.” The impending health care ruling by the Supreme Court has become this city’s O. J. Simpson verdict crossed with a papal conclave — polarizing, maddeningly unpredictable and shrouded in mysterious signaling. The ruling is expected to come this week, either shortly after 10 a.m. on Monday, the last scheduled day of the term, or on an extra day later in the week. For members of Congress, health care lobbyists, campaign officials and thousands of lawyers (and the thousands more who have just taken the LSATs) who populate the squat office buildings across the district, the wait for the fate of the health care law has become all consuming. They constantly check Scotusblog , a Web site devoted to the doings of the court. They play Health Reform Bracketology , a Web site where they can choose among various possible outcomes. They fret, write multiple versions of news releases and fret some more, wondering when the decision will be revealed. For some it is mere wonkery, but for many more the decision means something concrete: ideology, money and an electoral wedge. Coming at the crest of a contentious presidential campaign, it will be the beginning of the end of one of the most divisive policy battles in decades, one that helped set off the Tea Party movement and became the central conflict in the raging political war between Republicans and Democrats over the proper role and scope of government. “This is such high drama,” said Andrew Rosenberg, a partner specializing in health care at Thorn Run Partners, a government relations firm. “Because you have this decision that everybody knows was made months ago in a town that notoriously does not keep secrets well with such unprecedented implications for one-sixth of the economy.” The frenzy is just as palpable on the left as it is on the right. For Karen Davenport, the director of health policy at the National Women’s Law Center , it is “the first thing I think about when I get up in the morning” and the topic she spends most of her day talking about with colleagues. Sitting in a meeting last Thursday, one of several days the court could have ruled on the health care law, “I was watching my iPhone the whole time,” she said. “You can’t help but have that hamster in the wheel in your head over the various outcomes. It’s a very anxious time.” The two most engaged groups are probably those made up of people who have spent their entire professional lives working on health care policy and House Republicans who have devoted much of the 112th Congress to trying to overturn or defunding various aspects of the law. Mrs. Bachmann instructed her staff to reserve space at the House triangle — a spot of green outside the House side of the Capitol — where she plans to hold a news conference within 90 minutes of the decision. After that, she plans to head over to the Supreme Court to join Tea Party groups who are expected to gather there. The press offices of most Congressional Republicans are busy preparing three or four versions of news releases they hope to send out moments after the decision is announced, along with missives for their constituents. “We’re working on the language now,” said Representative Martha Roby, Republican of Alabama , who has given several interviews on the topic with reporters back home. “It’s certainly on the hearts and minds of everybody.” Richard Mourdock, the Republican nominee for the Senate from Indiana , had his recorded versions of a response spread across the Internet last week. For the last eight weeks, members of Speaker John A. Boehner ’s staff have met with their counterparts from the office of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky , the minority leader, to devise a game plan on how to respond. Over the last few weeks, representatives from Mitt Romney ’s presidential campaign have been brought into the loop as well. No matter the outcome, Republicans are expected to push forward with legislation to repeal the law. Mr. Boehner, however, cautioned House Republicans in a memorandum last week not to seem too joyous if all or part of the law was struck down. “We will not celebrate at a time when millions of our fellow Americans remain out of work, the national debt has exceeded the size of our nation’s economy, health costs continue to rise, and small businesses are struggling to hire,” he wrote. This may reflect a growing chasm between Republicans who want to push for measures that would uphold popular parts of the law and those who prefer to let the market rule. In a nothing-to-see-here contrast, Democrats are coordinating far more loosely, according to several media operatives on Capitol Hill, under the notion that they expect the law to be upheld. A spokesman for the White House declined to discuss post-decision plans. At a Democratic caucus meeting last week, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada , the majority leader, was peppered with questions about the ruling from anxious senators, whom he told there should be less fretting about things they cannot control, an attendee said. Scotusblog — the TMZ of the legal world, which the court has not officially recognized — will not be caught unprepared. The site has rewritten its software and moved its popular live blog to a new dedicated server to accommodate the expected traffic, which is already rising fast. “Our lives are completely different for this brief, fleeting solar flare,” said Tom Goldstein, who publishes the blog. The closest analogy was a guns case that attracted 250,000 visitors, he said; he is expecting 8 to 10 times as many readers on the day of the decision. The live blog will have seven people working full time, compared with the normal two. “We will keep the live blog up so people don’t have to refresh,” he said. For health care advocates and others who work in the world of health care policy, it is a bit like waiting for a baby to arrive. “For advocates, it’s so weird,” said Emily J. Holubowich, the executive director of the Coalition for Health Funding . “When there is something on the Hill, you can advocate. But in absence of anything productive to do, we follow Scotusblog, play Bracketology and do office pools while we wait. Anyone who thinks they know what’s actually happening is full of it.”
|
2012 Presidential Election;Obamacare,Affordable Care Act;Supreme Court;Tea Party movement;Michele M Bachmann;Barack Obama;Health Insurance
|
ny0173952
|
[
"technology",
"circuits"
] |
2007/10/11
|
Product Information VEXplorer Robotics System
|
Ideal for reconnaissance on a moody big sister, the $200 VEXplorer Robotics System is a durable six-wheeled vehicle that can be safely controlled from the next room with a wireless remote. An onboard camera can transmit live video and audio to your TV, and an adjustable gripping claw makes it possible to grab items as large as a soda can. The kit, released last month by Revell-Monogram ( www.revell.com ), comes mostly assembled with parts compatible with the larger VEX Robotics Design System, which was bought last year by Innovation First. Unlike the Lego Mindstorms snap-together approach, the VEX system resembles a serious Erector Set, with real nuts and bolts and strong servo motors. But these robots are harder to assemble and modify, making them better suited for older children. VEXplorer requires 11 batteries, and includes 24 gears, four motors, a camera and a six-channel remote, plus a trial version of SolidWorks, a professional computer-aided design program. The VEXplorer could come in handy for simple spying or trickier jobs like retrieving a stolen sweater from behind enemy lines.
|
Remote Control Systems;Innovation First
|
ny0131959
|
[
"world",
"africa"
] |
2012/12/21
|
U.N. Panel Votes to Help Mali’s Army Oust Extremists
|
The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a resolution on Thursday that will send thousands of African troops into the desert nation of Mali to help oust Islamist extremists who have turned its northern half into a vast Qaeda enclave and training ground, menacing the stability of neighboring states and posing a potent new international terrorism threat. But the resolution also makes it clear that such a military intervention will not happen until Mali’s own dysfunctional army is adequately trained and a framework for political stability and elections is restored in the country, which has been in turmoil since a military coup in March. The resolution, which was sponsored by France , the former colonial power in Mali, does not specify a time frame for the first deployment of foreign troops, to be supplied by a group of West African nations that are eager to see calm restored in Mali. United Nations officials and diplomats who worked on the resolution said that a 3,300-soldier force would be sent, and that any attempt to drive the Islamists from northern Mali would not happen before September or October at the earliest. The resolution does not explain precisely how the military expedition, which is to last for an initial period of one year, will be financed, although diplomats said they expected the cost to exceed $200 million. The resolution calls for voluntary contributions from member states into a trust fund to be created by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Despite the caveats, the Security Council’s vote authorizing military force, which it is empowered to do by the United Nations Charter, represented a rare moment of decisive unanimity among its 15 member states and in particular its 5 permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — in a year punctuated by bitter disagreements, mostly over the Syrian conflict. “Everyone knows the complexity of the task facing the international community to restore the territorial integrity of Mali and to put an end to terrorist activities in the north of the country,” Gérard Araud, France’s ambassador, told reporters after the vote. The resolution, he said, “provides a reasonable answer.” Ideally, Mr. Araud said, the mere threat of military intervention would persuade Islamist militia leaders to negotiate a peaceful restoration of control by Mali’s central government. “It is premature to indicate when the military operation will take place,” he said. “In fact, the question is even whether the military operation will take place. Our goal would be to have a real political process which will allow the Malian Army to go back to its barracks in the northern part of the country without fighting.” The final version of the resolution reflected what diplomats called some compromises between France and the United States, which had been skeptical that the Malian Army could be made capable of participating in a potentially long and violent struggle to retake the country’s northern area, roughly twice the size of Germany. The resolution specifies that the European Union will be responsible for training the Malian forces, described as “vital to ensure Mali’s long-term security and stability.” It also specifies that the secretary general must regularly inform the Council on political and military-training progress, and “confirm in advance the Council’s satisfaction with the planned military offensive operation.” Language was also included specifically intended to guard against human rights abuses by the Malian military in any operation in the north, where ethnic tensions linked to the occupation by Islamist militants are known to be on the rise. A report released Thursday by Human Rights Watch enumerated instances of abuses in Mali committed by security forces and others since the military coup. Tens of thousands of Malians have fled the north since Islamist militias seized control there after the coup, which left a power vacuum that has yet to be resolved. Just last week, military generals forced the resignation of Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra , in office since April. The principal Islamist militia, known as Ansar Dine, or Defenders of the Faith, has imposed harsh Shariah law based on strict Islamic tenets and enforced it with public killings, stonings and amputations. The group has also welcomed Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb , the affiliate of Al Qaeda in northern Africa, which has recruited child soldiers, established training camps and reached out to other militant Islamist organizations, including Boko Haram, a particularly violent group in northern Nigeria. Rights activists monitoring the Mali crisis had a mixed reaction to the Security Council resolution. While they welcomed action against abuses by the Islamists, some expressed concern that the Malian Army, humiliated by the loss of half the country, would be bent on revenge. Michael Quinn, country director of the aid group Oxfam in Mali, said the Security Council “must make sure that any military planning includes humanitarian consideration to minimize harm to civilians at all stages.”
|
Mali;Ansar Dine;Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb;Security Council (UN);Defense and Military Forces;Terrorism;France
|
ny0194589
|
[
"business",
"media"
] |
2009/11/09
|
Economic Concerns Top Agenda at Annual Advertisers’ Meeting
|
PHOENIX MAX JOHNSON, your life is about to be rocked. Max, a 13-year-old boy in Minneapolis, is lucky enough to be a neighbor of Donna Wiederkehr, who works with the Alliance for Family Entertainment of the Association of National Advertisers . At Sunday’s closing session of the association’s 99th annual conference, Richard McDonald, senior vice president for global marketing at the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, asked audience members whether anyone had someone in his or her life with a passion for music. Ms. Wiederkehr raised her hand and spoke about “a neighbor’s kid,” and Mr. McDonald asked her to join him onstage. “Why don’t you take that guitar to whoever this kid is,” Mr. McDonald said, handing Ms. Wiederkehr a blue Fender Stratocaster, worth about $700. “His name is Max Johnson and he just turned 13 on Tuesday,” Ms. Wiederkehr said. “You changed his life.” Here is a look at some of the other highlights, lowlights and sidelights of the three-day conference, which 1,200 people attended here last Thursday through Sunday. IT’S STILL THE ECONOMY, STUPID Concern over the perilous state of the economy ran throughout the discussions during the conference. “There are families not eating at the end of the month,” said Stephen Quinn, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Wal-Mart Stores , and “literally lining up at midnight” at Wal-Mart stores waiting to buy food when paychecks or government checks land in their accounts. Among the steps Wal-Mart is taking to address the changes in shopping habits, Mr. Quinn listed an overhaul of the retailer’s private-label brand, Great Value, which is promoted in commercials describing how families can fix dinners with Great Value products “for less than $2 a serving.” Eric E. Schmidt, chairman and chief executive of Google, began his speech by declaring, “We know we have begun the recovery” because searches on google.com for terms like “restaurants” and “dancing” are increasing. “I think we should be optimistic,” he said. David Jones, global chief executive at the Havas Worldwide and Euro RSCG Worldwide units of Havas, echoed that assessment. “We will be out of this crisis faster than you think,” he said, and enter 2010 “in a much more positive frame of mind.” Rebecca Saeger, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at the Charles Schwab Corporation, said, “We do feel optimistic.” However, “not as optimistic as David,” she added, referring to Mr. Jones, whose Euro RSCG agency creates the reassuring “Talk to Chuck” campaign for Schwab. “The biggest challenge we are facing in financial services today,” Ms. Saeger said, is the public distrust of the industry. “You can’t go out and tell people to trust you,” she added, because “they just don’t like us.” The feelings about the economy were underlined by the theme of the conference, “Growth: Defying the Recession.” And they were underscored each time Robert D. Liodice, president and chief executive of the association, came onstage: the Bee Gees song “Stayin’ Alive” was played over the sound system. THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT During the conference, attendees found famous faces on the agenda, courtesy of companies that sponsored dinner events. On Thursday, AOL brought in Simon Baker of the CBS series “The Mentalist;” the Bacon Brothers band, featuring the actor Kevin Bacon and his brother, Michael; and Eric Stromer of the HGTV series “Over Your Head.” All have appeared on aol.com . “I’m a longtime AOL user,” Mr. Bacon shouted from the stage between songs. “My e-mail is — never mind.” A&E Television Networks offered the actor Tony Danza as the entertainment on Friday. Mr. Danza, who sang, tap-danced, told jokes and played the ukulele, will be the subject of a reality series on A&E next year, “Teach,” in which he teaches English at Northeast High School in Philadelphia. “It’s a new genre,” Mr. Danza said. “It’s called responsible reality.” The audience applauded. And the Meredith Corporation imported Jane Krakowski of the NBC series “30 Rock” to sing on Saturday. It was the sixth year in a row that Meredith supplied the show for the closing dinner; previous performers included Sutton Foster, Audra McDonald and Kelli O’Hara. MADNESS TO HIS METHOD It is rare for a marketer to show parodies of marketing to other marketers. But such a display helped make a hit of a speech by Eric Ryan, a co-founder of Method, the cleaning-products company. Mr. Ryan played an unfinished version of a video clip that Method and its advertising agency, Droga5, intend to release online soon. The video is styled like a commercial for a make-believe product called Shiny Suds, featuring talking bubbles that serve as brand characters — a spoof of the Scrubbing Bubbles products sold by S.C. Johnson. The Suds, however, are malevolent, representing what Method considers to be competitive products composed of harsh or even hazardous chemicals. The video is intended to encourage Congress to pass the Household Product Labeling Act, which would require such items to bear labels with “complete and accurate” lists of all ingredients. GERM OF AN IDEA Flu season was much on the minds of the conference organizers. Inside and outside meeting rooms, hand sanitizers were available from dispensers and pump bottles. “Clean hands help prevent the spread of germs,” the labels on the dispensers advised. BUY BUY BUY For the second year in a row, the number of companies sponsoring the conference — paying fees that help the association defray the costs of the meeting — fell compared with the previous year. There were 41, down from 44 in 2008 and 51 in both 2007 and 2006. Even so, the sales messages were almost everywhere. Yahoo handed out coffee in branded travel cups. The hotel room keys were festooned with ads for DirecTV. Newspapers left on room doorsteps were wrapped with “belly bands” promoting Nielsen. There were regular room deliveries of tote bags full of freebies. Some of the bazaarlike aspects of the conference may be muted next year as the association considers paring to perhaps 10 or 12 sponsors, and asking each to pay more than this year’s did. DOWN MEMORY LANE There were several looks back during the conference at the history of the association, starting a commemoration of its founding in 1910. For instance, attendees were treated to vintage commercials from two members, General Mills and PepsiCo. The spot from PepsiCo, in black and white, was for Pepsi-Cola and featured a jingle, “Now it’s Pepsi, for those who think young,” used from 1961 to 1964. The commercial showed couples at a lunch counter or soda fountain, dressed as formally as folks dress now for funerals. The spot from General Mills, also in black and white, was aimed at children; an announcer urged them to “ask your mother to get Pillsbury cookie mix, the package with the big blue circle with the dots on it.” The announcer extolled the chocolate chips in the mix as “just like chocolate candy!” Mr. Liodice asked attendees to “consider submitting some of your classic ads for us to show in the next year” at other association events.
|
Advertising and Marketing;Shopping and Retail;Conventions and Conferences;Economic Conditions and Trends;Wal-Mart Stores Inc;Assn of National Advertisers;Quinn Stephen
|
ny0120379
|
[
"science"
] |
2012/07/31
|
How Do Spiders Spin Their Webs Across Great Distances?
|
Q. I found single spider-web filaments between bushes four feet apart. How did the spider spin them over such a distance? And what happened to the rest of the web? A. A spider relies on the wind to carry the filaments across wide intervals. But a mere four feet is a minor accomplishment for spiders. One recently discovered species from Madagascar, Darwin’s bark spider, or Caerostris darwini, habitually bridges rivers . Spiders that build the familiar orb-shaped web usually start with a single superstrength strand called a bridge thread or bridge line. The telescoping protein structure of this silk is believed to gives it its strength. First, the material for the bridge thread emerges from one of the spider’s specialized silk glands and is formed into a strand by its spinnerets. The loose end is drawn out by gravity or the breeze and allowed to blow in the prevailing wind, a process called kiting or ballooning. If the strand does not make contact with something and attach to it, the spider may gobble up the strand and recycle its proteins, then try again. If the gap is bridged, the spider reinforces the strand and uses it to start the web. A single bridge thread may be left in place overnight to mark a spider’s territory and a desirable starting spot for building a web the next day. C. CLAIBORNE RAY
|
Spiders;Insects;Science and Technology
|
ny0074976
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2015/04/23
|
Student Arrested on Suspicion of Planning Attack in France
|
PARIS — A 24-year-old Algerian computer science student suspected of planning an imminent terror attack was taken into custody in Paris over the weekend, the French authorities said on Wednesday. The police found AK-47 assault rifles, several handguns and ammunition in his home and his car, along with notes on potential targets, 2,000 euros in cash, bulletproof vests and police armbands, according to the Paris prosecutor, François Molins. The authorities said the student was suspected of involvement in the killing of a woman and was thought to be planning to attack at least one church. He had expressed a desire to go to Syria and had been flagged by police services as a security risk, the authorities said, but checks made in the past two years had turned up nothing to warrant an investigation. “Detailed documents were also found, establishing without any doubt that the individual was planning an imminent attack, most likely against one or two churches,” the interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said at a news conference. “That attack was avoided on Sunday morning.” The student, whom the authorities did not identify, is also suspected of involvement in the killing of a 32-year-old woman from northern France , identified as Aurélie Châtelain, who was found dead Sunday morning in her parked car in Villejuif, a Paris suburb. Mr. Molins, the prosecutor, said the police had found documents written in Arabic that mentioned Al Qaeda and the Islamic State at the suspect’s home in the 13th Arrondissement, the Paris district nearest to Villejuif. He said they had also found several cellphones, a camera, a video recorder, a computer, a USB key and a hard drive among his possessions. Analysis of those devices found “that this individual was in contact with another person who could have been in Syria, and with whom he communicated on methods to carry out an attack,” Mr. Molins said, adding that the other person had asked the student specifically to target a church. Mr. Molins said that DNA matching the suspect’s had been found in blood traces in Ms. Châtelain’s car, and that Ms. Châtelain’s blood had been found on his coat. Ballistic tests showed that the bullet that killed Ms. Châtelain was fired by a handgun found in the suspect’s car, the prosecutor said. He said the police were still trying to determine why Ms. Châtelain was killed; he did not indicate whether the authorities were aware of any links between her and the student. Mr. Molins described the student as a single, childless Algerian citizen who came to France with his mother in 2001 to join his father, who was then living in St.-Dizier, a town about 130 miles east of Paris. He went back to Algeria in 2003, finished high school there and then came to France again to study computer science. He had no past convictions. Mr. Molins said the student had called emergency services at 8:50 on Sunday morning and told medical workers that he had been wounded by an armed thief in front of his home. Police officers who responded saw that he had wounds in his left leg and kneecap. He refused to cooperate with them, and his attitude prompted officers to search his car, Mr. Molins said. The prosecutor said the suspect had then made “far-fetched” claims that he was accidentally wounded by a gunshot to the leg while trying to get rid of all of his weapons by throwing them into the Seine. The suspect, now in police custody in a Paris hospital, has stopped saying anything to the police, Mr. Molins said. He said a person linked to the suspect had been arrested in St.-Dizier Wednesday morning and was being questioned. France has been on high alert since early January, when three Islamic extremists killed 17 people in and around Paris . More than 1,550 French citizens or residents are involved in terrorist networks in Syria or Iraq, according to the French government, fanning worries that some of them might perpetrate violent attacks in France. President François Hollande told reporters that France still needed to improve its intelligence-gathering. Parliament is currently debating a bill to give the security services more surveillance and monitoring powers. Prime Minister Manuel Valls visited two churches in Villejuif with Mr. Cazeneuve on Wednesday as a show of solidarity. “In January, it was freedom of expression, police forces and French Jews who were targeted,” Mr. Valls said. “Targeting a church is targeting a symbol of France.”
