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ny0125485
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2012/08/26
|
A Review of ‘Men of Fire: José Clemente Orozco and Jackson Pollock,’ in East Hampton
|
Jackson Pollock is best known for the paintings he made from 1947 to 1951 in which he poured and dripped enamel paint onto large, unprimed canvases tacked to the floor of his studio, which at that time happened to be in Springs, N.Y., a hamlet in the town of East Hampton. These are the works that broke the ice for other painters of his generation, as Willem de Kooning put it, and that turned Pollock into a legend: “Jack the Dripper,” according to a 1956 Life magazine article, whose approach signaled the end of easel painting for many younger artists. But beyond these Pollocks — and this isn’t even counting the Hollywood version played by Ed Harris in the film “Pollock” (2000) — there are others. For instance, there is the Pollock of the 1930s, a student of the regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton , who was also looking at the work of Los Tres Grandes — the Mexican muralists Diego Rivera , David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco — and particularly Orozco, with whom Pollock is paired in “Men of Fire: José Clemente Orozco and Jackson Pollock,” a small but absorbing show at the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center in East Hampton. Pollock first saw Orozco’s work in the summer of 1930, when he was living in Los Angeles and went to see “Prometheus” (1930) , a new fresco Orozco had painted in the dining hall at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif. The fresco depicts the figure in Greek mythology who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to humankind. The flames, painted in deep, warm colors, were central to Orozco’s aesthetic — hence his nickname Man of Fire, and the title of this show. Later that year, Pollock moved to New York and began studying with Benton, who was painting murals at the New School for Social Research . Orozco was working in the same building, and Pollock met him and watched him work on a mural depicting the social and political struggles of the East and the West. The works in “Men of Fire” are much smaller than Orozco’s epic murals or Pollock’s drip paintings, but they are filled with the ideas and concerns of the 1930s, the various mythologies that fascinated artists of that era, as well as the anxieties of the Depression and the rise of fascism in Europe. The Orozco pieces here are all preliminary drawings or studies for “The Epic of American Civilization” (1932-34) , a large fresco commissioned by Dartmouth College, which Pollock traveled to New Hampshire to see in 1936. Interestingly, he went along with the painter Philip Guston. (“Men of Fire” is organized in conjunction with the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth, where it appeared earlier this year.) The Dartmouth fresco cycle begins with the migration of indigenous people in Mesoamerica instead of the arrival of Christian Europeans on the Eastern Seaboard. Two small, brutal studies, one in graphite on paper and the other in gouache and watercolor, depict an “Ancient Human Sacrifice” (all works, about 1932-34) in which figures with masked faces reminiscent of the cubist works of Picasso perform a violent rite upon a man who is stretched out in a position recalling a crucifixion. The Hood catalog describes “The Departure of Quetzalcoatl,” here a small gouache with the Mesoamerican deity drawn as a white-bearded man, as a postcolonial version of the myth in which the Spanish Conquest is treated as the realization of Quetzalcoatl’s prophecy, and Hernando Cortez his vengeful return. “Cortez and the Cross,” a graphite drawing showing Cortez as a towering central figure in armor, marks the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in Orozco’s fresco cycle. One of the most extraordinary Orozco images in the show comes from a later section of the fresco. A graphite study for “Gods of the Modern World” features a skeleton lying on its back giving birth while attendants in academic robes stand by, a device borrowed from a popular graphic artist, José Gaudalupe Posada, who used skeletons to satirize society. (One wonders what Orozco’s contemporary viewers in the reserve reading room at Dartmouth’s Baker Library thought of this iconography.) The Pollock works here are less mature; these are the paintings of an artist nearly 30 years Orozco’s junior, groping for his subject and his style. And yet you can see in works like “Untitled (Bald Woman With Skeleton)” (c. 1938-41), a small, dark-hued painting with a skeleton as its central motif, both the influence of Orozco and some of the turmoil of the moment. The threat of world war was imminent, but in 1938 Pollock was also hospitalized for alcoholism and began four years of Jungian psychotherapy. Later, he would reject the external world and the revolutionary politics depicted by the Mexicans in their works — in the catalog, Stephen Polcari, an art historian, calls Pollock’s politics “at best of the parlor and not the activist variety” — for an inner psychic world, derived in part from the psychic automatism (or “automatic drawing”) of the Surrealists. What Pollock was primarily channeling in these works was Orozco’s expressive intensity. “Composition With Flames” (1936) and “Untitled (Composition With Angular Forms)” (c. 1934-38) take Orozco’s fire motifs and transform them into dynamic shapes and forms, which would emerge in his later paintings and ultimately appear in the Abstract Expressionist drips and pours. Other works directly refer to the Dartmouth frescos. “Untitled (Composition With Red Arc and Horses)” (c. 1938) takes a skeleton as a central figure, and “Untitled (Composition With Ritual Scene)” (c. 1938-41) is reminiscent of Orozco’s “Ancient Human Sacrifice.” One of the most interesting works in the show is “Flight of Man” (c. 1939), which Pollock painted inside a porcelain bowl, mimicking Orozco’s “Man of Fire” (1937-38), painted inside the dome of a hospital in Guadalajara, Mexico. The catalog is filled with various musings on what Orozco and his peers taught Pollock. (One of the most interesting assessments, by the artist Peter Busa: “These Mexicans taught him that art could be ‘ugly.’ ”) But if the Pollock-Krasner House and its grounds are filled with the aura of the great Pollock — a figure whose reputation in this country eventually eclipsed those of Los Tres Grandes — it is refreshing to experience the young Pollock, still curious and open and learning from his elders.
|
Art;East Hampton (NY);Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center;Pollock Jackson;Orozco Jose Clemente
|
ny0217374
|
[
"sports"
] |
2010/04/14
|
N.C.A.A. Council OKs Testing for Sickle-Cell Trait
|
Members of the N.C.A.A. ’s Division I Legislative Council have approved a measure that requires all athletes to be screened for the sickle-cell trait unless they can show results of a previous test or they sign a release to decline testing. The measure, announced Tuesday after two days of meetings in Indianapolis, was intended to help prevent the sudden death of athletes who carry the trait, a genetic disorder that is present in about 8 percent of African-Americans and less than 1 percent of white Americans. People with the sickle-cell trait are believed to be at a higher risk for death brought on by intense exercise. At least eight college football players who carried the trait have died as a result of intense training since 2000. “It’s a step forward,” said Scott Anderson, the head athletic trainer at the University of Oklahoma and a leading advocate for testing. Anderson preferred an earlier proposal that would have allowed athletes to decline testing only if they could show proof of a previous test. Tuesday’s proposal was seen as a compromise. It needed a 50 percent majority to pass, and it received 34.5 points in support, 11.1 in opposition and 4.2 abstentions. The legislative council is made up of member conferences whose votes are weighted depending on their size. The measure, which must still be reviewed by the Division I board of directors, would go into effect in August. Requiring mandatory screening for college athletes has been a subject of debate in college athletic circles and among experts in the sickle-cell trait over the past year, with opponents warning that testing could single out players with the trait and would not necessarily prevent deaths. Dr. Lanetta Jordan, the chief medical officer for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America , said she was pleased the council approved a provision allowing athletes to decline testing, but added that the question of screening missed the point. “The onus is still on the student, it’s not on changing the practice of the institutions,” she said. She and other medical experts have said the best way to prevent deaths is to apply training precautions to all athletes, not just those with the trait. Imposing across-the-board policies would be difficult because individual universities are responsible for overseeing their training programs, Anderson said. Oklahoma and other colleges modify their workouts for athletes with the trait and educate them about potential risks. Anderson said testing was just one component of prevention. “Expanding the margin of safety for the athletes in sport is the end goal, and screening has been a step towards that,” he said. He said he hoped the discussion about screening had raised awareness about the risks of intense exercise for those with the sickle-cell trait. “It’s an opportunity to take the education and awareness in a broader vein than just the N.C.A.A.,” he said.
|
sickle-cell disease;sickle-cell trait;College Athletics;National Collegiate Athletic Assn;Sickle Cell Disease Assn of America;Tests and Testing
|
ny0239179
|
[
"technology"
] |
2010/12/27
|
Leo Laporte Builds Empire With ‘This Week in Tech’
|
Balancing on a giant rubber ball in a broadcast studio and control room carved out of a cottage in Petaluma, Calif., Leo Laporte is an unlikely media mogul. From that little town in California wine country, he runs his empire, a podcasting network, TWIT . For 30 hours each week, he and the other hosts on his network talk about technology — topics like the best e-book reader or how to get rid of a computer virus — for shows that he gives away online. Nerdy, yes. Silly, no. TWIT gets its name from Mr. Laporte’s flagship podcast , “This Week in Tech,” which is downloaded by a quarter of a million people each week. He produces 22 other technology-focused podcasts that are downloaded five million times a month. He also streams video all day long that captures his podcasting and a weekend radio show on computers, “The Tech Guy,” that reaches 500,000 more people through 140 stations. “I don’t want to be just a carbon copy of existing media,” said Mr. Laporte, who at 54 is just old enough to remember using carbon paper in typewriters to make duplicates. Advertisers, especially technology companies, appreciate Mr. Laporte’s reach. Mark McCrery, chief executive of Podtrac, which is based in Washington, and measures podcast audiences and sells advertising, said TWIT’s advertising revenue doubled in each of the last two years and was expected to total $4 million to $5 million for 2010. Starting at $40 per thousand listeners, TWIT’s ad rates are among the highest in American podcasting and are considerably higher than commercial broadcasting rates, which are typically $5 to $15 per thousand listeners. Podcasting is an often overlooked corner of the media world. The term is derived from iPod , the Apple media player that can be used to listen to these radiolike programs as well as recorded music. The iTunes store from Apple, where about 75 percent of the audience for podcasts looks for fresh material, contains about 150,000 regular shows featuring has-been and up-and-coming comics and sex talk, as well as mainstream fare like NPR and CNN broadcasts. Edison Research estimates that a quarter of all Americans over the age of 12 have listened to or watched at least one. There are also video podcasts. Mr. Laporte has shown there is a lot of life in podcasting. Doug Keith, president of Future Research Consulting in Philadelphia, which tracks media companies and publishers, said advertisers were drawn to the network because tech enthusiasts were keen on its content. In July, Mr. Laporte spent three hours signing hundreds of autographs for members of the so-called TWIT army in Detroit. Some of his fans had him sign their iPads. No wonder then, that $20,000 a month in voluntary contributions comes in from the TWIT Web site, which has a series of “Tip Leo” buttons that set off recurring monthly contributions of $2, $5 and $10. Mr. Laporte’s first great love was radio. In the late 1970s, he dropped out of Yale to pursue a radio career. He began talking about technology on the radio in 1990. In the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, he appeared on tech-focused television programs, including as an animated character on “The Site,” an MSNBC show devoted to the nascent Internet. Mr. Laporte played an espresso barista named Dev Null and wore a motion capture suit to animate the character he voiced. Many who listen to or watch his podcasts today remember him from such cable TV shows as “The Screen Savers” and “Call for Help.” And it was a round-table discussion by former staff members from “Screen Savers” that prompted Mr. Laporte to begin “This Week in Tech” in 2005. Mr. Laporte posted a recording of the discussion at a Macworld conference on his blog , not intending it to become a podcast. But it got so many hits, he started posting regularly. Mr. Laporte, now with a full head of graying hair, has an encyclopedic command of digital technology, and he keeps the show, which consistently reaches the top 200 podcasts list at iTunes, lively with his ability to mimic voices and accents. He frequently does impressions of sitcom and cartoon characters to make a point about network-attached storage devices or bit rates. “This Week in Tech,” a two-hour show, features journalists and industry insiders talking shop. Some who live in Silicon Valley or San Francisco drive up to Mr. Laporte’s cottage to join him for the Sunday afternoon recordings. Other far-flung participants connect through Skype. A contraption in the TWIT control room known as the Skyposaurus employs four computers to connect Skype video callers. In the studio, Mr. Laporte’s eyes dart from one computer screen scrolling mile-a-minute chat-room banter to another where he searches Google for answers for guests and listeners, while mixing sound, switching video signals and moderating panel discussions. But it is the hundreds of hard-core tech fans in the show’s chat rooms that make the podcasts work. They serve as Mr. Laporte’s researchers, fact checkers and Greek chorus. “If an error is made, the chat room will be all over it,” said John C. Dvorak, a columnist for PC Magazine and a regular on “This Week in Tech.” “This is real-time fact checking. There’s nothing like it.” During tapings of “This Week in Tech,” as many as 1,500 people are in chat rooms typing away at a furious pace. Fifteen volunteer monitors around the country keep the chat family-friendly. But sometimes the comments can get tough. Although Mr. Laporte is patient with even the most clueless callers, chat room regulars are not as tolerant. “We’re making comments like, ‘This person needs to have their computer taken away,’ ” said Lillian Banchik, a Long Island surgeon who is known in the chat room as Dr. Mom. Dr. Banchik, who listens to TWIT programs 20 hours a week, said she once spent an hour in a private chat with someone who helped her solve a problem with her husband’s iMac . Many other chat room regulars have serious alternative lives, but like to spend time with the show. Amanda W. Peet, a physics professor at the University of Toronto, goes by Kiwi Nerd. Teresa M. Mensing, an associate professor of geology at Ohio State University, uses the handle Darth Emma. Next year, the TWIT empire is expected to move into a larger building, down the street from its current headquarters. Mr. Laporte plans to start a morning show this spring to compete with drive-time radio broadcasters. “It’s not as if I had a plan for all this,” Mr. Laporte said. “It just kind of happened. It was almost as if we had this audience that was waiting for the medium to come along.”
|
Laporte Leo;Podcasts;Computers and the Internet;TWIT;Media
|
ny0020600
|
[
"sports",
"baseball"
] |
2013/07/25
|
Pettitte’s Strong Outing Wasted by Weakened Yankees Offense
|
ARLINGTON, Tex. — Andy Pettitte is always one to nitpick and parse his way through his games to find the flaws, even if they are scarce. So on Wednesday, after all the hard work he did to blaze through a lineup of dangerous right-handed hitters, Pettitte agonized over the hit he gave up to a left-hander. With the score tied in the sixth inning, Pettitte allowed a home run to the left-handed hitting A. J. Pierzynski, and the Texas Rangers went on to a 3-1 win at Rangers Ballpark. Pettitte pitched well, but with the Yankees’ lineup continuing to struggle, it was not good enough. In an otherwise fine performance, the left-handed Pettitte got Nelson Cruz and Adrian Beltre out, but then threw a cut fastball to Pierzynski. The ball was supposed to bounce in front of the plate, but it stayed up a little and Pierzynski clouted it over the fence for a 2-1 Rangers lead. “Just another frustrating start,” Pettitte said. “You get through their big hitters, the big right-handers, and you feel pretty good about that, and it hurts. It hurts to let a left-hander beat you right there.” Pettitte allowed only two runs in six-plus innings. The two earned runs were the fewest he has allowed since June 8, when he surrendered only one at Seattle, but he still took the loss and his record fell to 7-8. Pettitte won two of his previous three starts coming into Wednesday, but said he was still incredibly frustrated with his performances. Image Andy Pettitte after being relieved in the seventh inning. Pettitte had won two of his previous three starts heading into Wednesday's but said he was still incredibly frustrated with his performances. Credit Tim Sharp/Reuters No matter that his stuff feels good or that he is healthy. At age 41, there is not much time left to look to the future. “I just want to win,” Pettitte said. “At this stage of my,” he said stopping, and then adding, “I’m not looking to be positive about, ‘Oh, I felt good with my stuff tonight.’ Because I’ve been feeling good with it. It’s just a matter of obviously making the pitches I need to make and hopefully I start doing a better job of that.” His counterpart, Matt Garza. who was making his debut for the Rangers after being acquired from the Chicago Cubs in a trade Monday, pitched well against the Yankees’ inferior lineup. Garza allowed only one unearned run over seven and a third innings. He gave up five hits and struck out five to beat the Yankees for only the second time in 12 starts against them. Garza became the first pitcher since John Burkett in 1996 to allow no earned runs in at least seven innings in his Rangers debut. Joe Nathan, who blew his fifth career save against the Yankees on Tuesday night, got the final out for his 32nd save. The Rangers scored a run in the first inning when Pierzynski singled to center, scoring Ian Kinsler from third base. The Yankees finally broke through in the top of the sixth when Brett Gardner reached on a base hit back toward Garza, who fielded the ball and tried to make a throw to first base from his knees. The throw was wild, and Gardner ended up on third base. One out later, Robinson Cano singled to center against a drawn-in infield, and the Yankees tied the game, 1-1. But it did not last, as Pierzynski drilled his 10th home run into the stands in right field. David Murphy provided an insurance run, homering off Shawn Kelley in the eighth. INSIDE PITCH Derek Jeter, who is recovering from a quadriceps injury, continued to work out on the field, and Manager Joe Girardi said Jeter would run the bases Friday. Jeter is eligible to come off the disabled list Saturday, although Girardi did not say for certain that was when he would return. “Nothing is out of the question,” Girardi said, “but I’m not so sure we’ll see him Saturday.” ...Luis Cruz was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right knee injury, and David Adams was called up to replace him.
|
Baseball;Yankees;Texas Rangers;Andy Pettitte;Matt Garza
|
ny0144686
|
[
"business"
] |
2008/10/07
|
Memo to Paulson: Keep the Public Focused on the Future
|
TO: Henry Paulson FROM: Jack Flack SUBJECT: Hammer, Hammer, Hammer I know you don’t like worrying about spin. But that’s my job, and giving it a little more attention would help you hugely. Before we get into that, I want to make sure you appreciate what the near-meltdown has done for you. Troubled times breed scapegoats, but disastrous times breed heroes. Three weeks ago, you were an increasingly defensive player in a lame-duck administration, a well-intentioned, high-potential reformer who had become far too busy sweeping up broken glass to do any real reforming. But historically significant leaders are always forged amid times of severe adversity. And today, even your biggest critics still use your name in the same sentence with Hamilton. You haven’t wasted the opportunity. While any of your recent predecessors other than Rubin would have been roadkill, you grabbed the steering wheel and drove right over the burning bridge. Now, with Wall Street in shambles and an election less than a month away, every banker, broker, politician, pundit and talk radio listener feels obliged to second-guess your motives, strategy, tactics, execution and bedside manner. Steel yourself in that reality, and resist the natural temptation to let the inevitable criticisms irritate you. Big systemic catastrophes require bold leadership from individuals who understand that a simple strategy executed with conviction is always far more effective than an increasingly impeccable strategy that never gets out of the garage. That said, the spotlight is about to get even brighter, and you’ll need to raise the quality of your talk to the level of your walk. Here’s the short list of how to do that: KEEP HAMMERING Keep forcing the action, and thus forcing others to react to your agenda. If you allow the plot to stagnate, you will invite all kinds of creatures to emerge from the swamp and pull you down. Presume Congress will not obstruct you from shifting government funds into the credit markets before it has appointed overseers, and explain to the leadership that they don’t want the liability of making Kashkari wait until November before he can go to work. Every time you cut a sizable deal, make sure it stops the show at CNBC, and that you’re available to talk about it. REDEFINE THE CRISIS The public still thinks your plan is supposed to be a full-fledged cure, not simply the essential triage that it actually is. Barnstorm with your buddy Buffett, and make sure he keeps repeating his metaphor about the American economy being a great athlete that just had a heart attack. Make it clear that you are simply the guy with the best available defibrillator. GET STICKY Many have criticized you for calling your plan a “ bailout ,” a concept that begs for populist rejection. You know you never said it. But you did make the mistake of not naming it something catchy enough to stick. Instead, you referred to it as the “troubled asset relief program.” That wouldn’t even work as an acronym, given that $700 billion is a lot of money for a TARP. But the media always need easy handles, and your opponents gave them one that Main Street would naturally loathe. McCain and others suggested that you should have used the word “rescue” instead, which still conjures a charitable connotation that the Limbaugh Nation would find almost as repulsive. Instead, you should have identified it as exactly what it is meant to be — the Crash Prevention Bill. OWN PRAGMATISM This is your traditional strength, and every member of your team should wield the phrase “Paulson pragmatism” like a light saber. It will be particularly critical as you lean into the natural conundrum of the auctioning process, seeking to balance stewardship of the taxpayers’ money with the need to buy and sell at prices that will get the gears turning. SHIFT THE CONTEXT Nothing clears up an internal squabble about the past like an external threat to the future. Right now, everything is being evaluated relative to what has been destroyed and no longer exists. That means that every action you take will be interpreted within the context of a declining American economy. As things stabilize, you must take the lead in reframing the overall context in terms of what must be created for the American economy to thrive within the emerging global scheme. When hard-core capitalists bristle about additional controls, for instance, remind them that the nation must equip itself to compete in a new world, where snarling sovereign funds and a weak dollar could make America just another major market. Remember, after the initial panic passes, competition for the future is always more inspiring than recuperation from the past. CHANGE GAMES If you manage the next three months well, there will be those who will want you to stick around a couple of more years to give the new administration greater stability. But history tends to punish those who stay too long. Politely advise the president-elect that you will dutifully carry out whatever transition he sees fit — then get off the stage as fast as you can. That may turn out to be harder than you think, and you might discover that working through this crisis has actually stoked the fire in your belly. If so, let the transition team know that if they’re to create a position to highlight the incoming president’s commitment to making real progress on the environment, then you might be the right guy. After all, who could get more done for the global environment than a bird-watching business pragmatist who knows his way around China?
|
Subprime Mortgage Crisis;United States Economy;Paulson Henry M Jr;Troubled Asset Relief Program (2008);Wall Street (NYC)
|
ny0184281
|
[
"business"
] |
2009/03/03
|
No Destination Flying Has Its Appeal
|
TUCSON I WORK best out here in the desert sun, by a window overlooking a big saguaro cactus and a mesquite tree with a bird feeder that gets so much action that the whole scene looks like a Disney cartoon. Simon Sinek, who is also working on a deadline to finish a book, has a different method of getting his work done. The poor guy has discovered that he works best — get this — on an airplane. Now, I’m beginning to wonder if this may be some sort of a disturbing trend. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about David Topus, a consultant who takes airplane trips specifically to sit next to people so he can engage them in conversation, in hopes of winning them as clients. Like Mr. Topus, Mr. Sinek, a motivational speaker and writer based in New York, takes airplane trips that have no purpose other than to be on the plane. Unlike Mr. Topus, Mr. Sinek wants to be alone. His book, called “Start With Why,” to be published this fall by Portfolio, a Penguin Books imprint, is about the importance of motivating employees through intent, rather than just instruction. The manuscript is due in two weeks, which is serious motivation for him. Late last year the speaking business slowed down. So did Mr. Sinek’s overall productivity. “I couldn’t understand why my productivity went down when I had deliberately made more time available to write,” he told me. “Then I realized it was because I wasn’t flying as much. “Before, I’d sit on a plane and pull out a computer and start writing a speech or whatever,” he said. “And on most planes, there are no plugs, so I’d open up my computer and wrote until the battery died. Because I had this pressure of knowing the battery would die, I wrote monumental amounts in short periods of time.” With the book deadline looming, Mr. Sinek decided he needed to get back on planes, even though he was not going anywhere specific. He practiced what he preached about motivation. “I got on the phone with a Delta agent and said, ‘Look, I’m writing a book. I do my most productive writing on airplanes, so can you help me find some flights so I can finish this thing?’ I said, ‘I don’t care where I go. I just need to be in the air for three or three-and-a-half hours, and I need a cheap fare on a relatively empty flight.’ ” Now, my assumption would be that airline clerks would roll their eyes and try to lose this guy, but the approach worked. Agents went to considerable effort to devise itineraries. (It helps that airline passenger demand is down, obviously. While many high-demand route flights are full as airlines shrink capacity and squeeze as many people as possible onto planes, others are taking off with lots of empty seats on certain routes.) So in the last month, Mr. Sinek and his laptop hit the skies repeatedly. “I flew to Orlando and back, then Los Angeles and back, then Phoenix and back,” he said, all on Delta, and all on cheap fares. “It’s just me and the laptop, no other baggage. I landed in Los Angeles, grabbed something at the California Pizza Kitchen at the airport, and was on a flight back to New York within the hour.” Easy for a motivational speaker to say. I, on the other hand, have been having a difficult time lately booking flights. On Monday, I canceled a flight from Tucson to Newark because of the weather, and found that alternate flights later on were pretty solidly booked. Incidentally, the online travel site Tripadvisor.com just released a sophisticated version of its airline flight comparison site. Next week I’ll explain why it is easier than ever to shop around online — given the turmoil in the domestic airline business — and get detailed comparative information on flights without spending hours on the phone. But Mr. Sinek is sticking to the personal relationship strategy. “When you explain to people what you’re trying to do, as opposed to just making demands or delegating tasks, you can build instant trust, even if it’s just for that short time you’re on the phone,” he said. As to the phone, my Tucson phone line went out again this morning, and the repair guy hates it when he has to come here and carry a big ladder to the telephone pole 500 feet out back, through all those nasty cacti with needles that stick in his pants. I’ll try to enlist him in the task to fix it right this time.
|
Airlines and Airplanes;Computers and the Internet;Writing and Writers;Books and Literature
|
ny0064806
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2014/06/29
|
Events in Connecticut for June 29-July 5, 2014
|
A guide to cultural and recreational events in Connecticut. Items for the calendar should be sent at least three weeks in advance to [email protected]. Comedy BRIDGEPORT The Bijou Theater “Vaudeville: July Frolic,” variety, with a contest for the most patriotic costume. July 5 at 8 p.m. $20 and $25. The Bijou Theater, 275 Fairfield Avenue. (203) 332-3228; thebijoutheatre.com. MASHANTUCKET Comix at Foxwoods Johnny Pizzi. June 29 at 8 p.m. $15 to $25. Luis J. Gomez. July 2 at 8 p.m. $10 to $20. Joe DeRosa. July 3 through 5 at 8 p.m. $20 to $40. Pat Oates, Luis J. Gomez and Dave Smith. July 4 at 10:30 p.m. $15 to $25. Jim Spinnato. July 6 at 8 p.m. $15 to $25. Comix at Foxwoods, 350 Trolley Line Boulevard. (866) 646-0609; comixatfoxwoods.com. Film BRIDGEPORT The Bijou Theater “Being Ginger,” directed by Scott P. Harris. July 1 and 2 at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. $10 and $12. The Bijou Theater, 275 Fairfield Avenue. (203) 332-3228; thebijoutheatre.com. HARTFORD Cinestudio “Fed Up,” documentary by Stephanie Soechtig. Through July 2. “Birthday Cake,” directed by Chad Darnell. July 3 at 7:30 p.m. “A Hard Day’s Night,” starring the Beatles. July 4 through 10. $7 and $9. Cinestudio, 300 Summit Street. (860) 297-2463; cinestudio.org. HARTFORD Real Art Ways “Citizen Koch,” documentary by Carl Deal and Tia Lessin. Through July 3. “We Are the Best,” directed by Lukas Moodysson. “Cold in July,” starring Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard and Don Johnson. July 4 through 10. $4.50 to $10. Real Art Ways, 56 Arbor Street. (860) 232-1006; realartways.org. OLD SAYBROOK The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center “Dragon Seed,” starring Katharine Hepburn. July 1 at 2 and 7 p.m. $8. The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, 300 Main Street. (877) 503-1286; thekate.org. STAMFORD Avon Theater “Jaws,” directed by Steven Spielberg. July 2 at 7:30 p.m. $6 to $11; Carte Blanche members, free. Avon Theater, 272 Bedford Street. (203) 967-3660; avontheatre.org. TORRINGTON Warner Theater Screening of the “Back to the Future” trilogy, directed by Robert Zemeckis. June 29 at 3 p.m. $5 per film. Pay admission for two films and see the third free. Warner Theater, 68 Main Street. (860) 489-7180; warnertheatre.org. For Children NEW CANAAN Summer Theater of New Canaan, at Waveny Park “Merrilee Mannerly,” musical. Through July 19. “Little Mermaid Jr.,” musical. Through Aug. 3. $20. Summer Theater of New Canaan, at Waveny Park, 11 Farm Road. (203) 966-4634; stonc.org. NEW LONDON Lyman Allyn Art Museum Leaf printing and collages, art projects. July 5, 1 to 3 p.m. Free museum admission. $5 to $10; members and children under 12, free. Lyman Allyn Art Museum, 625 Williams Street. lymanallyn.org; (860) 443-2545. NORWALK Maritime Aquarium “Food for Thought,” International Children’s Art Exhibit. Through Sept. 2. (203) 803-4376; creativeconnections.org. “Lorikeets.” See and feed tropical birds. Through Sept. 1. Free with museum admission. $12.95 to $19.95; children under 3, free. Daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Maritime Aquarium, 10 North Water Street. maritimeaquarium.org; (203) 852-0700. NORWALK Stepping Stones Museum for Children “Healthyville,” exhibition on nutrition, fitness, hygiene and safety. Through Sept. 1. Daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Stepping Stones Museum for Children, 303 West Avenue. steppingstonesmuseum.org; (203) 899-0606. STAMFORD Stamford Museum & Nature Center “Tree-mendous Treks,” various activities and guided walks through forest trails. Thursdays at 3:30 p.m. through Aug. 21. Animal Meet and Greet, with animals from Overbrook Nature Center or Heckscher Farm. Sundays at 3:30 p.m. through Aug. 31. “Treehouses: Look Who’s Living in the Trees,” interactive exhibition. Through Sept. 1. Free with gate admission. $5 to $10; members and children under 3, free. Mondays through Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Stamford Museum & Nature Center, 39 Scofieldtown Road. (203) 322-1646; stamfordmuseum.org. Music and Dance DANBURY Ives Concert Park Peter Frampton, rock. July 5 at 7:30 p.m. $29 to $79. Ives Concert Park, 43 Lake Avenue Extension. ivesconcertpark.com; (203) 837-9226. FAIRFIELD StageOne, Fairfield Theater Company Latyrx, hip hop. June 29 at 7:45 p.m. $20. StageOne, Fairfield Theater Company, 70 Sanford Street. (203) 259-1036; fairfieldtheatre.org. FALLS VILLAGE Music Mountain Arianna String Quartet, classical. June 29 at 3 p.m. $30 and $35. Music Mountain, 225 Music Mountain Road. (860) 824-7126; musicmountain.org. MASHANTUCKET Grand Theater, Foxwoods Casino Styx, Foreigner and Don Felder, rock. June 29 at 7 p.m. $60 to $90. “50 Cent 2nd Annual Birthday Bash,” live boxing with 50 Cent, rapper. July 2 at 9 p.m. $45 to $100. O.A.R. and Phillip Phillips, rock. July 6 at 6 p.m. $55 and $80. Grand Theater, Foxwoods Casino, 350 Trolley Line Boulevard. (800) 200-2882; foxwoods.com. Image HARTFORD The film “Cold in July,” starring, from left, Sam Shepard, Michael C. Hall and Don Johnson, will be screened July 4 through 10 at Real Art Ways, 56 Arbor Street. Tickets are $4.50 to $10. Information: (860) 232-1006 or realartways.org . Credit IFC Films MIDDLETOWN Center for the Arts, Wesleyan University Banning Eyre, African pop. July 1 at 12:10 p.m. Free. Zili Misik, soul. July 2 at 7 p.m. Free. Center for the Arts, Wesleyan University, 283 Washington Terrace. (860) 685-3355; wesleyan.edu/cfa. MILFORD Milford Center for the Arts Tango Festival, with performances and workshops in Milford, Norwalk, Danbury, New Haven and Hartford. July 5 through 20. $42 to $75. Milford Center for the Arts, 40 Railroad Avenue South. (203) 584-4480; cttangofest.org. NEW HAVEN Toad’s Place Swans, alternative rock, and Xiu Xiu, synthpop. July 6 at 8:30 p.m. $25. Toad’s Place, 300 York Street. toadsplace.com; (203) 624-8623. NORFOLK Infinity Hall The Joint Chiefs, blues and folk. June 29 at 7:30 p.m. $24 and $34. Toad the Wet Sprocket, pop and rock. July 3 at 8 p.m. $55 and $75. Full Moon Fever, Tom Petty tribute band. July 5 at 8 p.m. $25 and $35. The Southern Comfort Band, country. July 6 at 7:30 p.m. $15 and $25. Infinity Hall, 20 Greenwoods Road. (866) 666-6306; infinityhall.com. NORFOLK Norfolk Chamber Music Festival Young Artists’ Performance Series. July 3 at 7:30 p.m.; July 5 at 10:30 a.m. Free. Artis Quartet, classical. July 4 and 5 at 8 p.m. $44 to $55. Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Routes 44 and 272. (860) 542-3000; norfolkmusic.org. OLD LYME The Side Door Myron Walden will perform with his quintet, jazz. July 4 at 8:30 p.m. $28. Davis Weiss Sextet, jazz. July 5 at 8:30 p.m. $25. The Side Door, 85 Lyme Street. (860) 434-0886; thesidedoorjazz.com. OLD SAYBROOK The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center Changes in Latitudes, tribute to Jimmy Buffett. July 6 at 8 p.m. $35. The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, 300 Main Street. (877) 503-1286; thekate.org. RIDGEFIELD Ridgefield Playhouse Grand Funk Railroad, blues and rock. June 29 at 8 p.m. $85. John Hiatt and the Combo, with the Robert Cray Band, rock and blues. July 3 at 6 p.m. $95 to $110; tickets include open bar and dinner. Natalie Merchant, rock. July 6 at 8 p.m. $90. Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge Road. ridgefieldplayhouse.org; (203) 438-5795. Outdoors MILFORD Connecticut Audubon Society Coastal Center at Milford Point Guided Canoe Tours. June 28 11:45 a.m. and June 29 12:30 p.m. $20 to $35 per person; $69 to $95 per group of three. Connecticut Audubon Society Coastal Center at Milford Point, 1 Milford Point Road. (203) 878-7440; ctaudubon.org. MYSTIC Mystic Seaport 1876 Independence Day Celebration, boat races, parade, old-fashioned spelling bee, children’s crafts and concert. July 4, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mystic Seaport, 75 Greenmanville Avenue. mysticseaport.org; (860) 572-5388. STONINGTON Independence Day Celebration. Parade begins at the Stonington Free Library, at Water and High Streets at 10 a.m. on July 4. stoningtonhistory.org; (860) 535-8445. Theater DANBURY Richter Arts Center “Anything Goes,” comedy by Cole Porter. Through July 12. $6 to $21. Richter Arts Center, 100 Aunt Hack Road. musicalsatrichter.org; (203) 748-6873. EAST HADDAM Goodspeed Opera House “Fiddler on the Roof,” musical by Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick and Joseph Stein. Through Sept. 7. $36.50 to $84.50. Goodspeed Opera House, 6 Main Street. (860) 873-8668; goodspeed.org. IVORYTON Ivoryton Playhouse “All Shook Up,” musical by Joe DiPietro. July 2 through 27. $15 to $42. Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street. ivorytonplayhouse.org; (860) 767-7318. NEW CANAAN Summer Theater of New Canaan, at Waveny Park “Hairspray” by Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan. Through Aug. 3. $25 to $50. Summer Theater of New Canaan, at Waveny Park, 11 Farm Road. (203) 966-4634; stonc.org. NEW HAVEN Long Wharf Theater “Endurance,” Split Knuckle Theater Company. Through June 29. $55. Long Wharf Theater, 222 Sargent Drive. longwharf.org; (203) 787-4282. NEWTOWN Town Players of Newtown “I Hate Hamlet,” comedy by Paul Rudnick. Through July 20. $15 to $20. Town Players of Newtown, 18 Orchard Hill Road. (203) 270-9144; newtownplayers.org. ROWAYTON Shakespeare on the Sound, Pinkney Park “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” by Shakespeare. Through June 29. $10 and $20 suggested donation. Shakespeare on the Sound, Pinkney Park, 177 Rowayton Avenue. shakespeareonthesound.org; (203) 299-1300. SHARON TriArts Sharon Playhouse “Les Misérables,” musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil, Jean-Marc Natel and Herbert Kretzmer. Through June 29. $16 to $47. TriArts Sharon Playhouse, 49 Amenia Road. triarts.net; (860) 364-7469. Image DANBURY The Grammy Award-winning rock musician Peter Frampton will perform on July 5 at 7:30 p.m. at Ives Concert Park, 43 Lake Avenue Extension. Tickets are $29 to $79. For further information: ivesconcertpark.com or (203) 837-9226. Credit Kevin Winter/Getty Images STORRS Connecticut Repertory Theater, at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theater “The Sunshine Boys,” comedy by Neil Simon, featuring Jerry Adler and Richard Kline. Through June 29. $10 to $43. Connecticut Repertory Theater at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theater, 2132 Hillside Road. (860) 486-2113; crt.uconn.edu. WEST HARTFORD Playhouse on Park “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” musical by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin. Through July 20. $32.50 to $42.50. Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road. playhouseonpark.org; (860) 523-5900. Museums and Galleries BRIDGEPORT Housatonic Museum of Art “Requiem for the Industrial Age,” Anna Held Audette. Through July 25. Mondays through Fridays, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Thursdays, 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Housatonic Museum of Art, 900 Lafayette Boulevard. housatonicmuseum.org; (203) 332-5052. COS COB Greenwich Historical Society “Enjoying the Country Life: Greenwich’s Great Estates.” Through Aug. 1. Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. $8 and $10; members and children under 6, free. Greenwich Historical Society, 39 Strickland Road. (203) 869-6899; greenwichhistory.org. COS COB The Drawing Room “Ebb and Flow,” group show. Through July 28. Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Drawing Room, 220 East Putnam Avenue. thedrawingroom.cc; (203) 661-3737. DANBURY CityCenter Danbury “Natural Bliss,” photographs and paintings by Lisa M. Teddy. Through Aug. 14. Free. CityCenter Danbury, 186 Main Street. (203) 792-1711; citycenterdanbury.com. DANBURY The Gallery at Still River Editions “Wide Awake in Dreamsville,” toy camera photographs by James Rohan. Through Sept. 26. Mondays through Fridays, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Gallery at Still River Editions, 128 East Liberty Street. (203) 791-1474; stillrivereditions.com. DARIEN The Darien Historical Society “Here Come the Brides: Grace and Elegance 1855-1950.” Through Oct. 1. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. The Darien Historical Society, 45 Old Kings Highway North. (203) 655-9233; darienhistorical.org. ESSEX Gallery19 “Nancy Lasar: Prints and Paintings” and “James Reed: Works on Paper.” Through June 30. Wednesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Gallery19, 19A Main Street. (860) 581-8735; gallery19essex.com. FAIRFIELD Art/Place Gallery “Internal/External,” works by Diane Pollack and Dave Pressler. Through June 29. Thursdays through Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m.; Sundays, 2 to 5 p.m. Art/Place Gallery, 70 Sanford Street. (203) 292-8328; artplace.org. FAIRFIELD J. Russell Jinishian Gallery “Master Marineworks,” Don Demers. Through July 3. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. J. Russell Jinishian Gallery, 1899 Bronson Road. (203) 259-8753; jrusselljinishiangallery.com. GREENWICH Bruce Museum “iCreate 2014,” works by area high school students. Through July 6. “Greenwich Collects: Wyeth, Italian Renaissance Drawings, Chinese Antiquities,” exhibition. July 6 through Aug. 31. “Tales of Two Cities: New York and Beijing.” Through Aug. 31. “Extreme Habitats: Into the Deep Sea.” Through Nov. 9. $6 and $7; members and children under 5, free. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive. (203) 869-0376; brucemuseum.org. GROTON Alexey von Schlippe Gallery of Art, University of Connecticut Groton Summer Exhibition, group show. Through July 26. $3 suggested donation. Members and students, free. Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. Alexey von Schlippe Gallery of Art, University of Connecticut, 1084 Shennecossett Road. averypointarts.uconn.edu; (860) 405-9052. GUILFORD Guilford Art Center “Soulcology: An Exhibition in Metals.” Through July 27. Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. Guilford Art Center, 411 Church Street. guilfordartcenter.org; (203) 453-5947. HAMDEN Arnold Bernhard Library “The Lady Sligo Letters: Westport House and Ireland’s Great Hunger,” more than 200 letters. Through April 30. Mondays through Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Arnold Bernhard Library, 275 Mount Carmel Avenue. (203) 582-8633; quinnipiac.edu. HARTFORD 100 Pearl Street Gallery “Jazz Notes: Selections from the Connecticut Fiber Arts Collective,” group show. Through Aug. 23. Mondays through Fridays, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m; Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. 100 Pearl Street Gallery, 100 Pearl Street. letsgoarts.org/gallery; (860) 525-8629. HARTFORD Real Art Ways “Olu Oguibe: iPad Prints.” Through July 6. “Cat Balco: The Ellipses Project.” Through Aug. 8. $3 suggested donation; members and cinema patrons, free. Daily, 2 to 9 p.m.; and by appointment. Real Art Ways, 56 Arbor Street. (860) 232-1006; realartways.org. HARTFORD The Mark Twain House and Museum “At Your Service,” photographs and artifacts. Through Sept. 1. $6 to $18; members and children under 6, free. Mondays through Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The Mark Twain House and Museum, 351 Farmington Avenue. marktwainhouse.org; (860) 247-0998. HARTFORD Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art “Ruben Ochoa/MATRIX 169.” Through Sept. 7. Wednesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; first Thursday of every month, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. $5 to $10; members and children under 12, free. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 600 Main Street. thewadsworth.org; (860) 278-2670. Image NEW HAVEN “Sunset From Sea Ray Bar” (2007), an oil painting by Leif Nilsson, is on view through Aug. 4 in a group show of plein-air paintings at Reynolds Fine Art, 96 Orange Street. For further information: (203) 498-2200 or reynoldsfineart.com . Credit Caryn Davis LAKEVILLE The White Gallery “Memory ... Emotion ... Expression,” Michael Quadland and Emma Kindall. Through July 13. Fridays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and by appointment. The White Gallery, 344 Main Street. (860) 435-1029; thewhitegalleryart.com. LITCHFIELD Wisdom House “Inner Light,” sculpture by David Colbert. Through Sept. 13. Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wisdom House, 229 East Litchfield Road. (860) 567-3163; wisdomhouse.org. MADISON Susan Powell Fine Art “Two Views,” works by Del-Bourree Bach and James Magner. Through July 13. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 3 p.m.; and by appointment. Susan Powell Fine Art, 679 Boston Post Road. (203) 318-0616; susanpowellfineart.com. NEW BRITAIN New Britain Museum of American Art “NEW/NOW: Joe Fig.” Through July 20. “This One’s Optimistic: Pincushion.” Through Sept. 14. “Glass Today: 21st-Century Innovations.” Through Sept. 21. “Science Fiction Pulp Art.” Through Oct. 6. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. $8 to $12; members and children under 12, free. New Britain Museum of American Art, 56 Lexington Street. (860) 229-0257; nbmaa.org. NEW CANAAN Silvermine Arts Center Galleries The 64th Annual Art of the Northeast Exhibition. Through July 26. Wednesdays through Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m.; and by appointment. Silvermine Arts Center Galleries, 1037 Silvermine Road. silvermineart.org; (203) 966-9700. NEW CANAAN The Philip Johnson Glass House “Fujiko Nakaya: Veil.” Through Nov. 30. Tours are $30 to $100. Thursdays through Mondays, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The Philip Johnson Glass House, 199 Elm Street. philipjohnsonglasshouse.org; (203) 594-9884. NEW HAVEN Azoth Gallery, at the New Haven Public Library “Infinities,” Maxwell Clark. Through July 28. Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Azoth Gallery, at the New Haven Public Library, 133 Elm Street. (203) 387-4933; azothgallery.com. NEW HAVEN City Gallery “Life-Line,” works by Kathy Kane. Through June 29. Thursdays through Sundays, noon to 4 p.m.; and by appointment. City Gallery, 994 State Street. (203) 782-2489; city-gallery.org. NEW HAVEN Kehler Liddell Gallery “Fragments: Tragedy and Hope,” Fethi Meghelli. Through June 29. Thursdays and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and by appointment. Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whalley Avenue. (203) 389-9555; kehlerliddell.com. NEW HAVEN New Haven Museum “Nothing Is Set in Stone: The Lincoln Oak and the New Haven Green,” group show. Through Nov. 2. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m.; first Sundays, 1 to 4 p.m. $2 to $4; children under 12, free. New Haven Museum, 114 Whitney Avenue. newhavenmuseum.org; (203) 562-4183. NEW HAVEN Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University “Tiny Titans: Dinosaur Eggs and Babies.” Through Aug. 30. $4 to $9; members and Yale ID holders, free. Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, 170 Whitney Avenue. peabody.yale.edu; (203) 432-5050. NEW HAVEN Reynolds Fine Art Group show of plein-air paintings. Through Aug. 4. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Fridays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Reynolds Fine Art, 96 Orange Street. (203) 498-2200; reynoldsfineart.com. NEW HAVEN Yale Center for British Art “Art in Focus: Wales,” group show. “Of Green Leaf, Bird and Flower: Artists’ Books and the Natural World.” Through Aug. 10. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel Street. britishart.yale.edu; (203) 432-2800. NEW HAVEN Yale University Art Gallery “Byobu: The Grandeur of Japanese Screens.” Through July 6. “Five West Coast Artists: Bischoff, Diebenkorn, Neri, Park and Thiebaud.” Through July 13. “Jazz Lives: the Photographs of Lee Friedlander and Milt Hinton.” Through Sept. 7. “Contemporary Art/South Africa.” Through Sept. 14. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel Street. artgallery.yale.edu; (203) 432-0600. NEW HAVEN Yale-China Association “Paintings of Hong Kong Street Markets,” by Michael Sloan. Through June 30. Mondays through Fridays, 2 to 5 p.m., with appointment. Yale-China Association, 442 Temple Street. yalechina.org; (203) 432-0884. NEW LONDON Lyman Allyn Art Museum “Inside the Natural World of Jan Beekman,” nature paintings. Through Dec. 31. $5 to $10; members and children under 12, free. “Still Life Studio,” group show. Through Jan. 5. $5 to $10; members and children under 12, free. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. Lyman Allyn Art Museum, 625 Williams Street. (860) 443-2545; lymanallyn.org. NORWALK Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum Watercolors by Mimi Adams Findlay. Through Oct. 31. $6 to $10; members and children under 8, free. Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, 295 West Avenue. lockwoodmathewsmansion.com; (203) 838-9799. NORWALK The Maritime Garage Gallery “Vicarious,” group show. Through Aug. 30. Weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Maritime Garage Gallery, 11 North Water Street. (203) 831-9063; norwalkpark.org. OLD LYME Cooley Gallery “Without and Without, Introducing the Art of Jasper Goodrich.” Through July 12. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cooley Gallery, 25 Lyme Street. (860) 434-8807; cooleygallery.com. Image NEW HAVEN “Topographical Map,” (2013) acrylic on canvas, is on display in the exhibition “Infinities” by Maxwell Clark, through July 28 at the Azoth Gallery, at the New Haven Public Library, 133 Elm Street. For further information: (203) 387-4933 or azothgallery.com . Credit Johnes Ruta OLD LYME Florence Griswold Museum “Art of the Everyman: American Folk Art from the Fenimore Art Museum.” “Thistles and Crowns: The Painted Chests of the Connecticut Shore.” Through Sept. 21. $8 to $10; children under 12, free. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. Florence Griswold Museum, 96 Lyme Street. (860) 434-5542; flogris.org. OLD LYME Lyme Art Association Gallery “American Waters: A Marine Art Exhibition.” Through July 27. Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. Lyme Art Association Gallery, 90 Lyme Street. lymeartassociation.org; (860) 434-7802. POMFRET CENTER Connecticut Audubon Society at Pomfret “Nature Through My Lens,” photographs by Sandee Harraden. Through June 30. “Air and Water, Space and Time,” drawings by George Jacobi. July 5 through Aug. 15. Weekdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Weekends, noon to 4 p.m. Connecticut Audubon Society at Pomfret, 218 Day Road. (860) 928-4948; ctaudubon.org. RIDGEFIELD Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum “Jack Whitten: Evolver.” Through July 6. “Standing in the Shadows of Love: The Aldrich Collection 1964-1974. Robert Indiana, Robert Morris, Ree Morton, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Smithson.” “Taylor Davis: If you steal a horse, and let him go, he’ll take you to the barn you stole him from.” “Jessica Jackson Hutchins: Unicorn.” “Michael Joo: Drift.” “Michelle Lopez: Angels, Flags, Bangs.” Through Sept. 21. $5 and $10. Members, K-12 teachers, active-service military families and children under 18, free. Tuesdays, free. Tuesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, 258 Main Street. (203) 438-4519; aldrichart.org. ROXBURY Minor Memorial Library “Kilmer Woods,” paintings by Karen Simmons. Through July 26. Mondays, noon to 7 p.m.; Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays, noon to 5 p.m.; Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Minor Memorial Library, 23 South Street. minormemoriallibrary.org; (860) 350-2181. SOUTHPORT Southport Galleries “Wood and Water,” paintings by Melissa Barbieri. Through July 10. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and by appointment. Southport Galleries, 330 Pequot Avenue. (203) 292-6124; southportgalleries.com. STAMFORD Loft Artists Association “Attitudes,” Barbara Mathis. Through June 29. Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 4:30 p.m. Loft Artists Association, 575 Pacific Street. (203) 247-2027; loftartists.com. STAMFORD P.M.W. Gallery “Suzanne Benton: From Paintings in Proust.” Through June 29. By appointment only. P. M. W. Gallery, 530 Roxbury Road. (203) 322-5427; pmwgalleryplus.com. STAMFORD Stamford Art Association “Small Works,” group show. “Transitions,” group show. Through July 10. Thursdays and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 3 p.m. Stamford Art Association, 39 Franklin Street. stamfordartassociation.org; (203) 325-1139. STORRS William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut “Ronnie Wood: Art and Music,” paintings, lithographs and pen-and-ink drawings. “Stagecraft: 50 Years of Design at Hartford Stage.” Through Aug. 10. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 4:30 p.m. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, 245 Glenbrook Road. benton.uconn.edu; (860) 486-4520. WASHINGTON Gunn Memorial Library and Museum “Over There: Washington and the Great War.” Through Jan. 18. Thursdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. Gunn Memorial Library and Museum, 5 Wykeham Road. (860) 868-7756; gunnlibrary.org. WASHINGTON Stairwell Gallery, at Gunn Memorial Library and Museum “Creative Realism,” paintings by Edward Spaulding DeVoe. Through Aug. 9. Mondays and Fridays, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. Stairwell Gallery, at Gunn Memorial Library and Museum, 5 Wykeham Road. gunnlibrary.org; (860) 868-7586. WASHINGTON DEPOT KMR Arts “Stone and Light: Photographs by Paul Caponigro and Eric Lindbloom.” Through Aug. 16. Thursdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and by appointment. KMR Arts, 2 Titus Road. (860) 868-7533; kmrarts.com. WASHINGTON DEPOT Washington Art Association “Artist Choice,” group show of works selected by Robert Andrew Parker. July 5 through 26. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. Washington Art Association, 4 Bryan Memorial Plaza. (860) 868-2878; washingtonartassociation.org. WATERBURY Mattatuck Museum “Undefeated! The 1959 Croft High School Football Champions,” photographs and artifacts. Through July 12. “The Way We Worked,” paintings by Anna Held Audette and Duvian Montoya. Through Aug. 3. “Haven and Inspiration: The Kent Art Colony,” group show. Through Aug. 24. “Steel Garden,” sculpture by Babette Bloch. Through Aug. 31. “Fancy This: The Gilded Age of Fashion.” Through Oct. 19. $6 and $7; members and children under 16, free. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Mattatuck Museum, 144 West Main Street. (203) 753-0381; mattatuckmuseum.org. WESTPORT Amy Simon Fine Art “Summer Rotation 2014,” group show. July 1 through Aug. 30. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; and by appointment. Amy Simon Fine Art, 1869 Post Road East. amysimonfineart.com; (203) 259-1500. WESTPORT Westport Arts Center “Scents and Soles,” Robert Cottingham and Nina Bentley. Through Sept. 7. Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Fridays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. Westport Arts Center, 51 Riverside Avenue. westportartscenter.org; (203) 222-7070. WILTON Wilton Historical Society “Heidi Howard: Maker and Printer.” Through July 3. “Changing Times — Hand Tools Before the Industrial Revolution: Connecticut Tools of the Trades from the Walter R. T. Smith Collection.” Through Oct. 4. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wilton Historical Society, 224 Danbury Road. (203) 762-7257; wiltonhistorical.org. WINDSOR 226 Jazz Art Java “We Have Many Faces,” Joe Sam, Alan Spriestersbach and Dennis Peabody. Through July 27. Weekdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 226 Jazz Art Java, 226 Broad Street. (860) 219-1947; 226jazz.org.
