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20060913114404

DETROIT, March 8 — Leaders of union locals at the Delphi Corporation, the auto parts maker, will meet next week in Detroit to be briefed on negotiations with General Motors on a rescue plan, officials with the union, the United Automobile Workers, said on Wednesday night. The meeting will be at the U.A.W.-G.M. Center for Human Resources, according to a notice sent to union leaders. A U.A.W. spokesman, Paul Krell, said on Wednesday night that the session was not an indication that progress had been made in the discussions or that a deal was imminent. Richard Shoemaker, the union leader in charge of the Delphi negotiations, regularly calls such meetings in order to give local officials an update on negotiations, Mr. Krell said. Indeed, several union leaders who plan to participate in the session said Wednesday night that they did not expect a deal to be reached by then. The three-way talks have been under way since Delphi filed for Chapter 11 protection in October. The discussions have centered on an early retirement plan for the most senior workers at Delphi, which is demanding that the U.A.W. agree to sharply lower wages and less generous benefits for its members. Delphi was part of G.M. until 1999 and remains its largest parts supplier. G.M. is liable for the pension and health care benefits of Delphi workers who were at the company before it was spun off. The automaker estimates the cost of the benefits to be $3.6 billion and $12 billion, respectively. In addition, thousands of Delphi workers have the right to return to G.M., if there are jobs available. But G.M., which lost $8.6 billion last year, announced plans in November to close all or part of 12 plants and eliminate 30,000 jobs by 2008. At the same time, Delphi has set a March 31 deadline for concluding discussions with the U.A.W. on its demand for sharply lower wages and benefits, a move that has prompted a strike threat by Delphi workers. If an agreement is not reached by then, Delphi says it will ask a the federal judge overseeing its bankruptcy filing for permission to throw out its labor contracts. But the company has delayed such a move twice in the last few months, in order to continue discussions with the U.A.W. and G.M. A walkout at Delphi could quickly cripple production at G.M., which has begun introducing a lineup of S.U.V.'s and pickup trucks that it is counting on to restore its profitability. Jeremy W. Peters contributed reporting for this article.

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Union Leaders at Delphi Plan to Meet and Review G.M. Talks

Leaders of union locals at Delphi will meet next week in Detroit to be briefed on negotiations with G.M. on a rescue plan

20090828172531

By FINTAN O'TOOLE Daily News Drama Critic Thursday, April 29th 1999, 2:10AM RING ROUND THE MOON. By Jean Anouilh. Adapted by Christopher Fry. With Toby Stephens, Richard Clarke, Candy Buckley, Marian Seldes, Gretchen Egolf and others. Sets by John Lee Beatty. Directed by Gerald Gutierrez. At the Belasco. Tickets, $25-$55; (212) 239-6200. That "Ring Round the Moon" is set in a hothouse seems appropriate. The atmosphere is stifling and airless, and whatever grows is forced and artificial. Written by Jean Anouilh in 1946, the play takes place in the rarified world of the French upper class before World War I. The play's brittle comedy depends on the nuances of social class. Its efforts at profundity are concerned, above all, with rich peoples' games. Even the play itself is a self-conscious game, and uses one of the hoariest comic devices identical twins. One of the twins, Hugo, is engaged in an elaborate deception. He hires a beautiful dancer to shake his brother of his obsession with a woman he himself loves. In the 1950s, conceits like this seemed rather daring. Now, they're a bit tiresome. To exert any real grip on a contemporary audience, "Ring Round the Moon" needs to be staged with a special elegance. It has to make up in style what it lacks in substance. And Gerald Gutierrez' production, presented by Lincoln Center, is fatally short on style. With John Lee Beatty's elegant set and John David Ridge's gorgeous costumes, it does have a sumptuous look. But neither the direction nor the acting come close to the kind of haughty confidence that the play demands. Gutierrez never makes us believe that we are in an enclosed world with its own codes and meanings. Even the accents, sometimes British, sometimes American, wander back and forth across the Atlantic. The stage tricks involved in Toby Stephens' playing of both twins are labored, and the attempts to liven things up with knockabout comedy are heavy-handed. The acting, meanwhile, is fatally uncertain, with only Marian Seldes as the old matriarch and Richard Clarke as the butler having a clear sense of what they are doing. All in all, this "Moon" sheds little light on the mystery of why Gutierrez wanted to revive the play at all.

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DATED 'MOON' HAS SEEN BETTER DAYS

RING ROUND THE MOON. By Jean Anouilh. Adapted by Christopher Fry. With Toby Stephens, Richard Clarke, Candy Buckley, Marian Seldes, Gretchen Egolf and others. Sets by John Lee Beatty. Directed by Gerald Gutierrez. At the Belasco. Tickets, $25-$55; (212) 239-6200. That "Ring Round the Moon"is set in a hothouse seems appropriate. The atmosphere is stifling and airless, and whatever grows is forced and artificial. Written by Jean Anouilh in 1946, the play takes place

20100406024315

Thursday, October 14th 2004, 1:03AM This was one runway where Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell would have felt, well, flatly out of place. But for Crystal Mast, an 18-year-old college freshman, it was a time to shine as she and several other "models" showcased their newest accessories - the permanent kind. Mast's got a brand-new C cup. Decked out in Dolce & Gabbana and with her brown hair professionally coiffed, Mast sashayed down the runway, bouncing and beaming with pride to the cheers of her mom, her 13-year-old sister and an aunt from Kingston who was seeing her new endowment for the first time. "I felt like a superstar," said Mast, a business major from East Islip, L.I., who decided to get enlarged in August. The fashion show, held Oct. 6 at the Carlyle on the Green in Bethpage, L.I., was the brainchild of Dr. Stephen Greenberg, a renowned plastic surgeon from Woodbury and Manhattan. Unlike TV shows such as "The Swan" and "Extreme Makeover," where newly enhanced women get to take part in a dramatic "reveal" to friends and family, most post-op patients must make do with a simple "ta-da!" at brunch. But Greenberg takes the big moment further, and offers his clients the chance to get gussied up and emerge onto a catwalk in front of gasping guests - just like on TV. "It's one of the first times that some of these people get to show themselves to a large group of people," Greenberg said. Many of his patients had low self-esteem and would never have been willing to parade themselves in front of an audience, not to mention their friends and family, he added. "But by having the surgery, it develops their self-confidence. They not only look better, they feel better about themselves." Tina Diaz, 40, a stay-at-home mom, has become a veteran "model," having appeared in four of Greenberg's fashion shows. Before her first enlargement two years ago, she said, her "full B" breasts had started to show the effects of gravity and having four children. She remembered her first time walking down the runway, flaunting her newly enlarged chest. "It felt so good. I got a lot of compliments that night," she recalled. Later, Diaz traded in her full-size C-cup implants for Ds. A new operation meant it time was to strut her stuff again. "I don't mind showing people what I've had, because I'm happy with my results and it might help other people decide to do it," said Diaz. Mast said walking down the runway gave her not just "an adrenaline rush," but the chance to sparkle in front of her family and two best friends. "They were all there to support me through my surgery. To see them there, after I was all healed and could show everything off, I felt so proud," she said. But this catwalk was not just about cleavage. Several of Greenberg's patients, including two of his employees, Stacy Martorano and Donna Rossi, were showing off the fact that they'd had things removed. Martorano, a 24-year-old receptionist, underwent a rhinoplasty to eliminate a bump on her nose that she said gave it a "beak-like appearance." "It made me very self-conscious," she said. Having her nose surgically sculpted - she has also had lip enhancement with Restylane injections - "was the best thing I ever did," she said. For Rossi, also 24 and a receptionist, it was her thighs and the way she looked in a bathing suit that gave her grief. Despite working in a plastic surgeon's office, she said she was nervous about having liposuction. "I saw the patients before and after and saw how great they looked. Finally, I said, 'If it worked for them, it could work for me,'" she said. "Now, I can pretty much wear anything I want." Deborah Franzese from the House of Style in Rockville Center dressed the post-op parade in sexy getups from her boutique. And Anthony DeFranco, owner of ADF Salon and Spa in Huntington Station, provided new 'dos, for free. Oddly, said DeFranco, many of the women were more frightened to have their hairstyles redone than their boobs. "Everybody is afraid to cut their hair for a makeover. They have been wearing it that way for years," said DeFranco, a stylist who performs hair and makeup makeovers for the TV show "Life and Style." A week before the fashion show, Greenberg's models visited DeFranco's salon for consultations, cuts and highlights. On the night of the show, in a business-office-turned-dressing room, DeFranco worked on Mast, Diaz and the others, as both stylist and soother. "It takes a little coaxing and encouragement on our part, and a couple glasses of wine doesn't hurt either to ease their worries," he said. Adding a little more anxiety to this fashion show, unlike those in Milan or Paris, was the plastic surgeon with the microphone stopping the models at center stage. "What did you have done? ... Are you happy with it? ... Would you have any more cosmetic surgery?" asked Greenberg, morphing from doctor to emcee. For at least one lady, the answer to the last question was no. "There is nothing else that I am unhappy about when it comes to my body," said Mast, who spent $7,000 from high-school graduation gifts and other savings to have her implants. Diaz, who has also had her brow smoothed with Botox and lips enlarged with Restylane and is considering an eyelid lift, makes no such promises. "As I get older, I will definitely do things to better my appearance. I think plastic surgery is great," she said after the show.

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HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW? Plastic-surgery patients parade their nips & tucks in a dramatic real-life 'reveal'

HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW? Plastic-surgery patients parade their nips & tucks in a dramatic real-life 'reveal' BY RICHARD WEIR This was one runway where Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell would have felt, well, flatly out of place. But for Crystal Mast, an 18-year-old college freshman, it was a time to shine as she and several other "models"showcased their newest accessories - the permanent kind. Mast's got a brand-new C cup. Decked out in Dolce &

20110111110957

Sunday, July 6th 1997, 2:02AM Last week in Oggi America The front pages of Oggi America (America Today) were dominated by stories about Vincent (Chin) Gigante's trial, and the mob "repenters" that were testifying against the reputed head of the Genovese family. But Gigante had to share the spotlight with Italian sex symbol and motorcycle racer Max Biaggi, who is reputed to be racing Naomi Campbell's heart. He got a two-page photo spread in the New York-based Italian daily. ... Landmark Supreme Court decisions, especially the one that struck down the right to a physician-assisted suicicide, made the front page of Saturday's paper, along with a huge takeout on a bizarre spate of baby killings that has rocked the U.S. ... The reduction of interest rates in Italy made a splash, as they dropped to 6.25% from 6.75%, but the story pointed out that while the decrease will attract new business, it won't affect the exchange rate. ... The weather killed six people last week in Lombardy, Italy, where torrential rains have caused flooding and wreaked havoc on small villages located in river valleys. ... An accused federalist who spent nine years in a Genoa prison for allegedly killing a judge in 1976 but was cleared of all charges in 1983, died in his Milan home. Guiliano Naria, 45, who became a symbol of injustice in Italy, had fought a long battle against cancer. ... Italians love their sports, and motorcyle racer Valentino Rossi made them proud when he took home the first-place trophy in an international competition in the Netherlands last week. Last week in the Sing Tao Daily Most of the pages of the Sing Tao Daily last week were devoted to news about the historic handover of Hong Kong to China, but its coverage revealed another interesting detail. Two boys and a girl were born exactly at the stroke of midnight of July 1, becoming the first babies of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the paper reported in its first edition after Monday's events. The last baby born before the deadline was a girl, who will hold both British National Overseas and HKSAR passports. The proud parents welcomed the historical timing of their newborns. ... On the eve of the handover, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Chang Hsiao-yen told reporters that he hoped Hong Kong could maintain its long-term stability and prosperity, as well as its democratic system. He said Taiwan will always support the development of Hong Kong but cautioned that the "one country, two systems" arrangement could not be applied to Taiwan, because it's "absolutely different from Hong Kong." ... In Manhattan, the Asia Society showed the film "The Opium War" on the first day of the new Hong Kong to greet the end of 156 years of British colonial rule, the paper said. Directed by Xie Jin, the Chinese-made movie tells the story of how Great Britain imposed the opium trade on a poor and defenseless China. ... In other local news, the Chinese daily reported that the Transit Authority won't build a new entrance to the Grand St. subway station that was needed to ease crowding. TA President Lawrence G. Reuter broke the bad news in a letter to Councilwoman Kathryn Freed (D-Chinatown), who has been advocating the project, the paper said. Transit officials cited high cost and an ill-positioned underground gas pipe. Last week in Haiti Progres The Fugees, a hip-hop band that has roots in Haiti, has charged that a government worker (or workers) embezzled money from its two recent concerts in that Caribbean country, the Haiti Progres said in its most recent issue. The Haitian minister of culture charged that the Fugees' allegations were irresponsible. The burden of proof is on the band, he insisted, and singled out member Wyclef Jean for talking to the American media about the alleged theft. ... In political news, Haitian President Rene Preval subtly threatened to disband the Parliament, much as President Alberto Fujimori did in Peru five years ago, because it's getting in the way of his new liberal policies. Local leaders have been blocking Preval's neoliberal agenda, the paper said. Also, mayors around the country are bucking at Preval's attempt to appoint a new prime minister; the former one resigned a month ago. Without a prime minister in place, Preval takes all the heat for the country's hunger, crime, unemployment, strikes and demonstrations, some observers say. ... A small item in the paper draws attention to the plight of Haitian sugarcane cutters working in the neighboring Dominican Republic. Two of these workers were recently killed by a Dominican soldier, and the Dominican government regularly violates laws that protect the cutters, the Progres said. Four Dominican human rights organizations have denounced the poor treatment of sugarcane cutters, the paper said, while Haitian officials simply ignore the problem.

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VINNY THE CHIN IS MOBBING THE FRONT PAGES . . . NEWBORNS ARE JUST ON TIME FOR HONG KONG CELEBRATIONS . . . THE FUGEES SAY HAITIAN GOVERNMENT STAFF EMBEZZLED CONCERT MONEY

Last week in Oggi America The front pages of Oggi America (America Today) were dominated by stories about Vincent (Chin) Gigante's trial, and the mob "repenters"that were testifying against the reputed head of the Genovese family. But Gigante had to share the spotlight with Italian sex symbol and motorcycle racer Max Biaggi, who is reputed to be racing Naomi Campbell's heart. He got a two-page photo spread in the New York-based Italian daily. ... Landmark

20120126075404

The trick, in most instances, is to take the first two letters of microblogging service Twitter and meld them, often unwillingly, to the front of your chosen word. These ungainly neologisms are so numerous that they now require at least two sites to track them: Twictionary and Twittonary. The latter, Twittonary, forces you to click through every letter of the alphabet methodically, despite the fact that most letters lack a single entry. Time saver: here’s the full list, with our suggestions below: beetweet: a buzzing tweet; a “hot” tweet co-twitterer: a partner that tweets on your Twitter account. dweet: tweet sent while intoxicated drive-by-tweet: a quick post inbetween tasks friendapalooza: a quick burst of friend-adding mistweet: a tweet in which one later regrets qwitter: a tool used to catch twitter quitters- UseQuitter.com twadd: to add/follow someone to your Twitter account as a friend. twalking: walking while twittering via text. twead: to read a tweet from a fellow twitterer. tweepish: feeling sheepish or regretful about something you tweeted. tweeple: Twitter people, Twitter members, Twitter users. tweeps: Twitter people that follow each other from one social media/network to another. tweetaholism: the continued use of Twitter as an addiction that is difficult to control. tweetaholic: someone addicted to Twitter, so much so that it may be an actual problem. tweet-back: bringing a previous tweet conversation or reference back into the current conversation. tweet-dropping: eavesdropping on someone else’s home page in friends mode. tweeter: a user of Twitter. tweeterboxes: twitterers who tweet too much. tweetheart: that special tweeter who makes your heart skip a beat. tweetin: when a group of twitterers agree to get together at a set time to twitter. tweet(ing): the act of posting to Twitter. tweets: posts on Twitter by twitterers. tweetsulted, tweetsult: what do you think it means, you dumb twitterer? tweetup: when twitterers meet in person – a Twitter meet up. twideo-cronicity: when you’re watching someone’s videos and they are simultaneously leaving a comment or tweet for/at/about you. twiking: biking while twittering via text. twinkedIn: inviting friends made on Twitter to connect with you on LinkedIn. twis: to dis a fellow twitterer. very bad form. twittcrastination: avoiding action while twittering, procrastination enabled by Twitter use. twittduit: If you need to tweet a friend that does not follow you, post a twittduit asking your followers to pass a message. twittectomy: an unfollowing of friends. twitter-light zone: where you are when you return to Twitter after any time away and feel disoriented and lost. twitter stream: a collection of tweets often times in alphabetical order twitosphere: the community of twepple. twittercal mass: a community that has achieved a critical mass of twitterers. twitterer: a user of Twitter (compare: tweeter). twittering: to send a Twitter message. twitterish: erractic behavior with short outbursts. twitteritas: women who play with their twitters. twitterness: a person’s contribution to the twitosphere. twitterfly: being a social butterfly on Twitter evidenced by extreme usage of @ signs. twitterject: interject your tweet into an existing tweet stream of conversation. twitter-ku: those who either post on both Twitter and Jaiku or load their Twitter feed into Jaiku. twitterlinkr: a service collecting the best links posted through Twitter. twitterlooing: twittering from a bathroom. twitterloop: to be caught up with friend tweets and up on the conversation. twittermob: an unruly and ragtag horde of people who descend on an ill-prepared location after a provocative Twitter message. twittermaps: a mashup technology that lets Twitter users find each other using google maps. twitterpated: to be overwhelmed with Twitter messages. twitterphoria: the elation you feel when the person you’ve added as a friend adds you back. twitterage: rage at a twitter post. twitterrhea: the act of sending too many Twitter messages. …for Twitter words, please. Add em in the comments, Tweeple!

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Twitterspeak: 66 Twitter Terms

Never read a twiller? Having twissues with your twerminology? Welcome, then, to the unforgivable abuse of the English language that some call Twitterspeak. The trick, in most instances, is to t

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Wednesday night's CNBC presidential debate may well have given us the most memorable moment of any debate in quite a long time - Rick Perry's potentially calamitous inability to name the third federal agency he is vowing to abolish. It was like watching a car crash live on television. The game-changing moment has ramifications for all the presidential contenders, but it wasn't the only takeaway from Wednesday night. Below, our take on who's up and whose down in the wake of the debate: Mitt Romney: The Republican presidential race has officially become Mitt Romney's to lose. Though the polls suggest Herman Cain is a more significant rival, political insiders knew Perry was a bigger threat - he, unlike Cain, has a serious campaign apparatus and the money to keep contesting the race into March. And now, thanks to his possibly disastrous brain freeze Wednesday night, Perry may well be finished. That leaves Romney without a serious rival for the nomination - and will give him more leeway to shade his rhetoric toward the general election, not the GOP primary fight. (At left, Brian Montopoli breaks down the debate on CBS' "Up to the Minute.") Newt Gingrich: Gingrich almost made it into the loser column thanks to his apparent inability not to seem nasty, and his claim that he was paid by Freddie Mac as a "historian" - not a lobbyist - was hard to swallow. But Gingrich also had some nice moments, and his smartest-guy-in-the-room shtick seems to be resonating with a growing slice of the GOP electorate. Plus, Gingrich sits at third in the polls, and in light of Perry's difficult night at the podium and Cain's sinking prospects, he may find himself taking over the anti-Romney slot almost by default. Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum : About that anti-Romney slot: Social conservatives are desperate for a candidate to coalesce around to counter a frontrunner they don't trust, and Perry's mega-gaffe could prompt them to give a serious second look to Bachmann and Santorum. Both turned in solid performances, particularly Santorum, who created a forceful contrast with his rivals on the topic of government bailouts. If either of these candidates can convince social conservatives that they're the horse to bet on, they have a real shot at taking the Iowa caucuses in January. Rick Perry: What can one even say? Rick Perry provided a YouTube moment that will be talked about for years, and it may well be impossible to overcome. To fail to name the third government agencies that you yourself are vowing to eliminate - and to suffer that horrible awkward silence before admitting as much - is to announce to the electorate that you not ready for primetime. With one brain freeze, Perry seriously damaged his fundraising ability, prompted a coming flood of "is Rick Perry finished" stories and simply embarrassed himself in front of a national audience. Rick Perry fails to remember what agency he'd get rid of in GOP debate Herman Cain: It's hard to imagine what Cain could have done to change the conversation about his candidacy, which has been engulfed by sexual harassment charges. But he didn't do it. Cain brought no new ideas Wednesday night that might have helped him change the conversation, instead once again focusing on his 9-9-9 plan, which he mentions so often that the audience now laughs in anticipation of his bringing it up. On the plus side for Cain, Rick Perry at least diverted some attention from his troubles, and the audience's reaction to a question posed to Cain about the scandal - it was roundly booed - shows he still has the support of many conservatives. But the harassment story isn't going away, and Cain doesn't seem to have a new trick up his sleeve to shift the focus, and it looks like 9-9-9 just isn't going to cut it any longer. Jon Huntsman: Huntsman's only real shot at the nomination is a collapse by Romney, since their candidates are essentially predicated on the same argument to Republican voters: You may be skeptical thanks to my moderation, but I'm your best bet to win next November, so you better get over it. Yet Romney didn't seriously stumble, leaving Huntsman in the same place he was going into the debate: On the outside looking in during a presidential cycle in which his campaign simply doesn't seem to fit. Ron Paul: As always, Ron Paul was a strong voice for his libertarian beliefs. Too bad the Perry disaster means nobody's going to be paying much attention. A debate free of dramatic moments would have allowed for more discussion of the ideas bandied about in a debate focused on the economy and been a prime opportunity for Paul to make his case against the Federal Reserve and big government. It looked for the first hour or so that's exactly what was taking place. Then came the YouTube moment to end all YouTube moments, a screw-up so memorable that substance couldn't possibly compete. Herman Cain's nickname for Pelosi: "Princess Nancy" Cain blasts "character assassination" against him Charged with inconsistency, Romney points to his marriage Rick Perry fails to remember what agency he'd get rid of in GOP debate Republicans shift from scandal to Europe crisis

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Republican debate winners and losers: A disastrous night for Perry

Analysis: Rick Perry's YouTube moment for the ages turns the Republican presidential race into Mitt Romney's contest to lose Read more by Brian Montopoli on CBS News' Political Hotsheet.

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LONDON — The British government backed a set of recommendations on Monday to improve standards in the banking industry, including measures that could have bankers in Britain facing prison time for poor business decisions. George Osborne, the chancellor of the Exchequer, said the government would adopt the wide-ranging proposals presented last month by a parliamentary commission on banking standards. Osborne had asked the commission to come up with ways to improve the banking system and make banking executives more accountable for their actions after the financial crisis and a handful of recent banking scandals. “The government is determined to raise standards across the banking industry to create a stronger and safer banking system,” Osborne said in a statement. “Cultural reform in the banking sector marks the next step in the government’s plan to move the whole sector from rescue to recovery,” he said. The steps are part of the government’s wider efforts to restore trust in the banking sector as a way to support a recovery of the British economy. Osborne said that he hoped a more stable banking system would increase lending to businesses, spur growth, and create more jobs. A string of trading scandals and continued high pay for some of Britain’s bankers have led to widespread public anger and prompted the government to look into tightening rules on conduct and pay. The government plans to make “reckless misconduct for senior bankers” a criminal offense. Those found guilty could face a prison sentence. The step would be “a helpful deterrent” against senior executives risking giant losses at banks that would result in a government bailout and cost taxpayers billions of dollars, officials say. British lawmakers said the new legislation is aimed at making financiers more cautious when deciding on the bank’s strategy and investments. Public anger in Britain has focused on Frederick A. Goodwin, who managed Royal Bank of Scotland when it went on an ill-advised acquisition spree. He left the bank with a large retirement package as the government had to rescue the bank and the banking system from the brink of collapse. Osborne also pledged to work with the financial regulators to allow bonuses to be deferred for as many as 10 years and for entire bonuses to be clawed back at banks that required government aid.

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Britain backs new rules to jail bankers over ‘reckless misconduct’

LONDON — The British government backed a set of recommendations on Monday to improve standards in the banking industry, including measures that could have bankers in Britain facing jail prison time for poor business decisions. George Osborne, the chancellor of the Exchequer, said the government would adopt the wide-ranging proposals presented last month by a parliamentary commission on banking standards. Osborne had asked the commission to come up with ways to improve the banking system and make banking executives more accountable for their actions after the financial crisis and a handful of recent banking scandals.

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Penn State apparently has decided, again, to pass on making Greg Roman its head coach. On Wednesday night, ESPN reported that the school will offer Vanderbilt's James Franklin the job in Happy Valley on Thursday. The network had reported earlier Wednesday that the school had interviewed the 49ers' offensive coordinator for the second time in just more than two years Monday in Chicago. The interview was conducted after the 49ers' win at Green Bay on Sunday. During the 2011 season, Penn State conducted a phone interview with Roman as it searched for Joe Paterno's successor. The school eventually hired Bill O'Brien, who recently left to become the Houston Texans' head coach. Roman, a native of Ventnor City, N.J., which is about 250 miles from State College, Pa., has called the position at Penn State a "lifetime job." Roman reportedly is still a candidate for head-coaching openings with Minnesota and Washington. On Wednesday, SiriusXM reported the Vikings are expected to request an interview with defensive line coach Jim Tomsula. Washington has reportedly asked for permission to interview defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Head coach Jim Harbaugh said the interest in his assistants wouldn't affect the 49ers' preparation in advance of their visit to Carolina for a divisional-playoff game Sunday. "I know our people," Harbaugh said. "So, their focus is right here on this game." Since Harbaugh arrived in 2011, the 49ers' coaching staff has stayed nearly intact. That will change after this season. On Wednesday, Scout.com reported that offensive assistant Paul Wulff, the former head coach at Washington State, has been hired as the offensive coordinator at the University of South Florida. In addition, co-offensive line coach Tim Drevno has been hired for the same role at USC. Drevno and Wulff will leave after the 49ers' season. Injury report: Cornerback Carlos Rogers remained sidelined because of a hamstring injury. He was hurt in the regular-season finale Dec. 29. Rogers hasn't practiced since he was injured. Defensive tackle Demarcus Dobbs (knee, shoulder), who was injured Sunday against the Packers, also didn't practice. Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith (knee), who missed Week 17 with a sprained PCL, was limited in practice. Smith has said he will play against the 49ers. Eric Branch is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

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49ers' assistants draw interest elsewhere

The network had reported earlier Wednesday that the school had interviewed the 49ers' offensive coordinator for the second time in just more than two years Monday in Chicago. [...] their focus is right here on this game. Since Harbaugh arrived in 2011, the 49ers' coaching staff has stayed nearly intact. On Wednesday, Scout.com reported that offensive assistant Paul Wulff, the former head coach at Washington State, has been hired as the offensive coordinator at the University of South Florida. Defensive tackle Demarcus Dobbs (knee, shoulder), who was injured Sunday against the Packers, also didn't practice.

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Last month, in a small party led by British Museum curator Jessica Harrison-Hall, I went in search of Chinese treasure 600 years old. The quest was made in advance of the forthcoming British Museum exhibition, Ming: 50 years that changed China, which is devoted to the beginning of the 1400s, a crucially formative half century in the nation's enduring idea of itself. The tour took in museums and temples and historic sites in Beijing and Shanghai, Nanjing and Jinan; the treasures included dragon-embroidered silks and the finest gold jewellery; nine-masted ships and intricate, princely tomb relics – doll's house artefacts for the afterlife; scrolled calligraphy and – naturally – the peerless porcelain vases and vessels that are the headline acts of the early Ming era. Many of these objects will be leaving China for the first time for the London show, which opens next month. Collectively they represent a unique insight into the establishment of power and government in Beijing and beyond; they also, inevitably, cast light on the power and government of China's extraordinary present moment. Having spent a good part of the past century attempting to erase "decadent" evidence of China's imperial history – some of the irreplaceable exhibits in the Ming show were rescued from the scrapheaps and landfill of the Cultural Revolution – the party leadership in Beijing has lately made the celebration of that history a national priority. In the five-year plan of 2011 the Central Committee announced that culture is the "spirit and soul of the nation", and would become a "pillar industry" – representing 5% of GDP. The plan dictated that China was to build up to a thousand new museums by 2015, a target already achieved. Existing national and regional collections have been rehoused in vast marble halls. Private museums have been created to showcase the trappings of the newly minted elite. Liu Yiqian, for example, a cab driver before he discovered Shanghai's stock market and became a billionaire, bought the world's most expensive wine goblet – a Ming porcelain cup decorated with chickens – with his Amex card for £19.6m at Sotheby's in April and, having scandalised the curatorial community by drinking tea from it, will put it on display in his new £22m Long Museum. The repatriation of such items, as well as the industrial-scale excavation and recovery of Chinese history, represents a resurgence of national pride, but also a kind of national necessity – all the empty new museums need things to fill them. This surreal expansion provides another perspective on the epic scale of China's ongoing reinvention (the five-year plan also legislated, for example, for the creation of 45,000km of new high-speed rail track to link the nation's major cities, much of which is already being constructed – HS2 might eventually provide about 400km). It was by high-speed rail that we travelled south from Beijing to Nanjing, on the Yangzte. The colossal rebuilt Nanjing Museum contains 100,000 items from the former imperial collection. Nanjing was the ancient capital of China, and it was there that the Ming dynasty was established in 1368. In those days the journey between capitals old and new took 20 days. It now takes under four hours. That particular journey was emblematic of the changes of the early Ming (literally "brilliant" or "shining") period. Having overthrown the Mongol dynasty of the Yuan, the new ethnic Chinese emperor sought to live up to his own adopted name Hongwu, meaning "vast military power". To this end he created a society that supported an army of one million troops and established the navy's dockyards in Nanjing as the largest in the world. Those dockyards are in the process of a multimillion-pound excavation, and one huge pot-bellied Ming ship – then the cutting edge of naval technology – has been reconstructed, but little of the original remains. To get a real sense of the power of the Hongwu emperor – who began adult life as a wandering beggar – you have to travel outside the city to his mausoleum. We visited near dusk; a light rain was falling on the newly recreated pavilion roof that houses a monumental stone stele erected and inscribed in his honour. The stele marks the entrance to the 2km Sacred Way, a wide road to the emperor's tomb guarded by pairs of enormous carved animals (including camels, lions, elephants then native to China) to ward off grave-robbers. A hundred thousand men built the mausoleum site and its walls over two decades. Jungly vegetation has encroached around the great tomb itself, a closely guarded secret for centuries, and you can now get a golf buggy along the Sacred Way, but the original sense of granitic and autocratic power remains intact. Hongwu sought to spread that power to the four corners of his vast nation state by establishing the most capable of his 36 sons in regional power bases. He armed them with a set of written dynastic instructions concerning responsibility and filial duty. Some adhered to these tenets better than others. Zhu Tan, Prince Huang of Lu died aged 19 from the overdose of a drug he believed to be an elixir of eternal life. His tomb, excavated in recent decades with exquisite items preserved in the (new) Shandong regional museum and loaned to the London exhibition, gives a flavour of the life he briefly enjoyed – his best imperial primrose silk coat was laid across his body; his favourite zither, already an antique from the Tang dynasty by the time he came to use its jade tuning mechanism, was buried beside him. Neither did Hongwu's edicts survive his death. His chosen teenage heir, his nephew, the Jianwen emperor, was quickly overthrown by another son, Zhu Di, who became the Yongle (or "perpetual happiness") emperor in 1402. One of the seismic changes introduced by Zhu Di was to develop his own fiefdom, Yan, as a secondary capital and to rename it Beijing. Many thousand of artisans and slaves were press-ganged to work on the construction of the palace complex that became the Forbidden City. Zhu Di dispatched fleets of ships on voyages of discovery and trade and created a multicultural imperial court, with artists absorbing influences from wider Asia and the Middle East, to create work of enduring beauty. By the time of the accession of Zhu Di's grandson the Xuande "propagating virtue" emperor in 1426, much of the Forbidden City was complete (it has since been razed and rebuilt). The political heart of the imperial nation was not without its pleasures, as recorded in remarkable scrolls. One of these, six metres long, memorably unfurled for us at the Palace Museum of the Forbidden City, and which will be loaned to the London exhibition, depicts a kind of mini Olympiad. The emperor spectates at a version of football keepy-uppy among the beardless palace eunuchs, while other ink-on-silk panels depict archery competitions and see the emperor participating enthusiastically in a throw-the-arrow-in-the-jar challenge. The final panel shows the larger than life Xuande, with his wispy beard, borne away at the end of the day in a sedan chair, contemplating his idea of fun. The ideal of the early Ming emperors was to be "complete in the arts of both peace and war" – until the sixth emperor failed disastrously in the latter and was captured by the Mongol armies in 1449 to bring a relatively harmonious era abruptly to a halt. Prior to that, in pursuit of "wen", the arts of peace, the emperors were all devotees of porcelain, and the new techniques introduced into the dozen imperial kilns produced ever more delicate pots and ever more brilliant glazes. It is a heart-in-mouth moment to watch curators blithely handling an imperial Ming vase (the trick, Harrison-Hall observed, before expertly manipulating a wonderful large blue-and-white wine jar decorated with ladies of the court at play, is just to hold it as you would any other object of similar heft – and never once give a thought to its priceless price tag). The Yongle emperor, by necessity, and to propagandise his legitimacy, sought to spread his particular cultural revolution in different ways. When he appeared in public, a 2,000-strong choir sang and drums, cornets, cymbals and bells sounded (echoes of which we heard in the free-form harmonies of the 27th generation of imperial palace musicians, five of whom, trained in Ming notation, and playing authentic instruments, will travel to London to accompany the show). In an effort to extend his influence still further, the emperor enlisted a comrade from his original march to power, the eunuch Zheng He, to make seven great voyages to the Middle East and East Africa, and to establish a "maritime silk route". Zheng He, a Muslim, was Marco Polo in reverse, taking the idea of China to the world in a fleet of treasure ships, some reputedly 140 metres long, and spreading the word of the great wealth and power of the Ming empire. It is no surprise that Zheng He, virtually forgotten for centuries, has lately been reclaimed as a pioneering hero of an outward-looking and technologically advanced nation. The kinds of treasures he carried to foreign courts will once again be in transit this week, en route to the British Museum, generous loans from one gilded age of China's history that echo to the present. Ming: 50 years that changed China (supported by BP) runs at the British Museum, London from 18 September to 5 January. Tim Adams travelled to China on a press trip supported by Shangri-La Hotels

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The Ming empire strikes back

Tim Adams reports on modern China's cultural leap forward and previews a historic show of treasures at the British Museum next month

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In the pinks: The National's Madonna. Photo: National Gallery, London For the next three months, Raphael's Madonna of the Pinks, acquired in March by the National Gallery for £22m, can be seen in our new exhibition Raphael: From Urbino to Rome, alongside 37 other paintings by the young artist. This provides an unequalled opportunity to examine the claims by Professor James Beck, reported in yesterday's Times, that this painting is not by Raphael. When a painting is as expensive as Madonna of the Pinks, it is to be expected that the gallery's decision to acquire it should be properly scrutinised. But the questions asked of the picture need to be the right ones. One person's opinion, however vociferously expressed, isn't sufficient reason to doubt a picture's authenticity. The story of the rediscovery of the painting is well known. Dr Nicholas Penny, then working at the National Gallery and the author of a major monograph on Raphael, noticed the picture on a visit to Alnwick in 1991. It had long been regarded as the best surviving copy of a lost composition by Raphael; no art historian believed it was by Raphael himself. But Penny thought it worth borrowing for examination in the gallery's scientific department. By the early 1990s, the National Gallery had recognised that a connoisseur's judgment needs to be backed up by science. Only by examining the way Raphael's painting was made could we abandon the idea that the picture was a copy. Penny found that a remarkable free drawing, very like many of Raphael's works on paper, lay under the paint. This underdrawing can be seen only in infrared - a 20th-century technology. It became clear that Raphael had changed his mind several times as he executed the painting. In particular, he rethought the neckline of the Madonna's dress. No copyist from the 19th century (as Beck would have us believe) or earlier could have guessed that this first design would ever be made visible, and no copyist would have dreamed of including variations on what was already a well-published image, especially if they wished to pass it off as the lost original. This sort of research is necessarily cumulative. It's very unlikely that a single piece of evidence can prove that an artist painted a picture. That is why we needed to examine the picture again before we bought it. A scientific examination of the pigments demonstrated that it must have been painted in Italy in the early 16th century. We found, for example, mineral azurite and lead tin yellow, which had entirely fallen out of use by the 19th century - colours certainly unknown to any forger. We also noticed elements such as powdered metallic bismuth, a material that Raphael used in other pictures and characteristic of central Italian painting of the early 16th century; it is almost never encountered elsewhere. The scientific material has been published on our website. And now, thanks to the exhibition, we have a unique chance for the public to compare Raphael's Madonna of the Pinks to his other paintings and drawings. I am confident that this very beautiful, small picture will stand up to the test.

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This Raphael is for real

Art: For the next three months, Raphael's Madonna of the Pinks, acquired in March by the National Gallery for £22m, can be seen in our new exhibition Raphael: From Urbino to Rome.

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One of Kaoru Parry's ceramic necklaces. Photograph: PR It is a sad irony that Waterford Wedgwood, the pottery company whose profits paid for Charles Darwin's scientific research, has gone into administration because it failed to evolve. When Darwin's grandfather, Josiah Wedgwood, first started his company's wheels a-spinning in 1759, he was innovating and adapting at a speed that left his competitors with soggy clay all over their faces. Inspired by the classical forms of ancient Greece and Rome, Wedgwood also kept a sharp eye on scientific advances and experimented constantly with new ideas, materials and glazes. It took over 3,000 painstakingly catalogued experiments to develop the distinctive blue jasper colour we now associate with the company. Wedgwood was also the first firm in England to cook up the perfect recipe for fine bone china. But when I drove up to Stoke to visit the Wedgwood museum last summer, the place was as dead as a cobwebbed dodo. A few old glories were displayed, like disappointed ancestral portraits, in the alcoves of one airless room. In another, a Japanese couple sat politely through a primary-school level film about the company's history – complete with twee olde English muzak. But it was the gift shop that depressed me most. There among the itsy-bitsy teacups and dinner services for eight, I saw what Wedgwood had become: a Brit-kitsch dinosaur whose china bones could no longer support it in today's economic and aesthetic climate. Two weeks earlier I'd attended the Ceramics in the City show in London, featuring the best new talent in a market that's been expanding over the past 10 years as graduates inspired by the likes of Grayson Perry and Richard Slee had poured out of the Royal College of Art and St Martins. I'd seen revolutionary shapes, colours and ideas. The punters were handing over their credit cards. So why wasn't Wedgwood buying in? "The problem with Wedgwood goes back to the 1960s," says Professor Emmanuel Cooper, editor of Ceramics Review. "The managers wouldn't listen to anything about the future. They didn't think they needed to." Although domestic demand for dinner services fell away, they sold their Merchant Ivory version of English history abroad, all cruet sets and statuettes in crinolines. Then the American market decreased as the pound grew stronger. "And they did something else silly," says young, Japanese-born ceramic artist Kaoru Parry, "when they moved their production to Indonesia. Because Japanese people loved Wedgwood, but they wouldn't buy it unless it was made in England." Parry was just beginning a project using bone china flowers, made by specialist craftswomen at Studio Hinks in Stoke when Wedgwood announced it was going into administration. Since Wedgwood was Studio Hinks's main client, it too went under. "It would be such a waste for us to lose those skills," says Parry. To see how potteries should have coped, take a trip to the Design Museum, which this month celebrates both the 1960s work of Portmeirion's Susan Williams-Ellis in a show entitled Pottery Goes Pop, and the 21st-century innovations of Spanish-born Patricia Urquiola. In 1953 Williams-Ellis, who died in 2007 aged 89, took over the loss-making souvenir shop at Portmeirion (the whimsical Italianate village her father Clough designed in the 1920s – and the backdrop to cult TV series The Prisoner). Like Josiah Wedgwood, she soon began experimenting with new glazes and laboratory moulds and in 1963 launched the psychedelic Totem range. Williams-Ellis also shared Wedgwood's love of history books. Her passion for Victorian natural history engraving led her to create the 1973 Botantic Garden range for which Portmeirion is still celebrated today. This range was groundbreaking because it didn't match. The hip young things of the 1970s could mix and match 28 different plant motifs. Patricia Urquiola's new range for Rosenthal shows how modern designers can work with industry to develop stunning, desirable objects that combine beauty and function. She laces loopy handles and tactile relief patterns onto the otherwise smooth, white components of her Landscape dinnerware. The range of textures build up throughout the set to create what she calls "a sensual compendium". Professor Cooper believes that collaborations between designers and industry can be achieved in the UK. "I do think the future is bright for British pottery. We still have some great companies in Stoke. The best British tile company – Johnson Tiles – is up there. We just have to start small again." Michael Czerwinski, public programmes coordinator at the Design Museum, is organising a debate on the future of British ceramics on 23 January. "We need to talk about the fact that there's been no formal relationship between all these talented, young ceramics graduates and the big potteries. We need to ask why these artists are not being commissioned by the big British companies, who have the resources to help them play with new technology." In other words: it's potty to let a ceramics industry with so much potential die out now. China's future in their hands: five ceramicists to watch Amy Cooper spent much of her childhood playing on the beaches of Cornwall and later became obsessed with "the infinite properties of clay and the myriad techniques that go with it". She now captures the detailed tactility and wonder of those Cornish beach memories in her shell-like porcelain lamps. She lives in Brighton and shares a studio in Hove. Cumbrian ceramicist Michael Eden decided to take an iconic object from the first Industrial Revolution (one of Josiah Wedgwood's classic tureens) and produce it in a way that would be impossible with conventional industrial techniques. The Wedgwoodn't Tureen was designed on Rhino 3D and FreeForm software and sent to a ZCorp 510 rapid prototyping machine that "printed" the piece out of artificial bone. Although its surfaces are food safe, I wouldn't try serving soup in it. Kaoru Parry was born in Japan, raised in the UK and graduated from Central St Martins College of Art and Design last summer. She has already given "bone china" a twist with her Homage range of jewellery, designed to incorporate a loved one's ashes into a wearable relic. Her Floret collection of cups and saucers featuring hand-crafted bone china flowers was a specific response to the declining ceramics industry. Louisa Taylor graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2006 with a master's in ceramics and glass and received a development award from the Crafts Council in 2008. Her crisply playful stacking tableware was "inspired by 18th-century porcelain vessels and the rituals of dining". Each piece is individually wheel-thrown at her Deptford studio. Allison Wiffen spent 15 years in advertising before retraining as a ceramic artist in 2000. She often uses photographic images in black and white, and is inspired by the 1950s fabrics of Lucienne Day with whom she shares a love of taut linear patterns. Her cufflinks celebrate the architectural and engineering triumphs of the Tyne Bridge and St Paul's Cathedral.

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Helen Brown: How the ceramics industry can avoid Waterford Wedgwood's fate

Helen Brown: As Waterford Wedgwood falls victim to the economic downturn, the industry needs to look to young talent to revitalise its fortunes

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Wal-Mart Stores spent the day telling investors about how it will jumpstart its U.S. comparable store sales, which have been flat for six straight quarters. But after describing its big investments in e-commerce and plans to build more small-format Neighborhood Market grocery stores, Wal-Mart had some of bad news: the company lowered its sales forecast for the rest of the fiscal year. The company now expects global sales to rise by just 2-3% rather than its earlier forecast of 3-5% growth. The trimmed outlook unnerved investors, especially because the all-important holiday season is just around the corner. The retailer blamed a tougher-than-expected sales environment and cuts to a U.S. food stamp program. And Wal-Mart WMT does not expect especially robust growth through 2018. Sales will rise 2.5-3.5% annually through 2018, the company said, while profits will rise more slowly because of increased investment on e-commerce. “We have many customers that do rely on SNAP (food stamp program), so it did affect our sales,” Chief Financial Officer Charles Holley said in a conference call. “There’s been a general weakness in the economy.” Last November, the government cut food-stamp benefits for about 47 million Americans. About 18% of all food stamp dollars in the U.S. are spent at Walmart. The company is unlikely to find relief abroad, the source of 40% of overall revenue. Fluctuating exchange rates means that sales abroad are being translated into a smaller amount of U.S. dollars. “Everywhere I travel, I see tough economies and stretched consumers, and that hasn’t changed through the course of the year,” Wal-Mart International Chief Executive David Cheesewright told investors earlier in the day. Wal-Mart’s lowered forecast wasn’t the only thing that might give investors pause after last week’s bullish holiday spending forecast by the National Retail Federation, which predicted that U.S. holiday spending will rise 4.1%. EBay EBAY lowered its sales forecast for the year, signaling a slow holiday season. And in the morning, before yet another bloodbath in the stock markets, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported weak September sales.

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Wal-Mart trims outlook with holidays just around the corner

Wal-Mart lowered its full year sales forecast, citing a tough economy, and projected only slight better growth for the coming years.

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If you’re a certain person with a certain look having lunch in a cafe in Hollywood, don’t be surprised if an Anita Pallenberg-lookalike with a valley girl accent and a broad smile asks for your phone number. Chances are, it’ll be Alex Prager. The Los Angeles-based artist is often on the lookout for those with a distinctive look to include in her hyper-colour, hyper-stylised photographs and short films. Recently she spotted a young French boy having lunch with his mother. “I knew that if I left the cafe before asking him to be in the film that I would regret it forever because he looked so cool. Now he’s one of my go-to characters.” Prager’s first Australian solo exhibition has just opened at the National Gallery of Victoria. With intricate staging, meticulous attention to detail and inescapable creepiness, her work is reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock or David Lynch, her glamorous noir-esque heroines dying horrible deaths by drowning, falling out of windows or suffering excruciating loneliness. The NGV exhibition includes 25 major works, including three newly acquired by the gallery. For Prager, it’s almost a mini-retrospective, spanning her early photographs from 2008 right through to her latest series Face in the Crowd, which was exhibited at Art Basel art fair last year. Seeing it all together, she can appreciate the evolution of her work and some of the themes she’s explored. “For me, as an artist, [it’s about] trying to keep myself challenged and evolving. It’s showing me that I am moving forward so that part is good.” It’s a long way from her first show in an LA hair salon in 2001. The self-taught Prager picked up a camera in her early 20s after seeing an exhibition of the US photographer William Eggleston’s work. She started with street photography but quickly moved to styling her friends in wigs and vintage Hollywood starlet getups and shooting them. Growing up in Hollywood meant artifice and glamour have always been part of Prager’s world and heightened drama often features in her work. “People can be murdered and there can be all kinds of violence and horrible seedy things going underneath all that glamour and people will still watch it and love it.” She uses saturated colour for the same reason. “I thought it added this strange lie on top of the truth that I thought was just a little bit creepier and more interesting to work with. When it’s over the top with saturation and blue skies and bright red lips, over-the-top Kodachrome, I think it plays into our nostalgia and our familiarity … but do we really know what’s going in that picture? It’s always that thing that throws you off balance.” Making short films was a natural progression, Prager says, after she noticed audiences asking for the backstory to the images. Video works including Sunday (2010) and Despair (2010) got plenty of attention and in 2012 she made an Emmy award-winning series of short films with the New York Times entitled Touch of Evil featuring Ryan Gosling, Jessica Chastain, Rooney Mara and others. Face In the Crowd is her most ambitious series, including large-scale photographs of staged crowd scenes and an immersive video installation. It was an epic shoot in every way, says Prager, with 350 extras, 150 crew members, four rotating sets and a tight schedule across four days. She directed the sea of extras by giving some specific characters, some photographic references and asking others to improvise. “You really feel like you are not quite sure what world you are in, if it’s real or if it’s fake and I think that’s something we can relate to in the world that we are living in right now.” The video installation stars the actor Elizabeth Banks wading through unrelenting crowds. Although her work often centres on a heroine, Prager says it’s not about women as much as about emotions she’s keen to explore. Using female characters is her way of being honest about a topic, she says, because she’s female. “I don’t know how men feel in the same way that I know how a woman feels. The emotional aspect is so important to me, that it rings true and that it’s honest. On top of it, you can put all the glamour and the stylisation and the facade of everything else, but underneath it, there has to be something real, otherwise I just don’t think I would be able to look at i; I don’t think it would feel right to me.” The artist adds a dose of reality by including family and friends in the shoots. She laughingly dubs her sister, the artist Vanessa Prager, her “Waldo” as she appears in all her work. “All these strangers walking around me, all in costumes, who knows who anyone is? Then I see my sister in there, and I know exactly who she is because we’re so close – it puts that bit of reality into the pictures.” Her next exhibition will be in Hong Kong at Lehmann Maupin in March, then she’ll begin on new work. Surely she’ll follow her Hitchcockian and Lynchian influences and make a feature film soon? “I haven’t even done a film with dialogue yet so I don’t know that that’s the obvious next step,” she says with a laugh. But it might be on the cards: “If you had asked me 10 years ago if I was going to do even a short film, I would have probably said no, so who knows what is going to happen in the future. I’m kind of open for anything at this point.” • Alex Prager runs from 14 November to 19 April at the National Gallery of Victoria

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Alex Prager's Hollywood: glamour, menace and heroines dying horrible deaths

The Los Angeles artist tells Alexandra Spring about her first solo exhibition in Australia, layering lies over truth and hiding her sister in her work

20141224120408

Updated NOV 24, 2014 1:34p ET NEW YORK -- Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz are among 17 newcomers on baseball's 2015 Hall of Fame ballot. Craig Biggio, who fell two votes short of the 75 percent needed in the 2014 balloting, tops 17 holdovers on the Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot announced Monday. That group includes Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines. Johnson went 303-166 and won five Cy Young Awards -- four during his eight seasons with the Diamondbacks. The Big Unit struck out 4,875, second only to Nolan Ryan's 5,714. Martinez, a two-time Cy Young winner, was 219-100, struck out 3,154 and led the major leagues in ERA five times. Smoltz is vying to join former Atlanta teammates Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, who were inducted this year along with Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas. Smoltz had a 213-155 record and 154 seasons, the only pitcher with 200 wins and 150 saves. He was 15-4 in the postseason. Carlos Delgado, Nomar Garciaparra, Gary Sheffield and players' association head Tony Clark, who played parts of five seasons in Arizona, also are among the first-time eligibles. Don Mattingly will appear on the ballot for the 15th and final time after receiving 8 percent last year. The Hall's board voted in July to cut a player's eligibility from 15 years to 10 but grandfathered players in the 11-15 group, which also includes Alan Trammell (14th year) and Lee Smith (13th). Players who have admitted steroids use or been tainted with accusations of use have fallen short. McGwire, entering his next-to-last year of eligibility, received 11 percent last year, down from a peak of 25.6 in 2008. Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, dropped from 38 percent to 35 in his second ballot appearance. Bonds, a seven-time MVP and baseball's career home runs leader, fell from 36 percent to 35. Sosa, who hit 609 homers, dropped from 13 percent to 7 and is close to falling below the 5 percent threshold for remaining on the ballot. Voters are the approximately 600 writers who have been members of the BBWAA for 10 consecutive years at any point. Ballots must be postmarked by Dec. 27. Results will be announced Jan. 6. Players elected, along with choices announced Dec. 8 by the golden era committee (1947-72), will be inducted July 26 at Cooperstown.