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France;Terrorism;Murders and Homicides
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ny0061314
|
[
"sports",
"football"
] |
2014/01/04
|
Arctic Temperatures for Players and Fans, but No Blackouts on TV
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The first winter storm of 2014 has largely come and gone, but it has left snow, frigid temperatures and untold delays in its wake. Caught in the mess are the thousands of N.F.L. players, fans and members of the news media trying to get to Cincinnati, Green Bay, Indianapolis and Philadelphia, where wild-card games will be played this weekend. Though many of the players will compete in freezing temperatures , they have not faced many major hurdles yet. After all, the San Diego Chargers, the Kansas City Chiefs, the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints fly on their own jets and are expected to reach their destinations roughly on time. Reporters and television crews are another story. Jeff Duncan, a columnist for The Times-Picayune, left his home in New Orleans on Friday at 4:30 a.m. He and the Saints beat reporters Larry Holder and Katherine Terrell flew to Atlanta. A connecting flight was supposed to arrive in Philadelphia by 12:19 p.m., but it was canceled. So, they flew to Baltimore, where they rented a car for the last 110 miles to Philadelphia. Along the way, they met the son of a longtime Saints administrator. “His flight also was canceled and by happenstance found us here and is hitching a ride with us,” Duncan said. “Fun stuff.” Some members of the news media, unable to make their flights, have canceled their trips. Fans, too, have been forced to scramble or have decided to stay home. The mayhem may ultimately be a preview of the Super Bowl, which this year will be played in New Jersey and for the first time outdoors in a cold-weather climate. If airports in the New York metropolitan area are shut, fans, executives and others may struggle to arrive at the big game, and cities like Chicago and Denver, which also have outdoor stadiums and Super Bowl host ambitions, may have to wait a few years before bidding for the game. By Thursday, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Indianapolis Colts and the Green Bay Packers still had not sold out their stadiums, raising the prospect of an N.F.L. playoff game being blacked out in a local market for the first time since 2002, when the Miami Dolphins-Baltimore Ravens playoff game was not shown in and around Miami. But the league gave the Bengals, the Colts and the Packers extensions until late Friday afternoon. That did the trick as team sponsors bought big blocks of seats, helping the Bengals, the Colts and the Packers sell out their stadiums. This season, only two games were blacked out, a low. To avoid a blackout, a game must be sold out 72 hours before kickoff. In Indianapolis, Meijer, a large retailer, bought 1,200 tickets for Saturday’s game against the Chiefs and will donate them to military families. Larry Hall, the director of ticket sales for the Colts, said many fans fly to Indiana for games, but it was unclear how many would be able to reach Indianapolis. The Bengals had until 4 p.m. Eastern time Friday to fill their stadium for the game against the Chargers. Kroger, a grocery chain, bought an undisclosed amount of tickets, and with minutes to go Procter & Gamble, which has its headquarters in Cincinnati, bought the remaining tickets. Kroger and P&G are also giving their tickets to members of the military. Part of the problem for home teams is that, even before the snowstorm, fans did not know until after the regular season ended when their team would be playing this weekend, according to Jack Brennan, a spokesman for the Bengals. “You’ve got a tough product to sell in a short time because until Sunday night we couldn’t tell people what time and day the game is,” Brennan said. The league also requires that tickets be sold at face value during the playoffs, which prevents teams from discounting or giving them away. “While I don’t think our tickets are as high priced as in some markets, there are less levers you can pull for a playoff game than during the regular season,” Brennan said. Playoff tickets were also being sold during a holiday week, when many families travel. In Green Bay, the Packers added 7,000 seats in the off-season, giving them more tickets to sell. The team was also left for dead after quarterback Aaron Rodgers was injured. Their late-season comeback to reach the playoffs may have surprised some fans. The last time the Packers failed to sell out a playoff game was on Jan. 8, 1983, when they drew 54,282 for a victory against the St. Louis Cardinals. Fans planning to attend the game Sunday at Lambeau Field are bracing for frigid conditions. Alex Sosnowski, a senior meteorologist at Accuweather.com, expects temperatures at kickoff to be below zero, dropping to about 10 below by the end of the game. With winds up to 20 miles per hour, the wind chill could fall to about 20 below. “The folks going to that game will have to layer up,” Sosnowski said. “I hope they don’t run out of coffee, tea and cocoa, because they can be lifesavers.” The weather will be so cold that longtime fans like Tony Hoes and Chuck Olsen will forgo their traditional tailgating party and enjoy the pregame festivities at a concession tent outside the stadium. “We usually like our beer during the game, but when it gets this cold, we might just have one or two,” Hoes said. “It’s such a dramatic difference when it gets into the single digits. You have to be a little smarter about being outside. You don’t want to lose a finger in return for your fun.” As bone-chilling as it might be in Green Bay on Sunday night, the game is unlikely to qualify as the coldest game ever . That mark was set in the famous Ice Bowl game, also in Green Bay, between the Packers and the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 31, 1967. In that game, played in daylight, the temperature was minus 13 degrees and the wind chill minus 48 degrees. The second-coldest game was the A.F.C. championship in Cincinnati in 1982. (The Chargers were also the visiting team that day.) The thermometer fell to minus 9 degrees, and the wind chill was a remarkable minus 59 degrees. Four of the top 10 coldest playoff games were played at Lambeau Field. The silver lining for fans of teams that make it to the next round is that the weather may be noticeably warmer. The game in Seattle on Jan. 11 is expected to include rain and temperatures in the 40s, while the game in Foxborough, Mass., will be cold, but with no snow or rain, Sosnowski said. The games in Charlotte, N.C., and Denver should also be played in the 40s. Of course, all these forecasts are subject to revision.
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Football;NFL; Super Bowl; Super Bowl 2015;Bengals;Colts;Weather
|
ny0237202
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2010/06/17
|
Add Government to the List of ‘Fat Cats’
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WASHINGTON — The thrashing of BP this week, in private meetings at the White House and in public hearings on Capitol Hill, was perhaps the most direct confrontation to date between governing Democrats and a corporate behemoth, but it was hardly the first. In fact, at least partly in response to economic unrest he inherited, President Obama himself has established a remarkable pattern of regularly scolding the titans of American industry. Last year, he derided reluctant lenders as “fat cats” and called the bonuses of A.I.G. executives an “outrage”; more recently, he attacked health insurers as greedy and accused the owners of a West Virginia mining company of putting “their bottom line before the safety of their workers.” Taken together, such public indictments would seem to make Mr. Obama’s administration the most populist, at least in its rhetoric, since Franklin D. Roosevelt ’s. And yet, somehow, the only potent grass-roots movement to emerge from this moment of dissatisfaction with America’s economic elite exists not in support of the president or his party, but far to the right instead, in the form of the so-called Tea Party rebellions that are injecting new energy into the Republican cause. If Mr. Obama has so consistently cast himself as the populist scourge of corporate abusers, then why does so much of the popular anger seem to be directed at him instead? In part, this is probably because Mr. Obama, while seemingly eager to read from a populist script, is really too cool and contemplative to be terribly convincing in the role. For sheer intensity of emotion, the president hardly rivals even the more patrician John F. Kennedy , who complained after a run-in with steelmakers that all businessmen were in fact “sons of bitches,” as his father had counseled him. Mr. Obama’s aides like to describe him as privately furious at one corporation or another, but the president seems more like a school kid whose friends are holding him back from a hallway fight, screaming “Let me at him!” but not really relishing the idea. But there is something more fundamental going on here, too, an underlying shift in the meaning of American populism. Most Democrats, after all, persist in embracing populism as it existed in the early part of the last century — that is, strictly as a function of economic inequality. In this worldview, the oppressed are the poor, and the oppressors are the corporate interests who exploit them. That made sense 75 years ago, when a relatively small number of corporations — oil and coal companies, steel producers, car makers — controlled a vast segment of the work force and when government was a comparatively anemic enterprise. In recent decades, however, as technology has reshaped the economy, more and more Americans have gone to work for smaller or more decentralized employers, or even for themselves, while government has exploded in size and influence. (It’s not incidental that the old manufacturing unions, like the autoworkers and steelworkers, have been eclipsed in membership and political influence by those that represent large numbers of government workers.) Since this transformation took place, a succession of liberal politicians — Jesse Jackson , Jerry Brown, John Edwards — have tried to run for president on a traditionally populist, anticorporate platform, with little success. That is because today’s only viable brand of populism, the same strain that Ross Perot expertly tapped as an independent presidential candidate in 1992, is not principally about the struggling worker versus his corporate master. It is about the individual versus the institution — not only business, but also government and large media and elite universities, too. You do not have to be working for the minimum wage, after all, to seethe about the effects of the Wall Street meltdown on your retirement savings or the spilled oil creeping toward your shores. You simply have to fear that large institutions generally exercise too much power and too little responsibility in society. This new American populism is why the federal deficit has emerged as a chief concern for voters, as it did in Mr. Perot’s era — not because it presents an imminent crisis of its own, necessarily, but because it signifies a kind of institutional recklessness, a disconnectedness from the reality of daily life. The same dynamic explains the current spate of questions over the composition of the Supreme Court , which may soon consist entirely of lawyers trained at Harvard and Yale. It does not seem to matter that virtually all of those justices advanced from the middle class, rather than through inheritance. The pervasive reach of exclusive educational institutions is unnerving to some Americans now, and it helps inspire the caustic brand of populism that Sarah Palin and others have made central to their political identities. What this means for Mr. Obama is that an anxious populace is now less likely to see his clash with BP as an instance of government’s standing up to a venal corporation, but rather as an instance of both sprawling institutions having once again failed to protect them. In a poll conducted last month by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center , 63 percent of respondents rated BP’s handling of the oil leak as fair or poor. But the government fared only modestly better, with 54 percent giving it the same dismal marks. In other words, voters perceive both business and government as part of an interdependent system, and it is hard for them to separate out the culpability of either. Mr. Obama acknowledged as much in his speech Tuesday, when he asserted — in his lone criticism of government’s role in the crisis — that the bureau in charge of monitoring the oil companies had effectively been colluding with them instead. All of which leaves the old kind of anticorporate populism — “the people versus the powerful,” as Al Gore put it — a beat behind the times, sort of like “flower power” or the Laffer Curve. Mr. Obama and his party are probably right to presume that voters don’t trust BP or any of the powerful companies the president has taken to castigating on a regular basis. The problem is that they don’t trust Washington to stand up for them, either.
|
Barack Obama;Speeches;US Economy;BP;US Politics;AIG;President of the United States
|
ny0067359
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2014/12/02
|
‘Cake Boss’ Star Pleads Guilty to D.W.I. Charge
|
The reality star known as the “Cake Boss” concluded his cameo appearances in Criminal Court in Manhattan, resolving a drunken-driving arrest by pleading guilty on Monday to driving while impaired. The plea deal means that the star, Bartolo Valastro Jr., known on his show and to his friends as Buddy, will not be allowed to drive for three months — possibly putting a damper on his ability to visit some of the more far-flung bakeries in his expanding empire, like ones in Times Square and Las Vegas. Judge Melissa A. Crane fined Mr. Valastro $300, suspended his license for three months in New York State and ordered him to take a course on drunken driving. New Jersey, where Mr. Valastro lives, will suspend his driving privileges in the next few days, his lawyer and publicist said. As he left court, Mr. Valastro, whose solid-family-man persona has been the key to his show’s success, said he had learned a valuable lesson. “One is too many,” he said, “and I will never get behind the wheel of a car again if I have a drink, even if I have a sip.” “I can tell you honestly that when I got in that car I thought I was fine to drive,” he added. “But I wasn’t and I put people in danger.” Later in the day, Mr. Valastro put out a similar statement on Twitter . “My sincerest apologies to my family, friends and fans,” he said. Mr. Valastro, 37, spent a night in jail on Nov. 13 after being pulled over by officers who saw him driving erratically in a yellow 2014 Corvette on 10th Avenue near 32nd Street just after 1 a.m. He was heading home to New Jersey after a business dinner, his lawyer said. Officers took him to the station where his blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.09 percent, just above the legal limit. Mr. Valastro’s lawyer, Peter Gerstenzang, said that his client could have fought the charges and had a fair chance of winning an acquittal, but that he chose not to because it would send the wrong message to his family and fans. “That’s not him,” Mr. Gerstenzang said. “The hardest thing for him was explaining this to his kids. I think morally he had to take that plea.” Mr. Valastro, who lives in East Hanover, N.J., gained national fame after his family’s bakery was featured on the TLC reality television series “Cake Boss.” The show focused on the elaborate themed cakes he and his employees make for special occasions at his bakery, Carlo’s Bake Shop, which has been in the Valastro family for five decades.
|
Buddy Valastro;Driving Under the Influence DUI;TV;Manhattan;Cake Boss
|
ny0082285
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2015/10/20
|
Low Voter Turnout Reflects System by Design in Egypt
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CAIRO — There was never much suspense about the results of Egypt’s parliamentary elections: President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had put in place a voting system that seemed designed to virtually eliminate policy debate or ideological competition. And turnout in the first two days was so low that one judge involved in overseeing the polling could not keep a straight face about it in a television interview on Monday. Abdullah Fathy, the president of the association of judges, was asked about procedural violations. “There are no violations because of the weak participation,” he said, struggling not to laugh. “Where are the violations or the fights going to come from?” he asked. “There are no incidences, no violations, no excesses — no voters!” Most of the candidates are local notables without known ideologies or platforms. Many are former members of the ruling party under the previous strongman, Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in a popular uprising in 2011. Other candidates are military officers who served under Mr. Sisi, the defense minister until he led a military takeover in 2013. “The Egyptian people provided the best response by failing to show up,” said Khaled Dawoud, a former spokesman for a liberal party that boycotted the vote. “It is an embarrassment, and they can’t deny that it is embarrassment,” he added. “This election will not help attempt to build a democracy or to have a true Parliament that can hold the president accountable.” Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said Monday that 15 percent or 16 percent of eligible voters had turned out for the first day of voting the previous day, the state news agency reported. But he did not cite the source of his estimate and the election commission did not disclose its figures. Several polling places in the populous areas near Cairo were almost completely empty, except for a handful of elderly voters. Almost every news account indicated a dearth of voters elsewhere as well. Alarmed by the low turnout on Sunday, Mr. Ismail gave public employees a half-day holiday on Monday to encourage more voting. The governor of Alexandria dropped the fares for public transportation. Pro-government talk show hosts hectored their audiences to get out and vote. Other Egyptians, however, traded jokes about the turnout. “I need to sit alone for a while,” many repeated on Facebook. “I am going to a polling station.” “No one went today either” was trending on Twitter. The low turnout recalled elections for the rubber-stamp parliaments under Mr. Mubarak, although Mr. Mubarak had in fact allowed more competition. In his later years in power, Mr. Mubarak had permitted the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s mainstream Islamist movement and the largest opposition group, to win as many as 20 percent of the seats in the Parliament. Then a ruling party sweep eliminated the Brotherhood from Parliament completely in 2010, raising widespread allegations of rigging and setting the stage for the uprising a few months later. Turnout swelled to 55 percent of the voting age population in 2011 for Egypt’s first free parliamentary election in decades. A party list system emphasized policy debate over candidate patronage, and the Brotherhood dominated the vote. Then a year later a court ordered Parliament’s dissolution over a procedural technicality. The army assumed the legislative powers, and a year after that, in 2013, Mr. Sisi led the military ouster of the elected president , Mohamed Morsi of the Brotherhood. Mr. Sisi has ruled without a legislature since 2013. The current election is expected to return lawmakers to the halls of Parliament for the first time in more than three years. Mr. Sisi’s government has also outlawed the Brotherhood, arrested its leaders and shut down its media outlets, and the police have cracked down on more secular opposition as well. For this parliamentary vote, Mr. Sisi put three-quarters of the seats up for competition by individual candidates, favoring the prominent and wealthy. In perhaps the most hotly contested district, in the Dokki neighborhood of Giza across the Nile from Cairo, the son of a famous soccer team manager was running on the slogan “We Score for You,” with a soccer ball as his logo. His chief rival was Abdel Rahim Ali, a pro-Sisi talk show host known for broadcasting leaked telephone surveillance of the private telephone calls of opposition figures. His logo: a mobile phone. An additional 5 percent of the seats will be filled by presidential appointment. The other 20 percent will be awarded to the parties that get the most votes in each of several large districts, favoring the largest parties. Roughly half of Egypt’s provinces voted Sunday and Monday. Runoffs, if necessary, will be held later this month, and the other half of the provinces will vote in November.
|
Egypt;Abdel Fattah el-Sisi;Polls;Election;Voting
|
ny0066890
|
[
"sports",
"tennis"
] |
2014/06/22
|
Wimbledon 2014: On Tennis Court, Speed Can Counteract Height
|
The women’s final of the 2014 French Open was about to begin, and Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep posed for pictures at the net. “That doesn’t even look fair,” Mary Carillo, commenting on the match for American television, said, referring to the height difference between Sharapova, who is 6 feet 2 inches, and Halep, who is 5-6. Carillo has a quick wit, but her comment also tapped into the common perception that height makes right in modern tennis, an ever more demanding sport in which players’ power, reach and athleticism are increasing. The trend, particularly on the men’s side, is clear, but a funny thing has happened on the road to a taller player pool: Shorter players have continued to thrive. Halep versus Sharapova was definitely a fair match. It was the most compelling French Open women’s final in more than a decade, with Sharapova winning , 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4. Halep, an all-court talent who has won five tour titles in the past 12 months, is now entrenched at No. 3 in the rankings . As Wimbledon begins Monday, she is not alone. Dominika Cibulkova, at 5-3, reached the final of the Australian Open in January and remains in the top 10. Sara Errani, a former French Open finalist who is slightly taller than 5-4, reached the final in Rome and is ranked 14th. Marion Bartoli was the surprise winner at Wimbledon last year before retiring at 28 in August. Asked how the shorter set was managing, the 5-7 Bartoli pointed to her temple. “It’s in the head,” she said. “It’s about playing intelligently.” On the men’s tour, the 5-9 David Ferrer has been joined in the top 15 by two 5-10 players: Kei Nishikori, the dynamic Japanese star, and Fabio Fognini, the combustible Italian. “I think it’s a misnomer that small players can’t play tennis at the highest level,” said Michael Chang, a former French Open champion, who coaches Nishikori. “If it was something like basketball, I would say probably it’s a little more difficult, but tennis will always be a thinking man’s game, and even though taller, bigger, stronger players may be able to hit it faster and harder and maybe have a bigger serve, there are always ways of neutralizing that. For me, I’ve had to do it all my life.” The 5-9 Chang peaked at No. 2 in the world and reached three other Grand Slam singles finals after winning in Paris in 1989. He succeeded with competitive drive and technical skill. He did it with great returns and by leaping off the court for ground strokes or taking the ball early off the bounce to keep it from going too high above his shoulders and his optimal hitting zone. Above all, Chang did it by using his speed and top-notch footwork as a weapon. “I’d much rather be 6-3 and a good athlete in tennis than 5-9 and a good athlete,” said José Higueras, the director of coaching for the United States Tennis Association. “But at the same time, people that are a little smaller, I think because of necessity they have to have a better understanding of how to play. I think sometimes the ones who are not very gifted sizewise are more resourceful in terms of defense and how they play the percentages.” The Hall of Fame coach Nick Bollettieri said last year that of the scores of players he had helped, “Xavier Malisse, Marcelo Ríos and Nishikori were the best shotmakers.” Image Maria Sharapova, at 6 feet 2 inches, towered over the 5-6 Simona Halep before the French Open final. Credit Patrick Kovarik/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Nishikori, who remains injury-prone, is more of an attacking player at heart than Chang, but he shares that reliance on speed and aggressive footwork. “Speed does make up for a lot,” Chang said. “The bigger guys aren’t going to be as fast, and if you take advantage of that speed in not just a defensive way but in an offensive way, that can work wonders. Because all of the sudden if you use it the right way, bigger guys, if they are not able to get to the ball the right way, they cannot make use of that offensive power.” According to the ATP Tour, the average height of the men in the year-end top 50 climbed more than an inch and a half from 2003 to 2013. More players are also exceptionally tall now. In 2003, no players taller than 6-5 ranked in the year-end top 50. Last year, there were six, including the 6-10 American John Isner. The tale of the tape reads differently for the women. According to figures for the top 10 provided by the WTA, the average height in mid-June 1994 was 5-8. By the equivalent week in 2004, it had risen to 5-9 ¼. This week, it is again at that 5-9 average, even with athletes like Sharapova and the 6-footers Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova in the mix. Cibulkova, No. 10 at the moment, brings the average down. “She takes the ball very early,” said Harold Solomon, a former top-10 men’s player and a longtime leading women’s coach. “And for a little woman, her legs are like Serena’s legs. So she has a very strong lower body, and she’s quick. She attacks. She’s not a counterpuncher necessarily. She’s looking to go after balls all the time. She’s not going to be successful all the time. She’s going to play bigger girls and get knocked off the court sometimes. “But she’s done amazingly well, worked really hard and trains like a maniac. She’s got a great attitude, a little fighter attitude, more a guy’s attitude to some degree: in your face all the time.” Solomon, now 5-5 but 5-6 in his playing days, was one of the shortest men to have great success in the Open era, reaching No. 4 and the French Open final in 1976. “I don’t think it’s going to happen again for a man of my size,” he said. “It’s just too hard on a consistent basis. Athletes will continue to get bigger, faster and stronger, but I do think there will continue to be exceptions.” Patrick McEnroe, the former pro who manages player development for the U.S.T.A., said he believed the women’s game was more conducive to shorter players’ success than the men’s game because the serve was often less of a factor. Few women also hit big kick serves or hit ground strokes with heavy topspin, so it is easier for a shorter player to make contact with the ball below shoulder height. Justine Henin, who won six Grand Slam singles titles in the 2000s before retiring in 2011, is 5-5 and often faced off against Lindsay Davenport, at 6-2, and Venus Williams, at 6-1. They also sometimes elicited a few chuckles when they lined up for photographs at the net. But those were fair fights, just like Halep’s glorious tussle with Sharapova in Paris.
