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20160513112011

Boston actors Leigh Barrett, Adrianne Krstansky, and Deb Martin sit close together during a rehearsal break for “Mud Blue Sky,” which opens Sunday in Deane Hall at the Boston Center for the Arts. The proximity encourages conversation, but it’s also a byproduct of the play’s setting, in which all of the action takes place in a cramped hotel room. “Like every hotel room, it’s dominated by the bed,” says Barrett. “That creates some interesting obstacles when you want to move away.” “The confined space forces you to interact,” says Martin. “There’s nowhere to run.” “It also explores the long-time friendship between women,” says Krstansky. “Their banter is snarky and loving because they have a sisterly bond.” The hotel room is the place where three flight attendant friends find themselves during a layover. It’s late at night, and as they while away the time talking about the many layovers they’ve experienced during their long careers, their evening becomes complicated by the arrival of one of the women’s 17-year-old pot dealer. Jonathan has arrived directly from his prom in order to accommodate one of his best customers, and as he stands at the edge of decisions that could set the stage for decades to come, he makes the three friends think about the impact of the career decisions they made a few decades earlier. The play, by Marisa Wegrzyn, is a bit of “Three Sisters” mixed with “No Exit,” the actors say. “There’s this Chekhovian thing where they argue endlessly about the most unimportant things, and barely react to issues that can totally change their world,” says Krstansky. In a way, she says, they are finally confronted with the possibility that they chose careers as flight attendants to escape their lives. “I think they are realizing the consequences of the decisions they made when they were Jonathan’s age,” says Martin. “They aren’t 17 anymore and as women, they don’t have the same options men have.” The script, says Barrett, who is best known for her musical theater work, reminds her of Stephen Sondheim. “He writes for a thinking actor,” says Barrett. “There are layers and levels, and the issues aren’t always clearly defined. This script is the same: It’s fast, it’s funny, but there’s lots of stuff going on under the surface.” Kaya Simmons, the Northeastern University student who plays Jonathan, is relatively new to theater, and says he was initially intimidated by the talented women he was working with. “I have learned so much from watching them work,” he says. “I am majoring in sociology and economics with a minor in theater, but acting is the most creative and imaginative thing I’ve done in college. Being so honest and true onstage is incredibly rewarding.” All the actors agree that despite the fast-paced banter, there’s a poignancy in Wegrzyn’s script that makes her characters so appealing. “Jonathan has this yearning to be wanted,” says Simmons. “It’s something these women recognize, not only in this teenager but in themselves, too.” Theatre KAPOW from Manchester, N.H., will be in residence at Charlestown Working Theater May 19-21, developing a new work called “Raining Aluminum.” This devised piece of theater brings together two historic story lines, the American relief efforts in response to a 1917 maritime explosion in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that killed 2,000 people, and the Canadian response to 9/11. Each day of the residency will be devoted to a different element of the creative process: Renowned Prince Edward Island fiddler Cynthia MacLeod will perform some of the music she is preparing for the play (May 19); Vit Horejs, artistic director of the Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre, will discuss the importance of objects in the production, including two marionettes carved in Prague (May 20); Theatre KAPOW will train members of the public in its performance techniques, which include acting, movement, and improvisation (May 21 at 10 a.m.); Horejs will tell Czech and Slovak tales using marionettes, for ages 7-12 (May 21 at 2 p.m.); dramaturg Kelly Smith and KAPOW artistic director Matt Cahoon will explain how the text for the show was shaped from interviews, found text, and original writing (May 21, 7:30 p.m.). “Raining Aluminum” will have its world premiere later this summer. For information, call 617-242-3285 or go to www.charlestownworkingtheater.org. Company One Theatre is taking its production of “We’re Gonna Die” on the road for six performances in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The pop-rock cabaret, recently presented at Oberon in Cambridge, features Obehi Janice backed by a four-piece band singing and talking about life, its limitations, and the power of community. The show will be performed Friday at the Dudley Cafe, 15 Warren St., Roxbury ($15); Saturday at Zumix, 260 Sumner St., East Boston ($15); Sunday at the Design Studio for Social Intervention, 1946 Washington St., Roxbury (free community youth performance); May 18 at AS220, 115 Empire St., Providence ($15); May 20 at the Luna Theater, 250 Jackson St., Lowell ($13-$15); and May 21 at Urbano Project, 29 Germania St., Jamaica Plain ($15). For more information, go to www.companyone.org. Presented by Bridge Repertory Theatre. At Deane Hall, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, May 15-June 5. Tickets: $32, 617-933-8600, www.bostontheatrescene.com

http://web.archive.org/web/20160513112011id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/theater-art/2016/05/11/contemplating-midlife-layover-bridge-rep-mud-blue-sky/FmwEwi05II9RZtZwdWFftJ/story.html

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Contemplating a midlife layover in Bridge Rep’s ‘Mud Blue Sky’

In the hotel room where three longtime flight attendants and a teenage pot dealer meet, “there’s nowhere to run.”

20160524140035

For eight years, Arnie “Tokyo” Rosenthal, from Valley Stream, LI, pretended to be a journalist to score a coveted all-access press credential to “cover” the Yankees. He got to live a fan’s dream — watching every game from 1977 to 1984 for free, hanging out with his heroes on the field and in the clubhouse. And he did it all without ever filing a story. In his new e-book, “A Fauxtographer’s Yankee Stadium Memoir,” Rosenthal recalls rubbing shoulders with Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra. He was at the Stadium the night Reggie Jackson cemented his “Mr. October” legend by swatting three home runs in a 1977 World Series game, and took a snapshot through tears during the Thurman Munson tribute at the game after the catcher’s 1979 death. “I felt like Leo DiCaprio in ‘Catch Me If You Can’ and Woody Allen in ­‘Zelig,’ ” laughed Rosen­thal, 64, from his home in Chapel Hill, NC. He was the star of his own media fantasy camp, interviewing and photographing Bronx Bombers — even eating at their free, pregame media buffet. “I remember the chicken and lots of sandwiches. But I loved the Carvel. I just had a thing for soft ice cream,” he said. “I was 26. Living on my own and not having to pay for dinner was a big thing.” The ruse started innocently enough when Rosenthal became the director of a ratings-loser Manhattan Cable TV show called “Sports ’77.” One day, the host asked Rosenthal to accompany him to Yankee Stadium to tape interviews with the players. With access so easy, the seeds of his scheme were planted. Rosenthal got the name and direct phone number of a Yankee media-relations assistant, Anne ­Mileo, who approved all media-credential requests. They became phone friends, and she would ­annually renew his press passes by mail, no questions asked. Which was good for Rosenthal, since the cable show went belly up soon after he got the job. Every year when he wrote to Mileo for passes, he’d simply update the name of his phantom show to “Sports ’78,” Sports ’79,” and so on. “I never met her face to face,” he said. “Once you were in the door, it seemed like, well, it was OK.” Rosenthal was shocked by his easy access. “When I wrote that first letter, on old Shamus Productions stationery that I had saved from a failed TV company of mine, I never expected to receive anything back,” he writes. “I thought it was destined for the dead-letter department. To my surprise, roughly 10 days before Opening Day, in a plain white envelope, my full-time press pass arrived.” On Opening Day the following year, Maris, who vowed he would never return to the Stadium after the Yankees traded him in 1967, would raise the championship banner with Mantle. Writes Rosenthal: “I looked down the tunnel on the side of the dugout and, sure enough, there they were. I was instantly 10 years old again, the age I was in 1961 when they both ran after Babe Ruth’s single-season home run rec­ord. With total disregard for the circumstances, I told a newfound photographer friend that I was going to stand between Mickey and Roger and he had to shoot a picture of me with them. And I did just that.” Rosenthal’s favorite Yankee was pitcher Ron Guidry. But “Louisiana Lightning” loved to spit tobacco juice on Rosenthal’s shoes as he took pictures. “He thought it was hilarious,” Arnie recalled. Rosenthal also had a soft spot for the fun-loving ­relief ace Sparky Lyle. “Sparky comes out of the dugout one day with a bag over his head. He was the unknown pitcher,” Rosen­thal recalled, a nod to the “Unknown Comic” of “Gong Show” fame. By the mid-1980s, with Rosenthal now in his 30s and working a real job, he stopped sending requests for passes. He admits his antics would never fly in the post-9/11 world. “That was a time of, shall we say, relaxed security,” recalls Marty Appel, the Yankees’ p.r. official from 1968 through 1976. “Today, Tokyo wouldn’t get closer than Weehawken, NJ.”

http://web.archive.org/web/20160524140035id_/http://nypost.com:80/2015/12/13/this-fan-conned-his-way-into-the-yankees-clubhouse-for-8-years/

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This fan conned his way into the Yankees clubhouse for 8 years

For eight years, Arnie “Tokyo” Rosenthal, from Valley Stream, LI, pretended to be a journalist to score a coveted all-access press credential to “cover” the Yankees. He got to live a fan’s dream — …

20160528222452

A senior U.S. official said he was "not aware of any stones left unturned". Unless there is some kind of breakthrough, either in the form of new data or a sighting of the plane, the investigation appears to be drifting towards deadlock, sources said. Diplomats and safety experts said the investigation is hampered by the reluctance of many countries to share military intelligence. Asked how important such data would be to resolving the mystery, Hishammuddin said, "It is very important. But in the case of Malaysia, we have actually put aside national security, national interest to get to where we are today." A senior diplomat in the region said military and government leaders were studying Malaysia's request, but there was no word so far on whether any data would be exchanged. Malaysia says it will have to buy a new radar system after revealing what it knew of the path the airliner took after turning back across its territory. (Read more: Malaysian Prime Minister: Actions on board MH370 were deliberate) "It looks like the ball is in (others') court now and they need to decide what sort of military and other data they are willing to share with us," a Malaysian government source said. Analysts say it will be difficult to persuade others to do the same, especially if the result would be to reveal weakness in their own defences given the numerous maritime and territorial boundary disputes going on in the region. "Information and intelligence exchange is very sensitive in this part of the world where there is a lot of distrust and sovereign issues," said Ian Storey, a senior fellow at Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. "Countries are unwilling to share sensitive intelligence because if reveals their military capabilities - or lack of capabilities." (Read more: MH370 still without trace as search efforts double) The search covers a total area of 2.24 million nautical miles (7.68 million sq km), from central Asia to the southern Indian Ocean. Because of its size, scale of human loss and sheer uncertainty over what happened, the missing airliner looks set to establish itself as one of the most baffling air transport incidents of all time. A breakthrough is still possible, experts say. Wreckage could be found, but the more time elapsed since the aircraft's disappearance the more it will be scattered. "It's a mystery and it may remain a mystery," says Elizabeth Quintalla, chief air power researcher at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

http://web.archive.org/web/20160528222452id_/http://www.cnbc.com/2014/03/18/malaysia-discounts-possible-missing-plane-sighting-in-maldives.html?__source=yahoo%7Cfinance%7Crelated%7Cstory%7Cstory&par=yahoo&doc=101506025%7CAnother+Crimea%3F+Ukraine%27s

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Malaysia discounts possible missing plane sighting in Maldives

Investigators probing the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner with 239 people on board have discounted reports the plane may have been sighted over the Maldives.

20160531060316

Uncertainty about how quickly China's economy is weakening continued to hammer U.S. stock markets on Thursday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down 392 points — or 2.3 percent of its total value — for its biggest loss in three months. Reuters reported that the Dow's 5.2 percent decline in the first four trading days was its worst performance to begin a year since the 30-stock index's creation in 1928. The Standard & Poor's 500 index and the Nasdaq composite also were creamed, with the former losing 47 points, or 2.4 percent, and the latter sliding 146 points, or 3 percent. The Dow and Nasdaq ended the day more than 10 percent below their 52-week intraday highs, officially entering what economists consider a market "correction." The S&P 500 was just short of the threshold, about 9 percent away from its 52-week high. Thursday's battering of the markets followed a similar pounding on Wednesday and was the third negative trading session out of four in the new year. Technology stocks have been some of the hardest hit. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite has plunged 8 percent since Dec. 29. Markets around the world were spooked by a steep drop in Chinese stocks. The superpower had to halt trading earlier Thursday when losses plummeted 7 percent. The 29-minute session was the shortest trading day ever in the CSI 300 Index's 25-year history. The China Securities Regulatory Commission later suspended its so-called circuit breaker system, which suspends trading for 15 minutes in the event of a 5 percent selloff and halts it for the day if it reaches 7 percent, as happened Thursday. The move appeared to be an acknowledgement that the newly rolled out system was exacerbating panic selling. The selloff in China was sparked by reports that indicate slower growth for the world's second-largest economy and by Beijing allowing the country's currency, the yuan, to take its biggest fall in five months to reach its lowest level against the dollar since March 2011. After registering big declines in early trading in reaction to the Chinese trading halt and steep declines in European markets, U.S. markets stabilized in early afternoon only to be hammered by a Reuters report citing sources as saying that China's central bank is under increasing pressure from policy advisers to let the yuan currency fall quickly and sharply, by as much as 10-15 percent. With Beijing accelerating the yuan's depreciation to make its exports more competitive, investors fear China's economy is even weaker than had been imagined. The health of China's economy has big implications for countries all around the world even though the U.S. economy is doing fairly well and Europe's economy looks healthier. But the opacity of Bejing's plans for its currency and stimulating its slowing economy add to the uncertainty of markets around the world. "China's been such a big driver of global growth for 15 years and now they're not, and they don't seem to have a plan for the next 15 years," John Canally, chief economic strategist at LPL Financial, told the Associated Press. Canally says investors don't know if the Chinese government is doing a good job of managing the nation's economy. To make matters worse, he said, the markets don't have many facts to go on. Canally said investors don't have many reliable measurements of China's service sector as opposed to its manufacturing sector, which has been the core of its economy for years. He said investors might feel better in February or March, when the government could disclose more details about its economic goals and plans. Adding to the gloom, oil slid below $33 a barrel to near 12-year lows before regaining some ground. Still, oil prices are down about 70 percent since mid-2014. Not all the skittishness is attributable to action on the far side of the Pacific. Investors also are concerned about the pace at which the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates this year. Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker set a hawkish tone on Thursday, saying the central bank may need to raise interest rates more than four times this year if oil prices stabilize, the dollar stops appreciating and inflation surges toward the U.S. central bank's 2 percent target. However, fed funds futures contracts show that traders expect the Fed to raise rates at least twice in 2016, and are reducing bets on a third hike by December. Billionaire investor George Soros, speaking at an economic forum in Sri Lanka, drew similarities between the present environment and the financial crash of 2008. He said global markets are facing a crisis and investors need to be very cautious, Bloomberg reported. The year on Wall Street began Monday with a furious market selloff, and the Dow ultimately dropped more than 250 points, or 1.47 percent, by Wednesday's closing bell. It marked the worst beginning to a trading year since Jan. 2, 2008, when the Dow fell 1.66 percent. Major international news also has been testing the markets this week, from the Saudi Arabia-Iran diplomatic conflict to North Korea's testing of an apparent nuclear device. On Thursday, China's Shanghai composite closed 7.32 percent lower, while the Shenzen composite closed 8.11 percent lower. In Japan, the Nikkei finished 2.33 percent lower, CNBC reported. European Shares Fall Sharply as China Halts Trading Again European markets were equally roiled: The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index and the euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX index were both down 2 percent. Meanwhile, U.S. investors will be eyeing Friday's employment report from the Labor Department. Early indications are that the report will be positive, based on reports Thursday showing weekly jobless claims dropping sharply in late December and the lowest number of layoffs in 15-1/2 years. CNBC's Eveyln Cheng, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Markets Routed Again Over China Economy Fears

Uncertainty about how quickly China's economy is weakening hammered U.S. stocks on Thursday, sending the Dow Jones average down about 392 points.