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Johnson, Martinez, Smoltz on Hall of Fame ballot

Former Diamondbacks ace Randy Johnson, along with Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz are among 17 newcomers on baseball's 2015 Hall of Fame ballot.

20150103024131

Two lists by Daniel (“Deagol”) Tello, a Venezuelan blogger who keeps track of such things The first, at right, shows the cumulative record of three-dozen Apple AAPL analysts — both professional and amateur — over the past four quarters. The list looks a lot like the one we posted this morning, with the amateurs bunched at top and the pros — including some of the biggest names on Wall Street — at the bottom. Topping it, for the second quarter in a row, is Asymco‘s Horace Dediu, a Romanian blogger whom we featured in a post last October and who was profiled on Bloomberg.com Wednesday. Tello’s second list, below the fold, compares this quarter’s performance to last quarter’s to determine which analysts are getting better at this game and which are getting worse. The results are striking. Not only are the amateurs out-performing the pros, but they are improving dramatically — in some cases by 60% and 70%. On the other end of the scale, the performance of the pros who did badly last quarter seem to be deteriorating. The accuracy of two of the Street’s most famous Apple watchers — Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty and Bernstein’s Toni Sacconaghi — fell by 32.7% and 31.7% respectively. A pair of Wall Street analysts came to their profession’s defense in Bloomberg’s article, suggesting that their conservatism is a function both of their rigorous training and their memory of past booms that went bust. “Often bloggers and amateur investors are very good in bull markets but get lost in bear markets,” said Exane-BNP’s Alexander Peterc. “If some of these guys call the moment at which Apple’s fortunes begin to turn I will be impressed.” Asymco’s Dediu is skeptical. In a piece posted Wednesday afternoon he suggests that the issue for the pros is that the institution risks becoming de-professionalized. “The difference between professionalism and amateurism isn’t whether one is well paid or not or whether one is anointed with credentials. It’s whether one is consistently out-performing randomness (note emphasis on the consistency). … In the same way many jobs that took specialized skills became commoditized by the use of new tools or access to information, the era of DIY financial analysis is dawning.” Below: Tello’s chart of the error reduction (or increase) over the past two quarters. [Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

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Apple analysts: Who’s getting better, who’s getting worse

Two lists by Daniel ("Deagol") Tello, a Venezuelan blogger who keeps track of such things The first, at right, shows the cumulative record of three-dozen Apple analysts -- both professional and amateur -- over the past four quarters. The list looks a lot like the one we posted this morning, with the amateurs bunched at…

20150103042700

FORTUNE — Poor Mitt Romney. From the GOP primaries, when members of his own party labeled him a “vulture capitalist,” to the start of the campaign proper, when one of his top aides vouchsafed that he would follow an “Etch A Sketch” strategy, to the infamous “47%” video, in which he labeled half the country moochers — his campaign was a case study in unforced errors and futility. Today, though, I come to praise Romney, not to bury him. In failing in his quest to reach the White House, he unwittingly made an important contribution to the country’s future: He discredited fuzzy math. For decades now, politicians in both parties, but particularly the Republicans, have been promising voters the earth, using arithmetic tricks and outright whoppers to explain why they wouldn’t have to pay for it — why, in fact, they could have their cake and eat it in the form of new tax cuts. As night follows day, higher spending and lower revenues have led to bigger deficits and more debt. MORE: Obama will tax the rich more Romney promised more of the same. During the GOP primaries, under attack from his rivals for being too timid, he hastily put together a new economic plan, the centerpiece of which was a 20% cut in income tax rates: The 35% rate would go to 28%, the 28% rate would go to 22.4%, and so on. At the same time, he pledged not to cut a dime from Medicare or Social Security, and to boost the Pentagon budget by up to $2 trillion over 10 years. Asked how he would finance this largesse, he talked vaguely about reducing or eliminating tax breaks, but didn’t specify which and explicitly ruled out tackling some big revenue losers, such as the low rates on dividends and capital gains. In time-honored fashion, Romney was offering the American voters a free lunch, and why not? It worked for Ronald Reagan, who cut taxes and gave a blank check to the Pentagon; for George W. Bush, who cut taxes, started two costly wars, and introduced a prescription-drug program for retirees; and for Barack Obama, who cut taxes, boosted infrastructure spending, and introduced universal health care. For a while there, Romney’s tax strategy appeared to be working too. But then some nonpartisan authorities, such as the Tax Policy Center, started to question its figures, pointing out that the revenue raised wouldn’t nearly cover the cost of the giveaways. MORE: Missing from Romney’s tax plan – reality For once, the voters listened. The tax plan, far from winning the election for Romney, handicapped him all the way to Nov. 6. With even conservative commentators such as George Will saying it didn’t add up, he was forced to issue a series of clarifications — insisting he would neither balloon the deficit nor introduce backdoor tax hikes on the middle class. In the final weeks, he deemphasized tax cuts, focusing on his plans to boost domestic energy production and help small businesses. It was a tacit admission that his effort to flout the laws of arithmetic had failed. That, surely, is progress — as is President Obama’s insistence that the Bush tax cuts for the very rich be reversed. Going forward, there will doubtless be more presidential candidates who place tax cuts at the center of their platforms. But after seeing what happened to Romney, they will have to do some proper cost projections and specify where the money will be made up — what areas of spending will be cut, which tax breaks will be eliminated, and how much revenue will come from higher growth. Nothing less will be considered credible. The next step on the road to fiscal sanity is to tackle the shibboleth that in no circumstances, even a looming fiscal crisis, should taxes be raised on middle class people, where “middle class” is defined to include families earning upwards of $200,000 a year. So far, neither Obama nor anybody in the Republican leadership has been brave enough to go that far. But let’s be grateful for small mercies. In the election of 2012 a particularly egregious exercise in fuzzy math failed. This story is from the December 3, 2012 issue of Fortune.

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The Romney legacy: Fuzzy math doesn’t work anymore

Like three presidents before him, Mitt Romney told the voters what they wanted to hear about taxes. But this time they weren't buying it.

20150109084415

The image titled "wanted for crimes against Islam" reappeared on Twitter after the Charlie Hebdo attack. An image of an al-Qaeda hit-list with a photo of Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier's face crossed out began circulating on social media hours after the massacre at the satirical magazine's Paris office. The chilling image titled "wanted for crimes against Islam" first appeared in al-Qaeda's English language magazine Inspire in 2013 and reappeared on Twitter overnight, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Among the 11 people named and pictured in the image are controversial Dutch conservative politician Geert Wilders and British-Indian author Salman Rushdie. Rushdie, who had a fatwa placed on him by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini after he published the 1989 novel The Satanoic Verses issued a statement in the aftermath of the attack on Charlie Hebdo. "Religion, a medieval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry, becomes a real threat to our freedoms," he said. "This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today. I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity." Stephane Charbonnier was defiant in the face of threats. Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard also appears on the list. The cartoonist was also the subject of death threats after he penned a cartoon of the prophet Mohammad wearing a bomb in his turban. Westergaard also issued a statement after last night's attack, saying he hoped that the media would not be intimated by the attack. "It's very important not to be afraid but you have got to stand on these very valuable democratic principles on which our societies here in western Europe are based, so I hope we will not give in. You must not surrender the very important freedom of speech," he said. Like the murdered French satirist Charbonnier, Westergaard also lives under constant guard. Police in France are hunting brothers Sherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi who are suspected of carrying out the attack that left 12 people dead. Meanwhile it has emerged that the youngest of the three Charlie Hebdo terror suspects may have been in class before handing himself into police about 230km northeast of Paris. It is reported 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad has turned himself in to the Charleville-Mézieres police station in the Ardennes, nearly three hour's drive northeast of Paris. After seeing his name being reported on social media, Mr Mourad approached the police on Wednesday. It is now being reported by French media outlets that the young man is the brother-in-law of one of the suspected gunmen, Sherif Kouachi. "Knowing he was being looked for, he presented himself at the police station," a police source said. He was taken into police custody but no charges have been laid. Do you have any news photos or videos?

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Al-Qaeda shares chilling hit list online after Paris massacre

An image of an al-Qaeda hit-list with a photo of Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier's face crossed out began circulating on social media hours after the massacre at the satirical magazine's Paris office.

20150319140513

Tesla Motors has used its embedded wireless Internet connection to solve a nagging problem for car owners: depreciation. Now it plans to use it to overcome range anxiety, one of the biggest obstacles preventing widespread adoption of electric cars. The Palo Alto-based electric car company TSLA has completed numerous over-the-air software upgrades to the Model S since the tech-centric vehicle was first released in 2012 to fix bugs, enhance safety features, performance and customize the driving experience. In short, the car gets better over time. Until now, these upgrades haven’t made any marked improvements in the battery, which already has the longest range of any electric cars on the road today. On Thursday, Tesla will announce an over-the-air upgrade that will solve range anxiety for good, according to a cryptic tweet from the company’s CEO and largest shareholder Elon Musk. What could this solution be? It could be as simple as better alerts that more accurately tell drivers how much charge they have left and where they can “refuel,” said John Gartner, director at Navigant Research. Or, it could be more meaningful changes. For example, Tesla might have figured out a way to access more of the battery capacity and allow for a greater depth of discharging, Gartner said. The algorithm between the electric motor and battery could have been improved to provide better fuel economy or the battery might be able to charge more quickly, he added. “These are all improvements that are possible by software upgrades,” Gartner said. Last September, Tesla wirelessly upgraded the software in the Model S and added a number of features, including a location-based air suspension that remembers potholes and steep driveways and automatically adjusts to avoid them. Other features added to Model S sedans through a wireless software upgrade, include traffic-based navigation that takes into account data shared by other Tesla vehicles on the road, a calendar that syncs with a driver’s smartphone, remote start, power management, and ability to “name” your car. Watch more business news from Fortune:

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How will Tesla end range anxiety?

Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO and largest stockholder, will unveil an update to its Model S that intends to end range anxiety.

20150321201234

Updated AUG 18, 2014 7:08p ET Arizona Wildcats basketball coach Sean Miller is setting up his own conveyer belt of players to the NBA, but Lute Olson's legacy is far from over. Lute's recruits reached an NBA milestone last season, topping a whopping $1 billion in NBA salaries. Yep, $1 billion. Former UA center Channing Frye, building off his 2013-14 comeback season with the Phoenix Suns after sitting out a year because of an enlarged heart, agreed to a four-year, $32 million deal with the Orlando Magic on Monday. Olson sent 34 players from Arizona into the NBA, and their salaries, give or take several hundred thousand, stands at $1,005,824,715 through the end of the 2013-14 season. Contract numbers are taken from basketball-reference.com, the USA Today salary database and other media sources. The numbers don't always agree down to the dollar, but it's close. How high can that figure go? Seven players from the Olson era continue to play in the NBA. Add in Frye's $32 million. Chase Budinger is owed $10 million from the Minnesota Timberwolves for the next two seasons. Golden State owes Andre Iguodala more than $35 million for the next three years. Jason Terry will add more than $5 million to his total next season. Richard Jefferson, whose career earnings are already into nine figures, is a free agent at 34 years old. Jerryd Bayless, a six-year veteran at 25, is a free agent. So, too, is 26-year-old Jordan Hill. They will get paid. So, at some point, Lute's recruits are going to go well past $1.1 billion. Gilbert Arenas has earned more than any of Olson's former players, although "earned" might be too strong of a word. His total of nearly $182 million includes $62 million for not playing for the Orlando Magic, who waived him under the NBA's amnesty clause in December 2011 so the fading star wouldn't count against the salary cap. Miller already has done an enviable job of producing NBA talent -- four picks in the past two seasons and two overall lottery selections -- Derrick Williams (No. 2 in 2011) and Aaron Gordon (No. 4 in 2014). Miller's 2014-15 roster is loaded with first-round potential in Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Brandon Ashley, Kaleb Tarczewski and Stanley Johnson. It's easy to think, for Miller's program, the best is yet to come. But it's a long way to $1 billion and beyond. Here is the breakdown of what Lute's recruits have earned in the NBA:

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Lute's recruits worth more than $1 billion in NBA salaries

Channing Frye agrees to a four-year, $32-million contract with the Orlando Magic, further pushing NBA salaries earned by former Arizona Wildcats under Lute Olson past $1 billion.

20150425000934

Massive public events such as the Boston Marathon that draw hundreds of thousands of spectators each year require elaborate security measures. But the police, fire, and emergency staff who were stationed along the route Monday had a new device helping them to protect the public: the M908 mass spectrometer, a locally designed tool that allows hazmat teams to quickly detect the presence of chemical weapons or other toxic chemicals. Boston-based 908 Devices, the maker of the gadget, which is the size of a game console, said Monday that Massachusetts officials purchased eight M908s for use throughout the state. They will be used at events like the Marathon and the July Fourth celebration and whenever hazardous materials teams respond to alerts for suspicious packages and other incidents. Each device costs $50,000 and was built in a former Army warehouse on Boston Harbor. Kevin Knopp, the company’s chief executive and founder, said the M908 gives first responders access to chemical-analyzing mass-spectrometer technology that, until now, has been restricted to laboratories. Mass spectrometers have typically been huge boxes that weigh more than 100 pounds each. But just as computers were reduced from room-sized mainframes to powerful smartphones, Knopp said 908 has been working to create a device that could be used in the field by first responders. The M908 weighs only 4.4 pounds and uses a technology known as high-pressure mass spectrometry, which can quickly detect the presence of hundreds of toxic chemicals, measuring down to the number of parts per billion. The company, which has raised more than $17 million in three rounds of investment, has been growing internationally, having signed a series of strategic partnership agreements with distributors in Europe and Australia last month. (908 Devices said its machines are in use in 18 countries.) Knopp said he was thrilled to get the contract from the state. “It’s an order that’s in our backyard, and we’re really excited to be working on it,” he said.

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908 Devices chemical detectors used at Marathon

Massive public events like the Boston Marathon, which draw hundreds of thousands of spectators each year, also require elaborate security measures. But the police, fire, and emergency staff who were stationed along the route Monday had a new device helping them protect the public: the M908 mass spectrometer, a locally designed tool that allows hazmat teams to quickly detect the presence of chemical weapons or other toxic chemicals.

20150509022334

The Edgerton Center may pride itself on being among the most interesting places at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but it sure doesn’t look it from the street: A machine shop and garage for student projects, the center is tucked inside Building N51, one of those old, nondescript brick-and-concrete structures that dot the Cambridge campus. But beyond the unassuming front, a maze of hallways leads to a workshop teeming with students who are making impressive scientific and personal advances. Among the high-tech projects underway are a lightweight solar car that will race across the Australian desert in October and a planetary rover for a NASA-sponsored competition this summer. The students have aptly nicknamed the center Area 51. In one corner, a 1972 Opel is jacked up on a hydraulic lift; students are gutting the car and converting it to an electric vehicle. In another, a few guys are fussing over the brake system of an electric buggy that could hit 6o miles per hour in the Formula SAE electric-car race in Nebraska this June. Across the garage, a woman is welding the solar car’s body, the mold for its sleek carbon-fiber shell upturned on the floor. “This project has been really humbling, but so personally rewarding,” said 27-year-old graduate student Kathleen Alexander, shouting over the buzz of an air compressor. “I’ve soldered solar cells, analyzed the aerodynamics of the body, learned how to weld — you figure out how to overcome obstacles you never encounter on the theoretical side.” Team projects at the Edgerton Center are popular among students because they serve as trial-and-error crash courses in a variety of practical skills that might otherwise take months to learn. Don’t know how to assemble a car frame? Nothing a few snowy weeks locked in the garage with an arc welder can’t fix. For the NASA rover project, one student team is working to make the bot robust enough to withstand a punishing test course in Texas. Others are refining the software that controls its motors. Once in Texas, the rover will be operated remotely from Cambridge, via satellite. “You learn by doing,” said Juan Romero, an 18-year-old freshman who just months into his tenure at MIT has become an integral part of the rover team. “It’s one thing to sit in class, but it’s much more exciting to put it all together.”

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MIT’s ‘Area 51,’ the ultimate in hands-on learning

Among the high-tech projects underway at MIT are a NASA rover and a lightweight solar car that will race across the Australian desert in October.

20150524081953

NURSING homes have been the subject of considerable public scandal and private agonizing in recent years as their number has vastly increased in response to reimbursement by Medicare and Medicaid. Those Federal and state programs have made nursing-home care a possibility for growing numbers of ailing Americans, mostly the aged, who can no longer care for themselves or be cared for at home. Well over a million Americans, 90 percent of them over age 65, are residents of nursing homes. Clearly there have been abuses - often at the patient's expense - as a relatively unmonitored industry has emerged. In contrast to hospitals, 80 percent of which are nonprofit institutions, more than three-fourths of nursing homes are privately owned and in business to make money. While profit and good care are not necessarily incompatible, tales are legion of patients who are overly sedated, poorly fed and cared for, and left to languish in bed or in front of a television set. Furthermore, according to various estimates, 10 to 50 percent really do not belong in nursing homes and are there simply because they have no place else to go. It is hardly surprising, then, that the decision to send a relative - in most cases, a parent - to a nursing home commonly stirs strong feelings of guilt and fear. Those feelings are often compounded by grief over the realization that the move may be the ''beginning of the end'' for a loved one. Clearly, this is not how any of us would choose to spend our last years. As the Senate Special Committee on Aging put it, ''To the average older American, nursing homes have become almost synonymous with death and prolonged suffering before death.'' Yet the nursing home can be - and often is - the best solution for all concerned, especially the patient. It can alleviate loneliness, provide essential physical and medical care, fulfill basic daily needs and offe r security and protection, particularly for the confused or t he self-destructive. The experience need not be disastrous if a home that can best meet the patient's needs is selected. Some basic data may help put the matter of nursing homes in a clearer light. Only one person in 20 over age 65 is in a nursing home, and based on current statistics 80 percent of those who reach that age will not spend any time in one. Nor is the nursing home necessarily a dead end: through coordinated rehabilitative efforts, more than half the residents of a proficient nursing home can be discharged to live independently once again. As noted in by Irving R. Dickman in ''Nursing Homes: Strategy for Reform'' (Pamphlet No. 566, Public Affairs Pamphlets, 381 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10016, 50 cents), most residents have not been abandoned by their families, with one in five placed by a family member or entering on his or her own. More than two-thirds are sent by a hospital or welfare agency - 80 percent are poor - and in most cases the patients lack close relatives to help care for them. The average age at entry is 84, with 9 in 10 over 65 and 4 in 10 over 85. The average stay is 18 months. The type of home selected should be commensurate with the patient's need for nursing and other services. These should be determined by a physician who performs a complete examination to evaluate the patient's medical requirements and rehabilitative potential. The principal types of homes are these: Residential. A group-living situation that provides overall supervision and a protective environment, including room and board and planned activities. It is ideal for those who need help in dressing, cooking, shopping, eating, bathing or other daily activities but not special medical or nursing services. Such homes are not covered by Medicare or Medicaid. Intermediate care. A minimum amoun t of medi cal service, primarily in the form of nursing care, is provided for those who may need help with treatment ordered by a physician. Though 24-hour nursing care issupposed to be available, many facilities off ering intermediate care provide little more than custodial care. They represent the bulk of nursing homes and may receive Medicaid reimbu rsement. Skilled nursing. Round-the-clock nursing services are available, and preventive, rehabilitative, social, spiritural and emotional care is provided as needed on a regular basis. Facilities offering skilled care are recognized for coverage by Medicare and Medicaid and are eligible for accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals. Extended care. Round-the-clock nursing care and medical supervision are supposed to be available in facilities offering extended care, which provide an extension of hospital care on a long-term but not necessarily permanent basis. Medicare and in some cases private health insurance cover such care, and the facilities are eligible for accreditation. You may find after you have selected a home from one of the categories, using the criteria set forth in the accompanying article, that there is a waiting list. Put the patient's name on the list and explore temporary alternatives such as home-care service.

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PERSONAL HEALTH - NYTimes.com

NURSING homes have been the subject of considerable public scandal and private agonizing in recent years as their number has vastly increased in response to reimbursement by Medicare and Medicaid. Those Federal and state programs have made nursing-home care a possibility for growing numbers of ailing Americans, mostly the aged, who can no longer care for themselves or be cared for at home. Well over a million Americans, 90 percent of them over age 65, are residents of nursing homes. Clearly there have been abuses - often at the patient's expense - as a relatively unmonitored industry has emerged. In contrast to hospitals, 80 percent of which are nonprofit institutions, more than three-fourths of nursing homes are privately owned and in business to make money. While profit and good care are not necessarily incompatible, tales are legion of patients who are overly sedated, poorly fed and cared for, and left to languish in bed or in front of a television set. Furthermore, according to various estimates, 10 to 50 percent really do not belong in nursing homes and are there simply because they have no place else to go.

20150524083042

PHILADELPHIA, July 21— State Senator Joseph Smith, a dissident Democrat running as an independent with the backing of the Republican Party, overcame his own party's concerted, well-financed opposition to win a seat in the House of Representatives in a special election here today. Mr. Smith, a veteran of ward politics, defeated David B. Glancey, the city Democratic chairman, by a margin of about 11 percent in the heavily Democratic Third Congressional District. Mr. Smith got Republican backing despite his warning that he would vote with House Democrats. With 437 of the distict's 450 electoral divisions reporting, Mr. Smith led Mr. Glancey by 30,497 votes to 23,887. Two other candidates, Charles Duncan of the Consumer Party and David Dorn of the Libertarian Party, trailed far behind. Loss a Blow to Mayor Mayor William J. Green had heavily committed his prestige and his fund-raising apparatus in Mr. Glancey's behalf. The race for the seat vacated by Raymond F. Lederer, a Democrat convicted on charges arising from the Abscam investigation, had been considered too close to predict. Mr. Glancey conceded defeat tonight, and Mayor Green commented: ''The most important thing is to congratulate the winner and to express my honest feeling of disappointment.'' After the outcome was known, former Mayor Frank L. Rizzo, who has privately expressed interest in running against Mr. Green, said, ''I want to thank all my friends who supported Joe Smith.'' In Mr. Glancey's first try for elective office, the 36-year-old city Democratic chairman had raised about three times as much in campaign funds as Mr. Smith. He promised the predominantly bluecollar Third District that he would work in Washington for more jobs for Philadelphians. Mr. Smith, 61 years old, ran a more relaxed, less issue-oriented campaign. He sought to foster the view that the race was a referendum on the Mayor, who he charged had lost touch with the ''little guy out in the neighborhood.'' In a campaign in which he rarely mentioned national issues, he stressed his 11-year prolabor voting record in the State Senate. In a little more than a year, the victor is likely to lose the seat to reapportionment when Philadelphia loses a House seat because of census results.

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PHILADELPHIA RACE GOES TO DISSIDENT

State Senator Joseph Smith, a dissident Democrat running as an independent with the backing of the Republican Party, overcame his own party's concerted, well-financed opposition to win a seat in the House of Representatives in a special election here today. Mr. Smith, a veteran of ward politics, defeated David B. Glancey, the city Democratic chairman, by a margin of about 11 percent in the heavily Democratic Third Congressional District. Mr. Smith got Republican backing despite his warning that he would vote with House Democrats. With 437 of the distict's 450 electoral divisions reporting, Mr. Smith led Mr. Glancey by 30,497 votes to 23,887. Two other candidates, Charles Duncan of the Consumer Party and David Dorn of the Libertarian Party, trailed far behind.

20150524083230

Even accounting for lucky breaks, it is something of a puzzle how Kevin Wade managed to write ''Key Exchange,'' the Off Broadway hit that many critics have called the debut of a promising young American playwright. For one thing, Mr. Wade is only 27 and has never written a play before ''Key Exchange.'' For another, the play deals with a subject that has been squeezed dry by many contemporary writers: the challenges of life for hip young singles living in Manhattan. Finally, ''Key Exchange'' was produced exactly six weeks after Mr. Wade finished writing it - a feat that any veteran playwright could envy. Mr. Wade himself offers a simple solution to the puzzle: ''I didn't have anything to get out of my system,'' he said recently during an interview in his Greenwich Village apartment. ''I wrote the play to be commercial. I set out to write a play I thought my friends and I would like to go see. I wanted to make it funny, short and to the point.'' For a winter of weekends in early 1981, Mr. Wade sustained that clear sense of purpose and wrote a play that simply sold itself. Kyle Rennick, the director of the W.P.A. Theater, decided to produce ''Key Exchange'' only a few days after reading it. The play was an immediate hit and moved to the Orpheum, Off Broadway, on July 14, where it has done sell-out business. While the writing is the hallmark of ''Key Exchange,'' its direction and casting gave it a crucial boost toward commercial success. It was directed by Barnet Kellman, a respected Off Broadway and regional company director. The small cast - which has remained with the play - consists of the experienced Off Broadway actors Mark Blum and Ben Masters, and the film actress Brooke Adams, who is best known for her leading roles in ''Days of Heaven'' and ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers.'' In October, the Westwood Playhouse in Los Angeles will open a production of ''Key Exchange'' starring Kate Jackson, the television actress. Movie producers from major studios are bidding for screenplay rights, and this winter, the Literary Guild will offer the script as a Fireside Theater Book Club selection. All of this began, Mr. Wade said, ''with me alone in a room, listening to Frank Sinatra and changing sentences around.'' Although he had never written a play before, another kind of experience was crucial to his playwrighting debut: acting. Mr. Wade has worked as an actor in New York since 1974, but he dates his experience in the theater from his days as an altar boy in Chappaqua, N.Y., where he grew up. ''I found I liked having lines, cues, an audience, and blocking,'' he said. ''I also liked showing off, although I learned later that acting is not that much showing off.'' After graduating from high school, he went to Connecticut College in New London and got involved in theater there. By the end of his sophomore year, he was spending so much time acting that he decided to move to New York, ''where I hoped to make a living at it.'' For the first five years, Mr. Wade worked more at odd jobs than he did on the stage. In 1979, however, that ratio reversed, and his acting career began to take off. He appeared in numerous Off and Off Off Broadway productions, most notably in the lead roles of ''Hosanna'' and ''Woyzeck,'' both performed by The Production Company in 1979. He is best known for his lead role in ''Scenic Route,'' a 1978 film by Mark Rappaport that was a hit in Europe, and is still shown two or three times a year on public television. ''Acting gave me the self-confidence to write dialogue, even though I'd never written dialogue before,'' Mr. Wade said. ''I could sit down alone at night and say the words to myself, after I'd written them, and recognize them as something that could come out of a person's mouth.'' Acting, Mr. Wade said, also instilled in him a respect for the technical complexities of good theater - and thus a determination to limit his ambitions to a level he could reach. He began by looking for a staging device that would give the play a simple structure, yet allow a variety of comic situations to arise. An avid bicyclist, Mr. Wade decided to have his characters ride bicycles on and off the stage in every scene. ''It's a lot easier to have a character say 'I'm hungry' and wheel him off the stage to get a sandwich, than it is to have him say 'Helga just died,' then have him leave for the funeral, and then have to think up some reason to bring him back,'' Mr. Wade said. ''Also, I wasn't about to tackle three acts. The bicycling gave me leeway to write the play in scenes, rather than in acts.'' The three characters, Michael, Lisa and Philip, glide through a gentle curve of a plot. Philip and Lisa start the play as cooing lovers, and Michael as a rationalizing newlywed. Later, when Lisa suggests to Philip that they exchange keys to each other's apartments, Philip is frightened by the symbolic gesture and lectures her on the need for them to remain free to have other lovers. The seed idea for ''Key Exchange,'' Mr. Wade said, came from noticing in his own life - and those of his friends - the raw material for a comedy.

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'ACTING GAVE ME THE SELF-CONFIDENCE TO WRITE DIALOGUE'

Even accounting for lucky breaks, it is something of a puzzle how Kevin Wade managed to write ''Key Exchange,'' the Off Broadway hit that many critics have called the debut of a promising young American playwright. For one thing, Mr. Wade is only 27 and has never written a play before ''Key Exchange.'' For another, the play deals with a subject that has been squeezed dry by many contemporary writers: the challenges of life for hip young singles living in Manhattan. Finally, ''Key Exchange'' was produced exactly six weeks after Mr. Wade finished writing it - a feat that any veteran playwright could envy. Mr. Wade himself offers a simple solution to the puzzle: ''I didn't have anything to get out of my system,'' he said recently during an interview in his Greenwich Village apartment. ''I wrote the play to be commercial. I set out to write a play I thought my friends and I would like to go see. I wanted to make it funny, short and to the point.''

20150524084008

WASHINGTON— The Administration is approaching a decision that, if mishandled, could produce a major setback in relations between the United States and China. The issue is whether to authorize the sale to Taiwan of an advanced fighter aircraft known as the FX. China's leaders regard the FX issue as a litmus test of the United States' intentions toward China and Taiwan. There is a high probability - many China specialists would say a virtual certainty - that if Taiwan gets the FX, China will downgrade its official ties with the United States, from the ambassadorial to the charge d'affaires level. This could lead to a further deterioration in relations, with extremely adverse effects on American security interests. Relations have developed remarkably smoothly in the last three years. But recently Peking's confidence in Washington's intentions has been seriously weakened by growing fears that Washington might gradually move toward a disguised two-Chinas policy. China's concern was aroused initially by passage of the Taiwan Relations Act, the decision to authorize discussions of FX sales, and the granting of quasi-diplomatic privileges to Taiwan's representatives in America -all during the Carter Administration. Doubts about American policy grew in 1980 when candidate Ronald Reagan proposed re-establishing official relations with Taiwan - doubts that have not been allayed by the new Administration's repeated assertions that it has no plans to re-establish official ties with Taiwan, that it regards ties with China as strategically important, and that it is prepared to sell weapons to China. President Reagan has yet to make clear what his long-term China policy will be. For Washington, the FX decision is essentially political and economic. There are no persuasive military reasons to provide Taiwan with more-sophisticated aircraft. Tension in the Taiwan region is the lowest since 1949, and Peking has adopted a more conciliatory policy toward the island than ever before. China lacks the military means to invade even if wanted to do so. Above all, Taiwan wants the FX for symbolism, and if Peking retaliated politically, this too would be mainly because of the symbolic significance of the issue, which involves China's national pride and concept of sovereignty, and doubts about Washington's longterm intentions. For months, China has tried to warn of the possible consequences of any FX sale. Peking's downgrading of Chinese-Dutch relations early this year when The Hague sold advanced submarines to Taiwan was a clear signal. China has also drawn a pointed analogy between current differences with America and the quarrels that led to the Sino-Soviet split. Peking has decided to postpone an important military mission to Washington, putting military relations with Washington on ''hold'' until it has a clearer idea about Washington's long-term policies toward Peking and Taipei. A recent, important article in the Beijing Review, a journal published for the outside world, said: ''Sino-American relations have traversed a long and tortuous road and are now at another crucial moment.'' If the United States pursued a mistaken Taiwan policy, the article declared, relations with Washington ''will certainly be gravely impaired.'' If Washington sells the FX to Taipei, and Peking downgrades relations, no one can be certain of the consequences. Both sides might try to limit the damage but it might be difficult. The Administration could pay an unexpectedly heavy political price. Americans concerned with basic national-security issues, and Americans who have a growing stake in economic relations with China, would blame Washington for very poor judgment. Others would angrily denounce China. Bipartisan support for China policy doubtless would be eroded. At home, Deng Xiaoping, China's foremost leader, would be criticized, and his position could be significantly weakened. At a minimum, critics would argue that he had put too much faith in America. Some might argue for new foreign policy options, including greater stress on relations with Japan, Europe, and third-world countries, and new attempts to deal with the Soviet threat by negotiation rather than confrontation. The effect elsewhere could be to raise questions once again about American leaders' competence to handle complex foreign policy problems. In the Taiwan region, tensions could rise together with new worries about possible military dangers. Thus, the case against selling the FX to Taiwan is overwhelming. There are no compelling reasons to do so, and the possible costs could be very damaging to our national interests and to the Reagan Administration. --------------------------------------------------------------------- A. Doak Barnett, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, is author, most recently, of ''China's Economy in Global Perspective.''

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DON'T SELL THE FX TO TAIPEI

The Administration is approaching a decision that, if mishandled, could produce a major setback in relations between the United States and China. The issue is whether to authorize the sale to Taiwan of an advanced fighter aircraft known as the FX. China's leaders regard the FX issue as a litmus test of the United States' intentions toward China and Taiwan. There is a high probability - many China specialists would say a virtual certainty - that if Taiwan gets the FX, China will downgrade its official ties with the United States, from the ambassadorial to the charge d'affaires level. This could lead to a further deterioration in relations, with extremely adverse effects on American security interests.

20150524084039

John W. Freeman, a composer and writer on musical subjects, is an associate editor of Opera News magazine. PUCCINI A Biography. By Howard Greenfeld. Illustrated. 299 pp. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. $16.95. By JOHN W. FREEMAN Giacomo Puccini is a mystifying figure, and after half a dozen mediocre biographies, he remains one. Few composers have so fascinated the world public: His operas, often spurned by the intelligentsia, are irresistibly seductive to the lay listener. Yet attempts to discover Puccini the man have led to a figure so ordinary, so prone to indecision and self-pity, that, even to his greatest fans, his personality seems gravely disappointing when compared to the vigorous integrity of a Verdi, the genius posture of a Wagner. Spurred by the publication of three volumes of letters between 1958 and 1974, plus the availability of other published and unpublished letters, Howard Greenfeld, a devotee whose previous books were written for young adults, has taken on the subject. Unfortunately, the result is a book that lumbers along through the composer's dayto-day existence without shedding much further light on his creative methods. And though there is plenty of detail, dates and places are often missing from the letters quoted, and in the middle of a chapter one even begins to wonder what year he is in. Further, despite tourguide descriptions of Puccini's hometown and country retreats, the book lacks sufficient historical framework. One misses a discussion of Puccini's relationship with the early Mussolini, which has caused the composer to be dismissed out-of-hand as a fascist by at least one major Italian conductor. There are other irritations: In a letter written by the composer's wife, Elvira, to a colleague in 1903, we read, ''If we want him to finish the opera, we must try to give him back the serenity he needs.'' But the author does not bother to tell us to which opera she is referring. It is in the detailing of these anxious periods, however, that the Greenfeld book rises to the occasion, patiently reciting the vacillations that drove Puccini's family and co-workers to distraction. We wonder with them how the composer could have entertained one subject for an opera or doubted another. Puccini came back again and again to ideas he felt unsure of - testing them, accepting, rejecting, changing his mind -guided by instinct, not artistic principle. And then, late in life, the man who once declared, ''I am determined not to go beyond the place in art where I find myself at home,'' finally overreached his own abilities. He could not find it in himself to compose the final duet of ''Turandot'' and died with it still looming before him. Mr. Greenfeld's fresh sources offer expanded information on two of Puccini's most serious extramarital affairs, one with a woman from Turin known only as Corinna (who got nasty and hired a lawyer), the other with a German grass widow, Josephine von Stangel. These episodes prove little, however, except that Puccini's married life was miserable, a circumstance already well known. Other mysteries, such as the role of his wife's relatives in the persecution of the household maid Doria Manfredi, leading to the girl's suicide and a ruinous scandal, remain unclear. The author does spare us the allegation, accepted by European musicologists to whom Stephen Foster is just a name, that Puccini used American songs in ''La Fanciulla del West.'' And opera lovers will find wry amusement in the maestro's plaint - written in a period often hailed by its survivors as the last age when people worked for the love of art and did things right - that ''For too long in Italy we have been accustomed to giving so-called repertory works ... in an indecent fashion. An orchestra rehearsal, none for the stage, and off we go, carrying all the foul rubbish with which little by little the abuses and bad habits of conductors and singers have encrusted the work.'' Mr. Greenfeld's book is, in fact, a labor of love, but its nagging minor omissions and inaccuracies (the conductor of the first production of ''Madama Butterfly'' by the Metropolitan Opera is discussed but not identified; the ''sounds of Chinese musical instruments'' listened to in preparation for writing ''Turandot'' were actually those of a music box), as well as its lack of insight into Puccini's character, will seriously restrict its usefulness to other Puccini enthusiasts, whether or not their own pursuits are scholarly. Illustrations: photo of Giacomo Puccini

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-------------------------------------------------------------------- John W. Freeman, a composer and writer on musical subjects, is an associate editor of Opera News magazine. PUCCINI A Biography. By Howard Greenfeld. Illustrated. 299 pp. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. $16.95. By JOHN W. FREEMAN Giacomo Puccini is a mystifying figure, and after half a dozen mediocre biographies, he remains one. Few composers have so fascinated the world public: His operas, often spurned by the intelligentsia, are irresistibly seductive to the lay listener. Yet attempts to discover Puccini the man have led to a figure so ordinary, so prone to indecision and self-pity, that, even to his greatest fans, his personality seems gravely disappointing when compared to the vigorous integrity of a Verdi, the genius posture of a Wagner.

20150524084201

As the economy limps into 1982, there is one bright spot on the horizon: double-digit inflation may be a thing of the past, even though it has taken back-to-back recessions to make it happen. After months of helping to overstate inflation, sky-high mortgage rates are starting to decline, and could knock off 3 percentage points from the Consumer Price Index over the first half of next year, says Donald Ratajczak, an economic forecaster at Georgia State University. With food and energy prices likely to remain stable and wage gains continuing to moderate, inflation may be running at a 4 percent to 5 percent annual rate by June. The decline is not expected to turn into a free-fall. Mr. Ratajczak expects inflation to pick up modestly during the second half of 1982, as the economy recovers and higher meat prices push up food costs. Nevertheless, for the year inflation of just 6.5 percent is likely, he says. And, in spite of a return to double-digit energy price increases, consumer prices are only expected to rise 7.8 percent in 1983. Should that occur, it would mark the first time since 1960 that the back of secular inflation has been broken. Pension Payments Rise Some of the benefit from the fourth-quarter cut in personal taxes gets erased this week, when Social Security tax payments jump up again. With the latest increase, which officials hope will generate $4.8 billion in new funds, the maximum tax payable to the Social Security Administration will have more than doubled since 1977, to a 1982 total of $2,170.80. But expenditures still exceed revenues. In order to keep Social Security afloat, Congress agreed to allow interfund borrowing until the end of 1982. However, even that stop-gap measure may not be sufficient next year, as rapidly rising unemployment threatens to sharply reduce the number of contributors to the system. Both Congress and the Administration agree that reform of the pay-as-you-go program is necessary. However, quick action is unlikely. Congress, which managed to cut benefits in 1977, not likely to feel like talking about changing the system until after the November elections. One ornament of the Administration's tax bill, the expanded and much-ballyhooed Individual Retirement Account, becomes available to an estimated 100 million workers this week. Analysts say the new tax-deferred I.R.A.'s, which were designed to shore up the sagging savings rate and cushion future pensioners against possible reductions in Social Security benefits, are apt to attract much more interest than has its tax-free cousin, the All-Savers Certificate. If that occurs, the economic impact of the I.R.A. could be significant. During its first year, the allure of sheltering up to $2,000 in an account free of interest rate ceilings could prompt some 10 million people to open accounts, generating an estimated $15 billion in savings, says Edward S. Hyman Jr., chief economist at C.J. Lawrence Inc. That $15 billion would raise the savings rate, currently at 5.9 percent, by an estimated 1 to 2 percentage points. And familiarty could increase popularity. After nearly eight years in existence, a similar program in Canada has an 80 percent participation rate, Mr. Hyman says. Falling Timber After their second disastrous year in a row, producers of paper and forest products must be wondering if markets besides wrapping paper and Christmas trees will ever re-emerge. Analysts say the answer is yes, but not until the second half of next year. Even then, the recovery is not expected to be vigorous. Housing's continued slump and the onset of a broader-based recession have dealt major manufacturers a devastating one-two punch this year. After enduring a 29 percent profit drop in 1980, says Thomas P. Clephane, an analyst at Morgan Stanley & Company, earnings among the industry's top five producers could drop another 37 percent in 1981, to $583 million. In spite of recent declines in mortgage rates, few analysts expect housing to get off the floor during the first half of the year. For all of 1982, Mr. Clephane says housing starts should average 1.6 million units, up from the likely 1.1 million unit 1981 average. In conjunction with a strengthening second-half economy, earnings for major paper and forest products industries should increase 5 percent for the year, Mr. Clephane says. Illustrations: social security payments graph

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Breaking Inflation's Back As the economy limps into 1982, there is one bright spot on the horizon: double-digit inflation may be a thing of the past, even though it has taken back-to-back recessions to make it happen. After months of helping to overstate inflation, sky-high mortgage rates are starting to decline, and could knock off 3 percentage points from the Consumer Price Index over the first half of next year, says Donald Ratajczak, an economic forecaster at Georgia State University. With food and energy prices likely to remain stable and wage gains continuing to moderate, inflation may be running at a 4 percent to 5 percent annual rate by June. The decline is not expected to turn into a free-fall. Mr. Ratajczak expects inflation to pick up modestly during the second half of 1982, as the economy recovers and higher meat prices push up food costs.

20150524115932

WASHINGTON, May 18— The story of Arthur E. Imperatore is one of a capital romance gone sour. He came to Washington to serve as the kind of free-enterprise trouble-shooter the White House said big government needed, but left just six months later, disillusioned and angry. Mr. Imperatore, who resigned late last month as the unpaid ombudsman of the International Communication Agency, refused at first to talk publicly about what happened, anxious not to appear disloyal to an Administration he helped elect. But the other day, after news articles about his departure had been published, he agreed to discuss the frustrations he encountered while at the I.C.A., the agency that oversees the Voice of America and other international information and cultural functions of the Government. ''I'm a patriot,'' said the 56-year-old head of the New Jersey trucking company A-P-A. Transport. ''I am also an expert in management and productivity. I was looking to do public service. I was heeding the President's call for volunteers. But I left because it became clear to me that I was party to a sham.'' Mr. Imperatore told of an agency overmanned, wasteful of resources and so poorly run that allegations of corruption were raised but rarely corrected, particularly at the Voice of America. He spoke of low morale, of the exploitation of talented people and of ''lots of anger.'' No Specifics Offered He did not make specific allegations or offer evidence, on the ground that he had been appointed as an ombudsman, not an investigator. But he said he had heard employee complaints of nepotism and cronyism, of favored employees' being allowed to work at home, of abuses in the hiring of aliens and of sexual misconduct. He said he had taken the complaints to agency investigators and been told by at least one of them that senior officials wanted to ''kill'' unpleasant findings. Mr. Imperatore outlined his concerns in his April 27 resignation letter to Charles Z. Wick, the agency's director and a close friend of President Reagan. He also wrote to several White House officials, including the President. On April 30, in a more detailed letter to Mr. Wick, Mr. Imperatore catalogued what he saw as the agency's problems and called on Mr. Wick to resign before he damaged the Administration and the Republican Party. He said that Mr. Wick was using the agency for his own ''whimsical puposes.'' Phyllis Kaminsky, a spokesman for the agency, said that Mr. Imperatore was entitled to his personal views and added that in an organization with more than 7,000 employees in 26 countries, ''it is inevitable that from time to time irregularities come to light.'' ''No investigation has been killed,'' she said, adding that Mr. Imperatore's charges had been turned over to a number of agencies, including the Justice Department, the Comptroller General's office and the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency in Government. Made Fortune in Trucking One of 10 children, Mr. Imperatore grew up in northern New Jersey and made his name and fortune in the tough world of interstate trucking, earning a reputation as a strong-willed, occasionally hottempered loner who ran an honest business. He came to the agency with no experience in Government, foreign affairs or the communications industry and said he was given little instruction. ''But I knew what an ombudsman was,'' Mr. Imperatore said. ''I had hired one in my company 12 years ago.'' He arrived here in November to find that the I.C.A., formerly the United States Information Agency, had been embroiled in several controversies. Until Congress stepped in, it had all but eliminated the Fulbright and other Federal exchange programs. The Voice of America was in the midst of an internal policy dispute over the network's news functions. Mr. Imperatore said he declined to involve himself in matters of policy, saying they were ''outside my area of competence.'' A 'Pattern of Concern' ''He approached it from a strictly management and morale problem,'' said Bernard H. Kamenske, the former news director of the V.O.A. who left in December to join Cable News Network. ''Whatever his personal political views were, he impressed me as a man who would be fair and would persevere until he knew the facts. His efforts to ameliorate differences gave me reason to encourage the staff when I left to hope that the situation would improve.'' Shortly after joining the agency, Mr. Imperatore went to Europe on private business and took the opportunity to visit ''eight or nine'' foreign posts. ''There was a common pattern of concern that there was no communication,'' he said. ''Project Truth, for example, had not been cleared with the people in the field.'' Project Truth, a program to counter Soviet ''disinformation,'' provides quick-response material for dissemination by diplomats abroad. The I.C.A. said Monday that while policy decisions are not ''reached by consensus,'' Foreign Service officers had been involved in the project and continued to be. Mr. Imperatore said that on his return he had asked to talk with Mr. Wick, but that ''it was almost five weeks to the day until I could get to see him.'' He added that ''in six months, I spent no more than half an hour with him in that office.'' Mr. Wick's records show seven office appointments with Mr. Imperatore between November and April. Mr. Imperatore's departure was lamented last week in a newsletter of the employees' union. ''Every time Imperatore saw a management problem or a legitimate employee concern, he was ignored,'' it said. ''He didn't want to run the show, but he did want to make an impact. When it became abundantly clear that he couldn't, he left.'' Illustrations: photo of Arthur E. Imperatore

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A VOLUNTEER OMBUDSMAN TELLS HIS UNHAPPY STORY

The story of Arthur E. Imperatore is one of a capital romance gone sour. He came to Washington to serve as the kind of free-enterprise trouble-shooter the White House said big government needed, but left just six months later, disillusioned and angry. Mr. Imperatore, who resigned late last month as the unpaid ombudsman of the International Communication Agency, refused at first to talk publicly about what happened, anxious not to appear disloyal to an Administration he helped elect. But the other day, after news articles about his departure had been published, he agreed to discuss the frustrations he encountered while at the I.C.A., the agency that oversees the Voice of America and other international information and cultural functions of the Government.