|
The arts;Connecticut
|
ny0037511
|
[
"world",
"asia"
] |
2014/03/23
|
Chinese Satellite Spots Object in Search Area for Missing Jetliner
|
SEPANG, Malaysia — A Chinese satellite has spotted an object in the southern Indian Ocean in an area that is the focus of a multinational effort to find the Malaysia Airlines airliner that disappeared on March 8, the Chinese authorities said Saturday. The object is about is about 74 feet by 43 feet (22.5 meters by 13 meters), China’s State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense said on its website. It was spotted on Tuesday about 75 miles, or 120 kilometers, to the south and west of objects seen two days earlier by a commercial satellite. Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein of Malaysia told reporters that the Chinese “will be sending ships to verify.” The object is in the area of one of two possible routes that investigators say they think Flight 370 took. The two-week search for the missing Boeing 777-200 has been plagued by sightings of debris which later proved not to belong to the aircraft, including an earlier Chinese satellite image that proved erroneous. Image The object spotted in the Indian Ocean on Saturday is said to be about 74 feet long and 43 feet wide. Credit China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry, via Associated Press The hunt for any traces of the plane has been most intense in a section of the southern Indian Ocean some 1,500 miles off the coast southwest of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. On Thursday, the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, said the commercial satellite had spotted two large, indistinct objects floating in the area that might be wreckage from the aircraft. But searches by planes and ships combing the waters have failed to find the objects. A second ultralong range commercial jet, a Gulfstream G5, joined the search off Western Australia. The two commercial jets now hired to help look for the plane can spend more time at the search site than Australia’s military aircraft, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in an emailed statement Saturday. “The ultralong range commercial jets have an endurance of approximately five hours of search time,” the authority said. The Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion aircraft can spend just two hours over the site before they must return to their onshore base, the authority has said. The Gulfstream G5 jet, a Bombardier Global Express jet and a Royal Australian Air Force P3 Orion have been flying out from the Royal Australian Air Force base, Pearce, 22 miles north of Perth, said Sam Cardwell, a spokesman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. Another three aircraft left for the search area later on Saturday. A total of seven aircraft have become involved in the search: three Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion planes, a New Zealand P-3 Orion, a United States Navy Poseidon P-8 surveillance plane and the two commercial aircraft. At least two merchant ships are also in the area, and the Australian Navy’s Success was expected to arrive late Saturday afternoon, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is based in Canberra, the national capital. Also on Saturday, two Chinese Il-76 Ilyushin transport aircraft left an air base near the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, en route to Australia to take part in the search, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Britain is dispatching a naval hydrographic survey ship, the Echo, and Japan is also sending two P-3 Orion aircraft. The authority said Saturday’s search would cover 13,900 square miles, and 10 volunteers from Western Australia’s State Emergency Services were helping as spotters on the commercial jets. Mr. Cardwell, the safety authority spokesman, said the volunteers were trained in search techniques including judging distances and spotting debris. In the northern corridor, which stretches from Thailand to the shores of the Caspian Sea in Central Asia, countries have been searching radar records for any sign that the plane crossed their airspace. On Saturday Mr. Hishammuddin said that six countries: China, Laos, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, had not seen anything: “Based on preliminary analysis, there have been no sightings of the aircraft on their radars,” he said at a news conference in a hotel at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The Pentagon said on Friday it was considering a request from Mr. Hussein, the Malaysian defense minister, to provide towable underwater listening devices to help in the search for the missing airliner. The Malaysian defense chief made the request for the underwater surveillance equipment in a telephone call with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, the Pentagon said in a statement. The United States also provided on Friday the first details of the costs it is incurring for its portion of the search operation. The Pentagon has so far spent $2.5 million of the $4 million set aside to cover the costs of the American ships and aircraft participating in the search through early April, a Defense Department spokesman said. Additional funds could be added once that initial money is spent, American officials said. The spokesman said the United States would not seek reimbursement from the Malaysian government.
|
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370;China;Indian Ocean;Plane Crashes and Missing Planes;Airlines,airplanes;Satellite;Malaysia Airlines
|
ny0273963
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2016/02/03
|
Letitia James, New York Public Advocate, Sues Education Dept. Over Schools’ Disability Services
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Public Advocate Letitia James has sued the New York City Education Department, saying a $130 million computer system meant to track services for students with disabilities was a failure. Because of the system’s shortcomings, the lawsuit said, children have been deprived of necessary assistance and the city has lost out on hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements. There are more than 200,000 students in the city’s public schools with individualized education plans, known as I.E.P.s, which entitle them to special education services like speech therapy. The computer system, called the Special Education Student Information System, was developed in 2009 as a way to keep track of them, a replacement for a system that relied on paper. The system was intended to track the services students were eligible to receive and to create records that could be used to get the city reimbursed. But Ms. James, a Democrat, said it had been plagued with difficulties since its inception. According to papers filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Monday, the system is prone to malfunctions, including deleting saved student data. It also “does not appear to be capable of producing citywide data about I.E.P.s, including how many children are receiving” special education services. Ms. James said, “The failure of the program is resulting in a lack of services for our most vulnerable children, and we’re basically cheating taxpayers of rightful funding from the state and federal government.” “Everyone is telling me they’re aware of it and correcting it,” she said of Mayor Bill de Blasio and the schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña. “But I’ve heard that before.” In 2014, the city comptroller, Scott M. Stringer, a Democrat, found the city had failed to recoup $356 million in federal Medicaid reimbursements for special education services for the 2012, 2013 and 2014 fiscal years. In an email on Tuesday, Nick Paolucci, a spokesman for the New York City Law Department, said, “We’ll review the suit once we are served.” A spokesman for the Education Department pointed to several steps the agency had taken to help its special education students, including hiring more than 300 new occupational therapists and opening more programs tailored to children with autism. But the city is facing other criticism over the way it handles the needs of students with disabilities. In December, Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, sent a letter to the Education Department saying that 83 percent of the city’s elementary schools were not “fully accessible” to people with disabilities, a violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Last month, the city rejected Mr. Bharara’s finding , saying the letter “inaccurately characterizes the number and geographic distribution of accessible schools.” When taken as a whole, the city argued, its elementary schools “provide full program accessibility for all elementary students.”
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K-12 Education;Letitia James;Disability;NYC Department of Education;Special education;NYC
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ny0103078
|
[
"world",
"asia"
] |
2012/03/04
|
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Falls Ill During Myanmar Rally
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MANDALAY, Myanmar — Daw Aung San Suu Kyi , the leader of Myanmar’s democracy movement, fell ill during a campaign rally on Saturday, cutting short a speech to a large and enthusiastic crowd. “I would like to tell you frankly that I’m feeling weak today and my speaking capacity is reduced,” Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi told a gathering of tens of thousands of supporters at a field on the outskirts of Mandalay. “I’m going to take some rest.” She resumed her speech after an eight-minute break, but she kept her remarks brief. A bodyguard said that she had motion sickness and had vomited twice, and that she was being tended to by a doctor. After arriving at the airport in Mandalay on a chartered flight on Saturday, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi spent more than four hours in a motorcade that crawled through streets lined with supporters. Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, 66, has been campaigning vigorously for special elections scheduled for April 1. She and other members of her party, the National League for Democracy, are participating in elections for the first time in 22 years. Myanmar is moving away from decades of military rule under the leadership of President Thein Sein, who took office a year ago . After the better part of two decades under house arrest, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi announced last November that she would rejoin the country’s political system.
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Myanmar;Aung San Suu Kyi Daw;Politics and Government;Demonstrations Protests and Riots
|
ny0126730
|
[
"us"
] |
2012/08/14
|
Blazes Kill Firefighter in Idaho and Injure Another in Oregon
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A firefighter in Idaho was killed and a firefighter in Oregon was injured as wildfires continued raging across the West. Anne Veseth, 20, died on Sunday after being struck by a falling tree while working on a fire near Orofino in northern Idaho, United States Forest Service officials said. Ms. Veseth, of Moscow, Idaho, was in her second season as a firefighter. There are 12 active blazes in the state. In the episode in southeastern Oregon, the firefighter was forced to deploy an emergency shelter and crawl into it when swirling winds filled with fire overran the area. She was treated at a hospital in Nevada on Sunday for smoke inhalation and minor burns to a leg and a forearm.
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Fires and Firefighters;Forest and Brush Fires;Oregon;Idaho
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ny0246040
|
[
"sports",
"baseball"
] |
2011/04/06
|
For Red Sox and Rays, Search for First Win Drags On
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Josh Tomlin outpitched Boston’s Josh Beckett, Cleveland came up with just enough timely hits and the Indians kept the visiting Red Sox winless this season with a 3-1 victory Tuesday night. Tomlin (1-0) allowed one run and three hits in seven innings, taming a star-studded Boston lineup now hitting a collective .186. Tony Sipp worked a perfect eighth before Indians closer Chris Perez made things interesting in the ninth. He gave up a one-out single to Dustin Pedroia and a two-out walk to Kevin Youkilis before retiring David Ortiz on a liner to left for his first save. Beckett (0-1) could not stop the Red Sox from falling to 0-4, their worst start since opening 0-6 in 1996. The crowd of 9,025, many of them Boston fans, was the smallest to see the Red Sox play since 2000. Picked by many to win the American League pennant this season after adding the All-Stars Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, Boston was swept in its season-opening series by Texas, as the Rangers clubbed 11 home runs and outscored Boston, 26-11, in three games. “We need some kind of spark right now,” said Crawford, signed as a free agent in December. “It’s a little surprising, frustrating. We’ve got high hopes for this season.” ANGELS 5, RAYS 3 Jered Weaver won his second consecutive start, and Torii Hunter and Alberto Callaspo had two R.B.I. for Los Angeles at Tampa Bay. Weaver (2-0), the Angels’ opening day starter, allowed one run and three hits in six and two-thirds innings. It is the first time since his rookie season in 2006 that he has started a year with consecutive victories. The defending American League East champion Rays has lost their first four games. “Oh-and-four is no good; I don’t like it,” Manager Joe Maddon said. “But I do like that we’re playing the game pretty well right now. We’re just not hitting. That happens.” ROYALS 7, WHITE SOX 6 Melky Cabrera’s single drove in Chris Getz from second in the 12th inning and gave host Kansas City its fourth straight win in its final at-bat and its first four-game winning streak since September 2009. The Royals’ bullpen threw six shutout innings after the White Sox scored four runs in the first off Luke Hochevar and took a 6-4 lead in the sixth. RANGERS 3, MARINERS 2 Alexi Ogando pitched six scoreless innings in his first major league start and Josh Hamilton hit a run-scoring double as host Texas became the first team with five wins. The only other undefeated teams are Baltimore (4-0) and Cincinnati (4-0). BLUE JAYS 7, ATHLETICS 6 Yunel Escobar hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning, lifting host Toronto minutes after Josh Willingham had given Oakland the lead with a leadoff homer in the top of the inning. BREWERS 1, BRAVES 0 Yovani Gallardo threw a two-hitter to end host Milwaukee’s four-game losing streak to begin the season. Gallardo (1-0) walked two and struck out two for the third shutout of his career. Two of the base runners were erased by double plays; no Atlanta runner reached second. PADRES 3, GIANTS 1 Aaron Harang pitched six strong innings in his debut with San Diego, his hometown team, which won its home opener. The defending World Series champion San Francisco, which eliminated the Padres from playoff contention on the last day of the 2010 season, has lost four of five. REDS 8, ASTROS 2 Chris Heisey drove in three runs and host Cincinnati improved to 4-0 for the first time since its 1990 World Series championship season. Heisey walked with the bases loaded, was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and singled home a run. ROCKIES 3, DODGERS 0 Jhoulys Chacin scattered five hits in seven sharp innings and Troy Tulowitzki broke out of a hitting funk with a solo homer for host Colorado. Chacin (1-0) struck out four in his season debut and outdueled Clayton Kershaw (1-1), who lasted six innings. IN OTHER GAMES Albert Pujols drove in the tying and go-ahead runs and Kyle McClellan rebounded from a shaky beginning to win his first career start for host St. Louis, which beat Pittsburgh, 3-2. Pujols entered the game 2 for 16, but came through with a sacrifice fly in the fifth and a go-ahead single through the left side in the seventh. ... Host Florida overcame a night of poor clutch hitting when Donnie Murphy delivered a bases-loaded, two-out single in the bottom of the 10th inning to beat Washington, 3-2. The Marlins came from behind twice but began the 10th inning 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position. ... Marlon Byrd had three hits, doubling in a key run in the seventh, and the host Chicago Cubs held on to win to beat Arizona, 6-5. BEATEN FAN HAS BRAIN DAMAGE A San Francisco Giants fan who was beaten at Dodger Stadium after last week’s opening game shows signs of brain damage and remains in critical condition. The fan, Bryan Stow, 42, sustained a severe skull fracture and bruising to his brain’s frontal lobes, said Dr. Gabriel Zada, a neurosurgeon. “There is evidence of brain injury and dysfunction,” Zada said.
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Baseball;Assaults;San Francisco Giants;Los Angeles Dodgers
|
ny0207331
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2009/06/10
|
U.S. Envoy Tries to Allay Israelis’ Security Fears While Pressing for Peace
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JERUSALEM — President Obama’s Middle East envoy sought Tuesday to allay fears here of a fundamental breakdown in Israeli-American relations while alluding to abiding differences over Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and the formula for Israeli-Palestinian peace. After meeting with Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the American envoy, George J. Mitchell , said it was “beyond any doubt that the United States’ commitment to the security of Israel remains unshakeable.” But he also pressed for a peace effort, saying that Israelis, Palestinians and other parties “share an obligation to create the conditions for the prompt resumption and early conclusion of negotiations.” Mr. Mitchell, a former Senate majority leader who helped to forge a peace deal in Northern Ireland , came to Israel amid a rare public dispute over settlement activity. The Obama administration has called for an unequivocal halt to all settlement activity. Israel’s hawkish prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says there will be no new settlements but insists that building within existing ones should be allowed. Israeli officials said they had understandings with the Bush administration that allowed for limited building. The Obama administration has not acknowledged any such understandings. There has also been friction over Mr. Netanyahu’s refusal so far to endorse the notion of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. The Obama administration has said that the two-state solution is the only route to Israeli-Palestinian peace. On Tuesday, Mr. Mitchell, who met with Israel’s president, prime minister, foreign minister and defense minister, made only oblique reference to the dispute. In his meeting with President Shimon Peres, whose post is largely ceremonial, he said Israelis and Palestinians “have a responsibility to meet their obligations under the road map ,” the 2003 plan for the creation of a Palestinian state as a way to end the Middle East conflict. The plan called for Israel to stop all settlement activity and for the Palestinians to dismantle terrorism networks, reform their political institutions and curb any incitement to violence. “It’s not just their responsibility,” Mr. Mitchell said, according to remarks released by Mr. Peres’s office. “We believe it’s in their security interest as well.” But he added: “Let me be clear. These are not disagreements among adversaries. The United States and Israel are and will remain close allies and friends.” Mr. Mitchell also referred to Israel as the “Jewish state” in a nod to Mr. Netanyahu, who says that Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state is essential for any peace deal. The Palestinians have refused such recognition, saying that it would contradict the Palestinian refugees’ demand for a right of return and that it is detrimental to the status of Israel’s Arab citizens. Mr. Netanyahu has announced that he will soon make a much-anticipated major policy speech on his plans for achieving peace and security. The speech is being described here as a response to Mr. Obama’s landmark address in Cairo last week. There has been much speculation in the Israeli news media about whether the prime minister will move closer to endorsing the two-state principle. Mr. Netanyahu said he told Mr. Obama of his intention to lay out his policies during a telephone conversation on Monday. Mr. Obama said that he was “looking forward” to hearing the speech, according to the prime minister’s office and the White House. The White House said the conversation was “constructive.” While the Israeli leadership does not speak in one voice on all issues — the more dovish Mr. Peres and the defense minister, Ehud Barak, of the center-left Labor Party, have long favored the two-state solution — there has been a certain uniformity regarding the settlements. Mr. Peres told Mr. Mitchell on Monday that “a two-state solution based on the road map” and “independence for the Palestinians” were important points that “needed to be emphasized en route to peace.” On the settlements, Mr. Peres said there was agreement in Israel regarding the evacuation of illegal outposts and not building new settlements. But he said the issue of “natural growth in the settlement blocs must continue to be discussed intensively in order to reach agreement” with the American administration. Mr. Mitchell was expected to meet with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank on Wednesday. Underlining the schism between the Western-backed Palestinian Authority there and Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, Agence France-Presse reported that the Palestinian police in the northern West Bank recently arrested six Hamas members, including at least two women, suspected of planning acts against the Palestinian Authority and that the police seized more than a million euros, or about $1.4 million, from them.
|
Israel;Mitchell George J;Palestinians;United States International Relations
|
ny0020846
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2013/09/05
|
Split Senate Panel Approves Giving Obama Limited Authority on Syria
|
WASHINGTON — A sharply divided Senate committee voted Wednesday to give President Obama limited authority to use force against Syria, the first step in what remains a treacherous path for Mr. Obama to win Congressional approval for a military attack. The resolution would limit strikes against Syrian forces to a period of 60 days, with the possibility of 30 more days after consultation with Congress, and it would block the use of American ground troops. The vote of 10 to 7 by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee laid bare the complicated political crosscurrents raised by military intervention in Syria. Two liberal Democrats voted against the resolution, one voted present and three Republicans voted for it. The Senate panel’s action capped a day of fierce debate in both houses of Congress that indicated there is a widespread impulse to respond to the deadly chemical weapons attack but deep divisions over how much latitude the president should have to do so. The White House welcomed the vote, declaring, “America is stronger when the president and Congress work together.” But administration officials said that while they expected the full Senate to vote next week, after Congress returns from recess, they did not think the House would act until the week after and were girding for a prolonged debate. As the Senate committee hashed out its resolution, under the shadow of a potential filibuster, members of Mr. Obama’s cabinet pressed their case for action before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, drawing sharp criticism from Republicans, and raising doubts among Democrats, over the wisdom of getting drawn into a messy sectarian conflict. However fractious the arguments, the lawmakers clearly responded to the challenge that Mr. Obama handed them earlier in the day, when he declared that authorizing a military strike was not a test for him but for Congress and the international community. “I didn’t set a red line; the world set a red line,” Mr. Obama said at a news conference in Stockholm on the first day of a three-day visit to Sweden and Russia, where he will take part in a summit meeting that is likely to be dominated by the war in Syria. “My credibility’s not on the line,” he said, appealing to lawmakers and foreign leaders to back his plan to retaliate against President Bashar al-Assad. “The international community’s credibility is on the line. And America and Congress’s credibility is on the line.” Image Protesters at a hearing with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times Still, the Senate vote was hardly resounding. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, co-author of the resolution and the ranking Republican on the committee, was one of the Republicans who sided with Mr. Obama. Another was Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, a freshman who voted with his state’s senior senator, John McCain, an ardent proponent of robust intervention. The three Democrats who did not support the resolution served as a warning to White House aides still searching for support in the House. Senators Christopher S. Murphy of Connecticut and Tom Udall of New Mexico are newcomers who reflect the sentiment of the House Democratic ranks they recently left. Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, the Senate’s newest member and a longtime denizen of the House, voted present, saying he was still haunted by his vote to authorize war in Iraq. “In the days to come, I will further examine the classified intelligence information and consult with experts before deciding how I will vote on the final resolution when it is considered on the Senate floor,” Mr. Markey said in a statement. The panel had struggled in drafting the resolution, with the committee’s leaders pressing to limit the duration and nature of military strikes, while Mr. McCain demanded more — not less — latitude for the military to inflict damage on Mr. Assad’s forces. To assure the support of Mr. McCain, who is viewed as crucial to the authorization’s final passage, the committee toughened some of the language. Noting that “it is the policy of the United States to change the momentum on the battlefield in Syria,” it urged a “comprehensive strategy” to improve the fighting abilities of the Syrian opposition. The panel set aside a resolution by Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican leading the opposition to the strikes, which would have declared that the president has the authority to act unilaterally only when the nation faces attack. Democratic and Republican Senate leaders agreed on Wednesday night to gavel in a brief session on Friday to put the war resolution on the Senate’s calendar so the clock can begin counting down to a final vote toward the end of next week. A spokeswoman for Mr. Paul said the senator was considering parliamentary maneuvers to ensure that final passage of the resolution would require a vote of 60 senators, but she said no decision had been made about how to do that. If the Senate does authorize military action, it will have to reconcile its authorization with whatever resolution emerges from the House. A resolution being circulated by two Democrats, Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Representative Gerald E. Connolly of Virginia, would impose even tighter limits on Mr. Obama, authorizing only a single round of missile strikes, unless there is another chemical weapons attack. For the second day in a row, divisions over what do in Syria played out at a combative hearing in which Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, argued the Obama administration’s case. Appearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Kerry offered a new argument: extremist groups fighting against the Syrian government would become stronger if the United States did not carry out a military strike. Mr. Kerry said the United States had worked hard in recent months to persuade Arab nations and benefactors not to finance or arm the more extremist rebels who are battling Mr. Assad’s forces. But if the United States does not punish the Assad government, Mr. Kerry said, it is likely that some Arab supporters of the Syrian opposition will provide arms and financing to the best rebel fighters, regardless of whether they are extremists. “We will have created more extremism and a greater problem down the road,” Mr. Kerry said. Video American presidents generally want support from three places: Congress, the American people and allies abroad. In the case of a possible military strike in Syria, support may be in short supply. Credit Credit Evan Vucci/Associated Press After days of discussion over whether a limited military strike would be effective, administration officials sought to assure anxious lawmakers that it would not provoke a major escalation in the fighting. Representative Christopher H. Smith, a New Jersey Republican, asked if a missile attack might set off a chain reaction that could lead to a military action as prolonged as the 78 days of NATO bombing in Kosovo. “How do you define limited and short duration?” he asked. “And what might Assad do in retaliation?” General Dempsey acknowledged that was a risk but argued that the danger had been mitigated since the United States had signaled that it was planning a limited strike, even as it retained the ability to carry out additional attacks if Mr. Assad responded in a provocative manner. “We’re postured for the possibility of retaliation,” he said. The most heated moment in the hearing came when Representative Jeff Duncan, a South Carolina Republican, accused Mr. Kerry of taking a hawkish stand on Syria while ignoring the terrorist attack on the American Mission in Benghazi, Libya. “Mr. Kerry, you have never been one that has advocated for anything other than caution when involving U.S. force in past conflicts,” Mr. Duncan said. “Is the power of the executive branch so intoxicating that you would abandon past caution in favor for pulling the trigger on a military response so quickly?” His voice rising with anger, Mr. Kerry responded that as a senator, he had supported “military action in any number of occasions,” citing the invasions of Panama and Grenada. Mr. Kerry also voted in favor of President George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003, before turning against the war. “We’re talking about people being killed by gas, and you want to go talk about Benghazi,” Mr. Kerry said. In an indication of the hostility that Russia has shown to any American military action, President Vladimir V. Putin accused Mr. Kerry of lying to Congress. “They’re lying; it’s ugly,” Mr. Putin said in remarks that were televised in Russia. “I saw the debates in Congress. A congressman asks Mr. Kerry, ‘Is Al Qaeda there? They say they are getting stronger.’ He says, ‘No, I am telling you, responsibly, they are not there.’ “The main rebel group is Al Nusra — that’s how they are called. This is a unit of Al Qaeda. They know about this,” Mr. Putin continued. “It was very unpleasant and surprising to me. You know, we communicate with them assuming they are decent people. Well, straight out, he’s lying. And he knows he is lying. It’s sad.”
|
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations;Barack Obama;US Military;Syria;Biological and Chemical Warfare;Arab Spring
|
ny0187050
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2009/04/20
|
Edward George, 70, Dies; Steered Bank of England
|
Edward George, who as governor of the Bank of England steered the institution to independence, died Saturday, the central bank said. He was 70. The death of Mr. George, who led the bank from 1993 to 2003, came after a prolonged battle with cancer, the bank said. He was “one of the world’s greatest and most respected central bankers,” Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a written statement. “He was universally admired for his expertise, judgment and wisdom.” Mr. George was known in the press as Steady Eddie for his grace under pressure, a nickname that also reflected his record of balancing low inflation with growth. “He was unflappable, calm in a crisis,” Norman Lamont, a former chancellor of the Exchequer, told BBC television. Edward Alan John George was born Sept. 11, 1938, in Carshalton, near London, the son of a postal worker. He joined the central bank in 1962 after graduating from Cambridge with an economics degree. He became governor in 1993, less than a year after investors including George Soros “broke” the Bank of England by betting against the value of the pound and pushed Britain out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. He served two five-year terms, the first of which was marked by the collapse in 1995 of Barings Bank, done in by a rogue trader. Mr. George refused to bail out the bank, preferring instead to use it as an example to other banks. His tenure also spanned debt crises in Asia and Russia, and the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But he may be remembered most for his role as the first governor in the bank’s three-century history to have independent responsibility for monetary policy. Before, the bank had merely carried out market operations in pursuit of the government’s aims. In the early part of his first term as governor, Mr. George disagreed regularly with Kenneth Clarke, the chancellor of the Exchequer, over monetary policy. Their clashes, often public, became known as “The Ken and Eddie Show.” The central bank’s efforts to manage inflation were hampered by a perception that interest rate decisions under the government of Prime Minister John Major were being made for political, rather than economic, reasons. In May 1997, Mr. Brown, who was the new Labor chancellor at the time, put an end to the conflict. He set an inflation target, then gave the bank responsibility for setting interest rates to achieve it. At the same time, however, the government removed from the central bank some of its power to regulate financial institutions, instead vesting that authority in a new body, the Financial Services Authority, a change opposed by Mr. George. After the subprime loan crisis laid low the mortgage lender Northern Rock, and led to the nationalization of the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Lloyds Banking Group, some of that authority has been returned to the Bank of England. Mr. George was knighted in 2000 and made a life peer in 2004. He is survived by his wife, Vanessa, and their three children.
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George Edward;Bank of England;Currency;Deaths (Obituaries);Banks and Banking;England
|
ny0072428
|
[
"us"
] |
2015/03/24
|
Arizona Governor Seeks Review of Common Core Education Standards
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PHOENIX — Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona, a critic of the Common Core, urged state education officials on Monday to re-evaluate those standards, adopted by the state and meant to guide what students learn from kindergarten through graduation. He said he saw them as an example of the federal government overstepping its bounds. In a speech outlining his agenda to the State Board of Education, the governor did not call for repealing the Common Core , but instead asked the board to review the language and mathematics standards “in their entirety” and tailor the curriculum in ways to meet the needs of students in Arizona. “We can learn from others, but at the end of the day the standards need to come from Arizona, and they need to help us achieve our objectives,” Mr. Ducey told the board, which includes five members he had recently appointed. “I think the federal government has vastly overplayed its hand in the way it has involved itself in this issue,” he added. “But you also know that I am for high standards.” Proponents of the Common Core, which was adopted in Arizona in 2010, argue that it helps prepare students for college and careers, and builds on the best of the states’ standards. But in Arizona, the Common Core has been the subject of an especially pitched debate, with critics opposed to standards dictated outside the state. The governor, who was elected in November, criticized the Common Core during the campaign and said he preferred state-set standards. He has said, however, that he does not support state legislation that would repeal the Common Core. Diane Douglas, who was elected the state’s superintendent of public instruction, made the issue the central pillar of her campaign, vowing to repeal the standards. In February, the issue played a part in a dispute between the two officials, when Ms. Douglas dismissed two staff members of the board, whom she called “liberal staff who have publicly stated they will block all efforts to repeal or change Common Core.” But she was rebuffed by the governor, who said she did not have the authority to fire them. Ms. Douglas did not attend the governor’s speech on Monday; a spokeswoman said she was in Washington to meet with education officials. But she said Ms. Douglas supported legislation repealing the standards. “Legislative action would apply more pressure to the Board of Education to support changes recommended by the public,” she said in a statement released after the meeting. “Absent such action, my hope is that a thorough annual review will convince the board of the value of making reasonable changes to standards each year after listening to all Arizonans,” her statement said. Lisa Graham Keegan, a former superintendent of public instruction, said that for some, opposition to the Common Core was driven not by the standards themselves but by a centralized process that made it harder for parents and educators to contribute to the discussion. She said there was little disagreement on the fundamentals that students should learn. “I don’t think that’s a shallow thing,” Ms. Keegan, now an education policy consultant, said of the public’s desire to have its say. “I think it’s incredibly important. I don’t know if other states need it. I know we do.” During his speech, Governor Ducey asked the board to include parents, teachers, administrators and other experts in its evaluation of the Common Core. “This review should include input from people at all levels of education from every corner of our state,” he said. “And in any instance during your review, you find situations where Arizona standards can outperform the ones already adopted, I ask you to replace them.” The governor’s spokesman, Daniel Scarpinato, said Mr. Ducey had not wavered in his opposition to the Common Core. “This review by the board is the quickest and most responsible way to replace it with Arizona high standards,” Mr. Scarpinato said in a statement.
|
K-12 Education;Doug Ducey;Legislation;Arizona
|
ny0272626
|
[
"world",
"asia"
] |
2016/05/26
|
Indonesian Children Face Hazards on Tobacco Farms, Report Says
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JAKARTA, Indonesia — Thousands of children working in Indonesia’s tobacco industry, one of the world’s largest, are being subjected to nicotine poisoning and exposed to pesticides, according to a report released Wednesday that called for establishing traceable supply chains to discourage the use of child labor. The report , published by Human Rights Watch , based in New York, said that many Indonesian children working on tobacco farms, mostly on the country’s main island of Java, suffer from nausea, vomiting, headaches or dizziness, all of which can be signs that nicotine has seeped into the skin. The children, who usually work without protective clothing, are also exposed to pesticides, and they face the additional hazards of doing heavy labor in extreme heat using sharp tools, the report from the rights group said. “Kids are handling tobacco in their bare hands, and it can soak into the skin,” Margaret Wurth, a children’s rights researcher for Human Rights Watch and one of the report’s authors, said in an interview in Jakarta before its release. The report, titled “The Harvest Is in My Blood,” calls on domestic and foreign tobacco companies that buy the crop to ban suppliers that employ underage children. Indonesia is trying to put its palm oil industry, the world’s largest, under similar scrutiny by ensuring that the oil is sold from sustainable sources that do not contribute to the destruction of rain forests. The government, major palm oil producers and industry associations have signed on to the effort, but it remains a work in progress. Most Indonesian tobacco is sold on the open market, making it virtually impossible to determine where it was produced. Indonesia is the world’s fifth-largest tobacco producer . Agriculture, including small-scale, family-run farms, is the country’s largest industry. The International Labor Organization has estimated that more than 1.5 million Indonesian children do agricultural work. Children between the ages of 13 and 15 are legally allowed to do “light work” on tobacco plantations during hours when school is not in session. But Human Rights Watch’s investigation, which covered planting and harvesting seasons across Java and the island of Lombok in 2014 and 2015, found that children as young as 8 were doing heavy labor, Ms. Wurth said. Virtually all of Indonesia’s more than 500,000 tobacco farms are family-run operations on 2.5 acres of land or less, according to the report, which said that adult workers as well as children were engaging in risky practices. “There’s no meaningful training or health education,” Ms. Wurth said. She said that most Indonesian children working in tobacco fields do not go to local health clinics when they become ill, making it difficult to determine whether the number who get sick is in the thousands or the tens of thousands. “We also don’t know what the long-term health impacts might be,” she said. Human Rights Watch said it had shared its findings with 13 Indonesian and multinational tobacco companies operating here and that 10 had replied. None of the Indonesian companies gave a detailed response, and two did not respond to repeated inquiries, according to the rights group.
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Indonesia;Child Labor;Pesticide;Smoking;Human Rights Watch;Research
|
ny0265012
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2011/12/25
|
Did You Give the Doorman Enough?
|
In recent years, New Yorkers fortunate enough to indulge worries over domestic compensation have been besieged with more and more advice and debate every December — from newspapers, magazines, parenting blogs, real-estate blogs — on how much to tip the people who take care of our children, open our doors, adjust our radiators, park our Priuses. And yet there is little to suggest that this mountain of charts and bullet points has eased the tension. What economists cite as the vexing information asymmetries central to these transactions appear to have been rectified hardly at all. What this means is that even after you’ve rifled through the data and researched the gratuities administered by your neighbors and friends, you don’t know what you don’t know. Your superintendent could tell you what Mrs. Parsons in 5F gave him, but presumably he won’t. And Mrs. Parsons, if you ask her, is likely to abstain from the truth. This habit of dishonesty is confirmed in “Doormen,” a generalized but thoroughly convincing book about the relationships between Manhattan doormen and tenants, by Peter Bearman, a Columbia University sociologist. In a chapter devoted to Christmas tipping, Mr. Bearman determines that people frequently understate the amount they are giving for the purpose of driving down the contributions of others, and thus distinguishing themselves as among a building’s more generous residents. I would argue that people also say they give less to assuage the guilt of others who may not be giving as much (unless they are zealous members of online parenting forums, in which case inducing guilt becomes a mandate of human existence). If Mr. Bearman were to arrive at Christmas dinner and listen to you fret about whether you tipped your doorman or your super sufficiently this year, he would not quell your anxieties but, instead, tell you that they were utterly justified. Tipping, in this view, is a complicated affair in which it is virtually impossible to establish uniformity. Tipping too little is embarrassing, but so is tipping too much, which can come with distasteful implications of hierarchy and servitude. This past week, I set out to speak to doormen on the Upper West Side, and I can say that not one of them complained about the indignity of having been handed too much money in recent weeks. At the Austin, on West 79th Street off Columbus Avenue, where Nelson Pacheco has been a doorman for 24 years, tips have gone down over time as more renters have occupied the condominium building, he told me. He was one of the few willing to be quoted by name on the subject of tipping. The practice of combining apartments is also not welcomed by many doormen, because it reduces the number of tenants adding to the December bounty. There is concern as well about newcomers to the city who are not inculcated in the folkways of tipping. Some years back during the holidays, one porter told me, he received cookies from a tenant who had just moved to New York. “By the next year, she’d learned to do the right thing,” he said. Tipping is affected by an infinite number of variables, not the least of them personal affinity. Most doormen will tell you that everyone tips something at Christmas, but that’s not quite true. “My husband used to stiff doormen he was angry at — not pay our sullen, sluggish doorman anything some years,” a Riverside Drive resident said. “I wouldn’t have done it, but I came to feel all right with this. He wasn’t any more sluggish or sullen after he’d been stiffed.” Geographical distinctions still play out significantly, as well. Another West Side doorman, Guarionex Mendes, suggested that it was more lucrative, and infinitely more pleasant, to work for older people uptown than for younger people downtown. A doorman at the Manchester House for four and a half years now, he previously worked in a building on Park Avenue South. “Young people are going 100 miles an hour,” he said. “They race past you, ‘Hi, doorman.’ They don’t worry as much.” Doormen acknowledge that there is still much more money to be made at the end of the year on the East Side than on the West Side, and that getting to Park Avenue is often the goal. “This, you have to understand, is a working-class neighborhood,” Bruce Madrazo, by all appearances a much-beloved West 79th Street doorman, said. A doorman new to life in a prewar co-op on the Upper East Side confirmed that Christmastime in the employ of such a place means, as he put it, “horse loads of money.” Although he’d worked at this co-op for only a few months, he’d already received $4,000 in gift money as of last week, and many tips were still to come. As it happens, half the people in the building increase their tips, annually, based on seniority; so, the doorman said, he could look forward to making even more money in the years ahead. That the city’s economy is so reliant on a culture of mercurially determined generosity, from the absurdities of Wall Street bonuses on down, is, in the end, merely another mark of its extremely shaky relationship to the egalitarian. At the turn of the 20th century in New York and elsewhere around the country, a movement took hold to abolish tipping. Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, thought the practice “unwise,” and other union leaders spoke out against tipping on the grounds that it suppressed wages and turned workers into supplicants. “I detest this ‘tipping’ custom ; it is base, wrong, unjust and degrading,” L. T. Van Fleet, secretary of the barbers’ union, said in the late 19th century. “It is more manly,” he concluded, “to earn your living than to receive charity or bribes.” Leaving manliness out of it, the salary cap for unionized doormen in the city is $42,000 a year, making the dependence on holiday tips significant. Surely some doormen are friendlier than others, and some more discreet, but in general it does not require a vastly different skill set to open the door of a building full of $6 million apartments than to open the door of a place where real estate is considerably cheaper. When we reward doormen at a higher rate on East 84th Street than on West 23rd Street, what we are rewarding is simply the ability to get closer to money.
|
Doorman;Tips;Real Estate and Housing;NYC
|
ny0150094
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2008/09/15
|
Benedict XVI Urges Redefining State-Church Divide in France
|
LOURDES, France — Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday renewed his call to redefine church-state relations in France and urged the Roman Catholic clergy to engage in meaningful interreligious dialogue. Speaking to French bishops on Sunday in Lourdes, a pilgrimage site since the late 19th century, the pope encouraged initiatives that fostered “reciprocal knowledge and respect, as well as the promotion of dialogue,” but warned of “those which lead to impasses.” He added: “Good will is not enough.” In his speech to the bishops, the pope also amplified his call for a redefinition of “laïcité,” the divide between church and state, that he first raised at a visit to the Élysée Palace in Paris on Friday. “Your president has intimated that this is possible,” the pope said Sunday, referring to President Nicolas Sarkozy , who has broken French tradition — and angered his Socialist opposition — in calling for a “positive secularism.” “The social and political presuppositions of past mistrust or even hostility are gradually disappearing,” the pope said. But, he added, “the church does not claim the prerogative of the state.” The pope arrived Saturday in this rocky southwestern city to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the year a local 14-year-old peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed to have seen visions of the Virgin Mary. An estimated 50,000 people attended an open-air Mass on Sunday morning, in which Benedict told worshipers that “the power of love is stronger than the evil that threatens us.” On Monday the pope was expected to celebrate a Mass for the sick before returning to Rome.
|
Benedict XVI;France;Sarkozy Nicolas;Roman Catholic Church;Christians and Christianity;Popes
|
ny0213554
|
[
"business",
"global"
] |
2010/03/29
|
More Flights Canceled in Second Day of British Airways Strike
|
A strike by British Airways cabin crews extended into a second day Sunday as union members continued to protest cost-cutting plans that include a wage freeze and a reduction of in-flight staffing. Disruptions appeared to be greater than they had been Saturday. As of Sunday evening in London, at least 134 British Airways flights scheduled to depart from Heathrow Airport near London had been canceled, according to the airline’s Web site, or about 40 percent of the total. Ninety-nine arrivals were listed as canceled. Flights in and out of the nearby Gatwick Airport and London City Airport were unaffected, as had been the case Saturday, the airline said. British Airways canceled about a third of its flights from Heathrow on Saturday. In a statement, the airline said the number of cabin crew members reporting for work at Heathrow on Sunday was still at the level necessary to operate according to its contingency plan. That plan envisions flying more than three-quarters of the 240,000 passengers with tickets during the strike period, which is scheduled to end Tuesday. An additional 43,000 passengers have been rebooked on other carriers or have chosen to fly on other dates, the airline said. British Airways said that 70 percent of its intercontinental flights from Heathrow, the largest airport in Britain, had operated Saturday, up from 60 percent during a strike earlier this month. Fifty-five percent of domestic and European flights went as scheduled, the airline said, up from 30 percent during the previous walkout. In a statement Sunday, the Unite union dismissed the airline’s claims about its flight schedules as “exaggerated” and said “hundreds” of passengers who had expected to fly on Saturday were turned away at Heathrow. All cabin crews at Gatwick were reporting for work as usual, British Airways said. The airline also said that it was using 1,000 staff volunteers from other parts of the company, including some pilots who were trained to work as fill-in cabin crew members; it has also leased 11 fully staffed aircraft from third parties. The four-day walkout followed a three-day strike that began March 20. The work action was called by Unite, which represents the airline’s 13,500 cabin crew members, after negotiations between the union and British Airways management broke down last weekend. Talks have not resumed despite repeated efforts by Brendan Barber, the leader of the Trades Union Congress, an umbrella group for Britain’s unions, to broker a dialogue. Tensions increased after Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways, told striking employees that the airline was permanently revoking their free travel benefits and said they would not be paid while they were on strike. “B.A.’s bullying is backfiring,” Unite’s assistant general secretary, Len McCluskey, said Sunday. “Instead of being cowed by their employer’s aggression, cabin crew are striking forcing B.A. to cancel ever growing numbers of flights.” Unite has warned that it could call for more strikes after the Easter holiday if a settlement is not reached by the end of next week. British law requires a minimum of seven days’ notice for a walkout.
