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ny0203748
|
[
"business",
"media"
] |
2009/08/24
|
Time Out New York Adds Sex and Dating Section
|
Many city magazines court singles and sex-related advertising. Time Out New York has decided to make it part of its editorial content. The magazine, a weekly better known for its exhaustive cultural and restaurant listings, introduced a “Sex and Dating” section in early July. Along with articles on finding strippers and getting checked for sexually transmitted diseases, it features photos of local singles in the hunt, with e-mail contact information. “I want sex and dating to be another brand for us, just like we cover theater, music, film and museums,” said Michael Freidson, who became editor in chief of the magazine in February 2008. “But I don’t want it to be the dominant category.” Mr. Freidson has certainly made the topic more dominant. Noticing that Time Out’s annual sex issues, which started in 1996, were always among the top sellers of the year, he began spicing up the coverage last year with, among other things, naked pictures of readers. Last year, Tony Elliott, the founder of Time Out, the London company that owns or licenses Time Out titles around the world, said he was considering selling Time Out New York because his other investors wanted to cash out. No buyer emerged, however, and newsstand sales are up 24.3 percent over last summer, said Lindsay Kaplan, a spokeswoman for the magazine. The total average paid circulation of Time Out New York is 153,818 copies a week and the median reader age is 32, she said. Not all readers have received the changes well. One reacted to the naked photos by posting to Time Out’s Web site, “I think I am in the demographic that this is supposed to appeal to, but I really just want to see listings and articles about NY. Not porn.” Because of reactions like that, Mr. Freidson said, the next crop of nude reader photos, in September, will not be on the cover but in the back pages, where readers can avoid them. “Not everyone who opens the magazine to find a movie to go to wants to find a photo of a veterinarian posing nude with his cats,” Mr. Freidson said. ALLEN SALKIN
|
Magazines;Sex;Nudism and Nudity;Sexually Transmitted Diseases;Time Out New York;New York City
|
ny0121095
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2012/07/12
|
Syria General’s Absence Raises Questions on Defection
|
PARIS — Nearly one week after the commander of one of Syria ’s elite Republican Guard units defected, he has not been seen in public or tried to contact the opposition, raising questions about his motives and intentions, senior officials and opposition members said. The mystery surrounding the whereabouts of the commander, Gen. Manaf Tlass, has dampened some of the enthusiasm that first greeted news of his decision to abandon President Bashar al-Assad . The United States and other governments critical of Mr. Assad pointed to the general’s departure as a promising sign that the Syrian government was cracking under the pressure of an unrelenting uprising. At the time, the French Foreign Ministry described his defection as a “hard blow” to the Syrian government and said he was on his way to France . On Wednesday the Foreign Ministry had to concede it did not know his whereabouts. Senior Turkish officials said they, too, were unaware of his location, or even if he was in Turkey. Friends who have been in recent contact with his family in Paris said that General Tlass planned to make a public announcement next week. There was no sign of the general on Tuesday at the imposing, gated mansion in Paris where his sister Nahed Ojjeh, the widow of a Saudi billionaire, has her offices. She has presided over some of the capital’s most sought-after political and literary evenings. A secretary turned reporters away from the mansion and said that Ms. Ojjeh was not home; she could not be reached by phone. Neighbors said they had seen a Mercedes with tinted windows going in and out of the driveway, but there was no sign of the general. General Tlass is the son of a more prominent general, Mustafa Tlass, who was defense minister from 1972 to 2004 and a close ally of President Hafez al-Assad, Bashar al-Assad’s father. The elder Mr. Assad built the family’s power base around members of his Alawite sect as well as elites within the Sunni community. Adding to the intrigue surrounding the general’s departure from Syria, Press TV, the Iranian television network, reported that Mustafa Tlass, who now lives in France, had denounced his son’s defection in an interview on Sunday with the French broadcaster France 2. But a spokeswoman for France 2 on Wednesday disputed that account and said that Mustafa Tlass had not appeared on any of its shows on Sunday. Iran, along with Russia, is Mr. Assad’s staunchest backer. The defection, billed as the first from within Mr. Assad’s inner ranks since the uprising against him began in March 2011, overshadowed a meeting in Paris last Friday of allies of the Syrian opposition, after which Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton characterized the departure as a powerful sign that Syrian government insiders were “starting to vote with their feet.” But members of the Syrian National Council, the opposition in exile, indicated that may be a premature assessment. “I don’t know if he will join the revolution or the opposition or the private sphere,” Bassma Kodmani, a member of the council’s executive committee, said in an interview. “I hope if he joins the opposition in a decisive way, having taken the risk of defecting from the regime, that he will stand firmly on the right side against it.” Some analysts said the circumstances surrounding the general’s departure remained unclear and questioned whether news of his defection had been exaggerated. Sharmine Narwani, a Middle East analyst and senior associate at St. Antony’s College at Oxford University, said the attempt to describe General Tlass’s escape as a defection was “pure propaganda.” She said that the general had been sidelined from the political establishment in Syria in recent months as he grew critical of the government, and that nobody had prevented him from leaving. “The regime didn’t try and keep him in Syria, so what does that tell you?” Ms. Narwani asked. “He may have left Syria, but that doesn’t mean he has gone over to the other side.” General Tlass may be all too happy to eschew the fractious infighting of the Syrian opposition for the rarefied world of mansions, chess games and wine-fueled diplomacy inhabited by his aristocratic Paris-based family. In Paris he would join his father and his sister, 52, a rich and influential socialite who has lived in France for more than 30 years and is known to some of her acquaintances as “Madame O.” The widow of Akram Ojjeh, a Francophile arms dealer who was 42 years her senior, she used to host lavish dinners with France’s most prominent businessmen, politicians and intellectuals. In a profile published in Le Monde in 2006, headlined “The Dinners of Madame Ojjeh,” she is celebrated as a Renaissance woman, who graduated in philosophy and political science, and invested some of her fortune — reportedly worth more than $61 million — in restoring monuments and collecting art. In 2001, Ms. Ojjeh founded a chess club that included among its members Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the disgraced former chief of the International Monetary Fund. In a phone interview on Monday, Roland Dumas, who was foreign minister under President François Mitterrand, said he knew Ms. Ojjeh well through her father, who he said had good relations with Mr. Mitterrand. “Nahed Ojjeh was a socialite,” he said, “She didn’t do anything, she had a personal fortune, she was the wife of a very rich man.”
|
Tlass Manaf;Syria;Assad Bashar al-;France;Middle East and North Africa Unrest (2010- )
|
ny0268547
|
[
"sports",
"soccer"
] |
2016/04/05
|
New Chelsea Coach Comes With Wins and Baggage
|
LONDON — Chelsea has turned to another manager renowned for his abrasive temperament to be José Mourinho’s successor. Having seen Antonio Conte revitalize Italy’s national team in the last two years, Chelsea is hoping the coach, a three-time Serie A winner in Italy, can rouse the London club from its slumber. The owner Roman Abramovich made Conte his 10th permanent managerial appointment in 13 years on Monday, handing out a three-year contract despite Conte’s facing sports fraud charges from a match-fixing scandal in Italy. Conte, a former Juventus player and coach, will face a preliminary hearing in the case in Cremona, Italy, on Tuesday, but he is not required to attend. Conte, 46, will not officially take charge of Chelsea until Italy’s European Championship campaign is over. With the final in France not until July 10, Conte could have barely a month to prepare Chelsea for the new Premier League season, which begins Aug. 13. “I will continue to focus on my job with the Italian national team and will reserve speaking about Chelsea again until after the Euros,” Conte said. Conte will have to make an instant impact at Chelsea to prevent a repeat of this season, which saw the reigning Premier League champions slide near the relegation zone before Mourinho was fired in December. Guus Hiddink has steadied Chelsea during a second spell as stopgap manager while keeping the seat warm for Conte. Despite Chelsea’s unbeaten record in the league under Hiddink, the team is 10th in the Premier League and there will almost certainly be no European soccer in Conte’s first season at Stamford Bridge. Returning the 2012 European champions to the Champions League through a top-four domestic finish will be Conte’s priority. “Antonio Conte has a record of consistent success in his career as a manager and as a player,” said Bruce Buck, the Chelsea chairman. “We look forward to welcoming him to Stamford Bridge and are confident he will find all he needs to maintain that high standard of achievement.” But Conte’s reputation is on the line in the match-fixing case, where he is accused of having committed sports fraud in the 2010-11 season when he was Siena’s manager. The match under investigation is Siena’s 1-0 win at Albinoleffe in May 2011. Siena’s 2-2 draw at Novara, also in May 2011, was dropped from the inquiry. Conte, who has denied wrongdoing, served a four-month sports ban during the 2012-13 season — when he was at Juventus — for failing to report a fixing scandal while at Siena. Roberto Di Martino, the prosecutor in Cremona, told The Associated Press on Monday that he hoped Conte was sentenced for “a few months” by mid-May. But it is rare in Italy for anybody to go to jail after receiving a sentence of less than two years. Asked if it was prudent of Chelsea to hire a coach facing a criminal trial, Di Martino said, “That’s the club’s problem.” Marina Granovskaia, Chelsea’s director, trumpeted the appointment of “one of the most highly regarded managers in world football.” Conte, known as a disciplinarian, is a proven champion at home, having won the Serie A title in each of his three seasons as Juventus’s coach before leaving to take the Italy job in 2014. “You’ll have to spit blood right to the very end of the final match of the season,” Conte told his Juventus players as they achieved the rare feat of going unbeaten in the league in his first season. Conte has also shown he can transform the fortunes of struggling teams, steering Siena to an immediate return to the top division after relegation in 2010. Before that, he spent time in charge of Arezzo, Bari — where he won the Serie B title — and Atalanta. As a midfielder for Juventus, Conte won every major honor, including five Serie A titles and the Champions League. With Italy, he played in the finals of the 1994 World Cup and of Euro 2000 but was a runner-up on both occasions. He has shown the same steely determination he exhibited as a player in his coaching and has demanded the same commitment from his players. He resigned from Juventus in 2014 to take on the challenge of transforming an Italian national side that had just crashed out of the World Cup at the group stage. “I like tough challenges,” Conte said at the time. “I’m bringing my mentality here. I live for winning. The difference between victory and defeat is for me the same as between life and death.” Conte will need his new Chelsea players to demonstrate the same fighting spirit to turn the five-time English champions into a force again.
|
Soccer;Antonio Conte;Jose Mourinho;Coaches;Chelsea Soccer Team
|
ny0181818
|
[
"sports",
"soccer"
] |
2007/12/04
|
U.S. Team on Adu’s Mind, Even in Portugal
|
The education of an American soccer player, Freddy Adu , continues in Portugal. “The first thing about being in Europe is that you would not survive at a place like this unless you pay attention to every single detail and work hard every day,” Adu said last week in a telephone interview from Lisbon, where he plays for Benfica. “It is a very competitive environment, and everyone is a good player. No one’s place is guaranteed. You have to come to work every day, and that’s what makes you a better player — constant competition.” Adu left the relative comfort and security of Real Salt Lake and Major League Soccer in August on a $2 million transfer to Benfica, perhaps the most successful club in Portugal. But he has played sporadically. He became the youngest American to play in the European Champions League on Oct. 24, against visiting Glasgow Celtic. Benfica has been eliminated from the Champions League and is in second place in the Portuguese league. “It doesn’t matter whether I play 2, 5, 30 or 90 minutes, I’m still going to go out there with the same mentality,” Adu said. “Hopefully I’ll get in the starting 11 sooner rather than later. But right now, I’m happy with my development.” Adu, who turned 18 in June, said his adjustment to a new country had not been without pitfalls. “At first, I was not sure about it,” he said. “But I realized that I have to grow up sometime. I made the jump to Europe, something I wanted to do, and now I couldn’t be happier. “I’ve had to grow up out of necessity. I live here by myself. In America, it was like I was in a bubble — everything was there for me. Now it’s just about being a man.” Adu was with the United States national team recently, starting in a 1-0 victory against South Africa on Nov. 17 in Johannesburg. He said he hoped to remain an integral part of Coach Bob Bradley’s plans for next year’s World Cup qualifying matches and, ultimately, take another trip to South Africa for the 2010 tournament. “I would be disappointed if I’m not on that team,” he said. “I really, really want to achieve that goal and will do whatever it takes. I’m going to work hard and do whatever Bob asks me to do.” M.L.S. The Red Bulls released a new design last week for their long-delayed new stadium, which will be built in Harrison, N.J. Red Bull Park, which is expected to be completed in 2009 at a cost of about $200 million, will have a seating capacity of 25,189 for soccer. The seats in the lower bowl will be only 21 feet from the sideline, and a translucent polycarbonate and aluminum roof will cover all the seats while leaving the grass playing surface exposed to the elements. The stadium was supposed to be built in partnership with the Anschutz Entertainment Group, which sold the club to Austrian-based Red Bull before the 2006 season. But disagreements over the cost and amenities (AEG wanted a permanent stage in one end zone) led Red Bull to purchase AEG’s 50 percent stake last month. Construction is expected to begin before the end of the year, the Red Bulls said. ¶The Red Bulls will open the 2008 season March 29 against the new San Jose team. They will then play at home April 5 against the Columbus Crew. ¶Add the Pan-Pacific Championship to a growing number of tournaments M.L.S. teams are involved in before, during and after the seven-month regular season. The new event, to be played Feb. 20 and 23 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, will feature teams from M.L.S. (Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles Galaxy), Japan (Gamba Osaka) and Australia (champion of the A-League). The Galaxy will play Gamba Osaka in the opener of a doubleheader, followed by a game between Houston and the Australian club. Another doubleheader three days later will feature a third-place and championship match. M.I.S.L. Pelé, the honorary captain, and more than 13,000 fans attended the home debut of the New Jersey Ironmen of the Major Indoor Soccer League on Saturday night at the new Prudential Center in Newark. Pelé, who played for the Cosmos 30 years ago, usually commands a hefty appearance fee and will probably not be back; it is impossible to know how many fans will return. “It was a great crowd, we hope they all come back, but you never know,” Ironmen goalkeeper Tony Meola said after the game. “But it was great having Pelé here. The guys were like kids in the locker room before the game — getting autographs, having Pelé sign jerseys. That’s why the guys were late for pregame introductions.” The Ironmen are operated by Jeff Vanderbeek, who is also the chairman and managing partner of the Prudential Center’s other tenant, the Devils. Mayor Cory A. Booker of Newark; M.I.S.L. Commissioner Steve Ryan; and Sunil Gulati, the president of U.S. Soccer, also attended. Notes ¶Officials at UEFA, soccer’s European governing body, confirmed a report in the German magazine Der Spiegel that they were investigating whether 15 matches might have been fixed as part of a betting scheme. William Gaillard, UEFA’s director of communications, said that the matches under suspicion were mostly minor ones played in Eastern Europe. ¶In Peru, Efrain Viafara, a midfielder for Sport Ancash, created an uproar when he used his buttocks to trap the ball. His bit of unorthodox skill was interpreted as a mocking act by Universitario players, who chased Viafara. Fans began to fight in the stands, then poured onto the field before the referee abandoned the game.
|
Soccer;Benfica;Adu Freddy;Portugal;Athletics and Sports
|
ny0150541
|
[
"business"
] |
2008/08/03
|
For Nations, an Economic Fitness Test
|
To measure a country’s progress, economists usually look at gross domestic product, employment, exports and other predictable data points. But a more unconventional indicator is also available: sales of sports equipment, apparel and footwear. Global sales of sports-related clothing and equipment increased 4 percent in 2007 over the year before, to $278.4 billion, according to NPD, the market research firm. Even faster growth was seen in South and Central Asia, the Middle East and Central and Eastern Europe. China had a 15 percent increase, with a market estimated at $7.9 billion. That includes $1.6 billion for footwear, $3.3 billion for apparel and $3 billion for equipment like bikes — a suitably healthy showing for the host of the Olympics. The global increases are a reflection of rising wealth and a corresponding ability to buy discretionary items — along with a heightened perception of sports brands as status symbols, NPD says. PHYLLIS KORKKI
|
Gross National Product (GNP);Third World and Developing Countries;Apparel;Sporting Goods;Sales
|
ny0183934
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2007/12/13
|
Increases in Education Aid Range From 2 to 20 Percent Under Corzine Plan
|
Each of New Jersey ’s 615 school districts would receive 2 percent to 20 percent more in state aid next year under a new financing formula officially unveiled by Gov. Jon S. Corzine on Wednesday, nearly two weeks after parts of the proposal were revealed by state lawmakers and state education officials. The proposed increases represent the largest gain in state aid in more than a decade for some affluent suburban districts, but they were a sharp disappointment for many historically poor urban districts that have received more support in the past. Last year, every district also received an increase in state aid, with the increases varying from 3 percent for wealthier districts to 10.3 percent for those less well off. The new formula would raise overall state education spending in the 2008-9 school year by $532.8 million, slightly less than the $579.1 million increase in the governor’s 2007-8 budget proposal. The state proposes spending $7.8 billion total on education next year. The plan, part of the governor’s effort to address criticism that many districts have been shortchanged in favor of poor schools, will now go before the State Legislature, where it is likely to be a subject of intense debate. The districts that would fare the best are working-class communities like Carteret, Hamilton and Roselle Park, which have large and growing numbers of poor and disadvantaged students. In all, 146 districts would receive the maximum increase of 20 percent; these districts received far less last year, about 9.6 percent on average, according to budget figures. The districts that would fare the worst under the plan are cities like Newark, Asbury Park and Camden, each of which would receive a 2 percent increase. At the other end of the spectrum, districts in wealthy beach communities also would receive the minimum increase. In Cape May County, for instance, all 18 districts, including Stone Harbor and Sea Isle City, would receive the 2 percent increase. Education Commissioner Lucille E. Davy said that the Cape May County districts had “the worst of both worlds” when it came to calculating their share under the new formula: fewer students with shrinking enrollments and greater wealth with rising property values. “Those are the kinds of things that are likely to impact a district being a candidate for additional aid,” she said. Governor Corzine presented the new formula at a news conference on Wednesday at B. Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington Township. He received loud applause when he said that the district would probably receive the maximum increase in part because it had a high number of at-risk and special education students. “I knew there was a good applause line in there somewhere,” he said. For more than a year, Governor Corzine has made clear that he wants to send more money to poor and disadvantaged students who live outside the state’s 31 so-called Abbott districts, which receive more than half of all state education aid under a court-ordered remedy. The new formula would apportion money to schools based on the characteristics of the students, including income, language ability and special academic needs, regardless of where they live. It would also reshape the way that the state divides nearly $1 billion a year for special education by shifting a larger share of the money to special education students in poor districts. Preliminary breakdowns of state aid show that about two-thirds of the Abbott districts would receive the 2 percent increase, though a few would receive more. For instance, Union City would get a 16 percent increase, and the City of Orange a 5 percent increase. To seek support for the new formula, Governor Corzine said that no district would see a reduction in aid for three years, though after that a district could receive less if its enrollment were to decrease. The governor said that he was confident that the new formula would withstand a court challenge, saying that he and Commissioner Davy had worked with lawyers “every step of the way to meet our thorough and efficient mandate.” Joseph Del Grosso, president of the Newark Teachers Union, which represents 5,000 teachers in the city’s public schools, said he was disappointed by the 2 percent increase for the Newark district. “You might as well say you’re flat-funding the district,” he said. “I’m sure the Abbott districts have to pay just as much for operating expenses like heating oil as the suburban districts, and 2 percent will mean they will have to reduce educational services.” In the Orange school district, Nathan Parker, the superintendent, said that it was not clear to him how the state aid had been calculated under the new formula. Even though the district would receive a 5 percent increase compared with 3 percent last year, he said, the money would only partially offset the district’s increased costs for teacher salaries, health care benefits and utility bills, among other things. David G. Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, which has represented Abbott plaintiffs for years, condemned the proposed formula. He said that if the formula were applied, the state would essentially be cutting school aid by $320 million, with the bulk of it in Abbott districts. Because of political sensitivities, he said, he estimated that the state was adding $850 million “to minimize the harm that would occur to over a third of the districts if the formula were actually used.” But some suburban districts viewed the proposed formula favorably. The Glen Ridge district would receive a 10 percent increase in state aid, to $1.2 million — nearly all of it directed toward special education, and its largest increase in years. The money would be used to cover the costs of educating a student population that has grown to 1,795 students this year from 1,497 in 2000. As part of that total, the district would receive about $250,000 more for 190 special education students, an increase partially offset by decreases in other categories of state aid. “I’m surprised and pleased and hopefully the funding is moving in the right direction toward equity for funding of all students in the state of New Jersey,” said Daniel Fishbein, the Glen Ridge superintendent. Though Governor Corzine had pushed lawmakers to approve the formula by the end of the session on Jan. 7, Mr. Corzine said on Wednesday that he wanted a formula in place by Feb. 15 so that districts could plan their budgets, which are due in April.
|
Education and Schools;New Jersey;Budgets and Budgeting;Corzine Jon S
|
ny0168001
|
[
"nyregion",
"nyregionspecial2"
] |
2006/01/15
|
Paved (and Drywalled) With Good Intentions
|
LEAH PULLARO stood in the half-finished kitchen of her Washington home, holding the newest addition to her family, 4-month-old Aasha, who has Down syndrome. On one side of the house, the kitchen floors slanted noticeably toward the eating area. The back door had a gap at the bottom so wide the winter wind whistled through. Sheetrocked walls stood unpainted; basement walls cut open for future ductwork let in cold air. Mrs. Pullaro and her husband, Joe, had asked Habitat for Humanity of Litchfield Hills to help them improve the house in 2002, to accommodate the six special-needs children they had adopted and their two older biological children. Habitat agreed to help the Pullaros with the work. The group worked on the house slowly and haphazardly for several years, in what the Pullaros described as a disorganized effort -- workers often appeared at their front door without any notice, and groups of inexperienced volunteers often worked without adequate supervision. Those problems took an unexpected turn in December, when Habitat for Humanity International expelled the Litchfield Hills affiliate, in part due to problems associated with the work on the Pullaros' house, said Peter Dalton, Habitat International's Northeast regional support specialist who supervises affiliates in New England. The local group has since dissolved, and the family, already strapped for cash, has been left with a partly finished house. "I cannot recall this happening with another affiliate," said Joedy Isert, director of public relations for Habitat International. "They are no longer allowed to use the Habitat brand, or do work connected with Habitat for Humanity." The former president of the local affiliate, David Lincicome, refused comment for this article, referring all questions to Mr. Dalton. Mr. Dalton said Habitat International had encountered problems with the affiliate earlier, when it refused to tithe, or hand over 10 percent of the monies it had raised, to Habitat International. Although tithing is not required, Mr. Dalton said there is an implicit understanding that it will be done. "It did seem unusual," Mr. Dalton said about the affiliate's unwillingness to tithe. He said staff members from Habitat International met with Mr. Lincicome in 2004 to discuss their issues with the affiliate. Mr. Lincicome was unpaid, but that is not unusual, Mr. Dalton said, among the smaller chapters. "The number of board members had dwindled," Mr. Dalton said. "His efforts at rebuilding the affiliate clearly weren't working," he added, referring to Mr. Lincicome. The local group was established in 1991, but over the years, board membership changed and dwindled. Linda Spak, a former board member of the affiliate before Mr. Lincicome became president, had volunteered at the Pullaros' house, and said she had been puzzled by the scope of the project. "Our affiliate had been a very strong one -- we built three single-family houses and a condo project in New Milford -- but my understanding of Habitat was a little different from what the Pullaro project was," she said. "The scope of the work that Habitat does for people is far less than the Pullaros needed or wanted for their house. I've never heard of projects of this scope." Typically Habitat builds houses from the ground up. In this case, Habitat was building a two-story addition to the Pullaros' original three-story house. Habitat works with the help of volunteer labor and donations of material and money. Eligible homeowners are required to invest hours of sweat equity, and also to sign a contract for a no-interest loan. The monthly mortgage payments from the loan are used to build more Habitat houses. Mr. Isert, the public relations director of Habitat International, said the larger group originally believed the Pullaro project was a much smaller one. He added that the Pullaros were not asked to go through the usual application process. Even the Pullaros were confused because, Mrs. Pullaro said, she was not asked to sign any kind of paperwork for the job. "In the beginning, huge amounts of people would show up on a Saturday," Mrs. Pullaro said. "At the same time, there was no contract, no fund-raising. We were nervous. We kept asking for a commitment." The Pullaros began working with Mr. Lincicome, Roxbury's former municipal agent for the elderly, and the Habitat affiliate in 2002, with an oral agreement to build a 950-square-foot addition to their existing 1,600 square-foot structure. With a drafty 100-year-old house with small rooms, narrow stairways and a severe lack of storage, the Pullaros hoped to create five bedrooms from three, and two baths instead of one. Mrs. Pullaro, a former special-education teacher in the Watertown schools, now works as a nanny. Mr. Pullaro is a retired employee of the State Department of Mental Retardation. They have two biological children, but both pregnancies were difficult for Mrs. Pullaro. So they decided to adopt a child. "When we talked to the agency, we said, 'Don't not tell us about a child who has special needs,' " Mrs. Pullaro said. That comment opened the gates, and agencies began calling. "Once you've adopted a couple of kids with special needs, the joy of seeing a child walk and talk who people expected never to walk or talk is incredible," Mrs. Pullaro said, rocking the baby on her lap. Ellie, their 5-year-old with Down syndrome, toyed with a visitor's hair and dispensed hugs. This is their first experience with Habitat for Humanity, and Mr. Lincicome was their primary contact, they said. Habitat International affiliates are independent corporations that must obtain permission to use the Habitat name. Over the years they were working with the affiliate, the Pullaros said, volunteers often appeared on their doorstep without the family knowing they were coming. "One day a man appeared from the Taft School, asking about painting the exterior," Mr. Pullaro said. "That was the first we'd heard about it. We had no paint, no caulking, no ladders, brushes, and no prep work had been done." Although the roof has been sealed, the eating area and bathrooms are only partly finished, exterior paint is peeling and there are no gutters on the addition. Many improvements and additions need to be fixed. The Pullaros took out a small home-improvement loan in an effort to finish some of the work, and got estimates to see what the entire cost would be to fix everything. Their total: about $125,000. They said they had been reluctant to complain to Habitat International, preferring instead to hope that the situation with the local affiliate would improve. "We had a roof open to the elements, seven kids then, no money to seal up the project," Mr. Pullaro said. "If they walked away, we couldn't afford to do it ourselves." Habitat International, though, in a letter to the Pullaros dated Dec. 12, told the family the organization could no longer help. The letter, written by Lisa Reitz, director of U.S. Field Operations for Habitat International, said the Pullaros should have been asked to sign a contract for a no-interest loan from Habitat for the work, but that had not been done. The letter also said that the group had looked into other options for helping the Pullaros but that none would work out. But neighboring Habitat affiliates said that they had not been notified of the situation, and that Habitat International had not asked them for help. "I'm not going to comment on what another affiliate has told you," said Mr. Isert, the Habitat International public relations director. Chris Brown, the executive director of the Housatonic Habitat for Humanity, said his group doesn't "know very much at this time" about the Pullaros' situation. "We had some thoughts about incorporating into Litchfield Hills, but it's a long way from happening," Mr. Brown said. "We are interested in the area because it's right next door to us, but there's nothing we can do at this point." Mr. Brown said Habitat International had asked him not to speak to reporters about the issue. "Personally, I would like to find out more about it," he said. "But I think I'm going to have to wait. Let people know, though, that there are concerned people here." John Pogue, the volunteer member-at-large for another affiliate, Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Connecticut, said he had read about the family's plight in the Litchfield newspaper. "Habitat hasn't called me," Mr. Pogue said recently. "We knew things weren't going too well down there, but when I heard about this, I was really disappointed and disturbed about the whole thing. We could have maybe picked up some of the pieces." The Pullaros have not lost faith. They talk of the work of Peter Bowman, a volunteer and an architect who is so devoted to their project that they became concerned about his paying career and his loss of family time. They also talk about dozens of volunteers who appeared at their door eager to do whatever was asked, including most recently electricians paid by St. John's Episcopal Church in town. "The last thing we want to do is get into a fight with Habitat International," Mr. Pullaro said. "We want to close the door on that whole chapter. If it wasn't for the churches in the area, the project wouldn't have gotten started and wouldn't be where it is today. The community is coming together again, and people are willing to help us out."
|
CONNECTICUT;HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
|
ny0195492
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2009/10/03
|
Ireland Votes Again on European Union Treaty
|
DUBLIN — For the second time in two years, a few million Irish voters have cast ballots in a referendum that will help determine the future of the European Union , which embraces nearly 500 million people. The choice on Friday was to accept or reject the Lisbon Treaty , which aims to smooth the European Union’s operations and create its first full-time president and foreign policy chief. The pact must be accepted by all 27 member states to come into force. Ireland , one of the last holdouts, voted no last year. Opinion polls forecast that this time would be different, and exit polls on Friday night appeared to reinforce that. Official results are expected Saturday. But pro-Lisbon campaigners took nothing for granted, continuing even after the polls opened to canvass in shopping centers and other public areas. Antitreaty protesters kept vigil, too, leafleting in downtown Dublin. With once-booming Ireland mired in one of the deepest downturns of any industrial country since the 1930s, treaty proponents say it would be a mistake to upset the neighbors on whom Ireland depends for financial help. Until the past few days, Prime Minister Brian Cowen and other officials from the governing party, Fianna Fail, had kept from strongly promoting the pact, concerned that their own unpopularity might swing sentiment against it. But on Wednesday, Mr. Cowen held a news conference to say, “At a time of major economic challenge, what we need is stability and certainty in the direction which Europe is taking.” At a polling station in central Dublin, Elizabeth McDermott, a home health-care worker, said she had voted no to protest the government’s failed policies. But she also cited concerns about a possible loss of Irish sovereignty. “When I think about Michael Collins and what they were all fighting for, why should we give that up now?” she asked, referring to the famed independence leader. A lawyer who declined to give his name said he had voted yes because he felt that Ireland should reinforce its commitment to the European Union. “You’re not a little bit pregnant,” he said. Last year, many voters said they had never really understood the treaty; one slogan was, “If you don’t know, vote no.” Business leaders, shocked by the vote last year, campaigned vigorously this time, arguing that a second rejection could undermine the confidence of foreign investors. The main opposition parties support the treaty. Treaty opponents include the nationalist Sinn Fein and the Socialist Party. Some have tried to turn the referendum into a lightning rod for a range of issues, raising concerns that the treaty could bring legalized abortion to this Catholic nation, or undermine Ireland’s military neutrality and drive down pay. If Ireland does approve the treaty, a few obstacles remain. In the Czech Republic, opponents have urged President Vaclav Klaus to reject it, saying it violated national sovereignty. Mr. Klaus has said he will wait until after the Irish vote to decide.
|
Ireland;European Union;Treaties;Referendums
|
ny0052775
|
[
"us"
] |
2014/07/05
|
Richard Mellon Scaife, Influential U.S. Conservative, Dies at 82
|
Richard Mellon Scaife, the Pittsburgh philanthropist and reclusive heir to the Mellon banking fortune, whose support for right-wing causes laid the foundations for America’s modern conservative movement and fueled the 1998 impeachment of President Bill Clinton, died on Friday at his home in Pittsburgh. He was 82. His death was confirmed by his lawyer, H. Yale Gutnick. Mr. Scaife had announced recently in a front-page article in The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review , a newspaper he owned, that he had an untreatable form of cancer. Decades before David H. and Charles G. Koch bankrolled right-wing causes, Mr. Scaife and Joseph Coors, the beer magnate, were the leading financiers of the conservative crusade of the 1970s and ’80s, seeking to reverse the liberal traditions of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society. Mr. Scaife (pronounced SKAYF) inherited roughly $500 million in 1965, and with more family bequests and income from trust funds and investments in oil, steel and real estate, he nearly tripled his net worth over his lifetime. But unlike his forebears, who were primarily benefactors of museums, public art collections, education and medicine, he gave hundreds of millions of dollars to promote conservative political causes. He never ran for public office or gave speeches to promote his political views. Indeed, he was notoriously withdrawn, rarely giving interviews or addressing controversies that regularly engulfed him. He had a longstanding drinking problem, engaged in bitter feuds with relatives, friends and employees, and found his troubled life examined in the news media, despite phalanxes of lawyers, spokesmen and retainers paid to insulate him from endless public fascination with his wealth and power. But in written answers to questions by The Washington Post in 1999, he said concerns for America motivated him. “I am not a politician, although like most Americans I have some political views,” he said. “Basically I am a private individual who has concerns about his country and who has resources that give me the privilege — and responsibility — to do something to help my country if I can.” He had the caricatured look of a jovial billionaire promoting “family values” in America: a real-life Citizen Kane with red cheeks, white hair, blue eyes and a wide smile for the cameras. Friends called him intuitive but not intellectual. He told Vanity Fair his favorite TV show was “The Simpsons,” and his favorite book was John O’Hara’s “Appointment in Samarra,” about a rich young Pennsylvanian bent on self-destruction. In his first foray into national politics, in 1964, Mr. Scaife backed Senator Barry M. Goldwater, the Arizona Republican, who lost his presidential bid in a landslide. In 1972, Mr. Scaife gave $1 million to the re-election war chest of President Richard M. Nixon, including $45,000 to a secret fund linked to the Watergate scandal. And in the 1980s, Mr. Scaife ardently supported Ronald Reagan’s presidency. But, disillusioned by Watergate and Nixon, he switched his focus from officeholders to ideologies, and his influence in the rise of neoconservatism stemmed primarily from his contributions to think tanks, lobbyists and publications that promoted free-market economics, lower taxes, smaller government and cuts in social welfare programs. Beneficiaries included the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the American Enterprise Institute and Judicial Watch. In another approach, in the 1990s, he poured millions into what critics called a moral crusade against Mr. Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, financing investigations by publications, notably the conservative American Spectator and his own Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, that were aimed at discrediting the Clintons. They accused the Clintons of fraud in the Whitewater case, a failed real estate venture in the 1970s and ’80s, when Mr. Clinton was governor of Arkansas, and Mr. Clinton of sexual misconduct in liaisons with Paula Jones in Little Rock and Monica Lewinsky in the White House. They also charged that Vincent W. Foster Jr., a White House counsel and former law partner of Mrs. Clinton, had been murdered in 1993 in a Whitewater cover-up. Several investigations found that Mr. Foster had committed suicide. The accusations, which prompted Mrs. Clinton to say on national television that her husband was the target of a “ vast right-wing conspiracy ,” troubled the administration for most of its tenure. They led to the convictions of 15 people in criminal cases, the appointment of a special prosecutor and the president’s impeachment by the House on perjury and obstruction of justice charges and his acquittal by the Senate, both by largely partisan votes. During the Whitewater hearings in 1998, it was disclosed that the special prosecutor, Kenneth W. Starr, had accepted a job as dean of the public policy school at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. He reversed his decision after the Justice Department said it might be a conflict of interest because Mr. Scaife was a Pepperdine regent and a major donor to the university and its public policy chairman. Mr. Scaife gave millions to what he called nonpolitical campus, community and church organizations that promoted conservative causes; public interest law firms; and consumer and environmental groups that actually promoted business interests. Critics say liberal groups have long acted with similar deceptions. He also gave to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Carnegie Institute, the National Gallery of Art, other museums, hospitals, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Planned Parenthood. In 2008, Mrs. Clinton, then a Democratic senator from New York running for president, met Mr. Scaife and editors and reporters of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review for an interview. The newspaper endorsed her, and Mr. Scaife, in a commentary , said: “I have a very different impression of Hillary Clinton today. And it’s a very favorable one indeed.” Richard Mellon Scaife was born in Pittsburgh on July 3, 1932, one of two children of Alan Magee Scaife and Sarah Cordelia Mellon Scaife. His father was the scion of a Pittsburgh steel family, and his mother was the daughter of Richard B. Mellon, who made fortunes in banking and oil, and a niece of Andrew W. Mellon, the Treasury secretary in the Harding, Coolidge and Hoover administrations. Richard, known as Dickie, and his sister, Cordelia, grew up on the family estate, Penguin Court, in Ligonier, Pa. He suffered a fractured skull in a horse-riding accident when he was 9, and spent a year in bed, mostly reading newspapers. Congressmen and senators were frequent guests in his home, and he developed an early interest in politics. He graduated from Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts. But at Yale he was suspended for drunken pranks, then expelled in his first year. He later attended the University of Pittsburgh, where his father was chairman of the trustees, and in 1957 graduated with a degree in English. In 1956, he married Frances L. Gilmore. They had two children, Jennie and David, and were divorced in 1991. Later that year, he married his longtime companion, Margaret Ritchie Battle. They were separated in 2005 under a settlement that awarded her $725,000 a month from her husband’s fortune, then estimated at $1.4 billion. They divorced in 2012. Survivors include his daughter and son and two grandchildren. After his father died in 1958, Mr. Scaife took his seats on corporate boards, but was given little to do in the family business, which was controlled by his uncle, R. K. Mellon. His mother, who backed medical and environmental causes, family planning and charities for the poor and disabled, encouraged his interest in philanthropy. He distributed money through the Sarah Scaife, Carthage and Allegheny Foundations. In the 1970s, Mr. Scaife bought several newspapers, including The Tribune-Review in Greensburg, Pa., southeast of Pittsburgh. He spent lavishly to turn it into a metropolitan newspaper marketed as The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette remained the city’s dominant newspaper, but Mr. Scaife cared primarily about winning readers over to his conservative views.
|
Richard Mellon Scaife;US Politics;Obituary;Campaign finance
|
ny0091009
|
[
"business",
"international"
] |
2015/09/22
|
VW’s Recall Troubles May Have Little Effect on China, Its Largest Market
|
HONG KONG — China is Volkswagen’s single-largest market, and the company vies with General Motors as the country’s biggest automaker. But Volkswagen’s diesel scandal is unlikely to have many repercussions in China. That is because Volkswagen sells almost no diesel cars in China — fewer than 1,000 of the three million or so the company sells each year in the country, where gasoline engines reign. It is not for lack of trying on Volkswagen’s part. The company, hoping to replicate its success elsewhere as a diesel leader, lobbied Beijing for the better part of a decade to let it build diesel-powered cars in China. But regulators in China, which imports more than half of its oil, have repeatedly rebuffed those pleas — partly over environmental concerns and partly because the government has preferred to reserve relatively scarce diesel fuel for trucks and farm tractors. As a result, the only diesel-powered cars Volkswagen sells in China are imported from Europe and are sold mainly to taxi fleets. The environmental concerns have been raised by Chinese regulators who were in frequent contact with American experts, notably at the International Council on Clean Transportation, a nonprofit research group. The council is the same group that documented the performance shortfalls of Volkswagen diesels in the United States and brought the matter to the Environmental Protection Agency. American researchers have long been more worried than European experts that diesel emissions might be carcinogenic. In addition, diesel exhaust tends to have more particulates than gasoline engine emissions. Particulates are a big health concern in dusty northern China, and they add to the notoriously bad air pollution in Beijing itself. Making matters worse is that, until fairly recently, many Chinese refineries lacked the technology to remove much of the naturally occurring sulfur contaminants when they produced diesel from crude oil. The resulting high pollution when diesel was burned as truck fuel made regulators wary of allowing the nation’s fast-growing car fleet to burn diesel as well. Another predicament in China for Volkswagen involves Chinese consumers. The car-buying public has long been skeptical of diesels, associating them with tractors and viewing them as unsophisticated. Company executives had long expressed confidence, though, that they could change these perceptions with an energetic advertising and public relations effort — if only they could win permission to mass-produce diesels in China. Diesels have long offered a trade off — higher air pollution, even with cleanly refined diesel, but also better fuel economy. Europe is a market that highly prizes fuel economy, with some of the world’s most stringent gas mileage standards. China and the United States have somewhat less stringent mileage standards, although they can still be hard for automakers to meet if they produce a lot of big cars and sport utility vehicles. As a European automaker, Volkswagen developed a lot of expertise in building fuel-efficient diesels and started its Chinese diesel lobbying efforts around 2000. Since 2008 or so, though, Volkswagen executives have pushed less hard for Chinese diesels. That may be because they began manufacturing expensive but fuel-efficient models of gasoline engines in China. This enabled the company to meet Chinese fuel-economy standards without needing to resort to diesel engines. And those three million cars a year it sells in China indicate that the company is still finding buyers, even with the more expensive engines. “After 2008, they did not have a strong motive to promote diesel,” said Yale Zhang, the managing director of Automotive Foresight, a Shanghai consulting firm.
|
Volkswagen;Vehicle Emissions;Fraud;China;Cars;Diesel engine
|
ny0243225
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2011/03/08
|
Discord Grows in Washington Over a Potential Role in the Libya Conflict
|
WASHINGTON — Nearly three weeks after Libya erupted in what may now turn into a protracted civil war, the politics of military intervention to speed the ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi grow more complicated by the day — for both the White House and Republicans. President Obama, appearing Monday morning with Australia’s prime minister, tried to raise the pressure on Colonel Qaddafi further by talking about “a range of potential options, including potential military options” against the embattled Libyan leader. Despite Mr. Obama’s statement, interviews with military officials and other administration officials describe a number of risks, some tactical and others political, to American intervention in Libya. Of most concern to the president himself, one high-level aide said, is the perception that the United States would once again be meddling in the Middle East, where it has overturned many a leader, including Saddam Hussein. Some critics of the United States in the region — as well as some leaders — have already claimed that a Western conspiracy is stoking the revolutions that have overtaken the Middle East. “He keeps reminding us that the best revolutions are completely organic,” the senior official said, quoting the president. At the same time, there are persistent voices — in Congress and even inside the administration — arguing that Mr. Obama is moving too slowly. They contend that there is too much concern about perceptions, and that the White House is too squeamish because of Iraq. Furthermore, they say a military caught up in two difficult wars has exaggerated the risks of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, the tactic discussed most often. The American military is also privately skeptical of humanitarian gestures that put the lives of troops at risk for the cause of the moment, while being of only tenuous national interest. Some of these critics seem motivated by political advantage. Others, including the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry, who is among Mr. Obama’s closest allies, warn of repeating mistakes made in Iraqi Kurdistan, Rwanda, and Bosnia and Herzegovina by failing to step in and halt a slaughter. The most vocal camp, led by Senators John McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee for president, and Joseph I. Lieberman, the Connecticut independent and another hawk on Libyan intervention, say the central justification for establishing a no-fly zone over Libya is that the rebel leaders themselves are seeking military assistance to end decades of dictatorship. It is hardly an effort to impose American will in the Muslim world, Mr. Lieberman argued in an interview on Monday. “We have to try and help those who are offering an alternative future to Libya,” Mr. Lieberman said, sounding much like Mr. Obama at the White House on Monday. “We cannot allow them to be stifled or stopped by brutal actions of the Libyan government.” But even the critics acknowledge that the best outcome would be for the United States not to go it alone, but join other nations or international organizations, in particular NATO, the Arab League or the African Union. Mr. Lieberman and others argue that the risks of waiting may be far greater than the risk of an early, decisive military intervention. He acknowledged that as in Iraq, the United States might unleash an uncertain future of tribal rivalry and chaos, in a country that has no institutions prepared to fill the vacuum if Colonel Qaddafi is driven from power. Yet, he argued: “It’s hard to imagine any new government growing out of this opposition that is worse than Qaddafi.” On television Mr. McCain has made similar points, and portrayed Mr. Obama as indecisive and weak. But curiously, in a sign of the uncertainties about how the politics of an American intervention would play out, few of the potential nominees for the 2012 Republican presidential ticket have expressed a strong opinion. For the administration, Mr. Kerry’s view is more troublesome, given that he is a normally a strong ally on foreign policy issues. He was a fierce critic of the war in Iraq, but he sees Libya as a different matter. He has pushed the White House to do more — including “cratering” Libya’s airfields so the planes cannot take off. Mr. Kerry, who was openly siding with officials who want the president to take a stronger public stance, said he was pushing the administration to “prepare for all eventualities” and warned that “showing reticence in a huge public way is not the best option.” “You want to be prepared if he is bombing people, and killing his own people,” he said, referring to Colonel Qaddafi. The Libyan people, he said, would “look defenseless and we would look feckless — you have to be ready.” He added: “What haunts me is the specter of Iraq 1991,” when former President George Bush “urged the Shia to rise up, and they did rise up, and tanks and planes were coming at them — and we were nowhere to be seen.” “Tens of thousands were slaughtered,” Mr. Kerry said. President Bill Clinton, he said, “missed the chance in Rwanda, and said later it was the greatest regret of his presidency, and then was too slow in Bosnia,” where the United States ended up using air power, also in the defense of a Muslim population. Administration officials make the case that the focus on no-fly zones is overdone. “No-fly zones are more effective against fighters, but they really have limited effect against helicopters or the kinds of ground operations we’ve seen” in Libya, Ivo Daalder, the American ambassador to NATO, said Monday. He added that “the overall air activity has not been the deciding factor” in fights between rebels and the loyalists and mercenaries surrounding Colonel Qaddafi. It is possible that the mere talk of no-fly zones had some effect. Pentagon and military officials confirmed that sorties by aircraft loyal to the Qaddafi government had dropped by half over the past three days. There was no explanation for the change; it could have to do with maintenance, or a decision to fly helicopters, which are less provocative and harder to track. The biggest voice of caution has been the most prominent Republican in Mr. Obama’s cabinet, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates. It was Mr. Gates who laid out last week the strongest case against intervention — a case that even some in the White House say privately they think may have been overstated to make a point about how military actions that look easy can quickly become complicated. Mr. Gates forcefully warned Congress during budget testimony that the first act in imposing a no-fly zone would be an attack on Colonel Qaddafi’s air defenses, and that the step should only be taken if the United States was ready for a prolonged military operation that could cover all of Libya. He cautioned it might drain resources that are already overstretched in Afghanistan and Iraq, because Libya is such a large territory. In interviews this week, even some military officials called Mr. Gates’s portrayal extreme. Executing a no-fly zone would not require covering the whole country. Most of the Libyan action would be along the coast, where the major cities now held by rebels are. Even so, the opening mission of imposing a no-fly zone would almost certainly include missile attacks on air defense sites of a sovereign nation, which some would indeed regard as an act of war. Tactical issues aside, Mr. Gates is concerned, Pentagon officials say, about the political fallout of the United States’ attacking yet another Muslim country — even on behalf of a Muslim population. But he is cognizant of the No. 1 lesson of Iraq: That once the United States plays a major role in the ouster of a Middle Eastern leader, it bears responsibility for whatever state emerges in its place.