20160604094211

SLEEP. It's something that everybody needs, and according to the experts, seven to eight hours a day is the normal amount. People who require less can often be heard boasting about it - ''I only need four hours of sleep.'' Such a statement is fashionable these days, ranking right up there with ''Perrier, please'' and ''I never watch television.'' Then there is the sizable group of people who need more than eight hours. You might call them the big sleepers. They are often reluctant to talk about their sleep habits on the ground that they may sound like lethargic drones in the City That Never Sleeps, where one of the nicest things you can say about people is that they are dynamic and energetic. The big sleepers say they often admire those who claim to get by with so few zzz's. But sometimes they wonder if these people aren't really secret sleepers, just as they wonder if the Perrier drinkers aren't secret cola quaffers and the never-watch-television folks aren't really addicted to ''Dallas'' and ''Dynasty.'' ''I think they're really closet sleepers,'' said Jeffrey Feinman, the nine-hours-of-sleep-a-night president of Ventura Associates, a Manhattan sales-promotion company that grossed $16 million last year. ''I wouldn't be surprised if those people who say they get by on three or four hours of sleep spend their weekends in bed with the covers over their heads.'' Mr. Feinman, who is 38 years old, said he was not at all ashamed to talk about his need for 9 and sometimes 10 hours of sleep ''even though it's unfashionable in this city to say you need sleep - it's not good for your image if you're thought of as a successful person.'' What happens when he doesn't get his required amount? ''I wake up with a headache or pimples,'' he said, ''and I can't function.'' He added: ''I'm in a real pressure business and sleep is my tranquilizer.'' Mr. Feinman maintained that if he were able to get by on only four hours ''there wouldn't be banks big enough.'' He laughed and said: ''People perceive me as vibrant and dynamic. They don't know the dull, boring part - the guy who needs an incredible amount of sleep.'' Others are like him, and they're not exactly out of the mold of Rip Van Winkle, who slept for 20 years, or even of the late Dolores Del Rio, whose ageless beauty was often attributed to her fondness for sleeping 16 hours a day. Many big sleepers are actors, artists, writers and others who do not hold 9-to-5 jobs. ''I sleep for 12 hours a day if I can get it,'' said Rosemary Rogers, author of such best-selling Gothic romance novels as ''Sweet Savage Love,'' ''Wicked Loving Lies'' and ''The Crowd Pleasers.'' ''I'm a sleeper,'' she went on. ''I love to sleep and I admit it. It renews me for the next day. And it's also how I get most of my ideas for my books, because when I sleep I dream.'' Miss Rogers, who writes at night and sleeps during the day, said her time as a big sleeper dates from her childhood in Ceylon, when her parents had trouble getting her up for school. ''Later, when I had a 9-to-5 job as a secretary in California, I was always late,'' she said. ''And I'm still late if I have something to do early in the day, say a lunch at 1 P.M.'' According to the experts, healthy people who sleep up to 10 hours a day are just as normal as those who sleep 7 or 8 hours. ''We see people who sleep as few as 5 hours and as many as 10 hours and show no abnormalities,'' said Dr. Merrill M. Mitler, executive secretarytreasurer of the Association of Sleep Disorders Centers in La Jolla, Calif. ''The quality of the wakefulness is the most important thing.'' He explained that those who sleep 9 to 10 hours a day and display such abnormalities as sleepiness and inattentiveness during waking hours may be suffering from sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, characterized by irresistible daytime sleep attacks, drowsiness and disrupted nighttime sleep, or sleep apnea, a condition in which repeated temporary suspension of breathing occurs during sleep, resulting in excessive daytime sleepiness. Dr. Arthur Spielman, co-director of the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, said that people who sleep more than nine and a half hours a day face a mortality risk ''extremely elevated from the normal.'' He said this finding was based on a study of a million people done by the American Cancer Society. Asked if he thought a long sleeper could be successful in a career, Dr. Spielman cited two studies done in the early 70's. One, by Dr. Ernest Hartmann, a Boston psychiatrist, found that long sleepers were energetic, optimistic and did very well, while the other, by Dr. Wilse Webb, a psychologist at the University of Florida, found that they were lethargic, hypochondriacal and unsuccessful. ''The results were diametrically opposed,'' Dr. Spielman noted. Michael Losurdo, president of Losurdo Foods in Hackensack, N.J., is one long sleeper who has done very well. He credits much of his success to the 10 hours of sleep he gets daily, generally between 9:30 P.M. and 7:30 A.M. in his home in Saddle River, N.J. ''If I don't get it I function only at about 60 to 70 percent and I feel sluggish and somewhat confused,'' he said. ''I can't cope with the day-to-day business, and that's the day you can put something over on me.'' He said he often felt suicidal when he had to get up early without his usual amount of sleep. ''I can remember always being a loser at 6 A.M. meetings,'' he said. ''I'm just not awake, I'm just not sharp. But at 10 in the morning you've got a battle on your hands.'' Fashion models are known for sleeping longer than others; if they don't they run the chance of looking haggard in photographs or on the runway. ''If you're tired the makeup doesn't go on as well and your eyes look funny,'' said Juli Foster, a Ford model who sleeps 9 to 10 hours a day. ''Then the makeup man has to use some of his tricks, like putting on brighter colors to make you look awake.'' Christopher Norwood, a Manhattan author who goes to bed at 2 A.M. and sleeps until about noon, said she used to worry about her sleeping habits until she read that the late Zhou Enlai had similar sleep and work habits when he was Prime Minister of China. ''He never got up until 11 A.M., and he would often call people in for meetings at midnight or 1 in the morning,'' she said. ''That gave me a lot of comfort because I realized a person could have his own rhythm in life.'' Some big sleepers report that they get their 10 hours by taking a two-hour nap as soon as they get home from work, then getting up for a few hours before retiring again around midnight. This method has worked for Margot Rogoff, press-relations director of Bloomingdale's, who also spends most Sundays in bed. ''I do not get dressed or put on any makeup that day,'' she said. ''It's the day for me to compose myself.'' Richard Sorensen, a 29-year-old sales representative for Geoffrey Beene Inc., whose naps and sleeping total around 10 hours a day, said that he sometimes worried that people who seem to be awake around the clock might be doing better in their careers than he was. ''But when you look at them,'' he continued, ''they look tired and haggard. I think a person can be a success without being awake all of the time. You've just got to give it all you've got while you are awake.''

http://web.archive.org/web/20160604094211id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/1983/05/11/garden/eight-to-nine-hours-of-sleep-receives-a-nod-of-approval.html

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EIGHT TO NINE HOURS OF SLEEP RECEIVES A NOD OF APPROVAL

SLEEP. It's something that everybody needs, and according to the experts, seven to eight hours a day is the normal amount. People who require less can often be heard boasting about it - ''I only need four hours of sleep.'' Such a statement is fashionable these days, ranking right up there with ''Perrier, please'' and ''I never watch television.'' Then there is the sizable group of people who need more than eight hours. You might call them the big sleepers. They are often reluctant to talk about their sleep habits on the ground that they may sound like lethargic drones in the City That Never Sleeps, where one of the nicest things you can say about people is that they are dynamic and energetic. The big sleepers say they often admire those who claim to get by with so few zzz's. But sometimes they wonder if these people aren't really secret sleepers, just as they wonder if the Perrier drinkers aren't secret cola quaffers and the never-watch-television folks aren't really addicted to ''Dallas'' and ''Dynasty.''

20160604205429

These days, being a 20-something isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Today's recent college graduates face staggering amounts of student loan debt while struggling to gain a firm foothold in a competitive job market. And in the meantime, many of them are still in the process of learning how to manage their finances on their own for the very first time. Check out our student loan calculator. When you're fresh out of school, it might seem like everyone wants to tell you what to do with your money. But that doesn't mean you should listen to every tip. Read on for examples of financial advice that may actually do more harm than good. The Institute for College Access & Success estimates that 71% of college grads have student loan debt, with an average loan balance of $29,400. If you have a mountain of student debt, paying it off is certainly important. But it doesn't have to come at the expense of your other financial goals. There are two other areas that need your attention in your 20s: building an emergency fund and saving for retirement. Without some emergency money tucked away, you run the risk of having to rely on a credit card or a high-interest personal loan in the midst of a money crisis. Creating new debt because you haven't been saving can make it that much harder to tackle your existing loans. Putting retirement on the back burner is also a bad idea. The sooner you begin saving, the more time your money will have to grow. And you don't need a lot to get started. If you can carve $15 or $20 out of your budget each week, you can save for retirement without delaying your student loan payoff. Related Article: Budgeting for a Rainy Day – How to Grow an Emergency Fund Credit cards are good for a lot of things, like financing big purchases and earning rewards. Plus, getting a credit card in your 20s can help you build your credit score. But it comes with a price if you regularly carry a balance, even if the interest rate is low. Let's say you owe $5,000 on a credit card with an interest rate of 9.99%. If you charge nothing else to the card and pay $100 towards the balance every month, it could take five years to pay it off. Along with the principal, you could pay over $1,500 in interest. The bottom line? Unless you're comfortable throwing money away, it's best to avoid carrying a balance on your credit card. A good credit score is a must if you want to get a car loan or buy a home at some point, and a positive payment history counts for 35% of your FICO score. That doesn't mean, however, that you need to have a boatload of debt in order to raise your score. Using a credit card is a fast way to establish credit in your 20s, but it's not your only option. Services like RentReporters and RentTrack let you use your rent payments to create a credit history. While some of these services charge a small monthly fee, they may be worth the cost if they can help you improve your score without racking up thousands of dollars in credit card debt. Check out our credit card calculator. Not all advice is bad but when you're in your 20s it's best to be selective about the financial tips you follow. Even a minor slip-up can create a financial headache that might haunt you into your 30s and beyond. Photo credit: ©iStock.com/mediaphotos, ©iStock.com/Pamela Moore, ©iStock.com/shironosov Related: 15 things you can stop wasting your money on 3 financial tips every 20-something should ignore With the advent of Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and Apple TV, there's hardly a reason to splurge on a fancy DVR system or even basic cable — so long as you're willing to be patient. Most shows are added at least 24-hours after airing and some networks won't give them up until eight days. See some great alternatives to cable TV here. Banks love to slap you with fees at the drop of a hat, but that doesn't mean you've got to put up with it. "Consider going with a credit union, which are better than banks in many ways, to avoid some of these fees," says Andrew Schrage, founder of MoneyCrashers.com. "If you travel abroad often, make sure you use credit cards without foreign transaction fees, otherwise you'll be paying an extra 3% to 5% on all your purchases." Retailers push hard to sell you extended warranties — and conveniently pump up their sales figures at the same time. Don't do it, Schrage warns. "The only instance I'd recommend a warranty is in the case of a laptop. Otherwise, the warranties themselves can often cost as much as simply buying a used or new replacement for your item, or repairing it," he adds. 4. The roof over your head If you're blowing most of your income on a loft in Midtown, you're making a big mistake, says Jeremy Gregg, executive director of the PLAN Fund. His organization provides loans to low-income entrepreneurs, who Gregg says he often sees spend more than half their income on rent and utilities. The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development recommends spending less than one-third of your income on housing. "Many of us (including me) pick a cell phone plan, then never check to see if it's the right one for us based on our usage," writes author of "I Will Teach You To Be Rich," Ramit Sethi. "Because the average cell phone bill is about $50, that's $600 per year of money you can optimize." When buying a new cell phone, Sethi likes to pay a little bit more upfront by choosing the unlimited data and text messaging plan. He then sets a three-month check-in on his calendar, and analyzes his spending patterns after a few months to see where he can cut back. You can use this method for any usage-based services, he says. Nearly all retailers offer some sort of option that gets your purchases to your doorstep without additional fees. Zappos and L.L. Bean are among the rarest breed of businesses offering free shipping on every single purchase, but most companies will demand a minimum purchase. To help track down deals on shipping, use Freeshipping.org. The site stores information on expiration dates, tells you much to spend to qualify, and lets you search by store name or product. Otherwise, check out CouponSherpa or Retailmenot, which offer discount codes for free shipping. Environmental designer Pablo Solomon says picking up knockoff prints and other art is a great way to blow cash for no good reason. "Nothing sends me through the roof like the art sold on cruise ships and at resorts," Solomon says. "(They're) basically glorified posters being sold as originals." The best way to score deals on art is to track up and comers, he says. You can nab their art early on and laugh your way to the bank after they've made it big. You're only hurting yourself (and your wallet) if you're feeding yourself out of the bodega around the corner from your home or office. "I am shocked at how many people live paycheck-to-paycheck and yet routinely spend $10 per day on fast food and convenience store food," Gregg says. If you're looking for an alternative to brown-bagging it, check out how to shop for the healthiest foods at the grocery store for the least amount of money, and start preparing your own food. Buying overpriced insurance for things like accidental death and diseases is an easy way to blow your funds. "Instead of buying piecemeal insurance policies, get good term life insurance and disability insurance," says Sally Herigstad, a certified public accountant and Creditcard.com columnist. Take a look at the types of insurance you should buy at every age. Personal finance expert Dani Johnson suggests you think twice before rushing out to buy Dad another tie this Christmas. "You should make a pact with your friends and family to give back instead," Johnson says. "Pool a percentage of money you were going to spend on gifts and give a secret blessing to somebody who is truly in need." If you want to buy a great gift without completely breaking the bank, check out these holiday gift ideas for under $50. Weight loss pills and supplements marketed as miracles for overweight couch potatoes are most likely traps. "Not only are there enough pills and potions that you could start a new one each week, but the negative effects on your health outweighs the money you will waste," says nutritionist Rania Batayneh. "This is a billion dollar industry and the truth is that a lean body does not come in a pill," Batayneh says. "Sure, you can (buy a lottery ticket) every once in a while just for fun, but never make a lottery purchase with any real expectation of winning," Schrage warns. "The odds are significantly stacked against you, and why waste your hard-earned money on lottery tickets when you could be saving for retirement or treating yourself to a nice meal?" "People get bored with cars quickly. They always want a new car and so they're always dealing with a car payment," says certified financial planner Michael Egan. "But it's a hugely depreciating asset. You don't want to be putting a lot of money into something that's going to be worth nothing after a certain number of years." Look for used car options, which could save you a substantial amount of money. Check out Kelley Blue Book to get an idea of how much you should pay for a used car. Another option is leasing a car. You can determine whether or not this is a good option for you by following this flow chart. Subscriptions — to magazines, newspapers, and the gym — can add up, and oftentimes, we don't use them as much as we had originally planned. Sethi recommends implementing what he calls the 'à la carte' method, which takes advantage of psychology to cut our costs. "Cancel all the discretionary subscriptions you can: your magazines, TiVo, cable — even your gym," Sethi explains in "I Will Teach You To Be Rich." "Then, buy what you need à la carte. Instead of paying for a ton of channels you never watch on cable, buy only the episodes you watch for $1.99 each off iTunes. Buy a day pass for the gym each time you go." It works for three reasons, Sethi writes: You're likely overpaying already, you're forced to be conscious about your spending, and you value what you pay for. Author of "The Automatic Millionaire," David Bach, coined the term, "The Latte Factor," which basically says that if you ditch your $4 latte every morning, you'd have quite a bit of money to contribute towards savings — about $30 a week, or $120 a month). Over the course of a few decades, that money could grow substantially. Rather, invest in a nice coffee maker, even if the price tag is a bit steep. Oftentimes, spending more on high quality items can help you save in the long run. It can seem counterintuitive to make purchases to save, but that's what some of the most successful money-savers do. They're not just buying things, they're investing in things — tools and services — that will eventually save them money over time. The post 3 Financial Tips Every 20-Something Should Ignore appeared first on SmartAsset Blog. More on AOL 10 collectibles that almost always become more valuable 5 shopping habits to nix before you turn 30 The real world salary of 8 childhood dream jobs

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3 financial tips every 20-something should ignore

When you’re a new adult, it might seem like everyone wants to tell you what to do with your money -- but that doesn’t mean you should listen to every tip.