|
British Airways PLC;Strikes;Organized Labor;Airlines and Airplanes;London (England)
|
ny0120986
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2012/07/15
|
A Review of Ploy Siam Thai Cuisine, in Robbinsville
|
It’s rare that ambience challenges food in my memory of a restaurant, but such is the case with Ploy Siam Thai Cuisine. Along with the deep-fried red snapper and other beautifully presented Thai treats, I recall sunshine pouring through a huge skylight, bouncing off a fountain and pool of water below and, from there, dancing into the far corners of the dining room. On my first visit, I admired the view from a darkish corner, but on the second, I requested and was given a table next to the fountain. There, we had a sense of dining almost alfresco — and without the heat rising from concrete and asphalt, or the sounds and sights of traffic. Bill Hurley, the owner of Ploy Siam, opened it in summer 2010; his wife, Kannika, grew up in Thailand. Ploy, the middle name of their 6-year-old daughter, means gemstone, he said on the phone after my visits. The menu is small, as Thai menus go, and thus more accessible than some. Standout appetizers from Worawut Chantomuk, the head chef, included a platter of seven mussels topped with a confetti of cucumber and red bell pepper and, surprisingly, a generous sprinkling of sweet, nutty, browned shallot bits. Two more table favorites were a pretty, spicy and sour shrimp and chicken soup — tom yum num pik pow — that was loaded with vegetables, and tender fried fish cakes of salmon sparked with lime leaves and pieces of green bean and flavored with coconut milk. Lime juice, fish sauce and dried rice enlivened Mr. Chantomuk’s grilled beef salad, which is also flavored by red onion, scallion and cilantro, though the tender meat was oddly grayish. Chicken satay, also tender, was a juicy example of this marinated and grilled classic, and was nicely accompanied by peanut sauce and a relish of cucumber, red pepper and red onion, with julienned sweet carrots alongside. Vegetable rolls were far better than I’ve had elsewhere. These are slimmer than usual, closer to the size of fat cigars than fat egg rolls, and filled with a mix of onion, carrot, cabbage, black and shiitake mushrooms, taro and sweet potato. Golden bags, filled with a ground mixture of crab, shrimp, water chestnuts and mushrooms, were bland despite the plum sauce alongside. Steamed dumplings, with those same ingredients plus green peas and carrots, suffered the same fate. And the tom kha kai, usually a rich and creamy soup with coconut milk, galangal and straw mushrooms, was thin and unsatisfying. Apart from a humdrum pad Thai with chicken, the main courses matched the attractiveness and general appeal of appetizers. Duck salad, listed logically in the salads, but at $19 more of a main dish, was a table favorite, with slices of succulent meat fanned out beneath a beautiful blend of julienned vegetables and mint. Duck with basil was also well prepared, though, as a hot dish, it did not sparkle as much. Green curry with beef was refreshingly light compared with others I’ve tried; Mr. Chantomuk said in a phone conversation that he achieved this with coconut milk and a bounty of vegetables: broccoli, green beans, red and green peppers, zucchini and bamboo shoots. Grilled shrimp with garlic sauce was a study in contrasts and complements: butterflied shrimp, carrots with ruffled edges, crunchy fried garlic, broccoli florets. The mango with sticky rice (molded into a heart) and the green tea crème brûlée were perfectly acceptable, but two treats far surpassed them. The first was the sweet, creamy and almost malted iced coffee, so luscious that I sipped long past satiety. (It is made by grinding coffee beans with rice roasted to a very dark brown.) The second was a glorious slice of pumpkin filled with an egg-based coconut milk custard and steamed to melting tenderness. Both will change your ideas of what dessert can be; each is worth the trip to Ploy Siam. Ploy Siam Thai Cuisine 1041 Washington Boulevard (Foxmoor Shopping Center) Robbinsville (609) 371-9600 ploysiamthaicuisine.com WORTH IT THE SPACE Beautiful 122-seat dining room with skylight. Ample space between tables. THE CROWD Sedate and nicely dressed; some children on my visits. Servers are friendly and efficient. THE BAR Bring your own wine or beer. THE BILL Lunch special includes soup or salad and a main dish for $10. At dinner, main dishes are $11 to $19, with some seafood at market price. (Red snapper was $29.) MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover and Diners Club accepted. WHAT WE LIKED Mussels, spicy and sour shrimp and chicken soup, fish cakes, beef salad, chicken satay, vegetable roll, deep-fried red snapper, duck salad, duck with basil, green curry, grilled shrimp with garlic sauce, steamed custard in pumpkin, Thai iced coffee. IF YOU GO Lunch: Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner: Daily, 5 to 10 p.m., plus Saturday and Sunday, 12:30 to 3 p.m. Plenty of parking in the lot in front. Reservations are generally not needed. RATINGS Don’t Miss, Worth It, O.K., Don’t Bother.
|
Restaurants;Ploy Siam Thai Cuisine (Robbinsville NJ Restaurant);Robbinsville (NJ);Ploy Siam Thai Cuisine (Robbinsville NJ)
|
ny0103817
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2012/03/28
|
J Street, Pro-Israel but Against Iran Strike, Takes Its Message to Washington
|
WASHINGTON — Memo to Congress: Not all American Jews support a military strike on Iran, either by Israel or by the United States. Members of J Street, the dovish pro-Israel group formed four years ago in part as an alternative to the more hawkish American Israel Public Affairs Committee , made that point on Tuesday when they descended on Capitol Hill as part of an effort to convince lawmakers that supporting Israel does not mean agreeing with everything advocated by the country’s conservative prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. “There’s a myth that the so-called Jewish vote is a monolithic vote in favor of a militaristic position in support of Israel,” said Elaine Tyler May, a professor at the University of Minnesota, who came to Washington for J Street’s annual conference and met on Tuesday with Representative Keith Ellison and Senator Amy Klobuchar, both Minnesota Democrats. Instead, Ms. May maintained, “the vast majority of American Jews believe the United States should take a leadership role on a peace agreement, even if it means disagreeing with the Israeli leadership.” Some 700 J Street members turned up to meet with 225 Congressional representatives, or their staff members, from both sides of the aisle. But in numbers and in political clout, the J Street contingent was dwarfed by Aipac’s annual conference three weeks ago. Whereas 2,500 people attended the J Street event this week, a record crowd of 13,000 people showed up for Aipac. J Street conferencegoers mingled with a handful of Obama administration officials — including Valerie Jarrett, a White House senior adviser, and Antony J. Blinken, Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s national security adviser — and a former Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert. In contrast, the Aipac crowd was addressed by President Obama; Mr. Netanyahu; the House Republican leader, Eric Cantor of Virginia; the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky; and three Republican presidential candidates. Aipac conference leaders scheduled a record 530 meetings with lawmakers over about four hours, with delegates fanning across Washington bearing talking points, the biggest being the dangers inherent in Iran’s nuclear ambitions. But J Street leaders seemed determined this week to add their own, softer voice to the debate. “There is more than just one way to be a good Jew,” the Israeli author Amos Oz told the crowd during the conference’s opening night on Saturday. “Let us all be united, but why unite under the militant, hawkish, extremist manner of Aipac?” Stav Shaffir, a leader of the social protest movement in Israel that has been called the Israeli Spring, directly took on Mr. Netanyahu, who during his own speech to Aipac compared Iran to Nazi Germany and his trip to Washington to garner support for a tougher line against Iran to a plea from the American Jewish community to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to bomb Auschwitz during World War II . Roosevelt denied the request, Mr. Netanyahu reminded the Aipac conference, and justified his decision with arguments that Mr. Netanyahu said were similar to those used today by people who object to a military strike against Iran. “None of us can afford to wait much longer,” Mr. Netanyahu said. Ms. Shaffir disagreed. “A month ago, my prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, came to Washington and shamefully compared our lives to those of our grandparents who lived in the ghettos,” she said, “as if we were doomed to live under permanent, intractable threat, as if Israel were the modern incarnation of the ghetto.” “We don’t want this,” she added. With Israeli leaders warning of an existential threat from Iran and openly discussing the possibility of attacking its nuclear facilities, J Street has been sprinting to impress on members of Congress their argument that more hawkish groups like Aipac and the Emergency Committee for Israel , which push for tougher action against Iran, do not speak for all Jews. The clear fissures that have emerged demonstrate the divisions within the American Jewish community. Brad Pilcher, the communications director at a synagogue in Atlanta, came to the J Street convention and met on Tuesday with Representative John Lewis, Democrat of Georgia, and staff members from the offices of Georgia’s two Republican senators, Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss. “We have 180,000 supporters across the country — this is not a marginal movement,” Mr. Pilcher said in a telephone interview. He acknowledged that J Street could sometimes appear overshadowed by Aipac, but that that would not stop the group from knocking on doors in Congress. “They may have a head start in Aipac, but we’re not in competition with them,” Mr. Pilcher said. “We’re bringing the majority of the American Jewish people behind us.”
|
J Street;American Israel Public Affairs Committee;United States Politics and Government;Jews and Judaism;Iran;Nuclear Weapons;United States International Relations;Israel;Lobbying and Lobbyists
|
ny0076186
|
[
"us"
] |
2015/05/29
|
Kentucky: Outcome Unchanged in Governor Race
|
A statewide recanvass on Thursday did not change the outcome of the closely fought election for the Republican nomination for governor, regulators said. The state agriculture commissioner, James R. Comer, requested the recanvass after preliminary results from the May 19 primary election showed him trailing Matt Bevin, a businessman from Louisville, by 83 votes. But after the procedure, which differs from a recount, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes announced that the margin between the two men had not changed. Mr. Comer must decide by Friday whether to seek a recount through the courts. His campaign said he would announce on Friday afternoon “the next steps he will take in this race.”
|
Kentucky;Matt Bevin;James R Comer;Gubernatorial races
|
ny0080879
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2015/02/14
|
U.N. Envoy Says Assad Is Crucial to Defusing Conflict in Syria
|
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Appearing to address one of the core issues that have derailed peace talks in Syria , the United Nations special envoy for the country on Friday described President Bashar al-Assad as a crucial part of the solution to ending the war there, news agencies reported. The envoy, Staffan de Mistura, met in Damascus, the Syrian capital, this week with Mr. Assad, who has resisted calls to step down during nearly four years of conflict. Mr. Assad has insisted that he remain in power in a postwar Syria, at least through the seven-year presidential term he claimed in disputed elections last year. But Mr. de Mistura’s spokeswoman, Juliette Touma, said the envoy was referring not to the broader solution but to short-term efforts to de-escalate the violence, beginning with a proposed freeze in fighting in the divided northern city of Aleppo. From Syria, an Atlas of a Country in Ruins A satellite image analysis reveals vast devastation in major cities across Syria from the civil war that started nearly four years ago. “What I know he meant is basically that the Syrian authorities should be part of the long-term solution,” she said in Beirut. Referring to Mr. Assad, she added, “For the de-escalation of violence, he needs to be part of the solution” as a representative of the Syrian authorities. “Assad doesn’t stand alone,” she said. “He represents the Syrian institutions and these, too, must be preserved — the institutions that have been providing services and will continue to provide services.” In a later email, Ms. Touma said that Mr. de Mistura had affirmed that the Geneva Communiqué, which calls for a transitional government in Syria, remains the reference point for a long-term political solution for the crisis. International recognition as the top representative of Syria’s government would in itself be a victory for Mr. Assad, however. The United States and Mr. Assad’s other international opponents have formally recognized the main exile opposition coalition as Syria’s sole legitimate representative, but those global powers have not emphasized the coalition’s role lately. Iraqi Army Retakes Government Complex in Central Ramadi Efforts to stem the rise of the Islamic State. The coalition lacks a strong presence on the ground in Syria, and does not control the armed factions there. Opponents of Mr. Assad have grown increasingly angry as global attention on Syria has focused on the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, the militant group that has capitalized on the chaos in the region to seize control of parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq. Although groups like Human Rights Watch have condemned the Islamic State, they note that far more civilians have been killed in the government airstrikes and bombardments that have faded into the background of news reports. Mr. de Mistura’s comments came as Syrian opposition groups reported a particularly deadly week of bombing by government forces in the Damascus suburbs, leaving more than 350 people dead in Douma alone, including 120 women and children. The opposition coalition president, Khaled Khoja, in a statement on Friday urged the United Nations “to take immediate action to salvage what has remained of Douma, just as they rushed to rescue the town of Ayn al-Arab from ISIS’ onslaught.” Ayn al-Arab, also known as Kobani, is the Kurdish enclave on the border with Turkey where American-led air raids have helped turn back the Islamic State.
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UN;Staffan de Mistura;Bashar al-Assad;Syria
|
ny0242333
|
[
"business"
] |
2011/03/17
|
Dividend Increases Would Enrich Bank Chiefs
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Even as ordinary investors look forward to the prospect of larger dividend payouts by the big banks, another group is poised for a rich payday: bank chief executives. In the next few days, the Federal Reserve is expected to give a handful of institutions, including JPMorgan Chase and Capital One, permission to pay higher dividends, another sign of the remarkable comeback of banks since the depths of the financial crisis. Jamie Dimon , chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, stands to eventually reap nearly $6 million a year in dividend payments from the stock he owns, an amount that equals almost a third of his total pay in 2010. Capital One’s chief executive, Richard D. Fairbank , could earn nearly $3 million a year as the credit card giant weighs a similar move. These figures are based on the number of shares the executives own and estimates from the banks about the percentage of earnings they plan to earmark for dividend payments. The increase in dividends is likely to occur in stages, so it may take until 2012 for the executives to collect the entire amount. A JPMorgan spokesman said the payouts were on shares Mr. Dimon accumulated while at the bank, including 2.6 million he bought with his own money. A Capital One spokeswoman said Mr. Fairbank had been paid entirely in stock during his tenure. To some extent, the expected windfall comes because banks have been paying executives a greater portion of their compensation in stock instead of salaries or bonuses. Regulators hoped that if banks handed out more shares and other forms of deferred pay, executives would avoid the type of excessive risk-taking that contributed to the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. At that time, regulators also pressured lenders to cut dividends and shore up their finances as loan losses mounted. Even some of the strongest institutions halted their stock repurchase programs and cut their quarterly dividend to a mere nickel or penny a share. As part of the financial bailout in 2008, banks need federal approval before they could increase the dividends. Dividends for financial companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell to $19 billion in 2010, from $51 billion in 2007. JPMorgan Chase, for example, now has an annual dividend of 20 cents a share, compared to $1.52 before the crisis. The larger dividends will also put billions of dollars into the pockets of big investors, like pension and hedge funds, as well as retirees who rely on the quarterly payouts as a steady source of income. JPMorgan has said it plans to pay roughly 30 percent of earnings as dividends. With analysts projecting the company to earn over $19 billion in 2011, that would translate to an annual dividend of $1.13 a share. Several other banks have said they plan to pay a similar percentage of earnings to shareholders. So chief executives stand to reap especially large gains because they are traditionally among the biggest holders of company stock. Corporate governance experts do not typically fret about such payouts since they help align the interests of management with those of investors more equally than other compensation practices. However, the dividends collected by chief executives will not be broken out in the compensation tables found in corporate filings. Investors must crunch the numbers themselves. “Even a small dividend can add up to a pretty substantial amount of money,” said Paul Hodgson, a senior research associate at GovernanceMetrics International. “It could be just another bonus for some C.E.O.’s. For others, it is a huge windfall.” The likely approval on dividends comes as the Federal Reserve completes a second round of stress tests for the nation’s 19 largest banks. Regulators are gauging whether they have stockpiled enough capital to weather a still-anemic economic recovery and meet the higher requirements put in place by new international accords. The top banks will learn the results of the examinations by Monday, including whether they can raise dividends and buy back shares. With the Fed’s expected blessing in hand, financial stocks could get a lift in the coming days, as one bank after another announces their plans. “Allowing some dividends to go up is a big vote of confidence in our banks,” said Jeffery Harte, an analyst at Sandler O’Neill. In addition to JPMorgan Chase and Capital One, other institutions hoping for dividend increases include BB&T, Bank of New York Mellon, U.S. Bancorp, PNC Financial and Wells Fargo. If Wells Fargo pays 30 percent of earnings to shareholders, its chief executive, John G. Stumpf, would reap nearly $400,000 a year in dividends, based on the bank’s expected profit in 2011. Using similar assumptions, PNC Financial’s chief executive, James E. Rohr, stands to earn close to $1 million a year. Other chief executives, like Brian T. Moynihan of Bank of America and Vikram S. Pandit of Citigroup, may have to wait until the second half of 2011 or even into 2012 for a modest dividend increase, because their companies are recovering more slowly. American Express, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have told investors they may eschew dividend increases in favor of things like investing in their businesses or buying back stock. Goldman expects to use some of the money to repurchase the preferred shares it sold Warren E. Buffett at the height of the 2008 financial crisis. Some regional banks, like SunTrust Banks and KeyCorp, are forbidden by the federal government to raise dividends because they have yet to return the billions in federal bailout money they received in 2008. Depending on how those banks fare in the stress tests, the Fed may let them start repaying the government in the coming weeks.
|
Executive Compensation;Banking and Financial Institutions;Federal Reserve System;Dimon James;Fairbank Richard D;Stumpf John G
|
ny0218226
|
[
"us"
] |
2010/05/29
|
Oil Rig Official Says He Tried to Activate Emergency System
|
KENNER, La. — New details emerged Friday about the frantic final actions of the crew aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig after it exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and triggering the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. An official for Transocean, the company that owned the rig, testified to government investigators that he tried in vain to activate an emergency system that would shut down the well, despite orders from his captain to wait. The official, Christopher B. Pleasant, a subsea supervisor, said the procedure was unsuccessful but showed early signs of success. A panel flashed the words “E.D.S. activated,” he said, referring to the Emergency Disconnect System. The emergency mechanism appeared to have closed, he said. But it would not function, and plumes of smoke were billowing from the rig, he said, so he fled to a lifeboat. His was one of many stories of panic and failure recounted to a six-member panel of Coast Guard and Minerals Management Service officials trying to determine the cause of the disaster. Another Transocean official, Miles Ezell, whose title is senior tool pusher, recalled a panicked phone call from an assistant driller moments before the explosion. “ ‘We have a situation,’ ” he said he was warned. “ ‘The well has blown out.’ ” Then the rig shook violently, and Mr. Ezell was sent 20 feet across the room, he said. He stood up, disoriented, to the smell of smoke and methane gas. Crawling through the rig, Mr. Ezell said, he passed wounded, screaming victims and heard cries of “God, help me” and “Someone help me please.” A pair of feet sticking out from the rubble turned out to belong to a senior Transocean official who was rescued and carried from the rig on a stretcher, he said. The rig’s highest-ranking official, Jimmy Harrell, the offshore installation manager, was wearing no shoes and struggling to open his eyes. Mr. Harrell, a Transocean employee, testified previously that he had been showering at the time of the explosion. “It was just total chaos,” Mr. Ezell said. Mr. Pleasant, the official who tried to activate the emergency system, testified that he had been initially instructed by the Transocean captain, Curt R. Kuchta, to wait. But only 30 seconds later, after the captain left the room, Mr. Pleasant said, he chose to use his own authority to attempt a disconnect. “It was my equipment,” he said. “I had the authority.” Indeed, Captain Kuchta testified Thursday, he had not been trained on the emergency system and believed that subsea engineers like Mr. Pleasant were authorized to activate it. The panel had tough questions for a BP official who wrote the company’s plans for the cement and well casing that may have failed and contributed to the explosion. The official, Mark E. Hafle, a drilling engineer, denied wrongdoing. “Nobody believed there was going to be a safety issue,” Mr. Hafle said. “All the risks had been addressed, all the concerns had been addressed, and we had a model that suggested if executed properly we would have a successful job.” Panel members and lawyers for Transocean questioned Mr. Hafle about BP’s decision not to conduct a test known as a “cement bond log,” which measures the strength of the cement. “I think it’s logical that everyone here realizes the cement didn’t work,” said John McCarroll, a panel member and Minerals Management Service official. “Eleven people were killed. Do you still think the cement job was a success?” “I don’t have any data that suggests the cement job was not a success,” Mr. Hafle replied, saying the explosion could have been caused by other failings. The hearings this week began Wednesday and will conclude Saturday, before resuming in July. They have grown increasingly tense, with frequent disputes among the various parties’ lawyers. Three scheduled witnesses have changed their plans to testify, according to the Coast Guard. Robert Kaluza, a BP official on the rig on the day of the explosion, declined to testify Thursday by invoking his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself. Another top-ranking BP official, Donald Vidrine, and James Mansfield, Transocean’s assistant marine engineer on the Deepwater Horizon, both told the Coast Guard that they had medical conditions that prevented them from appearing. A lawyer for Transocean, Edward F. Kohnke IV, said BP officials were not being sufficiently forthcoming with information that could explain the explosion. “It’s not the complete airing that we expected and that the BP C.E.O. said he wants,” Mr. Kohnke said. “One official is sick, and the other says he is asserting his right to plead the Fifth. “We’re not getting any information from BP. I’m frustrated.” BP denied any attempts to withhold information. “We encourage our employees to share what they know,” said Neil Chapman, a company spokesman. “Obviously, they can assert their constitutional rights.”
|
Offshore Drilling and Exploration;Oil (Petroleum) and Gasoline;Accidents and Safety;Transocean Inc;BP Plc;United States Coast Guard;Gulf of Mexico;Louisiana
|
ny0031598
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2013/06/15
|
Greek Broadcaster Fights Closure
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ATHENS — The Greek government might come under pressure to reopen the state broadcaster, ERT, as one of the country’s highest courts weighs an appeal by a union representing more than 2,600 of the broadcaster’s employees. The administrative court, the Council of State, is expected to rule on the appeal Monday. A decision in favor of the workers, who have been operating underground broadcasts of Greek news through satellite streams since ERT was pulled off the air in a surprise government decision on Tuesday, could lead to ERT’s signal being restored temporarily, until the decision could be reviewed in a hearing by the Council of State that would be scheduled for September. Meanwhile, a Greek prosecutor, acting at the behest of the country’s finance minister, has begun an investigation into ERT’s finances, looking for signs of mismanaged funds. Whatever the court verdict on the workers’ appeal, Monday will be a critical day for the country’s conservative prime minister, Antonis Samaras. He is to meet in the afternoon with the leaders of the two junior partners in his increasingly fragile coalition, socialist Pasok and the moderate Democratic Left. They have vehemently opposed his decision to shut down ERT as part of a broader cost-cutting drive imposed by Greece’s international creditors, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Although a court decision vindicating the laid-off ERT employees might be considered an embarrassment for Mr. Samaras, political analysis on Greek blogs and news Web sites on Friday suggested that such an outcome might less damaging to his image than if he were forced to reverse his decision under political pressure. In a speech before members of his conservative New Democracy party’s youth arm on Friday, Mr. Samaras suggested a compomise in an apparent bid to head off a government crisis. His proposal — for the "immediate creation of a cross-party committee to hire a small number of staff so that public television can immediately resume broadcasting" — was rejected within minutes by Pasok, which said the proposal "does not constitute a response to what Pasok has said." The political upheaval came amid reports from Brussels that the disbursement of the next tranche of rescue funding for Greece, a sum of about $4.4 billion, was expected to be released next week. Earlier on Friday, a Greek Finance Ministry official said that European officials had approved the disbursement, subject to a final endorsement by euro zone finance ministers. That decision, the official said, had been largely influenced by the government’s decision to save money by closing ERT. The state broadcaster, condemned by Mr. Samaras earlier this week as ‘'an emblem of lack of transparency and waste,'’ is to be the focus of a criminal investigation ordered on Thursday by the finance minister, Yannis Stournaras. Greece’s corruption prosecutor, Eleni Raikou, on Friday assigned two deputies to review all the employment and procurement contracts issued by ERT over the past decade for signs of mismanagement and waste. The scale of suspected misuse of money within ERT over the years remains unclear. But, addressing Parliament on Friday, Mr Stournaras said the broadcaster’s ‘‘finances and viewing figures were very poor.’’ ‘'I don’t want to raise tensions in the current climate,'’ he said, ‘'but when the time comes I will present the statistics.'’ Dismissed ERT workers, who have occupied the broadcaster’s headquarters in a suburb of Athens since ERT’s signal was cut on Tuesday night, continued to operate underground broadcasts of Greek news on Friday. Those streams were picked up Thursday evening by the the European Broadcasting Union, an alliance of public service media organizations in 56 countries, and re-transmitted via satellite link to Greece. The move had symbolic, rather than practical, value as only a few hundred thousand out of some 11 million Greeks have satellite connections; most have been following ERT’s pirate broadcast via online news Web sites. The head of the European Broadcasting Union, Jean-Paul Philippot, who was in Athens on Friday, said he would ask the Greek government to restore the ERT signal. ‘'The reason we are here is because this has never happened before,'’ he told a media conference in the old headquarters of ERT. ‘'No European country has ever cut its broadcaster’s signal.'’ Mr. Stournaras had warned Thursday that any other television channel retransmitting the pirate broadcast of former ERT employees would be prosecuted. The announcement was apparently aimed at the Communist Party’s channel, called 902 TV, which had been carrying the underground broadcast but reverted to normal programming after the ministry’s warning. ‘'This is not a country where everyone does whatever they want,'’ Mr. Stournaras said.
|
ERT Hellenic Broadcasting;Antonis Samaras;Pasok Panhellenic Socialist Movement;Athens
|
ny0031753
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2013/06/13
|
2 Scaffold Workers Rescued From Outside 45th Floor
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Two scaffold maintenance workers who were stranded 500 feet above the streets of Midtown Manhattan for nearly two hours after their work platform snapped were rescued on Wednesday by New York City firefighters. The platform, connected to scaffolding, seemed to have snapped in the middle, although it was not immediately clear what had caused it to malfunction. The accident was first reported at 2:39 p.m. at the Hearst Tower, on Eighth Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets, and the two were brought to safety around 4:15 p.m., fire officials said. Rescuers cut through a window on the 45th floor, two stories below the roof, in order to reach the workers. The maintenance workers, both men, were wearing harnesses at the time of the accident, and firefighters lowered an extra set of harnesses to them. Chief William Seelig of the Fire Department said rescuers had decided that knocking out the window was safer than trying to hoist the men up onto the roof. The rescue was broadcast live by several local television stations, which showed the stranded men trying to remain as still as possible before being pulled to safety. A large crowd gathered below before being pushed back by the police. Part of Eighth Avenue was shut down, with officials concerned about both the stability of the rig and the possibility of falling glass when firefighters cut through a window. Image Credit The New York Times The authorities did not release the names of the workers; fire officials said they were ages 26 and 49. It was not immediately clear for whom the men worked. The accident is under investigation. The scaffolding was designed and built by Tractel-Swingstage, a company based in Toronto. In 2008, Tractel was issued a notice of violation by the New York State Labor Department for failing to properly maintain a scaffold at the Solow Tower at 265 East 66th Street. The violation related to an accident in December 2007, in which two window washers fell 47 stories when cables on their mechanical platform, serviced by Tractel, failed. One worker was killed, and the other was gravely injured. The company declined to comment on either episode on Wednesday evening. The Hearst Tower is one of the most modern and distinct buildings in the city, with radically angled panes of glass rising above the original 1928 Hearst International Magazine Building as its pedestal. Designed by the architect Norman Foster, it was the first skyscraper approved for construction in the city after the Sept. 11 attacks. When Mr. Foster submitted his unconventional design, according to an article in The New Yorker, the first question the building owners asked was, “How are you going to clean those windows?” That became the challenge of Tractel-Swingstage, the magazine described in a detailed article on the equipment. It took three years and more than $3 million to come up with a model. “The result, a rectangular steel box the size of a Smart car, supporting a 40-foot mast and a hydraulic boom arm attached by six strands of wire rope to a telescopic cleaning basket, houses a computer that monitors 67 electromechanical safety sensors and switches, and runs around the roof of the Hearst Tower on 420 feet of elevated steel track,” the magazine reported. Scott Borland, the project’s construction manager, told the magazine that it was “like a ride at Disneyland.”
|
Rescue;Midtown Area Manhattan;Hearst;NYC;Accidents and Safety
|
ny0087672
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2015/07/12
|
Review: The Nuns Are Back in ‘Sister Act’ at the Gateway Playhouse
|
Light entertainment is the hallmark of summer theaters, and that is just what the Gateway Playhouse is serving up nicely with its current staging of “Sister Act.” Situated on about seven acres of greenery in Bellport, the Gateway has a red clapboard exterior offering visitors a picture-perfect vision of those classic barn theaters of yesteryear. As well it should: Gateway has been mounting summer seasons in this pleasant spot since 1950. The barn in which the company originally performed has been incorporated into the larger, present-day structure, which holds an airy, 500-seat main stage auditorium. Gateway shares producing credits for “Sister Act” with Ogunquit Playhouse , a time-honored summer theater in Maine, where the show had a monthlong run before shipping its actors, scenery and costumes south. Expect to see here a confident rendition of the musical, which delivers a scaled-down approximation of the Broadway production that opened in 2011 and ran for 561 performances. Scarcely a monumental work of art, but certainly an agreeable entertainment that features a tasty score, “Sister Act” is the musical version of a 1992 film that starred Whoopi Goldberg as a raucous singer who finds refuge in a convent. It is 1978 Philadelphia and Deloris Van Cartier (Rashidra Scott), a flashy lounge entertainer, witnesses a murder committed by Curtis (Apollo Levine), her semi-boyfriend and a gangster, who now intends to snuff her out. Eddie (Dashaun Young), a cop who has long had a crush on Deloris, decides to stash the singer somewhere safe until she can testify in court. Image Ms. Scott as Deloris Van Cartier. Credit Tim Cole Soon Deloris is disguised as a nun and uncomfortably holed up at Queen of Angels convent, which is attached to a church that is in jeopardy of closing. Deloris becomes involved with the convent’s feeble choir, whom she rapidly whips into rafters-shaking form, much to the horror of the starchy Mother Superior (Jennifer Allen). The glitzed-up choir attracts new parishioners and wide publicity — and, unfortunately, the attention of Curtis, who sends his goons in pursuit. Nuns on the run, dramatic confrontations and various personal insights ensue as the show winds its way to a happy ending. This serviceable story line is amplified by an upbeat, typically melodic score from Alan Menken, the composer of “Beauty and the Beast,” among other stage and film musicals. Mr. Menken took inspiration from era-appropriate music like Motown, disco and gospel to craft about a dozen dandy numbers, all of which have clever lyrics by Glenn Slater and are dished out by a peppy seven-member orchestra. The production, which is directed by Steven Beckler and choreographed by Erin Henry, is modeled after the Broadway staging and moves along nimbly. The scenery, with its Gothic touches and a rose window that eventually blazes with color, modestly recalls the original visuals, as do the costumes, which feature instantaneous changes when the nuns’ sober habits transform into sequin-sparkled attire. Although a few technical glitches occurred at a recent performance — most noticeably a misbehaving panel that once blocked actors from entering through a doorway, and some choppy lighting cues — the show appears to be in generally smooth shape. Ms. Scott and Ms. Allen, who play Deloris and the Mother Superior, understudied those roles on Broadway and project their characters with assurance. A vibrant singer, Ms. Scott invests an underlying sweetness of soul into the raffish Deloris, which suggests why the nuns grow so attached to her. The apple-cheeked Ms. Allen gives the Mother Superior a prim smile of disapproval and a rigid demeanor that unwillingly yields to Deloris’s unholy presence. Among the various sisters, whose voices blend into sensational harmony, it is obvious that Dierdre Friel has studied Kathy Najimy’s screen portrayal of the giggling Mary Patrick, while Celeste Rose is a darling as the shy postulant. Mr. Levine’s dangerously cool Curtis bosses the bumbling henchmen capably led by Chris Cooke. The 23-member company packs plenty of spirit into this enjoyable show.
|
Theater;Gateway Playhouse;Alan Menken;Glenn Slater;Jennifer Allen;Nun;Bellport NY
|
ny0194042
|
[
"sports",
"tennis"
] |
2009/11/29
|
The Year the Davis Cup Felt Empty
|
Four men who dreamed of sipping Champagne from the Davis Cup finally had their hands on it, but there would be no celebration. “We were told to put our tennis clothes on and come down to accept our trophies,” recalled Raymond Moore, a member of the only South African team to win the Davis Cup. Bob Hewitt, who played singles and doubles for that South African team and was later inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, remembered, “We were proud to see our names on the Davis Cup, but the way we got it left a sour taste in our mouths.” Tuesday is the 35th anniversary of the most important tennis matches never to be played. In 1974, South Africa and India advanced to the final of the Davis Cup, which had been won by either the United States or Australia every year since 1936. But the Indian government boycotted the final in protest of South Africa’s system of apartheid. The players who would have contested the final have had decades to debate the merits of the decision, but there still is no consensus. The South African players opposed apartheid but took different approaches to representing what had become a pariah state. Cliff Drysdale, who was the top-ranked South African player in 1974 and is now a tennis commentator for ESPN, publicly opposed apartheid, left the team and renounced his South African citizenship after playing one Davis Cup match in 1974. Drysdale said that he grew tired of representing a country whose government had become “increasingly unacceptable to the whole world.” (In a notable example, South Africa was barred from the Olympics from 1964 until 1992.) Drysdale said he had begun to feel like an “unwelcomed guest” at tournaments around the globe. “I just had had enough of it,” he said. Moore was a vocal critic of the apartheid regime, while Hewitt and his doubles partner, Frew McMillan, did not comment publicly on the issue. “I could understand the nature of governments opposing the politics of South Africa, which I opposed myself, but I was not a political animal, I was a sporting beast,” McMillan said. While the rising tide of condemnation for South Africa’s minority-rule government complicated the team’s surprising run to the Davis Cup final, India’s path there included more on-court drama. After upsetting the defending champion, Australia, in an epic confrontation that set a record for games played , 327, India still had the Soviet Union standing in the way of a trip to the final. The team was led by Vijay and Anand Amritraj, who were brothers and rivals. “I was always better than Vijay growing up,” said Anand Amritraj, who was two years older. “Then in ’73, he had a breakout year, and I was left in the dust.” With India leading the Soviet Union after the doubles, 2-1, Anand Amritraj clinched a berth in the final with a rousing five-set win over Teimuraz Kakulia. “It was two brothers taking their country to the final, which had never happened, and this was for a billion people,” Vijay Amritraj said. “It was past the goose-bump feeling.” India’s celebration proved short-lived. South Africa defeated Italy to reach the final, and after weeks of speculation that a compromise might be reached to play at a neutral site, the Indian government decided to boycott the final. The decision, which most believe came from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, ceded the Cup to South Africa and came as a crushing disappointment for the players on both teams. The boycott did spare the South African officials that ran Ellis Park in Johannesburg, which was scheduled to host the matches, from having to accommodate Indian fans. “The crowd at Ellis Park would have been segregated with just a very small section near the top reserved for nonwhites,” said Sy Lerman, who covered the Davis Cup in 1974 for The Daily Mail in Johannesburg. Would South African officials have allowed Indian fans to sit among whites, or might they have relegated friends of the Indian team to the nonwhite section? “That would have been a ludicrous chance for us to take,” Vijay Amritraj said. The passage of time has not produced a consensus on whether the boycott was justified. “At the end of the day, the Indian government was right,” Moore said. “If more countries had boycotted South Africa, maybe apartheid would have crashed down sooner.” McMillan, who lives in England, maintained that sports should be separated from politics. “If we had played, they might have seen that we weren’t as bad as some people thought,” he said. “I would like to think that they took the worst course of action.” The Indian team is no less divided. “I think it was a bad call,” Anand Amritraj said. “The only time we had an excellent chance of winning the Davis Cup, we gave it away.” But Vijay Amritraj contended that the Indian government made the right move. “As a sportsman I was disappointed, but as an individual I took pride in the fact that my government made the right call,” he said. Each side remains convinced that it would have won. “I felt then and I feel now that we would absolutely have beaten them,” said Moore, who lives in California and is a director of the Indian Wells tennis tournament. Anand Amritraj, who owns a tennis club in Bayshore, N.Y., disagreed, saying: “I think they’re definitely delusional. We would have won, 4-1.” During a Davis Cup tie with India in 1967, Hewitt broke his leg late in the final set of a doubles match with McMillan but finished and won the match in South Africa’s 5-0 victory. In September, India and South Africa met in Davis Cup play in Johannesburg — India won their World Group playoff tie, 4-1 — but the lost Davis Cup meeting is viewed as a missed opportunity by the men who would have played. South Africa never made it to another final, and India still has not won the Cup.
|
Apartheid (Policy);South Africa;Davis Cup;Hewitt Bob;McMillan Frew;Tennis;Boycotts;India
|
ny0296857
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2016/12/22
|
Taking the E Instead of the F
|
Dear Diary: My 17-year-old grandson, Jacob, and his classmate were coming from Washington on a Saturday night. Because the boys had never been to New York City on their own before, Jacob’s mother wrote out detailed instructions: “Call Nana when your train gets to Penn Station. Walk two blocks to catch the F train. Get off at Bergen Street.” Their Amtrak train was due in at 6:45 p.m. I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t get Jacob’s call. Navigating Penn Station and the Herald Square crush to find the F at rush hour would need all the boys’ attention. They will be ringing my doorbell around 7:30, I told myself. But at 7:30, no Jacob; 7:50, no Jacob. I texted, “Where are you?” No reply. I reminded myself that there was no cell service underground. At 8:15, Jacob called. “Hi, Nana.” “Jacob!” “We’re at Spring Street,” he said. “On the E train. I had to get off to call you.” “Spring Street in SoHo? The E? It doesn’t come to Brooklyn. You need the F.” “We’ll find it.” He hung up before I could give directions. I texted: “Change at Canal to the A or C. At Jay Street-MetroTech, the F is across the platform.” Two more transfers! Sigh. It sounded so complicated. No word by 8:45. I stared at my phone. At 9, Jacob called. “We’re here!” Actually, they were five blocks away. They had overshot by one station. I went outside to wait. It felt as if the temperature had dropped 20 degrees in a few hours. They finally arrived. “Jacob!” I said, hugging him. He introduced me to Andrew. “Why didn’t you get off at Bergen?” “I was too busy reading your texts,” Jacob said. “We missed the stop.”
|
Subway;Pennsylvania Station;Brooklyn
|
ny0171274
|
[
"us"
] |
2007/11/18
|
Lobbying Helps Spur Talks in Writers’ Strike
|
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 17 — An agreement by striking writers and Hollywood studios to resume bargaining was prompted by back-channel talks and mounting worries on both sides about their image, people with knowledge of the situation said Saturday. The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers issued identical statements late Friday saying they had mutually agreed to resume contract negotiations on Nov. 26. Picketing will continue, though on an intermittent schedule because of the Thanksgiving holiday Thursday. The two sides have not held formal talks since Nov. 4. At the heart of the dispute is how much writers should be paid for the reuse of movies and television shows on the Internet. Although both sides said they had agreed not to talk to the news media, details began to emerge Saturday about how the détente came about. A cluster of powerful talent agents has been working in the background to help the talks start again, and politicians like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa of Los Angeles have applied pressure, agents familiar with the effort said. They would not speak for attribution because of the media blackout. Moguls like Peter Chernin, president of News Corporation, and Robert A. Iger, chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, also became involved last week, these people said. The studios have repeatedly said that a strike would not have an immediate impact on their financial performance. But investors have been growing anxious, some analysts say. And the walkout has claimed its first big movie casualty: Columbia Pictures, the movie studio owned by Sony, said Friday that it would delay the release of “Angels & Demons,” a high-profile prequel to “The Da Vinci Code,” to 2009 from 2008. “While the filmmakers and the studio feel the screenplay is very strong,” Columbia Pictures said in a statement, “we do not believe it is the fully realized production draft required of this ambitious project.” Studios were also fretting about their image. Executives at studios like CBS, Fox and NBC Universal have said privately that their side was losing the public relations battle because they were not responding to union claims. Some were concerned that the union, using blogs and YouTube to publish its message, was succeeding in painting them as greedy. On Wednesday, the union publicized a nationwide poll by Pepperdine University that showed that 63 percent of Americans supported the writers in the fight. Meanwhile, people who have not worked because of the labor dispute have been pressing both sides to resume talks. A Web site, getbackinthatroom.blogspot.com , started a tally of people who had been laid off because of halted television production. Other unions with a stake in the battle have been critical of both sides, and some informal groups representing film workers have taken out pleading ads in the entertainment trade press.
|
Writing and Writers;Motion Pictures;Books and Literature;Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers;Lobbying and Lobbyists
|
ny0188397
|
[
"sports",
"basketball"
] |
2009/04/24
|
Union Head Says Investigating Agents Is a Difficult Task
|
In a free-flowing interview this week, Billy Hunter happily discussed the economy, N.B.A. labor relations and his fondness for the Bay Area. Only one topic was effectively off-limits: David Falk . “He’s a non-entity for me,” Hunter, the executive director of the players union, said during the interview at his Harlem office. Falk, the N.B.A.’s most powerful agent in the 1990s, and Hunter have a long and bitter history. They clashed heatedly during the 1999 lockout. So it was hardly surprising that Falk, in a February interview, predicted that Hunter would get routed by Commissioner David Stern in the next round of labor talks. Hunter declined to respond then and briskly waved off a question about Falk this week. But he was eager to address one of Falk’s weightier charges: that the agent business was plagued by “rampant cheating,” and that the union had done a poor job of policing it. Hunter, a former federal prosecutor, insisted that the union conducted “a whole lot of investigations” but that proving agent misconduct was more difficult than it seemed. Allegations are often based on whispers and hearsay, and illicit payments are hard to track. Most allegations are made by rival agents, who balk when they are asked to stand behind the claims. “An agent will call up and will say, ‘So and so is doing this,’ ” Hunter said. “And you say, ‘Well, are you prepared to go on the record?’ ‘No, I don’t want to go on the record.’ Well, how can we justify investigating this guy and taking action against him if you’re not willing to help us get the evidence? “So that’s always the problem, that agents will call up to make an accusation, but then they want to remain anonymous,” he continued. “There have been agents that we have suspended. We’ve suspended quite a few of them, when we have the evidence to do it.” In general, union investigations are dependent on people’s willingness to talk, and the union cannot compel anyone to do so. “You’ve got to keep in mind, we don’t have subpoena power,” said Hunter, a former federal prosecutor. “I worked for Justice for 18 years. I was a prosecutor. So I know how to investigate and put a case together. But I don’t have the tools here to do it.” Hunter cited the case of Calvin Andrews, an agent with Bill Duffy Associates, who is serving a one-year suspension for recruiting improprieties involving O. J. Mayo, the former University of Southern California star. The case first came to light through a report on ESPN. But Hunter said that the person who made the allegations on television refused to talk to the union. The reporter who broke the story also declined to cooperate, he said. And Mayo, who was soon to become part of the union, likewise could not be compelled to talk about the relationship with Andrews. “So who are we going to talk to?” Hunter said. “We run into these walls. We get frustrated here.” Without cooperative witnesses, and lacking the authority of a law-enforcement agency, Hunter said the union had to tread carefully, or risk being sued for defamation by the accused agents. “You can’t go where you want to go,” he said, “because you don’t have the proof.” Sounding frustrated, Hunter said the onus was on state governments to “enforce their statewide rules relative to sports agents.” “And they don’t,” he said. “They don’t do anything.”
|
Hunter Billy;Basketball;Organized Labor;National Basketball Assn;Falk David
|
ny0055555
|
[
"world",
"asia"
] |
2014/09/04
|
2 South Korean Soldiers Die in Anti-Captivity Training
|
SEOUL, South Korea — Two South Korean soldiers died late Tuesday during an exercise meant to prepare them for capture by the enemy, military officials said Wednesday. The apparent cause was suffocation, they said. The two soldiers were staff sergeants in a special forces unit based in Jeungpyeong, about 60 miles southeast of Seoul, according to a spokesman for their unit, who briefed reporters on the condition that he not be identified. The soldiers’ full names were not released. The spokesman said they were both in their early 20s. The training exercise, conducted at the base, was meant to teach the soldiers to endure captivity should they be taken prisoner, the spokesman said. The soldiers were required to kneel with hoods over their heads and their hands tied behind their backs. Trainers realized the exercise was going wrong when another soldier, who was later hospitalized, screamed and flailed his legs, the spokesman said. He said the military was investigating the deaths, with a particular focus on whether the training had been properly supervised. The incident occurred at a time when the South Korean military was already facing public anger over the beating death of a private following weeks of abuse from fellow soldiers. Homicide charges were filed this week against four soldiers in the private’s unit, who initially had faced lesser charges. The army chief of staff resigned over public criticism that the military tried to cover up the abuse the private suffered. South Korea maintains a military of 650,000 people, most of them conscripts, as a bulwark against North Korea, with which it has technically been at war since 1950.
|
South Korea;Military;Choking;Torture
|
ny0285185
|
[
"sports",
"olympics"
] |
2016/09/28
|
Tax Break for Olympic Heroes? A Sole Lawmaker Says No
|
WASHINGTON — A group of United States Olympians from the Rio Games is set to visit the White House on Thursday. It’s a safe bet that one particular lawmaker will be excluded from the guest list. That would be Representative Jim Himes, Democrat of Connecticut, a former Harvard rower who last week cast the only vote against a bill that would give most United States Olympic and Paralympic medalists a tax break on their victory bonuses. The vote on the bill — which was approved by the Senate earlier this year and is expected to be signed into law by President Obama — was 415 to 1 . “A lonely, lonely moment,” Himes said Friday when I spoke with him by telephone. Contrary to what you might be thinking right now, Himes does not hate sports or love income taxes, and he doesn’t disdain the Olympics in general or medal-winning Olympians in particular. Far from it. In the 1980s, he was the captain of Harvard’s lightweight crew, and he said he even tried, unsuccessfully, to make the United States national team. This summer, he said, he was “caught up in the thrill of our Olympic victories” as much as anybody else. But Himes is also a former Rhodes scholar who once worked at Goldman Sachs, so he knows how to add, and for him, the question of an Olympic tax break was a simple question of priorities: Why should athletes receive perks at a time when that money, even if it’s only a drop in the federal budget, is needed elsewhere? His conclusion was that they should not. Image Christian Taylor wrapped himself in the American flag after winning the men’s triple jump at the Rio Games. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times “We’ve got a Zika crisis, an opium epidemic and gun violence in the news every day,” Himes said. “I think those are the issues that Congress should be spending time on.” Not that Congress spent much time considering this tax break issue, anyway. The reservations that sank earlier versions of the legislation — that a tax break for Olympians, while other Americans had to pay full freight, wasn’t, well, fair — were no match for the current bill. It sped through the Senate this year and then Usain Bolted through the House last week. Himes said many of his colleagues considered the bill a no-brainer because it was “a feel-good thing,” a celebration of bipartisan patriotism wrapped in red-white-and-blue Speedos and leotards and clad in similarly themed running spikes. And who doesn’t love Olympians, and America, and winning? The flip side is Himes’s side. Why should Olympians get tax breaks when other extraordinary Americans don’t? As Himes notes, Nobel Peace Prize winners and spelling bee winners and Special Operations soldiers still have to pay their taxes. He called the Olympic bill arbitrary, not to mention bad fiscal policy. And if the argument is that struggling Olympic athletes need a raise, it’s not as if the Games don’t produce enough money to throw the stars of the show a little extra cash. Unfortunately, too much of the money in the Olympic movement — squeezed out of sponsors, television networks and ticket buyers — never finds its way down the food chain. Somehow, some way, millions of dollars still slip into the pockets of top sports officials every four years. So Himes is probably right: If you’re looking for an extra million or so every four years — which is the projected cost of this narrowly targeted tax cut — maybe try shaking it out of the expense accounts first. Besides, even without government money, the United States dominated in Rio, winning 121 medals — 51 more than China, which finished second in the overall standings. For those 121 medals, American Olympians will receive a total of $2,085,000 in prize money from the United States Olympic Committee — $25,000 for every gold, $15,000 for every silver and $10,000 for every bronze. In the past, that money — as well as the value of the medals themselves — was considered taxable income. And under the current bill, athletes like Michael Phelps, Kevin Durant and Simone Biles, who earn more than $1 million a year, will still be taxed on their winnings. So why change the law to benefit a few dozen (extraordinary) citizens? Why not, said Derek Bouchard-Hall, the chief executive of U.S.A. Cycling. “Remember, these athletes have no clear source of income,” he said Friday. “They don’t have a direct path to a paycheck, like a firefighter. It’s far more amorphic, and they have quite precarious financial situations. “With the Olympics, you take a risk. It might pay off, and it might not.” He added, “We ask our athletes to behave in a certain way and represent the United States in a certain way, and the tax break is just a way of acknowledging something they did for our country.” Bouchard-Hall said the bill’s passage was welcome news Friday at the U.S.O.C.’s congress in Colorado Springs. When Scott Blackmun, the U.S.O.C.’s chief executive, announced that it had cleared the House, the room filled with applause. More than 1,600 miles away here in Washington, Himes didn’t hear it. And when he heard that the United States Olympic and Paralympic teams would be honored at the White House this week, he laughed, he said. “I might want to request a personal security detail,” he added.