|
Wimbledon Tennis,Wimbledon;Marion Bartoli;Simona Halep;Sara Errani;Dominika Cibulkova;Tennis
|
ny0001614
|
[
"world",
"americas"
] |
2013/03/07
|
Crowds Throng Caracas Streets to Salute Chávez
|
CARACAS, Venezuela — In a modest brown wood coffin covered in a Venezuelan flag, President Hugo Chávez was carried through the capital, Caracas, on Wednesday morning as crowds thronged the streets, cabinet ministers and top military officials walked alongside his black hearse, while hundreds of soldiers in green fatigues and other supporters followed in the yellow, blue and red caps of the national colors. A priest said a prayer over the coffin before it was loaded on the hearse, and the national anthem was played. Mr. Chávez’s mother stood at one end with her head buried in a white handkerchief, overcome with tears. Along the route of the procession were thousands of people, many dressed in his movement’s characteristic red shirts, often crying and holding up cellphones to photograph the coffin as it passed from the hospital where he died to the military academy here in Caracas where he studied as a young, unheralded cadet. He will lie in state there, in honor of a career that included a failed 1992 coup, a successful 1998 election campaign and then 14 years as the dominant, charismatic, divisive, beloved, reviled and three-times re-elected president of this oil-rich nation. Yet as Venezuela begins to adjust to life without its central figure, questions abound, including how the nation will be run in the coming weeks and when a new election will be scheduled to choose Mr. Chávez’s replacement as president. Caracas appeared calm on Wednesday morning, although without much of its usual traffic and bustle. While most shops and businesses shut their doors abruptly after the announcement Tuesday evening of the death of Mr. Chávez, who had cancer, many reopened Wednesday. There were lines outside of supermarkets waiting for the steel gates to go up and restaurants and pharmacies were open. “I had faith that he would get up again and speak to us,” said María Viamizal, 38, a newspaper seller who was a dedicated supporter of the president and received a new apartment through a government program on Dec. 11, the same day that Mr. Chávez had his final operation for cancer in Cuba. “Thanks to God and my commander I have my apartment. He helped lots of people.” Although many were in mourning, Mr. Chávez also had many detractors who said they suffered during his long rule. “Under this government my family went through hard times,” said Gustavo Graterón, 27, a marketing supervisor on his way to work. He said that a relative had lost her government job for political reasons and that he had once been caught in the middle of a gunfight in the crime-ridden capital and nearly shot. “I didn’t wish for his death, but I’m not in mourning.” Close to tears and his voice cracking, Vice President Nicolás Maduro announced the death to a stunned nation on Tuesday afternoon. He said he and other officials had gone to the military hospital where Mr. Chávez was being treated, sequestered from the public, when “we received the hardest and most tragic information that we could transmit to our people.” There remained some uncertainty over the country’s transition. “What occurs next is very clearly established,” Foreign Minister Elías Jaua said in a television interview Tuesday night, saying that Mr. Chávez had referred to the constitutional provisions for succession in his last televised address to the nation on Dec. 8, before leaving for his operation in Cuba. “The vice president assumes the presidency, and elections will be called in the next 30 days.” Yet no official announcement was made as of Wednesday morning about a schedule for elections or whether Mr. Maduro has formally taken charge of the presidency. At the start of the procession on Wednesday, Mr. Maduro walked out ahead of the coffin, alone for several minutes in the crowd, dressed in a Chávez-style jacket in the national colors, looking downcast and pensive. He was then joined by his wife, Attorney General Cilia Flores. As darkness fell the night before, somber crowds congregated in the main square of Caracas and at the military hospital, with men and women crying openly in sadness and fear about what would come next. In one neighborhood, Chávez supporters set fire to tents and mattresses used by university students who had chained themselves together in protest several days earlier to demand more information about Mr. Chávez’s condition. Image Supporters at a candlelight vigil. Credit Meridith Kohut for The New York Times “Are you happy now?” the Chávez supporters shouted as they ran through the streets with sticks. “Chávez is dead! You got what you wanted!” Mr. Chávez’s departure from a country he dominated for 14 years casts into doubt the future of his socialist revolution. It alters the political balance not only in Venezuela, the fourth-largest supplier of foreign oil to the United States, but also in Latin America, where Mr. Chávez led a group of nations intent on reducing American influence in the region. Mr. Chávez, 58, changed Venezuela in fundamental ways, empowering and energizing millions of poor people who had felt marginalized and excluded. But his rule also widened society’s divisions, and his death is sure to bring vast uncertainty as the nation tries to find its way without its central figure. “He’s the best president in history,” said Andrés Mejía, 65, a retiree in Cumaná, an eastern city, crying as he gathered with friends in a plaza. “Look at how emotional I am — I’m crying. I cannot accept the president’s death. But the revolution will continue with Maduro.” The election to succeed Mr. Chávez is likely to pit Mr. Maduro, whom Mr. Chávez designated as his political successor, against Henrique Capriles Radonski, a young state governor who lost to Mr. Chávez in the presidential election in October. But in light of Mr. Chávez’s illness, there has been heated debate in recent months over clashing interpretations of the Constitution, and it is impossible to predict how the transition will proceed. “We, your civilian and military companions, Commander Hugo Chávez, assume your legacy, your challenges, your project, accompanied by and with the support of the people,” Mr. Maduro told the nation. Only hours earlier, the government seemed to go into a state of heightened alert as Mr. Maduro convened a crisis meeting in Caracas of cabinet ministers, governors loyal to the president and top military commanders. Taking a page out of Mr. Chávez’s time-tested playbook, Mr. Maduro warned in a lengthy televised speech that the United States was seeking to destabilize the country, and the government expelled the two American military attachés, accusing one of seeking to recruit Venezuelan military personnel to carry out “destabilizing projects.” He called on Venezuelans to unite as he raised the specter of foreign intervention. During the speech, Mr. Maduro said the government suspected that the president’s enemies had found a way to cause his cancer, a possibility that Mr. Chávez had once raised. Mr. Maduro said scientists should investigate the source of his illness. Mr. Chávez long accused the United States of trying to undermine or even assassinate him; indeed, the Bush administration gave tacit support for a coup that briefly removed him from power in 2002. He often used Washington as a foil to build support or distract attention from deeply rooted problems at home, like high inflation and soaring crime. American officials had hoped to improve relations with Venezuela under Mr. Maduro, with informal talks taking place last year. But more recently, the government has appeared to shift into campaign mode, taking sweeping aim at the Venezuelan opposition and playing up the opposition’s real or alleged ties to the United States. “We completely reject the Venezuelan government’s claim that the United States is involved in any type of conspiracy to destabilize the Venezuelan government,” Patrick Ventrell, a State Department spokesman, said after the expulsion of the American attachés. He added, “Notwithstanding the significant differences between our governments, we continue to believe it important to seek a functional and more productive relationship with Venezuela.” Mr. Chávez’s cancer was diagnosed in June 2011, but throughout his treatment he and his government kept many details about his illness secret. He had three operations in Cuba between June 2011 and February 2012, as well as chemotherapy and radiation treatment, but the cancer kept coming back. Then on Dec. 8, just two months after winning re-election, Mr. Chávez stunned the nation by announcing in a televised address that he needed yet more surgery. That operation, his fourth, took place in Havana on Dec. 11. Hugo Chávez’s Rise to Power 16 Photos View Slide Show › Image Ariana Cubillos/Associated Press In the aftermath, grim-faced aides described the procedure as complex and said Mr. Chávez’s condition was delicate. They eventually notified the country of complications, first bleeding and then a severe lung infection and difficulty breathing. After previous operations, Mr. Chávez often appeared on television while recuperating in Havana, posted messages on Twitter or was heard on telephone calls made to television programs on a government station. But after his December operation, he was not seen again in public, and his voice fell silent. Mr. Chávez’s aides eventually announced that a tube had been inserted in his trachea to help his breathing, and that he had difficulty speaking. It was the ultimate paradox for a man who seemed never at a loss for words, often improvising for hours at a time on television, haranguing, singing, lecturing, reciting poetry and orating. As the weeks dragged on, tensions rose in Venezuela. Officials in Mr. Chávez’s government strove to project an image of business as usual and deflected inevitable questions about a vacuum at the top. At the same time, the country struggled with an out-of-balance economy, troubled by soaring prices and escalating shortages of basic goods. The opposition, weakened after defeats in the presidential election in October and elections for governor in December, in which its candidates lost in 20 of 23 states, sought to keep pressure on the government. Then officials suddenly announced on Feb. 18 that Mr. Chávez had returned to Caracas. He arrived unseen on a predawn flight and was installed in a military hospital, where, aides said, he was continuing treatments. Over nearly a decade and a half, Mr. Chávez made most major decisions and dominated all aspects of political life. He inspired a fierce, sometimes religious devotion among his supporters and an equally fervent animus among his opponents. As many of his followers say, “With Chávez everything, without Chávez nothing.” But that leaves his revolution in a precarious spot without its charismatic leader. “In regimes that are so person-based, the moment that the person on which everything hangs is removed, the entire foundation becomes very weak because there was nothing else supporting this other than this figure,” said Javier Corrales, a professor of political science at Amherst College. Mr. Chávez’s death could provide an opportunity for the political opposition, which was never able to defeat him in a head-to-head contest. Mr. Capriles lost to Mr. Chávez by 11 percentage points in October. But he has twice beaten top Chávez lieutenants in running for governor of his state, Miranda, which includes part of Caracas. And Mr. Maduro is far from having Mr. Chávez’s visceral connection to the masses of Venezuela’s poor. Even so, most analysts believe that Mr. Maduro will have an advantage, and that he will receive a surge of support if the vote occurs soon. But even if Mr. Maduro prevails, he may have a hard time holding together Mr. Chávez’s movement while fending off resistance from what is likely to be a revived opposition. Mr. Chávez’s new six-year term began on Jan. 10, with the president incommunicado in Havana. In his absence, the government held a huge rally in the center of Caracas, where thousands of his followers raised their hands to pledge an oath of “absolute loyalty” to their commander and his revolution. Officials promised that Mr. Chávez would have his inauguration later, when he had recovered. But the hoped-for recovery never came. Now, instead of an inauguration, Mr. Chávez’s followers are left to plan a funeral. The foreign minister, Mr. Jaua, announced that on Wednesday Mr. Chávez’s body would be taken to the military academy in Caracas and lie in state there. Mr. Jaua said that the government would hold a ceremony on Friday with visiting heads of state and that officials would announce later where Mr. Chávez would be laid to rest.
|
Hugo Chavez;Venezuela;Nicolas Maduro
|
ny0224270
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2010/11/12
|
David M. Steiner Will Decide on School Leader
|
The man who will decide whether Cathleen P. Black , a publisher with no educational leadership experience, is qualified to lead the nation’s largest school system is himself a career educator known for his efforts to better prepare teachers for the classroom. But David M. Steiner, the New York State education commissioner, is also a well-regarded figure among the school reform movement, whose guiding principle is that American students are best served by a results-driven, businesslike approach to education management. In the debate over Ms. Black’s qualifications — or lack of them — Dr. Steiner has quickly emerged as a focal point in what is widely expected to be a contentious process. State law requires all school chiefs to hold a professional certificate in educational leadership and to have at least three years’ experience in schools, two qualifications she lacks. The law allows for the education commissioner to grant a waiver to “exceptionally qualified persons.” At least one elected official — Tony Avella, a former city councilman from Queens elected last week to the State Senate — has already urged the commissioner to deny the waiver, and Merryl H. Tisch, the chancellor of the State Board of Regents, said Thursday that her office had been flooded with phone calls and e-mails from parents, teachers and community leaders both for and against the waiver. She has no formal role in the waiver process but said she would be facilitating it. Dr. Steiner, who took office in October 2009, has so far given no indication of where he stands, and declined to be interviewed. Tom Dunn, a spokesman for the commissioner, said the Education Department had not yet received New York City’s request for a waiver for Ms. Black. Mr. Dunn said that once it does, Dr. Steiner will convene a screening panel consisting of representatives of the State Education Department and educational organizations to make a recommendation to Dr. Steiner. Mr. Dunn would not speculate on how long that would take. Dr. Steiner has not previously received a waiver request, though his predecessor, Richard P. Mills, approved a waiver for the current schools chancellor, Joel I. Klein, in 2002. But in 2004, the Education Department told the city not to bother applying for a waiver for one candidate for a deputy chancellor position, which also required a certificate. Dr. Steiner, 52, was born in Princeton, N.J., where his father was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study. He grew up mainly in Cambridge, England, though he briefly attended Public School 41 in Greenwich Village. He graduated from Balliol College at Oxford University with a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in philosophy, politics and economics, and later earned a doctorate in political science from Harvard University. During a long career in education, Dr. Steiner has been director of arts education at the National Endowment for the Arts, and a professor at the school of education at Boston University. He also taught at Vanderbilt University. He is known among reformers for his efforts to get education schools to spend more time imbuing teachers with practical classroom skills and less time on abstract notions like the “role of school in democracy,” he said in an interview this year. As dean of the school of education at Hunter College, he developed a system of filming student teachers to evaluate their mastery of skills like making eye contact, calling students by name and waiting for more complete answers. “He very clearly thinks out of the box,” said Charlotte K. Frank, a longtime New York City educator and a member of the New York State Board of Regents from 2000 to 2002. This year, he was instrumental in getting the state teachers’ union to agree to a system of evaluating teachers based partly on test scores, which has been a major goal of the new generation of education leaders, including Mr. Klein and the federal education secretary, Arne Duncan. That agreement helped the state win nearly $700 million in federal Race to the Top money. Henry L. Grishman, superintendent of the Jericho district on Long Island, said Dr. Steiner has also been a forceful advocate for professional development for teachers, encouraging districts to revise and update their programs to make them more effective. “He has brought a lot of creative and substantive ideas to the table, and I’m eagerly waiting to see them come to fruition,” he said.
|
Steiner David;Black Cathleen P;Education (K-12);Education Department (NYC);New York City
|
ny0110357
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2012/05/15
|
New Greek Elections Loom
|
ATHENS — With Greece hurtling toward new elections and a possible exit from the euro zone, President Karolos Papoulias prepared to make a last-ditch appeal on Monday for the country's sharply divided political parties to form a unity government even as his hopes for success all but evaporated over the weekend. The leaders of Greece's main political parties remained adamant in their positions on the country’s debt agreement with foreign lenders, making a unity coalition appear impossible and new elections all but inevitable. Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left, refused on Sunday to take part in any government that would go through with the harsh austerity measures required in the debt deal, saying that Greek voters had resoundingly rejected austerity in elections on May 6 . The parties that favor preserving the debt deal lack enough seats in Parliament to govern on their own, and Mr. Papoulias spent Sunday trying to persuade several smaller parties to join them. On Monday, Mr. Tsipras said he objected to a meeting proposed by the president with "selected party leaders" from the conservative and Socialist pro-bailout parties and the head of a smaller moderate leftist party. He said he would meet with Mr. Papoulias on Monday only if he could do so on his own, or with the leaders of all the Greek parties, excluding the extreme-right Golden Dawn. The meeting between the Mr. Papoulias and party leaders was not expected until after 7:30 p.m. local time. The Greek crisis was expected to dominate discussions in Brussels as European finance ministers were to meet on Monday. European leaders have warned that if Greece does not keep its promises, Europe will stop financing it, which would quickly lead to Greece’s defaulting on its debts and ending its use of the euro. In a sign of how far things have come, the once-taboo topic of Greece being forced to exit the euro has become so common in public discourse recently that there is now a shorthand term: “Grexit.” The renewed uncertainty in Europe continued to weigh on stocks and the euro, while Spanish and Italian bond yields rose sharply again amid fears that fallout from the crisis would spread to other euro countries in difficult financial straits. Bank shares were among the biggest losers. Ministers in Brussels were also expected to review details of the latest plan to stabilize Spanish banks that are still dealing with the fallout of a burst property bubble. Yet that task is made even tougher by the situation in Greece, which despite two bailouts and the biggest debt write-off in history threatens to destabilize the whole region once again. “Europe is living in complicated times,” the Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said going into the meeting. “Greece needs to take a series of measures and the political uncertainty is impeding it from taking those measures and that is weighing on markets.’’ Last week, Greece’s European creditors fired a warning shot, withholding 1 billion euros from a promised loan of 5.2 billion euros, angering Greek officials because the funds were contingent on actions the country had taken. The political crisis also follows closely after voters in France and Germany dealt blows to the conservative leaders who had backed the European Union’s hard austerity line with its troubled members. The party of Chancellor Angela Merkel, the leading voice demanding austerity, was soundly defeated in elections in Germany’s most populous state on Sunday. Ms. Merkel will meet on Tuesday with the new Socialist president of France, François Hollande, who ran on a platform that seemed to reject further austerity measures in his victory over Ms. Merkel’s close ally in European economic matters, Nicolas Sarkozy. European leaders have assembled the financial resources to weather a Greek default, but there is widespread concern that a larger country that is also struggling with recession and painful austerity, like Spain or Italy, might follow, overwhelming those defenses and panicking financial markets. No country has ever left the euro zone, and it is not clear what the effects of a Greek departure would be. The political wrangling in Greece highlights the clash developing across Europe between democracy and the demands of market forces. Greece’s political parties say any new government there must reflect the will of the people, who largely voted against the debt agreement and would probably take to the streets if a new government paid them no heed. But leaders here have struggled to find a way to do so without reneging on commitments to Europe and Greece’s creditors, which would provoke a cutoff of loans and soon leave the country unable to pay wages and pensions. Now, unless there is an unexpected breakthrough, Mr. Papoulias will have to call a new election, most likely on June 17, and polls indicate that the Coalition of the Radical Left and other parties that oppose the debt deal will gather even more strength. Stelios Kouloglou, who runs the Greek news site Tvxs.gr, called such an election “almost inevitable.” “I think chances are very low for a government to be formed, taking into consideration the different positions the protagonists have taken,” he said. Mr. Tsipras and his coalition, known as Syriza, gained political momentum by defying Europe’s threat to cut Greece off from further bailout funds. On Sunday, he insisted that his party would not join any unity coalition with the Socialists and New Democracy, the major parties who were in government when the debt deal was signed. Syriza will “not be complicit in their crimes,” Mr. Tsipras said. “Those that governed the past two years have not only failed to accept the message from the elections,” he said. “They continue their policy of blackmail. We call on all Greeks, not just leftists, to condemn once and for all the forces of the past.” Democratic Left, a moderate leftist party that split off from Syriza in 2010 and also campaigned against the debt deal, was seen as a possible alternative to Syriza in a unity coalition. But on Sunday evening, the party leader, Fotis Kouvelis, shot down that idea. “I am sorry, but each political party must assume its responsibilities, and we have assumed ours,” he said. Any coalition without Syriza would “lack legitimacy and could stoke social unrest,” an adviser to the party said. “The rage of Syriza is such that they would not allow such a government to stand even for a day,” the official said, predicting a wave of protests. Syriza placed second in the May 6 election with 17 percent of the vote, and polls since then suggest that it would win a new election in June. The party has become the vessel for growing anger in Greece at the two once-dominant parties, New Democracy and the Socialists, known as Pasok, which signed the loan agreement and then had their worst electoral showings since they were founded in 1974. All told, the parties that backed Greece’s 130 billion euro, or $170 billion, loan agreement with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund won less than 40 percent of the vote. The loan agreement calls for steep wage cuts and tax increases to reduce Greece’s deficit, in exchange for fresh loans and the largest debt write-down in history. After it was approved by euro zone finance ministers in February, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said, “Sadly, the only alternative to today’s agreement is a catastrophic default.” After initially defending the deal in the same terms, New Democracy and Pasok said they would support renegotiating some terms of the agreement, as long as Greece’s membership in the euro was sustained. But Mr. Tsipras refused to join them. After meeting with the president, he said that his party “does not say one thing to voters before elections and another afterward.” On Sunday, Antonis Samaras, the leader of New Democracy, showed frustration with Mr. Tsipras. “I made every effort to contribute to forming a unity government, but Syriza does not want to heed the popular mandate,” he said. The Pasok leader, Evangelos Venizelos, was busy on Sunday picking up the pieces of his shattered party. “I maintain some optimism for a unity government,” he said, “but we’re also prepared for elections.”
|
Euro Crisis;Election;Euro;European Monetary Union;Karolos Papoulias;Evangelos Venizelos;Lucas Papademos;Alexis Tsipras;Antonis Samaras;Greece
|
ny0010524
|
[
"world",
"asia"
] |
2013/02/07
|
Tsunami Causes Deaths and Damages Homes on Solomon Islands
|
AUCKLAND, New Zealand — A powerful magnitude 8 earthquake caused a tsunami that sent strong waves crashing into several South Pacific islands on Wednesday, with officials in the Solomon Islands saying that at least four people died. The earthquake prompted tsunami warnings and watches from several island chains to Australia and later New Zealand, but many were later canceled. The low-lying Solomon Islands, however, were not spared. At least 100 homes in the town of Lata were destroyed by a surge of water, according to World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization. Water and electricity also remained out in the town, which is the capital of Temoto Province. Government officials said that in addition to the four confirmed deaths in the islands, there were unconfirmed reports that some people in fishing boats were swept out to sea. The majority of Lata’s residents relocated to higher ground in central Lata, following many who fled before the surge. Even though the tsunami warning for the region was lifted, significant tremors were still being felt throughout Temotu Province and waters had not fully receded late in the day. Image Credit The New York Times The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the tsunami warning was limited to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Kosrae, Fiji, Kiribati, and Wallis and Futuna. A lesser alert, a tsunami watch, was declared for American Samoa, Australia, Guam, the Northern Marianas, New Zealand and eastern Indonesia. The earthquake was not only powerful but also shallow, which gave it significant potential to cause damage, said Barry Hirshorn, a geophysicist with the National Weather Service in Hawaii. Moreover, it was a thrust earthquake, he said, meaning that the seafloor moved up or down, not sideways, contributing to the potential for a dangerous tsunami. But after the earthquake, as scientists watched to see how far a tsunami might spread, there were few early indications of a major threat beyond the immediate area, Mr. Hirshorn said. A water rise of about three feet had been observed close to the earthquake, he said, still high enough to be potentially damaging but probably not big enough to threaten distant shores. In New Zealand, thousands of people were at the beach, swimming in the sea on a glorious summer afternoon on Waitangi Day, a national holiday — quite oblivious to the potential for a tsunami. Tsunami sirens were set off late in the afternoon there, and people in coastal areas were being told to stay off beaches and out of the sea, rivers and estuaries. The New Zealand Herald reported Wednesday afternoon on its Web site that tsunami sirens in Suva, the capital of Fiji, had been warning people to stay inside or go to higher ground.
|
Solomon Islands;Tsunami;Earthquake
|
ny0026997
|
[
"sports",
"baseball"
] |
2013/01/11
|
Richard McWilliam, Baseball Trading Card Innovator, Dies at 59
|
Richard McWilliam, whose innovative leadership of the trading card company Upper Deck helped make it an industry powerhouse at a time when baseball and other sports cards were increasingly coveted by adult collectors, died on Jan. 5 at his home in Carlsbad, Calif. He was 59. The cause has not been determined, according to a spokeswoman for Upper Deck , which Mr. McWilliam had led since 1989. He had a history of heart disease, and had open-heart surgery in 2008. Mr. McWilliam did not get into the card business because he was sentimental about his youth. “I never had a passion for cards, just a passion for doing something perfectly,” he told The New York Times in 1993. Upper Deck, which is based in Carlsbad, was not perfect, but it was often exceptionally profitable under Mr. McWilliam, particularly in the early years. Upper Deck produced its first baseball cards in 1989, following other companies that had begun to challenge Topps, which had been the only baseball card maker for almost 30 years. Within four years, Upper Deck had become the industry leader, valued at $1 billion, having expanded into other sports and distinguished itself with “premium” products in an industry still built on cardboard pictures. Upper Deck’s cards included better photography and were printed on better stock. They featured a stream of innovations, including holograms, which were originally intended to prevent counterfeiting. Some had serial numbers, and others had authenticated autographs of players. Upper Deck created special-edition cards that included small pieces of jerseys worn by star players like Ken Griffey Jr. and Steve Nash. It entered promotional agreements directly with players like Griffey, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and LeBron James. It developed a special pen, called the PenCam , that stars used to sign objects. A video camera in a special housing on the pen captured them signing — sometimes even delivering a personal message to a purchaser — to assure the object’s authenticity. Buyers received a digital file of the video through the Internet. “Richard was the king,” said Hugh McAloon, who ran the leading industry publication, Sports Collectors Digest, for many of the years that Upper Deck was at its peak. “Of all the jobs in sport memorabilia, he was probably making the most money.” Mr. McWilliam was praised for the company’s innovations and often appeared on lists of influential executives in sports-related industries. But Upper Deck was frequently involved in legal disputes over licensing agreements and trademark infringement. The industry as a whole declined considerably in the 2000s, in part because of overproduction. Upper Deck had a major setback in 2009 when Major League Baseball made Topps its sole trading card licensee. Upper Deck has expanded into cards for games like “Yu-Gi-Oh!” and for toy series like Thomas the Tank Engine and Hello Kitty. “I was advised early in 1989 not to go into other sports,” Mr. McWilliam told The Times. “It took me three months to realize I had to expand. Baseball could only grow so much.” Richard P. McWilliam was born on Oct. 20, 1953, in El Monte, Calif. He graduated from California State University, Fullerton. His survivors include his wife, Vivianne, and three children. Mr. McWilliam traded in more than just cards. In 2004, a corporation he controlled paid nearly $21 million for a 9,455-square-foot Manhattan condominium that occupies the entire 23rd floor of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Central Park South. The price was the highest that year for a condominium in Manhattan. He put the unit on the market the next year for $35 million, having never lived in it. He eventually sold it for $27 million.