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Donald Trump, if elected president, will investigate the veracity of US economic statistics produced by Washington — including “the way they are reported.” I caught up with Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, by phone Tuesday morning, and we had a frank talk about the economy and what is making his campaign tick. “When you look at some of these [economic] numbers they give out and then you go out and see people dying to get a job all over the country, I mean, it’s not jibing with what’s really going on,” Trump said. “The economy is not doing well,” Trump said. “You know, John, I’m getting 20,000 to 25,000 people every time I make a speech, and they are not there just because of the border,” he added, referring to his vow to build a wall between the US and Mexico. “They are there because — and you know — if you put out a job notice, you’ll get thousands of people showing up to pick up a job,” Trump said. As I’ve mentioned before, I first met Trump decades ago and we used to talk once in a while, but haven’t for many years. Trump says he thinks the US unemployment rate is close to 20 percent and not the 5 percent reported by the Labor Department. Anyone who believes the 5 percent is a “dummy,” he said. The Federal Reserve, of course, always quotes the 5 percent figure and may raise interest rates based on that belief in the coming months. But even the Fed must not be too certain since it produces its own version of the jobless number, something I’ve already written about. Trump has said in the past that the Fed is also in his cross hairs for an audit. (I would recommend he look into how the Fed interferes with the markets.) As I’ve been reporting for years, the official unemployment rate is conveniently reduced by a number of factors — each in place during both Democratic and Republican administrations. One of these factors, for example, is out-of-work people who have stopped looking for work for more than a year because they may have grown frustrated by the lack of jobs. They are not counted in the unemployment rate. A less popular unemployment stat, called the U-6, which measures some of these idled souls plus others who are forced to work part-time because they can’t find a 40-hour-a-week gig, stands at 9.7 percent. The truly frustrated aren’t counted at all. At least one private economist I know also thinks — as Trump does — that counting the frustrated and idled workers would bring the true unemployment rate to about 20 percent. As for his Veep pick, Trump repeated something that he’s said before: “I have probably five or six people that I like and a few that I really like” He is reported to have me with Tennessee Senator Bob Corker this week. Retired General Michael Flynn, a national security advisor for Trump, is also said to be short listed. Trump asked me who I liked as his VP? I told him that I thought John Kasich, the governor of Ohio who was also a candidate for President until recently, would be the best choice. Why? Because Kasich would probably deliver Ohio to the Republicans during the November election; he seems well qualified on foreign and domestic policy; can handle the Washington politics that Trump doesn’t understand and because Kasich is “a mope” — my word — who won’t steal Trump’s thunder. Trump wouldn’t say if Kasich is under consideration but his name has come up in the past. Trump did say that he and Kasich get along well. We won’t know Trump’s pick for vice president until the middle of July, which is when the Republican convention will take place. “I’m probably going to release (the VP’s name) sometime during the convention,” which runs from July 18 to 21 in Cleveland. “I’ll go the old fashioned way,” Trump said. There’s one other thing I mentioned to Trump about picking someone like Kasich, who would have been vastly preferred over Trump by the Republican Party establishment. By picking Kasich or someone like him, I suggested to Trump that he runs the risk of the Republicans trying to boot him out of office once he was elected. Yes, that would be akin to a coup — an unprecedented and diabolical perversion of the democratic election process. But it’s not beyond the realm of possibilities since the vice president preferred by the party regulars would move up to the presidency and Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House, would automatically assume the vice presidency. Trump’s response to my conspiracy warning? “We are a little bit cunning also.” One more thing. Anyone who tries to steal the great conspiracy plot I just concocted for a movie, know this: I’ll sue. And then I’ll build a wall around you and I’ll make you pay for it. It became official on Tuesday — nobody did anything wrong during the Great Recession. That’s because one of the few convictions for wrongdoing during the wheeling and dealing that led up to that dark moment in U.S. history was erased this week by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals here in New York. In a way, it seems fitting to me to complete the absurdity. It became official on Tuesday — nobody did anything wrong during the Great Recession. That’s because one of the few convictions for wrongdoing during the wheeling and dealing that led up to that dark moment in US history was erased this week by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals here in New York. In a way, it seems fitting to me to complete the absurdity. The Great Recession turned into a no hitter/touchdown/slam dunk for the bad guys who took the US financial system to the brink of insolvency and have been profiting from the remedial actions taken by Washington ever since. Anyone who wonders why Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have been so popular in this election cycle needn’t look any further than the unfairness of the justice system since 2007. The influential federal appeals court overturned a lower court jury verdict that said Countrywide Financial, now owned by Bank of America, and one of its employees committed fraud when they sold toxic mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But Judge Richard Wesley, a Bush appointee, writing for a three-judge panel, ruled that when Countrywide substituted toxic subprime mortgages for investment grade mortgages — something Fannie and Freddie specifically forbade — it wasn’t doing so to defraud Uncle Sam. It was simply a breach of contract, Wesley opined. The government, at trial, showed the jury that one Countrywide executive, Rebecca Mairone, was told by subordinates that the shoddy mortgages weren’t supposed to be in the packages sold to Fannie and Freddie — but she shoveled the shoddy paper into the securities anyway. Get this: Judge Wesley ruled that if Countrywide didn’t intend to defraud Fannie and Freddie when it first signed its deal to sell the companies mortgages, then Mairone and her cronies, legally speaking, could never defraud the government-sponsored entities. But this is what passes as good law these days. Wesley’s fellow Second Circuit jurist, Barrington Parker, a Clinton appointee, ruled in December 2014 that hedge fund traders and others on Wall Street couldn’t be convicted of insider trading unless they knew the original tipster received a personal benefit for passing along the tip. So a trader gets info from an analyst who got it from a friend who got it from the inside tipster — a tip that American Widget, say, will report knockout profits two days hence. This trader knows it is inside, non-public info. Knowing when American Widget reports results is what this trader does for a living. So the trader buys shares of American Widget — lots of shares — and makes millions in a matter of days when the result comes and they are good and the stock skyrockets. It’s not fair. It’s inside info. The trader knew it. The analyst knew it. Everyone knows it — except the Second Circuit. And now, Mairone, who was fined $1 million, becoming one of the few executives on Wall Street to get dinged for shenanigans undertaken during the Great Recession, has done nothing wrong. It’s not fraud, said Judge Wesley. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Shame on you, Second Circuit! The Justice Department can appeal, but why even bother at this point. Just let the animals on Wall Street run wild.

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Trump: Only ‘dummies’ believe Fed’s unemployment figure

Donald Trump, if elected president, will investigate the veracity of US economic statistics produced by Washington — including “the way they are reported.” I caught up with Trump, the presumptive R…

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Before you go, we thought you'd like these... Ice Cube received some puzzling looks during a Bloomberg interview when he addressed a question about Donald Trump's appeal. "Donald Trump is what Americans love. Donald Trump is what Americans aspire to be..." Some might have prepared paperwork for the next racial draft to send him packing like Stacey Dash, but don't move too fast. "[He is...] rich, powerful, do what you wanna do, say what you wanna say, be how you wanna be," the rapper-actor continued. "That's kind of been like the American dream. He looks like a boss to everybody and Americans love to have a boss." SEE ALSO: Stacey Dash fighting against Black History Month Ice Cube went on later to clarify that conversely, Trump won't be able to "relate to the small guy" in America. Ice Cube says 'Donald Trump is what Americans aspire to be' Real estate developer Donald Trump annouces intentions to build a $100 million dollar Regency Hotel. (Photo by John Pedin/NY Daily News via Getty Images) UNITED STATES - MARCH 02: Donald Trump with Alfred Eisenpreis, New York City Economic Development Administrator. Sketch of new 1,400 room Renovation project of Commodore Hotel. (Photo by NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - 1980: Donald Trump and Ivana Trump attend Roy Cohn's birthday party in February 1980 in New York City. (Photo by Sonia Moskowitz/Getty Images) UNITED STATES - MAY 26: Donald Trump stands behind architect's model of City Hall Plaza. (Photo by Frank Russo/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) Donna Mills and Donald Trump during 1983 Annual American Image Awards at Sheraton Center in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage) Portrait of real estate mogul Donald John Trump (b.1946), smiling slightly and facing to his right, 1983. New York. (Photo by Bachrach/Getty Images) New York real estate magnates Steve Ross, right, and Donald Trump, left, announce agreement, Thursday, August 1, 1985 in New York, to merge the Houston Gamblers and the New Jersey Generals United States Football League teams. Ross heads a group of investors that last week agreed to buy the troubled Houston franchise. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler) Real estate magnate Donald Trump poses in front of one of three Sikorsky helicopters at New York Port Authority's West 30 Street Heliport on March 22, 1988. (AP Photo/Wilbur Funches) Ivana Trump and Donald Trump during Mike Tyson vs Michael Spinks Fight at Trump Plaza - June 27, 1988 at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage) Donald Trump and his wife, Ivana, pose outside the Federal Courthouse after she was sworn in as a United States citizen, May 1988. (AP Photo) NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 4: Billionaire Donald Trump and his wife Ivana arrive 04 December 1989 at a social engagement in New York. (Photo credit should read SWERZEY/AFP/Getty Images) Shown in photo is Donald Trump, Nov. 20, 1990. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) Billionaire developer Donald Trump, right, waits with his brother Robert for the start of a Casino Control Commission meeting in Atlantic City, N.J., March 29, 1990. Trump was seeking final approval for the Taj Mahal Casino Resort, one of the world's largest casino complexes. (AP Photo) Developer Donald Trump, center, is flanked by super middleweight champion Thomas Hearns, left, of Detroit, and Michael Olajide of Canada at a news conference in New York Thursday, Feb. 15, 1990. The three announced the super middleweight title bout at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort at Atlantic city, N. J on April 28.(AP Photo/Timothy Clary) Real estate magnate Donald Trump and his girlfriend Marla Maples are seen at the Holyfield-Foreman fight at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, N.J., April 19, 1991. (AP Photo) Donald Trump and Daughter Ivanka Trump during Maybelline Presents 1991 Look of the Year at Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage) NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 7: Donald Trump touches 07 April 1993 Marla Maples stomach to confirm published reports that the actress is pregnant with his child. The two arrived for Maples appearance in the Broadway musical 'The Will Rogers Follies'. (Photo credit should read HAI DO/AFP/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 21: US business tycoon Donald Trump(C) enters the PLaza Hotel in New York past supporters 21 December 1994. Hundreds of supporters showed up at a news conference where Trump denied a New York newspaper report that the Sultan of Brunei had bid 300 million USD to buy the Manhattan hotel. (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images) FILE--This is a 1994 file photo of Donald Trump. Trump said Wednesday, Oct. 23, 1996 he has bought the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen beauty pageants from ITT. ``It's a done deal,'' Trump said in a telephone interview. ``It's a very, very great entertainment format. It gets very high ratings, it's doing very well and we'll make it even better.'' Trump declined to say how much he paid. Asked if a New York Post source was correct in saying the deal was worth tens of millions of dollars, Trump replied, ``Why not? (AP Photo/Jim Cooper) FLUSHING MEADOWS, UNITED STATES: Donald Trump and his girlfriend Celina Midelfar watch Conchita Martinez and Amanda Coetzer 07 September at US Open in Flushing Meadows, NY. AFP PHOTO Timothy CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY CLARY/AFP/Getty Images) Donald Trump and Christine Whitman during Opening of New Warner Bros. Store in Trump Plaza Casino at Trump Plaza Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage) In this June 7, 1995 file photograph, Donald Trump is seen above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after taking his flagship Trump Plaza Casino public in New York City. Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., based in Atlantic City, New Jersey, filed for Chapter 11 protection on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey. Trump and his daughter Ivanka resigned from the company's board Friday, Feb. 13, 2009, after growing frustrated with bondholders. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens,File) Celine Dion, husband Rene, Donald Trump & Ivanka Trump (Photo by KMazur/WireImage) Entrepreneur Donald Trump watches an undercard fight as an unidentified companion whispers into his ear before the start of the Mike Tyson versus Francois Botha bout at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Saturday, Jan. 16, 1999. (AP Photo/Eric Draper) Developer Donald Trump holds an umbrella as he walks Saturday, Nov. 9, 2002, to the 11th green of the Ocean Trail Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. Trump plans to turn the beleagured golf club into a world class course. Trump intends to close on the golf club by December and hopes to begin improvements by January. He could reopen the course, 20 miles south of Los Angeles, as early as June. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Entrepreneur Donald Trump (L) and Rev. Al Sharpton speak at a ribbon cutting ceremony for Sharpton's National Action Network Convention April 5, 2002 in New York City. The group aims to further the development of civil rights. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Donald Trump and his girlfriend Melania Knauss attend the Marc Bouwer/Peta Fall/Winter 2002 Collection show February 14, 2002 during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City. (Photo by George De Sota/Getty Images) NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - DECEMBER 06: WBC Kampf im Schwergewicht 2003, New York/Madison Square Garden; Vitali KLITSCHKO/UKR - Kirk JOHNSON/CAN; Donald TRUMP als Zuschauer (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images) FOXBORO, MA - JANUARY 10: Donald Trump stands on the sidelines before the start of the AFC divisional playoffs between the New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans on January 10, 2004 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Temperatures have reached as low as 7 degrees in the Foxboro area. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) US tycoon Donald Trump arrives to speak at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland, outside Washington, on February 27, 2015. AFP PHOTO/NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) NASHVILLE, TN - APRIL 10: Donald Trump speaks during the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum at the 2015 NRA Annual Meeting & Exhibits on April 10, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. The annual NRA meeting and exhibit runs through Sunday. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 24: Real estate mogul and billionaire Donald Trump attends Golf legend Jack Nicklaus' Congressional Gold Medal ceremony in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda March 24, 2015 in Washington, DC. Trump announed on March 18 that he has launched a presidential exploratory committee. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) DES MOINES, IA - MAY 16: Businessman Donald Trump speaks to guests gathered for the Republican Party of Iowa's Lincoln Dinner at the Iowa Events Center on May 16, 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa. The event sponsored by the Republican Party of Iowa gave several Republican presidential hopefuls an opportunity to strengthen their support among Iowa Republicans ahead of the 2016 Iowa caucus. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) Developer Donald Trump displays a copy of his net worth during his announcement that he will seek the Republican nomination for president, Tuesday, June 16, 2015, in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump gives a thumbs up before boarding his campaign plane to depart from Laredo, Texas, Thursday, July 23, 2015. (AP Photo/LM Otero) AYR, SCOTLAND - JULY 30: Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump visits his Scottish golf course Turnberry with his children Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump on July 30, 2015 in Ayr, Scotland. Donald Trump answered questions from the media at a press conference. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) "Do I think he's gonna do anything to help poor people or people that's struggling? No, because he's a rich white guy." He claims that although being a "rich white guy" doesn't make him bad, it just detaches him from the rest of the little people. SEE ALSO: O'Reilly to Trump: How will you get blacks jobs when they are 'ill-educated with tattoos on their foreheads?