|
Tax;Olympics;Jim Himes;Connecticut;Tax Credits Tax Deductions Tax Exemptions;Paralympics;Legislation;Income tax;House of Representatives;Congress
|
ny0235072
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2010/01/26
|
Hussein Aide ‘Chemical’ Ali Executed in Iraq
|
BAGHDAD — Ali Hassan al-Majid , a symbol of the former government of Saddam Hussein, who ordered a poison gas attack on a Kurdish village in northern Iraq , was executed on Monday. An Iraqi court had sentenced Mr. Majid, 68, to death by hanging last week. Mr. Majid, known as Chemical Ali for his role in the attack on the village of Halabja, in which more than 5,000 Kurds died, was perhaps the most notorious figure from the former regime to be executed since Mr. Hussein was himself hanged in December 2006. Iraq’s state television broadcast pictures of what it said was the execution, showing a man in a black mask and red jumpsuit on a wood scaffold, with a rope around his neck. “His execution turns the page on another black chapter of repression, genocide and crimes against humanity that Saddam and his men practiced for 35 years,” said Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki in a statement. In court cases that began in August 2006, Mr. Majid was handed eight death sentences for crimes that ranged from Halabja to a campaign known as Anfal at the end of the Iran-Iraq war in which at least 180,000 Kurds were killed and thousands others displaced, invoking accusations of genocide and serving as a powerful symbol of Kurdish suffering in their quest for self-determination. He was also convicted for his role in crushing a Shiite uprising in southern Iraq in 1991, in which thousands were killed and displaced. “His execution is great news for all Iraqis,” said Fakhri Karim, an adviser to President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd. “He was the killing machine of the former regime.” He was hanged on Monday for his role in the Anfal campaign, an official from the Justice Ministry said. Kao Mahmoud, a spokesman for the government of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, said that Kurdish officials would pursue their efforts to classify the attack on Halabja as genocide. The government announced his execution shortly after three devastating bombings struck hotels in Baghdad, killing 36 people, in what appeared to be a coordinated attack. The delays in executing Mr. Majid stood in contrast to the speed with which Mr. Hussein’s death sentence was carried out. Mr. Hussein was sentenced Nov. 5, 2006; his appeal was rejected on Dec. 26 that year; and he went to the gallows just before dawn within four days. Video was soon circulated of Mr. Hussein’s confrontation with guards. Ali Dabbagh, the government’s spokesman, said that Mr. Majid’s execution “happened without any violations, shouting or cries of joy,” unlike that of Mr. Hussein. Throughout his courtroom appearances and until last week, Mr. Majid remained unapologetic, explaining to the court during the Anfal trial that he had ordered the destruction of Kurdish villages because they were filled with Iranian agents. “I am the one who gave orders to the army to demolish villages and relocate villagers,” Mr. Majid had said during one of the hearings. “I am not defending myself, I am not apologizing. I did not make a mistake.” “Thanks to God,” an unrepentant Mr. Majid said last week when his eighth death sentence was read out in court. On June 24, 2007, the court sentenced Mr. Majid and a former defense minister, Sultan Hashem Ahmed, to death for their role in the Anfal campaign. Mr. Majid’s sentence was set to be carried out on Oct. 16, but was postponed because of wrangling over Mr. Ahmed’s execution. Several top Iraqi leaders and American commanders wanted to spare him. Mr. Ahmed received a 15-year prison sentence last week for his role in the Halabja attack. It is not clear yet if or when he will be executed. “Until now, there isn’t an executive order to execute him,” said Bosho Dizai, the deputy justice minister. “We don’t know what will happen yet.” Mr. Ahmed was a top officer for decades, winning respect from many Iraqis for his professionalism. Some American officials said he helped limit the resistance of the Iraqi army to the invasion in 2003, and many Sunni leaders said he was simply a soldier following Mr. Majid’s orders. After the 2003 American-led invasion, Mr. Ahmed fled to Mosul, where Gen. David H. Petraeus, then a major general in charge of military operations in the north, praised him as a “man of honor and integrity” and asked him to surrender in a letter stating that by doing so, he could “avoid capture, imprisonment and loss of honor and dignity befitting a general officer.” But because of his role in the Anfal campaign, both Shiite and Kurdish officials believed that if Mr. Ahmed’s life was spared, it could set a precedent by which others who committed crimes would also seek to be let off. Some also feared executing Mr. Ahmed would affect efforts to persuade Sunnis to reconcile with a government now dominated by Shiites. Mr. Majid, a first cousin to Mr. Hussein, was captured on Aug. 17, 2003, five months after the invasion of Iraq. He was listed as the fifth most-wanted men and as King of Spades in the pack of cards of most wanted issued by the US military in 2003. He was a soldier in the Iraqi army until Mr. Hussein’s Baath party seized power in a bloody coup in 1968 when he was appointed an aide to the defense minister. When Mr. Hussein became president in 1979, he was promoted to head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service. In the late 1980s, he was appointed secretary general of the northern bureau of the Baath Party, where he demonstrated ruthlessness against Kurdish rebels. Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, he was named military governor of the emirate. In 1991 he became interior minister and was charged with quelling the Shiite uprising that broke out that year against Mr. Hussein in the south. In 1995 he became defense minister but was dismissed shortly afterward when Mr. Hussein discovered he was involved in smuggling illegal grain to Iran. Three years later, he was brought back and appointed commander of southern Iraq, a position he kept until the invasion.
|
Majid Ali Hassan al-;Iraq;Kurds;Deaths (Obituaries)
|
ny0236948
|
[
"sports",
"basketball"
] |
2010/06/11
|
Bench Lifts Celtics to Tie Series
|
BOSTON — The fashionable “Beat L.A.” chants had all but faded from TD Garden, the oxygen bled from the building by Ray Allen’s misfires, Kobe Bryant ’s impossible jumpers and Derek Fisher’s intensity. An anxious air hung over the Boston Celtics on Thursday as they teetered on the edge of a heavy series deficit. Then Glen Davis rumbled and shimmied, Nate Robinson bounced and bellowed and belief was restored. The crowd thundered anew — “Beat L.A.!” — and the Celtics bullied their way to a 96-89 victory over the Lakers , tying the N.B.A. finals at 2-2. It was an unusual victory, built on the backs of the Celtics reserves, most prominently Davis, the hefty center, and Robinson, the diminutive guard. They suffocated the Lakers with boundless energy, combining for 15 points in the fourth quarter and propelling the Celtics to a permanent lead. “I don’t think that what we did today was really in the scouting report,” Davis said. “A lot of things that we did was just will and determination and seizing the moment.” And a lot of things were just plain unusual, such as Davis doing a little shimmy after a big free throw, or celebrating a play so enthusiastically that drool spilled from his mouth. The image was captured by the network cameras, to the great amusement of his teammates. “When you’re in the moment, you’re in the moment,” the playful Davis said. “If I slobber, snot, spit, please excuse me. Kids, don’t do that. Have manners and things like that. Sorry about that. Did I catch you with some?” Davis was free to roam the paint in part because Andrew Bynum, the Lakers’ long-limbed center, was forced out by a nagging knee injury. He played just 12 minutes, raising doubts about his availability. Bynum’s absence “bothered us in the second half,” Coach Phil Jackson said, but the Lakers are hopeful that he can return on Sunday for Game 5, after a two-day break. The series will return to Los Angeles for Game 6 and a possible Game 7. The Celtics’ Rasheed Wallace left the game late in the fourth quarter after aggravating a back injury. He also picked up his sixth technical foul of the postseason, one shy of the limit. Another technical foul would trigger an automatic suspension. The Celtics’ Kendrick Perkins is in the same predicament. On a difficult night for the Celtics’ starters, Coach Doc Rivers turned to Davis, Robinson, Wallace and Tony Allen, who joined Ray Allen to open the fourth quarter. They promptly turned a 2-point deficit into a 9-point lead. Paul Pierce, who had been quiet for much of the night, secured the victory with 7 points in the final 2 minutes 17 seconds and finished with 19. The Lakers, looking exhausted and frazzled, could not keep pace. Bryant, finding scant help, kept launching difficult jumpers, going 10 for 22 from the field, finishing with 33 points. He had to do most of his work on the perimeter, going 6 for 11 from the 3-point arc. He also had 7 turnovers. “He was tired,” Jackson said. “Physically, I thought he had to work too hard in the course of the game, and he couldn’t finish it out the way he wanted to finish it out.” The Lakers pulled within 6 points four times down the stretch, mostly on Bryant’s efforts, but Pierce responded each time. They finally got within 5 points on a meaningless Bryant 3-pointer with 11 seconds left. Derek Fisher, the Lakers’ savior in Game 3, spent much of Thursday night on the bench with foul trouble. The Celtics thoroughly dominated the boards, 41-34, and pulled down 16 offensive rebounds, leading to 20 second-chance points. Davis powered through repeatedly for putbacks and layups. Emotions flared in the fourth quarter. After Lamar Odom knocked Robinson to the floor with a hard foul, Robinson leaped up and went nose to chest with Odom, drawing a technical. Wallace, who had drawn a technical foul a minute earlier, started berating the officials, and Rivers quickly called a timeout to calm everyone’s nerves. “Somehow, we’re going to have to keep our composure,” Rivers said. Robinson played the first 9:09 of the fourth quarter, in place of the ineffective Rajon Rondo (10 points), and made several big plays, including a runner in the lane that gave the Celtics an 83-74 lead. Davis hit a pair of free throws to make it an 11-point lead. Ray Allen, who missed all 13 of his shots in Game 3 bounced back slightly with 12 points. After going four days and nearly 61 minutes of basketball between field goals, Allen finally found the net, converting a fast-break layup a minute after tipoff. That ended an 0-for-16 streak that began in the fourth quarter of Game 2. When he landed, Allen clenched both fists in quiet celebration. Allen missed his next five shots, starting with an errant a 3-pointer that had 18,624 people exclaiming “awwww” in unison. That left him 1 for his last 21. He did not make another field goal until late in the third quarter, hitting a 20-footer that drew the loudest ovation of the night and tied the score at 56-56. Davis and Allen provided all the points in a 17-8 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters and wiped out the Lakers’ lead for good. Then the celebrations began, with Davis whooping and the 5-foot 9-inch Robinson at one point leaping onto his broad back. “You were on my back?” Davis said to Robinson, as they sat side by side on the interview podium. “You didn’t even notice,” Robinson said. “We’re like Shrek and Donkey. You can’t separate us.” Everyone laughed and Davis concluded, “You shouldn’t have let us two get up here.” On this night, there was no containing either one.
|
Celtics;Lakers;Basketball;Playoffs;Kobe Bryant;Glen Davis;Nate Robinson;Doc Rivers;Rasheed Wallace;Ray Allen
|
ny0210052
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2009/12/06
|
Stoking the Furnace, and a Love for Books
|
An age ago, Sharon Washington would sit in her neighborhood library early in the evenings, perched on a short-legged chair sized for the children’s section, lost in the words and woodcut drawings of “The Red Fairy Book.” No one else would be around. The building was closed. The other kids had long since packed up their school bags. The librarians had gone home. It was just 8-year-old Sharon, alone, in the shush-less quiet of an empty building on Amsterdam Avenue. Except she would be far away, standing, perhaps, in an unnamed forest, gazing up at the tower where Rapunzel awaited her prince and endured the wicked enchantress. Somewhere over Sharon’s head, the hinges of a door would creak. “Dinner!” Her mother’s voice echoing off the marble stairs. Sharon would linger as Rapunzel wove the silk escape ladder. Then: “I know you can hear me!” her mother, Connie Washington, would yell. “I’ve called you three times.” And Sharon would close the book and go home — walking up two twisting flights to the apartment where she and her family lived, at the very top of the library. When Sharon Washington says she grew up with books, she is speaking literally: Her father, George King Washington, was a library custodian, a job that for much of the 20th century included shoveling coal into the furnace at all hours. It came with an apartment, and a world of remembered magic for the little girl who grew up in the library, an only child. “It was the books, of course, but it was also my father, working on the furnace, feeding the dragon that ate the coal,” said Ms. Washington, 50 and a successful actor , shown above with her father in 1963. “I remember the coal truck deliveries.” The coal sluiced down a chute next to the furnace. The pieces sparkled with blackness. Her father — a long, lean man — had a shovel nearly as tall as himself. She would sneak downstairs to watch him wield the shovel and spin the ashcans to the curb. “The family mantra was: Don’t let that furnace go out,” she recalled last week. After seeing Superman on the old TV series create a diamond by squeezing a piece of coal (“put it under a million tons pressure for a thousand years”), Sharon tried it. “Coal dust all over my hands and face,” she said. “I had to explain to my mother what I was trying to do.” Her mother, who graduated from Wadleigh High School and worked as an executive secretary, grew up on Mulberry Street and met her father when he was working in a store on 99th Street. They married in 1940. He was from South Carolina and had little education. But he learned to cook in the Navy during World War II, was very handy and a ferocious worker. He also drank. Sharon, born in 1959, said she was “a reconciliation baby.” A few years later, he landed a job as the custodian of the St. Agnes branch of the library on Amsterdam Avenue, a defining moment for the Washingtons. Sharon went to public school on the Upper West Side until second grade, when a vice principal told her mother to send her to Dalton , the exclusive academy for the wealthy. She got a partial scholarship. “I would never have called us poor,” she said. “My mother probably would have. They scrimped for the tuition.” A birthday party for a Dalton classmate might involve a private movie at the Paramount screening room, complete with a help-yourself popcorn machine. Sharon had her birthday parties upstairs in the library. The apartment at St. Agnes had a big kitchen and three bedrooms, one for her grandmother, a great reader. Sharon wore out books. “I would always be downstairs, creating these worlds for myself,” she said. Over her girlhood, the Washingtons lived in three Manhattan libraries until her father could no longer manage the physical grind. Ms. Washington went on to Dartmouth College and then to drama school at Yale. One morning last week, she stood on East 79th Street, peering up at the limestone walls of one of her old homes, the Yorkville library branch. Her parents are dead. The last resident custodian retired from the system in 2006. All the old apartments are now either deserted or used for library business. Her mother kept diaries, but used stenographic shorthand when dealing with tender subjects, so Ms. Washington can only guess what was happening. She remembers that when her father — “90 percent of the time he was so reliable” — would hit a bad patch of drinking, she and her mother would have to feed the furnace. “It took the two of us to handle that shovel,” she said. “We all lived by the rule — don’t you let that furnace go out.”
|
Libraries and Librarians;Children and Youth;Washington Sharon
|
ny0079409
|
[
"business",
"dealbook"
] |
2015/02/28
|
BGC Partners Gains Control of GFI Group
|
BGC Partners said on Friday that it had successfully gained a control of the GFI Group, the New York brokerage firm and clearinghouse, after a long takeover battle. The announcement came a week after GFI’s directors agreed to unanimously support BGC’s offer after shareholders rejected a separate tie-up with the CME Group last month. In a news release, BGC said that it had acquired 54.6 million shares as part of a tender offer to shareholders that expired on Thursday. With the 17.1 million shares it already holds, BGC owns 56.3 percent of GFI’s outstanding shares. BGC, which started a hostile bid for the company last year, had offered $6.10 a share in cash, valuing the company at about $778 million. GFI’s shares closed at the offer price of $6.10 in trading in New York on Thursday. “We are extremely pleased with the overwhelming support our tender offer received from GFI stockholders,” Howard W. Lutnick, BGC’s chairman and chief executive, said in the news release . “We believe the combination of BGC and GFI will create a strong and diversified company, well positioned to capture future growth opportunities. “ As part of its agreement reached last week, BGC has chosen six new directors to serve on GFI’s eight-member board, three of which are independent directors. After the deal closes, GFI will operate as a division of BGC, reporting to Shaun D. Lynn, the BGC president. BGC and GFI will remain separately branded divisions in the company. GFI originally reached a merger agreement in July with CME, which operates the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade and the New York Mercantile Exchange. But BGC Partners emerged in the fall with a competing bid. CME was forced to raise its bid several times under pressure from BGC, and shareholders eventually rejected the CME offer in January.
|
Mergers and Acquisitions;Stocks,Bonds;BGC Partners;GFI Group;CME Group;Howard Lutnick
|
ny0182427
|
[
"business"
] |
2007/12/29
|
Varied Home Markets Now Share a Slump
|
THE slide in American home prices is going national, rendering obsolete the old saying that the three factors that matter in real estate pricing are location, location and location. There are still important differences in the vibrancy of local economies, but those distinctions are being overridden by a mortgage market that has made it much more difficult for many would-be buyers to obtain financing. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller indexes of home prices, which began in 1987 and now cover 20 broad metropolitan areas, have showed price declines in every market in only two months — September and October of this year. Those falls came as the stringent mortgage rules began to take effect, leaving even vigorous local economies with financing problems for home buyers. The October figures, reported this week, showed that only three of the 20 markets still had year-over-year increases in prices: Charlotte, N.C.; Seattle; and Portland, Ore. Of those, only Charlotte’s prices rose rapidly enough to offset inflation. The consumer price index excluding shelter costs was up 3.7 percent over the year, while Charlotte prices climbed 4.3 percent. September and October were the first months ever in which the S.& P./Case-Shiller indexes failed to show any market with at least a 5 percent annual gain, as is shown in the accompanying chart. While the current slowdown affects all markets, it is generally worse in those that went up the most in the housing boom. During the five-year period that ended in July 2006 — when national housing prices peaked, according to the indexes — seven markets showed compound annual gains of at least 14 percent. Since the peak, all seven markets are among the bottom eight. What goes up the most does come down the most, or so it appears. The exception to that rule is Detroit, home of the troubled American automobile industry. It was the worst performing market during the boom, and it is among the worst since. The figures shown in the chart are the annual rates of change over the 15 months since the peak, with the fastest rate of decline in the Tampa, Fla., region. But it is Miami, the other Florida market covered by the indexes, that has been going down at the fastest rate over the last year. Prices there fell 12.4 percent in the 12 months through October. That is the most rapid fall the indexes have ever recorded, exceeding the 11.2 percent decline the Boston area showed in the 12 months through February 1991. The indexes are compiled by comparing repeated sales of the same homes, and the 20 regions are broad enough to cover entire areas. The New York market, for example, stretches from New Haven to Trenton. The indexes cover only single-family home sales, not sales of condominium apartments. In the Florida markets, where condo prices have suffered badly because of speculative overbuilding, that means the indexes may be understating the distress. In the early 1990s there was something close to a national weakening of home prices during and after the 1991 recession. But at the low point, the S.& P./Case-Shiller indexes still showed annual price gains in five of the 17 markets the indexes then covered. And there were no months when at least one market did not show a gain from the previous month. Now prices appear to be weakening everywhere.
|
Housing;Economic Conditions and Trends;Sales;Mortgages
|
ny0204572
|
[
"nyregion",
"westchester"
] |
2009/01/18
|
Neighbors Aid Pelham Manor Family Displaced by Fire
|
PELHAM THE current film “Revolutionary Road” paints a dismal picture of suburban life. Right from the early shots of Leonardo DiCaprio standing on a 1950s-era train platform with an army of buttoned-down commuters — all men, all wearing fedoras — and then flowing with them through Grand Central as if he were part of a column of lemmings, the film depicts suburbia as regimented, vapid, conformist, with an ambience that drives its inhabitants crazy or into deep despair. The desperation is not quiet, but noisy: Mr. DiCaprio’s character squabbles regularly with his aproned wife, played by Kate Winslet, as she unhappily tends her streamlined kitchen. The movie, as some reviewers have said, is powerfully affecting, well directed and well acted. Nevertheless, it is useful to remind urban chauvinists that even if the suburbs were like this in the 1950s, they have undergone a sea change. Practically no one wears a fedora, and there are almost as many women as men on the platforms during rush hours. More than a few artists, eccentrics, iconoclasts and, yes, revolutionaries of a sort have settled along the suburban roads and cul-de-sacs. (Remember that the suburbs voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama, not for the candidate of the party in power.) Whatever its flaws, suburbia often continues to reflect its small-town origins, and a communal spirit that can reveal itself in surprising, even lyrical ways, as it did when a fire on New Year’s Eve burned out the Pelham Manor home of a family of six and the community responded in breathtakingly generous ways. Such outpourings should remind people who see “Revolutionary Road” that the suburbs it portrays are principally a setting for the story of a marriage gone sour as its partners blindly flail around trying to figure out how they want to live their lives. Indeed, the film’s martini-sipping Manhattan residents, though briefly glimpsed, are just as conformist and just as unhappy, and have also made bad bargains with their destinies. That awful Pelham Manor fire started when the Bradys — Betsy and Grant and their four children, Carter, 10; Mason, 8; Lance, 6; and Leila, 3 — were at a party at the local country club. Someone rushed in to inform them their home was burning. By the time they got there, the 106-year-old, three-story gabled house, on the graceful Esplanade, was engulfed in flames and unsalvageable. Practically everything they owned was destroyed. But the community — right on the border of the Bronx — came together with an enthusiasm and vigor reminiscent of pioneer barn raisings. The crisis wasn’t just left to the Red Cross. On New Years’s Day, when much of America was busy nursing hangovers or hopping cocktail parties, neighbors started dropping off clothes and supplies at the doorstep of a relative’s house where the Bradys had taken refuge. Their friends Stacey Gaine and Alix Dunn sent out a mass e-mailing, and soon pots and pans, linens, towels, laundry baskets, toys, and school and cleaning supplies arrived. Much of the stuff was new. By the weekend, a local real estate agent, Betty Bucher, had found the Bradys a fully furnished rental house a half-mile from their home’s charred shell. DeCicco, a local supermarket, filled the Bradys’ pantry and refrigerator, and a restaurant, La Fontanella, sent over a dinner. Another good friend, Roland Rogers, who owns a computer business in New Rochelle, set up the Brady Family Support Site, kirkor.com/bradys . It updated neighbors on what the Bradys still needed and what they needed no longer. “In four days, the community replaced almost every single thing they needed to get a home started,” said Melissa Ronan, a neighbor. Hundreds of people have pitched in. Neighbors who played on Pelham sports teams with the Brady boys brought them trophies to replace those that had burned. Others brought class pictures and other photographs containing shots of the Bradys so the family could have the kinds of pictures that remind us of the lives we have led. “I know of at least two people who had the Bradys’ Christmas card on their bulletin boards and framed it and gave it to the Bradys,” Ms. Ronan said. “Someone replaced the boys’ Cub Scout uniforms.” By Jan. 5, a Monday, three of the children were back in Siwanoy Elementary School, where teachers and students collected 75 books so the Brady children could have something to read in their displaced state. And if all that were not enough, Lorraine White and Carmen Hartigan set up a schedule for volunteers who would feed the Bradys as dinner guests every other evening. Don’t rush to volunteer: The Bradys are booked until March. This cascade of benevolence occurred during a corrosive economy where people are thinking twice before buying anything. “This town is unbelievable,” Ms. Ronan said. “Whenever something happens, someone gets sick, or there’s a death, people take care of each other’s kids. There’s no reluctance to step in — no sense that it’s private and the people wouldn’t want us to step in.” Through friends, the Bradys begged off an interview, saying they wanted to keep their lives private. But they wrote a letter of gratitude to The Pelham Weekly. “Everybody should be as fortunate as us to be able to experience such a true outpouring of love and support at some point in their lifetime,” it said. Seems that the suburbs are not as fragmented and cold as the stereotypers would have it.
|
Suburbs;Westchester County (NY);Revolutionary Road (Movie);Fires and Firefighters
|
ny0053200
|
[
"us"
] |
2014/07/11
|
Seven Die, Including 3 Children, in Massachusetts Fire
|
BOSTON — Officials in Lowell, Mass., said Thursday that seven people — three of whom were children — died in an early morning fire that sent nine others to hospitals and left dozens homeless. The city’s fire chief, Edward J. Pitta, said the fire was reported shortly before 4 a.m. in a building that housed a liquor store and a number of apartments. The victims, officials said, were found in two different apartments on the third floor. They said they had received reports of people jumping from the building to escape the fire. At news conference in Lowell, a city of about 108,500 that is about 40 minutes northwest of Boston, Stephen D. Coan, the state fire marshal, said: “I cannot recall, in recent times, responding to a fire with this many fatalities. This was a very fast-moving fire that overtook that building.” Mr. Pitta said that a police officer who reported the fire had heard cries for help. He said firefighters had “quite a volume of fire when they first arrived.” “The building is somewhat chopped up,” he said, “so access to certain areas was somewhat difficult. And I do know there were localized areas of collapse, some ceilings and floors.” The Middlesex County district attorney, Marian T. Ryan, said it would be some time before the victims could be positively identified. Officials were opening an investigation into the building, which is on Branch Street. “We are beginning today what I expect will be a long and thorough review of this building,” Ms. Ryan said. Mr. Coan said that the building, which, according to city records, was built in 1890, did not have a sprinkler system and that investigators would determine whether its alarm system was working. Mr. Pitta said the building had about 50 occupants, but he did not know how many were there are the time of the fire. Video taken during the fire, posted on the website of WCVB, showed the upper part of the building engulfed in flames.
|
Fires;Fatalities,casualties;Lowell
|
ny0047707
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2014/11/19
|
For One Staten Island Campaign, a Special Prosecutor Instead of an Auditor
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Washed ashore in the afternoon tide of prisoners in the Staten Island criminal court were two men standing before a judge, hands clasped behind their backs, looking a bit dazed. The men, David Jones, 71, and David Thomas, 57, faced a rack of felonies including grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and conspiracy. “He’s never been in a jail cell before,” Sam Gregory, the lawyer for Mr. Thomas, told the judge. No one else has been, either, for the crimes Mr. Thomas and Mr. Jones are accused of: “stealing” funds from New York City’s Campaign Finance Board in 2009 by asking for money they were not entitled to under the rules. More than 40,000 similar claims made last year were denied by the board, and no one got arrested. They just were told, “No.” What distinguishes Mr. Thomas and Mr. Jones from all the others is that a special prosecutor was appointed in 2012 to investigate the money in a single City Council campaign on Staten Island that had taken place three years earlier. The candidate, Deborah Rose, won with support from the Working Families Party, which gets much of its muscle from labor unions. She has said that she is the first African-American elected official from Staten Island. So, it is now five years since the election, and criminal charges are being brought over expenditures and filings that are routinely corrected or penalized through audits by the Campaign Finance Board. The case would be sublimely weird even without the participation of the special prosecutor, Roger Bennet Adler, a past president of the Brooklyn Bar Association. A judge found that in an earlier stint as a special prosecutor, in a different election law case, Mr. Adler had brought in slanted witnesses and permitted hearsay only when it hurt the defendant. He also, the judge ruled, tried to use a witness’s silence against him. “The cumulative weight of the errors and improprieties cannot be ignored,” the judge, Gloria Goldstein, wrote in dismissing the charges against Porfirio Placencia, who had been accused of filing a false instrument. With that case more than two decades old, Mr. Adler said on Tuesday, he was no longer conversant in all its details, but recalled it as an offshoot of an investigation he was assigned to do of a Brooklyn school board. “I thought the judge was wrong,” Mr. Adler said, “but the question I faced was, would it be a wise exercise of prosecutorial discretion to appeal? I made the decision that an appeal under the circumstances would not be a good use of resources.” Now a grand jury on Staten Island has been hearing evidence on the 2009 campaign for months. One person subpoenaed to testify was Karen Scharff, the executive director of Citizens Action, an organization that advocates on education, justice and health issues. Ms. Scharff said she tried to explain to Mr. Adler that her group had nothing to do with the campaign of Ms. Rose, and after being unsuccessful, drove from Albany with a lawyer to meet the special prosecutor in Brooklyn. “He started asking me about the work of Citizen Services, and I told him, ‘I’m not familiar with that group; we have no relationship,’ ” Ms. Scharff said. It seemed that Mr. Adler had confused Citizens Action with a group called Citizen Services, which had been involved in the Rose campaign. “It was clear that it was a case of mistaken identity,” she said. The charges against Mr. Jones and Mr. Thomas were not brought by a grand jury, which is typically the way such accusations would be made. In fact, the two men had both volunteered to testify before the grand jury, but Mr. Adler maintained that the statute of limitations was running out. Their lawyers offered to waive any time limits, to give the men time to tell their stories, but Mr. Adler swore out complaints. Why turn ordinary campaign finance matters into a criminal case? “That’s a fair point,” Mr. Adler said. “Are there certain garden-variety issues that come up all the time?” The problem, he said, is that the Campaign Finance Board had suspended its audit of the 2009 campaign of Ms. Rose. “If the board completed the audit, I think we would be in a better place,” Mr. Adler said. “They have enabled a bad situation to fester.” The board freezes its audits when a criminal investigation is underway, said Eric Friedman, a spokesman, who added, “Issues like these are routinely addressed through the conduct of our regular postelection audits.” “Is this a prosecutor trying to stick a square peg in a round hole?” Mr. Adler mused, then answered his own question. “It was a prosecutor trying to shine daylight wherever he could.”
|
Campaign finance;Roger B Adler;Deborah Rose;Staten Island;Special prosecutor;David Jones;David Thomas
|
ny0185959
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2009/03/06
|
Consumer Watchdogs Warn That a Bad Economy Encourages the Bad Guys
|
In this Age of Madoff, the bar for ne’er-do-wells has been set exceedingly high. But we are a nation of strivers here in the land of E pluribus unum, to borrow from that world-class flimflammer, the Wizard of Oz. Few are likely to soar to the heights of deception that Bernard L. Madoff is accused of having reached. All the same, so many blackguards, lowlifes, scalawags, scoundrels, miscreants and other masters of skulduggery are ever about that we would all be wise to keep hands placed firmly on wallets. That, more or less, was the warning on Thursday from an array of government and nonprofit agencies at the United States Customs House on Bowling Green. In case you missed it, this is National Consumer Protection Week. If ever the consumer needed protecting, it is now. Hard times, Leonard L. Gordon said, have created “a target-rich environment for scammers” who are all too eager to pick your pocket and even steal your identity. Mr. Gordon is the northeast regional director of the Federal Trade Commission. On Thursday, he was in effect the M.C. at a news conference on consumer fraud that was held by agencies sometimes better known by their initials — employing enough of the alphabet for the people at Campbell’s to create a new line of soup. The Customs House was an appropriate setting. It is where federal bankruptcy judges sit. The Better Business Bureau was present. So were representatives of the state’s attorney general, the state’s Consumer Protection Board, the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs and AARP — the last, perhaps, because those of us who entered the world a few letters before Generation X are more vulnerable to fraud than some others. The message from them all was rather grim: fraud is on the march, whether carried out by store owners or online hucksters. Each agency had its own take, though. The “most troubling sign” for Marla Tepper, general counsel of the Consumer Affairs Department, was the sharp rise in complaints about underhanded and aggressive debt-collection agencies. They replaced home-improvement contractors as her department’s No. 1 source of grievances. Many of them, way too many, she said, harass people mercilessly, phone at all hours, use abusive language and go so far as to threaten recent immigrants with deportation. “Consumers have rights even when they owe debts,” Ms. Tepper said. Judging from complaints registered with the Better Business Bureau, companies selling consumer electronics are the top offender in the city. But Claire Rosenzweig, the bureau’s president for the New York region, said that unsavory practices by telecommunications companies became a significant and growing problem in 2008. AT the Federal Trade Commission, identity thieves are archvillains, but Mr. Gordon cited unscrupulous collection agencies as being of particular concern. “As the economy gets tighter and tighter,” he said, “debt collectors may be getting more desperate.” Not nearly as desperate, though, as victims of phishing. This is a form of online fraud that uses devious e-mail messages to gull the unsuspecting out of account passwords and other vital information. Phishers are phlourishing, said Mindy A. Bockstein, chairwoman of the Consumer Protection Board. And the federal economic stimulus program, she said, has already created new opportunities for criminals. They phone people and tell them they are entitled to stimulus money. But first the callers demand banking information and the like, cautioning their marks that they must act fast. “Given the state of the economy, people are more anxious and more desperate,” Ms. Bockstein said. Some will believe anything. To add a personal touch, the agencies brought along a few victims to tell their stories. One was Mikel Rouse, a composer and director of operas, who recounted how he had been hounded ruthlessly by collection agencies for a $20,000 debt that he had cleared up several years earlier. “It’s just a shell game,” said Mr. Rouse, who turned to Consumer Affairs for help. It’s enough to make one pine for the three-card monte players of the old days. They at least had some style. Actually, Mr. Rouse said, he fell for a three-card monte scheme soon after moving to New York from Missouri in 1978. He lost $5. Back then, that was real money for him. “But I only had to fall for it once,” he said, and then nevermore.
|
Recession and Depression;Frauds and Swindling;Identity Fraud;Consumer Protection
|
ny0204617
|
[
"sports",
"hockey"
] |
2009/01/18
|
Columbus Blue Jackets in the Hunt for Their First Playoff Berth
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The Columbus Blue Jackets have been in existence for eight seasons, and they have never made the playoffs. Only the Washington Capitals , who made their maiden playoff trip in their ninth season, had to wait longer for a spring awakening. But now the Blue Jackets’ fortunes could be changing. And if they do, much of the credit must go to Steve Mason, a young goaltender who is having a phenomenal rookie campaign. Mason, a rangy, butterfly-style goalie chosen by Columbus in the third round of the 2006 draft, had a terrific .936 save percentage, second only to Boston’s Tim Thomas, through Friday’s games. He was named the N.H.L.’s rookie of the month for both November and December, and he ended 2008 with three straight shutouts, something no first-year goalie had done since Glenn Hall in 1955. And most important, Mason, 20, has backstopped the Columbus into postseason contention. Going into Saturday’s games, the Blue Jackets were a point out of the eighth and final playoff spot. Does Mason ever take a moment to catch his breath in amazement at how well it has all gone so far? “I haven’t really had time to sit back and think about it,” he said in an e-mail message from Columbus, Ohio. “That’s what the summer is for.” Mason grew up in Oakville, Ontario, between Hamilton and Toronto, but the player he most admired was the Devils’ Martin Brodeur. “I never really paid attention to any other goalie other than him,” Mason said. “He’s my favorite goalie from right when I started playing, and he still is. He’s had a heck of a career, and if I could even have half of that, I’d be pretty happy. “Growing up, my favorite team was the Devils just because of him. I had a Brodeur jersey and everything.” Mason was chosen to play for Canada at last year’s world junior championship in the Czech Republic. He was brilliant, stopping 95 percent of the shots he faced as the Canadians won the gold medal. As if playing for his country were not pressure enough, Mason learned at the tournament that his longtime junior team, the London Knights, had traded him to the Kitchener Rangers. “Obviously, it’s a good stage for any player to be playing in juniors, and to get traded is a good experience,” he said. “It prepares you for down the road, possibly. Since then, there has been no real pressure. Nobody has put anything extra on me.” Maybe Mason’s blitheness stems from his easy recovery from knee operations in April and in September. In any case, he arrived in Columbus in November and took over for the injured No. 1 goalie, Pascal Leclaire. Mason, who led the N.H.L. with six shutouts, has a shot at becoming the third rookie in league history to finish first in save percentage (after Ed Belfour in 1991 and Ron Hextall in 1987). And he can help the Blue Jackets reach those elusive playoffs. The key to that, he said, is “putting together a long winning streak, with good consecutive efforts all around.” It also helps if your rookie goalie stops just about everything he faces. Keeps Hats On Last week, the Ontario Hockey League, one of Canada’s three top major junior leagues and a key incubator for N.H.L. talent, announced that it would suspend players who removed their helmets during fights. The new rule came in response to the Jan. 2 death of Don Sanderson, a 21-year-old defenseman with a high-level Ontario senior amateur team who died of injuries sustained when he fell and struck his bare head against the ice during a fight. Sanderson’s helmet came off accidentally during the fight, which took place during a game Dec. 12. But it has been considered proper etiquette for junior players to shed their headgear before a fight so they would not damage their hands on the helmets, visors or facial cages. It was also a crowd-pleasing move. Previously, the O.H.L. did not have a rule against removing helmets to fight, although it did impose $100 fines against teams for the infraction. But Sanderson’s death changed the thinking in the O.H.L., and Commissioner David Branch said the fine was not enough of a deterrent. The O.H.L. will now impose a game misconduct and a minimum one-game suspension for the act. Under the new rules, if a player removes his helmet to fight and the opposing player does not, the first player will receive an additional two-minute penalty with the game misconduct and the suspension. Also, a player who removes his opponent’s helmet before or during a fight will receive a game misconduct and a one-game suspension. The O.H.L.’s linesmen have been ordered to intervene immediately should helmets become dislodged during a fight. The two other Canadian major junior leagues have not revised their rules. In the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the penalty for removing helmets to fight remains a 10-minute misconduct. The Western Hockey League does not penalize players for taking off their helmets before fighting, but a league spokesman told The Canadian Press last week that league officials were reviewing that policy. Outdoor Frenzy The success of the New Year’s Day outdoor game at Wrigley Field in Chicago, as well as last year’s at snowy Ralph Wilson Stadium near Buffalo, has led to rampant speculation about where the 2010 Winter Classic will be staged. The league is reported to have received offers from the new Yankee Stadium, Washington, Detroit, Philadelphia and Minneapolis. Gov. Ed G. Rendell of Pennsylvania is pushing for a Penguins-Flyers game at Penn State’s Beaver Stadium. They “might even be able to have a night game out at the Rose Bowl,” John Collins, the N.H.L.’s chief operating officer, told Bloomberg News, perhaps forgetting that the stadium is otherwise engaged Jan. 1. There were reports that league officials were considering Las Vegas, but the N.H.L. spokeswoman Bernadette Mansur later said they were mistaken. The officials were visiting to see about staging the postseason awards show there, not a game in the desert.
|
Columbus Blue Jackets;Hockey Ice;Mason Steve;Washington Capitals
|
ny0226375
|
[
"us"
] |
2010/10/31
|
Double-Dipping (and Doing Well) in a Tough Economy, With Perhaps a Pang of Guilt
|
From his tidy office tucked behind an elementary school in the quiet town of Tiburon, Police Chief Michael Cronin warily greeted a visitor. “Who told you about me?” he said. He later admitted that his exposure was “inevitable.” Mr. Cronin’s sheepishness is not a result of committing a crime, but because he is a practitioner of what is informally known as doubling-dipping — when a government employee retires at a relatively young age with one pension, then gets a new job with a different government entity and begins accumulating a second income stream. As public-employee pensions and benefits weigh more heavily on stressed government budgets, a public employee like Chief Cronin — who earns $330,000 a year, not including health benefits, combining a Marin County pension and his Tiburon salary — can be expected to draw notice. Recent studies by Northwestern University found that local governments face $574 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, while state governments face a $3 trillion shortfall. The heightened scrutiny has left some public employees feeling like public enemies. But Chief Cronin quickly overcame his initial apprehension at talking about his situation. A Vietnam veteran who grew up in the Bay Area and never completed college, Chief Cronin retired as police chief in nearby San Rafael in 2004, when he was 56. He draws a $184,000 annual pension from Marin County. He dabbled in real estate, then drove cross-country. But by 2007, Mr. Cronin said, he was “a little bored” and ready to start working again. Tiburon, with a population of about 9,000 and only four murders over the past 40 years, needed a new police chief. Mr. Cronin got the job — at $146,000 a year. He will qualify for a second pension through CalPERs by 2012. “Fair or unfair is not really the point,” Mr. Cronin said, when asked about his compensation at a time when many local governments are facing large deficits. “A great number of people in this economy are feeling pain,” he said, adding that there is a perception that “public employees are somewhat insulated from that.” He contributed to the pension fund for most of his years as a public employee. Marin has cut 180 jobs from its payroll over the past three years, said Dan Eilerman, the county budget manager. Chief Cronin draws the county retirement fund’s second-largest payout. Mark Riesenfeld, a former Marin County administrator, is currently the top beneficiary at $232,000 a year. Chief Cronin said he understood the many forces at play. Budget pressure meant he did not fill two vacancies on his force, which now has 13 officers. But on a personal level, he said, “I am an obvious beneficiary of the system.”
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Pensions and Retirement Plans;Government Employees;Wages and Salaries;Retirement;San Francisco (Calif)
|
ny0183386
|
[
"us"
] |
2007/12/08
|
NASA Delays Shuttle Launching Again
|
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Dec. 7 — NASA officials on Friday again postponed the launching of the space shuttle Atlantis as they continued to discuss how to deal with a fuel sensor problem. The flight, scheduled for Thursday and later pushed to Saturday, is now set for a Sunday liftoff at 3:21 p.m., officials said. But a Sunday launching is not guaranteed, as mission officials plan to meet again Saturday to discuss options that may mean further delays, N. Wayne Hale, the shuttle program director, said Friday night. Mr. Hale called the fuel sensor system “suspect” and said thinking is still “evolving.” “No one has come forward with a good plan to improve our situation,” he said. Before Atlantis can launch, he said after six hours of discussions by engineers and technicians, NASA must be convinced that it can work around the fuel gauge problem during the shuttle’s 8.5-minute climb into orbit. Atlantis’s mission is to carry a European science laboratory called Columbus to the International Space Station. NASA has until Dec. 16 to get the shuttle off before this launching window closes. The next opportunity is in January. Michael Leinbach, launch director at the Kennedy Space Center here, said Atlantis has until Monday to launch before standing down for three days to replenish fuel. After that, the next chance for flight would be Dec. 14. Technicians were loading propellants into the shuttle’s external fuel tank on Thursday when tests showed problems with two of four sensors at the base of the liquid hydrogen section of the tank. Flight rules require that at least three of the four sensors are working. NASA engineers said analysis indicates the problem does not involve the sensors themselves, and may be caused by an open electrical circuit or another fault in wiring. The fuel system sensors assure that the shuttle’s three main engines do not cut off too soon or burn too long during launching. Premature cutoff could cause the shuttle to fail to reach orbit and having the engines keep running if fuel is exhausted could result in an explosion, experts said.
|
Space Shuttle;National Aeronautics and Space Administration;Space
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ny0015764
|
[
"us"
] |
2013/10/17
|
Massachusetts Schools Dial Back on Obesity Reports
|
The state Public Health Council voted Wednesday to stop automatically sending letters home with public school students about their weight. The state is one of 21 that collect data about students’ body mass index, but some parents say the letters with their children’s results can cause self-esteem problems and the risk of bullying. The testing will continue in Grades 1, 4, 7 and 10 with increased confidentiality protections; parents will receive results only if they ask for them.
|
Massachusetts;Obesity;K-12 Education
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ny0188435
|
[
"business"
] |
2009/04/23
|
Benjamin Edwards, 77, Dies; Headed Brokerage Firm
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Benjamin F. Edwards III, who transformed A. G. Edwards, the St. Louis brokerage house founded by his great-grandfather, into the largest United States brokerage company based outside New York, died Monday in Naples, Fla. He was 77 and lived primarily in St. Louis, with a second home in Naples. The cause was prostate cancer, said his son Benjamin F. Edwards IV, who is known as Tad. Under Mr. Edwards, who was president of A. G. Edwards from 1967 to 2001, the company grew from a regional retail stock brokerage firm with $3.5 million in equity capital to a national powerhouse with $1.6 billion. In the same period, the company expanded from 44 offices and 300 financial consultants in a few states to almost 700 offices with about 7,000 consultants in 49 states. Though Mr. Edwards espoused a company philosophy of putting clients first, employees second and shareholders third, shareholders did not complain because they received a healthy average return of 15 percent annually, Tad Edwards said. Mr. Edwards was also one of the country’s largest collectors of hand-painted Chinese export porcelain, known as Imari porcelain. The 15th floor of the company’s headquarters was once devoted to displaying the 3,000-piece collection of bowls, teapots and vases. If a visitor were to shatter a $2,000 or $25,000 plate, Mr. Edwards was wont to say that he had broken pieces himself, the younger Mr. Edwards said. After Mr. Edwards retired from the company, he sold the collection for about $6 million through auctions at Christie’s in New York. Benjamin Franklin Edwards III was born in St. Louis on Oct. 26, 1931, the only son of Presley W. Edwards, then managing partner of A. G. Edwards, and Virginia Barker Edwards. Except for four years at Princeton, from which he graduated in 1953, and two years in the Navy, Mr. Edwards lived in St. Louis. In 1956, Mr. Edwards joined the firm that his great-grandfather, Albert Gallatin Edwards, founded in 1887. He started in the syndicate department, working his way up until he became president in 1967 on his father’s retirement. Longtime employees said that Mr. Edwards’s goal was to operate the business according to the do-unto-others principle of the Golden Rule — and still turn a profit. Mr. Edwards answered his own phone, personally greeted all new employees on their first day and never laid anyone off, they said. When bigger brokerage houses began expanding into financial products like real estate or insurance, Mr. Edwards decided that A. G. Edwards would not sell proprietary products. He wanted brokers to choose the best outside mutual funds or annuities for clients while being free from pressure or incentives to steer clients’ money back to their own company. When other brokerage houses borrowed large sums to try to increase returns on equity, Mr. Edwards decided that A. G. Edwards would shun risky debt. Mr. Edwards is survived by his wife of 55 years, Joan Moberly Edwards; two sons, Scott and Tad, both of St. Louis; two daughters, Pamela Bunn of Raleigh, N.C., and Susan Medart of St. Louis; 11 grandchildren; and two sisters, Elizabeth Collins and Judy Bayer. Mr. Edwards, who retired in 2001, had always joked to clients that in the event of a hostile takeover of A. G. Edwards or an unwelcome sale of the company, he would open his own new company across the street. In 2007, the Wachovia Corporation, now a division of Wells Fargo, acquired A.G. Edwards for $6.8 billion. Mr. Edwards opposed the sale, believing that a big bank would dilute the company’s core values. In 2008, Tad Edwards, a 30-year employee of A. G. Edwards, founded a new brokerage company — not across the street, but eight miles away in a suburb of St. Louis. His father had an office and sat on the board of the new company, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company . “We had a 120-year history of the firm with really one purpose and six generations,” Tad Edwards, who is chief executive of the new brokerage company, said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “There are just a lot of people who wanted to see that continue. The only person more excited than me was my dad.”