|
Richard P McWilliam;Baseball;Trading card;Obituary
|
ny0147913
|
[
"business",
"worldbusiness"
] |
2008/07/14
|
A New Bombardier Jet Draws Only Tepid Demand
|
FARNBOROUGH, England — With jet fuel prices soaring, and airlines desperate to save on operating costs, Bombardier ’s new 100-seat jet might seem an easy sell. Bombardier is promoting the plane, which it introduced Sunday on the eve of the Farnborough International Airshow, as 20 percent more efficient than competing aircraft, with a roomy passenger cabin outfitted to resemble the interior of a private jet. But Bombardier is starting out with just one customer for the jet, Lufthansa of Germany. Even then, Lufthansa said here that it had only signed a “letter of intent,” promising to take 30 planes, with options on another 30, if a formal deal can be worked out. That is far fewer than the 80 to 100 planes and three or four airlines that Bombardier, based in Montreal, had hoped to have on board as the initial buyers of the jet, which it is calling the C-series. And, the plane is set to arrive in 2013, more than a decade after its primary competitor, the E190, built by the Brazilian manufacturer Embraer. Still, Bombardier officials contend that the plane, which has been in development since 2004, was an important step for the company. “What an exciting day for us — what an exciting day for the global aviation industry,” Gary R. Scott, the president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, said at a news conference. The C-series will come in two versions: the 100-seat model and a larger model that can seat about 140 passengers. The plane, meant to be flown on medium-length routes, like Miami to New York, will have a single aisle, with three seats on one side, and two on the other. A mock-up of the plane’s interior, on display here, featured seats of plush beige Ultrasuede, a lavatory with a sleek design, and wide overhead bins that effortlessly tilt down to a passenger’s eye level, allowing carry-on bags to be easily hoisted inside. The C-series will have a new engine developed by Pratt & Whitney that Bombardier officials said would fly quieter than existing jets and get 12 percent better fuel economy. Further improvements will come from lightweight materials used for the fuselage and the wings, as well as the plane’s shape. Bombardier began work on the C-series in 2004, but scrapped the original design in 2006 when it became clear that airlines would require better performance. Jet fuel sold for 60 cents a gallon when development started, said Benjamin Boehm, the plane’s project manager. Last week, it cost $4.30 worldwide. Last year, Northwest Airlines, which has begun retiring its aging fleet of DC-9s, seemed on the verge of placing orders for the plane’s initial run. But Northwest backed away when it decided to merge with Delta Air Lines in a deal that was announced in April, Bombardier officials said. Mr. Scott, a former Boeing executive, acknowledged that American carriers, which are cutting routes, raising ticket prices and adding charges, would face more turmoil before they are in a position to order the C-series. “Their issue is financial. They just aren’t healthy,” Mr. Scott said. Although the plane will have untried technology, “the only issue is timing,” he said. “When they can afford to buy, they will buy.” Nonetheless, Lufthansa is a blue-chip customer for Bombardier, though officials at the airline said they were not sure where they would use the new jets. The airline is paying $46.7 million for each plane and expects to reach a final deal by year’s end, said Nico Buchholz, a senior vice president at Lufthansa. “It says a lot to us to have a customer like Lufthansa,” Mr. Boehm said. Lufthansa’s participation should make it easier for Bombardier to attract other buyers, which could include Shanghai Airlines, China Southern and Qatar Airways, said Jacques Kavafian, an aviation analyst with Research Capital in Toronto. “This is the perfect timing for them,” he said of Bombardier. But other analysts said Bombardier could face a difficult battle breaking even on the C-series, which is set to go into production in 2013. They estimate Bombardier needs to sell about 90 planes to recover its investment, estimated at more than $3 billion. The C-series will reach the market more than a decade behind the Embraer 190, which has been purchased by a variety of airlines, including JetBlue and Air Canada. Embraer has delivered more than 300 E190s and has orders for more than 1,100 more. The new plane will be a multinational project. The main assembly will take place at Bombardier’s operations in Mirabel, Quebec, outside Montreal, while the planes’ wings will be built in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Bombardier estimated the plane would create an initial 1,000 jobs, with 3,500 created by the time it reaches full production in 2017.
|
Farnborough Air Show (GB);Bombardier Inc;Airlines and Airplanes;Prices (Fares Fees and Rates);Deutsche Lufthansa AG;England
|
ny0283147
|
[
"us"
] |
2016/07/09
|
Peaceful Protests Follow Minnesota Governor’s Call for Calm
|
ST. PAUL — Demonstrators angered by the fatal police shooting of a black man during a suburban traffic stop kept vigil outside the governor’s mansion here Friday as officials urged calm and more details emerged about the officer who fired the shots. Officer Jeronimo Yanez, who was placed on administrative leave after the killing on Wednesday night of the driver, Philando Castile, was a member of the St. Anthony police for four years. He had earned a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement in 2010 and was honored by his college as a top student. In the years since graduating, he had posted online about a wedding and the birth of a child and settled into a suburban neighborhood. “He always wanted to dig deeper — what if this happened, or that happened,” said Christian Dobratz, one of Officer Yanez’s professors at Minnesota State University, Mankato. “I knew he was very big on wanting to work with others and serving a community,” he added. But even as Officer Yanez’s background became clearer, the specifics of the shooting that left Mr. Castile dead remained murky. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating, has said little about why Officer Yanez and a colleague pulled Mr. Castile over on a stretch of suburban road near the state fairgrounds, or what led to the shooting. Much of what is known comes from a Facebook Live video by Mr. Castile’s girlfriend showing the emotional, gruesome aftermath. As that footage went viral online, protests have continued almost nonstop in St. Paul and the surrounding area, with activists calling for charges against Officer Yanez and a separate, federal investigation. Image Protesters gathering in front of the Minnesota governor’s residence in St. Paul on Thursday, after the shooting death of Philando Castile during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights. Credit Angela Jimenez for The New York Times In Falcon Heights, the suburb where Mr. Castile was shot, a group of university students and employees marched to the shooting scene to pay tribute Friday afternoon. And at the governor’s residence in a residential area of St. Paul, demonstrators continued to mingle outside the gates. The protests have been large, spirited and almost entirely peaceful, though one person was arrested and a police car was damaged early Friday near Gov. Mark Dayton’s home when demonstrations turned tense. So far, Justice Department officials have said they were monitoring the state investigation, but have not announced their own inquiry. John J. Choi, the prosecutor in Ramsey County, said he had urged the state agency investigating to be prompt and thorough, but did not offer a timeline on when a charging decision might be made. Mr. Choi, whose office will decide whether to bring charges, said he was unsure whether he would present the evidence to a grand jury or make the charging decision himself. Mr. Choi historically has used grand juries in police shooting cases and said he saw benefits in doing so, but that he would consider whether that was the right approach for Mr. Castile’s case. “I just need a little time and thought put into it,” Mr. Choi said at a news conference at his downtown office. “I think this is a very extraordinary case.” If Mr. Choi opts to decide on charges himself, rather than presenting the case to grand jurors, he would be following his colleague in neighboring Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis. The prosecutor there, who also had long used grand juries for police shootings, changed his policy and decided himself to not charge the Minneapolis officers involved in last year’s fatal shooting of Jamar Clark, another case that prompted widespread protests in this area. Governor Dayton, a Democrat, who angered some in law enforcement Thursday by saying he thought Mr. Castile probably would not have been shot if he were white, said Friday that he was standing by those comments. Mr. Dayton, who has at times mingled with the protesters outside his home, said he appreciated the demonstrators’ peaceful tone. On Friday, he said he planned to meet with African-American pastors and civic leaders in the coming days, and called for people to “react nonviolently.” “I make an appeal to everyone in Minnesota for calm, for understanding of this difficult time and the need for calm and nonviolence,” said Mr. Dayton, who also spoke of a shooting in Minneapolis on Friday that left a toddler dead. “We’ll get through this terrible time here in Minnesota if we can all recognize that and not take any actions that are going to exacerbate a very difficult situation.”
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Philando Castile;Police Brutality,Police Misconduct,Police Shootings;Falcon Heights;Jeronimo Yanez;Black People,African-Americans;Civil Unrest;Minnesota
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ny0201225
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2009/09/09
|
Bombs Kill 4 U.S. Soldiers, in Sign of Continued Difficulties in Iraq
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BAGHDAD — In the worst day of violence against American soldiers in Iraq since combat troops moved out of the cities this year , two bombings left four Americans dead, underscoring the dangers troops here still face even as they prepare for their exit from this country. The American military provided little detail about the attacks, saying only that one soldier was killed in a roadside bombing in southern Baghdad and that three more were killed in another roadside bombing in northern Iraq. While the American presence here has been greatly diminished, with Iraqis and Americans rarely conducting joint patrols and Iraqis eager to appear in control of their own security, there are still thousands of American soldiers working as advisers inside cities and towns across Iraq. Tens of thousands more are also on the road every night as Americans move equipment and resources in preparation for the large-scale reduction of forces scheduled to begin after January elections here. One critical calculation is how the Americans can both provide the protection needed to move the vast accumulation of equipment from six years of war and maintain the capacity to support Iraqi forces if violence spins out of control. Iraq’s security forces also continued to come under attack on Tuesday, with at least 10 police officers killed, including a police commander, and 6 more wounded in Kirkuk Province. While Iraq’s police and army have long been targets of insurgents, August was the deadliest month for them since the Americans withdrew combat troops from the cities in late June, with 32 members killed. Since January, 164 Iraqi police officers and army soldiers have been killed. The strategy of those committing violence in Iraq, never easy to divine, is particularly difficult to gauge when dealing with attacks on police officers in local areas. Insurgents, of course, seek to destabilize the government. But there are also networks and overlays of crime, corruption, political power plays, ethnic rivalries and local factions in competition for control over vital areas. In few places do those tensions form as combustible a mix as they do in Kirkuk Province, known as the country’s fault line because of the simmering tensions between the central government in Baghdad and the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan to the north. The deadliest attacks against Iraqi police officers on Tuesday took place around the city of Kirkuk. In one bombing in the town of Armeli, populated with Shiites from Iraq’s Turkmen ethnic minority , the local police commander was killed along with three other officers when his convoy struck a roadside bomb. In a separate attack in the same area, four other police officers were killed. The continuing tensions in Kirkuk Province are an increasing focus for American commanders here, who have announced a new initiative to try to bring stability to the factions competing for power in the area. The details of the campaign, and how American troops will be involved, remain unclear. There were also attacks against the Iraqi police in Baghdad on Tuesday, with at least six officers wounded in two bombings. Another bombing in Baghdad took aim at an official in the Health Ministry, killing one of his employees and wounding 12 more people. But the official emerged unharmed. Even as security forces are singled out, civilians here often bear the brunt of the violence, with 4,111 people killed around the country so far this year. The continuing violence has raised questions about the ability of Iraqi forces to maintain security as the American role shrinks, especially after deadly attacks in the heart of the capital last month left roughly 100 people dead. Seeking to address those doubts, the Iraqi government on Tuesday announced that 29 police and army officers arrested after that bombing were being charged with negligence in the performance their duties. “There was clear negligence from the security forces,” said Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, the spokesman for Baghdad’s security command center. “Absolutely, what has been achieved so far in the intelligence and security efforts is below expectations.”
|
Iraq;Iraq War (2003- );United States Defense and Military Forces
|
ny0174561
|
[
"sports"
] |
2007/10/19
|
New Job for Patrick, the Former ESPN Star
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Dan Patrick is now a brand. At least that is how Sports Illustrated executives described him yesterday when they announced a deal with Patrick, the former ESPN star, to write a weekly column for the magazine, simulcast his new radio show on its Web site, SI.com , and be the host for events, starting with its Sportsman of the Year television program Dec. 4 He will also write a daily blog for the Web site that will make use of the social-networking technology of Fan Nation, which Sports Illustrated partly owns. Although Sports Illustrated’s properties are dwarfed by the breadth of ESPN’s, signing Patrick gives the magazine a promotable and popular personality. “This is a perfect marriage of our brand and what Dan is all about,” Mark Ford, the president of Sports Illustrated, said during a conference call with reporters. “My kids call me danpatrick.com ,” Patrick said, referring the site where his radio show is now streamed. S.I.’s digital arm will restart the site early next year. Patrick left ESPN in August to start a radio show with the Chicago-based Content Factory; the program made its debut two weeks ago. Although renowned for his pairing with Keith Olbermann on “SportsCenter,” Patrick discovered that he most enjoyed being the host of a daily program on ESPN Radio. But he left ESPN, hoping to build a mini-empire out of various radio, print and Internet activities. He is still looking for a way back into television. “As soon as we got a whiff that Dan was thinking of leaving ESPN, we got very interested,” said Terry McDonell, the editor of the Sports Illustrated Group. Patrick said that in leaving ESPN, he wanted the freedom and partnerships he would be comfortable with. “I wanted to align myself with quality organizations,” he said. “This is one I wanted. If I was going for a branding affiliation, I couldn’t do better than with S.I.” He does his radio show, which is broadcast from 9 a.m. to noon Eastern, in a new home studio with a red light that warns his children not to come in, but they do anyway. The Sports Illustrated deal guarantees that writers like Rick Reilly, Peter King and Tom Verducci will appear on the program regularly. Patrick’s column will be in the front of the magazine, sort of a bookend to Reilly’s, which serves as its weekly coda. “I told him it should be dangerous,” McDonell said. Patrick said, “I don’t think it will be recipes.”
|
Computers and the Internet;Sports Illustrated;ESPN;Radio;Dan Patrick
|
ny0036113
|
[
"world",
"asia"
] |
2014/03/28
|
Soul-Searching as Japan Ends a Man’s Decades on Death Row
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TOKYO — Iwao Hakamada was a wiry former boxer in his 30s when he was thrown in jail for the killing of a family of four that shocked 1960s Japan. On Thursday, he limped from his cell on death row, a bewildered-looking 78-year-old who, his family fears, may have lost his mind in prison. It took the courts nearly half a century to conclude that the evidence against him may have been fabricated by police investigators, and to order the retrial he sought. The decision on Thursday to release Mr. Hakamada, thought to be the world’s longest serving death row inmate, underscored the dark side of a criminal justice system that boasts a near-100 percent conviction rate and immediately led to calls for reform. Critics have long charged that Japanese prosecutors maintain that rate in part by relying heavily on confessions — instead of building cases based on solid evidence — sometimes wresting the admissions of guilt from innocent people too frightened or agitated to resist police pressure. With much of the evidence against Mr. Hakamada now discredited, the case rests on what his family and international human rights activists say is just such a flawed confession. Mr. Hakamada has consistently testified that he admitted guilt only after an intense interrogation in which he was beaten with sticks, deprived of sleep and forced to urinate in a makeshift urinal in the interrogation room. Police records show the questioning went on for 240 hours over 20 days. Mr. Hakamada retracted the confession soon after he made it. “When something goes wrong in Japanese criminal justice, it tends to happen in the interrogation room,” said David T. Johnson, a professor at the University of Hawaii and an author of books on criminal justice in Japan. The court decision also highlights what many activists call the cruelty of death row rules in Japan that deny inmates — and their families — any warning of their executions to prevent prisoners from panicking and to forestall protests outside prison gates. Image Iwao Hakamada, 78, who has been on death row in Japan for 45 years, was released from a Tokyo prison on Thursday. Credit Jiji Press/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Those rules meant that for much of his time in prison, Mr. Hakamada rose in the mornings in solitary confinement not knowing whether that day would be his last. His frequent letters from prison to his older sister soon descended into gibberish, she told NHK, the public broadcaster, and his lawyers say he now shows signs of dementia. It is impossible to know if boxing contributed to his troubles. By the time his lawyers first told him he was free on Thursday, they said, he seemed almost unable to take in the good news. “You lie,” he said warily. “I’m finished.” Mr. Hakamada’s odyssey in the court system began after he retired as a featherweight boxer and went to work at a miso maker in Shizuoka, in central Japan. Several years after he was hired, in 1966, the charred bodies of a manager at the company, his wife and two children were found in what appeared to be a murder and a fire at their house; the house had also been burglarized. More than a month later, the police arrested Mr. Hakamada. Problems soon arose with the evidence. A pair of bloodstained pants found in a tank of miso paste that prosecutors said belonged to Mr. Hakamada were too small, which his defense team proved when he tried them on in court. But the force of the confession allowed him to be convicted. The break in the case came recently when the defense team won its argument that DNA testing should be done on the pants and other clothing that was presented as evidence. The testing showed that the blood did not match Mr. Hakamada’s. In announcing the decision to free him, the presiding judge, Hiroaki Murayama, said in a statement that “the possibility of his innocence has become clear to a respectable degree, and it is unbearably unjust to prolong the defendant’s detention any further.” Japan’s criminal justice system has come under increasing scrutiny over the past decade, after a number of high-profile cases seemed to point to miscarriages of justice, including a case in 2007 in which a court found that 13 men and women had been forced to confess to a bizarre scheme of buying electoral votes with liquor and cash. One tried to commit suicide before being exonerated. As part of continuing reforms, Japan introduced a jury system in 2009 for most criminal cases, and defense lawyers now have more discovery rights and other protections. But Japan’s conviction rate, which is higher than 99 percent, has not changed significantly. And attempts to require investigators to record interrogations have faced significant resistance from the police and prosecutors, who have tried to limit the scale and scope of those requirements and to maintain discretion for when a recording machine can be turned off. Image Mr. Hakamada, the onetime boxer, as a younger man in an undated photograph. Credit Kyodo/Reuters “Things are turning in the Japanese criminal justice system,” Mr. Johnson said. “But Japan is traveling that road very slowly.” The United States justice system has also come under significant scrutiny because of false convictions. The Innocence Project, based in New York, says more than 300 convicted prisoners have been exonerated in the United States based on DNA evidence. Japan’s conviction rate cannot be compared directly with that of the United States. There is no plea bargaining in Japan, and prosecutors put forward only cases they are confident they will win. But experts say that the system is vulnerable to mistakes because acquittals can be considered harmful to the careers of prosecutors and judges alike. Even with jury trials, judges still have a say in many decisions. Local news media said prosecutors intend to appeal the court’s decision on Mr. Hakamada. On Thursday, Amnesty International, which has championed his case, said in a statement that “it would be most callous and unfair of prosecutors to appeal the court’s decision,” adding, “Time is running out for Hakamada to receive the fair trial he was denied more than four decades ago.” “If ever there was a case that merits a retrial, this is it,” wrote Roseann Rife, East Asia research director at Amnesty International, in the statement. Mr. Hakamada’s release was front-page news and generated an outpouring of sympathy and grief. Among those calling for reform was a former appeals court judge, who suggested a discussion of capital punishment in an interview with NHK. Other critics demanded that the justice system move more quickly. Mr. Hakamada’s conviction and death sentence in 1968 were upheld by a Tokyo appeals court in 1976, and by the Supreme Court in 1980, which made him eligible to be executed at any time. Although his defense team filed its first plea for a retrial the next year, it took almost three more decades to make its way through the courts, only to be rejected in 2008. The decision Thursday was in answer to a second plea for a retrial. Yoshihide Suga, the top government spokesman, said he was not in a position to comment on individual court rulings. Mr. Hakamada’s case was championed over the years by activists, his sister and some of his former boxing colleagues who have raised funds for his defense. A local boxing federation has kept a ringside seat empty for him. Among his other supporters was one of the judges who handed down his death sentence. That judge, Norimichi Kumamoto, later expressed his misgivings. In a retrial petition earlier this year, he said that he had believed Mr. Hakamada was innocent, but that he was overruled by two other judges in the case. He resigned seven months after the initial ruling and, according to local media, considered suicide. On Thursday, ill from cancer and speaking with great difficulty, he appeared on national TV, pumping his fists in the air, his eyes brimming with tears. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish I had spoken up more back then.”
|
Capital punishment;Criminal Sentence;False arrest;Japan;Iwao Hakamada
|
ny0191756
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2009/02/11
|
Lobbyist Inquiry Appears to Be Widening
|
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are looking into the possibility that a prominent lobbyist may have funneled bogus campaign contributions to his mentor, Representative John P. Murtha , as well as other lawmakers, two people familiar with the investigator’s questions said Tuesday. Employees of the PMA Group, the firm founded by the lobbyist, Paul Magliocchetti, have given a total of more than $1 million to political campaigns over the last three election cycles, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. In the first half of 2007, the PMA Group and its clients contributed more than $500,000 to three congressmen, Mr. Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who is chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, and his close allies on the panel, Representative James P. Moran of Virginia and Representative Peter J. Visclosky of Indiana. The lawmakers, meanwhile, earmarked more than $100 million in defense spending for PMA clients in the appropriations bills for 2008, according to a study by Taxpayers for Common Sense, which tracks earmarks. In the last two weeks before the 2008 election, Mr. Murtha went on a last-minute fund-raising blitz, and PMA executives and clients gave him more than $100,000, according to a tally by the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call. Representatives of the three lawmakers could not be reached for comment. Mr. Magliocchetti, the firm’s founder, was previously a top aide to Mr. Murtha. Former top aides to Mr. Moran and Mr. Visclosky also worked at the company. Experts in political law said the lawmakers could be required to return the improper contributions or, if they had turned a blind eye to fraud, they could be in legal trouble. Campaign treasurers have a duty to scrutinize contributions and return any illegal ones, said Robert Walker, a Washington lawyer who previously directed the staff of the Senate Ethics Committee. The PMA Group had grown into one of the biggest lobbying firms in Washington. But after a disclosure Monday night that federal investigators had raided the firm, it appeared to be on the brink of collapse. Former PMA lobbyists were scurrying to try to move with their clients to new firms and several announced the opening of a new shop, Flagship Government Relations. Some symbols of Mr. Magliocchetti’s former influence remain, however. On Tuesday night at the Capitol Grille, a clubby Pennsylvania Avenue steakhouse where lobbyists sometimes entertain lawmakers or clients, there were still about eight bottles in a private wine locker labeled with his nickname, Mags.
|
United States Politics and Government;Lobbying and Lobbyists;Murtha John P;PMA Group;Frauds and Swindling
|
ny0021431
|
[
"world",
"africa"
] |
2013/09/29
|
Islamist Party in Tunisia to Step Down
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TUNIS — Tunisia’s governing Islamist party, Ennahda, thrust into power by the Arab Spring, has agreed to step down after months of political wrangling with a hard-bargaining opposition. In three weeks, the Ennahda-led government is to hand over power to an independent caretaker government that will lead the country through elections in the spring. The deal comes as part of negotiations to restart Tunisia’s democratic transition after secular opposition groups, protesting the assassinations of two of their politicians, stalled work on a new constitution and an election law this summer. The two sides will enter discussions this week mediated by the Tunisian General Labor Union, the nation’s largest. Its deputy secretary general, Bouali Mbarki, announced Ennahda’s acceptance of the plan on Saturday. The move comes less than three months after the Islamist government of President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt, also elected during the Arab Spring uprisings, was ousted by the military. Ennahda officials have repeatedly made statements in recent weeks signaling the party’s readiness to resign as a way to break the political impasse. The opposition, and the union, have until now pressed for more concrete action. The union has scheduled three weeks for talks on a new government. During that time, the National Constituent Assembly, the body in charge of writing Tunisia’s new constitution, is expected to ratify it and confirm appointments to the election commission, resuming work after a two-month hiatus. After that, Ennahda’s coalition government will resign. The assembly, where Ennahda holds the largest bloc of seats, will remain in place to serve as a check on the new government. Ennahda decided to step down despite resistance from some of its members, saying Tunisia’s transition to democracy, which began after the president was toppled nearly two years ago, can succeed only with full political consensus. Party members have criticized their leaders as having given away too much, Rafik Abdessalam, the former foreign minister, said at a news conference on Monday. “It is being described as the party of concessions,” he said. “We are not ashamed of these concessions because they are needed by Tunisia and to secure our democratic experience so that Tunisia can reach a safe shore.” In fact, the country is so polarized, and opposition from leftist and secular parties, including the labor union, has been so dogged, that Ennahda leaders acknowledge that they are better off having a neutral government that is accepted by all sides to run the elections. Ennahda was the largest winner in elections in October 2011, promising a model government that would blend Islamist principles with pluralism. But it has since lost popularity amid economic decline and a growing threat from terrorism. Tunisia has avoided the open violence of Egypt and Libya in its democratic transition since it began the Arab Spring with a popular uprising against President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. Opposition parties have run a campaign of walkouts, sit-ins and evening rallies since the two assassinations to force the government to resign. Ennahda countered with its own rallies, busing in supporters for speeches, music and fireworks. With neither side strong enough to defeat the other, the Islamists and their opponents have ended up coming to the negotiating table. Yet Ennahda’s nearly two-year journey in government has been one of steady concessions and backing down. And it has been a sharp lesson for the Islamists: their party has been most weakened by extremist Islamists linked to Al Qaeda. Since the assassination of a prominent leftist politician, Chokri Belaid, in February, which brought accusations that it was soft or even in cahoots with Islamist terrorists, Ennahda has steadily been on the retreat. After the assassination, Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali resigned , saying the government had “disappointed” Tunisians with squabbling instead of leadership. Mr. Jebali was the first to suggest handing power to a government of technocrats. Ennahda opted for a reshuffle but appointed independent nonparty figures to critical posts, including the Interior and Justice Ministries. Then, in July, another opposition politician, Mohamed Brahmi, was assassinated in broad daylight in front of his family, bringing another wave of protests against the Ennahda government, even though the government this time quickly identified the culprits as an extremist Islamic cell linked to Al Qaeda, and blamed it for the Belaid assassination as well. Finally, the ouster of Mr. Morsi — allied with the Muslim Brotherhood — encouraged the Tunisian opposition to try to oust the government. Ennahda responded with further concessions, dropping all of its outstanding constitutional demands, including an article stating that Islam was the religion of the state and another that would have prevented a key rival, former Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi, from running for president. Working out the details of the agreement remains difficult. Distrust runs high, and as the end of the transition period nears, the political parties have entered a hard-nosed power struggle. “From 2011 we moved to another agenda, from the demands for a transitional democracy to a real struggle for power,” said Abdel Basset Ben Hassen, head of the Arab Institute for Human Rights. “Because of the change we have this tension and a lot of frustration.”