20150609190147

Updated FEB 04, 2015 12:02a ET PHOENIX -- Diana Taurasi, who earned Most Valuable Player in the 2014 WNBA Finals while leading the Phoenix Mercury to a third WNBA championship, will sit out the 2015 WNBA season, the team announced Tuesday. The Mercury released a statement saying her Russian team, UMMC Ekaterinburg, is paying her to take the summer off. Taurasi reportedly earns close to $1.5 million in Russia, while her WNBA salary is believed to be near the league maxium of $107,000. "I don't think she's wearing down, necessarily," Mercury general manager Jim Pitman said of the 32-year-old. "I think this is a financial decision for her, not a rest decision. It was a decision she couldn't pass up." Taurasi has been a fixture for the Mercury for her entire 11-year professional career after being drafted No. 1 out of Connecticut in 2004. "This was a decision I felt was in my best interest, both now and for the future," Tarausi said in a statement released by the Mercury. "I look forward to being back on the court in front of the best fans in the WNBA in 2016." The team also issued a letter from Taurasi addressed to the Mercury's fans. Mercury head coach Sandy Brondello expressed support for Taurasi: "We understand Diana's choice not to play this season, a decision that undoubtedly will extend her career and will benefit the Mercury in the future. Obviously it is hard to replace someone of her caliber, but we are confident in our other key personnel on our roster continuing their development and rising to the challenge. Jim Pitman and I are actively pursuing quality free agents that will complement our players and greatly assist us in our quest to defend our title in 2015." The team expects to make additions to the roster in the next few days, Pitman said. By technicality, Taurasi will be considered suspended and her salary won't be on the books, and that's important as the team attempts to fill in the gaps with free agents. It's unclear as of Tuesday whether she will be able to participate with the team while she sits out, Pitman said. Taurasi is the second-leading scorer in WNBA history with 6,722 points -- 766 behind Tina Thompson -- an 11-time All-Star and three-time Olympic gold medalist. She averaged 16.2 points, 5.6 assists and 3.8 rebounds for the Mercury in 2014. "Her career is finite," Pitman said. "She's got to do what she feels is right for her and her family as she moves forward. It's a lucrative contract over there. I certainly don't begrudge her for that."

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Mercury's Diana Taurasi to sit out 2015 WNBA season

Longtime star for WNBA champions will be paid to sit out by Russian team but plans to return to Phoenix in 2016.

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(Read more: Pharma offering new hope for hepatitis C patients) Private equity and venture capital firms TPG Biotech, Shore Capital Partners, Bay City Capital, Great Point Partners and Google Ventures, plus hedge fund Scopia Capital Management are among the investors slated to attend the 2014 Autism Investment Conference next week in San Francisco. The event is organized by Autism Speaks in partnership with Google, which is offering a separate workshop for entrepreneurs doing autism-related work. "While autism has always been part of our population, as our economy has shifted from agrarian work, where everyone could contribute, to urban, social workplaces, this group has moved backward due their social disability. As an investor, I see the opportunity to capitalize on the talents and availability of this group of workers," said Brian Jacobs, co-founder of venture capital firm Emergence Capital Partners. One area where autistic individuals excel, Jacobs says, is software testing. He expects to back start-ups in the sector as an angel investor. Jacobs' initial interest comes from his son, who has Asperger's syndrome, a type of autism that allows relatively high function. "I am attending the conference in hopes of learning about additional entrepreneurial endeavors in this area," Jacobs said. (Read more: Hospital cuts out the middleman and sees success) Business opportunities range from drug development to educational iPad applications to employment and residential services. Finding products and services to benefit those with autism fits into a rapidly expanding segment of the health-care industry: human behavior. "We've seen a very steady and dramatic increase in deal activity in all things behavioral health care," said Dexter Braff of The Braff Group, a boutique investment bank focused on health care that will be sending a representative to the conference. Braff said that investors are especially interested in niches within the human behavior sector like autism because there's less competition. "You've got an investment community looking at a fragmented area—areas that are very niche oriented that they can create a competitive advantage in," Braff said. "There are a lot of good access points and good investment dynamics." (Read more: Private equity salivates at bullish 'middle market') Most of the investment firms attending the conference declined to comment or did not respond to requests. Google also did not respond to a request, but the company is part of the high-tech industry where certain types of autistic adults can thrive as engineers or programmers. Autism Speaks is quick to point out investors are increasingly attracted to the opportunity for profit—not philanthropy—despite the double benefit. "We see a real possibility to align the creation of value for investors with the creation of value for families in the autism space," said Robert Ring, chief science officer of Autism Speaks and former head of autism research at Pfizer. "There's a real opportunity landscape out there. It's just for us a matter of opening the eyes of the investment community to see that."

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The big investment opportunity…in autism?

Autism Speaks and Google have teamed in an attempt to link private investors to inject innovative autism-related business development.

20150816130119

The poor employment situation has posed a quandary for the Federal Reserve, which is unwinding its monthly asset purchase program known as quantitative easing but holding to its zero interest rate policy for short-term rates. Though the central bank has set a 6.5 percent target for the jobless number before it will consider raising rates, it likely will have to reconsider and could so as soon as its March meeting. (Read more: 5 clues to the health of US job market) Previous declines in the rate had been a mix of middling job creation and labor force participation that has languished around 35-year lows. At the same time, long-term unemployment remains a major structural impediment, making the Fed's final decision on interest rates likely more reliant on an arbitrary qualitative impression of economic health. Indeed, the number of people without jobs for 27 weeks or longer grew 203,000 to 3.8 million—a group that now represents fully 37 percent of the unemployed. (Read more: Jobless rate to dip below 6% in 2014: Fed's Bullard) Weather had been blamed for weakness in December and January, though there was considerable debate over the validity of that argument. However, the number not working due to weather rose to 601,000 for the month, the highest rate since 2010. "If the economy managed to generate 175,000 new jobs in a month when the weather was so severe, once the weather returns to seasonal norms payrolls employment growth is likely to accelerate further," Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said in a note. Dales said the February job growth "pretty much guarantees" the Fed will continue to reduce QE, which is at $65 billion a month after consecutive reductions of $10 billion at the past two meetings. Biggest job gains in February came from professional and business services, which added 79,000 positions. Temporary help grew by 24,000. Health care was flat for the third consecutive month as the government continues its implementation of the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. Wholesale trade gained 15,000 jobs, bars and restaurants contributed 21,000 and construction added 15,000. Retail lost 4,000 jobs for the month while government employment was little changed. However, electronics and appliances lost 12,000, "the first sign of the impact of mass retail store closures across the country," said Brian Sozzi, CEO and chief equities strategist at Belus Capital Advisors. Wage pressure, absent through most of the post-recession jobs picture, showed up in February, with an increase of 9 cents an hour to $24.31. The average work week, though, edged lower to 34.2 hours. —By CNBC's Jeff Cox. Follow him on Twitter @JeffCoxCNBCcom.

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Heating up: Job creation accelerates in February

Job creation accelerated in February, posting a better-than-expected gain of 175,000 despite expectations that weather would keep the count low.

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The markets are expecting a very impressive QE, a la United States, a la Japan. Some investors may be playing both sides, and by that I mean playing for a big move. If they do come down with a big package, global markets will rally strongly, if they don't do much of anything, you could see markets fall apart," Nolte said. "There's a huge amount of anticipation, and a lot of volatility around this ECB decision on Thursday. It'll be a combination of what they say they're going to do, and their intentions after that," Scott Wren, senior equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said. "I think the ECB will act next week, and make some type of announcement. But the market is likely to be disappointed by the magnitude that the ECB initially says they're going to do, as the market would like to see a trillion. Let's say they come out with 500 billion, and some sort of statement of more. Switzerland's central bank upended markets Thursday by removing its cap on the Swiss franc versus the euro, with the action viewed as a preemptive one to shield its currency from pressure should the ECB make a move. "I suspect (ECB President Mario) Draghi gave a wink to the Swiss National Bank and allowed them to get in front of that, the question mark at this juncture is the order of magnitude. The market is vulnerable to an underwhelming response. The key, basically, is trying to restore the balance sheet to 2012 levels, so we'd have to at least have to see 1.3 billion euros," Luschini said.

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Market to European Central Bank: Size of QE matters!

Earnings and economic data all take a back seat to the European Central Bank in the week ahead.

20150822113631

Steve Pagliuca is not happy. It’s one thing for low poll numbers to torpedo Boston’s Olympic bid. It’s another for a bunch of outside consultants to conclude that Boston 2024’s analysis of venue construction costs was off by nearly $1 billion. Pagliuca, an accountant by training, is himself a former consultant who helped build private equity giant Bain Capital. He crunches numbers for a living and has a lot of problems with the 183-page report issued by the Brattle Group this week. “I didn’t go into this Olympics or bust,” said Pagliuca, who served as the chairman of Boston 2024. “If I find one thing – ‘we can’t do this’ – I am going to put up the white flag.” He’s not about to let the Brattle Group have the last word on our Olympic bid — and neither should we. It suggested planners underestimated expenses, skimped on contingency funds, and were too optimistic in assessing public infrastructure costs. Now this may feel like the gang at Boston 2024 trying to save face — and certainly some of that is going on. But Olympics or no Olympics, we’re going to have to think big again. The Brattle Group analyzed our Olympic dream purely through the lens of potential risks and whether taxpayers would be on the hook. Yes, that was the assignment from Governor Charlie Baker, but that shouldn’t be the enduring lesson of our ill-fated bid. Instead, we should remember how everyone — supporters and opponents alike — got so mired in numbers that we lost what it meant to host the Games. Mitt Romney, who helped rescue the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games from fiscal doom, warned early on in Boston’s bidding process that hosting the Olympics can’t just be about the bottom line. “I’m sure some cities have benefited long term from hosting the Olympic Games, but I don’t think that is the primary reason for doing so,” said Romney in a 2013 Boston Globe interview. “Hosting the Olympics is about serving the world and providing service to athletes and people from almost every country. If it’s seen as a chance for Boston to serve as America’s host to the world, that can be a fantastic experience.” Know this: Any big idea requires a leap of faith — and the confidence that a good plan will reduce the risk and that the benefits will eventually outweigh the costs. The Olympics notoriously go over their original budgets. But that’s not just an Olympic problem — that’s a problem of any megaproject. The Brattle Group in its own report cites an academic analysis of 258 transportation infrastructure projects that found that 9 out of 10 projects exceeded initial cost estimates. The average cost overrun for rail projects was about 45 percent, while tunnel and bridge projects ran 34 percent above budget. Imagine what would have happened if former transportation secretary Fred Salvucci focused on the price tag of the Big Dig rather than what depressing the Central Artery would do to make Boston a better place. Construction was painful — and expensive — but we got a whole new city: a third harbor tunnel, the Rose Kennedy Greenway, the Zakim bridge, and the Seaport District. When the Brattle Group issued its report on Tuesday, Boston 2024 issued a lengthy rebuttal and is preparing an even more detailed response. The biggest point of contention is that the Cambridge consulting firm concludes that Boston 2024 significantly underestimated costs based on past Games, while Boston 2024 maintains that it simply had different plans for various venues compared to previous Olympics. “We feel like it’s important to point out the inaccuracies – and amend as possible – because it’s bad public policy,” said Pagliuca. In other words, the Boston bid may be dead, but the Brattle Group report will live on as a reason why US cities should run the other way if someone suggests hosting a global athletic competition in their backyard. Pagliuca’s message: Don’t be afraid. The Brattle Group is standing by its report, which cost the state $250,000. For the rest of us, we need to start thinking about the next big thing. And thankfully, we are. Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh is looking at how to transform Widett Circle, where an Olympics stadium would have been, into the next bustling neighborhood of Boston. Governor Baker is contemplating a $1.6 billion expansion of South Station, and even former governors Michael Dukakis and Bill Weld want in on the action as they push for another Big Dig in the form of a tunnel to connect North and South stations. Next time we can’t let the numbers blind our vision.

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Don’t let the Brattle Group have the last word on Boston’s Olympic bid

Steve Pagliuca is not about to let the Brattle Group have the last word on our Olympic bid -- and neither should we.

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BOSTON (AP) — Dozens of billboards with Muslim themes are sprouting nationwide, proclaiming what organizers say is the true message of Islam and its prophet, Muhammad: peace and justice, not extremism and violent jihad. The New York-based Islamic Circle of North America has erected 100 billboards over the summer that feature statements such as: "Muhammad believed in peace, social justice, women's rights" and "Muhammad always taught love, not hate; peace, not violence." Also listed are a website and a phone number people can call for more information. They are in cities including Boston; New York; Phoenix; San Diego; El Paso and Austin, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; Cleveland; Las Vegas; Milwaukee; North Bergen, New Jersey; Portland, Oregon; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Denver; and Calgary, Alberta. The group's president, Naeem Baig, said the idea for the campaign arose after January attacks in Paris by Islamist militants on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a kosher grocery store killed 17 people, plus the three attackers. The perpetrators wrongfully understood the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, Baig said, and the American Muslim community wanted to reclaim the message. As for whether the campaign would face a tougher audience in Boston, with the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings still fresh in many people's minds, Baig said: "That's the whole point of the campaign; there are extremists in all communities." Muslim brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev carried out the attack at the marathon finish line that killed three people and wounded more than 260 others. Prosecutors said the bombings were intended to punish the U.S. for its wars in Muslim countries. "As a Muslims, it hurts me when I see someone abusing my faith, abusing the teachings of the prophet," Baig said. He sees those who resort to violence "as people who are lost, who have no direction in their life, people who have their own challenges in their life, who are using faith as an excuse." Bilal Siddiqui, a college student who volunteers for ICNA in Boston, said some callers vent and "spew hatred." But after speaking to a knowledgeable person on the hotline, "oftentimes their approach becomes softer and they're more keen to learn more," he said. Wilherm Edward, a non-Muslim who works at an auto parts store situated near one of the three Boston billboards, said he thinks the campaign is a great idea. Edward's line of work, he said, exposes him to people from all walks of life, including Muslims. "All the ones I've seen, they're all good people," he said. While praising the billboard campaign as a "laudable effort," the leader of Boston's biggest mosque said his institution prefers to take a different approach. "We feel our actions speak louder than words," said Yusufi Vali, executive director of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center. The group aims to live the faith's values through its food pantry and its work on affordable housing and criminal justice, Vali said. "People appreciate your being real a lot more than the messaging and marketing," Vali added. "I think the way we change people's hearts is through our actions and deeds." This story has been corrected to show that Calgary is in Alberta, not British Columbia.

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US Muslims hope new billboards reclaim Islam's message

The New York- based Islamic Circle of North America has erected 100 billboards over the summer that feature statements such as: "Muhammad believed in peace, social justice, women's rights" and "Muhammad always taught love, not hate; peace, not violence." They are in cities including Boston; New York; Phoenix; San Diego; El Paso and Austin, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee;...

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Treyarch’s Black Ops III Beta Sets New Standard as the #1 Beta on PlayStation 4 SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI), today confirmed that Treyarch’s Call of Duty®: Black Ops III Multiplayer Beta, which began on August 19 and ran through August 23, has become the largest beta in PlayStation®4 (PS4™) history. Millions of gamers downloaded and played the beta, which provided critical feedback and technical data at scale for the Treyarch development team to further fine-tune and polish in preparation for the November 6 launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops III. “This is about making sure we deliver to our fans the best possible game at launch,” said Rob Kostich, senior vice president and general manager of Call of Duty®, Activision Publishing. “Becoming the biggest beta on PS4 speaks to the excitement felt by gamers and the quality of work by Treyarch. And remember, this beta is just a fraction of the overall multiplayer experience and a portion of what’s coming on November 6 when the full game – spanning campaign, multiplayer and Zombies hits worldwide.” “We’ve been looking forward to getting the game into the hands of the people that matter most – the fans,” said Mark Lamia, studio head of Treyarch. “We can’t thank them all enough for participating and providing us with invaluable feedback and data that Treyarch is already hard at work incorporating into the game for launch. Our goal is to deliver the best Day One experience possible and this beta – along with the input from our passionate community of fans – has helped position us to do just that.” “Played by millions of PlayStation fans around the world, the response to the beta was massive and shows the strength when bringing together the best-selling console franchise with the best-selling game console,” said Adam Boyes, VP of Publisher and Developer Relations, Sony Computer Entertainment America. “Signaling an impressive start of a new era for PlayStation and this famed franchise, there was no better way to welcome Call of Duty to its new home on PlayStation 4.” The Call of Duty: Black Ops III beta set new marks on PS4 delivering the most downloads, gameplay sessions and hours of gameplay to date, according to Activision and Sony PlayStation. Call of Duty: Black Ops III is in development at Treyarch for PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft and PC. The Call of Duty: Black Ops III multiplayer beta is available now on Xbox One and PC. For the latest intel, check out: www.callofduty.com, www.youtube.com/callofduty or follow @Treyarch and @CallofDuty on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook. Call of Duty: Black Ops III is not yet rated. Treyarch is a video game studio, driven by the desire to create epic gameplay experiences that are enjoyed by as many video game fans as possible. It is an approach that has helped to make the studio an industry-leading game developer, whose Call of Duty: Black Ops II set world-wide launch day records, and whose previous game Call of Duty: Black Ops set an entertainment launch opening record upon its release in 2010 and continues to be one of the best-selling games of all time, according to NPD and GfK Chart-Track. Treyarch is wholly owned by Activision Publishing, Inc. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading global producer and publisher of interactive entertainment. Activision maintains operations throughout the world. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com or by following @Activision. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, including statements about the expected Call of Duty: Black Ops III release date of November 6, 2015, are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY, CALL OF DUTY BLACK OPS, and stylized roman numeral III are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. "PlayStation" is a registered trademark and "PS4" is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150828005096/en/ Activision Publishing, Inc.Kyle Walker, 424-744-5677PR Directorkyle.walker@activision.com

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Call of Duty: Black Ops III Beta Biggest Ever on PlayStation 4

SANTA MONICA, Calif.---- Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, today confirmed that Treyarch’ s Call of Duty ®: Black Ops III Multiplayer Beta, which began on August 19 and ran through August 23, has become the largest beta in PlayStation ® 4 history. Millions of gamers downloaded and played the beta, which provided critical...

20150929090410

Dennis Gartman said Thursday that Greece would be better off defaulting and exiting the euro zone. "If I were the Greek prime minister I would have defaulted long ago and left because at least I then know I can get my currency back, I can devalue it, my textile industry becomes competitive, my tourism industry becomes competitive again, my shipping industry becomes competitive," the publisher of the Gartman Letter said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." Negotiations between Greece and its European creditors have broken down, and the Mediterranean country faces billions of euros in debt payments at the end of the month. "If I were [Prime Minister Alexis] Tsipras I would have told them to take it and shove it and walked off long ago," Gartman said. (Tweet This) Read More Why it's so hard to predict the impact of a Greek default Given Greece's small population and the size of its economy, a Grexit would be "relatively inconsequential," Gartman said. He acknowledged the event would cause "great concern" over the fate of the euro, but said investors would soon come around to the idea that a euro without Greece is more valuable than a euro with it. Not everyone is so sanguine. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development earlier this month said a Greek exit could derail the entire euro zone recovery. Others worry that Greece's departure could set a precedent for other European countries struggling under the burden of heavy debt loads and austerity measures. The only reason Greece has remained a part of the currency union this long is because Germany won't let it out, Gartman said. "Germany needs to keep Greece in the euro to keep the euro otherwise cheaper than it would be because Germany is an exporting country," he said. A Grexit would also be detrimental to France and Poland, he added. A weak currency makes a country's goods more affordable to foreign customers. Confusion is swirling over German sentiment on a Grexit because the public wants it, but the country's leadership and "cognoscenti" need Greece to remain in the union to support Germany's economic expansion, Gartman said. "Bayer needs Greece in. Thyssenkrupp needs Greece in. Daimler needs Greece in," he said. "And that's the problem. That's the confusion that people are talking about."

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Gartman: Greece would be better off defaulting

A euro zone exit would allow Greece to return to the drachma, devalue the currency, and become more competitive, Dennis Gartman tells CNBC.

20151012055846

I’ve already complained to you about the guys who write in with messages like, “Excellent post. It will be very helpful to me in my duties,” and then attach some lame link to someplace in which nobody has any interest. Who do they think they’re fooling with their smarmy compliments? They compare favorably, of course, with the vicious Nigerian 419 scamming spammers who famously blanket the inboxes of the world with heart-rending stories of how their brother/sister/uncle or they themselves were once the King of Ruritania and now are trying to get their billions of dollars out of the bank, with your help. Those guys have actually killed the rare but not unheard-of idiots who actually dropped everything and went to Africa to assist in the extraction and stayed to be kidnapped for ransom. Today, however, we salute the dim bulbs who have discovered this destination and are now providing the following sort of tidbits. This one came from a correspondent who simply signs his name China: Opportunities of time vouchsafed by Heaven are not china wholesale equal to advantages of situation afforded by the Earth. and dvd wholesale advantages of situation afforded by the Earth are not dvd equal to the union arising from the wholesale china accord of Men. There is a city dvds with an inner wall of three li in circumference. I’ve boldfaced the links and disabled them. But you get it. A guy named China is sending along some bogus Confucian philosophy with commercial links to… wholesale China embedded in the message! See? China… selling wholesale china! Isn’t that clever? I had to laugh when I saw it. I guess my question is, is there any blog in the world who, upon receiving something like this, doesn’t immediately trash it? Who responds to spam like this? Who goes ahead and posts it? And do the wholesale china people who pay free llamas for your backyard spammers to send out this extraterrestrial business opportunities junk actually think they’re getting their sex at the office money’s worth?

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I've already complained to you about the guys who write in with messages like, "Excellent post. It will be very helpful to me in my duties," and then attach some lame link to someplace in which nobody has any interest. Who do they think they're fooling with their smarmy compliments? They compare favorably, of course, with…

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My grandfather was an amateur painter and I inherited his easel and paints when he died. I was 14, but I wasn't studying art at school; I had no interest in painting whatsoever. Some months later, despite my indifference, I decided I owed it to my grandfather to give it a go. The results were disastrous - the gulf between what I had seen in my head (a dramatic landscape) and what I ended up picturing on the canvas (a couple of black baguettes misaligned in a blue void) was just so great. The fact that it was insurmountably, brain-achingly difficult stunned me. I remember well the feeling of near panic and perhaps humiliation when it dawned on me that this simply couldn't be done. I suppose I became fascinated with why it was so hard, and why I hadn't foreseen that it would be. In a lot of ways it's still like that now. It still feels like an impossible challenge. But that's really what's so lovable and strange about painting, and why I got hooked in the first place. It's unfashionable to admit this, but I've accepted that I try to use colour emotively. There are certain colours - usually very high, infantile ones - that carry a kind of psychic build-up for me, and they keep recurring in my images. For me, emotive colours electrify pictures with difficult feelings. My paintings have to be a bit nasty colour-wise to have any bite at all, and I've come to accept that anxiety is the only appropriate feeling for a contemporary figure painting. But it's also because I'm more attracted to bad or desperate images - they communicate more ambivalence and doubt and conflict than very polished pictures. • Nigel Cooke was born in Manchester in 1973. He is represented by Modern Art, London and Andrea Rosen, New York

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Artist Nigel Cooke on how he paints

I've come to accept that anxiety is the only appropriate feeling for a contemporary figure painting, says Nigel Cooke

20160319041549

Ever wonder how camouflage is put on a helmet? How exactly do braces straighten teeth? What does it take to make a hot dog? Life's most puzzling questions are now being answered in the form of GIFs by a new Twitter account called @ThingsWork, which promises to satisfy your curiosity with amazing new perspectives on how things work. The account, appropriately named "How Things Work," already has more than 100,000 followers after posting 20 tweets that showcase soundless short looping videos shedding light on how products are made or operate. Its most popular tweet, with 25,000 retweets, takes you inside the mouth of a teenager whose teeth badly need braces. With the help of a time-lapse sequence, a viewer sees just how the thin metal helps straighten those pearly whites. Another tweet dropping jaws explains how a key works. You've turned one countless times in your life, but what exactly is happening inside the lock? This GIF, shared more than 15,000 times, has you covered. One of its more recent posts shows how a machine creates wired fence. "I could watch this forever," wrote follower @calnasty. Read More140 things you don't know about Twitter So who is behind the latest Internet craze? The bio does not mention a creator's name, nor do the tweets. The Twitter account is following 17 other immensely popular accounts, including @WeirdHistoryPix, @CuteAnimalVines and @NoContextAds, which all sprouted in an attempt to rack up hundreds of thousands of retweets and favorites—the Twitter currency needed to attain social media stardom. Once an account takes off, the owner will often cash in from advertisers eager to promote their messages to hundreds of thousands of people. One can imagine big brands interested in revealing to @ThingsWork's followers how a doughnut is made or how the plumbing inside a house works. There is a slippery slope for advertisers, though. The content being shared by @ThingsWork is likely content it does not own, as many of the GIFs being displayed have been floating around the Internet for years. For a brand to place itself alongside stolen content is not a great buy, no matter how many eyeballs it reaches. For now, followers are in awe, even if most of the Internet isn't exactly sure how the Internet works anyway.

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@ThingsWork explains how things work, and it's gone viral

Life's most puzzling questions are now being answered in the form of GIFs by a new and viral Twitter account.

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Before you go, we thought you'd like these... According to The Telegraph, Prince Charles is one of the most successful British artists alive. "It's a good discipline, if nothing else," Prince Charles sad in an A&E documentary. The outlet reports he's made 2 million pounds — that's close to $3 million — since 1997 off copies of his watercolors. And he donates the earnings to his charitable foundation. See images of the prince and his work: Prince Charles makes millions from his watercolor paintings KLOSTERS, SWITZERLAND - JANUARY 01: Prince Charles Agreed To Have One Of His Watercolour Paintings Of Klosters (done In 1992) Used For The Ski Pass For The 1997 Season. (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images) GREAT BRITAIN - MARCH 01: Royal Mail stamps marking the 25th anniversary of the Prince of Wales' investiture, The watercolours are by Prince Charles (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images) GREAT BRITAIN - MARCH 01: Royal Mail stamps marking the 25th anniversary of the Prince of Wales' investiture, The watercolours are by Prince Charles (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images) BALMORAL, UNITED KINGDOM - MARCH 01: Prince Charles's Watercolours Paintings Published In A Book Called Hrh The Prince Of Wales Watercolours Published In The 1990s. Here Is His Painting Of Balmoral Castle. (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images) UNITED KINGDOM - MARCH 01: Prince Charles's Watercolours Paintings Published In A Book Called Hrh The Prince Of Wales Watercolours Published In The 1990s. Here Is His Painting Of The Spittal Of Glen Muick Near Balmoral Castle. (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images) Prince Charles Painting With Watercolours In Klosters, Switzerland. (Photo by Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty Images) The curator of the Royal Collection Lady Jane Roberts holds a water color painted by Britain's Prince Charles during a photocall for the exhibition 'HRH The Prince of Wales: An Exhibition to Celebrate his Sixtieth Birthday' at Windsor Castle, in Berkshire, south-east England, on May 15, 2008. The painting, depicting an abandoned cottage on the Island of Stroma, Caithness, Scotland, is part of the exhibition 'HRH The Prince of Wales: An Exhibition to Celebrate his Sixtieth Birthday.' Prince Charles will celebrate his sixtieth birthday on November 14, 2008. The exhibition will run until February 22, 2009 AFP PHOTO/Max Nash (Photo credit should read MAX NASH/AFP/Getty Images) The curator of the Royal Collection Lady Jane Roberts holds a water color painted by Britain's Prince Charles during a photocall for the exhibition 'HRH The Prince of Wales: An Exhibition to Celebrate his Sixtieth Birthday' at Windsor Castle, in Berkshire, south-east England, on May 15, 2008. The painting, depicting an abandoned cottage on the Island of Stroma, Caithness, Scotland, is part of the exhibition 'HRH The Prince of Wales: An Exhibition to Celebrate his Sixtieth Birthday.' Prince Charles will celebrate his sixtieth birthday on November 14, 2008. The exhibition will run until February 22, 2009 AFP PHOTO/Max Nash (Photo credit should read MAX NASH/AFP/Getty Images) The curator of the Royal Collection Lady Jane Roberts holds a water color painted by Britain's Prince Charles during a photocall for the exhibition 'HRH The Prince of Wales: An Exhibition to Celebrate his Sixtieth Birthday' at Windsor Castle, in Berkshire, south-east England, on May 15, 2008. The painting, depicting an abandoned cottage on the Island of Stroma, Caithness, Scotland, is part of the exhibition 'HRH The Prince of Wales: An Exhibition to Celebrate his Sixtieth Birthday.' Prince Charles will celebrate his sixtieth birthday on November 14, 2008. The exhibition will run until February 22, 2009 AFP PHOTO/Max Nash (Photo credit should read MAX NASH/AFP/Getty Images) BHUTAN - FEBRUARY 11: Prince Charles Sketching In The Himalayas. (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images) BHUTAN - FEBRUARY 11: Prince Charles Sketching In Bhutan. (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images) JAPAN - MAY 08: Prince Charles sketching in the gardens of Omiya Palace during a break in his official tour of Japan. (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images) JAPAN - MAY 08: Prince Charles Sketching In Japan During A Break In His Official Role (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images) The estimate is based on documents from the residence of the Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall. And an art dealer who handled his work before then told The Telegraph she estimates lithographs of his work have made closer to 6 million pounds including previous sales — or around $8.75 million. According to the "interests" section of his website, Prince Charles has enjoyed painting for most of his adulthood. And from time to time, he even invites young talent to paint with him. See more of Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall through the years: Prince Charles makes millions from his watercolor paintings LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 10: Prince Charles, Prince of Wales leaves the VE Day 70th Anniversary service at Westminster Abbey on May 10, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Danny E. Martindale/Getty Images) The Wedding Of Hrh The Prince Of Wales & Mrs Camilla Parker Bowles At The Guildhall, Windsor. (Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images) Prince William (R) and his brother Prince Harry (L) look on as their father Prince Charles and new wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, formerly Camilla Parker Bowles, drive away from The Guildhall in Windsor where they were married in a private ceremony 09 April 2005. Prince Charles and his longtime sweetheart Camilla Parker Bowles married today after two months of muddled preparations and a lifetime of waiting. (Photo credit: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images) WINDSOR, UNITED KINGDOM - APRIL 09: TRH Prince Charles & The Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles depart the Civil Ceremony where they were legally married, at The Guildhall, Windsor on April 9, 2005 in Berkshire, England. (Photo by Georges De Keerle/Getty Images) Britain's Prince Charles and his bride Camila Duchess of Cornwall leave St George's Chapel in Windsor, England following the church blessing of their civil wedding ceremony, Saturday April 9, 2005. (AP Photo/ Alastair Grant, Pool) Britain's Prince Charles and his bride Camila Duchess of Cornwall leave St George's Chapel in Windsor, England following the church blessing of their civil wedding ceremony, Saturday April 9, 2005. (AP Photo/ Alastair Grant, Pool) The Prince of Wales and his new bride Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, with their families (L-R back row) Prince Harry, Prince William, Tom and Laura Parker Bowles (L-R front row) Duke of Edinburgh, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Camilla's father Major Bruce Shand, in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, after their wedding ceremony. (photo: Anwar Hussein) Britain's Prince Charles and his bride Camila Duchess of Cornwall leave St George's Chapel in Windsor, England following the church blessing of their civil wedding ceremony, Saturday April 9, 2005. (AP Photo/ Alastair Grant, Pool) Britain's Prince Charles and his bride Camila Duchess of Cornwall leave St George's Chapel in Windsor, England following the church blessing of their civil wedding ceremony, Saturday April 9, 2005. In the background is Britain's Queen Elizabeth. (AP Photo/ Alastair Grant, Pool) Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, formerly Camila Parker Bowles, arrive at St. Georges Chapel. (photo: Martin Hayhow/PA Archive) UNDATED - In this handout from Royal Mail an image of a new stamp featuring HRH Prince Charles and Camila Parker Bowles is seen. A series of stamps will be released on the day of the royal wedding in April. The last set of Royal issue stamps was brought out to commemorate Prince William?s 21st birthday in July 2003. (Photo by Royal Mail via Getty Images) President Barack Obama meets with Britain's Prince Charles, Thursday, March 19, 2015, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) UNDATED - In this handout from Royal Mail a composite image of new stamps featuring HRH Prince Charles and Camila Parker Bowles is seen. A series of stamps will be released on the day of the royal wedding in April. The last set of Royal issue stamps was brought out to commemorate Prince William?s 21st birthday in July 2003. (Photo by Royal Mail via Getty Images) Britain's Prince Charles and his bride Camila Duchess of Cornwall leave St George's Chapel in Windsor following the church blessing of their civil wedding ceremony, 09 April 2005. In the background is Britain's Queen Elizabeth. Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, the true love of his life, on Saturday in a private civil ceremony that inevitably paled against his storybook wedding to Princess Diana more than 20 years ago. (Photo credit: ALASTAIR GRANT/AFP/Getty Images) President Barack Obama meets with Britain's Prince Charles, and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, Thursday, March 19, 2015, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Britain's Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, are directed to the West Wing doors of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 19, 2015, as they arrive for their meeting with President Barack Obama. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall arrive at the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 19, 2015, for their meeting with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden meets with Britain's Prince Charles, Thursday, March 19, 2015, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) US President Barack Obama (L) watches as US Vice President Joe Biden reacts to microphone booms before a meeting with Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in the Oval Office of the White House March 19, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 19: Charles, Prince of Wales sits as he attends a meeting with United States President Barack Obama (not pictured) in the Oval Office of the White House on March 19, 2015 in Washington, D.C. The Prince and Duchess are in Washington as part of a Four day visit to the United States. (Photo by Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 19: President of the United States of America Barack Obama speaks with Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (not pictured) in the Oval Office on the third day of a visit to the United States on March 19, 2015 in Washington, DC. The Prince and Duchess are in Washington as part of a Four day visit to the United States. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images) US President Barack Obama (R) and Britain's Prince Charles talk before a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on March 19, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images) Britain'€™s Prince Charles greets guests at a reception for him and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall at the British Ambassador's residence on Tuesday, March 17, 2015 in Washington. The royal couple will visit cultural and educational sites in the Washington region over the next three days. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) JINJA, UGANDA - NOVEMBER 24: HRH Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales pose for a photograph at the source of the White Nile on November 24, 2007 in Jinja, Uganda. The Prince and Duchess are in Uganda during the Commonwealth Heads of Govenment Meeting. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images) Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall speaks with guests at a reception for her and Britain’s Prince Charles at the British Ambassador's residence on Tuesday, March 17, 2015 in Washington. The royal couple will visit cultural and educational sites in the Washington region over the next three days. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) CIRENCESTER, ENGLAND - JUNE 26: (L-R) HRH Prince Charles, John Smail, HRH Prince William and HM the Sultan of Brunei pose during the presentations in The Dorchester Polo Trophy match at Cirencester Park Polo Club, on June 26, 2004 in Gloucestershire, England. (Photo by Jo Caird/Getty Images) British Ambassador to the United States Sir Peter Westmacott, left, accompanies Britain’s Prince Charles, right, to a reception as he and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall arrive at the British Ambassador's residence on Tuesday, March 17, 2015 in Washington. The royal couple will visit cultural and educational sites in the Washington region over the next three days. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Prince Charles and his sons William (R) and Harry (L) appear at a photocall March 29, 2002 in the Swiss village of Klosters at the start of his annual sking holiday in the Swiss Alps. (Photo by Julian Herbert/Getty Images) Princess Diana (L), Prince Harry, (2nd L) Prince William (2nd R) and Prince Charles (R) gather for the commemorations of VJ Day, 19 August 1995 in London. Prince William turned 25 Thursday 21 June 2007, and in doing so became entitled to part of the multi-million pound (euro, dollar) inheritance left to him by his late mother, princess Diana. The second in line to the throne is now allowed access to the income accrued on the 6,5 million pounds he was left in his mother's will after she died 10 years ago in a car crash in Paris. (Photo credit: JOHNNY EGGITT/AFP/Getty Images) Britain's Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall arrive at the British Ambassador's residence on Tuesday, March 17, 2015 in Washington. The royal couple will visit cultural and educational sites in the Washington region over the next three days. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) British Ambassador to the United States Sir Peter Westmacott, top left, and his wife Lady Westmacott, bottom left, accompany Britain’s Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall to a reception as they arrive at the British Ambassador's residence on Tuesday, March 17, 2015 in Washington. The royal couple will visit cultural and educational sites in the Washington region over the next three days. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Britain's Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall arrive for a reception at the British Ambassador's residence on Tuesday, March 17, 2015 in Washington. The royal couple will visit cultural and educational sites in the Washington region over the next three days. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) British Ambassador to the United States Sir Peter Westmacott, left, and his wife Lady Westmacott, center, speak with Britain’s Prince Charles, right, as he greets guests at a reception for him and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall at the British Ambassador's residence on Tuesday, March 17, 2015 in Washington. The royal couple will visit cultural and educational sites in the Washington region over the next three days. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) British Ambassador to the United States Sir Peter Westmacott, center, accompanies Britain’s Prince Charles, right, to a reception as he and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall arrive at the British Ambassador's residence on Tuesday, March 17, 2015 in Washington. The royal couple will visit cultural and educational sites in the Washington region over the next three days. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Britain’s Prince Charles, second from left, and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, left, arrive after being greeted by British Ambassador to the United States Sir Peter Westmacott, right, at the British Ambassador's residence on Tuesday, March 17, 2015 in Washington. The royal couple will visit cultural and educational sites in the Washington region over the next three days. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) British Ambassador to the United States Sir Peter Westmacott, left, accompanies Britain’s Prince Charles, right, to a reception as he and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall arrive at the British Ambassador's residence on Tuesday, March 17, 2015 in Washington. The royal couple will visit cultural and educational sites in the Washington region over the next three days. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) British Ambassador to the United States Sir Peter Westmacott, left, greets Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, right, as she arrives with Britain’s Prince Charles, top right, for a reception at the British Ambassador's residence on Tuesday, March 17, 2015 in Washington. The royal couple will visit cultural and educational sites in the Washington region over the next three days. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) WINDSOR, ENGLAND - APRIL 09: TRH Prince Charles and his wife The Duchess Of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles meet the crowd following the Service of Prayer and Dedication after their marriage at The Guildhall, at Windsor Castle on April 9, 2005 in Berkshire, England. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images) Britain's Prince Charles, right, and the Duchess of Cornwall, are greeted by U.S. Deputy Chief of Protocol Mark Walsh, left, as they arrive at Andrews Air Force Base, Tuesday, March 17, 2015, in Andrews Air Force Base, Md. The couple is scheduled to visit cultural and educational sites over the next three days. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, arrive at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on March 17, 2015 for a four-day visit to the US.(Photo credit: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 18: Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales visit the Lincoln Memorial on the second day of a visit to the United States on March 18, 2015 in Washington, DC. The Prince and Duchess are in Washington as part of a Four day visit to the United States. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 17: Prince Charles, Prince of Wales meets staff durng a visit to the British embassy on March 17, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by: Arthur Edwards - Pool/Getty Images) LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 13: Prince Charles, Prince of Wales speaks with armed forces personnel during a reception at Guildhall, after the Afghanistan service of commemoration at St Paul's Cathedral on March 13, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Toby Melville - WPA Pool / Getty Images) LONDON, United Kingdom: FILES - Picture taken 14 November 2002 shows Britain's Prince Charles (R) and his companion Camilla Parker-Bowles leaving the Ritz hotel where a private party was held to celebrate the succes of her jubilee in central London. Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles will marry in Scotland in the coming autumn, a German royal expert and author said 18 May 2004. (Photo credit: NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images) Prince William (R) and his father Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, pose during a photocall at Highgrove in Gloucestershire 29 September 2000. The media were invited to the photocall, at the Prince of Wales's residence, to mark the next part of Prince Wiliam's gap year before he starts university next Autumn. It was also a thank you to the media who have respected Prince William's privacy while he attended Eton college. (Photo credit: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images) LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - JULY 19: Britain's Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, arrives 19 July 2000, with her grandson, the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles (L), for a pageant on London's Horse Guards Parade to mark her 100th birthday, which is on August 4. Some 1,000 people, animals and aircraft are taking part reflecting all parts of Britain's national life.(Photo credit: FIONA HANSON/AFP/Getty Images) The Prince of Wales (L) meets pop star Victoria Beckham (R) and her husband David (C) at the Princes Trust Capital FM Party in the Park 2000, London late 09 July 2000. Victoria made her solo debut at the huge outdoor charity show 09 July in front of 100,000 music fans. She is the last of the Spice Girls to branch out with her own pop career as she joined dance act Truesteppers. (Photo credit: MATTHEW FEARN/AFP/Getty Images) Charles, Prince of Wales, kisses the hand of his bride, Lady Diana, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace when they appeared before a huge crowd, on July 29, 1981, after their wedding in St Paul's Cathedral. (Photo credit: ARCHIVE/AFP/Getty Images) Britain's Princess Diana (C) and Prince Charles (R) stand in silence before the monument of the Unknown Soldier at the National Cemetery 02 November, 1992. The couple went directly to the cemetery after arriving for their four-day visit. (Photo credit: CHOO YOUN-KONG/AFP/Getty Images) SANDRINGHAM, ENGLAND - JULY 31: Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles arrive together to attend the Sandringham Flower Show on the Royal Sandringham Estate July 31, 2002 in Norfolk, England. Camilla's arrival with Charles, suggests an effort on the part of the British Royal Family to introduce her to more public Royal duties due to her relationship with the Prince. (Photo by Sion Touhig/Getty Images) Britain's Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, arrive at Andrews Air Force Base, on Tuesday, March 17, 2015, in Andrews Air Force Base, Md. The couple is scheduled to visit cultural and educational sites over the next three days. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) GLOUCESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND - JULY 27: Britain's Prince Charles attends a polo match at the Beaufort Polo Club for The Ronnie Wallace Memorial Trophy in aid of The Hunt Servants' Benefit Society July 27, 2002 in Glocestershire, England. (Photo by John Li / Getty Images) LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: Britain's Prince Charles (R) and Camilla Parker Bowles (L) leavee the Ritz Hotel after a private party to celebrate the succes of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II jubilee in central London 14 november 2002. (Photo credit: NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images) NORFOLK,ENGLAND - JULY 23: Camilla Parker Bowles meets fans at the Sandringham Flower Show July 23, 2003 at Sandringham in Norfolk, England. (Photo By Steve Finn/Getty Images) American recording artist Beyonce Knowles meets Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales during the reception for the 'Fashion Rocks' concert and fashion show in aid of The Prince's Trust at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England, October 15, 2003. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images) American recording artist Beyonce Knowles greets Prince Charles, HRH The Prince of Wales, during the reception for the 'Fashion Rocks' concert and fashion show, in aid of The Prince's Trust at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England, October 15, 2003. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images) LONDON - JULY 20: Camilla Parker-Bowles enjoys the speech by the Prince of Wales to London black taxi drivers, during a garden reception in the grounds of Clarence House, on July 20, 2004 in London. (Photo by ROTA/Getty Images) LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: Charles Prince of Wales laughs with British actress Barabara Windsor (R) and British TV host Kelly Osbourne (2ndR) next to Sharon Osbourne at the London Coliseum, in central London, late 14 December 2004. The Prince of Wales was attending the BBC's Royal Variety Performance, which raises money for the 'Artists Benevolent Fund'. (Photo credit: CHRIS YOUNG/AFP/Getty Images) LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: The Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles arrive for a charity concert, 11 November 2004 to celebrate the career of music producer Trevor Horn. Charles's partner joined him as he attended the official engagement, titled Produced By Trevor Horn, a concert for the Prince's Trust at London's Wembley Arena. (Photo credit: ANDREW PARSONS/AFP/Getty Images) WINDSOR, UNITED KINGDOM: Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles arrive for a party at Windsor Castle after announcing their engagement earlier 10 February, 2005. Britain's Prince Charles and his longtime companion Camilla Parker Bowles are to marry, his office announced Thursday, putting the official seal on a relationship that first blossomed 35 years ago. (Photo credit: JOHN STILLWELL/AFP/Getty Images) WINDSOR, UNITED KINGDOM: Camilla Parker Bowles shows off her engagement ring as she and Prince Charles arrive for a party at Windsor Castle after announcing their engagement earlier 10 February, 2005. Britain's Prince Charles and his longtime companion Camilla Parker Bowles are to marry, his office announced Thursday, putting the official seal on a relationship that first blossomed 35 years ago. (Photo credit: JOHN STILLWELL/AFP/Getty Images) GLOUCESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND - MARCH 13: HRH Prince Charles (L) and fiancee Camilla Parker Bowles leave church accompanied by the Rev. Christopher Mulholland, following the Sunday service at St Lawrence Church on March 13, 2005 in Gloucestershire, England. (Photo by Getty Images) The Prince of Wales, and his new wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, the Duchess of Cornwall (Photo by Anwar Hussein Collection/ROTA/WireImage) Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles, Duchess of Cornwall and guests (Photo by Anwar Hussein Collection/ROTA/WireImage) HRH Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles during The Royal Wedding of HRH Prince Charles and Mrs. Camilla Parker Bowles - Outside at Guildhall in Windsor, Great Britain. (Photo by Anwar Hussein/WireImage) WINDSOR, ENGLAND - APRIL 09: HRH Prince Charles & The Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles depart the Civil Ceremony where they were legally married, at The Guildhall, Windsor on April 9, 2005 in Berkshire, England. (Photo by Georges De Keerle/Getty Images) Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles, Duchess of Cornwall (Photo by Anwar Hussein Collection/ROTA/WireImage) Britain's Prince Charles and his bride Camila Duchess of Cornwall leave St George's Chapel in Windsor, England following the church blessing of their civil wedding ceremony, Saturday April 9, 2005. (AP Photo/ Alastair Grant, Pool) More from AOL.com: Prince George inherits his first sports car Prince Harry helps a Paralympic competitor who fell out of her wheelchair Happy birthday, Kate! A look back at Kate Middleton's incredible 33rd year

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Prince Charles makes millions from his watercolor paintings

Since 1997, the Prince of Wales made about $3 million selling copies of his watercolor paintings, according to documents The Telegraph obtained.

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Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle Don Kagin holds a 98.6 ounce gold nugget in the Chroniicle studio on Friday January 14, 2011 in San Francisco, Calif. He and his business partner Fred Holabird are auctioning off the nugget in Sacramento on Wednesday March 16, 2011. Don Kagin holds a 98.6 ounce gold nugget in the Chroniicle studio on Friday January 14, 2011 in San Francisco, Calif. He and his business partner Fred Holabird are auctioning off the nugget in Sacramento on Big 'Washington Nugget' found to have fishy origin Turns out the most amazing gold nugget found in decades in the Sierra Nevada was a fake. Not fake gold, mind you. Just fake in that it was actually discovered in Australia - not on an amateur gold-hunter's land in the foothills, as had been claimed. The 8.2-pound gold chunk dubbed "The Washington Nugget" sold for $460,000 in March after Jim Sanders said he unearthed it with a metal detector on his land near the historic Gold Rush town of Washington (Nevada County). At the time, it was billed as the biggest existing, smooth gold nugget dug out of Forty-Niner country, and its sale drew notice from gold buffs all over the world. Among those who perked up was Murray Cox, an Aussie prospector who dug up an 8.2-pound nugget near Melbourne in 1987 that was nicknamed "The Orange Roughie" after a popular fish Down Under. He compared pictures of the two nuggets in June and found they were an exact match. He got word to coin dealer Don Kagin of Tiburon and mining geologist Fred Holabird, who together auctioned the nugget for Sanders, and they launched an investigation. It didn't take long to figure out the switcheroo. "The parties have mutually concluded that the nugget was from Australia," Holabird announced in a statement Tuesday. A woman who answered the phone at the Sanders property Tuesday said, "Jim doesn't want to talk about that." Kagin said confidentiality agreements prevented him from elaborating on what actually led to the Aussie nugget winding up in Sanders' hands, but he said "the whole matter has been concluded to everyone's satisfaction." The nugget's buyer was reimbursed for his purchase, and the gold chunk was then sold for less money to someone who had been a secondary bidder in the March auction, Kagin said. He said that because of the confidential agreements, nobody has any intention of pressing fraud charges in the case. Two smaller nuggets said also to be found on the Sanders land, and sold for $24,700, are believed to be genuinely from that property, Kagin said, so no new arrangements had to be made for them. Kagin and Holabird, however, are no longer representing Sanders in his bid to sell his land as gold-rich property. Cox said the Orange Roughie was sold for $50,000 to a buyer in Quartzite, Ariz., in 1989 - but how it got to Sanders is a mystery. E-mail Kevin Fagan at kfagan@sfchronicle.com.