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A. G. Edwards Inc;Edwards Benjamin;Financial Brokers;Deaths (Obituaries)
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ny0099561
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[
"sports",
"tennis"
] |
2015/06/13
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Rafael Nadal Advances in Germany
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Top-seeded Rafael Nadal overcame stiff resistance from Bernard Tomic to reach the semifinals of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany, with a 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 victory. Nadal will next play the fourth-seeded Gaël Monfils, who beat Philipp Kohlschreiber, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Also, second-seeded Marin Cilic served 19 aces to rally past the qualifier Mischa Zverev, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), to set up a semifinal against eighth-seeded Viktor Troicki, who beat Sam Groth, 7-6 (3), 6-1.
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Tennis;Rafael Nadal;Bernard Tomic;Stuttgart
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ny0041102
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2014/04/25
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NYU Langone Reopens Emergency Room That Was Closed by Hurricane Sandy
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A striking sight appeared earlier this week outside the emergency room of NYU Langone Medical Center: an ambulance. Then another. And then many more. The emergency chairman, Dr. Lewis Goldfrank, watched a procession of stretchers throughout the day as if he was welcoming long-lost friends. Other doctors came around so they could witness it for themselves. The occasion was so moving that Dr. Steven Hofstetter, a surgeon, felt that one Yiddish expression for feeling pride was not enough. So he used two. “We just came down to, as they say, kvell nachus,” he said. Eighteen months after Hurricane Sandy sent the waters of the East River sluicing through its corridors, the NYU Langone emergency room, cleaned up, decked out and now triple its former size, was again open for business. Marveling at the space on Thursday, during the ceremonial reopening, Representative Carolyn B. Maloney said, “It almost makes you feel you want to have an emergency.” The emergency room on 33rd Street and First Avenue had been closed since the hurricane dealt a devastating blow to the Manhattan hospital, knocking out power, forcing patients to evacuate down darkened stairwells in the middle of the night, drowning lab rodents and threatening years of research. Other parts of the hospital reopened months ago. Instead of an emergency room, the medical center had been running an urgent care center a block away, receiving people who came by taxi, on foot or by private ambulance. City ambulances, however, were forbidden to take patients to the urgent care center, Dr. Goldfrank said, because it did not meet the technical requirements for an emergency room. But in practice, he said, his team could treat even the most serious cases because it was still backed up by a hospital. “If you can do operations in a Quonset hut in Korea or Vietnam, you can do anything if people perform,” Dr. Goldfrank said of their temporary setup, almost fondly. The new emergency room represents a transformation in thinking about the economics of hospital operations. Once loss leaders that served as a magnet for admissions, emergency rooms are now becoming an alternative to hospitalization. “The margins are so thin for hospitals, they can’t afford to admit people,” said Dr. Michael Gerardi, president-elect of the American College of Emergency Physicians. “So that burden falls on us.” For NYU Langone, the expanded emergency room, now 22,000 square feet, also has social implications. Patient advocates had long accused the hospital of trying to keep away poor patients and sending them to Bellevue, its affiliated public hospital nearby. Image Doctors and nurses began work this week at the renovated and expanded emergency room at NYU Langone Medical Center. Credit Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times While emergency rooms are not allowed to turn people away, “you can make it a very hostile environment, and they did,” Judy Wessler, a patient advocate, said this week. In the 1980s, Ms. Wessler and others formally challenged a plan to expand NYU Langone’s emergency room on the basis that it was not providing enough access to uninsured and Medicaid patients. After negotiations the hospital agreed to take more poor patients, but she said she was concerned the new emergency room might still cater to more affluent patients. The percentage of NYU Langone outpatient visits, including to the emergency room, that are covered by Medicaid or not insured is now at 22 percent, according to the State Health Department, still by far the lowest of any full-service hospital in the city. At Bellevue, the proportion is 83 percent. Lisa Greiner, a spokeswoman for NYU Langone, said the comparison was “apples and oranges” and unfair because Bellevue is a level-one trauma center, providing the highest level of care, while NYU is not. The ceremony on Thursday was a triumphant return for the emergency room, and also a display of the hospital’s position in the city’s political and philanthropic constellations. Among those attending, besides Representative Maloney, were Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio. Also present were Kenneth G. Langone, the Home Depot co-founder who is the hospital’s major benefactor (and helping raise money for Mr. Cuomo’s re-election campaign), and Ronald O. Perelman, the financier and chairman of Revlon, who donated $50 million of the $81 million needed to restore and expand the emergency department, which now has his name on it. Like the emergency departments at some of its competitors, NYU Langone’s now has a separate children’s wing. Its carts have needles and bandages in bottom drawers, toys and books in top ones. The bigger space also has isolation rooms to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Among the other new features, there are GPS devices embedded in the ceiling to both track equipment and prevent theft. It was not clear on Thursday whether any federal or state hurricane recovery money had been used in the expansion. When asked about this, NYU Langone officials did not provide an accounting, but the entire medical center, which sustained significant damage, has received about $180 million in recovery aid. Several months ago, Mr. Langone sent letters to the medical center faculty soliciting donations for politicians who helped them win recovery money. While the letters appeared to stay within legal boundaries, they angered some faculty members who said they felt pressured to donate by Mr. Langone and by Robert Grossman, the hospital’s chief executive. Mr. Perelman said he had supported the emergency room at Mr. Langone’s request, and because he was concerned that with the closing of St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village, there was not enough emergency service for Lower Manhattan. He said he had long been committed to health philanthropy because his first two children died of medical disorders. The first was born with physical and mental disabilities and died at 13; the second “passed away in my arms as I was taking him to the hospital,” of a rare inherited metabolic disorder called maple syrup urine. He has eight surviving children. “I didn’t commit my gift till it was almost completed, so it was a project that clearly nobody else wanted to give to, which is sort of my sweet spot,” Mr. Perelman said. “I think one of the reasons is, it’s not a sexy place. When you’re taken to the emergency room, you’re sick, you’re desperate, you’re aggravated, historically you haven’t gotten the best care or service. “Whoever’s name is on that particular facility is not loved like a pediatric care facility or a birthing facility.”
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New York University Langone Medical Center;Hurricane Sandy;Kenneth G Langone;Ronald Perelman;Manhattan;Medicaid;Lewis Goldfrank
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ny0039907
|
[
"business",
"media"
] |
2014/04/09
|
Imax Selling 20 Percent of Its China Business
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LOS ANGELES — China Media Capital, a state-run entertainment investment fund that has already done business with Time Warner, DreamWorks Animation and 21st Century Fox, added Imax to its deal portfolio on Tuesday. Imax, the Canadian large-screen movie company, said it would sell a fifth of its Chinese subsidiary to China Media Capital and the private equity firm FountainVest Partners for $80 million. The Chinese investors in turn plan to help Imax China complete a public offering of shares to finance expansion. The investors will pay in two equal installments, with the first expected to close on Tuesday and the second coming in 2015, Imax said. Nasdaq-listed Imax shares fell slightly in Tuesday trading. “At this juncture, it makes sense to bring in Chinese investors to help us better address local market dynamics and further optimize our business in China,” Richard Gelfond, Imax’s chief executive, said in a statement. Imax China operates about 150 theaters and is trying to build a home theater business. The deal offers another lift for Li Ruigang , the chairman of China Media Capital and former head of the Shanghai Media Group. Mr. Li, who founded his current company in 2009 with backing from China Development Bank and a fund of about $800 million, is already an investor in Oriental DreamWorks , an animation studio and participant in a coming Shanghai entertainment district. In January, he bought Fox’s portion of the Star China television service. In June, Mr. Li announced an investment partnership with Time Warner. Imax has been one of the most aggressive Western entertainment companies in China, where it has a solid foothold. But it has lately encountered some turbulence, sparring over a competing large-screen system that, Imax has charged in several courts, relies on technology stolen from its Canadian offices.
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IMAX;Mergers and Acquisitions;China Media Capital
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ny0199599
|
[
"world",
"asia"
] |
2009/07/15
|
A Feng Shui Master and a $4 Billion Estate
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HONG KONG — It began with a head rub for $6,500, and ballooned into enormous “feng shui holes” burrowed around the city, buried gems and truckloads of cash worth millions of dollars. So went the apparent love affair between the eccentric billionaire and her feng shui master — two characters who have made headlines here. Since May, there has been a public courtroom fight over the will of Nina Wang, who was once Asia’s richest woman thanks to a fortune amassed in real estate mostly by her late husband. Mrs. Wang died in 2007 at 69 and had no children, so the battle pits the Wang family, including her siblings, against a feng shui master named Tony Chan, who claims to have been her longtime lover. Public fascination has come from the enormous sum at stake — estimated to be at least $3.9 billion — and from the quirky, though disputed, details about Mrs. Wang’s relationship with a married man 23 years her junior and their superstitious rituals. Asia has had its share of flamboyant tycoons, but never one quite like Mrs. Wang. A petite woman with a dimpled smile, she went by the nickname “Little Sweetie” and wore pigtails and miniskirts well into middle age. But her innocent image was shadowed by decades of intrigue. Speculation over the Wang fortune started in 1983, when Teddy Wang, Nina’s husband, was chained to a bed by kidnappers until his wife paid the ransom, according to news reports at the time. He was rekidnapped in 1990, and never seen again. After the courts declared him dead in 1999, Mrs. Wang became the self-titled “chairlady” of the Chinachem Group , which has built hundreds of Hong Kong high-rises. Wrangling over versions of Mr. Wang’s will lasted for years, pitting his elderly father against Mrs. Wang. She was charged with forgery, but the charges were dropped and she won in the end. Now her own fortune is no less contentious. At the crux of the fight are two wills: A 2002 Chinese-language one gives the assets to the Chinachem Charitable Foundation, which is linked to the family’s privately held company; and a 2006 English version, which Mrs. Wang drafted while she was suffering from cancer, gives it to Mr. Chan. The proceedings have had a circus atmosphere. Photographers have mobbed the court’s entrance, and the curious have lined up for ringside seats inside. The sensational nature of the case sometimes feels out of place in a court where, as a throwback to Hong Kong’s British heritage, the judge and barristers wear powdered horsehair wigs and long black silk gowns. Justice Johnson Lam has had his hands full reining in the endless delays, insults, name-calling and bickering. Mr. Chan’s case rests largely on his relationship with Mrs. Wang. “For a long period of time — 15 years — from 1992 until Mrs. Wang’s death, Mr. Chan was her close friend, confidant and lover,” said Jonathan Midgley, one of Mr. Chan’s lawyers. Many details come from Mr. Chan himself, though he has long been married and has three children (one of whom is named “Wealthee Chan”). Mr. Chan earned headlines when he testified that he and Mrs. Wang “enthusiastically” engaged in “the events in paragraph 32,” referring to part of his witness statement that described intimate physical activities. He also related Mrs. Wang’s pet names for him which, when translated from Cantonese, included “Hubby,” “Hubbykins” and the rather unfortunate sounding “Hubby-pig.” According to Mr. Chan’s testimony, sparks began flying in 1992, when he gave his feng shui client a head rub for $6,500. Treatments turned into full-body massages, then an affair and growing amounts of cash, which was reportedly used to help pay for Mr. Chan’s wedding banquet at the luxury Grand Hyatt Hong Kong Hotel. Mr. Chan detailed “married couple” activities that drew him and Mrs. Wang together, like cooking, traveling, building model helicopters and digging “feng shui holes,” into which they would throw jade, coins and other objects for good luck. According to testimony by hired workers, the couple had as many as 80 such holes dug around Hong Kong, some measuring 30 feet deep. On the other side is the Chinachem Charitable Foundation, which is largely controlled by Mrs. Wang’s siblings, though company representatives did not respond to requests for comment about what charity function the foundation performed. Chinachem and the Wang family have painted Mr. Chan as a con man who preyed on Mrs. Wang by promising her eternal life as she became older and sicker. In separate appearances, two of Mrs. Wang’s sisters compared Mr. Chan to a eunuch serving an empress dowager, while their lawyer called him a “toy boy.” Some of Mrs. Wang’s relatives, friends and longtime employees testified that they had not even heard of a Tony Chan, or of any romantic relationship with him. The Chinachem team also claims that the 2006 will was a “feng shui will” for ceremonial purposes. This would not be out of keeping with local practices, in which fake money, miniature homes and cars are burned in ceremonies for the dead. The Chinachem legal team has tried to prove that Mrs. Wang was mentally unstable and incapable of making important decisions at the end of her life; the 2006 will was written less than six months before she died. Medical experts described the tycoon as being weak, pale and incapable of keeping food down or walking unaided. But other testimony showed that she was making financial deals, even on her deathbed. A Goldman Sachs executive, who worked with Mrs. Wang for years, claimed in court that she had ordered him to help her buy $48.5 million worth of shares in RCG Holdings, a company that news reports described as partly held by Mr. Chan. On April 2, Mrs. Wang confirmed the transaction, the executive said. The next day, she died. By his own admission, Mr. Chan has already enjoyed a lot of Mrs. Wang’s fortune. Her payments to him totaled an estimated $258 million over the years, he said, though the figure could not be independently confirmed. Mr. Chan’s two brothers testified that they helped him bundle away more than $1.5 million from the Chinachem offices, in cash-stuffed bags and carried out in several trips. News reports of the court proceedings also said that Mrs. Wang had arranged trucks to make late-night deliveries of three cash payments worth $89 million each to Mr. Chan. Before meeting Mrs. Wang in the early 1990s, Mr. Chan was sporadically employed and living with his girlfriend and her extended family in a public housing project. Whatever the outcome of the case, his life was drastically changed by what he calls Mrs. Wang’s “gifts of love.”
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Wang Nina;Hong Kong;High Net Worth Individuals;Feng Shui;Chan Tony
|
ny0268457
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2016/04/05
|
Colombian Who Helped Terror Group in Building Bomb Is Sentenced
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A Colombian man who had a role in what prosecutors said were efforts to transport drugs and help a terror group obtain weapons to build a dirty bomb to attack Americans was sentenced on Monday to 13 years in prison. The man, Jhon Jairo Cruz Trejos, was sentenced in federal court in Manhattan by Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald, who said he deserved more than the mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison because the allegations were more serious than a typical international drug deal. An assistant United States attorney, Emil J. Bove III, said Mr. Cruz Trejos, 44, was ready to assist in “attacks of the greatest order.” In court papers, prosecutors described him as a freelance weapons trafficker, saying he sought in 2010 and 2011 to obtain enriched uranium so a terrorism group based in South America could build a dirty bomb. The government said the group wanted to attack United States military personnel or the United States Embassy in Colombia. Mr. Cruz Trejos said that he was not anti-American and that talk of weaponry was bluster. “I would like to express to you how deeply sorry I am for having agreed to participate,” he said. “Your Honor, my conduct was wrong.” He said he was trying to arrange a drug deal to raise financing for a municipal business he was starting.
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Jhon Jairo Cruz Trejos;Dirty Bomb;Colombia;Drug Abuse;Terrorism
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ny0149886
|
[
"us"
] |
2008/09/24
|
McCain and Social Security
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This 30-second advertisement for Senator Barack Obama , titled “Promise,” began running last week in battleground states across the country. PRODUCER Obama media team. THE SCRIPT Mr. Obama says, “I’m Barack Obama, and I approve this message.” Over the sound of morose piano chords, a female narrator begins: “A broken economy. Failing banks. Unstable markets. Families struggling. To protect us in retirement, Social Security has never been more important. But John McCain has voted three times in favor of privatizing Social Security. McCain says, ‘I campaigned in support of President Bush’s proposal.’ Cutting benefits in half. Risking Social Security on the stock market. The Bush-McCain privatization plan. Can you really afford more of the same?” THE SCREEN The spot opens with an image of Mr. Obama and his running mate, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., followed by a headline from The Wall Street Journal, “Crisis on Wall Street.” Another headline, this time from The Washington Post, follows, proclaiming that the “Dow Dives 500 Points on Banking Turmoil,” while images of frenzied Wall Street traders are shown in the background. Then the spot shows a video of a gray-haired couple walking together, smiling, with trees in the background, only to cut abruptly to an elderly woman alone, looking somberly into the camera. At the first mention of Mr. McCain’s name, he appears side by side with President Bush. Then the two are seen emerging from the White House and, finally, standing together in the Rose Garden. ACCURACY Since this spot began running, the Obama campaign has been accused of “scare tactics” from the McCain campaign and criticized as falsely stating Mr. McCain’s position on Social Security benefits. The Web site FactCheck.org focused on the advertisement’s claim that a 2005 proposal from Mr. Bush would cut Social Security benefits in half, calling it a “rank misrepresentation.” In fact, Mr. Bush’s proposal did call for cuts to Social Security benefits, but the cuts would be imposed gradually on future retirees, not those currently receiving benefits, and would affect the highest earners the most. According to a report by Jason Furman, who is now an economic adviser to Mr. Obama, the average worker retiring in 2075 would receive benefits 28 percent lower, not half what they would receive under the current plan. SCORECARD The Obama campaign has taken Mr. McCain to task for peddling false information in his advertising, but the fact-checks on this spot have revealed that the Obama campaign is, in this case, guilty of the same offense. Yet this spot is consistent with Mr. Obama’s attempt to link Mr. McCain to Mr. Bush whenever possible, and the tactic could be effective among voters who remain disillusioned with the last seven years. JULIE BOSMAN
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Political Advertising;Presidential Election of 2008;Social Security (US);Obama Barack;McCain John
|
ny0117207
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2012/10/26
|
California: Lawsuit Seeks Names of Political Donors
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The state’s election watchdog filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to force an Arizona-based group that gave $11 million to a California political action committee to reveal its donors. The Arizona group, Americans for Responsible Leadership, gave the money to a political action committee that is opposing Proposition 30, a tax measure to finance schools that is backed by Gov. Jerry Brown, and supporting Proposition 32, which would curb the influence of labor unions. The group has failed to comply with an audit request from the Fair Political Practices Commission, the agency that enforces California election laws, the lawsuit says. Under California law, if donors to Americans for Responsible Leadership were aware of how the money would be used, then the group is required to disclose the donors’ identities.
|
Suits and Litigation;Political Action Committees;California;Arizona;Campaign Finance
|
ny0042064
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2014/05/29
|
The Extremist Organizations ‘on the Front Lines’
|
In outlining his foreign policy priorities at the United States Military Academy on Wednesday, President Obama called on Congress to authorize up to $5 billion to support countries “on the front lines” in the fight against terrorism. That approach is intended to address the decentralization of Islamic extremism over the last decade. The Qaeda organization founded by Osama bin Laden still exists, but it has been supplanted as the world’s foremost jihadist force by a range of new groups across the Middle East and Africa. Some of these groups have ties with Al Qaeda’s central leadership. Most make their own decisions, follow their own leaders, maintain independent sources of funding and focus more on waging local battles than on attacking the West . Here is where some of the most important of these groups operate: AFGHANISTAN and PAKISTAN The remnants of Al Qaeda, led by Ayman al-Zawahri, operate near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Analysts differ on Mr. Zawahri’s influence over the affiliates, and American drone strikes have thinned the Qaeda leadership ranks and limited its ability to organize, move and communicate. Qaeda affiliates in Somalia, Syria, Yemen and North and West Africa are exerting growing influence in their regions, posing new challenges for American counterterrorism efforts. Their networks receive occasional ideological guidance from Mr. Zawahri, but they are increasingly focused on local and regional objectives, financed through activities like kidnapping-for-ransom operations. Some affiliates — particularly Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen — have sought to attack the United States directly. SYRIA The Syrian civil war has turned the country into the world’s largest magnet for international jihadists. Along with many Islamist rebel brigades, the country hosts two main extremist groups. The Nusra Front, a Qaeda affiliate, says its priority is to topple President Bashar al-Assad. It has maintained close ties with other rebel groups, who respect its battlefield prowess. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, is an expanded version of Al Qaeda in Iraq that controls a number of cities in northeastern Syria and western Iraq. Its brutal tactics alienated it from the Syrian rebel movement , as did the fact it has emphasized the establishment of an Islamic state over the fight against Mr. Assad. It was officially disowned by Al Qaeda in February. YEMEN Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is believed to maintain the closest ties with Al Qaeda and has been considered one of its most dangerous affiliates since it sought to attack Western targets and claimed credit for the failed effort on Dec. 25, 2009, to blow up an airliner approaching Detroit. In Yemen, as in Afghanistan and Pakistan, American drone strikes have had a devastating effect on the group’s ability to operate. The American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and other top leaders in the group have been killed. Still, American intelligence and military officials warn of increasing operational ties between the Qaeda franchise in Yemen and the Shabab, a militant group in Africa. NORTH AFRICA A range of extremist groups operate across North Africa. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is known for suicide bombings and kidnappings and for its seizure of towns in Mali before being pushed out by French forces. In Libya, Ansar al-Shariah led the 2012 attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. In Egypt, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis has carried out bombings and drive-by shootings targeting Egyptian security forces. NIGERIA Video In Nigeria, more than 200 schoolgirls have been held captive since last April. Some background information on the Islamist group that has been trying to topple the country’s government for years. Credit Credit Sunday Alamba/Associated Press Boko Haram has waged an insurgency against the state in Nigeria, launching attacks that have killed thousands in recent years. The group recently gained international infamy — and a reprimand from other militant groups — after it kidnapped more than 250 schoolgirls, as discussed in the video. It is a cultlike Islamic extremist group with a reputation for capricious violence against civilians . Founded in 2002, Boko Haram has received help from Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the group’s affiliate in North and West Africa. SOMALIA Until recently, the Shabab controlled significant territory in Somalia, but withdrew from major cities in the face of a military campaign by the African Union, Kenya and others. It has recently launched attacks aimed at punishing other states for their military presence in Somalia. These operations include the attack by Shabab gunmen last year on Westgate mall in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital . Video A day-to-day look at the events that have occurred since Saturday's deadly shooting and hostage situation at an upscale mall in Nairobi, Kenya. Credit Credit Tyler Hicks/The New York Times The group came to prominence as a nationalist movement seeking to combat the United States-backed Ethiopian invasion of Somalia in 2006. American counterterrorism officials have said the organization has collaborated with Boko Haram in Nigeria and Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and North Africa. The United States Special Operations Command unit that has battled militants in Yemen has also carried out lethal drone strikes in Somalia against the Shabab. The Times’s Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt reported in July 2011, that such efforts “represented an intensification of an American military campaign in a mostly lawless region where weak governments have allowed groups with links to Al Qaeda to flourish.”
|
Terrorism;US Foreign Policy;Al Qaeda;Al Shabab;Boko Haram;Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia;Al Nusra Front;Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula;Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb;Ayman Al- Zawahri
|
ny0240543
|
[
"us"
] |
2010/12/24
|
Catholic Church Validates Virgin Mary in Wisconsin
|
CHAMPION, Wis. — In France, the shrine at Lourdes is surrounded by hundreds of hotels and has received as many as 45,000 pilgrims in a single day. Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Mexico, draws millions of fervent worshipers a year. Now, a little chapel among the dairy farms here, called Our Lady of Good Help , has joined that august company in terms of religious status, if not global fame. This month, it became one of only about a dozen sites worldwide, and the first in the United States, where apparitions of the Virgin Mary have been officially validated by the Roman Catholic Church. In 1859, the year after Mary is said to have appeared in Lourdes, a Belgian immigrant here named Adele Brise said she was visited three times by Mary, who hovered between two trees in a bright light, clothed in dazzling white with a yellow sash around her waist and a crown of stars above her flowing blond locks. As instructed, Ms. Brise devoted her life to teaching Catholic beliefs to children. On Dec. 8, after a two-year investigation by theologians who found no evidence of fraud or heresy and a long history of shrine-related conversions, cures and other signs of divine intervention, Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay declared “with moral certainty” that Ms. Brise did indeed have encounters “of a supernatural character” that are “worthy of belief.” Lourdes-like hordes have not yet gathered, but since the weighty decree a growing stream of visitors, some driving several hours, has found its way here to pray and revel in what many say is the palpable presence of Mary. Calls are coming in from as far as New York from church groups that want to visit by the busload, and local church officials are wondering whether they thought too small when they built a new parking lot — planned well before this month — with 75 spaces. Debbie Banda, 46, and her mother, Mary Young, 75, who live nearby, learned of the shrine and the bishop’s decision from the news, and came for the first time on Wednesday. “It’s incredible — she’s here, you just feel it,” Ms. Banda said after praying in the crypt chapel, said to be on the spot of the apparitions. As they passed a statue of Mary in white, just as described by Ms. Brise, Ms. Banda was overcome with emotion, weeping and hugging her mother. The two of them went back to pray some more. “We need the Virgin Mary’s protection, and for her to keep an eye on our soldiers, too,” said Ms. Young, whose sons have served in the Middle East. “We’ll definitely be coming back.” Catholic leaders described the decree in Wisconsin as a bolt of joy at a trying time for the Catholic church, which is troubled by revelations of sex abuse. “This is a gift to the believers,” said the Rev. Johann Roten, director of the International Marian Research Institute at the University of Dayton. “It would be devious to say that this was somehow pulled out of the attic to exorcise the problems of the church today,” Father Roten said in a telephone interview. “But hopefully this will have a beneficial impact on the people, showing them that there are ways of living with faith that are very pure.” The Diocese of Green Bay is under fire from lawyers in an abuse-related lawsuit, who charge that it has obstructed justice by destroying potentially incriminating files on former priests. The diocese says it has cooperated fully with law enforcement and discarded psychiatric records of deceased priests as required by federal privacy laws. Bishop Ricken, in an interview at his office in Green Bay, noted that the church has a tradition of taking its time with such cases. Over the years, he said, his predecessors had implicitly endorsed the shrine by holding services there and encouraging people to visit. When he moved to Green Bay in 2008, he said, “I was struck by how many stories I heard of answered prayers” — resolved family and employment problems as well as medical cures — and he decided to start a formal investigation. “People have a hunger for the spiritual, and right here in our backyard was a source to meet that need,” Bishop Ricken said. The church’s scandals did not influence his decision, he said, but if the shrine can become a source of hope and healing for people, including victims of errant priests, “that would be beautiful.” The Vatican gives primary responsibility for evaluating apparitions to local bishops. Wary of fraud, the church is generally reluctant even to investigate claims. Over the 20th century, some 386 major apparitions of Mary were reported at a level beyond local rumors, said Father Roten, who has been an investigator in purported sightings. About 75 of those were studied, and at most a dozen were recognized as valid, he said. Increasingly, he said, the church makes use of psychiatric examinations and brain scans to see if people making claims are mentally healthy and not having hallucinations. That kind of examination was not possible, of course, for Ms. Brise, and Bishop Ricken said that his panel of three theological specialists had considered a host of indirect factors in concluding that her sighting was credible, following guidelines set by the Vatican in 1978. By all reports, he said, Ms. Brise was humble and honest and faithfully carried out Mary’s mandate to serve the church throughout her life. In one striking sign of a divine presence, he said, the shrine’s grounds and the terrified crowd who gathered there were spared the flames of the Great Peshtigo Fire of 1871, which devoured the surrounding lands and homes and caused more than 1,200 deaths. Her account of Mary’s apparition and message was consistent with accepted cases. The dozens of families and individuals who stopped to pray at the shrine on Wednesday afternoon seemed to have no doubts at all about the apparitions. “There’s a lot of power here,” said Theresa Vandermause, 45, who for years has made a weekly pilgrimage to the shrine with her friend Judy Deprey, 65. “You can feel the presence of Mary, and it feels like she’s listening to you.” The two women were pleased that the church had finally declared Mary’s visits here to be real, but said that the decree had not really changed anything. “We knew that already!” they declared.
|
Mary Mother of Jesus;Our Lady of Good Help;Brise Adele;Pilgrimages;Ricken David L.;Churches (Buildings);Wisconsin
|
ny0260340
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2011/06/27
|
Militants, Some With Qaeda Ties, Seize Parts of South Yemen
|
ADEN, Yemen — The ancient port city of Aden is now virtually surrounded by roving gangs of Islamist militia fighters — some linked to Al Qaeda — who have captured at least two towns, stormed prisons and looted banks and military depots in southern Yemen . Yet the Yemeni government, still busy fighting unarmed protesters farther north, has done little to stop these jihadists. Members of the military, the police and local officials have fled their posts across much of southern Yemen. The country’s American-trained counterterrorism unit has not been deployed. It is no surprise that many Yemenis believe the president, Ali Abdullah Saleh , intended it all to happen. Asked whether the jihadists could soon attack or even overwhelm this strategic coastal city of 800,000, Gen. Muhammad al-Somli — the one commander who has made any serious effort to fight them — said, “I cannot rule anything out.” The governor of neighboring Abyan Province, Saleh al-Zawari, who fled almost a month ago after militants captured the capital there, said the area would turn into “another Taliban state like Afghanistan” if something were not done soon. Yemeni government officials blame the rising chaos on the political crisis, which has kept Mr. Saleh’s forces in Sana, the capital. But interviews with local people here suggest that Mr. Saleh himself — now recovering in Saudi Arabia from wounds suffered in an attack on his palace mosque — is at the root of the problem. His government, based in the north, has for years carried out brutal and discriminatory policies toward the people of south Yemen. The northern military commanders who dominate his army are widely hated and increasingly isolated here, incapable of carrying out the kind of counterinsurgency operations that could ease the crisis. And given the long history of backdoor collusion between Al Qaeda and Yemen’s security agencies, it is impossible to know whether Mr. Saleh or his surrogates are actively encouraging the jihadists as a scare tactic, or merely tolerating them. The United States is now urging Mr. Saleh to cede power so that the current political stalemate can come to an end, but it was not clear whether that would happen anytime soon. The attacks have grown increasingly bold. On Friday, a suicide car bomber here in Aden killed three soldiers and a civilian, and wounded a dozen others. On Wednesday, at least 40 prisoners, including some Qaeda members convicted in a plot to attack the United States Embassy in Sana, escaped after a daring raid by gunmen on a prison in the town of Mukalla, 300 miles to the east, local officials said. The militants’ expansion is a serious concern for the United States, which has twice been made a target by Al Qaeda’s Yemen-based branch. So far, the American military has relied on airstrikes aimed at militant leaders, with mixed success. Thousands of refugees have streamed into Aden in recent weeks, telling shocking stories of the heavily armed jihadists who in late May captured the city of Zinjibar, a provincial capital less than an hour’s drive from here. The jihadists have delivered speeches calling for Islamic rule from mosque loudspeakers, the refugees say. Their members include men speaking in Saudi, Iraqi and Sudanese accents. They carry white banners with the words “Ansar al Sharia” on them — a name that Qaeda leaders identified this year as an alternate name for their own organization in Yemen. Many residents of Zinjibar said they were appalled by the Yemeni military’s quick retreat from the town and other areas in Abyan Province, just north and east of here. “These Al Qaeda people — they are mostly kids, young men,” said Ali Omar al-Qurshi, 49, camped out on the cement floor of a school in Aden along with several hundred other displaced people. “Are you telling me the army can’t defeat them? It’s a very strange thing. Honestly, we feel Ali Abdullah Saleh is behind it.” Some officials from the town said that they had no choice but to leave, and they denied that they had received orders to do so. “It was a war — they came with so many armed men,” Mr. Zawari, the governor of Abyan Province, said as he sat in an empty hotel lobby here. “They took advantage of the situation. Everything is divided now, the government, the army.” Zinjibar is now an eerie and silent wasteland, the refugees say, its houses shattered by artillery and machine guns, its streets full of the dead. Dogs have begun to feed on the corpses. Only a few young men stayed on, guarding their family houses against theft. The same is true of some other villages in the area, and of Jaar, a town seized by Islamist militants in March. General Somli, the army commander whose forces are in a base at the edge of Zinjibar, insisted during a telephone interview that the battle was over and that residents could return. But a number of residents who have returned to check on their houses said the town was firmly under the control of the militants. They said General Somli was effectively trapped at his base, and had done little to fight the militants beyond firing artillery shells at them, leveling many of the town’s houses in the process. Although the refugees were all deeply upset by the violence that had forced them from their homes, most seemed more frightened by the Yemeni military than the gunmen. Several refugees said the gunmen used loudspeakers to warn residents to leave their homes, especially in areas where the military was shelling heavily. The army, they said, showed no such concern for civilians. Some residents said they had initially been frightened by the gunmen, many of whom wore their hair long like northern tribesmen. But they added that the fighters treated them more respectfully than the local security and police officials, who are widely viewed as occupiers, or worse. “These Al Qaeda people didn’t steal our houses, they protected them,” said Ali Muhammad Hassan, a 31-year-old government clerk. “If they saw people carrying furniture or other things, looters, they would tell them to return it.” Mr. Hassan and others also said the militants seemed highly disciplined and had put local Yemenis in charge rather than northerners or foreign jihadists, in an apparent bid for grass-roots support. “They seemed to have a clear military plan,” he said. “They moved in cells; they were highly organized.” Zinjibar was not the first town captured by militants. Jaar, a smaller town about 12 miles away, was captured in March. The militants overran several smaller villages in the area as well, forcing out the local officials and police, according to several refugees. This month, another group of Islamists — apparently not connected to the ones in Zinjibar — attacked and occupied part of Hawta, a town in the neighboring province of Lahj. The governor fled there, too, residents said.
|
Middle East and North Africa Unrest (2010- );Defense and Military Forces;Saleh Ali Abdullah;Yemen
|
ny0072470
|
[
"science"
] |
2015/03/24
|
Seeking the Facts on Medical Marijuana
|
Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana, but scientific research into its appropriate uses has lagged. Dr. Mark Ware would like to change that. Dr. Ware, 50, is the director of the Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids and the director of clinical research of the Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit of McGill University Health Center. Medical marijuana has been legal in Canada for 16 years, and Dr. Ware, a practicing physician, studies how his patients take the drug and under what conditions it is effective. We spoke for two hours at the recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and later by telephone. Our interviews have been condensed and edited for space. Q. How did you become interested in the medical possibilities of cannabis? A. In the late 1990s, I was working in Kingston, Jamaica, at a clinic treating people with sickle cell anemia. My British father and Guyanese mother had raised me in Jamaica, and I’d attended medical school there. One day, an elderly Rastafarian came for his annual checkup. I asked him, “What are your choices of medicines?” He leaned over the table and said, “You must study the herb.” That night, I went back to my office and looked up “cannabis and pain.” What I found were countless anecdotes from patients who’d obtained marijuana either legally or not and who claimed good effect with a variety of pain-related conditions. There were also the eye-opening studies showing that the nervous system had specific receptors for cannabinoids and that these receptors were located in areas related to pain. Everything ended with, “More studies are needed.” So I thought, “This is what I should be doing; let’s go!” Was getting started that easy? Actually, not. That summer, I went to England and considered working with a British pharmaceutical concern researching cannabinoids. But just then, a Canadian court took up the case of an epileptic who’d been arrested when he used cannabis for his seizures. The court essentially legalized medical marijuana throughout Canada. When I heard that, it seemed like Canada was the place I should be going to. I packed up my young family and moved to Montreal. What I proposed to McGill was a clinic where we might evaluate the claims of patients about medical marijuana. So much of what we knew about the drug was anecdotal. Some of it was folkloric. My idea was to listen to the patients’ stories and put them to a clinical evaluation. When you first moved to Canada in 1999, what was known about medical marijuana? We certainly knew that cannabinoids were analgesic in animal models. There were case reports floating around of people with multiple sclerosis who’d been helped. In California, people with H.I.V. were using it for appetite stimulation, nausea and pain. Cancer patients sometimes used it to curb nausea from chemotherapy. Since then, there have been at least 15 good-quality trials around the world. Cannabinoids are reported to help with H.I.V.-associated neuropathy, traumatic neuropathy, multiple sclerosis, pain from diabetes. There have also been a few small studies on fibromyalgia and PTSD. When you talk about translational medicine, a drug usually moves from “bench to clinic.” But cannabis has had this unique trajectory: The patients were using it on their own, and then you had these papers, often based on a few case studies. And sometimes, you had later trials which led to drugs — like with H.I.V. patients’ using cannabis, which led to Marinol. Tell us about some of your own research. One investigation we published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 2010 studied 23 patients who used three slightly different levels of cannabis preparations and one placebo for two months. They had one puff three times a day. We found that the 9.4 percent THC level was superior to the placebo in terms of its effect on pain. We also found that it helped with anxiety and sleep. Interestingly, our patients appeared to actually use very small quantities of the drug to control their symptoms, a lot less than recreational users. Later this spring, we hope to take this research further by launching what we think will be the first ever longitudinal study of medical marijuana patients. We’ll follow the long-term effects of those of our regular patients who’ve been using it for chronic conditions. We’ll look at safety over the years. Why do you think cannabis use has been generally so under-researched? The fundamental answer is that the illegality of the drug has stigmatized most research. In Canada, people are sometimes afraid because of the perception that they are working with illegal substances, even when that’s no longer the case. In the United States, it’s a different matter, because on the federal level, cannabis is listed as a Schedule I drug, like heroin. That means that the medical community is quite restricted in gaining access to research materials. At the same time, there are more than 20 states where medical marijuana, to differing degrees, is legal. However, the plants grown in Colorado may be quite different from those grown elsewhere. Moreover, the medically eligible conditions vary from state to state. This lack of standardization has been another factor making research difficult, because when you’re talking about cannabis in one state and cannabis in another, you may not be talking about the same thing. You’ve said that physicians call you frequently for practical advice about the drug. What do they ask? The most common question is, “How do I make the distinction between patients who want it for medical or recreational use?” The other call I get is from a clinician who wants me to take his patient and explain whatever I can. Actually, I wish those doctors would inform themselves better; a lot of information does exist, though we need more. I believe that by not informing themselves, physicians aren’t fully serving their patients. In Canada, for instance, we’ve noticed that our oncologists generally don’t tell their patients about medical marijuana. It’s the nurses who’ll go, “Dear, why don’t you go outside and have a puff.” Your own Canadian Medical Association reminds its members that they are not obligated to write marijuana prescriptions because there is “insufficient evidence on clinical risks and benefits.” What is your take on their stance? Well, I agree with them, at least on this: We need more research. I think the time has come for us as a global community to agree on what we want to know and then go get it. And our patients need to move away from self-experimenting with substances and derivatives we don’t know about, and move to a situation where we know what they are using and where we can better help them. This isn’t going away.
|
Medical Marijuana;Mark Ware;Marijuana,Pot,Weed;Legislation;American Assn for the Advancement of Science;Medicine and Health
|
ny0055124
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2014/07/14
|
Jersey City Officer Is Fatally Shot While Responding to Robbery Report
|
JERSEY CITY — When he was a teenager, Melvin Santiago was held up at gunpoint by a robber outside a gas station on the city’s west side. The experience made him want to become a police officer so that he could help make the neighborhood safer for his younger brother and the cousins he would go bowling with every other weekend. Just seven months after joining the force, Officer Santiago, 23, responded to a report on Sunday morning of an armed robbery at a Walgreens store not far from that gas station. Riding in the passenger seat of a police car, he and his colleague were the first to reach the store around 4 a.m. As Officer Santiago opened the door to step out, a gunman ambushed him and opened fire, the authorities said. Moments before killing the officer, the gunman, Lawrence Campbell, 27, had told a witness outside the store to watch the news later because he was going to be famous, the mayor, Steven M. Fulop, said at a news conference on Sunday morning. Mr. Campbell never robbed the store. Upon entering, he asked the guard where he could buy a greeting card. He walked in the direction of the cards, then left the store and circled back, armed with a knife. He attacked the guard and took his gun, Mr. Fulop said. He waited about four minutes for the police to arrive before approaching Officer Santiago and shooting him in the head at close range, the mayor said. The gunman then fired three more times at a second police car, he said, intending to kill two other officers inside. Officers at the scene returned fire, killing the gunman, Mr. Fulop said. On Sunday, Officer Santiago’s family was mourning the loss of the determined young man who had followed in his uncle’s footsteps in joining the local police force. Standing outside her apartment, less than two miles away from the Walgreens store, his mother, Cathy McBride, said her son “died doing what he loved.” “My brother’s a retired police officer, and he wanted to be like my brother,” she said. “And he was just like my brother. He was honest and he was good, and he was respectful and he was dedicated.” Ms. McBride called the gunman a coward and said his hope of becoming famous from the shooting did not deserve to be fulfilled. Image Cathy McBride, Melvin Santiago’s mother, on Sunday. Credit Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times “My son is gone because of that,” she said, adding, “He didn’t have a chance to see what was coming.” Mr. Campbell was one of three suspects in another killing in Jersey City that remained under investigation, the mayor said. In the last few days, the police had aggressively searched for the suspects in that case, including another man, Daniel Wilson. The mayor’s office released a photo of Mr. Wilson on Sunday and said the authorities were still searching for him. Officer Santiago was the first Jersey City police officer killed in the line of duty since Detective Marc DiNardo died in July 2009 after a shootout at an apartment in which four other officers were injured. “It is a tragic situation when any officer is killed in the line of duty,” Mr. Fulop said. “Melvin was an officer who represented everything one would want to see in a police officer.” The gunman’s wife, Angelique Campbell, spoke with television reporters on Sunday about his death. “I’m not saying that what he did was right or what they say he did was right,” she told CBS 2. “I’m saying that he was my husband and he was a human being.” Image The scene in Jersey City where Officer Santiago was shot to death. Credit Julio Cortez/Associated Press For a lifelong admirer of police work, Officer Santiago’s first few months on the job were a thrill, his aunt, Aggie Santiago, said. He savored them all the more because he had struggled with the tests and exercises required to reach his goal. Once on the job, no neighborhood mischief was too small to escape his notice. Even family members were not exempt. Ms. Santiago, 42, recalled him telling an 18-year-old cousin: “Make sure you’re in tiptop shape. If I see you doing something wrong, you’ll be arrested.” The city’s west side in particular is plagued by violence and drug crimes, Officer Santiago’s second cousin, Abraham Lopez, said. That danger was the reason he had asked to serve there. “He chose that district knowing it was a hot district,” Mr. Lopez, 29, said. Officer Santiago was so serious about his young career, Mr. Fulop said, that an officer who took him out for pizza recently joked with him that he needed to smile a bit more. On Sunday morning, Officer Santiago’s family arrived at Jersey City Medical Center, where he had been pronounced dead. His mother, the mayor said, “kept repeating his badge number and saying, ‘It’s not possible.’ ”
|
Jersey City;Murders;Attacks on Police;Robbery;Walgreen;Lawrence Campbell;Melvin Santiago
|
ny0292005
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2016/01/14
|
Italy: Arrest in Killing of American
|
The police in Italy have arrested a man in the death of an American woman whose body was found in her apartment in Florence last weekend, according to Italian news reports on Thursday. The man, who was not identified, was facing a charge of aggravated murder in connection with the death of the woman, Ashley Ann Olsen, 35, according to the news agency ANSA. The suspect, who was described as a 25-year-old African immigrant, was ordered detained by the prosecutor in Florence.
|
Ashley Ann Olsen;Murders and Homicides;Italy;Florence;Cheik Tidiane Diaw
|
ny0146223
|
[
"world",
"asia"
] |
2008/07/20
|
Rev. S. M. Moon Is Injured in a Crash
|
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A helicopter carrying the Rev. Sun Myung Moon , the founder of the Unification Church, crashed into a mountainside on Saturday, injuring Mr. Moon, his wife and 14 others, officials said. Mr. Moon, 88, and the others were treated at the nearby, church-affiliated Cheongshim Hospital in Gapyeong, about 35 miles northeast of Seoul, according to a hospital official, Park Sung-kwon. Mr. Moon received an X-ray and his condition was not serious, the hospital official said. The church said on its Web site that Mr. Moon and the others were “safe.” The Transportation Ministry said the accident took place as the helicopter’s pilot made an emergency landing because of poor visibility during heavy rain. Mr. Moon’s followers believe he came into the world to complete the work of Jesus Christ.