|
Arab Spring;Election;Ennahda Party Tunisia;Muslim Brotherhood Egypt;Tunisia
|
ny0194702
|
[
"us"
] |
2009/11/08
|
Supreme Court to Hear Appeals on Juveniles’ Life Sentences
|
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- There are just over 100 people in the world serving sentences of life without the possibility of parole for crimes they committed as juveniles in which no one was killed. All are in the United States. And 77 of them are here in Florida. On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear appeals from two such juvenile offenders: Joe Sullivan, who raped a woman when he was 13, and Terrance Graham, who committed armed burglary at 16. They claim that the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment forbids sentencing them to die in prison for crimes other than homicide. Outside the context of the death penalty, the Supreme Court has generally allowed states to decide for themselves what punishments fit what crimes. But the court barred the execution of juvenile offenders in 2005 by a vote of 5 to 4, saying that people under 18 are immature, irresponsible, susceptible to peer pressure and often capable of change. A ruling extending that reasoning beyond capital cases “could be the Brown v. Board of Education of juvenile law,” said Paolo G. Annino, the director of the Children's Advocacy Clinic at Florida State University 's law school. Judges, legislators and prosecutors in Florida agree that the state takes an exceptionally tough line on juvenile crime. But they are deeply divided about when sentences of life without the possibility of release are warranted. “Sometimes a 15-year-old has a tremendous appreciation for right and wrong,” said State Representative William D. Snyder , a Republican who is chairman of the House's Criminal and Civil Justice Policy Council. “I think it would be wrong for the Supreme Court to say that it was patently illegal or improper to send a youthful offender to life without parole. At a certain point, juveniles cross the line, and they have to be treated as adults and punished as adults.” A retired Florida appeals court judge, John R. Blue, did not see it that way. “To lock them up forever seems a little barbaric to me,” Judge Blue said. “It just seems to me that if you are going to put someone who is 13 or 14 or 15 or 16 or 17 into prison, you ought to leave them some hope.” Several factors in combination -- some legal, some historical, some cultural -- help account for the disproportionate number of juvenile lifers in Florida. The state's attorney general, Bill McCollum , explained the roots of the state's approach in the first paragraph of his brief in Mr. Graham's case. “By the 1990s, violent juvenile crime rates had reached unprecedented high levels throughout the nation,” Mr. McCollum wrote. “Florida's problem was particularly dire, compromising the safety of residents, visitors and international tourists, and threatening the state's bedrock tourism industry.” Nine foreign tourists were killed over 11 months in 1992 and 1993, one of them by a 14-year-old. Mr. Snyder, the state legislator, put it this way: “Instead of the Sunshine State, it was the Gun-shine State.” In response, the state moved more juveniles into adult courts, increased sentences and eliminated parole for capital crimes. Thomas K. Petersen, a semi-retired judge in Miami who spent a decade hearing cases in juvenile court, said that the state's reaction was out of proportion to the problem and that it has lately failed to take account of changed circumstances. “Back in the 1990s, there were dire predictions about teenage super-predators, particularly in Florida,” Judge Petersen said. “Florida, probably more than other places because of that rash of crimes, overreacted. It was a hysterical reaction.” “People still go around saying things have never been worse,” he added. “But violent juvenile crime has gone down even as the juvenile population has grown.” The state's brief in Mr. Graham's case said juvenile crime fell 30 percent in the decade ended in 2004. It attributed the drop to its tough approach to the problem. Shay Bilchik, who served as a state prosecutor in Miami from 1977 to 1993 and is now the director of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown , said the state took a wrong turn. “We were pretty aggressive in those years in transferring kids into criminal court,” Mr. Bilchik said. “There was a feeling that we needed to protect our streets.” He said later research convinced him that his office's approach was much too aggressive and had not served to deter crime. “My biggest regret,” Mr. Bilchik said, “is that during the time I was in the prosecutor's office, we were under the false impression that we were insuring greater public safety when we were not.” Mr. Sullivan, now 34, had committed a string of crimes by the time he was charged with raping a 72-year-old woman after a burglary in 1989 in Pensacola. Mr. Graham, now 22, was sentenced to a year in jail and three years of probation for a 2003 robbery of a barbecue restaurant in Jacksonville, during which an accomplice beat the manager with a steel bar. Mr. Graham was sentenced to life in 2005 for violating his probation by committing a home invasion robbery with two others when he was 17. Concern about tourism continues to drive crime policy in the state, said Kathleen M. Heide, a professor of criminology at the University of South Florida. “We're at the more extreme level,” she said, “because our economy is so tied up with people coming here on vacation and feeling safe. And older people want to live out their retirements here and be safe.” There are, according to a brief filed in the cases by human rights groups and foreign bar associations, more than 2,500 juvenile offenders in the United States serving sentences of life without the possibility of parole, mostly for murder. This country is alone, the brief said, in imposing the punishment for juvenile offenses. (The maximum sentence in Germany, for instance, for any crime committed by a juvenile is 10 years. In Italy, it is 24 years.) Florida is one of eight states with juvenile offenders serving life sentences without the possibility of parole for nonhomicide crimes, according to a prepared by Professor Annino and two colleagues at Florida State. Louisiana has 17 such prisoners; California, Delaware, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska and South Carolina have the rest. The number of such sentences in Florida was greater in the decade that ended in 2008 than in the decade before. The state sentenced nine juvenile offenders for nonhomicide crimes to life without parole in 2005 alone. “We're just so far out from everyone else,” Professor Annino said. “These are 77 children who didn't kill anyone. We're unique, and we're out of step with the rest of the country.” Mr. Snyder, the state legislator, said finding the right balance in addressing juvenile crime was difficult but should be left to the states. “People do things at 16 and 17 that they wouldn't do at 37, but they spend a lifetime paying for it,” he said. “But we have to create an environment where our children are safe and our elderly are safe.”
|
Juvenile Delinquency;Eighth Amendment (US Constitution);Supreme Court;Sentences (Criminal);Crime and Criminals;Florida
|
ny0008295
|
[
"business"
] |
2013/05/24
|
Gap’s First Quarter Earnings Rise 43%
|
After years of struggling, Gap began the year with a strong quarter, its net income increasing 43 percent. Gap Inc., which owns the Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic clothing chains, continued to reap benefits from the turnaround plan that it began early last year and reiterated its full-year earnings outlook. The latest results are welcome news for customers and investors who have watched Gap over the years sink from an industry darling to an afterthought. Gap’s performance shows that efforts by the chain to attract customers with brightly colored fashions and lively advertisements are helping sales. Image Revenue at Gap stores opened at least a year, an industry measurement of a retailer’s health, rose 2 percent for the company. Credit Justin Sullivan/Getty Images “We are pleased with our strong start to the year, especially first-quarter sales,” Glenn K. Murphy, chairman and chief executive of Gap, said in a statement. “We remain focused on continuing to deliver shareholder value.” Gap, based in San Francisco, said it earned $333 million, or 71 cents a share, for the three-month period that ended May 4. That compared with $233 million, or 47 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 6.9 percent to $3.73 billion. Analysts had expected 69 cents a share on revenue of $3.73 billion. Revenue at stores opened at least a year — an industry measurement of a retailer’s health — rose 2 percent for the entire chain. The global businesses at both Gap and Old Navy each posted an increase of 3 percent, while Banana Republic’s global division was unchanged from a year ago. Gap said Thursday that it continues to expect earnings for the full year to be $2.52 to $2.60 a share. That’s below analysts’ expectations for $2.72 a share. The company’s shares have more than doubled to about $41.36 on Thursday, up 0.32 or 0.78 percent, from about $18 in January 2012 when the turnaround started to gain hold.
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Earnings Reports;Retail;Fashion;Gap Inc;Old Navy;Banana Republic
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ny0250101
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2011/02/27
|
Irish Voters Oust Government
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LONDON — Ireland ousted its discredited government on Saturday, electing new leaders who pledged to restore faith in the country after the trauma of a calamitous economic collapse. With most of the votes counted after the general election on Friday, a coalition government of the center-right Fine Gael and the Labour Party was on track to win a comfortable majority in Parliament. The next prime minister is likely to be Enda Kenny, a career Fine Gael politician who is expected to calm the turmoil of the past few years. “I intend to send out a clear message around the world that this country has given my party a massive endorsement to provide stable and strong government with a clear agenda,” Mr. Kenny said after winning his parliamentary seat. Fianna Fail, which has run the government for 14 years, suffered its worst showing in its more than 80-year history. It won 78 seats in 2007; this time, it was on course to win as few as 25 out of a total of 166. Of the 47 parliamentary seats in Dublin, only the seat held by Brian Lenihan, who served as finance minister, was set to go to Fianna Fail. The results by late Saturday showed that Fine Gael was expected to win 76 seats and Labour 36. The Green Party was expected to lose all six of the seats it now holds, and Sinn Fein was on course to take 12 seats — one of them to be held by Gerry Adams, the party’s president, who resigned from his posts in the British Parliament and in the Belfast Assembly in Northern Ireland to run in the Irish Republic. Fianna Fail has been blamed for presiding over an economy that spiraled out of control and then, unregulated and unmanageable, came crashing down. In 2008, when Ireland’s spectacular building boom collapsed, and the Irish banks that had fueled it threatened to collapse, too, the government, led by Prime Minister Brian Cowen , tried to solve the crisis by pledging to guarantee the banks’ debts. That move has proved to be a huge drain on the nation’s finances, with the government pumping tens of billions of dollars into the banks to keep them afloat. In November, Ireland reluctantly accepted an international loan worth about $93 billion; in return, it pledged to adhere to a brutal four-year austerity program and to repay much of the money at onerous interest rates. The terms of the loan humiliated Ireland, and many economists say they are worried that the country will be unable to keep up with even the interest payments. Mr. Cowen, whose resignation as party leader last month led to the election, said in a television interview that his government had nothing to be ashamed of. He said he had explained his decisions fully and repeatedly. “Everything I did, I did for the good of this country as I saw it; I did it conscientiously,” he told the state broadcasting network RTE. Mr. Kenny’s party has put forth an ambitious program to reduce unemployment, cut government costs and restore confidence in the Irish economy. It has also pledged to renegotiate the terms of the $93 billion loan — a promise that might be hard to achieve. Mr. Kenny said the country was ready to fight its way to prosperity and international credibility. “Ireland,” he said, “is open for business.”
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Ireland;Cowen Brian;Kenny Enda;Fianna Fail;Fine Gael;Politics and Government;Elections;Economic Conditions and Trends
|
ny0130502
|
[
"business",
"energy-environment"
] |
2012/06/22
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Chesapeake Energy Appoints New Chairman
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Chesapeake Energy named a new chairman on Thursday to replace its founder, Aubrey K. McClendon. Mr. McClendon, who remains chief executive and president, was stripped of his chairmanship after a series of corporate governance issues angered investors. The issues included a report that Mr. McClendon had taken a personal loan from a company that was doing business with Chesapeake. Chesapeake appointed Archie W. Dunham, a former ConocoPhillips chairman, as an independent nonexecutive chairman. Mr. Dunham, 73, has no prior relationship with the company. “Archie is extraordinarily well regarded both inside and outside of the industry, and we are confident he is the right person to lead our board,” Mr. McClendon said. Mr. Dunham is a longtime industry executive and has served on major corporate boards for three decades. He was chairman, president and chief executive at Conoco Inc. He oversaw Conoco’s separation from DuPont in 1998 and helped negotiate its merger with Phillips Petroleum in 2002. He serves on the boards of Union Pacific and Louisiana-Pacific. Chesapeake also appointed four new directors who were chosen by the company’s biggest investors. The new board must work to reassure investors, as Chesapeake’s share price has dropped 34 percent in the last year. For years shareholders have criticized the way Chesapeake compensates Mr. McClendon and have called for greater accountability from the board. They are also concerned about the company’s debts and aggressive spending plans at a time when natural gas prices are near decade lows. The company is planning to sell up to $14 billion in assets this year to help pay debts. Chesapeake’s top investors cheered the new board appointments. “We believe Chesapeake is now heading in the right direction,” said Carl C. Icahn, an activist investor who bought Chesapeake shares this spring as it was reeling from corporate governance issues.
|
Chesapeake Energy Corporation;Dunham Archie;McClendon Aubrey K;Appointments and Executive Changes
|
ny0264530
|
[
"us"
] |
2011/12/23
|
Rick Perry’s Job Creation Initiatives in Texas Are Questioned
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As Gov. Rick Perry pushes his job creation initiatives on the presidential campaign trail, he often touts the Texas Enterprise Fund, an economic development program that the governor’s office says is bringing 59,000 jobs and $14.7 billion in capital investment to Texas. But the number of jobs his office credits the program with creating has been scrutinized by Mr. Perry’s opponents, who say the fund’s contributions to the Texas economy have been far overstated. And a national nonprofit has said the Enterprise Fund lacks the accountability measures to ensure it is creating quality jobs. Mr. Perry helped create the program in 2003 with the goal of luring new companies to Texas by providing grants. Companies undergo an 11-step “due diligence” process before a contract is signed, and the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the Texas House must all approve, said Lucy Nashed, a spokeswoman for Mr. Perry. The contracts require companies to meet job-creation milestones each year and maintain those jobs for an extended period of time. The governor’s office said companies that are subsidized through the fund created or maintained a combined 33,460 new jobs in 2010. Although 28 of the companies failed to meet their job targets, and at least four of those contracts were terminated, 25 reported a job surplus, which led to a total of 9,795 more jobs than the contracts required. But Craig McDonald, the executive director of Texans for Public Justice , which tracks money and political influence in Texas politics, said the job growth cited by the governor’s office is misleading. A report released by Mr. McDonald’s group last month said that amendments to recipients’ state contracts, lowering targets or postponing deadlines, “undercut the job promises.” While some companies whose contracts were amended were able to meet their revised targets, others still fell short. Of the 15 Enterprise Fund companies with amended contracts that filed compliance reports with the governor’s office in 2010, eight did not meet their new job targets. Combined, the 15 companies fell 941 jobs short of their amended projection. Ms. Nashed said that it was impossible to predict a business cycle and that the ability to amend contracts benefits companies and taxpayers. Under the revised contract terms, the state can “require the company to have to maintain those jobs longer than they would have before,” Ms. Nashed said. She also said the contracts allow the state to reclaim money if companies do not meet their obligations. So far, companies with amended contracts have repaid $7.7 million to the state — a little more than 11 percent of the funds disbursed — for failing to meet job targets on time. Mr. Perry’s office has also reclaimed $16 million from 11 companies whose contracts were terminated, or just over half of the funds originally disbursed to those companies. The nonprofit Good Jobs First released a report this month comparing 238 job creation programs across the country. Although the Texas Economic Development Act, an incentive program managed by the state comptroller, received a perfect score, the Texas Enterprise Fund received low marks. Thomas Cafcas, the report’s co-author, said the Enterprise Fund lacks uniform accountability measures — like market-based wage and health care requirements — that would ensure the program creates quality jobs. Implementing consistent standards would also guarantee “there are no backroom dealings that change the rules” midcontract, Mr. Cafcas said. Ray Perryman, a Texas economist, said incentive programs are always controversial. He said the Enterprise Fund has been largely effective at luring businesses to Texas, so it is appropriate for Mr. Perry to “receive recognition for its success.”
|
Perry Rick;Labor and Jobs;Presidential Election of 2012;Texas;Economic Conditions and Trends
|
ny0103764
|
[
"sports",
"ncaabasketball"
] |
2012/03/16
|
UConn Falls Behind Early in Loss to Iowa State
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — UConn Coach Jim Calhoun fumed from the sideline as his indifferent big men allowed Iowa State to drive right to the rim for baskets or snatch offensive rebounds. After the Huskies’ 6-foot-10 Andre Drummond watched Iowa State’s 6-5 Chris Babb toss in a short floater in the lane in the first half, Calhoun could only throw his hands up in disgust. The game could have been UConn’s last N.C.A.A. tournament game for two years because of academic sanctions, but the Huskies did not seem to play with urgency the first 12 minutes and fell behind by 22 points to eighth-seeded Iowa State. Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier and the freshman Ryan Boatright took control and rallied the Huskies within 58-52 with 8 minutes 23 seconds to play, but Iowa State (23-10) regained control and held off the Huskies, 77-64, in the South Region game. Iowa State will play No. 1 Kentucky on Saturday. Napier led ninth-seeded UConn (20-14) with 22 points and Lamb added 19. “They came out and threw the first punch and we weren’t ready for it,” Napier said. “We lost the game in the first half.” The Huskies’ big men — Roscoe Smith, Alex Oriakhi and Drummond — shot 4 of 13 from the field. Chris Allen, a transfer from Michigan State, led the Cyclones with 20 points. Royce White, a transfer from Minnesota, added 15. UConn trailed, 58-52, when Napier rushed a 25-foot shot from and missed. Then Boatright and Lamb missed long 3-point attempts. Meanwhile, the Cyclones kept snatching offensive rebounds and scoring easy put-backs. They stretched their lead back to 13, 65-52, with 2:53 to play and the Huskies were finished for the season. By this time, Calhoun was done screaming at his players and was ranting at the officials as Iowa State paraded to the foul line. It was so bad for UConn that Iowa State’s White, a 49 percent free-throw shooter, went to the line with 1:13 left and hit two to make the score 71-56. The cap on UConn’s frustrating night came when Lamb stole the ball in the final seconds and raced in for a dunk and missed it at the buzzer. “I’m surprised as anybody; clearly I imagine our players are, too,” Calhoun said. “At times we certainly made a dent and came back, but the opening few minutes kind of set the tone for the game, and we did come back but we didn’t have enough whatever it may be to stay with it.” Connecticut had a taller frontline, but it was not superior. The Cyclones attacked the rim with the 6-8 Royce White, who can also play point guard, and 6-6 Melvin Ejim. The Huskies did not offer much resistance in the lane as Iowa State raced to a 36-14 lead. The Cyclones thought their best hope to win was to make outside shots because they did not have a player to throw the ball inside to against UConn’s height. So they drove and also made shots — 6 of 12 from the 3-point line in the first half — and led, 42-32, at the intermission. Iowa State outrebounded the Huskies, 22-12, in the first half, which included eight offensive rebounds against the lethargic UConn big men. “Give them all the credit, Iowa State,” Calhoun said. “There isn’t too many ways they didn’t beat us tonight. It’s very disappointing to have to end the season this way. I’m not happy with the way we played tonight. I’m sure our players are not very happy with the way they played tonight.”
|
NCAA Basketball Championships (Men);Basketball (College);University of Connecticut;Iowa State University;Basketball;College Athletics
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ny0270971
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2016/04/14
|
Hillary Clinton-Bernie Sanders Schism Grows on ‘Too Big to Fail’ Banks
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Banks, very big ones, undergird the New York City economy. Whether they are so big that they pose a threat to the financial system and the nation’s economy as a whole has been a point of contention in the Democratic race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, and it is heating up ahead of the New York primary on Tuesday. Mrs. Clinton’s and Mr. Sanders’s reactions on Wednesday to the failure of five large banks to pass a test under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law characterized their sharp differences on the issue. Mrs. Clinton called on regulators to increase pressure on the banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, to clean up their act — or else. Mr. Sanders jumped straight to the “or else.” He said the Wall Street giants were already too big and should be broken up now. The process-oriented approach of Mrs. Clinton vs. Mr. Sanders’s grand gesture typifies their sparring over “too big to fail” banks in speeches, debates and TV ads. The issue seems likely to come up again on Thursday when they meet for a debate in Brooklyn five days before the primary. In an ad running in New York, Mr. Sanders portrays Mrs. Clinton as too cozy with Wall Street, and promises that unlike his opponent, he would break up financial behemoths and raise their taxes. “Will they like me? No,” he says in the ad. “Will they begin to play by the rules if I’m president? You better believe it.” The three Republican candidates, Donald J. Trump, Senator Ted Cruz and Gov. John Kasich have all called for the repeal of the Dodd-Frank law , which they accuse of smothering banks in regulations and holding back economic growth. Under the law, meant to prevent a reprise of the 2008 financial crisis, large banks must file plans on how they would undergo an orderly bankruptcy in the event of a severe crisis. The five banks’ plans, known as living wills, were found inadequate. The banks have until Oct. 1 to fix them or face restrictions, which after two years could include selling off assets. Mr. Sanders, in no mood to wait, said the banks were bigger today than when taxpayers bailed them out in the financial crisis. “If we are serious about preventing another major financial crisis and ending the enormous concentration of ownership within the financial sector, we have got to stand up to Wall Street and break these banks up,” he said in a statement. Mrs. Clinton, by contrast, urged that the regulatory process play itself out under existing law, starting with banks submitting new living wills. Next regulators should impose higher capital requirements. “And if these banks don’t fix their problems over time, then regulators need to break them apart,” she said in a statement. In the past, Mr. Sanders has called Mrs. Clinton too compromised to take on Wall Street because she has taken large donations from bankers as a candidate and was paid $675,000 for a series speeches to Goldman Sachs. He regularly needles her to release the transcripts of the speeches. Mr. Sanders pledged in January to break up banks that are too big to fail — that is, so important to the economy they would need a taxpayer bailout — within one year of taking office. He wants to reinstate the Glass-Steagall law of the 1930s that created a wall between investment banking and retail banks. It was partly repealed under President Bill Clinton, which Mr. Sanders maintains helped bring on the Great Recession a decade later. Mrs. Clinton has called Mr. Sanders’s proposals inadequate because the financial crisis was caused not just by banks collapsing, but by the failure of “shadow” financial institutions like AIG, an insurance company, and subprime mortgage companies like Countrywide, which went on lending sprees. “If all you do is look at the banks, you are missing shadow banking,” she told The Daily News in an interview with its editorial board recently. Mr. Sanders also spoke with the New York paper’s editors, and in endorsing Mrs. Clinton this week they cited the Vermont senator’s lack of specifics on how he would execute his “shock-and-awe bank-busting campaign.” The Republican candidates, in calling for the repeal of Dodd-Frank, which was passed by President Obama and a Democratic-controlled Congress, have blamed it as inadequate to prevent future bank bailouts, and for crippling small community banks. Mr. Kasich, a former executive with Lehman Brothers , which collapsed in the crisis, said on Monday that he approved of requiring big banks to hold more assets and less debt, one of Dodd-Frank’s rules. At the same time, he said, overregulation of small banks forced them to sell out to bigger banks, “so the big banks get bigger and the small banks are eliminated.” “That’s just nuts,” he added. “So you have to be able to thread the needle on that.”