|
Middle East and North Africa Unrest (2010- );United States Politics and Government;United States Defense and Military Forces;Qaddafi Muammar el-;Libya;United States;House of Representatives;Senate;United States International Relations
|
ny0126241
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2012/08/06
|
Political Pollsters Struggle to Get the Right Cell Number
|
As they gauge voter sentiment in this tight presidential race, pollsters face a big challenge: more and more voters hang up on them. So it sounds odd that some pollsters have decided to hang up on more voters. Yet that is one way survey researchers have adapted to the communications revolution that has upended old methods of measuring which political party is ahead. In the polarized battle between President Obama and Mitt Romney, arcane shifts in polling techniques can have important consequences for the results — and public perceptions of the contest. Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster, and Peter Hart, his Democratic counterpart, who conduct the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, proved the point in their latest poll, conducted July 18-22, when they increased the proportion of respondents who rely exclusively on cellphones to 30 percent from 25 percent. To home in on them, the pollsters ended calls answered on cellphones if the respondents said they also had land lines. Their findings affirmed arguments that “cell only” Americans have significantly different, and more Democratic, political views than those with land lines. Over all, the poll showed Mr. Obama leading Mr. Romney by 49 percent to 43 percent — providing a confidence-boosting talking point for Democrats and provoking sharp criticism from Republicans. Scott Rasmussen, who owns an independent polling firm , approaches the “cell only” problem differently, as he must by law. His Rasmussen Reports conducts surveys through automated dialing, which under Federal Communications Commission rules is permitted for land lines but not cellphones. So in Mr. Rasmussen’s polls, online interviews account for 15 percent to 20 percent of each survey, which he figures helps him reach the same kinds of voters, especially younger ones, in the “cell only” category. The result he reported the morning of July 25, a few hours after the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll was released, was strikingly different: Mr. Romney had 47 percent, and Mr. Obama 44 percent. “Nobody has the answers,” Mr. Rasmussen said of different approaches to the issue. “We’re all experimenting with the same thing. How do you reach people in a way they communicate?” Political pollsters have long struggled to keep pace with changes in how Americans communicate with one another — or don’t. One of their central challenges is the decline in “response rates” among voters. Another is ensuring that their means of reaching people produce accurate reflections of voter sentiment. The rapid rise of cellphones as the sole means of telephone communication for many Americans — now about one-third of the population, government researchers say — has produced a distinct subgroup within the electorate. That group is not only younger but also “attitudinally different from other people” of all ages, said Mark S. Mellman, a pollster for Democratic candidates. Among their characteristics: they are disproportionally urban, African-American, on either the high or low end of the economic ladder — and Democratic. “It used to be if you got the number of young people right, you got the poll right,” Mr. Mellman said. “That’s no longer true.” But accounting for those “cell only” voters is not so easy. Regulations limit how pollsters can dial cellphone numbers, making those calls roughly twice as expensive as land line calls — a cost some pollsters and their customers are not willing to bear. Moreover, there is no consensus on the right method for handling such polling. The ABC News/Washington Post polls, like the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, terminate calls if cellphone respondents say they also have land lines. The New York Times/CBS News Poll, like the Gallup Organization and Pew Research Center, does not. Instead, Times/CBS pollsters complete interviews with all willing cellphone respondents and “weight” the views of those without land lines to make them reflect one-third of the survey’s results. Others remain skeptical that one-third is even the right target for “cell only” voters. “I have yet to see a standard that I believe is anything more than a guesstimate,” said the Republican pollster Whit Ayres, adding that he believed the industry would soon shift toward Internet surveys. For now, his firm conducts 15 percent to 20 percent of its interviews with cellphone users, without distinguishing between “cell only” voters and those who also have land lines. “Anyone who claims there’s a best practice doesn’t know what they’re talking about,” said Paul J. Lavrakas, president of the American Association for Public Opinion Research . “We as an industry don’t know.” The closeness of the Obama-Romney race raises the stakes for the varying approaches pollsters take — for private campaign strategy as well as public debate. “We’re in a world where small differences make a big difference,” Mr. Mellman said. In the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, the increase in the “cell only” sample coincided with a slightly stronger showing by Mr. Obama among that group. He led Mr. Romney by 13 percentage points among “cell only” voters, compared with an average lead of 10 points earlier in the year, when such voters were a smaller part of the poll. Among land line voters, Mr. Obama held a 3 percentage point edge. The poll drew particular criticism from Republicans over the partisan balance of the 1,000 voters surveyed. Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 11 percentage points — substantially higher than the 6.7 percentage point Democratic advantage in an average of surveys monitored by Pollster.com as of Sunday afternoon. “Absurd,” Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for President George W. Bush, wrote on Twitter . Pollsters like Mr. Rasmussen, who restricts his surveys to “likely voters” rather than the larger universe of those registered, weight their results to reflect their estimate of the nation’s current partisan balance; the NBC News/Wall Street Journal and Times/CBS News polls generally do not. Fellow Republicans “aren’t happy” with the size of Mr. Obama’s lead, Mr. McInturff said of the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. While he acknowledged that the survey’s respondents were “a tick more Democratic than I believe the electorate will be,” he noted that the shifts from June in Mr. Obama’s proportion of the vote (an increase of 2 percentage points) and in Mr. Romney’s (a decrease of 1 percentage point) fall within the survey’s 3.1 percentage point margin of sampling error. But given the changes in American culture and communications, Mr. McInturff added, “A little humility these days goes a long way, considering how complex and difficult this job is becoming.”
|
Polls and Public Opinion;Presidential Election of 2012;Cellular Telephones
|
ny0117283
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2012/10/21
|
A Review of ‘One Slight Hitch,’ at the George Street Playhouse
|
Lewis Black seems like a modern kind of guy. Yes, 64 and grumpy, but modern. On “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” he plays a comedian on the verge of a nervous breakdown because of the outrages of 2012 America. In the Broadway stop of his “Running on Empty” solo show tour, he spent plenty of time on the current presidential election. So it’s surprising, but kind of reassuring, that “One Slight Hitch,” the affable two-act comedy he has written that is now having its New Jersey premiere at the George Street Playhouse , is so old-fashioned. There’s more than a touch of Neil Simon in the morose Mr. Black. But then the name of his alter ego in this play is Doc, which is Mr. Simon’s longtime industry nickname. Coincidence? Here we are in suburban Cincinnati in 1981. The setting is the pleasantly and traditionally furnished upper-middle-class home of Doc and Delia Coleman on the wedding day of their daughter Courtney (Rosie Benton, who was in “Stick Fly” on Broadway). The slight hitch of the title is the unannounced arrival of Ryan (Christopher Tocco), Courtney’s ex-boyfriend, who, unaware of her engagement, has dropped by to share the enlightenment he has experienced on the road as a latter-day Jack Kerouac. In comic tradition, Courtney’s bridegroom-to-be, Harper (Scott Drummond), is his polar opposite — polite, mature, focused, spotlessly groomed, apologetic even in the most stressful of circumstances and helpful to a fault. The production’s star attraction is Mark Linn-Baker as Doc. Beloved as the golden-age-of-television gofer baby-sitting for Peter O’Toole’s alcoholic character in the 1982 film “My Favorite Year,” he is probably best known as the all-American cousin of Bronson Pinchot on the sitcom “Perfect Strangers” (1986-93). Mr. Linn-Baker is 58 now, and a Broadway veteran, but his father of the bride here is no Spencer Tracy. You would never have seen Tracy pick up the bride and groom figures from the tiered wedding cake and playfully act out conversations between them as if they were children’s dolls. But Mr. Linn-Baker is well matched by Lizbeth Mackay as his wife, whose reactions to Ryan’s presence are bigger, bolder and more overtly panicked than Doc’s. In what could have been totally throwaway stage business, Ms. Mackay is delicious as she examines the hinges of the downstairs bathroom door behind which Ryan is locked, clearly thinking about the possible use of a screwdriver. She is equally funny in her scene at the front door, frozen like a store mannequin. And Ms. Mackay does her best even when Mr. Black’s dialogue reaches a little too far for the laugh. “This isn’t going to be a wedding, Doc,” she announces to Mr. Linn-Baker in Act II. “It’s going to be a catered inquisition.” Certainly the director, Joe Grifasi, deserves considerable credit for the production’s physical joys, as well. Or is it possible that the button-cute Lauren Ashley Carter, who plays the Colemans’ 16-year-old daughter, came up with every aspect of her bouncy, Walkman-attached characterization herself? Either way, Ms. Carter makes the early ’80s look like fun — and not just because of her musical choices, including “Bette Davis Eyes” and “Jessie’s Girl.” The tasteful scenic design is by Bob Dahlstrom, making good use of a home-bar setup, stage left. Susan Hilferty’s costume design is just eccentric enough to be witty without drawing undue attention from the proceedings. When the Colemans’ third daughter, Melanie (Clea Alsip), makes her entrance in a skimpy white uniform, it is unclear whether she has just gotten home from her night shift at a hospital or from an all-night costume party that she has attended as the Naughty Nurse. (It turns out to be the hospital.) Mr. Tocco spends much of the play in an ensemble consisting of boxer shorts and a lavender polka dot garment that looks like a ladies’ bed jacket. Ms. Benton’s wedding dress is a Victorian number with sheer sleeves and a tiered skirt that manages to look perfect for the period and absolutely horrendous three decades later. “One Slight Hitch” has a cutesy, slightly saccharine ending, but Mr. Grifasi’s lively production largely makes up for it. So do a number of Mr. Black’s better lines — like Melanie’s comment “I loved a turtle once, but that was platonic” — along the way.
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Theater;New Brunswick (NJ);Black Lewis;George Street Playhouse;One Slight Hitch (Play);Linn-Baker Mark;Mackay Lizbeth;Grifasi Joe
|
ny0209110
|
[
"us"
] |
2009/12/16
|
A Takeoff, and Hope, for Boeing Dreamliner
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EVERETT, Wash. — The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner lifted into the gray skies here for the first time on Tuesday morning, more than two years behind schedule and burdened with restoring Boeing’s pre-eminence in global commercial aviation. “Engines, engines, engines, engines!” shouted April Seixeiro, 37, when the glossy twin-engine plane began warming up across from where spectators had informally gathered at Paine Field. Ms. Seixeiro was among scores of local residents and self-described “aviation geeks” who came to watch the first flight. Moments after the plane took off at 10:27 a.m., Mrs. Seixeiro was wiping tears from her eyes. A friend, Katie Bailey, 34, cried, too. “That was so beautiful,” Ms. Bailey said. Even as aviation fans celebrated in this Seattle suburb, where generations of families have built planes for Boeing, the 787’s long route to takeoff was challenged yet again: the test flight was cut short because of what Boeing said was rough weather. Rather than cross the Cascade Mountains, as was intended, the plane instead spent much of its time over Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca before touching down in light rain about two hours early, at about 1:30 p.m., at its intended destination, Boeing Field in Seattle. Randall Neville, one of the test pilots, said afterward that weather, including poor visibility, was the only reason for the change in plans. “The thing that caught me most today was that this airplane flew like we expected it to,” Mr. Neville said. “There were no surprises.” Designed to be 20 percent more fuel-efficient , quieter and more comfortable than other commercial jets, and built for long-range flights, the 787 is central to Boeing’s effort to retake momentum from Airbus, the European competitor that has gained on it over the last decade. Boeing has about 840 orders for the 787. Some others were dropped because of the recession and production delays. Boeing officials said Tuesday that customers would get the first 787s in the second half of 2010. The plane can seat 200 to 300 people. Unlike jets Boeing made here for decades, the 787 is built more from plastic composites than metal and is pieced together from parts made around the country and the world. Initially expected to fly in 2007, it has been plagued by production flaws. As Boeing has changed its manufacturing methods, it has also changed its relationship with the Seattle region. The company moved its executive offices to Chicago in 2001, and this fall it announced that it would open a second 787 plant in South Carolina. The company has had ongoing disputes with labor unions in the Seattle area, and many people here worry that it will reduce its presence in Washington State. “It’s a bigger deal than they say,” said Mrs. Seixeiro’s husband, Steve, referring to the new South Carolina plant. Neither he nor his wife work for Boeing, but both view it as important to the area’s economy. Garrett Wiedmeier, who grew up with posters of jets on his bedroom walls and watched first flights of the 767 and 777, said he did not fault Boeing for expanding beyond Seattle. “I think Boeing will be here for a long time to come,” said Mr. Wiedmeier, 37. “It’s just got such a big infrastructure here. But I do worry.”
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Boeing Co;Airlines and Airplanes
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ny0279165
|
[
"sports",
"olympics"
] |
2016/11/22
|
Olympic Swimmers, Past and Present, United by Views on Doping
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Hours after the news broke on Monday of more failed drug tests by medal-winning athletes at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, Shirley Babashoff and two of her 1976 U.S. Olympic relay team members ascended to the stage in the ballroom of a midtown Manhattan hotel to present an award at USA Swimming’s annual Golden Goggles gala. Babashoff, beaten in three individual events and one relay by East German women later found to have been part of a state-sponsored doping program, stepped to the microphone and said, “Thank you, Lilly King. I don’t know you, but I love you.” Image Lilly King won the gold in the 100-meter breaststroke in Rio after criticizing a Russian in the race who had failed drug tests. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times At the Rio de Janeiro Games, King won the gold in the 100-meter breaststroke after criticizing the presence in the event of the silver medalist, the Russian Yulia Efimova, who twice had failed drug tests and served a 16-month suspension. Babashoff’s outspoken censure of the East Germans in 1976 earned her the nickname Surly Shirley from an American press contingent that took umbrage at her lack of sportsmanship. She won four silvers and one gold, as the anchor of the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay that upset the East Germans in the final women’s event of the Montreal competition. The other members of the relay were Wendy Boglioli, Jill Sterkel and Kim Peyton. Peyton died of a brain tumor in 1986 but Boglioli and Sterkel accompanied Babashoff to the stage to present the Relay Performance of the Year award to the men’s victorious 4 x 100 freestyle team of Michael Phelps, Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Held and Nathan Adrian. Boglioli also thanked King for speaking out for clean sport. King, who won the Breakout Performer of the Year award, said she was humbled to be acknowledged by Babashoff and Boglioli. “It’s weird knowing that they know who I am,” she said. “It’s super cool to know that I’ve made an impact on the generations that came before me.” Allison Wagner, a 1996 Olympian, was also a presenter, and she used the occasion to plead for the standards of the World Anti-Doping Agency to be adhered to. Wagner earned the silver medal in the 400-meter individual medley only to see the gold medalist later banned for a failed test taken out of competition. “I was inspired to say and do something,” said Wagner, who described the Atlanta Games in which she participated as “the dirtiest Olympics yet.”
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Swimming;Olympics;Doping
|
ny0262131
|
[
"world",
"asia"
] |
2011/06/12
|
Afghan Civilian Deaths Set a Monthly Record, U.N. Says
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KABUL, Afghanistan — The United Nations announced Saturday that May was the deadliest month for Afghan civilians since it began keeping count in 2007 — most likely a reflection of intense fighting, as militants seek to show they can stand up to the surge in American forces and try to undermine the government of President Hamid Karzai as it prepares to start taking over security. Although the monthly record of 368 deaths is compared with 2007, it is effectively the highest number since the war began, because civilian casualties appear to have been far lower before then. The majority of the casualties , 82 percent, were caused by Taliban and other militants, while 12 percent were caused by NATO troops and Afghan forces; in 6 percent of the cases, it was not clear who was responsible. Even as the numbers were announced, a particularly deadly roadside bombing left 15 civilians dead in southern Afghanistan , among them 8 small children and 4 women. Civilian casualties are a major concern of the United Nations, whose special representative to Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, has made a public effort for their reduction. The United Nations rarely announces monthly figures, but did so for May because the numbers were so high, officials said. “The last time we saw figures like this was August 2010, but that was right before the parliamentary elections and typically we’ve seen increases in violence right before elections,” said Georgette Gagnon, the United Nations director for human rights in Afghanistan. “This time, there is no one event around which the violence is centered.” The civilian deaths on Saturday occurred in Arghandab District of Kandahar Province when a large roadside bomb went off under a minibus carrying people from two related families. They were traveling to a famous shrine frequented by those seeking the healing of a child or family member. The place where the attack occurred is an arid and mountainous area that lies near the border with neighboring Khakrez District, where the Taliban continue to be active, even though they were supposed to have been cleared out of Arghandab by NATO and Afghan troops last fall. Security forces were also targets on Saturday, with a senior police officer and another officer killed by a suicide bomber in southeastern Afghanistan. The senior officer, Col. Mohammed Zahir, is the head of the quick-reaction force for Khost Province. The bombing was one in a string of attacks on senior police officers in the past several weeks. Two police officers were also killed late Friday, by a roadside bomb in Mehtarlam, the capital of Laghman Province, which is scheduled to be among the first areas where Afghan security forces will begin to take full responsibility in a few weeks. Two members of the NATO force were killed Saturday, one in an attack in southern Afghanistan and one in a helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan, according to a NATO statement.
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Afghanistan;Terrorism
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ny0263336
|
[
"sports",
"football"
] |
2011/12/16
|
Falcons Crush Jaguars, 41-14, Improving Playoff Hopes
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The Atlanta Falcons had been waiting all season for a complete game. They finally got it. Matt Ryan threw three touchdown passes in less than three quarters of work, John Abraham had 3 ½ sacks and the Falcons clinched a fourth straight winning season with a 41-14 rout of the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday. “Hopefully, we can play like we did tonight for the next couple weeks,” Ryan said. This one was over by halftime. Atlanta (9-5) led by 27-0 when the teams trotted to the locker room. Blaine Gabbert and the shellshocked Jaguars (4-10) were saddled with a net passing total of minus-1 yard, and the Falcons were well on the way to strengthening their hold on an N.F.C. wild-card spot. Gabbert had one of his worst games in a miserable rookie season, coughing up the ball twice on hits by Abraham. Both fumbles led to Atlanta scores, with defensive tackle Corey Peters scooping up the second one and trotting to the end zone early in the third quarter for a touchdown that ended any thought of the Jaguars getting back in the game. “It wasn’t just me,” Abraham said. “The whole team was able to get to the quarterback.” Ryan was 19 of 26 for 224 yards and 3 touchdowns, with a season-high quarterback rating of 137.3. Roddy White caught two of the scoring passes, Julio Jones the other. Gabbert was 12 of 22 for 141 yards, also throwing an interception to cap a truly awful night of running for his life and making bad decisions. He got most of his yards on a meaningless final drive, hitting Chastin West on a 16-yard touchdown with 59 seconds to go. Jacksonville’s other touchdown came on a blocked punt after trailing, 41-0. The injury-riddled Jaguars, playing out the season with an interim coach and a new owner, were coming off their best game of the season, having scored 41 straight points in a 41-14 victory over Tampa Bay. But, playing their third game in 11 days, they could not build any momentum toward closing out the season on a high note. Michael Turner burst off left guard for 15 yards on the first play of the game, and the Falcons were off and running. Ryan capped the opening drive by stepping up to avoid the pressure, flipping a short pass to Jones, then watching the rookie turn on an impressive burst of speed for a 29-yard touchdown. PATRIOTS PLAN FOR TEBOW The New England Patriots say they are preparing for the Denver Broncos ’ Tim Tebow the way they do for any quarterback — by learning what he does well and what he does poorly and taking advantage of that knowledge. There’s a big problem, though. Tebow is not like any other quarterback. “He’s a very unique person,” said Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, who played with Tebow at Florida. “He’s a leader.” Tebow has led the Broncos to a 7-1 record in his eight starts since they opened at 1-4. Their 8-5 mark going into Sunday’s home game against the Patriots leads the A.F.C. West. New England has allowed the most yards in the N.F.L. despite a 10-3 record. The Patriots will have to be disciplined to deal with the scrambling Tebow. “Anytime you have a quarterback that’s mobile, it definitely is a challenge for a defense,” said Patriots defensive back Nate Jones, a teammate of Tebow’s last season. BROTHERLY ADVICE Before San Francisco 49ers Coach Jim Harbaugh started his preparation for Steelers week, he had an important phone call to make to learn the ins and outs of how to beat Pittsburgh: to Baltimore’s coach and his big brother, John. The Ravens have won both of their meetings this season against the Steelers in what has evolved into one of the N.F.L.’s fiercest rivalries. And Monday night’s matchup between San Francisco and Pittsburgh has plenty of meaning to Baltimore, which is tied with the Steelers atop the A.F.C. North standings and trying to win the division. John Harbaugh asked a team official to make sure he was allowed to help his brother with any insight. “I know for a fact a lot of coaches have spent a lot of time talking about us before they play us,” John Harbaugh said. “So I’m sure we’ll try to help him in some way if we can.”
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Football;Atlanta Falcons;White Roddy;Jacksonville Jaguars;Denver Broncos;Tebow Tim;New England Patriots
|
ny0268182
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2016/03/25
|
Teachers Are Warned About Criticizing New York State Tests
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Since the revolt by parents against New York State’s reading and math tests last year, education officials at the state level have been bending over backward to try to show that they are listening to parents’ and educators’ concerns. The tests, which are given to third through eighth graders and will begin this year on April 5, were shortened , time limits were removed , and the results will not be a factor in teacher evaluations, among other changes. On Monday, Betty A. Rosa , the newly elected chancellor of the Board of Regents and the state’s highest education official, even said that if she had children of testing age, she would have them sit out the exams. The message, clearly, is: We hear you. But in New York City, the Education Department seems to be sending a different message to some teachers and principals: Watch what you say. At a forum in December, Anita Skop, the superintendent of District 15 in Brooklyn, which had the highest rate of test refusals in the city last year, said that for an educator to encourage opting out was a political act and that public employees were barred from using their positions to make political statements. On March 7, the teachers at Public School 234 in TriBeCa, where only two students opted out last year, emailed the school’s parents a broadside against the tests. The email said the exams hurt “every single class of students across the school” because of the resources they consumed. Image Betty A. Rosa, the newly elected chancellor of the Board of Regents, said that if she had children of testing age, she would have them sit out the exams. Credit Mike Groll/Associated Press But 10 days later, when dozens of parents showed up for a PTA meeting where they expected to hear more about the tests, the teachers were nowhere to be seen. The school’s principal explained that “it didn’t feel safe” for them to speak, adding that their union had informed them that their email could be considered insubordination. The principal, Lisa Ripperger, introduced an official from the Education Department who was there to “help oversee our meeting.” Several principals said they had been told by either the schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña, or their superintendents that they and their teachers should not encourage opting out. There were no specific consequences mentioned, but the warnings were enough to deter some educators. Devora Kaye, a spokeswoman for the Education Department, said that teachers were free to express themselves on matters of public concern as private citizens, but not as representatives of the department, and that if they crossed that line they could be disciplined. Asked what the disciplinary measures might be, Ms. Kaye said they were determined case by case. “I don’t think that the teachers’ putting themselves in the middle of it is a good idea,” Ms. Fariña said in an interview. A fifth of the state’s students sat out either the reading or the math tests last year, though New York City’s opt-out rate was less than 2 percent. Despite the state’s efforts at placating them, many parents and educators are still angry about the tests. They complain about the time and money schools must devote to preparing for, administering and scoring the exams and the limited information they get from them, as well as raising broader philosophical objections to testing. Image Carmen Fariña, the New York City schools chancellor. “I don’t think that the teachers’ putting themselves in the middle of it is a good idea,” Ms. Fariña said of the fight over testing. Credit Hilary Swift for The New York Times The state’s position appears to be in flux. The previous Regents chancellor, Merryl H. Tisch, was a strong proponent of the tests. Last year, while Dr. Tisch was still in office, the education commissioner, MaryEllen Elia, who reports to the Regents, said that it was “unethical” for educators to encourage or support test refusal and that it was districts’ responsibility to make sure that as many students as possible took the exams this spring. But the election of Dr. Rosa, who was endorsed by leaders of the opt-out movement, has muddied the issue. Jonathan Burman, a spokesman for the state’s Education Department said this week that the decision about whether to take the tests was up to parents, but that the state wanted to make sure that parents and educators knew the ways the tests had been improved, “so they can make an informed decision.” The state did not take action against any teachers or principals who advocated opting out last year. Still, Ms. Fariña seems to be taking Ms. Elia’s call to minimize the number of children who do not sit for the tests very seriously. In the interview, she said that her policy was not to suppress discussions about the tests within schools, but that she felt “any conversations have to be balanced, because in the past it was more of the opt-out movement.” Asked how schools could engineer balanced conversations, she said that parents were “very good at researching things” and that a conversation could consist of parents’ explaining why they were or were not having their children take the tests. While some parents have said they want to hear from the city why they should have their children take the tests, Ms. Fariña said that, generally, “I just think that what I’m hearing is that parents want more permission to opt out.” At Public School 321 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, part of District 15, more than a third of the eligible students did not sit for the tests last year, and the principal, Elizabeth Phillips, has in the past been outspoken in opposing them. At a PTA meeting there last week, Ms. Phillips was studiedly neutral, but several teachers criticized the tests, with one comparing the stand against them to abolitionism and the fight for same-sex marriage. Afterward, Ms. Phillips said she felt the teachers had expressed “displeasure with many things about the state tests,” but had not advocated opting out. “We’ve met as a staff, and the teachers know that is not the role of a teacher,” she said. Ms. Fariña was the superintendent of District 15 from 2001 to 2003. It is a largely middle-class district, where children have generally done well on the exams. Two Education Department employees, who did not want to be identified because they were afraid of losing their jobs, said that in the last year, Ms. Fariña had described the district as complacent about its academic performance. Her spokeswoman denied that she had done so, saying she had great respect for the principals and families in the district. In an earlier interview, Ms. Fariña said she was not surprised that District 15 had the most parents refuse the test. “They’ve always been a district that has a lot of parents who have very strong opinions,” she said. “What can I tell you?”
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K-12 Education;Tests;Teachers;NYC Department of Education;Principals School;Carmen Farina;NYC;New York
|
ny0020472
|
[
"business",
"media"
] |
2013/07/22
|
Aereo as Bargaining Chip in Broadcast Fees Battle
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As another television programming blackout looms, this time because of a high-stakes negotiation between the CBS Corporation and Time Warner Cable, there is a new wrinkle, courtesy of Aereo, the start-up that streams broadcast TV via the Internet. The contract dispute between CBS and Time Warner Cable is the first to unfold in the New York metropolitan area since Aereo came to market there last year. Last week, the companies warned that if the dispute was not resolved by Wednesday, CBS could be taken away from three million of Time Warner Cable’s 12 million subscribers. Enter Aereo. The service, backed by Barry Diller and a number of other venture capitalists, uses giant arrays of antennas to pick up freely available television signals and stream them to the phones, computers and other screens of paying subscribers. By relying on the antennas, Aereo does not pay the kinds of retransmission fees that distributors like Time Warner Cable pay to broadcasters like CBS — an approach that Aereo says is legal, but that the broadcasters say is not. Analysts have theorized that distributors could exploit Aereo, or a service like it, to avoid paying increasingly steep retransmission fees. Such fees are at the heart of the current fight with CBS. While Time Warner Cable does not seem ready or willing to deploy Aereo-like technology, a spokeswoman, Maureen Huff, said Sunday that it would recommend Aereo to its New York subscribers if CBS was blacked out. The distributor may also underline the fact that Aereo, which normally costs $8 a month, offers a 30-day free trial. (Ms. Huff also pointed out that many CBS shows are available online on a delayed basis, and that “all of CBS’s broadcast TV programming is available free over-the-air,” so subscribers can use antennas.) Image Les Moonves of CBS, which has helped lead the charge against the TV streaming service Aereo in the courts. Credit Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS Time Warner Cable is treading carefully because Aereo is the subject of several lawsuits filed by major media companies. In this case, its invocation of Aereo might be particularly corrosive because CBS has helped lead the charge against Aereo in the courts. To date, the service has been upheld by the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York; last week, in its third victory there, the appeals court declined to hear the broadcasters’ appeal. Emboldened by the rulings, Aereo, which is so small that it has not shared any New York subscriber data, recently expanded to Boston and Atlanta; its next market is Chicago, it says, with many more to come. But it has not announced any plans in the West Coast markets covered by the Ninth Circuit Court, where a service similar to Aereo was rejected in December. Given the uncertain state of play, Aereo is of limited use to Time Warner Cable currently; along with New York, the fight with CBS affects subscribers in Los Angeles, Dallas and several smaller markets. David Bank, a media analyst for RBC Capital Markets, said he would not be shocked if the distributor somehow used Aereo to skirt the blackout, or encouraged subscribers to do so. But he wrote in an e-mail message: “I think it would be more of ‘negotiating tactic’ than a real business solution.” A CBS spokesman declined to comment. In a statement last week about the potential blackout, the company, whose broadcast network is the highest-rated network in the United States, said it “remains committed to working towards a mutually agreeable contract.” “This conflict just further highlights the importance of having alternatives in the marketplace,” Chet Kanojia, the chief of Aereo, said in a statement. “It’s also a great reminder that consumers have the right to watch over-the-air television using an antenna. Whether they use Aereo or some other type of antenna, it’s their choice. That’s the beauty of having alternatives.”
|
Time Warner Cable;Aereo;CBS;New York Metropolitan Area;Barry Diller;Chet Kanojia;TV
|
ny0294951
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2016/12/05
|
Georgia Man Sentenced to Life Without Parole for Son’s Death in Hot Car
|
A judge on Monday sentenced a Georgia man to life in prison without the possibility of parole after a jury found that he had intentionally left his toddler son in a hot sport utility vehicle to die. Jurors last month convicted the man, Justin Ross Harris , 35 when convicted, of malice murder and other charges in the June 2014 death of his 22-month-old son, Cooper. Prosecutors argued that Mr. Harris was unhappily married and intentionally killed his son because he wanted an escape from family life. Defense lawyers maintained that Mr. Harris was a loving father and that while he was responsible for the boy’s death, it was a tragic accident. Mr. Harris did not testify at trial and did not speak at his sentencing hearing. Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark of Cobb County Superior Court told Mr. Harris that she thought about statements he had made during conversations with the police and his wife the day his son died about wishing to be an advocate to help keep others from leaving a child in a hot vehicle. “Perhaps not the way you intended, you in fact have accomplished that goal,” she said as she gave him the maximum sentence. Prosecutors had decided not to seek the death penalty, and Charles P. Boring, an assistant district attorney and the lead prosecutor on the case, said the sentence Mr. Harris got was appropriate. “I don’t think you could have any other sentence that would be appropriate when somebody’s been convicted of intentionally taking the life of a 22-month-old child — not only doing that but doing it such a painful and deliberate way,” Mr. Boring told reporters. Mr. Harris’s lawyers did not present any evidence or make any arguments at sentencing. They also declined to comment after sentencing. Cooper died after sitting for about seven hours in the back seat of his father’s vehicle outside the suburban Atlanta office where Mr. Harris worked. Temperatures in the Atlanta area that day reached at least into the high 80s. Mr. Harris told police he forgot to drop his son off at day care that morning, instead driving straight to his job as a web developer for Home Depot, forgetting that Cooper was still in his car seat. Investigators found evidence that Mr. Harris was engaging in online flirtations and in-person affairs with numerous women other than his wife, including a prostitute and an underage teenager. Judge Staley Clark decided after nearly three weeks of jury selection in April that pretrial publicity had made it too difficult to find a fair jury in Cobb County, where the boy died, and granted a defense request to relocate the trial. A jury in Glynn County, located on the Georgia coast about 60 miles south of Savannah, spent about a month listening to evidence in the case and deliberated for four days before finding Mr. Harris guilty of all eight counts against him. In addition to malice murder and felony murder charges, Mr. Harris was also found guilty of sending sexual text messages to a teenage girl and sending her nude photos.
|
Justin Ross Harris;Cooper Harris;Murders and Homicides;Georgia;Child Abuse
|
ny0067381
|
[
"us"
] |
2014/12/02
|
Antismoking Story That Is Tailored to Native Alaskans
|
JUNEAU, Alaska — Michael George Patterson, a 59-year-old Native Alaskan, stood before a group of high school students on a recent morning and told them about his impending death. Sooner or later, he said, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or another complication of lung damage from years of smoking — starting when he was 9 — will kill him. But he also could not help sometimes smiling broadly and happily as he spoke, and he talked about that, too. In facing death and finding he could perhaps make a difference in telling his story, he said, he had found new life, and a profound joy in the simple day-to-day experiences that had eluded him. “This is what I am choosing to do with the time I have left,” he told an assembly at Yaakoosge Daakahidi Alternative High School. After years of depression, violence and homelessness on the streets here in Juneau, Alaska’s capital, he had found his way to the school’s small library on a rainy morning, traveling a path, he said, that was all about “doing something right.” Antismoking messages aimed at young people have often been filled with statistics or, alternatively, built around fear-inducing imagery of disease and shortened life. Neither approach has proved effective, especially in American Indian and Native Alaskan communities that have some of the country’s highest smoking rates, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Research into adolescent psychology, ambitious antitobacco programs paid for by cigarette companies and public speaking projects like Mr. Patterson’s all support a powerful new insight into how to head off nicotine addiction before it starts: Stories work better than nagging, statistics-laden charts or guilt. “We are hard-wired to relate to stories,” said Dr. Tim McAfee, the director of the Office on Smoking and Health at the C.D.C., which selected Mr. Patterson in 2012 for a national antismoking campaign that featured more than two dozen people talking about their lives, all damaged by tobacco. Several other participants in the campaign, along with Mr. Patterson, have also continued to speak out on their own. “Michael telling his personal story is one of the most powerful things that can be done,” Dr. McAfee said. The Food and Drug Administration is also promoting research-driven conclusions in a $500 million multiyear antismoking campaign that began this year, paid for by tobacco companies under a 2009 law passed by Congress. Young people who use tobacco, like young people in general, are fragmented by class, race and geography, the research suggests, and no approach works for all. “We have really identified the most at-risk youth and are focusing on them,” said Jennifer Haliski, a Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman. As the campaign moves ahead, the agency is preparing narrowly targeted approaches to rural boys; gay, bisexual and transgender youth; and families of mixed racial background, all of whom have higher rates of tobacco use than the youth population as a whole. Young people in 75 media markets will be tracked to assess the effort. In Mr. Patterson’s life, the message comes down to passion. He has spoken to groups and schools in dozens of communities around the state, usually in exchange for just travel expenses, lodging and meals. And while he talks about tobacco, he mostly talks about his rocky journey and the bad choices he has made in dealing with stress and depression. Image Mr. Patterson has had scarred portions of both lungs removed and will probably need a lung transplant. Credit Ben Huff for The New York Times Born into a family of mixed ancestry — Tlingit, Cherokee, Irish and Japanese — Mr. Patterson fled a violent, alcoholic household before age 10, living on the streets of Juneau. He worked in computer repair and served two years in the Army, but he was also at times back on the streets. Abused as a child, he became an adult prone to rage and was feared, he said, as a street person — a reputation that fills him with shame. And the anchor that pulled him down, he tells his audiences, was low self-esteem and depression. He was found to have emphysema , and quit smoking, seven years ago. Many students at Yaakoosge Daakahidi (Tlingit for “house of learning”) can relate to family trauma — from economic struggle, substance abuse or something else — said the principal, Kristin Garot. Some were returning to school after dropping out, she said. Others fell behind because of absences or other trouble in regular high school. And smoking, or exposure to it, is pervasive, said Jacob Riddle, 18, who was a third-generation smoker until he quit last year. Mr. Patterson’s message hit home, he said, partly because his 59-year-old father, who has tried and failed to quit smoking, also has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — a group of diseases that cause airflow blockage and breathing-related problems. “With him opening up like that, it makes it easier to get ahold of his point,” Mr. Riddle said of Mr. Patterson. Tobacco use in many American Indian and Native Alaskan cultures is complicated by history and religion, with some tribes in the lower 48 states keeping to ceremonial traditions of smoking that can negate antismoking messages. Here in Alaska, by contrast, tobacco is associated with the military, and huge changes that began with World War II, when tens of thousands of soldiers were stationed across the state. They brought tobacco to isolated rural communities — about 15 percent of the state’s population is Native Alaskan, still largely rural — that had in many cases little experience with nicotine. About 27 percent of American Indian and Native Alaskan adults smoke, according to federal figures, the highest rate of any ethnic group in the nation, compared with 18 percent for all adults. Mr. Patterson, who had some scarred portions of both lungs removed a few years ago, will probably need a lung transplant in the future. He cannot project his voice very far these days, he said, because he lacks the lung capacity. But here at the high school, before about 60 students, his soft voice was enough even without a microphone to be heard in the back as he talked about his daughter and her two children, with whom he now lives here in Juneau, and his regrets in knowing he will probably not see his grandchildren grow up. Their grandmother, also a smoker, died in her mid-50s of lung cancer. A resolve to quit smoking, he tells his audiences, or never to start is a declaration of self-worth that will have positive effects no matter what. “I just want to help you avoid standing where I stand,” he told the students.
|
Smoking;Alaska;Michael George Patterson;Native Americans;CDC;FDA
|
ny0114230
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2012/11/10
|
Putin Foes Have an Ally in Best-Selling Author
|
PARIS — A writer’s voice has always had special weight in Russia , but it matters only when Russians are ready to listen. At least that is the experience of Boris Akunin, the best-selling detective novelist who popped up late last year as a prominent member of the political opposition to President Vladimir V. Putin . “I’ve always said what I thought,” said Mr. Akunin, 56, whose round glasses and slight beard give him the look of an impish owl. “Before, I was rarely asked about my political opinion. When I was, I would say what I thought, but no one was particularly interested.” On a recent rainy evening in Paris, on his way back to Moscow, where the anti-Putin opposition is engaged in an ever riskier game of cat-and-mouse with the authorities, Mr. Akunin explained how Russian society, with its growing middle class, was finally coming of age. “If in the early 1990s, Russia was clearly not ready, now there is a chance to become a democracy, and stay a democracy,” he said during an hourlong conversation over a glass of whiskey. “There’s a slow movement toward the democratic awareness of Russian society. It’s not going fast, but that is good, because fast can be dangerous.” Akunin is in fact a pen name, one of several chosen over the years by Grigori Chkhartishvili, a historian and expert on Japanese culture. Five years ago, he dreamed up two others; one was Anna Borisova, a female writer whose picture was a digitally altered version of himself and whose critical success was a secret delight he shared only with his wife and his publisher, until all was revealed earlier this year. But Akunin is the name that stuck, and it is the one he uses publicly (it is certainly easier to pronounce), mainly because Akunin is the creator of Erast Fandorin, a 19th-century Russian dandy and gambler whose swashbuckling exploits are told in 14 books that have sold about 30 million copies in Russia alone and been made into three movies. Mr. Akunin said his value to the protest movement had been precisely his contact with a broad demographic of Russian readers that reaches well beyond the traditional intelligentsia. “If my role is noticed, it is because I am a writer, a writer of mass literature,” he said. “My main audience is the middle class.” Still, he has no intention of giving up his writer’s life — quite a comfortable one, at that — to become a political activist. “Some of us are like a volunteer fire brigade,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean we want to become professional firefighters.” In what Mr. Akunin considers a “very important” development, about 80,000 members of the Russian opposition went online last month to vote for a “coordinating council.” The top vote-getter was the anti-corruption blogger Aleksei Navalny, and the second was Dmitry Bykov, a well-known Russian writer and critic. Mr. Akunin hopes this will finally give leadership and discipline to government opponents who he said had made plenty of mistakes. Luckily for them, he said, the authorities have made even more. “This face-off, I call it a contest between the ‘dumb’ and the ‘dumber,”’ he said. In this case, he says the “dumber” is “the power,” the collective noun Russians use to describe their rulers. Mr. Akunin’s political involvement dates from Sept. 24, 2011, when Mr. Putin laid claim to a third term as president. Then came the mass protests over evident fraud during parliamentary elections last December. By the time Mr. Putin was sworn in as president in May, the situation had become clear, Mr. Akunin said. “There’s been an important change,” Mr. Akunin said. “He no longer makes any effort to appeal to educated people.” For the past seven years, Mr. Akunin has divided his time between Moscow and Saint-Malo, on the Brittany coast of France, where he writes his books at an astonishing pace. Boris Akunin produces two novels a year “at cruising speed,” he said. His other two pseudonyms — Borisova and Anatoly Brusnikin — produced three books apiece between 2007 and 2011. If Mr. Akunin needs the isolation and orderly life of Northern Europe to write, he still relies on Russia for inspiration. “It’s easier to come up with ideas in Russia, but when you need discipline, it’s not there, it’s not an organized place,” he said. As he stepped up his political activities, Mr. Akunin also decided to switch his literary style. First he had to plot an end for Fandorin (how he will do it over the course of two more books remains a secret). “It’s not that I am sick of him,” he said blithely. “I’ve just exhausted him: He was like a big cow that I have been milking for so long that there’s no milk left.” Then he produced “a heavy depressive Russian novel,” called “Aristonomia.” “For the first time, I wrote for myself, it was stream of consciousness, something of that sort,” he said. He shrugged when asked to explain the title. “The word doesn’t exist,” he said. “I made it up.” In recent months, the Russian government has stepped up pressure on the opposition. A national television channel has aired two documentaries attacking its motives and methods, in a style redolent of Soviet-era propaganda. Several key leaders have been arrested; one was said to have been kidnapped in Ukraine and brought back to a Moscow prison. Mr. Akunin has been spared direct attacks, although the tax police have scoured his returns, and his books have been “investigated” for passages that might violate Russia’s arcane anti-extremism laws. “It’s pretty absurd to talk about extremism in a novel about the 19th century,” he said. The Russian government’s heavy-handed tactics give Mr. Akunin reason to be optimistic. “They’re getting nervous, first, and second, they’re stupid,” Mr. Akunin said. “When they try scare tactics, people switch from being indifferent to getting irritated.”
|
Russia;Putin Vladimir V;Politics and Government;Demonstrations Protests and Riots;Writing and Writers
|
ny0290191
|
[
"technology"
] |
2016/01/17
|
Farhad and Mike’s Week in Tech: A Not-So-‘Basic’ Shift in Start-Ups
|
Each Saturday, Farhad Manjoo and Mike Isaac, technology reporters at The New York Times, review the week’s news , offering analysis and maybe a joke or two about the most important developments in the tech industry. Farhad: Hey Mike, welcome to my squad ! See what I did there? This week, our friends at The Wall Street Journal published a handy dictionary of slang terms used by millennials . I thought I’d try out some of these “cool-kid” words in our newsletter. That’s lit , right? Mike: I’m still not calling you my bae . Farhad: O.K., on to this week’s tech news, which was pretty minimal actually — the January doldrums are upon us. A few small items: Anthony Foxx, the United States transportation secretary, announced an initiative to streamline rules for self-driving cars, a move that pleased many auto and tech companies that had been critical of the patchwork of state regulations around robot cars. And Grindr, the app for gay men to find fun nearby, sold a majority stake to a Chinese gaming company. Mike: What kind of fun? Like amusement parks? Skee-Ball? Farhad: Um, no. And there were some headlines about Apple: The Financial Times reported that Apple’s new streaming service, Apple Music, had acquired 10 million subscribers in its first six months. Spotify has at least twice as many paying users — and it has 75 million users total, counting its free tier — but Apple seems to be catching up. Also, BuzzFeed reported that Apple was altering its iAd business, a system for app makers to run ads in their apps, which had always been a tiny business for the company. Apple will no longer employ an ad sales staff for the system, Buzzfeed says — instead iAd will become an automated platform. The upshot: Apple is not an ad company, and it never will be. Image A Nest thermostat. Credit Ben Margot/Associated Press Also, the Nest thermostat, the epitome of Internet-connected home devices, suffered a major glitch recently that plunged people’s homes into the ice age. That is what you get for relying on robots, I say. That’s why I heat my house with garbage fires. Mike: You heat your house with your tweets? Farhad: Har-Har. Speaking of which, let’s talk about start-ups. Foursquare raised another $45 million , as you wrote. And shares of GoPro, the sports-camera company that went public in 2014, fell to an all-time low after the company announced dismal holiday sales and layoffs of 7 percent of its staff. If you ask me, the start-up scene sounds so basic rn . But what do you think? Mike: Well, if by “basic” you mean boring, I disagree. But for a different reason than you might think. I feel that the theme of start-ups of this era is the evisceration of old industries, particularly in the logistics and service economies, aided by new technologies. Uber is perhaps the seminal harbinger of that change; take one well-entrenched industry (taxi and livery service) with a corner on the market and no need for innovation. Add one start-up with a clever, convenient approach and a willingness to flout laws. Pour millions of dollars on idea. Repeat. So while things like food delivery or on-demand office cleaning or whatever are certainly not as world-changing and attractive as robot monkey butlers, it is pretty much par for what Silicon Valley stands for: the destruction of the old in the name of efficiency and expediency. Farhad: Wait, wait, wait. Are you saying that not only is someone working on robot monkey butlers but that they will be attractive robot monkey butlers? Take my money! Mike: I’m being serious! These new start-ups come with a whole bunch of other problems. Who are we serving? Who gets hurt? And who are the real winners? These are the questions I am constantly asking myself and others. And those questions certainly deserve to be asked instead of waved off in the name of some nebulous idea of progress. And that, my basic friend, is what is interesting to me: those being marginalized while the death and rebirth of new industries are widely celebrated by a handful of people in a small enclave of California. (I also like the technologies themselves, some of the time, at least.) But I am curious as to what would not bore you right now. What sort of start-ups are you looking for? What more do you want than on-demand booze and cookies? Farhad: Oh, I think you have the wrong idea. I did not mean that the start-ups themselves were boring. I actually agree that these logistics companies could in fact be pretty world-changing. What I do think is pretty basic right now is the start-up financing scene. A year ago, the market looked crazy. Venture capitalists were funding anything that moved, and unicorns were everywhere. Then, in the fall, a gloom fell over the market, and it seemed we were headed for some kind of bust. Now, though, something different is happening — things have slowed down, and everyone seems kind of O.K. with it. Foursquare’s effort was a “down round,” meaning its new valuation is lower than its old one. On Friday, Jawbone, the fitness-device start-up, said it had raised $165 million in an investing round that valued the company lower than investors thought it was worth in 2014. These are probably the first of many down rounds we will see. But its investors say Foursquare’s business is thriving . It has set its sights lower than in its high-flying early days, but the new vision is more realistic and plausible. It all sounds so … sensible. It’s neither a bubble nor a bust; it feels like business as usual. Or, as the angel investor Jason Calacanis said in a blog post this week , the bubble has been successfully “deflated.” This new reality sounds good for the start-up environment. But for those of us covering it, a “controlled deflation” does not make for a juicy story. It is not one that will make you go, yassss! Mike: I really hope my midlife crisis does not come in the form of testing a faddish horrible vernacular. I would prefer hair plugs and a Ferrari. Anyway, I think you discount the fiscal irresponsibility of many 20-somethings given millions of dollars. Sometimes venture capitalists pray they are funding the next Facebook, and end up getting a Clinkle . That is to say, there will certainly be spectacular flameouts to come. And they will not be lit, as it were. Ugh, why did I say that? Farhad: It’s because you’re thirsty , my friend. You’re just so thirsty. See you later.
|
Slang;Millennials;Mobile Apps;Startup;Cars;Apple;Foursquare;Anthony Foxx
|
ny0282179
|
[
"world",
"what-in-the-world"
] |
2016/07/27
|
Steppes of Dreams: Russians Cling to Hopes of Glory in Baseball
|
Some dedicated Russian athletes and businessmen are committed to beating America at its own game: baseball. Beginning in 1986, when baseball was first recognized as an Olympic sport, youth clubs with an eye toward gold-medal glory popped up across the country and diamonds were carved into the tundra and steppes. The game is still played — a national league includes 10 teams with names like Green Sox — but the sport is “limping along,” said Bob Protexter, an American who helped bring the game to Russia in the late 1980s. Mr. Protexter believes that Russia’s obsession with the Olympics could revive an interest in the sport ahead of the 2020 Games in Tokyo, where baseball might again be featured. (Baseball has not been played at the Olympics since 2008.) But some Russian fans, including Sergei Borisov, who ran an independent statistics website for Russian baseball until he became too “depressed” by the state of the game, don’t believe their countrymen will ever be passionate about the sport. “In Russia we know what bats are, but we don’t know how to use them in sport,” Mr. Borisov grimly joked. But Russia actually does know something about using bats in sport. For centuries Russians have played a traditional bat-and-ball game called lapta. Given lapta’s history, some of the game’s boosters, including Stalin, have claimed that America’s national pastime might have its roots in the Russian heartland. “Our theory is that Russian immigrants or Jews from Odessa brought lapta to America, and baseball evolved from there,” Sergei Fokin, vice president of the Russian Lapta Federation, told The Moscow Times in 2003. “Lapta is a much older game, and there are so many similar concepts: tagging runners out, hitting and catching fly balls, for example.” Just as many Americans hope to see baseball return to the Olympics, lapta holds a similar place in the Russian imagination. “If we only dream a little bit,” a newscaster for Russia’s Channel One recently said, “we can imagine Russian lapta as an Olympic sport.”