|
Seoul (South Korea);Accidents and Safety;Moon Sun Myung;Helicopters;Unification Church
|
ny0174717
|
[
"nyregion",
"nyregionspecial2"
] |
2007/10/21
|
Monmouth Park a Standout Among Racetracks
|
OCEANPORT GARY SABLE could watch the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on television next weekend and bet on the races from his computer at home or at the newly opened off-track wagering site in Woodbridge or in the Atlantic City casinos. Instead, Mr. Sable, who has been coming to Monmouth Park Racetrack on most weekends for 36 years, spent $250 for a seat in the grandstand so he could watch the best horses from around the country and Europe compete for $23 million in a series of 11 races starting on Friday. “Live racing is where it’s at,” said Mr. Sable, 54, on a Saturday afternoon last month as he watched the horses in the paddock, with a program in his back pocket and a $5 win ticket in his hand. “It’s the atmosphere, the energy, being able to see the horses.” But Mr. Sable, a Red Bank luncheonette owner who says he has visited an OTB parlor only two or three times, is part of a dying breed. While the grandstands will be overflowing at Monmouth next weekend with what is expected to be a sell-out crowd, overall daily attendance at racetracks around the country has fallen significantly over the years because of the growth of online wagering, phone betting, OTB sites and other gambling outlets. The decline has prompted eight racetracks in New York, including the Yonkers Raceway, to rely on revenues from slot machines for bigger purses. And New Jersey’s racetracks have tried, but so far have not gotten state approval to do the same thing. Despite the industry’s attendance declines, Monmouth has managed to keep its average daily attendance steady over the last decade, with 8,902 for the regular meet, which concluded on Sept. 2. Weekend crowds often top 14,000, almost twice as many people as Belmont Park typically attracts. Much of that has to do with how Monmouth has successfully marketed itself as an attractive place not only for gamblers, but also for horse lovers and for families looking for a pleasant afternoon out. Alycia Borer, a 38-year-old advertising executive from West Long Branch, said she brings her children on some weekends because of the family atmosphere. “I like it here, but I think my kids love it here,” Ms. Borer said between races while her 8- and 5-year-old sons battled for the last seat on a swing set in the playground area, where pony rides and face painting are offered on weekends. “I’m just a $2 bettor, but the betting is not the reason why we come,” she said. “It’s just a fun place to spend the day.” Yet attendance is still down sharply from the sport’s heyday; Monmouth averaged a record 20,907 fans a day in 1957. Bringing the Breeders’ Cup to Monmouth is one way to help recapture the glory days at the 61-year-old track, for at least a weekend. Track officials estimate that 45,000 people will attend on Oct. 27 when eight Breeders’ Cup races will be run. A crowd of 25,000 is expected on Friday, when the racing program will include three new Breeders’ Cup races. “There’s definitely a buzz in the air around here,” Chris Thomas, a 44-year-old insurance broker from Colts Neck, said while at the track, minutes after a field of nine flashed in front of his box seat. “People come up to me and ask me if I have tickets, and they want to know how they can get them. I hear it at work, at the gym, everywhere I go.” Regulars like Mr. Thomas will be just part of a crowd that will include owners, trainers, breeders, fans and horseplayers at what racing officials consider to be the sport at its best. “Having the Breeders’ Cup is like having the Super Bowl,” said Robert J. Kulina, the track’s general manager. “It reinforces to your local community how important you are and what you’re trying to do.” Attracting new fans has been a tough fight. With the first of 15 planned off-track betting parlors having opened in the state this year, attendance for live racing is expected to further decline in the years to come. That may prove to be a problem for Monmouth Park, but larger issues threaten the industry. Many New Jersey horsemen have been lured away by tracks in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia and Ontario whose purses have been fattened by profits from slot machine parlors there. The situation would have been worse if the casino industry had not agreed to pump $80 million into purses at the four New Jersey tracks — Monmouth, the Meadowlands, Freehold Raceway and the Atlantic City Race Course — over a four-year period ending this year. With no plans in place for renewing the casino contributions, racing officials are nervous about the sport’s future in the state. “New Jersey racing and breeding interests are now in panic mode,” said Dennis Drazin, the president of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, because so far “nothing has been done to ensure a viable racing season for next year and subsequent years.” “Without a supplement or another mechanism for generating revenue for purses starting Jan. 1, 2008, New Jersey racing may as well pick up a shovel and dig its own grave,” he said. For a couple of days, though, those problems will drift into the background because of the Breeders’ Cup. “To me, Monmouth Park is a special place on an ordinary day,” Mr. Sable, the luncheonette owner, said. “I can’t imagine how special it’s going to be on Breeders’ Cup Day.”
|
Horse Racing;Monmouth Park;Cruelty to Animals;Breeding of Animals;Yonkers Raceway;Freehold Raceway
|
ny0194684
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2009/11/08
|
Bronx Family Is Getting Back All Its 40 Winks
|
Poverty constricts how people live. For one family on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, it affected how they slept. Joydeth Martinez, 29, had been living in a Bronx homeless shelter for months with her youngest child, her 8-year-old son, Joseth Torres. With the help of a city rent subsidy program, Ms. Martinez was able to move out of the shelter system and into an apartment, a one-bedroom in a five-story walk-up on the Grand Concourse. Ms. Martinez, Joseth and her 10-year-old daughter, Dayzha Torres, who had been staying with her father and Ms. Martinez’s oldest son while Ms. Martinez and Joseth were in the shelter system, moved in in February 2008. But it was not quite home: Just about all the furniture Ms. Martinez could afford was a kitchen table, a futon and a twin bed. Ms. Martinez’s main monthly income was roughly $1,100, in child support payments and Supplemental Security Income checks for Joseth, who is autistic. The bed was for Joseth, and the futon was for Ms. Martinez and Dayzha. But Joseth had a hard time sleeping alone. Sometimes all three would share the futon until Joseth fell asleep and Ms. Martinez could carry him back to his bed, and sometimes Dayzha would sleep on Joseth’s bed when Joseth joined them on the futon. Neither Dayzha nor Ms. Martinez was getting a good night’s rest because of Joseth’s fitful sleep. “He has his days when he’s calm, and he has days when he’s a little aggressive,” Ms. Martinez said. Relief came last December. New Alternatives for Children , a nonprofit group that serves children with disabilities or chronic illnesses and their families, had been assisting Ms. Martinez since she was living in homeless shelters. The group, which is a member of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies , one of the seven agencies supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, helped Ms. Martinez receive a $1,200 grant from the fund to buy furniture. Ms. Martinez used the money to purchase two dressers and a twin bed and mattress. Dayzha sleeps on the new bed in the bedroom, Joseth sleeps on the other bed, and Ms. Martinez sleeps on the futon in the living room. Dayzha sat on her bed one recent afternoon, playing with her dolls and talking about life on the futon. “I was falling asleep in social studies, because I was really very tired,” said Dayzha, who is in the fifth grade. “Sometimes when I was on the bus to school, I would fall asleep there.” Ms. Martinez stood at the bedroom door, listening, watching her daughter sit on a bed of her own. “She deserved to have her own bed,” Ms. Martinez said. “She deserved to be comfortable. As a parent, you’re not happy because they’re not happy.” Dayzha sleeps better now, and tries to help her mother help her brother. “I talk to him like normal,” Dayzha said. “I just know that autism means someone who has a disorder. My mom has told me about autism.” Joseth’s sleep patterns have improved, Ms. Martinez said. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that an average of one in 150 children in the United States has what is known as an autism spectrum disorder. Initially, Joseth’s diagnosis was low-functioning autism. “He didn’t speak,” Ms. Martinez said. “He would stare into nothing for hours.” She said Joseth is now classified as having medium- to high-functioning autism, and he attends P168X in the Bronx as a special education student. He loves animals, and often draws his own creations, like the tree boa and the cheetah seal, and watches animated movies with animal characters. He took a cardboard box and turned it into a little house for their cat, Tigger, drawing a door and windows on the sides. Ms. Martinez is hoping to move into a new apartment. In July, she was startled awake one night. It was not Joseth, but the sound of gunfire on the street outside.
|
New York Times Neediest Cases Fund;Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies;Homeless Persons;New York City
|
ny0135563
|
[
"us"
] |
2008/04/30
|
Montana Dog Owners Find Wild-Animal Traps Put Pets in Harm’s Way
|
MISSOULA, Mont. — The first order of business when freeing a dog caught in a trap, Anja Heister said, is to put a stick in its mouth. “No matter how much it loves you, it may try to bite,” Ms. Heister explained to a group gathered at a coffee shop here last week. The demonstration was one of several across Montana being conducted by Footloose Montana, a nonprofit organization led by Ms. Heister. The group is teaching people how to free pets inadvertently caught in traps set legally for wild fur-bearing animals. Trapping is common in many parts of the country. But in Western states like Montana much of it takes place on public lands, where conflicts are playing out with increasing frequency between trappers and recreational users as the number of retirees and second-home owners grows. The recent killing of nontargeted animals, including a dog and a golden eagle, and the wounding of others have heightened tensions and helped fuel a movement to restrict fur trapping in Montana. Four Western states — Arizona, California, Colorado and Washington — already ban or restrict certain kinds of traps, known as body-gripping traps. Footloose has been running advertisements on television as well as on YouTube warning dog owners about the hazards of traps. The group, formed last year in response to the dog trappings, is in the early stages of planning a voter initiative that would ban trapping on public lands. Trappers say the proposed restrictions, as well as those imposed in the other states, are supported by people who do not appreciate the role that trapping plays in regulating populations of fur-bearing animals, including beaver, coyotes and wolverines. They also complain the restrictions are an attack on a Western way of life. Montana issued more than 4,000 trapping licenses last year, and estimated that 47,600 animals were trapped for their pelts in 2006. “Trapping is an important part of wildlife management,” said Dave Miller, director of national and international affairs for the National Trappers Association, which claims 10,000 members. “It is very efficient and humane method of managing wildlife when properly done.” There is no way to know how many animals are caught unintentionally in traps because the episodes are often not reported and some of the animals disappear. So far this year, Footloose Montana has collected the stories of 12 dogs in western Montana caught in traps; three of them died. “The very nature of trapping is that of a land mine,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, which has led campaigns in several states against trapping. “It’s indiscriminate. They catch whatever animal is unfortunate enough to trigger a device.” Trappers place some of the blame for the dog deaths on the dog owners. “Very often these are dogs that are supposed to be on a leash and are not,” said Mr. Miller of the trappers association. “Dog owners bear some responsibility.” Most of the debate has focused on three types of traps, collectively called body-gripping traps. One of them, the foothold or leghold trap, catches the paw and holds the animal until the trapper arrives and kills it. Another trap, the snare, is made from aircraft cable. It catches the animal, often by the neck, and either holds it or strangles it. The third trap, the conibear, is designed to snap onto the animal’s neck and kill it instantly. It was the killing of Cupcake, a border collie mix, in a conibear trap last winter that first spurred the anti-trapping campaign here. The dog’s owner, Filip Panusz, was hiking near Missoula on a popular trail in a national forest when the dog wandered over an embankment. Mr. Panusz said he heard a loud snap; he found the dog dying in a conibear trap that had been set in a creek. Brian Giddings, a trapper who is the furbearer coordinator for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said such accidents are unfortunate, but not the norm. The conibear traps (named for the inventor, a Canadian trapper named Frank Conibear) are required to be set in enclosures that are supposed to block entry by dogs. The traps without such protections, he said, have been set illegally. “There are a few people who are renegades,” Mr. Giddings said. “And the illegal sets are the ones that catch the dogs. There’s always going to be a few who break the law.” There have been other episodes recently. One woman in Missoula, whose dog was caught in a conibear during a walk, struggled to free the animal but could not. She said she laid down next to her dog as it died. An emergency room doctor from Missoula had both of his bird dogs caught in traps while he was hunting. They survived. In January, a golden eagle was caught in a trap and its leg broken. It had to be destroyed. Dogs are generally easy to free from leghold traps, Mr. Giddings said, and those traps do not usually cause severe injuries. But because trappers in Montana are not required to check their traps at certain intervals, critics say a dog or other animal can spend hours or days in a trap and can break their teeth, dislocate a shoulder or tear ligaments trying to free themselves. “Many of the injured have huge vet bills,” said Jerry Black, a member of the board of Footloose Montana. “People don’t get reimbursed for this.” The stepped-up debate over trapping has also touched upon the long-standing disagreement about whether trapping is the best way to kill animals. “It’s at odds with the hunter ethic of a clean and quick kill,” said Mr. Pacelle of the Humane Society. “It’s the most inhumane form of hunting.” Trappers says traps are humane if used responsibly. “They are designed to hold the animal until the trapper can come and dispatch it,” Mr. Giddings said. “If you use the right size they will hold the animal until the trapper can come.” In particular, the conibear trap, Mr. Giddings said, “is very humane because the animal is dead in less than a minute.” The American Veterinary Medical Association recently issued an opinion on leghold traps, determining that versions with padded jaws or offset jaws — meaning the two jaws do not close tightly — are considered humane. “They can certainly cause damage, but the possibility of damage is reduced,” said Dr. Gail Golob, the group’s director of animal welfare. Unmodified leghold traps were not deemed humane; the group’s review did not address snares and conibear traps.
|
Animals;Hunting and Trapping;Pets
|
ny0114462
|
[
"business",
"global"
] |
2012/11/21
|
A Call for Japan to Take Bolder Monetary Action
|
TOKYO — Act irresponsibly. For years, proponents of aggressive monetary policy have offered this unusual piece of advice as a way to end Japan’s deflationary slump and invigorate the economy. Print lots of money, they said. Keep interest rates at zero. Convince the market that Japan will allow inflation for a while. Japan’s central bankers long scoffed at such recklessness, which they feared would ignite runaway inflation. But now, the bank’s hand could be forced by an unlikely alliance of economists and lawmakers who have argued for Japan to take more monetary action after more than a decade of weak growth and depressed prices. Championing their cause is the former prime minister Shinzo Abe , who is favored to return to the top job after nationwide elections next month. Otherwise deeply conservative, Mr. Abe surprised even his own supporters by calling for the Bank of Japan to be much bolder in tackling deflation , the damaging fall in prices, profits and wages that has choked Japan’s economy for 15 years. In escalating remarks over the last week, Mr. Abe has said that he will press the Bank of Japan to act on government orders if his Liberal Democratic Party wins the Dec. 16 election and even rewrite Japanese law to reduce the bank’s independence. In a speech in Tokyo on Thursday, Mr. Abe said he would call for the Bank of Japan to set an inflation target of 2 to 3 percent, far above its current goal of about 1 percent, with an explicit commitment to “unlimited monetary easing” — an open-endedness that has caused jitters among some economists. The bank’s benchmark interest rate should be brought back to zero percent from 0.1 percent, Mr. Abe added. He went even further over the weekend, saying in the southern city of Kumamoto that he would consider having the bank buy construction bonds directly from the government to finance public works and force money into the economy, according to local news reports. That raises concerns, however, the bank may be called on to bankroll unrestrained spending on more roads and bridges that Japan does not need. Still, Mr. Abe’s comments initially galvanized markets, sending the Nikkei soaring by almost 500 points since Thursday, falling back slightly Tuesday. The yen, which would weaken if Japan loosened monetary policy, has fallen 2.5 percent, much to the relief of Japanese exporters who benefit from a weak currency. “It’s been long coming, but we finally have hope for change,” said Kikuo Iwata, a professor in monetary economics at Gakushuin University in Tokyo and a longtime advocate of more aggressive easing. “If Mr. Abe becomes prime minister, he will not let the Bank of Japan play defense any longer.” The strong reaction to mere comments from a candidate — before any fresh easing has actually taken place — demonstrates one of the less understood aspects of monetary policy: that expectations can matter more than policy. The Bank of Japan, which wrapped up a policy meeting on Tuesday, held policy steady. The bank has in fact tried a series of measures to reinflate Japan’s economy over the years, including zero interest rates, asset purchases and quantitative easing . But prices have fallen for so long in Japan — since 1998, in fact — that Japanese have come to expect deflation. Try as it might, the Bank of Japan has been unable to change that expectation. Economists cite several missteps by the central bank that have entrenched Japan’s deflationary mind-set and made consumers and businesses wary that the bank’s policies will stick. In early 1999, as the country’s economic woes deepened, the bank lowered a benchmark interest rate to virtually zero and said it would keep rates at zero until deflationary concerns disappeared. But an economic uptick in mid-2000 caused the bank to raise that rate to 0.25 percent despite protests from the government that the move was premature. Behind that quick reversal is what critics call Japan’s severe phobia to any sign of an economic bubble. Japan has never recovered from its bubble economy of the 1980s, when stock and land prices quadrupled, only to tumble to almost prebubble levels as the country sunk into economic stagnation in the 1990s. Since then, critics say, the central bank has been so terrified of any sign of rising prices that it has held off from going all-out to fend off deflation, which has ultimately prolonged Japan’s economic malaise. Even after the central bank returned to a zero interest rate in 2001 and introduced quantitative easing, it was careful to publicize concerns about inflation and warn that it would tighten monetary policy as soon as prices began to rise. The bank’s nervous easing ultimately did little to raise inflationary expectations. Japanese consumers continued to expect wages to fall and cut down on spending. Japanese companies, which expected profits to fall, held back from investing. Even as the central bank pumped banks full of money, bank lending hardly rose, and spending and investing remained depressed. Japan remained mired in deflation. “If the central bank doubted its own policies, how could it ask anyone else to believe in them?” said Yutaka Harada, a professor of economic policy at Waseda University in Tokyo. “It needed to convince people that it was serious, that it would allow a little inflation to happen. It failed.” Another reason the central bank has been reluctant to expand monetary policy, and to maintain its autonomy from the government, is that it does not want to be seen as a printing press that finances government spending. If investors see the central bank as a source of easy money for the government, they could lose confidence in the government’s ability to rein in its mushrooming public debt, the bank says. A loss of confidence could increase the government’s borrowing costs, leading to a debt crisis similar to the one in Europe, it says. “If there is a misunderstanding that our monetary policy is in fact a measure to finance government deficits, long-term interest rates could rise, hurting the real economy,” Masaaki Shirakawa, the Bank of Japan’s governor, said Tuesday. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Tuesday that Mr. Abe was preaching a “flawed economic policy.” Mr. Noda’s Democratic Party trails Mr. Abe’s Liberal Democrats in recent polls. Other critics challenge the view that monetary policy can get Japan’s economy moving. Instead, they point to deeper structural problems that they say must be addressed, like a rapidly aging population, prohibitive regulation or the hollowing out of the manufacturing sector. Japan’s monetary pump-priming is “like a morphine addiction that is getting worse,” Ryutaro Kono, chief economist for Japan at BNP Paribas, said Tuesday. “Fiscal or monetary policy doesn’t have the power to create new value” for Japan, he said. Proponents of a more aggressive monetary policy, including Mr. Abe, argue that beating deflation and getting the economy back on track is a better way to win investor confidence in Japan. Committing to a little inflation will push stock prices higher, while a weaker yen will bolster Japan’s exporters and strengthen corporate balance sheets. Incomes will rise, fueling consumption and raising tax revenue for the government, said Kozo Yamamoto, a lawmaker of Mr. Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party. “Basically, it’s what the Bank of Japan should have been doing for the past 15 years,” he said. “A few percent of inflation is nothing to be worried about.” Even proponents warn that if Mr. Abe drums up expectations for a bold monetary turn, but fails to deliver, he could deal a heavy blow to investors, consumers and businesses. “They will say, ‘I knew it. I knew it wouldn’t work,’ and become even more strongly resigned to deflation,” said Mr. Iwata. “That would be a disaster.”
|
Economic Conditions and Trends;Japan;Elections;Abe Shinzo;Deflation (Economics);Bank of Japan
|
ny0201759
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2009/09/15
|
Turkish Premier Defends Fine on Media Company
|
ANKARA, Turkey (Reuters) — Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday denied suggestions that a $2.5 billion fine imposed on Turkey’s biggest media company was part of an attempt to put pressure on the country’s opposition media. The record fine, which was handed down last week, has raised concern among critics that the government was seeking to bankrupt the company, Yayin, for coverage that some officials view as hostile, including reports of alleged corruption and accusations that the governing party is trying to introduce Islam into public life — a breach of secular constitutional principles. Mr. Erdogan’s governing party, with a large parliamentary majority, has extended its influence widely in the state apparatus and reduced the political power of the secularist military. “I have no thoughts of applying political or economic pressure on the media, but certain media establishments have no right to see themselves above the law,” Mr. Erdogan told ambassadors at a dinner. The European Commission condemned the fine on Thursday and said it could affect the next annual progress report on Turkey’s bid to enter the European Union.
|
Turkey;News and News Media;Erdogan Recep Tayyip
|
ny0158263
|
[
"business"
] |
2008/12/16
|
Airlines Use ‘Black Boxes’ to Improve Service
|
The black box, more than any other piece of aircraft equipment, is a potent symbol of disaster. But last month, in a sharp departure from industry practice, Japan Airlines began showing an in-flight video focusing its passengers’ attention on that equipment. For most of their history, the bright orange flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder — referred to inaccurately as black boxes — have served one function: recording the last information from a doomed flight. Recent technology, though, has allowed airlines to make flight data — previously retrievable only after a crash — more easily accessible. As a result, hundreds of details on routine flights can be collected. Data analysis and a companion program that encourages pilots to report their own errors are based on the idea that mistakes are lessons waiting to be learned. But getting pilots to confess mistakes has proved too difficult for two large American carriers. So it is all the more notable that not only has Japan Airlines been successful with both programs, it is using in-flight videos to make passengers aware of its shortcomings. “No one in the world is doing this,” says Michael Poole, managing partner of CAE Flightscape, whose company, based in Quebec, provides the technology to Japan Airlines and other airlines. “Here’s an excellent way to communicate they are serious about safety.” In the three-minute video, passengers learn what kinds of errors the airline is looking for and what happens when they are found. They see pilots working in the cockpit and hear terms like “anomalies” and “potential hazards.” “Through this program we want to be as open as we can and show our customers how we are improving safety in our everyday business activities,” said Akeo Misumi, director of the flight data monitoring office. Even when potential hazards are not spotted, the information can be beneficial. Mr. Poole said subtle irregularities in piloting or maintenance could, for example, burn more fuel. “I don’t care what business you’re in, if you have a device measuring the performance of your business, you should look at the data proactively to run a better business.” In the United States, more than 70 airlines have signed agreements with the Federal Aviation Administration to participate in the Aviation Safety Action Program, known by the acronym ASAP. The pilots receive immunity from disciplinary action if they report their mistakes. But some airlines have dropped out of the program, which Robert A. Sturgell, the acting administrator of the F.A.A., has called “disheartening.” American Airlines, withdrew six weeks ago, joining Delta Air Lines and Comair, a regional carrier owned by Delta. Disagreements between the union and management prompted American’s decision. At issue is whether pilots can be punished if their errors would have been detected outside of ASAP. Tim Wagner, a spokesman for American Airlines, blamed the pilots’ union. “This is something we feel is in the best interests of our pilots and we want it back,” he said. But Scott Shankland, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, said, “ASAP at American is a victim of the poor relationship between pilots and management.” In light of the difficulties that airlines in the United States are having, Japan Airlines stands out, said Kevin Humphreys, director of safety regulation for the Irish Aviation Authority. “For some cultures, punishment for error was considered part of a regulatory process. So for an organization to publicly acknowledge it makes errors is a positive paradigmatic shift,” he said. “The aviation industry has been a leader in learning from its mistakes, but first you have to acknowledge you make mistakes.” Japan Airlines has also opened a safety promotion center at Tokyo International Airport where the public is invited to view the wreckage and personal effects of the victims of the most deadly single aviation accident ever. Five hundred and twenty people died when Japan Airlines Flight 123 flew into a mountain in 1985. That accident and a series of smaller safety events prompted the creation of the center. When it comes to making a statement about the importance of vigilance to mishap-free operations, displaying airplane wreckage is a pretty bold one. “Anybody who has ever pushed back from the gate is fully aware that we have passengers who are nervous fliers, and we do what we can to keep them from having sweaty palms,” said John Gadzinski, a 737 captain with Southwest Airlines and the safety chairman of the Southwest Airline Pilots Association. “This may be another way to soothe passengers’ nerves, but I sure wouldn’t do it this way.” The Air Transportation Association of America, a trade organization representing air carriers, said in an e-mail message, “Raising the issue of safety as passengers get ready to depart (even if you’re touting your programs) doesn’t make sense.” It is not just passengers who may get skittish. This summer, Judge Karl S. Forester of United States District Court in Lexington, Ky., gave airlines a reason to worry when he upheld a decision in the lawsuit against Comair for the 2006 crash of Flight 5191, which killed 49 people, that gave lawyers for the victims’ families access to the airline’s confidential ASAP records. Comair argued unsuccessfully that airline self-reporting should be protected from civil lawsuits. Japan Airlines reports that passengers have had little to say about the new video. But not since the early days of air travel, when flight attendants were also registered nurses, has safety been presented to passengers in so forthright a manner. Many in the industry are waiting to see if explaining that errors can make air travel safer can make air travelers feel safer, too.
|
Airlines and Airplanes;Accidents and Safety;Recording Equipment;Japan Airlines
|
ny0256464
|
[
"sports",
"football"
] |
2011/08/07
|
After N.F.L. Lockout, Giants Searching for the Right Tempo
|
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Ask any football coach what is most important at the start of training camp, and you are likely to hear about rhythm. Quarterbacks and receivers must establish timing and rhythm. The whole offense must find its rhythm. Practices must fall into a predictable, up-tempo rhythm. Unfortunately, the start of this camp, particularly for the Giants , has been arrhythmic. Every N.F.L. team had to deal with the sudden end of the lockout, the frenetic transaction period, the complex rules governing when free agents could take the field and the elimination of two-a-day contact practices. The problem has been acute for the Giants, who were forced to practice without many key players before the collective bargaining agreement was ratified on Thursday, then reverted to noncontact practices once the veteran free agents finally arrived. It has been highly syncopated. And Tom Coughlin is not a bebop kind of coach. When camp opened July 29, Coughlin said it would take “the better part of a week” for the team to settle into a rhythm. That timetable proved nearly accurate, but there were plenty of hiccups along the way. The team scheduled a day off last Tuesday, three days after the official start of business. The timing of the break was one of many oddities in this oddest of starts to a season. “I don’t think it has ever been done in the history of football,” Coughlin said of the early day off. When it appeared Wednesday night that labor negotiations would further delay the arrival of the team’s veteran free agents, who were not allowed even to watch practice from the sideline until the agreement was ratified, Coughlin was clearly frustrated. “We have to all get on the same field, for crying out loud,” he said. Even the ratification of the agreement did not mean the return of business as usual. After the first full-contact practice last Wednesday night, the Giants were back in shells and shorts on Thursday and Friday. They did not want to expose the veterans who had signed new contracts — including newcomers like center David Baas and tight end Ben Patrick, and returning veterans like running backs Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs and defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka — to the risks of full-pad practices after a week of relative inactivity. An alternate schedule was in the works in case the labor situation was not settled, though Coughlin was clearly not enthusiastic about using it. “I changed this schedule in order to accommodate everybody,” he said Thursday, “and I have another schedule which, God forbid if we have to go back to, but we’ll do it.” It never came to that. So after one week of training camp, and three days of informal workouts and meetings, the Giants held only one full-pad practice. And many important players, like the starting center and both starting running backs, did not participate in that session. The Giants finally have some semblance of a normal practice schedule, with six days to go before their preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers . The week of confusion and underattended practices, coming on the heels of a lockout that forbade coaches to speak with players, forces the Giants to cram a lot of work into a limited time. And you cannot cram rhythm. Baas, for instance, was not allowed to snap the ball to Eli Manning until Thursday’s practice. Center-quarterback timing does not develop immediately, nor does communication among interior offensive linemen, who must anticipate one another’s moves in pass protection. “It does take some chemistry,” Pat Flaherty, the offensive line coach, said. “When you have played against an adjacent lineman over the years, it’s a physical communication; you don’t even have to talk. That is something we’ll have to develop.” When asked if such complex chemistry can develop in a few weeks, Flaherty said: “There is no ‘can.’ You have to.” Publicly, most coaches and players are taking a “football is football” stance about the extended off-season and week of limited practices. But Robert Nunn, the defensive line coach, said that some of his players were having difficulty getting back into a groove: Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul were among those who told him they felt awkward or out of sync during the practice in pads. The only way to make the players comfortable is to get them on the field, and not just once or twice. “You can’t just put pads on and be back at home,” Nunn said. The Giants do have some advantages over other N.F.L. teams. Coughlin and the coordinators Kevin Gilbride and Perry Fewell all returned from last season, so they do not have to install new systems. Some assistants were able to give players instructions before the lockout: Dave Merritt provided his safeties with a DVD of game film with his voiceovers for them to study. The evening practice schedule also had an unforeseen benefit during Thursday’s ratification vote. The Giants started their 6 p.m. session on time, but many other teams had to adjust their practice schedules while waiting for the ballots to be counted. Still, the constricted timeline has forced Giants coaches to prioritize. “You have to focus on the little things that win championships,” cornerbacks coach Peter Giunta said. For example, the Giants are emphasizing interception returns this season, so coaches are devoting extra time to a drill in which defenders block for a teammate, punt return-style. Time dedicated to interception returns is time taken away from something else. “If some coverage or some blitz doesn’t get installed because of that, so be it,” Giunta said. On offense, the team did not start installing its three-receiver package, which it uses on nearly 50 percent of offensive plays, until midweek, Manning said. From system installation to basic personnel evaluations, coaches and players are engaging in “get to know you” activities that usually occur in early May, not early August. The greatest challenge for coaches will be to learn the strengths and limitations of their players, and to adjust their schemes accordingly. Nunn used the three-safety defensive strategy the Giants deployed last season as an example of how coaches match their system to the available talent. The idea of using safeties Kenny Phillips, Antrel Rolle and Deon Grant in the same package started to take shape during minicamps last year, then evolved through training camp and into the season. If such a strategy evolves at all this year, it will do so in a compressed time frame. “It’s all crunched up now,” Nunn said. “Because live bullets start flying next Saturday.”
|
New York Giants;National Football League;Football;Jacobs Brandon;Coughlin Tom;Manning Eli;Tuck Justin;Bradshaw Ahmad
|
ny0272097
|
[
"business",
"media"
] |
2016/05/16
|
When TV Ads Go Subliminal With a Vengeance, We’ll Be to Blame
|
For decades the annual television industry ritual known as the upfronts has gone the same way. Thousands of advertising and television executives trudge between New York’s great cultural centers — Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Lincoln Center — where network executives screen premieres of their hottest new shows (“24: Legacy” on Fox! “Designated Survivor” on ABC!); trot out their biggest stars ( Jennifer Lopez ! Kerry Washington !), and disclose which programs will go where on the prime-time schedules being set for the fall. After successive nights of upscale hedonism — steaks at Peter Luger, mango chili martinis at Tao and Nicki Minaj at Terminal 5 — the ad people and the TV people get down to the real business of cutting deals for the 30-second spots that run during prime time’s commercial breaks. But when the whole shebang kicks off in earnest on Monday morning, there will be an underlying sense of seasickness because of the inexorable, existential question that now faces television this time of year: How long can it go on like this? This queasiness was your doing. Maybe it was when you flipped your television input over to your Apple TV last night to watch the commercial-free “House of Cards” on Netflix, or when you perused the recorded version of “Saturday Night Live” after work on Monday and fast-forwarded through every real ad. Maybe you forgot TV altogether and watched YouTube instead. When you started using all the new technology to watch shows on your own terms, and to stop viewing commercials, you threw into question the modus operandi of a roughly $70 billion industry that has been remarkably stable for decades. The billions give television the room to maintain business as usual in the middle of this change-tsunami in a way that, say, newspapers can’t. But some sort of reckoning seems inevitable. In the not-too-long run, network television could come to look nothing like it does today. Maybe you will be surfing apps instead of channels, as the Apple chief executive Tim Cook predicts , skipping between shows that don’t have commercial breaks or hard-and-fast 30- and 60-minute time limits. That would have big consequences for those who have stuff to sell and who still view television ads as the best way to do it — and equally big consequences for traditional television’s gatekeepers. In the short term, as in this coming week of television brinkmanship, bets on where it will all end up, and how much of a reckoning is already upon us, will drive the negotiations for what could be more than $9 billion in advance advertising purchases for the coming fall season. The opening move came from Magna Global, one of the biggest ad-buying firms in the world, which told The Wall Street Journal two weeks ago that it was shifting $250 million of its clients’ ad dollars to YouTube from traditional television. That’s a fraction of the many billions Magna spends on television every year for clients that include Coca-Cola and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. But it was a large enough diversion of television dollars to digital media to be of real symbolic importance. Magna pointed to declines in old-fashioned television viewing among those between the ages of 18 and 49, who are important to advertisers. “What we are trying to do is signal to the market that it is not business as usual,” David Cohen, the United States president of Magna Global, told me last week. “Consumers have over the past several years been migrating away from linear television, and we need to acknowledge that.” Network television executives saw the announcement as something else: a savvy negotiating ploy just as the upfronts were to begin. They could point to motive. For all the talk like mine in this column about the future of television advertising, in the here and now industry executives and analysts expect ad rates to spike in the coming upfront deals for the first time in several years. David F. Poltrack, CBS’s chief research officer, says this is partly because advertisers went too far last year. Enthralled with digital advertising , they committed to less commercial time in the upfronts. Disappointing retail sales in 2015 followed. Economists pointed to factors like rising health care costs and stagnant wages. But Mr. Poltrack said the advertising pullback had a role, too. Advertisers seemed to agree, at least in part, especially amid debate about the true reach of digital media. (As American Express told Advertising Age last month, it found that the effect of one day of broadcast advertising was equal to that of two weeks of digital.) And over the ensuing months advertisers jumped back into television to find higher prices than they would have paid had they spent more to begin with. Mr. Poltrack said it augurs a strong upfront, driven by a fundamental lesson: “If less people see your advertising, you will sell less things.” Still, there’s the question of who will actually “see your advertising,” given that it’s now easier than ever to tune that advertising out. Television executives like Mr. Poltrack are spending a whole lot of time studying that. Some findings are counterintuitive. For instance, Mr. Poltrack said, two-thirds of viewers watch with a second screen either in their hands or on their lap. Yet those screens can be so distracting that their users forget to fast-forward past the ads in recorded shows. It turns out viewers are overwhelmingly absorbing the messages coming from the TV even as they stare at the other devices, Mr. Poltrack said. Nielsen data does show that those between the ages of 18 and 49 skip fewer than half the ads in recorded shows (42 percent). But two different sets of Nielsen data I saw also showed their overall commercial viewing down by 8 or 11 percent this television season, depending on how you slice it, compared with last year. Those numbers cause people like Joe Marchese, the executive leading the Fox Networks Group’s effort to develop new approaches to advertising (such as offering audiences an option to view one interactive ad at the start of a show in exchange for no more advertising interruptions thereafter), to declare, as he did to me last week, “The social contract is broken with the consumer — they don’t want to watch the ads.” And it explains the sense of urgency I found on the 51st floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza on Thursday morning, where NBCUniversal’s chairwoman of advertising sales, Linda Yaccarino, was overseeing the final touches on NBCUniversal’s upfront presentation. Ms. Yaccarino was planning the biggest change in decades to the way NBC does its presentation. Instead of walking advertisers through NBC’s nightly schedule in isolation, it will focus instead on which combinations of shows on NBC, NBC’s sister cable networks, and cable on-demand systems like that of its parent, Comcast, will reach particular audiences. (It will throw in options from its investment partners BuzzFeed and Vox Media, too.) “You will not hear ‘Monday night at 8; Tuesday at 9,’” she said. “You’re going to see our content presented the way audiences seek it out and consume it.” She is operating under the assumption that today’s robust commercial breaks will not be around in their current form much longer. “I tell my whole team, ‘We’re hanging on to them by our fingernails,’” she said. That’s why NBC announced last month that it would remove about 30 percent of the commercial time from “Saturday Night Live” next season. It will seek to make the money back by giving advertisers occasional opportunities to sponsor bits based on whatever it is they’re selling. If it’s done right (and one assumes the “S.N.L.” producer Lorne Michaels will accept no less) the audience won’t even notice the sponsorship, which could come as a spoof based on the advertiser’s product. And that’s where it comes back to us — and I say “us” because I, too, prefer my television ad-free. With the exception of shows on public television or subscription services like Netflix and HBO, commercials pay for the shows we like. If we cut that off, we push television executives into new levels of subliminal trickery. Maybe we’ll decide that’s a fair trade.
|
advertising,marketing;Upfront;TV;TV Sets;Video Recordings; Downloads and Streaming;Mobile Apps
|
ny0125380
|
[
"sports",
"olympics"
] |
2012/08/10
|
With Style, American Teenager Shields Wins Gold in Olympic Boxing
|
LONDON (AP) — Claressa Shields ducked one punch, deftly leaned away from another and stuck her tongue out at her Russian opponent. Just an American teenager having a little fun. Nadezda Torlopova is nearly twice Shields’s age and about half her speed. And Shields had to laugh at any boxer trying to get between her and an Olympic gold medal. Shields, a 17-year-old middleweight from Flint, Mich., beat Torlopova, 19-12, on Thursday, capping her rapid ascent through women’s boxing with a title in the sport’s Olympic debut. “This was something I wanted for a long time, even when boxing wasn’t going all right, even when my life wasn’t going all right,” said Shields, who found sanctuary in a boxing gym during a difficult childhood. “All I wanted was a gold medal, and I kept working toward it, even when people were saying I couldn’t do it,” she said. “I’m too young. I couldn’t do it. There were girls who were going to beat me because of better experience, more experience. I proved them all wrong.” Shields did it in style — shuffle-stepping, brawling and even winning over a crowd that showed up to cheer the Irish lightweight Katie Taylor and the British flyweight Nicola Adams, who also won gold medals. Shields had her hand over her heart on the medal podium when she abruptly burst into laughter, her head snapping back almost as if she had just been punched in the face. “I’m surprised I didn’t cry,” she said. “I was sweating, though.”
|
Boxing;Olympic Games (2012);United States;Shields Claressa
|
ny0153957
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2008/01/10
|
In Address, Spitzer Sets New Tone, for Unity
|
ALBANY — The man who swept into the Statehouse a year ago, determined to overhaul Albany, instead tried to embrace it on Wednesday, as Gov. Eliot Spitzer called lawmakers his friends, asked for prayers for the family of his political nemesis, and shelved, for the time being, talk of dramatic reform. In his second State of the State address, the governor acknowledged that his blunt style had sometimes made cooperation difficult, and told lawmakers, “I will meet you with an open hand, an open door and an open mind.” “We can work together for the common good, despite our political or personal differences, and we must,” he said, adding, “We in this chamber are all New Yorkers.” The change in tone was striking. In his inaugural address a year ago, the governor said the state had been asleep for the last decade “like Rip Van Winkle” even as the three men who had run the state during those years — former Gov. George E. Pataki; the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno ; and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver — shared the stage with him. Last February, he said of the Legislature’s top Democrat, “Nobody should be under the illusion it will be easy for me to work with Shelly Silver.” And his administration faces three separate investigations into its efforts to discredit Mr. Bruno, the state’s top Republican. On Wednesday, Mr. Spitzer referred to “my friend Shelly Silver” and sprinkled thanks throughout to Mr. Silver and Mr. Bruno and a number of rank and file lawmakers in both parties — olive branches that at times drew jovial derision and even air kisses from fellow lawmakers sitting near those singled out. But the change was generally well received as overdue. United States Senator Charles E. Schumer said afterward, “You cannot stand up on Mount Olympus and throw down thunderbolts and expect to get things done.” “Reaching out and making it clear to the Legislature that they are equal partners, making it clear that he is working with everybody, is exactly the prescription that was needed,” he added. The speech, which lasted an hour and nine minutes, focused on policy instead of process reform, embracing the idea of imposing a ceiling on property taxes — an idea Mr. Spitzer previously rejected — and of creating a $4 billion endowment for the state’s public higher education system. He also proposed using tens of millions of dollars in state money to pay for a planned expansion of health insurance for children that had been rejected by the Bush administration. He also proposed spending $400 million on middle-income housing and setting aside $1 billion for an upstate economic development fund. He introduced more modest measures, too, like a “Peace Corps for doctors” to increase care in poor areas, and reassigning 200 state troopers to combat upstate crime. Notably, the speech did not dwell on the budget deficit of more than $4 billion that the state faces this year, an issue that will be dealt with when the governor presents his second executive budget later this month. In some cases, controversy was only hinted at, as in a remark that the administration would seek to change the way hospitals are reimbursed for medical care to refocus the industry on prevention, a move that could set off another reimbursement battle with labor unions and hospitals. In other cases, controversial measures were tabled for another day. The governor did propose adding 2,000 professors to the State and City Universities of New York, which had been recommended by a special commission on higher education that he had convened. But an administration official said the governor would reject the commission’s recommendation to increase tuition this year and would also not move forward with a proposal to allow different campuses to charge different rates in hopes of bolstering research campuses. The progressive reformer in the mold of Theodore Roosevelt, as the governor presented himself a year ago, was absent. In his inaugural address last January, the governor spoke of making ethics reform one of his top two priorities. But there was scant mention of the subject in his current speech and no reference to the stalled campaign finance reform plan he made a priority for much of last year. Instead, the governor’s speech began with a moment of silence to commemorate Mr. Bruno’s wife, Barbara, who died on Monday. In addition, he proposed renaming the Triborough Bridge after Robert F. Kennedy; four of the senator’s family members were in attendance. On property taxes, the governor turned to a former political rival, the Nassau County executive, Thomas R. Suozzi, to lead a commission to explore how to impose a ceiling on soaring property taxes, which have weighed heavily on upstate and Long Island. The cap would most likely exclude New York City, where city income tax revenues finance much of the school costs. The work of the commission could lead to disputes. The governor said it would have special powers to issue subpoenas as it explores the causes of soaring school tax increases. The administration has been frustrated that property tax bills have escalated despite $1.3 billion worth of new rebate checks the state sent to homeowners last year. “We need stronger medicine,” he said, adding, “It’s a losing game for the taxpayer if the state gives you a rebate check on Monday and then on Tuesday your local government taxes it away.” Many of his proposals will require legislative approval. Republicans were skeptical about some of the initiatives, including a plan to study selling or leasing a stake in the state’s lottery system to finance the proposed higher education endowment. “The issue that everybody in the Legislature is asking, and quite honestly the public should ask, is, how are you going to pay for everything?” said Senator Dean G. Skelos, a Long Island Republican and the deputy majority leader of the Senate. “This securitization of the lottery is the mother lode of all one-shots.” But the governor’s director of operations, Paul Francis, a former corporate financial officer, said the proposal was not the kind of asset sale Albany had used in the past to finance operating expenses, but would be used to create a permanent endowment and would let the state still control the lottery system. Mr. Skelos also voiced skepticism about the governor’s latest attempt to show a softer side. “He tried to be a little more conciliatory, but he’s the one who said it’s not in his DNA to change, so it remains to be seen,” he said. Others were more encouraged. “He was reaching out his hand, but over all, people want to see what the next step will be,” said Assemblyman Darryl C. Towns, a Brooklyn Democrat. “Last year, it was a lot of talk about reform, and he had a mandate,” he added. “Now, having served for a year, he’s ready to accept that we all have a mandate, a shared mandate, and in order to get to some conclusions we have to work together.”
|
Spitzer Eliot L;State of the State Message (NYS);New York State;Albany (NY);Bruno Joseph L;Silver Sheldon;Speeches and Statements
|
ny0241119
|
[
"sports",
"ncaabasketball"
] |
2010/12/22
|
UConn Women Set Record for Major-College Winning Streak
|
HARTFORD — For decades, U.C.L.A. ’s winning streak seemed as round and fundamental and permanent as the shape of the ball itself. And yet, it is the Connecticut women, not the U.C.L.A. men, who now hold the major-college basketball record for invincibility . The Huskies won their 89th consecutive game Tuesday with a 93-62 throttling of Florida State before a sellout crowd of 16,294 at the XL Center, surpassing the 88 straight won by the U.C.L.A. men , coached by John Wooden, from 1971 to 1974. The top-ranked Huskies (11-0) were bolstered Tuesday by career-high scoring from the senior forward Maya Moore (41 points) and the freshman point guard Bria Hartley (21). UConn has been so dominant during its run that the average victory margin has been 33.3 points. Only four teams have come within 10 points of UConn and only one has shot at least 50 percent from the field. By halftime against Florida State, Moore’s 26 points were one fewer than the Seminoles had scored as a team. UConn’s last defeat came by 82-73 to Stanford on April 6, 2008, in the national semifinals. Many predict the eighth-ranked Cardinal will bookend the Huskies’ streak when it hosts UConn on Dec. 30. Otherwise, the Huskies may go undefeated through the regular season as momentum snowballs toward a third consecutive national championship. The overall college record is held by the women’s team at Wayland Baptist University of Plainview, Tex., which won 131 consecutive games from 1953 to 1958. But that was decades before the N.C.A.A. began sponsoring women’s basketball in 1982. It was a different game, played under different rules, at a different speed and a different level of athleticism. And it probably did not involve congratulations from the president of the United States . During UConn’s postgame news conference on Tuesday, Coach Geno Auriemma received a call from President Obama , an inveterate basketball fan. According to Auriemma, Obama told him, “It’s a great thing for sports; it’s an accomplishment to be celebrated.” To which Auriemma replied: “We have not lost since you were inaugurated. How about we keep that streak going for a couple more years, huh?” Greg Wooden, a grandson of the legendary U.C.L.A. coach, who died in June, attended Tuesday’s game and said his grandfather would have been “absolutely thrilled” to see the Bruins ’ streak broken by a women’s team, especially one as unselfish as UConn. Late in his life, Wooden said, his grandfather “thought the best basketball was played at the collegiate level and it wasn’t by the men.” This UConn team is hardly the best that Auriemma has coached while winning seven national titles since 1995. But the younger UConn players are growing more assured, more deeply initiated into a culture that fosters confidence and unselfish play and demands unwavering effort. In the first half Tuesday, Auriemma grew so elated with Hartley’s performance that he gave her a kiss. Speaking about the Huskies, Bill Walton , the all-American center on those U.C.L.A. teams of the early 1970s, told The Associated Press: “They play with a great sense of team, great purpose, phenomenal execution of fundamentals, relentless attack. It is what every team should aspire to, regardless of the sport.” Few players in women’s college basketball have been so reliable in pressured moments as the 6-foot Moore, who has played every game of the streak. She moves elegantly and stealthily without the ball, pogo-sticks for jump shots, swoops in on the fast break, right arm extended with the ball. “She just reminds me of Kobe Bryant ,” said Florida State Coach Sue Semrau. “What player in our game stops and pops like she does?” This season, Moore has also nurtured her younger teammates to set the proper screens, to make the proper passes. And though she does not possess the same swagger as the former UConn star Diana Taurasi , she does possess the same resolve to perform at her best in the biggest games. “One thing John Wooden used to say about what competitive greatness is, is having the ability to be your absolute best when your best is absolutely needed,” Auriemma said. “That’s Maya Moore.” At various times during this torrid streak, UConn has fielded the nation’s top point guard in Renee Montgomery, the top center in Tina Charles and the top forward in Moore. There are two kinds of coaches, Auriemma is fond of saying: “Those who coach great players. And ex-coaches.” But his own imprint on UConn’s success, his demand for an unyielding commitment to greatness, cannot be overestimated. The Huskies force opponents to submit with a doggedness that is unyielding on both offense and defense, no matter the time, no matter the score. And Auriemma has had little patience from those — mostly male writers and commentators — who dismiss the UConn streak as somehow unworthy, because women are supposedly less skilled than men, because the competition is supposedly insufficient. He has called these critics “miserable” and said they were angry because they “don’t want us to break the record.” Tuesday, Auriemma said, “We’re not going to change their minds and I don’t care.” He added, “Like it or not, we made you pay attention.” He has not asked for more attention for his team, Auriemma said: “I just asked for everybody to admire what these kids do and how they do and how hard it is to do it.” What will it take to break UConn’s stranglehold? A concerted effort, Auriemma said the other day, not just one or two or three universities but a collective attempt to elevate the women’s game, just as big-time football universities decided to challenge U.C.L.A. in men’s basketball once administrators saw the possibility of victory and profit. “Again, it’s women’s sports, so people aren’t going to give it the respect it’s due,” Auriemma said. He has a gut feeling, Auriemma said, that at some point this season, UConn’s streak will end. That would not be a bad thing for a young team, he said. The most important goal is winning a national championship. “Then they can start on their own thing,” Auriemma said in a recent interview about the streak’s inevitable end. “Until then, they’re living on someone else’s accomplishment. They’re going to have to live up to that. That’s not why you play basketball. You want to create your own stuff. We want to create something that belongs to this team.”