|
2016 Presidential Election;Banking and Finance;Hillary Clinton;Bernard Sanders,Bernie Sanders;Dodd Frank;Political Debates;NYC;John R Kasich
|
ny0154325
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2008/01/09
|
Humbler Spitzer Likely to Focus on Economic Growth and Higher Education
|
ALBANY — Gov. Eliot Spitzer is expected to strike a more conciliatory note with the Legislature in his annual address to lawmakers on Wednesday — the first political step of the embattled governor’s second year in office. But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle remain wary and in many cases openly critical of the governor, and some fellow Democrats are troubled by reports he may propose imposing a ceiling on property-tax increases. For his part, the governor said on Tuesday that his speech would “lay out an agenda for next year that will focus first and foremost on economic growth.” “Jobs, jobs, jobs is what we are focusing on, and that is what we are going to have a conversation about, I and the Legislature, as we try to craft together an agenda for the next couple months and years,” he added. Central to his plan to reinvigorate the state’s economy will be an investment in its flagging public higher education system. The governor is expected to propose creating a $4 billion central endowment for the State University of New York and the City University of New York, as well as adding 2,000 professors to the system. He is also expected to propose selling a stake in the state’s lottery system to finance the endowment, people who have seen drafts of his speech said. The governor is also expected to propose a $1 billion upstate economic development fund. As for the property-tax burden that weighs heavily on upstate New York and Long Island, he is likely to propose a commission to study a possible ceiling on school property-tax increases, an idea he has previously opposed. But perhaps as much as anything else, the often combative governor will try to strike a new tone entering his second year in office. And in a year where the state faces a budget gap of more than $4 billion, he might not be able to afford much else. “He’s complimentary, singularly, at different points, of every government official — the attorney general, the comptroller, the majority leader, the speaker,” said a person who recently saw a draft of the speech. “At one point everyone is praised, tied to a particular issue. It promotes a spirit of coalition government.” That would be welcome news to lawmakers, who said on Tuesday that they were looking for that change in tone as much as any specific policy objective. The governor is still facing three separate investigations related to efforts by his administration to discredit the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, the governor’s top political rival. The Republican-led Senate is conducting its own investigation and battling the administration in court over subpoenas it has issued seeking an array of documents. Mr. Bruno, whose wife of 57 years died Monday evening, will not attend the speech. The governor also is politically more vulnerable than a year ago. After winning a landslide victory in 2006, his poll numbers have been sinking precipitously. “When you’re looking at a governor who has very diminished political capital, you are going to look at his speech much more skeptically than you would have last year,” said Senator George H. Winner Jr., an Elmira Republican who is leading the Senate’s investigation of the Spitzer administration. “Adding 2,000 new Democrat professors to SUNY won’t be particularly helpful in Elmira,” he added. “While it might have been nice in the days we had lots of money, that’s not really at the top of my agenda.” Many Democrats want to start fresh. Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan, a Queens Democrat, said: “I’m still excited. He’s a Democrat, I’m a Democrat. He’s young, he’s got a lot of energy. It’s all fine.” Assemblyman Michael N. Gianaris, a Queens Democrat, said he was “looking for an embrace.” “I’m looking for a recognition that we’re all in this together,” he said. “Forget personal or political issues,” he added. “I have a governor now who agrees with me on how to make this state right, and I don’t want to waste that opportunity.” Democrats are split on the idea of imposing a ceiling on school property-tax increases, a proposal that would draw opposition from powerful teachers’ unions. While Mr. Gianaris is open to the idea, Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky, a Westchester Democrat, was troubled. “You can see the direction things are heading,” he said. “This administration does not seem to be willing to ask the wealthiest New Yorkers and big business to share in the burden.” Senate Republicans were more open to the idea. “As an upstater, you can’t just talk about the upstate economy without doing something about the tax system,” said Senator Thomas W. Libous, a Binghamton Republican. More broadly, Mr. Libous said he was “looking to see if the governor is willing to change his management style in dealing with the Legislature.” “Last year’s style,” he added, “was not effective.”
|
Spitzer Eliot L;Legislatures and Parliaments;Politics and Government;Albany (NY)
|
ny0047684
|
[
"sports",
"soccer"
] |
2014/11/10
|
Top English Club Is No Surprise, but No. 2 Is
|
LONDON — Chelsea took in more money this year selling players than it spent on replacements, and it looks unstoppable in the English Premier League. Southampton took an even more frugal approach by selling high and buying low, and it, too, is offering a lesson in financial management. With almost a third of the season gone, few people doubt that Chelsea is the real deal in the Premiership. But it will be more of a shock, a pleasant one, if Southampton really sustains its start and finishes above the Manchesters and Arsenal or Liverpool. “Now you have to believe us,” sang the Saints fans as the rain poured down Saturday on their St. Mary’s Stadium. “We’re going to win the league.” Maybe, maybe not. But their club’s turnaround is the most refreshing sight in the season thus far. Chelsea’s victory at Liverpool was to be expected. Diego Costa’s winning goal demonstrated, again, that it isn’t how much you spend, but rather on whom. Costa is Brazilian by birth, Spanish by national team preference, and English by residence. He fits the physical approach to the game in England perfectly, as the coach José Mourinho knew when he asked his owner to buy Costa from Atlético Madrid in June. Sometimes spectacular and at other times a belligerent menace, Costa wrestled, elbowed and scratched his way against Liverpool’s tough Slovak defender Martin Skrtel on Saturday. When push came to shove, it was Costa who did what he does, game after game: detach himself from all that fighting to strike the winning goal with clean viciousness. Chelsea came from a goal down to beat Liverpool, 2-1, at Anfield. It was the third loss in a week for Liverpool, which was denied a clear penalty when Chelsea defender Gary Cahill blatantly used his left arm to deflect a late shot from Steven Gerrard. It has been obvious all season long that after the sale of Luis Suárez to Barcelona and the wholesale recruitment of new players (notably from Southampton), the Reds of Anfield are less of a force than they were a year ago. All those new players still have yet to settle in, and it appears that Coach Brendan Rodgers has no clear idea even who best fits his starting lineup. What is evident, however, is that Mario Balotelli is no Suárez in attack. Where the Uruguayan Suárez, for all his malevolence, could and did lift his team through his unquenchable spirit and efforts, the Italian Balotelli just simmers and broods. One man might never make a team, but he can reflect its character. Right now, the nearest thing to Suárez in the Premier League is Manchester City’s Sergio Agüero. The Argentine has the Uruguayan’s nose for the goal. Where Suárez carried his team with 31 goals last season, Agüero already has 12 in his nine league games this time around. There were moments — two to be exact — in Manchester City’s 2-2 tie at Queens Park Rangers when Agüero proved unstoppable. Agüero darted between the Rangers’ defenders, smaller than they but better balanced, more alert and simply more gifted than those trying to stop him. There is poetry in sports when a man moves the way that Agüero can: plucking the ball out of the air with his right foot, feigning to shoot and then, as opponents cluster around him, flicking the ball to his other foot and shooting deftly. He did that twice Saturday. The first time the ball glanced off his arm, unseen by the referee. The second time, one defender actually fell to the ground, swept off his feet, so to speak, by Agüero’s change of tempo. Magnificent, and yet with City’s defensive problems continuing, this artist’s pair of goals was worth only one point against the struggling, defiant Rangers. Q.P.R. has spent more than Southampton. Most of the Premier League teams have. Yet the Saints are flying higher than anyone anticipated after they lost their coach, Mauricio Pochettino, to Tottenham, and sold players to Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United last summer. Part of the reason is the club’s youth system, which, like a Barcelona on the English coast, seems to find new talents all the time to replace the old. In large measure, their success comes down to their new coach, Ronald Koeman, who, with his younger brother Erwin assisting, calmly filled in the missing parts and set the style of the new Southampton. The Koemans, disciples of the Ajax school in Amsterdam and the coach Johan Cruyff, quietly got on with the task while the club resembled a revolving door throughout June, July and August. After bringing in Graziano Pelle, an Italian who scored regularly for Koeman in the Dutch league, the coach instilled his own calm in a defense that has conceded only one goal at home this season, and five total in 11 league games. “Clean sheets win you matches,” is the mantra Koeman espouses. Clean sheets, patience, and a keen attack. When Pelle or the quick Senegalese Sadio Mané or the energetic Kenyan Victor Wanyama are not scoring, it becomes time for somebody else to get the job done. Against Leicester’s efficient defense on Saturday, Koeman summoned Shane Long off the bench midway through the second half. Within 10 minutes, Long had bagged two goals, the first created by Pelle and the second by Wanyama, and Southampton emerged as 2-0 winners. How long can the Saints keep it going? Wait and see, but enjoy the element of surprise while it lasts.
|
Soccer;Premier League;Chelsea Soccer Team;Southampton Soccer Team;Luis Suarez
|
ny0196738
|
[
"us"
] |
2009/10/31
|
John O’Quinn, 68, Star Personal-Injury Lawyer in Texas, Dies
|
John O’Quinn, a plaintiff’s lawyer whose outsized personality matched the jury awards he won for his clients, died Thursday when the sport utility vehicle he was driving jumped a median, crossed several lanes of oncoming traffic and smashed into a tree along a parkway in Houston. Mr. O’Quinn was 68 and lived in Houston. A spokesman for the Houston Police Department said Mr. O’Quinn was found dead when emergency crews extricated him from the mangled vehicle. A passenger, Johnny Lee Cutliff, 56, Mr. O’Quinn’s personal assistant, was also killed. Neither man was wearing a seat belt, the police department said. An investigation into the cause of the crash is continuing. A bare-knuckles litigator who forced makers of cigarettes and breast implants to forfeit billions of dollars in awards in personal-injury cases, Mr. O’Quinn portrayed himself as a crusader against corporate malfeasance. He told Texas Monthly in 1995: “When the bad guys come, who do you want? You don’t want some namby-pamby son of a bitch. If companies obeyed the law, I’d be the Maytag repairman.” Raised by his auto mechanic father, Mr. O’Quinn was known for connecting with blue-collar juries. “Even though he got manicures, he remembered what it was like to have grease under your nails,” Jack Rains, a friend since the two were in law school together at the University of Houston in the 1960s, said in a phone interview. Mr. O’Quinn first gained prominence in 1986 when he persuaded jurors to order the Monsanto Company to pay $100 million in damages for negligently exposing an employee to benzene. The award was later vacated, and the case was settled out of court. In another notable case, he persuaded a jury to award a client $8 million for the wrongful death of a bull due to pesticide poisoning. In a series of decisions in the 1990s, Mr. O’Quinn, with his former law partner Richard Laminack, won more than a billion dollars from makers of silicone breast implants for women who said they had been harmed by them. He was one of five lawyers who shared a $3.3 billion fee for brokering a 1998 settlement between tobacco companies and the State of Texas, which sued to recover state costs for treating smoking-related illnesses. And in 2004, he won a $1 billion verdict against Wyeth, a manufacturer of a weight-loss product containing the drug combination known as fen-phen, now banned. “No one worked harder than he did,” said Mr. Rains, who said he believed his friend’s drive was due to his difficult upbringing in a home without a mother and with a stern and exacting father. “Hungry dogs hunt better,” Mr. Rains said. John Maurice O’Quinn was born in Baton Rouge, La., on Sept. 4, 1941, to Leonard O’Quinn and Jean Wilkes O’Quinn. The family moved to Houston when Mr. O’Quinn was a toddler, and his mother left him and his father when he was 4. He grew up working in his father’s auto repair shop near Rice University, where he enrolled as an engineering student upon graduating from high school. A lackluster student who was often on academic probation, Mr. O’Quinn dropped out of Rice after six semesters and enrolled in the newly established University of Houston Law School, which in the early 1960s was accepting students without a college degree. “From Minute 1 of Day 1 of Class 1, I felt like a duck who’d gone to water,” he told The Houston Chronicle in 1998. “I knew this is where I should be.” As a lawyer, Mr. O’Quinn was reprimanded repeatedly for his antics in and out of the courtroom. He was once cited for contempt for sleeping on the floor in a vacant courtroom, and he was accused of jury tampering when it was revealed that he was romantically involved with a juror in one case; it later emerged that the affair began after the trial. Vilified by proponents of tort reform, Mr. O’Quinn was investigated on several occasions on charges of inappropriately soliciting clients. In 2007, he was ordered by an arbitration panel to pay more than $40 million for overcharging several women he represented in a class-action case involving breast implants. That decision is on appeal. “It’s fair to say a lot of people had grudges against John, and he evoked strong responses,” Mr. Rains said. Upset over Mr. O’Quinn’s malpractice suits related to breast implants, more than a hundred doctors in Houston signed a petition in 2005 to reject Mr. O’Quinn’s $25 million donation to St. Luke’s Hospital, which included a provision to rename an office tower after him. Today his name is on that tower and on several other buildings in Houston, clearly advertising his largess to various institutions, including the University of Houston and the Menninger Clinic, where he was once admitted for treatment of alcohol abuse after an arrest on drunken-driving charges. His friends said he had not had a drink in almost a decade, not even to raise a toast at his lavish Christmas and birthday parties, at which entertainers like Don Henley and Jerry Lee Lewis have performed. Although he said work was his hobby, Mr. O’Quinn has since 2003 pursued a passion for car collecting. His collection numbers 850, said his partner of 11 years, Darla Lexington. It includes the Batmobile used in the filming of “Batman Forever” and Pope John Paul II’s 1975 Ford Escort GL. Mr. O’Quinn’s two marriages ended in divorce. Besides Ms. Lexington, he leaves no immediate family members.
|
Suits and Litigation;Smoking and Tobacco;Implants;Deaths (Obituaries);Wyeth
|
ny0101675
|
[
"world",
"asia"
] |
2015/12/31
|
China: Trapped Miners Found
|
Rescuers on Wednesday found eight surviving miners who were trapped for five days after a mine collapsed in eastern China. The disaster on Friday at the gypsum mine in Shandong Province killed at least one worker. Nine others are still missing, and 11 made it to safety or were rescued early in the search. Infrared cameras detected the surviving miners on Wednesday, and rescuers were drawing up plans to pull them to safety, said state broadcaster China Central Television. The rescuers sent provisions underground to the trapped men, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said. The workers were weak from hunger but otherwise were in good health, CCTV reported. They told rescuers they were in passages underground that were intact. Two days after the collapse, the mine’s owner died in what appeared to be a suicide.
|
Mining;Accidents and Safety;China;Rescue;Missing person;Shandong
|
ny0010288
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2013/02/26
|
New York, to Stem Civil-Rights Suits, Is Now Reluctant to Settle
|
The Bloomberg administration has embarked on an aggressive legal strategy intended to curtail the rising number of federal civil-rights lawsuits filed against New York. Instead of offering small settlements to avoid trial, the city started to identify weaker cases and has been contesting them in court, pushing many to trial. The city said it was too early to judge whether the strategy, which began in July 2011, had discouraged lawyers from reflexively suing the city, but it believes the policy has had some effect: after five years where the number of federal civil-rights suits against the city had increased, the number declined slightly in the most recent fiscal year. The city also noted that the number of such suits that are dismissed or withdrawn before trial rose by about 75 percent in the first year after the policy went into effect. Those cases had been typically viewed as not being worth the time or expense to fight in court. But city officials said they had concluded that while settling small-scale federal lawsuits might have been expedient, it did nothing to discourage lawyers from bringing marginal lawsuits. “You’re sort of feeding the monster, if you will,” said Michael A. Cardozo, the city’s corporation counsel and top lawyer. “So we started saying to ourselves, ‘Let’s be more aggressive here.’ ” The city’s Law Department directed its staff to identify civil-rights lawsuits that it believed were based on weak evidentiary or legal grounds, city lawyers said. Those cases were designated “no-pay” cases. The city would seek to have such cases — which typically accuse the city of rights violations like false arrest, malicious prosecution or use of excessive force — withdrawn or dismissed, and where that failed, it would forgo settlement talks and push them to trial. Since then, the city says it has taken 20 no-pay cases to trial, winning 16 and losing 3. (One resulted in a mistrial, which the city won when it was retried.) “There’s a saying that I will paraphrase: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result,” Muriel Goode-Trufant, a senior city lawyer, said. “In order to get a different result, we needed to try something different.” About 60 cases are currently pending trial; the city has declined to settle 52 of those cases, Ms. Goode-Trufant said recently. She said the city had also begun pushing more cases to trial in which the plaintiff had rejected the city’s last settlement offer. Over the past year and a half, she added, the city has won two-thirds of about 30 such trials that have been held. “They’re boasting about it, both to us and the court,” said Gabriel P. Harvis, a plaintiff’s lawyer whose firm was involved in three of the recent trials. (The firm lost one, had a mistrial and, in a third, won $600 in damages and collected $78,000 in legal fees.) In the past, Mr. Harvis added, “I think it was a foregone conclusion that there would be a settlement of virtually every case.” Another plaintiff’s lawyer, Gerald M. Cohen, whose firm has been involved in four such trials, said the city’s new approach had made him more selective about which lawsuits he brought. “I’ll be honest: we kind of got fat and lazy,” Mr. Cohen said. “We were settling all of these cases. But this actually forces us to do more, and creates the potential to be more successful for our clients and for ourselves.” Mr. Cohen’s firm lost two trials but also beat the city twice, including winning a $190,000 verdict in a false-arrest suit in which the judge also awarded $208,000 in legal fees. The city, which has appealed the verdict, said that case was an example of a lawsuit it pushed to trial after the plaintiff, Joshua Marshall, rejected its last offer. (One of Mr. Marshall’s lawyers, Jon L. Norinsberg, said that offer was for $10,000.) “We would have settled that case for $30,000,” said Mr. Norinsberg, a former city lawyer, who criticized the city’s strategy as “terribly misguided.” “I think in the end, it’s going to cost the city much more money than it’s going to save,” he added. Image Afsaan Saleem, left, and Gabriel Harvis are plaintiff’s lawyers whose firm was involved in three recent trials against the city. Credit Ruth Fremson/The New York Times The 50-some cases that the city has taken to trial under the new policy are just a fraction of the 1,500 civil-rights lawsuits filed in federal court each year. Slightly more are filed annually in state court, where the policy does not now apply. But city lawyers said the strategy could have a long-term impact if the city kept winning and plaintiffs’ lawyers realized that settlements would no longer come easily. “We certainly want to send the message,” Mr. Cardozo said, “that if you don’t bring what we view to be a meritorious case, you’re going to have a big battle on your hands.” Most of the cases taken to trial by the Law Department, which added about 30 lawyers to handle the anticipated extra workload, involved plaintiffs’ claims that they were victims of police misconduct, according to a list of cases provided by the city and a review of court records. In one case, the city refused to settle with a man who claimed the police shot him without justification as he was trying to surrender after he had taken hostages at gunpoint. The city said the man had refused to drop his gun and had placed an officer’s life in danger. The jury ruled for the officers. In another example, a city lawyer, Raju Sundaran, told jurors that the plaintiff was a drug seller who had been “motivated enough to lie, to game the system and get money that he does not deserve and did not earn.” The city also won that trial. Despite the new policy, Ms. Goode-Trufant said, the city still settles many cases, without admitting fault. Last year, for example, the city settled three federal lawsuits filed on behalf of inmates who had died or been injured while in city custody, for amounts ranging from $850,000 to $2 million. It also paid $75,000 to settle a suit by Caroline Stern and George Hess, who claimed they had been arrested after they began to dance the Charleston on a Columbus Circle subway platform after attending a Midsummer Night Swing event at Lincoln Center. Mr. Cardozo, speaking generally, said settlements were appropriate in cases where the police had erred and someone was harmed. “It’s irresponsible not to settle in those cases,” he said, because it puts the public treasury “even more at risk if you roll the dice” and go to trial. “But,” he added, “that doesn’t mean therefore that you should settle every case.” Nico Wisdom’s case was one of the 16 no-pay cases that the city won. He was arrested in May 2010 in Brooklyn after the police said he had been serving as a lookout for another man who was accused of selling crack cocaine to an undercover detective, the lawsuit said. The charge against Mr. Wisdom was later adjourned in contemplation of dismissal, according to the civil-rights suit that he filed. Mr. Wisdom denied that he had committed a crime or that the police had probable cause to arrest him. His lawyer, Richard J. Cardinale, said that early in the case, around spring 2011, he was told the city might consider a settlement of about $9,000, which his client rejected. The city lawyer who handled the case, Diep Nguyen, said the lawsuit was designated “no pay” in November 2011, after the man arrested with Mr. Wisdom was convicted of a drug sale in the same episode. From then on, Mr. Cardinale recalled, the city rebuffed his proposals to negotiate. “I wasn’t asking for a specific number, but I wanted to talk settlement,” he said. The jury eventually ruled for the police. The city then pushed even further, demanding that Mr. Wisdom reimburse the city for its costs in handling the lawsuit. A judge ordered him to pay $877. One risk for the city in trying any case, of course, is that it can lose. This month, for example, a Brooklyn federal jury awarded $2.5 million to a man who said he had been wrongfully arrested and beaten by the police. A city lawyer said settlement discussions took place over many months in the case, but the two sides were too far apart and could not reach a resolution. Even if a plaintiff wins only minimal damages, the city can be ordered to pay substantial legal fees. That occurred in a lawsuit filed in 2010 by Malik Fryar, who said he had been wrongfully arrested and thrown to the ground by the police after he gave the peace sign to a cousin who was being driven in a police car. The city claimed Mr. Fryar had made a shooting gesture. The charges were later adjourned in contemplation of dismissal, the lawsuit said. Mr. Fryar’s lawyers, Mr. Harvis and Afsaan Saleem, both former city lawyers, said their first offer to settle the case for $125,000 was rejected. In July 2011, they offered $20,000; it was again rejected. The city had classified the case as no pay. At the trial in September 2011, Mr. Saleem suggested that the jury award Mr. Fryar $17,000 — $1,000 for each hour he had been wrongfully held — and $5,000 for being thrown to the ground. The jury awarded $600 in damages. But the judge also ordered the city to pay $78,000 in legal fees — which, Mr. Saleem suggested, showed that the city’s rejection of the $20,000 settlement offer had backfired. “On the books it shows a $600 verdict,” Mr. Saleem said. “Maybe they can say, ‘This is a win.’ But from the taxpayer’s perspective, this is nothing to celebrate.” Ms. Goode-Trufant, the city lawyer, disagreed. “I can’t imagine the client was happy about receiving $600,” she said.