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Ice Cube says 'Donald Trump is what Americans aspire to be'

Ice Cube received some puzzling looks during a Bloomberg interview when he addressed a question about Donald Trump’s appeal.

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Live lobster prices are high in New England and beyond as fishermen eagerly await the summer arrival of the region’s beloved crustaceans, which could come slightly early and send prices down. Lobstermen in Maine and Massachusetts, who supply the U.S. with most of its domestic lobsters, are coming off several years of high catches for lobsters, a signature food item for the region. Prices for lobsters also have been somewhat high for most of the last two years, with the consumer price currently in the range of $8 to $12 per pound at most retail outlets in Maine, the country’s biggest lobster producer. That’s a couple dollars more than a year ago. Prices vary around the country, but the arrival of New England’s lobsters will likely lower prices nationwide. Prices tend to fall every year in the summer when many lobsters reach legal trapping size and catches increase. Scientists have warned the bigger catches can come early this year — a circumstance that can disrupt the lobster supply chain and depress prices. So far, that hasn’t happened. Right now, lobsters are trickling in, said David Cousens, a South Thomaston lobsterman and the president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. ‘‘As long as they keep coming slow, there’s going to be a big demand for them,’’ he said. The busiest portion of Maine’s summer lobster fishing season typically begins around early July, coinciding with the tourist season. Scientists with the Portland-based Gulf of Maine Research Institute have predicted this year’s lobster season will start two or three weeks early because of warm ocean temperatures. Andy Pershing, a scientist with the institute, said temperatures in the central Gulf of Maine are running about one degree Fahrenheit higher than the 14-year average. He said the bump in lobster catches could happen any day now. A very early lobster season happened in 2012, and prices fell to their lowest point in almost 20 years. Steve Kingston, who runs a restaurant and lobster pound in Kennebunk, said that hasn’t been the case this year. Kingston, who buys lobsters direct from fishermen, said some have been held back from fishing by high winds and a surprisingly cold spring. ‘‘There certainly isn’t enough of them to start moving price down,’’ Kingston said. Lobstermen have experienced unprecedented production in recent years. The nation’s lobster catch was worth more than a half-billion dollars last year, by far the most in history. Lobster dealers are approaching this season as they would any other, said Annie Tselikis, executive director of the Maine Lobster Dealers’ Association. ‘‘If weather or volume or any other variable changes based on your best estimate of what may happen, you adjust your plans and act accordingly,’’ she said.

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Summer price drop for live lobsters may come early this year

If lobster season arrives earlier than usual, it could disrupt the supply chain and drive down prices across the region.

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The Hamptons are awash in shaker shingles and ultra-contemporary boxes. Houses of seven gables are as common as split-rail fences and manicured lawns. But retail guru Kevin McLaughlin, 65, eschewed those design flourishes when dreaming up his family retreat in the hamlet of North Haven (nestled between Sag Harbor and Shelter Island). Instead, he envisioned a modern farmhouse property with several dwellings — where his wife’s four siblings, their children and her parents could gather — a compound “where your in-laws could come out but not necessarily share the kitchen with you.” McLaughlin (along with his brother Jay) is the co-founder of the preppy, print-happy J.McLaughlin clothing company, whose sunny stores are frequented by society ladies and college coeds alike. But his other passion is flipping houses. He and his wife, Barbara, 53, had renovated and sold at least four homes out east before they realized that what they really were after — call it an industrial compound with an agrarian sensibility — didn’t exist. So in 2014, they bought two parcels, clocking in at just under 2 acres, adjacent to Barbara’s brother’s house, from a local fishing-concession-stand owner, who’d been using a five-car garage on the property for boat repairs. They then set about building what they expected to be their forever Hamptons home. “It was actually our architect Doug Larson’s idea,” Kevin tells Alexa. “He had [previously] wanted to take agricultural buildings found in the Catskills and open them up like lofts for his own family.” With that inspiration in mind, the couple gave Larson (of Tribeca-based Larson and Paul Architects) carte blanche to reimagine their property’s dilapidated garage, tear-down ranch house and overgrown meadow. “They were very generous — they let me try an experiment,” says Larson, who’s worked with the McLaughlins on six personal projects over the past 20 years and has designed nearly all of their 107 retail spaces. In the fall of 2014, the architect sent plans for what he called the Steel House to Art Hance, a prefab-home dealer in New Jersey. Within a couple of months, a semi pulled up on the gravel driveway, carrying steel beams and eco-friendly insulated panels. A foundation was poured and, in a matter of two weeks, the Steel House went up “like an erector set,” says Kevin. The erstwhile ranch and garage were also renovated and dubbed the Tower House and Pool House, respectively. The family — including 20-year-old daughter Madeline and 12-year-old son Hugh — moved into the new three-building retreat last August. Through the yellow front door of the main Steel House, guest rooms are up the steps, with a kitchen just to the right (outfitted with sliding barn doors that shut out the commotion during parties); the rest of the action is straight ahead in the great room, bookended by slate fireplaces. Here, a cathedral ceiling rises 25 feet, and a western wall of glass slides fully open, bringing the outside in. At the far end of the house are family quarters, with two bedrooms for the McLaughlin children and a master suite with a library. Plumbing pipes act as handrails “to give an industrial but residential feel,” notes Kevin, while old scaffolding was repurposed as a top for a wrought-iron dining-room table. There’s an Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair clad in red linen, a mirror fabricated from a rotted tree trunk, and a faint nautical theme. Symbols and materials that relate to the J.McLaughlin lifestyle abound: bamboo, coral, botanicals, seascapes. Nothing matches, yet everything works. “If you fill a house with things you like, it will always go together,” says Kevin. Indeed, he and wife Barbara (who is president of the Fund for Park Avenue — the group responsible for all those gorgeous tulips lining the avenue) share a passion for collecting unusual objects, rotating them throughout the complex. Vintage wicker furniture is mixed with Deco lacquer tables and 1940s steel bed frames from France — all culled from estate sales, auction houses and the many warehouses J.McLaughlin uses to squirrel away furnishings for stores. “I like to say I even got my wife at the auctions,” jokes Kevin, “since Barbara worked at Christie’s for 13 years, and I was the guy at the back waving a paddle.” Beyond the dancing grass of the overgrown meadow is their uninsulated Pool House, strapped with wood like a corn crib and aglow at night from the twinkling lights strung inside. The third point of the triangulated buildings is the Tower House, the former ranch now serving as guest house. This two-story, three-bedroom pavilion has a wraparound porch and a covered turret “that’s used more often for Nerf-gun wars than breakfast,” Barbara laughs, though she sometimes sneaks in to watch the sunrise above the bay through the trees. “We really have an open-door policy; I have one friend who refers to the house as Yaddo of North Haven [referring to the famous artist’s colony] — she said she got to a critical point in her screenplay here,” Barbara recalls. “It’s a beautiful setting for inspiration and for having your friends around, while also having your own space.” ‘If you fill a house with things you like, it will always go together.’ She’s now fantasizing about throwing a grand birthday bash in July. “We are overdue for a party,” she says — the last time the whole clan gathered was for Thanksgiving. “Theirs is the rare extended family that actually gets along well,” marvels Kevin. Indeed, being able to host the whole crew was a necessity for the home, and architect Larson says its pared-down design was inspired by simple materials, clean roof lines and elegant sequencing. “I think it was a reaction to the excess of the Hamptons,” Larson notes. “People mistake spending a lot of money for having good taste, but they are not the same thing. You don’t have to have marble and brass and shingles to have a beautiful home. Sometimes simple is better, and more tasteful.” Daughter Madeline's room features a slanted, exposed ceiling along with pops of color with a nod to mod. A fashion family brings barn chic to the beach. The Steel House's master bathroom is outfitted with vintage farm-style fixtures. Plumbing pipes serve as handrails elsewhere in the houses, giving the enclave an industrial vibe. A grassy patio with stone pavers provides the perfect creative retreat. "It's a beautiful setting for inspiration and for having your friends around," Barbara says of the North Haven compound. The McLaughlins may adore their industrial farmhouse compound, but their flipping bug has yet to be cured. They recently purchased a derelict house on a peninsula in Sag Harbor that Kevin has had his eye on for a long time. Which is why Barbara will savor every weekend she has this summer in the Steel House, making marmalade from the potted Meyer lemons that circle the pool and watching shadows play on the pergola, in the meadow, and on the trees that separate her home from her brother’s. “It’s quiet here. You can hear the crickets. You feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere even though you can walk to town,” she says. But true to form, Kevin is excited to get started on his next, peninsular property. He’s pretty sure his wife will go along for the ride when the time comes to move again. “She enjoys the process,” he says. And Barbara can’t resist chiming in: “I can nest anywhere.”

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Inside the home of the Hamptons’ preppiest family

The Hamptons are awash in shaker shingles and ultra-contemporary boxes. Houses of seven gables are as common as split-rail fences and manicured lawns. But retail guru Kevin McLaughlin, 65, eschewed…

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The duties of Prefect of Police of Paris are extremely multiple, and extend not only over Paris but also over the whole Department of the Seine, and the Communes of St. Cloud, Mendon, Sivres and Enghien les Bains. He is under the authority of the Ministers, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Mont de Piete, or Great Pawnbroking Office, and of the Hospitals. Under his direction are the Commissaries, the peace-officers and the police agents. Passports, permits to hunt, &c., are also issued by him. He has the supervision of prisons, markets, public houses, commerce, the printing and publishing interest, provisions, the distribution of gunpowder, and all that concerns the security of the public thoroughfares and the salubrity of the community. He takes measures in cases of conflagration or inundation, regulates the expenses of the police; the National Guard, the Garde de Paris and the Firemen, are always at his disposal; he causes the arrest of deserters and escaped convicts; he has also jurisdiction over the cattle market of Poissy. (This market is the most important cattle market in the neighborhood. Poissy is in the Department of the Seine et Oise, and its market is specially destined for the provisioning of Poris.) The Prefect of Police has the right to seize and open letters thrown into the Post-office. The Bureaux of the Prefecture of Police are divided into several departments, and these subdivided into sections. The duties of each division and subdivision are designated with great precision, and a glance at them will serve to convey a good general view of the systematic manner in which the duties of each department of the entire French administration are classified. Everything that concerns politics; the opening of correspondence, classification of reserved affairs, measures and correspondence relating to refugees. The Council of Hygiene and of Salubrity. -Sanitary investigation into the condition of markets, burial-grounds, slaughter-houses, dissecting rooms, prisons, baths, and in short, into every thing that concerns the public health and morality First Bureau -- Personnel of the Administration postmen, wine-dealers, porters, coal-men, workmen, dispatching of correspondence, oaths, legalization of the signatures of the functionaries of Prefecture, proposal of candidates for the decoration of the Legion of Honor, &c. Second Bureau -- First Section. -- Personnel of the Garde de Paris and Firemen, police of the theatres, balls, &c., masks and disguises, execution of the laws relating to public worship, street advertising and public venders of printed matter, street performers, infringements of the stamp-act, billiardrooms, clubs, reunions, societies, reading-rooms and educational establishments, execution of the laws relating to printing, bookselling, &c., measures fox the public peace on occasions of festivities and public ceremonies. Second Section. -- Deserters, &c., the military posts, fraud, indirect taxes, deposit of trademarks, mutual aid societies. Third Bureau -- Preservation of the archives and the library; miscellaneous matters; examination of the statutes of joint stock companies; assemblies of the electors of butchers and bakers; medals of honor; researches in the interest of families; researches as to the solvability of persons sentenced to pecuniary penalties; translation of documents; oaths of apothecaries; stamping of arms. Fourth Bureau. -- The material of the Administration; adjudications; leases and proposals for furnishing; nomination of experts; preservation and repairs of pubic buildings and their furniture; clothing of the police agents; establishment of lighting apparatus; inventory and finance of the materiel. Verification of the taxes levied for the account of the city; publication of the budget, and the accounts; payment of pensions and arrears; composition of the tableau of public street lighting. First Section. -- Commercial finance. Second Section. -- Departmental finance. Third Section. -- Finance of the produce of the industrial labor of the convicts of the department of the Seine. Cashier's Office. -- Payment of the expenses of the prefecture of police, and of the prisons in the department of the Seine; receipts of the administration. First Division -- First Bureau. -- Researches in matters of crimes or misdemeanor against property or the person; furnishing of information to the Judicial Courts; preventive measures for the public peace; repression of vagabondage and beggary correspondence with the authorities of the Departments relative to persons arrested in the provinces, &c.; collection and classification of the sentences rendered by the Courts; surveillance of convicts, vagabonds and liberated prisoners, and correspondence with the authorities relating thereto; researches after persons having disappeared from their homes; guarantee of gold and silver; presses, lever and rolling; the pawnbroking office; auction sales; strikes of workmen for higher wages; prohibited arms; suicide and accidental death; lotteries and gambling houses; games of hazard in the public thoroughfares.

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THE FRENCH POLICE. - The Prefecture de Police and the Composition of its Service Salaries and Statistics.SECOND ARTICLE. THE CABINET OF THE PREFECT. THE MUNICIPAL POLICE. GENERAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE. FINANCE. 1, MUNICIPAL POLICE. 2. GENERAL INSPECTION, (CONTROLE.) - NYTimes.com

The duties of Prefect of Police of Paris are extremely multiple, and extend not only over Paris but also over the whole Department of the Seine, and the Communes of St. Cloud, Mendon, Sivres and Enghien les Bains. He is under

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If a dish goes horribly wrong, like a ''vile'' eggs Florentine she once made for a friend, Julia instructed, ''Never apologize.'' She considered it unseemly for a cook to twist herself into knots of excuses and explanations. Such admissions ''only make a bad situation worse,'' she said, by drawing attention to one's shortcomings (or self-perceived shortcomings) and prompting your guest to think: Yes, you're right, this really is an awful meal. ''The cook must simply grin and bear it,'' Julia said firmly. Our conversation drifted to the Cordon Bleu, France's famous cooking school. In 1950 she was the lone woman in a class of 11 American G.I.'s learning to cook there under the G.I. Bill. Always considerate of ''the boys'' in person, Julia confided to her sister-in-law that the G.I.'s weren't serious enough: ''there isn't an artist in the bunch,'' she coolly observed. And when I asked about Madame Brassard, the school's formidable proprietor, Julia, who rarely spoke ill of anyone, snapped: ''She was a horrid woman. She hardly knew how to cook and was mostly interested in making money. Besides, she wasn't even French -- she was Belgian.'' When I asked her about the recent tension between France and the United States, Julia said she'd found it disappointing but not surprising. ''It was the same in 1949,'' she recalled. That year, an old American friend in Paris had blurted out that she considered the French mean, grasping, chiseling and unfriendly in every way. The friend, Alice, couldn't wait to leave France and said she would never return. ''Her words were still ringing in my ears the next morning, when I had a flat tire, broke a milk bottle and forgot to bring a basket for strawberries,'' Julia recalled. ''Yet every person I met that day was helpful and sweet, and one of them even gave me a fish head for our cat! Alice had been a good friend, but I just didn't understand her anymore.'' Julia, meanwhile, had decided that ''I must really be French -- only no one had ever informed me of this fact. I loved the people, the food, the lay of the land, the civilized atmosphere and the generous pace of life there. I saw no reason to leave, ever.'' Julia led a charmed life, but it wasn't perfect. In France she and Paul had half-heartedly tried to conceive, but, ''it didn't take,'' she said with a shrug. Resolutely unsentimental, Julia did not dwell on this. Instead, she directed her enormous energy into ''cookery.'' Paul, who was quiet but strong-willed, was fully supportive of her decision. ''If we'd had children, I never would have had the career I did,'' she said. ''I don't regret it.'' As Julia grew sleepy, and her black-and-white cat Minou chased butterflies around our feet like a mischievous sprite, my wife Sarah asked her: ''What was your favorite thing you've ever done?'' Julia paused a beat, and with eyes suddenly bright, answered: ''Cooking with other chefs!'' That deceptively simple phrase was quintessential Julia: clear, modest, committed, eager to participate, and happiest when she was sharing delicious food with others. ''It's been a very nice life,'' she said. And then she lay down to rest.