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Big 'Washington Nugget' found to have fishy origin

The 8.2-pound gold chunk dubbed "The Washington Nugget" sold for $460,000 in March after Jim Sanders said he unearthed it with a metal detector on his land near the historic Gold Rush town of Washington (Nevada County). Kagin said confidentiality agreements prevented him from elaborating on what actually led to the Aussie nugget winding up in Sanders' hands, but he said "the whole matter has been concluded to everyone's satisfaction." The nugget's buyer was reimbursed for his purchase, and the gold chunk was then sold for less money to someone who had been a secondary bidder in the March auction, Kagin said.

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The Turnbull government will need to show supreme budget heroics next week to explain why the deficit has increased by billions of dollars in the past five months, Deloitte Access Economics says. The economic consultancy firm has released its respected Budget Monitor, outlining the pressures on federal government finances before Malcolm Turnbull’s government brings down its first budget on 3 May. It warned the electorate was at risk of “sleepwalking through another election campaign” in which no major party faces up to the fact that spending growth is far outpacing revenue growth, unless the government used the budget to be honest with voters. Related: No changes to negative gearing or capital gains tax in budget says Malcolm Turnbull Commonwealth deficits to 2018-19 were likely to be $21bn worse than official forecasts just five months ago, it said. It called on the Treasury and the finance department to use the budget to promote believable forecasts about the rate of economic growth, and the price of key commodities such as iron ore and coal, so voters had a better understanding of the real costs of the services they wanted. “Major miners, who account for a sixth of company tax in an average year, have taken huge profit hits,” the Budget Monitor said. “Overall profit taxes are forecast to fall $4.7bn shy of the latest official estimates for 2015-16. “[And] special mention needs to go to resource rent taxes, which continue to head the way of the dodo. Low oil and gas prices seem to be lingering longer than a great aunt at Christmas, with commensurate carnage in collections. “And spare a thought for superannuation taxes, which are suffering from further downward revisions after a horror run in recent times.” The report said the budget boom of the past decade had turned into a budget bust, with the combination of China’s slowdown, low commodity prices and weak wage growth cutting overall revenue by $4.1bn in 2015-16, with a further shortfall of $3.5bn in 2016-17. It projected a Commonwealth deficit of $41.7bn in 2015-16, saying this was “a substantial $4.3bn worse than projected” in the mid-year budget update in December. “Back in 2013 we didn’t get a Pre-Election Fiscal Outlook. What got served up to the public was more of a Pixies, Elves and Fairies outlook,” the report’s authors said. “2016 is an election year. That’s a big reason to hope the 2016 [budget] won’t be like the last Pre-Election and Fiscal Outlook. The 2013 PEFO essentially assured voters that within a decade, whoever they voted in would deliver over $80 billion a year in as yet unidentified savings on spending and that much of the revenue shortfall of earlier years was locked in. Related: Coalition refuses to rule out using taxpayer funds to sell budget “Err, that’d be ‘no’ and ‘no’ respectively.” The Deloitte Access report made a dramatic downward revision to official GDP forecasts, saying GDP growth was likely to fall from 2.8% in 2015-16 to just 2% in 2016-17. It forecast an increase to 2.8% and 2.7% in 2017-18 and 2018-19 respectively. Bureau of Statistics figures show annual economic growth is currently 3%. Deloitte director Chris Richardson said Treasury and Finance could choose to “play safe” in this budget by failing to make its revenue and spending forecasts more realistic. “But if they do, the Australian electorate will once again be surprised when the federal budget remains just as broken as today,” he said.

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'Broken' budget has lost billions of dollars in a few months, report finds

Deloitte Access Economics says the government must be honest with voters, not serve up another ‘pixies, elves and fairies’ election year budget

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Who says that Eminem's music doesn't bring families together? The rapper hasn't spoken with his grandma in almost a year. But now that he's a rap star and a movie star, the sweet old gal wants to write a book about him. Betty Kresin, 63, and her grandson, born Marshall Mathers III, seem to agree on one important subject: Neither of them thinks Debbie Mathers-Briggs was much of a mom. "Oh, I figure she'll sue me," Kresin says of her daughter. "She's always going to sue somebody. " Kresin writes in her proposal: "Debbie had a lot of men in and out of her life," including one memorable boyfriend called Charlie. "He went home and destroyed their duplex - even cutting up their king-sized waterbed. She called me crying, asking me to help clean up the flood. All I could think about was my grandson, okay? " (Debbie couldn't reached for comment.) The proposal also tells of Kresin's own hardscrabble upbringing. She was an unwanted child raised by an alcoholic grandmother, and gave birth to Eminem's mother at 16. "I want people to understand where [Eminem] comes from," she tells us from her home in St. Joseph, Mo. "He's following in grandma's footsteps. " A rep for Eminem told us: "Sure, he knows about the book. Everybody who's ever met him is writing a book right now. " Grandma Betty, whose agent, Barbara Zitwer, is pitching the memoir to publishers this week, says she's seen his new film, "8 Mile," twice. "He said it was all fictional, but I don't believe it was," she said. "I know his life, and it's a lot of his real true story. He struggled to get where he is today, and he did get beat up a few times. "And his mother did live in a trailer, but there's one thing - this is the fictional part - it wasn't a trashy trailer. " Safe at home And you think you have a chore child-proofing your house. Angelina Jolie wants her adopted son, Maddox, to know his homeland. So she's building a home in Cambodia, where she says they plan to live "many months out of the year. " But Cambodia comes with some special hazards. "I've had to de-mine the area that I'm going to live in, and de-mine certain schools," she tells "Entertainment Tonight" in an interview airing this evening. The "Tomb Raider" star, who has rekindled her romance with ex-husband Jonny Lee Miller, says year-old Maddox has "really centered me. I was really nervous, because I wanted to make sure I'd be a good mom. He's made me the best person I could possibly be. " Loss lingers Blythe Danner is still very much in mourning two months after the death of husband Bruce Paltrow. "I've lost about 10 pounds. But Bruce would have said I needed to," Danner told us. "He's in my ear all the time, saying 'Move forward and make it fun,' " the widow added. "Of course, I go home and weep bucketfuls. But you just carry on. " Daughter Gwyneth will come home from London for Thanksgiving, she added happily. The "Presidio Med" star, who was honored at the Environmental Media Awards in L. A. Wednesday, said Paltrow was skeptical about her efforts to go green. In 1968, she said, "I'd have bags of cans and sacks of newspapers and I'd get on the bus once a week to go down to the one little recycling center. Bruce thought I was out of my mind. " But the late director got used to their solar panels, "when he found out we get some money back," and their all-electric car, "even though he wasn't quite ready to discard his Mercedes. " But, Danner added with a laugh, "Now, he has. " Together again Paula Poundstone is ecstatic to have her children back. The comic's three adopted children - two girls and a boy, ages 4 to 11 - were placed in foster care 17 months ago, after Poundstone pleaded guilty to felony child endangerment and misdemeanor child injury, and was sentenced to 180 days in rehab and five years probation. But last week, the family was reunited and watched Mom walk the runway at an Actors and Others for Animals charity fashion show in L. A. "We have nine cats, a dog, a lizard, two tadpoles and a bunny," Poundstone told us. "And I am just exhausted. I am like a farm worker every morning. " Poundstone seemed in good spirits. "It's been a horrible year. But I'm really good, actually. My family isn't restored the way it should be yet, but I feel like here is my big lesson, now that I am 42 years old, which is: You just keep going. " 'Friends' indeed Meanwhile, "Friends" star Courteney Cox and husband David Arquette came forward to defend pal Paul Reubens, aka Pee Wee Herman. The 50-year-old comic was arrested this month on one misdemeanor count of possessing child pornography, an allegation his lawyer called "untrue. " The charge, Cox told us at the Imagine Awards, is "ridiculous and dumb. We've known Paul for years. " Arquette chimed in, "He doesn't deserve it. Paul is an incredible person, and so often in the media, you only hear one side of the story, and that's why we wanted to come out and support our friend. He's a great guy. " The "Blow" star is out on $20,000 bail and faces a possible year in jail. In 1991, Reubens was arrested for masturbating during a showing of "Nancy Nurse" in an adult theater. He paid an $85 fine, but CBS canceled his show and his star was removed from Hollywood Blvd., but he got 15,000 letters of support and a standing ovation at that year's MTV Awards. High times Steve Guttenberg doesn't seem too worried about people saying he was smoking a big, fat joint with rappers Sticky Fingaz and Fredro (Onyx) Star. "I will neither confirm nor deny that I smoked it," says Guttenberg, who was spotted at the L. A. club Belly for the launch of "American Rap Stars. " "But I can confirm that it was in the immediate area of my homies. " Let's hope that this herbal association doesn't damage his political career. Guttenberg succeeded Anthony Hopkins this year as honorary mayor of Pacific Palisades, Calif. Asked how he landed the role, he tells us: "I fell down in the street after having too much to drink at a Japanese restaurant. I think they looked at me and said, 'He looks like a fun guy; he'd be a perfect mayor. ' " At this rate, he could be President. Side dishes NEW YORK is such a teeny town. The other day at a Barnes and Noble on Broadway, a woman asked Rudy Giuliani to sign a copy of his book, "Leadership," for her neurologist, Dr. Petito. Asked Giuliani: "What's his first name? " The woman said, "Gosh, I don't know. " A perfect stranger standing next in line, chimed in: "It's Frank Petito. He's my doctor and you're going to love him" TRIUMPH THE Insult Comic Dog was absolutely rabid the other night at the Bowery Ballroom. The cigar-chomping canine (who is kept on a short leash by comic Robert Smigel) forced Dell Computer dude Ben Curtis to sit and stay while he verbally mauled him. Then the puppet pooch joined Adam Sandler, Conan O'Brien, Jack Black, Horatio Sanz and Maya Rudolph in a kind of "We Are the World" paean to poop.

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GRANDMA'S GOT THE RAP ON EMINEM

Who says that Eminem's music doesn't bring families together? The rapper hasn't spoken with his grandma in almost a year. But now that he's a rap star and a movie star, the sweet old gal wants to write a book about him. Betty Kresin, 63, and her grandson, born Marshall Mathers III, seem to agree on one important subject: Neither of them thinks Debbie

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(CNN) -- As millions head to the polls Tuesday, history will be made. Either Barack Obama will become the first African-American president, or Sarah Palin will become the first female vice president. The 2008 presidential election will have a historic outcome, whichever ticket wins. But what about all the other history and trivia from the past 219 years? Check out some tidbits to quench any political junkies' thirst, impress friends and maybe even win a few bar bets. • Either John McCain or Obama will be the first incumbent member of Congress to be elected president since John F. Kennedy in 1960. • Either McCain or Obama will become only the third senator to move directly from the U.S. Senate to the White House. The other two senators: Warren G. Harding (1920) and John F. Kennedy (1960). • This year's contest marks the 25th presidential election without an incumbent president on the ballot. • This is the first election in 24 years without a Bush or a Clinton heading a major party's presidential ticket. • If McCain wins, he will be the first president from Arizona. • If McCain wins, he will have headed the first successful GOP presidential ticket in 80 years that did not include someone named Bush or Nixon. • If McCain wins, Palin will become the first vice president from Alaska. • If Obama wins, he will be the third president from Illinois. The first two: Abraham Lincoln (elected in 1860 and 1864) and Ulysses S. Grant (elected in 1868 and 1872). • If Obama wins, he will be the 27th lawyer to become president. Bill Clinton was the last lawyer elected president, and the first was John Adams. • If Obama wins, Joe Biden will become the first vice president from Delaware. • Nineteen of America's 43 presidents have been Republicans; 14 have been Democrats. • The first Republican president was Abraham Lincoln, who was elected in 1860 and 1864. Andrew Jackson, elected in 1828 and 1832, was the first presidential candidate to run (and win) as a Democrat. • The House has twice decided the presidential election because no candidate received a majority in the Electoral College (Thomas Jefferson in 1800 and John Quincy Adams in 1824). • The most states ever won by a presidential candidate is 49. In 1972, Richard Nixon carried every state except Massachusetts; in 1984, Ronald Reagan carried every state except Minnesota. Both lost the District of Columbia. The most states ever won by a Democratic presidential candidate is 46. In 1936, Franklin Roosevelt carried 46 of 48 states, failing to capture only Maine and Vermont. • Four presidents have won the presidency while losing the popular vote: John Quincy Adams (1824), Rutherford B. Hayes (1876), Benjamin Harrison (1888) and George W. Bush (2000). In the House and Senate • Democrats controlled both houses of Congress from 1955 to 1981. This 26-year stretch is the longest any single party has controlled both chambers of Congress. (The GOP took control of the Senate in 1981.) • The last time the Democrats won the White House while maintaining control of the House and the Senate was in 1992. • The last time the Republicans won the White House without electing a majority in either the House or the Senate was in 1988. • Sixteen women currently serve in the Senate. Three -- Susan Collins, Elizabeth Dole and Mary Landrieu -- are up for re-election this year. Seventy-one women currently serve in the House as voting members. CNN's Robert Yoon and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report. All About U.S. Presidential Election • Barack Obama • John McCain

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Think you know your election trivia?

As millions head to the polls Tuesday, history will be made. Either Barack Obama will become the first African-American president, or Sarah Palin will become the first female vice president.

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A 62-year old Australian man arrested in Thailand on child pornography charges is due to appear before a Thai court following a joint operation by Thai and Australian police. Stephen Le Cornu, was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday at his Bangkok residence by a team of 30 police and officers of related agencies involved in the investigation into alleged child molestation. Media reports said Le Cornu, who has retired, confessed to posting online pornography but investigators found no other evidence linked to abusing children. According to investigators Thai authorities were tipped off by Queensland Police as part of Task Force Argos, which investigates online child exploitation and abuse. Queensland police investigators allegedly identified Le Cornu in known online chat rooms posting very explicit stories about child sexual abuse as well as posting images of young children. Thai based investigators said the Queensland authorities had informed Thailand's Department of Special Investigations (DSI), within the Ministry of Justice, and an arrest warrant was issued. Le Cornu is expected to be charged with offences under Thailand's Computer Crimes Act, including possession of child pornography, which is punishable with a prison term of up to five years and a fine of over $A4100. Legal sources said Le Cornu, if found guilty, is expected to face a jail term. Last December, 59-year-old Australian teacher, Peter Dundas Walbran, with dual New Zealand travel documents, was arrested in northern Thailand on suspicion of child sex offences. Walbran, the former head of an international school in Jakarta, had served a two-year prison term in Indonesia over charges of rape and molestation of Indonesian boys, some under the age of 10. Following his arrest in Thailand, Walbran was deported to New Zealand after entering Thailand on his New Zealand travel documents.

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Aust man in Thai court on porn charges

An Australian man has been arrested in Thailand on child pornography charges after a tip-off by Queensland investigators.

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Actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw isn’t particularly superstitious, but she felt larger forces at work while visiting the gravesite of the former slave she plays in “Free State of Jones.” The British star unearthed a coin with a biblical inscription from Proverbs 3:6 — “In all thy ways acknowledge him, he shall direct thy paths” — near the tombstone of Rachel Knight, the common-law wife of Confederate deserter Newton Knight, played by Matthew McConaughey in the movie opening Friday. “When I got back to my rented apartment in New Orleans, I actually discovered it had this throw on the coach and on the back of it was the exact same proverb,” recalls Mbatha-Raw. “I couldn’t help thinking that the spirits of Newton and Rachel had something to do with it. It was a spiritual moment.” SEE IT: Disney releases first trailer for ‘Beauty and the Beast' Not that the daughter of a black South African doctor and an English nurse needed more inspiration to tackle director Gary Ross’ saga of poor white farmers and freed black slaves rebelling against the Confederacy. But filming in the humid, mosquito-infested swamps of Louisiana still proved jarring for someone raised in the English countryside. “We had a snake handler on the set, which is always a surreal moment when you read that on the call sheet,” Mbatha-Raw says. “You go, ‘Oh my God, what are we supposed to be expecting today?’” “Seeing alligators on a regular basis drifting right by you on the bayou outside of our trailers and wearing those period costumes and corsets really transports you (to a different time). It made me very thankful to be living in the present age.” There’s a lot for which she feels thankful nowadays. How to get rid of celebrity ghosts as ‘Ghostbusters' turns 32 Mbatha-Raw has been on a roll with roles lately: as a black noble trapped in the racist mores of 1780s England in “Belle” (2013), a singer struggling with fame in “Beyond the Lights” (2014), and Will Smith’s on-screen wife in “Concussion” (2015). Having grown up as the world’s biggest fan of Disney’s animated classic “Beauty and the Beast,” she’s particularly proud of landing the role of Plumette in the upcoming live-action adaptation. “My agents can testify to this: Nothing quite prepared them for the scream that came down the phone when I heard I booked ‘Beauty and the Beast,’” says Mbatha-Raw. “I had the cassette tape in my mom’s car and knew all the words to all of the songs.” Daily News 2016 summer movie guide Imagine how impressed the 11-year-old Mbatha-Raw would be if she could see the view of the famed Hollywood sign from her 33-year-old self’s L.A. home. “It’s all very surreal for me,” she says of her success. “Getting to go to the Correspondents Dinner in Washington and tucking my chair in because someone was trying to step past ... then I realized it was Aretha Franklin.”

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‘Free State of Jones’ actress has spiritual moment after gravesit

Actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw felt larger forces at work while visiting the gravesite of the former slave she plays in “Free State of Jones.”

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WASHINGTON — By offering a subtle change to her outlook from less than a week ago, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen pushed the prospect of additional interest rate increases further into the future. The head of the central bank said she and her colleagues were on watch for whether, rather than when, the US economy would show clear signs of improvement, acknowledging the possibility that growth would be slow to pick up. “Proceeding cautiously in raising the federal funds rate will allow us to keep the monetary support to economic growth in place while we assess whether growth is returning to a moderate pace, whether the labor market will strengthen further, and whether inflation will continue to make progress toward our 2 percent objective,” Yellen said in testimony Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee in Washington. Just six days ago, Yellen said a cautious approach to interest-rate hikes “will allow us to verify” that growth, jobs, and inflation are improving. Yellen opened two days of semiannual monetary-policy hearings saying that despite her own optimism about the economy’s longer-run prospects, “we cannot rule out the possibility expressed by some prominent economists that the slow productivity growth seen in recent years will continue into the future.” Yellen’s remarks move her closer to the argument made for some time by former treasury secretary Lawrence Summers that forces holding down growth and interest rates may be longlasting. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who until recently had taken a more hawkish stance on policy, also shifted his views in a paper published last week suggesting the US economy is stuck in a rut for at least the next two to three years. Responding to questions from lawmakers, Yellen said the odds of a US recession were low. She also said the central bank stood ready to act if needed in the event UK voters decide to leave the European Union, causing financial-market turmoil. “We will closely monitor what the economic consequences will be and are prepared to act in light of that assessment,” she said. Fed policy makers on June 15 left their benchmark interest rate unchanged and signaled their confidence in the economy’s momentum had wavered after payroll growth slowed in April and May. At the meeting, six of the Federal Open Market Committee’s 17 members forecast one quarter-point rate increase this year, compared with one person making such a forecast in March, though the median projection remained at two hikes. Yellen on Tuesday repeated a message she offered last week that, in the short term, the Fed expects the economy to rebound from a disappointing first quarter, and that she continued to foresee “gradual” rate increases without offering a firm timetable. Yellen acknowledged a slowdown in hiring, reflected in a poor employment report for May, but warned against placing too much emphasis on just a few monthly readings. “It is important not to overreact to one or two reports, and several other timely indicators of labor market conditions still look favorable,” she said. Yellen added another positive point, noting that recent data showed a “noticeable step-up in GDP growth in the second quarter.” Even with a second-quarter rebound, growth in the first half of 2016 isn’t expected to exceed 2 percent on an annualized basis, seven years after the economy emerged from recession. While unemployment has dropped to its lowest since 2007, wages have remained sluggish and inflation below the Fed’s 2 percent target. In her prepared remarks, the Fed chair mentioned several potential threats to the economy from outside the United States, including those from uncertainty over China’s expansion and from Thursday’s vote in the United Kingdom over whether to stay in the European Union.

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Yellen says uncertainties justify cautious approach

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Tuesday that the US economy faces a number of uncertainties that require the Fed to proceed cautiously in raising interest rates.

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President Obama is going to Cuba next week, the first official state visit by a sitting president in more than 80 years. It’ll surely be followed by regularly scheduled domestic airline and cruise-ship service, rock concerts, major sporting events, US corporate investment and thousands of American tourists curious to see Marxism up close and how an entire country can be reduced to an underclass. Havana is where most of the tourists will likely travel. There’s a sprinkling of four- and five-star hotels along the scenic port and bay of Havana, several of which have at their backs the barrios of the Old City and Centro Habana. There is something beautiful and rustic about the panorama of poverty when it is viewed from the upper floors of a luxury hotel. But Americans, beware. Unlike the president and his entourage, you aren’t dignitaries with security teams, or part of a pampered and propagandized political delegation fattened and flattered by the type of cuisine and accommodations most Cubans can only dream about. I’m not saying that the jittery Cuban military and police aren’t interested in your movements on the island — in fact, they surely are — but you’ll have no visible escorts or other functional layers of protection. You also should know that some of America’s most wanted terrorists are living openly in Cuba. These still-dangerous revolutionaries roam the island, disenchanted about all things American. It’s highly unlikely that the Cuban landscape will be swept of their presence before your arrival because US government negotiators, speaking on behalf of the Obama administration, seem to lack both the will and intent to press the Castro brothers for their return to the United States to answer for their crimes. Make no mistake, however, about the will and intent of Gov. Chris Christie and the New Jersey State Police to continue to advocate strongly against their privileged and coddled status of political asylum. Four of them — Joanne Chesimard, William Guillermo Morales, Victor Manuel Gerena and Charles Hill — hail from US-based domestic terror organizations whose violent track record includes bringing about the deaths of 17 police officers, five American civilians and two members of the US military, as well as perpetrating a string of 159 bombings that have destroyed the lives and families of many more. Gerena remains on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list, and Chesimard holds the distinction of being the only woman on the photo spread of the FBI’s Most Wanted International Terrorists list. The FBI and the state of New Jersey continue to pledge a $2 million reward for Chesimard’s return to prison for her conviction in the murder of New Jersey Trooper Werner Foerster in 1973. My connection to Foerster’s murder by Chesimard and several accomplices runs the breadth of my career. From the time of her escape from a New Jersey prison on Nov. 2, 1979, to my deeper investigative involvement in her flight from justice while assigned to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in the mid-’80s and into my current role as colonel and superintendent, the New Jersey State Police and I have never lost the determination to see her returned to prison. For your safety, before you depart for your long-awaited Cuban vacation, please visit the New Jersey State Police website at njsp.org. You’ll find the most updated photographs of these four terrorist fugitives accompanied by a short bio from the FBI. If your walk about the island crosses the path of any of these coddled criminals, I’d ask you to immediately report their sighting to the US Embassy in Havana. At all hours, the embassy can be reached at (53)(7)839-4100, a handy number to keep in your pocket to mitigate many of the unforeseen perils of travel to Cuba. Col. Rick Fuentes is superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.

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Meet the fugitive US terrorists sheltered by Cuba

President Obama is going to Cuba next week, the first official state visit by a sitting president in more than 80 years. It’ll surely be followed by regularly scheduled domestic airline and cruise-…

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More than 25 years after he starred as Kevin McCallister in “Home Alone,” Macaulay Culkin has shed the “child actor” title, but he’s kept most of his adulthood a secret. He does, however, want to dispel rumors of his heroin addiction, which circulated in 2012 after the “My Girl” actor was photographed looking shockingly gaunt. Just two years after his eight-year relationship with Mila Kunis ended and eight years after being busted for possession of marijuana and illegal prescription drugs, Culkin at the time denied any addiction. Today, he blames the tabloids for spinning a story. Macaulay Culkin says he’s ‘essentially retired’ “No, I was not pounding six grand of heroin every month or whatever,” Culkin told The Guardian. “The thing that bugged me was tabloids wrapping it all in this weird guise of concern.” The 35-year-old actor lives in France now, avoiding the paparazzi. Or, at least, he’s trying to. “I was thinking about this the other day – I'd crossed the wrong street, picked up a tail, suddenly there’s a crush of 20 paparazzi. Then people with cameraphones get involved. I don't think I'm worthy of that,” Culkin said of the public’s fascination with him. “It’s been like that my whole adult life. You take on a prey-like attitude, always scanning the horizon. It’s strange on dates, as it looks like you’re not paying attention,” he said. “But I’ve stopped trying to think of myself in the third person, because that’s just gonna drive me nuts. 25 things to know on 25th anniversary of ‘Home Alone’ “Macaulay Culkin is out there, and I’m Mac. You guys can play with the first one.” Earlier this month, the actor announced that his pizza-themed Velvet Underground cover band The Pizza Underground — which began its tour in Brooklyn in January 2014 — was splitting up. But Culkin said he’s not looking for a new project, not yet at least. “People feel they have to be in perpetual motion or drown. I’ve never had a problem saying I’ve got nothing lined up. Maybe I’ll take the next year off,” he told The Guardian. “If I knew what I wanted to do, I’d be writing it myself.” Macaulay Culkin poses like he's dead after death hoax For now, he’s sleeping in and spending the summer as a roadie for Har Mar Superstar and Green — anything but the merchandise table. Growing up in the limelight and then finding his way out of it, he said, has worked out well so far. “It’s allowed me to become the person I am, and I like me, so I wouldn’t change a thing. Not having to do anything for my dinner, financially, lets me treat every gig like it’s the last,” Culkin said. “If it is, I’d think: Culkin, you had a good run.”

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Macaulay Culkin talks Hollywood limelight, shoots down drug rumor

More than 25 years after “Home Alone,” Macaulay Culkin has shed the “child actor” title, but he’s kept most of his adulthood a secret.

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WASHINGTON — President Obama on Wednesday ordered the restoration of full diplomatic relations with Cuba and the opening of an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than a half-century as he vowed to “cut loose the shackles of the past” and sweep aside one of the last vestiges of the Cold War. The surprise announcement came at the end of 18 months of secret talks that produced a prisoner swap negotiated with the help of Pope Francis and concluded by a telephone call between Mr. Obama and President Raúl Castro. The historic deal broke an enduring stalemate between two countries divided by just 90 miles of water but oceans of mistrust and hostility dating from the days of Theodore Roosevelt’s charge up San Juan Hill and the nuclear brinkmanship of the Cuban missile crisis. “We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests, and instead we will begin to normalize relations between our two countries,” Mr. Obama said in a nationally televised statement from the White House. The deal, he added, will “begin a new chapter among the nations of the Americas” and move beyond a “rigid policy that is rooted in events that took place before most of us were born.” In doing so, Mr. Obama ventured into diplomatic territory where the last 10 presidents refused to go, and Republicans, along with a senior Democrat, quickly characterized the rapprochement with the Castro family as appeasement of the hemisphere’s leading dictatorship. Republican lawmakers who will take control of the Senate as well as the House next month made clear they would resist lifting the 54-year-old trade embargo. “This entire policy shift announced today is based on an illusion, on a lie, the lie and the illusion that more commerce and access to money and goods will translate to political freedom for the Cuban people,” said Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida and son of Cuban immigrants. “All this is going to do is give the Castro regime, which controls every aspect of Cuban life, the opportunity to manipulate these changes to perpetuate itself in power.” For good or ill, the move represented a dramatic turning point in relations with an island that for generations has captivated and vexed its giant northern neighbor. From the 18th century, when successive presidents coveted it, Cuba loomed large in the American imagination long before Fidel Castro stormed from the mountains and seized power in 1959. Mr. Castro’s alliance with the Soviet Union made Cuba a geopolitical flash point in a global struggle of ideology and power. President Dwight D. Eisenhower imposed the first trade embargo in 1960 and broke off diplomatic relations in January 1961, just weeks before leaving office and seven months before Mr. Obama was born. Under President John F. Kennedy, the failed Bay of Pigs operation aimed at toppling Mr. Castro in April 1961 and the 13-day showdown over Soviet missiles installed in Cuba the following year cemented its status as a ground zero in the Cold War. But the relationship remained frozen in time long after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, a thorn in the side of multiple presidents who waited for Mr. Castro’s demise and experienced false hope when he passed power to his brother, Raúl. Even as the United States built relations with Communist nations like China and Vietnam, Cuba remained one of just a few nations, along with Iran and North Korea, that had no formal ties with Washington. Mr. Obama has long expressed hope of transforming relations with Cuba and relaxed some travel restrictions in 2011. But further moves remained untenable as long as Cuba held Alan P. Gross, an American government contractor arrested in 2009 and sentenced to 15 years in a Cuban prison for trying to deliver satellite telephone equipment capable of cloaking connections to the Internet. After winning re-election, Mr. Obama resolved to make Cuba a priority for his second term and authorized secret negotiations led by two aides, Benjamin J. Rhodes and Ricardo Zúñiga, who conducted nine meetings with Cuban counterparts starting in June 2013, most of them in Canada, which has ties with Havana. Pope Francis encouraged the talks with letters to Mr. Obama and Mr. Castro and had the Vatican host a meeting in October to finalize the terms of the deal. Mr. Obama spoke with Mr. Castro by telephone on Tuesday to seal the agreement in a call that lasted more than 45 minutes, the first direct substantive contact between the leaders of the two countries in more than 50 years. On Wednesday morning, Mr. Gross walked out of a Cuban prison and boarded an American military plane that flew him to Washington, accompanied by his wife, Judy. While eating a corned beef sandwich on rye bread with mustard during the flight, Mr. Gross received a call from Mr. Obama. “He’s back where he belongs, in America with his family, home for Hanukkah,” Mr. Obama said later. For its part, the United States sent back three imprisoned Cuban spies who were caught in 1998 and had become a cause célèbre for the Havana government. They were swapped for Rolando Sarraff Trujillo, a Cuban who had worked as an agent for American intelligence and had been in a Cuban prison for nearly 20 years, according to a senior American official. Mr. Gross was not technically part of the swap, officials said, but was released separately on “humanitarian grounds,” a distinction critics found unpersuasive. The United States will ease restrictions on remittances, travel and banking, while Cuba will allow more Internet access and release 53 Cubans identified as political prisoners by the United States. Although the embargo will remain in place, the president called for an “honest and serious debate about lifting” it, which would require an act of Congress. Mr. Castro spoke simultaneously on Cuban television, taking to the airwaves with no introduction and announcing that he had spoken by telephone with Mr. Obama on Tuesday. “We have been able to make headway in the solution of some topics of mutual interest for both nations,” he declared, emphasizing the release of the three Cubans. “President Obama’s decision deserves the respect and acknowledgment of our people.” Only afterward did Mr. Castro mention the reopening of diplomatic relations. “This in no way means that the heart of the matter has been resolved,” he said. “The economic, commercial and financial blockade, which causes enormous human and economic damages to our country, must cease.” But, he added, “the progress made in our exchanges proves that it is possible to find solutions to many problems.” Mr. Obama is gambling that restoring ties with Cuba may no longer be politically unthinkable with the generational shift among Cuban-Americans, where many younger children of exiles are open to change. Nearly six in 10 Americans support re-establishing relations with Cuba, according to a New York Times poll conducted in October. Mr. Obama’s move had the support of the Catholic Church, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Human Rights Watch and major agricultural interests. At a news conference in Washington, Mr. Gross said he supported Mr. Obama’s move toward normalizing relations with Cuba, adding that his own ordeal and the injustice with which Cuban people had been treated were “a consequence of two governments’ mutually belligerent policies.” “Five and a half decades of history show us that such belligerence inhibits better judgment,” he said. “Two wrongs never make a right. This is a game-changer, which I fully support.” But leading Republicans, including Speaker John A. Boehner and the incoming Senate majority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell, did not. In addition to Mr. Rubio, two other Republican potential candidates for president joined in the criticism. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas called it a “very, very bad deal,” while former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida said it “undermines the quest for a free and democratic Cuba.” A leading Democrat agreed. “It is a fallacy that Cuba will reform just because the American president believes that if he extends his hand in peace, that the Castro brothers suddenly will unclench their fists,” said Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the outgoing chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and a Cuban-American. While the United States has no embassy in Havana, there is a bare-bones facility called an interests section that can be upgraded, currently led by a diplomat, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, who will become the chargé d’affaires pending the nomination and confirmation of an ambassador. Mr. Obama has instructed Secretary of State John Kerry to begin the process of removing Cuba from the list of states that sponsor terrorism, and the president announced that he would attend a regional Summit of the Americas next spring that Mr. Castro is also to attend. Mr. Obama will send an assistant secretary of state to Havana next month to talk about migration, and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker may lead a commercial mission. Mr. Obama’s decision will ease travel restrictions for family visits, public performances, and professional, educational and religious activities, among other things, but ordinary tourism will still be banned under the law. Mr. Obama will also allow greater banking ties, making it possible to use credit and debit cards in Cuba, and American travelers will be allowed to import up to $400 worth of goods from Cuba, including up to $100 in tobacco and alcohol products. “These 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked,” Mr. Obama said. “It’s time for a new approach.” He added that he shared the commitment to freedom for Cuba. “The question is how we uphold that commitment,” he said. “I do not believe we can keep doing the same thing for over five decades and expect a different result.” An article on Thursday about the secret negotiations for a prisoner swap that led to the reconciliation agreement between the United States and Cuba misspelled, in some editions, the surname of one of the men freed, a former Cuban intelligence agent imprisoned in Cuba on espionage charges since 1995, and referred incorrectly to him. He is Rolando Sarraff Trujillo, not Sarraf, and he is Mr. Sarraff, not Mr. Trujillo. The same errors appeared in some editions in related articles, one about the announcement of the agreement — which also misspelled his surname as Sarras — and another about the last members of a Cuban spy ring who were released. Reporting was contributed by Ian Austen from Ottawa, Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael D. Shear from Washington, Randal C. Archibold from Mexico City, and Megan Thee-Brenan from New York. Kitty Bennett contributed research.

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U.S. to Restore Full Relations With Cuba, Erasing a Last Trace of Cold War Hostility

The U.S. will open an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than a half century after the release of an American contractor held in prison for five years, officials said.

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What makes this fecundity all the more striking is its placement directly alongside so much seeming lifelessness. The sea itself lies in a deep cleft produced by the southern extension of the San Andreas Fault millions of years ago. It stretches for about 700 miles north to south, and is bordered on both sides by the hot Sonoran desert. Hike inland a couple of miles and you can find a Baja wilderness of dryness, muted color and eerie silence. But along the shore mudflats and shallows in the north support a wealth of animal and marine species. Steep undersea canyons farther south (some of them reaching depths of more than two miles) produce rich swellings of nutrients that anchor a food chain rivaling the tropical rain forests in diversity. Almost 900 species of fish live in the Sea of Cortez, along with some 30 species of marine mammals. There's plenty to catch from the beach in Baja -- inshore species like roosterfish and sierra will fight harder than any trout you've hooked in Montana. But the deep-water game fish are what dreams are made of. Finding them requires motoring out past a shelf where the water changes from pale green to deep blue and then trolling lines patiently (oh, so patiently) until the fish turn up. The first bolt of lightning comes when a dorado or tuna charges across the water to hit one of the flies. Once it does, the lucky fisherman fights the fish while the other one reels in and starts throwing handfuls of live sardines into the water. If the caught fish is part of a school, the sardines will lure others to the boat. Then you cast -- sometimes for an hour -- to a swirl of fish riled into a feeding frenzy. Often, though, the fish will surprise you. On our second day of fishing, we were trolling with fly rods rigged for dorado when a huge striped marlin surfaced suddenly at the back of our boat. The captain, Rosario Cota Rochan, known as Chayo, let out a yell and all at once the mate was rigging a conventional rod with a mackerel and feeding it out toward the marlin. He motioned for me to grab the rod and for the briefest of moments I thought about refusing in favor of continuing to troll with my fly line. When I came to my senses the marlin was already hooked and I spent the next 45 minutes fighting it for all I was worth. Let me just say that fly or no fly, it was wonderful. Every last minute of it. When the fish jumped we saw that it was huge -- 200 pounds or more -- and when it dove toward the bottom it was all I could do to stay on the boat. ''The Old Man and the Sea'' and other fishing clichés swam through my head as my back began to ache and my hands threatened to slip from the rod. It was just me and the fish, mano a pescado -- if you don't count the six-ton cruiser that Chayo was deftly maneuvering back and forth to help me win the battle. When the fish finally approached the boat wearily, Chayo asked if we wanted to keep it. We said no and he seemed happy to let it swim away after it had regained its strength. This is something relatively new in the Sea of Cortez. Not so long ago, marlin were routinely butchered, if only to supply the fisherman with a dockside photo to take home. This still happens all too often today, but efforts to encourage catch-and-release fishing for billfish are making big strides. And this is crucial. For all of its seeming abundance, the Sea of Cortez is indisputably under siege from gill-netters, long-liners and poachers. Fish stocks are nothing compared to what they once were. But there seems to be a growing realization in Mexico that protecting the environment is as crucial as development to Baja's future. The most promising project is a proposal by a coalition of Mexican government and nongovernment entities -- in conjunction with Scripps and other organizations -- to set up a system of marine reserves in the Sea of Cortez aimed at protecting important spawning grounds and underwater habitats. Getting the reserves established will not be easy politically, and protecting them from poachers would be harder still. But the effort remains a big step forward. ''The Mexicans involved in this process are nothing short of heroes,'' said Paul Dayton, a professor of oceanography at Scripps. Take a boat out fishing when the sun is rising over the Sea of Cortez and you'll know exactly what he means. Snorkel Above a Reef, Take a Desert Hike Of the unspoken satisfactions of calling yourself a salt-water fly fisherman is that you can lord it over all those other guys who catch fish using conventional tackle and bait. Never mind that bait fishermen tend to hook more and bigger fish. The important thing is that you've chosen the road less traveled by opting to stalk your prey with a whippy little rod and an impossibly thin leader. This experience, though, doesn't come cheap. Gary Graham (www.bajafly.com), a guide and outfitter, charges as much as $550 a day. If you don't need the expertise of a fly-fishing guide, renting a boat from your hotel can be less expensive. The Web site for the Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort has details (www.hotelbuenavista.com). Meanwhile, there are plenty of other things to keep adventurous souls occupied in southern Baja. Here's a sampling. Desert wilderness is never far away in Baja and the only way to enjoy it is to head out into it. You can hike into the hills right out of Los Barriles or Buena Vista. Maps are available at most of the area's hotels.. The Cabo Pulmo marine reserve south of Buena Vista offers some of the best snorkeling and scuba diving in Baja. You can swim with sea lions and turtles. Tropical fish are abundant. All-day tours from the Hotel Buena Vista cost about $70 for snorkeling and $121 for scuba diving and include all equipment. A few miles north, Punta Pescadero also offers great snorkeling, but the half-hour cliff-side drive to the town will make your hair stand on end. The secluded bays and beaches of southern Baja are perfect for sea kayaking. Daily rentals are available through the hotels in Los Barriles and Buena Vista. But for a real adventure, try a guided multi-day trip out of La Paz, an hour's drive north. Baja Expeditions (800-843-6967; www.bajaex.com) is a good bet, with half-day trips from $35 to $60, full-day trips from $65 to $75. Steady winds and relatively smooth, warm water make Los Barriles a prime sailboarding destination. Vela Windsurf Resorts (www.velawindsurf.com; 800-223-5443) organizes hotel and lesson packages at the Hotel Playa del Sol. A seven-day package at the hotel -- including all meals -- is $838 a person based on double occupancy. A two-hour beginner's lesson is $55. Photos: CHALLENGE -- Flies like the ones above are increasingly being used in the Sea of Cortez instead of the more usual deep-sea tackle. Right, Jesús Cota, a Baja fishing guide, displays a needlefish that a client brought in with a fly rod. (Photographs by Gerard Burkhart for The New York Times)(pg. F4); EARLY START -- A sport-fishing boat, below, is already out as the sun rises over the Sea of Cortez, off the Baja Pensinsula. From left, a shop in Los Barriles, the scene along the road between Cabo San Lucas and Buena Vista, and the Cabo bar owned by the rock singer Sammy Hagar. (Photographs by Gerard Burkhart for The New York Times)(pg. F1) Map of Baja highlighting Sea of Cortez. (pg. F4)

http://web.archive.org/web/20160809023059id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2002/11/15/travel/journeys-on-baja-s-sea-seeking-adventure-with-a-fly-rod.html?pagewanted=2

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JOURNEYS - On Baja's Sea, Seeking Adventure With a Fly Rod - NYTimes.com

AT 6:30 in the morning on a fishing boat in the Sea of Cortez off Mexico, all is wonder and sweet anticipation. To the west, stars still hang over the dark spine of Baja California desert. Pale blue dawn creeps its way up the sky to the east. Yesterday's wind has died to a whisper, leaving the offshore swells to roll by unruffled and rhythmic. And as your barefoot captain points the bow toward the deep underwater canyons where big fish are chasing small ones, the morning breaks into the magnificent spectacle of a sunset in reverse -- a hot red ball melting upward from a glass-flat sheet of shimmering gold. All of that is fine, but right now, there are more pressing matters. There are knots to tie and flies to choose; lines to keep straight and reels to check. This, after all, is a fly-fishing expedition and you're stalking big game in these waters. Dorado -- powerful, iridescent fish better known in the United States as dolphin fish or mahi-mahi -- are said to flash toward a fly in changing shades of yellow, glowing purple and aquamarine. Yellowfin tuna thrash the water chasing bait as they swim alongside vast schools of leaping, acrobatic porpoises. Marlin, sailfish, wahoo and roosterfish have all been known to charge a hook covered in feathers. To anyone used to catching a 12-inch trout on a good day, latching onto something so exotic seems about as wild as stalking lions in Africa.

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FILADELFIA — Hillary Clinton, una mujer que sacrificó sus ambiciones personales por apoyar la carrera política de su marido y que luego fue senadora y secretaria de Estado, se convirtió el jueves en la primera candidata presidencial de un partido importante de Estados Unidos. Es un premio para las generaciones de mujeres estadounidenses que soñaron con ese momento. “Como hija de mi madre, y como madre de mi hija, estoy realmente feliz de que este día haya llegado”, dijo Hillary Clinton anoche en Filadelfia, al ser nominada como candidata presidencial por el Partido Demócrata. Clinton, de 68 años, declaró que Estados Unidos estaba en “un momento crucial”, por lo que instó a los votantes a que se unieran en contra de la retórica del miedo y el estilo beligerante del candidato republicano, Donald Trump. “Fuerzas poderosas amenazan con separarnos, muchos lazos de confianza y respeto se están debilitando”, dijo Clinton en su intervención. “Y al igual que pasó con nuestros fundadores no hay garantías. Realmente depende de nosotros. Tenemos que decidir si vamos a trabajar juntos para que todos podamos avanzar juntos”. De ser elegida, Clinton se convertiría en la primera mujer en ganar la presidencia de Estados Unidos y sería la mandataria número 45 de esa nación. Además sería la primera persona en llegar al cargo estando casada con un expresidente. Clinton eligió a su hija, Chelsea, para que la presentara en la convención. Chelsea Clinton, de 36 años, describió ante la audiencia cómo su madre enfrentó las mismas decisiones personales y profesionales que definieron a varias generaciones de mujeres. “Estoy aquí como una estadounidense orgullosa, una demócrata orgullosa, una madre orgullosa y esta noche, en particular, como una hija que se siente muy muy orgullosa”, dijo la hija de la líder demócrata. “La gente me pregunta todo el tiempo: ‘¿Cómo le hace?’ Bueno, ahora les contesto: ella lo logra porque nunca, jamás, olvida por quiénes está luchando”. La candidata esbozó un retrato positivo del país que contrastó con la sombría visión de Trump. “Estamos claros sobre lo que nuestro país tiene en contra pero no tenemos miedo”, dijo Clinton. “Estaremos a la altura del desafío, como lo hemos hecho siempre”. “Esta noche quiero decirles cómo vamos a capacitar a todos los estadounidenses para que vivan una vida mejor”, comentó Clinton. “Mi misión principal como presidenta será la creación de más oportunidades, buenos empleos y aumentar los salarios en Estados Unidos. Desde mi primer día hasta el último en el cargo. Especialmente en lugares que por mucho tiempo se han quedado fuera y han sido ignorados”. La candidata abarcó gran cantidad de temas en su intervención, desde comentarios sobre el sistema educativo pasando por la seguridad social, los salarios equitativos y la igualdad de oportunidades para todos los ciudadanos. “Creo que nuestra economía no está funcionando como debería porque nuestra democracia no está funcionando como debería. Con su ayuda llevaré todas sus voces a la Casa Blanca”. También hizo mención a los inmigrantes, que han sido un tema permanente en la campaña electoral. “Cuando tenemos millones de inmigrantes trabajadores contribuyendo a nuestra economía, sería contraproducente e inhumano sacarlos del país”. Luego agregó: “Debemos ponernos en los zapatos de los jóvenes negros y latinos que enfrentan los efectos del racismo sistemático”. En repetidas oportunidades hizo un llamado a la unión de todos los ciudadanos, como cuando dijo: “Seré la presidenta de los demócratas, los republicanos y los independientes. Para los luchadores, los esforzados y los exitosos… para todos los estadounidenses”. Hacia el final de su intervención, Clinton recordó la influencia de su madre, Dorothy, quien la inspiró desde su infancia: “Ella nunca dejó que me acobardara ante los retos… y tenía razón. Me decía: ‘Debes enfrentar a los bullies'”. El presidente Barack Obama felicitó a la abanderada demócrata desde la cuenta de Twitter de la presidencia de Estados Unidos (@POTUS): “Gran discurso. Ella ha sido probada. Ella está lista. Ella jamás se rinde. Por eso Hillary debe ser nuestra próxima presidenta”. La candidata finalizó su discurso reflexionando sobre el momento histórico que vive su país: “Sí, el mundo observa lo que hacemos. Sí, el destino de Estados Unidos nos pertenece. ¡Así que juntos seremos más fuertes, compatriotas!”.

http://web.archive.org/web/20160809185258id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/es/2016/07/28/hillary-clinton-llama-a-la-union-en-un-momento-crucial-para-estados-unidos/

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Hillary Clinton llama a la unión en un ‘momento crucial’ para Estados Unidos

Clinton se convirtió el jueves en la candidata presidencial por el Partido Demócrata. En su discurso instó a los votantes a que se unieran en contra de la retórica del miedo del candidato republicano, Donald Trump.

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The Yorkshire singer's most unlikely performance came more than an hour into the annual American institution, which has a television audience of millions. Dressed in a black winter coat and gloves, Astley ran to the front of the Cartoon Network float to sing – or at least lip-synch – his most famous track next to a chorus of cheering children and a huge horned soft toy. His performance marks the pinnacle of Rickrolling, the internet meme which involves tricking people into watching clips of Never Gonna Give You Up by leading them to believe they are clicking on something more enticing. The stunt has single-handedly revived the pop singer's career – the video of his 1987 classic has been viewed more than 20 million times on YouTube – but Astley has until now been reluctant to exploit his unexpected popularity with a new generation. He declined to collect his Best Act Ever gong at the MTV Europe Music Awards in person earlier this month, which he received after a groundswell of votes from his army of internet fans. The Thanksgiving parade was the first time Astley has performed his own Rickroll, and may have been the most widely-seen Rickroll ever, thanks to the NBC cameras which filmed the event. Within minutes word had spread across the internet through websites such as Twitter, and fans were quick to toast the singer's good humour and Cartoon Network's success in arranging the stunt. "The fact that Rick Astley himself actually showed up makes this pretty much the most awesome thing ever," wrote one user of the Digg social bookmarking site. "World: 0, Internet: 1," commented another.

http://web.archive.org/web/20160813100347id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3534073/Macys-Thanksgiving-Day-parade-Rick-Astley-performs-his-own-Rickroll.html

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Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade: Rick Astley performs his own Rickroll

The ultimate Rickroll, or the death knell of a internet fad that has long ceased to amuse? Rick Astley was the surprise star of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York, emerging from the back of a float to sing his 1980s hit Never Gonna Give You Up.

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"It repeatedly bit at both of his legs and caused serious wounds on both the right and left side. "The man managed to make it back towards the shore and was stabilised on the beach. "He was then airlifted to hospital where his right leg was amputated above the knee and his left foot was partially amputated. "He remains in a critical condition." Local media today reported that a shark had been sighted several times before today's attack at Clovelly Beach near the popular holiday resort of Fish Hoek, around 20 miles south of Cape Town. A video uploaded on YouTube taken moments after the attack shows a shark lurking in the water. In it a huge shark can be clearly seen swimming within a few feet of the shoreline as frightened members of the public gather on the beach. A statement released by the organisation also claimed the swimmer had ignored explicit orders not to enter the water. The statement said: "On arrival on-scene a 42 year old man was found on the shore suffering complete amputation of his right leg, above the knee, and partial amputation of his left leg, below the knee. "It appears he was rescued from the water by a bystander who left the scene before we could identify him. "The 42 year old man is believed to be a British citizen but resident locally in South Africa, but this has not yet been confirmed. "The man was stabilised on-scene by paramedics and airlifted to Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic hospital by helicopter in a critical condition but he is now believed to have been stabilised. "The man was conscious when paramedics attended to him on the beach but was sedated on-scene by paramedics in their efforts to stabilise the patient." It added: "From what we understand the City of Cape Town shark spotters had flown the "sharks present – no swimming" flags since early this morning and bathers to Fish Hoek and the individual had personally been warned, by the shark spotters, not to swim due to the presence of at least three White Sharks visible in the water close inshore since this morning."

http://web.archive.org/web/20160814013933id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/8794277/British-man-mauled-by-shark.html

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British man mauled by shark

A British expat is believed to have been attacked by a shark while swimming off the coast of Cape Town in South Africa.