|
Basketball;University of Connecticut;College Sports;Florida State University;Women and Girls
|
ny0156183
|
[
"sports",
"baseball"
] |
2008/06/28
|
Yankees and Mets’ Two Games Are Miles Apart
|
The Mets arrived at Yankee Stadium in full uniform Friday morning, like the varsity busing to meet a rival across town. If schoolyard rules had really applied, the game would have been over in the top of the eighth inning, by virtue of the 10-run rule. There was, after all, another game to play. The Mets clobbered the Yankees , 15-6, with a revived Carlos Delgado driving in nine runs to set a single-game club record. Delgado was cheered warmly in the evening at Shea Stadium, but by then, the Mets had gone cold against an unlikely Yankees stopper: Sidney Ponson. Ponson worked six shutout innings in the nightcap, and Bobby Abreu and the offense bruised a wild Pedro Martínez in a 9-0 Yankees victory. Martínez allowed six runs in five and two-thirds innings, walking five, hitting a batter and failing to cover first on a single in the fifth, setting up two Yankees runs. “It starts with starting pitching,” Yankees Manager Joe Girardi said. “When you get the length and your starting pitcher shuts down the other club, you always look a lot better.” With a depleted rotation, the Yankees took a chance on Ponson, who was released this month by the Texas Rangers despite a winning record. He was a discipline problem for the Rangers, but had behaved himself in a brief stay with the Yankees in 2006. Ponson never won for the Yankees then, but he starred in the debut of his second act. Pumping his fist at the end of each scoreless inning, he skirted damage early and dominated late. The Mets stranded seven runners in the first three innings against Ponson, and they never recovered. Martínez hardly gave them the chance. He walked the first two hitters of the fourth inning, and both scored. After leaving first base uncovered on Johnny Damon’s leadoff grounder in the fifth, he issued another walk; both runners scored. Derek Jeter doubled off the center-field wall in the sixth to chase Martínez, whose earned run average stands at 7.12 after six starts. Before the first game, at least, Delgado’s numbers were nearly as ugly. He was 2 for 22 since his last R.B.I., and he was hitting .229 for the season. Yet he pulverized the underbelly of the Yankees’ pitching staff with a two-run double in the fifth, a grand slam in the sixth and a three-run homer in the eighth. “You come in here, you understand how big the Yankees and the Mets series are,” Delgado said. “You want to contribute. You want to come in, especially with guys in scoring position, you want to come up with a big hit.” Each of Delgado’s hits drove in Luis Castillo, who scored five runs and stole two bases, looking sprightly after seeming to be slowed by leg problems. Castillo stole two bases and José Reyes another, all against catcher Jorge Posada and Yankees starter Dan Giese. “We played an aggressive game,” Castillo said. “The pitcher gave us chances to steal and that’s why we played like that.” Giese lasted into the fifth, allowing six runs, five hits and four walks. It was a labor from the beginning, and with Ponson’s stellar effort, Giese could be bumped from the rotation. “You’ve got to step up, and I didn’t do that,” said Giese, who missed his commercial flight from Pittsburgh on Thursday and took the team’s late-night charter instead. “I just pitched very poorly. I’m very embarrassed.” Before the game, it was easy to tell who had more rest. The Mets were off Thursday, and they left Queens in uniform at 11:30 a.m. for a 17-minute bus ride to the Bronx. They stretched on the field and took batting practice. The Yankees flew to New York after Thursday’s rainout, and most players got to bed around 2:30 a.m. They had a late reporting time — 12:15 p.m. — and no scheduled batting practice. They took their time getting to Shea for the second game, changing into street clothes and arriving about 55 minutes before the first pitch. “We were good about forgetting about the first game and not letting that affect the second one,” Jeter said. “We didn’t have time to think about it.” The Yankees were forced to have faith in Ponson, a pitcher who, for all of his off-field problems, has made 255 career starts. Girardi said that experience was the reason he chose Ponson over Giese for the second game. Ponson responded with a lively sinker, using it for a called third strike against the leadoff man, Reyes. It was not always that easy, but Ponson found a way out of trouble. He improved to 5-1 this season, with a 3.50 E.R.A. “I felt good, because I had watched some of Sidney and I knew he was throwing the ball well,” Girardi said. “The other day he threw 75 or 78 pitches, so I wasn’t concerned about him not being sharp or getting out of game shape. As well as he was throwing in Texas, I think he can continue to throw well for us.” The Yankees must hope so, because Giese’s outing was rough. He had a 4-3 lead through four innings but lost his control in the fifth when he walked Reyes. Giese compounded the problem by pitching out twice to try to keep him at first, and then watching him steal second anyway. “You’ve got to make them earn a spot,” Giese said, ruefully. “I walk them, and sure enough, they steal second and later score.” The Yankees are not depending on Giese, but their stable of dependable pitchers seems to be dwindling. Edwar Ramírez has faded after a strong start. Ross Ohlendorf was optioned to the minors before the bus ride to Shea, and LaTroy Hawkins has no meaningful role. “Obviously it’s an opportunity for people to step up,” Girardi said after the first game. “Sidney’s going to start tonight and we’re looking for good things from him.” The Yankees got more than they could have hoped for — a steely performance from an unpredictable pitcher, a satisfying end to an exhausting day. INSIDE PITCH The Yankees placed Hideki Matsui on the disabled list with left knee inflammation.
|
New York Yankees;Baseball;New York Mets;Delgado Carlos
|
ny0035245
|
[
"us"
] |
2014/03/05
|
Wisconsin: Republicans Oust Leader Under Cloud
|
Republicans who control the State Assembly unanimously voted to remove the majority leader from his post Tuesday amid allegations that he groped one woman and verbally abused another during a trip to Washington last week. Representative Bill Kramer, who had held the position since September, was not at the meeting. He checked himself into a treatment facility Saturday for an unspecified reason and has not commented publicly about the allegations. His chief of staff did not respond to requests for comment. “We just cannot condone that kind of activity,” said Representative Dan LeMahieu. The ballot was secret, but the vote for removal was announced as unanimous. Republicans later elected Representative Pat Strachota to replace Mr. Kramer as majority leader for the remainder of the year. The majority leader sets the Assembly’s agenda and works with lawmakers on the process of getting their bills through the process.
|
State legislature;Republicans;Wisconsin;Bill Kramer;Patricia Strachota
|
ny0188930
|
[
"sports",
"othersports"
] |
2009/04/25
|
Formula One’s KERS Revolution Has Not Gone Smoothly
|
Mechanics and track marshals in rubber gloves, technicians wearing gas masks, high-voltage warnings on cars, smoke spewing from cockpits: these are the bizarre new images of Formula One because of a gizmo known as KERS. The introduction of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System , designed to accelerate the car using energy dissipated during braking, has become the biggest story of the Formula One season as it heads into the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday. The system was introduced by the sport’s governing body to make the cars more environmentally friendly — a form of the system is used in hybrid road cars like Toyota’s Prius — and to improve the racing by making passing easier. It is also a useful research tool for the car companies. But teams were rushed to develop and implement the systems and now find themselves debating their future. Some drivers like KERS. They inject the stored energy into the drivetrain by pressing a button on the steering wheel. The rules stipulate that cars may have a maximum of 80 extra horsepower — about 10 percent more than that produced by the engine — for 6.5 seconds per lap. Drivers may use a single burst of power, or multiple short bursts. It has proved to help in passing and at the start. “You use it as much as you can,” said Lewis Hamilton, the reigning world champion who drives for the McLaren Mercedes team. “There are some opportunities when you are behind sometimes to use it all in one lump, which does definitely give you a little bit extra end-of-straight speed to get a tow and have a better chance of overtaking.” Nico Rosberg , a driver for the Williams team, said it was more challenging to drive with KERS, particularly when defending against attacking drivers, “because they come at you very quickly.” He called it “what the sport needs.” Implementing KERS, however, has created problems. The teams were given 18 months to develop the system. Then, as the global financial crisis hit, the International Automobile Federation asked them to vote to delay the introduction of KERS until 2010. One team, BMW Sauber, which wanted to use KERS to help sell BMW road cars, voted against the delay. That was enough to avoid a delay, although implementing KERS became optional. That meant the other teams had to develop systems to keep up. This development was not without hard feelings. Flavio Briatore, the Renault team’s managing director, told the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport last week that KERS cost nearly half his team’s budget . Yet the two teams that have won all the races so far this season — Brawn, which is leading the series, and Red Bull, which finished first and second in China on Sunday — do not use KERS. “Our evaluation prior to the start of the year was that it was more of a strategic tool than a performance tool,” said Christian Horner, Red Bull’s director. “In terms of ultimate performance, we don’t feel it has earned its place on our car yet.” Safety has been another concern. In testing last year, a mechanic at BMW Sauber received a strong electrical shock from the system. Red Bull had to evacuate its factory after a fire related to the system. At the track, if the system short-circuits, the stored energy escapes when the car is grounded. That means the mechanic becomes the ground conduit. Mechanics and track marshals must now wear rubber gloves, and the cars carry “high-voltage” warning signs. At a practice session at the Malaysian Grand Prix on April 3, smoke spewed from the cockpit of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari after KERS short-circuited. The crew intervened wearing gas masks. Charlie Whiting, the International Automobile Federation’s technical and safety delegate, said the system was safe, and others are convinced it will help the car industry. Max Mosley, the federation’s president, predicted that Formula One’s use of the device would spur the development of a superefficient KERS 5 to 10 years sooner than it would arrive otherwise. Some teams have also questioned whether the racing version of KERS is useful for road cars, as it is designed mainly to make the car go faster, not just to improve fuel economy. The potential applications go beyond cars. The Williams team said that its system could be used in elevators, storing energy as the elevator descends and reusing it on the way up. It could also be used in mass transit systems or in helping wind turbines send energy to grids. Ferrari is conflicted about its use on the circuit. It won the manufacturers’ title last year but is having its worst season since 1981, with no points heading into the fourth race. After the episode with Raikkonen’s car, Ferrari opted not to use KERS in China last week, and Felipe Massa , the other Ferrari driver, complained the team was worse off. “It’s a step back, so I hope we can have the KERS back in the next race,” Massa said. “Bahrain is a very important track for KERS, so I hope we can be more competitive.”
|
Automobile Racing;Formula One;International Automobile Federation;Renault SA;Ferrari SpA;Hamilton Lewis;Briatore Flavio
|
ny0165884
|
[
"sports",
"othersports"
] |
2006/09/12
|
Fears for Sport Made Cyclist Come Clean
|
Frankie Andreu, who twice helped Lance Armstrong win the Tour de France, stood in the kitchen of his suburban Detroit home last month and faced the question: Had he ever doped? As his three young children played in the next room, Andreu, 39, bowed his head. At first, he said he did not know what to say. He did not want to answer. Then, he said that thinking about all of the athletes who had lied about drug use compelled him to tell the truth. So he revealed his secret. “I tried my best never to use performance-enhancing drugs,” he said. “I did make a couple of bad choices, but that was a long, long time ago. It’s not something to be proud of. I did use EPO, but only for a couple of races.” Andreu, a widely respected competitor throughout his career and a member of the USA Cycling board, spoke at considerable risk. The United States Anti-Doping Agency can investigate and punish athletes who say they have used performance-enhancing substances. Even so, he said, the guilt of using EPO, a synthetic drug that helps boost endurance, had been eating at him. He compared using the drug for a few races to robbing a bank: “Does it matter if you stole 10 cents or 10 million dollars?” he asked. “It’s still stealing.” Andreu, once Armstrong’s teammate and roommate, said he hoped his admission would help expose the tradition of doping in cycling and perhaps begin to change it. He said he wanted his children to be able to ride professionally someday and not have to use drugs to succeed. Someday, he said, he and his wife, Betsy, would tell their children, who are all under 8, about his decision to use EPO and to later make a stand against it. Until now, however, none of his family members except his wife have known about his past. “I think our kids will appreciate the fact that their father just could not lie,” Betsy Andreu said. “It will teach them to be honest, no matter what the consequences are.” Until July, Frankie Andreu, a two-time Olympian, was co-director of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team, which races in the United States. He was fired because he missed a race, a team spokeswoman said. Shortly before learning of Andreu’s dismissal, Tony Cruz, a rider on the team, said: “We all like Frankie. He is very good at his job.” Betsy Andreu said she thought Frankie was let go because they had testified in a contract dispute between Armstrong and a company called SCA Promotions, which had withheld a bonus from Armstrong because of allegations of doping. In February, Armstrong and the company that owned his race team settled their suit against SCA, receiving the bonus as well as interest and legal fees. The Andreus said they were reluctant to testify, but they were required to do so under a court order. Under oath, they said they both overheard Armstrong, who had been found to have cancer, tell his oncologists that he had used performance-enhancing drugs. Armstrong testified that no one at the hospital had asked him if he had used performance-enhancing drugs, and he denied using such drugs. He also challenged the motives of the Andreus. Nearly a dozen people in cycling declined to be interviewed about the Andreus, saying they feared for their jobs because of Armstrong’s influence in the sport. The Andreus wonder how Frankie’s confession will affect his future. He has been a television commentator at the Tour and does motivational speaking about cycling. He has a small real estate business in Dearborn, Mich., to fall back on, but he says he still dreads being called “a rat, a narc or a traitor.” Nonetheless, he says he hopes others come forward. He said a program should be established for athletes to disclose details about doping without facing punishment. “Everybody’s afraid to talk because they don’t want to implicate themselves,” he said. “But there are guys out there who love the sport and who hate doping. They are the guys who have to speak up if the sport is going to survive.”
|
Armstrong Lance;Steroids;Bicycles and Bicycling;Tour de France (Bicycle Race);USA Cycling;Andreu Frankie
|
ny0250038
|
[
"sports",
"basketball"
] |
2011/02/18
|
After a Stagnant 12 Months, the N.B.A. Faces Its Own Labor Countdown
|
Before they can celebrate Derrick Rose’s ascendance, Kevin Durant’s dominance or Blake Griffin’s hang time , the N.B.A. ’s brightest minds and brightest players will gather in a hotel conference room and beg one another not to ruin it all. For the next three days in downtown Los Angeles, the N.B.A. will do what it does best — promote itself, in bold, boisterous strokes. This year’s All-Star party will be staged at Staples Center, home to a dunking virtuoso (Griffin) and the defending champions (the Lakers). The show begins Friday night with the rookie-sophomore game. On Saturday, Griffin will be the top attraction, as the favorite in the dunk competition. The All-Star Game is Sunday. The Carmelo Anthony trade drama will be ever present. One meeting may overshadow it all. Early Friday afternoon, the lead negotiators for the N.B.A. and the players union will hold a bargaining session in Beverly Hills — the latest attempt to break a 12-month stalemate on a new labor deal. There has been no meaningful movement, and no expectation that anything will change Friday. Conditions will be less than ideal. The union has invited all of the All-Star players to attend. The league has invited every owner. There could be 60 people in the room — hardly a setting for serious negotiations. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking ever more loudly. The parties have until June 30 to reach a deal or risk a lockout — an eventuality that the union’s executive director, Billy Hunter, has called 99 percent certain. “I wouldn’t say that I’m 99 percent sure,” the Atlanta Hawks’ Etan Thomas, a member of the union’s executive committee, said this week at a celebrity bowling tournament in Manhattan to benefit the John Starks Foundation. “I would say we have a really long way to go.” Owners are proposing a fundamental overhaul of the N.B.A.’s economic system, including a hard salary cap, shorter contracts and a 38 percent reduction in player salaries (about $800 million). The players want to retain the existing soft-cap system — which permits teams to exceed the salary cap under certain circumstances — with a few modest concessions. Each side has dismissed the other’s proposal as a nonstarter. Although both parties advocate more revenue sharing among teams, they view that issue through different prisms. With four and a half months to go, the urgency is real. “I think the clock needs to start now,” said Adam Silver, the N.B.A.’s deputy commissioner. Referring to Friday’s meeting, he said: “I don’t have any expectation that we’ll make any substantive progress. But hopefully we can start to build the trust that will ultimately be required to get a deal done.” In some respect, the N.B.A. is following in the staggered footsteps of the N.F.L. , which recently had to balance the pageantry of the Super Bowl with its own sobering labor talks. The N.F.L.’s collective bargaining agreement expires March 4; a lockout appears likely. Although the two leagues are grappling with fundamentally different issues, each has a vested interest in the other’s conflict. The N.F.L. has sued its players union to prevent decertification. The National Basketball Players Association is also considering decertification in case negotiations fail. A ruling in the N.F.L. case could affect the N.B.A. “I think in some ways they are laying out the blueprint of what the N.B.A. and the N.B.A. players association might go through,” said Gabe Feldman, the director of sports law at Tulane, who is following labor talks in both leagues. The N.B.A. could take notes on many things, including legal proceedings and public-relations strategy. “I think the N.B.A. and the N.B.P.A. can sort of go to school on what’s happening right now” in the N.F.L., Feldman said. He added, “There are certainly different pressure points for each, but the general strategy we’re seeing could be the same.” The major sports leagues have often taken cues from one another, and borrow from one another’s economic systems. The N.F.L. is now pushing for a rookie wage scale, something the N.B.A. instituted in 1995. The N.B.A. wants a hard cap, which the N.F.L. adopted in 1994. “One thing we would like to borrow from the N.F.L. is to turn this into a profitable league,” Silver said wryly. Some N.B.A. owners are also advocating an N.F.L.-style franchise tag to keep star players from becoming free agents. That proposal is not yet on the table, however. “I’ve had a lot of N.B.A. teams that have called and asked me about the concept of a franchise tag and how that works,” said the agent Mark Bartelstein, whose firm, Priority Sports and Entertainment, represents N.F.L. and N.B.A. players. Bartelstein said he had also heard from N.F.L. executives inquiring about the N.B.A.’s rookie scale. “What people tend to do is they cherry-pick the things that they like from different leagues,” Bartelstein said. He added, “I think there’s some momentum from a deal being done in one league to a deal being done in the other.” The nation’s economic problems have played a role in both labor showdowns. Those pressures are more acute in the N.B.A., which says it is losing more than $300 million a year. According to Forbes magazine, 17 of 30 franchises lost money last year. N.B.A. officials say the number is actually higher and have given audited financial records to the union to back up that contention. The players union disputes the league’s figures. Outwardly, the N.B.A. appears healthy. Attendance is up, modestly (by .72 percent), and the league is on pace for its highest viewership ever on TNT (up 33 percent) and ESPN (up 20 percent). Local broadcasts have also shown big increases. But league officials say that the cost of doing business — selling tickets, maintaining arenas, promoting the games and signing players — has also gone up. The N.B.A.’s proposed solution, a hard cap and a rollback in salaries, echoes the strategy taken by the N.H.L., which sacrificed the 2004-5 season to gain those concessions. That labor deal expires next year. Major League Baseball’s expires in December. Of the four leagues, Feldman says the N.B.A. is the most likely to lose games to a labor stoppage, because its owners are seeking the most drastic changes. “The N.B.A. is the diciest,” he said, adding, “That wouldn’t shock me to see some of their games canceled.” For now, N.B.A. players and league officials are trying to maintain a sunny outlook. Silver said that although there had been no change in the two sides’ positions, “there may have been some softening of positions.” Maurice Evans, a member of the union’s executive committee, said he believed both sides “have had nothing but good intentions.” The positive feelings may or may not last through the weekend. It seems doubtful they will last through June. “We’re goal posts away,” Thomas said, invoking a football analogy to describe basketball’s labor divide. “End zone to end zone.”
|
Labor and Jobs;National Basketball Assn;National Basketball Players Assn
|
ny0001849
|
[
"business",
"economy"
] |
2013/03/30
|
Reports Show Income Is Up, and So Is Spending
|
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Consumer spending rose in February and Americans’ outlooks perked up this month, further signs of an acceleration in economic activity in the first quarter after a near stall late last year. Data reported on Friday also showed a rebound in income growth, putting the economy in a better shape to deal with tighter fiscal policy, particularly $85 billion in across-the-board federal government spending cuts known as the sequester. “The economy is in a good place now in terms of momentum and strength, and it will need it as the government spending cuts will take something off growth as the year progresses,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York. Consumer spending increased 0.7 percent last month after a 0.4 percent rise in January, the Commerce Department said. Part of the increase in spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of United States economic activity, was because of higher gasoline prices. But Americans also bought long-lasting goods like automobiles and spent more on services. The price of gas rose 35 cents a gallon last month. After adjusting for inflation, spending was up 0.3 percent after rising by the same margin in January. Economists said it was headed toward its fastest growth pace since 2010. “It appears that consumer spending actually accelerated in the first quarter despite the tax hikes implemented at the start of the year,” said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York. Some economists bumped up their first-quarter economic growth estimates. Barclays raised its gross domestic product forecast by 0.7 percentage point, to 3.3 percent. Macroeconomic Advisers lifted its estimate by three-tenths of a point to 3.5 percent. The economy grew a 0.4 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter. A separate report showed that households this month seemed to shrug off the deep government spending cuts. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment rose to a reading of 78.6, from 77.6 in February. “Consumers have discounted the administration’s warning that economic catastrophe would follow the reductions in federal spending, and consumers have renewed their expectation that gains in employment will accelerate through the rest of 2013,” said the survey’s director, Richard Curtin. And they have reason to be optimistic. With steady improvement in the labor market, income increased a healthy 1.1 percent after tumbling 3.7 percent in January. Employment growth gained steam in February, factory activity touched a one-and-a-half-year high and first-time filings for jobless benefits have increased just modestly so far in March. Last month, the income at the disposal of households after inflation and taxes increased 0.7 percent, after dropping 4 percent in January. With income growth outpacing spending, the saving rate — the percentage of disposable income that households save — rose to 2.6 percent, from 2.2 percent in January. The higher gasoline prices pushed up inflation, with a price index for consumer spending rising 0.4 percent after being flat for two straight months. February’s increase in the PCE index was the largest since August. But a core reading that strips out food and energy costs rose only 0.1 percent after increasing 0.2 percent in January, showing no sign of underlying inflation pressures. Core prices were up 1.3 percent, well below the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target. The benign inflation picture should give the Fed room to continue with its monetary stimulus as it seeks to bolster job growth.
|
Economy;Commerce Department;Inflation;Consumer behaviour;Income;US Economy
|
ny0024906
|
[
"business"
] |
2013/08/07
|
Washington Steps Warily on Housing
|
WASHINGTON — In the seven years since the housing market started to fall apart, politicians of both parties have promised repeatedly to build a better system for financing the American dream of owning a home. There is little sign of progress. Instead, the stopgap nationalization of housing finance has hardened into one of the most enduring legacies of the Great Recession. The federal government guaranteed about 87 percent of new mortgage loans last year, through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration, effectively setting the terms and providing the money for nine out of 10 home purchases and refinanced loans. In a speech on Tuesday, President Obama signaled that Washington may finally be returning to the place where the financial crisis started. With the housing market on the mend, Mr. Obama said it was time to “wind down” Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “I believe that our housing system should operate where there’s a limited government role and private lending should be the backbone of the housing market,” Mr. Obama said in Phoenix, a city that is a symbol of both housing booms and busts. The president praised a bipartisan Senate effort to replace Fannie and Freddie with a system that would charge lenders for explicit government guarantees of some mortgage loans. And while there is a risk that the cost of borrowing would increase, Mr. Obama also said that he wanted to preserve the wide availability of the 30-year, fixed-rate loans that are preferred by most Americans. House Republicans are proposing a sharper retreat, preserving only the government’s support for lending to lower-income families. Proponents say it, too, would preserve the availability of 30-year fixed-rate loans, though they are not widely available in countries without government-backed systems. “Washington has suddenly come alive on housing finance reform,” said David Stevens, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association, who headed the Federal Housing Administration during Mr. Obama’s first term. “We saw nothing substantive prior to this year, but now we’re in a housing recovery and the odds have clearly improved given that both the House and Senate have weighed in.” For all the talk, however, it will be difficult to alter the government’s role in housing finance, which has remained substantially unchanged for half a century — notwithstanding Fannie and Freddie’s move from informal to formal wards of the state. That is because Americans like cheap mortgage loans and it is hard to preserve the benefits without the costs of the current system. Fannie, Freddie and the Federal Housing Administration backed 87 percent of new mortgage loans over the last five years, the same share they backed in 2012, according to estimates by Inside Mortgage Finance, a trade publication. In the years before the crisis, less than 40 percent of the market was government-backed. The government’s heavy hand is holding down interest rates, helping the housing market and the broader economy to recover. The average rate on a 30-year loan was 4.37 percent in July, according to Freddie Mac, a full percentage point above rates earlier in the year, but still very low by historical standards. There is growing concern, however, that the government’s risk aversion and the absence of private competition are suppressing the availability of loans. The average credit score for borrowers whose loans were bought by Freddie Mac rose to 756 in 2012 from 720 in 2006, according to its securities filings. Video The president outlined his plans to help responsible Americans own homes and addressed he bipartisan effort to overhaul the mortgage finance giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Credit Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times “Every few days somebody comes in who in my mind should be able to get a mortgage loan, and I have to turn them away,” said Louis Barnes, a mortgage lender with the Premier Mortgage Group in Boulder, Colo. “It’s like trying to push ice cream out of the wrong end of the ice cream cone.” Mortgage companies, backed by some federal officials, say Fannie and Freddie are being too aggressive in pursuing refunds from lenders when borrowers default, leading lenders to reject applicants they deem even mildly risky. Other critics of Fannie and Freddie make the opposite point, that government support for housing, by making mortgage loans more affordable, is distorting the economy. The government, they say, is subsidizing homeownership, with much of the benefit flowing to affluent Americans, at the expense of biomedical research or bridge repairs. Most of all, demands for an overhaul of the current system reflect the confounding reality that the government, which spent vast sums cleaning up the last housing crash, is still promising to pay for the next one. “Taxpayers are taking on trillions in risk for no discernible policy goal,” said Karen Shaw Petrou, managing partner of Federal Financial Analytics, a consulting firm. “The government is running the market, but there is no coherent policy. You have taxpayers subsidizing mansions in much of the country.” The list of obstacles, however, only begins with the generic facts that the Republican House and the Democratic Senate are agreeing on legislation of any kind at a historically low rate, and that both parties are bracing for fiscal battles this fall. The real challenge is drafting a replacement. The terms of the government’s involvement in housing finance have remained substantially unchanged because the benefits are wildly popular with powerful interest groups, including banks, builders, real estate agents — and, of course, homeowners. Previous generations of politicians created Fannie and Freddie as a means of providing those benefits while pretending the costs did not exist. The companies were declared to be private during the fat years, and their shareholders profited handsomely, even as everyone understood that the government would stand behind the companies during the lean years. That strategy has probably been exhausted, as Washington appears to have lost its appetite for implicit guarantees. That leaves an unpalatable choice between making the cost of the system an explicit government obligation, or making it harder for Americans to buy homes. Any reduction in government support for the mortgage market is likely to increase the cost of home borrowing. Plans to revive private sources of financing for mortgage loans also need to be harmonized with the government’s countervailing efforts to reduce risk-taking by financial institutions. Some analysts are worried that new rules and regulations will limit the ability or willingness of the market to finance mortgage loans. Alex J. Pollock, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said he was confident that lenders would learn to operate within the rules — or learn to go around them — but he added that the effort required to do so would be billed to the borrowers. “Enterprising companies are very able to figure out how to deal with these regulations, but that’s not free,” he said. “The loans will cost more.”
|
Mortgage loan;Real Estate; Housing;US Economy;Banking and Finance;Federal National Mortgage Assn Fannie Mae;Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp Freddie Mac;FHA
|
ny0212032
|
[
"us"
] |
2017/01/30
|
Texas Mosque Gutted by Mysterious Blaze Raises More Than $900,000 to Rebuild
|
A Texas mosque that was gutted by fire over the weekend has raised about $900,000 in donations since Saturday to go toward rebuilding, a mosque official said on Monday. Dr. Shahid Hashmi, a surgeon who in 2000 helped found the mosque, the Victoria Islamic Center, said that both an online fund-raising campaign and separate offerings of cash and checks from the local community had pushed total donations over $900,000. By the afternoon the online portion alone had reached over $910,000. The money will go toward rebuilding the 4,000-square-foot prayer and community center in Victoria, home to about 66,000 people, about 100 miles southwest of Houston. It was the only Muslim community center and place of worship for the approximately 40 Muslim families in the city, Dr. Hashmi said. Speaking during a break between surgeries, he said the mosque “is totally gone.” Image Officials outside the mosque investigating the fire that destroyed it. Credit Mohammad Khursheed/Reuters Some people have offered to perform carpentry work, lend their trucking services and knit new prayer rugs, while churches and a synagogue have offered space to Muslim members to pray and hold meetings, according to Dr. Hashmi and the fund-raising page. “Jewish community members walked into my home and gave me a key to the synagogue,” he said. “Churches came and prayed with us, and people brought cash and checks.” The investigation into how the mosque was consumed by fire before dawn on Saturday was continuing. The Victoria Fire Chief, Taner Drake, said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was helping to investigate, but he had no information about any leads, according to The Victoria Advocate. “That process can take days, weeks or even months,” he was quoted as saying. Dr. Hashmi said Muslims belonging to the mosque have been praying outside since the fire. They were also using a separate building on the grounds that had been undergoing a transformation into a free medical clinic to help poor residents of the neighborhood. Dr. Hashmi said that the mosque had been burglarized about a week ago and that it had been defaced by a youth who was made to apologize and carry out community service. The Victoria Advocate reported in 2013 that the person had scrawled “H8,” shorthand for “hate,” on the outside of the building. Officials have spent the past few days emphasizing that they had not established the cause of the fire. They have tried to distance the blaze from the national discourse about the order signed by President Trump last week that suspends entry to refugees and citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — all Muslim-majority nations. Abe Ajrami, a member of the Victoria mosque, said during a news conference this weekend that the donations were coming from across the country and abroad to rebuild the mosque, which he said was “a place where our kids grew up.” He added, “We have a lot of memories in this place.” Image Credit Barclay Fernandez/The Victoria Advocate, via Associated Press “I don't care what they say out there in national media; this is a beautiful city and we have wonderful neighbors,” Mr. Ajrami said, according to The Victoria Advocate. Muslim leaders and supporters from other faiths said last week that intolerance against Muslims had been on the rise both nationally and in Texas. After State Representative Kyle Biedermann sent more than 400 surveys to Texas Muslim leaders for their views on Islamic extremism, Muslim leaders said the surveys could stir intolerance ahead of Texas Muslim Capitol Day, Tuesday, during which Muslims visit the Capitol and meet lawmakers. Dr. Hashmi said the mosque grew from just a few families in the city to a place that held 500-strong capacity building where prayers and religious celebrations were held and families gathered on Friday nights to share meals. He said he learned the mosque was on fire when the imam called after receiving a notification that the alarm had been triggered. Dr. Hashmi and others who rushed to the site stood outside in the dark watching as the building was destroyed by fire. “When we all got there,” he said, “the flames were already coming out of the roof.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation, city and state police, and the sheriff’s department have assisted in the fire investigation, which can typically take a minimum of several weeks but sometimes can take months, said O.C. Garza, a city spokesman. The agencies finished collecting evidence on Monday. “Given the nature of this fire and what was burned we are hoping to get the results back quicker than that,” he said in a telephone message.
|
Mosque;Fires;Muslim Americans;Victoria TX
|
ny0126529
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2012/08/15
|
Egyptian Court Sentences 14 in Deadly Sinai Attack
|
An Egyptian court sentenced to death 14 people it said were Islamist militants for a deadly attack on a police station in North Sinai last year, a court official said Tuesday. The ruling may add to tension in the region bordering Israel , where fighting between security forces and militants has intensified since Aug. 5, when 16 border guards were killed in an attack also attributed to Islamists.
|
Attacks on Police;Sentences (Criminal);International Relations;Sinai Peninsula (Egypt);Israel;Egypt;Capital Punishment
|
ny0242550
|
[
"world"
] |
2011/03/19
|
U.S. Pledges Rights Improvements
|
The United States disavowed torture on Friday and pledged to treat terrorism suspects humanely, but rejected calls to drop the death penalty, as the United Nations carried out its first review of Washington’s human rights record. At the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the American envoy, Harold Koh, said the United States would agree to improvements in areas including civil rights, national security and immigration , and would not tolerate torture or the inhumane treatment of suspects at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility in Cuba. But he said the United States would not change its policy on the death penalty, which critics say is inhumane and unfairly applied. Mr. Koh said capital punishment was permitted under international law.
|
Human Rights and Human Rights Violations;United States;Capital Punishment;United Nations;United Nations Human Rights Council
|
ny0262605
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2011/12/04
|
From a Cold Apartment to a Utica College Dormitory
|
The bullies in middle and high school did not care much for Jonathan Ferreira’s love of Beyoncé, the singer with the enviable moves. When he performed her dance steps, other students called him gay. “I was always into Beyoncé,” Mr. Ferreira, 19, said in an aunt’s Bronx apartment on a recent weekend visit from college. His appreciation, however, led to confrontations. “I was in a couple of fights,” he said. But he added: “I knew who I was. I like Beyoncé. Big deal.” The bullies are but a memory now, one that is nothing compared to the memory of enduring cold winters in New York City while he was growing up poor. In his new dorm room at Utica College, he has one important thing that he did not have in the small room that he shared with his mother in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx: a warm place to sleep. As Mr. Ferreira wrote in his college application essay: “My teeth were chattering as I sat there shivering in my ice cube of an apartment. The only thing keeping me warm was a thin quilt and my mother’s body heat. The black bags covering the broken windows were not keeping any of the cold out.” Mr. Ferreira’s mother, Ana Reyes, immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic before he was born, and he said his father abandoned the family when Mr. Ferreira was still a child. Ms. Reyes worked 14 to 15 hours a day in a porcelain doll factory, and then as a hairstylist, before she became disabled by diabetes when he was in middle school. When she worked, Mr. Ferreira said, her feet would swell from standing for long hours. “She would beg me to give her a massage because her feet would just hurt,” he said. Though his mother dropped out of school, she taught him that education was the best way to escape a life of poverty. So he excelled. An honors student, he finished in the top 10 percent of his class at Renaissance High School for Musical Theater and Technology , where he had taken advanced-placement courses and participated in College Now , a free program allowing him to take courses at Lehman College like macroeconomics and theater. Ms. Reyes may have been a force behind his education, but with her income she could not provide all the tools. She receives $697 a month in Supplemental Security Income because of her disability, and she and her son get a total of $50 in food stamps every two weeks. His mother still lives in the room in Morris Heights, for which she pays $150 a month. Because Mr. Ferreira had no computer at home, he would leave home by 6 a.m. so he could arrive at school before classes and use the computers there to finish his homework. His efforts paid off: he was accepted into 15 colleges but chose Utica, enrolling with 19 college credits. As he was preparing to apply to college, Mr. Ferreira sought assistance from St. Raymond Community Outreach , an affiliate of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York , one of the seven agencies supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. St. Raymond provided a $300 stipend, which he used to pay for the SAT. The organization also helped furnish his Utica dorm room with sheets, towels and a mattress. Catholic Charities drew $350 from the fund to help pay for textbooks. But with higher education come additional expenses. Although Mr. Ferreira received about $4,000 in grants and loans to attend Utica, he still needs to raise another $4,000 each semester. Despite the hardships, Mr. Ferreira carries himself with a friendly air and an easy smile. He has a full schedule of academic work, attends a Zumba fitness class and is a member of the swimming team and a step-dancing team. He still enjoys learning the complex choreography of a certain musical diva. When he imagines his life 10 years from now, Mr. Ferreira said, his career path is a little fuzzy. An engineer, perhaps? An economist? Maybe even a Zumba instructor. One thing is clear, though: “I do see myself in a house close to the city, living with my mother,” he said. “But this time, I will be supporting her.”
|
Philanthropy;Colleges and Universities;New York Times Neediest Cases Fund;Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York;Ferreira Jonathan
|
ny0146847
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2008/07/26
|
Flea Market Is a Success, and Neighbors Are Furious
|
Even as the Brooklyn Flea was being called a watershed addition to the continuing refurbishment of the borough’s brownstone neighborhoods, the market’s founder, Jonathan Butler, had an inkling that perhaps it did not square with everybody’s idea of what Sunday in Brooklyn should be. There was that e-mail message in April, just after the Flea’s opening day, to Mr. Butler, creator of the blog Brownstoner.com . “A guy wrote to me and basically said, ‘Thanks a lot, man, I cannot go and get my coffee on Sunday morning without having to fight my way through thousands of people on my block,’ ” Mr. Butler recalled in an interview. “I guess if 20,000 people showed up on my block one day and I wasn’t expecting it, it would be pretty overwhelming. But I mean, we’ve gotten hundreds of e-mails from people telling us how much they love the Flea, how great it is for the community.” This week, the charmed young life of the Brooklyn Flea, which occupies a corner lot at Vanderbilt and Lafayette Avenues in Fort Greene (and which Mr. Butler said drew 20,000 visitors the first time out, and 5,000 on many Sundays since) finally encountered its first wave of organized antipathy as well as accusations of disrespect for the Sabbath. At an angry two-hour meeting with Mr. Butler and his partner, Eric Demby, on Thursday night, scores of unhappy neighbors and parishioners of Queen of All Saints, a Roman Catholic Church across the street from the Flea, demanded, by turns, the modifying, rescheduling, moving or shuttering of the flea market, saying the crowds have discouraged people from attending Mass. What adds a layer to this fairly familiar neighborhood tension between longtime, mostly black residents and wealthier, mostly white, newcomers is a sort of role reversal for Mr. Butler and the Flea’s fans. They fancy themselves protectors of so-called Brownstone Brooklyn, defending their adopted homelands of Fort Greene and Clinton, Cobble and Boerum Hills from rampant, insensitive gentrification. So it is disorienting, to say the least, to be cast as the local villains ruining a neighborhood. “On Brownstoner, I often call people out on ugly developments, or contractors I see who are doing things without getting landmark permits,” Mr. Butler said at a tavern in Dumbo the other day. “The blog certainly does act as a sort of watchdog for preservation and compliance.” Mr. Demby, who sat beside him, added: “The flea market is about a response to the commercialization or the mallification of Brooklyn. We know as much about the fabric of the community as anyone.” But many church members and others in the neighborhood painted them as just another insensitive set of interlopers who don’t understand the local mores. Msgr. Andrew J. Vaccari said that several weeks ago, “there were people coming into the church with no intention of going to church,” by which he meant that marketgoers had been spotted using the church bathroom. One parishioner, Kathleen Walsh, who said she had been a member of the church since her birth in 1942, pointed out: “We have always been here. A lot of people just found us recently.” Another woman decried the “hordes of people” who descend on her neighborhood every week, and said, “It doesn’t feel like home anymore.” Mr. Butler, 38, started Brownstoner in 2004, when he was working in the hedge-fund division of a large Wall Street firm that he would not name. He and his young family were in the process of renovating a Clinton Hill town house (with nine nonworking fireplaces) that they bought that year for under $1 million. He grew up on the Upper East Side and graduated from St. Bernard’s, Groton, Princeton, and N.Y.U. business school. One of his great-grandfathers, James Gamble Rogers, was a prominent architect who designed many of the Gothic buildings at Yale. Brownstoner gets about 150,000 unique viewers a month on the Web site, he said. He and Mr. Demby, 36, a former speechwriter for the Brooklyn borough president, said that they started the Flea in hopes of creating a communal exchange of goods and good will. It now has more than 100 vendors each week hawking midcentury furniture and salvaged architectural items, indie rock T-shirts for toddlers, and antique Japanese kimonos, gourmet Indian food and “artisanal” Belgian waffles. The market has plenty of fans, and not just the throngs who push strollers through its stalls each Sunday. Patricia Mulcahey said that her coffee shop, Tillie’s, around the corner on DeKalb Avenue, “had by far our biggest day ever on their opening day,” and that she had not “heard anybody complain about the Flea until this.” The gathering at Queen of All Saints was the fourth meeting of the opposition, but the first to include Mr. Butler and Mr. Demby. They, and many supporters who showed up — including City Councilwoman Letitia James and State Senator Velmanette Montgomery — tried to downplay the complaints as easily fixable logistical snags, pointing out that they had recently posted No Parking signs on certain blocks and rented two portable bathrooms. Mr. Demby said he had called the church in December to announce the market’s arrival and was told “by whoever answered the phone” that it would make a nice addition to the neighborhood. He said he first heard complaints, secondhand, in May. “To the extent that we could’ve done more, we apologize,” he told parishioners on Thursday night, noting that the market paid rent for the grounds to Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, and offered discounted booths to nonprofit organizations. But the meeting’s tone grew hostile almost immediately as people shouted suggestions to move the market “closer to your house,” or to Saturdays. Ms. Walsh, the longtime parishioner, began to shake when she spoke. “The issue is not gentrification,” she said. ‘The issue is the sanctity of Sunday. The celebration of the Sabbath to those of us at Queen of All Saints is very precious. And I wonder, I muse aloud, would such an entity be allowed to be across from a synagogue on a Saturday?” At this, there were gasps and groans from the people in the room. But then another church member invoked Crown Heights. “You better believe this would not have happened there, with the Hasidic Jews,” she said, adding, “If it can’t happen on a Jewish Sabbath, it can’t happen on a Christian Sabbath.” Having started out listening patiently with an expression of understanding, Mr. Butler by meeting’s end had begun to roll his eyes, while Mr. Demby stared into the distance, shaking his head. They did not directly engage the religious question, nor did they offer to reschedule the Flea, since the high school sometimes uses the space, an asphalt track and field loop, on Saturdays. “Jonathan and I have started a business which we now own,” Mr. Demby told the audience. “Dictating the hours of our business does not seem reasonable to me.” The Flea’s supporters cheered, and he continued: “We want to hear your specific concerns. If you just don’t like us, there’s not a whole lot that we can do.” (On Friday, Councilwoman James said that she had asked Mr. Butler and Mr. Demby to consider moving the Flea to Saturdays.) John Soraci, an architect who is fond of the flea market, said at the meeting that in his neighborhood, local churches “disrespect the community on a weekly basis” with noisy gatherings of their own. “So when you want to talk about respect and peace and quiet, no one has the right to that,” he said. “I don’t have the right to that. I live in Brooklyn.”
|
Flea Markets;Brooklyn (NYC)
|
ny0027347
|
[
"world",
"middleeast"
] |
2013/01/17
|
Netanyahu Issues Veiled Barb After Reported Criticism From Obama
|
JERUSALEM — Days before an Israeli election that he is expected to win, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday directed a veiled barb at President Obama, who was quoted this week as denouncing Mr. Netanyahu’s policies. Relations between the two leaders have long been marked by tension that has erupted on occasion into open hostility, particularly over the handling of Iran’s nuclear program and Israeli settlement plans. Israeli commentators said the latest exchange of messages suggested that future relations between Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu could be equally fraught. In a column published by Bloomberg View on Monday , Jeffrey Goldberg, an American journalist who is well acquainted with Israel, wrote that in the weeks after the United Nations General Assembly voted in November to upgrade the status of Palestine to that of a nonmember observer state of the United Nations, “Obama said privately and repeatedly, ‘Israel doesn’t know what its own best interests are.’ With each new settlement announcement, in Obama’s view, Netanyahu is moving his country down a path toward near-total isolation.” Responding to a journalist’s question about the comments and the timing during a televised visit to a military base on Wednesday, Mr. Netanyahu said, “I think everyone understands that only Israeli citizens will be the ones who determine who faithfully represents the vital interests of Israel.” Many Israelis regard Mr. Goldberg as being well connected to Mr. Obama, citing a widely publicized interview by Mr. Goldberg with the president that The Atlantic published in March. Mr. Obama said then, regarding Iran, “I think that the Israeli government recognizes that, as president of the United States, I don’t bluff,” and, “In terms of Israeli politics, there’s been a view that regardless of whether it’s a Democratic or Republican administration, the working assumption is: we’ve got Israel’s back.” Asked for a response to Mr. Goldberg’s column, Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said: “I can’t confirm that specific comment or what was allegedly discussed in private meetings. The president has been clear in stating what he believes is a realistic basis for successful negotiations, and we will continue to base our efforts on that approach.” The stinging criticism attributed to Mr. Obama made headlines in Israel , not least because of the timing. Months ago, Mr. Netanyahu was widely perceived as meddling in the American presidential campaign in favor of the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney. Now, some Israeli commentators posited, it is payback time. Others suggested that Mr. Obama’s criticism could only help Mr. Netanyahu, a conservative who is battling political parties further to his right. Tensions peaked last fall, before the American election, when Mr. Netanyahu publicly criticized the Obama administration for refusing to set clear “red lines” on Iran’s nuclear progress and said that, as a result, the administration had no “moral right” to restrain Israel from taking military action of its own. The Netanyahu government’s frequent announcements of plans to build more Jewish homes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the annexed East Jerusalem have been also been continual sources of friction. Washington has long viewed settlement construction as an obstacle to peace. With the Palestinians demanding a settlement freeze before returning to the negotiating table, Israeli-Palestinian talks have been stalled for years. Mr. Netanyahu blames the Palestinians for the stagnation, saying he is ready for talks without preconditions. Soon after the General Assembly voted to upgrade the status of the Palestinians, the Netanyahu government announced that it would advance plans to settle a particularly contentious area of the West Bank known as E1. Mr. Obama “didn’t even bother getting angry,” Mr. Goldberg wrote. “He told several people that this sort of behavior on Netanyahu’s part is what he has come to expect, and he suggested that he has become inured to what he sees as self-defeating policies of his Israeli counterpart.” Moshe Yaalon, Israel’s minister of strategic affairs, told Israel Radio on Wednesday that Mr. Netanyahu had led the country responsibly, and that some of his actions found favor with the United States and Europe while others did not. Asked about the timing of Mr. Goldberg’s column, so soon before Israeli elections set for Tuesday, Mr. Yaalon said that perhaps the journalist had chosen this “sensitive time” to publish it. Mr. Goldberg, a columnist for Bloomberg and a national correspondent for The Atlantic, dismissed speculation that his column had been timed to influence the Israeli election. “Think of the column as coming out after the E1 announcement rather than before the election,” Mr. Goldberg said by telephone. Arguing that American criticism of Israeli settlement building was nothing new, he added, “My column just reflects the ongoing concerns of the administration.”