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Mastering the Art of Julia Child

Op-Ed article by Alex Prud'homme pays tribute to his good friend Julia Child; recounts conversation he had with her days before she died, when she recalled arriving in France in 1948 not speaking language or knowing how to cook; notes that six years later, she was fluent in French, ran cooking school and was co-authoring comprehensive cookbook that would later make her famous; diagram (M)

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‘‘You’re in the great game now,’’ Tyrion Lannister tells his dragon queen, Daenerys Targeryen, during the season finale of ‘‘Game of Thrones.’’ ‘‘And the great game is terrifying.’’ It certainly is. Just think about all the people who have died in pursuit of the Iron Throne in the last six seasons. Leading the Seven Kingdoms may be a high-profile job, but it also seems like a pretty thankless one, and the turnover rate is brutal. Who will be next? Let’s take a look in order of most to least likely. This has, in fact, already happened. The line of succession seemed a little murky after Tommen died by jumping out of a window. He had no children and his siblings have already died. But discussions about rightful heirs are moot for Cersei, who has access to wildfire, the help of a mad man (Qyburn) and the protection of a muscly zombie. She took the crown and sat on the throne at the end of the season finale. This is a move that could only be made by someone with zero self-awareness. Just consider that every single one of her machinations has left her worse off than how she started. Restoring the power of the Faith Militant was an inspired move, until she found herself walking down a city street wearing nothing but the garbage people threw at her. And blowing up half the city to get rid of the religious fanatics? Not only is Tommen now dead, but it’s hard to imagine who will fight for a queen willing to massacre anyone to get her way. Fans will have a host of interesting possibilities to play around with during the many months until the show returns. Can she actually hang on to the throne? Doubtful, especially considering who’s headed her way with a whole lot of allies... RELATED | A powerhouse finale for ‘Game of Thrones’ Look who’s finally leaving Meereen. The queen of dragons is sailing across the Narrow Sea, headed for King’s Landing, and she has quite the army with her. Who are her allies? She managed to convince the Dothraki to come along on her ‘‘wooden horses’’ and she has ships and fighters courtesy of the Greyjoys. She has an army of Unsullied and she’s made powerful friends of the Sand Snakes, in charge of Dorne, and Olenna Tyrell, who will do anything to get revenge on Cersei. She also has a very strategic adviser in Tyrion, who helped win one battle at King’s Landing already. And she has Varys, who probably still has connections to his ‘‘little birds’’ and all their intel. (It will be interesting to see whether the orphaned rugrats side with him or Qyburn when the time comes.) Both men have an insider’s knowledge of the capital, which will come in handy for Daenerys, since she’s never been there. And then, of course, she has some special weapons in Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion. At this point, there aren’t many people who are against Dany. Even her spurned lover still bows down to her. RELATED | Books can make good TV. Just ask ‘Game of Thrones’ The former Lord Commander is an interesting case. Unlike most people, he could have a legitimate claim to the throne, now that we definitively know he’s the son of Rhaegar Targeryen and Lyanna Stark. But will people even believe that outlandish story if Bran ever makes it back to tell them? And even if people do, would Jon Snow even want to sit on the Iron Throne? He would no doubt make an honorable and fair leader, but he also has conflicted feelings about being in charge. He left the Night’s Watch, and when he regained control of Winterfell, he proclaimed Sansa the true heir. To his shock, all of the Stark bannermen have pledged their allegiance to him, including that adorable, salty Lady Mormont. But it’s hard to imagine Jon Snow rallying them to take King’s Landing. He knows there are more important battles to fight, and they’re going to start in the North. During the season finale, Littlefinger admitted to Sansa that every single decision he makes is based on whether or not it will get him closer to the Iron Throne. He wants to be king, and plans to make Sansa his queen. (Aspiring kings out there, take note: marrying your love interest off to a known sadist isn’t a good strategy.) RELATED | The first rule of knight club: Wear your armor He’s awfully far from making it to his goal. He has no claim to the throne, considering his relatively humble background. But he’s proven that he’s a master manipulator who can turn an unstable situation into chaos. And he clearly thinks Sansa owes him something after he rallied the Knights of the Vale to turn the tides during the Battle at Winterfell. He says he wants to rule the Seven Kingdoms, but who are his allies? He seemed to think he could convince Daenerys to marry him, but she doesn’t need his ships anymore -- if his ships are even built yet. Is he still rowing or what? None of this could matter, considering another monarch is also still in the mix. If Tyrion thinks the great game is terrifying, it’s only because he hasn’t yet locked eyes with the Night’s King.

http://web.archive.org/web/20160629155735id_/https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/television/2016/06/27/who-will-end-sitting-iron-throne-look-major-players/fjgEHSNovMJnDVOwJCdAyO/story.html

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Who will end up sitting on the Iron Throne? A look at the major players

Leading the Seven Kingdoms in “Game of Thrones” may be a high-profile job, but it also seems like a pretty thankless one — and the turnover is brutal.

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Yoshikazu Tsuno | AFP | Getty Images A tsunami survivor wipes away tears as he joins a search for the remains of missing people at Namie, near the striken TEPCO's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Fukushima prefecture on March 11, 2014. Against this backdrop, Abe last month announced details of a plan that defines nuclear power as an important long-term source of energy for the world's number three economy. According to media reports, the new Basic Energy Plan will seek to restart Japan's nuclear reactors. "You have to consider the tremendous cost of the legacy of Fukushima, which may cost in excess of $125 billion once all the compensation is paid," said Edwin Lyman, senior scientist at the global security program of the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington. "The site is going to remain radioactive for decades and is still leaking radioactivity into the ocean. You have to wonder what you're buying by restarting those plants." The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011 soon developed into a nuclear catastrophe as one system after another at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant failed. Three of the plant's six reactors suffered meltdowns, releasing deadly radiation into the sea and air. Following Fukushima, many countries put their nuclear energy plans under review. Western Europe saw 11 reactors close between 2010 and 2012, according to market research firm Euromonitor. (Read more: The next weak nuclear link? Here's where to look) Abe will have a tough time convincing voters that returning to nuclear power is in Japan's interests, analysts say. "We see a big gap right now between the political leaders and the average person in Japan. I think the solution might be the NRA [Nuclear Regulatory Authority], a new agency in charge of regulation will stall the process for a few months, and Abe hopes, during that period, people will calm down and see nuclear power possibility again," said Daniel Aldrich, associate professor of political science at Purdue University. A crisis in Ukraine, which has highlighted the risks associated with relying on energy imports from Russia, could help Abe win over public opinion. (Read more: Russia energy a threat to Europe, but not the US) "Of course oil from the Middle East and Russia make Japan more dependent on other countries and make Abe seemingly weak. But in actual fact, he [Abe] definitely will use that as an argument to try and convince people to come back onboard," Aldrich said. — By CNBC.Com's Dhara Ranasinghe; Follow her on Twitter @DharaCNBC

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Japan’s energy debate rages on tsunami anniversary

As Japan marked the third anniversary of the tsunami that sparked a nuclear emergency, debate rages as to whether it should return to nuclear power.

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It was an eye opener that dashed my sense of importance within rugby and rightly so. I had let the hype get to my head and now was suffering the withdrawal symptoms. It had been great to be lauded but it was gut-wrenching to be written off. On returning to play I resolved never to let that happen again, though to be honest, not always successfully. Sportsmen are selfish and have to be so. The introspection is essential to improve. It is only natural, though, that they want people to say good things about them, but to accept the plaudits you leave yourself open to the brickbats. Kipling sorted me out, as I learned to treat his two imposters the same. Contrary to what most sportsmen say in public, I always read the papers, but after my injury I went for an average opinion, akin to the scoring system in diving. The hyperbole and the wholly negative were discarded and I was left with what was for the most part a fair reflection of my game. My last determining factor was whether or not I rated the journalist or pundit, the implication being if I didn’t have respect for him I would dismiss his comments out of hand. To counteract that I also had a few old friends never shy of telling it as it was, essential info to keep me on terra firma. I felt it gave me perspective from outside the bubble. This has become the story of Ireland’s Six Nations. Brian O’Driscoll has bemoaned the fact that there is an air of negativity, generated by the media, hanging like a cloud over the team. Opinions, reactions and agendas are strewn all over the place. With all the new media, Twitter and Facebook in particular, two portals that I am comfortably ignorant of, criticism is not confined to the broadsheets or the airwaves. Opinion is directed straight to your computer. Unfortunately some of the players have responded to the taunts and have given some credence to these anonymous views and it is pretty tough and pointless to argue with someone virtually. In many ways the kerfuffle highlights some of the real issues Ireland have. They are trying to change how they play but for all the things they are doing right their attention to detail has been poor. They are scoring tries comfortably but they are butchering an equal number of chances. Their line defence is outstanding, but their ruck defence hearkens back to last year’s interpretation. They want and need to change but it is a painful transition. They got out of jail against Italy, spurned a realistic win over France and hung on for dear life to beat Scotland. Two wins and one loss is not a bad season, but it is the manner that is causing the tumult. Of course some of the reports are unfavourable. The team have raised expectations over the last 10 years and they have basked in that glory. Supporters and the media alike have had a taste for the good stuff and do not like the dip in handling or the increase in the penalty count. Of course they are grumbling. Very little of it is personal and the bit that is should be thrown in the trash. More time needs to be diverted to what matters, improved performance and continued winning. Ireland have to learn that the game they need to play is one they can be confident with, because at the moment they are caught between the old and the new. The answer? Tone down the expansive and make decisions on merit, not on how you would like to play. It’s not paranoia if they are out to get you, but most are not. Most just want you to play well and win.

http://web.archive.org/web/20160721121729id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/sport/rugbyunion/international/ireland/8373920/Keith-Wood-Ireland-should-ignore-criticism-and-concentrate-on-improving-in-the-Six-Nations.html

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Keith Wood: Ireland should ignore criticism and concentrate on improving in the Six Nations

I learned my lesson about opinions very early in my career. I was selected as a callow-faced 20 year-old with a shock of black hair to sit on the Ireland bench in November 1992 for the match against Australia.

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A senior figure in the Somali militant group al-Shabab has told the BBC it carried out a deadly attack on a shopping centre in neighbouring Kenya. The gunmen have been cornered but an unknown number of hostages are still trapped inside Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall, officials say. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said 39 people had been killed, including some of his family, and 150 were injured. Al-Shabab said the attack was in response to Kenyan troops in Somalia. There are about 4,000 Kenyan troops in the south of Somalia, where they have been fighting the militants since 2011. On its Twitter feed, al-Shabab - which has links to al-Qaeda - said it was behind what it called the "Westgate spectacle". In his TV address, Mr Kenyatta said security forces were "in the process of neutralising the attackers and securing the mall". He went on: "We shall hunt down the perpetrators wherever they run to. We shall get to them and we shall punish them for this heinous crime." He said he had "personally lost family members in the Westgate attack". By Mark DoyleBBC News, with African Union forces in Kismayo, southern Somalia Kenya has about 4,000 troops in southern Somalia. They intervened in 2011 following attacks and kidnappings in northern Kenya near the Somali border. The Kenyans were subsequently integrated into a larger African Union (AU) force of 17,000 soldiers. It has a UN mandate to protect the weak Somali government. In practice this means the AU force - known as Amisom - attack al-Shabab where they can. But al-Shabab still control at least half of southern Somalia. Al-Shabab respond to Amisom by mounting hit and run attacks. They say Amisom are invaders stopping their legitimate vision of creating an Islamic state. Here in Kismayo, for example, the airport comes under regular attack by small arms fire suspected to come from al-Shabaab positions. The Kenyan army responds with heavier weapons to chase the attackers away. As night fell in Nairobi, two contingents of army special forces troops are reported to have moved inside the mall. A police officer inside the shopping centre told Reuters that the remaining gunmen were barricaded inside a Nakumatt supermarket, one of Kenya's biggest chains. In the early hours of Sunday morning, the Kenya National Disaster Operation Centre said the number of hostages was "still unknown, but they are in several locations". "The gunmen have been contained in one location, but there are hostages elsewhere in the vicinity who cannot access the exit," the centre said on its Twitter feed. Upper levels of the mall had been secured, it said. The attackers entered the Westgate centre at about 12:00 local time (09:00 GMT), throwing grenades and firing automatic weapons. A children's day event was being held at the time. The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner says a security source told him that at least one of the attackers was a woman who appeared to have some kind of leadership role. Our correspondent says that it is unclear how many civilians are hostages and how many are in hiding. Al-Shabab said on Twitter that the Kenyan government wanted to negotiate an end to the Westgate attack. But officials have told the BBC they intend to hunt the gunmen down. One gunman was arrested and died of his wounds, Kenyan officials told the BBC. Four other gunmen were arrested. Security experts are reported to have long warned that the complex, which is at least in part Israeli-owned, was in danger of being subjected to a terror attack. Some witnesses said the gunmen had told Muslims to leave and said non-Muslims would be targeted. "They came and said: 'If you are Muslim, stand up. We've come to rescue you," said Elijah Lamau. He said the Muslims left with their hands up, and then the gunmen shot two people. The correspondent in Nairobi for the Economist, Daniel Howden told the BBC he spoke to one man with a Christian first name but a Muslim-sounding surname who managed to escape the attackers by putting his thumb over his first name on his ID. However, the man told Mr Howden that an Indian man standing next to him who was asked for the name of the Prophet Muhammad's mother was shot dead when he was unable to answer. The BBC's Mark Doyle, who is embedded with the African Union (AU) mission in Somalia, says the AU troops attack al-Shabab where they can. Al-Shabab says the AU forces are invaders stopping their legitimate vision of creating an Islamic state and respond by mounting hit-and-run attacks, our correspondent says. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said there would "undoubtedly" be British nationals caught up in Saturday's events. The US State Department says it has reports that American citizens were injured in what it called "a senseless act of violence". Two French citizens were among the victims of the attack, the Elysee Palace said in a statement. President Francois Hollande "condemns the cowardly attack in the strongest terms and shares the pain of the family of our compatriots", it said. Two Canadians, including a diplomat, are also among the dead. Nairobi's mortuary superintendent, Sammy Nyongesa Jacob, told Reuters that Africans, Asians and Caucasians were among the bodies brought to the mortuary. This is one of the worst incidents in Kenya since the attack on the US embassy in August 1998.

http://web.archive.org/web/20160807095628id_/http://www.bbc.com:80/news/world-africa-24191606

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Somalia's al-Shabab claims Nairobi Westgate Kenya attack

Somali militant group Al-Shabab tells the BBC it carried out an attack on a Nairobi shopping centre in which at least 39 people died, and where hostages remain trapped.