|
2014 Winter Olympics;Baseball;2020 Summer Olympics;Russia;Olympics
|
ny0286776
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2016/08/03
|
Donald Trump Jousts With a Crying Baby at His Rally
|
ASHBURN, Va. — Silent protesters . A group in AARP shirts . A crying baby. They all ended up having to leave Donald J. Trump’s rally in Virginia on Tuesday, for various reasons. The silent protesters were escorted out by staff members midway through his speech, and they went silently, with peace signs over their heads. The AARP-clad group left in a similar fashion. But the crying baby was initially welcome in the event, or so the crowd was led to believe. “Don’t worry about that baby. I love babies,” Mr. Trump said. “I hear that baby crying, I like it. What a baby, what a beautiful baby. Don’t worry, don’t worry.” But the platitudes did nothing to comfort the infant, whose persistent wails seemed to be getting on the candidate’s nerves. “Actually, I was only kidding. You can get that baby out of here,” Mr. Trump said a few beats later with a slight smirk as laughs and a few gasps escaped from the crowd. “Don’t worry, I think she really believed me that I love having a baby crying while I’m speaking. That’s O.K. People don’t understand. That’s O.K.” Later in the rally, another baby cried, daring a rebuke from the candidate. But eventually the child calmed down. Senator Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, was swift to pick up on Mr. Trump’s baby episode, taking a jab at him as he brought up the issue of prekindergarten at a rally in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Tuesday. “I saw that Donald Trump kicked a crying baby out of an event earlier today,” Mr. Kaine said, “so as I’m thinking about pre-K, sometimes you wonder who the baby is.”
|
Donald Trump;2016 Presidential Election
|
ny0131663
|
[
"us"
] |
2012/12/10
|
Report Addresses Mismatch Between Jobs and Graduates
|
Report shows mismatch between jobs and graduates The McKinsey Center for Government is scheduled to release its latest report on education and employment in a live Web feed on Monday. The online discussion, which will begin at 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, will include panelists from Bogotá, Dubai, Geneva, New Delhi and Washington. They will address a predicament that involves recent graduates as well as recruiters: 75 million young people are unemployed, and yet many employers say they cannot find skilled workers. According to the report, about half of young graduates are “not sure that their post-secondary education has improved their chances of finding a job.” On the other hand, 39 percent of employers blamed a shortage of skilled workers for their difficulty in filling entry-level positions. Academic institutions, which are traditionally the link between students and employers, appear to be the most out-of-touch with workplace realities and are overconfident about the skills they provide. According to the report, 72 percent of educational institutions felt that their graduates were ready for the job market, but only 42 percent of employers agreed. QS names M.B.A. programs most valued by employers QS, widely known as one of leading publishers of university rankings, has named the 200 M.B.A. programs that are most valued by employers. Of the 39 “Elite Global” institutions selected for the report, which was released last week, 22 were from North America, 14 from Europe and 3 from the Asia-Pacific region. Harvard was the top U.S. choice. Insead, a business school that has campuses in France and Singapore, was top-ranked in both Europe and Asia. London Business School was also among the top three M.B.A. programs chosen by recruiters. Among graduates of those “elite” schools, those in Europe earned an average of $109,300 a year, compared with $101,100 in North America. But recruiters felt that U.S. business schools were better at teaching specialized subjects. The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania led in teaching finance; the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Illinois in teaching marketing; and the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management in teaching information management. According to the report, the most academically qualified students are from India. The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore and Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad reported the highest GMAT scores. Greek universities consider merging some departments A petition has been circulating at the University of Patras to protest a plan to merge its humanities departments with those of the University of the Peloponnese, part of cost-cutting measures in Greece, according to a copy of the petition obtained by the International Herald Tribune. The Ministry of Education is expected to announce a decision on the matter Saturday. Higher education in Asia is topic of online discussion The Asian Development Bank will hold a live online discussion called “Higher Education in Asia: Is It Still a Public Good?” Jouko Sarvi, who coordinates the bank’s education-related policy and strategy, will speak to the online public on Friday starting at 2 p.m. in Manila, or 6 a.m. U.T.C.
|
Education;Labor and Jobs;Washington (DC)
|
ny0138745
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2008/02/03
|
As Corzine Lines Up Allies for Toll Plan, Republicans Push Back
|
TRENTON — Schering-Plough, Verizon and the Atlantic City casinos. The presidents of Princeton and Rutgers, a former chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court and a dusting of leading Republicans in the state. Faster than you can say New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway or Atlantic City Expressway, Gov. Jon S. Corzine has lined up an array of supporters who have endorsed his complex plan to reduce state debt and finance transportation projects by relying on sharply higher tolls. Moving in a swift and dramatic fashion, which has become something of a signature maneuver of Mr. Corzine since his days at Goldman Sachs, he has tried to emphasize that his efforts to rescue the state’s deeply indebted government transcend partisan and ideological divides. But in New Jersey’s prickly political landscape, ecumenism goes only so far. Mr. Corzine’s success last week in persuading the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce — historically Republican in its reflexes — to join his endeavor left Republican legislators flabbergasted and incensed. Some even wondered whether there was a secret quid pro quo — something that both sides denied. “Disgusted,” spat State Senator Joseph M. Kyrillos Jr., a former state Republican Party chairman, who urged businesses to abandon the group. “Wealthy Trenton insiders,” said the Assembly’s minority leader, Alex DeCroce. “Sold out,” State Senator Anthony R. Bucco of Morris County added. Since Mr. Corzine unveiled his plan three weeks ago, he has conducted town hall meetings throughout the state — he has vowed to visit all 21 counties — in hopes of convincing a wary public that drastic measures are needed. So far, public reaction has generally been respectful but leery, with the forum on Saturday in Ocean County being the most antagonistic. The latest poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University last week also showed that 59 percent of residents disapproved. But for someone who can at times be politically clumsy, Mr. Corzine has demonstrated surprising dexterity in privately courting the state’s power brokers and its leading academics while publicly wooing taxpayers. All of this is designed to win the ultimate object of his affections, or perhaps affectations: the State Legislature, which must vote on the plan to issue up to $38 billion in bonds. “It is a strategy for moving an agenda forward, to line people up, so you let the other side see that you have more supporters,” said Ingrid Reed, a political scientist at Rutgers. “So it’s a show of strength. These people can reach out to other people and go to lunch with other people and do the quiet convincing.” It is safe to assume that Mr. Corzine has only begun to fight. There is always the possibility that he will add to the 33 members of what has been given an ungainly name, the Financial Restructuring and Debt Reduction Campaign Steering Committee. This week, Mr. Corzine’s supporters — with his blessing and expected financial support — established a nonprofit group, Save Our State NJ, to spread the gospel through a media campaign. So far, Mr. Corzine has not disclosed how much money, if any, he would donate to the cause. But those opposed to his plan are equally determined, even if they have not offered comparable alternatives. Steven M. Lonegan, from the conservative wing of the Republican Party and a former candidate for governor, has started to organize countermeetings, and last week he convened a teleconference with Senate Minority Leader Thomas H. Kean Jr. and Assemblyman Michael J. Doherty to further his cause. “This is the biggest financial gimmick that this state and this country have ever seen,” Mr. Kean said during the conference call. “My hope is that this plan goes down to bipartisan defeat.” In a bit of interesting timing, state officials climbed aboard the annual New Jersey Chamber of Commerce ride to Washington on Thursday, and the toll plan dominated the conversation along with speculation about the Feb. 5 nominating contests. The chamber’s chairman, William J. Marino, said the board voted overwhelmingly for the proposal, 34 to 2, with 6 abstentions. Mr. Marino, who is also the president and chief executive of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, said that Mr. DeCroce and others who are urging a boycott of the chamber are missing the bigger picture. “I think those kinds of statements are unfortunate,” he said. “A lot of these people are my friends; a lot of them I have supported personally. But given the fiscal crisis in this state, it is time to step above partisanship and do what’s best for the state.” What has become clear over the past couple of weeks is that Mr. Corzine had been girding for months for this battle, on which he has staked his governorship. He had been discussing his plan with former Representative Bob Franks — whom he defeated in a race for United States Senate in 2000 and who is now the chairman of the steering committee — for a year. Shortly after Thanksgiving, he began courting other potential supporters, said Gualberto Medina, another Republican, who was commerce commissioner under Gov. Christie Whitman and a co-chairman of Bret Schundler’s insurgent bid for governor in 2001. Mr. Medina said that he decided to support Mr. Corzine’s plan because he was impressed by the governor’s sincerity. He also liked the three other components of the rescue package: freezing spending this year, pushing for a constitutional amendment to give voters more say over borrowing, and passing legislation linking any increases in spending to increases in revenues. “In many ways, the governor’s plan resembles the platform that Bret ran on for governor,” said Mr. Medina, who is now the executive managing director of Cushman & Wakefield. “Whether or not people are comfortable with different elements of his plan, his plan is really an intellectually honest way to look at this problem.” But Mr. Corzine’s opponents say that such endorsements — whether from respected Democrats or Republicans — are meaningless. “It seems like every day that Corzine rolls out some Trenton insider endorsement for his plan, his poll numbers and public support for the proposal drops even further,” said Assemblyman Richard A. Merkt, a Morris County Republican.
|
Tolls;Corzine Jon S;Finances
|
ny0220556
|
[
"sports",
"olympics"
] |
2010/02/11
|
Skier Turned His Life Around but Kept Eyes on Olympic Gold
|
At the 2006 Turin Olympics, there was no avoiding the spectacle that was Jeret Peterson , the American freestyle aerialist known as Speedy. He wore large, shiny earrings off the snow and a gleaming, oversize belt buckle on it. His effervescent personality fit nicely with the stories he told, like the time he parlayed $5,000 he earned working at Home Depot into $200,000 at a Las Vegas blackjack table. Jay Leno and Katie Couric were among the interviewers lined up before the Olympics to laugh at every one of Speedy’s well-delivered tales. Peterson, 24 at the time, was no fake; he was a true gold medal favorite. He had a dangerous jump, the Hurricane, that few were willing to try, and he promised to attempt it regardless of the circumstances. “I’m going out with the Hurricane,” he said at the time. “I’ll probably finish first or last. But I’m doing it.” After the Olympic aerials qualifying round in Italy, Peterson was third. A properly executed and reasonably safe jump in the finals that night could have still yielded the gold. Instead, Peterson kept his word . Everything about the launch and execution of the Hurricane was nearly perfect — five twists and three flips — with Peterson soaring 55 feet into the night sky. He landed on his skis. But ever-so-slightly off balance, he touched his right hand to the snow to steady himself. The aerials judges came down hard on Peterson for the imperfect landing. He finished seventh. Peterson took the setback well during interviews afterward. He said he was proud to have challenged himself with the hardest of choices, and added that life was about “going all out.” Many of Peterson’s family members and a few friends from his Idaho hometown were with him that night in the tiny village of Sauze d’Oulx, and they headed to a bar where they were joined by several other representatives of the United States ski team. Several hours into this gathering, according to the police, Peterson punched and fought with his best friend, Mason Fuller, whom he had known since high school. The next day, the United States ski team — already under fire for not curbing the late-night hours Bode Miller had been keeping — publicly rebuked Peterson and asked him to leave the Olympic Village . Peterson complied. “After I got home, a tremendous number of people wrote me e-mails telling me I was a disgrace,” Peterson said in an interview last year. “It was pretty clear what people thought of me.” Peterson lost many of the endorsements and sponsorships that had sustained him financially . By 2007, he had quit his sport and gone back to Idaho, where he worked in construction. Pounding nails and pushing wheelbarrows day after day, he had plenty of time to reconstruct the last few years of his life. Peterson decided that more than his final jump at the Turin Olympics had been off balance. He had indeed been living life by “going all out.” And look where it landed him. He quit drinking alcohol and came to grips with other demons, like the effects of witnessing a good friend commit suicide. He found a way to put the 2006 Olympic experience, on and off snow, into perspective and sought the forgiveness of his friends, family, coaches and teammates. Last season, he started competing in aerials again. He has been inconsistent this winter, but he has won some competitions, including the recent United States Olympic trials. He will be an Olympic medal contender again. “I lost an awful lot for getting in a bar fight,” Peterson said last year, seated in a clubhouse lodge next to the aerial jumps in Lake Placid, N.Y. “But you pay for and you learn from your mistakes. I miss the money that it’s cost me to this day, but I’m a different person now and you couldn’t pay me $10 million to go back to being the person I was in 2006.” He got his nickname at a training camp in Lake Placid when he was 11 because he liked to cut the lift lines so he could get in more jumps, and because his coaches thought the precocious, frisky 5-foot-9 Peterson reminded them of the cartoon character Speed Racer. But Peterson could fearlessly jump, flip and twist. Sure, he landed on his head sometimes, but he got up and tried again — often within minutes. “You can’t let the bumps and bruises affect you,” he said before the 2002 Olympics. “You’re toast if you do.” Peterson was 20 when he finished a surprising ninth at the 2002 Salt Lake Games, and he was a world champion by 2005. He was a news media darling and a great interview subject, bubbling and amusing. But he had his dark moments. He would talk about his sister, Kim, killed by a drunken driver in 1987. In 2005, he told Sports Illustrated that he had been molested as a child growing up in Boise, though he would not say by whom. In the summer of 2005, Peterson invited a friend of his, Trevor Fernald, to stay with him at an apartment in Park City, Utah, where the United States ski team has an aerials training facility. Peterson knew Fernald had recently been struggling with alcohol and drug problems, and on the afternoon of June 26, Peterson doubled back to the apartment to check on him. When Peterson walked through the door, Fernald raised a pistol to his head and pulled the trigger. “One minute my buddy is there looking at me, and the next minute I’m trying to put his eyeball back in his head,” Peterson said, telling the story last year with a blank expression. “It was horrible, but I talked to a lot of people who helped me. Still, I was raised in a blue-collar neighborhood and I felt I should be able to tough it out. So after a few months, I figured I was over it. I now know I wasn’t. “I was left with a lot of unresolved issues — guilt, depression. I covered it up with a lot of alcohol. Even after the Italian Olympics, I wasn’t right, and I decided I had to get away to get my mind straight.” The solitude and simplicity of life in Idaho helped the healing. He did not touch his ski boots for a year, and he quietly chose sobriety. “I didn’t announce it, didn’t go to rehab, and I don’t even remember the date of my last drink,” he said. “I know it’s years now. I just realized that alcohol and me don’t mix, so I said goodbye to an old friend. And without that coping mechanism, I was able to deal with the real hurt and pain.” In time, he also decided to make a comeback, with the 2010 Olympics as the motivation. “Salt Lake was an Olympic highlight and the Italian Olympics were a lowlight, so I need one more,” Peterson said. “I learned a lot from my mistakes and I owned up to them. No one who was there the night of the fight in Italy is mad at me. Mason is still my best friend. At one point, somebody said to me, ‘Dude, it was a bar fight, let’s move on.’ But it was important because it did make me see what I had to change.” One thing that has not changed is his determination to perform the Hurricane. It may be the key to winning an Olympic medal. He has landed the trick in three of five World Cup competitions this season, and according to the United States aerials coach, Matt Christensen, has been regularly practicing it since Jan. 3. Christensen added that Peterson’s training jumps had so far been better than his competition jumps. “The weather may dictate whether I can do the Hurricane,” Peterson said. The jump, still not common in competition, is so named because performing it makes Peterson feel as if he is in the middle of a hurricane. “If on the day of our competition, the wind is coming off the Pacific Ocean, it might be a little dicey for me to try it,” Peterson continued, “but I’ll probably decide the night before the competition and stick to that decision. I’m not going back to the Winter Olympics to do something predictable or easy. I’m going back to do something special — something people can remember me for.”
|
Olympic Games (2010);Peterson Jeret
|
ny0280952
|
[
"world",
"asia"
] |
2016/10/01
|
Duterte, Citing Hitler, Says He Wants to Kill 3 Million Addicts in Philippines
|
MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday that he would like to kill millions of drug addicts in the Philippines, defying international criticism of his country’s bloody war on narcotics and escalating his brutal rhetoric with a reference to the Holocaust. “Hitler massacred three million Jews,” Mr. Duterte said after returning to the Philippines from a trip to Vietnam, understating the toll cited by historians, which is six million. “Now there is three million, there’s three million drug addicts. There are. I’d be happy to slaughter them.” Killing that number of drug users would “finish the problem of my country and save the next generation from perdition,” he said. Rodrigo Duterte’s Most Contentious Quotations President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has a reputation for frank speechmaking that often angers the international community. Since Mr. Duterte took office in June promising a grisly campaign against crime and drugs, the Philippines has seen a surge in killings of drug suspects. Philippine officials have counted about 3,000 deaths during the crackdown, about a third at the hands of the police. The police spokesman Dionardo Carlos said on Friday that the police had been overstating the number killed by the police. He said that the correct number was 1,120, not about 1,500, which the police had given earlier. He did not explain why the number had been revised. The police have also said that 1,500 nonpolice killings are under investigation and that hundreds of these also are believed to be drug-related. Responding to expressions of alarm about the killings from the European Union and other international bodies, Mr. Duterte said Friday that the European Union’s advisers on the issue were “pea-brained.” He criticized European officials for finding fault with his government while not doing enough to help migrants fleeing war-torn Middle Eastern countries. “You allow them to rot, and then you’re worried about the death of about 1,000, 2,000, 3,000?” he said. Mr. Duterte complained that his foreign critics had depicted him as “a cousin of Hitler” and said that they were wrong to criticize him now that he was the country’s president. Doing so put all Filipinos “to shame,” he said. The president’s latest provocative remarks came days after he cast doubt on the Philippines’ longstanding military ties with the United States, announcing in Vietnam that the countries’ coming joint military exercises would be their last. Officials in his government later said that all military agreements with the United States were still in effect and that they were awaiting “clarification and guidance” from Mr. Duterte. While in Vietnam, Mr. Duterte also said he had received information that “the C.I.A. is planning to kill me.” Officials in his government and at the United States Embassy in Manila declined to comment on that statement. A spokeswoman for the embassy, Molly Koscina, said Friday that the United States would continue to work with the Philippines to “uphold our shared democratic values.” She said the relationship was built on “shared sacrifices for democracy and human rights, and strong people-to-people and societal ties, and obviously we’d like to see that continue.”
|
Drug Abuse;Philippines;Rodrigo Duterte;Holocaust and Nazis;War Crimes,Genocide,Crimes Against Humanity;Police;Murders and Homicides
|
ny0032768
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2013/12/27
|
With Health Law Cemented, G.O.P. Debates Next Move
|
WASHINGTON — With the first enrollment deadline now passed, Republicans who have made the repeal of President Obama’s health care law their central aim are confronting a new reality: More than two million Americans are expected to be getting their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act come Jan. 1. The enrollment figures may be well short of what the Obama administration had hoped for. But the fact that a significant number of Americans are now benefiting from the program is resulting in a subtle shift among Republicans. “It’s no longer just a piece of paper that you can repeal and it goes away,” said Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin and a Tea Party favorite. “There’s something there. We have to recognize that reality. We have to deal with the people that are currently covered under Obamacare.” And that underscores a central fact of American politics since Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act during the Depression: Once a benefit has been bestowed, it is nearly impossible to take it away. Republicans are considering several ideas for how to proceed. Mr. Johnson argued that Congress should do away with the mandate that most people obtain insurance, but not the online exchanges at the heart of the law. Instead, he said, the options in the marketplaces should be augmented by other choices that fall short of the law’s coverage standards, such as catastrophic health plans. (Many policy analysts and insurance companies say such a move would not work, because the mandates are essential to delivering a diverse pool of uninsured people.) Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said that health care strategy was the hottest topic of debate in closed-door political sessions. “The hardest problem for us is what to do next,” Mr. Graham said. “Should we just get out of the way and point out horror stories? Should we come up with a mini Contract With America on health care, or just say generally if you give us the Congress, the House and the Senate in 2014, here’s what we will do for you on multiple issues including health care? You become a more effective critic when you say, ‘Here’s what I’m for,’ and we’re not there yet. So there’s our struggle.” Image Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said health care strategy was the hottest topic in closed-door political sessions. Credit Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Senator Kelly Ayotte, Republican of New Hampshire, said she was teaming up with Democrats on a host of incremental changes to the law, such as expanding health savings accounts and repealing a tax on medical devices. And other Republicans are wondering aloud how long they can keep up the single-minded tactic of highlighting what is wrong with the law without saying what they would do about the problems it was supposed to address. Representative Tom Price, Republican of Georgia, a physician and a prominent conservative voice on health care, is pushing what he calls the Empowering Patients First Act, which would repeal the health care law but keep its prohibition on exclusions for pre-existing conditions in private health insurance. The bill would allow for insurance to be sold across state lines, push small businesses to pool together to buy insurance for their employees, expand tax-free health savings accounts, cap malpractice lawsuits, and offer tax credits of $2,163 for individuals and $5,799 for families to buy health plans. The American Action Forum, a conservative advocacy group run by Douglas Holtz Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office, analyzed the Price plan this month. The group concluded that it would lower insurance premiums by as much as 19 percent by 2023, while leaving the ranks of the uninsured about five percentage points higher than the Affordable Care Act would by then. Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee in 2012 and a possible 2016 presidential hopeful, is preparing his own health insurance plan for release early next year. Mr. Ryan’s plan will build on one that he and Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, introduced in 2009, according to aides familiar with it. The proposal, called the Patients’ Choice Act, would have eliminated the tax break for employer-provided health care to finance a tax credit of about $5,700 for families and $2,300 for individuals. States would have been asked to create insurance marketplaces like the ones many have created under the Affordable Care Act. As with the Obama health care law, the Ryan proposal demanded that insurers meet minimum standards of coverage and be prevented from excluding the sick. But instead of mandating penalties for failing to buy insurance, the approach would have automatically enrolled people unless they opted out. Mr. Price said on Thursday that he was “cautiously optimistic” that he, other lawmakers and House Republican leaders could meld the different approaches into one alternative health plan to take to voters — and possibly the House floor — in the 2014 election season. Image Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire said she was working with Democrats on incremental changes to the health care law. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times “It’s the minority’s responsibility to provide a contrast,” he said. “It’s important that we put forward an upbeat, positive proposal, so the American people know there is an alternative.” Whether voices like Ms. Ayotte’s or Mr. Johnson’s will prevail is unclear, given the deep opposition among rank-and-file Republicans. Mr. Graham said that Republicans would probably get away with denouncing the Affordable Care Act through the midterm elections, but that by 2016 they would need to have a fully formed alternative. White House officials acknowledge that the administration needs to focus on making sure all those who enrolled in health plans actually have coverage on Jan. 1. HealthCare.gov received two million site visits on Monday, the official deadline for coverage starting Jan. 1, and the insurance call center took more than 250,000 calls, said Julie Bataille, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services. More than 129,000 people left emails on Monday after finding the website jammed with traffic, and activity remained brisk on Tuesday for those taking advantage of a 24-hour extension. “Millions of people visited the state and federal marketplaces this week to purchase private health plans,” said a White House spokeswoman, Tara McGuinness. “The final tallies are being rounded up, but we believe the deadline encouraged decision-making for hundreds of thousands of families who will have access to care in the new year.” State-run exchanges had a similar crush. Almost 26,000 people signed up in New York State on the last enrollment day. California enrolled 27,000, and Washington State 20,000. Connecticut beat its expectations with 6,700 new sign-ups. Some of those rushing to enroll are bound to find problems in January as private insurers struggle to line up federal and state website enrollment with actual policies, a White House official said. And attitudes toward the law are not going to change overnight. But if Mr. Obama’s approval rating on health care is tepid, Congress’s is abysmal. Just 19 percent of Americans approve of the way congressional Republicans are handling health care. Still, a New York Times/CBS News poll this month showed that nearly two-thirds of Republicans wanted to have the Affordable Care Act repealed, and most Republican lawmakers are appealing to those constituents. “A few million people are buying a product that has features they don’t want, paying more for it than they should have to pay for it because they had to buy it through this government-mandated mechanism,” said Senator Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania. “I don’t think that changes anything fundamentally at all.” Asked what should be done with the millions of people getting health care through the law, Senator Dan Coats, Republican of Indiana, said, “Call the White House and ask them.”
|
Health Insurance;Obamacare,Affordable Care Act;Republicans;Barack Obama;US Politics;US
|
ny0195222
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2009/11/13
|
Suspect in Poisoning of Former K.G.B. Officer Is Not Charged
|
MOSCOW — German prosecutors have abandoned investigations into one of the main figures suspected of involvement in the killing of a former K.G.B. officer in London three years ago without bringing charges, according to accounts on Thursday by the prosecutors and the man in question. Dmitri V. Kovtun, a businessman with his own links to Russian security services, was initially suspected by German prosecutors of illegally transporting a rare radioactive isotope, Polonium 210, through Germany and then to London, where investigators say it was used to poison Alexander V. Litvinenko , a former K.G.B. officer and whistleblower who had publicly criticized the Russian president at the time, Vladimir V. Putin. The killing embroiled most of Europe in a cold war-style drama, with investigators chasing a trail of radioactive material from a hotel bar in London to Moscow and aboard the passenger airlines that linked those cities. German investigators had discovered traces of the substance in Hamburg, where Mr. Kovtun traveled just days before Nov. 1, 2006, when Mr. Litvinenko fell ill. Mr. Litvinenko died 22 days later. On Thursday, Mr. Kovtun said that he had received word from his lawyer that all the charges in Germany were dropped, a decision he said he had expected. “The accusations never had any basis,” Mr. Kovtun said by telephone. “I’m happy that the investigation was carried out objectively in Germany, despite the politicization of this issue.” Wilhelm Möllers, a spokesman for the state prosecutor’s office in Hamburg, said the inquiries into Mr. Kovtun’s activities had been closed Nov. 6 because there was no evidence that Mr. Kovtun had illegally transported, bought or knowingly come into contact with the radioactive isotope. Mr. Kovtun was never charged by the German authorities, Mr. Möllers said. Shortly after the death of Mr. Litvinenko, the Hamburg police said traces of Polonium 210’s radiation had been found in the apartment where he had stayed and other places he had visited. The decision appeared to be a setback in a case that in three years has grown only more mysterious. So far, no one has been brought to trial for the killing, but the British authorities have charged Mr. Kovtun’s former business partner, Andrei K. Lugovoi, with the crime. Mr. Kovtun was never charged with the killing, and both he and Mr. Lugovoi have always maintained their innocence. Both men said they also suffered radiation poisoning after meetings with Mr. Litvinenko in October and November 2006 at the Pine Bar of the Millennium Hotel in London. Russian prosecutors have suggested that it might have been Mr. Litvinenko who poisoned them. Mr. Lugovoi, who at one point also had ties to the Russian security apparatus and is now a member of Russia’s Parliament , said the decision in Germany could positively influence his own case. “This German decision knocks the ground from under the feet of the British,” he said by telephone. The British foreign secretary, David Miliband, traveled to Moscow this month for the first visit of an official of his rank since Mr. Litvinenko’s death. Britain is seeking Mr. Lugovoi’s extradition to face murder charges, but the Russian authorities have refused to hand him over. The Litvinenko case deeply strained relations between Britain and Russia , but Mr. Miliband’s visit seemed to suggest that British officials wanted a thaw. The British Foreign Office said that its position remained unchanged and that it still wanted Mr. Lugovoi’s extradition. “The Crown Prosecution Service has found there is a case for Mr. Lugovoi to answer,” a Foreign Office spokesman said Thursday. “The courts in the U.K. have issued a warrant for his arrest on a charge of murder. “That warrant remains valid and in existence. At diplomatic level, we have pressed and will continue to press our case with Russian authorities that Mr. Lugovoi be brought to justice,” the spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity under Foreign Office rules. Mr. Litvinenko’s widow , Marina, said in a telephone interview from London that she did not believe that the German decision had weakened the British case against Mr. Lugovoi. “I’m not surprised,” she said. “I’m not disappointed.” Instead, she urged Mr. Lugovoi to travel to London to face trial.
|
Litvinenko Alexander V;Poisoning and Poisons;Kovtun Dmitri V;Germany;Russia
|
ny0128123
|
[
"business"
] |
2012/06/02
|
New Rules for Money Transfers, but Few Limits
|
From her job at a packaging factory in Chicago, Patricia Gonzalez cobbles together $70 a month to send to her mother in Guadalajara, Mexico, leaving her less money for groceries. In Boardman, Ore., Raul Esparza, a migrant farmworker, works as many hours as he can to send $50 a week to his children in Mexico City. Both resent having to pay Western Union a $10 fee to send money abroad and an additional cut to convert dollars to pesos. But these charges have fueled the company’s record profits and made it a relative outlier in the financial services industry. As billions of dollars in fee income has evaporated at the nation’s largest banks because of regulations passed in the wake of the financial crisis, the money-transfer industry has escaped the crackdown. Soon, however, the companies, which are largely regulated by states, will be subject to new federal rules. Starting in February, they will have to disclose more to customers about transfer fees and currency exchange rates. The rules, part of the Dodd-Frank financial regulation law, will also require companies to give customers up to 30 minutes after a transaction to get a full refund. But consumer advocates are raising alarms that money-transfer companies face fewer restrictions because the rules do not touch the pricing of services. “You still have a situation where customers are subjected to these predatory products with no cap on fees or exchange rates,” said Oscar Chacon, the executive director of the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities in Chicago. Money-transfer companies say that they offer an invaluable service for customers who might not have access to traditional banks and who would otherwise have no way of transmitting money to their families. “The money-transfer industry is very competitive, and consumers have a range of choices for sending money,” said Tom Fitzgerald, a Western Union spokesman. Western Union, which dominates the money-transfer market, notes that it already discloses the amount of money being submitted, the exchange rate and the amount that the recipient will receive. It also tells customers that “in addition to the transfer fee, Western Union also makes money when it changes your dollars into foreign currency.” MoneyGram, among the largest companies, said, “We believe the new rules essentially standardize across the industry our existing high level of disclosure, which should benefit anyone wishing to send funds.” Mr. Esparza, who sends money to his children in Mexico City, said that the $10 fee would not be onerous if he were sending a larger amount, but that it seemed exorbitant for $50. “Western Union’s fees are just too high,” he said. Ms. Gonzalez said that even though $10 might not seem like a lot, “In Mexico, that money goes farther.” Aside from the transfer fees, Western Union and other similar services profit as they buy batches of currencies at a wholesale rate. The money-transfer companies do not disclose the spreads they benefit from when they set exchange rates. “It’s a big profit center for these companies, borne on the backs of the people who can least afford it,” said Matthew Piers, a lawyer in Chicago, who successfully brought a lawsuit on behalf of Mexican immigrants against Western Union in 2000 that accused the company of misrepresenting exchange spreads. Western Union did not admit or deny wrongdoing, but agreed to pay more than $400 million to settle the claims. Referring to the money it makes off the spread, Western Union said in its 2012 annual filing, “we generate revenues based on the difference between the exchange rate set by us to the customer and the rate at which we or our agents are able to acquire currency.” Western Union received $1.15 billion in so-called foreign-exchange revenue in 2011, up from $910.3 million in 2009. For Javaid Tariq, a taxi driver in New York City who sends money monthly to his family in Pakistan, the exchange rate is particularly infuriating because of how much money he loses. When he sent $300 to his family in April, he received 89.2 rupees for every dollar, less than the 91.2 exchange rate that he checks each morning, he said. For his family, that means 599 fewer rupees, or more than a week’s salary in Lahore. Frustrated, Mr. Tariq said, “They are taking this money from the people who can least afford it.” Analysts expect the market for money transfers to grow. The value of cross-border transfers is expected to reach $437 billion in 2012, up from $387 billion in 2009, according to the Aite Group, a research and advisory firm. In the United States, this is led partly by a growth in transfers to China and India and an influx of immigrants from western and eastern Africa, said Larry Berlin, an analyst with First Analysis in Chicago. Western Union and rival companies are poised to profit. Western Union, with the largest share of the market at nearly 18 percent, recorded $4.2 billion in transaction fees last year, up 4 percent from 2010. The fees accounted for more than 75 percent of the company’s total revenue last year. In the first quarter, profits totaled $247.3 million, up 18 percent from the year-ago period, and for all of 2011, net income was $1.16 billion, up 28 percent from the year before. Western Union and MoneyGram, which has nearly 4 percent of the money-transfer market, according to the Aite Group, are primarily regulated by the states in which they operate. The new rules, however, fall under the oversight of the new federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau . In the buildup to the Dodd-Frank rules, Elizabeth Warren, in her former role as a special adviser to President Obama charged with forming the consumer bureau, warned that with money-transfer companies, “you put your money in and take your chances.” The central idea behind the new regulations was that having more transparency would promote greater competition and allow immigrants to shop for better rates, said Betsy Cavendish, the executive director of Appleseed, a nonprofit organization focused on policy reform that provided public comment during the rule-making process. In a February speech to the League of United Latin American Citizens, Richard Cordray, the director of the consumer bureau, emphasized that “with our rule, we hope to increase competition.” But competitors have made little progress in penetrating the money-transfer market largely because Western Union has half a million locations in 200 countries and territories, making it more difficult for others to edge in, industry consultants said. Although there was some hand-wringing in the industry during the rule-making, analysts said that disclosure requirements would not significantly dampen the revenue at Western Union. “There will be some one-time costs, but not anything significant,” Mr. Berlin said. Western Union, he added, already works to make fees clear to customers. Already there are signs that competition might be slow to materialize, banking analysts said. They pointed to a growing number of partnerships between Western Union and banks that might have competed for a slice of the business. Regions Financial, for example, just finished introducing Western Union’s money-transfer services through its 1,800 branches. U.S. Bancorp gives customers access to Western Union services through its online banking site. Immigrant advocates argue that many people do not have time to shop for better rates. “These are people working who are often working minimum wage jobs with very little savvy or time about where to price-shop,” said Francis Calpotura, the founder and director of the Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action in Oakland, Calif. Some immigrants complain that while there might be multiple options to send money from the United States, there are not as many in the countries where their families live. Mr. Tariq, the taxi driver with family in Lahore, says he must use Western Union to send $300 a month because “they have a monopoly on stores and are in every post office.” That makes him feel “like a hostage,” he said.
|
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010);Western Union Company;MoneyGram International Inc;Remittances;Consumer Protection;Consumer Financial Protection Bureau;Immigration and Emigration;Banking and Financial Institutions
|
ny0240386
|
[
"business"
] |
2010/12/01
|
Barnes & Noble Posts Loss Despite Strong Nook Sales
|
Barnes & Noble reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss and forecast holiday results that missed Wall Street expectations on Tuesday, sending its shares down nearly 6 percent. The company said its results were hurt by a decline in book sales in addition to expenses for its Nook digital reader. Sales at its superstores open at least a year fell 3.3 percent despite help from the popular Nook devices, suggesting an accelerating decline in physical books, whose sales still account for the bulk of Barnes & Noble’s business. Barnes & Noble, which put itself up for sale in August, said it was meeting with financial institutions as part of the auction process, but gave no further details. Last month the company introduced an enhanced version of its Nook e-reader, spending heavily to develop the device and compete with rivals like Amazon.com and Apple, betting that e-book sales can grow quickly enough to make up for weak book sales. The retailer’s chief executive, William Lynch, told analysts on a call that sales of the NookColor in its first weeks had been twice as strong as expected, and that the Nook family made up the top selling e-readers at Best Buy. For this quarter, Barnes & Noble forecast a profit of 90 cents to $1.20 a share, below the analysts’ average estimate of $1.29, according to Thomson Reuters. For the full year, it still expects same-store sales to be flat to up 3 percent. In its most recent quarter, the company’s net loss narrowed to $12.6 million, or 22 cents a share, from $23.9 million, or 43 cents a share, a year earlier. Wall Street was expecting a loss of 8 cents a share. Sales in the period, which ended Oct. 30 and was the second quarter of the company’s fiscal year, rose to $1.9 billion, from $1.6 billion, but missed the $1.98 billion that analysts were expecting. Barnes & Noble said it expected same-store sales to rise 5 to 7 percent during the holiday quarter, largely because of demand for the Nook. Shares in the company fell 85 cents, or 5.7 percent, to $14.02.
|
Company Reports;Barnes & Noble Incorporated
|
ny0027681
|
[
"us"
] |
2013/01/21
|
New Pubs Send Profits to Charity
|
PORTLAND, Ore. — Ask a bartender exactly how much profit was collected from that pint of beer you just drank, and the answer is likely to be as murky as a barrel-aged bourbon stout. The economics of alcohol, like the calorie count, are usually about the last things purveyors want their customers focused on. But now a new generation of beer halls dedicated to something beyond the cash register is cropping up around the nation and the world, with proceeds going not into an owner’s wallet but to charity, and bending elbows may never be the same. “More people will want to support your business than if you’re just doing it to pay for your second home,” said Ryan Saari, a minister and a board member of the Oregon Public House, which is preparing to open here as soon as next month in a residential neighborhood, pledged by its charter to donating all profits to charity. The place already has a slogan outside on the century-old red brick facade, “Have a pint, change the world,” and a painting on the back wall of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of giving. The beer-for-charity movement, like the microbrew phenomenon that preceded it, is different depending on where you look. In Houston, for example, where a group of giving-minded bar owners opened a place called the Okra Charity Saloon last month, patrons get a vote with every drink as to which charity should receive the next month’s profits. A project in Melbourne, Australia, plans to put geography into the equation — sale of a beer from Africa, for example, will be linked to microloans or charities in the country of the beer’s origin. Image The slogan of the Oregon Public House in Portland. Credit Thomas Patterson for The New York Times Other projects are in some stage of development, in cities from Hyderabad, India, to San Francisco. People who track philanthropic trends said the number of upstarts going full tilt toward a charity-driven business model, especially in the viciously competitive food and beverage industry, remained small. But in the post-recession landscape, they say, a ferment of experimentation is clearly in the air, as many private charities continue to struggle for funds. Giving by individual Americans, while up from the nadir reached in 2009 during the recession, was still lower in 2011 than in 2000, according to the most recent figures from Giving USA . “It’s a clever idea and certainly a noble ambition,” said Patrick Rooney, the associate dean at Indiana University’s School of Philanthropy, referring to the charity pub concept. His advice for drinkers? Ask questions like an accountant, about a place’s overhead and expenses, and who actually receives the money. “Frankly, there are some charities I would support and some I would not,” he said. Mr. Saari at the Oregon Public House agreed that success or failure would hinge on the transparency of the economics. If customers suspect, even for a moment, that what smells like good works is really just a clever business model to attract customers, the effort is doomed, he said. “In our cynical society, people will immediately say, ‘O.K., how much is the president making?’ ” he said. So the pub’s books will be open for the checking, he said, and customers will be able to choose from a menu on the wall exactly where they want their contribution to go as part of the order itself. About a dollar on a locally brewed draft costing $4.50 to $5 a pint is profit, as it turns out. The Public House’s charter prohibits any member of the board, including Mr. Saari, from drawing a salary, he said, though it will have a paid staff for the bar and kitchen of perhaps seven or eight. Through grants from the city and private donations — about 30 people have given between $1,500 to $2,500, support levels that come with a free beer a day, or a week, for life, and their own mug — the bar will also open with no loans or capital to pay back, Mr. Saari said. Image The design plans for the Oregon Public House in Portland, which is planning to open soon. Credit Thomas Patterson for The New York Times In Washington, D.C., supporters of Cause , which calls itself a “philanthropub,” in the trendy U Street Corridor, said their business model is based on research that says young people give less to charity than their elders — busy with careers and maybe burdened by college debt — but are still willing to chip in under the right circumstances. “Everything is competing for their attention, and this is another way for people to combine charitable giving with something they’re doing anyway,” said Raj Ratwani, a cognitive psychologist and a founder of Cause, which opened last fall, describing the young professional the bar is aiming for. “They’re going to find time to go out and drink no matter how busy they are.” Here in Portland, which prides itself on its variety of local brews and a culture of social consciousness, the Oregon Public House — which Mr. Saari believes was a speakeasy in Prohibition days based on the latched peepholes on some of the upstairs doors — is expected to be the first local bar departing from the traditional commercial form, but not the last. Another group here is considering opening a worker-run, collectively managed brew pub for “people who resist patriarchy and oppression on all levels, unrepresented and unwaged workers,” and “people who face and are against police brutality,” said Stephanie Phillips, one of the organizers, in an e-mail. The city’s economic development arm, the Portland Development Commission, which also works with traditional companies like Nike, has backed the Oregon Public House with more than $50,000 in grants, about a quarter of the start-up costs. Stephen Green, a business analyst with the commission and an adviser to the bar, said he fantasizes about a national chain of public houses based on the Oregon model that raises money for local charities. Mr. Saari said his next step, once the bar is open, is an in-house brewery. Eventually, he hopes to see bottled Oregon Public House beers in local stores, with each type of beer dedicated to a specific cause, so that someone buying a six-pack of say, Oregon Public House Education Ale, a tentative name and product, would know the proceeds were going to an education charity supported by the pub. But as so many failed entrepreneurs can attest, operating a small food and drink business has never been an easy road to riches — or now, donations. “The failure rate is about as high as any business you could start,” said Daniel Borochoff, the president of Charitywatch , a nonprofit watchdog and information service in Chicago.
|
Philanthropy;Beer;Economy;Recession and Depression;Portland Oregon
|
ny0026377
|
[
"us"
] |
2013/01/04
|
T.S.A. Says Gun Confiscations on Rise at Airports
|
ATLANTA — The number of guns confiscated at airports across the United States is on the rise, the Transportation Security Administration says. A record-setting 1,500 firearms were detected by security screeners in 2012, according to the agency . That number is up from about 1,300 in 2011. And nearly 85 percent of the weapons were loaded. “It does concern us that this number is rising,” said Lisa Farbstein, an agency spokeswoman. “But we will not speculate on the causes.” The agency allows passengers with proper permits to fly with guns that are unloaded and stored in hard-sided checked baggage. The police are called when weapons are found in carry-on luggage or on a passenger. The world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport here, topped the list, with more than 100 guns confiscated in 2012, followed by 75 guns at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and 50 guns at Phoenix. In the New York area, where firearm laws are stricter, the number of detected guns declined this year. Three guns were confiscated at La Guardia Airport, two at Newark Liberty International, and none at Kennedy International. The most common type of confiscated gun was a .380 semiautomatic pistol. Airport officials also detected stun guns, grenades and rocket launchers. From Dec. 14 to 21, the week after a school massacre in Newtown, Conn., there was a slight increase in weapons. Screeners caught 11 passengers with stun guns, 3 with grenades and 34 with guns.
|
TSA;Airport security;Gun Control;Atlanta;Airport;Guns
|
ny0280224
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2016/10/10
|
Martha Raddatz and Anderson Cooper Steered Debate With Sharp Questions
|
They dug for revelations, extracting news nuggets — a rarity on a debate night — like Donald J. Trump’s admission that he had used a nearly billion-dollar loss to avoid paying federal income taxes for years. They pressed for specifics, interrupting the candidates to demand concrete strategies for handling conflict in Syria and reforming the nation’s health care system. And they posed blunt, provocative questions at a forum that typically feels more like public broadcasting than cable news: Had Mr. Trump ever sexually assaulted a woman? Did Hillary Clinton really believe that her use of a private email server was not “extremely careless”? The duo overseeing Sunday’s presidential debate, Anderson Cooper of CNN and Martha Raddatz of ABC News, seemed to cast off the hand-wringing pressures on this year’s crop of moderators — Is fact-checking mandatory? Are interruptions O.K.? — and put themselves directly in the mix of a high-stakes encounter. The immediate response was praise from many journalists and some grumbling from partisans. One prominent critic, in fact, was sharing the debate stage: Mr. Trump, who did not hesitate to make his complaints known in real time. Fact Checks of the Second Presidential Debate Reporters for The New York Times fact-checked the statements made by Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump during Sunday’s presidential debate. “Why aren’t you bringing up the emails?” he asked Mr. Cooper, after Mr. Trump believed he had been unfairly cut off. When Mr. Cooper replied, accurately, that the moderators had asked about Mrs. Clinton’s email server, Mr. Trump threw up his hands. “One on three,” he muttered, suggesting that the panel was siding with Mrs. Clinton against him. Later, Mr. Trump again questioned the umpires. “You know what’s funny? She went a minute over, and you don’t stop her,” he said to Ms. Raddatz, who had cut him off. “When I go one second over it’s like a big deal —” “You had many answers,” Ms. Raddatz replied. Mr. Trump did face notably sharp questions about the recording that surfaced Friday in which he boasts about kissing and grabbing women. “You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women — do you understand that?” Mr. Cooper asked. When Mr. Trump dismissed the comments as “locker room-talk,” Mr. Cooper pressed several times — “Have you ever done those things?” — until Mr. Trump finally asserted that he had not. The moderators also pushed Mrs. Clinton. Ms. Raddatz, discussing the candidate’s paid speeches to Wall Street banks, asked, “Is it O.K. for politicians to be two-faced?” Mr. Cooper asked Mrs. Clinton how she could “unite a country” after dismissing half of Mr. Trump’s supporters as “deplorable.” There were moments, too, where the moderators chastised the audience for cheering — and sternly cut off the candidates — as they tried to de-escalate the cage-match atmosphere that seemed to quickly envelop the room. Trump and Clinton’s Second Debate: Analysis Here’s how we analyzed in real time the second presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump. “The audience needs to calm down here,” Ms. Raddatz said, turning to the crowd. When Mr. Trump interrupted Mrs. Clinton at one point, Mr. Cooper rebuked him, saying, “She didn’t talk when you talked.” Some conservatives were unimpressed. “I may not care for Trump, but he beat Hillary tonight fair and square even with Martha Raddatz trying to defeat him,” Erick Erickson, a right-leaning commentator, wrote on Twitter . One group that appeared shortchanged was the undecided voters sitting onstage, who, between the moderators’ tough questions and the candidates’ heated exchanges, received relatively little airtime. The moderators appeared willing to buck the debate’s format when they deemed a particular interaction newsworthy or illuminating. This tactic was from the one Elaine Quijano used in the vice-presidential debate last week , who often cut off candidates’ answers so she could move to her next question. And the moderators eschewed the minimalist approach by Lester Holt of NBC in the first debate , who was less assertive and often remained silent for minutes at a time. If the first debate became something of a referendum on the role of the moderator — to fact-check or not to fact-check? — the buildup to Sunday’s event was more focused on the raucous nature of the evening. Mr. Trump, a temperamental figure under the best of circumstances, walked onstage Sunday facing a growing revolt within his own party and even his own ticket: His running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, issued a statement declaring that Mr. Trump “has to show what is in his heart when he goes before the nation tomorrow night.” Walking into this fray were Mr. Cooper and Ms. Raddatz, experienced moderators both, who were already preparing for unique challenges. The choice of Mr. Cooper, who is gay, prompted grumbling among some conservatives, who questioned his personal politics. Ms. Raddatz was the subject of a Breitbart News report on Sunday scrutinizing her coverage of President Obama. Although Ms. Raddatz moderated the vice-presidential debate in 2012, that event was seen by 51 million viewers. At the high end, Sunday’s event was estimated to attract nearly twice that. Network executives were predicting a huge audience, in part because many Americans are home on Sunday evenings. But the extraordinary events of the last few days significantly raised those expectations. Last month’s debate between Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton was seen by about 84 million Americans — a record for presidential debates, but shy of the 100 million or more viewers that typically tune in for the Super Bowl. Typically, the second debate sees a drop in viewers. Still, in 2008, the second matchup between Barack Obama and John McCain attracted nearly 11 million more viewers than their first; in 1992, the second debate among Bill Clinton, George Bush and Ross Perot outscored the first by about seven million viewers.