|
Lawsuit;Michael A Cardozo;Civil Rights;NYC
|
ny0043648
|
[
"us"
] |
2014/05/23
|
Fraud Unit Gone, Some Fear Increased Fuel Tax Evasion
|
Piqued last year over the refusal by the Travis County district attorney, Rosemary Lehmberg, to resign after her drunken driving arrest, Gov. Rick Perry exercised his veto and withheld more than $7.5 million in state money from her office’s public integrity unit. The unit, whose responsibilities include investigating wrongdoing by state officials, laid off employees as a result. The unit’s insurance fraud and motor fuels tax fraud sections were quietly dissolved last summer. While insurance fraud cases were transferred to other state prosecutors, fuel tax theft cases now fall to local district attorneys to pursue. And the public integrity unit’s chief and former members of the fraud section are concerned that criminals will see less of a deterrent to fuel tax fraud schemes. “The impact, I think, is that some cases will get prosecution, a lot will get declined,” the integrity unit’s director, Gregg Cox, said. “Where there’s a smaller prosecutor’s office, with no expertise, they’re going to be hard-pressed to accept it. A larger county like Harris County, they’ll do a lot of cases. Some will get prosecuted. But some won’t, and there will be a trickle-down effect.” That is not necessarily true, says Rene Pena, the district attorney for a five-county jurisdiction in the center of the Eagle Ford Shale drilling area — Atascosa, Frio, Karnes, Wilson and LaSalle. “If we receive them from our law enforcement officers and it reaches the probable cause standard,” the cases will be prosecuted, Mr. Pena said. Martin Cano, chief of criminal investigations at the Texas comptroller’s office, which refers fuel tax investigations, said that some smaller district attorney offices unfamiliar with the field could face a learning curve, but that he did not expect a sudden downturn in enforcement. “The veto affected the public integrity unit, but it didn’t affect compliance,” Mr. Cano said. The money at stake is significant. With a state gas tax at 20 cents a gallon, a tanker truck carrying 10,000 gallons is transporting $2,000 in state taxes that help pay for Texas highways and schools. Factor in federal gas taxes, and that tax load worth doubles to about $4,000 in tax receipts. In Texas, a state at the center of the refining industry, motor fuel tax schemes can range from individuals who steal tax-free or red-dyed diesel designated for construction and farming use, to organized rings that import stolen gas from elsewhere, even American military bases and Mexico, while avoiding federal and state taxes. Beth Payan, a prosecutor who spent five years with the now-closed fuels tax fraud team, said one case involved thieves who resold aviation fuel stolen from Fort Bliss in El Paso. Other cases have involved defendants who sold bootlegged concoctions, or “blends” made from Houston Ship Channel sludge mixed with gasoline. The motor vehicle fuel tax fraud section was the integrity unit’s smallest, equipped with a nearly $1 million budget to investigate cases anywhere in the state. It had two prosecutors, two forensic auditors and an investigator. “We’re not a bill collector. We are a regulator. Some people would say ‘Are you worth the cost?’ ” Ms. Payan said. “But these people are committing tax fraud violations against the State of Texas.” According to the most recent statistics available, the state motor fuels section has returned 277 convictions since 1989. In addition, more than $12.6 million in restitution was ordered. Depending on the charge, the crimes, which are felonies, can carry a penalty of up to life in prison. Image Ismael Gonzalez of DNT Construction filling his tanker truck with dyed diesel in Austin on Tuesday. Credit Erich Schlegel for The Texas Tribune Because motor fuel tax fraud cases are often laborious, requiring a lot of surveillance and paperwork, some critics are concerned that the cases will take a back seat to more violent crimes. “One of the cases I just turned over had 80 banker boxes,” said Ms. Payan, who was reassigned to the Travis County district attorney’s civil law division last year. “I just turned it over to the comptroller to take them to the local jurisdiction.” Since the unit shuttered, 34 motor fuel cases were sent to the comptroller’s office to be passed to district attorneys. Pinpointing how much is lost when fuel taxes are not paid is difficult and has flummoxed government accountants for decades. A 1992 General Accounting Office report said that no “verifiable estimate of the current level of motor fuel excise tax evasion is available.” A 2008 study by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies found that “the estimate of total taxes due is a difficult value to obtain.” Most auditors try to estimate the loss through what is sold and taxes that are paid, but it is an arduous task, considering the exemptions offered to several military groups, school districts, ranchers and the construction industry. Federal fuel tax evasion cost the nation’s taxpayers about $1 billion a year in 2001, the latest figure available from the Federal Highway Administration. Fuel tax collection initiatives in the 1990s have helped with enforcement. Since 1994, the nation’s off-road diesel fuel, which is tax-free, has been dyed the hue of red Kool-Aid so regulators can quickly identify whether a driver on the highway has illegally filled up with fuel that is to be used for farm or construction equipment. Ten years after the red-dye initiative, I.R.S. officials issued 900 penalties worth $1.8 billion involving illegal use of dyed fuel. Most of the misuse occurs in the construction or agriculture industry by individuals who fill up their personal vehicles with tax-exempt fuel. But criminals continue to try to capitalize on red-dye diesel, selling it at the full-diesel price without paying taxes at the rate of 44 cents a gallon. More than 3 billion gallons of the tax-exempt red-dyed diesel fuel was sold in Texas in 2013, according to the state comptroller’s office. Ruth-Ellen Gura, who retired from the integrity unit’s motor fuels tax division two years ago, says Texas prosecutors have seen where fuel is bought in Louisiana, for example, marked for export to Mexico (which makes it tax-exempt), and then sold in Texas for the taxed price, but the tax was not forwarded to Austin. “So Louisiana wasn’t collecting the tax and then the buyer was stopping in Texas and selling it to convenience stores,” she recalled. Word that her former unit was shutting down was distressing, she said. “I think it’s terrible because the state is the victim. The citizens of the state are the losers,” Ms. Gura said.
|
Texas;Gas Tax;Tax Evasion
|
ny0100904
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2015/12/28
|
British Army Is Deployed as Flooding Submerges Northern England
|
LONDON — The British Army stepped in on Sunday to help evacuate hundreds of people from waterlogged homes across the country, as swollen rivers and heavy rainfall brought misery to parts of the north and unleashed a spate of political recriminations. Accustomed to heavy rainfall, Britain has been hit several times by flooding recently, but the effects of the latest episode have spread beyond rural areas, leaving parts of York, Leeds and Manchester submerged. Threatened by its two rising rivers, York became the focus for emergency workers over the weekend as floodwaters engulfed many shops and pubs and came close to the ancient city’s historical buildings. Image A 200-year-old pub was among the buildings damaged around Manchester, England, over the weekend. Credit Paul Ellis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images The military, which had already been deployed in Cumbria, joined the police and mountain rescue teams in York on Sunday to help people from their homes and to bolster the city’s flood defenses with sandbags. Twenty roads were closed, and around 3,500 properties were thought to be vulnerable to the rising waters. After a telephone conference with ministers and officials on an emergency committee, Prime Minister David Cameron promised on Sunday to send more troops to “do whatever is needed” in parts of the country stricken by floods caused by what he described as “unprecedented” conditions. “What has happened — the level of the rivers, plus the level of rainfall — has created an unprecedented effect and so some very serious flooding,” Mr. Cameron told the BBC. On Sunday, Mr. Cameron’s office said 200 military personnel were being deployed to flood-affected areas, alongside the 300 already there, with a further 1,000 being held in reserve in case the situation worsened. His office also said hard-hit regions might receive special financial help. The disruption to major cities has prompted a more general debate about the extent to which Britain is willing to invest in adapting to the effects of climate change . Image The River Wharfe burst its banks on Sunday in Cawood, England, in North Yorkshire, stranding a herd of sheep. Credit Joe Giddens/Press Association, via Associated Press Liz Truss, the environment secretary, conceded that flood defenses had been “overwhelmed,” and Mr. Cameron promised to review spending plans, attempting to pre-empt criticism of the country’s state of preparedness. “You should look at what you’ve spent, look at what you’ve built, look at what you’re planning to spend, look at what you’re planning to build, and ask whether it’s in the right places, whether it’s enough, whether we’re doing everything we can to try and help,” Mr. Cameron said. Although flood barriers had made a difference, he added, “It’s clear in some cases they’ve been overtopped, they’ve been overrun, and so of course we should look again at whether there’s more we should do.” With the government seeking to restore its finances to health since the global economic crisis, spending has been constrained, and critics argue that investment in flood defenses has suffered. Kerry McCarthy, the spokeswoman on environmental issues for the opposition Labour Party, praised the emergency services on Sunday and the “strength of spirit” within the communities affected, but she added that “so-called unprecedented weather events are here to stay.” “The government must drop its complacency over the need for climate change adaptation,” Ms. McCarthy said. “It must also invest in maintaining flood defenses, rather than cutting them as they had planned, as well as look urgently at what else can be done to reduce flood risk in future.” John McDonnell, Labour’s economic policy spokesman, said that “as politicians we must not just sit idly by watching these awful scenes on TV, but come together to act.” He called for a “cross-party approach to securing a long-term stable plan for investment in a program that enables us to adapt to climate change.”
|
Great Britain;Flood;York;England;Leeds;Manchester;Climate Change;Global Warming;David Cameron;Military
|
ny0285096
|
[
"sports",
"autoracing"
] |
2016/09/16
|
Where Are the Female Drivers in Formula One?
|
When Formula One returned from its summer break for the Belgian Grand Prix on Aug. 28, a series that used to separate the boys from the men suddenly found itself with two teenagers on the grid. One of them, Max Verstappen, who will be 19 on Sept. 30 and who started in the series last year at age 17, has already won a Grand Prix. The other, Esteban Ocon, will be 20 on Sept. 17, and joined the series at the Belgian race. But while the series is now integrating teenagers, it is still not including women drivers, even though the traditional physical challenge of man against machine is no longer what it used to be. In recent years, the machines — the cars — have been so transformed that the more experienced drivers say they are physically the easiest they have driven. The Singapore Grand Prix this weekend is still considered the most excruciating physical challenge of the season, as it is run under floodlights at night in extreme heat and humidity, around a long, sinuous city circuit. But the Formula One cars of the past required great body strength to cope with G-forces similar to those encountered by jet pilots. The tire grip was huge, steering was heavy and braking was muscular. Since new regulations introduced in 2014, however, with downsized hybrid engines the cars have been so less physical to drive that the racing has become, if not quite child’s play, at least accessible for teenagers like Verstappen and Ocon. And yet, there are still no women driving in the world’s elite racing series. To date, only two women, both Italians, have qualified and raced in the series: Maria Teresa de Filippis, who entered five races in 1958 and 1959 and qualified for three of them, with a highest finish of 10th; and Lella Lombardi, who entered 17 races over three seasons from 1974 to 1976, and qualified for 12. She is the only woman to score points in Formula One, when she finished sixth at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix and scored half a point after the race was cut short. The most recent woman to take to the track was Susie Wolff of Scotland, who took part in Formula One practice sessions while she was a test driver for the Williams team from 2012 until last year. Also in 2012, María de Villota, a Spanish test driver at the Marussia team, had a freak, low-speed accident that caused a serious head injury. She died a year later after a heart attack. Before her, there was Giovanna Amati, another Italian, who unsuccessfully tried to qualify for three races in 1992. Replacing Amati in the Brabham car that year was Damon Hill, who also failed to qualify the car — though Hill went on to become world champion at the Williams team in 1996. The fact is that women have never been given a chance to compete at a top team. So without the physical challenge of driving the cars since 2014, the question remains: Why? “That is the big question and it always has been,” Wolff said. “When I was a test driver for Williams, without a doubt I could drive the car. It wasn’t physically easy. Women have 30 percent less muscle than men. But with hard training and a lot of preparation in the background, I could manage those cars.” “So physically, for me, in the current generation of Formula One, there is no boundary to why a female cannot be competing on the grid,” she added. “And I proved that. I did a race distance.” But Jolyon Palmer, a driver at the Renault team, said it was a question of numbers, going all the way back to when drivers take up motor racing as children. “If you look in karting,” he said, “at age 6 or age 10, there is probably one girl for every 10 boys. And when there are only 22 places in Formula One and everybody is fighting so hard to get there, if you have 10 more guys to girls at a lower level then it filters out probably to a higher level as well.” Wolff agreed. “When I was racing in the karting world championship in Braga in 2000, in the qualifying there were over 120 drivers worldwide, and there were only three women,” she said. “And I was the only one to make the finals. You don’t have a big enough talent pool.” Image Susie Wolff, top, was a test driver for the Williams team from 2012 to 2015. Credit Valdrin Xhemaj/European Pressphoto Agency “Because if you have a thousand little boys starting at various different levels of karting when they are 8 years old and you have maybe 20 girls,” she added, “the chances of just one of those girls making it all the way through to the pinnacle of motorsport is very, very slim.” Wolff, 33, has started a program called Dare to be Different, which is designed to encourage young women to go racing. The group takes school girls to karting tracks to discover go-karting and involves them in competitions and other racing projects. Nevertheless, she emphasized that it was not just numbers that count, but the quality of the racer. “Formula One is the pinnacle, it is the elite of motorsport, and to get there you have to be talented, you have to be good enough,” Wolff said. “There are different ways to get into the sport, in terms of putting a good sponsorship package together, etc., but once you are there, it doesn’t matter how much money you’ve brought or what your nationality is, you have to be good enough.” Ocon, though, entered the series in the middle of the season at the Manor team to replace a driver whose sponsorship had dried up. Simona de Silvestro, 28, a Swiss driver who has raced in the United States-based Indy-style series — and who won five races in Formula Atlantic — is now racing in the Formula E series. She was hired by the Sauber Formula One team as an “affiliated driver” in 2014, with a view to racing for the team in 2015. But Sauber then had financial problems and sought drivers who pay for their seat. “I think that we can compete, I have shown in the past that I can be on podiums and things like that,” de Silvestro said. “But it’s about not getting the opportunity, because the only way in those series — Formula One and IndyCar — to create the opportunity is if you bring a lot of money. And in my case, I don’t really have that. We were close to being in Formula One but that didn’t happen because of that.” For female drivers, finding sponsorships and building a career are more difficult than for men because of perceptions that racing is not for women. Claire Williams, the deputy team principal of the Williams team, where Wolff test drove, said that such prejudice was one of the biggest obstacles for women. “It’s a case of role models, really,” she said. “Formula One is perceived as a very male-dominated sport. I think that’s certainly changed, and it has changed very rapidly over the past few years. And Susie was a real trailblazer in that sense. I know that she inspired a lot of the younger generation to look at Formula One as a serious career opportunity.” “But it’s going to take a while for that inspiration to click in and for the people to come up through the ranks,” Williams added. “I think it’s a generational thing, really. It’s going to take us a while to see a female driver in Formula One.” Because the stigma is so strong, women are treated entirely differently than men. “I only ever did one interview in my whole career where I wasn’t asked about my gender,” Wolff said. Verstappen, the youngest driver ever to race in Formula One, is the son of Jos Verstappen, who raced in Formula One, and Sophie Kumpen, who was a top international kart racer. “In general it’s more difficult,” Verstappen said of the situation for female racers. “I spoke a lot to my mom about it as well; she had to work harder in go-karting compared to some guys who had the same strength. Why in tennis do you have the male tennis and the female tennis? Why don’t they combine it? Because if you do it, it’s not fair.” Wolff said she was against such segregation, noting that in the main sports where both genders take part together — sailing, horse riding and motorsport — there is an external means of propulsion. “None of those sports come down to just the physical attributes of the competitor,” Wolff said. “I am the first to admit that if you put me up against a guy in any kind of physical test, I will not beat him. I have 30 percent less muscle. But I raced and had success my whole career against men, so why would I suddenly want to start racing only against women, in a sport that isn’t even segregated? For me that makes no sense.”
|
Formula One;Car Racing;Women and Girls;Women's rights,Feminism
|
ny0073301
|
[
"sports",
"ncaabasketball"
] |
2015/04/03
|
Stanford’s Elliott Bullock, 25, Makes His Presence Felt From the Bench
|
After Elliott Bullock made the Stanford men’s basketball team as a freshman walk-on in 2008, he played well enough to earn a scholarship for his sophomore year. Off the court during the 2009-10 season, Bullock often isolated himself and battled depression and anxiety, which nearly derailed his college basketball career. Now, five years later, Bullock is Stanford’s most vocal and animated player, despite logging only 34 minutes this season. From the bench, Bullock, a 6-foot-10, 235-pound center, commonly assumes the role of a coach, yelling and directing the defense to their proper spots on the floor and alerting them to the plays being run by their opponents. While Coach Johnny Dawkins keeps a relatively cool demeanor through the game, Bullock, a 25-year-old senior, snaps towels in frustration and flexes his muscles after his teammate Reid Travis fights for points in the paint. He sits at the last spot on the bench, but is the first to run to midcourt after a timeout to bump chests with teammates in appreciation of their efforts. “He had some growing to do his first few years here,” Dawkins said. “The beautiful thing was watching him go through it and become the leader he’s become. He wasn’t open initially, wasn’t outgoing. He stuck to the things he knew very well and didn’t really stray outside of that or expand his role. “He’s gotten more mature as he’s grown in our program,” Dawkins added. “He’s expanded who he is as a player and who he is as a person.” On Thursday night, when the final buzzer sounded and Stanford (24-13) had captured the 2015 N.I.T. title with a 66-64 overtime win over Miami (25-13), Bullock was the first player in line to shake hands with the Hurricanes. He then congratulated Chasson Randle, who led the Cardinal with 25 points and made the go-ahead free throws with 3.4 seconds remaining. Before the game Bullock reflected on his career. He said that he had shown signs of depression throughout his entire life, but that he was in denial about it until he went on a Mormon mission after his sophomore year in 2010. Bullock had a promising freshman season, playing in 15 games, at times with a herniated disk. The next season, depression and anxiety impeded his progress, and as he prepared for his mission, he was unsure if he would return to basketball. “I was having the emotional struggles of it and the mental struggles of it,” Bullock said. “As a sophomore in college you want to fight through anything. I thought this is something I can control, something I can get over. I should have sought out more help. I should have relied more on my coaches, my teammates, my family. At the time I wasn’t mature enough to be able to do that.” During his first year working in impoverished areas in Houston, Bullock felt a reprieve from his symptoms. But as he was assigned more responsibilities, he relapsed. With the help of mission leaders, Bullock finally recognized his depression. Image Miami’s Sheldon McClellan, center, during the N.I.T. final, which Stanford won, 66-64, in overtime at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. Credit Frank Franklin Ii/Associated Press “It changed my perspective and value system,” Bullock said of the experience. “I was able to step back and go, What is really important to me, and really evaluate my goals and aspirations.” As Bullock began to better acknowledge his symptoms, his passion for basketball grew stronger. On his mission, he was not allowed to watch television or read newspapers, so Bullock could not regularly follow Stanford’s path to winning the 2012 N.I.T. title. Occasionally, he would glance at a newspaper at a gas station or receive an update when he made a weekly trip to the local library. “Though my focus was elsewhere, in downtime or other moments, my thoughts were absolutely with the team,” Bullock said. “My heart would take a little leap, and I’d be happy for them and cross my fingers and wait for the next week when my dad would send an email and tell me if they won.” Bullock returned to Palo Alto, Calif., in June 2012, training to get back in basketball shape. Realizing how far behind he felt physically, he redshirted the 2012-13 season and eventually, as he said, “got into the best shape of my life.” However, Bullock probably overtrained and on the third day of practice last season, he learned he had a stress fracture in a kneecap. “That’s life,” Bullock said. “It doesn’t always come as you planned.” Despite not being able to play, Bullock immersed himself with the team unlike during his first two years at Stanford. His relationships with teammates became more open and developed outside of basketball. “He’s a very loving guy who has a huge heart,” the Stanford senior Chasson Randle said. “Someone you can depend on to be there if you’re going through anything.” Bullock was also more willing to use his coaches as a resource. As a freshman and sophomore, he felt intimidated by coaches and did not know how to communicate with them. One of the assistants who taught Bullock how to better balance his interactions in life was the former Cardinal center Mark Madsen, who had also completed a mission. “His contributions have been invaluable,” Dawkins said of Bullock. “He’s been with me the longest. He knows what we want. He provides great energy and enthusiasm off the bench. We’ve been fortunate to have him.” Thursday was Bullock’s final game, almost seven years since he first wore a Cardinal jersey. Being 25 and playing college basketball has not always been easy; Bullock is also planning a wedding for June and searching for jobs in health policy, while many of his college friends have already established careers. But his current N.I.T. experience has washed away the disappointment of not going to the N.C.A.A. tournament and the time he lost on the court, such as not being with Stanford for the 2012 N.I.T. title run. It has also allowed Bullock to connect with his teammates and coaches in a way that was absent during his early career at Stanford. “It developed by going through the fire,” Bullock said. “These years I’ve been with the team, it creates a bond that’s one of those where I know I can rely on them and trust them.”