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Three-time Olympic medallist Nino Salukvadze, 47, becomes just second-ever person to compete at eight Olympics, this time alongside her 18-year-old son Tsotne Machavariani SHOOTERS from Georgia will make history in Rio by becoming the first mother and son to compete at the same Olympics. Three-time Olympic medallist Nino Salukvadze, 47, and her 18-year-old son Tsotne Machavariani will be gunning gold in the pistol events. Salukvadze said: “I am so proud and very happy to have my son here with me. “He is just beginning now. I am more nervous for him. “But when I am at the shooting range I am the coach and mentor. “When I am at the village I am the mother, although he is with the other athletes, not with old people like me. Her son Machavariani will compete in the 50-metre pistol and 10-metre air pistol events in Rio. And he is hoping to outdo his mother by clinching his maiden medal at a younger age. Although he admits that bagging gold is NOT his dream in Rio. He said: “My mother won her first medal when she was 19. I am only 18. “My dream is to go surfing at Copacabana. My mother will let me.” Veteran competitor Salukvadze will become only the second athlete ever to compete at eight Olympics after canoeist Josefa Idem Guerrini - who competed for both Italy and West Germany. Salukvadze first competed in Seoul in 1988, winning gold in the 25-metre pistol and silver in the 10-metre air pistol for the Soviet Union. She then won a third Olympic medal at Beijing in 2008 by taking bronze in the 10-metre air pistol, this time representing Georgia. Salukvadze also appeared at Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Athens and London.

http://web.archive.org/web/20160817211530id_/https://www.thesun.co.uk/2016/08/05/rio-2016-shooters-to-make-olympic-history-as-mother-and-son-compete-at-same-games-for-first-time/

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Rio 2016: Shooters to make Olympic history as mother and son compete at same Games for first time

SHOOTERS from Georgia will make history in Rio by becoming the first mother and son to compete at the same Olympics. Three-time Olympic medallist Nino Salukvadze, 47, and her 18-year-old son Tsotne…

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Two men walked into a room to discuss same-sex marriage but neither managed to make a proposal to the other. Instead, the government's plans for a plebiscite on same-sex marriage still appear doomed with Labor not saying what could induce it to give support. Both sides blamed each other for Monday's fruitless meeting. Attorney-General George Brandis, a supporter of same-sex marriage, says he asked his opposition counterpart Mark Dreyfus nine times what it would take for Labor to support the plebiscite. "I can't hide my disappointment every time there was refusal to state the Labor Party's position," he told reporters in Brisbane. "We are willing to consider a reasonable compromise - the ball is now in (opposition leader) Bill Shorten's court and in Mark Dreyfus's court." Mr Dreyfus told a different story, insisting Senator Brandis made no offers and gave no indication the government was willing to compromise. "I came to meet with George Brandis but at times it felt we were talking to George Christensen," he told reporters, referring to the ultra-conservative government backbencher. "It's really for the government to indicate just what possible changes there are. Disappointingly, the government has done nothing of the kind." Senator Brandis warned that without a plebiscite, gay marriage could "go off the boil" like the push to make Australia a republic, which has been on the backburner for 17 years and counting since the failed 1999 referendum. "I think the Australian people are ready for this. I think they want it," he said. Monday's meeting appeared to be over before it began with Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce telling News Corp the Senate shouldn't make any changes to the plebiscite bill - suggesting the Nationals wouldn't support any compromise, particularly on public funding for the yes and no cases. Senator Brandis has invited Mr Dreyfus to consider another meeting before parliament resumes on October 10. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said gay marriage could be legal within weeks of the proposed February 11 poll if Labor backed the plebiscite. Mr Shorten wasn't willing to spell out Labor's demands either, arguing the coalition's right wing had already ruled out items of negotiation. "The middle ground is straight forward. Let's vote in parliament," he told reporters in Melbourne. Labor's caucus is yet to formally decide its position on a plebiscite but Mr Shorten is expected to recommend opposing it.

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Gay marriage plebiscite talks stall

Attorney-General George Brandis is warning the legalisation of gay marriage could take years if there is no agreement on the plebiscite.

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Only one in five voters were aware the Senate voting system had changed ahead of the 2016 federal election being called. The Australian Electoral Commission research was revealed in its annual report tabled in parliament this week. Changes to the Senate voting system passed parliament in March, compelling voters to cast up to six preferences "above the line" or at least 12 "below the line", and abolishing group voting tickets. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull then called a double-dissolution election on May 8. The AEC report said that while there was a high awareness of the July 2 election, there was a much lower awareness of the range of voting options and "limited understanding about how to vote correctly". Having identified the problem, the AEC then spent $50 million on a campaign under the theme "Your vote will help shape Australia". By the end of the education campaign, understanding of the new "above the line" system had risen to 90 per cent and "below the line" voting to 76 per cent. AEC commissioner Tom Rogers said in the report there had been a "significant workload" to implement the changes "in a very tight timeframe". During the debate on the legislation in March, Labor argued the rush in making the changes would hugely increase the informal vote. The informal vote in the 2016 Senate election was 3.94 per cent nationally - the highest since 1987. Shadow special minister of state Don Farrell said the report proved the folly and cost of the government and Greens rushing the legislation through parliament. "The coalition and the Greens placed a $50 million taxpayer funded gamble on these changes, and both lost out," Senator Farrell told AAP. "After a $50 million advertising campaign to sell these changes, there was still an increase in informal Senate votes." He said it was a "rushed, desperate and misguided attempt to grab power from the minor parties".

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Voters in dark on Senate changes: AEC

Taxpayers forked out $50 million after the Turnbull government decided to change the Senate voting system before the election.

20161104150244

After grieving under the belief his death was the unnecessary result of his cricketing mates' unfair play, the family of Phillip Hughes say they accept a coroner's finding it was a "tragic accident". The 25-year-old batsmen's parents Greg and Virginia, his brother Jason and sister Megan "are deeply hoping that no other family has to go through the pain of losing a loved one on an Australian sporting field", said a statement issued on their behalf on Friday evening. "As the coroner has noted, Phillip's death has led to changes that will make cricket safer." It added that they "hoped that this would be part of Phillip's legacy to the game that he loved so dearly". In handing down his determination, NSW Coroner Michael Barnes on Friday said the family's heartbreak had been "exacerbated by their belief that unfair play had contributed to his death". But he ultimately found no one to blame and hoped they could believe the "compelling evidence" that the rules were followed. Hughes' family outside court during the inquest. "Nothing can undo the source of their never-ending sorrow," he told Glebe Coroner's Court. "But hopefully in the future, the knowledge that Phillip was loved and admired by so many and that his death has led to changes that will make cricket safer will be of some comfort." Hughes died two days after he was fatally struck in the neck by a Sean Abbott delivery during a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG on November 25, 2014. Mr Barnes recommended changes to medical briefings procedures at games and a review of laws on short pitched bowling, while he found sledging to be an "ugly" part of the game. The inquest heard the Hughes family were concerned NSW player Doug Bollinger said something like "I'm going to kill you" to Hughes or his South Australian batting partner Tom Cooper before the fatal delivery. Mr Barnes said Hughes' composure was not affected even if the threat was made and that sledging could not be implicated in the death. But he questioned whether the sledging was worthy of the game, calling it an "ugly underside" to a "beautiful game" and saying evidence from players that no insults were thrown on the day was hard to believe. Hughes, who faced 20 of the day's 23 short balls, was an experienced batsman and no failure to enforce rules by the umpires contributed to the fatal accident, Mr Barnes found. "A minuscule misjudgment or a slight error of execution caused him to miss the ball which crashed into his neck," he said. The inquest heard nothing could have been done to save Hughes once he was struck but that there were problems with the emergency response to the incident. Mr Barnes recommended Cricket NSW and the SCG Trust further tighten medical briefings procedures and train umpires to ensure assistance can be summoned to the field. He also recommended Cricket Australia review "ambiguous" laws around dangerous and unfair bowling and urged the governing body to continue trying to improve protective headwear. Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said the recommendations would be implemented as soon as possible but that neck guards wouldn't be mandated until there's evidence they're beneficial. Sutherland said his thoughts were with Hughes family. "They more than anyone have had to live with the sad reality that Phillip is longer with them," he said. "None of us can in any way underestimate the challenges they've got in dealing with the reality that Phillip's no longer with us." The Hughes family said they noted the coroner's recommendations and Cricket Australia's commitment to implement them.

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Hughes family accepts coroner's findings

A coroner heading an inquest into the death of batsman Phillip Hughes will release his much anticipated findings after last month's emotionally charged hearings

20161219013124

Ten years after Sydney woman Katrina Ploy disappeared and washed up dead at a Sydney beach, police have made one more appeal for information. The 25-year-old disappeared on December 17, 2006, after leaving her parents' Seven Hills home following a Hawkesbury race meeting that she attended with her mother and sister, Tanja. Her clothes, handbag and car were found at notorious suicide spot The Gap at Watsons Bay early on December 18 but her body was not recovered until Christmas Day at a nearby Sydney Harbour beach. A post-mortem revealed Ms Ploy's injuries did not result from a fall and her death was treated as a suspected murder. Police revealed on Monday Ms Ploy may have visited a tattoo parlour on the Great Western Highway in Wentworthville in the early evening before she went missing. Homicide Squad head Detective Superintendent Mick Willing said Ms Ploy had visited the area no less than four times in the months before her death, twice in a taxi and at least once in her own car. "She had some reason to be over there ... The mystery remains as to why she was in the area and who she may have been visiting," he told reporters in Sydney. Police are now offering a $100,000 reward in the hope new information may come to light. "Somebody out there knows something and we're hoping that this reward causes that person or people to come forward," Supt Willing said. A coronial inquest in 2010 could not determine how she died and handed the investigation back to police. Ms Ploy's sister Tanja said it still feels as though the tragic events only just happened. "It's been 10 years and it's almost like it was yesterday," she told reporters. "The ongoing effect of what happened as far as my family's concerned is just devastating." She said her sister gave her family no reason to suspect anything was wrong, as she was looking forward to Christmas and behaving normally for the most part the day she disappeared. "There was nothing strange about her. The only one thing that was odd was she didn't come (to the races) dressed up, which is very abnormal for her. She was a bit of a princess and that was something odd." Ms Ploy's former boyfriend Grant Millgate is understood to have told police that shortly after her disappearance he was told that she had wanted to die but couldn't kill herself so had approached a hitman to arrange her own death. Police would not confirm whether that story has been corroborated but Tanja said this was completely out of character. "This just came as an absolute shock, I've just got no answers to any of these questions. She's a completely different person than what all these circumstances make her out to be," Tanja said. Tanja also said her sister and her boyfriend seemed "very happy" before her death.

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Police offer $100k for info on Ploy death

Police are appealing to the public for help in solving the ten-year-old cold case of a murdered Sydney woman.

20161231034432

"Might as well face it you're addicted to love." The lyrics of the classic song reverberated through the St. Regis hotel in New York City on Wednesday night, but we're pretty sure the real addiction is to and costume jewelry line along with their spring designs, the women behind Marchesa delivered the complete fairytale look with every piece that stepped down the runway. Feathers adorned almost every gown, which played into the "botanical menagerie of caged birds and cascading florals" theme the designers described. For a name that is synonymous with elegance and luxury Marchesa's shoes were no different. "We were able to apply the same process," Chapman said of their new venture, "Using the same intricacies that we would put into a dress, the same level of detail, and that's really what we're most proud of." "We were really thinking about the different kinds of fabrications," Craig agreed, "the different skins, the laser cutting which I think is quite quintessentially Marchesa, and we have a lot of beaded shoes as well." When asked if they could possibly choose a favorite from the glamorous line, they laughed, with Craig saying, "We just had to put in our personal order, and it was very difficult because we wanted them all!" To us, a truly incredible collection is one that looks to every little detail, and that is exactly what Marchesa did. "We had a lot of fun this year between the shoes [and] the jewelry, we feel like we've got the whole look," Chapman explained. They indeed had the whole look, and what a look it was. Hats off to Marchesa, making the world a more beautiful place one piece at a time. Marchesa Spring 2016 brings the fairytale to life Designers Keren Craig and Georgina Chapman greet the audience following the Marchesa Spring 2016 collection.

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Marchesa Spring 2016 brings the fairytale to life

Debuting a footwear collection with their spring designs, the women behind Marchesa delivered the complete fairytale look with every piece.

20161231151423

Wal-Mart Stores's lawsuit this week against Visa over how debit transactions are verified is casting a spotlight on an issue that's been plaguing U.S. retailers since they began accepting European-style chip cards last year. Some merchants have seen their debit-transaction fees increase by about 20 percent since Oct. 1, the deadline by which most stores were supposed to start accepting chip cards or face some fraud liabilities, according to Crone Consulting, which specializes in retail payments. In the past year, many merchants changed their payment terminals so consumers could use the newfangled cards. The problem is that about two-thirds of the new readers at smaller retailers aren't set up right, according to Richard Crone, chief executive officer of the consulting firm. Their software tends to favor debit-payment networks from Visa and MasterCard Inc. over other systems, which can be cheaper for merchants on certain transactions, he said. For example, when customers insert a chip-based debit card into a new terminal, they may be offered only Visa's network as the choice. Or they may see two options: "Visa debit" or "U.S. debit." Since most consumers don't know what "U.S. debit" is -- it's actually is a link to smaller networks like NYCE -- they usually pick Visa. Instead of being prompted to enter their PINs, shoppers are asked for a signature, and the merchant is charged from 1 percent to 2 percent per transaction when a card is issued by a smaller bank. About a third of all debit cards come from financial institutions with less than $10 billion in assets, whose fees aren't capped under an amendment to the U.S. Dodd-Frank Act. By contrast, most PIN-based debit-card transactions, such as those over the NYCE network, have average fees of about 25 cents -- and slightly more for cards issued by smaller banks. Visa and MasterCard have PIN-based debit networks too, but many of the new terminals are set up to favor their more expensive signature systems. "This happens daily," said Roger Fillers, owner of Seaside Auto Repair in Satellite Beach, Florida. "Somebody is raking in a pile of money somewhere, and it's not fair." The extra fees will add up to as much as $7,000 a year, Fillers said, a significant loss for a small business like his. More than 1 million retail locations in the U.S. can take chip cards, and more than two-thirds are small to midsize businesses, according to Visa. Even the world's biggest retailer is affected by migration to chip cards. Wal-Mart filed a heavily redacted complaint in New York state court on Tuesday claiming that Visa USA wants it to verify transactions made via certain debit cards with signatures rather than the chip-and-PIN protocol, which is more secure and has lower interchange fees. "Visa nevertheless has demanded that we allow fraud-prone signature verification for debit transactions in our U.S. stores because Visa stands to make more money processing those transactions," Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove said in an e-mail. Visa declined to comment on the complaint. The main issue is that under the amendment sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, an ally of the retail industry, merchants must be given at least two options for routing transactions. However, many processing companies and vendors haven't upgraded their clients' terminals with software designed to steer transactions to the least-expensive debit network. In many cases, the choice is preset, or it's shoppers who are making the decision when they are prompted to choose a network. Unlike mom-and-pop stores, some larger retailers have the financial clout to tweak their software. Supermarket giant Kroger, for example, set up its terminals so as to not even allow the costlier signature debit transactions. Visa and MasterCard say they don't limit consumer choice and are often selected by shoppers because their brands are already well-known. Regardless of which network shoppers choose, their cost is the same. It's only the merchants who are charged the interchange fees. The higher fees have added to the list of costs borne by merchants accepting chip cards. They had to pay for new point-of-sale equipment, stand in long lines to have it certified, train store associates, and deal with transactions that take about 10 seconds more than the old cards with magnetic stripes. The new cards are based on a technology called EMV, named after its backers: Europay, MasterCard and Visa. Offering more protection against fraud than magnetic stripes, EMV is becoming the global standard for credit-card and debit payments. "The initial deployments of EMV were really not optimized to direct transactions to debit networks, and we did experience a shift of those transactions to Visa and MasterCard," said Robert Woodbury, senior vice president and general manager of NYCE Payments Network. Only 5 percent to 7 percent of his network's merchant traffic currently comes from chip cards, so the impact so far has been small, he said. On March 17, Durbin, a Democrat, sent a letter to EMVCo, an organization governing the move to the new chip technology, with questions about the implementation. "What assurance does a small network have that EMVCo's specifications will not have the effect of steering consumers or card acceptors away from small networks and toward EMVCo's six member organizations?" the letter said. Visa and MasterCard are among the member companies. The National Retail Federation, the industry's main trade group, noted that the EMV system was established by the card companies, which were created by the banks. "Many of the systems were set up to the most expensive form of routing the transaction, which is typically a Visa," said Mallory Duncan, an NRF senior vice president. While the terminals' software can be updated to promote lower-cost debit networks, that may require the readers to be recertified, a long and costly process, Duncan said. Visa says it doesn't mandate any particular approach with merchant terminals. "It's important to remember that the debit environment is very competitive, and Visa actively competes for transactions," the company said in a statement. "If we are not competitive, we will not win business." MasterCard said its and Visa's networks are often chosen simply because they are the most well-known. "It boils down to a historical thing," Ajay Bhalla, president of enterprise risk and security at MasterCard. "These two organizations are very large; they are some of the most popular ways anywhere in the world" for customers to make payments. Shannon Pettypiece and Chris Dolmetsch contributed

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Chip cards slap U.S. merchants with unexpected higher debit fees

Wal-Mart Stores's lawsuit this week against Visa over how debit transactions are verified is casting a spotlight on an issue that's been plaguing U.S. retailers since they began accepting European-style chip cards last year.

20100406141654

BY CATHERINE CLIFFORD, ALIA AKKAM, FELISSA BENJAMIN & AMY DILUNA Thursday, May 19th 2005, 1:15AM Wearing an underwire bra during the humid summer months can be unbearable. For those ladies who want to (and can) go bold, breezy, and braless, we sized up the most popular built-in bra-top brands. Catherine Clifford THE VERDICT: Super-soft sheen luxe layer, better for the smaller-busted ladies and, as always with CK undies, chic and sexy. GET IT: $30 at www.cku.com THE VERDICT: VS thinks outside the camisole box with bedazzled halters, racerbacks, tubes, V-necks, and everything in-between. A thicker layer of padding covers things up nicely. GET IT: $25-$42 at www.victoriassecret.com THE VERDICT: Pastel, preppy and pretty tanks are the perfect choice for under a button-down at the office. Let no-wire Wednesdays begin! GET IT: $19.50 at www.gap.com THE VERDICT: V-neck camis by AA are as soft as your fave pillowcase, and a thick elastic band runs under the built-in support bra. GET IT: $19 at www.americanapparelstore.com THE VERDICT: From lacy flowers, beads, stripes & solids to mesh details on V-necks, there is a style for every city lady. The delicate details on Express built-ins lets them stand alone. GET IT: $19.50-$29.50 at www.expressfashion.com THE VERDICT: The deep V-neck cami is the closest you'll get to a second skin for layering or lounging in a color to match your mood, from orange burst to pale pink. GET IT: $28 at www.bananarepublic.com Embroidery might be a dying art, but for Zuzka, it's the lifeblood of her Asian-inspired­ goods. The Prague-born designer learned a thing or two about the craft after time in Kashmir, and her brilliant hand­woven silk coats and jackets (she also makes hand-dyed embroidered wool for cold weather) show off the skills and patience she acquired from her training as a painter. Patterns are intricately designed, always unexpected and unusual, like one coat made in Thailand woven with old photographs, as well as a tie-dyed velvet bathrobe. With the same stock of whimsical fabrics, Zuzka transforms the pieces to make shawls, soft hobo bags and, for the home, blankets studded with ­mirror shards, ottomans and tassel-adorned pillows. Prices range from $45 to $2,400. Available at The Rubin Museum of Art shop and by private appointment at the showroom by calling (212) 260-0876. Alia Akkam We all feel undateable at times... but what if some of us really are? According to a new telephone survey of more than 1,000 Americans on toxic dating, 33% admitted to going out with someone they called a "creep." Thirty-five percent say they have dated a "jerk" (which is worse?) and 18% of the guys claim they dated a "witch"(and we don't think they were complaining about love spells). Survey author Julia Sokol labels most undateables as "toxic narcissists" - think that ex-flame whose eyes glazed over the second you mentioned the big sale at Bendel's or your sick Nana. Luckily, in her book "Help! I'm in Love With a Narcissist!," Sokol focuses on breaking free of an egomaniac's hold and offers tips to spotting a hazardous heartthrob. Information that would have been useful before that last creep we dated. Real beauty junkies know Brooklyn-based Carol's Daughters makes some of the best homemade skin soothers around. The brand's so popular, they scored Jada Pinkett Smith to be the face of their advertising ­campaign. Tuesday night, a group of celebs - including Will Smith, Jay Z and Tommy and Thalia Mottola - gathered to announce their partnership with owner Lisa Price and a flagship store scheduled to open in Harlem this fall. Visit www.carolsdaughter.com for more info. Amy DiLuna

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IN THE KNOW

IN THE KNOW BY CATHERINE CLIFFORD, ALIA AKKAM, FELISSA BENJAMIN & AMY DILUNA THE SKINNY ON UNDIES Wearing an underwire bra during the humid summer months can be unbearable. For those ladies who want to (and can) go bold, breezy, and braless, we sized up the most popular built-in bra-top brands. Catherine Clifford THE BRAND: Calvin Klein THE VERDICT: Super-soft sheen luxe layer, better for the smaller-busted ladies and, as always with CK undies, chic and

20100706015645

Any initial hopes I had of forgoing 12 weeks of running around the park for one and a bit days of sheer agony taking part in the Bupa Great North Run have been knocked on the head by everyone I have spoken to who has run one of these things. My "it'll be all right on the day" attitude is misguided. Some form of training is necessary. Preparation for that training starts with a visit to a physiotherapist at the Bupa Centre in the Barbican, London, for some expert advice. There I receive what only can be described as a very thorough examination. My physiotherapist, David Toy, has me doing stretches of muscles I never knew I had in positions I never thought were possible. A few things are spotted – a tight hamstring on the left leg, a stiff thigh muscle on the right and surprisingly poor rotation of the hips for a young man. Notes are scribbled furiously in my "report card" and I am given suitable stretches to do at home which will relax the muscles in no time, Toy assures me. Afterwards it is time to assess my walking and running style using a process called video gait analysis. So I walk barefoot at a normal walking pace on a treadmill while one camera films my feet from behind and another records the front. I then jog with my socks and shoes on at a leisurely pace. Again my style is filmed using both cameras before I run at the fastest speed on the treadmill. The purpose is to see at which angle and shape my feet leave and hit the ground when I am running. It's the best way of finding out which trainers will be suitable for me – probably the most important investment for a run of any length. Toy explains: "Video gait analysis allows us to see a more complete picture of the interaction of the levers that comprise the foot and lower limb and determine issues of potential failure. "We can see running in slow motion and review your running style to determine if any errors have crept into your gait which might lead to potential tissue breakdown and failure. "Such analysis can determine your predisposition to such things as knee pain, calf pain and tendonitis, gluteal muscle tightness and many more issues of the foot and lower limb." Toy's diagnosis of my style isn't disastrous, all things considered. It is fascinating to watch my awkward running style in slow motion as I pick up movements I never realised I made. My left foot behaves itself but my right foot points outwards slightly. The camera filming from behind shows my left heel with no toes visible on that side. But on the right foot a couple of toes could be seen. Having the foot pointing outwards places more pressure on the tendon at the top of the foot, causing it to collapse inwards slightly, Toy explains. It is the reason I suffer more painful shin splints in my right leg than in my left. There's little I can do about it, though. Only serious athletes work at trying to change their running style. What I need in the time I have is a pair of comfortable trainers which will limit the problems. "It's important to have trainers which match and complement the architecture of your foot," says Toy. "There is a massive increase in load through the foot during running. The correct trainers will ensure that any altered foot biomechanics do not undermine tissue tolerance leading to common failure issues." In other words, choose the wrong shoes and I could end up with blisters, calluses, tendonitis, joint inflammation or muscle overuse. So, at Runners Need, a chain of specialist running shops, I am fitted for the trainers that will, I hope, see me through 13.1 miles in under two hours. While there I kit myself out in some serious running gear – I may as well look the part. I buy a T-shirt featuring something called "USP fabric technology" which the sales assistant says will keep me dry during the run. A pair of Wrightsock double layer running ankle socks which should make my feet feel "snug" in my fancy new trainers are also purchased. I decline an offer to buy Lycra shorts. Later I pick up a copy of a book entitled Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, the Ultra-Runners and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. It features a 57-year-old Mexican tribesman who won a 100-mile race wearing only a toga and flip flops, and presumably without any video gait analysis. I'm keen to know how. Nothing wrong relaxing with a bit of reading before the real training begins.

http://web.archive.org/web/20100706015645id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/active/bupa-team-telegraph/7864344/Bupa-Great-North-Run-2010-preparing-for-a-half-marathon-with-Bupa-Team-Telegraph.html

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Bupa Great North Run 2010: preparing for a half marathon with Bupa Team Telegraph

Bupa Team Telegraph member Peter Hutchison finds there's more to preparing for the Bupa Great North Run than meets the eye.

20110423105415

Sunday, May 13th 2001, 2:21AM Missy Elliott was anything but camera-ready. Seated in a banquette at the back of a trendy downtown restaurant, she was dressed in a denim baseball cap, Adidas shell-top sneakers, baggy jeans and a roomy, rhinestone-studded T-shirt. Only her diamond-encrusted "alien" head pendant brought a touch of opulence to the makeup-free rapper, who seemed perfectly comfortable with her dressed-down look. This is not insignificant when you consider that most hip-hop divas wouldn't leave home if they had a hair out of place. "My relationship with the industry is like a marriage, like having a husband that cares about you so much that you don't have to jump up and comb your hair every day," the 29-year-old Elliott explained. "I can walk down the street and look the way I want to look and be the way I want to be because my fans love me." It has been four years since Elliott first exploded on the music scene with her "Supa Dupa Fly" album. Elliott's freaky rhyming style, costly Hype Williams videos and cleverly controlled, larger-than-life image instantly established her as a hip-hop original. Since then, the girl who grew up in Portsmouth, Va., singing to her dolls and writing fan letters to Michael Jackson, has worked - as a songwriter/producer - with divas as diverse as Whitney Houston to Mariah Carey. Even Mick Jagger recently reached out to her with the idea of a possible collaboration. As we talked, she perused the menu, decided against an early dinner and gave a huge yawn. She apologized and explained that she had been working late the night before on a remix for Destiny's Child. The evening before that, Pardongate poster girl Denise Rich had thrown Elliott a dinner in honor of her new Elektra album, "Missy ... So Addictive." "Just when you think you're living comfortably, you go to Denise's house and realize you don't have nothing," Elliott quipped. Elliott has been driving herself hard lately. She's now at the stage where she is tireless promoting her new record, which she recorded over a frantic two-month period. "Every day from 4 p.m. to 10 a.m. the next day I was in the studio," she said. "No sleep. No nothing." She is clearly determined that the album should make a bigger impact than her 1999 sophomore effort, "Da Real World," which eventually went platinum but produced only one smash-hit single. Its predecessor had yielded five. She has pulled out all the stops on the new disk, reteaming with longtime collaborator (and hit-making machine) Timbaland and inviting rap luminaries like Jay-Z, Method Man, Busta Rhymes and Eve to contribute raps. Elliott is buoyed by the belief that her latest effort is "incredible." "My music is like a drug," she boasted, explaining the album's title. "You can't take one hit. You've got to keep listening again and again. I love it." It's music, she suggested, that comes from "outer space." Whatever its origin, the new album is arguably Elliott's most intriguing to date. Whereas "Da Real World" was a collection of dark and angry songs ("I was in 'prove myself' mode," said Elliott, "and things were tense"), "So Addictive" is a lighthearted, '80s-inflected, made-for-summer record. She described it as strictly backyard barbecue fare. Timbaland calls it a "dance album, a real party album." "This time around it was more about creating good music and having fun," Elliott said. "It wasn't work. I wasn't paranoid, like, 'Are my fans going to like this?' " The record takes Elliott in a new thematic direction. Previously, she had left erotic content to R-rated rap vixens like Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown and Trina. But "So Addictive" features racy song titles - "Dog in Heat," "One Minute Man" and "Get UR Freak On" - and lyrics such as, "I'm willing to do all the things I said I wouldn't do ..." "I never like to do what's expected," Elliott commented. "I like to switch things up." For all the album's sexual provocativeness, the rapper herself remains determinedly asexual. In her videos, for example, she has battled cartoon aliens on Mars, donned giant trash bags and puffed herself up like the Michelin Man. The video for "Get UR Freak On," the album's first single, seems to have been inspired by Dante's "Inferno" or Brueghel's paintings. Elliott cavorts in camouflage as corpses dangle from above and litter the wasteland setting. Highly entertaining, intellectually stimulating, but not exactly visual Viagra. Elliott's vaguely androgynous image may be connected to her self-image as one of hip hop's few full-figured women. She says she definitely had reservations about getting involved in the looks-driven music industry. "I remember thinking, 'Do I have to be the chick in the little clothes? Do I have to be the chick with the long hair?' " she said. The questions were, of course, rhetorical. "First of all, I'm too big to be wearing tight stuff," she said. "And second of all, I'm from the old school, where a rapper was judged on how they were as a person and how hot their rhymes were." She doesn't knock those who resort to baring their midriffs to peddle their wares, however. "If you had a body like Jennifer Lopez, would you be in a turtleneck and wool pants?" she said. While Elliott has slimmed down, it's not purely for esthetic reasons. "I have high blood pressure and I want to make sure my health is okay," she said, later admitting that she regularly chows down on potato chips, cupcakes and Twinkies. "I work out. If I didn't, I'd look like Professor Klump." She refused to try a portion of my shrimp dinner. "If I eat those things, my cheeks swell up like Dizzy Gillespie's," she said. If Elliott has sometimes come across publicly as feisty or no-nonsense, in person she is funny and charming. "She likes to laugh and play around a lot," says Timbaland. In high school, she was voted the class clown, but she frequently got into trouble. "I was always cutting up in the hallways. I skipped school all the time," she remembers, with a lingering touch of defiance. What those surrounding the rebellious teen did not realize was that Elliott was seeking to escape the traumas of her childhood. At age 8, she was raped by an older cousin. He repeatedly molested her for a year until a relative caught him in the act. (He later died of a drug overdose.) She also regularly witnessed her father beating her mother, one time breaking a hole in the wall with her head, another time yanking her arm out of its socket. "It was crazy," said Elliott, who last spoke to her father two months ago. "But I can't hate him forever. As long as he knows what type of impact he had on our lives and he's accepted that what he did was wrong, then I'm fine." However improbable it sounds, Elliott claims her painful upbringing does not cloud her view of the opposite sex, although she remains single. "I don't hate men. I just know that Missy comes first," she declared. "Missy has to be happy and Missy has to be happy with herself first." Since becoming successful, she has collected a host of diamonds and seven luxury automobiles, which she proudly lists: "A purple metallic Lamborghini, a silver Ferrari, a white 500 Mercedes-Benz, a black CL 500 Mercedes, two Escalade jeeps and a Mercedes truck." She is perhaps best described as self-sufficient - and says she may be "too set in her ways" for marriage. But she does plan on having children when she turns 35. "By that time I would've done at least two more albums," she estimated. "And then I think I'll be ready to chill." Born: Melissa Arnette Elliott on July 1, 1971, in Portsmouth, Va. Education: Manor High School, Portsmouth (graduated 1990). Parents: Ronnie, a Marine, and Pat, a dispatcher for a power company. They broke up when Elliott was 13. Breakthrough: Her first group, Sista, whose album was never released, was noticed by Jodeci's Devante. After Sista broke up, Sean (Puffy) Combs asked Elliott to rap on Gina Thompson's "The Things You Do" remix in 1996. Albums: "Supa Dupa Fly" (1997), "Da Real World" (1999), "So Addictive" (2001). Business breakthrough: Developing Gold Mind Inc., her own label, at age 22. Key collaborators: Tim (Timbaland) Mosley, Whitney Houston, Aaliyah, Ginuwine, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson.

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LETTING THE SUNSHINE IN At her mellowest, rapper Missy Elliott is still a ball of fire

At her mellowest, rapper Missy Elliott is still a ball of fire by lola ogunnaike Missy Elliott was anything but camera-ready. Seated in a banquette at the back of a trendy downtown restaurant, she was dressed in a denim baseball cap, Adidas shell-top sneakers, baggy jeans and a roomy, rhinestone-studded T-shirt. Only her diamond-encrusted "alien"head pendant brought a touch of opulence to the makeup-free rapper, who seemed perfectly comfortable with her dressed-down look. This

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Actor Charlie Sheen toured an Alabama neighborhood leveled by tornadoes and said Monday he wants to organize a relief event for victims in the state. After going through the decimated Alberta neighborhood in Tuscaloosa, Sheen told The Associated Press he was working with local officials to organize a benefit. He said a date has not been set. "I want some money, hope, faith and healing to the area," said Sheen, the former star of the sitcom of "Two and a Half Men." Sheen was fired from the show in March and has been in a bitter dispute with executive producer Chuck Lorre and Warner Bros. Television. Since then, he's launched a stage tour that has captured attention. The actor, wearing a University of Alabama baseball cap, said he decided to visit after receiving an invitation via Twitter from a University of Alabama student. David Harris of Mobile had asked in a tweet April 30 if he would be willing to perform a relief show in Alabama, Sheen said. Sheen planned to spend the day in Tuscaloosa meeting with residents and first responders. He posed for photographs with police officers and National Guard soldiers, accompanied by one of his so-called goddesses -- marijuana magazine model Natalie Kenly -- and former major league baseball player Todd Zeile. One of Sheen's stops was at a destroyed Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. He walked through the rubble amid the pungent odor of rotting food, and left through an opening in what had been a walk-in freezer. Later, while going through the ruins of an apartment complex, he said he hoped people could find sentimental possessions. "Little personal items mean so much in this kind of devastation," Sheen said.

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Actor Charlie Sheen toured an Alabama neighborhood leveled by tornadoes and said Monday he wants to organize a relief event for victims in the state.

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Shopping for a quarterback is like shopping for a dog. There are two basic strategies: Plan A is the high-falutin' route, preferred by NFL teams and snobby dog folks. For a dog, you go to a breeder or pet store and buy a brand-new designer pooch with "papers." For a quarterback, you draft a college hotshot (Andrew Luck) with a blue-blood pedigree, or sign a superstar free agent, a Peyton Manning. Plan B: For a dog, you hit the local shelter and rescue a mutt, hoping his lovable charms were overlooked by his previous owner, and praying you can turn this mongrel into a lovable newspaper-fetcher. For a quarterback, you find one who is unwanted and unloved, and you make him a superstar. The 49ers have had phenomenal success over the years with Plan B, and now they might have found another prize-winning mutt in Colin Kaepernick. He just might be the next in this lineage: Joe Montana, Steve Young, Jeff Garcia and Alex Smith. All four were unloved mongrels (Smith, after his shaky first five seasons) until they were rescued by the 49ers. All four didn't fit the mold, didn't look and play like normal quarterbacks. Submitted: No other NFL franchise has done more with washed-up quarterbacks than the 49ers. -- Montana had some spectacular games at Notre Dame, but NFL scouts were not impressed. At one combine, Montana rated 6 1/2 overall (on a scale of 1 to 9), and a 6 for arm strength. And he was small. Teams were looking for bigger passers. The 49ers drafted Montana 82nd overall in 1979, the fourth quarterback picked. Where other teams saw a frail kid with a weak arm, Bill Walsh saw a toreador with instincts, nerve and creativity. -- Young. Boy, did his stock collapse after his two rocky seasons in the USFL, and after he floundered with Tampa Bay, with which he was 3-16 as a starter and threw 11 touchdown passes and 21 interceptions. Young came to the 49ers looking like a long-shot project. He was the Tim Tebow of his time. Walsh and the 49ers got Young for draft picks, a two and a four. He didn't become a regular starter for the 49ers until age 29. -- Garcia. He was no Hall of Famer, but Garcia quarterbacked the 49ers into the playoffs twice, was a three-time Pro Bowler, and broke many Montana and Young records. He was a true mutt, undrafted out of college, too short (6-foot-1) and simply not impressive. Garcia was exiled to the Canadian Football League for five seasons before Walsh rescued him. Like Young, Garcia didn't start for the 49ers until he was 29. -- Smith was a No. 1 draft pick, of course, but by the time Jim Harbaugh was hired, Smith was a proven failure. He would have been lucky to land a backup job with another NFL team. He was considered a dog. By his second season under Harbaugh, Smith was a genuine elite quarterback. The Turlock Tornado fits the 49ers' mutt mold perfectly. Scouts saw him as a big-windup guy, too skinny-legged, ran too much, and his glittery stats were chalked up to a gimmicky offensive system that would handicap Kaepernick when he tried to transition to big-boy, NFL-style ball. The 49ers got him in the second round, but Harbaugh, like Walsh before him, had a feeling, and was eager to jump in rather than play it cute and lose his man. All five of the 49ers' mongrels easily could have ended up as NFL washouts, answers to trivia questions. A quarterback, more than any other player in any sport, is subject to the vagaries of his situation. Tom Brady, if not for his big break, could have knocked around the NFL for a few years as a backup and then drifted into obscurity. But for a mutt to triumph, once given the opportunity, he must deliver. All five of our guys here did the carpe diem thing, seized the moment. All of them (so far) functioned best under pressure. Montana's career passer rating was 92.3, and in four Super Bowls, it was a cumulative 127.8. Kaepernick, when it comes to facing pressure, has A-plus marks. Thrust into the starting lineup for the first time on a "Monday Night Football" game against a defensive-demon Chicago Bears team, Kaepernick was brilliant. In the playoffs, he has been ice. Even if other teams study the 49ers' model, no team is going to start purposely selecting quarterbacks based on their apparent lack of skill and credentials. Even the 49ers won't consciously go that route, as we saw when Harbaugh kicked Peyton Manning's tires last offseason. It's a Plan B, for sure, but it has been sweet for the 49ers. Scott Ostler is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. E-mail: sostler@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @scottostler

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Perfecting the art of QB rescue

Plan A is the high-falutin' route, preferred by NFL teams and snobby dog folks. For a quarterback, you draft a college hotshot (Andrew Luck) with a blue-blood pedigree, or sign a superstar free agent, a Peyton Manning. For a dog, you hit the local shelter and rescue a mutt, hoping his lovable charms were overlooked by his previous owner, and praying you can turn this mongrel into a lovable newspaper-fetcher. No other NFL franchise has done more with washed-up quarterbacks than the 49ers. -- Montana had some spectacular games at Notre Dame, but NFL scouts were not impressed. At one combine, Montana rated 6 1/2 overall (on a scale of 1 to 9), and a 6 for arm strength. Boy, did his stock collapse after his two rocky seasons in the USFL, and after he floundered with Tampa Bay, with which he was 3-16 as a starter and threw 11 touchdown passes and 21 interceptions. Scouts saw him as a big-windup guy, too skinny-legged, ran too much, and his glittery stats were chalked up to a gimmicky offensive system that would handicap Kaepernick when he tried to transition to big-boy, NFL-style ball. A quarterback, more than any other player in any sport, is subject to the vagaries of his situation.

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Backyard Farms, New England’s largest producer of premium tomatoes, said it won’t be able to ship new produce until January and will furlough employees starting after Labor Day. This is the second setback for the Maine company this summer, which in July had to destroy its entire crop of 420,000 tomato plants due to an infestation of whiteflies. The tomatoes are sold by about 30 retailers across New England, including Hannaford, Roche Bros., Shaw’s, Walmart, and Whole Foods. Backyard Farms had planned to start shipping fruit in October, but on Friday said the new plants were inferior and the grower would need to find another supplier. “They don’t meet our high quality standards,” said Backyard Farms spokesman Michael Aalto. “We are rejecting the plants.” Until now, the company did not have to lay off any of its 200 workers, largely because they were needed to help clean up after the infestation. The farm grows 27 million pounds of tomatoes year-round in a pair of greenhouses in the tiny mill town of Madison, Maine. The whitefly is a common greenhouse pest that coats leaves with a white residue that causes wilting and attracts black mold to the fruit. The further delay in replanting, however, means there won’t be enough work to go around, forcing the furloughs. Aalto said the company plans to call back all employees, some starting as early as October. He would not say how much the delay and infestation will cost the farm. Backyard Farms is primarily owned by employees of Fidelity Investments, the Boston financial services behemoth. The story goes that Edward “Ned” C. Johnson III , Fidelity’s chairman and chief executive, took a shine to the business out of his love of tomatoes and search for the perfect one. At Backyard, the tomato can be picked red and ripe, shipped still on the vine, and arrive in stores within 24 hours. “It’s too bad they have that situation,” said Tom Murray, vice president of produce/floral at Roche Bros. Supermarkets. “They are a great grower.” Murray said the supermarket chain stocks a variety of tomatoes and that customers won’t be affected by Backyard’s absence. He plans to carry the tomatoes again when they’re available. In a statement, Whole Foods Markets said it is monitoring the situation closely and currently relying on other sources for tomatoes. “We have been in regular contact with Backyard Farms throughout this difficult time,” Mike Bethmann, produce coordinator for the North Atlantic region, said. “We are eager to begin purchasing from Backyard Farms again, just as soon as they are able to supply to us.”

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Backyard Farms won’t be able to ship tomatoes until January and will furlough employees

Backyard Farms, New England’s largest producer of premium tomatoes, said it won’t be able to ship new produce until January and will furlough employees starting after Labor Day. This is the second recent setback for the Maine company this summer, which last month in July had to destroy its entire crop of 420,000 tomato plants due to an infestation of whiteflies. The tomatoes are sold by about 30 retailers across New England, including Hannaford, Roche Bros., Shaw’s, Walmart, and Whole Foods. Backyard Farms had planned to start shipping fruit in October, but on Friday said the new plants were inferior and the grower would need to find another supplier. “They don’t meet our high quality standards that we have,” said Backyard Farms spokesman Michael Aalto. “We are rejecting the plants.”

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If you haven’t heard of United Sound Systems in Detroit, you’re not alone. The recording studio, occupying a modest residential building on the edge of the Wayne State University campus for the past 74 years, doesn’t have the same worldwide brand recognition as Motown’s legendary “Hitsville U.S.A.” headquarters, now a museum, nor has it been active for at least the last six years. If a proposed federal highway reconstruction plan is executed, the building itself will be moved, if not demolished. Should that occur, more than just brick and mortar would crumble along with it; within its walls, United has witnessed some of the seminal moments in Detroit music history. It’s where John Lee Hooker recorded “Boogie Chillin” and Berry Gordy learned production, where Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, Otis Redding, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers cut records, and where Funkadelic promised “Free Your Mind . . . and Your Ass Will Follow.” It’s also just one of many pieces of the city’s rich musical heritage that needs protection to endure, a responsibility that Carleton Gholz has accepted through his nonprofit organization the Detroit Sound Conservancy. “All of it is an opportunity to organize people,” says Gholz of DSC, whose mission is to “increase awareness of and support to Detroit’s imaginative musical heritage through advocacy and education.” Gholz will return to the Motor City to run the Sound Conservancy full time after completing his doctorate in communications at Northeastern this spring. “If we care about Detroit music so much, then why did we tear down the second biggest Motown studio in 2006 to build a Super Bowl parking lot? If we love Funkadelic so much, then why are we tearing down the studio where Bootsy Collins created that bass sound? It’s about provoking that kind of questioning.” There are no easy answers, particularly after a prolonged economic downturn culminated with Detroit becoming the largest city by population in US history to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy last year. It’s a different city from the one Gholz knew growing up in the northern suburb of Troy, where he attended symphony concerts at the now-demolished Ford Auditorium and stalked the many record stores up and down the “Mile Roads” that cross from one side of the city to the other. Years later, while working as a music journalist for the Detroit Metro-Times, Gholz realized that effectively documenting the scene required a more substantial and lasting platform. “In 2004, I wrote a piece about Ken Collier,” a pioneering techno-house DJ in the 1970s who remained active until his death in 1996, says Gholz. “Ken was black and gay and played music and was loved by all, and there’s no history of him. That piece I wrote 10 years ago is still the best on Ken, which is disappointing. That’s the moment when I realized that the journalistic writing I was doing was going to hit a limit, because the story that could be told and the amount of money I was being paid and the amount of space I was being given, these things didn’t connect. To really understand what was going on, nobody was paying for you to go think about that.” That approach has come into focus at DSC, to which all proceeds from Saturday’s “Boston Loves Detroit” event at The Good Life will be directed. The Conservancy’s broad approach mixes traditional archival practices, like the Kickstarter-funded Oral History Project launched last year, with educational and historical preservation efforts, including advocating on behalf of United Sound Systems. “It’s not all a Motown story,” says LaVell Williams, vice president of DSC. “Motown is wonderful, but there’s a lot more out there that’s dying off that no one knows anything about. We want to preserve that stuff and get it so people can access it, whether they’re doing research or they just love music. You’re missing out on a major part of musical history by not knowing what’s going on and by people dying everyday who have a story to tell.” Thanks to DSC’s work, those stories are beginning to be heard. The aforementioned Oral History Project has begun transcribing and digitizing interviews from the personal collections of Detroit music journalists that will be hosted online. In conjunction with its fiduciary the Detroit Public Library, the Conservancy will host the first Conference on Detroit Sound in May. But outside of academic pursuits, the best way of preserving Detroit’s musical heritage is to keep on playing it. “I don’t really see myself as an ambassador for Detroit music necessarily,” says the native-born DJ Mike Servito, who will spin Detroit and Detroit-inspired house and techno as the headliner for Saturday’s event. “I do however get wonderful responses from Detroit records that get thrown into the mix on a regular basis. There is a high level of appreciation for those sounds from both a DJ and audience perspective.” When Gholz returns home, he’ll be greeted by at least one encouraging development: with support from DSC, United Sound Systems reopened its doors last month for recording and tours, while awaiting reply on their application for designation as a protected historic district. “Somebody has to be an advocate,” says Gholz. “Unless you are doing it full time, you can’t possibly be at the meeting at 2 p.m. and at 2 a.m. be at the club making the connection with the artist. That’s a full-time job, but that’s what I want to do. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also deeply pleasurable.”

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Conservancy seeks to preserve the sound and spirit of Detroit

If you haven’t heard of United Sound Systems in Detroit, you’re not alone. The recording studio, occupying a modest residential building on the edge of Wayne State University campus for the past 74 years, doesn’t have the same worldwide brand recognition as Motown’s legendary “Hitsville U.S.A.” headquarters, now a museum, nor has it been active for at least the last six years. If a proposed federal highway reconstruction plan is executed, the building itself would be moved, if not demolished entirely. It’s also just one of many pieces of the city’s rich musical heritage that needs protection to endure, a responsibility that Carleton Gholz has accepted through his non-profit organization the Detroit Sound Conservancy.