|
2016 Presidential Election;Political Debates;News media,journalism;ABC News;CNN;Donald Trump;Hillary Clinton;Martha Raddatz;Anderson Cooper
|
ny0011078
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2013/02/23
|
In Fracas on Train, Parolee Found That Hitting Back Was a Risky Option
|
“You could have at least said, ‘Excuse me.’ ” And with those eight words, it was on. The No. 3 train had pulled into the Utica Avenue stop in Brooklyn that afternoon, Jan. 24, and several passengers rushed to board the waiting No. 4 train, among them a 55-year-old man and two teenage girls. On this, everyone agrees. The man, Charles Bunn, said one of the girls bumped into him. He was annoyed, and after he took his seat and saw the two girls sitting across from him, he spoke those eight words. As Mr. Bunn tells it, the friend of the girl who bumped him stood up and screamed to her that she didn’t have to say anything, and then turned on Mr. Bunn. “They both jumped up, and then I jumped up, and that’s when the tussle started,” he said. A few moments later, someone else on the train started recording the fight on a cellphone. The video, which made its way online , shows the two girls raining punches on Mr. Bunn, while he crouched with his coat pulled over his head, unable to swing. The coat was yanked away, and Mr. Bunn threw a few punches of his own that he said did not connect. It is hard to tell on the video. “I was swinging just to back them off,” he said. Another man broke up the fracas, and one of the girls, Chantelis Solano, 18, sat down, clearly flustered on the video. She stripped off her coat and yelled something that sounded, on the video, an awful lot like the word “pregnant.” Mr. Bunn seemed to answer, incredulously, “You’re pregnant?” It was true. “I had just found out,” Ms. Solano said later in an interview. She and her friend were traveling to the Bronx for a sonogram, she said. And yet, even after the fight had been broken up, she stood and baited Mr. Bunn, saying, “C’mon,” and “Try me.” He did not respond. All three got off the train at Franklin Avenue. The girls, shouting and cursing, pursued Mr. Bunn as he walked away. Everyone agreed there were more punches, and Mr. Bunn dropped some papers. He picked them up and walked away, the girls following him. The train, and the person filming the fight, departed. The last thing Mr. Bunn needed was to get caught hitting someone, especially a girl. “I have to suck up a lot of things now,” he said later. “I’m amazed I didn’t do what I wanted to do.” He had been released from prison just a month earlier, his fourth time behind bars upstate. He had two bad habits. One was cocaine. The other was walking out of the flagship Macy’s department store with merchandise he had not paid for. He said he got away with it many times, but he was finally caught in 2008. He spent a year in prison. He was no stranger to fighting. Old guys like him are frequent targets of beatings from younger inmates looking to make names for themselves, he said. “They always want to test the waters,” he said. “But they were in for a big surprise. I was in the Golden Gloves in 1976.” He came out of prison clean and sober. And, yet, he was still thinking about Macy’s. “I was just curious to see how I could do without drugs,” he said. He was caught leaving the store with five pairs of shoes. “Some guys like to be on the inside,” a parole officer told him last year. “Are you one of those guys?” “Absolutely not,” he said. He was paroled, and was coming back from a job search when he met the two girls, he said. Police officers saw the end of the scuffle on the platform and arrested the girls. Mr. Bunn was treated for scratches and cuts at a hospital. “My pride was shot,” he said. “They’re girls.” Ms. Solano said she spent a couple of days in jail. She and her friend, Shaquana Rhem, have been charged with assault, harassment and, for striking Mr. Bunn with a purse, possession of a weapon. It was not Ms. Solano’s first time; she has a pending case involving an assault in Westchester County two years ago, she said. She had changed, or so she thought. “The video showed a totally different side of me that I try to leave in my past,” she said. Mr. Bunn, not the girls, started the fight and punched them before the video began, she said, adding, “I’m a victim.” The list of victims, she said, continued to grow. Ten days after her release from jail, in a development that she believes — but cannot prove — was connected to the fight, Ms. Solano said she felt severe cramps and was taken to a hospital. “I lost my child,” she said.
|
Subway;Assault;Brooklyn
|
ny0024344
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2013/08/16
|
His Options Few, Obama Rebukes Egypt’s Leaders
|
CHILMARK, Mass. — President Obama announced Thursday that the United States had canceled longstanding joint military exercises with the Egyptian Army set for next month, using one of his few obvious forms of leverage to rebuke Egypt’s military-backed government for its brutal crackdown on supporters of the ousted president, Mohamed Morsi. Though the decision is an embarrassment to Egypt’s generals, and will deprive Egypt of much-needed revenue, it lays bare both the Obama administration’s limited options to curb the military’s campaign against Islamists in Egypt and the United States’ role as an increasingly frustrated bystander. Repeated pleas from administration officials to the generals to change course have gone unheeded, and the United States’ first punitive measure, a Pentagon delay in the delivery of four F-16 fighter jets to the Egyptian Air Force, also had no effect. Mr. Obama, interrupting his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard to address the violence, struck a now-familiar balance. He expressed outrage at the harrowing scenes this week in Cairo and other cities, while taking pains to preserve the American relationship with the Egyptian armed forces, which are underwritten by the vast bulk of the $1.5 billion a year in military and economic aid. With the death toll in Egypt soaring and no sign that the country’s generals are heeding American calls to stop the violence, however, administration officials said they now faced a more wrenching choice: to keep backing the generals, whatever the cost, or to admit that the current relationship is no longer tenable. “While we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt, our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets and rights are being rolled back,” Mr. Obama said, reading a statement in front of his rented vacation house here, the sun-splashed trees an incongruous backdrop for his stark message. In his remarks, Mr. Obama noted “it’s tempting” inside Egypt to blame the United States, saying that protesters accused it alternately of backing Mr. Morsi or colluding with those who ousted him. But Mr. Obama’s reluctance to be drawn into conflicts in the Mideast, from Syria to Bahrain, has frequently been criticized. Until the latest eruption of violence, White House officials were still uncertain whether the Egyptian military might yet rewind history and give democracy a fresh chance, or if it was simply restoring the sort of autocracy that has dominated Egypt in the past. Now they said they seem to have the answer. But while their frustration is palpable, officials said there were voices in favor of working with Egypt and of cutting off its aid, and they expected the debate would take time to play out. White House officials said Mr. Obama issued the order to pull the United States out of the military exercises, known as Bright Star, in a phone call with his national security adviser, Susan E. Rice, on Wednesday evening. The Egyptians were notified before the president’s announcement, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel later spoke by telephone with Egypt’s defense minister, Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi. Despite the large scale of the exercises, and the fact that they date to the 1980s, administration officials said they had few illusions that the decision would by itself stop the crackdown. Egypt’s military leaders, they said, regard the Islamist protests as an “existential threat” to the nation, which they must crush at all costs. Mr. Obama said he had instructed his national security staff to weigh additional measures. He did not specify what those could be, though he said nothing about suspending the military aid. “We’ll be looking at both the case-by-case examples but also the more fundamental relationship,” said a senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. “There’s a basic threshold where we can’t give a tacit endorsement to them.” Video In Cairo, cleanup efforts were under way at two camps of supporters of Mohamed Morsi that were destroyed Wednesday by security forces. Given the deep schism in Egypt, this official said, the White House is still skeptical that cutting off aid would compel the generals to return the country to a democratic transition. And it could destabilize the region, particularly the security of Israel, whose 1979 peace treaty with Egypt is predicated on the aid. For weeks, officials from Israel and several Arab countries have pressured the administration to maintain the flow of aid. If it were cut off, they said, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates would move quickly to make up the shortfall — and then some. Saudi Arabia and the emirates pledged $8 billion in grants and loans to Egypt’s post-Morsi government last month: $5 billion from Saudi Arabia in grants and loans; $3 billion from the emirates. That is more than enough, analysts say, to offset any cutoff from the United States, even if the two countries do not fulfill their entire pledges. Shutting off the aid spigot now would not have an immediate impact on the Egyptian military, defense officials say, because this year’s military assistance has already been delivered. Beyond money, Arab officials worry that a rupture between Washington and the Egyptian military would further erode American influence in a country that has historically been a bellwether in the Arab world, and would open the door to rivals like Russia or China. “If the aid gets cut, you can be sure that Putin will arrive in Cairo in two or three months,” one senior Arab official said. “And he will give aid with no strings attached.” Still, even with the aid flowing, Defense Department officials fear that whatever leverage the Pentagon might have had with Egypt’s military leadership is ebbing quickly. Since the military’s ouster of Mr. Morsi on July 3, Mr. Hagel has had more than 15 phone calls with General Sisi, pleading in vain for him to change course. Mr. Hagel, in a statement on Thursday, said that in his latest exchange with the general, “I made it clear that the violence and inadequate steps towards reconciliation are putting important elements of our longstanding defense cooperation at risk.” While administration officials acknowledge that Egypt could replace the lost American military aid, they said it would pay a long-term price in lost foreign investment and a ruined tourism industry — a point that Mr. Obama made in his statement on Thursday. Some analysts said the administration had hurt itself by not undertaking a thorough review of its policy toward Egypt after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. The United States, they said, was too wedded to the privileges it gained from the relationship, like fly-over rights and fast-track transit through the Suez Canal. “They’ve limited their own options by believing the idea that in order to influence things, you need to remain engaged,” said Steven A. Cook, an expert on Egypt at the Council on Foreign Relations. “We’ve never tested the proposition of cutting them off.” Other experts said Mr. Obama had few attractive alternatives and mainly wanted to keep out of the situation. “Anything they do that is dramatic puts the United States in the middle of a story that we really don’t want to be in the middle of,” said Steven Simon, a former National Security Council official under Mr. Obama who is now head of the Washington office of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Heather Hurlburt, a former Clinton White House official who is now the executive director of the National Security Network, said the administration should cut off “targeted” cooperation with Egypt’s military without halting all aid. “No matter where you’re coming from ideologically,” she said, “the playing field we face in the Middle East is not the playing field we faced a month ago.” Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who just returned from a trip to Cairo at Mr. Obama’s request, was sharply critical of the president for not acting more forcefully against the military takeover, citing a law requiring the cutoff of American aid to countries where a military coup has dislodged an elected government. Mr. McCain has said the Muslim Brotherhood needs to accept that Mr. Morsi will not be returned to power, but he has also urged the military to establish a democratic process. “We violated our own rule of law by not calling it for what it is,” Mr. McCain said on CNN. “We undercut our own values.”
|
Egypt;Barack Obama;US Foreign Policy;Arab Spring;Foreign Aid;Cairo;Muslim Brotherhood Egypt;Mohamed Morsi
|
ny0149734
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2008/09/01
|
An Alternative to Con Ed Revs Up Its Sales Force
|
YONKERS — In a nondescript ballroom at the Royal Regency Hotel here, some 100 budding sales consultants responded as if they were at an old-fashioned revival meeting where the Word was “power.” One after another, shopkeepers, accountants and nurses stood up and testified to the money they had made persuading family and friends to switch from Con Edison to Ambit Energy. Newly promoted consultants got ovations, handshakes and back slaps. “As good as I thought it’d be, it was 100 times better,” said Ray Montie, a former telecommunications salesman from Hauppauge, N.Y., who claims to have made hundreds of thousands of dollars by building a network of more than 2,000 consultants for Ambit since last October. “I’ve never seen a business grow so quick.” The business model — or ground-floor opportunity, as Mr. Montie put it — is not unlike Amway, Nu Skin and other multilevel marketing businesses: Average Joes and Janes sell friends a product or service (who, in turn, sell friends a product or service) with each seller getting a slice of the recruit’s spending in return. Only instead of pushing soapsuds or vitamins, Ambit evangelists sell gas and electricity. The approach is a novel and perhaps inevitable byproduct of utility deregulation that began a decade ago, with broken-up monopolies now facing competition from alternative energy service companies, known as ESCOs. Hundreds of ESCOs have sprung up — and some have folded up — in recent years, promising to supply gas and electricity cheaper than giants like Con Edison, which still delivers the power. In New York City and Westchester County, ESCOs have nearly 600,000 customers (Ambit officials refused to say how many customers it has locally or nationally). Direct Energy Services, IDT Energy and many other ESCOs — eager to capitalize on fears over high fuel prices — use mass mailings, Web sites and door-to-door salespeople to recruit customers from Con Ed by promising they will save 7 percent on their supply cost for the first two months, and avoid taxes on the delivery of that supply. Direct Energy reckons that customers in a typical New York City apartment can shave about $6.50 off their monthly electric bill. Companies offer perks, too. Energy Plus gives customers bonus miles on various airlines for every dollar they spend on electricity. Ambit, which was founded in Texas in 2006 and came to New York in June 2007, is one of a handful of ESCOs experimenting with the network-marketing model, betting that people are more likely to buy electricity from someone they know than from a stranger at their door (and that sales agents who earn residuals from those they enlist will be more motivated than those who work for a salary or straight commission). Besides the monthly savings on utility bills promised by competing ESCOs, Ambit sells itself as an entrepreneurial opportunity: So-called consultants pay $399 (plus $25 a month for a personalized Web site; Mr. Montie’s is GetRichEnergy.com ). The company’s pitch packet — “An income opportunity like no other,” promises the cover — says consultants can make back the initial $399 by signing up 30 new customers within 12 weeks. Each month, consultants get 5 cents to $5 for each customer, depending on when they signed up and their energy usage (presuming they all pay their bills). There are bonuses for signing people up as consultants, and, as with so many network-marketers, free trips to Las Vegas or Atlantic City. But Ambit and the other ESCOs operating in New York have caught the ire of state regulators and consumer advocates, who say some sales representatives, in their zeal to earn commissions, have inflated potential savings, misrepresented contracts and been overly aggressive with vulnerable constituencies like the elderly and nonnative English speakers. Mindy A. Bockstein, executive director of the New York State Consumer Protection Board, said that some agents had exploited the perplexing way gas and electricity is priced and the difficulty of deciphering which companies offer the best deals. Con Edison estimates rates on each month’s bill and later reconciles them based on actual prices that fluctuate daily. ESCOs generally offer fixed-rate one- and two-year contracts, ignoring the volatile market; they also post average rates on Web sites like one from the State Public Service Commission, powertochooseny.com , potentially confusing people about their actual costs. “I am worried that consumers, in their quest to save a dime, save a dollar, might be taken advantage of,” Ms. Bockstein said, adding that the network-marketing approach often leads to more abuse. “Many of these independent consultants are not trained and not well versed in the appropriate marketing practices.” Since January 2007, the state’s Public Service Commission has received nearly 3,000 complaints about the 50-plus ESCOs operating in New York, including 34 about Ambit so far this year. In July, U.S. Energy Savings agreed to pay $200,000 in costs and penalties after customers complained to the state attorney general’s office about $600 termination fees they had to pay to cancel long-term contracts. Nationally, some ESCO customers have found themselves double-paying for power, when the nascent companies folded before the term of a prepaid contract was up, forcing them back to the big utilities. The Consumer Protection Board and New York City Department of Consumer Affairs have urged the Public Service Commission to make mandatory the voluntary guidelines that were developed by the ESCOs and the commission in 2006. (Thirty-one ESCOs in New York, not including Ambit, had signed on by March.) Many customers complain that they cannot determine what savings ESCOs offer, if any. The lack of transparent pricing “favors sellers who induce customers with hype, teaser rates and high-pressure telephone or door-to-door solicitation, only to be followed by higher prices and onerous conditions of service ostensibly agreed to in the boilerplate of one-sided contracts,” said Gerald A. Norlander, executive director of the Public Utility Law Project, an advocacy group for energy users based in Albany. Con Edison encourages customers to compare their rates with those offered through ESCOs on each month’s bill, but Charlie Reed, senior planning analyst for customer outreach at Con Edison, said savings are generally insignificant for residential customers, who use relatively little power. He said that many ESCO sales consultants seemed ill trained to explain the complexity of energy pricing, leading to confusion and dissatisfaction. “I never hear good news, only bad news about the ESCOs’ sales people,” Mr. Reed said. “I get customers who come up with questions: ‘I didn’t know it was only for two months, or 7 percent on the whole bill.’ The sales folks are aggressive, and they want them to be.” At the recruitment meeting here, Mr. Montie and other Ambit believers tried to distinguish their company from network marketing schemes that have earned dubious reputations for their pushy sales tactics and shaky finances. “It’s the easiest sell because everyone needs electricity,” said Alan Vaccaro, a New York City highway patrolman who started selling Ambit in May after a friend recruited him. “How am I going to get people to buy my vitamins instead of going to CVS? You feel good about this.” Since May, Mr. Vaccaro — who is 48, lives in Yonkers and plays saxophone in a New York Police Department jazz band — has signed up two co-workers, one cousin and a friend’s nephew. “I want to retire and do Ambit full time,” he said. “I want to have the Ambit yacht and do presentations on the boat.” Paul Brown, a jovial accountant from Long Island, learned about Ambit from a friend of a mechanic who picked him up after his car broke down in the Bronx this winter. In the past eight months, he said, he has recruited 10 people — who, he said, have recruited enough people to build him a network of 1,030 customers. He said he earned about $1,500 a month and had a goal of $100,000 a month by next year. “I want to talk to 365 people a year,” he said. “I have tax clients. They trust me.” Multilevel marketing is legal if money is earned by selling products. The practice becomes an illegal pyramid scheme if participants are paid mainly for recruiting new members. In Ambit’s case, consultants earn money by getting people to sign up with a genuine gas and electricity provider, and by commissions on fuel and power purchases by customers, as well as by signing up new consultants. The chance to save customers a few dollars on their electric bill, however, appeared to be incidental at the recruitment meeting; most Ambit consultants who were interviewed were focused on finding people willing to spend $399 to become consultants who would generate bonuses and could help their networks grow exponentially. They were also fired up when Mr. Montie said that Ambit, which now operates in Texas and parts of New York and Illinois, would enter more untapped markets — a larger pool of potential bonuses. But Chris Chambless, Ambit’s co-founder and chief marketing officer, said in a telephone interview that to enter a new market, Ambit had to link its computer systems with those of the incumbent utility, a long process. Noting that Ambit currently has less than 2 percent of the market in Texas and less than 1 percent in New York State, Mr. Chambless said that “over time, there’s a substantial opportunity to earn money,” though he acknowledged that “ultimately, there’s a finite universe.” “There’s only so many doors you can knock on,” he said. “Ten or 15 years from now, it may not be as good an opportunity to get into.” Mr. Chambless declined to discuss Ambit’s finances because it is privately held. But he said he and the company’s chief executive, Jere W. Thompson Jr., had a lot of experience in deregulated markets. Mr. Chambless added that Shell Energy Trading, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, had also agreed to sell energy to Ambit, a major endorsement of the company’s prospects. Consultants and their customers, though, should thoroughly investigate the financial health of network marketing companies, said Doris Wood, the chairwoman of the Multi-Level Marketing International Association. “I love network marketing next to God and my family,” said Ms. Wood, who has worked in the industry for 50 years. “But does the company — not the product; that sounds legitimate — have a good foundation behind it? If they sign up every person in New York, what happens then?”
|
Ambit Energy;Sales;Advertising and Marketing;Electric Light and Power;Consumer Protection;Regulation and Deregulation of Industry
|
ny0067295
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2014/12/05
|
Europe Keeps Hope Alive for Gas Pipeline From Russia
|
BRUSSELS — The European Union’s top official is not yet ready to take “nyet” for an answer on a natural gas pipeline from Russia. The South Stream pipeline crossing southeastern Europe could still be completed, despite the stated intention of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to abandon the project, according to Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission. The comments by Mr. Juncker, at a news conference here on Thursday, indicated that the bloc was intent on keeping at least the idea of the South Stream project alive — despite the European Union’s sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, and despite the Europeans’ longstanding skepticism about a pipeline that could extend the region’s heavy reliance on Russian energy. “South Stream can be built,” Mr. Juncker said. But, he added, “the ball is in the court of Russia.” Mr. Juncker’s comments — as surprising in some respects as Mr. Putin’s sudden decision to reroute the pipeline — were the latest twist in a project that has became a geopolitical tug of war between Brussels and Moscow. Some countries in the European Union, like Hungary, have taken a favorable view of South Stream, seeing the project as a way to ensure more secure supplies of gas for domestic use. Hungary is in southeastern Europe, a region badly affected by midwinter cuts in supply because of pricing disputes between Russia and Ukraine. Serbia, which is seeking to join the European Union, sees South Stream as a way to earn money from gas transit fees and to bolster its construction industry. But the European Commission, the union’s executive body, has long sought to stop Russia from using the pipeline as a way to enable Gazprom, the giant Russian gas exporter, to maintain its tight grip on some European energy markets. The commission wants those markets open to greater competition as a condition for the construction of South Stream. Mr. Juncker said nothing on Thursday that might break the deadlock over one of the big sticking points for Moscow: the insistence by the European authorities that if the pipeline were built, other gas suppliers would have to have access to it. Russia and Gazprom fiercely oppose sharing the pipeline, and on Monday, Mr. Putin announced that Russia would reroute it to Turkey. A Russian official reiterated that intention on Thursday. “In my view, the decision is final,” said Alexander Novak, the Russian energy minister, according to Russian news reports. “Today, we’re working on the construction of the pipeline by another route.” Video President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia announced today that Russia is dropping plans for the South Stream pipeline and instead will expand a pipeline through Turkey. Credit Credit RIA Novosti/Reuters Mr. Juncker spoke in Brussels after a meeting with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov of Bulgaria, which stands to lose investment, jobs and gas transfer fees with the rerouting of South Stream. “I’m not accepting the simple, easy idea that Bulgaria can be blackmailed as far as these energy relations are concerned,” Mr. Juncker said. He was apparently referring to Mr. Putin’s plans to sideline countries like Bulgaria in favor of Turkey in order to punish the European Union for insisting that the pipeline be open to various suppliers. Mr. Juncker may also have been trying to find common cause with the leadership of Bulgaria, a former Soviet bloc nation that has long been seen as among the most vulnerable in the European Union to influence from Moscow, according to Christian Egenhofer, a senior fellow and expert in energy issues at the Center for European Policy Studies, a research organization in Brussels. “This was a very clear message to Russia from Mr. Juncker that the E.U. is not going to be divided — that Mr. Putin shouldn’t even think about trying that,” Mr. Egenhofer said. Mr. Juncker’s comments were a sign that the European Union is prepared “to call Mr. Putin’s move a bluff, and do that in public,” he added. On Wednesday, a senior American energy official cast doubt on Mr. Putin’s plan to divert the South Stream project to Turkey. “Time will tell whether this is an actual agreement” between Moscow and Ankara, Amos J. Hochstein, the State Department’s special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs, told reporters as he met with his European Union counterparts in Brussels. All eyes are now on another meeting in Brussels, on Dec. 9, when energy ministers from the eight European Union members that would share the South Stream project — Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Slovenia — are scheduled to hold discussions with Maros Sefcovic, the top energy official in the European Commission. Mr. Sefcovic is expected to use that gathering to assess the status of the South Stream project and to discuss ways to increase energy supplies to the region even in its absence. Last year, the commission told those eight countries that their agreements with Russia for construction of the pipeline were not in line with European Union law, partly because the route would not be accessible to gas suppliers besides Gazprom. The commission has brought a separate legal procedure against Bulgaria for failing to follow rules on public procurement while preparing for construction of the pipeline.
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Russia;Natural gas;EU;Jean-Claude Juncker;Vladimir Putin
|
ny0296066
|
[
"sports"
] |
2016/12/31
|
The Death of Darrent Williams Resonates 10 Years Later
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DENVER — The teenager glances at the picture in his room of Darrent Williams returning a kick, reading the inscription he long ago memorized. “To my wonderful son, Darius, daddy will always love you. Keep doing good in school, in sports. When you think of me, and I’m not there, look at this picture.” And so the son does, each day. A prized memento from his father just before his death. In the early hours of Jan. 1, 2007, Williams, a 24-year-old defensive back and kick returner for Denver, was shot to death after a confrontation between Broncos players and gang members at a nightclub. The family does not really celebrate New Year’s anymore. But they do celebrate Williams. “He’ll always be alive in our hearts,” said Tierria Leonard, who had two children with Williams, Jaelyn, now 14, and Darius, 17. A second-round pick out of Oklahoma State in 2005, Williams was fun loving and played with flair. He once wore his hair in what he called a “Fro-hawk” — part Afro, part Mohawk — for a Monday night game. “There’s kind of a general rule in the N.F.L. when you’re a rookie, where you just kind of shut up and do your job,” said the former Broncos safety John Lynch, who’s now an N.F.L. analyst for Fox. “In Year 2, you can start talking. But Darrent was one of those kids who got away with it, because he came in talking and was such a positive energy and so much fun. That smile. You’d look at him like, ‘Come on rookie,’ but you couldn’t help but crack up.” Lynch added: “I remember the disbelief when that happened — four hours earlier I was in the huddle with the guy, and then I’m hearing he’s no longer with us.” Williams and several of his teammates went out after a season-ending 26-23 overtime loss to San Francisco on Dec. 31, 2006. Williams was killed while riding in the back of a limousine. Witnesses at the murder trial said the defendant, Willie Clark, exchanged words with the former Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall as Williams arrived at the nightclub with a group. The confrontation escalated inside when somebody in Williams’s group sprayed champagne in celebration. The dispute continued outside as Williams and his group tried to leave. Witnesses said Clark desperately searched for a gun following the altercation, hopped into an S.U.V. to catch up with a limousine carrying Williams, then fired the fatal shots. Williams died in the arms of his teammate Javon Walker. Clark was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,152 years. A judge denied his recent request for a new trial. Williams’ mother, Rosalind, was there for all of the testimony. So was Leonard, who wanted to know everything for later, when her children had questions. Rosalind Williams has pictures of her son all over her home in Mansfield, Tex. On bad days, she will retreat into a room and meditate. “Sometimes, you just have to have a good cry,” she said. “You just take it one moment at a time, so you can get through it.” This warmed her heart: On May 29, 2008, the Darrent Williams Memorial Teen Center was dedicated to serve the youth in a suburb of Denver. “It speaks volumes of the people that are so caring in Denver,” Williams said. Another source of solace is the Darrent Williams Good Guy Award, which is given to the Broncos player who best exemplifies Williams’s enthusiasm, cooperation and honesty when dealing with the news media. The first recipient, in 2007, was Lynch. This season, the award went to the Broncos outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware. Ware, who was playing for the Dallas Cowboys at the time, sent Rosalind his Pro Bowl jersey soon after Williams’s death. Several former Broncos have reached out to the family over the years. Safety Nick Ferguson has checked in as have Walker and running back Tatum Bell, who played at Oklahoma State with Williams. Ten years. Lynch said it was hard to believe that it had been that long. He said it was important to reflect on what had happened and to stay in touch with the family. “It’s important on these anniversaries that we all stop and remember the promises we made when he tragically passed away,” Lynch said. He added, “Darrent will always have an indelible place in my heart. He was such a special and vibrant personality.” Leonard remembers the last Christmas the family spent together. Days before Williams’s death, they traveled to Denver to watch him play on Christmas Eve and open presents. Darius received a remote-controlled car — a present he still has. Jaelyn got snow boots. Williams gave Leonard a diamond ring, tennis bracelet and earrings. The ring never comes off. She met Williams at a high school basketball game and had her cousin get his number. She had Darius at 16 and Jaelyn at nearly 19. “They each remind me of him,” said Leonard, who lives in Fort Worth, Tex. “Jaelyn, her grin and laugh are just like his. Darius, you look at him and just see ‘D.’” Darius Williams is also a defensive back. A good one, too, with colleges taking a look at him. He once wore No. 27 — his father’s old number — before switching to No. 4 in high school at Fort Worth Arlington Heights (No. 27 was taken his freshman year). Williams, a senior, watches clips of his father on his phone all the time. His favorites are from Williams’s college days at Oklahoma State, especially a pick-six against Kansas State in 2003. Another memory: The blue Impala. His father would pick him up from school in that car, and he was the envy of all the other children. “People would run up to the car,” Williams said. On game days last fall, Williams honored his father by wearing a wrist band with his initials and number, along with shoes on which he wrote “RIP.” But his biggest tribute was playing like him. “I’ve got that fight,” Darius said, “that heart of his.” Recently, he began getting a tattoo on his chest — a picture of Williams in his Broncos uniform, with a pair of wings. “I hope he’s proud of me,” Darius said.
|
Murders and Homicides;Broncos;Darrent Williams;Football
|
ny0222653
|
[
"business"
] |
2010/11/11
|
G.M.’s Third-Quarter Earnings Reach $2 Billion
|
DETROIT — A week before its initial public offering, General Motors reported its largest quarterly profit in 11 years on Wednesday, showing that the slimmed-down automaker no longer needed huge sales to generate significant earnings. G.M. said it earned $2 billion in the third quarter, nearly equaling its profit for the first half of 2010. G.M. earned $4.2 billion from January through September. The company said it expected to report a fourth-quarter profit, at least before accounting for interest and taxes, though “at a significantly lower run rate than each of the first three quarters,” and a full-year profit for the first time since 2004. “As demonstrated by our third consecutive quarter of profitability and positive cash flow, these results continue our significant progress,” G.M.’s chief financial officer, Christopher P. Liddell, said in a statement . The profit was equal to $1.20 a share, after a three-for-one stock split. There is no meaningful year-ago profit comparison because the company emerged from bankruptcy in the third quarter of 2009. Revenue increased 27 percent from the third quarter last year, to $34.1 billion. G.M. earned $2.1 billion in North America, the region that had been responsible for most of its losses in recent years. It lost $559 million in Europe. It had $33.5 billion in cash and marketable securities as of Sept. 30, up from $31.5 billion as of June 30. “We know we have much more work to do,” G.M.’s chief executive, Daniel F. Akerson, said in a conference call with analysts and reporters. “We still need to fix Europe. We continue to be vigilant in reducing costs in the enterprise, and we have just started doing a better job marketing our brands to consumers.” Company executives have been traveling this week to meet with potential investors to convince them that the new G.M., formed by discarding burdensome assets in bankruptcy protection last year, is positioned to consistently generate a profit. G.M. can earn about $11 billion to $13 billion a year under normal market conditions and as much as $19 billion in boom times, Mr. Liddell said in a video created for would-be investors and posted online . Three years ago, G.M. needed to sell nearly four million vehicles a year in the United States to break even, but today, it can be profitable at roughly half that sales volume, Mr. Liddell said in the video. Hourly labor costs have been cut by more than two-thirds, to $5 billion, from $16 billion in 2005, he said. Through October, G.M. was on pace to sell about 2.2 million vehicles this year in the United States, about half as many as it did in 2005, when it lost $10.6 billion. It shed four of its eight domestic brands, shutting down Pontiac, Saturn and Hummer, and selling Saab to a Dutch company, Spyker Cars. Over all, G.M.’s sales are up 6.6 percent this year , but sales by the brands that are still offered, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC, are up 22.1 percent. New models, including redesigned versions of the Buick LaCrosse sedan and Chevrolet Equinox crossover vehicle, have been well received by critics and consumers, to the point that G.M. has struggled to keep up with demand. Early sales of a critical new small car, the Chevrolet Cruze , have been brisk, and G.M. is about a month away from introducing the Chevrolet Volt , a plug-in hybrid car that it says represents the company’s future direction. G.M.’s public stock offering, expected to occur Nov. 18 and be worth at least $10.6 billion, will allow the federal government to begin recouping the bulk of its $49.5 billion investment in the automaker. The government plans initially to sell about a third of its 61 percent stake in G.M., in the hope that it can divest the remaining portion as the shares’ value increases. The automaker said last week that shares would be priced from $26 to $29, after a three-for-one split. Other G.M. stakeholders, including a trust that pays health care costs for union retirees, plan to participate in the offering. Ultimately, the government needs to sell its shares for an average of about $44 to break even. The Treasury Department already has recovered $7.4 billion from G.M., including interest and dividends, and is slated to get a $2.1 billion more after the offering, from a deal in which G.M. has agreed to repurchase preferred shares held by the Treasury. Separately, G.M. confirmed in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had removed one of the underwriters for its public offering, because an employee of the bank distributed an “unauthorized e-mail” containing information about the offering. G.M. did not identify the bank, but UBS is no longer listed as an underwriter on G.M.’s amended registration forms. G.M. said that the e-mail might violate S.E.C. rules, but that nonetheless, “We do not believe that we will be subject to any material liability.” G.M.’s third-quarter profit surpasses the $1.7 billion earned in the same period by the Ford Motor Company, the only Detroit automaker to avoid bankruptcy. Ford has earned $6.3 billion so far this year . Chrysler, which filed for bankruptcy protection a month sooner than G.M. and is 8 percent owned by the federal government, said on Monday that that it lost $84 million in the third quarter but posted a third consecutive operating profit. Chrysler expects to have a public stock offering in late 2011.
|
General Motors;Company Reports;Initial Public Offerings
|
ny0100268
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2015/12/20
|
At Celsius, Skaters Are the Show
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Midtown Manhattan swarms with people any time of year, but the crowds always thicken in December. That was certainly the case on a recent, unseasonably warm Tuesday afternoon at Bryant Park. There, locals and tourists alike can gawk at the holiday decorations, ice-skate on the 17,000-square-foot rink, shop at the 125 pop-up stores or simply take it all in while slurping a hot chocolate or soup at Celsius . The jewel-like, glass-enclosed restaurant, open from November through March, gives customers front-row seats to the seasonal spectacle, while offering casual fare like salads and burgers. IN THE SEATS Annette Belloni, 69, who lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, her sister Emma Troiani, 71, who lives in Astoria, Queens, and their first cousin Linda DiGennaro, 65, who lives in Battery Park City, in Lower Manhattan. Ms. DiGennaro’s mother was the younger sister of Ms. Belloni’s and Ms. Troiani’s mother. Both mothers died within the last three years. ON THE PLATES All three started with a glass of pinot grigio ($12) and went on to share three hearty pastas: the cauliflower macaroni and cheese, a blend of cheddar, jack and Gruyère cheeses ($17); the mushroom cavatelli with chanterelles and shaved gouda in a black pepper garlic cream sauce ($23); and the short rib pappardelle with roasted crimini mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and a red wine thyme cream sauce ($27). Image The restaurant overlooks the rink at Bryant Park. Credit Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times WHY THEY CAME The three women, all retired, grew up together in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and have remained close since childhood. They were partaking in their annual holiday outing of a lunch followed by an afternoon of shopping. This was their first meal at Celsius; they chose the restaurant for its festive setting and proximity to the stores they wanted to visit, particularly the holiday shops scattered throughout the park. “You find unique items there such as pieces made by artisans that you won’t get anywhere else,” Ms. DiGennaro said. WHAT THEY TALKED ABOUT The food, the ambience, their holiday plans and shopping. First, they debated whether to order three main dishes or a starter and two entrees. They were happy they chose the former because, as Ms. Troiani said, they were “Italians who love to eat.” Admiring the vivid scenery, including a 55-foot, 8,000-pound tree adorned with thousands of lights and multicolored ornaments, was also part of the chatter. “Sitting here, you know that there’s no place like New York City during the holidays,” Ms. Belloni said. Then, it was on to discussing their Christmas plans. Ms. DiGennaro expects to visit her daughter in Chatham, N.J., while the two sisters plan to be together on Long Island. “Our mothers were very close to each other and taught us that family is everything,” Ms. Troiani said, “and we very much still believe that today.” Eventually, talk turned to the task at hand: shopping. Ms. DiGennaro had gotten a head start by arriving early and heading to the gift shop at the New York Public Library. “My daughter’s boyfriend lives in New Zealand, and she’s going there for the holidays,” she said. “So I bought him what I think is the best gift for someone who doesn’t live here: a poster of New York City.”
|
Restaurant;Bryant Park Manhattan;Midtown Area Manhattan;Celsius
|
ny0093335
|
[
"world",
"asia"
] |
2015/08/23
|
Speaker of Pakistan Assembly Is Removed in Election Dispute
|
LAHORE, Pakistan — The speaker of the Pakistani National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, was unseated on Saturday after an election tribunal declared that his victory in the 2013 general election was marred by irregularities. The election tribunal ordered a new election in Mr. Sadiq’s district in the eastern city of Lahore. The decision is a major embarrassment for the governing party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. Mr. Sadiq’s victory had been challenged by an opposition politician, Imran Khan. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Mr. Khan, who are bitter political rivals, are both from Lahore. Mr. Khan has said his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, was denied a victory in the 2013 election because of a conspiracy hatched by the country’s judiciary and Mr. Sharif. Mr. Sharif and the justices deny those charges. Mr. Sadiq told reporters on Saturday that he would challenge the tribunal’s decision in the Supreme Court.
|
Pakistan Muslim League-N;Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf;Nawaz Sharif;Imran Khan;Lahore
|
ny0019763
|
[
"business",
"media"
] |
2013/07/01
|
Public Radio’s Midday Show to Include Local Contributions
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After weeks of appeals, public radio stations nationwide have chosen their new midday programming to replace NPR’s 21-year-old call-in show “Talk of the Nation,” which signed off last week. For the moment, NPR has lost some midday real estate. The replacement program it is offering — an expanded two-hour version of “Here & Now,” an existing newsmagazine from Boston’s WBUR-FM, which NPR will now co-produce — will be carried by 302 stations, starting on Monday. These stations include seven of the top 10 markets and 16 of the top 25, according to NPR. “Talk of the Nation,” by contrast, attracted 3.53 million listeners weekly on 407 stations, including nine of the 10 largest markets and 21 of the top 25, NPR said. (New York City’s WNYC did not carry “Talk of the Nation” and is not broadcasting “Here & Now,” but the new show will be heard on some suburban stations.) Another program that has also tried to expand its midday distribution, “The Takeaway” from WNYC and Public Radio International, will now be heard on 190 stations reaching almost 55 percent of the country, up from 82 stations two months ago, WNYC said. Kinsey Wilson, NPR’s chief content officer, called the new “Here & Now” lineup a huge success. “We’ve exceeded the goals we set,” he said. Charles Kravetz, WBUR’s general manager, said that the lineup hit “the numbers we needed to reach to pay for the expansion of the program.” While “Here & Now” costs more to produce than “Talk of the Nation,” Mr. Wilson said NPR is sharing the financial risks with WBUR. Already, WBUR has added Geico as a corporate underwriter, Mr. Kravetz said. “Here & Now” will tap into NPR’s reporters and its online blogs like “Code Switch,” but both Mr. Wilson and Mr. Kravetz said contributions from local stations would be crucial. A hastily assembled contributors’ network of 15 stations nationwide, which will eventually grow, is meant to “make sure that the program has a very broad geographic sound,” Mr. Kravetz said. Phoenix’s station, KJZZ-FM, is part of the contributors’ network, but is also working with “The Takeaway” on content-sharing, and on assembling joint reporting teams with other stations on topics like energy. The old model of buying an NPR program and simply broadcasting it is “dated” in the digital era, said Jim Paluzzi, KJZZ’s general manager. His goal, he said, is to “have more and more of the midday produced by us live,” with contributions from all the collaborators.
|
Public broadcasting;NPR;WBUR;Radio
|
ny0201560
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2009/09/24
|
David Yassky, New York City Comptroller Candidate Known for Pragmatic Ways
|
At the age of 37, with a loaded résumé and a reputation as a serious thinker, David Yassky arrived at the City Council and was quickly handed his first defeat. He was part of a group that failed to persuade city officials to push developers to include apartments for low- and moderate-income renters as part of a rezoning in Park Slope, Brooklyn. It was a quick and painful schooling in the ways of city government, where the mayor’s power is disproportionately greater than the Council’s. “Quite frankly, I just lost,” Mr. Yassky recalled. But he burnished his reputation in the way he fought back. He soon threw himself into the details of another rezoning, on the Brooklyn waterfront, helping to pioneer inclusionary zoning provisions giving developers incentives to build lower-cost housing in new projects. Such provisions have become a standard part of the city’s rezoning proposals. Brad Lander, who won last week’s primary for a Council seat from Brooklyn and who worked with Mr. Yassky on the waterfront rezoning, said Mr. Yassky understood the importance of the issue right away, reveling in “the policy-wonkish elegance of the solution.” But Mr. Lander and other supporters were disappointed last year when Mr. Yassky, who is now 45, voted with the majority to give Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg a chance to run for a third term by amending the city’s term-limits law. “I was angry, and I continue to think he made a bad decision,” Mr. Lander said. Mr. Yassky said it was simply good public policy, arguing that an extra term gave council members greater power. The term-limits issue has surfaced in Mr. Yassky’s campaign to become the city comptroller, an office that demands an appetite for taking on the mayor. On Tuesday, Mr. Yassky faces a runoff election against Councilman John C. Liu of Queens, who opposed the term-limits change. (Neither candidate sought a third term on the Council.) Both men are regarded as among the more energetic members of the Council, and their different strengths have been reflected in their campaigns. Mr. Liu, an immigrant from Taiwan, has been a visible spokesman for minority and immigrant communities and has excited supporters with the possibility that he could become the first Asian-American elected to citywide office. Mr. Yassky has developed a reputation for pragmatism and a seeming willingness to accept incremental change. His former chief of staff, Evan Thies, said Mr. Yassky was fond of saying, “We cannot make the perfect the enemy of the good.” And though Mr. Yassky has taken unpopular stands, he sometimes has to be dragged into taking them. While Mr. Liu is quick to answer questions, Mr. Yassky measures his words, often closing his eyes as if flexing some intracranial muscle. His manner is sometimes taken for arrogance, but he delivers jokes sheepishly, as if he half expects to be pelted with tomatoes. Mr. Yassky, who lives in Brooklyn Heights with his wife, Diana Fortuna, and their two daughters, served as chair of the Council’s small business committee, wrote legislation to encourage film production in the city and advocated for a tax cut for small business. He also voted to reject a recommendation by the Landmarks Preservation Commission to protect the Austin, Nichols & Company warehouse in Brooklyn, which was designed by the architect Cass Gilbert. “I didn’t think the building merited it,” he said. Some colleagues have been put off by what they say is Mr. Yassky’s go-it-alone, demanding style. And, by his own admission, Mr. Yassky is still dealing with the fallout from his decision in 2006 to run as the only white candidate for the Congressional seat being vacated by Major R. Owens. Mr. Yassky drew charges of racial carpetbagging, and though he says he wanted to give local issues like affordable housing a hearing in Washington, he added, “There has been a hangover.” Melinda R. Katz, a councilwoman who competed against Mr. Yassky for comptroller in this month’s primary and who headed the Council’s land use committee, praised Mr. Yassky’s work on rezoning issues and called him a tough negotiator with the city. “He works with others, but at the end of day, he’s got results in mind,” she said. Though Mr. Yassky takes pride in making decisions based on what he believes is best for his constituents and not his political fortunes, it might cost him against Mr. Liu, who has an army of union backers. Mr. Yassky argues that he has his own base — “good-government New Yorkers who watch politics and know the reputation I’ve developed.” But he admits that some of his positions, like advocating for pension reform, probably cost him labor support. As for his relationship with the mayor, Mr. Yassky said, he showed his independence from City Hall time and again. “Not just with press releases and press conferences,” he said, “but with sustained fights.”
|
Yassky David;Elections;New York City
|
ny0118520
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2012/10/14
|
Campaigns Mine Personal Lives to Get Out Vote
|
Strategists affiliated with the Obama and Romney campaigns say they have access to information about the personal lives of voters at a scale never before imagined. And they are using that data to try to influence voting habits — in effect, to train voters to go to the polls through subtle cues, rewards and threats in a manner akin to the marketing efforts of credit card companies and big-box retailers. In the weeks before Election Day, millions of voters will hear from callers with surprisingly detailed knowledge of their lives. These callers — friends of friends or long-lost work colleagues — will identify themselves as volunteers for the campaigns or independent political groups. The callers will be guided by scripts and call lists compiled by people — or computers — with access to details like whether voters may have visited pornography Web sites, have homes in foreclosure, are more prone to drink Michelob Ultra than Corona or have gay friends or enjoy expensive vacations. The callers are likely to ask detailed questions about how the voters plan to spend Election Day, according to professionals with both presidential campaigns. What time will they vote? What route will they drive to the polls? Simply asking such questions, experiments show, is likely to increase turnout. After these conversations, when those targeted voters open their mailboxes or check their Facebook profiles, they may find that someone has divulged specifics about how frequently they and their neighbors have voted in the past. Calling out people for not voting, what experts term “public shaming,” can prod someone to cast a ballot. Even as campaigns embrace this ability to know so much more about voters, they recognize the risks associated with intruding into the lives of people who have long expected that the privacy of the voting booth extends to their homes. “You don’t want your analytical efforts to be obvious because voters get creeped out,” said a Romney campaign official who was not authorized to speak to a reporter. “A lot of what we’re doing is behind the scenes.” In statements, both campaigns emphasized their dedication to voters’ privacy. “We are committed to protecting individual privacy at every turn — adhering to industry best practices on privacy and going above and beyond what’s required by law,” said Adam Fetcher, an Obama campaign spokesman. Ryan Williams, a spokesman for the Romney campaign, said: “The Romney campaign respects the privacy rights of all Americans. We are committed to ensuring that all of our voter outreach is governed by the highest ethical standards.” In interviews, however, consultants to both campaigns said they had bought demographic data from companies that study details like voters’ shopping histories, gambling tendencies, interest in get-rich-quick schemes, dating preferences and financial problems. The campaigns themselves, according to campaign employees, have examined voters’ online exchanges and social networks to see what they care about and whom they know. They have also authorized tests to see if, say, a phone call from a distant cousin or a new friend would be more likely to prompt the urge to cast a ballot. The campaigns have planted software known as cookies on voters’ computers to see if they frequent evangelical or erotic Web sites for clues to their moral perspectives. Voters who visit religious Web sites might be greeted with religion-friendly messages when they return to mittromney.com or barackobama.com . The campaigns’ consultants have run experiments to determine if embarrassing someone for not voting by sending letters to their neighbors or posting their voting histories online is effective. “I’ve had half-a-dozen conversations with third parties who are wondering if this is the year to start shaming,” said one consultant who works closely with Democratic organizations. “Obama can’t do it. But the ‘ super PACs ’ are anonymous. They don’t have to put anything on the flier to let the voter know who to blame.” While the campaigns say they do not buy data that they consider intrusive, the Democratic and Republican National Committees combined have spent at least $13 million this year on data acquisition and related services. The parties have paid companies like Acxiom , Experian or Equifax , which are currently subjects of Congressional scrutiny over privacy concerns. Vendors affiliated with the presidential campaigns or the parties said in interviews that their businesses had bought data from Rapleaf or Intelius , companies that have been sued over alleged privacy or consumer protection violations. Officials at both campaigns say the most insightful data remains the basics: a voter’s party affiliation, voting history, basic information like age and race, and preferences gleaned from one-on-one conversations with volunteers. But more subtle data mining has helped the Obama campaign learn that their supporters often eat at Red Lobster, shop at Burlington Coat Factory and listen to smooth jazz. Romney backers are more likely to drink Samuel Adams beer, eat at Olive Garden and watch college football. The preoccupation with influencing voters’ habits stems from the fact that many close elections were ultimately decided by people who almost did not vote. Each campaign has identified millions of “low-propensity voters.” Persuading such voters is difficult, political professionals say, because direct appeals have already failed. So campaigns must enlist more subtle methods. In particular, according to campaign officials from both parties, two tactics will be employed this year for the first time in a widespread manner. The first builds upon research into the power of social habits. The Obama and Romney campaigns, as well as affiliated groups, have asked their supporters to provide access to their profiles on Facebook and other social networks to chart connections to low-propensity voters in battleground states like Colorado, North Carolina and Ohio. When one union volunteer in Ohio recently visited the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s election Web site, for instance, she was asked to log on with her Facebook profile. Computers quickly crawled through her list of friends, compared it to voter data files and suggested a work colleague to contact in Columbus. She had never spoken to the suggested person about politics, and he told her that he did not usually vote because he did not see the point. “We talked about how if you don’t vote, you’re letting other people make choices for you,” said the union volunteer, Nicole Rigano, a grocery store employee. “He said he had never thought about it like that, and he’s going to vote this year. It made a big difference to know ahead of time what we have in common. It’s natural to trust someone when you already have a connection to them.” Another tactic that will be used this year, political operatives say, is asking voters whether they plan to walk or drive to the polls, what time of day they will vote and what they plan to do afterward. The answers themselves are unimportant. Rather, simply forcing voters to think through the logistics of voting has been shown, in multiple experiments, to increase the odds that someone will actually cast a ballot. “Voting is habit-forming,” said David W. Nickerson, a professor at the University of Notre Dame and a co-author of a study of such tactics. Dr. Nickerson is currently engaged in electoral work, though he would not specify for which campaigns or party. “When someone is asked to form a mental image of the act of voting, it helps trigger that habit.” It is difficult to gauge which campaign is using data more effectively. Though both parties use similar data sets, the Obama campaign and the Democratic Party conduct most analysis and experiments in house and have drawn on a deep pool of data from four years ago. The Romney campaign, by contrast, has relied on outside analytic firms and has focused more on using data to create persuasive messages and slightly less on pushing voters to the polls. Officials for both campaigns acknowledge that many of their consultants and vendors draw data from an array of sources — including some the campaigns themselves have not fully scrutinized. And as the race enters its final month, campaign officials increasingly sound like executives from retailers like Target and credit card companies like Capital One, both of which extensively use data to model customers’ habits. “Target anticipates your habits, which direction you automatically turn when you walk through the doors, what you automatically put in your shopping cart,” said Rich Beeson, Mr. Romney’s political director. “We’re doing the same thing with how people vote.”