20160808121255

"The store manager saw it and that wasn't nice, it was cruel. I wouldn't dream of writing a letter of complaint on company headed paper." Daniel Theophanides, head of retail at Irregular Choice The upset MP wrote a strongly-worded letter of complaint on House of Commons notepaper, saying: "I have only ever brought your shoes and I am loath to do so again, or recommend your shoes to others. I am writing to let you know that treating customers in that way will only cost you more in the long term." Daniel Theophanides, 32, head of retail at Brighton-based Irregular Choice, said he was 'personally very shocked by the complaint', adding: "It was the wording of the complaint on House of Commons headed paper. One was addressed to head office and the other was sent to the shop in Brighton. "The store manager saw it and that wasn't nice, it was cruel. I wouldn't dream of writing a letter of complaint on company headed paper." He insisted the MP mistakenly believed she was on a pre-order list but in fact the shoes were only available to people who turned up at their shops. He said: "There was a queue outside every single one of our five stores in the UK on Carnaby Street and Camden in London and in Brighton, Leicester and Norwich." He said he called her to say he was 'sorry she missed out' but did not get a chance to offer her a pair he had sourced from China as she 'hung up'. The MP tweeted about the incident, writing: "Shame they sold my pair after I waited months on their list & been a customer 4 years. Poor customer service." She told the M.E.N. in a statement: "There appears to have been a breakdown in communications with the company, which is regrettable." She added: "My complaint was about the poor level of customer service and the attitude of a member of staff, who appears to be seeking headlines in tabloid newspapers rather than concentrating on providing a decent service to customers." Her office pointed out rules permitted 'modest use of' House of Commons stationery for personal correspondence.

http://web.archive.org/web/20160808121255id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/news/general-election-2015/parliamentary-constituencies/ashton-under-lyne/11983331/Labour-MP-uses-Commons-notepaper-to-criticise-shoe-shop-for-failing-to-reserve-novelty-Star-Wars-shoes.html

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Labour MP uses Commons notepaper to criticise shoe shop for failing to reserve novelty Star Wars shoes

Angela Rayner uses Commons notepaper to complain that her novelty Star Wars shoes had not been reserved

20160808143215

“This is an entirely new native mobile sign up service that makes mobile-first sign-up frictionless, and creates an identity relationship entirely between you and your users,” said Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, speaking at the Twitter Flight developer conference in San Francisco today. “We power it – we make it easy for you to communicate with your users – but that identity relationship is between you and them, not some third party. We power it and then we get out of the way.” Twitter is able to provide this service because it has relationships with almost every major mobile operator on the planet. This means that users can post to Twitter from pretty much any country in the world by simply sending a text message to their Twitter account. While Snapchat and WhatsApp have got ahead of the game by making their own SMS deals with mobile operators for identity verification purposes, Digits allows developers to leverage Twitter's existing distribution network, making the whole process quicker and less expensive. Digits is just one of feature of Twitter's new mobile development platform, called Fabric, which aims to give developers a comprehensive toolkit for developing apps that integrate with Twitter. The technology will be available in 216 countries and 18 languages, and will be free for developers to use. This also includes a new syndication tool, that makes it easier for app developers to embed filtered streams of tweets in their apps and web pages, and new crash-reporting tools from Crashlytics – a company that Twitter acquired in January. Mobile-focused ad exchange MoPub, which Twitter acquired last year, has also been integrated into Fabric, allowing app developers to take images and text elements supplied by advertisers and format them so that they integrate better with their own content, making the ads less intrusive for the user. App developers do not have to use all of the features of Fabric; they can pick the features they want and display them on a dashboard, giving them a high level view of how their app is performing and how it is being used. McDonalds, Wall Street Journal, Spotify and Jawbone's Jambox are all already using aspects of the Fabric mobile development platform to improve the performance and enhance the capabilities of their iOS and Android apps. “What we’re announcing today has been forged from components that are already in use across a spectrum of apps, servicing more than one billion iOS and Android users around the world,” said Costolo. In the UK, 11.4 million people accessed Twitter at least once per month on a mobile phone in 2014, according to eMarketer – or 84 per cent of all UK Twitter users. In the US, that figure is 40.7 million, also reaching 84 per cent of US Twitter users. Twitter accounted for 0.7 per cent of UK digital ad revenues in 2013, and is expected to reach 1.3 per cent market share this year. Digital advertising totaled £6.3 billion in the UK in 2013, and eMarketer estimates it will increase to £7.25 billion in 2014.

http://web.archive.org/web/20160808143215id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/technology/twitter/11181258/Twitter-wages-war-on-passwords-with-Digits-phone-number-login.html

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Twitter wages war on the password with 'Digits' phone number login

Twitter has announced a new service called Digits that allows users to login to mobile apps using their mobile phone number alone

20160814060003

LOS ANGELES—Authorities arrested the mayor and most city-council members Tuesday in Bell, Calif., charging them and former officials with defrauding constituents of $5.5 million in outsized salaries and perks. The arrests, which landed all but one of the city's elected officials in Los Angeles County jails, came after revelations this summer that some part-time council members were paying themselves $100,000 a year. Former City Manager Robert Rizzo was the highest paid among those charged, taking home $1.1 million a year in salary and benefits. The blue-collar municipality of 37,000 mostly Latino residents is one of a cluster of small cities southeast of Los Angeles that has been wracked by corruption scandals for years. "This is corruption on steroids," said Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, who filed the charges Tuesday. At a news conference, Mr. Cooley said more charges could be filed as the probe continues. He said the officials could face a range of sentences if convicted, and promised "substantial prison time for the worst offenders." All but one of the city's sitting elected officials were booked on criminal charges Tuesday. Bail hearings are set for Wednesday morning. Bell city-council member Lorenzo Velez, who hasn't been charged in civil or criminal court, was left to run the city with interim City Manager Pedro Carrillo. Mr. Carrillo said in a statement released after the arrests that he was "prepared to double down our efforts to continue to restore order, establish good government reforms" and continue to run the city. Mr. Rizzo was charged with 53 counts of misappropriation of $4.3 million of public funds. The district attorney's office said Mr. Rizzo "wrote his own employment contracts that were never approved by the city council." Other former and current officials were charged with 24 counts of misappropriating $1.2 million of public funds. The criminal case also alleges that Mr. Rizzo, hired as Bell's chief administrative officer in 1994, gave nearly $1.9 million of unauthorized loans to himself, his former assistant, Angela Spaccia, two council members "and dozens of others." Mr. Rizzo's lawyer and lawyers for some of the defendants said their clients' salaries and loans were not a secret because elected officials approved them. "Both of my clients intend to prove their innocence," said Stanley L. Friedman, the lawyer representing Mayor Oscar Hernandez and former city council member Victor Bello. "Given the general hysteria that is going on in Bell and the political environment in California, they're not surprised by the charges." Bell officials used taxpayer dollars "as their own piggy bank, which they looted at will," Mr. Cooley said. Mr. Cooley said most of the arrests were without incident. However, a battering ram was used to enter the house of Mayor Oscar Hernandez, who was "a little slow" in answering the door, Mr. Cooley said at the news conference. Bail for Mr. Rizzo, who stepped down in July after the scandal broke in the Los Angeles Times, was set at $3.2 million. The criminal charges come on the heels of a civil suit filed against former and current Bell officials last week by California Attorney General Jerry Brown seeking to recover millions of dollars of salaries and pension benefits from Bell officials. Mr. Brown agreed to file civil charges while Mr. Cooley pursued criminal charges. Both men are in the midst of political campaigns. Mr. Cooley is the Republican candidate to succeed Mr. Brown as attorney general; Mr. Brown is the Democratic candidate for governor. Each has been accused by opponents and lawyers for some of the defendants of using the Bell scandal to burnish their election campaigns. Mr. Rizzo's lawyer, James W. Spertus, accused Mr. Cooley of grandstanding by allowing the media to photograph Mr. Rizzo being taken into custody outside his home. "The arrest of Mr. Rizzo in a public spectacle was inappropriate and done for campaign purposes," Mr. Spertus said. The arrests were widely anticipated following this summer's revelations of inflated salaries. Angry residents had already managed to oust a few city officials, but had been clamoring for criminal charges, and mounted a recall campaign to unseat most of the city-council members. "I'm so glad this day is finally here," said Mario Rivas, a Bell resident and a member of the Bell Residents Club, which has been pushing for investigations of city officials. On Tuesday, Mr. Rivas and other Bell residents held a celebratory lunch in downtown Los Angeles. But Mr. Rivas said he and others are convinced "it's just the beginning." Mr. Rivas said he was disappointed that the former police chief, Randy Adams, whose salary was $457,000 a year, wasn't arrested. Mr. Adams was named in the civil suit. Mr. Cooley, who has been criticized for having a friendly relationship with Mr. Adams, said Tuesday that the probe so far hasn't led to charges against Mr. Adams, but didn't rule it out. "I would charge my mother if I had evidence," Mr. Cooley said. Meanwhile, some Bell residents are pushing for the city to be handed over to impartial receivers in the county or the state. "This is a crisis of confidence," said the Bell Residents Club's Mr. Rivas, adding that the only way for the city to move forward was for an impartial outsider to take over. The remaining city officials pledged to keep the city running. "It is a sad day for Bell that four current and two former members of the council also have been arrested," said a statement released by a Bell spokeswoman. The statement said the city believed Mr. Rizzo, as well as his former assistant, Ms. Spaccia, "were at the root of the cancer that has afflicted the City of Bell." Write to Tamara Audi at tammy.audi@wsj.com

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Eight Arrested in Municipal Salary Scandal

Eight current and former municipal officials were arrested as part of a corruption probe in Bell, Calif., where residents were outraged after learning officials were paying themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars in salaries.

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“We’re trying to put Belize on the map as much as we can,” Nellie, a retired nurse, said. “Simone is competing for the U.S., and we’re not taking any credit away from that. But the fact that she has dual citizenship, I don’t see why we cannot celebrate her second country also.” CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times And Belize seems happy to celebrate Biles. Formerly known as British Honduras, it gained its independence only in 1981. Belize has never produced an Olympic champion since it began competing in the Summer Games in 1968. A small contingent of three athletes was sent to Rio to compete with modest ambitions in track and field and judo. During the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Belize did have a big moment, celebrating and claiming three gold medals won in sprinting by the American Marion Jones, whose mother was born here. After winning the 200 meters, Jones held up a Belizean flag. Its coat of arms features two woodcutters, one with light brown skin carrying an ax, the other darker skinned and holding an oar, who symbolize the country’s ethnic diversity, history of slavery and its mahogany industry. Jones’s gesture brought international attention to Belize and widely endeared her to its citizens. The country later named her a sports ambassador. Though Jones’s victories were nullified and her career disgraced by doping and a check-fraud scheme, which brought a prison sentence of six months, she remains popular and appreciated here. Belize’s national stadium, long being refurbished, is called the Marion Jones Sports Complex. Belize’s relationship with Simone Biles is less entrenched so far, but also less complicated. She is a bubbly teenager who has traveled here regularly to visit and to go fishing and snorkeling on vacation. Last summer, she attended the wedding of her brother here, posed for a newspaper photographer, and was spotted doing back flips off a pier. Upon arriving in Rio, she traded Olympic pins with a Belizean athlete. “Simone said, when she gets married, it’s going to be in Belize,” Nellie Biles said. Ron Biles paused as he sat on a sofa at a hotel near Rio’s Olympic Park on Monday, his 67th birthday. “It’s going to be a while longer,” he said as a group of relatives broke into laughter. “Another 16 years.” As the Olympics approached, Simone was acknowledged by Belize’s ministry of youth and sports, interviewed on the popular Love FM radio, featured in the country’s largest-selling newspaper and followed widely on social media. “People are very excited, because she has Belizean parentage, she’s a great athlete and she acknowledges her Belizean roots,” Adele Ramos, the assistant editor of Amandala, Belize’s largest-circulating newspaper, said of Biles. “She is the next best thing for us after Marion Jones.” The American gymnast Simone Biles spoke on Friday after she won the women’s individual all-around gold medal at the Rio Games. Yet some feel conflicted, not about Biles, but about the way Belize, in their view, does not fully support its homegrown athletes. Karen Vernon, the theater director of Belize’s Institute of Creative Arts and the mother of two of the country’s top cyclists, said she was happy for Biles but did not “like the fact that Belize is waiting for her to win to claim her.” “We need to support our own athletes and artists,” Vernon said. “We have talent here.” The Cayetano family was not athletic, Nellie Biles said the other day with a laugh, though her father did claim ornately to have been a gymnast and the source of Simone’s versatile skills. “Everybody knows that Nellie’s father was a comedian,” said Florita Avila, 59, a cousin of Simone’s. As a girl, Nellie Biles said she played tennis and did the hop, skip and jump. Ron, her husband, shook his head. “You played hopscotch,” he said. His wife did not play sports but watched them on television, Ron added, before correcting himself and saying, “You didn’t have a television.” It is a true story, Nellie said. In 1973, at 18, she left Belize to attend nursing school at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Until then, she said, she had never seen a television in person, used a phone or flown on a plane. “It was, needless to say, culture shock,” she said. In 1976, she met Ron, who was stationed at Randolph Air Force Base outside San Antonio. (He is retired from the military and from his career as an air traffic controller.) In 1977, they married, and they have the playful banter of a couple who has been together for 40 years. Was it love at first sight? “No, oh no,” Nellie Biles said. “It was his good luck.” Ron replied, “She’s still here, isn’t she?” When the adoption of Simone and Adria, now 17, became official in November 2003, the Bileses returned home from meeting with a family judge outside Houston. Nellie told the girls that they could continue to call her and Ron Grandma and Grandpa, or they could call them Mom and Dad. Simone has said that she went upstairs, practiced in the mirror, then came down and said “Mom.” Nellie remembers Simone running back upstairs, probably giggling because it seemed funny. It was Mom from then on. Sam Manchester will guide you through the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Hey. It’s Sam from the NYT Sports desk. I’m at the Olympics in Rio (so you don’t have to be :)). Grab a limited spot and I’ll text you updates, answer your questions and share the behind-the-scenes stuff nobody else gets. Thanks! Talk to you soon. U.S. numbers only. Standard messaging rates may apply. Your information is used only to deliver messages about the Rio 2016 Olympics. “I think these girls did more for us than we did for them,” Nellie Biles said. “Simone centralized us as a family. We come together and do things and go places because of Simone.” While on a day-care field trip, Simone became interested in gymnastics. Her relatives in Belize remember her from those days as “little Simone,” a tiny girl in perpetual motion, a “spring chicken” and “a firecracker.” And they say she came to possess the same discipline, insistence, confidence and expectation as Nellie, the eldest sibling in her own family, who with three partners came to own 14 nursing homes in Texas before selling them last year and turning her attention to operating a gymnastics center. “She is Nellie’s child all over,” said Felix Enriquez, 47, Opal’s brother, who is scheduled to become the second in command in Belize’s ministry of defense. “A fair but stern personality. Always demanding that things be done in a proper way. A very big thinker. She doesn’t think small.” Ron and Nellie Biles have lived in their current home in Spring, Tex., for six years. Ron, a native of Cleveland, said he had never been in the pool until he jumped in when the Cavaliers won the N.B.A. title in June, the city’s first major championship since 1964. Would he jump in the Atlantic in Rio if Simone won gold in the women’s individual all around? “I’ll probably just cry,” he said. Nellie said she would watch nervously in the arena, grabbing someone to hold onto. Here, at the hotel bar, there was little tension, only clapping and cheering except for during Simone’s wobble on the balance beam. “I was panicking at that one,” Felix Enriquez said. Not to worry. Biles had a huge lead, which she secured on the floor exercise with elegance, strength and the stunning ability to land like a dart. “Oh my God!” Simplis Barrow, Belize’s first lady, said, putting her hands to her face, pumping her fists, and photo bombing a family picture. “Woooh.” “She has inspired us all,” Simplis Barrow said. “No matter where you come from, you can succeed. It is all right there in that small package.” A version of this article appears in print on August 12, 2016, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: As Biles Soars, a Tiny Country Rises With Her. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

http://web.archive.org/web/20160814102713id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2016/08/12/sports/olympics/simone-biles-gymnastics-belize-rio-games.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

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Simone Biles Soars, Lifting Another Country With Her

Her dual citizenship and family ties let Belize, 4,000 miles from the Rio Games, bask in her golden glow.