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When he wants, Ben Bernanke can be a real party pooper. At his quarterly press conference on June 19, the Federal Reserve chairman signaled a potentially jarring shift in the highly stimulative monetary policy that the Fed began during the financial crisis and that has helped drive stocks to new highs of late. For Wall Street, his words were a major buzzkill. Bernanke announced that the Fed might start winding down its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases later this year and end the program entirely by mid-2014, provided that the economy keeps improving, as he expects. Over the next few days stocks, bonds, and commodities all plummeted in a synchronized swoon on fears that the now four-year-old bull market would stall without constant fuel from the Fed. Today many investors are asking the inevitable question: Is this the beginning of a major selloff or just a blip that creates a buying opportunity? Indeed, the week after Bernanke’s comments, stocks rallied. Now that the market has absorbed the bad news with minimal damage, is it time to go all-in on equities? Unfortunately the numbers say — definitively — no. This is not a temporary reversal, but the start of a tectonic shift that will be a major negative for stocks. Over the past half-decade the Fed has deployed extraordinary measures that have driven interest rates down near the rate of inflation. That has made investors crave equities, because the yields on bonds that compete for their money stayed so unenticingly low. The Fed’s policies inflated stock prices, but below the surface, the math never worked. The fundamentals for equities — their dividend yields and earnings potential — never justified those lofty valuations. Now financial gravity is taking hold. Just as the Fed’s stimulus spurred markets, the return to normal will punish them. Since Bernanke toughened his talk in mid-June, the yield on 10-year Treasury notes has vaulted from 1.63% in early May to over 2.5%, dropping prices by almost 7%. That’s making bonds look a whole lot more attractive compared with equities, a trend that’s bound to continue. But so far, the equity markets barely reflect the perils ahead. In the five trading days after Bernanke’s speech, the S&P declined by less than 5% before rallying. The financial math shows that stocks still aren’t cheap enough to promise more than piddling, single-digit returns. Even that scenario is optimistic. If investors become more sensitive to risk — and they might, given that today’s churning markets appear highly vulnerable to unforeseen shocks — then prices will suffer far steeper declines. Stocks have been on a tear since bottoming out in March 2009, gaining 150% through early June. Two factors account for the surge. The first is the spectacular rise in corporate profits. From the end of 2004 to early 2012, S&P 500 earnings per share jumped 50%, to around $89, a record high. But the sluggish economic recovery provided only tepid support for the profit bonanza over the past couple of years. The primary force was the ability of U.S. companies to book modestly higher revenues while substantially paring their costs, swelling margins. And lower labor costs were key to that formula. In 2012 the Fortune 500 earned a near-record $820 billion, 60% more than in 2004, with just 10% more employees. The second, and primary, factor is the regime of low or zero “real” interest rates. Put simply, the Fed has been juicing the stock market. “Monetary policy has dominated the equity markets more than earnings growth,” says Antti Ilmanen, a managing director at AQR Capital, which manages $80 billion in assets. “The low discount rate boosts all asset prices and is the main reason stocks have performed so well.” The historic rise in earnings and unprecedented lift from rates are highly unusual events that not only aren’t repeatable but are bound to reverse. The major threat is the Fed’s change in policy. Rising interest rates are a downer for stocks. That doesn’t necessarily mean stock prices can’t keep growing. But it’s possible only if earnings counteract the headwind of rising rates by growing at an extremely rapid pace. Here’s why that won’t happen: Today profits already stand at near bubble levels. For 2012 the Fortune 500 generated a return on sales of 6.8%, far above the historical average of 5.6%. “When you’re at peak earnings, you’d expect profits to go back to normal, not grow fast from these levels,” says Ilmanen. Indeed, since peaking in early 2012, S&P earnings have remained flat. Even worse, stocks today feature high prices on top of those earnings — making them more vulnerable to declines. The price/earnings multiple, based on the last 12 months of S&P 500 profits, stands at 18.4. That’s by no means cheap. But it substantially understates how pricey stocks really are. The best measure of whether equities are cheap or dear is the cyclically adjusted price/earnings ratio, or CAPE, developed by Yale economist Robert Shiller. When profits are at a cyclical peak, P/Es can look artificially low. That’s just the case today. Shiller adjusts for that problem by using a 10-year average of inflation-adjusted earnings; the averaging smoothes out the spikes and valleys and better reflects a sustainable level of profits. Even after the recent correction, the Shiller P/E stands at 23.6. Since 1924 the CAPE has been that high less than 20% of the time. The problem is that the higher the CAPE when you buy in, the lower your future returns. Cliff Asness, co-founder of AQR, extensively studied the returns investors have garnered over 10-year periods when they bought in at different CAPEs. With a CAPE at today’s level of around 23 as a starting point, Asness has found, investors have averaged just 0.9% a year, adjusted for inflation, over the following decade — a return that would generally lag far behind government bonds. That sobering number provides a valuable warning. But keep in mind that it’s an average, and folks fared better over many 10-year periods. So let’s consider the most favorable outlook first. If the P/E (today’s 18.4 number) remains constant — a big if, to be sure — the total return is the sum of the dividend yield and earnings growth. The current dividend yield is 2%. Over long periods earnings per share rise around 1.5% annually, adjusted for inflation. Adding the two gives a total real return of 3.5%. Include inflation of around 2%, and you get an expected return of 5.5%. Recall that earnings are at a peak. So they probably won’t grow at even 1.5%. Chris Brightman, head of investment management at Research Affiliates, a firm that oversees strategies for funds managing $142 billion, figures that earnings will expand around 1%, which adds up to a 5% return. That isn’t bad in an environment where 10-year Treasuries, as of today, are yielding around half that number. But, as Brightman acknowledges, there is also the very real possibility of a major correction that would drive future returns far lower. “Investors could suddenly realize that the projections for rapid earnings growth are not realistic and that the world is really a frightening place,” says Brightman. If that happens, stocks will need to get a lot cheaper to be attractive. According to Asness’s calculations, the CAPE must generally be lower than 16 for investors to expect average annual returns of 10% or more, including inflation. For the market’s valuation to get to that level, the S&P 500 index would need to fall by a third from its current level, to around 1,100. As devastating as that would be for investors, it would also be the first great buying opportunity in stocks since early 2009. Given the possibility of a dramatic collapse, this is not the time to increase your exposure to the broad market. The risks are just too great. (For more on how to protect yourself, see Insure your stocks against a crash.) But though stocks in general are really expensive, a few choice industries offer bargains. A notable example is health care. Pharmaceutical, medical equipment, and insurance stocks haven’t joined in the epic rally, chiefly because investors fear that looming health care reform will curb profits. But it’s more likely that the big subsidies contained in the legislation will lead to even bigger revenues and earnings. The star performers in these industries typically offer dividends well above average, a commitment to repurchasing shares, and, best of all, low P/Es coupled with solid earnings growth. A good choice in pharma is Pfizer, offering a 3.4% dividend yield and a 14 P/E. In medical equipment a winner is Medtronic, with a 2% dividend and a 15.4 multiple. And an insurance stock that’s on the rise but still a bargain is UnitedHealth, with a rapidly rising dividend, 8% earnings growth, and a P/E under 13. The byword is caution. You’ll need to save more to meet your retirement goals, given the low returns equities are promising. It’s also advisable to keep more money in cash, awaiting a rise in bond yields and possibly a fall in stock prices. Make no mistake: It’s a new era, one that may take us from “nothing to buy” to a panoply of bargains. The journey, however, could well be painful. This story is from the July 22, 2013 issue of Fortune.

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The party could be over for stocks

The raging bull market was fun while it lasted. But a shift in Fed policy means that investors need to adjust their strategy.

20140817130547

Pros and amateurs both expect a blow-out. They’re just haggling over the percentage The most important metric for Apple AAPL in the quarter that ended eight days ago — likely to account for more than half of the company’s revenue for fiscal Q1 2012 — is the number of iPhones it sold from Sep. 25 to Dec. 31. We’ve polled nearly 40 Apple analysts — professionals and independents — and for once they agree. This was almost certainly a blow-out quarter, the scale of which is suggested by height of the rightmost two bars in the chart at right. As usual, the estimates of the independent analysts are higher than the pros (see here for why), but even the most pessimistic expect Apple to report record unit sales. The numbers from the 22 Wall Street analysts who have responded so far to our call for estimates range from a high of 35 million iPhones from BTIG’s Walter Piecyk to a low of 25.2 million from Gabelli’s Hendi Susanto. The average among this group is 29.74 million, which would represent a year-over-year increase of 83%. The average among our panel of 15 independents — an assortment of bloggers, enthusiasts and individual investors — is 33.42 million iPhones, or an annual increase of nearly 106%. Among this group, the estimates range from a high of 35.75 million from Posts at Eventide‘s Robert Paul Leitao to a low of 30.17 million from Alexis Cabot of the MacObserver’s Apple Finance Board. We’ll find out who was closest to the mark when Apple reports its earnings after the markets close on Tuesday, Jan. 24. Below the fold: The analysts’ individual estimates, with the pros in blue and the amateurs in green. The rank numbers show how well each analyst did over the past four quarters. The amateurs, who tend to do considerably better than the pros, got clobbered in the September quarter when the launch of the iPhone 4S was delayed until October.

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How many iPhones did Apple sell last quarter?

Pros and amateurs both expect a blow-out. They're just haggling over the percentage The most important metric  for Apple in the quarter that ended eight days ago -- likely to account for more than half of the company's revenue for fiscal Q1 2012 -- is the number of iPhones it sold from Sep. 25 to Dec.…

20140826220045

Lewis Howes, 31, was devastated when he sustained a wrist injury that put him permanently out of the game he felt destined to spend his career playing — professional American football. It would take him more than a year to recover physically, but it took even longer to bounce back mentally. “I realised I needed to get off my sister’s couch and make money,’” Howes said, but he wasn’t sure how to do that. For Howes, the end of football meant a major identity shift; he had envisioned himself as a pro player since he was a child. “It took me two years to get out of the funk, that the dream was over,” Howes said. “It’s a big blow for people who don’t have a backup plan and go all in with that one dream.” But that time wasn’t entirely wasted on a couch. Howes, like many of us, began to spend more and more time on social media websites like Twitter and LinkedIn. First, he focused on building his network in the sports industry, reaching out to people such ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen, then to popular authors including Tim Ferriss of the 4-Hour Work Week. Howes said he was interested in learning how successful people made it to the top. Gradually, he found himself using the platforms to help connect other people. For example, he’d match athletes looking for sponsorship with his friend Ben Sturner who ran a sponsorship agency called LeverageAgency.com, or friends who needed marketing support with top-quality marketing agencies. In 2009, he decided to develop a series of online courses covering topics such as how to leverage social media platforms to drive website traffic and how to grow a community. He went from earning $40,000 per season playing arena football to bringing in over $1m per year in product sales through his company Inspired Marketing (he later sold it to his business partner) and consulting. Big names such as HootSuite and Citrix were clients. Today, Howes, who lives in Los Angeles, also runs a free podcast called the School of Greatness where he interviews big names in various industries on topics like “how to achieve your wildest dreams.” "If people make a living around what they are passionate about, that is what is going to heal the world,” Howes said.

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A big idea — from a shark attack

A shark bite, career-ending injury, a troubling childhood and more: how adversity led to big business ideas for these five people.

20141005005631

A golden crop, a vintage year: that is the main news from Venice, with a better ratio of hits to duds than any biennale in decades. This is no small matter since the Greatest Show on Earth is now so huge - 800 artists, every continent represented - that it overflows one island and spills through six others, not including the fanciful 'occupation' of the city's floating necropolis by two artists demanding last rites for the Swedish monarchy. But the other good news is that this year's director, the well-respected Robert Storr, has organised such a strong international exhibition that it makes the tortuous miles of the Arsenale count as never before and puts the national pavilions in proper perspective. Storr's thesis in 'Think with the Senses, Feel with the Mind' - that conceptualism is the lingua franca of global art - may sound obvious but it's allowed him to group together many giants of contemporary art. Where else are you going to find Louise Bourgeois, Ellsworth Kelly, and Sigmar Polke superbly displayed alongside the great film-works of Yang Fudong, the droll paintings of Raoul de Keyser and the fabulously groovy portraits of Malik Sidibe, the African photographer who has won this year's Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement (the prize for best pavilion is not announced until October), not to mention dozens of upcoming stars? If only the whole thing could be flown afterwards to Tate Modern what a momentous innovation that would be ... The pavilions themselves are full of surprises. America - shockingly, to some - chose a long-dead Cuban as its representative but the show is perfectly judged. Felix Gonzalez-Torres's delicate works had always seemed an elegy for the Aids generation but newly retitled (according to his prophetic will) they now address an entire country. His cascades of lightbulbs - America - are either fading to the floor or rising in glory. His lone bird flying through grey mist may be a harbinger of dawn or dusk and his famous liquorice spill - you take one, the art disappears: all that sweet life gone - suddenly seems more like a heap of miniature missiles. Russia knocked people for six with its half-dozen artists. A coruscating media shower in which zillions of TV images glittered down the cubicle walls was so up-to-speed it featured Gordon Brown alongside Paris Hilton. The butterfly-effect of Hong-Kong stock exchange riots caused a tidal wave that literally plunged, in its tank, towards you. And the biggest crowd at the Biennale was for a three-screen film combining live actors with superb animations that dramatised Armageddon: trains tumbling from cliffs, teenagers fighting to the death - a cross between Manga movies and Paolo Uccello. Queues at Venice don't always signify - there were none for the Finnish artist Maaria Wirkkala's boat perilously marooned on a sea of shattered glass, a vision of pure fear - and are often generated by bouncers and hype. Germany was allowing only 20 people at a time to see Isa Genzken's heavily promoted installation so the bathos was even worse when you got there. Old suitcases and souvenirs, backpacks and wheeled trolleys sprayed silver: a sort of disco apocalypse, everyone in flight I suppose, except that it felt more like a theme-park for rubbish. A thousand could cram into Genzken's pavilion at once and it wouldn't feel much less empty. It is customary for Germany to address its own past, but the art at the Giardini is mainly in the present tense this year. There are exceptions, of course - Japan's brass rubbings of the station platform at Hiroshima, like ancient headstones, one a year since 1945 - but history is less pressing than humour. I loved the pseudo-scientific skeletons of Korea's Lee Hyung-koo - Tom chasing Jerry, imaginary giants and whimsical imps based on his experience as 'an undersized Asian man' in America. And Iceland has a real humourist in Steingrimur Eyfjord, who has 'consulted' an elf to help find a hidden sheep for his magical sheep-pen (which naturally remains empty): a ludicrous odyssey in images and words that sends up the customs of the country. China was showing films of sacred statues somehow rippling with gentle laughter: everyday miracles. And I don't think Canadian David Altmejd's disenchanted forest was entirely serious: bird-headed men, human-eyed birds, a colossus of broken glass crawling with nasty critters and the whole installation endlessly reflected in mirrors so you kept coming upon yourself with some vile hybrid rearing up behind you. Surrealism parodied, but by a sculptor with a gift for reconfiguring anatomy; Altmejd is one to watch. 2007 remains, alas, a war-time Biennale and this was most apparent at the Arsenale. The propaganda is trite - Christ crucified on a US warplane - but there's artful consciousness-raising too. A former Israeli intelligence officer turned artist has some mordant photographs of soldiers trying, and failing, to grapple with appallingly disfigured dummies. And Emily Prince's sepia-drawn map of dead US soldiers - by colour and state of birth - reveals that the casualties of Afghanistan and Iraq are mainly from the north-east and not the poor black south. The Arsenale has the first African pavilion, controversial because it belongs to - and was partly paid for by - a single Congolese collector with allegedly sinister connections, but also because it is so unrepresentatively dull. By contrast, Giuseppe Penone's wonderful gallery at the Italian pavilion nearby is lined with flayed bark and marble carved to ripple that somehow feels like a living skin, an effect compounded by the split tree on the floor, the sap of life running brightly through it. The unluckiest contrast of all is between France and Britain, neighbours among the pavilions. Tracey Emin's show is too weak to peel a grape and certainly her poorest yet. There are scores more of her rachitic little drawings - the lone agonist centrespread, all vulva and legs, no head - and some pointlessly drippy paintings, plus meaningless witterings in broken wood. If only she would stick to installations or at least self-parody - viz a dejected Emin inspecting herself in a mirror with a touch of Ronald Searle - which is what she does best. France's Sophie Calle, meanwhile, is at her peak with a marvellously intelligent and inventive show inspired by a rejection letter, fraught with ambiguity, evasion and blame, she supposedly received from a lover. She sends it to 107 other women - psychoanalysts, private detectives, actresses, mediums, writers - for their interpretation and assembles their responses in words, images and videos. The English translator is outraged by the use of 'Vous'. The relationship counsellor seats the letter, absurdly, on a chair for cross-questioning. The ballet dancer stalks angrily about en pointe before collapsing in a heap, while the magician makes the letter disappear. The doctor won't give Calle antidepressants - 'You're just sad, for heaven's sake' - while the editor of Liberation won't publish it because it hasn't killed anyone or been written by a famous name. Like the Glove in Max Klinger's immortal series of etchings, the letter becomes a surrogate person and each woman reveals her own personality in return - the teenager who abruptly texts, the Italian housewife chopping onions who scoffs even as she weeps and then blows her nose furiously on the letter. Human lives, human hearts are ingeniously expressed through this simple but brilliant conceit and the installation is pure tragi-comedy. Among pavilions that rely on quick appeal to draw you in, this one is bold enough to resist the rush. You go in for a moment, just to see, and remain captive for hours. The Biennale is, of course, all about art. But at the three preview days, when the international art pack descends, fine art is only the half of it. The art of being seen is just as important. One must be seen supping prosecco in loafers (men) or unimaginably high heels (women) at as many parties as one's chartered speedboat will allow. And, judging by David Furnish's greeting to Tracey Emin at the British Pavilion, the proper way to salute acquaintances in public is with a double air kiss punctuated with a screeched 'miaow, darling, miaow'. So who put on the best bash? Germany gets the prize for sheer ambition, hosting a Scissor Sisters gig in a warehouse, while the Ukrainians' bash was shut down by police because the VVIPs, such as Sam Taylor-Wood and Elton John, turned up in such numbers at the backdoor-jetty that the mere VIPs clamouring out front became a safety hazard. At Canada's party for its much-lauded artist David Altmejd, Russian oligarchs danced to Queen and other Eighties classics, proving the adage that money might bring you eye-watering luxury, but it can't buy you rhythm. Speaking of Queen, Venice seemed in the grip of a strange affliction by which all party DJs were able to play only cheesy wedding standards, so special mention must go to the Welsh for their top tunes , as well as their downhome canapes: mini sausage rolls, egg sarnies and quiche. But Party-of-the Biennale honours go to Tracey Emin. Shrugging off the mixed critical reaction to her show, our Trace ripped up the dancefloor in a gothic black ballgown, while Naomi Campbell showed up in a dress which made her look like an elegant golden ostrich, and appeared genuinely delighted by the closing half-hour of Norman Cook's loved-up set. And while the Russian and French pavilions were the talk of the critics, the jetset were in thrall to 'Artempo', an off-Biennale show in the Palazzo Fortuny. Here, Belgian collector Axel Vervoordt has arranged his exquisite stockpile (including antiques, classical sculpture, oriental art and pieces by James Turrell and Anish Kapoor) alongside museum loans of work from contemporary art's biggest names. 'Axel, darling, you make me veep,' said one visitor, tears playing havoc with her make-up. It was impossible to tell whether this was down to the beauty of the art, or to sheer jealousy at Vervoordt's haul, but it was a very Venice moment.Sarah Donaldson Peggy Guggenheim CollectionMatthew Barney and Joseph Beuys square up. Chiesa di San Gallo Bill Viola's three-screen Ocean Without a Shore. Italia Future Centre Li Chen's Buddhist art for the 21st century.

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Venice Biennale | Art and design | The Observer

Art: From Russia's coruscating media shower, through Iceland's funnyman, to a marvellous French letter, global conceptualism wins hearts and minds in Venice, says Laura Cumming. If only Tracey Emin could have stuck to what she's good at ...

20141011190209

Lego is pulling an old hit from its well-constructed toy box. The Danish-based toy maker said it would bring back the Bionicle line, an announcement that was met with cheers from fans of the franchise at Comic Con in New York City this week. The Bionicle toy line initially debuted in 2001, designed as a so-called “constraction” line — a toy that was constructed by kids, but could also be used as an action figure. In the early years, Bionicle was one of Lego’s hottest selling products. That hit was critical at a troubling time for the toy maker, which roughly a decade ago was reporting annual losses and was on the brink of bankruptcy as it struggled to compete in the toy aisle. “Bionicle was one of the few things we had, in addition to Star Wars, that kept us afloat commercially,” said Mike Moynihan, Lego’s U.S. vice president of marketing. “Commercially, it was such a big success that it helped ‘pay the light bill’ while the rest of the core business lost its way.” The line, set to hit store shelves at the beginning of 2015, is coming at a time when Lego is in a far stronger position. Lego became the world’s biggest toymaker by sales in the first half of the year, knocking Barbie and Hot Wheels maker Mattel MAT off its perch. Lego’s toys have been a hit in recent years as more and more kids play with construction toys, and the company has been busy building sets based on hot superhero characters, internally developing lines and a line of building sets meant for young girls. Bionicle was a big hit in its early years, although sales eventually ebbed and production was discontinued in 2010 after the story surrounding the brand got a little too complicated for kids. The new line, which Lego is calling a reboot, is still meant to mainly target young kids, although older fans of the line are also expected to scoop up the sets. Lego’s team says the storyline is a bit simpler, important for kids to be able to understand the brand. “We looked at the first three years and said ‘what made it strong and pulled in kids,'” said Cerim Manovi, a Lego designer who worked on the new line and also was a member of the original Bionicle design team. As the new line was developed, Manovi said Lego also turned to 3-D printing, a revolutionary technology that has created unique advantages and challenges for the toy industry. Manovi said that technology was particularly helpful in the design stage. Moynihan said Lego always intended to bring back Bionicle, noting that while some of the rebranding in the “constraction” segment haven’t worked out as well as the company hoped, Lego still believes that form of play is relevant. “We think the storyline has some legacy,” Moynihan said. “A latent group had been waiting for resurgence. We thought that now was a good time to respond and bring it back to them.”

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Lego brings back an old hit from its toy box

The Bionicle toy line, which initially debuted in 2001, will return to store shelves at the beginning of 2015.

20141017091153

The federal government may be shutting down later today, but not before helping to clear a path to the public markets for travel search startup Kayak. Kayak was one of several online travel companies that banded together last October to form a lobbying group called FairSearch, in opposition to Google’s (GOOG) proposed $700 million acquisition of ITA Software, which makes airline reservations software. Here’s what I wrote at the time: The main grievance is that Google is trying to corner the airline search market. One scenario has Google launching its own travel search offering for consumers, thus disintermediating ITA-dependent sites like Kayak and Hotwire (owned by Expedia). Another fear is that Google will raise the prices of ITA offerings, thus pricing out smaller sites (and significantly reducing margins for larger ones). This was of particular concern for Kayak, which filed for a $50 million IPO last November. At the time, it reported that ITA Software was directly responsible for 11% of all Kayak revenue (and at a higher margin than some of Kayak’s other business). The Justice Department approved the merger, but with some major qualifiers. First, Google will be required to license its travel software, thus letting Kayak and company remain in business. It would seem Google can still jack up the prices, but Justice also may implement “ongoing anti-trust monitoring,” which has not before been used for a tech merger. For Kayak, this appears to be victory. FairSearch issued the following statement: Today’s decision by the Justice Department to challenge Google’s acquisition of ITA Software is a clear win for consumers. The Department concluded Google’s unrestricted control over ITA’s key flight search technology would have violated the antitrust laws. By putting in place strong, ongoing oversight and enforcement tools, the Department has ensured that consumers will continue to benefit from vibrant competition and innovation in travel search. While this enforcement action is an important victory, Google’s abuse of its search dominance still threatens competition and consumers in many critical areas of online services. Antitrust enforcers and lawmakers in the US and elsewhere must remain vigilant in their investigation of these larger concerns and take whatever further enforcement actions are needed to protect consumers. Robert Birge, Kayak’s chief marketing officer, will be on a FairSearch conference call later this afternoon. Seth Weintraub, proprietor of our Google 24/7 blog, will be listening in. One interesting side note has been that Joel Cutler, a venture capitalist with General Catalyst Partners, actually sits on the boards of both Kayak and ITA Software. I guess the conflict will soon be resolved, since ITA won’t need a board once under Google’s control…

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Google-ITA approval clears path for Kayak IPO

The federal government may be shutting down later today, but not before helping to clear a path to the public markets for travel search startup Kayak. Kayak was one of several online travel companies that banded together last October to form a lobbying group called FairSearch, in opposition to Google's (GOOG) proposed $700 million acquisition of…

20141021012536

Editors note: Every Sunday we publish a relevant story from our magazine archives. This week we turn back to 1999, when Silver Lake Partners was an up-and-coming buyout shop in Silicon Valley. Last week Silver Lake led a $24.4 billion buyout of Dell. Mount Everest base camp, May 1999. In the frigid morning air, on a laptop charged up by a pair of car batteries, technology executive Charles Corfield furiously pecks out an e-mail to Silicon Valley: “You can get packages to me in Nepal via DHL to the expedition agent in Katmandu…. It takes two to three weeks to get documents turned around (from U.S.A. to Everest base camp back to U.S.A.). Assuming, worst case, that the logistics prove too difficult to handle the paperwork, do you want to leave a placeholder for me in the offering so I can complete the paperwork and financial arrangements on my return (late May)?” Hard to believe, eh? Here’s a guy about to risk life and limb climbing Mount Everest, and he’s getting all worked up over some “offering” on the other side of the planet. What’s up with that? As it turns out, Corfield isn’t the only one making a mountain out of this particular transaction. You see, Corfield is trying to get in one of the biggest, hottest deals ever to hit Silicon Valley, or Wall Street for that matter. It’s called “Silver Lake,” as in Silver Lake Partners, a humongous, new-economy LBO fund that is set to pour billions of dollars into buyouts of undervalued infotech companies. It’s a radical concept. LBO tech companies? The laws of financial nature say you can’t do that, right? And yet so compelling is the logic behind Silver Lake (and so skillfully has the fund been sold by its general partners!) that money has poured into it like a flash flood. You want to talk about buzz? Poke around a little bit and you’ll find out that everybody who’s anybody in Silicon Valley and Wall Street has invested in Silver Lake. Tech giants like Bill Gates and Michael Dell (through their money managers) and Larry Ellison have anted up. So have big players at all the major investment banks. And then there are the institutions: GM’s pension fund, Calpers, Stanford, and the World Bank. All told, the fund’s partners (who have never worked together before) have raised $2.2 billion in only a few months. “I think it’s a matter of an idea whose time has come, brought to market by the right people,” says David Stockman (yes, that David Stockman), a partner at Blackstone and the firm’s point man for its investment in the fund. Why is everyone gushing over Silver Lake? The simple answer is that the fund offers a whole new way of investing in the growth engine of our economy–infotech. (Say no more, right?) The fund is managed by a team of top guns from Silicon Valley and Wall Street, each with an overflowing Rolodex and resume. There’s high-voltage, Silicon Valley superstar investor Roger McNamee, whose firm, Integral Capital Partners, is partly owned by the venture capital juggernaut Kleiner Perkins. Then there’s former head Hambrecht & Quist banker Jim Davidson. Buyout maestro Glenn Hutchins from Blackstone BX . And Dave Roux, a one-time senior executive at Oracle ORCL and Lotus. Some have taken to calling the Silver Lake partners “the four amigos.” “The strategy of the fund is very interesting,” says Silicon Valley godfather Jim Clark, another investor, “but what attracted me was the team.” Before Silver Lake, investors who wanted to be in technology could basically either buy shares of public tech companies or buy into private companies through venture capital. Of course, both public and private sector tech investing have produced incredible returns over the past decade, which has attracted great piles of capital, which in turn has driven prices sky-high. So essentially, both traditional venues of technology investing are now saturated. Buyouts as a means of investing in technology really haven’t been on the map. For one thing, you generally don’t LBO companies with super-rich valuations (Cisco), or companies with no earnings (the Internets), or companies with volatile profit streams (Compaq). For years, the mantra of the LBO fund manager was: “We don’t do real estate. We don’t do oil and gas. And we don’t do tech.” But the Silver Lake partners believe they have discovered a huge anomaly that will allow them to do technology buyouts. They have no intention of going after highflying companies. Instead, they are setting their sights on a large group of slower-growth tech businesses, completely off Wall Street’s radar screen. “Until very recently, no way could you have done Silver Lake,” says John Phelan of MSD Capital (that’s Michael Dell’s private investment firm). There really weren’t enough seasoned tech companies with stable cash flows that make for good LBO candidates. But that’s all changed. Here are some numbers the Silver Lake guys like to throw around to buttress their argument. (Or, as Hutchins is fond of saying, “In God we trust. All others bring data.”) As a percentage of GDP, the technology industry has nearly doubled during the past 20 years to 8.2%. And as a percentage of the S&P 500 market cap, tech has more than tripled over that period to 18.1%. The U.S. information technology industry now comprises about 1,000 public companies with about $1 trillion in annual revenue and a combined market cap of $3 trillion. In short, the tech industry has grown up. The perception that tech companies are a homogeneous group of high-growth, expensive, unstable toddlers and teenagers is simply not true anymore. Scores and scores of tech companies are slower growth, less pricey, and stabler. The most stunning piece of Silver Lake’s data (what they call the “secret sauce” part of their research) shows that 50% of all publicly traded tech companies sell on average for one times annual sales or less. Amazing, huh? Of course, those companies aren’t growing like a Dell, but many are still posting top- and bottom-line growth of 10% or more. For an old- economy company that would be just ducky, but for a tech company in the Internet Age, that just doesn’t cut it. So, the Silver Lake guys say, it turns out that within the tech universe there is a huge body of healthy companies that are growing well above GDP yet are completely unappreciated by the market. That’s practically the definition of a company suitable for a traditional LBO. To take this point one step further, some of the most compelling opportunities the Silver Lake guys see are actually large, healthy subsidiaries of tech giants that are no longer perceived as core businesses. An example would be Lucent before it was spun off from AT&T T . “These are perfectly good businesses that now happen to be in the wrong place,” says Hutchins. “And because buyout funds wouldn’t do tech, these businesses often couldn’t be sold.” So you have this pool of mature tech companies, ripe for LBOs, and at the same time you have all those above-mentioned institutional investors scouring the capital markets for a less crowded and less expensive way to play technology. Perfect. New supply. New demand. A new market. And maybe the next great nexus of Wall Street and Silicon Valley. This was the great epiphany of the Silver Lake general partners. “To us it’s one of the most incredible opportunities we have seen in years and years,” says McNamee, who is scaling back his venture capital activity to focus on Silver Lake. Silver Lake seems to have come together in a flash, uniting some of the smartest money on both coasts. But it’s also the story of four old friends who found themselves in the right place at the right time with the right idea and were bold enough to act on it. Hutchins and Roux first became friendly nearly 25 years ago while undergraduates at Harvard (don’t hold that against them). In the early 1980s, McNamee, then at T. Rowe Price, was one of the first customers of Datext, a database publishing company of which Roux was the founder and CEO. McNamee’s funds were also one of the biggest shareholders of Lotus when Roux was that company’s senior VP of corporate development. Davidson’s wife met McNamee on a Deer Valley, Utah, ski slope during a Hambrecht & Quist conference and insisted that the couples meet that night for dinner. McNamee and his wife later became godparents of Davidson’s son. And so on. (By the way, “Silver Lake” is taken from the name of the main ski village at Deer Valley.) The idea behind Silver Lake began to take shape years ago. “Glenn [Hutchins] and I first kicked around doing a tech LBO fund back in the summer of 1994,” says Dave Roux. “We called the project Delta Capital, and we even had some money committed, but we concluded at that point the wine needed more cellar time.” And so Hutchins, who had been at the White House as a special adviser, went to work at Blackstone to do buyouts. Roux took a job as executive vice president of corporate development at Oracle, where he was in charge of Oracle’s mergers and acquisitions activity, its venture capital portfolio, and its investments in other companies. For years the mantra of the LBO fund manager was: “We don’t do real estate. We don’t do oil and gas. And we don’t do tech.” One guy in Florida heard about the partnership and sent Silver Lake a check for $10 million–the fund’s minimum–sight unseen. Naysayers point to the disastrous 1989 buyout of Prime Computer, which blew up on the Whitney Group–a watershed in tech LBOs. Skip ahead to the fall of 1997, when McNamee happened to mention to Roux that he was getting concerned about the rising valuations in venture capital and was taking a look at LBOs. In fact, McNamee said, he’d actually been doing some work to that end with Kleiner Perkins and Morgan Stanley; the latter was helping to underwrite Integral’s research effort. “I told Roger, ‘Well, I’ve been doing some of that too,’ ” recalls Roux. “And we got together to compare notes. Roger pulled in his friend Jim [Davidson], who I also knew, and we began a three-way conversation.” During the winter of 1997-98, Roux and Davidson in particular continued to noodle over the idea, often at San Jose Sharks and Golden State Warriors games. But at that point there were prior commitments, of course–as in real jobs. Roux, for one, had told Larry Ellison that he would be the CEO of an Oracle subsidiary called Network Computer, which was in need of a major turnaround. By the summer of 1998, though, Roux’s overhaul of that company seemed to be taking hold, and in October he asked Ellison for his leave. Okay, said Ellison, find a CEO for Network and you’re free. (A side note: Network Computer, renamed Liberate Technologies, just pulled off a successful IPO in mid-July. Roux remains its chairman.) Meanwhile, Davidson, as head of technology investment banking at H&Q, was also becoming excited by the plan. Davidson had previously suggested to other senior H&Q partners, including CEO Dan Case, that the firm move further into the buyout business by expanding its merchant-banking effort to include taking controlling stakes in companies. But ultimately Case declined, foreseeing conflicts with investment-banking clients if H&Q were to begin buying out whole companies. So Davidson too decided to pull up stakes and join what was then not much more than a concept, now called NBT Capital (for Next Big Thing). By that fall, other bankers like Frank Quattrone of CSFB were pitching in on NBT. Davidson, who had been working on the nuts and bolts of the project’s business plan, made an all-important presentation with McNamee to the Kleiner Perkins partnership. The verdict? The Kleiner crew gave it the high sign. Another major step forward. Meanwhile, Hutchins was increasingly finding himself out in Silicon Valley, scouting companies for Blackstone. His old buddy Roux would introduce him around and also hit him up for counsel on their burgeoning plan. The NBT team then began to call around on Wall Street to set up financing for the deal. A fund this size would need several layers of bankers, but none more important than a financial agent or an investment banker to help sell the deal. The two players in this particular business are DLJ and Merrill Lynch, and the Silver Lakers were wooed hard by both. DLJ’s salesman was none other than John Chalsty, the firm’s Sean Connery-sound-alike former CEO. Merrill sent Herb Allison, then its COO and president, out to Silver Lake’s Sand Hill Road offices to talk up the boys. Merrill won the business. Meanwhile, Silver Lake was approached by several big-league buyout firms, each with offers to partner. The Silver Lake guys declined to comment on this, but one of those offers came from TPG, Texas Pacific Group, the powerful LBO shop run out of Fort Worth by David Bonderman. TPG had already done a few technology buyouts (such as Zilog and Paradyne) as part of its general-interest funds. But the idea of a fund dedicated solely to tech was said to be as compelling to Bonderman as it was to the Silver Lake group. Bonderman could absorb Silver Lake into his firm and create a turnkey operation. “Bonderman told them they wouldn’t have to worry–he would raise about $700 million,” says a Wall Street source. And Silver Lake was supposed to come up with a couple of hundred million bucks from its contacts in the Valley. Although talks went on for weeks, the Silver Lake group ultimately said thanks, but no thanks. The idea of giving up control was too much. Even for a nine-figure check! While the idea of a billion-dollar first-time fund by a newly formed partnership in an area virtually devoid of LBO activity apparently didn’t bother David Bonderman, it was received with some trepidation by Merrill Lynch at first. “When we heard the plan, we immediately thought it was special,” says Kevin Albert, head of Merrill’s LBO fundraising practice. “We also thought it was big.” Recalls Davidson with a grin: “When we told Merrill we wanted to do a $1 billion fund, they sort of rolled their eyes and said, ‘How about $500 million?’ ” The bankers’ reticence has so far been unwarranted, at least in terms of raising money. In fact, the Silver Lake partners say that they could have collected $4 billion and that the biggest challenge so far has been cutting limited partners back. But to be fair to the bankers, when Silver Lake first approached Merrill, Hutchins, the only member of the team with any actual LBO experience, wasn’t even on board! “We knew we had to get someone with buyout expertise,” says Roux. “We kept hoping it would be Glenn because we were working with him informally anyway and because he’s the best.” Finally, late last year Hutchins relented: “He told us he was going to Deer Valley with his family skiing over Christmas,” says Davidson. “And the three of us said, ‘Gee, we just happen to be going there with our families too.’ ” Hutchins broke the news to Davidson on the slopes, and Davidson gave him a jubilant high-five. And so the team was set. One of the most important steps the partners had to take next was to ensure that debt financing would be available. For all its Silicon Valley sequins, Silver Lake is every bit a traditional LBO fund (the same kind of thing that KKR has been offering for 20 years). The way these babies work is that the fund’s general partners–the guys who run the thing–raise money from limited partners, or investors. That money is later coupled with a huge slug of bank loans and high-yield bonds (the leverage, or the L, of the LBO), which is a multiple of the cash raised. That blend of debt and cash is what’s used to buy out companies. By using mostly debt with a slice of cash, instead of all cash, the fund’s partners can maximize returns, much in the same way an investor in stocks can amplify his gains by buying shares on margin. But just like a stock bought on margin, an LBO is riskier than a plain-vanilla equity investment, since losses, too, are magnified. Generally, a slower-growing buyout prospect (say a food company) is leveraged at around four to one. Hutchins figures that the faster-growing companies that Silver Lake hopes to buy–and they are already looking at dozens–should be leveraged at more like two to one. That implies the partnership will be borrowing many billions of dollars during the fund’s six-year investment period. Some serious scratch. To secure that much LBO debt, the No. 1 place to shop on Wall Street is Jimmy Lee’s office at Chase Manhattan. Lee, a Chase vice chairman, is the king of this business. Fortunately for the four amigos, Hutchins had worked with Lee for years. Even more fortunately, Lee, too, was musing about tech LBOs. Says Lee: “When Glenn told me about Silver Lake, I said, ‘Funny you should call. We’ve just been looking at this area. Come on in.'” Hutchins did just that in the first week of February, and Lee quickly agreed to work with the fund. The next order of business was lining up limited partners–the not-so-small matter of getting the money. This was a process that resulted in some classic “Silicon Valley meets Wall Street” moments. For instance, Silver Lake told the Merrill bankers that they wanted to raise some 20% of the fund, at that point $200 million, from their well-heeled buddies back in the Valley. Smart, since they should be an easy source of capital–and presumably they would network for the general partners. Fine, said the Merrill bankers. But one question: Do those guys really have that kind of money? (Duh!) Another moment occurred when Silver Lake was presenting to the Blackstone partnership. Picture the four amigos on one side of the table and the Blackstone grandees, including Pete Peterson, Steve Schwarzman, and Stockman, on the other side. “It was all very Wall Street, and then there’s Roger [McNamee] being Roger,” says one participant. “He’s full bandwidth, multiplexed, talking 90 words a minute, while taking a call on his cell phone and simultaneously checking his pager. It was quite something.” (Blackstone subsequently made a commitment.) And there are other stories, a few almost as striking as our Mr. Corfield up at Mount Everest base camp. (He did get into the fund, even though the papers got lost in Katmandu.) There was the call to the team while they were pitching in Europe, informing them that the Roth schilds wished to participate. (And they are.) Or the guy in Florida who heard about the partnership and sent Silver Lake a check for $10 million–the fund’s minimum–sight unseen. (It was returned.) Or the time Hutchins was kept waiting by an investment committee of a major university because it was holding a meeting to approve the school’s buying into the fund, before Hutchins made his pitch! All remarkable stuff in a business where general partners often really have to work the dog-and-pony to raise money. Now the question is, Have these guys created the next Apollo moon mission or the next Hindenberg? There are detractors. On the one hand are those who cling to the idea that tech companies can’t be LBOed. This camp solemnly points to the disastrous 1989 buyout of Prime Computer by the Whitney Group. Prime, then with more than $1 billion in annual sales, blew up in Whitney’s face, a watershed event in the history of tech LBOs. Of course, the Silver Lake guys can tell you chapter and verse why they won’t make the same mistakes that Whitney did. On the other hand, there are those who say that Silver Lake is really nothing new. Funds like those run by Behrman Capital and Broadview, they say, have been LBOing tech companies for years, albeit on a much smaller scale. The Silver Lake partners say their fund is so much bigger that it isn’t even in the same league. Which brings up another set of objections: hubris and greed. Silver Lake, these critics say, is going big just for the sake of bigness. And take a look at what their management fee brings in! A mere 1.5% of assets annually for the general partners amounts to more than $30 million in this fund. Of course, Silver Lake’s response is that scale is truly important for its model; and in the age of the Internet, being first and having scale convey all sorts of competitive advantages. The bottom line, of course, is that nobody has any idea whether Silver Lake will hit or miss. Sure, the partners have been extraordinarily successful raising money, but that’s like winning the first round of the playoffs. You don’t see the Atlanta Braves celebrating that anymore. The only thing that really counts in the LBO business is successfully liquidating the fund and producing bigtime returns. Only then will the Silver Lake team truly be champs. It’s a late July afternoon, and Dave Roux has taken the day off to fly-fish the Calaveras River in the foothills of the Sierras, about 100 miles east of San Francisco Bay. It’s an unusual outing because Roux, a serious fisherman, is having absolutely no luck at all. After yet another hapless go at a promising stretch of the river, Roux looks up and says, “That’s the great thing about fishing. It teaches patience and humility–something that’s in short supply in the technology business.” How true. So far it’s been easy for Roux and his amigos to land the big ones. For the guys from Silver Lake to succeed in the long run, though, they may need plenty of what the river teaches.

http://web.archive.org/web/20141021012536id_/http://fortune.com/2013/02/10/silver-lake-and-the-deal-of-the-next-century-fortune-1999/

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Silver Lake and the deal of the next century (Fortune, 1999)

The Silver Lake partners are wagering on a whole new way to invest in infotech--the biggest, baddest LBO fund ever to hit Silicon Valley. They've raised more than $2 billion in a matter of months. Can they make it work?

20141206060803

The Life Mounds are the first thing you see as you drive through the gates of Jupiter Artland, a sculpture park in the grounds of Bonnington House, outside Edinburgh. Newly completed, these eight man-made hills have been shaped by the distinguished US critic, polemicist and designer Charles Jencks. Beautiful things, they rise in stepped ramps sheathed in emerald green turf, clustered around swirling ponds. Last week, I climbed and sat on top of the tallest of these escarpments, as swallows performed aerobatics over the insect-rich waters. The Life Mounds called to mind the landscapes of ancient standing stones and barrows, of south-east Asian rice terraces, of patterns seen through a microscope; there was something of the spiralling forms of far-flung galaxies. All of these things (perhaps not the rice terraces) are acknowledged influences. Over the decades – he is a notably young 70 – Jencks has written a number of spirited books on modern architecture. It was his Modern Movements in Architecture, published in 1973, which helped me see that what had passed for a monolithic, single-minded Modern Movement had been no such thing. It was Jencks who identified the shift away from the certainties of modernism into the vagaries and rich (and sometimes indigestible) experiences of postmodernism: The Language of Postmodern Architecture, written 30 years ago by Jencks, remains a bestseller. And it is Jencks who, I can't help feeling, has begun to tire of the intellectual thinness of much contemporary "iconic" architecture, and to look for something beyond its ephemeral nature. "Have I turned away from architecture? No, it's not that," he says when we meet at Portrack House, his home near Dumfries. "But I do believe architecture, and all art, should be content-driven. It should have something to say beyond the sensational. But, yes, the lack of culture in so much new architecture is worrying." Jencks wants to shape works that make us stop and think about our place, not just in the here and now, but in the cosmos. "It's something people have done even before they built Stonehenge, so why not now?" The biggest woman in the world Over the past decade and beyond, Jencks has fused a hungry interest in cosmology with his love and encyclopaedic knowledge of architecture and landscape art. This vision is explained in a new and engaging book, The Universe in the Landscape. "Not everyone will get it," he writes, with touching honesty. The Life Mounds at Bonnington are informed by cosmic patterns, as well as the molecular structure of cells at the point where, for good or carcinogenic ill, they divide. This stunning landform turns out to be a meditation on life and death. "I've been a lucky man," Jencks says. "I've only faced one real tragedy: the death of my wife, Maggie, from cancer in 1995." Maggie Jencks was an innovative garden designer; together, throughout the 80s and 90s, the couple created their Garden of Cosmic Speculation in the grounds of Portrack House. Maggie's Centres, a number of cancer care clinics designed by world-famous architects (Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Richard Rogers) were her idea, and is a scheme that has continued in her honour. Jencks is now working on an enormous project just north of Newcastle. He has been commissioned by a UK coal-mining company to create a land form that will soften and enhance an otherwise challenging landscape. "Northumberlandia" (the name is his, intended to suggest a land goddess) is currently under construction, and due for completion in 2013. A giant effigy, in clay and soil, of a recumbent naked woman rising 34 metres (her breasts) and measuring 400 metres from head to toe, she will, Jencks says, be "the world's largest human form sculpted into the landscape". Such figurative interpretations of earth goddesses could be seen as kitsch. But Jencks argues that she will fold, if not quite blur, into the landscape. Still, compared with the layers of cosmological meaning embedded into Portrack and Bonnington, this is clearly a populist work, one its patrons hope will become a major tourist attraction. The Gretna Landmark Project should be one, too. Details have yet to be unveiled, but this ambitious work will mark one of the key border crossings between Scotland and England. Developed by Jencks and the artist Andy Goldsworthy, the final design will also involve the disparate talents of designer and engineer Cecil Balmond, California artist Ned Kahn and British architect Chris Wilkinson. Expect the unexpected, and certainly the bold and eye-catching. Meanwhile, Jencks and his 30-year-old daughter, Lily, an architect and landscape designer, have been working on a design for CERN (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research) near Geneva. Their brief is to give this hidden wonder of the modern world (its workings are mostly underground) a physical presence. "There is no question," says Jencks, "that this Vatican of Science, with the visage of Heathrow Airport, desperately needs urban definition." As far as I can make out, the end result will be a pair of giant interlocking question marks made of grassed earth closing around, and interrogating The Globe – a hollow timber sphere originally designed for the 2002 Swiss Expo by architect Hervé Dessimoz. In Jencks's view, cosmic passion, or the desire to know and relate to the universe, is one of the strongest drives in sentient creatures. The power of neolithic henges and bronze-age barrows, of the Uffington White Horse and some of the greatest buildings of all time – the spiral minaret at Samarra in Iraq, the Pantheon in Rome – lies in their elemental qualities. Their meanings are not explicit, yet they send shivers of recognition down the spine. The Life Mounds at Bonnington, to my mind Jencks's best landform work to date, have that effect on me.

http://web.archive.org/web/20141206060803id_/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jun/22/charles-jencks-life-mounds-architecture

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Totally cosmic: the Life Mounds of Charles Jencks

His swirling 'land sculptures' are inspired by molecular biology and outer space. Architect Charles Jencks tells Jonathan Glancey about his most ambitious project yet

20150227070351

At 44, with a record six Tony Awards to her name, Audra McDonald ranks among the greatest theater artists of her generation — and her career still has decades to go. She has also won two Grammy Awards, starred as Dr. Naomi Bennett on ABC’s “Private Practice,’’ and brought some much-needed professionalism to NBC’s live 2013 broadcast of “The Sound of Music,’’ where McDonald played the Mother Abbess. Her performance in the American Repertory Theater’s 2011 production of “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess’’ is burned into the memories of area theatergoers. The show moved on to Broadway, where McDonald won her fifth Tony Award for her portrayal of the tormented Bess. Last year, she added another Tony for her turn as Billie Holiday in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill.’’ On Sunday, McDonald will perform a sold-out concert at Boston’s Symphony Hall. The Globe recently spoke with her by phone. Q. It’s just been announced that you’ll be costarring this summer with your husband, Will Swenson, in Eugene O’Neill’s “A Moon for the Misbegotten’’ at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Have you performed professionally in an O’Neill play before? A. No. This is going to be my first. Q. Why did you decide to tackle it? A. The part is a remarkable part. [McDonald will play Josie, the daughter of a tenant farmer.] It’s so beautiful. I’m always looking for challenges and new ways to stretch myself and grow as an artist. I’m getting not only a chance to work on O’Neill but a chance to go back to Williamstown Theatre Festival, which I love — I had a wonderful time working there years ago — and a chance to work with my husband. Q. Regarding your upcoming appearance at Boston’s Symphony Hall: When you’re figuring out your song list for a concert, what is your general goal? What aspects of your personality or your aesthetic are you trying to get across in concert? A. My music director Andy Einhorn and I like to think of it as we want to give the audience a full, multi-course meal. We want to give them a little bit of everything. We want to delve into some comedy, some music that’s very familiar to them, and some music they’ve never heard before, from new artists just emerging on the scene, who are making their way through the Broadway and off-Broadway community but who haven’t yet become known nationally. And some forgotten old gems. It’s very carefully considered. Q. Do you showcase your classical side, give them a bit of “Carmen,’’ perhaps? A. No. [Laughs.] If I’ve been doing an entire evening of musical theater, with music that fits in a certain part of my voice, to all of a sudden pop up to a classical register that I haven’t been singing in, that’s difficult to do. Q. Some people argue that performing in musicals is the most challenging form of performance, because you have to sing, act, and dance. You’re more qualified than most to answer , so what’s your feeling about that? A. I wouldn’t want to be so naive as to say it’s more difficult than things I haven’t experienced. I’ve done some Shakespeare but I haven’t done “Hamlet.’’ But [musical theater] is incredibly challenging, and you do have to have different facets of your instrument very available to you. You have to be able to act and then suddenly be able to sing in a certain way. With “Porgy and Bess” you have to be able to play the character in a certain way and then sing that incredible Gershwin music — and then they had us dancing our tails off. Q. HBO recently filmed you performing in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill.” Did you find yourself altering your performance in any way, being aware it would be televised? Were you able to take advantage of close-ups, with your TV experience? A. It was a difficult situation knowing full well that you would normally dial things back more for television, for cameras, than you would in a theatrical situation. I also was performing for a live audience. But because I had Lonny Price, who directed the stage version and the HBO version, they told me don’t alter your performance in any way. So I had the luxury of doing what I was used to doing. Q. You’re only in your mid-40s and already you’ve won six Tony Awards, the most ever won by a performer. As you enter the second half of your career, are there one or two roles in particular that you’d like to play? A. I’d like to do more Shakespeare. I haven’t planned any of my career. [Laughs.] The one requirement I make for anything I do is that I want something that’s going to challenge me, either stretch muscles to a degree I’ve never stretched, or muscles that I’ve never stretched at all. I’m someone who’s always willing to jump off the diving board and say, “Whoa, I hope there’s water down there.” I don’t have a problem with failure as long as I gave it 100 percent. I want to try everything. Q. Regarding those muscles: Do you find that you can draw on certain aspects of each discipline; that, say, when you were shooting a scene for “Private Practice,” you could reach down and use something you’d learned from performing onstage, or vice versa? A. Absolutely. I feel like everything informs everything. The best example I can think of is years ago I was doing “A Raisin in the Sun” on Broadway and I had a couple of nights off for a previously scheduled concert at Carnegie Hall, to do “The Seven Deadly Sins.’’ Because I’d just been working with the spoken word, my attention to the lyrics and to the spoken word was a bit more sharply focused than had I not been doing “A Raisin in the Sun.’’ And when I went back to “A Raisin in the Sun,” I found that I was paying more attention to the music, the lyricism, of the words. Q. How hard is it sustaining a balance between all of your stage, TV, and concert performances? A. I guess I could say that it’s difficult, but I’m so lucky to have this as a quote-unquote problem. I don’t look at it as a problem. My husband constantly reminds me of being grateful, staying in the moment. And he’s right. I try to stay grateful and graceful.

http://web.archive.org/web/20150227070351id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com:80/arts/music/2015/02/26/symphony-hall-audra-mcdonald-has-little-bit-everything-store/EpMIS0O4y5iGevmt4GMKiM/story.html

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At Symphony Hall, Audra McDonald has ‘a little bit of everything’

At 44, with a record six Tony Awards to her name, Audra McDonald ranks among the greatest theater artists of her generation – and her career still has decades to go. On Sunday, McDonald will perform in concert at Boston’s Symphony Hall.