|
Presidential Election of 2012;Voting and Voters;Data-Mining and Database Marketing;Romney Mitt;Obama Barack
|
ny0185084
|
[
"science"
] |
2009/03/17
|
The Fall and Rise of the Right Whale
|
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — The biologists had been in the plane for hours, flying back and forth over the calm ocean. They had seen dolphins, leatherback turtles, a flock of water birds called gannets and even a basking shark — but not what they were looking for. Then Millie Brower, who was peering with intense concentration through a bubblelike window fitted into the plane’s fuselage, announced “nine o’clock, about a mile off.” The plane made a stomach-churning lurch as the pilots banked left and began to circle. And there, below, were a right whale mother and her new calf, barely breaking the surface, lolling in the swells. The researchers, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Georgia Wildlife Trust, are part of an intense effort to monitor North Atlantic right whales, one of the most endangered, and closely watched, species on earth. As a database check eventually disclosed, the whale was Diablo, who was born in these waters eight years ago. Her calf — at a guess 2 weeks old and a bouncing 12 feet and 2 tons — was the 38th born this year, a record that would be surpassed just weeks later, with a report from NOAA on the birth of a 39th calf. The previous record was 31, set in 2001. “It’s a bumper year for calves,” Richard Merrick, an oceanographer for NOAA’s fisheries service, said in an interview. “That’s a good sign.” Actually, it’s one of so many good signs that researchers are beginning to hope that for the first time in centuries things are looking up for the right whale. They say the species offers proof that simple conservation steps can have a big impact, even for species driven to the edge of oblivion. North Atlantic right whales, which can grow up to 55 feet long and weigh up to 70 tons, were the “right” whales for 18th- and 19th-century whalers because they are rich in oil and baleen, move slowly, keep close to shore and float when they die. They were long ago hunted to extinction in European waters, and by 1900 perhaps only 100 or so remained in their North American range, from feeding grounds off Maritime Canada and New England to winter calving grounds off the Southeastern coast. Since then, the species’ numbers have crept up, but very slowly. NOAA estimates that there are about 325, though scientists in and out of the agency suspect there may be more, perhaps as many as 400. It has been illegal to hunt the right whale since 1935, when the League of Nations put them under protection. Even so, researchers despaired of ever seeing a healthy right whale population here as long as ship strikes still maimed and killed them and fishing gear strangled them. But “over the last four or five months there’s been a tremendous amount of good news,” said Tony LaCasse, a spokesman for the New England Aquarium, a center of right whale research. For example: ¶Recent changes in shipping lanes, some compulsory and others voluntary, seem to be reducing collisions between whales and vessels. ¶The Bush administration agreed last year to lower speed limits for large vessels in coastal waters where right whales congregate. ¶Fishing authorities in the United States are beginning to impose gear restrictions designed to reduce the chances whales and other marine mammals will be entangled in fishing lines. Canada is considering similar steps. ¶In December, researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration spotted an unusually large aggregation of right whales in the Gulf of Maine. A month later, a right whale turned up in the Azores, a first since the early 20th century. ¶And last year, probably for the first time since the 1600s, not one North Atlantic right whale died at human hands. “We are seeing signs of recovery,” Dr. Merrick said. He and others warn that it is far too soon to say the whales are out of danger. Calving seasons are known for their ups and downs. A single whale in the Azores does not prove the species is recolonizing its old haunts. Not everyone embraces the new shipping regulations. And so far this year, five whales have turned up entangled with fishing gear. Rescuers removed all or almost all of the gear from the five, including one whale freed last week after being successfully sedated for the process, a first. Efforts to protect the whales are costly. Surveying alone costs hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, said Barb Zoodsma, a NOAA biologist who coordinates survey efforts in the Southeast. In 2003, three researchers and a pilot died when their plane went down off Amelia Island, Florida. “It’s a very expensive endeavor, and we are very cognizant of that fact,” Ms. Zoodsma said. Some wonder if it is worth it. “We have been pressured by some folks on the outside to say this is a lost cause,” said Greg Silber, who coordinates whale recovery efforts for NOAA, which is charged with protecting marine mammals and endangered species like the right whale. The whales are so few and distinct in appearance that researchers identify them not just by number but by nickname. The whales are identifiable by patterns of growths on their skin called callosities. These callosities are colonized by pale, licelike creatures in patterns discernable even at a distance. When survey teams spot a right whale, they can enter its description in an online database maintained by the aquarium and accessible to researchers around the world. Sightings offer important clues to the movements and habits of the creatures. When the pod of whales was sighted in December, in the Jordan Basin, about 70 miles south of Bar Harbor, the individual whales were well known. But no one had seen them hang out in the basin before. Now, researchers think it may be a previously unknown wintering ground or even a place where whales mate. When researchers learn where whales are, they can work to keep shippers out of the way. That is what happened in July, when shipping lanes that cross Stellwagen Bank, a national marine sanctuary north of Cape Cod, were moved slightly to the north. “One of the sanctuary staff had documented where the whale sightings were,” Mr. LaCasse said. The lanes now run through a less frequented area. And the sanctuary sends thank-you notes to ships that steer clear of the whales. A similar change occurred off Saint John, New Brunswick, a hub for shipping oil into the Maritime Provinces. Lanes going into the city were moved a few years ago, after negotiations with the International Maritime Organization. Voluntary lane changes are in effect in places like Boston, Dr. Silber said. “The measured economic impact to mariners was minimal,” he said. But the changes brought “huge benefits” to the animals. “Compliance appears to be quite high,” he said, adding, “We are optimistic.” Moira Brown, a senior scientist at the aquarium, said researchers working with Canadian officials designated “an area to be avoided” south of New Brunswick where right whales congregate in summer. “Compliance there has been very good,” Dr. Brown said. But entanglements with fishing gear continue to be a big problem. When the researchers spotted Diablo, for example, she had something white on her fluke and, for a few anxious moments, they thought she might be snagged on fishing gear. Instead, like an estimated 80 percent to 85 percent of adult right whales, she carried a scar from a previous entanglement. Entanglements can be lethal for the whales, Ms. Zoodsma said, especially if lines get caught in whales’ mouths or around their flippers. NOAA trains people to disentangle them, she said, but “when you have a 40-ton animal in a stressful situation” the work can be unpleasant and dangerous. And it is labor intensive. Last week’s effort to sedate and free an entangled whale involved a spotter plane, four boats and multiple attempts, she said. That is why preventing entanglements “is a first priority,” Ms. Zoodsma said. New efforts center on new gear, like lines that lie along the ocean floor or marker buoys that sit at the bottom until a fishing boat finds them electronically and signals them to bob to the surface. Dr. Brown said the United States was taking a first step in this direction with regulations going into effect this spring. She said discussions were under way with fishing authorities in Canada. Meanwhile, researchers continue efforts to discover as much as they can about where the animals spend their time, what they eat and what natural factors may affect their health. One of their most unusual efforts involved dogs trained to sniff whale scat, which the animals usually produce at the surface. The samples the dogs helped collect offered valuable information about what the whales were eating and where they were feeding. They can also offer hormone clues about whether females are pregnant. Researchers want this information because despite this year’s baby boom, right whales are not reproducing as they should. The scientists want to know if the problem is impaired fertility, spontaneous miscarriage or some other issue. In their book “The Urban Whale” (Harvard University Press, 2007), Scott D. Kraus and Rosalind M. Rolland, scientists at the aquarium, say they believe the last North American right whale deliberately hunted by people was a calf swimming with its mother off Palm Beach, Fla., in 1935. But people will continue to kill right whales. Ship strikes “are still going to happen,” Dr. Merrick said. “To totally eliminate them would mean we would have to eliminate shipping.” In the end, Ms. Zoodsma said, the value of a species is something “each individual has to sort that out for themselves.” But if right whales were to vanish, she said, “it would be a tremendous loss for future generations.”
|
Whales and Whaling;Endangered and Extinct Species;National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;Science and Technology
|
ny0077496
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2015/05/01
|
Times Reporters Analyze Bernie Sanders’s Presidential Campaign Remarks
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Announcing his candidacy for president on Thursday, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont chose a grassy spot outside the Capitol to hold a 10-minute news conference about his priorities for the country and his challenge to Hillary Rodham Clinton for the 2016 Democratic nomination. Over instant messages at noon, two New York Times correspondents, Patrick Healy and Maggie Haberman, analyzed Mr. Sanders’s remarks. Here, lightly edited, is their full chat. Pat: Hi, Maggie! So two weeks ago , we had Hillary Rodham Clinton announcing her presidential candidacy in her snappy “everyday American” video, and now we have Senator Bernie Sanders announcing his candidacy in a swamp! (The U.S. Senate swamp, that is.) And Bernie seems to be in a rush: Who starts off his campaign kickoff speech saying, “We don’t have an endless amount of time — we have to get back” to the Senate? Maggie: Hi, Patrick! Back again! So this is a very different type of setting than anything we’ve seen with Hillary Rodham Clinton. This is an open-air press conference. Greenery in the background. Maggie: “I voted against the war in Iraq.” There it is. Pat: Wow — Iraq is back! Talk about reaching back in time for a club to whack Hillary with . Sent at 12:14 PM on Thursday Maggie: Well — that was brief! This seemed like a lunchtime break in which declaring for president was an afterthought. It wasn’t even 15 minutes. Image Senator Bernie Sanders on Thursday. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Pat: Very fast — and very loose. If Hillary Clinton is running a tightly scripted, highly disciplined campaign for the Democratic nomination, Bernie Sanders is running without a filter. His first reference point in his remarks was “the Great Depression of the 1930s” — he just sort of spit out the comparison, which is more resonant for the 73-year-old Sanders and his generation than for many Americans. But then things got sharper, as he zeroed in on income inequality. Is that what a Sanders-Clinton race will be about? Maggie: Yes! I noticed that too. Total clarity of message — not doing what the press wanted, which was sticking around endlessly and answering every question. So this is actually painting a different frame — he’s contrasting by showing he is going to do an actual press conference, but he is also letting his message stand. I do wonder how Hillary is going to deal with the Iraq war on the debate stage. And that may be one of many reasons her folks have been mulling whether to agree to one. Sent at 12:21 PM on Thursday Pat: We’ll have to wait and see if Bernie continues to hit Hillary on Iraq. I couldn’t quite tell if he was drawing a contrast with Hillary or sending her team a message on Iraq — that he would actually be willing to hit her hard. Again, no-filter Bernie will be unpredictable. Maggie: I wasn’t sure either. It almost seemed like a throwaway. But to your other point, there was a very clear life contrast made there. Pat: Very — he’s older! Score one for Hillary! Kidding — your point is a good one. Several contrasts there. The bulk of his remarks were on income inequality. He decried “longer hours for lower wages” and the rise in childhood poverty, and then hit this point: “The major issue is, how do we create an economy that works for all of our people, as opposed to a small number of billionaires?” What Bernie Sanders Would Need to Do to Win Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is entering the race for the Democratic nomination for president. Bernie returned to this by noting that billionaires don’t give to him — implicitly pointing out all those Wall Street friends of the Clintons. And their foundation. Maggie: Totally. And also, I would argue that he had an important line: He described himself as a leader in the fight against the Iraq war. I think that’s something people are going to use against her over and over. Sent at 12:27 PM on Thursday Pat: He also positioned himself as a leader on campaign finance reform. “We now have a political situation where billionaires are literally able to buy elections and candidates — let’s not kid ourselves,” he said. That point will resonate with Democratic (liberal) primary voters — but how strongly? Maggie: Yes, that was notable. He is going to make campaign finance his strong calling card. He also has a strong progressive following. Pat: “I’m not going to get money from the Koch brothers, I’m not going to get my money from billionaires” — you said it, Bernie! Maggie: And one thing that I think people are missing about him — his neighbor-state positioning with New Hampshire is going to give him a bit of a leg up. Pat: Absolutely. It helped Mitt Romney and John Kerry, both from neighboring Massachusetts. But it didn’t help the last Vermont Democrat who ran for the presidency... remember him? Who Is Running for President? Donald J. Trump officially accepted the Republican party's nomination on July 22. Hillary Clinton was officially nominated on July 26 at the Democratic Convention. Maggie: Ha! Speaking of that person [Howard Dean], he did endorse Clinton this time around... but I digress. I think Sanders has been smart about tending to his New Hampshire politics. I also think there’s a fundamental question right now for the Democratic Party, and it’s one that Clinton folks are going to have to grapple with: At a deeply polarized moment when independent voters are shrinking, which voters should these candidates be appealing to? In other words, does it actually hurt Democrats to tack left? Bernie Sanders is opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal — that deal has bipartisan opposition. Pat: It’s easy to see Senator Sanders appealing to the left in natural ways, as Howard Dean and Barack Obama did in opposing the Iraq war. And today, there is a great deal of progressive energy among Democratic primary voters who are looking for a leader. Many of them are glad Obama is president, but you can tell they are looking for a powerful and unfiltered voice on progressive issues. Maggie: Absolutely. I think the word “lead” was among the more significant of his. Pat: I agree. He also used the M word toward the end — “movement.” Progressives see so many causes to unite and march around. That energy is real. Maggie: I think that’s exactly right. There’s been a big question since 2013, when Bill Daley opted not to run for governor and Bill de Blasio won for mayor in N.Y.C., about whether there was a true progressive movement. Or if these were isolated incidents. And I think Bernie Sanders can really test that theory. Sent at 12:39 PM on Thursday Pat: He will certainly get a considerable amount of media attention for that theory, right? Because reporters are eager to cover a Democratic political contest/issue debate over the next year. Maggie: I think that’s right. And I think there’s a certain benefit toward being the first non-Clinton opponent to get in. Especially for Sanders, who had been waffling in public remarks about whether he would do it. Pat: Do you believe him when he said, at the end, “We’re in this race to win?” Maggie: I do, actually! I have yet to hear his folks articulate a clear path, but I think he has something to say and wants to go as far as he can. Do you? Pat: I do believe him. I think he sees a need for a historically consistent progressive voice in the 2016 race. He nodded to his own long history as a liberal and political outlier. I imagine he will run hard. Part of me wonders if Gov. Jerry Brown of California will look at Sanders and say, “If him, then why not me?” Sent at 12:44 PM on Thursday Maggie: YES. I had the exact same thought. Who else is out there who is itching to get in? Pat: Sherrod Brown of Ohio? Deval Patrick of Massachusetts? Time will tell.
|
2016 Presidential Election;Bernard Sanders,Bernie Sanders;Democrats
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ny0052854
|
[
"us"
] |
2014/07/02
|
Pennsylvania: Food Truck Explodes
|
A propane tank on a food truck exploded in North Philadelphia on Tuesday, sending a huge fireball into the sky and injuring at least 11 people, including two who suffered serious burns, the police said. The explosion at La Parrillada Chapina food truck took place outside an auto body shop in the Feltonville neighborhood, Chief Inspector Scott Small of the Philadelphia police said.
|
Food truck;Explosions;Pennsylvania;Philadelphia
|
ny0273762
|
[
"business",
"dealbook"
] |
2016/05/14
|
In Memoir, Erin Callan Steps Back From Lehman Legacy
|
In May 2008, two months after Bear Stearns collapsed into the arms of JPMorgan Chase, sending paroxysms of fear from one end of Wall Street to the other, I had lunch with Erin Callan, who was then in her fifth month as the chief financial officer of Lehman Brothers. We met in one of the corporate dining rooms atop 745 Seventh Avenue, where the bank had moved in 2001 after its downtown Manhattan headquarters was rendered dysfunctional by the Sept. 11 attacks. My lunch with Ms. Callan comes to mind after the recent self-publication of “Full Circle,” her engaging, well-written and revealing memoir about “leaning in too far and the journey back,” an obvious play on the words of Sheryl Sandberg in her best seller “Lean In.” Ms. Callan traces her life through one seemingly effortless success to another: from a no-nonsense Catholic upbringing in Douglaston, Queens, to Harvard University, to New York University’s law school and the white-shoe law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett before she joined Lehman Brothers, where her career was particularly meteoric. In 13 years, she rose from being a tax specialist on corporate mergers to being the head of a group that designed financial solutions for hedge funds. She was plucked from seeming obscurity by Lehman’s top management for the C.F.O. job. Then, of course, her fabulous career and, three months later, Lehman Brothers itself came crashing down. It has never been clear whether Ms. Callan was set up for her eventual fall by Dick Fuld, the longtime Lehman Brothers’ chairman and chief executive whose nickname was the Gorilla, and Joe Gregory, the firm’s president. Ms. Callan does not explore that question in “Full Circle.” Nor does the book provide much insight into Mr. Fuld and how he ran the firm. He emerges as little more than a shadow. (My bet is she did not know him very well.) Instead, in the book, Ms. Callan describes her ruthless ambition, which left behind trusting colleagues, boyfriends and a former husband for whom she steadfastly refused to make time as she focused on her successful career. In “Full Circle,” Ms. Callan tries to make amends for her years of boorish behavior. She is candid about her mistakes and seems to have genuinely learned about needing to strike a better balance in her personal and professional lives. The catalyst for her coming full circle was a series of events, including a failed suicide attempt after a new post-Lehman job at Credit Suisse First Boston; her marriage to Anthony Montella, a former New York City firefighter; and the birth of their daughter, Margaret Mary Montella, via in vitro fertilization. Her message is saccharin but powerful. Our lunch came at a pivotal moment for Ms. Callan, although neither of us knew it at the time. She recounted for me how she had survived her first major test as Lehman’s C.F.O. when on March 18, 2008, she faced off against some 11,000 listeners on a striking quarterly earnings call. It was two days after Bear announced the last-minute sale to JPMorgan that saved Bear from bankruptcy, and everyone was predicting Lehman was next to fall. Ms. Callan presided over the call in a conference room at Lehman with just the firm’s treasurer at her side. Mr. Fuld, who had returned to New York City a few days before from India during the Bear Stearns crisis, was not on the call. As precarious a moment as it was, his presence on this call would simply have sent the wrong message at the wrong time. Ms. Callan had been working all weekend on her message, but what started as a straightforward discussion of Lehman’s decent quarterly earnings turned into a question of whether the firm had the near-term liquidity to survive. Wasn’t Lehman just a bigger version of Bear, after all? The day before the call, Lehman’s stock had fallen 39 percent. Understandably, Ms. Callan had not slept well the night before the earnings conference call. Would her words that day exacerbate the slide or reverse it? That morning at 8, Ms. Callan recalled, Mr. Fuld shared the earnings report with the firm’s 50 top managers in a meeting that lasted a half-hour. Ms. Callan’s conference call was at 10 a.m. “He kind of pats me on the back and says, ‘Good luck,’” Ms. Callan told me at our lunch. “I was like ‘Oh, my God’. Like it just hit me at that point, like, there is a lot of pressure here. There’s a lot at stake, a lot at stake.” She handled the call well. Lehman’s stock rose some 15 points while she was talking. “It’s funny,” she told me, “I remember I came back upstairs, and Dick said, ‘The only one complaint I have is that you shouldn’t have hung up the call because as long as you were on there the stock kept coming up.’ It was definitely a very surreal experience.” During our lunch, she shared what clearly was the firm’s mantra that Lehman would not go the way of Bear Stearns. It was better managed, it was better funded, it had taken fewer risks, and its clients were more supportive of it. It also had faced near-death experiences at least twice before, after the 1998 Long-Term Capital Management collapse and after the Sept. 11 attacks left the firm temporarily homeless. Unlike Bear, she said, Lehman knew to expect the unexpected. “There’s a lot of hubris in our business,” she told me. “And I’ve found this just talking to my peers — no one ever thinks it’ll happen to them, right? We’re the only ones, I think, around who think it’ll happen to us because it happened to us, but most of the others, they never quite really believe it could happen to them. And thus don’t fully think about their game plan accordingly.” But she was wrong about Lehman. The day after our lunch, David Einhorn, an activist hedge fund manager, announced at the annual Sohn Conference in New York that he was shorting Lehman’s stock because of “accounting irregularities.” Lehman “has been one of the deniers,” Mr. Einhorn told The New York Times. In June, Lehman announced the first quarterly loss in its 150-year history. Ms. Callan became the point person at Lehman for dealing with Mr. Einhorn. That tactic failed miserably, and swiftly. Three weeks after our lunch, she was gone from Lehman (along with Mr. Gregory). She says she resigned. But word leaked into the media that Mr. Fuld had fired her. “As with most everything that went on at Lehman,” she writes in “Full Circle” about her firing, “I thought the idea was to make Dick look good.” She added, “Accepting a resignation just didn’t have the same ring to it. We needed to be fired!” Three months later, Lehman was gone, too. For many years after, Ms. Callan refused to talk to the press about what happened at Lehman. She spent hours being deposed in the litigation over the Lehman bankruptcy but never spoke publicly. Then, in March 2013, she resurfaced with an opinion article in The Times, with a dateline of Sanibel Island, Fla., where she had moved with her husband. (They also have a house in Shelter Island, N.Y.) She has resurfaced again in “Full Circle,” written as Erin Callan Montella, as a blessed mother and wife. She seems to have found a measure of peace. Good for her. But there are still a lot of questions to be answered about what happened at 745 Seventh Avenue.
|
Lehman Brothers;Banking and Finance;Subprime Mortgage Crisis,2008 Financial Crisis;Erin Callan;Full Circle
|
ny0294368
|
[
"us"
] |
2016/06/15
|
Before Orlando Shooting, an Anti-Gay Massacre in New Orleans Was Largely Forgotten
|
The terrorist attack that killed 49 and wounded 53 in Orlando, Fla., was the largest mass killing of gay people in American history, but before Sunday that grim distinction was held by a largely forgotten arson at a New Orleans bar in 1973 that killed 32 people at a time of pernicious anti-gay stigma. Churches refused to bury the victims’ remains. Their deaths were mostly ignored and sometimes mocked by politicians and the media. No one was ever charged. A joke made the rounds in workplaces and was repeated on the radio: “Where will they bury the queers? In fruit jars!” Outpourings of grief from politicians and everyday people have followed the Orlando shooting, but for those who remember the fire in the New Orleans bar, the UpStairs Lounge, its lonely memory has loomed large over conversations about the carnage this week at the Pulse nightclub. Video The mass shooting in Orlando, Fla., was the worst in U.S. history. Every year, hundreds die in similar episodes. These are some of the deadliest. Credit Credit Getty Images/The New York Times Mike Moreau, 72, who lost several friends in the fire, said he was struck by all the differences between then and now, but also by the familiarity of tragedy’s dull ache. “What happened to us had to be kept so private,” said Mr. Moreau. “The public didn’t want to know about it, and if they heard about it they didn’t care — ‘Thank God, they’re gone, they deserved it.’” “To see the outpouring of love and support that these poor families have gotten is fantastic,” he added about the Orlando massacre. “They are hurting the same way we hurt, but at least they know that the world supports them and understands their grief.” Mr. Moreau was with friends at a nearby bar on June 24, 1973, when an arsonist doused the stairs of the UpStairs Lounge with lighter fluid, set it aflame and rang the doorbell. When someone answered the door, a fireball burst into the room. Image When firefighters extinguished the blaze at the UpStairs Lounge in New Orleans, they found a pile of charred bodies, some embracing and others pressed against the windows. Credit Jack Thornell/Associated Press One group of patrons fled out a back exit, but another was trapped across the room, caught between the flames and floor-to-ceiling windows fitted with metal bars. When firefighters extinguished the blaze, they found a pile of charred bodies, some embracing and others pressed against the windows. Congregants from the New Orleans chapter of the Metropolitan Community Church , an L.G.B.T.-affirming group, were meeting there after services. The Rev. Bill Larson was among the dead. His charred body was left slumped against the window bars in full view of passers-by for hours. He was one of many who died without ever coming out to their families, and his mother would not deal with his remains, said Robert L. Camina, who directed a documentary, UpStairs Inferno , about the blaze. “His mother refused to collect his ashes because she was too embarrassed that she had a gay son,” Mr. Camina said. “And that is just one example. There are three people who were never identified at all. Why? Somebody has to miss them.” Image Linn Quinton cried as he was helped by firefighters after escaping from the fire in the French Quarter. Credit Associated Press Those three were buried in unmarked graves in a potter’s field along with a fourth person, Ferris LeBlanc, whose family did not know his fate until last year, Mr. Camina said. “They dug a hole in the ground and put a bag in it and covered it back up,” Mr. Moreau said. Public figures were unsupportive. The mayor, Moon Landrieu, did not cancel his vacation. Forty years later, a son of his, the current mayor, Mitch Landrieu, declared a day of public mourning for the fire’s victims on its anniversary. “L.G.B.T. people have a place at the table now that they did not have then,” said Clayton Delery-Edwards, who wrote a book about the arson that was published in 2014. The fire was an open wound for the gay community in New Orleans for years. No one was charged with the attack, and a man viewed by many as the primary suspect was never arrested. He committed suicide a year after the blaze. “There was never any sense of justice,” said Sebastian Rey, the president of the L.G.B.T. Community Center of New Orleans. Survivors had to deny any connection to the fire, including the loss of loved ones, because they could lose their jobs or apartments if bosses and landlords suspected they were gay. Mr. Rey said people who lived through that period did not talk about it for decades. As time passed, the tragedy became “a rumor” to new generations of L.G.B.T. people, he said. Johnny Townsend, who interviewed survivors in the late ’80s and finally published their accounts in 2014, said the 40th anniversary commemoration gave it a kind of public attention it had not had before. “People now feel more of a sense of their own history,” he said. For Mr. Moreau, the outpouring of support for the victims in Orlando has been an “uplifting” sign of progress, he said. "In Orlando, those poor people know at least that the whole world is behind them,” he said. “Nobody cared about us.”
|
Orlando Shooting;Gay and Lesbian LGBT;Murders and Homicides;Hate crime;bars,nightclubs;Pulse;New Orleans;Orlando
|
ny0191081
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2009/05/22
|
2 New York Lawmakers Aim to Revamp a Program to Settle Mortgage Loans
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They were hailed last year as a key component of Gov. David A. Paterson’s efforts to prevent foreclosures: mandatory settlement conferences in which lenders and borrowers of subprime loans who are in default on their mortgages would hammer out new terms to keep the borrowers in their homes. But two state lawmakers and a community group said on Thursday that the conferences had been largely ineffective in New York City and Nassau and Westchester Counties, where hundreds of scheduled sessions had resulted in a handful of settlements. The lawmakers — State Senator Jeffrey D. Klein and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, who have introduced legislation to revamp the process — said at a news conference that the program had had little impact since August, when Mr. Paterson signed a bill overhauling state foreclosure laws. The governor and leaders of the State Legislature had championed the legislation as a way to stem foreclosures and subprime lending. The settlement conferences apply to subprime loans taken out from January 2003 to September 2008. In Queens, 419 conferences scheduled for October to April led to 16 settlements. In Brooklyn, 759 conferences in the same period resulted in 22 settlements. In Nassau, 1,032 conferences from January to April led to 30 settlements, and in Westchester, 94 conferences from March to April resulted in 6. The data are based on court records obtained by New York Acorn , a community organizing group that joined Mr. Jeffries, a Brooklyn Democrat, and Mr. Klein, a Democrat who represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester, at the news conference. The two lawmakers said that borrowers were going to the conferences ill prepared and with a lack of understanding about the foreclosure process, and that lenders were sending representatives who did not have the authority to modify loans. “Far more needs to be done to bring all parties to the negotiating table so that these bad loans can be modified,” Mr. Jeffries said. “It’s clear that significant government intervention is necessary immediately and forcefully.” Morgan Hook, a spokesman for Mr. Paterson, defended the governor’s antiforeclosure initiatives on Thursday. “Governor Paterson has taken a national lead on this issue,” Mr. Hook said. “When he signed the foreclosure bill last year, New York became the first state to comprehensively address the foreclosure crisis. Our law has been a model that other states have used to write their own legislation.” In the program, the conferences must take place within 60 days after the lender files proof that the borrower has been served with legal papers. Lenders must also notify homeowners in writing at least 90 days before starting foreclosure proceedings. Under the bill from Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Klein that was introduced in the Assembly and the State Senate this month, a borrower who enters the program must meet with a housing counselor before the settlement conference to work out a financial plan, which a lender can accept or reject. The current program does not require counseling. The bill is modeled after a similar program in Philadelphia that Acorn helped to develop. The group said that nearly 80 percent of the loans reviewed there were modified or restructured in the first six months of that program. Mr. Hook said that Acorn had asked Mr. Paterson’s office to review the Philadelphia program, and that it had agreed to do so. Jean-Andre Sassine, 43, a New York Acorn leader who attended the news conference, said he would have benefited from a settlement conference with his bank. Mr. Sassine, a homeowner in Queens Village who also owns a film production company, said he was behind on his $1,600-a-month mortgage and was at risk of foreclosure because of medical bills for his wife and a dropoff in business during the recession. “I’m playing phone tag with people in Ohio right now,” he said of his bank.
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Foreclosures;Law and Legislation;New York State
|
ny0225141
|
[
"us"
] |
2010/10/18
|
Scholars Return to ‘Culture of Poverty’ Ideas
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For more than 40 years, social scientists investigating the causes of poverty have tended to treat cultural explanations like Lord Voldemort: That Which Must Not Be Named. The reticence was a legacy of the ugly battles that erupted after Daniel Patrick Moynihan , then an assistant labor secretary in the Johnson administration, introduced the idea of a “culture of poverty” to the public in a startling 1965 report . Although Moynihan didn’t coin the phrase (that distinction belongs to the anthropologist Oscar Lewis ), his description of the urban black family as caught in an inescapable “tangle of pathology” of unmarried mothers and welfare dependency was seen as attributing self-perpetuating moral deficiencies to black people, as if blaming them for their own misfortune. Moynihan’s analysis never lost its appeal to conservative thinkers, whose arguments ultimately succeeded when President Bill Clinton signed a bill in 1996 “ending welfare as we know it.” But in the overwhelmingly liberal ranks of academic sociology and anthropology the word “culture” became a live grenade, and the idea that attitudes and behavior patterns kept people poor was shunned. Now, after decades of silence, these scholars are speaking openly about you-know-what, conceding that culture and persistent poverty are enmeshed. “We’ve finally reached the stage where people aren’t afraid of being politically incorrect,” said Douglas S. Massey, a sociologist at Princeton who has argued that Moynihan was unfairly maligned. The old debate has shaped the new. Last month Princeton and the Brookings Institution released a collection of papers on unmarried parents, a subject, it noted, that became off-limits after the Moynihan report. At the recent annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, attendees discussed the resurgence of scholarship on culture. And in Washington last spring, social scientists participated in a Congressional briefing on culture and poverty linked to a special issue of The Annals , the journal of the American Academy of Political and Social Science . “Culture is back on the poverty research agenda,” the introduction declares, acknowledging that it should never have been removed. The topic has generated interest on Capitol Hill because so much of the research intersects with policy debates. Views of the cultural roots of poverty “play important roles in shaping how lawmakers choose to address poverty issues,” Representative Lynn Woolsey, Democrat of California , noted at the briefing. This surge of academic research also comes as the percentage of Americans living in poverty hit a 15-year high: one in seven, or 44 million. With these studies come many new and varied definitions of culture, but they all differ from the ’60s-era model in these crucial respects: Today, social scientists are rejecting the notion of a monolithic and unchanging culture of poverty. And they attribute destructive attitudes and behavior not to inherent moral character but to sustained racism and isolation. To Robert J. Sampson, a sociologist at Harvard , culture is best understood as “shared understandings.” “I study inequality, and the dominant focus is on structures of poverty,” he said. But he added that the reason a neighborhood turns into a “poverty trap” is also related to a common perception of the way people in a community act and think. When people see graffiti and garbage, do they find it acceptable or see serious disorder? Do they respect the legal system or have a high level of “moral cynicism,” believing that “laws were made to be broken”? As part of a large research project in Chicago , Professor Sampson walked through different neighborhoods this summer, dropping stamped, addressed envelopes to see how many people would pick up an apparently lost letter and mail it, a sign that looking out for others is part of the community’s culture. In some neighborhoods, like Grand Boulevard, where the notorious Robert Taylor public housing projects once stood, almost no envelopes were mailed; in others researchers received more than half of the letters back. Income levels did not necessarily explain the difference, Professor Sampson said, but rather the community’s cultural norms, the levels of moral cynicism and disorder. The shared perception of a neighborhood — is it on the rise or stagnant? — does a better job of predicting a community’s future than the actual level of poverty, he said. William Julius Wilson , whose pioneering work boldly confronted ghetto life while focusing on economic explanations for persistent poverty, defines culture as the way “individuals in a community develop an understanding of how the world works and make decisions based on that understanding.” For some young black men, Professor Wilson, a Harvard sociologist, said, the world works like this: “If you don’t develop a tough demeanor, you won’t survive. If you have access to weapons, you get them, and if you get into a fight, you have to use them.” Seeking to recapture the topic from economists, sociologists have ventured into poor neighborhoods to delve deeper into the attitudes of residents. Their results have challenged some common assumptions, like the belief that poor mothers remain single because they don’t value marriage. In Philadelphia , for example, low-income mothers told the sociologists Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas that they thought marriage was profoundly important, even sacred, but doubted that their partners were “marriage material.” Their results have prompted some lawmakers and poverty experts to conclude that programs that promote marriage without changing economic and social conditions are unlikely to work. Mario Luis Small, a sociologist at the University of Chicago and an editor of The Annals’ special issue, tried to figure out why some New York City mothers with children in day care developed networks of support while others did not. As he explained in his 2009 book, “Unanticipated Gains,” the answer did not depend on income or ethnicity, but rather the rules of the day-care institution. Centers that held frequent field trips, organized parents’ associations and had pick-up and drop-off procedures created more opportunities for parents to connect. Younger academics like Professor Small, 35, attributed the upswing in cultural explanations to a “new generation of scholars without the baggage of that debate.” Scholars like Professor Wilson, 74, who have tilled the field much longer, mentioned the development of more sophisticated data and analytical tools. He said he felt compelled to look more closely at culture after the publication of Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein’s controversial 1994 book, “The Bell Curve,” which attributed African-Americans’ lower I.Q. scores to genetics . The authors claimed to have taken family background into account, Professor Wilson said, but “they had not captured the cumulative effects of living in poor, racially segregated neighborhoods.” He added, “I realized we needed a comprehensive measure of the environment, that we must consider structural and cultural forces.” He mentioned a study by Professor Sampson, 54, that found that growing up in areas where violence limits socializing outside the family and where parents haven’t attended college stunts verbal ability, lowering I.Q. scores by as much as six points, the equivalent of missing more than a year in school. Changes outside campuses have made conversation about the cultural roots of poverty easier than it was in the ’60s. Divorce, living together without marrying, and single motherhood are now commonplace. At the same time prominent African-Americans have begun to speak out on the subject. In 2004 the comedian Bill Cosby made headlines when he criticized poor blacks for “not parenting” and dropping out of school. President Obama , who was abandoned by his father, has repeatedly talked about “responsible fatherhood.” Conservatives also deserve credit , said Kay S. Hymowitz, a fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, for their sustained focus on family values and marriage even when cultural explanations were disparaged. Still, worries about blaming the victim persist. Policy makers and the public still tend to view poverty through one of two competing lenses, Michèle Lamont , another editor of the special issue of The Annals, said: “Are the poor poor because they are lazy, or are the poor poor because they are a victim of the markets?” So even now some sociologists avoid words like “values” and “morals” or reject the idea that, as The Annals put it, “a group’s culture is more or less coherent.” Watered-down definitions of culture, Ms. Hymowitz complained, reduce some of the new work to “sociological pablum.” “If anthropologists had come away from doing field work in New Guinea concluding ‘everyone’s different,’ but sometimes people help each other out,” she wrote in an e-mail, “there would be no field of anthropology — and no word culture for cultural sociologists to bend to their will.” Fuzzy definitions or not, culture is back. This prompted mock surprise from Rep. Woolsey at last spring’s Congressional briefing: “What a concept. Values, norms, beliefs play very important roles in the way people meet the challenges of poverty.”
|
Poverty;Sociology;US;Daniel Patrick Moynihan
|
ny0135011
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2008/04/28
|
Driver in Car Crash Was Fatally Shot
|
Officers responding to calls about a traffic accident just north of Kennedy Airport in Queens on Saturday night found a car crashed into a tree, and a man who had been shot in the head behind the wheel, the police said on Sunday. The driver, identified by the police as Allan George Holley, 25, of 119-49 147th Street in Jamaica, Queens, was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center shortly after the police arrived at the crash at 9:37 p.m., investigators said. The car that Mr. Holley had been driving, a tan Kia Optima, had struck a tree just off the intersection of 133rd Avenue and the Van Wyck Expressway service road, the police said. There were no arrests on Sunday. Investigators said Mr. Holley, who had been shot in the head and one shoulder, may have been fired upon by someone driving by in another vehicle, but the circumstances remained unclear. The police said that Mr. Holley had a record of drug arrests and that cocaine was found in the car.
|
Accidents and Safety;Automobiles;Queens (NYC)
|
ny0072791
|
[
"world",
"americas"
] |
2015/03/12
|
Canada: U.S. Consulate Attack Was Foiled, Panel Says
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A man from Pakistan who was a permanent resident of Canada told an undercover officer that he planned to bomb the United States Consulate or the financial district in Toronto, an immigration panel revealed on Wednesday. The man, Jahanzeb Malik, was detained on Monday. A lawyer for the immigration department said that Mr. Malik, who traveled to Canada as a student in 2004, told the undercover officer that he had fought in Bosnia and trained at terrorist camps in Libya. He also said that he had associated with Anwar al-Awlaki, an American cleric who was deemed a terrorist by the United States and killed in a drone strike in Yemen in 2011. The government wants to deport Mr. Malik to Pakistan. He is not facing any criminal charges.
|
Canada;Jahanzeb Malik;Terrorism
|
ny0080841
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2015/02/14
|
Braving the Freezing Temperatures for Love, Religion and Chocolate Sales
|
One hundred couples plan to get married on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building on Saturday. Outside. And though they may get more than they bargained for on the observation deck during that Valentine’s Day event — New York is expecting two to four inches of snow from Saturday until early Sunday — the expected high of 33 degrees is typical for February. All things considered, the couples should feel lucky. On Friday, temperatures hovered in the teens, and on Sunday it could get as low as 2 degrees with a wind chill factor as low as minus 20, Tim Morrin of the National Weather Service said. “It would be literally humanly impossible to be out up there on Sunday,” he said. But many events — be they pilgrimages, promotions or proposals — are planned well in advance and must go forward, separating the hardy from the numb. On Friday morning, a group of 3,000 Hasidic women in New York for a Chabad-Lubavitch conference visited the tomb of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher rebbe, at Montefiore Cemetery in Queens. The temperature was around 10 degrees. “I was physically cold, but spiritually warm,” said Chani Levertov, who lives in Phoenix and was among the intrepid pilgrims. Image Linda Tol wore a Fendi coat with a fur hood at a New York Fashion Week event Friday afternoon. Credit Karsten Moran for The New York Times The women spent only 10 or 20 minutes outside, visiting the grave site, before going back inside. There were outdoor heaters, but Ms. Levertov said she bundled up and would be spending the rest of the day “mostly — no, definitely” indoors. Christina Summers, a chocolatier based in Brooklyn, had not dressed for the weather. Wearing a bra made of flowers and with melted chocolate painted on her upper body, Ms. Summers stood outside in Times Square on Friday handing out samples of her hot chocolate, Chocolatto, and posing for pictures with passers-by. During the hour she was in Times Square, she took breaks every 15 minutes or so. “The chocolate didn’t freeze, but it did harden onto my body in a paste,” she said. Two hours after she left, she said, her toes were still numb. Chris Waggener also had little choice but to deal with the bone-rattling temperatures. Mr. Waggener, who lives in California, was among 25 couples who got engaged on “Good Morning America” as part of a Valentine’s Day special. He proposed to his girlfriend on the ice rink at Bryant Park. “When it’s that cold, time sort of stands still,” he said, noting that he was happy that the wedding itself would take place on the West Coast. His fiancée “was very surprised,” he said. “Very cold, but very surprised. It was totally worth it.” As for those couples who are to be married near the top of the famed skyscraper on Saturday, they have been told to dress warmly, a spokeswoman for the event said. The ceremonies, which will be held in succession, will be brief.
|
NYC;Weather
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ny0105580
|
[
"science"
] |
2012/04/03
|
Are Daily Nutrient Supplements Necessary?
|
Q. A doctor told me that you don’t need daily vitamin supplements if you eat right, and that they don’t dissolve anyway. Is he correct? A. Probably not, on both counts. Even those few who consistently eat well “may have dysfunctions that create special needs for micronutrients,” said Dr. Sheldon S. Hendler, an editor of “The PDR for Nutritional Supplements,” the standard reference. For example, Dr. Hendler said, low levels of a class of carotenoids are correlated with age-related macular degeneration . These micronutrients are found in spinach, mustard greens and collard greens, which are not a large part of the typical American diet . As for the problem of supplements that fail to dissolve, Dr. Hendler said, the situation has changed in recent decades. The Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act of 1994 requires quality control for supplements, he said, and “reputable companies adhere to government standards of content, disintegration and dissolution.” Absorption, which does not occur until the dissolved material reaches the small intestine, is another matter, Dr. Hendler said. But it, too, can be improved with adequate dissolution and disintegration. There is less of an absorption problem with hydrophilic, or water-soluble vitamins . Fat-soluble vitamins, like A, D, E and K, are better absorbed when taken with a meal that includes fats. C. CLAIBORNE RAY
|
Vitamins;Diet and Nutrition;Medicine and Health;Science and Technology
|
ny0033251
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2013/12/17
|
E.U. Pledges Aid for Mideast Peace
|
The European Union will provide “an unprecedented package of European political, economic and security support” to the Israelis and Palestinians if they reach a permanent peace deal, the union said in a statement on Monday after a foreign affairs council meeting in Brussels. The package will offer Israel and the future Palestinian state a special privileged partnership, including increased access to the European markets, closer cultural and scientific links, facilitation of trade and investments as well as promotion of business-to-business relations, the statement added. The European Union also condemned continued Israeli settlement construction and expressed concern over incitement and episodes of violence, actions it said undermined peace negotiations. Secretary of State John Kerry brokered a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks in July after years of stagnation.
|
EU;Israel;Palestinians;International relations
|
ny0187665
|
[
"sports",
"baseball"
] |
2009/04/19
|
Memory of Nick Adenhart Helps Juan Lara Carry On
|
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Juan Lara watched the crash scene’s flashing lights, the crumpled car and the somber sportscaster, and began to cry. Not just because Nick Adenhart was dead. But because, for some reason, Juan Lara was alive. Less than 18 months ago, Lara, a budding left-handed reliever for the Cleveland Indians , lay comatose in a Dominican hospital after a horrific traffic accident left him with brain trauma, a cervical spine fracture, broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a torn knee ligament and nerve damage in his pitching arm. He spent three weeks in the coma, had several operations and spent eight months in a removable halo to stabilize his neck. He barely touched a baseball for almost a year — and did not truly test his arm until Monday at the Indians’ spring training complex outside Phoenix. “You ready?” a team trainer asked, pounding his glove from 40 feet away. Lara nodded, leaned back and threw. The plate in his forearm held. The screws in his neck did not pinch. And with each subsequent pitch, some accurate and others not, Lara threw testaments to the ultimate umpire’s inexplicable strike zone: four days after baseball lost Adenhart, a rookie pitcher with the Los Angeles Angels killed in an automobile accident by a suspected drunken driver April 9, Lara was reborn. “The same accident, it happened to me,” Lara said through an interpreter. “That could have been me. It’s very sad for me that he lost his life and won’t get the opportunity that I have now.” It is only that — an opportunity. Returning to the majors remains a long shot for Lara, who pitched briefly for Cleveland in 2006 and 2007. He is two or three months away from even being assigned to a low minor league team; he will spend the next few months in Goodyear relearning how to pitch with an arm and neck held together by metal. And his mettle to try. “A few days after the accident, I saw him on a breathing machine in the coma — he was fighting for his life,” said Lino Diaz, the Indians’ director of Latin operations. “I was just praying he could pull through. The last thing I ever thought was him throwing a baseball again.” For most of Lara’s youth in the Dominican Republic, throwing a baseball was the only thing he did think about. He grew up in a poor section of Baní, the youngest of eight children squeezed into a two-bedroom house without indoor plumbing. His father, Erasmo, and most of his siblings worked on a farm that grew onions and beans; their primary recreation was baseball. “We would climb up a tree and get a bat from there,” Lara said. “Then we’d make a mitt out of paper. We’d make a ball out of my father’s old socks.” Lara improved enough to attend the Indians’ developmental academy on the island and, at 18, received a $10,000 bonus to sign. (“I thought I was a millionaire,” he said.) Juan gave his brother most of the money to try opening a supermarket and stepped with hundreds of other teenagers onto the assembly line that is minor league baseball. Lara’s low-90s fastball and nasty slider made him a promising reliever, and after seven seasons in the minors, he pitched in nine games for the Indians in 2006. He got into only one game the next season, which he spent mostly with Class AAA Buffalo, and reported to the 2007 Dominican Winter League intent on making the big club out of spring training. While driving his sport utility vehicle after a game in San Pedro de Macorís in late November, Lara was proceeding through an intersection when a motorcycle carrying two men crashed at full speed into the driver’s side. Lara said that the police later told him the motorcycle was doing a wheelie at 130 miles per hour, which explained why Lara did not see its headlight. The two men on the motorcycle died instantly. Lara’s injuries were so severe that he was kept in a medically induced coma for weeks. “The same day of the accident, early in the morning, I went to the beach to run on the sand,” Lara said. “I woke up 22 days after that, thinking I was in the hospital because I got sick from running at the beach.” He continued: “When I woke up, the doctors had told my family to not tell me anything about how the accident happened. For safety reasons — because they’d seen people who when they find out how bad the accident was, they get discouraged or have a heart attack. It was two days later when my friends and players came to visit. They were talking about the accident. That’s when I realized, ‘What’s going to happen to my career?’ ” When Lara could be moved, the Indians flew him to Cleveland, where team physicians could oversee his operations. Two incisions were made in the front of Lara’s neck to insert two screws to stabilize his spine; other procedures addressed his lung and ribs; and a break in his left forearm, along with nerve damage, led to a plate and a half-dozen screws being inserted there. Lara had no lasting effects from the brain trauma, but he had to wear a plastic halo until August to immobilize his healing vertebrae. He could walk, and did fly to visit the Indians at spring training. He was sallow and gaunt, having lost 45 of his 208 pounds. Lara said, “I felt like they were looking at me like I was a dead man alive.” Lara’s inside was far healthier than his outside. Once somewhat lethargic in manner and work ethic, Lara became energized by a sudden appreciation for life. He dreamed of shaking off that halo and pitching again. Not just for himself — his father, more than 80 years old, cannot work on the farm anymore, and his mother is 69. Once the halo was removed in August, Lara allowed himself to hold a baseball for the first time. “It felt heavy — the heaviest it had ever been,” he said. He did not have the strength and mobility to throw until December, back in Baní with his older brother José. How did he look? “Like a 4-year-old girl,” Lara said with a laugh. After three months of light tossing with Jose, Lara was surprised to learn in late March that the Indians were inviting him to Goodyear to try to work his way back through the minors. The decision was equal parts sympathy and strategy. Although Lara is no longer on the major league roster, the Indians consider him family; besides, teams have taken bigger risks for left-handed relief pitching. Even Lara knows that returning to the majors would be a miracle second only to his breathing at all. He first must regain arm strength and a semblance of control, which will probably take at least two months. Only then can he be considered for an assignment to Class A or AA. “We’re going about it as if we have one chance to get him healthy again,” said Ross Atkins, Cleveland’s director of player development. “That will take solid, patient, cautious, hands-on work.” That work began in many ways in Goodyear on Monday, when Lara stepped onto the grass outside the Indians’ weight room and threw to an Indians trainer. As dozens of teenage Indians farmhands worked out on a distant field, Lara made some pitching motions while holding only a towel, just to stretch his arm. Then he took a ball, one that was about to feel far less heavy than it did only months ago. The leg kick returned. With the scar from the screws peeking out from his navy-blue shirt, Lara drew back and threw his first pitch straight into the trainer’s glove. The “pop!” got only louder while Lara said nothing. “Atta boy,” the trainer said. “Fifteen more.” “Two more.” “That’s it.” Shaking hands silently, Lara learned that he would be working out like this three days a week for a while. No mound work yet. No problem. For Juan Lara, throwing a baseball is as much a sign of life as opening his eyes 22 days after they were almost shut forever. Lara has many reasons to try to come back — for himself, for his family, for the teammates he still misses. And even though he never knew Nick Adenhart, somewhere in the back of his refocused mind, Lara remembers him about as well as anyone. “This has been my dream,” Lara said, holding a baseball in his long, supple fingers. “I always wanted to do it. I want to do it again.”