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It has taken a multitude of factors, all emerging around the same time, to create the volatility investors currently witness in the market, Hastings said. And it's precisely because of the complexity of all those risk factors that oil is expected to remain at lower prices for months. "You're looking at a lot of supply in a world that has a flat demand story," he said. Much of flat demand stems from worries of a recession in Europe and a slowdown in China. The euro zone is combating longstanding economic problems that have left it on the brink of another economic crisis. Meanwhile, growth in China has begun to lag, which is expected to reduce its thirst for crude. "In a slowdown, it's just natural that consumers would consume less," said Lars Knudsen, also a managing director and partner with HighTower Bellevue. "Even with lower oil prices, if unemployment is at 20 percent in Spain, those people are going to drive less and going to spend less. The same thing goes with China." Read More Why the oil price decline is failing to boost Europe Meanwhile, low demand for oil is being met by exorbitant supply. U.S. production of crude remains at all-time highs, which previously was of little consequence but now compounds the problem seen in the crude market. Simultaneously, political conditions have improved in Libya, allowing for oil production to ramp up in earnest for the first time since the start of the country's civil. Russia also plays the role of a spoiler when it comes to global crude supplies. Given the economic turmoil Russia has experienced due to its involvement in Ukraine, some analysts believe Moscow may cash in on its stores of oil to help keep the country's economy afloat. Normally, high oil supplies would push OPEC and other oil producing countries to cut production. Yet, recent reports suggest OPEC nations, particularly Saudi Arabia, are willing to keep prices low if that increases demand. "They have expectations of income," Knudsen said. "So they have increased production to keep their heads above water."

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Cheap oil is here to stay, at least for a few months

Oil prices should stay at their currently low levels, or drop further, due to a "perfect storm" of risk factors.

20160820182559

Eight months after striking a $335 million partnership deal, startup CRISPR Therapeutics and Germany’s Bayer AG are taking the wraps off the new company formed to develop drugs using CRISPR’s gene editing technology. The partners are set to announce Friday that they have christened the joint venture Casebia Therapeutics, and plan to move the company early next year into new offices and labs at 610 Main St. in Cambridge, subleasing 33,000 square feet of space at a Pfizer Inc. research complex outside Kendall Square. Casebia’s interim chief executive, Axel Bouchon, said the company will focus on treatments for blood disorders, blindness, and congenital heart disease. He expects to have 20 employees in Cambridge by the end of the year, with the workforce expanding fourfold by the end of 2017. The new company’s leased space could accommodate 80 to 120 people, he said. Two smaller Casebia teams, initially staffed with 15 to 20 people each, will work in Bayer research buildings in Cologne, Germany, and San Francisco’s Mission Bay. “The question is how fast can we scale up,” Bouchon, who heads Bayer HealthCare’s global business development, said in an interview. “Hiring in Cambridge is tough. However, it’s a huge opportunity. If you have an interesting technology and funding, you can tap a pool of scientific talent that is the best in the world.” Casebia’s name derives from the medical research tool known as Crispr-Cas9, a kind of molecular scissors scientists hope to use to cut out and correct genetic mutations known to cause thousands of diseases. While the emerging approach is still in its early stages of development, it has become one of the hottest corners of the biotech world. In addition to CRISPR — which is based in Basel, Switzerland, but does its research in Cambridge -- two other Cambridge-based startups, Editas Medicine and Intellia Therapeutics Inc., are working to develop drugs with Crispr-Cas9 technology. Larger drug companies also have been drawn to the field. Editas has struck its own research partnership with biotech Juno Therapeutics Inc. of Seattle, while Intellia collaborates with Swiss drug giant Novartis AG, which also bases its global research operation in Cambridge. CRISPR itself struck an earlier alliance last fall with Boston’s Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. to use the startup’s gene-editing technology in developing cystic fibrosis drugs. Bayer also plans to locate its new East Coast Innovation Center at 610 Main St. The center has a broader mission of managing local pharmaceutical, consumer health, and crop science research alliances, including one with the nearby Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. The innovation center will have about 15 employees. CRISPR, meanwhile, plans to move its own headquarters, labs, and 80 employees from 200 Sidney St. to another floor in the building. By forming a separate company, Bayer and CRISPR can hire management dedicated exclusively to their joint research programs. Casebia was initially funded with $300 million from Bayer; another $35 million was spent to give Bayer an unspecified stake in CRISPR. The joint venture structure would also enable Casebia to bring on additional investors down the road or go public to raise more money if its research programs advance. Its goal is to bring three to four hematology and ophthalmology programs to clinical trials in the next five years, said Rodger Novak, chief executive of CRISPR Therapeutics. “This gives us the opportunity to extend our portfolio,” Novak said in an interview. “We’re working on programs we otherwise wouldn’t have the capacity to work on. There will be a lot of cross-fertilization.” While many of the gene editing alliances are focused on specific disease targets, the Bayer-CRISPR partnership is broad enough to form a separate company working on multiple medicines in its three therapeutic areas, Bouchon said. “It’s a pure strategic focus, not a single-target focus,” he said. “That’s what makes it completely different.” In addition to removing defective genes from patients, modifying, and reinjecting them, he said, Casebia scientists hope to use Bayer’s protein engineering expertise to modify genes in vivo, or inside the body — a process that could help treat many diseases. “We believe we can improve the precision of the Crispr-Cas9 technology at our process engineering facility in Cologne,” said Bouchon. Even before it moves into its new Cambridge facility and begins hiring its staff, Casebia will be operating with a small crew of about five employees here and 10 in Cologne. They are being supported by about 15 employees from Bayer and CRISPR.

http://web.archive.org/web/20160820182559id_/https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/08/18/crispr-takes-wraps-off-joint-venture-with-bayer/qwop7BFWXVpGL43h91Yz1M/story.html

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CRISPR takes the wraps off joint venture with Bayer

The two drug makers are set to announce Friday that they are forming a joint venture called Casebia Therapeutics to develop drugs that treat blood disorders, blindness, and congenital heart disease based on CRISPR’s gene-editing technology.

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No playwright blasted away at the foundations of American complacency with more zest than Edward Albee, author of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’’, who died Friday at 88. Albee’s insights were withering, his gaze as pitiless as an X-ray. The playwright consistently sought to chart the fault lines in the American psyche and to show us what we are capable of. A witty but cold-eyed teller of what he saw as the truth, he rigorously measured off the distance between our idea of ourselves and the messy reality. Any short list of the greatest American playwrights has to include Albee. As early as 1961, well before the decade’s political and social upheaval led to a widespread questioning of commonly accepted values, Albee produced a scorching satire provocatively titled “The American Dream,’’ about a couple, named Mommy and Daddy, who had systematically destroyed their child. In his preface to an edition of the play, Albee described it as “a stand against the fiction that everything in this slipping land of ours is peachy-keen.’’ He added: “Is the play offensive? I certainly hope so; it was my intention to offend — as well as amuse and entertain.’’ That could virtually stand as a manifesto for many dramatists who followed him. And, indeed, Albee’s fingerprints are all over the culture today, detectable in dramas of alienation among the upper-middle-class like Matthew Weiner’s “Mad Men’’ that seek to peel back the facade of social propriety to reveal the hypocrisy and deceit within. Unhappy families, discordant marriages, and sudden eruptions of violence in seemingly banal situations are now commonplace on the stage, on television, and in the movies — all part of Albee’s legacy. “If you’re willing to fail interestingly, you tend to succeed interestingly,’’ Albee once said, and he lived his own precept. The playwright won the Pulitzer Prize for drama three times — for “A Delicate Balance,’’ “Seascape,’’ and “Three Tall Women’’ — but he was in and out of critical favor over the course of his long career. Three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee has died in suburban New York City at age 88. Albee’s masterpiece, of course, is 1962’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’’, a blistering portrait of a marriage between George, a history professor at a New England college, and his wife, Martha, the daughter of the college’s president. Their endless cycle of mutual recriminations revolve around an imaginary child, culminating in a haunting ending. The play — which was adapted into a movie in 1966, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, directed by Mike Nichols — presented marriage as a take-no-prisoners arena of domestic combat, of psycho-dynamics and hidden wounds and long-delayed revenge. When a production of the play opened at Boston’s Colonial Theatre in 1963, producers agreed, under pressure from the city’s censor, to delete the “irreverent use of the Lord’s name’’ from the production. But the play outlasted the censors, and its influence on succeeding generations of dramatists was not hard to discern. Few were Albee’s equal when it came to psychological complexity and to evoking states of unease or disorientation. In “The Zoo Story’’ (1959), an intrusive man named Jerry engages a publishing executive named Peter in conversation on a park bench that escalates into increasingly disconcerting territory before the play climaxes in an act of horrifying violence. In “A Delicate Balance’’ (1966), the life of an affluent couple is disrupted and destabilized when longtime friends arrive at their house, bringing with them an aura of nameless dread and terror — and refusing to leave. The critic Harold Bloom once called Albee “the crucial American dramatist of his generation,’’ describing him as the “decisive link’’ between an earlier generation that included Eugene O’Neill, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and Thornton Wilder, and the newer-generation likes of David Mamet and Sam Shepard. There is no shortage of problems in contemporary American life for the current generation of dramatists to tackle. Edward Albee left a pretty clear road map of how it can be done.

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Edward Albee cast an X-ray gaze into the American psyche

Today, Albee’s fingerprints are all over the culture, detectable in dramas like Matthew Weiner’s “Mad Men’’ that seek to peel back the facade of bourgeois propriety to reveal the hypocrisy and deceit within.

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was honored by her close friends at a special event on Sunday – one week after the late star Fans of the transgender trailblazer and several friends who belonged to Arquette's close circle gathered at The Pig 'n Whistle in Hollywood for the Alexis Arquette: Celebration of Life Party. The event was hosted by , 37, a fellow drag performer who met the star in 1999. About 50 friends and fans were on hand for the party. Arquette's favorite artists – , the Killers and the Pet Shop Boys – played in the background, and the late star's movies and homemade videos were playing on two TVs above the bar. "I had to come tonight," drag queen Rhea Litré told PEOPLE. "Alexis has done a lot for me. She meant so much to me." "She gave me my first drag me downs," continued Litré. "She believed in me – I am indebted to her. She gave me the start of my drag. I just saw her six months ago and she told me she was proud of me and I was beautiful." Litré said Arquette lived across the street in West Hollywood. Over the last two years, Arquette would stop by at all hours of the night to hang out and enjoy a cocktail. "It was always a beautiful experience," says Litré. "It was always full of joy." Litré said a funeral will not be held for Arquette, but that the family plans to cremate her and scatter her ashes in the ocean. Of her death, Litré said: "I felt like she wanted to go and she was ready. I am sad we lost Alexis, but to be honest we lost her along time ago. She hadn't left her house for two years." According to Litré, Arquette left a lasting legacy and is considered a "I learned who I am through my friendship with Alexis," said Litré. "I wanted to pay tribute to the person who inspired me as an artist. If you were in the presence of Alexis, you knew you were in the presence of a star. We lost an icon." Another friend who saw Arquette just before she died told PEOPLE the star was "obviously sick." "She was losing her eyesight, but she was still in good spirits. It was hard to see her like that," said the friend. "It's sad. She wasn't in a good healthy place and she just wanted to go." Also present for the celebration was , who starred in the 1997 film Guillermo Díaz (as Huck) on Scandal "She was still living as a boy at the time," Diaz, 41, told PEOPLE. "I had just sort of come out. I had developed a crush on Alexis. I was so infatuated and I thought he was so hot." Díaz said he hadn't seen Arquette in two years but "got so emotional" when he found out she had passed. "She was so full of life," said Díaz, recalling a time when Arquette showed up one day on set with a whole reel of film and made a temporary wig out of it. "She was the most creative person I ever met – I wished I could be more like her," he said. "She was one of the most unique performers. The artistic talent oozed out of her. It never stopped. She wanted to do it all and she did." Díaz and Arquette later starred in a second movie together, in 2003. At that point, Arquette was living as a woman. "She was the same outrageous, no-holds-barred Alexis and just as beautiful," he said. "She was very in the moment. She never talked about the future or her past work. She lived in the moment. She was living her life and having fun. She chose not to worry about the future or past. I think it was a gift." Díaz said he last saw Arquette at a café in West Hollywood. "I was walking by and saw her and caught up," he recalled. "I didn't know she was sick. She was so young. But she left behind a legacy. For me, her legacy is she taught me to accept myself. To love me for exactly who I am." Richard Noble, who said he dated Arquette on and off for a year, drove two hours to attend the event and told PEOPLE hearing of her passing was "a shock." "I didn't know he was ill," said Noble, who chose to use male pronouns when referring to Arquette. "To lose him was like a punch in the stomach." Noble said the two met in the locker room of a 24 Hour Fitness in 1996. "I thought he was so gorgeous," Noble recalled. "I didn't know him as a girl but as a boy. That smile. He was always the center of the party. When he was here, stars would look his way. He really had magnetism. It was irresistible." Noble adds: "He had a lot of courage. He had a spirit of freedom and nothing would drag him down." Noble said he reconnected with Arquette on Facebook last year: "I felt there was a bitterness and resentment about how he was accepted in Hollywood," Noble explained. "He didn't seem very happy." Drag queen Christy Girlington met Arquette in 1985. "She was the first transgender [person] I ever met," Girlington told PEOPLE. "She looked like but a lot skinnier. She was my idol. I was from Minnesota. She was beautiful, feminine and had the best style. She always called me Norma. We would dance for hours." "She literally taught me how to accept myself," Girlington added. Sham Ibrahim (left) and Alexis Arquette Ibrahim, who hosted the party, told PEOPLE "there should be 100 Alexis Arquette memorials around the city." "This is the only way to keep her spirit alive," he said. "I felt she deserved the fame and respect. To see the loss of someone so talented ... I just stopped crying two days ago. " Ibrahim said he decided to throw the party at a nightclub because "nightclubs were her home. She was a true club kid." "There was nobody in this world and there will never be anyone like Alexis Arquette," Ibrahim continued. "The world has lost an amazing talent and it is heartbreaking." "She was sensitive, giving and honest," added another friend who didn't want to be identified. "She was a person of great gratitude. She loved her friends and family more than life itself. I saw her the day before she died. I was content and so was she."