20150301093836

FORTUNE — On her first earnings call with investors since taking the helm last September, Whitman repeatedly said HP would get back to “business fundamentals” in 2012. What exactly does that mean? Fewer distractions, for one. It also means no big acquisitions like the $10 billion-plus purchase of enterprise software maker Autonomy. “We cannot continue to rely on acquisitions alone at HP,” Whitman said on Monday’s call. “It’s just the wrong thing to do. We’ve got a lot of runway with our own internal R&D capability, if we run it right and invest in it right.” The decision to avoid any big buys in 2012 seems solid enough. HP HPQ took a lot of flack when it announced it would buy Autonomy last August. Many investors just didn’t feel the hefty price tag was justified. Add to that a profit decline in the most recent quarter (caused in part by charges related to HP’s failed WebOS purchase) and a rising debt load and you’ve got good reason to tighten the purse strings. Whitman’s conservative approach will come as a relief to most investors. But steering clear of big, bold acquisitions could backfire. While she made the right call in opting to keep the company’s PC business, HP still needs to bulk up its software portfolio to compete with the likes of IBM IBM , Oracle ORCL and SAP SAP . Pouring more money into R&D won’t give HP the kind of boost it needs in this market, as it will likely take several years to see a return on internal investments. In the meantime, rivals with ample cash could buy themselves even more of a head start in enterprise software. Ousted CEO Leo Apotheker might have done a lousy job communicating his ideas, but he may have had the right idea — steering the world’s largest computer maker towards a more profitable software and services business model. To be fair, Whitman did say HP would consider making two or three smaller software acquisitions in the coming year, but nothing on the scale of another Autonomy. “If there is a great acquisition in the $1 billion range, maybe we will take a look at it,” Whitman said on Monday. “But we’ve got to be sure that it fills a hole, that we don’t pay too much for it and that we are financially disciplined about it.” Regardless of exactly how many acquisitions the tech giant ends up making in 2012, conserving cash is a probably a good starting point for rebuilding HP and making nice with investors. But it’s just a starting point. HP has been plagued by boardroom scandals, executive shuffles and a lack of clear leadership. In the fourth quarter, it suffered declines in core businesses like PCs and printers. Even worse, morale at the company has been down for years. Stability and financial discipline will likely be a good thing for HP. But if its newfound conservatism lets competitors get ahead, the going may get even tougher for Whitman in 2012.

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At HP, Whitman cuts down on drama

Meet the new Hewlett-Packard -- prudent, frugal and, well, kind of boring. That is, of course, if new CEO Meg Whitman has her way.

20150319185643

From left: Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson and Kurt Russell 03/17/2015 AT 11:20 PM EDT Tuesday was not only St. Patrick's Day, it was also a very important day in 's life – her dad In honor of her mom 's partner of more than 30 years, Hudson (whose biological father is Hawn's ex-husband Bill Hudson) posted a sweet picture of the man she calls "Pa" on Instagram. "Today in our family we not only celebrate St Patricks Day but the birthday of our Pa!" she . "Happy Birthday to the most dependable, strong, authentic, loving and fun Dad! I love you! This is a man who made his family his number one priority his whole life. Never missed a school play, a soccer game, a hockey game, a dance recital and the list goes on and on. No matter what he was doing in his busy life, he always showed up. Not because he had to but because there was no other place on earth he would rather be then with his family. We felt the purity of that our whole childhood and my gratitude for his love is immeasurable. Happy Birthday Pa." Her mom also chimed in with for her "Amazing wild and awesome man," as did Hudson's brother, Oliver. He posted a pic of Russell as "Snake" Plissken from his cult hit film , "Happy birthday to the greatest dad in Santa Monica.. I love you more than you realize.. Before you came into my life, I was only potential and you made me, forced me, to find my confidence, my independence and strive for the elusive fearlessness that you so matter of factly possess.. I look up to you and always will.. And when I told you I had a small penis, your answer was moving.. 'It's okay son, there's a snake in all of us.' " Today is my Amazing wild and awesome man...Kurt Russell's birthday! Happy birthday baby!!! I loved Ya so

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Kate Hudson and Mom Goldie Hawn's Sweet Birthday Messages for Kurt Russell

The actor has been Hawn's partner for more than 30 years and an inspiration to Hudson and her brother Oliver

20150414172018

The small Belgian town of Mechelen is a quiet place. It grew rich on wool and once made the finest lace in Europe, but it's not hard to guess that the main attraction for many residents these days is its proximity to Brussels, just 20 minutes away by commuter train. The neat streets are studded, however, with a number of startlingly grand buildings, dating from the glory days – the decades in the late 15th and early 16th century when the town was the heart of the territory of the powerful Dukes of Burgundy, who had long since expanded northwards to control an area that stretched from Switzerland to the North Sea. It was also the home of an extraordinary artist: Jan Gossaert. Nearly 500 years on, Gossaert's paintings – now scattered in major collections across the world – are being assembled for a major exhibition of a man who was a star of his day, widely imitated by his contemporaries, and regarded by art historians as a crucial bridge between the Renaissance Italian style and the dazzling medieval oil painting of the north. "When I stand in a room full of his paintings, the sheer quality of the work is overwhelming," says Susan Foister, director of collections at the National Gallery, the woman who is curating the show at London's National Gallery. "His technique is extraordinary: the way he paints textures, so you feel every strand of fur, every hair. He is undoubtedly one of the giants." Yet for a painter of such talent, Gossaert's name is far less familiar than his great Flemish predecessor Jan van Eyck, or Peter Paul Rubens a century later. And when the new exhibition – shared with the Metropolitan Museum in New York – opens this week, it will be the first occasion in a lifetime that a show of this nature has appeared on these shores. It is a measure of the artist's elusiveness that the two institutions can't even agree on his name (in London he will be Gossaert, in Manhattan Gossart). As it happens, you won't find either in older art histories, which call the artist Jan Mabuse after Maubeuge, the town (now in France) where he was probably born in 1478. He signed his 1516 painting Neptune and Amphitrite, now in Berlin, "Joannes Malbodius". He is probably also the "Jan of Hainault" who was enrolled in the Antwerp painter's guild in 1503, and was also sometimes known as Jennyn van Hennegouwe. What Gossaert looked like is equally mysterious. The only full-face portrait, an engraving in a 16th-century book on Flemish artists, may not be remotely accurate since it was made from a profile medallion: it shows a rather grave figure, a long bearded solemn face, under an elaborate hat. And, tormentingly, there are only a handful of anecdotes about his life. Karel van Mander, a painter who published a book of biographical sketches of northern artists inspired by Giorgio Vasari's wonderfully gossipy tales, says Gossaert made and wore a painted paper robe for a state reception for the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, presumably to show off his trompe l'oeil virtuosity. "And when the Marquis, as they passed by, asked the Emperor which damask he thought the most beautiful," Van Mander wrote, "the Emperor had his eye on that of the painter which – being very white and beautifully decorated with flowers – far excelled all the others." Charles reportedly had to touch the fabric to believe it was painted paper. Gossaert certainly knew the work of his slightly younger contemporary, the German Albrecht Dürer; and Dürer knew of him. However, it seems that they never met in person, even though Dürer made a special trip to see one of Gossaert's works in 1520, an altar piece at a church in Middelburg (now in Holland). He merely recorded laconically that the deposition from the cross was "not so good in its main lines as in the painting"; we can't check Dürer's assessment because the painting was destroyed in a fire just 30 years later. So why has Gossaert come into focus once again? Partly because he was an innovator. Thomas Campbell and Nicholas Penny, co-directors of the exhibition, argue for his "intense originality" as an artist – an originality that will be fully on view. Unlike earlier Adams and Eves, Gossaert's nude figures were blatantly secular, but nonetheless full of references which would have been picked up immediately by an educated audience. One of the paintings in the exhibition is Hercules and Deianeira (1517), the couple's legs uncomfortably intertwined, perched on a stone bench carved with a classical frieze – a clear gesture to Roman architecture and Greek philosophy, and of the new humanist philosophy which was sweeping across Europe. The Burgundians recognised that originality, and various members of the family were Gossaert's main patrons for decades. The dukes were avid for art, seeing it – as the Medici did in Italy – as an outward manifestation not just of immense wealth, but of their culture and learning. Gossaert suited them to perfection. His classical nude of Danae, on loan to the exhibition from the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, now seems unremarkable, but in 1527 the work must have looked astonishing: an unarguably erotic figure gazing up with dreaming eyes and parted lips at the shower of gold falling into her lap, her gown falling from her shoulders to reveal one breast. It features a detail contemporaries would not have missed: her gown is a vivid, clear blue, one of the most expensive pigments of the day, which was traditionally reserved for the robes of the Madonna. Many of these references were gleaned from a trip the artist made to Rome in 1508, a highlight of his career, and also a major event in the history of European art. A century before Rubens, Gossaert became the first Flemish artist to bring back the style of Raphael and Michelangelo to the studios of the north. He went there as court artist to Philip of Burgundy, who was an exceptionally secular bishop, the illegitimate son of Philip the Good, an admiral and a diplomat as well as a churchman whose palace was decorated with erotic art. Philip sent Gossaert to draw the half-ruined ancient monuments and buildings and newly excavated classical statues, as well as the new works they inspired. His drawings reveal exactly what the artist came across. One sheet in the exhibition, on loan from a collection in Leiden, has on a single page a beautiful drawing of a famous Roman bronze, the Spinario, a graceful boy picking a thorn out of his foot. Gossaert has also crammed in two fancy parade helmets; a lion's head and a broken lion mask which he may have seen on stone coffins in the Forum; a slender leg in a laced boot; and a heavily muscled leg in a ludicrously elaborate open-toed boot which has been traced to a colossal statue excavated from the Baths of Caracalla. He mined his Roman drawings for figures and classical ornament for the rest of his working life. The new exhibition will also show his wonderful portraits, including his canny young merchant of 1530, on loan from the National Gallery in Washington, framed by stacks of invoices, painted in minute detail down to the slightly grubby nails of his fingers. Why, then, has Gossaert been neglected for so long? Foister suggests that he partly fell out of public consciousness because the works were so widely scattered, and because many of the panel paintings were too vulnerable to travel. "Because there were no major exhibitions, there have been few recent major studies of his work," she argues. "The catalogue for this exhibition, a major work of scholarship, should go a long way to redress that." Not that the fresh scrutiny has come free of problems – in the course of research, questions have been raised over the true authorship of the gallery's Adoration of the Magi, a spectacular work which has long been one of the gallery's most popular Christmas cards, with the three sumptuously dressed kings presenting magnificent golden gifts. "I stand by our picture," Foister insists. "I still think it is Gossaert. But that's exactly what this exhibition is for, to raise as many questions as possible about Gossaert – and, if possible, answer some of them." Maev Kennedy travelled in Flanders courtesy of Tourism Flanders.

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Glory be to Gossaert

He may not be a household name, and his life is shrouded in mystery – but Jan Gossaert's paintings are among the most extraordinary creations of the northern Renaissance. Maev Kennedy travels to Flanders to find out more

20150509093913

“Far From the Madding Crowd” is a Masterpiece Theatre version of Thomas Hardy’s 1874 novel, shot with sumptuous taste and care, rife with emotions repressed and unbound, and featuring expertly nuanced performances from a tony, mostly British cast. It will greatly please discerning audiences while causing Hardy to spin discreetly in his grave. That’s a fair trade-off, especially if the movie sends you back to the book. Carey Mulligan (“An Education”) makes for a more modern Bathsheba Everdene than the one on the page — yes, “Hunger Games” fans, this is where your no-nonsense Katniss got her surname (with a slight spelling tweak) and spine — but if the heroine seems more 21st-century free spirit than 19th-century pathbreaker, her dimples and indomitability overcome all objections. (Question for your next book group discussion: Did Hardy invent the Manic Pixie Dream Girl more than a century before Zooey Deschanel was born?) The novel was daring in its day for poking ragged holes in England’s class system. In the opening scenes, shot amid the rolling Dorset landscape on which Hardy overlaid his fictional Wessex, Bathsheba is a poor relation helping out at an aunt’s farm; shortly thereafter, a dying uncle’s bequest puts the young woman in the novel position of running a large farm of her own. No husband needed, thank you. Meanwhile, Gabriel Oak (Belgian actor-hunk Matthias Schoenaerts) has lost the sheep farm by which he tried to bootstrap himself up from the peasantry, and his fumbling marriage proposal to Bathsheba has come to naught. With pleasant Victorian coincidence, he finds himself hired on to help manage the Everdene estate, smoldering manfully and sympathetically for the remainder of the film’s two-hour running time. To read the book is to be immersed in Hardy’s almost obsessively detailed description of outer events and inner intents. You’re never sure where the novel is going because he describes everything down to the wallpaper glue and follows every emotion back to its source. There are fires and drownings and fallen women and returns from the dead; there’s also a sharpness of psychological insight that’s well ahead of its time. A movie can’t begin to re-create this exhaustive narrative flow, although John Schlesinger’s 1967 adaptation of “Far From the Madding Crowd,” starring Julie Christie as Bathsheba and Alan Bates as Oak, gave it a good three-hour go. That version is weird in a 1960s way that oddly matches up with Hardy’s own eccentricities, and it’s truer to his undercurrents of eroticism — the other reason the novel ran into problems — than this very romantic but not remotely kinky new film. Granted, the scene in which the cad army officer Sergeant Francis Troy (Tom Sturridge) demonstrates his swordsmanship on and around Bathsheba in a secluded glade is almost as ripely pre-Freudian as in the book. By this point, Bathsheba is also being wooed by William Boldwood (Michael Sheen), a repressed landowner sent into a tizzy after she sends him a teasing anonymous valentine. “Far From the Madding Crowd” envisions a rural England on the verge of societal meltdown — no wonder it horrified keepers of public morals — and the movie, to its credit, holds on to the book’s singular vision of a willful woman undoing several social strata of hapless men. So: Are we supposed to be on Team Troy, Team Boldwood, or Team Oak? Hardy keeps a reader guessing, but the movie votes for Farmer Oak early on. Schoenaerts has been alarmingly intense in several European dramas (“Bullhead,” “Rust and Bone”), but here he’s steadfast and doe-eyed, always doing the right thing by Bathsheba and the farm while she busies herself elsewhere, the silly. No, it doesn’t make much sense, unless you accept that a work of subtle and acerbic social acuity has been transformed into a reasonably intelligent romance and that one of the rules of romance is to keep lovers apart even if it renders them vaguely dull-witted. That said, Mulligan has the quickness necessary for a screen Bathsheba, and the sense and foolhardiness too. The director is Thomas Vinterberg, a Dane who has made some fine, nerve-racking films — “The Celebration” (1998), “The Hunt” (2013) — but whose gift for naturalism doesn’t sit well with the story’s melodramatic turns. Vinterberg seems slightly embarrassed by them; he also seems uninterested in the vanishing rural England of characters and dialects that the book depicts in such profusion. The locals who threaten to take over Hardy’s narrative, with names like Joseph Poorgrass and Laban Tall, speaking in Dorset idioms that barely qualify as English, are nodded to only in passing here. That raises an interesting point: Can only an Englishman do right by Hardy? Can a Dane play the 19th-century British class-war blues? Vinterberg’s “Far From the Madding Crowd” looks tremendous (Charlotte Bruus Christensen was the cinematographer) and it positively swoons with rough passions filmed at golden hour. It’s a very solid night at the movies. But, when all is said and done, all it has in common with its source is a title and a plot.

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Movie review: ‘Far From the Madding Crowd’ made with taste, craft, care

“Far From the Madding Crowd” review: A Masterpiece Theatre version of Thomas Hardy’s 1874 novel, made with taste, craft, and care.

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GUATEMALA— Nobody seems excited. Nobody sounds emotional. There is an eerie quiet in Guatemala. Day after day the newspapers print items like one the day I came: ''Unknowns killed 31 peasants in Rabinal,'' a small county. ''Unknowns'' has become a code for armed men on the Government side. The item also said that ''none of the victims has been identified so far, since the residents who remained alive preferred to flee their (four different) villages and nobody knows where to find them.'' Col. Jaime Rabanales Reyes, the army spokesman, said correctly that there was no crisis in Guatemala. ''But I feel a crisis coming,'' he said. So does practically everyone. A smiling taxi driver said, ''Either there will be an arrangement after elections or things will get worse. We don't know what we want.'' A veteran Western diplomat shrugged and said, ''It's hopeless, that's all.'' And a responsible American official said with tight lips, ''I don't get embarrassed about things I can't do anything about.'' The cynical atmosphere seems worse than the passions of conflict, but it is bound to burst aflame one day. People are killed by the hundreds each week, sometimes decapitated. Nobody really knows how many. Often, nobody knows why. Lawyers, teachers, moderate politicians are becoming in short supply. Those who remain live in a numb, almost thoughtless fear. Officials boast chillingly that there are no political prisoners in Guatemala. It seems to be too true. When there is an arrest, a trial, people are sure it's a common criminal because politicos are simply ''disappeared'' without further ado. There is a sinister war going on between two cold-blooded groups seeking to dominate by terror. There are no white hats. The great bulk of people are caught between, and if they turn to one side for protection, they know they are marking themselves as targets for the other. Nonetheless the leftist guerrillas seem to be expanding, if only because they lack the capacity to kill as many bystanders as the official forces, and they concentrate on soldiers. So they offend ordinary people less. The Government forces, often unable to retaliate directly against the hit-and-run guerrillas, take out their fury on the villagers left behind. It isn't hard to pick up first-hand stories, but the sense of outrage is dulled. President Romeo Lucas Garcia refused to meet with a recent U.S. Congressional delegation, and publicly denounced its members as ''Communists'' when they left. It is hard to imagine room for anyone to the right of President Lucas, but it does exist in Guatemala. Support comes from landowners and businessmen who are nevertheless disgusted by his modest raise in the very low minimum wage and his token land reform. ''They are like the people,'' said an American official, ''who thought they could make use of Adolf Hitler to preserve their interests.'' Their main candidate for the election next March is Mario Sandoval Alarcon, who has said that with power he will kill not hundreds but thousands of ''Communists'' a week and put an end to the 20-year-old guerrilla campaign. Mr. Sandoval goes often to the U.S., and then claims he was received by the Secretary of State and people close to President Reagan. That doesn't check out at the State Department. But no matter, it im presses people here. Actually, U.S.-Guatemalan relations are very co ld, but both sides make a public pretense of getting on nicely. Th e Administration theory that tough regimes will be more amenable if they aren't pressured out loud - as with South Africa - has been tr ied here. Ex-deputy C.I.A. chief Vernon Walters was sent recently to say Washington would like to help against the real Communist insurgents but that Guatemala must help Washington with Congress and public opinion by showing some willingness to moderation. He was angrily rebuffed. The establ i shment here hated President Carter without reserve. But it is no more prepared to indulge the Reagan Administration unless itis backed wit hout question. Nonetheless, the U.S. silence and a fair amount of Americansupplied military equipment - trucks and jeeps - are seen by others here and by most in the rest of the world as a sign of support for the regime. Inevitably, the U.S. is coming to appear as an accomplice. What can we do? At the moment, the answer must be that there is nothing positive. Guatemala has substantial resources for its widely spread seven million people. It has oil. The leaders seem prepared to withdraw into a kind of Fortress Guatemala, and they have established links outside the U.S. to maintain it. There are close ties with Argentina and Chile. Israel has traditionally supplied arms, and now South Africa is helping build a weapons factory. Taiwan has the second-largest diplomatic mission and provides technical aid. Seeds of the whirlwind are being sown. The best course for America to avoid reaping them would be to disassociate the U.S. as much as possible from this regime, persuade friends like Israel and Taiwan that they have little to gain from collaboration, and make clear we don't share Guatemala's outlook. We can't do anything to improve it, but it's a tar brush we don't need.

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FOREIGN AFFAIRS - Despair In Guatemala - NYTimes.com

Nobody seems excited. Nobody sounds emotional. There is an eerie quiet in Guatemala. Day after day the newspapers print items like one the day I came: ''Unknowns killed 31 peasants in Rabinal,'' a small county. ''Unknowns'' has become a code for armed men on the Government side. The item also said that ''none of the victims has been identified so far, since the residents who remained alive preferred to flee their (four different) villages and nobody knows where to find them.'' Col. Jaime Rabanales Reyes, the army spokesman, said correctly that there was no crisis in Guatemala. ''But I feel a crisis coming,'' he said.

20150524080053

Stock prices edged higher yesterday after two sessions of spectacular gains in response to falling interest rates. After showing small losses earlier, the Dow Jones industrial average finished at 868.72, up 1.90 points. Its combined advance on Friday and Monday came to nearly 34 points. Analysts pointed out that volume remained heavy at 54.6 million shares, despite the fact that some institutional investors were absent from their desks because of Election Day. On Monday, 65.1 million shares changed hands in the heaviest trading since March. ''Today's market action was positive in the light of big gains in the two previous sessions,'' stated Charles S. Comer, technical analyst for Bache Halsey Stuart Shields Inc. ''Frankly, I thought stocks would pull back today. At present, we're projecting an advance in the Dow to 930 before year-end as an intermediate-term objective.'' Marathon Oil, the volume leader on a turnover exceeding 1.3 million shares, fell 4 3/8, to 85 5/8. Marathon is fighting a takeover bid by the Mobil Oil Corporation, which has offered $85 a share in cash for 40 million shares, or a majority of Marathon's stock. On Monday, in its initial response to this offer, Marathon soared 22 7/8 points in only 15 minutes of trading. Marathon Options Volatile Yesterday, some call options for Marathon scored huge gains on the American Stock Exchange, despite the price decline in the common stock. Amex officials explained that, because of the limited time the stock traded on Monday, the opening rotation for call options only extended through contracts to purchase Marathon's stock at $70 a share, prior to their expiration in December. These contracts, known as the December 70 calls, dropped 2 3/8, to 18 7/8, after jumping 15 1/4 on Monday. The most active Marathon call option, giving holders the right to buy the stock at $80 until next month's expiration, jumped 8 5/8, to 11 5/8. One sign of the market's striking improvement, analysts said, was seen in Monday's performance, when 66 issues on the New York Stock Exchange sold at their highest prices within the last 12 months, while 19 stocks set new lows. By contrast, as recently as last Thursday, when the market was weak, there were 21 highs and 61 lows. Consolidated Edison was unchanged at 32 1/2. On Monday, it traded at 32 7/8, its best price in a dozen years, after recently showing higher earnings. Utility Stocks Strong Gas and electric utility stocks have ranked as good performers in 1981, according to a compilation of group averages by Paine Webber Mitchell Hutchins Inc. This market sector was ahead 7.86 percent from the start of the year through Oct.29, while the Dow industrials fell 13.59 percent during the same period. Anderson Clayton and Emerson Electric both scored gains of more than a point after reporting improved earnings. The American Stock Exchange's market value index, reflecting gains in a number of energy issues, advanced 3.94, to 324.25. In over-the-counter trading, Florida National Banks of Florida Inc. rose 1 3/4, to 26 bid, after reaching an agreement whereby the Chemical New York Corporation would acquire ''a substantial equity interest'' in the 25-bank Florida company. The Nasdaq composite index gained 1.53, to 198.78.

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Stocks Gain - Dow Adds 1.90 - NYTimes.com

Stock prices edged higher yesterday after two sessions of spectacular gains in response to falling interest rates. After showing small losses earlier, the Dow Jones industrial average finished at 868.72, up 1.90 points. Its combined advance on Friday and Monday came to nearly 34 points.

20150524080801

From his earliest years, Moreton Binn displayed all the instincts of a fast-talking, deal-making entrepreneur. Whether in marbles, baseball cards or comics (one Batman for two Superman), he was the champion trader of the neighborhood. Today, as president of Atwood Richards, which he describes as the oldest and largest reciprocal trading company in the nation, Mr. Binn is still trading - with roughly 100 companies, including Kaiser Aluminum, Rockwell International, Uniroyal, the Elektra Corporation and the Liggett Group -and spinning dollars at a pace of more than $200 million annually. ''I was in the right place at the right time,'' Mr. Binn said, waving expansively at his spacious Park Avenue office crammed with the paraphernalia of various trades, including a green and red macaw and petrified-wood chair. ''This is a boyhood dream come true. Like Fred Astaire, I heard the music and I danced to it.'' Dancing to a Different Rhythm But as Mr. Binn is quick to insist, Atwood's particular rhythm brooks no comparison. Unlike other trading concerns, the company shies away from cash sales and does not function like a brokerage firm, taking commissions on acquired and relocated goods. Instead, Atwood buys all commodities as a principal, and assumes full risk for them before retrading them. In order to maintain an adequate cash flow to cover rent and payroll for its staff of 60, however, Atwood will occasionally sell its inventories for cash instead of trade credits. ''Barter is not collecting due bills for restaurants or trading two gray cats for one brown dog,'' said Mr. Binn, who maintains that the popular conception of barter as fly-by-night is unjustified. And he emphasizes its competitive advantage: Companies can unload slowmoving inventories and convert them into goods and services that traditionally have required cash. ''The company still manufactures and markets products in the same way,'' Mr. Binn explained. ''The only change is in the medium of exchange.'' List of Goods Offered In an Atwood trade, a company sells its inventories at full wholesale price to Atwood, receiving in return its inventory roster of goods and services, updated monthly for clients. When a company has no excess inventory but has spare production capacity, Atwood offers to buy production above the company's normal run at less than wholesale for payment in trade credits. To illustrate the system, Mr. Binn cites the case of Spaulding U.S.A., which sold $3 million worth of sporting equipment to Atwood, subsequently used for promotional purposes. Then, over a 36-month period, Spaulding drew down its credit with Atwood, choosing printing services for a new brochure, media advertising time and facilities for some regional and national sales meetings. The company also got some Lotus sports cars that Atwood had on its books and in turn used them in a sweepstakes promoting golf equipment. 'A New Channel' ''The key to what Atwood offers is a new channel of distribution which avoids cluttering the marketplace and having to sell old merchandise at less-than-wholesale prices,'' says Don Senecal, controller of Spaulding U.S.A., a subsidiary of the Questor Corporation. Serendipity apparently brought Mr. Binn, then president of a New York marketing and public relations firm called Merchandising and Promotion Associates, to Atwood Richards in 1974. That October, on a business trip to Boston, Mr. Binn sat next to the chairman of the executive committee of Cooper Laboratories, a concern that had acquired Chemwood and its subsidiary, Atwood Richards, in 1971. (Atwood was founded in 1958.) Since Cooper's corporate experience was in ethical drugs rather than in trading, the company was still grappling with the task of developing a management team for the barter firm. Two weeks later, Mr. Binn, who also owns one of the largest thoroughbred racing stables in the Northeast, had purchased the trading company for ''multimillions,'' with the help of two banks and a small investment group. Two years later he assumed complete ownership and set out to broaden the focus of the $30 million-a-year company from one that concentrated on trading television and radio advertising time for goods into a company with a broadly based inventory. Jet Planes and Bat Manure Today the company offers services such as building relocations and car rentals, and its inventory ranges from jet planes to Keds sneakers to bat manure. (The company is not responsive to products like books and posters that have a high retail and wholesale value when in fashion, but a negligible value otherwise.) In general, the company's computer-monitored inventories range from $6 million to $14 million. (Atwood pays storage fees on inventories to the parent company until it finds a purchaser.) The company will accept no trade under $500,000 and estimates the average transaction at $1 million. Mr. Binn acknowledges that he has emerged from some of his deals ''by the skin of my teeth,'' describing with particular vividness a $5.5 million transaction with Shell Chemical for an antibug product called ''Can-care'' used in metal trash cans. Just as an agreement was reached, the oil companies came out with plastic trash bags, making the chemical product nearly obsolete. Care Needed in Making Estimates Atwood eventually sold the pesticide to some South American companies, and Mr. Binn learned a lesson: ''Overestimating a product is the biggest mistake we can make.'' In the past, companies have unloaded unwanted inventories by selling them for a pittance to closeout houses. Jerome Schottenstein, president of Value City Inc., the parent company of the Schottenstein Store Corporation, a major retailing chain of special purchase merchandise, notes that closeout houses provide manufacturers with ready cash and greater control over the destination of their inventories. Mr. Binn, however, displays no doubt that barter is the way of the future. Pointing to the current economic climate, with the rising cost of money and currency fluctuations, he predicted a growth of corporate interest in Atwood's approach to business. Asked about the danger of other trading companies jumping on the barter bandwagon, Mr. Binn replied with characteristic aplomb: ''When you have a winning situation, you will always get competitors. But we have a 23-year run on all of them.'' Illustrations: diagram on barter process

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BARTER - COMIC BOOKS TO BIG JETS - NYTimes.com

From his earliest years, Moreton Binn displayed all the instincts of a fast-talking, deal-making entrepreneur. Whether in marbles, baseball cards or comics (one Batman for two Superman), he was the champion trader of the neighborhood. Today, as president of Atwood Richards, which he describes as the oldest and largest reciprocal trading company in the nation, Mr. Binn is still trading - with roughly 100 companies, including Kaiser Aluminum, Rockwell International, Uniroyal, the Elektra Corporation and the Liggett Group -and spinning dollars at a pace of more than $200 million annually. ''I was in the right place at the right time,'' Mr. Binn said, waving expansively at his spacious Park Avenue office crammed with the paraphernalia of various trades, including a green and red macaw and petrified-wood chair. ''This is a boyhood dream come true. Like Fred Astaire, I heard the music and I danced to it.''

20150524082839

-------------------------------------------------------------------- I. HERBERT GORDON is a producer for NBC News in New York. By I.HERBERT GORDON The yoke of powerful oxen threw their massive strength against a harness linked by a stout chain to a wooden sled piled high with concrete blocks. The animals strained. Their hooves dug deep into the furrowed earth. Standing alongside, the sweat-stained driver slapped the reins hard against their squat rumps and shouted encouragement. Sudd enly, the sled lurched and slid forward . Onlookers, six deep behind a high fence marking off the ox-pullin g contest field, applauded and cheered. The cheers mingled with the noise of the crowd along the adjacent midway. Merry-go-round horses pranced in endless circles to the rhythm of a mechanical band. There were wild shrieks whenever the Ferris wheel stopped. Children raced about. A cluster of balloons floated in crisp fall air that was scented by the delicious smell of a hundred chickens broiling over an outdoor barbecue. Barkers shouted their appeals with a New England twang. It was all part of the color and excitement of the annual Warner, N. H., Fall Foliage Festival, and it evoked memories of my childhood growing up in a small Idaho town. My mind was assaulted with remembrances of a bucolic yesterday, which, I discovered, still lingers in New England. The setting was picture-perfect. Situated in south central New Hampshire, ab out 20 miles from the state capital at Concord, Warner is a prim vil lage of mostly two-story white houses set deep in wide lawns shaded by huge trees. Downtown is a cluster of half a dozen stores. The c emetery's oldest headstones predate the nation. The village itsel f nestles in the heavily forested Mink Hills whose oaks and maples, s umacs and hickories had burst out in a fall orgy of reds and yell ows and oranges, spotted with the green of pines and hemlocks. The celebration, now three decades old, is an old-fashioned affair complete with a midway with its wheels of fortune spinning out prizes ranging from country hams to kewpie dolls, an arts and crafts exhibit, a flea market, a farmers' market, some not-too-competitive events and two parades. It is a community party in this village of 1,800 where hometown pride shines bright as the fall sun. The festival traditionally begins Friday evening with the opening of the midway, moves into full swing Saturday and ends late Sunday with a drawing of tickets in a raffle sponsored by the Warner Booster Club. This year's festival is scheduled for Oct. 2, 3 and 4. My wife, our red-headed 3-year-old twin daughters and I have attended the festival in each of the last three years, thanks to the hospitality of a friend who fled Manhattan's canyons half a dozen years ago for the placid charm of the village. It has been long enough for her to shed wasteful city ways, convert the heating system of her once all-electric rural house to the warmth provided by a wood-burning stove and add heavy window drapes. The festival has never really changed since it began. Last fall was typical. We slipped away from the house early Saturday, stepping over her cats and yawning dog stretched out in the morning sun and ignoring two goats watching suspiciously from her nearby small barn. Our first stop was at the small food tent where we breakfasted on ham and eggs, toast, and coffee at $1.25 a plate. The adjacent flea market was coming rapidly to life. Yesterday's attic junk was being put on display as today's finds. The two-story red brick Town Hall, scrubbed and shiny, was crammed with the arts and crafts exhibitions. Artists and craftsmen displayed their finest wares, from hand-sewn quilts -some newly made and others more than a century old - to sophisticated pottery and jewelry. We stopped in front of a booth where a friendly grandfather figure was selling his own hand-carved Christmas ornaments, and bought two miniature sleds. ''That's the way Dad fills up his spare time in winter,'' a pert young girl said. ''Winter?'' I asked. ''Yup, he's got no spare time in summer. He sleeps a lot.'' A few weeks later they were among decorations on our Christmas tree. Outside, the lawn in front of Town Hall was cluttered with booths. It was the last farmers' market of the season. We found it a mouthwatering experience simply to edge past tables heaped with home-made jams, breads, cookies, health foods and assorted goodies. The piles of produce were so fresh they could only have been picked that morning by early-rising farmers. We tasted and bought until we were loaded with the delights of New England kitchens and farms. At the fenced-off field immediately north of the festival center we could hear the shouts of young farm boys pitting their teams of oxen in the first of the series of ox-pulling contests. At mid-morning there was a five-mile marathon. Racers dashed through shady streets scattered over with leaves. Everyone who crossed the finish line won a T-shirt. If you have never seen a grinning youngster smeared ear to ear with gobs of dripping ice cream, you have never watched the kids who flocked to the ice cream-eating contest. But the drips and goo were all cleaned up as we stood on the sidewalk in front of Town Hall for the big Saturday children's parade. It was a flotilla of decorated doll carriages, wagons and bikes pushed, pulled or ridden by youngsters in costumes that ranged from ''store boughten'' to clothing their great grandparents might have worn as children to Sunday School in the nearby white-spired church. Several times we were invited to add our tw in girls to the parade and push them along in their twin stroller. W e declined with thanks. It was not our celebration, but townsfolk mad e us feel as if it was.

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A NEW HAMPSHIRE FESTIVAL IN THE CLASSIC MANNER

-------------------------------------------------------------------- I. HERBERT GORDON is a producer for NBC News in New York. By I.HERBERT GORDON The yoke of powerful oxen threw their massive strength against a harness linked by a stout chain to a wooden sled piled high with concrete blocks. The animals strained. Their hooves dug deep into the furrowed earth. Standing alongside, the sweat-stained driver slapped the reins hard against their squat rumps and shouted encouragement. Sudd enly, the sled lurched and slid forward . Onlookers, six deep behind a high fence marking off the ox-pullin g contest field, applauded and cheered.

20150524083006

The final decisions will not be made for months and the last switch will not be turned to the ''on'' position for years. But by tonight, the people of Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island will finally be a substantial step closer to getting what Manhattan has had for a decade - cable television. Today, if all goes according to plan, a panel selected by the Board of Estimate will recommend which of the 13 companies that have been embroiled in the city's fierce contest for cable television franchises will survive the next round. The Board of Estimate itself has scheduled a meeting on Dec. 10 to decide which of the companies should be selected for negotiation and is expected to award the franchises by next spring. Only then can the lengthy construction of the cable systems begin. It could take as much as eight years. But the outcome of today's meeting of the Cable Working Group at City Hall could be considered the first formal step in a complicated, politically charged process unlike any other in the nation, mainly because of the city's size. An Unequaled Opportunity Brooklyn and Queens, for example, each has more potential subscribers than the largest cable system in the nation, San Diego's. So New York represents an unequaled opportunity to the winning cable companies, a potential that has not gone unnoticed among the influential lawyers, lobbyists and former city officials now affiliated with cable companies. New York's franchising procedure itself is also unusual - ''unique,'' suggested Richard R. Aurelio, senior vice president of Warner Amex, one of the cable contenders - in another respect: the elaborate measures taken to prevent the appearance of impropriety and charges of political influence-peddling that grew out of the bus shelter scandal. ''It's been a very careful process, very reasonable,'' said Mr. Aurelio, once the top aide to Mayor John V. Lindsay. ''But it always ends up with a political decision.'' Mindful of the lawsuits and indictments that have littered the trail of cable franchise awards in other cities, the Board of Estimate hired the Washington law firm of Arnold & Porter to guide the process. Board members also named key aides to a satellite committee - the Cable Working Group. It is believed to be the only time that a single issue has spawned such a proxy group and led the city to invest so much influence in - and money on - an outside law firm to guide a project to realization. ''In the end, this is a big insurance policy,'' explained Ellen Chesler, who represents Carol Bellamy, the City Council President, on the nine-member Cable Working Group. ''If somebody says, 'That decision was political,' we can say, 'The company met the standard in the Arnold & Porter report.' '' The Washington law firm has been paid $775,000 to date and is to get $400,000 more. The city says it will pass along those costs to the franchise winners. The firm has experience in the communications field, but has never been involved in a cable franchise process. Last month, the firm issued a 244-page report assessing the 21 plans submitted by 13 competing companies and making recommendations that are expected to form a contract guide. Citing the size of the boroughs and the cost of building the cable systems, the report suggested dividing Brooklyn into three cable areas, Queens into three or four and Staten Island into two. Only one proposal was submitted for the Bronx. Most of the companies submitted proposals for boroughwide systems, but they were aware that the city planned to determine the nature of all cable systems through negotiations. Arnold & Porter also rated each cable package, placing major emphasis on financial factors. This has led to what some of the smaller companies contend is a bias in favor of large, national companies at the expense of those that are community-based. ''They did not evaluate smaller companies fairly,'' complained Lawrence J. Cormier, chairman of Gotham Communications, a company that is bidding in Queens and received poor ratings in the report.

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CABLE TV IN FOUR BOROUGHS TAKES ANOTHER STEP TONIGHT

The final decisions will not be made for months and the last switch will not be turned to the ''on'' position for years. But by tonight, the people of Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island will finally be a substantial step closer to getting what Manhattan has had for a decade - cable television. Today, if all goes according to plan, a panel selected by the Board of Estimate will recommend which of the 13 companies that have been embroiled in the city's fierce contest for cable television franchises will survive the next round. The Board of Estimate itself has scheduled a meeting on Dec. 10 to decide which of the companies should be selected for negotiation and is expected to award the franchises by next spring. Only then can the lengthy construction of the cable systems begin. It could take as much as eight years.

20150524083429

Eating out is half the fun. Or all of it. Or it is all business. Or half of that. It is, certainly, the preoccupation of many New Yorkers who dine out often in this city of restaurants, some to mark special occasions, others because dining out is a satisfying adjunct to their social and business lives, still others to whom eating out is a pleasure to be savored even as often as five times each week. And then there are people like the Mazzolas. John W. Mazzola is president of Lincoln Center and for him and his wife, Sylvia, to be dining out only five evenings in any seven-day period constitutes, he says, ''a slow week.'' For example over a recent 10-day span the Mazzolas, on successive nights, dined with Ronald Harwood, author of ''The Dresser,'' at Vanessa's; at the Metropolitan Museum of Art opening of the Islamic art exhibition; at the Metropolitan Opera's Grand Tier; at the Plaza for a Spanish gala honoring the tenor Placido Domingo; at the Knickerbocker Club dinner commemorating ancient French chateaus; at ''21'' after the theater; at the Metropolitan Club; at Shun Lee West before a Cy Coleman concert; at an Avery Fisher Hall dinner for Queen Sirikit of Thailand, and buffet style at a New York City Ballet benefit at the New York State Theater. ''Just looking at my calendar makes me want to go home,'' says Mr. Mazzola, who notes that most of those evenings he was about the business of Lincoln Center. ''It's part of life in New York,'' he says. On the other hand it is either eat out or starve for the author Joseph Heller. ''I eat only in restaurants these days,'' he says, ''except on the days when I'm taking cooking lessons, learning to poach eggs. Why? I'm living alone because I'm getting a divorce. First my mother cared for me, then the Army cared for me, then my wife cared for me. I don't know how to cook. Another thing, too, is that more people, rather than entertain at home, are entertaining in restaurants these days.'' The Crespis, Count Rodolfo and Countess Consuelo, would agree. They dine out at least four times a week. ''Just because I like to see people, I like to be out in restaurants, it gives me a boost to be out with people,'' says Count Crespi, who represents many European fashion designers in this country and takes out Italian and Brazilian designers by the score as they pass through the city. But when he and his wife, who is a fashion editor at Vogue, go out for lunch, ''we fast at dinner and when we are going out to dinner we fast at lunch,'' he said. Seeing people and ''getting caught up when you've been out of town'' are perhaps the main reasons Arlette Brisson and her husband, Frederick, the producer, dine out so often. ''It's not a question of simply being seen,'' she says. ''You know, that glamorous crowd which is only comfortable when they see each other, so busy looking at each other they fail to eat. What we enjoy are dinners out with old friends, or dinners out by ourselves.'' Preston Robert Tisch, president of the Loews Corporation, and his wife, Joan, dine out at least five times each week, an activity they regard as ''a way to see the city,'' according to Mr. Tisch. ''I try to get to different parts of the city every week. One night I go to the Regency, then '21'; we go to Columbus Avenue a lot, out to Peter Luger's in Brooklyn, downtown to Odeon. It's our way of seeing the city from a tourist's point of view, a visitor's perspective.'' John P. MacBean, vice president, public relations, for the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau, of which Mr. Tisch is chairman, feels the same way and wends his way around town at least six times a week for dinner, not to mention five luncheons a week. ''I don't have time to cook,'' he says, ''although I love to cook and I love to entertain. So I go out, almost every night. Most nights I'm down in little neighborhood places in Greenwich Village, Little Italy or Chinatown. I keep the big deal restaurants for theater nights.'' For Lucrecia el-Abd, an art consultant, and her husband, Omar, an investment banker, eating out is ''half business, half pleasure.'' She says that ''after a day's work neither of us is inclined to fix something special - besides I never get tired of that luxurious feeling I get in a good restaurant with good food.'' Similarly, Gerald Schoenfeld, chairman of the Shubert Organization, eats out quite a bit, but differentiates, he says, ''between eating, which is spending part of an evening out, and dining, which is spending the evening out.'' Mr. Schoenfeld grinned. ''I expect I dine a lot less than I eat,'' he added. Which might or might not be the case with the Zagats. Eugene H. Zagat Jr. and his wife, Nina, are both lawyers, both food lovers and over the last four years dedicated restaurant-goers. They now privately publish an annual survey of the city's restaurants, which includes their own opinions and those of 275 respondents on whose critiques the food letter is based. The Zagats eat out ''quite a lot,'' according to Mr. Zagat, ''because it is pleasurable, for business reasons and because we want to keep up with the city's restaurants. No one person can do that in New York, no one person can keep up. But a group can.'' Lunch and Dinner Another lawyer, Theodore W. Kheel, says he doesn't try to keep up with all of the city's eating places. Rather, he is a dedicated five-day-a-week luncher-out, and has dinner out perhaps six days each week. ''Why?'' he asked. ''At this point in my life my children are grown up and my wife and I just like to eat out. I should say that she isn't the best cook in the world, so that works in favor of eating out as well. ''I enjoy being with people, talking with people, seeing people, which eating out gives me the opportunity to do,'' Mr. Kheel continued. ''If I have a choice between good company at dinner or an evening at the theater I opt for the former, and if it's at Le Cirque, '21' or the Board Room, the private club in my building, more's the better.'' Which brings us to the author Mario Puzo, who, it was rumored, dined out quite a bit. ''Nonsense,'' he said. ''I never eat out. Why should people eat out when they can eat better at home. I eat better at home than I could out. What? Well, my housekeeper cooks standard Italian peasant food, spaghetti, baked peppers, baked veal. Why go out?'' Illustrations: 2 photos of people eating out

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EATING OUT - THEIR WAY OF LIFE - NYTimes.com

Eating out is half the fun. Or all of it. Or it is all business. Or half of that. It is, certainly, the preoccupation of many New Yorkers who dine out often in this city of restaurants, some to mark special occasions, others because dining out is a satisfying adjunct to their social and business lives, still others to whom eating out is a pleasure to be savored even as often as five times each week. And then there are people like the Mazzolas. John W. Mazzola is president of Lincoln Center and for him and his wife, Sylvia, to be dining out only five evenings in any seven-day period constitutes, he says, ''a slow week.'' For example over a recent 10-day span the Mazzolas, on successive nights, dined with Ronald Harwood, author of ''The Dresser,'' at Vanessa's; at the Metropolitan Museum of Art opening of the Islamic art exhibition; at the Metropolitan Opera's Grand Tier; at the Plaza for a Spanish gala honoring the tenor Placido Domingo; at the Knickerbocker Club dinner commemorating ancient French chateaus; at ''21'' after the theater; at the Metropolitan Club; at Shun Lee West before a Cy Coleman concert; at an Avery Fisher Hall dinner for Queen Sirikit of Thailand, and buffet style at a New York City Ballet benefit at the New York State Theater.