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College basketball;Elliott Bullock;Johnny Dawkins;Stanford;National Invitation Tournament
|
ny0060018
|
[
"sports"
] |
2014/08/31
|
Expected to Dazzle, Jameis Winston and Florida State Survive
|
ARLINGTON, Tex. — Florida State had secured its No. 1 ranking in a landslide vote, and why not? The Seminoles were the defending national champions, and pundits had pretty much given them a pass into the semifinals of college football’s playoff bracket. But on Saturday night, Florida State appeared anything but poised to repeat. The Seminoles were vulnerable until the end against an unranked Oklahoma State team, escaping with a 37-31 victory after what was supposed to have been an unfair fight turned into a slugfest at AT&T Stadium. Quarterback Jameis Winston, who finished 25 of 40 passing for 370 yards and threw two interceptions, was inconsistent for long stretches, but he delivered the decisive touchdown for Florida State with his only scoring pass, a 50-yarder to Rashad Greene that put the Seminoles ahead by 37-24 with four minutes to play. The Cowboys came roaring back, though, scoring on a 3-yard run by quarterback J. W. Walsh that closed the gap to 6 points before F.S.U. was able to run out the clock. Walsh was 15 of 27 passing for 203 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. He also scored twice on runs and kept the Cowboys close with key plays throughout. Winston connected on nine of his first 10 passes, looking the part of the reigning Heisman Trophy winner. But he was sloppy in stretches later, and the Seminoles led by only, 17-10, at halftime against the scrappy Cowboys. Linebacker Seth Jacobs was the first to intercept Winston, stopping a drive inside Oklahoma State’s 10-yard line early in the second quarter. Desmond Roland later scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to cut Oklahoma State’s deficit to 17-7. With 29 seconds left in the first half, Winston was intercepted by cornerback Ashton Lampkin at midfield, a turnover that led to a 37-yard field goal by Ben Grogan as time expired. Winston was 14 of 22 passing for 205 yards in the first half. More than half that yardage came on two completions: a 62-yarder to Christian Green and a 51-yarder to Rashad Greene. Mario Pender scored on an 11-yard run to lift Florida State to a 17-0 lead, but it was the defense that kick-started the Seminoles’ season. Florida State is so deep with talent that backups routinely log significant time, particularly on defense, and gain experience. They are expected to make big plays, too, and the second-team safety Nate Andrews provided one for a 10-0 lead. With the Cowboys backed up against their goal line, Andrews deftly dropped into a passing lane, read Walsh’s intention to throw a slant pass, tipped the ball to himself and scored on a 9-yard interception return. But all that energy appeared ready to crash on the Seminoles after Walsh stunned them with a 55-yard touchdown pass to David Glidden, cutting the Cowboys’ deficit to 20-17 early in the third quarter and positioning them for an upset. Such a situation may have seemed unfathomable to Florida State fans before kickoff. Almost in unison, they broke into their tomahawk-chop chant and quickly created a collegiate atmosphere at cavernous AT&T Stadium. As highlights from their perfect season flashed across the gigantic video screen suspended above the field, it was easy to understand their wild enthusiasm and expectations for another national championship. They could very well end up back here, for the national championship game on Jan. 12, thus fulfilling the “Dallas to Dallas” catchphrase the Seminoles used to fuel their off-season motivation. Coach Jimbo Fisher struck that slogan from the team lexicon this week, though, telling players to stop using the phrase as they began their defense of the title. In their quest to repeat — and to win the fourth national title in the program’s history — the Seminoles are playing against history and a reconfigured national landscape that now includes a four-team playoff. Should Florida State complete that journey, it would accomplish something it never did under Coach Bobby Bowden. His teams won at least 10 games and finished ranked in the top 5 for 14 consecutive seasons, winning two national titles, but the championships were not back to back (1993 and 1999). “As a team, we’re a work in progress, and I think we all know that now,” Fisher said. He added: “Last year’s over. And tonight will help us get over that. I think the pressure of being No. 1 was on them; I really do. Now we can relax and be the team we can be, play better and coach better.” The 1999 Seminoles were the first team to go an entire season as the top-ranked team, a feat matched by Southern California in 2004. The Seminoles have a chance at doing that again, receiving all but nine first-place votes combined in two major preseason polls. Given Saturday night’s result, though, a round trip, Dallas to Dallas, might be more difficult than was first thought.
|
College football;Jameis Winston;Jimbo Fisher;Florida State University;Oklahoma State University
|
ny0074076
|
[
"sports",
"football"
] |
2015/04/17
|
N.F.L. to Reinstate Vikings’ Adrian Peterson
|
Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson will be reinstated on Friday, ending one of the N.F.L.’s more complex and embarrassing suspensions. The N.F.L. told Peterson on Thursday that he would be able to rejoin the Vikings, but that he was expected to continue taking part in counseling and treatment programs stemming from his arrest for disciplining his 4-year-old son last year with a switch. While Peterson’s agent has said he wants his client to play elsewhere, the Vikings have said they plan to keep Peterson, who is set to earn a base salary of $12.75 million next season. Peterson was arrested in Texas in mid-September, and he sat out that week’s game. He said he was just disciplining his son as he had been disciplined. His arrest came less than a week after the release of a video of Ray Rice, the former Baltimore Ravens running back, punching his future wife. After the Vikings lost that Sunday, Peterson was reactivated, leading to an uproar from fans and several of the team’s sponsors. The league then took the unusual step of putting Peterson on the commissioner’s exempt list, which allowed him to be paid while he resolved his legal matter. After he pleaded no contest on Nov. 4 in state court in Montgomery County, Tex., to reckless assault of the child, Peterson expected to be reinstated. Instead, Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended him until at least April 15 for violating the N.F.L.’s personal conduct policy. The league’s decision prompted questions about whether it deliberately tried to keep Peterson off the field. Peterson asked for an independent arbitrator to hear his appeal, something that Rice had received. Harold Henderson, a league-appointed arbitrator, upheld the season-long suspension in December, calling Peterson’s actions “egregious and aggravated.” Henderson added that Peterson had not shown proper remorse or appreciation for the seriousness of his actions. Peterson and the N.F.L. Players Association then sued the league in federal court in Minnesota. In February, Judge David S. Doty in the United States District Court in Minneapolis overturned the arbitration ruling. The N.F.L. appealed that decision, arguing that a federal court did not have jurisdiction over the league’s disciplinary matters. To Peterson, that appeal is now moot.
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Football;Adrian Peterson;Child Abuse;NFL; Super Bowl; Super Bowl 2015;Minnesota Vikings
|
ny0091298
|
[
"science",
"space"
] |
2015/08/04
|
The Flip Side of Optimism About Life on Other Planets
|
If you dream of close encounters of the alien kind, this has been a hopeful summer. In July, on the 46th anniversary of the first moon landing, Yuri Milner, the Russian Internet entrepreneur and philanthropist, said he would spend $100 million over the next decade on the search for alien signals, known as SETI, giving the field a financial stability and access to telescopes it had never had. That same week, NASA announced the discovery of what might be the most Earthlike planet yet beyond the solar system, Kepler 452b, a mere 1,400 light-years from here. In a news conference accompanying Mr. Milner’s announcement, Geoffrey Marcy , a planet hunter from the University of California, Berkeley, noted that “the universe is apparently bulging at the seams with ingredients for biology.” He said he would bet Yuri Milner’s house, reportedly also worth $100 million, that there is at least microbial life out there. You might think the discovery of microbes on Mars or fish in the oceans of Jupiter’s moon Europa would have scientists dancing in the streets. And you would probably be right. But not everyone agrees that it would be such good news. For at least one prominent thinker, it would be a “crushing blow.” That would be Nick Bostrom , a philosopher at the University of Oxford and director of the Future of Humanity Institute there, one of the great pessimists of this or any other age. In an article published in Technology Review in 2008, Professor Bostrom declared that it would be a really bad sign for the future of humanity if we found even a microbe clinging to a rock on Mars. “Dead rocks and lifeless sands would lift my spirit,” he wrote. Why? It goes back to a lunch in 1950 in Los Alamos, N.M., the birthplace of the atomic bomb. The subject was flying saucers and interstellar travel. The physicist Enrico Fermi blurted out a question that has become famous among astronomers: “ Where is everybody? ” Kepler’s Tally of Planets NASA’s Kepler mission has discovered more than 1,000 confirmed planets orbiting distant stars. The fact that there was no evidence outside supermarket tabloids that aliens had ever visited Earth convinced Fermi that interstellar travel was impossible. It would simply take too long to get anywhere. The argument was expanded by scientists like Michael Hart and Frank Tipler, who concluded that extraterrestrial technological civilizations simply didn’t exist. The logic is simple. Imagine that one million years from now Earthlings launch a robot to Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to our own. It gets there in a few years, and a million years later sends off probes to two other star systems. A million years after that, each of those sends off two more probes. Even allowing for generous travel times, in 100 million years roughly a nonillion stars (10 30 ) could be visited. The galaxy contains maybe 200 billion stars, so each could be visited more than a trillion times in this robot crisscrossing. The interstellar probe part of this is not so crazy, by the way. Serious people are already contemplating sending a probe to another star, using technology that could be achievable in the near future. See, for example, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and its 100-Year Starship Study . There are billions of potentially habitable planets in the galaxy, moreover. If only a small fraction of these develop life and technology, that would be enough to turn the whole galaxy into Times Square. The Milky Way is 10 billion years old. So where are those aliens or their artifacts? We’ve found zilch. If life is so easy, someone from somewhere must have come calling by now. This is known as the Fermi paradox. There are many loopholes in this argument, including the possibility that we wouldn’t sufficiently recognize alien life if it camped in our front yards. The simplest explanation, Dr. Bostrom and others say, is that there are no other spacefaring civilizations. There must be something, he concludes, that either stops life from starting at all, or shuts it down before it can conquer the stars. He calls it the Great Filter. You can imagine all kinds of bottlenecks in the evolution of life and civilization — from the need for atoms to first combine into strands of RNA, the genetic molecule that plays Robin to DNA’s Batman, to nuclear war, climate change or a mishap of genetic engineering — that could constitute a Great Filter. Recipe for a Small Planet Astronomers have found a recipe for rocky, Earth-like planets orbiting other stars. The big question for Professor Bostrom is whether the Great Filter is in our past or our future, and for the answer he looks to the stars. If there is nothing else out there, then maybe we have survived whatever it is. As bizarre as it sounds, we are the first ones in the neighborhood to have run the cosmic obstacle course. If there is company out there, it means the Great Filter is ahead of us. We are doomed. This is a staggeringly existential piece of knowledge to have obtained at what seems to be a tender age as a species, based on a cursory examination of a sliver of our cosmic neighborhood. It is also a truly brave exercise of the power of human reason. Maybe too brave. But there is a precedent of sorts in an old riddle known as Olbers’ Paradox, after Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers , a 19th-century amateur astronomer who enunciated a problem that had bothered some astronomers since the 16th century: Why is the sky dark at night? In an infinite eternal universe, every line of sight would end on a star, the thinking went, and even dust clouds would glow as bright as day. Luminaries as disparate as the Scottish physicist Lord Kelvin and the writer Edgar Allan Poe suggested that the dark night sky was a clue to the fact that the universe is finite, at least in time, and had a beginning, a notion now cemented by the Big Bang. If Olbers saw the dawn of time, perhaps Fermi and Bostrom have seen the sunset. We should hardly be surprised. Nothing lasts forever. The fathers of SETI, Carl Sagan and Frank Drake , stressed that a key unknown element in their equations was the average lifetime of technological civilizations. Too short a lifetime would eliminate the possibility of overlapping civilizations. Forget about the mythical brotherhood of the galaxy. The Klingons left the building long ago. The best we could have hoped for was to be another evolutionary phase in the zigzag development of earthly life on the way to who knows what. But in a few billion years, the sun will die, and so will the earth, and our descendants — if they are still on it. The universe will not remember us or Shakespeare or Homer. We can’t really blame Professor Bostrom for that. But he has a history of disturbing thoughts. In 2003, he argued that we were probably all living in a computer simulation, something he said would be easy for “technologically mature” civilizations to do. What his and other sci-fi-style calculations have in common is that they are extrapolations, of the doubling of chip capacity decreed by Moore’s Law in the case of computer simulations, or the doubling of space probes over the eons. Believe them at your peril. Chips can’t get smaller forever. Untended machines far, far from home break or forget why they are there. Apple can’t keep doubling iPhone sales eternally. As the great science writer and biologist Lewis Thomas liked to say, we are an ignorant species. This is why we do the experiment.
|
Extraterrestrial life;Nick Bostrom;Galaxy;Space
|
ny0290186
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2016/01/17
|
Bernie Sanders’s Vision Makes Hillary Clinton Camp See Red
|
Republican presidential candidates dominated television sets in Iowa and New Hampshire this past week, but a commercial for Senator Bernie Sanders , “Two Visions,” captured the most attention, largely because of how Hillary Clinton ’s campaign responded to it. Mr. Sanders addresses the camera to the sort of plunking xylophone music often heard in pharmaceutical or insurance ads. “There are two Democratic visions for regulating Wall Street,” he says, over a snail’s-eye shot of soaring Manhattan office towers. “One says it’s O.K. to take millions from big banks and then tell them what to do.” Animated pictograms show a faceless banker in a suit handing over a bag of cash to a couple with two children and a stroller, beneficiaries of the plan he bluntly sums up: “Break up the big banks, close the tax loopholes and make them pay their fair share” to fund “health care for all” and “universal college education.” Message A direct contrast with Mrs. Clinton, though she is not named, who is criticizing Mr. Sanders on health care and gun control. Hitting back, he paints Mrs. Clinton’s promises to regulate Wall Street as disingenuous, reminding astute listeners of her millions of dollars in financial-industry donations and paid speaking fees over the years. Response As the ad was beamed into homes in Iowa and New Hampshire, the Clinton campaign cried foul, calling it a negative attack and a violation of Mr. Sanders’s high-minded pledge never to run such an ad, ever. Mr. Sanders and his team denied this characterization. Instead, they pointed to a Clinton commercial a day earlier that, without naming Mr. Sanders, suggested that he stood with the firearms industry and against both Mrs. Clinton and President Obama on the subject of expanded gun control laws. Impact The Clinton campaign’s outrage, real or feigned, was a gift to Mr. Sanders. His ad drew extra news attention as a result, perhaps the most valuable currency in this presidential cycle. And the caterwauling from Mrs. Clinton’s headquarters only amplified the growing sense that her campaign was suddenly in a dogfight. Changing channels ... Earshot The “Monday Night Football” theme is a Pavlovian signal to football fans to rush back from the kitchen — the game is about to begin. Senator Marco Rubio dared use that music to kick off a political ad , potentially a heretical act. But at least all he talked about was football. And he showed that he could catch. Sight Gag An attack ad by Right to Rise, the “ super PAC ” supporting Jeb Bush, featured two animations: Mr. Rubio as a weather vane and Mr. Bush as a locomotive engine. Conservative Solutions PAC, a group backing Mr. Rubio, responded by showing the locomotive running into a ditch. “Train wreck,” it called Mr. Bush’s campaign. Howler Right to Rise attacked Mr. Rubio over his shifting record on immigration. But the position on which the group accused Mr. Rubio of flip-flopping is pretty much the same as the position held by Mr. Bush. Numbers 21 Presidential campaign ads seen for the first time last week, according to Kantar Media/CMAG. $2 MILLION Donald J. Trump’s weekly ad-spending pace, after saving his money for most of 2015.
|
Campaign advertising;Bernard Sanders,Bernie Sanders;2016 Presidential Election;Hillary Clinton
|
ny0161341
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2006/04/07
|
Rudolf Vrba, 81, Auschwitz Witness, Dies
|
Correction Appended Rudolf Vrba, who as a young man escaped from Auschwitz and provided the first eyewitness evidence not only of the magnitude of the tragedy unfolding at the death camp but also of the exact mechanics of Nazi mass extermination, died on March 27 at a hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was 81. His wife, Robin, said he died of cancer. Dr. Vrba went on to become a distinguished medical researcher in Israel, England, the United States and Canada, writing dozens of papers. But his greatest importance is as an author of a much different paper -- one with diagrams of gas chambers and crematories. With remarkable specificity gained from camp jobs that gave him unusual access to various corners of Auschwitz, including the gas chambers, Dr. Vrba told the unknown truth about it. The report became known as the Auschwitz Protocol. When part of it were released in the summer of 1944, the United States government endorsed it as true. Neither Dr. Vrba's name -- he was born Walter Rosenberg -- nor that of his fellow escapee, Alfred Wetzler, was given, in order to protect their safety. The names of two other escapees and a Polish Army major whose information was added to the final protocol also went unidentified. Many history books still omit the names, although the document itself is central to many discussions of the Holocaust. It was used as evidence at the Nuremberg trials. Dr. Vrba's wife said his name, virtually unpronounceable in English, is generally mispronounced as VER-ba. But he made it known by telling his story, most notably in his 1963 autobiography, "Escape from Auschwitz: I Cannot Forgive." His influence grew even more after he appeared in Claude Lanzmann's 1985 documentary, "Shoah." "The strength of the Final Solution was its secrecy, its impossibility," he said in an interview in 2005 with The Ottawa Citizen. "I escaped to break that belief that it was not possible. And to stop more killings." As the Holocaust enveloped European Jews and other groups vilified by the Nazis, news of the outrage seeped only gradually to the outside world. By early 1941, however, the British had learned about massacres, and later that year, Jan Karski, a leader of the Polish underground, informed President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the unfolding horror. On Dec. 17, 1942, the Allies issued a statement saying Jews were being taken to the camp and killed. But the specifics of what was happening at Birkenau, the part of Auschwitz devoted to extermination, began to come to general attention only in January 1944, when a report prepared by the underground there was smuggled out and reached officials in Washington and London. No action was taken, however. Then, on April 4, an Allied spy plane over Poland happened to photograph Auschwitz while documenting construction of a synthetic-fuels plant. The next day, Siegfried Lederer escaped to warn Czech Jews. On April 7, Mr. Vrba and Mr. Wetzler, who died in 1988, escaped. On April 24, they reached Zilina, in northern Slovakia, where they worked with Jewish leaders on their report. The two men each provided details with the other not present. Factual assertions were checked against records whenever possible. The 32-page report was sent to the British and United States governments, the Vatican and the International Red Cross. Most important, it went to the leadership of Hungary's Jews, next on Hitler's list. It had been the construction of a new rail spur to the gas chambers that prompted Mr. Vrba and Mr. Wetzler to risk their lives to try to warn Hungarian Jews, the last major intact Jewish community in Europe. They had heard Nazis talking about "Hungarian sausage" coming. But Hungarian Jewish leaders did not issue a warning, a failure that has been long debated. It has been suggested that the leaders feared jeopardizing an ultimately unsuccessful deal they were then negotiating with Adolph Eichmann to save at least some Jews. There was also concern that there was too little time for effective action. Soon, it was too late by any measure. On June 6, two more Auschwitz inmates, Arnost Rosin and Czeslaw Mordowicz, arrived in Zilina. They reported that trainloads of Hungarian Jews were being massacred. "Already 200,000 of these I had tried to save, those whom I thought, indeed, I had saved, were already dead," Dr. Vrba wrote. That total would more than double. Still, the escapees' alarms saved some Jews, at least 100,000 by most estimates. Allied pressure, especially threats to hold Hungary's leadership responsible, prompted Admiral Miklos Horthy, Hungary's regent, to stop deportations on July 9, 1944. Mr. Vrba was born Walter Rosenberg in Topolcany, Czechoslovakia, on Sept. 11, 1924. Rudolf Vrba was the nom de guerre he adopted after joining the Czechoslovakian resistance. He later made the change legal. The young Walter Rosenberg was barred from school at 15 because he was a Jew. He worked as a laborer until 1942, when he was arrested and deported, first to the Maidanek concentration camp and then to Auschwitz. His escape was harrowing: he hid under a woodpile while guard dogs sniffed just inches away. After World War II, he earned his doctorate and did postdoctoral work in Prague. After his various posts as a medical researcher, he became a professor of pharmacology at the University of British Columbia from 1976 until the early 1990's. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his daughter, Zuza Vrbova Jackson of Cambridge, England, and two grandchildren. Dr. Vrba said that he had devoted 95 percent of his time to science and 5 percent to the Holocaust. In both, he pushed beyond facts toward larger interpretations. He told The Jerusalem Post in 1998, for example, that he could understand why some people doubted the true dimensions of the Holocaust. There was nothing in their experience remotely comparable, he said. Correction: May 6, 2006, Saturday An obituary on April 7 about Rudolf Vrba, who escaped from Auschwitz to tell the world of its horrors in 1944, misstated the year the Polish liaison officer Jan Karski met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt to deliver an account of the Holocaust. It was 1943, not 1941.
|
HITLER ADOLF;CONCENTRATION CAMPS;NAZI POLICIES TOWARD JEWS AND MINORITIES;DEATHS (OBITUARIES)
|
ny0136160
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2008/04/12
|
Bush Holds Out Hope for More Iraq Troop Cuts
|
CRAWFORD, Tex. — President Bush on Friday held out the possibility of further troop withdrawals from Iraq this year, scaling back a comment he made a day earlier, when he said the top American military commander in Iraq could have “all the time he needs” before reducing American forces there further. In an interview with ABC News, Mr. Bush said he did not know how many troops would be in Iraq at the end of his administration. He also sought to clarify his remark about Gen. David H. Petraeus , who has said he wants time to reassess the situation in Iraq and has recommended that Mr. Bush suspend withdrawals for at least 45 days after the departure, expected in July, of the last of the additional units ordered into Iraq for last year’s troop buildup. Mr. Bush’s remark that the general could have as much time as he needed has been widely interpreted as a signal that the White House expects no further cuts after July. But in the interview, the president suggested that he thought his words were being misinterpreted. “You know, sometimes people read what they want to in the president’s words,” he said. “My statement was, in essence, this: if General Petraeus needs 45 days, he’ll have 45 days.” Mr. Bush went on to say that he hoped “conditions will enable us to return on success,” the phrase his administration has coined for its policy of bringing American troops home based on conditions there. And at the Pentagon, General Petraeus told reporters that “there is every desire to conduct further reductions” after the 45-day period. But neither speculated on troop levels. Mr. Bush said, “I don’t want to get expectations up to the point where conditions dictate another response. The question is, ‘Are we going to have the troops in place that will enable us to succeed?’ And the answer is we will, so long as I’m the president.” Mr. Bush also talked about his thinking in late 2006, before the troop buildup. He acknowledged that he believed his Iraq strategy “was failing” at that time but that he had continued to say publicly that the United States was winning, a portrayal he said was intended to “bolster the spirits” of the troops. “You can’t have the commander in chief say to a bunch of kids who are sacrificing, either, ‘It’s not worth it,’ or ‘You’re losing,’ ” Mr. Bush said. “I mean, what does that do for morale?” The interview, taped at Mr. Bush’s ranch here, appeared to be an attempt by the White House to have the final word after a week of intense national debate over the future of the war that began with the Capitol Hill testimony of General Petraeus and the top American diplomat in Iraq, Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker. With three presidential contenders — Senators John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton — among those doing the questioning, the hearings inevitably drew attention to what would happen after Mr. Bush left office, and the divisions between Republicans and Democrats on what to do next. But within the administration, there appear to be divisions as well. While General Petraeus has argued against withdrawing troops too quickly, Mr. Bush’s defense secretary, Robert M. Gates, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, have expressed concerns that keeping troop levels high in Iraq would create strains on the entire force, particularly if additional troops were needed in Afghanistan. Mr. Gates has promised to send more troops to Afghanistan; on Friday in Washington, he was asked if he was on the same page as the president. “Same line, same word,” he replied. In the ABC interview, Mr. Bush said that if more troops were needed in Afghanistan, “We’ll find them.” But he said that he, too, was concerned about the toll that long deployments to Iraq were taking on the military. It was the reason he announced this week that he was reducing the standard tour to 12 months from 15 months, so that troops would have as much time at home as in the field — one year on, and one year off. “That’s very important to take the strain off the force,” Mr. Bush said.
|
Iraq;United States Armament and Defense;Bush George W;Petraeus David H
|
ny0233992
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2010/01/03
|
Self-Serve Sundaes
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The premise behind 16 Handles Too, a new kiosk at the Garden State Plaza in Paramus, is simple. “You get to build your own frozen yogurt sundae,” said Solomon Choi, 29, the owner, who opened the location last month as an offshoot of his 16 Handles shop in the East Village in New York. At both stores, customers serve themselves yogurt and toppings and pay by weight. “In New York, we have 16 flavors on tap,” Mr. Choi said. “We have some space limitations in Paramus, but we still have enough that customers can mix and match what they want.” Typically, there are eight flavors to choose from, like green tea tart, vanilla, chocolate and New York cheesecake (the selection changes daily; the price is 49 cents per ounce with or without toppings). Once you decide what you want, you just take a cup and start filling it, pulling a handle to get the yogurt flowing. On a recent Monday morning, I tried a little of the five flavors that were available: Irish mint, cookies and cream, coffee, pistachio and peanut butter. One of the workers also gave me a sample of Eurotart, which was being prepared. For toppings, I chose mochi (a mini rice cake), blueberries, kiwi and yogurt chips. (There were also Gummi Bears and other candies, chocolate syrup and granola.) I sat down at one of the five cafe tables and wondered if the yogurt would taste as good as it looked. It did. There was no hint of the chemical aftertaste found in some frozen yogurts, and the flavors were true to their names. 16 Handles Too, Garden State Plaza in Paramus (on Level 1, across from J.C. Penney); (201) 843-2464. Open Monday to Saturday. 16handles.com . Until a credit-card machine is installed, cash only.
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Desserts;Bakeries and Baked Products;Restaurants;New York City
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