|
Baseball;Cleveland Indians;Adenhart Nick
|
ny0076146
|
[
"sports",
"golf"
] |
2015/05/11
|
Rickie Fowler Outlasts Logjam to Win Players Championship
|
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Rickie Fowler’s mother and sister held reservations on a commercial flight from Jacksonville International to San Diego that was scheduled to leave Sunday night at the same time the Players Championship was supposed to end. They had lunch with Fowler, who began the day three strokes off the lead, before his 1:25 p.m. tee time. Fowler played the first nine holes in even par and was losing ground to the leaders, who included Sergio García. So his mother, Lynne, and younger sister, Taylor, gathered their two Shih Tzus and headed to the airport, a 45-minute drive from TPC Sawgrass. They checked their luggage. But they did not proceed through the security line because people back at the Stadium Course had sent them text updates on Fowler’s progress. Scrolling through their messages, they found out he had birdied Nos. 13 and 15 and eagled No. 16. He was on the 17th tee when his mother and sister made a spontaneous decision. Lynne Fowler phoned the tournament transportation desk to see if they could get a ride back to the course. As it happened, there were courtesy cars parked at the airport. Within minutes, they were on their way, with Fowler’s sister behind the wheel. Fowler birdied Nos. 17 and 18, covering the last six holes in six under, for a five-under 67 to get to 12-under 276. Nobody in tournament history had played the final four holes in 11 strokes. By the time his mother and sister made it back to the course, García and Kevin Kisner had each played the final three holes in two-under to force a playoff. García, the 2008 champion, closed with a 68, one stroke better than Kisner, who was looking for his first Tour victory. García won his title here on the first hole of sudden death against Paul Goydos. Starting this year, the tournament adopted a three-hole aggregate playoff. Fowler, who had collected his first and only Tour victory three years ago, picked up in the playoff where he had left off in regulation. Fowler and Kisner advanced to sudden death with scores of par-birdie-par on 16, 17 and 18. (García was eliminated with three pars.) Fowler, 26, won on the first hole of sudden death with a five-foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th island hole after Kisner missed his 13-foot birdie attempt. It was a tossup, which tickled Fowler more: his torrid finish or the fact his mother and sister were there at the end to celebrate with him. Fowler, who eschewed his signature Sunday outfit of Oklahoma State orange to honor Lynne on Mother’s Day with a shirt that had pink in it, said, “I assumed with my less than stellar play the first 12 holes that they were well on their way because I was out of contention.” Their presence, he said, was “very special.” So was the timing of the victory. It came shortly after the release of an anonymous poll of his peers in which Fowler, despite his four top-5 finishes in the majors last year and his No. 13 ranking, was voted, along with Ian Poulter, as the most overrated players. The players who felt that way presumably did not include Bubba Watson, who lingered in the scoring area after he was finished so he could greet Fowler after his 67. Billy Horschel, who crossed paths with Fowler on his way to sign for his closing 72, drew him near and whispered sweet expletives in his ear. “There weren’t many non-cuss words that were said there,” Horschel said, grinning. “I just said bleeping happy for you, you know, bleep, bleep, stuff and bleep, bleep, bleep.” Of the Sports Illustrated poll results, Horschel said, “I don’t know what people were thinking when they thought he was overrated.” He added, “He’s brought a lot of people to this game of golf that weren’t here five, six years ago.” Fowler said he laughed when he heard about the poll. “But if there’s any question,” he said, patting the crystal trophy, “I think this right here answers anything you need to know.” Top-ranked Rory McIlroy closed with a 70 that left him wondering about what might have been. He played the front nine in one over for the week, including an even-par 36 on Sunday, on his way to an eight-under 280 and a share of eighth. “If I could have gone out in 33 or 34 a couple of times, it would have made a big difference,” McIlroy said. Kisner, 31, had a 10-foot birdie putt at 18 to secure the victory in regulation, but his attempt grazed the right side of the cup. “I hit every shot the way I wanted to,” Kisner said, adding, “My hat’s off to Rickie. He played great.” Kisner began the week ranked 123rd, two spots ahead of Tiger Woods. After Sunday, the gap will be more pronounced. Woods, 39, finished in a tie for 69th, his worst showing in 16 starts here, excluding his mid-round withdrawal on the Sunday of the 2010 tournament. He posted three 7s for the week, including on the par-4 14th Sunday. “That’s not very good,” said Woods, who hit four fairways in the fourth round. He averaged seven for the week and had more triple bogeys (1) than eagles (0). After taking the next three weeks off, Woods will make five starts in the next 10 weeks. Asked if he can see himself winning this year, Woods, whose last victory came in August 2013, said, “Absolutely.” At the beginning of the week, Fowler said he could not be considered a rival of the top two players, McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, also in their 20s. Not yet, anyway. “But I’m up for it,” Fowler said.
|
Golf;Rickie Fowler;Billy Horschel
|
ny0137048
|
[
"sports",
"othersports"
] |
2008/05/27
|
Trainer Rick Dutrow Remains Optimistic About Big Brown’s Recovery
|
Big Brown ’s trainer, Rick Dutrow , and the hoof specialist Ian McKinlay are encouraged by the colt’s recovery from a slight quarter crack (or stress fracture) on the inside of his left front hoof, and they say they are not concerned that Big Brown could miss the Belmont Stakes on June 7. In fact, McKinlay said that Big Brown was free of pain and infection by late Monday afternoon. He said Big Brown could return to training as early as Tuesday, if Dutrow was so inclined. “His feet were ice cold late in the day, and this really doesn’t even qualify as a bump on the road,” McKinlay said in a telephone interview. Earlier in the day, Dutrow and McKinlay said they knew they were on the right track in treating Big Brown, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness champion. “This morning we stopped and saw him early and a lot of heat had come out from yesterday, which is an excellent sign,” McKinlay said. “As usual, just a little bit of movement in that heel is enough to warm up the foot. As we look at him here, he is not as sensitive on the coronet band. Now, we just basically made a little trench and got him down to the wall, just about to the laminae; that’s the sensitive part of the hoof. And we put in one set of sutures, which is like stitches, made of stainless steel wire, and we drew that crack together. And probably tomorrow, he’ll be in much better shape. “Of course, Rick will check him first thing in the morning,” McKinlay added. “But everything should just keep progressing. What we’re trying to do is stabilize that heel so we can get quicker healing.” Dutrow said he intended to give Big Brown a fast workout — his only one between the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont — on Saturday morning, but he reiterated that he was in no hurry to push what he had said repeatedly was a fit horse. “We can most likely jog him, but I don’t want to do that,” Dutrow said. “I want Ian to look at him again before we actually go to the track. If he looks great tomorrow, I still won’t jog him.” Dutrow said Big Brown would probably walk around the shedrow of the barn Tuesday with his regular exercise rider, Michelle Nevin. “I would be very happy if that happens,” Dutrow said. “It’s a little hiccup on the way over there; that’s all it is. The time he has missed means nothing to me or him.” He also said there might be a bright side to his caution. “This could also be a very good thing because he burnt his heels at Pimlico and it gives him time to get over that,” he said. “No way missing four, five or six days is going to affect the outcome and his racing ability when he runs.”
|
Big Brown (Race Horse);Horse Racing;Belmont Stakes;Preakness Stakes;Dutrow Rick
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ny0183575
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2007/12/06
|
Gates Decides Against Marines’ Offer to Leave Iraq for Afghanistan
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BAGHDAD, Dec. 5 — Senior Pentagon and military officials said Wednesday that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates had decided against a proposal to shift Marine Corps forces from Iraq to take the lead in American operations in Afghanistan. Mr. Gates told top Marine Corps officials and his senior aides that the situation in western Iraq, where the Marines now operate in Anbar Province, remained too volatile to contemplate such a significant change in how the ground combat mission in Iraq is shared by the Army and the Marine Corps. That broad message was underscored by Mr. Gates on Wednesday as he made his sixth visit to Iraq as defense secretary. During an evening news conference, Mr. Gates said the mission facing American, Iraqi and allied forces was to “work together not only to sustain the momentum of recent months, but to build on it.” Senior Defense Department officials said Mr. Gates met at the Pentagon on Friday with Gen. James T. Conway, the Marine Corps commandant, and received a formal proposal that would shift Marine forces from Anbar Province and deploy them in Afghanistan. The proposal was based on Marine Corps concepts in which an integrated “air-ground task force” of Marine infantry, attack aircraft and logistics could carry out the Afghanistan mission, and build on counterinsurgency lessons learned by marines in Anbar. The idea also was based on an assessment that a realignment could allow the Army and the Marines each to operate more efficiently in sustaining troop levels for two wars that have put a strain on their forces. “The secretary understands what the commandant is trying to do, and why the commandant wishes to transition the Marine Corps mission to Afghanistan,” Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said Wednesday during Mr. Gates’s visit to Baghdad. “But he doesn’t believe the time is now to do that. Anbar is still a volatile place.” Senior military and Pentagon officials familiar with the discussion acknowledged that the Marine Corps proposal might eventually be adopted, although such a decision would be left up to the next defense secretary and military commanders. At present, there are no major Marine units among the 26,000 or so American forces in Afghanistan. In Iraq, there are about 25,000 marines among the approximately 160,000 American troops. In Washington on Wednesday, General Conway said that he felt the Afghan mission “is one that matches our strength and capabilities.” But he acknowledged that “it doesn’t appear that additional Marine units will be needed in Afghanistan in the near future.” He added that “that’s not to say that in the future, were there additional U.S. troops needed, that we would or would not be called — that would be a determination made on what the nature of the request was at the time and what the availability of forces were between, probably, Army and Marines.” When word first surfaced of the Marine Corps proposal in October, some officials in the Air Force expressed private fears that its mission in Afghanistan could be ended if the mission went to the Marines, who deploy with their own tactical fighter and attack combat aircraft. Army officials acknowledged that the idea could streamline their force planning, by giving them only one mission to fulfill — although some Army officers also expressed wariness that the Marines were trying to move from an unpopular war, Iraq, to Afghanistan, which has more popular support. Thus the idea was viewed by many military analysts as part of the maneuvering among the four armed services for priority combat missions, and the requisite share of the budget. There is widespread concern among Pentagon and military officials that the high level of military spending approved by Congress since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, may not be sustained by a nation that may move toward isolationism after Iraq. Marine Corps officials said, however, that their proposal was based solely on military logic and efficiency. Marine units train to fight in an air-ground task force. The term refers to a Marine deployment that arrives in a combat zone complete with its own headquarters, infantry combat troops, armored and transport vehicles, attack and transport helicopters, and attack jets for close-air support, as well as logistics and support personnel.
|
Iraq;Gates Robert M
|
ny0239350
|
[
"business",
"media"
] |
2010/12/16
|
Bloomberg News to Print Editorials to Influence Views
|
Being mayor of New York City would be a large enough platform for just about anyone. But apparently not for Michael R. Bloomberg . The mayor’s company, Bloomberg L.P. , said on Wednesday that it would begin publishing editorials across its vast media enterprise in an effort to broaden the company’s influence on national affairs. And though Mr. Bloomberg has an agreement with the city to have no involvement in the “day-to-day operations” of his company, the endeavor, called Bloomberg View, is intended to channel his personal philosophy and worldview. “I think it’s very important that everyone understands that our editorial page is going to be, for sure, consistent with the values and beliefs of the founder — even if he happens to be mayor of New York City,” said Matthew Winkler, the editor in chief of Bloomberg News. “I fully expect us in our Bloomberg View always to reflect those values. In fact, I want people to come away from reading the Bloomberg View infused with those beliefs and values.” The effort presents a host of conflict-of-interest questions for the mayor. The new venture provides the mayor with yet another potent communications apparatus — one that carries his name and imprimatur — to sound off on issues that collide with his job as mayor, his corporate interests and his expanding philanthropic empire. Bloomberg L.P. executives said they would not shy away from publishing editorials on issues in which Mr. Bloomberg has a direct interest as mayor, like education, public health and environmental policy. Mr. Winkler said the editorials would not avoid such issues but would disclose the mayor’s involvement when warranted. Though Mr. Bloomberg will not have a hand in conceiving and writing the editorials, he is likely to offer feedback from time to time before they are published, Mr. Winkler said. “I think that there’s a very good chance that’s going to happen,” he said, referring to Mr. Bloomberg’s occasional involvement. It is unclear whether that level of involvement is permitted under his agreement with the city to remain at arm’s length from the company. A spokesman for the mayor, Stu Loeser, said the mayor was allowed limited involvement in his agreement with the city. “Weighing in from time to time is consistent with his being the majority shareholder of the company he founded,” he said. As someone whose presidential ambitions are the source of endless speculation, acquiring the platform of an editorial page is certain to draw more attention to Mr. Bloomberg’s plans. (On Sunday, Mr. Bloomberg ruled out a run for president.) The unsigned editorials will appear in all of Bloomberg’s online and print media properties — including Bloomberg Businessweek, Bloomberg.com and the nearly 300,000 financial data terminals leased to Wall Street traders and businesses around the world. It will be run by two distinguished voices: James P. Rubin , a former assistant secretary of state under Bill Clinton, and David Shipley, editor of The New York Times Op-Ed page. Opinion and commentary have not typically been areas of focus for Bloomberg, with its just-the-facts approach. In fact, the mayor has complained about the corrosive effect of the 24-hour news cycle and overheated political commentary in the blogosphere. But company leaders, including Mr. Bloomberg, who has been aware of the project since it was conceived more than two years ago, saw an opportunity to extend their influence. For a firm that has made no secret of its ambitions to become the most influential media company in the world, starting an editorial operation is the latest effort to propel it beyond its core mission as a financial news service. The notion of media barons using editorials to shape public opinion and policy according to their personal views is an old one in American journalism. William Randolph Hearst, for example, often wrote front-page editorials for his newspapers. Mr. Bloomberg, it would seem, is casting himself in that mold, though there are no plans for him to begin writing signed editorials. For now, he is content letting his trusted deputies speak for him. “He’s accepting and embracing the privilege of a media mogul,” said David Nasaw, a professor of history at the City University of New York Graduate Center, who wrote a biography of Hearst. “This is what we all do. We try to persuade the rest of the world we are right. Of course we don’t have the vehicles to do so. The rich have the vehicles to do so.” Mr. Winkler said: “There’s a huge opportunity here for Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg News to seize the day, literally seize the day by bringing wisdom to events as they unfold. And one can’t always do that with the best result with reporting.” “That certainly is a benefit to the founder of the company, the man. But it is also a huge opportunity for Bloomberg, the company, that it should take advantage of,” Mr. Winkler added. Bloomberg L.P. acquired BusinessWeek last year, giving the 29-year-old company a print product with a long legacy of accomplishment. Bloomberg is in the midst of an expansion in Washington. With a service called Bloomberg Government, an operation that will eventually employ 300 journalists and analysts, the company will sell, for $5,700 a year, information about government services and contracts to lobbyists and others with business interests in the nation’s capital.
|
Bloomberg LP;Bloomberg Michael R;News and News Media;Rubin James P;Shipley David;Winkler Matthew
|
ny0157996
|
[
"technology",
"companies"
] |
2008/12/18
|
Take-Two Posts a Loss and Offers Warning for 2009
|
SAN FRANCISCO — The video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software posted a quarterly net loss on Wednesday and provided a 2009 forecast that was below Wall Street estimates. The company cited weak consumer spending amid a global economic downturn. The chairman of Take-Two, Strauss Zelnick said the company had “witnessed significant softness” in retail sales. The company, best known for its “Grand Theft Auto” franchise, said net loss for the fourth-quarter was $15 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with a loss of $7.1 million, or 10 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding stock-based compensation expenses, Take-Two forecast a first-quarter loss was 70 cents to 85 cents, sharply missing the average analysts’ estimate of 4 cents, according to Reuters Estimates. The company forecast first-quarter revenue of $175 million to $225 million, missing Wall Street estimates of $310.75 million on Reuters Estimates. Take-Two expects fiscal 2009 profit to range between nil and 20 cents per share, significantly missing the average analysts’ estimate of $1.21 per share. Shares of Take-Two fell to $9.56 in after-hours trading.
|
Company Reports;Take-Two Interactive Software Inc
|
ny0226175
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2010/10/07
|
Waterfront Commission Barely Scrutinized Longshoremen
|
Workers at the bustling New York-New Jersey port — including the eight longshoreman who were arrested Tuesday on cocaine-smuggling charges — are licensed by an obscure agency that is supposed to ensure that only people of good character find work there. The agency, the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor , says that for many years it did that job badly, or not at all — but that under new management, it is once again cracking down on corruption. The commission has started putting freight-handling companies and dock workers under much closer scrutiny, and it plans to hold a series of hearings starting next week that it says will delve into abuses like widespread use of no-show jobs for well-connected people. But the longshoremen’s union and a powerful New Jersey lawmaker say that the commission’s muscle-flexing serves no purpose because corruption at the port is no longer a major issue, and that there are several agencies policing it. The legislator, State Senator Raymond Lesniak, said that he would introduce a bill on Thursday to abolish the commission and turn its duties over to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Those two states created the commission in 1953, after investigations uncovered organized crime influence on the docks, theft, and longshoremen being forced to pay kickbacks to get work — conditions that inspired the 1954 film “On the Waterfront.” In recent years, the commission itself became a nest of corruption, as documented last year by the Inspector General of New York, Joseph Fisch. That investigation led to the replacement of its top officials, including both commissioners. The commission is required to look into the background and integrity of more than 60 freight-handling, or “stevedoring,” companies, as well as individual longshoremen, before licensing them to work on the docks. But Walter Arsenault, the commission’s executive director, said on Wednesday that for at least a decade, until this year, the agency’s checks on dock workers were so lax as to be almost meaningless. Rather than really look into the companies, Mr. Arsenault said, the commission simply gave them temporary licenses that were renewed as a matter of routine. He said he could not say how long it had been since a company had earned a long-term license, because “There’s nobody at the commission who remembers when it was last done.” In addition to more rigorous screening of people and companies, the commission has proposed that if a company is found unfit, it can operate only if it hires a monitor from a list of people named by the commission. Mr. Arsenault said he could not claim that the longshoremen accused by federal prosecutors of helping smuggle more than a ton of cocaine would have been weeded out by the new licensing regimen, but he noted that the commission took part in the investigation, and suspended the men’s licenses as soon as they were charged. But Senator Lesniak, a Democrat, said, “The Waterfront Commission right now is just trying to justify their own existence.” Referring to the report by Mr. Fisch last year, Mr. Lesniak said of the commission, “they were cited for being corrupt, themselves.” But Mr. Fisch said: “The Waterfront Commission of today nowhere resembles the Waterfront Commission that my office investigated. They have professionalized the office. I think it’s unwise to even consider eliminating the Waterfront Commission without affording this crew an opportunity to show what they can do.” Officials of the International Longshoremen’s Association and several of its locals either declined to comment on Wednesday or were unavailable for comment. But some of them spoke against the changes at the commission, and even questioned the need for it, at a hearing held by Mr. Lesniak two weeks ago. Harold J. Daggett, executive vice president of the union, said of the plan to install monitors at questionable companies — at those companies’ expense — “plain and simple, this is a tax on jobs” that “further jeopardizes the competitive balance of this port region against others.” Mr. Arsenault said that in all likelihood, few of the companies would be required to have monitors. He also noted that over the years, elements of the union have been linked to the Genovese and Gambino crime families.
|
Smuggling;Labor and Jobs;Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor;Lesniak Raymond;Fisch Joseph;Port of New York
|
ny0055315
|
[
"us"
] |
2014/07/25
|
Political Appointments, Kind of Like High School
|
Ross Ramsey, the executive editor of The Texas Tribune, writes a column for The Tribune. Some legislatures base committee assignments — who gets to serve on which panel, who gets the controlling middle seat and so forth — on seniority or party. In Texas, while there are some provisions for seniority and whatnot, committee assignments are ultimately up to the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the House. Assignments are subject to fiat and caprice and power politics, in other words — something like the folkways you came to love or hate in the pecking order back in high school. Good assignments make senators important. Bad ones can undermine their mojo for years. Now, a combination of early resignations and new assignments has complicated things in the Senate, giving big jobs to legislators who have to wait six months before they know whether they will still hold the positions. They’ve got power, but they are temps. The committee lineups will be set again at the beginning of the regular session in January. But there has been a burst of activity this summer, particularly in the Senate. House Speaker Joe Straus , Republican of San Antonio, filled a couple of gaps out of necessity, but Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst , a lame duck, took one last shot at reshaping the Senate, shuffling assignments and making changes that could arguably have been left to his successor. Of the two main contenders for his job, Dan Patrick — the Republican who defeated Mr. Dewhurst this year in a runoff — would love to hand control of the committees to the conservatives whose politics match up closest with his own. The other candidate, Leticia Van de Putte , would be expected to put more of her fellow Democrats in control with a couple of moderate Republicans tossed in for spice, if only because there aren’t enough Democrats to go around. Those chances will come in January. Mr. Dewhurst raised the stakes by naming people to jobs that they will hold for only six months, and only while the Legislature is mostly idle. The Senate is a smaller body — with 31 members to the House’s 150 — and each empty seat leaves a more significant hole. For instance, two Republican state senators, Tommy Williams and Robert Duncan , have resigned, the former to become a vice chancellor for the Texas A&M University System and the latter to become the chancellor of the Texas Tech University System. Their exits have left two major committees, Finance and State Affairs , leaderless and opened two seats on the 10-member Legislative Budget Board . Finance writes the state budget, a process already well underway in advance of the legislative session. State Affairs handles general but major state issues, and could safely have been left without a leader until the session. But the budget board’s powers peak when the full Legislature is absent — when the state needs to make spending decisions that normally would be the province of the House and Senate. Really big stuff still requires everyone, but adjustments and surprises — moving money around to allow the State Police to put $1.3 million a week into border security, for instance — are handled by the budget board. The board will also vote before the year’s end on the rate of growth allowed in the next state budget — on how much the Legislature can spend without a supermajority vote. That growth number figures heavily into both practical and partisan calculations of what the state ought to be doing and what it ought to be spending over the next two years. Mr. Dewhurst added three Republicans to the panel this summer, replacing Mr. Duncan and Mr. Williams and sacking Senator Judith Zaffirini , a Democrat, to put a Republican in her place. Mr. Straus’s budget board appointees remain in office, but three of them will not return after the elections. He replaced them without touching their other assignments. Mr. Straus said this month that he had not given committees any real thought and would not do so until after the elections. Mr. Dewhurst, who will leave office in January, showed no such restraint. He assigned new chairmen to three other committees, forcing his successor to accept his choices or to alienate colleagues who just won temporary promotions. It is a subtle difference but, in a chamber that runs on relationships, an important one. Just the way it was in high school.
|
Texas;State legislature;David Dewhurst;Joseph R Straus III;Leticia Van de Putte;Judith Zaffirini;San Antonio
|
ny0089722
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2015/09/21
|
Lawmakers Seek National Park in Honor of Stonewall
|
Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand of New York and Representative Jerrold Nadler of Manhattan unveiled a campaign on Sunday to create a national park honoring the Stonewall uprising , vowing that they would mount a petition drive urging President Obama to grant protected status to the site of a pivotal early clash in the movement for gay equality. Standing in front of Christopher Park, the narrow green wedge opposite the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, and flanked by nearly a dozen government officials and activists, the two lawmakers said they would introduce legislation for a national park there. But both Ms. Gillibrand and Mr. Nadler, both Democrats, said success was far more likely to come through presidential fiat than by an act of the Republican-controlled Congress. “We must have federal recognition of the L.G.B.T. movement’s history and origins and ensure that this piece of L.G.B.T. history is preserved for future generations,” Mr. Nadler said. Without presidential action, he said, the park proposal would face “a long and uncertain road, as so many things are in Congress today.” The Stonewall Inn, where bar patrons resisted a 1969 police raid and helped touch off a more aggressive phase of the fight for gay rights, has already been designated as a landmark by New York City. But Ms. Gillibrand said a federal park at the site would help give proper recognition to the gay rights movement. She compared the proposed monument to the Women’s Rights national historical park in Seneca Falls, N.Y., which honors the movement for women’s equality, and the Selma-to-Montgomery national historic trail , which commemorates the 1965 march for black civil rights. A host of senior New York Democrats have endorsed the campaign for a national park at Stonewall, including Mayor Bill de Blasio and Senator Chuck Schumer. The White House has not yet indicated its view of the Stonewall park proposal and did not do so over the weekend. Organizers acknowledged that there were thorny questions that must still be worked out even before Mr. Obama could take action. Neither the Stonewall Inn nor Christopher Park is currently owned by the federal government. That would have to change in order for any portion of the area to become a national park. The National Parks Conservation Association , the leading group backing the push for a Stonewall Park, indicated in a news release that Christopher Park and the facade of the Stonewall Inn — rather than the rest of its structure — would be the most important components of any protected site. Mr. Nadler said the National Park Service was actively considering options for the site and had been “very receptive” to overtures so far. The congressman said he was hopeful for federal action before Mr. Obama leaves office, though he noted that Democratic presidential candidates, including Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, would likely be supportive. “I am sure that Hillary or Bernie or any of those people would be eager to support it,” Mr. Nadler said. “But hopefully it’ll be done when President Obama’s still in office. Hopefully, he’ll be here to inaugurate it.” The Stonewall Inn has taken on fresh symbolism in recent months after the Supreme Court’s June decision in Obergefell v. Hodges recognized a constitutional right to same-sex marriage . Thousands of New Yorkers flocked to the bar and its environs to celebrate the decision . Two days after the court’s ruling — hours before the city’s gay pride parade would pass in front of the Stonewall Inn — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo officiated at the wedding of two men outside the bar. Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, a Manhattan Democrat, cited the June celebrations in her remarks endorsing a national park there on Sunday. “When that decision came down, all of us instinctively ran to Stonewall,” she said, adding: “I would say it is already a historic landmark. We just need government to catch up with the people.” Councilman Corey Johnson, who represents the neighborhood around the Stonewall Inn, voiced a similar sense of inevitability. “For us to be here today to work towards achieving monument status for this special place, I think, shows how far we’ve come,” Mr. Johnson said. “But also, I’m frankly shocked that it hasn’t happened already.”
|
Gay and Lesbian LGBT;Stonewall Inn;Greenwich Village Manhattan;Historic preservation;Kirsten E Gillibrand;Jerrold Nadler;Stonewall riots;National Park Service
|
ny0068368
|
[
"us"
] |
2014/12/19
|
Ex-Governor of Alabama Is Denied Release From Prison in Bribery Case
|
A federal judge on Thursday refused to release Don E. Siegelman, the former governor of Alabama, from prison as he continues to appeal a prosecution that Republicans say exposed pervasive corruption in state government but Democrats regard as a case pursued for political retribution. The decision by the judge, Clay D. Land, was a defeat for Mr. Siegelman, whose lawyers contended that he should be free while a federal appeals court again considers his case. Judge Land’s ruling came after he heard about an hour of oral arguments on Monday in Montgomery, the state capital, as Mr. Siegelman looked on, his wrists and ankles manacled. “Although defendant raises significant issues that deserve serious consideration, it is this court’s judgment that the Court of Appeals is unlikely to resolve those issues in a manner that would likely result in a new trial or in a reduced sentence to a term of imprisonment less than the total of the time already served plus the expected duration of the appeal process,” Judge Land wrote in a 31-page decision . In an email on Thursday night, a lawyer for Mr. Siegelman, Gregory B. Craig, said he intends to “renew our request” for the former governor’s release early next year before the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The judge’s ruling was the latest milestone in a case that, for more than nine years, has bounced among federal courts in Montgomery, Atlanta and Washington. Mr. Siegelman’s conviction in June 2006 of charges that included bribery and honest services fraud stemmed from $500,000 in contributions he received from Richard S. Scrushy, the chief executive of HealthSouth Corporation, for his effort to create a state lottery. In exchange, prosecutors said, Mr. Siegelman agreed to name Mr. Scrushy, once one of the most powerful businessmen in Alabama, to a regulatory board on which he had long sat. Mr. Siegelman and his lawyers said the sequence of events was a common one at the highest levels of American politics, but jurors were persuaded otherwise during a trial. Mr. Siegelman was sentenced to more than seven years in prison; that punishment was later reduced on appeal to 78 months. He is currently scheduled for release in August 2017. But Mr. Siegelman has not abandoned his push for vindication after what he condemned as a political prosecution, and the 11th Circuit is expected to hear his case again in mid-January. Mr. Siegelman’s latest appeal focuses in part on claims of misconduct by Leura Canary, who was President George W. Bush’s nominee for United States attorney for the Middle District of Alabama. Ms. Canary, whose husband is active in Republican politics, ultimately recused herself from the prosecution, but Mr. Siegelman’s lawyers have said her actions were incompatible with those of a prosecutor who had stepped aside. On Monday, a Justice Department lawyer, John-Alex Romano, told Judge Land that Ms. Canary had acted appropriately. By Thursday morning, Judge Land wrote that Mr. Siegelman’s “appeal regarding his prosecutorial misconduct claim does not raise substantial questions that would likely result in a new trial.” The 11th Circuit has repeatedly postponed oral arguments in Mr. Siegelman’s case, which gave rise to his request for release. “Release is particularly warranted given the lengthy and repeated delays that have prolonged and prevented final adjudication of Siegelman’s appeals,” defense lawyers wrote in an October court filing. Federal prosecutors opposed Mr. Siegelman’s request because, they said in a court filing, “none of his claims, if decided favorably to him, is likely to result in reversal, a new trial or a prison sentence that is less than time served, plus the expected duration of the appeal process.” Mr. Siegelman had previously been successful in winning release while an appeal was pending . In 2008, the 11th Circuit said he could be released while his case was under consideration. Once that appeal was resolved and the former governor was resentenced, he returned to a federal prison in Oakdale, La.
|
Donald E Siegelman;Alabama;Criminal Sentence;Corruption
|
ny0221392
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2010/02/06
|
Four British Lawmakers Charged Over Expenses
|
LONDON — In the latest twist of a scandal that has stained the reputation of British Parliament members with claims of widespread fraud on their expense accounts , the country’s chief prosecutor said Friday that criminal charges, including false accounting, would be brought against four legislators. The announcement, by Keir Starmer , the director of public prosecutions, was made after 392 current and former legislators were ordered Thursday to repay the equivalent of $1.7 million, a small amount by the standards of, say, bankers’ bonuses, but enough to add to the continuing embarrassment for Parliament. Led by The Telegraph , newspapers last year regaled their readers with articles about legislators’ use of their parliamentary expense accounts for questionable mortgage payments and items like a floating house for pet ducks and repairs to a clock tower at a country mansion. For many Britons, the expenditures created an impression of profligacy when many taxpayers were reeling from the global financial crisis and a recession from which Britain has only just emerged. Investigators’ files on six legislators were sent to the Crown Prosecution Service by the police late last year. Mr. Starmer identified the legislators to be charged as three members of the House of Commons from the governing Labour Party — Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine — and a peer from the opposition Conservatives in the House of Lords, Lord Hanningfield. In a joint statement, the three Commons members said they were “clearly extremely disappointed” at the prosecutor’s action and insisted on their innocence. “We totally refute any charges that we have committed an offense and we will defend our position robustly,” they said. The prosecutor said that one case was still being investigated, and that there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against a second peer, Lord Clarke of Hampstead. The development came one day after Sir Thomas Legg, who conducted a formal audit into legislators’ expense claims in recent years, called the system under which they made their claims “deeply flawed.” In theory, the system was devised to help legislators pay the costs of maintaining homes in their sometimes remote electoral districts along with accommodations near Parliament in London. Mr. Starmer said lawyers representing the four who were charged had asked whether their clients would be protected by parliamentary privilege. “We have considered that question and concluded that the applicability and extent of any parliamentary privilege claimed should be tested in court,” Mr. Starmer said. The legislators are accused of claiming tens of thousands of dollars more than they were entitled to, including in some cases sums claimed for rent or mortgages on properties they owned outright. The Labour Party said in a statement that all three members of the Commons identified by the public prosecutor had already been barred from running in the next elections. “The Labour Government has swept away the old, discredited expenses system and introduced a new transparent regime,” the party said. “The Labour Party has zero tolerance for criminal behavior and will take the strongest possible disciplinary action against any party member found guilty of breaking the law.” Lord Hanningfield, the Conservative peer, said he had resigned his position as a business spokesman in the House of Lords, as demanded by David Cameron, the Conservative leader. But Lord Hanningfield, too, denied any wrongdoing, and vowed to clear his name in the courts.
|
Great Britain;Expense Accounts;Legislatures and Parliaments;Politics and Government
|
ny0203404
|
[
"world",
"asia"
] |
2009/08/31
|
Myanmar Army Routs Ethnic Chinese Rebels in the North
|
BANGKOK — The Myanmar military has overwhelmed rebels from an ethnic Chinese minority in the northern reaches of the country, the junta’s second victory over armed opponents in three months. The routing over the weekend of the forces of the small, Chinese-speaking Kokang ethnic group gives Myanmar’s governing generals momentum in their campaign to quell armed opposition before elections and the adoption of a new Constitution next year. Several well-armed groups, notably the Wa and Kachin, still stand in the way of the junta’s goal of complete control over the country. But a recently announced agreement of solidarity among the rebel groups, which had the potential to slow the central government’s advance against the Kokang, may be fraying. The Myanmar government’s strategy, analysts say, appears to be to challenge the groups one by one and to try to capitalize on the many factions within each group. In June, the military defeated ethnic Karen insurgents along the border with Thailand, aided by a local militia of Karen Buddhists who led an attack on forces that were largely made up of Karen Christians. To defeat the Kokang, the small ethnic group in the north, the junta allied itself with a defector and chased out troops loyal to the Kokang’s chairman, Peng Jiasheng. A force of 2,000 Wa soldiers had initially come to the assistance of the Kokang, but they retreated Friday, according to Aung Kyaw Zaw, a former rebel based on the Chinese side of the border. This appeared to undercut a mutual-assistance agreement that the rebel groups reached several weeks ago. Late on Sunday, Myanmar’s official media broke their silence on the fighting with a television broadcast announcing that clashes had ended and providing what appeared to be a preliminary death toll of 26 members of government security forces and 8 Kokang militiamen, The Associated Press reported. “The region has now regained peace,” the official announcement said. Chinese state media said that two Chinese citizens had also been killed in the fighting. News services reported from southern China that Kokang forces were continuing to flee across the border into China on Sunday on the heels of what United Nations and Chinese officials estimated were as many as 30,000 civilian refugees . Nearly half the estimated 1,500 members of the Kokang militia have crossed the border and handed their weapons to the Chinese authorities, according to Mr. Aung Kyaw Zaw. The central government’s assaults on the Kokang, which began last week, have put other ethnic groups on alert, according to Brang Lai, a local official in the Kachin headquarters in Laiza, along the Chinese border. “People are very concerned,” Mr. Brang Lai said in a telephone interview. On the Chinese side of Laiza, residents have put Chinese flags on their roofs in the hope that they will be able to avoid any additional fighting. Officers from the Myanmar military’s Northern Division were in Laiza over the weekend to call for calm, Mr. Brang Lai said. Followers of Mr. Peng, the Kokang’s chairman, were spotted by reporters on the Chinese side of the border buying civilian clothes to replace their militia uniforms. “There was no way we would win,” Ri Chenchuan, a Kokang rebel, said as he shopped for new clothes, The A.P. reported. The Myanmar government has signed more than a dozen cease-fire agreements with ethnic groups over the past two decades, but the fighting with the Kokang raised questions about the military’s intentions. Aung Din, executive director of the United States Campaign for Burma , an advocacy group that opposes the junta, said the generals apparently had adopted a more aggressive posture, partly influenced by the Sri Lankan government’s military victory over Tamil rebels in May. Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, met with Myanmar’s generals in June in what was his first overseas trip after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers. The visit might have inspired Myanmar’s senior general, Than Shwe, who has spent much of his military career battling ethnic groups, Mr. Aung Din said. “It was an encouragement to the regime to do away with the insurgency once and for all,” Mr. Aung Din said. “Their thinking has changed.” The motives and strategies of Myanmar’s leaders have long been difficult to divine. General Than Shwe is a very secretive man and the state-run media are highly selective in their reporting. The report on Sunday evening was the first time they had mentioned the campaign against the Kokang. The fighting appears to have strained Myanmar’s relations with China, especially since the Kokang are ethnically Chinese. The Chinese Foreign Ministry warned Myanmar on Friday to “properly handle domestic problems and maintain stability in the China-Myanmar border region.” Analysts said that the Chinese government had asked Myanmar’s generals to refrain from initiating military campaigns before the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic on Oct. 1. In that light, China could view Myanmar’s campaign as provocative, especially since China is a large investor in Myanmar and plays the role of the junta’s protective big brother in the United Nations and other international forums. Mr. Aung Kyaw Zaw said he suspected that the Myanmar generals wanted to demonstrate their independence to Chinese leaders. Their message, he said, is that “if we want to fight along the border, we can fight.” “This is a political game,” he added.
|
Myanmar;Civil War and Guerrilla Warfare;Minorities;China;Refugees
|
ny0090566
|
[
"sports",
"soccer"
] |
2015/09/23
|
Live and Kicking: Soccer Games to Watch This Week
|
Two games a week is going to be the norm for all the big clubs now, with domestic cups rearing their heads to join league and European matches on the cluttered calendar. Here’s what you should watch this week: Bundesliga The highlight of the busy workweek is Bayern Munich hosting Wolfsburg in a Bundesliga matchup of Champions League teams on Tuesday (2 p.m., Eastern time, Fox Sports 1). Bayern is tied with Dortmund atop the Bundesliga table (trailing only on goal difference), and Wolfsburg is right behind in third, but none of the teams has lost a game yet. Premier League Tottenham will try to slow Manchester City’s momentum in Saturday’s early game (7:45 a.m., NBCSN), while Chelsea’s figures to continue onward since it faces Newcastle (12:30 p.m., NBCSN). The Magpies, winless and buried near the bottom of the standings, could not beat a dusty rug right now. The race in the West is a tight one, so dropped points over the next month could have serious consequences. Major League Soccer M.L.S. begins its stretch run toward the playoffs with a national television triple-header on Sunday featuring most of the Western Conference: Sporting Kansas City-Seattle on ESPN at 5 p.m., followed by San Jose-Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles-Dallas on Fox Sports 1. Best of the Rest CSKA Moscow hosts its (secondary) city rival Lokomotiv in a 1-vs.-2 clash in Russia’s Premier League on Saturday morning. (That’s Army versus Railway in old Soviet shorthand.) CSKA is 5 points clear in first place, so it will remain there regardless of the result, and the game is only available in the United States via NGSN’s streaming service. But an old-school Moscow derby is surely worth a look. ... Internazionale, the surprise early leader in Italy, hosts third-place Fiorentina on Sunday (2:45 p.m., beIN) in Serie A. ... And Ajax, the greatest club in the world and one you should consider supporting, sandwiches a league game against midtable Groningen on Saturday (1:45 p.m., Univision Deportes, NGSN) between a midweek Dutch Cup game and a Europa League trip next week.