20150524083716

STATE transportation officials are ready to begin what they expect to be the last major spurt of highway construction in New Jersey. The remaining roadblocks to completing what the state's Department of Transportation considers priority links in the Interstate System are being removed, and officials expect to be in the final design or early construction stage on all five projects by early next year. The department also has re-examined all uncompleted state highway projects and is weeding out planned highway links - some have been on the books for 25 years - that are no longer needed or feasible, while proceeding with those that still make sense. ''There is virtually no new planning for new highways or rights-ofway,'' said Louis J. Gambaccini, who has announced his resignation as Commissioner of the Department of Transportation to return to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. ''We're going through a mopping-up operation to close out the books on many of the projects planned or committed to some 20 to 30 years ago.'' The Interstate System program was begun in New Jersey in 1958, when Federal highway officials estimated that it would cost approximately $1.4 billion to build more than 420 miles of highway in the state. As of December 1979, the last date for which figures are available, more than $1.5 billion had been authorized by the Federal Government to construct about 325 miles of roadway. The uncompleted links, some 35 miles in several different areas, will cost in excess of $600 million. Most of the 42,500-mile nationwide system of Interstate highways is complete, and New Jersey is one of only a few states with unbuilt segments. According to Mr. Gambacinni, the reasons for New Jersey's delays are not unique. ''If you look at all the states that are lagging behind, they are all Northeastern and urbanized,'' he said, explaining that a combination of community opposition, environmental problems and the lack of local matching funds had kept New Jersey from completing its share of the system. Even so, Mr. Gambaccini said, many of those problems have been resolved. Construction of the $102 million Trenton complex, linking I-195 to I-295 and forming a beltway around the city, is expected to begin early next year. In Gloucester County, the environmental-impact statement for two miles of I-295 is being prepared and construction should start around 1986. Community support is strong for both projects, unlike the sections of I-78 through the Watchung Reservation in Union County and I-287 from Montville in Morris County to the New York State border. Local opposition has delayed both projects for many years. The controversy over the five-mile, $86 million, I-78 link is being resolved by depressing the highway through the parkland and covering over several sections of it. The Federally approved plan for completing the highway was the subject of public hearings in Berkeley Heights last week. Additional hearings are set for Aug. 4 and 5, again at Governor Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights; they will take place from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. and from 6 to 9 P.M. If the final design plan is accepted, construction could begin early next year. The alignment of another section of I-78, this one consisting of 2.3 miles of highway and a bridge over the Delaware River at Phillipsburg, has been approved by local officials and work is expected to begin soon. The most stubborn obstacle preventing completion of the Interstate System has been the 20.5-mile section of I-287 through Morris, Passaic and Bergen Counties. The project has been under study for more than 10 years. During that time, 21 alternative routes have been analyzed, the alternatives have been adjusted 15 times and 41 public hearings or meetings have been held. New environmental regulations forced another realignment, but local opposition has cooled and the mayors of four communities affected by the change have not voiced major objections. ''It is our determination now to bring that one (I-287) to conclusion within a year,'' Mr. Gambaccini said. He indicated that public hearings would be scheduled this fall and that a final environmental-impact statement should be filed early next year. Transportation officials face the opposite problem on the I-95 project through Mercer and Somerset Counties. The state wants to scrap the 24-mile segment, which would have cut through largely rural land, but local officials interested in opening their communities to industry and business oppose discarding the project. An I-95 action committee to coordinate lobbying to save the highway has been formed, and so far eight municipalities and 13 business and labor groups have joined in support. Mr. Gambaccini wants to abandon the project. Studies show that existing roads can handle the traffic, he said, adding that the $300 million earmarked for the work could be used for more-important highway maintenance and rebuilding projects, as well as for masstransit financing and local road construction.

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STATE GIVES ROAD PROJECTS A GREEN LIGHT

STATE transportation officials are ready to begin what they expect to be the last major spurt of highway construction in New Jersey. The remaining roadblocks to completing what the state's Department of Transportation considers priority links in the Interstate System are being removed, and officials expect to be in the final design or early construction stage on all five projects by early next year. The department also has re-examined all uncompleted state highway projects and is weeding out planned highway links - some have been on the books for 25 years - that are no longer needed or feasible, while proceeding with those that still make sense. ''There is virtually no new planning for new highways or rights-ofway,'' said Louis J. Gambaccini, who has announced his resignation as Commissioner of the Department of Transportation to return to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. ''We're going through a mopping-up operation to close out the books on many of the projects planned or committed to some 20 to 30 years ago.''

20150524084702

While there are admirable people working for the Koch administration, it cannot be said of the Mayor himself that he has consistently demonstrated concern for the poor of New York City. And if he has captured the nomination of both the Democratic and the Republican Party, that says something about the rest of us; we are moving away from compassion, not toward it. It also suggests that many have accepted as inevitable the ongoing decline in the quality of life and spirit in our city. v. e were impressed by the thousands who turned out at the polls to give 36 percent of the overall vote in the Democratic primary - and victory in many minority districts - to Frank Barbaro, a relatively unknown candidate, with financial resources so restricted that he couldn't afford a single TV ad. We are heartened by the formation of the Unity Party, a grass-roots alliance of black, white and Hispanic, poor and working-class people, labor and community groups. We consider the Unity Party a genuine alternative to the politics of polarization, an opportunity to end the practice of balancing budgets by cutbacks in transportation, health, education, law enforcement and sanitation, and a voice of sanity raised in protest against the Federal Government's determination to rob the poor to feed the military. It would be a crime if Frank Barbaro were not running, and it would be a wonderful thing were New Yorkers to elect him on Nov. 3. (Rev.) WILLIAM SLOANE COFFIN JR. (Rev.) RAYMOND RIVERA (Rev.) GEORGE W. WEBBER (Rev.) TIMOTHY MITCHELL (Rev.) DONALD W. SHRIVER (Rev.) JOSE CARABELLO (Rev.) WILLIAM A. JONES New York, Oct. 19, 1981

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BARBARO AND UNITY - A GRASS-ROOTS TEAM - NYTimes.com

To the Editor: While there are admirable people working for the Koch administration, it cannot be said of the Mayor himself that he has consistently demonstrated concern for the poor of New York City. And if he has captured the nomination of both the Democratic and the Republican Party, that says something about the rest of us; we are moving away from compassion, not toward it.

20150524104450

By Bernadine Morris hanks to petrodollars and perfume, the Paris haute couture - the made-to-order sector of the fashion industry - is having a banner season. The oil-producing countries are now providing a new reservoir of customers, for whom price is no object. The perfume and other subsidiary products, from home furnishings to automobiles, have also helped to provide a solid financial foundation for this most luxurious branch of the fashion business. The number of couture clients throughout the world has grown in recent years to a conservative estimate of 5,000 and, in fact, it may be double that; these are the women who care about clothes and can afford to invest in them, who attract attention and who buy enough to keep workrooms of the 23 members of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne busy these days. It is ironic that the revival of the aristocratic couture industry is taking place under France's first Socialist Government in decades, but it is perhaps also understandable. There is a certain defiance in the care with which the designers have put their collections together, their emphasis on luxury fabrics and embroideries and their insistence on rich clothes. The designers have focused on the styles they do best. No time is wasted on beach clothes or even separates, the kind of casual dressing that appeals to so many women so much of the time. Couture clothes are rather formal, whether they are for day or for night. They are aimed at women who do not have to worry about upkeep and who wouldn't dream of putting anything in a washing machine. Neither are these designers unduly concerned about styles that lend themselves to being folded and packed - the couture clientele travels with trunks, not duffel bags, and, presumably, there is always someone on the other end to take care of the wrinkles. For more than a century, the couture was the undisputed fashion source for women in the Western world. The shape of clothes as well as their length and character were decided in the workrooms of the couture houses. In a ripple effect, through sketches, word-of-mouth and the clothes fashionable women were wearing, the styles influenced the way women dressed everywhere. Twenty years ago, this position was challenged, most successfully by the ready-to-wear designers and manufacturers in Paris. While ready-made clothes had acquired prestige in some places in the world, such as the United States, the best French clothes were still made to measure. As part of the social revolution of the 1960's, clothes were simplified and more and more of them were mass produced. During the era of miniskirts, T-shirts and blue jeans, a couture designer seemed as obsolete as a blacksmith. While a Paris label still had cachet, it was not necessary to travel for a fitting to acquire one. Stores from Kuwait to Peoria carried a fair share of French-made ready-to-wear.The number of women who cared enough about clothes and had the time to wait around for fittings dwindled. Made-to-measure clothes seemed irrelevant and the demise of the couture was proclaimed to be as imminent as the death of the novel or the theater. Instead of throwing in their needles, couture designers set about adding ready-to-wear collections - and waiting for the tide to change. The change came about gradually in the 1970's with a return to tailored clothes on the one hand and very formal evening styles on the other. The rise of a new moneyed class in the Middle East and elsewhere brought new clients for clothes that were finished, if not sewn entirely, by hand and made of the most luxurious fabrics available.The expertise of the couture workrooms, with their carefully trained seamstresses, along with the skilled beaders and embroiderers, was once more in demand. Meanwhile, the perfume business, an important adjunct to the couture since the days of Paul Poiret early in this century, was booming. Instead of one scent, as formerly, most designers offered several bearing their names. They expanded their fragrance collections to include bath products and cosmetics. All of this helped to support the couture workrooms and made at least this part of the business feasible, even when it was not profitable.Designers were now producing four collections a year - two for their made-to-order clients and two of ready-to-wear -but the added work of continuing to produce the unprofitable custom styles did not dent their enthusiasm for doing it. ''The couture is my laboratory,'' said Emanuel Ungaro. ''I can do anything I want with those clothes. I don't have to stint or worry about whether they will sell on the mass market.'' With its emphasis on opulence and luxury, the couture does not try to compete with ready-to-wear on its own ground. In the couture spring and summer collections, designers have eschewed the wilder sort of experimentation as well as the casual clothes that designers feel they can do better in ready-to-wear. When women spend $5,000 and upward for an outfit, they do not want to see it become obsolete. Prices for couture clothes can run five times as much as ready-towear. Couture is where a woman goes to find a superbly tailored suit, for example, instead of two or three pieces that she can put together to look like a suit. It is where the soft silk dress is having a revival. And, of course, it is the repository of the most glamorous, extravagant evening dresses made anywhere in the world. These three categories -suits, dresses and evening dresses - are all well represented in the best collections of the season; Ungaro is the exception - his lavish, intricate designs are mainly for evening. Yves Saint Laurent's major new thought is the brief Spencer jacket, something like a bellhop's jacket, which he pairs with skinny short skirts as well as with trousers. At Christian Dior, Marc Bohan concentrates on bloused jackets and kicky, flaring culottes. The emphasis is not on the newness or the cleverness of the cut. In fact, the clothes are relatively conventional, but they are beautifully constructed and expertly proportioned. Givenchy, for example, has been working on variations of the bubble shape for the last 25 years. He has now honed it to its most flattering proportions - the best have been trimmed down and cup the body at thigh level. Saint Laurent, who was once known as the enfant terrible of fashion, is becoming a classicist who reworks his basic styles each season to give them a new cast while keeping them vibrant. As a source of luxury, taste and chic in clothing, the couture houses in Paris have no equal. Here, there are no restrictions on extravagant embroideries, appliques and other opulent details, which are an expected and integral part of the couture collections. The position of the couture, however, is by no means as glorified as it was in the days when it was the only show in town. Even the most loyal couture customer is likely to supplement her wardrobe with ready-to-wear styles. Fads now are more likely to develop from the more exuberant ready-to-wear makers or, almost spontaneously, from fashion seen on the streets. But for women who can afford the best and want the luxury of having at least some clothes made specially for them, the couture is that special place. And if it is no longer the innovator it once was, it at least is the keeper of the flame of fine dressmaking. And it sets standards of workmanship, quality and luxury to which the rest of the fashion world may well aspire. Illustrations: 4 photos of new Paris fashions

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THE CASE FOR COUTURE

By Bernadine Morris hanks to petrodollars and perfume, the Paris haute couture - the made-to-order sector of the fashion industry - is having a banner season. The oil-producing countries are now providing a new reservoir of customers, for whom price is no object. The perfume and other subsidiary products, from home furnishings to automobiles, have also helped to provide a solid financial foundation for this most luxurious branch of the fashion business. The number of couture clients throughout the world has grown in recent years to a conservative estimate of 5,000 and, in fact, it may be double that; these are the women who care about clothes and can afford to invest in them, who attract attention and who buy enough to keep workrooms of the 23 members of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne busy these days. It is ironic that the revival of the aristocratic couture industry is taking place under France's first Socialist Government in decades, but it is perhaps also understandable. There is a certain defiance in the care with which the designers have put their collections together, their emphasis on luxury fabrics and embroideries and their insistence on rich clothes.

20150823213617

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell below its 200-day moving average to trade below 18. The U.S. dollar also reversed its recent gains for much of the day, and the 10-year yield bounced from 1.66 to 1.78 percent. Kingsview Asset Management portfolio manager Paul Nolte didn't think Tuesday's reversal in key market components represented a long-term positive trend, but he expects the market to moderate after the recent swings. Read MoreWe haven't seen the worst in oil yet: Expert "We're in the process of finding a bottom here," said Nolte. "I think the dollar will continue to strengthen, and yields and oil will continue lower. The pace of the decline trajectory has been so steep that those are not sustainable. Now that you get a little buying, you get these outsized gains." U.S. stocks rallied on Tuesday to close up more than one percent higher in a second consecutive day of gains, boosted by a surge in oil prices and alleviation of concerns in the euro zone. Greece's Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis unveiled proposals on Monday to end the confrontation with its creditors by swapping outstanding debt for new growth-linked bonds, the Financial Times reported. On Tuesday, Varoufakis met with his Italian counterpart in Rome. Read MoreOil expert: This is a 'dead cat bounce' The Dow Jones industrial average surged 305.3 points in the last 15 minutes of trade to close up 1.76 percent at 17,666.40. All blue chips advanced, led by Caterpillar's nearly 4 percent gain. Exxon Mobil and Chevron followed, each rising nearly 3 percent or more. The S&P 500 closed up 29.18 points, or 1.44 percent, at 2,050.03, with energy leading gains across all sectors. The Nasdaq closed up 51.05 points, or 1.09 percent, at 4,727.74. Tuesday's gains came after a nearly 200-point surge in the Dow on Monday that recovered much of the index's 250-point drop last Friday. "It's made a little tough that we have these giant moves every day," said JJ Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at TD Ameritrade. "I think it will be difficult to follow through." "You'd like to see a few days of consistency before you make the call," he said. To be sure, despite regaining more than 70 percent of January's losses, the major indices are still down for the year. Consumer giants reporting after the bell on Tuesday gave a mixed picture of the U.S. economy, with Disney blowing past expectations and Chipotle disappointing analysts. "I think you have to go through a couple of months without (big) events," Ogg said, before markets calm down. Investors may get greater indications of the economy with Wednesday's kickoff to the week's employment reports. The ADP private sector payrolls come out at 8:15 a.m., which analysts see as a precursor to Friday's all-important jobs report. "It's not a 100 percent positive correlation, but a robust number would give the market more confidence going into Friday morning," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial. She is also watching Greek banks as an "important barometer for European markets for confidence." Other economic data due on Wednesday include mortgage applications, the PMI services index and the ISM non-manufacturing index, all of which will contribute to the unfolding picture of the U.S. economy. Read MoreHalftime trader: Here's an odd play on jobs growth "We are seeing the very beginning signs of wage pressure and household formation. Really starting to feel more normal," Ogg said. "People have to be convinced that all these changes do not create a big black swan kind of event."

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Is volatility over with? Market signs to watch

The last two day's oil gains are encouraging for the short term as investors continue to pick up more signs of coming stabilization in markets.

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WHEN: Today, Tuesday, August 25th Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with TIAA-CREF President and CEO Roger Ferguson on CNBC's "Closing Bell" (M-F, 3PM-5PM ET) today. All references must be sourced to CNBC. KELLY EVANS: FROM YESTERDAY'S SELL-OFF TO TODAY'S BIG RALLY AND THEN THE DRAMATIC SUBSEQUENT DECLINE, HOW ARE INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS MAKING SENSE OF IT ALL? TIAA-CREF HAS OVER 5 MILLION CUSTOMERS AND NEARLY $900 BILLION IN ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT. IN A CNBC EXCLUSIVE, I AM NOW JOINED BY FORMER FEDERAL RESERVE VICE CHAIR ROGER FERGUSON NOW PRESIDENT AND CEO OF TIAA-CREF. WELCOME TO YOU. ROGER FERGUSON: THANK YOU VERY MUCH, KELLY. A PLEASURE TO BE HERE. EVANS: YOU'VE SEEN SO MANY MARKETS, YOU'VE STUDIED THEM AS DEEPLY AS ANYBODY. WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF WHAT WE ARE LOOKING AT TODAY? FERGUSON: WELL, I SEE TWO OR THREE FORCES AT WORK HERE. OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS OBVIOUSLY THERE'S BEEN CONCERNS ABOUT GLOBAL MARKETS, GLOBAL GROWTH EMERGING PARTICULARLY OUT OF CHINA. THAT HAD A BIG IMPACT YESTERDAY AND THEN WE SAW THE MARKET SORT OF PULL ITSELF TOGETHER A LITTLE BIT. I THINK WHAT WE ARE SEEING MORE RECENTLY THOUGH IS A COMBINATION OF THE FACT THE U.S. ECONOMY IS STILL GROWING REASONABLY WELL, EARNINGS LOOK PRETTY STRONG. SO THAT THROWS INTO QUESTION, GEE, IS THE FED LIKELY TO MOVE? AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE STILL THE QUESTION OF ARE EXTERNAL WEAKNESSES GOING TO SPILL OVER IN SOME WAY THAT WE DON'T YET FORSEE HERE? EVANS: EXACTLY. PEOPLE ARE DRAWING COMPARISONS TO THE LATE '90s ASIAN FINANCIAL CRISIS. TODAY CHINA KIND OF POINTED THE FINGER BACK AT THE U.S. SAYING IT'S BECAUSE MARKET'S LISTENING TO THE FED AND THINKING ABOUT A RATE HIKE THAT ALL OF THIS IS HAPPENING. ARE THEY RIGHT ABOUT THAT? FERGUSON: LOOK, I THINK THERE IS A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING GOING ON. FIRST, I DON'T THINK THIS IS LIKE THE ASIAN CRISIS. WHILE THE ASIAN CRISIS WAS DRIVEN BY FIXED EXCHANGE RATE, COUNTRIES THAT HAD NOT PUT ASIDE ENOUGH IN THE WAY OF RESERVES SUDDENLY GETTING SWEPT UP IN A DOWN DRAFT. WE SEE SOMETHING DIFFERENT NOW FROM THE EMERGING WORLD. CURRENCIES ARE FLEXIBLE. WE'VE SEEN CURRENCIES REFLECT THE WEAKNESSES OF SOME OF THOSE ECONOMIES. CHINA HAS BECOME A MUCH BIGGER STORY, OBVIOUSLY. WITH RESPECT TO YOU KNOW, IS THE FED PART OF THE STORY HERE? ALWAYS TO SOME DEGREE. THERE IS NO QUESTION WHEN THE FED IS TALKING ABOUT IN A PUBLIC SENSE THE POSSIBILITY OF RAISING RATES, SURE. THAT MIGHT HAVE AN IMPACT ON SOME EQUITY BUYERS. EVANS: IS THIS, IN YOUR YOU KNOW, JUST AS AN INDEPENDENT OBSERVER POINT OF VIEW, THE RIGHT TIME, THE APPROPRIATE TIME, FOR THE FED TO RAISE INTEREST RATES? FERGUSON: I LIKE THE WAY YOU DESCRIBE ME AS AN INDEPENDENT OBSERVER AND YOU INTRODUCED ME AS FORMER FED VICE CHAIRMAN. EVANS: WELL, WE HAVE HINTED AT THAT AS WELL. FERGUSON: SO LOOK, I THINK THE ANSWER IS THE FED IS CONFRONTING A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT FORCES THAT WILL PLAY INTO THEIR DECISION MAKING. FIRST, LABOR MARKETS CLEARLY HAVE BEEN STRENGTHENING FOR SOME TIME. MANY PEOPLE THINK, GEE, MAYBE WE ARE ALMOST AT FULL EMPLOYMENT OR AT LEAST THE SLACK THAT WAS THERE HAS BEEN REDUCED. SECONDLY, INFLATION HAS BEEN RELATIVELY LOW, BUT THE FED MODELS SUGGEST THAT THAT MIGHT PICK UP. AND THEN THE THIRD OBVIOUSLY HAS TO DO WITH THIS VOLATILITY IN MARKETS. AND SO WHEN THEY GET TO THEIR MEETING IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS, I THINK THOSE ARE THE THREE FORCES THAT THEY ARE GOING TO BE CONSIDERING. EVANS: BUT IF IT CAME DOWN TO TODAY AND TODAY'S CONDITIONS, JEFF GUNDLACH SAID IF YOU WERE ON MARS AND JUST LOOKED AT CONDITIONS TODAY, YOU WOULD NEVER SAY THE FED SHOULD HIKE RIGHT NOW. DO YOU THINK CONDITIONS ARE APPROPRIATE FOR THEM TO DO SO? FERGUSON: I THINK IF YOU LOOK AT TODAY'S CONDITIONS, YOU WOULD SAY LOOK, FINANCIAL CONDITIONS HAVE PROBABLY TIGHTENED A LITTLE BIT. THE DOLLAR IS A LITTLE STRONGER. INFLATIONARY PRESSURES FROM THAT THEREFORE ARE LIKELY TO WEAKEN. BUT WE KNOW THE FED IS CERTAINLY THINKING ABOUT IT. AND SO I WOULD OBSERVE, LET'S NOT TRY TO MAKE IT A CALL ON TODAY'S CONDITIONS. SEE HOW THE INCOMING DATA DRIVERS, WHERE DOES THE FED END UP IN SEPTEMBER, THE NEXT COUPLE OF MEETINGS. I THINK MARKETS WILL BE VERY INTERESTED. THOSE ARE THE CONDITIONS, THOSE ARE THE QUESTIONS, I THINK THAT ARE ON EVERYONE'S MINDS. EVANS: AND IN THE MEANTIME, YOU GUYS HAVE TO PUT MONEY TO WORK EVERY SINGLE DAY IN THESE MARKETS. SO TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS AFTER WE SEE A SHARP DECLINE LIKE THIS. DOES IT MEAN ACTUALLY TO HIT YOUR BALANCE TARGETS THAT YOU GUYS YOU PUT MORE MONEY INTO STOCKS? HOW DOES THAT WORK? FERGUSON: THE REALITY IS OUR PORTFOLIO MANAGERS EACH HAVE A LIST OF THE EQUITIES THAT THEY MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN. THEY MAY LOOK AT THESE PRICES AND SAY THAT LOOKS TO ME LIKE A REALLY GOOD TIME TO START TO BUY MORE, IF YOU WILL. BUT WE ARE VERY MUCH INTERESTED IN FUNDAMENTAL POINTS OF VIEW. WE ALSO CLEARLY ENCOURAGE AND TAKE A LONG-TERM PERSPECTIVE. AND SO WE DON'T GET OVERLY EXCITED ABOUT THE UPS AND DOWNS. AND THE FINAL THING TO RECOGNIZE ABOUT US, MAY DIFFERENTIATE US FROM OTHERS, IS WE ARE BROADLY DIVERSIFIED. SO IT'S EQUITIES, FIXED INCOME, ALTERNATIVES. AND WE THINK THAT IS PART OF THE MODEL FOR CREATING LONG-TERM SUSTAINABLE BENEFITS. EVANS: AND WHAT IS THE SHARE FOR EACH OF THOSE PIECES? FERGUSON: THOSE SHARES WILL VARY OVER TIME DEPENDING ON HOW WE THINK THE OUTLOOK MAY LOOK AND WHETHER OR NOT THERE ARE SOME VALUES THERE. EVANS: I KNOW SOME OF YOUR ALTERNATIVES. PEOPLE MIGHT BE SURPRISED TO KNOW YOU ARE ONE OF THE BIGGEST OWNERS OF ALMOND TREES ON THE PLANET AND ONE OF THE BIGGEST OPERATORS OF COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE. EVANS: YOU KNOW, THERE ARE A VARIETY OF ALTERNATIVES HERE. AND A BIG EMPHASIS ON REAL ESTATE WHICH TIL LATELY, THERE HAS BEEN TALK ABOUT A BUBBLE BUILDING THERE ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE A LITTLE BIT. SO ARE YOU COMFORTABLE STILL WITH YOUR EXPOSURE TO A VARIETY OF ALTERNATIVES IN THIS ENVIRONMENT? FERGUSON: WE ARE COMFORTABLE WITH THE EXPOSURE OF VARIETY OF ALTERNATIVES WE RECOGNIZE THAT EACH ONE OF THEM HAS A DIFFERENT CYCLE. SO LET ME TAKE ON THE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE QUESTION. YES, THAT MARKET HAS BEEN PRETTY STRONG FOR THE LAST FOUR OR FIVE YEARS. HOWEVER, WE SEE CONTINUED STRENGTH THERE FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS. FIRST, LABOR MARKETS ARE IMPROVING. SECONDLY, WE SEE THAT VACANCY RATES ARE COMING DOWN. RENTS ARE INCREASING. AND SO WHILE CAP RATES LOOK STRONG WE WILL PUT IT THAT WAY, WE STILL THINK FOR THE RIGHT PROPERTIES IN THE RIGHT LOCATIONS, THERE'S SOME UPSIDE POTENTIAL. EVANS: NOW FINALLY ON CHINA TO BRING THIS ALL BACK TO THE ORIGINAL QUESTION THAT IS ON EVERYBODY'S MINDS HEADING INTO THIS EVENING, AGAIN, THEY HAVE CUT RATES FOR THE FIFTH TIME SINCE THE END OF LAST YEAR. MADE OTHER ADJUSTMENTS, BUT IT APPEARS NOTHING THAT IS REALLY SHORING UP INVESTOR CONFIDENCE GLOBALLY. DO YOU THINK THEY NEED A BIGGER BANG KIND OF MOVE RIGHT NOW TO HELP STABILIZE THINGS FOR EVERYBODY? FERGUSON: MY IMPRESSION OF THE CHINESE IS THAT THEY ARE VERY GOOD AT WORKING THROUGH AND MANAGING THEIR ECONOMIES. AND SO I WOULD EXPECT THEM TO CONTINUE TO FOCUS IN ON THESE ELEMENTS OF STIMULUS. SO I DO THINK THAT THEY NEED TO DRIVE A LITTLE BIT MORE STIMULUS THROUGH THAT ECONOMY TO TRY TO GET TO THE SHORT-TERM OUTCOMES. AT THE SAME TIME, THEY'VE GOT A LONG-TERM STRATEGY OF TRYING TO MOVE INTO MORE OF A CONSUMER-ORIENTED SOCIETY. MAYBE AWAY FROM EXPORTS SO MUCH. AND I THINK THEY ALSO HAVE TO DO THAT PIVOT AS PART OF THEIR LONG-TERM STRATEGY. BUT OVER TIME, I THINK THOUGH IT WILL BE TRICKY FROM DAY TO DAY, I THINK THEY WILL BE ULTIMATELY SUCCESSFUL. EVANS: ALRIGHT. ROGER, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON A DAY LIKE THIS, ESPECIALLY. THANK YOU SO MUCH. FERGUSON: THANK YOU. MY PLEASURE. EVANS: THAT'S ROGER FERGUSON, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF TIAA-CREF. With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, CNBC World and CNBC HD , CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information to approximately 371 million homes worldwide, including more than 100 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries. CNBC also has a vast portfolio of digital products which deliver real-time financial market news and information across a variety of platforms. These include CNBC.com, the online destination for global business; CNBC PRO, the premium, integrated desktop/mobile service that provides real-time global market data and live access to CNBC global programming; and a suite of CNBC Mobile products including the CNBC Real-Time iPhone and iPad Apps. Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/mediavillage/networks/cnbc/.

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CNBC Exclusive: CNBC Transcript: TIAA-CREF President & CEO Roger Ferguson Speaks with CNBC’s Kelly Evans on “Closing Bell” Today

CNBC Exclusive: CNBC Transcript: TIAA-CREF President & CEO Roger Ferguson Speaks with CNBC’s Kelly Evans on “Closing Bell” Today

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Winter storms may be brewing, roads could get icy again and gas prices have been ticking upward since last month, but that won't stop Americans from traveling during the holiday season this year, according to AAA. The automobile club's annual forecast predicts that 94.5 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more between Saturday, Dec. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 1, an increase of 0.6 percent over last year. Read more at NBC News: Tricks for first-class holiday air travel Best travel gifts for your favorite globe-trotter JetBlue launches free in-flight Wi-Fi The increase comes, says the group, despite weak economic growth, minimal employment gains and continuing declines in consumer confidence. Nevertheless, the upward trend marks the fifth consecutive year of increases and the highest travel volume recorded for the season. However, the impact of the increase will likely also be mitigated this year as the group's definition of the holiday season spans 12 days, one more than the 11 it totaled last year. "Of all the travel holidays, the year-end holiday season remains the least volatile as Americans will not let economic conditions dictate their travel plans to celebrate the holidays," said AAA COO Marshall L. Doney in a statement. (Read more: Worst layover ever: Man gets locked inside plane) Ninety-one percent of them will travel by car, says the group, up 0.9 percent from last year. They'll also travel farther—805 miles roundtrip versus 760 miles last year—with those in the Rocky Mountain states expected to travel the most (970 miles on average) and those in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee expected to travel the least (646 miles). "We're driving up to Massachusetts to see family, staying over in Connecticut one night and continuing the rest of the way on Christmas Eve," said Taylor Schachter of Alexandria, Va., who is opting to drive with her husband and two small children rather than fly. "A 10-hour drive with a 12-month-old is not exactly my idea of a good time," she said, "but any other means of travel is just too expensive."

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AAA forecast: More travelers hitting the road for holidays

AAA predicts that 94.5 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more between Saturday, Dec. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 1.

20150913021911

Roberta Vinci waited a lifetime for this. On Friday afternoon at the U.S. Open, she finally made her first Grand Slam final at 32. "It's like a dream," Vinci said during her on-court post-match interview. "I'm in the final. I beat Serena. Sorry, guys. Sorry." The Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd applauded Vinci, and for that, they deserve a tip of the hat. After all, fans did not come to see Vinci pull arguably the greatest upset in the history of women's tennis, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. They expected Williams to continue her march into the record books. Vinci has been a pro for 16 years and until now her best showings at a Grand Slam were the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open in 2012 and 2013. The Italian lost in the first round in five of her past seven majors and came into Flushing ranked No. 43 in the world. And she will play for the championship. That, in itself, is a tremendous story. But of course, it is not one even many Italians care about. "[Serena's] really famous in Italy," says Vinci's countrywoman and final opponent Flavia Pennetta. "Wherever she goes, she's going to be someone really special. She's never going to be someone normal." For Vinci, this tournament has become special. "I think it's the best moment of my life," she said. "I'm really happy, but of course I'm a little bit really sad for Serena because she's an incredible player. There's a lot of public[ity] for her, but it's normal. Semifinal, almost to complete all Grand Slams, she deserved to win. She's the No. 1. I was a little bit sorry for this because for me she cannot reach the Grand Slam." It is not Vinci who should feel sorry, but Williams. If Williams plays well, nobody can beat her, especially a journeywoman like Vinci. Williams won 58 of her past 60 matches. Vinci was a 300-to-1 underdog. "I don't think I played that bad," Williams says. "I made more unforced errors than I normally make, but I think she played really well. She did not want to lose today. Neither did I, incidentally." Williams probably won't be haunted by this loss 10 years from now. Odds are strong that she will get her 22nd Grand Slam title and it will be no surprise if she makes her seventh title run in Flushing. She still may be the greatest of all-time. But it is her fault she lost. Nineteen of Williams' 40 unforced errors came in the third set. For reference, she had 22 unforced errors in her entire three-set victory over Venus Williams in the quarterfinal. Williams also won only four of 11 break points. Down a break 3-4 in the third set, Williams had her final two break points on Vinci. She blew both. A 36 percent break point rate on a weak-serving opponent (Vinci had one ace the whole match) is very un-Serena-like. Williams also won just 27 of 77 (35 percent) of baseline points. Williams had 50 winners and 16 aces, but she let Vinci play her game. Anyone who watched Serena and Venus play Tuesday night saw vintage Williams sisters tennis. Rallying is an afterthought. Both go for winners. Vinci dared Williams to make the mistakes Friday. She kept the ball in play and either watched Williams smash winners past her or mishit the ball. Williams did not take advantage of her opportunities and Vinci hung in until the end, totally dictating the third set of play. "I thought she played the best tennis in her career," says Williams, who was 4-0 against Vinci before the match. "She's [32] and she's going for it at a late age. That's good for her to keep going for it and playing so well. Actually, I guess it's inspiring. I think she played literally out of her mind." Vinci's poker face was remarkable for someone playing in her first Grand Slam semifinal. She says she was shaking after her break to go up 4-3 in the third set. Even when Williams had two break points, Vinci was still shaking. Williams botched those opportunities. Asked how tight she thought Williams was, Vinci answered: "A lot." "She broke one racquet at the end of the second set when I won the second set, and also, she made two double faults in I think at 3-all, Love-15," Vinci says. "On my mind, I said, 'Think about this. She's nervous. So try to keep it and fight every single point.'" On U.S. soil, with a crowd that paid big bucks to see Williams inch one step closer to history, it was an Italian that stirred up the fans, most of whom had never heard of her a week ago. After one critical rally, she even made a motion to hype up the crowd, looking like LeBron James in Cleveland or Richard Sherman in Seattle. "I won a great point and of course all the crowd was for her," Vinci says. "Come on, one time for me." Vinci did not even think she could win. She had a flight booked for Saturday. "Yesterday, I called my travel agency to say, OK, book me a flight because you know…," Vinci says with a laugh. "Now I have my final tomorrow. "It's 10 [p.m.]. So maybe I can…[make it]." When asked if she thought she could win at any point in the match, Vinci answers, "Never," with a smile, although she later said Williams' two late blown set points gave her legitimate hope. Asked what is the best upset she can remember watching, she says, "Today." In the media center, Pennetta had her press conference during the match. She went to the podium just after Williams won the first set. "I mean you never know," Pennetta said. "They are still fighting and they are still playing." Now, there is an all-Italian final. And Williams' 2015 calendar Grand Slam chase is over. "I did win three Grand Slams this year," Williams says. "I won four in a row. It's pretty good." She could have won five in a row. She should have won five in a row. And then bam. With Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump, Kim Kardashian, Drake and all the names we know have been watching, down went Williams. "I told you guys I don't feel pressure," Williams says. "I never felt pressure. I don't know. I never felt that pressure to win here. I said that from the beginning." Maybe not, but she still beat herself. Williams could not keep her shots in, and she let Vinci know her emotions were on edge. Roberta Vinci deserves credit for a gutsy performance. She never went away and made Williams work. But let's not kid ourselves. Serena Williams made the tennis world look silly for the past year and change. Like Vinci said, Williams deserved to win. As for what Vinci will say next time she sees Williams. "I go like this," Vinci says, laughing and pretending to hide her face. "What do I have to say? She's No. 1. It doesn't matter if she lost to me today. For me, she's the very best right now." Vinci is right. Vinci won, but the real story is that Williams lost. It was that type of day for the best player right now. -- Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband. Insane Packers Fan Cave -- In Dallas This text will be replaced

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Roberta Vinci Deserves Kudos For Stunning Win, But Really Serena Williams Lost It

Roberta Vinci waited a lifetime for this. On Friday afternoon at the U.S. Open, she finally made her first Grand Slam final at 32. She apologized for ...

20150926073311

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit yet another all-time closing high on Monday, marking the fifth record close for 2015. And according to Cornerstone Macro's head of technical analysis, Carter Worth, one simple equation could signal another 3,000 points to the upside for the blue chips. It all has to do with the Dow's price-to-earnings ratio, or P/E, relative to that of the S&P 500, Worth said. On CNBC's "Fast Money" on Monday, Worth laid out his case for another big leg higher in the Dow by pointing out that the index is inexpensive relative to the S&P 500. "We know that the S&P is trading at 18.8 times and the Dow is trading at 15.8 times," he said, marking a 3-point differential between the P/E ratios of the Dow and S&P 500. "If you were just to put an S&P multiple on to the Dow, you're talking about 21,700." Optimize Advisors President and Chief Strategist Mike Khouw found data consistent with the trend that Worth highlighted. "Looking back a couple decades, when the spread between the price to earnings ratio of the S&P and Dow was 3.5 or higher, the Dow has averaged returns 40 basis points higher than the S&P 500 over the following 90 days." On the flip side, Khouw said, when the two indices traded at parity or when the Dow was more expensive on a P/E basis, it tended to underperform the S&P 500 by a similar margin. Worth identified three stocks that could help lead the Dow higher. One of those stocks was Goldman Sachs, the Dow's most heavily weighted company, which Worth said has "already started to break out." Goldman Sachs is outperforming the market year-to-date and is up around 30 percent in the past 52 weeks. Worth said the stock's chart looks very similar to that of the Dow, and he expected the stock to move another 10 percent higher. United Technologies could also lead the Dow higher in the near future, Worth said. "It's been a laggard this year," he said, but "the presumption is that we in fact break out and exceed the $120 level." Finally, Worth named tech behemoth Apple as another key driver for the Dow's going forward. "It's just a stay long, be long momentum kind of trade," he said. Worth said the chart's technical levels are setting up for another new high. When asked whether it's possible that the S&P is in fact expensive and should really be trading at a multiple closer to that of the Dow, Worth pointed to the lagging performance of "super-cap" names over the "better part of the last three years." That trend, he said, is now starting to change. "If one looks at the relative performance of the largest stocks in the S&P 500, they have started to outperform," he said. "We think that continues, and lends credence to being long the Dow relative to the S&P."

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This simple math points to Dow 21,700: Analyst

Carter Worth of Cornerstone Macro says the Dow could climb to 21,700 if it traded at the same multiple as the S&P 500.

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Now, people will do a quick browse from a smartphone while on the move, then shift to a tablet while sitting in front of the TV and finally make a purchase from a laptop. Consumers expect shopping sites to adapt to their use of technology, but the older CDN services were built for a PC-centric world. "We were desperate to find another solution," said Greg Tatem, Wine.com's vice president of engineering. "This isn't about just one device anymore, and not just about mobile. We have to completely rethink that paradigm." For Instart, Wine.com was a very early customer. The Palo Alto, California-based company has since grown so fast that investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers have been pouring in money, including a $26 million financing round in May. This is only the second holiday season for Instart since its public launch in mid-2013. The company now has about 100 customers, with 90 percent in online retail, said its founder and chief executive officer, Manav Mital. They include Dollar Shave Club, One Kings Lane and Stella & Dot. Washington Post is also a client. Read More'Boring' Akamai hot tech play Taking on market leader Akamai is no easy task, and if CNBC.com's series "Powering the holidays" were all about the biggest technology players, Akamai would capture most of the CDN ink. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company, founded in 1998, generated more than $1.5 billion in revenue last year and has more than 150,000 servers in 92 countries. Best Buy, L'Oreal, Microsoft and Staples.com are among the many large brands that count on Akamai to speedily delivery traffic to their sites. Given that 15 to 30 percent of Web traffic flows through Akamai, the company has an added security layer because it has seen many of the most sophisticated cyberattacks and can react accordingly. And for the first time, through a partnership with Cisco, Akamai is bringing its technology into stores, powering digital signage and product recommendations for retailers like Louis Vuitton. The company feels it handles the habits of the multiplatform shopper just fine. "We have a very broad set of capabilities that really address customer problems in three different segments," said Neil Cohen, an Akamai vice president. Last year on Cyber Monday, the company's network saw 11.2 million page views per minute at its peak. "When retailers need us the most, we deliver at scale for all of our customers," Cohen said. Read MoreDollar Shave's razor strategy As if going up against Akamai wasn't enough, Instart is also taking on Amazon.com, which has a product called CloudFront that's part of its fast-growing cloud services business. But Instart has one big advantage over most enterprise software start-ups that are trying to displace established incumbents: It takes almost no time to switch. Companies don't have to implement a big software suite and get employees trained on new tools. Rather, they just redirect how traffic comes to their site and within a few minutes, they start seeing the results. "Switching costs are shockingly low," said Mital, who started the company in 2010, after stints at Yahoo and Aster Data, which was acquired by Teradata. With that, "we make sure we enable the delivery of the best possible experience to users across devices."

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Lost seconds cost millions in online shopping

Because consumers can click to another site or app to make their purchases, the Web buying experience has to be clean, fast and fun.

20150928212731

Property and casualty insurer Travelers reported a stronger-than-expected quarterly net profit as catastrophe losses almost halved and the company recorded a gain from the resolution of tax issues. The company, led by industry veteran Jay Fishman, has aggressively raised insurance prices in the past several quarters to combat low interest rates that have kept insurers' investment income in the doldrums over the past few years. Travelers' net investment income fell 9 percent to $632 million in the second quarter ended June 30. However, pretax catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance, fell to $221 million from $436 million, while underwriting gains almost doubled to $511 million. The company, which vies with American International Group for the title of biggest U.S. commercial property and casualty insurer, said it mainly paid out catastrophe losses for wind and hail storms in the United States. The Dow-30 company said its net income rose 19 percent, to $812 million, or $2.53 per share, in the second quarter ended June 30. That compared with a net profit of $683 million, or $1.95 per share, a year earlier. Excluding the $32 million tax benefit, Travelers earned $2.41 per share, according to calculations by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Analysts on average had expected a profit of $2.12 per share on that basis. The company's combined ratio, the percentage of premium revenue an insurer has to pay out in claims, was 90.1 percent in the quarter, compared with 95.1 percent a year earlier. A ratio below 100 percent means an insurer earns more in premiums than it pays out in claims. Travelers is the first big U.S. insurer to report quarterly results. Chubb and ACE, which have agreed to a $28.3 billion merger, are also scheduled to report this week.

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Insurer Travelers profit boosted by lower catastrophe losses

Travelers reported a stronger-than-expected profit as catastrophe losses almost halved and it recorded a gain from the resolution of tax issues.

20151009092802

Facebook is streaming the first episodes of two new HBO comedy series for the first time, following a deal with the television network which highlights the growing importance of video for the Silicon Valley giant. The episodes of "Ballers," starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and "The Brink," featuring Oscar-winner Tim Robbins, will be hosted on Facebook for a limited time from Wednesday, following their June 21 debuts on TV. Viewers can watch "Ballers" on Johnson's Facebook page, while "The Brink" has its own page hosting the episode. It comes amid a big push by Facebook in the video space to challenge the dominance of Google-owned YouTube. Facebook is expected to exceed two trillion video views this year – that's two thirds of YouTube's projected figure for the same period, according to Ampere Analysis. This, combined with Facebook's 1.44 billion monthly active users, makes the platform an attractive place for HBO to host its premier episodes, in the hope that fans will continue watching the series on its channel. In addition, Johnson has a massive social-media following through which he is promoting "Ballers." The former WWE superstar has 49 million Facebook fans, 8.86 million Twitter followers, and 18.2 million followers on Instagram. In releasing the episodes on Facebook, HBO is able to leverage this in an effort to draw in a big audience. However, it's only the first episodes that will be available on Facebook; the remainder of the two series will be available on HBO GO – it's internet TV streaming service – and HBO NOW. It's not the first time a TV show has partnered with a social media company. The premier episode of HBO series "Silicon Valley" was hosted on video-game-streaming site Twitch, while Amazon showed the premier episode of its program "Catastrophe" on its Facebook page earlier this year.

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HBO teams with Facebook to offer free episodes of ‘Ballers’, ‘The Brink’

Facebook is streaming the first episodes of two new HBO comedy series, highlighting the growing importance of video for the company.

20151112123050

Aug 26 (Reuters) - PVH Corp reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and sales, helped by higher demand for clothing and accessories under its Calvin Klein brand in North America and Europe. Shares of the company, which also makes apparel under the Tommy Hilfiger, Van Heusen, Arrow and Speedo brands, rose about 5.5 percent in extended trading on Wednesday. PVH also raised its full-year adjusted profit guidance and the company forecast current-quarter earnings largely above analysts' estimates. The company said retail comparable sales rose 4 percent at its Calvin Klein stores in North America in the second quarter, driven by demand for new styles in underwear. Revenue from the Calvin Klein brand rose 3 percent on a constant currency basis. PVH said it expected revenue in the brand to rise by about 7 percent on a constant currency basis in the third quarter. PVH raised its adjusted earnings forecast for the year ending February to $6.90-$7.00 per share from $6.85-$6.95. Analysts on average had expected a profit of $6.92 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. PVH forecast an adjusted profit of $2.45-$2.50 per share for the current quarter, largely above the average analyst estimate of $2.45. Net income attributable to PVH fell to $102.2 million, or $1.22 per share, in the quarter ended Aug. 2 from $126.5 million, or $1.52 per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, the company earned $1.37 per share. Total revenue declined 5.6 percent to $1.86 billion. Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.29 per share and revenue of $1.82 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. PVH shares were trading at $117.43 after the bell. Up to Wednesday's close, the stock had fallen 13 percent this year. (Reporting by Ramkumar Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey)

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UPDATE 1-PVH profit, sales beat on demand for Calvin Klein apparel

Aug 26- PVH Corp reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and sales, helped by higher demand for clothing and accessories under its Calvin Klein brand in North America and Europe. Shares of the company, which also makes apparel under the Tommy Hilfiger, Van Heusen, Arrow and Speedo brands, rose about 5.5 percent in extended trading on Wednesday.

20160508074949

Former assistant Glendale city manager Julie Frisoni fired back at her accusers after city attorneys alleged in Maricopa County Superior Court on Friday that she may have violated a conflict of interest under Arizona statute that would allow the City Council to terminate its arena lease agreement with the Coyotes. "I am not a lawyer," Frisoni said. "I do not create legal contracts in my down time. I have never been involved in a multi-million dollar contract for a sports franchise, and to say otherwise is a blatant falsehood, a lie and an attack on my credibility." Arizona Revised Statute 38-511 allows a government entity to end a contract with another party if an employee who was "significantly involved in initiating, negotiating, securing, drafting or creating the contract" goes to work for the other party in the agreement. The Glendale City Council voted 5-2 last week to void its 15-year, $225 million arena lease and management agreement with the Coyotes. Its case appears to rest on Frisoni and former city attorney Craig Tindall, who now serves as general counsel for the team. Yvonne Knaack was Glendale vice mayor at the time the agreement was created. She called the city's assertion that Frisoni played a role "ludicrous." "She was never in any of those meetings," Knaack said. "She was our communications director. She had no access. She had no role. I'm absolutely baffled by the city's stance on this." Glendale hired Frisoni in July 2002 as communications director. She had worked for nearly two decades at Channel 12 News, serving various roles including executive producer and managing editor. She was promoted to assistant city manager in August 2013, one month after the city council voted to approve the arena lease agreement with the team. During negotiations, Frisoni said she functioned just as any other municipal or business communications director would function. "I took information that came out of those negotiations and communicated that to our residents and to the media," she said. "I served as the official spokesperson on behalf of the city after the lawyers and city management had negotiated the deal points." Councilmember Gary Sherwood said that when the council initially convened to discuss this last week, he asked the identity of the other person with a conflict of interest that the council was targeting, and they would not tell him. Nor were any of the alleged violations discussed. Frisoni's name first surfaced in court when city attorney Michael Bailey named her as the other former employee who had violated conflict of interest by going to work for the Coyotes. Frisoni resigned as assistant city manager in March to start her own P.R. firm. When the Coyotes elected to submit a bid to host the World Junior Championship, they asked Frisoni if she'd be willing to act as a consultant because she had worked on similar bids for the city, including hosting the NCAA Final Four. Before contracting with Frisoni, Coyotes CEO and president Anthony LeBlanc said the team contacted Bailey to make sure there were no issues, and Bailey said there were not. Because the correspondence occurred through email, the Coyotes say they have documentation of that exchange with Bailey. Three legal analysts contacted by FOX Sports Arizona expressed disbelief that Frisoni was part of the city's case against the Coyotes. "The Tindall claim was stupid enough," attorney Dan Barr of Perkins Coie said. "But claiming that Julie Frisoni, their PR person, had significant involvement in the Coyote deal? "I understand them desperately looking for a way to get out of the deal, but how this went beyond five minutes of consideration is unbelievable." Frisoni said she has hired a lawyer and will be watching this case "very closely." "If at any point in this process there is damage to my reputation or it results in any type of financial hit to myself or my family, the city will be facing more than the Coyotes' $200 million lawsuit," she said. "I never could have imagined that the city I live in and for which I have worked for many years would have resorted to an unbelievably desperate move to achieve their goal of getting the Coyotes to renegotiate their deal. "Mayor (Jerry) Weiers and (vice mayor) Ian Hugh are the kingpins in this. They are not supporters of the Coyotes, and they have been looking for an opportunity like this. They found it when they got two junior councilmembers (Lauren Tolmachoff and Bart Turner) who knew very little about the deal and the city. If they want to move forward with this, it's going to end very badly for them." Follow Craig Morgan on Twitter

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Former Glendale official accuses city of blatant lie and 'attack on my credibility'

Former assistant city manager says she will sue city if case damages her reputation or results in financial loss.