|
Israel;Benjamin Netanyahu;UN;Jeffrey Goldberg;Barack Obama;Palestinians;Iran
|
ny0080102
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2015/02/08
|
A Cozy Living Room With a Barista: Roots Cafe in the South Slope
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On a slushy Saturday morning, Ashley Brazenor, 30, was babysitting for 2-year-old Beckett Abbott at Roots Cafe. She ordered a cold-brew iced coffee and a tofu scramble with vegan cheese — no toast, extra Sriracha — while Beckett nibbled on a berry muffin. Bluegrass riffs bounced off walls lined with washboards, acoustic guitars and mounted driftwood. A line snaked almost to the door, as patrons waited to order ginger apple cider or egg-and-cheese burritos slathered with mashed avocados and black beans. Foot traffic is heavy at the cafe, which occupies a sliver of a storefront on Fifth Avenue and 18th Street in the South Slope. The narrow space doesn’t leave much room for tables. No matter — customers bundled up in flannel button-downs and knit caps pack in and stand, share a spot on worn leather chairs and tattered fabric seats, or sit on one another’s laps. Sometimes they just plop down on the wooden floor, especially during after-hours poetry or music events. “The cozier, the better,” Amanda Neill, the 33-year-old owner, said. “It’s like our living room.” The original owner, Jamey Hamm, left the business a year ago to become a stay-at-home father. “He wanted it to stay in the family,” Ms. Neill said. “He didn’t want it to become some French restaurant. He hoped it would stay Roots.” While not family, Ms. Neill was certainly a kindred spirit. She met Mr. Hamm at Trinity Grace Church, where both play worship music. (They also formed the folksy duo Barefoot and Bankside, a homage to days splashing in Southern swimming holes.) Ms. Neill, a former nursing student who relocated from Nashville four years ago with her husband, Christian, had been working as a temp at a hedge fund to pay off $75,000 in student-loan debt. She was grateful for the income, but the job was not a good fit. “If you meet me for 10 seconds,” she said, “you know that the finance world is not right for me.” When her year-end bonus matched Mr. Hamm’s asking price, she said, “I knew we were supposed to buy it.” A sign that Mr. Hamm had hung below the counter conveys the cafe’s motto: “He who enters here is a stranger but once.” Rick Lopez, 40, is no stranger. His apartment is just around the corner, and he orders the same thing every day. “A black coffee,” Mr. Lopez said, “then two refills.” He spends an hour perched on a stool by the window overlooking Fifth Avenue, writing song lyrics or reading spy novels. “I haven’t made breakfast in my kitchen since the first week I lived here,” he said. The walls, too, are lined with people’s stories. An apron hanging behind the register is printed with scribbled recipes for biscuits and chocolate oatmeal cookies from Ms. Neill’s grandmother. Much of the décor once resided in customers’ homes. Kimi Mongello, 30, sipped coffee while her grandfather’s stamp collection of the states hung by a long communal table. “It’s nice to come and see it here,” she said. Along with mugs of Ithaca-roasted Forty Weight coffee and Margaret Palca muffins (which Ms. Palca delivers herself on her bike), Ms. Neill doles out friendly advice about navigating the bustle of life. “People will come in and tick off their to-do list. I’ll tell them, ‘You’ve got to cancel about seven of those activities and eat some cheese,’ ” she said. She hopes people will savor a few quiet moments before dashing out the door. Her husband nodded in agreement. “She likes to send them on their way,” he said.
|
South Park Slope Brooklyn;Restaurant;Roots Cafe
|
ny0180460
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2007/08/24
|
Trenton: Immigrant Forced to Work
|
A West Windsor woman pleaded guilty yesterday in State Superior Court to criminal restraint for forcing a Filipino immigrant to care for her sick husband and do housekeeping, state prosecutors said. The woman, Angelita Reyes, 68, admitted that she had exploited the immigrant, Arlene Gado, 23, by paying her a fraction of what she was promised and forbidding her to leave the Reyes house unless accompanied by her employers. Prosecutors said Ms. Gado agreed to come to the United States to care for the children of Ms. Reyes’s son-in-law Anthony Mandap, who is the Philippines ’ vice consul in San Francisco. But instead of working for Mr. Mandap, Ms. Gado was forced to care for Ms. Reyes’s ailing husband, Norberto, prosecutors said. Ms. Gado’s passport and visa were taken away and she was told she could not leave the house alone because she would be arrested, prosecutors said. If the judge accepts Ms. Reyes’s plea, she will be sentenced to probation, said Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office.
|
Immigration and Refugees;Crime and Criminals;Trenton (NJ);Philippines;New Jersey
|
ny0262534
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2011/12/03
|
House G.O.P. Split on Payroll Tax
|
WASHINGTON — Deep rifts among House Republicans over a payroll tax break became evident Friday as rank-and-file members of the caucus told their leaders that they did not want to extend the cut in Social Security taxes for another year, as demanded by President Obama . Given the effort Democrats are making to capitalize on the issue, Speaker John A. Boehner warned Republicans they would run political risks and could be accused of allowing a tax increase if they blocked the continuation of payroll tax relief set to expire at the end of the year. Lawmakers coming out of the caucus meeting Friday said they had had a spirited debate. “Most people standing up to speak were troubled” by legislation to extend the payroll tax cut, said Representative Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona . “There was a divide between the rank and file and the leadership. There was a lot of disquiet in that room.” In December 2010, Congress temporarily reduced the employee’s share of the Social Security payroll tax by 2 percentage points, to 4.2 percent of wages. If Congress does nothing, the rate will revert to 6.2 percent in January. Mr. Flake said, “We should not be extending the payroll tax holiday unless we have the courage to reform entitlement programs as well.” Mr. Obama, during an appearance on Friday with former President Bill Clinton to promote energy efficiency in buildings, suggested that Congress should delay its holiday adjournment if the impasse on the payroll tax cut was not resolved. “I expect that it’s going to get done before Congress leaves,” Mr. Obama said. “Otherwise Congress may not be leaving, and we can all spend Christmas here together.” Republican leaders said they would address their members’ concerns, as part of a legislative package that would also include an extension of jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and a measure to spare doctors from a 27 percent cut in their Medicare reimbursements, scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1. In an effort to round up Republican votes for the bill, House Republican leaders said they would include proposals easing air pollution standards for industrial boilers and clearing the way for construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Alberta , Canada , to refineries along the Gulf Coast of Texas . Republicans say those proposals will create jobs but the Obama administration has put off a decision on the pipeline route until at least 2013 and Democrats are likely to resist the provision. To offset the cost of the payroll tax relief, the House bill would cut spending in some domestic programs and raise money by selling radio spectrum licenses. The House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi of California , criticized these provisions as extraneous. Republicans “are taking a circuitous route to nowhere,” she said, and they appear to be in disarray because they are “feeling the heat” from Democrats who insist on extension of the payroll tax cut. Divisions were also evident among Senate Republicans. On Thursday night, the Senate rejected a proposal devised by Senate Republican leaders to extend the payroll tax cut for a year. Twenty Republican senators voted for that bill, and 26, including some of the more conservative members, voted against it. House Republicans voiced several concerns about extending the payroll tax cut. First, they said, it could undermine the Social Security trust fund. Second, they said, it would have a substantial cost, nearly $120 billion in one year. Third, they said, the legislation uses a budget gimmick, offsetting costs incurred in one year with savings that would be achieved through spending cuts over 10 years. In addition, some Republicans doubt that the payroll tax cut stimulates the economy. Finally, they said, Congress could find itself in exactly the same situation at the end of 2012. Lawmakers of both parties say one of the great strengths of Social Security is that it has for decades relied on the payroll tax as a dedicated, guaranteed source of money. To make up for the loss of payroll tax revenue, Mr. Obama and Congressional leaders would use general revenues from other sources to shore up the Social Security trust fund. House Republicans expressed qualms about this arrangement. “It’s robbing Peter to pay Paul,” said Representative Bob Latta of Ohio . “People paying taxes now need to know that Social Security will be there when they retire.” Representative Scott Garrett, Republican of New Jersey , noted that the Senate on Thursday rejected two competing versions of a payroll tax cut. “If the Senate is able to do that, we could do it too,” he said. “We should not be taking money from seniors to give to people who are fortunate enough to have a job,” Mr. Garrett said. Representative Charles Boustany Jr., Republican of Louisiana , said, “The leadership was hoping there would be broad acceptance of the package they presented, but there wasn’t.” Representative Dave Camp , Republican of Michigan and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, has been skeptical about the payroll tax cut because of its possible impact on Social Security. “It’s not my favorite choice,” Mr. Camp said Friday. “But it’s something we are trying to find a way to accomplish.”
|
Payroll tax;Federal Taxes;Social Security;US Politics;Republicans;House of Representatives;Barack Obama
|
ny0194949
|
[
"science",
"earth"
] |
2009/11/24
|
U.S. to Set Emissions Target Before Climate Talks
|
WASHINGTON — The United States will propose a near-term target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions before the United Nations climate change meeting in Copenhagen next month, a senior administration official said Monday. President Obama , the official said, will announce the specific target “in coming days.” The announcement of a target will take the current legislative stalemate over a climate bill into account, the senior official said, and thus might present a range of possible reductions rather than a single figure. The lack of consensus in Congress puts Mr. Obama in a tricky domestic and diplomatic bind. He cannot promise more than Congress may eventually deliver when it takes up climate change legislation next year. But if he does not offer some concrete pledge, the United States will bear the brunt of the blame for the lack of an international agreement. The official also said the president would decide shortly whether and for how long he might attend the December climate meeting, which runs from Dec. 7 to Dec. 18. He repeated the president’s assertion that he would consider attending if his presence could be a useful impetus to a deal. The official, a member of the team of American climate change treaty negotiators, spoke at a White House briefing under the condition that he not be identified. The Obama administration has so far resisted demands that it commit to a specific emissions reduction goal, saying that it could not pre-empt Congress, which has stalled on climate change legislation. China, the world’s largest emitter of climate-altering gases, has also refused to spell out its plans for reducing emissions, although President Hu Jintao promised in September that his country would reduce the amount of emissions per unit of economic output by a “notable margin.” Many observers of the climate negotiations expect China to deliver a more specific pledge on this so-called carbon intensity target before the Copenhagen meeting opens. Mr. Obama has come under criticism from leaders of dozens of countries that have already set domestic greenhouse gas reduction targets. He is also under fire from numerous environmental advocates who say the United States, the world’s second-largest emitter, must take a credible commitment to Copenhagen to ensure that the talks do not fall apart. The House passed a measure in June that calls for a 17 percent reduction over 2005 levels of the domestic emissions of the gases that contribute to the heating of the planet. A Senate committee passed a bill last month that sets a 20 percent target, but that is likely to be weakened in future negotiations. Paul Bledsoe of the bipartisan National Commission on Energy Policy said the president’s hands were tied by Congressional inaction. “The U.S. cannot negotiate at Copenhagen above the targets in domestic legislation without risking support for that legislation in the Senate,” Mr. Bledsoe said. “If European demands continue above the U.S. domestic targets, they set up an impossible dynamic for the administration.” A second administration official briefing reporters on Monday said that Mr. Obama would have a stronger hand at Copenhagen if Congress had already acted on climate change legislation, but that the debate on health care had blocked it. “We would have preferred that health care be done a long time ago, and we’d be having an energy debate today,” the official said. Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, said Mr. Obama could credibly tell delegates to the climate conference that the United States intended to reduce its emissions by 17 percent to 20 percent, based on the legislation that has been approved by the House and the Senate environment committee. “It’s important for the president to exert that leadership with consultation with Congress,” Mr. Kerry said in an interview late last week. Mr. Obama and leaders of a number of other major countries have said that the Copenhagen talks would not yield a comprehensive and binding treaty to address global warming. Instead, the more than 190 nations represented there are expected to produce an interim agreement that addresses the major issues without requiring ratification or international enforcement.
|
Greenhouse Gas Emissions;United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;Obama Barack
|
ny0036313
|
[
"world",
"europe"
] |
2014/03/10
|
Clashes in Ukraine as Rallies Take a Turn
|
KIEV, Ukraine — Rival rallies turned violent in Crimea on Sunday, as Ukraine celebrated the 200th anniversary of the birth of its greatest poet and the White House announced that President Obama would host the Ukrainian prime minister just days before a controversial referendum on Crimean secession next week. In Kiev, the capital, tens of thousands rallied in Independence Square to celebrate the birth of Taras Shevchenko, a poet who is a symbol of Ukrainian nationhood. The gathering was both a riposte to Russia and a memorial service for the more than 80 people who died there. “Our fathers and grandfathers have spilled their blood for this land,” said the interim prime minister, Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, who will visit the White House on Wednesday. “We won’t budge a single centimeter from Ukrainian land. Let Russia and its president know this.” Yet in Sevastopol, Crimea, a pro-Ukraine rally attended by several hundred people was attacked by pro-Russia supporters — some brandishing whips — who had their own large rally there. In the Crimean capital, Simferopol, about 400 people, a mixture of pro-Ukrainian Russians and Tatars, gathered around a statue of Shevchenko while listening to readings of his works and speeches calling for Russian troops to withdraw. The police there stopped a group of hooded men from approaching the rally. Image In Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, men waved the Russian national flag at a statue of Vladimir Lenin as pro-Russian activists took over the city’s main thoroughfare. Credit Uriel Sinai for The New York Times In Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, thousands of pro-Russian activists took over the city’s main thoroughfare to call for greater autonomy from Kiev and a referendum on secession. Vitali Klitschko, the former boxing champion and opposition politician who is now a presidential candidate, visited Donetsk to appeal for calm after days of violence between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian protesters. “The current conflict and aggression must be resolved,” Mr. Klitschko told reporters at a news conference, urging residents to support national unity and stating that he was worried that the events in Crimea may repeat themselves here, in the country’s east. “It must not be solved through bloodshed.” He laid a wreath at a statue of Shevchenko, but canceled a scheduled appearance at a rally at the request of the police. In nearby Luhansk, the regional capital of a coal-mining region bordering Russia, several thousand protesters occupied a regional administration building, where the region’s governor, a Kiev appointee, is based, and raised the Russian flag. Image Pro-Russian activists beat a pro-Ukrainian activist in clashes in Sevastopol, Crimea, on Sunday. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images As Ukrainians rallied on Sunday, leaders of several nations continued to pursue diplomacy. Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany both spoke with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Mr. Cameron’s office relayed that Mr. Putin “said that Russia did want to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis” and “agreed that it is in all our interests to have a stable Ukraine.” By the British account, Mr. Putin said he would discuss proposals for a contact group, which the West envisages involving direct talks between Moscow and Kiev. The German government said Ms. Merkel made it clear that any Crimean referendum was illegal and that it would not be recognized internationally. On Thursday, the chancellor said that if a contact group was not formed soon and no progress was made in negotiations with Russia, the European Union could impose sanctions on Russia, including travel restrictions and the freezing of assets. According to the Kremlin’s account of the call, however, Mr. Putin “underlined in particular that the steps taken by Crimea’s legitimate authorities are based on international law and aimed at guaranteeing the legitimate interests of the peninsula’s population” and that Kiev was not acting “to limit the rampant behavior of ultranationalists and radical forces in the capital and in many regions.” Image People attended a pro-Russian rally in Feodosia in Crimea on Sunday. Credit Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times The Kremlin statement continued: “Despite the differences in the assessments of what is happening,” the three leaders “expressed a common interest in de-escalation of the tensions and normalization of the situation as soon as possible.” The new Ukrainian government and its supporters, the United States and the European Union, reject the legitimacy of the Crimea referendum, scheduled for March 16, and deny that any ethnic Russians or Russian speakers have been threatened or harmed in Ukraine. Vladimir Konstantinov, the speaker of the Crimean parliament, had said on Friday that Ukrainian troops remaining there should “quietly and peacefully” leave the territory unless they were willing to renounce their loyalty to Kiev and serve the region’s new administration. Late Sunday, Mr. Konstantinov told reporters that the Ukrainian military installations “in large part have come under control — they are blocked, and their weapons are under joint control.” That was only partially true, since Russian forces were still demanding that Ukrainian forces disarm and surrender. Video As a referendum on the future of Crimea approaches, demonstrators in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe gathered. Some waved Russian flags while others compared Vladimir V. Putin to Hitler. He said the Ukrainian forces’ final status will be determined after the referendum. “If they want to serve the people of Crimea, they need to inform us of that,” he said. “Those who do not want to, we will secure their safe exit from the territory of Crimea, and they can leave the peninsula.” Pavel Dorokhin, deputy chair of the State Duma’s committee on industry, said while on a visit to Simferopol that Russia has set aside 40 billion rubles, or about $1.1 billion, to rebuild Crimea’s industrial infrastructure. He said that after the referendum, Crimea may take on one of three statuses within Russia — that of a region, a territory or an autonomous republic. In the United States, President Obama’s deputy national security adviser, Antony J. Blinken, rejected the notion that Crimea was now effectively Russian. “It’s not a done deal,” he said on the CNN program “State of the Union.” “I think the door is clearly open to resolving this diplomatically.” He noted that Mr. Obama and European leaders continued to engage with Mr. Putin. “Russia’s paying a price for this,” he said. “The question now is whether they will take the off ramp that the president and our partners around Europe have proposed. There is a way out of this that can take into account Russia’s interests and concerns, but restores Ukraine’s sovereignty. That’s what we’re working on.” Image Pro-Russian protesters scuffled over the Ukrainian flag after removing it from a regional administration building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Sunday. Credit Uriel Sinai for The New York Times Robert M. Gates, a former defense secretary, was less optimistic, telling “Fox News Sunday”: “I do not believe that Crimea will slip out of Russia’s hands.” He said of Mr. Putin: “I don’t think that he will stop in Ukraine until there is a government in Ukraine, in Kiev, that is essentially pro-Russian.” Although President Obama has made it clear that the United States does not want to escalate the Crimean crisis, the Pentagon has increased training operations in Poland and sent fighter jets to patrol the skies over Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, three former Soviet republics with sizable populations of ethnic Russians. In Kiev, the rally on Sunday was also addressed by an emotional Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Russian oil oligarch who spent years in prison after he challenged Mr. Putin. Mr. Khodorkovsky was released in December. “I want you to know that there is another Russia,” he said. “There are people who despite the arrests, despite the long years they have spent in prison, go to antiwar demonstrations in Moscow” and support “friendship between the Russian and Ukrainian people.” He said he saw no more “fascists or neo-Nazis” in Kiev than “on the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg.” Mr. Khodorkovsky added, “I believe that Russia and Ukraine have a united, common European future.”
|
Ukraine;Russia;Crimea;Vladimir Konstantinov;Vladimir Putin
|
ny0103430
|
[
"sports",
"basketball"
] |
2012/03/18
|
Murry Bergtraum Claims 14th P.S.A.L. Girls’ Title in a Row
|
Overcoming what its coach called “a season-long, emotionally draining situation,” Murry Bergtraum of Manhattan won its 14th straight girls’ city basketball title Saturday. The Lady Blazers, still reeling from the death of a teammate before the season began, held off hard-charging McKee/Staten Island Technical High School, 56-48, in the Public Schools Athletic League AA finals at Madison Square Garden. In the boys’ championship that followed, Boys and Girls High School won its third straight city title, defeating its Brooklyn rival Thomas Jefferson, 71-67, before 4,315 boisterous spectators. “I’m very proud of this team,” Murry Bergtraum Coach Ed Grezinsky said. “Of the 14 titles we have won, this is the sweetest because of all the adversity we have had to overcome.” In September, the Lady Blazers (18-7) were stunned after one of their star players, Tayshana Murphy, who was known as Chicken, was shot and killed in a housing complex in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighborhood. The team, which had an uncharacteristic slow start to its season before rounding into championship form, walked onto the Garden floor Sunday wearing white warm-up shirts with Murphy’s picture on the front and the name Chicken on the back along with Murphy’s uniform number, 15. “Chicken’s death has been hard for all of us to deal with, and she has been on our minds, and in our hearts and our souls every single game,” Grezinsky said. “We have dedicated this season to her, and a lot of her teammates have stepped up in her absence.” Led by Shequana Harris (game-high 22 points), Dionne Coe (14 points, 7 rebounds) and Ashanae McLaughlin (11 points, 3 steals), Murry Bergtraum overcame McKee/Staten Island Tech, a team that ran over most of its opponents, amassing a 17-0 record against P.S.A.L. competition and running the table (14-0) against Staten Island teams. “They are a very good, very disciplined team, but we kept our composure today,” said Harris, a senior guard. “I knew Chicken was watching our game today. Every time I stepped to the free-throw line, I thought about her.” It was at the free-throw line where Harris and her teammates put the game away, making 13 of 15 attempts. McKee/Staten Island Tech settled down after falling behind by 10 points in the first quarter and rallied to take a 34-32 lead midway through the third quarter. It held its last lead, 39-38, with 7 minutes and 32 seconds left. Coach Peter Lamarca said of Murry Bergtraum, “Give them credit for winning their 14th straight, it’s amazing.” Playing in its first city championship game, McKee/Staten Island Tech (22-3) committed 18 turnovers. The Seagulls were led by Kaitlyn Astel, who finished with 13 points, and Brenna DeRosa, who added 12. But neither of them, nor any of their teammates, had an answer for Harris. “She just keeps coming at you and coming at you,” said Lamarca, a sly grin growing on his face. “I appreciate watching her play — even though she makes me sick.” Boys and Girls (24-6), which defeated its archrival, Lincoln, 72-63, in the semifinals, turned aside Thomas Jefferson’s dream of winning its first city title since 1954. The Kangaroos, who struggled on offense, got a game-high 26 points from the senior guard Rashad Andrews, who shot 5 for 5 from 3-point range. The senior forward Leroy Fludd added 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. When Andrews fouled out with 3:32 left and Boys and Girls clinging to a 58-54 lead, its fans began buzzing nervously. But the Thomas Jefferson (25-7) got no closer than 58-56 after Thaddeus Hall made a layup with 2:49 remaining. “We’re not a team whose play is predicated on one player,” said Ruth Lovelace, the Boys and Girls coach. Thomas Jefferson, which defeated Wings Academy in the semifinals, got a team-high 18 points from Jaquan Lynch. Hall added 17. With their victories, both Murry Bergtraum and Boys and Girls advanced to the Federation AA Championship, which will be held in Albany from March 23-25. “We’ve got to keep making Chicken proud,” said McLaughlin, a freshman guard who has stepped into Murphy’s role. “I have some big shoes to fill, but I know Chicken is going to see that I get the job done.”
|
Bergtraum Murry High School for Business Careers;Basketball;Murphy Tayshana;Grezinsky Ed;Public Schools Athletic League;Boys and Girls High School;Interscholastic Athletics;New York City
|
ny0016115
|
[
"sports",
"basketball"
] |
2013/10/26
|
Wizards Acquire Gortat From Suns
|
Adding a frontcourt piece in hopes of returning to the playoffs, the Washington Wizards acquired center Marcin Gortat from the Phoenix Suns. Phoenix got center Emeka Okafor, who is injured, and a top-12-protected first-round draft pick in 2014. ■ In Milwaukee, officials called off a preseason game between the Bucks and the Toronto Raptors because of concerns about the condition of the floor at Bradley Center. Officials stopped the game with 5 minutes 58 seconds left in the first quarter after several players slipped and fell. After about 20 minutes of discussion, it was announced that the game would not be played. ■ The Golden State Warriors extended the contract of the often-injured center Andrew Bogut. Terms were not released.
|
Basketball;Phoenix Suns;Wizards;Marcin Gortat;Emeka Okafor
|
ny0002341
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2013/03/23
|
Tight Deadlines and Lagging Funds Bedevil Obama Health Care
|
WASHINGTON — It was another turbulent week for President Obama’s health care law. Congress rejected a White House request for nearly $1 billion to carry out the law, even as federal responsibilities increased to include the supervision of insurance markets in more than half the states. Then, on Friday, Republican attacks on the law continued in the Senate, where Democrats beat back Republican proposals to repeal the law and many of its tax increases. Federal officials are racing to set up insurance marketplaces, or exchanges, in 33 states — more than they ever expected. Enrollment begins in six months, and the amount of work to be done is staggering, officials say. Mr. Obama scored his biggest legislative achievement exactly three years ago when he signed the Affordable Care Act. But this week the administration cautioned officials to be careful about suggesting that the law would drive down costs. After extensive research, the administration said it was unwise to tell consumers that they could get “health insurance that fits your budget.” That message, it said, is “seen as highly motivational, but not as believable.” Millions of people have benefited from the law, gaining access to cancer screenings and other free preventive services, discounts on prescription drugs and coverage for sick children. But many Americans are unaware of the law’s provisions. Supporters of the law, including some who worked full-time to secure its passage, say President Obama has done little to trumpet its benefits, educate the public or answer the critics. “The president’s legacy rests on this thing, but the administration has not done a good job of explaining the law or what people should expect,” said Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, who worked on health policy at the White House from 2009 to 2011. Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, highlighted the benefits on her blog and in Twitter messages this week. Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the House Democratic whip, said the law had helped slow the growth of health costs and was “having a very positive impact on millions of lives.” But in its latest poll, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that two-thirds of the uninsured said they did not have enough information to understand how the law would affect them. Public opinion remains deeply divided, with 40 percent of Americans having an unfavorable view of the law and 37 percent holding a favorable view. The administration says 41 million people may be eligible for new insurance options. Of that number, 28 million live in states where the federal government will be running the exchanges, by itself or in partnership with state officials. One-fifth of those eligible have not graduated from high school. Congress turned down a request from the administration for an additional $949 million to set up the exchanges and help people enroll. Republicans opposed the request, and Democrats did not push for it. Federal officials face a series of tight deadlines. By April 30, insurers are supposed to file applications describing the benefits and costs of the products they want to sell. Virtually every product offered to individuals, families and small businesses will be new or revised to comply with federal standards. The federal government and the states will review the proposals to make sure that the rates are justified, and that each health plan has enough doctors and hospitals to serve its customers. In June, the federal government plans to establish a telephone call center to assist consumers. Millions of people will seek tax credits to help them pay premiums. The federal government is creating a computer network to help verify income and citizenship. The network is designed to allow each state to exchange data with the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration and other agencies. By early September, the federal government and states plan to certify health plans approved for sale to the public. On Oct. 1, consumers can enroll. Coverage starts in January, when most Americans will be required to have insurance. “We are on track and on schedule,” said Gary M. Cohen, the federal official in charge of the operation. But Democratic senators express growing concern that the federal government, like some states, may not be ready. “The administration needs to step up its game,” said Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana and chairman of the Finance Committee. In November, it appeared that Republican leaders might accept the Affordable Care Act as the law of the land. But Representative Michael C. Burgess, Republican of Texas, said opposition hardened after Republicans saw “the many pages of regulation proceeding in a torrent from federal agencies since the election.” Representative Tom Price, Republican of Georgia, predicted that the law would “crumble of its own weight.” Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, strongly supports the law, but said: “There are huge challenges ahead. The one I am most concerned about is affordability.” Mr. Wyden worries that many workers will be unable to afford family coverage offered on the job and ineligible for subsidies offered in the exchange. States remain the primary regulators of health insurance. However, most states have not incorporated the new federal standards into state law, according to a survey by the Health Policy Institute of Georgetown University, and officials in 22 states said that as a result they had little or no power to enforce the federal standards.
|
Obamacare,Affordable Care Act;US Politics;Health Insurance;US states;Barack Obama;Kathleen Sebelius;Kaiser Family Foundation
|
ny0250136
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2011/02/11
|
Barry Rosen, Ex-Hostage, Seeks Justice From Iran
|
Barry Rosen’s fascination with Iran began in 1967, when he went there from his native Brooklyn for a two-year adventure as a Peace Corps volunteer. He taught English and he learned Farsi, the Persian spoken by Iranians. “Iran became, in many ways, a second home for me,” he said the other day. A decade later, that home turned hostile. Mr. Rosen was back in Tehran, this time as the press attaché at the United States Embassy. On Nov. 4, 1979, he became one of 52 Americans who would be taken prisoner for 444 days by militants angry after the deposed Shah of Iran was allowed into the United States for medical treatment. Some of the American hostages were beaten. Some were subject to mock executions. “We were the first victims of modern state-sponsored terrorism,” Mr. Rosen said. The crisis ended on Jan. 20, 1981, as Jimmy Carter’s presidency yielded to Ronald Reagan’s. Minutes after Mr. Reagan was sworn in, Iran let its captives go. They returned home a few days later, embraced by family and by a relieved nation that felt as if it, too, had been held hostage. Those distant events resonate now with the Egyptian uprising and questions about whether it could become a reprise of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, which replaced the Shah’s dictatorship with a repressive theocracy. There is also unfinished business for the former hostages. Forty of the 52 are living. For years, they have sought justice in the form of compensation from Iran for their suffering. But a lawsuit on their behalf has gone nowhere in American courts. The main obstacle is an agreement between the United States and Iran known as the Algiers Accords, reached the day before the hostages were freed. In return for their release, Washington pledged to unfreeze Iranian assets that had been seized after the hostage-taking and to give Iran immunity from lawsuits like the one being pursued. Through six presidencies, Republican and Democratic alike, the government’s position has been that the accords form an enduring obligation, unshaken by Congressional attempts to override it with antiterrorism legislation that effectively endorsed the former hostages’ right to sue Iran. The federal courts have thus far sided with the government , though appellate judges in Washington will take up the case this year. From the hostages’ vantage, the Algiers Accords were reached with a gun pointed at America’s head. “It’s very clear from communiqués at the time that the Iranians were going to try, convict and hang these folks,” said their lawyer, V. Thomas Lankford Jr., of Alexandria, Va. To him and his clients, the accords amounted to “a ransom note.” About 150 Americans are part of the lawsuit, including surviving hostages, the estates of those who died and some relatives. In all, they are seeking $6.6 billion in damages, but no one pretends that is a realistic figure. The true purpose of a big number like that, Mr. Lankford said, is to take a firm stand against state-sponsored terrorism, by “making it costly enough to where you just don’t go out and do it.” That is also the view of Mr. Rosen, the lone New Yorker in the group. “Iranians need to know that you just can’t do this in this world,” he said, “abrogating international law, walking into an embassy, taking over people. They really didn’t learn a lesson from the hostage crisis.” It galls him that the State and Justice Departments have consistently opposed the hostages in court. It is, he said, almost as if “the Iranian government and the American government are somehow in collaboration on this issue.” A few weeks ago, on the 30th anniversary of their being freed, about 20 of the surviving hostages held a reunion at West Point, where they were first taken after returning to American soil. It was a happy gathering, Mr. Rosen said, but there was also despair about the lawsuit — “a certain sense that nothing will come of it.” Obviously, none of them are getting younger. Mr. Rosen is 66, a grandfather of four. After Iran, he settled into a relatively sedate life. These days, he is in charge of public and external affairs at the Borough of Manhattan Community College . But his spirit of adventure did not die. Eight years ago, he went to Afghanistan, part of an international team trying to rebuild that country’s educational system. The principal language of people he worked with was Dari, a close cousin of the Farsi that he spoke. “Ironically,” the former hostage said, “they used to call me ‘Mr. Iranian.’ ”
|
Rosen Barry;Iran;Hostages;Suits and Litigation
|
ny0242205
|
[
"world",
"africa"
] |
2011/03/16
|
G-8 Ministers Fail to Agree on Libya No-Flight Zone
|
PARIS — The eight most powerful industrialized nations failed to agree Tuesday on a no-flight zone or any other military operation to help the Libyan opposition, instead passing the problem to the United Nations Security Council by urging an undefined increase of pressure on the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi . France and Britain pressed for agreement on a no-flight zone, while Germany and Russia opposed the measure and the United States was cautious, officials said, speaking anonymously following diplomatic protocol. Alain Juppé, the French foreign minister, read a statement after talks among foreign ministers of the Group of 8 nations concluded here on Tuesday, saying that they called on Colonel Qaddafi “to respect the legitimate claim of the Libyan people to fundamental rights, freedom of expression and a representative form of government.” The group also agreed “as a matter of urgency,” Mr. Juppé said, that “the U.N. Security Council should increase the pressure, including economic measures, for Muammar Qaddafi to leave.” He said he hoped for a United Nations resolution by the end of the week. Mr. Juppé later told the French Parliament that a no-flight zone was no longer useful. “It’s past, and it is not what today will stop the advance of Qaddafi.” Mr. Juppe blamed the lack of Security Council action so far on China, Russia and an American position that he called undefined. “If today we are stuck, it’s not only because Europe is impotent, it’s because at the Security Council, for now, China doesn’t want any mention of a resolution leading to the international community’s interference in a country’s affairs,” he said. “Never mind that there’s European impotence, but what about American power? What about Russian power? What’s China’s power over Libya ?” he said to the Parliament’s foreign affairs committee. “Russia is evolving and the Americans haven’t yet defined their position on Libya,” Mr. Juppé said. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who left early on Tuesday for talks with Egyptian political and military leaders in Cairo, had met Monday evening with a senior representative of the Libyan opposition, Mahmoud Jibril, who reportedly asked for arms and a no-flight zone. But she was reported by American officials to be noncommittal, as well as eager to have Arab countries join in any such zone should the United Nations authorize one. The Arab League called for a no-flight zone, but did not specify that its members would participate in implementing one. The French have been vocal in support of the anti-Qaddafi forces, recognizing them as the legitimate government of Libya. But French statements have not been supported by any unilateral action. Speaking Tuesday morning on Europe 1 radio, Mr. Juppé said that the world had missed an opportunity to act when it might have mattered more. “If we had used military force last week to neutralize some airstrips and the several dozen planes that they have, perhaps the reversal taking place to the detriment of the opposition wouldn’t have happened,” he said. It has never been clear what role France expected to play in any no-flight zone, since Mr. Juppé had also ruled out using NATO as an instrument in Libya, saying that the alliance had an “aggressive” image in the Arab world. Mr. Juppé later cited a sea embargo among possible alternative means of applying pressure, and an American official said there was a discussion of providing “safe zones” for civilians and enacting more economic sanctions. “Military intervention is not the solution,” said the German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle . “We do not want to get sucked into a war in North Africa and we would not like to step on a slippery slope where we all are, at the end, in a war.” Franco Frattini, the foreign minister of Italy, which has the closest oil and economic ties with Libya of any European country, said Russia had argued that a no-flight zone would be ineffective and even counterproductive. China, which has a veto at the Security Council, also opposes a no-flight zone, but it is not a member of the G-8. Meanwhile, in an interview with the German television station RTL on Tuesday, Colonel Qaddafi praised the position of Germany and said Libya would trade with it in the future for oil, but that otherwise, “the West is to be forgotten.” He said Libyan oil contracts would go “to Russian, Chinese and Indian firms.”
|
Libya;Group of Eight;United Nations;Middle East and North Africa Unrest (2010- );International Relations;Qaddafi Muammar el-;Defense and Military Forces;Embargoes and Economic Sanctions;Security Council (UN)
|
ny0083144
|
[
"us",
"politics"
] |
2015/10/10
|
From Donald Trump, Hints of a Campaign Exit Strategy
|
In unmistakable ways over the last two weeks, whether he has intended to or not, Donald J. Trump has started to articulate a way out of the presidential race: a verbal parachute that makes clear he has contemplated the factors that would cause him to end his bid. It is a prospect that many in the political establishment have privately considered as the actual voting grows closer. In three television interviews, Mr. Trump, who has made his standing in the polls a central facet of his campaign message, spoke about what would prompt him to quit a race in which he is currently leading in the polls. “I’m not a masochist,” Mr. Trump told Chuck Todd, the host of “Meet the Press” on NBC News, last weekend. “If I were doing poorly, if I saw myself going down, if you would stop calling me because you no longer have any interest in Trump because ‘he has no chance,’ I’d go back to my business.” It was similar to what he said in an interview with the “Today” show a few days earlier, and at another point to “60 Minutes” on CBS. In interviews this week, Mr. Trump insisted he was in the race to win, and took aim at “troublemakers” in the news media who, he said, were misrepresenting his remarks. “I’m never getting out,” he insisted Friday on MSNBC. Mr. Trump keeps noting that he still leads in every major Republican poll and is in a political position that others would envy, and he says he will spend the money to keep his candidacy alive. But he conceded in another interview: “To me, it’s all about winning. I want to win — whereas a politician doesn’t have to win because they’ll just keep running for office all their life.” He said he had not contemplated a threshold for what would cause him to get out of the race. And he noted that his crowds were even larger than those of Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who is drawing thousands to rallies in seeking the Democratic nomination. Image Donald J. Trump in Las Vegas on Thursday. His lead in major national polls and surveys in early voting states has shrunk. Credit Isaac Brekken/Getty Images North America While Mr. Trump still leads major national polls and surveys in early voting states, that lead has recently shrunk nationally, and the most recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed his support eroding in New Hampshire, the first primary state. His recent comments have lent credence to the views of political observers who had long believed the perennially self-promoting real estate mogul would ultimately not allow himself to face the risk of losing. “Even back in the summer, when he was somewhat defying gravity, somewhat defying conventional wisdom, it seemed to me there would be a moment when reality sets in,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican political strategist who is based in California. “He would not leave himself to have his destiny settled by actual voters going to the polls or the caucuses.” Mr. Stutzman was skeptical that Mr. Trump would be willing to endure the grind of a campaign needed to amass enough delegates to make him a factor at the Republican convention in July. That could mean a long slog accruing delegates in states where he may have to be content with third- or fourth-place performances — showings that could undercut the hyperconfident aura Mr. Trump cultivates. Other Republican candidates are now signaling less fear of offending Mr. Trump than in the past. Senator Ted Cruz, who has treated his rival gingerly in the hope of getting Mr. Trump’s backers if he were to fade, openly mused Thursday about Mr. Trump’s ultimate political demise in an interview with a WABC Radio host, Rita Cosby. “I don’t believe Donald is going to be the nominee,” Mr. Cruz said, “and I think, in time, the lion’s share of his supporters end up with us.” Stuart Stevens, who was the chief strategist to Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential race, also doubts that Mr. Trump will stay in over the long haul. “Trump’s the only person that pre-spun his exit — it’s rather remarkable,” Mr. Stevens said. He pointed to one of the issues that has nagged the Trump candidacy from the outset — how much he is willing to spend on the race, particularly if his polling numbers start to sag. “I think we would all say this is a more serious endeavor if he was spending $2 million a week out of his own pocket, and I think it’s another sign that he’s not in this to win,” Mr. Stevens said. According to the last campaign finance filing, Mr. Trump had so far spent $2 million of his own money on his self-financed bid for office. That is a fraction of what other major campaigns have spent, and most of it has been spent reimbursing himself for the cost of his plane and office space in Trump Tower. When financial disclosure reports are made public next week, it is unlikely he will be shown to have invested much more. What has helped keep Mr. Trump’s candidacy strong has been the intense news media coverage of his bid — that and the universal name recognition he enjoyed heading into the race and a fractured nominating field, with 15 candidates. Most candidates would give anything for the free airtime Mr. Trump gets — and lower-polling hopefuls like Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky have publicly complained about it. Still, Mr. Trump has also been showing signs recently of becoming a better candidate on the trail — dropping local references into his speeches and lingering to shake hands. But such discipline did not extend to his second debate performance, which was almost universally described as lackluster. Since then, Mr. Trump and his aides have spoken repeatedly about his next act. They have made a handful of hires in some of the March primary states, pointing to that as evidence that he will keep running (his state director in Texas, Corbin Casteel, was revealed to have called Mr. Trump “a joke” this year). Mr. Trump’s advisers say that they had been prepared to spend $20 million on ads by now but that they did not have to because of all the free news media coverage — and they hint that amount would be merely a down payment on what he will spend in the future. His allies insist he is adapting to the race, and they point out that, after criticism that Mr. Trump was treading lightly on policy matters, his recent speeches have been more focused on issues than simply rhetoric. “Mr. Trump has evolved to the point where he understands that a grass-roots strategy must be supplemented with paid advertising to be able to combat the negative ads that will run against him — and he is prepared or preparing to spend what it takes to make sure his message gets to the voters,” said Corey Lewandowski, his campaign manager. The campaign has hired a Florida public relations firm to make ads, Mr. Lewandowski said. But according to people tracking media spending, the Trump campaign has yet to reserve airtime anywhere. A failure to invest in television commercials as poll numbers dwindle recalls another businessman who ran for president, Ross Perot. His campaign manager in 1992, Edward J. Rollins, resigned after the candidate drew intense negative news media attention and Mr. Perot refused his advice to air ads hitting back. Mr. Perot relented only in October, and instead of running conventional commercials, he ran 30-minute infomercials in which he made his case for being elected with charts. While leading national Republicans may believe Mr. Trump will look for a face-saving way out at some point, that has not affected the views of people in some of the early voting states. In Iowa, people “think he’s in for the duration,” said Doug Gross, a Republican strategist. But, he added, “I think he’s peaked.”
|
Donald Trump;2016 Presidential Election;Polls;Republicans
|
ny0053571
|
[
"world"
] |
2014/07/17
|
Obama Hints at Extension for Iran Nuclear Talks
|
WASHINGTON — President Obama said Wednesday that there had been “real progress in several areas” in negotiations with Iran over its disputed nuclear program, and he hinted that he might extend the talks beyond the deadline on Sunday in order to reach a final agreement. “We have a credible way forward,” Mr. Obama told reporters during a short briefing at the White House, although he said there were some “significant gaps” between the two sides and more work to do before a deal could be struck. “Over the next few days, we’ll continue consulting with Congress, and our team will continue discussions with Iran and our partners as we determine whether additional time is necessary to extend our negotiations,” Mr. Obama said. Mr. Obama’s comments came after a meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry, who had just finished three days of talks in Vienna with his Iranian counterpart. Mr. Kerry signaled in a brief news conference on Tuesday that he believed enough progress had been made to warrant an extension. Timeline on Iran’s Nuclear Program Whether Iran is racing toward nuclear weapon capabilities is one of the most contentious foreign-policy issues challenging the West. The negotiations are aimed at preventing Iran from developing a “threshold” nuclear capability that it could use to build a bomb. Mr. Kerry’s goal has been to ensure that Iran’s nuclear infrastructure remains at an early enough stage that it would take Tehran at least a year to produce a nuclear weapon should its leaders renege on any agreement. Mr. Obama, who has been focused on his domestic economic agenda, also addressed other of what he called “pressing foreign policy challenges” during a less than eight-minute appearance in the White House briefing room, although the main topic was the new round of sanctions aimed at Russia. Mr. Obama also said that the United States was supporting efforts led by Egypt to broker a cease-fire between Israelis and Palestinians as Israel considers moving into Gaza militarily. “The Israeli people and the Palestinian people don’t want to live like this,” the president said. “We will use all of our diplomatic resources and relationships to support efforts of closing a deal on a cease-fire.” After nine days of Israeli aerial attacks on Gaza that have killed more than 200 Palestinians and rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza, Mr. Obama called for restraint on both sides in an effort to spare civilian lives. “Israel has a right to defend itself from rocket attacks,” he said. “But over the past two weeks, we’ve all been heartbroken by the violence, especially the death and injury of so many innocent civilians in Gaza.”
|
Iran;Nuclear weapon;Barack Obama;US Foreign Policy;Palestinians
|
ny0042230
|
[
"nyregion"
] |
2014/05/28
|
In Schools Where Sports May Be Most Vital, New York City Offers Least Help
|
The pitch screamed through the muggy late-afternoon heat of Rainey Park in the Bronx, and the batter, an infielder with International Community High School, just managed to tip it so that the ball flew over the backstop, in the opposite direction of the field. A toddler, legs churning, grabbed the ball and handed it to Stanley Hernandez, an assistant coach. He gave the boy a big smile. International was playing Banana Kelly High School, a playoff game in a renegade public school league that has grown to include 100 teams in four sports: baseball for boys, softball for girls, coed soccer and volleyball for girls. The league, the Small Schools Athletic League , was created three years ago with virtually no money from the Education Department when a new generation of high schools could get few or no sports programs through the long-ruling Public Schools Athletic League, known as P.S.A.L. Mr. Hernandez, 20, entered International in 2008, when the school had no teams whatsoever. “We had fights and gangs and drugs,” he said. “Me and my friends got on a team outside of school, so we would go straight to the field as soon as the day was over.” In 2011, David Garcia-Rosen, a history teacher and dean at International, formed the small schools league, and International got its first baseball team in 2012, as Mr. Hernandez was graduating. “People were coming back to school, just so they could play,” Mr. Hernandez said. “They had an incentive to go every day.” On Tuesday afternoon, the league was roaring with end-of-season action: There were baseball games up and down the Bronx, softball and soccer on Randalls Island, volleyball in school gymnasiums. Yet on Wednesday, Mr. Garcia-Rosen plans to lead a group of student athletes to a City Council hearing where they intend to present the schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña, with petitions urging the survival of the league. He also intends to file a complaint with the United States Education Department’s civil rights office, charging that the city is violating the 1964 Civil Rights Act in its financing of high school sports. About 20 years ago, New York began dismantling many of the megafactory high schools with 4,000 or more students, which were not able to prepare their students for the world. The large schools that survived were doing well, and had larger populations of white students. The traditional way of providing sports programs — the P.S.A.L. system — did not keep up with the expanding number of small schools. With shouts and yells of a volleyball game echoing through the gym at International, on Brook Avenue in the South Bronx, Mr. Garcia-Rosen gave his account. Of 480 high schools, 67 have no P.S.A.L. teams; 100 have fewer than six. The schools with the least access to sports teams “have the highest numbers of students of color, or for whom English is not their first language,” he said. “There are schools in Staten Island with heavy white enrollment, and they have 40 teams,” he said. His school, and many others, were unable to meet the P.S.A.L. requirements for financing that include the perceived level of interest at the school, availability of coaches, and enough students who could satisfy the league’s academic eligibility rules. “The international schools all have students who have four years or less in the country,” Mr. Garcia-Rosen said. “People come in with second-grade reading levels in their own language, and zero in English. So they are not graduating in four years. That’s when it’s crucial that they have sports.” So principals at the small schools began to use their own in-house budgets to pay for the teams — hiring referees, getting equipment and so forth. Last year, the league got a one-time city grant of $250,000, which its members say is about one-fifth of what it needs. Since the beginning of the year, Mr. Garcia-Rosen has been talking with the Education Department about bringing the small schools league within the larger P.S.A.L., but he said to date, the only result had been a job offer to him. Was the new league not filling a need? The Education Department replied that 90 percent of New York City students attend a school with access to P.S.A.L. programs. That is, if a school fields a team in a single sport, every student in the school is counted as having “access” to the official public school sports league. So the number is a statistical delusion. In March, Chancellor Fariña was asked at a City Council hearing about the small schools league. For many, she said, sports was “what brought them to school. We are committed to expanding this and making it work. It makes a difference in kids’ lives.”
|
Public Schools Athletic League;School Sports;NYC;Civil Rights;Small Schools Athletic League
|
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