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Soccer;UEFA Champions League;Premier League
|
ny0130141
|
[
"world",
"africa"
] |
2012/06/15
|
International Criminal Court Workers Held in Libya
|
PARIS — Despite pressure from international courts, NATO and rights groups, the Libyan authorities who are detaining a lawyer from the International Criminal Court and three members of the court’s staff say they will not be released until the lawyer answers questions about her dealings with Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi , a son of the former dictator, a Libyan official in Tripoli said. The lawyer, Melinda Taylor, and her three associates have been held under house arrest since last Thursday in the town of Zintan, where Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s son is held captive by militia fighters operating largely independently of the Libyan central government. The militia captured the son in the desert last November and has been holding him since then, awaiting an agreement on where he will be tried on a host of charges. The four, who were sent by the International Criminal Court to visit Mr. Qaddafi by arrangement with his captors, are accused by the militia of bringing along suspicious documents and a camera disguised as a pen. “Ms. Taylor had brought letters for Seif from two different people, dangerous people who are supporters of the old regime, and she had a page with drawings that looked like codes,” said Ahmed al-Gehani, a Libyan lawyer who accompanied the group to Zintan as the government’s liaison official for the court. He said Ms. Taylor had tried to leave the meeting with “three blank pages that were signed by Seif.” All these things “raised suspicions,” he said. The attorney general of Libya , Abdulaziz Hassadi, said he had decided that two of the detainees could be held for up to 45 days awaiting the results of his inquiry into possible “threats to national security.” The detention of Ms. Taylor and her colleagues in Zintan came as a shock in The Hague, where several international courts are based, including the International Criminal Court. Judge Sang-hyun Song, the president of the court, issued a demand that the group be freed immediately. “These four international civil servants have immunity when on an official I.C.C. mission,” he said. Lawyers, activists and the government of Australia, where Ms. Taylor is a citizen, have also demanded their release. Ms. Taylor’s husband, Geoff Roberts, who is also a lawyer in The Hague, dismissed suggestions of wrongdoing by his wife. “She is very aware of her ethical responsibility as a lawyer, both to her court and to her client,” he said. The court in The Hague indicted Mr. Qaddafi before the fall of his father’s government for crimes against humanity committed during protests against his father’s rule. Libya’s new authorities have said they want to try Mr. Qaddafi at home rather than hand him over to The Hague, but the international court said it could not drop its case until Libya showed that it was willing and able to prosecute him in a fair trial. Ms. Taylor, who works in the court’s office of public defense, was appointed to act as one of two interim lawyers for Mr. Qaddafi. She was traveling with an interpreter, Helene Assaf, from Lebanon. The court said the other two in the party — Alexander Khodakov, a former Russian diplomat, and Esteban Losilla, a Spanish lawyer — were sent to find out whether Mr. Qaddafi wanted counsel of his own choosing. Mr. Gehani, the Libyan government liaison, said that Mr. Khodakov and Mr. Losilla had been told they were free to leave Zintan, but that they had chosen to stay “to give moral support” to Ms. Taylor and Ms. Assaf. Ms. Taylor and her party were detained, he said, because “she had not wanted to answer any questions — this has been the problem from the start.”
|
Libya;Qaddafi Seif al-Islam el-;International Criminal Court;Taylor Melinda;Detainees;Middle East and North Africa Unrest (2010- )
|
ny0003189
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2013/04/04
|
Clashes Resume Across Israel-Gaza Border
|
JERUSALEM — Israeli-Palestinian tensions rose sharply on Wednesday, with a resumption of clashes at the Gaza border as Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails declared a three-day hunger strike to protest a fellow inmate’s death , saying Israel was responsible. In response to rockets fired from Gaza into southern Israel, apparently in support of the Palestinian prisoners, the Israeli military said it carried out an airstrike in Gaza late Tuesday night, its first since a cease-fire that ended eight days of fierce cross-border fighting in November. Warplanes struck two open areas in northern Gaza, causing no damage or casualties, the military said. Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, called the airstrikes a clear violation of the cease-fire. “We call on international parties to intervene immediately to end the Israeli escalation and also the violations against the prisoners,” he said in a statement. The rocket fire from Gaza was the third such violation of the cease-fire brokered by Egypt in November, evidence of its fragility. There have also been several episodes of Israeli gunfire directed at fishermen and farmers approaching newly relaxed security perimeters, sometimes with deadly consequences. An Islamic extremist group in Gaza, the Mujahedeen Shura Council — Environs of Jerusalem, claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, saying in a statement that it was in support of the Palestinians held by Israel. The group criticized other Palestinian factions for their inaction on the prisoner issue. On Wednesday morning, Gaza militants fired two more rockets into southern Israel. One landed at the entrance of the Israeli border town of Sderot, according to the police, and the other fell on open ground. No one was hurt. The death of the prisoner has also stirred unrest in the West Bank. On Wednesday night, a Palestinian youth was fatally shot and three others were wounded in a clash with Israeli soldiers near the West Bank town of Tulkarem, according to Palestinian news reports. The Israeli military said that several Palestinians had attacked a military post with firebombs and that soldiers responded with live fire. A spokeswoman said the episode was being reviewed. The United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Robert H. Serry, called the situation volatile and said it was “of paramount importance to refrain from violence in this tense atmosphere and for parties to work constructively in addressing the underlying issues.” Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon of Israel said in a statement on Wednesday, “We will not allow shooting of any sort, even sporadic, toward our citizens and our forces.” He added, “As soon as we identify the source of the fire, we will take it down without hesitation, as we did last night and in previous cases.” But analysts said that neither Israel nor Hamas appeared eager to escalate the situation and that both sides were acting to restore the calm. The highly charged issue of Palestinian prisoners came to the fore again after the Palestinian leadership accused Israel of deliberately delaying the treatment of the prisoner who died, Maysara Abu Hamdiya, 64. He had received a diagnosis of throat cancer two months ago and died in an Israeli hospital on Tuesday. Mr. Hamdiya, a resident of the West Bank city of Hebron and a retired general in the Palestinian Authority security services, was detained by Israel in 2002, at the height of the second Palestinian uprising, and was serving a life term for attempted murder after sending a suicide bomber to a cafe in Jerusalem, Israeli officials said. The bomb failed to detonate. Mr. Hamdiya’s death came amid efforts by the Western-backed Palestinian leadership to place the prisoner issue high on the diplomatic agenda, with Secretary of State John Kerry expected in the region next week to press for a renewal of peace talks. Emotions over the prisoner issue have been running high among Palestinians in recent months, leading to protests in support of prisoners on hunger strikes and over the death of a prisoner in February under disputed circumstances . Israel’s Ministry of Health said in a statement that an autopsy, held on Wednesday in the presence of a Palestinian expert of forensic medicine, showed that Mr. Hamdiya had died from complications of cancer and noted that he had been a heavy smoker, a factor that it said contributed to throat cancer. The Palestinian Authority distributed a copy of an affidavit that it said was signed by Mr. Hamdiya’s lawyer, Rami Alami, who visited him in jail on March 12. Mr. Alami said he found Mr. Hamdiya to be tired and weak and unable to walk without help.
|
Israel;Palestinians;Gaza Strip;Hunger strike;Hamas;Prison
|
ny0092915
|
[
"sports",
"ncaafootball"
] |
2015/08/30
|
Illinois to Broadcast Games in Chinese
|
A surge in students from China has prompted the University of Illinois to schedule Chinese-language broadcasts of its football games. The News-Gazette in Champaign, Ill., reported that the broadcasts will begin Friday when the Illini open their season at home against Kent State. University officials said the broadcasts will offer traditional play-by-play coverage as well as basic explanations of a game that is probably unfamiliar to many of the listeners.
|
College football;TV;University of Illinois
|
ny0159025
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2008/12/30
|
City to Pay Doctors to Contribute to Database
|
For Dr. Harvey Benovitz, who graduated from medical school in 1962, it is as profound a shift in the way he treats patients as advances in diabetes drugs. Instead of jotting down notes on charts and filling out prescriptions in his small, meticulous handwriting, Dr. Benovitz, whose patients have always thought of him as a reassuringly old-fashioned internist, tapped a patient’s blood pressure and other vitals into a laptop next to the examining table during a checkup the other day. Not only will this new electronic record-keeping system eliminate the rows upon rows of bursting manila folders stuffed into what could be another examination room in the back of Dr. Benovitz’s cramped office on the Upper West Side. It allows him to compare the patient’s blood pressure management with all his other patients’ — and with those in hundreds of private medical practices across New York City. Dr. Benovitz is among about 1,000 primary-care physicians who have given up their doctor’s pens over the past year to collect the smallest details of their patients’ lives in a database as part of a $60 million city health department project. Experts say it is the most ambitious government effort nationwide to harness electronic data for public-health goals like monitoring disease frequency, cancer screening and substance abuse . It follows the Bloomberg administration’s aggressive focus on everyday health concerns — which has included startling anti- smoking advertisements in subways and requirements that chain restaurants post calorie counts — and frequent use of statistics to drive public policy on crime, homelessness and other issues. And echoing the city’s cash-incentive experiments in the school system, the health department will soon start offering doctors bonuses of perhaps $100 for each patient who hits specified targets like controlling blood pressure or cholesterol , up to $20,000 for each doctor. In April, the city will begin sending participating doctors report cards on how their preventive efforts compare to their peers’ (only the individual doctor being rated will be named, and the rankings will not be public). A prototype was used in 2007 to send electronic messages warning physicians in the Bronx of an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease. And the city is currently using the system to track the spread of flu infection in New York City in real time — a much more accurate gauge, doctors say, than a Web tool being developed by Google. Health maintenance organizations, clinics and hospitals here and elsewhere already use electronic records to communicate; Kaiser Permanente, the giant California H.M.O., has a system much like New York’s. Perhaps the one most similar to New York’s initiative is a demonstration project of the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative that links doctors in three small suburban and rural communities. But New York is trying to connect the vast majority of medical practices, which have 10 or fewer doctors, particularly in poorer neighborhoods, in hopes that providing them access to a broader base of patient information — and ranking their performance against their peers — will help them make strides in preventive medicine . The health department is providing subsidies for doctors to subscribe to the system and teams of trainers to support the transition; so far, more than 1 in 10 of the city’s estimated 10,000 primary-care doctors have started using the system, and an additional 500 are in the pipeline. “We know that at these fancy schmancy systems, they can do these things. But here in New York, we’re trying to do this for the storefront in Harlem,” said Dr. Farzad Mostashari, a health department epidemiologist who is spearheading the New York effort. “As of now, about 2 percent of solo and small practices have electronic health records. This is really hard stuff to do. We have boots on the ground.” Dr. Mostashari said New York’s system had already attracted interest from President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team; Mr. Obama pledged during his campaign to spend $50 billion over five years on electronic health records. The system, custom-designed for New York by a Massachusetts company, eClinicalWorks, would cost a typical doctor’s office $45,000 to implement, but city subsidies reduce that to $24,000 for practices with at least 10 percent of their patients on Medicaid or uninsured; those in neighborhoods with the highest poverty rate pay $10,000. The health department is also putting together groups of doctors to share services like calling or sending text messages to patients to remind them of follow-up visits. The health department has marketed the program most aggressively in three of the city’s poorest areas — Harlem, the South Bronx and central Brooklyn — sending employees to visit every doctor’s office in an effort to enroll them. Particularly for less experienced doctors, the system provides what Dr. Jesse Singer, a health department records expert, described as CliffsNotes-style advice on how to handle medical problems based on a patient’s age, sex, ethnic background and medical history. It prompts doctors to provide routine tests and vaccinations , advises them on appropriate treatment and medication for certain conditions, and warns of potentially dangerous drug interactions. To demonstrate, Dr. Singer created a fictional case of a 66-year-old woman with diabetes and a blood pressure of 145/90. The system flagged her blood pressure as too high and offered a pop-up box recommending treatment options. Dr. Singer could then fill out an electronic prescription, which could be printed or transmitted automatically to participating pharmacies. Two or three weeks later, the data system would prompt the doctor to check whether the patient had filled the prescription, providing boxes to record “compliant” or “noncompliant.” Later, at a glance, doctors can look at how their overall patient base or certain groups are doing on measures like filling prescriptions — studies show that up to 50 percent of all prescriptions are not filled. The system of tracking issues like diet and medication can be overridden if, for instance, a diabetic patient’s husband is sick and the doctor gives her permission to eat ice cream with him. The software designers found that doctors get annoyed by too many pop-up boxes, and has tried to give them the ability to suppress features they do not like. But, Dr. Singer said, “We can tell if the doctor clicks ‘never mind’ for every patient.” Last week, Vicky Gianoukakis pored over billing records at Twilight Medical in Washington Heights, the practice that her husband, Nicholas Gianoukakis — Dr. Nick to his patients — started earlier this year. Two employees from the health department were on hand to troubleshoot. When a patient did not have money for a co-pay, the computer flashed a tiny red flag that would pop up as a reminder the next time that patient came in. A different alert came up when an insurance company declined coverage of a physical. Dr. Gianoukakis is one of five doctors in the city so far who have agreed to allow patients to use the data system from their home computers. They can request appointments electronically, check lab results or chart how well they are doing in, for instance, controlling cholesterol, blood pressure or blood sugar. “It’s their records,” Ms. Gianoukakis said. “Shouldn’t they know what’s going on?” Many in the medical world have long chafed at the notion that patients should not see their charts, and city health officials see the interactivity as a potentially powerful tool to push patients to take more responsibility for their well-being. Just seeing a readout of their vitals at various intervals could help, Dr. Singer said. Dr. Gianoukakis is still wrestling with some of the particulars: He is inclined to continue delivering bad news in person, for example, even if routine results come across by electronic message. One of the city’s goals is for the data system to serve as both incentive and support for doctors increasing their focus on what the health commissioner, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, calls the ABCS of preventive medicine: Aspirin (to prevent heart attacks), Blood pressure, Cholesterol and Smoking. Right now, Dr. Frieden said, health care is too much like shoe shopping: If you go to the office (or store), someone will ask, “May I help you?” But if you do not go, all too often no one will notice. As for Dr. Benovitz, he said that if the city had not recruited him, he would still be using paper charts, which had a comforting tangibility, a record of life that could be held in his hand and paged through like a book. But he was happy to invest the roughly $40,000 over three years to implement the project in exchange for the city’s expert advice, though it has temporarily slowed him down, with two patients filling the time in which he used to see three. “I think it should improve quality of care,” he said of the city’s data mining, noting that “there are so many assumptions we have that are later disproven.” And he is not afraid of being ranked: “Being told that I am subpar in a given area can only improve my performance, which is fine.”
|
Medicine and Health;Archives and Records;Computers and the Internet;Doctors;Preventive Medicine
|
ny0272204
|
[
"sports",
"autoracing"
] |
2016/05/28
|
A Survivor’s Lone Grand Prix Victory
|
At the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend, it’s not only in the team garages that spectators can get a close-up look at a Formula One car. At the Monte-Carlo Casino, a historic Ligier JS 43 Mugen-Honda is on display. In 1996, it was one of only three cars to cross the finish line in one of the craziest races in the history of the series. It is also the car that crossed the finish line first, handing the French driver Olivier Panis his only Grand Prix victory in 10 seasons in the series. No Frenchman has won a Formula One race since. But the story of that strangest of races is only partly about the superb drive by the Frenchman. Panis took advantage of every opportunity available on a wet track, moving up from 14th position on the grid to victory. No previous winner in Monaco had started farther back than ninth position, and since 1985 none had started farther back than third. But the story in 1996 was also that so many drivers made so many errors. Monaco is Formula One’s most unforgiving circuit. The track is a narrow obstacle course winding through ancient streets. It has always had the reputation of resulting in processional races. But it also has the reputation of creating chaos. Until that 1996 race, it had already set the record for the least number of cars to finish a race, with six finishers five times, five finishers in 1968 and only four cars finishing in 1966, when Jackie Stewart won after new technical regulations had wreaked havoc. In 1996, Panis had a strong car and was expected to do well. It was only because of a problem with his engine during qualifying that he started on the 14th grid position. During the warm-up, he scored the fastest time. Although the Williams cars of Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve had won all of the five races up to Monaco that year, the pole position in Monaco went to the German Michael Schumacher, his first for his new Ferrari team. Schumacher, of course, would go on to become one of the best racers in Monaco, winning the race five times, equaling the number of victories by Graham Hill and just one victory behind Ayrton Senna’s record of six. Villeneuve, who was a rookie but had already won a race, could only qualify 10th, while Hill started second. The weekend had been dry until not long before the race. Then the rain was so severe that the Porsche support race was cancelled. For the Grand Prix, because there had been no running on a wet track all weekend, officials decided to allow a 15-minute warm-up in the wet just before the race. During that period, several drivers crashed and two of them destroyed their cars: Andrea Montermini in a Forti and Mika Hakkinen in a McLaren. Montermini was unable to take part in the race; Hakkinen used the spare McLaren car. So the race started with 21 of the 22 cars. On the first lap, Hill shot into the lead ahead of Schumacher. The German, who had a reputation as an expert in wet conditions, not only had a bad start, but halfway through the first lap he made a rare error and spun out of the race. Conditions were so bad that by the end of the first lap, five cars were out of the race, bringing the field down to 16. Hill took a huge 4.3-second lead after the first lap and expanded that to nearly 30 seconds ahead of the second-placed driver, Jean Alesi in a Benetton. The Benettons of Alesi and Gerhard Berger had started from the second row of the grid, but moved into second and third, with Eddie Irvine in the other Ferrari in fourth. Irvine was slow, and he had a line of eight cars bunched up behind him. Accidents continued further back, and other cars dropped out in various incidents. But Panis had been showing that he was at home on the Monaco circuit, passing several drivers, including Martin Brundle in a Jordan, Hakkinen, and Johnny Herbert in a Sauber, to find himself behind Irvine. He leapt on the inside at the Loews hairpin and passed Irvine, who hit the barriers, stopped and undid his seatbelts, only to get push started and resume the race. Now it was Panis’s Ligier team’s turn to do its part. Panis was called in for a pit stop and put on dry-weather tires at just the right moment. That allowed him to race at five seconds a lap faster than anyone else. He finally caught Irvine again on lap 35. Then, on lap 40, while Hill was leading Alesi by 30 seconds, the oil pump in his car’s Renault engine failed as he exited the tunnel. It was the first engine failure for Renault since 1993. Alesi took the lead. But after 20 more laps, his suspension failed and Panis took over. Meanwhile, Luca Badoer, in the other Forti, collided with Villeneuve at the Mirabeau corner, knocking both of them out of the race. To the end, Panis kept David Coulthard, driving the other McLaren, safely behind him in second. Herbert, who started 13th and had not passed a single car, finished third. “When I was handed the French flag, I couldn’t resist taking it,” recalled Panis, referring to how he drove the wind-down lap holding the banner. “Ever since seeing Alain Prost do it, I’ve always wanted to see it happen again.” “But,” he added, “who could imagine it would be my turn next?”
|
Monaco Grand Prix;Monaco;Formula One;Cars;Car Racing
|
ny0173956
|
[
"business"
] |
2007/10/11
|
Boeing Is Delaying Delivery of Its 787
|
The Boeing Company’s announcement yesterday that it would delay initial deliveries of the 787 Dreamliner by six months is a blow to a program that had been seen as the most successful in commercial aviation — a seemingly perfect blend of new technology, marketing and production line innovations. Yet, as the company’s stock fell below $100 a share yesterday, Boeing officials remained confident that the program remains on track for the long haul. Analysts as well saw the delay as more of a temporary setback, and not of the same magnitude as the problems that its rival, Airbus , has experienced in producing its superjumbo A380, which has also fallen behind schedule, but by two years. Boeing’s delivery delay was caused by the problems of Boeing’s global chain of suppliers in completing their work, as well as unanticipated difficulties in its flight-control software. This delivery delay comes after Boeing announced last month a three-month delay in the plane’s flight-test program caused, in part, by a worldwide shortage of fasteners that hold together the plane’s fuselage, wing and tail sections. “We are very disappointed over the schedule changes that we are announcing today,” said W. James McNerney Jr., Boeing’s chief executive. “Notwithstanding the challenges that we are experiencing in bringing forward this game-changing product, we remain confident in the design of the 787, and in the fundamental innovation and technologies that underpin it.” With 710 orders worth $100 billion from 50 airlines, the Dreamliner has been the fastest-selling commercial aircraft in history. It is also one of the most innovative. It is being made, in pieces, all over the world, with only the final assembly taking place at Boeing’s plant in Everett, Wash. Its fuselage will be the first to make extensive use of composite materials rather than traditional aluminum. It will use new energy-efficient engines, and its interior cabin is being designed to provide more humidity and bigger windows for passenger comfort. The first delivery of the planes, to All Nippon Airways of Japan, is now scheduled for late November or early December 2008, rather than the original date of May. The first test flight will take place at the end of March 2008, rather than at the end of this year, Boeing said. While Boeing said the delays would not lower the company’s earnings for this year or for 2008, the announcement was clearly a setback in the image of a program that had appeared to be nearly flawless in its execution. It also showed that Boeing, which had the program on a highly ambitious schedule, might have been overly optimistic about what it could deliver — and when. “Annoyance is the first word that comes to mind,” said Howard Rubel, an analyst with Jefferies & Company. “It’s annoying because they have done so many good things to get this program right. But this provides that the program is a little more complicated than they expected.” In a conference call with analysts, Mr. McNerney said that Boeing anticipated producing 109 Dreamliners through the end of 2009, three fewer than initially planned. When pressed by analysts over whether this new delivery schedule, in light of the supply chain problems, was still realistic, Mr. McNerney maintained that it was. “Recognizing that there is risk with any new airplane program,” Mr. McNerney said, “we still remain confident that this new plan is achievable and we are all aligned to make it happen.” Boeing’ shares fell $2.77, or 2.7 percent, $98.68. Scott Carson, head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said yesterday it was too early to determine what penalties Boeing might have to pay to customers as a result of the delay. “We have taken this into account in our financial models,” said Mr. Carson. “In some cases, our customers say, ‘We will work with you.’ Some will insist on some form of compensation.” One of the big American customers for the 787 is Northwest Airlines, which has orders for 18 Dreamliners and had expected to get its first planes in August 2008. The Dreamliner is central to Northwest’s plans to expand its international routes by more than 4 percent a year through 2010. But Ben Hirst, a Northwest spokesman, said a six-month delay would probably not hurt its plans. “A longer delay, obviously, we would have to recalibrate,” he said. Continental Airlines has 25 787s on order. The first one was expected in 2009 with deliveries continuing through 2013, said Dave Messing, a spokesman. “It’s too early to tell what impact, if any, Boeing’s announced 787 program delay will have on Continental,” he added. Continental has not determined whether the 787s will replace existing planes or add to its fleet, Mr. Messing said. Cai von Rumohr, an analyst with Cowen & Company, said that the delay gave Boeing that “chance to do it right” and added that it should not hurt Boeing in its competition with Airbus, which suffered after announcing a six-month delay in its A380 superjumbo jet in June 2006. It has also had problems in producing the A350. The A350, a midsize, wide-bodied plane, would compete directly with the 787 but is not expected to be available until 2013. “People got over the setbacks in the A380,” Mr. von Rumohr said. “They are not going to go to Airbus, whose plane is not going to be ready until 2013.” Production of the 787 is being spread to suppliers across the globe in an effort to cut costs and spread the financial risk involved in the program. Yet even with this new and far-flung production — as well as the new composite body — Boeing had planned for an ambitious test-flight program for the Dreamliner, scheduling just nine months from first flight until first delivery, two months less than the tests on its newest commercial plane, the 777. But Boeing maintained that the delay would provide the company with the breathing room to work out its supply chain problems and get the program back on schedule. “The reason we think we will meet the new timetable is the detailed bottoms-up planning that we have done to assure that we can make it,” Mr. McNerney said.
|
Boeing Co;Airbus Industrie;Airlines and Airplanes
|
ny0113781
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2012/11/29
|
Group May Sue Over Money Owed to Poor New York School Districts
|
ALBANY — Six years after New York’s highest court forced the state to substantially increase financing to poor school districts, the group that won that ruling is threatening a new lawsuit unless Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the Legislature come up with billions of extra dollars for those districts. Saying the state is at least $5 billion behind on a 2007 financing agreement that followed the court ruling, the group, the Campaign for Fiscal Equity , contends that Mr. Cuomo’s aid cuts, and his cap on property tax increases, have once more exacerbated the financing gap between rich and poor districts. Mr. Cuomo, for his part, has had to cope with steep budget deficits and is seeking to lower the state’s tax burden, and his aides sharply disputed the contention that his cuts unfairly fell on poorer districts. In a sharply worded letter to the governor and legislative leaders sent this week, the group, which was started by parents and education advocates, said “the state’s underfunding of our public schools is so severe that it amounts to a violation of its constitutional obligation to provide New York’s children with adequate education resources.” David G. Sciarra, who runs the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, said in an interview that “we always try to press the governor and the Legislature to step up to the plate without the need for there to be litigation,” but he added, “If there’s a need for additional litigation, no one should doubt that we would do that.” After being on the verge of shutting down last year, the campaign has transformed itself. It is now part of Mr. Sciarra’s group, the Education Law Center , a Newark-based nonprofit agency that has sued on behalf of students in New Jersey and other states. Earlier this year, the campaign rehired a lawyer involved in its earlier litigation, Wendy Lecker. The new campaign is financed by various foundations, including the Schott Foundation for Public Education and the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation , private donors, education organizations and labor — notably the United Federation of Teachers . A reanimated Campaign for Fiscal Equity comes at a challenging time for the governor. The fiscal picture is worsening, with tax collections falling even before Hurricane Sandy hit. The governor has long lamented that New York State has the highest per-pupil spending in the nation with classroom results that are not commensurate. But battles over education aid are perennial in Albany, and a coalition of smaller city school districts is already suing the state , claiming they are not receiving adequate funding. In a statement, Allison Gollust, a spokeswoman for the governor, said, “The facts on the governor’s priorities for education are clear — last year he invested an additional $800 million in our schools, despite a multibillion deficit, and prioritized low-income districts with a spending formula that gives them a higher percentage of state aid.” Elizabeth Lynam, the director of state studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, a business-backed fiscal watchdog group, said, “I think the entire context has changed.” “We know we’re in a fragile recovery, and that has to be taken into consideration,” Ms. Lynam said. “What was affordable in 2007 is no longer affordable, and expectations have to be adjusted to fit the fiscal realities — not that there aren’t important areas of reform that are needed.” “There are questions about whether resources are appropriately targeted to the districts that need it,” she added, “but that’s reallocating money within the pie that’s been established, not adding more.”
|
Campaign for Fiscal Equity;Suits and Litigation;Education (K-12);Budgets and Budgeting;New York State
|
ny0159382
|
[
"science"
] |
2008/12/23
|
African Fish Need a Little Electricity for Love to Bloom
|
In the Congo River in Africa, there is a species of fish for which choosing a mate really depends on whether there’s a certain spark. Females of the species Campylomormyrus compressirostris, a fish that produces a weak electrical discharge from an organ near its tail, can distinguish males of their own species by their electrical signature, scientists at the University of Potsdam in Germany report in Biology Letters. The females’ ability may effectively serve as a reproductive barrier that is important in speciation, the divergence of new species from existing ones. C. compressirostris and similar species use their electrical discharge for navigation (they can sense when the electrical field they create is altered by the presence of an object) and for communication. Philine G. D. Feulner, now at the University of Sheffield in England, and colleagues tested whether that communication extended to choosing a mate. They found that females chose males of their species consistently over those of a closely related species that produce an electrical signal with different phase and other characteristics. “The females really prefer males that have the same signal as themselves,” Dr. Feulner said. The finding may help explain why there are so many closely related species in the Congo River, she added. For two species to diverge while living in proximity, there must be a barrier to mating between them. That barrier often involves mate choice, based on sensory cues like how potential mates look, smell or sound. This species appears to use the electrical signal as another kind of cue, Dr. Feulner said. Speciation like this also requires some kind of ecological differentiation between the diverging species. By affecting how the fish navigates for foraging, the electrical signal may serve that role as well, Dr. Feulner said.
|
Fish and Other Marine Life;Electric Light and Power;Biology and Biochemistry
|
ny0213503
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2010/03/11
|
Italy: Law to Protect Berlusconi in Court
|
The Italian Parliament approved a law on Wednesday that would protect Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi , left, and his cabinet from the results of trials that are currently under way, on the grounds that the trials would impede their ability to govern. Mr. Berlusconi’s cabinet advanced the measure after Italy ’s Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a law that granted immunity from prosecution to the prime minister and other senior office holders. The new law allows cabinet officials to postpone for six months any trial in which they have been implicated. Mr. Berlusconi’s opponents criticized the law as designed to enable him to avoid the outcome of two corruption trials in which he is a defendant.
|
Italy;Berlusconi Silvio
|
ny0011985
|
[
"business",
"media"
] |
2013/11/05
|
‘Buy One, Give One’ Spirit Imbues an Online Store
|
TOMS started in 2006 with what was then a novel idea: for every pair of shoes it sold, it would donate a pair to a child living in poverty. Along with donating more than 10 million pairs to date, the company spurred a trend of “buy one, give one” companies, with the eyeglass maker Warby Parker among the best known. Now Toms is introducing an effort that helps other businesses with a social purpose, Toms Marketplace . The online store, which will be introduced Tuesday, will feature more than 200 products from about 30 companies and charities. Yellow Leaf Hammocks , for example, employs members of vulnerable communities, like the Mlabri tribe in Thailand, to produce colorful hammocks, while Stone and Cloth produces backpacks and other products in Los Angeles, with a portion of revenue going toward scholarships for students in Tanzania, Africa. While some of the companies have a one-for-one donation model like Toms, others take different altruistic approaches. The basis for choosing companies to include in Toms Marketplace wasn’t “ ‘one for one’ as much as, ‘Does this company really have a mission of improving people’s lives baked into its business model?’ ” said Blake Mycoskie, the founder of Toms, using the shorthand term for donating one item for each item sold. While consumers are accustomed to recommendations from online merchants based on algorithms, such as Amazon suggesting that a buyer of an Arcade Fire album might also like the National, the new online store will base suggestions on consumers’ concerns along with their tastes. Visitors will be able to shop by what causes or part of the world they wish to support. Introduced to coincide with the holiday shopping season, the online store will remain open afterward, selling items ranging in price from $12 (a blank notebook from Denik , with $1 going toward building schools) to $418 (a weekend bag from JADEtribe that is made by women in a Laotian village). Rather than hosting other brands and taking a commission from sales, Toms has bought the inventory outright at wholesale, and is taking on the logistics of warehousing, shipping and most customer service. “When I started Toms, people said, ‘What can I do?’ and I said, ‘Sell shoes,’ ” said Mr. Mycoskie, adding that his goal was to now help others sell their wares. “I thought the best thing that I could give them is a marketplace and exposure to consumers interested in shopping with a larger purpose,” he said. Image The altruistic shoemaker Toms is creating an e-commerce site for like-minded retailers. Lisa Tarver, co-founder of One World Futbol Project , maker of durable soccer balls that do not require inflation and are provided to poor communities through a buy-one-give-one model, said the new venture promises exposure for both the ball and the cause of encouraging sport and play. “Toms is one of the pioneers in this area, and the marketplace is an opportunity for social entrepreneurs to reach a broader audience,” Ms. Tarver said. According to an annual study by the Edelman public relations agency, when quality and price were equal, 53 percent of consumers ranked a brand’s activities on social causes as a deciding purchasing factor in 2012, up from 42 percent in 2008. Carol Cone, global chairwoman of the Business and Social Purpose practice at Edelman, said Toms had resonated with younger consumers because the company “isn’t about a cause patina, but instead is about really being deep and purposeful.” Ms. Cone, who lauded the new effort, said “the power and velocity of the Toms brand” is likely to help less established brands. Toms introduced a line of sunglasses in 2011 that contributes to eye care, including prescription eyeglasses and ophthalmic surgery. With the exception of so-called retargeted digital ads, which are displayed to users after they have visited Toms.com, the company has never advertised — but it will for the new online store. Billboards that display products offered on Toms Marketplace, with the tagline, “This is bigger than us,” will appear in New York and Los Angeles beginning Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, a 30-second commercial that features Mr. Mycoskie and representatives from the other brands will appear on monitors inside about 7,000 New York cabs. The campaign was produced internally. Only about 25 percent of the shoes sold by Toms are men’s models, and Mr. Mycoskie said that he hoped the offerings by some of his partner brands, like LSTN , a headphones brand which helps provide hearing aids, and Movember , the men’s health charity that sells T-shirts and other items with its mustache logo, would draw men to the site. “We sell a lot of shoes to guys, but we’re not connecting to mainstream guys the way that we need to,” Mr. Mycoskie said. “A big part of our future is with guys, and it was an important part of our criteria to have some of these more masculine products that reach more men.” Sean D. Carasso, founder of Falling Whistles , which has the motto “Be a whistle-blower for peace” and sells whistles to help finance services for former child soldiers and others in Congo, said the cause-related products sold in the new online store would benefit one another. “If you’re in a dark room filled with candles and holding the only lit candle, and you use it to light another candle, you don’t lose any of your energy but now you’re in a brighter room,” Mr. Carasso said. “And that’s how I feel about the marketplace — all of the iterations are stronger together.”
|
TOMS Shoes;Philanthropy;Daniel J. Edelman Inc;E Commerce;advertising,marketing
|
ny0083643
|
[
"business"
] |
2015/10/09
|
Airline Complaints Jump, but On-Time Records Improve
|
More flights are arriving on time, but consumer complaints about the airlines have risen sharply. The Transportation Department said on Thursday that the nation’s leading carriers had an on-time rate of 80.3 percent in August, better than the 78.1 percent mark in July and 77.7 percent the previous August. Delta Air Lines led the way at 85.5 percent, followed by Alaska Airlines at 82.9 percent. Spirit Airlines ranked last, with an on-time rate of 63.7 percent. Consumers filed 1,633 complaints about United States airlines with the government, up from 1,107 a year earlier. Spirit had the highest complaint rate by a wide margin. Consumers were nearly twice as likely to complain about Spirit as about Frontier Airlines, the carrier with the second-worst record.
|
Airlines,airplanes;Delays;Transportation Department;Delta Air Lines;Alaska Airlines;Frontier Airlines;Spirit Airlines
|
ny0058810
|
[
"business",
"media"
] |
2014/08/18
|
The Top Cat in These Ads Has an Attitude
|
There is a veritable Noah’s ark of animals serving as pitchbeasts for Madison Avenue, particularly in the pet products category. But a character that represents a new line of cat litter is turning the conventions of spokescritters inside out. Instead of an animal with human qualities, the character is a human with animal qualities. The character, named Rufus, is helping to introduce Ökocat, a line of natural cat litter from Healthy Pet , a company that specializes in what are known as alternative pet-care products. Among the other brand names under the banner of Healthy Pet, which was acquired last year by a German firm, J. Rettenmaier & Söhne, are CareFresh, Critter Care, Healthy Pet and Simply Pine. In humorous video clips that are to begin running next month as online commercials, Rufus is portrayed a comedian, Ross Bryant, who wears a cheesy-looking cat suit that makes no effort to disguise that he is a man pretending to be a cat. To underline the jokey nature of the impersonation, Mr. Bryant wears a pair of nerd glasses and speaks like a sardonic millennial. The tone and approach of the campaign is meant to appeal to cat owners who prefer natural products deemed to be more environmentally friendly than mainstream brands sold by pet-care behemoths. Ökocat, which is made with wood or paper rather than clay, is billed as “eco-friendly,” and Ökocat “in German means ‘eco-cat,'” says Samuel Cohen, vice president for marketing and sales at Healthy Pet in Ferndale, Wash. The campaign is being created by Traction in San Francisco, which was hired by Healthy Pet in July to become the company’s agency of record, handling creative and media tasks. Plans call for the Ökocat campaign — which will also include banner ads as well as ads on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter — to be followed by ads from Traction for other products sold by Healthy Pet. Healthy Pet “has been in the cat litter business for years and years,” Mr. Cohen says, but with “much more of a manufacturing mentality.” “Now, we’re moving to more of a marketing mentality,” he adds. Mr. Cohen joined Healthy Pet last year after serving in marketing posts at Foster Farms, the West Coast poultry products company. Ökocat is “part of an emerging class” of products “competing with ‘conventional’ cat litter” brands like Fresh Step and Tidy Cats, Mr. Cohen says; the other alternative brands include, in addition to Simply Pine, Feline Pine, sold by Church & Dwight; Swheat Scoop, made with wheat fibers, hence the name; and World’s Best. Natural kitty litters sell at prices that are about 30 to 50 percent higher than kitty litters made with clay, according to Mr. Cohen. A box of Ökocat, weighing seven or eight pounds, is to retail for $8.99 to $9.99, he says. Mr. Cohen likened the growing category to the natural segment of the cleaning products market, which is composed of brands sold by Method and Seventh Generation that compete against established brands from firms like S. C. Johnson and Procter & Gamble. He estimates that alternative brands account for 10 percent of the cat litter bought by American cat owners. Research indicates that for another 12 percent of cat owners, “alternative is in their consideration set,” Mr. Cohen says, which “tells us the business can double” if the alternative products get advertising and marketing support. “Our goal is that we want Rufus to be a known character,” he adds, “an equity device” that will build awareness for the Ökocat brand name. And because “we’re a pet products company that’s passionate about the pet,” Mr. Cohen says, the idea was to present “advertising from the cat’s perspective” rather than from the owner’s perspective, focused on odor and household cleanliness, which is the usual approach for conventional brands. Taking a humorous approach with a character that is obviously a man dressed in a cat costume is to generate “audience engagement,” he says, adding, “Entertainment is the sugar you put the medicine — the selling message — in.” “Making him a little bit edgy sends the message this is a different kind of product,” Mr. Cohen says, and fits for the alternative cat litter category, which “skews a bit younger” than the traditional cat litter market. Rufus is to be introduced in a long-form video that runs more than three minutes, which will be accompanied by four shorter online commercials, in 15- and 30-second lengths, one for each variety of Ökocat. In the long clip, Mr. Bryant wanders around a house and a backyard in the cat suit, acting out a cat’s mischievous antics and self-possession with behavior that is part feline and part self-absorbed millennial. He makes Morris, the finicky cat that is the brand mascot for 9 Lives cat food , seem like a feline version of Mother Teresa. Image The campaign, created by Traction of San Francisco, includes a video showing Rufus perched atop a sofa while his owner naps. For instance, the long clip starts with Rufus looking at his smartphone. After telling the viewer, “You interrupted my morning me-time,” Rufus takes a sip from a cup and drops it on the kitchen floor, where it shatters. “It’s bad enough we have to do our business in a tiny box in the closet as if it was something shameful,” Mr. Bryant says. “The least you could do is get us Ökocat litter from Healthy Pet. It’s made from all-natural plant fibers with no chemical additives.” The script deftly mixes the sales spiel with moments that wink at the audience. When Mr. Bryant describes how Okocat offers benefits like “seven-day odor control,” he ends the list dismissively with “Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.” And at one point Rufus walks past a real cat, sitting in a litter box and reading a book titled “How to Train Your Human.” In one of the 15-second videos , Rufus is perched atop a sofa, using his tail to stroke his napping owner. “So you’re really not worried about your cat spreading nasty germs from the litter box?” Mr. Bryant asks archly, then whispers: “Me neither. Shhhh.” The commercial ends with him calling Ökocat “nature’s antibacterial gift to you and your cat.” In another 15-second video , Rufus, wearing a gas mask, emerges from a room, hurriedly closing the door, as the sound of a flushing toilet is heard. “Do not go in there,” Mr. Bryant says, adding: “I don’t know what that was. That wasn’t a No. 2; that was a No. 3.” The commercial ends with him describing Ökocat as “nature’s odor-free gift to you and your cat.” At Traction, those working on the campaign include the two executives who founded the agency in 2001 — Adam Kleinberg, chief executive, and Theo Fanning, executive creative director — and Abe Snyder, media director. “Looking at the category, there was very standard c.p.g. creative,” Mr. Kleinberg says, using the shorthand for consumer packaged goods. He summarizes the typical format this way: “Here’s your household problem. Here’s your solution. Everyone smiles.” “We wanted to break the mold and do something that would entertain people,” Mr. Kleinberg says, creating “content that people actually want to consume,” which increases the chances that it will be shared with friends and family. “In creating this character, this spokescat Rufus, we’re borrowing from the days of old,” he adds, but giving the tactic a twist in that Rufus “reflects the user-centric world we live in today” because “he represents the user” of cat litter “instead of being a mascot.” “We had a hysterical debate: ‘Should the cat be a sassy cat from “Cats” or a hipster?'” Mr. Kleinberg recalls. Making Rufus a millennial guy in a cat suit will appeal to an audience that is not only the brand’s current target, he adds, but also “the audience of the future in building the brand.” The videos are to run as pre-roll — commercials served up before clips — on websites like BuzzFeed, SheKnows and YouTube, Mr. Kleinberg says, along with websites that are part of networks like Triple Lift and YuMe. A website, okocat.com , is scheduled to go live in about two weeks, and visitors will be able to watch the videos “on a campaign landing page,” he adds. To generate viewership for the online commercials, there will also be sponsored posts on Facebook and promoted tweets on Twitter, along with search ads on amazon.com . Conventional cat litter brands spend about $7 million to $15 million each year on advertising. The alternative products typically spend more modestly, in keeping with the smaller size of their market share as well as their parent firms. Healthy Cat is likely to spend $1 million to $2 million on ads for Ökocat between now and the end of the year. “We see digital as a great way to test and learn for the next six to 12 months,” Mr. Cohen says. “You’re learning in real time and still building awareness.” The goal would be to “graduate to TV” in 2015 or 2016, he adds, with “a budget that’s more competitive” with what the mainstream marketers spend on ads for their conventional cat litter brands. • If you like In Advertising, be sure to read the Advertising column that appears Monday through Friday in the Business Day section of The New York Times print edition and on nytimes.com .
|
advertising,marketing;Healthy Pet;J. Rettenmaier & Sohne;Traction
|
ny0252827
|
[
"business",
"media"
] |
2011/10/03
|
‘Annoying Orange’ Tries for a TV Career
|
LOS ANGELES — There is little doubt that Dane Boedigheimer has created an online sensation that struck a pop cultural nerve. The “ Annoying Orange ” Web videos that he’s been rolling out for the last two years have racked up more than 800 million views on You Tube, where the threshold for a runaway hit is about 50 million. Sprint and Dole have paid to use his wisecracking cartoon creation in marketing campaigns, and Toys “R” Us, Radio Shack and J. C. Penney are rolling out related merchandise for the Christmas season. But TV channels and movie studios have yet to bite on Mr. Boedigheimer’s videos, which feature the kitchen adventures of an animated orange with a sinister smile and his buddies from the fruit and vegetable bins. And Mr. Boedigheimer, 31, isn’t waiting for their courtship. After receiving lukewarm responses to his informal overtures for an “Annoying Orange” television show, he opted for an alternative route: he made his own pilot, financed not by a studio or network, but by the management company representing him. “The reaction is always, ‘I see why it resonates in a bite-sized way on the Web, but how is this a full-blown TV show?’ ” said Dan Weinstein, one of Mr. Boedigheimer’s managers. Maybe it isn’t. There is certainly no guarantee that a cartoon orange can become the next SpongeBob SquarePants. But Web video was supposed to be Hollywood’s greatest laboratory ever, a place to incubate ideas cheaply and take some of the stomach-churning guesswork out of selecting concepts for shows and movies — instead of spending millions to develop entertainment that more often than not flops straight out of the gate. Six years after the proliferation of Web video, the number of entertainment concepts that have moved from Internet shorts to successful television shows are few. Hollywood still largely relies on its time-tested methods of finding hits: scripts funneled through agencies, young comedians, books and magazine articles. “The industry needs to continue to take risks on fresh ideas and people and, to that end, figure out how to better mine the Web,” said Jeff Gaspin, former chairman of NBC Universal Television. There are instances when it has worked. One home run was Nickelodeon’s “Fred: The Movie,” based on a Web series created by a Nebraska teenager, Lucas Cruikshank; its premiere attracted more than eight million viewers, according to Nielsen, making it one of the year’s top children’s telecasts. A sequel arrives Oct. 22. But the result has more typically been a thud. “$#*! My Dad Says,” a CBS comedy based on a blog, was canceled after one season because of low ratings; “Quarterlife,” an NBC show that sprang from a Web drama, was dropped after one episode. As it turns out, what pops on the Web — short, unpolished bursts — is extremely hard to refine into the kind of longer-form content that flows through Hollywood’s traditional piping. Part of the problem, at least in the eyes of Mr. Boedigheimer and his managers, involves that systemized development process. When network or studio teams do find something online with potential, they push it through the same creaky mill — focus groups, executive scrutiny — that they have relied on for decades to refine raw ideas into great entertainment (or at least commercially viable entertainment). It is a process that can take two years, during which the online spark could easily die out. A new YouTube sensation could steal your thunder. “You get pushed around for months on end and so many voices get involved that the original voice — what was special — gets diluted or ruined,” said Gary Binkow, a partner at the Collective , the management company that represents Mr. Boedigheimer. So Mr. Boedigheimer and the Collective are making the pilot themselves, with the managers picking up the bill. Aside from speed, the costs are lower. Making a 30-minute animated pilot through Hollywood channels (the route that “SpongeBob” took) costs about $1 million. The “Annoying Orange” pilot will cost a few hundred thousand dollars. Conrad Vernon, one of the directors of “Shrek 2” and other DreamWorks Animation movies, is producing the pilot, which was co-written by Tom Sheppard, an Emmy winner for “Pinky and the Brain.” The Collective plans to shop it to networks starting next week. The target audience is children 6 to 12. Trying to buck the industry’s deeply entrenched systems is a risk, but one the Collective says it thinks is worth taking: it is how Mr. Cruikshank made it to Nickelodeon. “Fred: the Movie” was independently made and sold to that network after the fact. “Annoying Orange” has a lot going for it, including pun-strewn dialogue and the kind of sophomoric humor that is catnip to young boys and college students; episodes typically showcase a guest food getting chopped to bits. (In “ Annoying Orange: A Cheesy Episode ,” a talking chunk of Parmesan gets shredded with a grater. “That looks really degrading,” Orange quips.) It has tonal similarities to both “Beavis and Butt-Head” and “South Park” and features celebrity cameos. ( James Caan voiced a jalapeño.) But there are also liabilities. The crude animation that looks charming online would look cheap on TV. The “Annoying Orange” setting is extremely confining — a kitchen counter. And YouTube success itself can be off-putting. The entertainment industry’s senior ranks are still populated with people who, deep down, believe that the audience does not tell them what it wants; they tell the audience. The goal of the “Annoying Orange” pilot is to prove to skeptical television executives that “Annoying Orange” can “embrace the biggest audience possible,” Mr. Boedigheimer said, while “maintaining the attitude and charm.” It relocates Orange and his buddies (Grandpa Lemon, Midget Apple) to a magical fruit cart that can travel in time. One segment features a knight who kidnaps Orange’s love interest, Passion Fruit, while another is set during the Revolutionary War. Mr. Boedigheimer got the idea for “Annoying Orange” one night in 2009 when he was lying in bed. He started thinking about a piece of fruit that could talk and got the giggles. His dog, Cuddles, looked at him as if he were crazy, “but I couldn’t get it out of my head,” Mr. Boedigheimer said. The next day, he bought an orange at a Food 4 Less supermarket and went to work in his kitchen, taping a segment with a Sony video camera and using software like Final Cut Pro to make a clip for YouTube. Working with friends, Mr. Boedigheimer has since made more than 90 videos, uploading a new one on YouTube every Friday. “People respond because it’s simple and silly,” he said. “That, and people like to see talking food get hacked in half. Everybody needs a good kersplat once in a while.” Even if Hollywood remains unpersuaded, “Annoying Orange” is about to become ubiquitous at the mall. The Collective plans to announce on Monday that it has secured a wide-ranging merchandise deal for the fruit. Themed T-shirts will arrive at Penney’s stores nationwide in October; Toys “R” Us will “prominently position” talking plush Oranges and related backpack adornments, among other items, in its stores, according to Richard Barry, a vice president of the chain. “We think the irreverent humor is right on trend,” Mr. Barry said.
|
Computers and the Internet;Web-Original Programming;Video Recordings and Downloads;Boedigheimer Dane;Annoying Orange (Web-Original Program);Television
|
ny0182782
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2007/12/19
|
For Now, U.S. Won’t Cap Flights Per Hour at J.F.K.
|
WASHINGTON — The United States transportation secretary will announce on Wednesday that her department has negotiated an agreement with the airlines to ease congestion at Kennedy International Airport next summer by shifting some flights to less busy times, according to government officials and industry executives. As a result, the department will not, at least for now, order a reduction in the number of flights per hour at Kennedy, they said. Also, the department will not immediately issue rules to carry out a more controversial tactic — auctioning off landing slots — to reduce the number of flights to Kennedy, people involved in the discussions said. The department refused to give details in advance about the announcement by the transportation secretary, Mary E. Peters, scheduled for Wednesday morning. She is also expected to discuss plans to smooth out air traffic over the busy Christmas season. In October, reacting to delays at Kennedy that were so bad that they caused a cascade of late planes across the country, the Transportation Department proposed to limit flights next summer to 80 or 81 per hour, compared with more than 100 scheduled in some hours now. But for the time being, the department will not impose that limit, Ms. Peters is expected to say. Industry and government officials also anticipate an announcement by the department to take steps to protect Newark Liberty International Airport from an influx of airplanes that now go to Kennedy. One federal official said that the aviation planners do not want “to fix J.F.K. and break Newark.” The airlines that currently operate from Kennedy have been willing to enter into negotiations on shifting the scheduling of flights. But they have strongly opposed proposals to impose a cap on the number of flights and to take some landing slots from current carriers and auction them to the highest bidder. Those airlines argue that they have invested money in ground facilities and in building up passenger patronage on their routes, and that they have a right to their existing slots. But airlines that want to operate from Kennedy in the future disagree. Participants in the discussions said that several plans circulated within the department in the last few days. One idea under consideration is for the government to leave all slots in the hands of the airlines that have them now, and auction off whatever new capacity can be created by technology improvements. That plan probably could not be put into place in time for next summer’s busy travel season, experts say, but they believe that the department will propose such a system early next year, and hope to have a rule in place before President Bush leaves office in January 2009. The department says it wants to use “market forces,” in the form of an auction, to allocate scarce landing slots. But that idea faces strong opposition in Congress. Complicating the department’s problems is the politics of confirming a new administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration. The president has nominated Bobby Sturgell, who is now acting administrator, and the Senate Commerce Committee has scheduled a hearing on the nomination for Thursday. But Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, has threatened to hold up the nomination over the auction issue. Senator Schumer met with Mr. Sturgell on Tuesday, and said afterward in a statement, “It boggles the mind that F.A.A. would experiment with an untested ideological theory in the country’s busiest and most congested airspace.” Mr. Schumer has objected to any limits on landings. Mr. Sturgell may not get a hearing on Thursday, because the Senate decided on Tuesday to adjourn for the year and many hearings scheduled for later in the week are being canceled. Both of New Jersey’s senators, Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, introduced legislation on Monday that would bar the F.A.A. from imposing rules to limit flights at Kennedy unless it also limited flights at Newark. “I will not let the Bush administration dump New York’s excess flights — and the problems they create — onto New Jersey,” Mr. Lautenberg said in a joint statement. Newark, said Mr. Menendez, “is already busting at the seams.” The Transportation Department has already retreated from the idea of imposing higher landing fees during peak hours; that idea was opposed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airports. But the department has signaled its determination to do something. In an interview published on Monday with Business Travel News, Ms. Peters said, “the status quo is not acceptable.”
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Kennedy International Airport (NYC);Airlines and Airplanes;Airports;Politics and Government
|
ny0261985
|
[
"us"
] |
2011/06/15
|
St. Bonaventure Brothers Inseparable to the End - Dan Barry
|
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — They were like paired birds of Franciscan brown. If Brother Julian was gardening in front of the friary, Brother Adrian weeded in the back. If Adrian was driving the van, Julian sat by his side. Preparing the altar for chapel, chopping wood for kindling, exulting in ice cream at the Twist & Shake, the identical Riester twins were together, always. For many years at my alma mater, St. Bonaventure University, these simple men were workers, not teachers, and so ever-present in the pastoral setting as to be unseen. Taken for granted, like the rushing hush of the Allegheny River at the university’s edge, or the back-and-forth of the birdsong in the surrounding trees. Two weeks ago, the twins died on the same day in a Florida hospital; they were 92. Brother Julian died in the morning and Brother Adrian died in the evening, after being told of Julian’s death. Few who knew them were surprised, and many were relieved, as it would have been hard to imagine one surviving without the other. But the cultivated anonymity of the twins died with them. News of their deaths, beginning with an article in The Buffalo News, traveled around the world, stunning the Catholic university’s officials. Think of it: eminent Franciscan scholars die with little notice, but the same-day passing of an identical and unassuming pair of Franciscan grunts attracts international attention. Sister Margaret Carney, the university president and a Franciscan scholar, gave great thought to the why. Her conclusion: “The twins incarnate something that people have a hunger to know.” The Riesters were the sons of a prominent Buffalo doctor and his wife, and matching gifts to five older sisters. Though bright and observant, the brothers did not excel in school; a nephew, Kevin McCue, suspects a missed diagnosis of dyslexia . After being turned down by the armed forces on medical grounds — a bad left eye for one, a bad right for the other — they attended radio technology school in California . Then World War II broke out, just as they were exploring religious life. They received an acceptance letter from the Franciscans one morning, and a letter from the draft board that afternoon. They made their choice: Jerome became Brother Julian, and Irving became Brother Adrian. Back then, the Franciscans followed a rather un-Franciscan caste system, with priests the well-educated elite, often working with books, and the lay brothers the less educated support staff, often working with livestock. The Riesters, though earnestly obedient, did not understand why the two groups were discouraged from fraternizing; why, for example, the priests and brothers had separate recreation rooms. Didn’t St. Francis say that we are all brothers? A “Yes, but” answer came when their superior ordered the dismantling of a modest boat they had built to ply the wondrous Allegheny. He may have thought that the vessel violated their vow of poverty — or, more likely, he may have disliked how they took seminarians, their betters, for boat rides. Here, then, were two shy men, surrounded by scholars, discouraged from speaking, uncertain what to say if given the chance, and yet confident that this was their calling. “They were definitely second-class citizens, and not always treated well,” said Michael Riester, a cousin and a former Franciscan. “But they channeled it, always, spiritually.” After working together at St. Bonaventure for several years, the brothers were assigned to different Buffalo parishes in 1956, a psychologically taxing separation that ended 17 years later, after their superiors concluded that they functioned best in concert. They were reunited and sent back to serve the dozens of friars living on the St. Bonaventure campus. Together, they attended to the menial so that their fellow friars could focus on the cerebral. Brother Julian became the sacristan, maintaining the chapel, and Brother Adrian became the chauffeur, but they also built the bookshelves and maintained the garden and cleared the growth from the shrines in the woods — and rarely spoke unless invited. By now the Franciscan caste system had mostly gone away, and lay brothers were encouraged to excel. But the shy twins remained deferential, although they sometimes thrilled in the vicarious. “When I came here as a young Franciscan, they used to get a kick out of the fact that I’d make my opinions known,” recalled Brother Edward Coughlin, a Franciscan scholar who lived with them in the friary. To dismiss the twins as blank slates would be to misjudge them; their simplicity had depth. Rarely speaking of yesterday, they lived in the God-given now. Spending hours examining every flower at the Pleasant Valley Nursery. Licking every Twist & Shake ice cream cone so as to make it last and last. Pondering the art in the studio of Brother David Haack, then going off to build picture frames in their nearby workshop — where, occasionally, he heard them call each other Jerome and Irving. If they quarreled, Brother David said, “It would be over the measurement of a piece of wood.” And even then, it would be done silently: a slight cock of Julian’s head, to suggest that he didn’t agree with Adrian’s calculations. They came to teach better-educated friars about stripping life to its essence. For example, the Rev. Canice Connors, a Franciscan who spent a restful summer at the friary after years of investigating sexual-abuse cases involving the clergy, became enchanted by the guileless twins, who seemed to embrace a deeper, ego-free reality. One night, Father Connors treated the twins to dinner at the Old Library restaurant, for which they wore fine identical suits given to them by a nephew. During the long meal, they tried their first White Russians, and rejoiced in an alcoholic drink that was like melted ice cream. They asked for a second, and continued to tell Franciscan tales summoned from 60 years of quiet observation. “It was a rare event in my life,” Father Connors said. “I couldn’t stop laughing.” Not long after, the brothers survived an awful accident while driving the friary van; they were saying another rosary, apparently, and didn’t see the truck. This ended Brother Adrian’s time as the friary chauffeur, and signaled the approach of a full retirement for both to Florida, in 2008, following a farewell dinner in their honor. Last week, Brother Julian and Brother Adrian Riester were returned to St. Bonaventure for a memorial service and a side-by-side burial. Their coffins were carried by, among others, a few of the dozen or so Franciscans still on campus; their brothers. The solemn and joyful day encouraged more stories about the twins. How they adorned the friary trees with birdhouses. How they toured the campus on identical bicycles, one with a pinwheel on its handlebars. And how they often sat in prayer in the chapel, so still that you might not know they were there.
|
Catholic Church;Twin;St Bonaventure University
|
ny0276309
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2016/02/23
|
U.N. Finds ‘Deliberate’ Destruction of Hospitals in Syria
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UNITED NATIONS — First, the government soldiers made sure no food could get into rebel-held towns. Then, government planes bombed what health centers remained in those towns, making sure that those who got sick from hunger had no medical care to save them. That is the harrowing picture painted by the latest report of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the war in Syria . The report, released Monday, chronicles a series of attacks on health care centers by government forces and the Islamic State, and it says the “deliberate destruction of health care infrastructure” was responsible for driving up deaths and permanent disabilities. To follow the commission’s work in Syria — it has written 11 reports since August 2011 — is to witness how blatantly the laws of war have been broken, with no prospects of accountability. The commission flatly asserts in the latest report that “war crimes are rampant” by government forces and their armed rivals, and for the first time it sharply points to the very countries that are bargaining over a peace deal for fueling the violence. “Paradoxically, the international and regional stakeholders that are ostensibly pushing for a peaceful solution to the war are the same that continue to feed the military escalation,” the report says. It calls the conflict “a proxy war steered from abroad.” Video After a series of suicide bombings in the city's suburbs, a shopkeeper in Damascus said people there have become accustomed to living with the violence, and no one knows when good news is coming. Credit Credit Natalia Sancha/Associated Press The report raises questions about Russian involvement in war crimes, but says nothing conclusive. At a news briefing Monday morning, two of the commissioners said that without access to Syrian territory, the panel was not able to identify who was responsible for some airstrikes where they have documented violations of international law. “There is an all-encompassing disrespect for the rules of engagement in this war,” said Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, the commission’s chairman. The report says government forces have bombed markets and bakeries with no obvious military targets. It describes how one of the most powerful rebel groups — the Army of Islam — paraded members of the minority Alawite sect in metal cages through the streets of an area the group controlled in late October. In February, the leader of that group went to Geneva to take part in peace talks . The report also describes slave markets where girls as young as 9 are sold in cities controlled by the Islamic State. And it again calls for accountability — an idea largely absent from the political negotiations underway among world leaders. “While no party seems able to achieve ‘victory,’ all appear to have sufficient capacity to sustain operations for the foreseeable future, perpetuating death and destruction along the way,” the report says. The commission has compiled a list of names of those it suspects of carrying out war crimes and crimes against humanity over the past five years. It has insisted on keeping that list secret. The report takes pains to say that it is hard to assess the impact of airstrikes by a United States-led coalition ostensibly aimed at Islamic State targets. But it gives one example of a neighborhood in the city of Deir al-Zour, where a market was hit last September, causing civilian casualties. The report says there were no Islamic State fighters in the market. Syria and Rebels Battle for Aleppo as Cease-Fire Collapses A drastic escalation of fighting in Aleppo has shattered a partial truce. Between October and January, the heaviest government-led attacks by ground and air were on a rebel-held area on the outskirts of Damascus called Douma. Markets, mosques, bakeries and hospitals were hit, resulting in what the report called “mass civilian casualties.” At least on one occasion, the report said, Russian warplanes were used. The report , 31 pages long, documents a series of attacks on health care institutions, with civilians denied access to medicines and emergency treatment after heavy fighting. It offers the example of a neighborhood in rebel-held Homs, where in late September, a missile fired by a government plane struck a playground, killing 20 children and wounding 50 people. No medicines had been allowed to reach that neighborhood for months, which meant that for those who survived the initial explosion, little to no treatment was available. “The documented attacks have been against functioning hospitals and yielded no military advantage greater than the collateral damage to civilians and civilian objects,” the report said. Airstrikes destroyed the vast majority of the 33 hospitals that functioned in the northern city of Aleppo, the report found. Those have been carried out mainly by Syrian government forces, but lately also by Russian military planes, according to antigovernment activists on the ground. As part of their attacks on other towns, including Zabadani and Latamneh, government forces destroyed generators and medical equipment. In Darayya, an aerial bombardment in November destroyed a field hospital that was among the only providers of basic care. Balkees Jarrah of Human Rights Watch called on United Nations members to “step up and make clear that any plan for Syria’s future, if it’s to be meaningful and durable, will need justice and respect for human rights at its core.” She added, “It’s utterly shameful that no one responsible for atrocities in Syria has been held to account when the crimes have been so comprehensively documented by the U.N.’s own inquiry.”
|
UN;Syria;War Crimes,Genocide,Crimes Against Humanity;Civilian casualties;Fatalities,casualties;Terrorism
|
ny0241559
|
[
"business",
"global"
] |
2011/03/02
|
Spain Meets Budget Deficit Target
|
MADRID — Spain met its 2010 budget deficit target, Finance Minister Elena Salgado announced Tuesday, as spending cuts by the central government in Madrid helped offset the missed targets of about half of the country’s regional governments. The budget deficit for last year was €98.2 billion, or $135.6 billion, amounting to 9.24 percent of gross domestic product, Ms. Salgado said. The figure slightly bettered the government’s 9.3 percent target and was down from 11.1 percent of G.D.P. in 2009. But the figures highlighted the performance gap between the central government and regional governments, with only eight of the country’s 17 regional governments meeting their deficit goal for last year. The combined budget deficit of the regional governments was almost €36 billion last year, equivalent to 3.39 percent of G.D.P. The regions’ growing contribution to Spain’s deficit woes is also in stark contrast to the situation as recently as 2009, when the central government deficit accounted for 9.4 percent of G.D.P. Antonio Garcia Pascual, an economist at Barclays Capital in London, wrote Tuesday in a note to investors that “we remain concerned about the ability of the regions and municipalities to stick to their budgets.” Over the past year, Spain has been among a handful of weakened euro zone economies that have been in investors’ line of fire because of its budget deficit, banking sector exposure to a collapsed construction industry, and unemployment of 20 percent — double the average in the European Union. With regional elections set for May, some analysts have warned that incoming governments might reveal that they have inherited greater fiscal troubles than currently estimated. To address such fears, Ms. Salgado pledged Tuesday that the government would tighten its monitoring of regional public finances. In the case of the regions that have fallen most behind in their deficit-cutting plans, Ms. Salgado warned that more “decisive” measures would be needed. The government has also pledged to cut Spain’s deficit to 6 percent of G.D.P this year. That is based on economic growth of 1.3 percent, which is about double what most economists predict.
|
Spain;European Sovereign Debt Crisis (2010- );Budgets and Budgeting
|
ny0203460
|
[
"us"
] |
2009/08/30
|
Dispute Over Unionizing at Montana Hair Salons
|
Keri Gorder, until recently the manager of a hair salon in Great Falls, Mont., said she was surprised last month by a document that her company wanted stylists to sign. Ms. Gorder said the salon’s parent company, the Regis Corporation , had urged the four stylists at her salon, Cost Cutters, to sign a document that would seemingly nullify any future support they showed for unionization. Labor leaders in Montana accuse the company of seeking to take away the stylists’ right to form a union. But Regis says the document merely seeks to ensure that workers choose unions through a secret-ballot election — at a time when unions are pushing legislation in Congress that would make it easy to bypass secret ballots. The document the stylists at several Montana salons were urged to sign said they were agreeing to revoke any future signature they put on a pro-union card that could be counted as showing support for unionizing. “I thought it was taking our right away before we ever exercised that right,” Ms. Gorder said. She said her area supervisor had pressured the stylists to sign the cards. “The area supervisor said, ‘I would do what the company wants you to do,’ ” Ms. Gorder said, adding that she quit her job this month because of her dismay over the situation. Soon she informed labor leaders about the document, and now they are threatening to picket the salon and hand out pro-union fliers. “It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” said Ole Stimac, president of the Central Montana Central Labor Council. “I’ve never seen anything where you sign away your rights for eternity to unionize.” Regis executives said they had distributed the document out of concern that Congress would enact legislation backed by labor that would require employers to recognize a union as soon as a majority of workers signed pro-union cards, without holding a secret-ballot election. Paul Finkelstein, chief executive at Regis, the nation’s largest hair salon company, said many employees signed such pro-union cards without understanding that it could commit them to joining a union. Mr. Finkelstein said the company’s focus groups showed that employees overwhelmingly favored using secret ballots to decide whether to join a union. The document the hair stylists were asked to sign, titled Protection of Secret Vote Agreement, said, “In order to preserve my right to a secret-ballot election, and for my own protection, I knowingly and without restraint and free from coercion sign this agreement revoking and nullifying any union authorization card I may execute in the future.” Mr. Finkelstein said the document was intended to ensure that the employees’ cards were never counted to show majority support for a union — in case Congress someday enacted the union-card legislation. “The sole issue is that our people want to use a secret ballot,” he said, asserting that union organizers often manipulate workers into signing pro-union cards, known as authorization cards. Mr. Finkelstein added: “We’re not threatening people, ‘You’d better sign.’ It’s totally voluntary.” William B. Gould IV, a Stanford law professor and former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, said, “It seems like a modernized version of the old yellow dog contract,” a provision, now illegal, that many employers used to push workers to sign, pledging not to join a union as a condition of employment. Assessing the salon document, Mr. Gould said, “I think it’s illegal because an authorization card is the principal vehicle unions use to organize the unorganized.” Under current law, at least 30 percent of a workplace’s employees must sign cards to lead to a secret-ballot election. Mr. Gould said that under the Regis document, cards signed to seek a secret ballot would automatically be revoked. Mr. Stimac said: “The crazy thing is, this is going on when there has never been a unionization attempt there. Union people haven’t been there except to get their hair cut.”
|
Organized Labor;Labor and Jobs;Regis Corp;Montana
|
ny0078763
|
[
"business"
] |
2015/02/05
|
Ford Raises Pay for 500 Workers as Demand Grows for F-150 Pickup
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DETROIT — Growing demand for Ford Motor ’s new pickup truck will prompt a transition to higher wages for up to 500 of the company’s entry-level union workers. On Wednesday, Ford said that it would add 1,550 new jobs at four plants in the United States to increase production of the latest version of its top-selling F-series pickup. By adding the jobs, Ford said, it will exceed its nationwide cap on entry-level workers, who earn about $19 an hour. And as a result, 300 to 500 of the company’s entry-level employees will transition to the $28-an-hour wage earned by longtime factory workers. The transition is the first time that any entry-level workers at the three domestic carmakers have moved up to the higher wage scale since the companies agreed to a two-tier system in their 2007 contract with the United Automobile Workers union. “For the first time, we will have some entry-level people transitioning to the traditional wages,” said Bill Dirksen, Ford’s vice president for labor affairs. “It is another example of promises made and promises kept.” Ford has 50,000 workers in the United States represented by the U.A.W. About 14,000 of them are paid entry-level wages. Based on a formula in the union contract, Ford must move entry-level employees up to full-wage status once their numbers exceed about 28 percent of overall blue-collar employment, Mr. Dirksen said. Because of their government bailouts and bankruptcies, neither General Motors nor Fiat Chrysler’s American division have caps that restrict their entry-level numbers. Currently, more than 40 percent of Fiat Chrysler’s union workers in the United States are entry-level employees. At G.M., about 20 percent are entry level. The union’s new president, Dennis Williams, has said that his goals for bargaining this summer on a new labor contract include getting pay increases for both entry-level and full-wage workers. Union officials welcomed Ford’s announcement about transitioning some lower-paid workers to full-wage status. “We’re excited that Ford continues to make good on its commitment to our U.A.W. members by transitioning entry-level employees,” said James Settles Jr., a U.A.W. vice president. Mr. Dirksen, the Ford vice president, said that the affected entry-level workers would be chosen based on seniority. They will move up to the higher wage scale during the first quarter of this year. He said the workers were scattered at manufacturing facilities across the country, but primarily work at Ford assembly plants in Chicago, Kansas City, Mo., and Louisville, Ky. The impetus to move entry-level workers up to full-wage status was the decision to add jobs to increase production of the F-150 pickup, Mr. Dirksen said. “We need to make more of these trucks to meet the demand of the marketplace,” he said. Ford sold 54,000 full-size pickups in January, a 12 percent increase from the same month in 2014. The company took a risk by substituting aluminum body panels in the new truck in place of traditional steel parts. The change made the truck lighter and improved its fuel efficiency, but also raised question about its durability. The 1,550 new jobs will be added at Ford’s Kansas City assembly plant, and at three component plants in the Detroit area. Mr. Dirksen declined to say how many more pickups would be built because of the additional workers.
|
Ford Motor;Wages and salaries;Jobs;Manufacturing;Labor Unions;Trucks;UAW;Kansas City MO;Detroit
|
ny0107263
|
[
"us"
] |
2012/04/24
|
Chief Bill Lee Jr. Resignation Plan Is Blocked
|
SANFORD, Fla. — Several hours after the city manager publicly announced that he had reached an agreement with Chief Bill R. Lee Jr. to resign over the Sanford Police Department’s handling of the Trayvon Martin shooting case, the City Commission voted late Monday afternoon to reject Chief Lee’s resignation. Mayor Jeff Triplett was among a 3-to-2 majority of commissioners to vote “no confidence” in Chief Lee last month, prompting him to temporarily step aside. But during a special meeting Monday to consider Chief Lee’s future, Mr. Triplett was clearly torn amid a spirited debate punctuated with applause and standing ovations from backers of the chief in the audience. In the end, Mr. Triplett voted in favor of Chief Lee’s remaining in the department, once again as part of a 3-to-2 majority. He said he wanted to review the reports of an independent investigation about the Police Department’s handling of the case before making a decision. “I am not ready to have him come back and run the Police Department ,” Mr. Triplett said. “But I am not ready for this, either.” According to a copy of the agreement, Chief Lee acknowledged no wrongdoing. In the three-page document, he explained that he was resigning at the suggestion of the city manager, Norton N. Bonaparte Jr. , “solely to allow the city to move beyond recent events.” The agreement said Chief Lee would receive several lump-sum payments on May 4, including one equal to 98 and one-quarter days of pay and one for 217 hours of accrued leave. Mr. Bonaparte said in a brief interview Monday night that the agreement would have been worth $54,000 to Chief Lee. Chief Lee stepped aside on March 22, after just 10 months in the job, amid local protests and a national uproar that raised questions about why the Sanford police did not immediately arrest George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, for shooting and killing Mr. Martin on Feb. 26. Mr. Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, had been walking through a gated development where Mr. Zimmerman, 28 and Hispanic, lived and where Mr. Martin was staying as a guest. Early Monday, Mr. Zimmerman, who was charged with murder by a special prosecutor, was released from jail on a $150,000 bond. His whereabouts remained a secret — he may be outside Florida — because of death threats, his lawyer said. Before the commission voted, Mr. Bonaparte said that “the city has experienced great turmoil in the past two months” and that “we are hoping to stabilize the department and continue with this time of healing.” With the Sanford City Commission rejecting the separation agreement, Mr. Bonaparte, who has been on the job only since September, said Chief Lee would remain on administrative leave, and on the payroll, while the city conducted a national search for an interim police chief and pursued an independent investigation. In the meantime, Capt. Darren Scott will remain the acting chief. Patty Mahany, a city commissioner who voted against the resignation agreement, praised Chief Lee during the debate, saying he was one of the finest law enforcement officials in Florida. “At least the city has taken a step back and a deep breath,” she said, insisting that the storm around the case was driven by outsiders. Velma H. Williams, the only black member of the City Commission, voted in favor of the resignation. She said her lack of confidence in the chief was largely based on the department’s handling of the investigation, saying it “brought national shame to this city.” Benjamin Crump, a lawyer for the Martin family, said, “If Chief Bill Lee had recognized that his resignation would help start the healing process in Sanford, city leadership should have accepted it in an effort to move the city forward.”
|
Suspensions Dismissals and Resignations;Lee Bill Jr;Martin Trayvon;Zimmerman George;Sanford (Fla);Police;Murders and Attempted Murders
|
ny0071737
|
[
"sports",
"ncaabasketball"
] |
2015/03/21
|
Oregon Shoots Down Oklahoma State
|
OMAHA — Dana Altman’s return to Nebraska, where he grew up and coached for 16 years at Creighton, has been extended by two more days. In a fast-paced game with playground raggedness, Oregon outlasted Oklahoma State, 79-73, to advance to the West Region’s round of 32. The No. 8-seeded Ducks (26-9) shot 54.7 percent from the field over all and 60.9 percent in the second half, and it took just about all of those baskets to hold off the Cowboys (18-14). Oregon led, 70-69, with four minutes to play, but a 3-pointer by Dillon Brooks and Jordan Bell’s rim-rattling dunk gave the Ducks enough of a cushion to hang on. The Cowboys missed six of their last seven shots. The senior guard Joseph Young, the Pacific-12 player of the year, had 27 points for the Ducks, making all eight of his foul shots. Le’Bryan Nash led Oklahoma State with 18 points, while Anthony Hickey sank five 3-pointers and had 17 points. Altman grew up in Wilber, Neb., a small town about 90 miles southwest of Omaha. He won 327 games at Creighton with seven N.C.A.A. tournament appearances before heading to Oregon in 2010. Altman’s wife, Reva, is also from Nebraska, and Altman said they had left more than 50 tickets to accommodate both families.
|
NCAA Men's Basketball,March Madness;College basketball;University of Oregon;Oklahoma State University;Dana Altman
|
ny0268195
|
[
"us"
] |
2016/03/25
|
Angry Arizona Voters Demand: Why Such Long Lines at Polling Sites?
|
PHOENIX — Cynthia Perez, a lawyer, stopped by a polling site on her way to work here on Tuesday, thinking she could vote early and get on with her day. She changed her mind when she found a line so long she could not see the end of it. The line was just as big when she came back midafternoon — and bigger three hours later, after she had finally cast her ballot. “To me,” said Ms. Perez, 31, “this is not what democracy is about.” Days later, angry and baffled voters are still trying to make sense of how democracy is working in Maricopa County, the state’s most populous, where officials cut the number of polling places by 70 percent to save money — to 60 from 200 in the last presidential election. That translated to a single polling place for every 108,000 residents in Phoenix, a majority-minority city that had exceptional turnout in Tuesday’s Democratic and Republican primaries. All day, lines meandered along church courtyards, zigzagged along school parking lots and snaked around shadeless blocks as tens of thousands of voters waited to cast their ballots, including many independents who did not know that only those registered to a party could participate in the state’s closed presidential primaries. But beyond the electoral breakdown here, many observers saw Arizona as a flashing neon sign pointing toward potential problems nationally at a time that 16 states will have new voting restrictions in place for the first time in a presidential election. The presidential election will be the first since the Supreme Court dismantled a crucial section of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, freeing nine states, including Arizona and parts of seven others, to change their election laws without advance federal approval. Wisconsin, which holds its primary elections April 5, is one of nine states with strict photo ID requirements. Thirty-three states have some form of voter ID. Kansas has enacted proof-of-citizenship requirements for all voter registration, a move that has disproportionately affected young voters and those attempting to register for the first time. North Carolina allows a registered voter to challenge the identity and eligibility of any voter casting a ballot in the same county. On March 9, Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, signed a law that made it a felony to collect ballots for others in Arizona and bring them to the polls. “It’s worrisome what the states are doing without these protections,” said Allegra Chapman, director of voting and elections for Common Cause , a watchdog group. Arizona has a long history of discrimination against minorities, preventing American Indians from voting for much of its history because they were considered “wards of the nation,” imposing English literacy tests on prospective voters and printing English-only election materials even as the state’s Spanish-speaking population grew. Image Arizona voters waited to cast their ballots Tuesday in Phoenix, which had only one polling site for every 108,000 residents. Credit Caitlin O'Hara for The New York Times For 38 years, it had to seek federal approval for any changes to electoral rules and procedures, under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. If the provision were still in place, the Justice Department would probably have barred the closing of polling places that led to hours of waiting, chaos and frustration. Democrats and other critics say many of the new restrictions reflect a strategy by Republican legislatures to suppress the votes of minorities and other Democratic voters. Republicans contend they are needed to prevent voter fraud. But Richard L. Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Irvine, said the end of federal oversight had opened the door to the chaos in Arizona. “This doesn’t appear to have been caused by the intention to make it harder for anyone to vote, but by bureaucratic incompetence,” Mr. Hasen said. “Section 5 was very important in catching these screw-ups, a second pair of eyes that just aren’t there anymore.” Long lines were nothing new in Maricopa. On Election Day in 2012, when more than three times as many polling places were open, voters who had signed up to cast their ballots by mail showed up in person instead, clogging polls, in particular in low-income and heavily Latino neighborhoods. On Tuesday, calls poured into the office of Arizona’s attorney general, Mark Brnovich, a Republican, well into the night, as people heard poll workers tell them to go home, “the election has already been decided,” said a spokesman, Ryan Anderson. Mr. Ducey described the situation as “unacceptable” and called for presidential primaries open to all. Mayor Greg Stanton of Phoenix wrote to Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, demanding an investigation. The election “fiasco,” Mr. Stanton said, “demonstrates the urgent need for an independent and thorough law enforcement investigation to safeguard one of the most sacred rights we have as citizens.” But the problems were not entirely unexpected. Arizona’s Republican-led Legislature cut funding to county election offices last year; Maricopa election officials projected a $1.9 million shortfall in covering the costs of this year’s elections. After the chaos of Tuesday, State Senator Kimberly Yee, a Republican, said she would amend one of the election bills making their way through the Legislature to require counties to operate a minimum number of polling sites. And State Representative Michelle Ugenti-Rita, also a Republican, scheduled a public hearing for Monday to find out what went wrong. “Arizona should have been better prepared,” she said in a statement. But Martín J. Quezada, a Democratic leader in the Senate, is unconvinced that the state is committed to doing better. In an interview on Thursday, he said a bill requiring counties to open additional lines for provisional voters and early-ballot drop-offs during periods of long waits never came to a vote last year. Another, allowing early-voting sites to open on evenings and weekends leading up to an election, has not been heard this session. “The fault goes to the entire Republican leadership,” Mr. Quezada said. “They have created a culture of placing less importance on elections, less importance on voting, and who have had no reservations to sacrifice democracy if it accomplishes their objectives.”
|
Arizona;2016 Presidential Election;Voter registration;Primaries;Voting Rights Act
|
ny0231881
|
[
"world",
"americas"
] |
2010/09/25
|
Dominican Republic: Teenagers Convicted in Taxi Driver Killings
|
Five teenagers have been found guilty of killing seven taxi drivers and seriously injuring two others by forcing most of them to drink drain cleaner during a robbery attempt. The teenagers were sentenced on Thursday to three to five years in prison. The victims’ relatives had unsuccessfully demanded that the five be treated as adults and serve up to 30 years in prison. The government on Wednesday banned the commercial sale of certain drain cleaners because the police have reported they are increasingly being used in violent assaults.
|
Dominican Republic;Murders and Attempted Murders;Robberies and Thefts
|
ny0101505
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2015/12/09
|
Report Details ‘Systemic Failures’ in Communication Between New York Police and Housing Authority
|
Failures in required communications between the New York City Housing Authority and the city’s Police Department are partly to blame for the disproportionately high crime rates that have plagued the public housing projects, according to a city investigation. In a report released on Tuesday, the Investigation Department found that, without explanation, the police in 2011 stopped sending reports about crime on public housing property to the Housing Authority as required under a 1996 agreement between the two agencies. In recent years, they found, the Police Department also frequently neglected to inform housing officials when its residents were arrested on accusations of serious offenses, hampering efforts to remove them from public housing apartments. But even when the police alerted the Housing Authority, known as Nycha, to residents’ serious offenses, the agency “fails to take sufficient action,” investigators found, calling its efforts to permanently bar them “essentially toothless.” Specifically, the agency has not effectively enforced an existing policy to exclude criminal offenders from apartments permanently, allowing those accused of crimes such as gun possession and drug dealing to continue living in public housing. “These systemic failures, documented by a Department of Investigation review of thousands of files, have contributed to disproportionately high violent crime rates at Nycha, including a shooting incidence rate that is four times higher than in the city as a whole,” the report said. The issue of excluding violent offenders from public housing gained new attention after the fatal shooting of Officer Randolph Holder near the East River Houses in Upper Manhattan on Oct. 20. The authorities have said the officer was killed by a man, Tyrone Howard, who should have been barred from public housing long before based on his criminal history. Without mentioning the investigation or its findings, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office issued a news release last week promising improved interagency communication and strategies “aimed at quickly and accurately identifying individuals who pose a serious risk to public safety and taking appropriate action.” “Improved N.Y.P.D. and Nycha communication and process will shorten eviction and exclusion proceedings from public housing to weeks, as opposed to months, for serious offenders,” Mr. de Blasio said in the statement. The Investigation Department, whose commissioner, Mark G. Peters, was appointed by Mr. de Blasio, shared a draft of the report with police and housing officials in late November and made recommendations for changes. The report said the agencies had agreed to take steps that “we believe are reasonably designed to address the issues.” Image Mark G. Peters, left, the commissioner of the Department of Investigation, and Philip K. Eure, the inspector general of the Police Department, at a news conference in October. Credit Michael Nagle for The New York Times Mr. Peters said in an interview that the failures at both agencies “together prove dangerous,” adding that his staff would be checking to make sure the changes were put in place. To remove offenders, the authority said it would begin eviction or exclusion enforcement within one week of being informed by the Police Department “of a high-risk case tied to a resident,” aiming to exclude that resident within 60 days of receiving the case from the police. Previously, housing officials said, the time could span multiple months, including in cases when the authority waited for the outcome of a criminal case, or for the resident to complete a treatment program, to pursue exclusions. But the agency, which has been struggling with deep federal funding cuts, also needs to find money to add staff. Investigators found “severe understaffing” and noted that there are only five field investigators, down from 16 in the past, to visit apartments to make sure those excluded were not there. Stephen Davis, the Police Department’s top spokesman, said his agency would begin again to send reports of crime on Housing Authority property once an electronic system — for tracking those crimes and serious arrests of housing residents — was in place. “We recognized that there were gaps that needed to be corrected, and they’re being corrected,” he said. For more than a decade, the Police Department routinely shared all complaint reports of crime in public housing — a variety of offenses including graffiti, property damage, theft and misdemeanor assault — to the authority. The reason for the sharing dates to 1996, when the Police Department took over responsibility for patrolling in public housing developments and entered into an agreement with the authority. But in 2011, for reasons the report does not specify, the department stopped. Mr. Davis said the explanation had to do with concern over a lack of a centralized system for sharing the paper reports, which contain potentially sensitive information. The department has also failed to alert the authority to serious offenses by its residents, the report found. Image Mr. Howard at his sentencing hearing in November. He was arrested several times in recent years, but the Police Department “failed to advise Nycha of any of these arrests.” Credit Lucas Jackson/Reuters Investigators from the Investigation Department looked at 27 instances over one month, this past March, in which the Police Department arrested Housing Authority residents for serious crimes and found that nine of those, or one third, were never reported to the authority. The arrests included that of a 19-year-old resident of the Jefferson Houses, in Manhattan, found with a 9-millimeter pistol at the Mitchell Houses, in the Bronx, and of a resident who the police said tried to rape another person inside an apartment in the Gun Hill Houses in the Bronx. Fritz Umbach, an associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice who has written on the history of policing in public housing, said communication between the police and the authority suffered after the Police Department absorbed all housing officers, who were assigned to housing projects and had daily interactions with tenant associations and building managers, in the 1990s. “In a sense, they are trying to get back to where it was before the merger,” Professor Umbach said. “Had that merger never occurred, we might not be in this situation.” In a statement, the Housing Authority’s general counsel, David Farber, said the agency “implemented its permanent exclusion policy in part to save the tenancy of families” by excluding only “the bad actor” in the household. Officials said the agency and the Police Department were building a joint database to focus on the most serious offenses and strengthen the authority’s hand in seeking exclusions and evictions. “Nycha is not expanding the criteria for eviction or exclusion; rather, the authority is working with the N.Y.P.D. to sharpen its policy so it moves more quickly to exclude or evict from Nycha individuals who commit very serious offenses,” Mr. Farber said. While only about 5 percent of city residents live in public housing, the report noted, 10 percent of felony assaults, 11 percent of rapes, 15 percent of homicides and 20 percent of shootings take place on Nycha grounds. The Investigation Department inquiry began before Officer Holder’s killing. But the case of the suspect, Mr. Howard, illustrated many of the points raised in the report. Mr. Howard was arrested on narcotics charges several times and for a shooting in East Harlem in 2009. He told the police he lived in the East River Houses, but the Police Department “failed to advise Nycha of any of these arrests.” When the police did so two years later, after an arrest on drug possession charges, the process dragged on. In 2014, Mr. Howard was arrested again on drug charges and barred from Housing Authority property other than the apartment where he lived, which belonged to the grandmother of his child’s mother. “By mid-2015, after multiple conferences, Nycha and the grandmother leaseholder agreed in principle to a stipulation of permanent exclusion of Howard from the Nycha apartment,” the report found. “However, when Officer Holder was killed in October 2015, the stipulation of permanent exclusion had still not been signed.”
|
Housing Authority NYC;NYPD;Public Housing;Crime;NYC;Department of Investigation NYC
|
ny0126652
|
[
"sports",
"baseball"
] |
2012/08/12
|
Ivan Nova Strikes Out 10 Before Yankees Put Sabathia on Disabled List
|
TORONTO — Just as one Yankees starter, who was seemingly lost, was rediscovered on Saturday, a more important one disappeared. Ivan Nova, coming off two miserable starts, pitched very well Saturday to lead the Yankees to a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays , but that reassuring result was followed almost immediately by news that the Yankees were placing C. C. Sabathia on the 15-day disabled list with soreness in his left elbow. Manager Joe Girardi said the Yankees had a “low level of concern” for Sabathia, the left-handed ace of the staff, mostly because a recent magnetic resonance imaging test showed no structural damage. Girardi said that if the same conditions existed in October, Sabathia would certainly pitch through the discomfort. But in August, the Yankees played it cautiously by shutting down Sabathia to see if the soreness could be eliminated. Girardi said the Yankees doctors thought Sabathia had only inflammation of the elbow. “That’s what you have when you’re a pitcher,” Girardi said. “So you deal with it.” Sabathia, who was not available to discuss the injury after Saturday’s game, is expected to miss only two starts and be back to pitch against the Indians in Cleveland on Aug. 24, Girardi said. But this is the second visit to the disabled list for the usually durable Sabathia, who turned 32 last month. Just before the All-Star break he went on the disabled list with a strained adductor muscle in his left leg. Reliever David Phelps is the most likely candidate to take Sabathia’s two starts. To fill the void left by Phelps, the Yankees agreed to terms with Derek Lowe to pitch out of the bullpen. The 39-year-old Lowe, who had helped the Boston Red Sox to their American League Championship Series comeback over the Yankees in 2004, was released by the Indians on Friday after being designated for assignment. He was 8-10 with a 5.52 earned run average with the Indians. Lowe is expected to join the team Monday. In the interim, the Yankees will call up Ryota Igarashi from Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to fill in Sunday while Phelps prepares to face the Texas Rangers on Monday at Yankee Stadium. As for Sabathia, Girardi said that no more tests were scheduled but that he might receive a cortisone injection to help reduce the inflammation. Sabathia experienced soreness before his last start in Detroit, and Girardi acknowledged Saturday that he lifted Sabathia after only 6 innings and 94 pitches as a precaution. Sabathia threw on flat ground Friday and reported that the soreness had returned. Despite that, Girardi took it as encouraging that the pain level had not increased. With Sabathia’s status in some doubt, Nova’s performance was all the more reassuring for the Yankees, who won their fourth straight game for the first time since they won five in a row from June 23 to 29. Nova (11-6) pitched seven and a third terrific innings, allowing two runs and five hits to go with 10 strikeouts. The last time he struck out that many was July 8 at Boston, which was also the last time he earned a victory. He had gone 0-3 and allowed 16 earned runs in his past two starts before Saturday. Best of all, Nova’s slider, which had disappeared in those dismal outings, was back in top form. “It was great,” he said. “Right what I wanted.” The last thing Nova did before he left the game was pat Casey McGehee on the hip, a supportive gesture after McGehee had failed to make a play on Edwin Encarnacion’s sharp grounder down the third-base line. It popped out of his glove and went for a run-scoring single. “He knocked the ball down,” Nova said. “That would have been a double.” Over all, McGehee had his best game since joining the Yankees in a trade from the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 31. He hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning and doubled in the sixth and scored on a double by Derek Jeter. McGehee said he was extremely happy to contribute to the victory and said how meaningful it was for Nova to acknowledge him before he left the mound. “For him to do that, make a little gesture to me, I thought that was cool,” McGehee said. “That’s a good teammate.” INSIDE PITCH Derek Jeter collected two hits Saturday to give him 150 and join Hank Aaron as only the second player to have at least 150 hits in 17 straight seasons. Jeter, who first met Aaron at the All-Star Game in 1999, said he was humbled to be in such distinguished company. “You try to stay away from major injuries and be consistent day in and day out,” he said. “So, yeah, I’m proud of that.” Aaron accomplished the feat from 1955 to 1971. Pete Rose had a streak of 16 seasons that was interrupted by the strike of 1981, when he had 140 hits. He came back with 172 hits in 1982.
|
Toronto Blue Jays;New York Yankees;Nova Ivan;McGehee Casey;Baseball
|
ny0296664
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2016/12/12
|
Rex Tillerson’s Company, Exxon, Has Billions at Stake Over Sanctions on Russia
|
MOSCOW — Now that President-elect Donald J. Trump has chosen Rex W. Tillerson , the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, to be the next secretary of state, the giant oil company stands to make some major gains as well: It has billions of dollars in deals that can go forward only if the United States lifts sanctions against Russia. As head of America’s largest oil company, Mr. Tillerson has earned a friendship award from Russia and voiced skepticism about American sanctions that have halted some of Exxon Mobil’s biggest projects in the country. But Mr. Tillerson’s stake in Russia’s energy industry could create a very blurry line between his interests as an oilman and his role as America’s leading diplomat. “The chances that he will view Russia with Exxon Mobil DNA are close to 100 percent,” said Robert Weissman, the president of Public Citizen, a public interest group based in Washington. A tall, strapping Texan, Mr. Tillerson guided Exxon’s entry into the sharp-elbowed oil politics of Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union. He has praised the country for its vast potential as an oil supplier ever since, developing close ties to the Kremlin leadership along the way. Exxon Mobil has various projects afoot in Russia that are allowed under American sanctions. But others have been ground to a halt by the sanctions, including a deal with the Russian state oil company to explore and pump in Siberia that could be worth tens of billions of dollars. Russian officials have optimistically called the agreement a $500 billion deal. As for Mr. Tillerson personally, he was scheduled to retire next year from Exxon Mobil. According to company filings this year, Mr. Tillerson owned $218 million in company stock, and his pension plan was worth nearly $70 million. Russia was already a focus of concern after the Central Intelligence Agency said the Kremlin had intervened in the American presidential election to help Mr. Trump’s candidacy. Now Mr. Tillerson’s career is igniting a debate over the blending of business and politics — and whether that could tip the scales in Russia’s favor on major policy decisions like the sanctions. Speaking on Monday in Moscow, Carter Page , a supporter of Mr. Trump who described his former work for the Trump campaign as pulling together “new ideas” on foreign policy, said he was excited that Mr. Tillerson would probably put more of an emphasis on private sector business opportunities in relations between Russia and the United States. “What makes me excited about new possibilities is the chance to really work on new things to improve more from a business standpoint,” Mr. Page said at a news conference. Others were much warier of a Tillerson appointment. “As secretary of state, he would be called upon to negotiate with world leaders like Vladimir Putin,” said Michael T. Klare, a professor at Hampshire College and the author of “The Race for What’s Left,” which delves into the rush for oil in the thawing Arctic. “In these negotiations, one has to wonder what would influence the types of deals he is making,” Mr. Klare said. “Questions arise over whether his actions would be benefiting his company or the interests of the United States and its allies.” Mr. Trump has called Mr. Tillerson a “player.” At an annual meet-and-greet for corporate chieftains with President Vladimir V. Putin at the St. Petersburg economic forum, Mr. Tillerson was a regular, his silver coiffure bobbing in the crowd of former spies who have become Russian government and corporate officials and now host the event. Along with other American chief executives, Mr. Tillerson skipped the forum in 2014 to conform to White House pressure to isolate Russia, and Exxon Mobil executives insist they obey the sanctions. “We follow the law,” said Alan Jeffers, an Exxon Mobil spokesman. “If a law says that a U.S. corporation is not allowed to participate in activities in a particular jurisdiction, that’s what we do.” The sanctions are intended to put economic pressure on Russia for its lethal intervention in eastern Ukraine, with the aim of forcing the Russian leadership to change course. Still, Mr. Tillerson has made his criticism of the American policy clear. At Exxon’s 2014 annual meeting, Mr. Tillerson said: “We do not support sanctions, generally, because we don’t find them to be effective unless they are very well implemented comprehensibly, and that’s a very hard thing to do. So we always encourage the people who are making those decisions to consider the very broad collateral damage of who are they really harming.” Then, during a question-and-answer period at a Houston conference in early 2015, Mr. Tillerson noted his company looked forward to the sanctions’ being lifted. “We’ll await a time in which the sanctions environment changes or the sanctions requirements change,” he said of blocked Exxon Mobil projects. Mr. Tillerson’s approach in Russia tracks what Robert Amsterdam, a lawyer for the Russian tycoon Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, who had been jailed, described as “the geopolitics of signaling” to the Kremlin, a skill of survival and success for Western oil executives in Russia. “Exxon has been willing to engage in practices that make it a first-round contender for new Russian assets,” Mr. Amsterdam said. “The way you do that is coming as close to the line as humanely possible to support the Russians” without breaking the law. Western sanctions were first enacted on Russia in March 2014 in response to the Russian annexation of Crimea. Then the United States and its allies, including the Netherlands, implicated Russia in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine that July. All on board were killed, including 193 Dutch people heading to Asia for vacations and work, flying for a just few moments over a war zone. That prompted tighter sanctions. A month later, Russian tanks entered eastern Ukraine, turning the tide against the forces of the American-backed Ukrainian central government. Today, about 300 American soldiers rotate through Ukraine as trainers. After the Russian incursion in 2014, the United States prohibited the transfer of advanced offshore and shale oil technology to Russia. The American government announced on Sept. 12 that year that Exxon was to halt all offshore drilling assistance to Rosneft, the Russian state oil company, by Sept. 26. But Exxon Mobil’s high-tech rig was already drilling in the Kara Sea, in an unfinished $700 million project that had yet to find oil. It would be worthless if not completed. Russian executives then told Exxon Mobil that Russia’s security services would fly in a Russian crew — in essence seize the rig — if Exxon Mobil complied with the American law and left without completing the well, according to an oil company executive who had visited the rig in the Arctic. Exxon relayed the threat to the American government, and the Treasury Department capitulated, granting an extension that stretched the window to work until Oct. 10. In a statement in 2014, the Russian state oil company denied conveying such a threat to Mr. Tillerson’s company. With the extension in hand, Exxon Mobil discovered a major field with about 750 million barrels of new oil for Russia a few weeks later. Igor I. Sechin, the chief executive of the Russian state oil company, called the newly discovered oil field Pobeda — Russian for victory. It is one of the Arctic developments that Exxon Mobil has rights to work on should the sanctions be lifted.
|
Rex W Tillerson;Exxon Mobil;State Department;Russia;Oil and Gasoline;Embargoes Sanctions;US Foreign Policy;Offshore drilling;Donald Trump;2016 Presidential Election
|
ny0186103
|
[
"sports",
"othersports"
] |
2009/03/24
|
Sasha Cohen, Lacking an Olympic Gold Medal, Considers a Comeback
|
Sasha Cohen , the ethereal figure skater with an Olympic silver medal and the grace of a prima ballerina, has not competed in three years . Asked if she missed it, she sighed. “I remember the smell of the arena, the brightness of the lights and, oh, that nervousness you feel in your stomach,” she said in a recent interview. “Then you disappear into your own world. You go into that mode, like: ‘I can do this. I am strong.’ It’s hard to explain. There’s nothing like it.” When skaters experience that feeling this week at the world championships in Los Angeles, Cohen will not be among them. At 24, she is skating with the “Stars on Ice” tour. But a comeback may be in her future. Cohen suggested that she might go after a gold medal next year at the Vancouver Olympics. She fell short of that goal at the Turin Games in 2006, when she was second to Shizuka Arakawa of Japan. After finishing the tour , she will decide whether to return to competitive skating. That announcement, she said, will come in June. One look at her face, with that porcelain skin and those doe eyes, and the answer is all but revealed. “I don’t want to go through life saying, ‘Yes, this is nice, my life is nice,’ because 50 years will go by and you would feel like you haven’t lived,” she said. “If I come back, I think I could be better than I ever was, but I don’t know for sure. What I do know is that I’d always regret not trying.” Cohen would bring considerable experience to the United States team. She was the national champion in 2006 after finishing second four times. With her unparalleled spins, spirals and lovely positions, she won two silver medals and a bronze at the world championships. The United States women competing at this year’s worlds — Alissa Czisny, 21, and Rachael Flatt, 16 cannot compete with Cohen’s résumé or her reputation. Czisny , who won her first national title in January, has been inconsistent. She has competed at the worlds once, in 2007, when she finished 15th. Flatt , the 2008 world junior champion, collected her second consecutive silver medal at nationals but is unproven internationally at the senior level. They have been entrusted with a lofty task: Czisny and Flatt must finish a combined 13th to earn the maximum three entries for the United States women at the 2010 Olympics. The United States has failed to earn three spots only once, in 1994. Cohen’s longtime coach, John Nicks, said this would be a perfect time for a return. Her skating could still measure up, he said, and her marketability and experience would benefit the team. Still, he warned Cohen of the pitfalls of a return, pointing out that Olympic champions like Brian Boitano and Katarina Witt tried comebacks but failed to match their earlier successes. “But Sasha has one advantage over everyone — her determination,” Nicks said. “Any failures she’s had in her history, she’s often been disinterested in them. Now, she’s also more realistic.” At 5 feet 2 inches and barely 100 pounds, Cohen is wispy, but tougher than she looks. In returning, she would again face the obstacle of performing two clean programs in the same competition. At the Turin Games, she led after the short program but fell during the long program . At the 2006 worlds, another shaky long program left her in third . “At that point, I never thought I’d ever try for the Olympics again,” Cohen said. “I was too burned out emotionally.” The turning point came last summer, when she took acting classes at Harvard. There, she was learning to deal with her emotions rather than block them out. For the first time, she forced herself to watch her Turin performance. “I realized, no, it wasn’t the Olympic dream that I had imagined; I did not skate my best,” she said. “But I can be miserable and say, ‘I don’t have a gold medal, I don’t have eight gold medals, I can’t afford 20 outfits at Bergdorf Goodman.’ It goes on and on. Sometimes, you have to stop thinking so much.” Soon, she began training more. Other skaters on the tour noticed, and they began staging jump contests during practice sessions. Jennifer Robinson , a six-time Canadian national champion who is on the tour, said Cohen had been landing triple-triple jump combinations. “I think making it fun has really helped her with this,” Robinson said. “She knows that it’s 100 percent up to her to decide to go for the Olympics. If you have the slightest amount of reservation, it’s not going to work.” Cohen says she has not decided who will coach her or where she will train if she returns. The uncertainty, she said, is thrilling. “The worst thing in the world is not to feel anything, to go through life like a machine,” she said. “That’s the one thing that really scares me.”
|
Cohen Sasha;Figure Skating;Olympic Games;Olympic Games (2010)
|
ny0168215
|
[
"business"
] |
2006/01/14
|
Former Refco Chief Resigns From Board
|
Phillip Bennett, the former chief executive of Refco, resigned from the firm's board yesterday after a federal bankruptcy judge directed Refco to replace its board members. Judge Robert Drain of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York had said he would appoint a trustee to run the company unless Refco replaced its board members. Mr. Bennett was fired as chief executive and arrested in October after disclosing he hid $430 million in debt. Refco filed for bankruptcy protection on Oct. 17. Mr. Bennett pleaded not guilty to federal fraud charges in November. He sent Refco lawyers a letter of resignation yesterday. All of the directors, including Thomas Lee, the billionaire chairman of the buyout firm Thomas H. Lee Partners, have resigned. Mr. Bennett has not participated in board activities since disclosing the hidden debt on Oct. 10. The former board members are defendants in 22 lawsuits that accuse them of securities violations and breaches of fiduciary duty. The other directors who resigned are David Harkins and Scott Jaeckel, both managing directors at Thomas H. Lee; Scott Schoen, a co-president at Thomas H. Lee; Nathan Gantcher, managing member at Exop Capital; Ronald O'Kelley, chairman of Atlantic Coast Venture Investments; and Leo Breitman, formerly of FleetBoston Financial.
|
REFCO INC;SUITS AND LITIGATION;BANKRUPTCIES
|
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