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Friends and Fans Celebrate Late Star at Intimate Gathering : People.com

"She chose not to worry about the future or past. I think it was a gift," Scandal star Guillermo Díaz told PEOPLE

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Australia's medicinal cannabis industry officially gets the green light next week but the woman instrumental in driving the changes warns it'll be a long time before patients see the benefits. From November 1, cannabis for therapeutic use will become a controlled drug rather than a prohibited one. People will also be able to apply for licences to grow and manufacture medicinal cannabis in Australia. But Lucy Haslam, who became the face of the campaign for change after medicinal cannabis helped her late son Dan with the severe nausea caused by chemotherapy, says patients still face many hurdles to access. "I've got a lot of calls from patients saying how do I get it," Ms Haslam told AAP. "The reality is there's nothing to get yet." Elaine Darby, chief executive of medicinal cannabis company AusCann, says patients should be able to start accessing Australian-grown cannabis from late 2017. It's now up to other states and territories to enact their own legislation to enable access, as NSW and Queensland have done. But Ms Haslam says access from late 2017 is the best-case scenario. Once licences are granted, growers will need to import stock to get started, grow and manufacture the product, and then get it approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. Until that happens, the only way to access medicinal cannabis is through the existing TGA special access scheme, which is complicated and "very problematic". There's also the issue of educating doctors who will need to prescribe the cannabis as they have been reluctant to get on board. "There's still quite a process that's going to take time - I think everyone is kind of making it up as they go along," Ms Haslam says. "It's very frustrating for patients that are wanting to access it now." Ms Haslam says Tuesday's changes are a significant milestone and eventually, Australia will have one of the world's best systems because it's been approved federally. But until it's up and running, she's pushing for a national compassionate access scheme for patients who need medicinal cannabis right now. Ms Haslam is calling for legislation to ensure patients needing to access the black market for now are protected, instead of relying on police discretion. "At the moment people clearly don't have a choice, people are still effectively breaking the law, and that's a really big burden if you're very sick." NSW already has a compassionate access system but it's deeply flawed because it's only available to adults and the terminally ill, Ms Haslam says. Patients, researchers and entrepreneurs are set to meet in Sydney on Saturday to brainstorm ideas on how to overcome the hurdles patients are likely to face in accessing medicinal cannabis. The organiser of the Seedlings event, entrepreneur Adam Miller who founded medicinal cannabis incubation program BuddingTech, says despite the many unknowns and barriers, there'll be plenty of opportunity. The Australian medicinal cannabis market is set to be worth around $150 million with massive growth predicted. "That's just based on a small number of patient groups - there are many other groups with supporting evidence that cannabis can help them too," Mr Miller told AAP.

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Patients still face hurdles to cannabis

The woman instrumental in the campaign to legalise medicinal cannabis says changes happening next week won't be a silver bullet for patients.

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The Northern Territory's chief minister has signed a lease extension with the $37 billion Inpex LNG project while on tour in Japan. Michael Gunner is leading a 10-day trade mission to Japan, Korea and China in his first international trip as Territory leader. He met with Inpex chief executive Toshiaki Kitamura to sign two agreements that will support future jobs and economic growth in the Territory as the construction phase winds down. It reaffirmed the company's commitment to provide local employment during the 40-year project. Mr Gunner also signed a lease agreement which provides the option for development of the land surrounding the project and expansion of operations for 15 years. The NT is home to the Inpex Ichthys project, the single largest Japanese investment in Australia and also the largest Japanese investment outside of Japan. More than 8,000 people are working at Darwin's Bladin Point during this final period of construction and there are concerns for NT jobs once it finishes up. Mr Gunner said the project will contribute to the Territory economy for decades. "The Ichthys LNG Project has at least a 40-year life and today's agreement means there will be ongoing opportunities for Territory businesses during the plant's operations," Mr Gunner said. "During the construction phase, more than 1,000 Territory businesses have secured work on the project." Opposition Leader Gary Higgins criticised the Labor government's lack of a jobs target or pathway to a major project to replace Inpex. Mr Gunner met with representatives of the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Tokyo on Friday to discuss potential future business in asparagus, soya beans and barramundi. Japan is the NT's biggest trading partner, with exports of $2 billion in 2015-16. Next stop on the tour is South Korea where Mr Gunner will visit offshore gas facilities before heading to China for the two-day Rizhao Economic Summit.

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Gunner signs Inpex lease extension for NT

The NT government has signed a lease extension with the $37 billion Inpex LNG project to support future jobs as the construction phase winds down.

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On the first day I commuted to work by bike, I woke up earlier than usual, overstuffed my backpack with snacks, clothes and towels and hit the road at 07:30. After a few miles, the GPS route I was following disappeared, forcing me to pull over to find the route again. Meanwhile, lorries and angry drivers were honking and overtaking me at high speed at a very busy junction. After more than an hour in the saddle, I finally arrived at the office, stressed out – but on time. For those of us who live in crowded cities with bad traffic and scarce parking, there are two main options for commuters: public transport and cycling. When you compare the two, it seems like an easy win for the former: cycling costs less and is good exercise. It’s these factors — along with expansion of bike lanes and cycling advocacy groups — that are helping drive growth in bike commuting in many countries around the world. In the US, the number of commuters by bike increased by 60% over the past decade In the US, according to the US Census Bureau, the number of commuters by bike increased by 60% over the past decade (from 488,000 in 2000 up to 786,000 during the years 2008-12) and 40% from 2006 to 2013 (from 623,000 to 882,000), even though they still account for just 0.6% of the total commuting population (a whopping 143 million workers). In London, according to the most recent census data, the number of cycling commuters more than doubled, from 77,000 in 2001 to 155,000 in 2011. In the UK as a whole in 2014 (the most recent year available), a record 183,423 employees participated in the Cycle to Work scheme, a Government’s scheme that enables employees to get bikes and accessories tax-free through their employers. . When I lived in in Turin, Italy I always cycled: compared to public transport, it was always faster and almost cost-free. I thought the same would apply in London. But that lasted only until I started to ride bikes for living (I was working for a cycling magazine). That’s when I gave up cycling to work. At the time, my office was 12 miles (19km) from my home – which meant either an hour in the saddle or an hour on the overground train. Although the time was the same, cycling was much cheaper: since I already owned everything I needed to commute by bike, the two-wheeled alternative was effectively cost-free. Public transport, on the other hand, was £146 (at the time, $210) a month. That simple calculation, though, didn’t take a couple of factors into account. For one, the need for consistency. If I relied on cycling and didn’t buy a month-long pass for the train – but then changed my mind one morning because, say, of bad weather – I was looking at an extra £11 ($15.80 at that time) round-trip. Doing that just twice a month added up quickly. On a bicycle, the traffic, the red lights and pollution made the ride a nightmare The calculation also didn’t include stress. On a bicycle, the traffic, the red lights and pollution made the ride a nightmare. Sitting on the train and reading was the more enjoyable option. Of course, that’s not true for everyone. But my experience made me wonder: is it really always cheaper and more convenient to commute by bike than with public transport? Theodora Robinson, 27, started to commute by bike in March this year, because she was “sick of paying for the privilege of squeezing through rush hour on the tube”, and wanted a healthier and cheaper option. The 27-year-old Londoner rides a Liv Avail – a mid-range road bike that she got free of charge through the UK’s Cycle to Work scheme. The bike, when she bought it, had a price tag of £750 ($950). “My commute is around 40 minutes, depending on traffic,” she says. “I might take the Tube on occasion, but I'm rarely put off by the weather. It's definitely cheaper overall and more convenient and this year will cost half what it normally does, and even less if I carry on next year.” She says maintenance has cost very little so far because she had three free check-ups in the deal for the first year. “The biggest outlay was upgrading the tyres for about £40 ($50).” Italian Marco Mazzei, 52, is a corporate social media manager from Milan and a keen cyclist. He started to cycle to work occasionally in 2010, but two years later he made an even bigger commitment. He sold his car. He currently rides 16km (10 miles) each way to get to work. Mazzei rides a folding bike that cost 1,100 euro ($1,200) – its small enough to take on the train when needed and easy to carry into the office. “I can bring it right under my desk and take the overground without paying for an extra ticket,” he says. He spends about 100 euros ($110) on yearly maintenance costs. “I know I save money,” says Mazzei, although he’s never done the pen-and-paper calculation. Even if not at the same speed as in Europe, commuting by bike is also finding new momentum down under. “Commuting by bike in Australia is small, but growing,” says Benny Horn, 34, who is responsible for cycling-development plans for one of Sydney’s city councils. Horn started to cycle to work in 2008, when he was tired of slow commutes, long walks and expensive train trips. His commute takes 15 minutes, and he estimates it costs him about A$200 ($150) a year to ride, on top of an up-front cost of A$700 (500 euros) to buy the bike. “Commuting by train in Sydney would set me back A$2,000 ($1,500) a year.” So, is cycling to work is always cheaper than using public transport, the answer – based on a pure data analysis – is: no. In the short- and medium-term (depending, of course, on where you live), public transport can actually be a better value. Using data from industry bodies, retailers and national transportation sites, BBC Capital compared the cost of cycling to the cost of public transport in 12 cities to find out where a two-wheeled commute could save you the most money. We took the average cycling costs for a country – the cost of a bicycle, accessories and maintenance – and compared that to the cost of a monthly travel card on public transport. We found that although cycling has a high up-front cost, those costs are soon recouped in a city with expensive public transport. The lower the public transport cost, the longer it takes for cycling to become cheaper than transit. If you live in an expensive city like New York or London, cycling is the most cost-effective option. It won’t take much time to pay off the initial investment of the bike, compared to the cost of monthly travel cards (assuming you just buy a brand-new bike for about £300 or $200, it takes 2.1 months in London and 1.7 months in New York to break even compared with a monthly transit card). In Krakow, public transport can actually be less expensive than using a bike regularly But in other cities, that’s not the case. In Krakow, Poland for example, public transport is cheaper than in other cities (equal to $22.90 for a monthly travel card) but the average cost of a brand-new bike in 2015 was still relatively high ($427). That means it will take much longer to recoup the cost of the bike alone: 18.7 months of taking public transport, to be precise, and that excludes other costs. Add in gear and maintenance, and in Krakow public transport can actually be less expensive than using a bike regularly. Even when you’re confident that you’re saving more long-term by cycling than with public transport, be aware of the “hidden” costs like bike maintenance – which is essential in order to keep the bike in good shape and make it last longer. Avid cyclists should plant to spend $320 to $530 for annual maintenance, says Ed Reynolds, a board member of the Professional Bicycle Mechanics Association in the US. That cost covers biannual tune-ups and replacing parts like chains, brake pads, tires and cables. As for your bike, it should last longer. “The simple answer,” he adds, “would be five to eight years. That does depend on how well the bike is maintained – an old adage in the bicycle industry is: ‘There are two ways to kill a bicycle; ride it a lot or don’t ride it at all’.” To comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Capital, please head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.

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Is cycling to work really cheaper than public transport?

For city-dwellers, it makes sense that cycling is always cheaper than driving or taking public transport. But is that actually the case?

20161208212259

Even after Penney reinstated its old pricing strategy in the spring, sales again fell. The company's shares tumbled 15 percent on Wednesday after Goldman Sachs said in a research note it expects the retailer's sales to improve more slowly than expected through the end of the year. In intraday trading on Wednesday, the shares dropped to a 13-year low. The note also raised questions about Penney's liquidity. (Read more: JC Penney's holiday hiring plans) "In order to safeguard against a potentially poor 4Q (fourth-quarter) holiday season, it is likely that management will look to build a bigger liquidity buffer," Goldman analyst Kristen McDuffy wrote in her note on Wednesday. Earlier this year, Goldman arranged a $2.25 billion loan for Penney to shore up its finances. Last month, Penney said it expected to have $1.5 billion in cash at the end of its fiscal year on Feb. 1, enough to have ample merchandise on shelves. (Read more: JC Penney stock is getting killed after tough Goldman report) The cost for insurance against a J.C. Penney default has shot back to near record-high levels during the last week. With about $2.6 billion in bonds outstanding, the company has a "CCC " credit rating from Standard & Poor's, reflecting a substantial risk in owning its debt. The company's benchmark five-year credit default swap contract price surged by more than 13 percent on Wednesday, according to Markit data. The cost to insure $10 million of Penney bonds against a default for five years now requires an upfront payment of about $2.2 million plus quarterly payments of about $300,000 for the duration of the contract. The contract's pricing reflects a default probability of nearly 65 percent.

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JC Penney leaning toward $1 billion equity raise

JC Penney CEO Ullman told investors the retailer does not see conditions for the rest of the year where it would need to raise liquidity, a source said.

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Northeastern University says it doesn’t yet have plans for the site of a popular campus bar it bought Wednesday, but the deal could clear the way for an 18-story dorm on Huntington Avenue. Rendering of a planned dormitory development at Northeastern University. The wedge of property in the black box has recently been purchased by Northeastern. The school spent $5.3 million to buy the building that houses Punter’s Pub, across from the Museum of Fine Arts. The watering hole will stay open for at least two years while the school decides what to do with the site, said university spokesman John O’Neill. But a long-range plan Northeastern filed with the Boston Planning & Development Authority in 2013 envisions an 18-story, 387-bed dormitory on the site of two smaller, older dorms it owns next door. The Punter’s site, a tenth-of-an-acre triangle at Huntington and Parker Streets, would enable the university to enlarge the site and potentially enlarge the dorm. O’Neill said Friday that its 2013 plans were more “a set of options the university could undertake, not set plans.” The university is set to break ground soon on a separate 800-bed dorm on Burke Street that will significantly expand its on-campus housing. Get Talking Points in your inbox: An afternoon recap of the day’s most important business news, delivered weekdays. Still, the school has been under pressure by some city officials to house more of its students on-campus, and has emerged as a local leader in partnering with private developers to build dorms — an approach that makes financing easier. That could put the Punter’s site in play as a dorm.

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Punters Pub could become a Northeastern dorm

The college says it doesn’t yet have plans for the site of a popular campus bar it bought Wednesday.

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Bob Hawke calls for Australia to embrace nuclear power. (Source: AAP) Bob Hawke has blamed a decline in the quality of political leadership in recent decades on the “increasing intrusiveness” of the media which he says has kept the best out of politics. Making his annual speech to almost 1000 revellers at Queensland's Woodford Folk festival, the 87-year-old former prime minister speculated on the “worldwide phenomenon” of “poor quality representation”. "So is there some reason why the quality of people going into the parliament is not as high?” Hawke asked. “I don’t know the complete answer but I think, in fact I’m sure, that part of it is the increasing intrusiveness of the media, the general media and social media, into the private lives of politicians and their families," he said. "I think this is more of a problem for the conservative side of politics than mine because on our side we tend to have some ideology-driven move which brings up good people." The former Prime Minister said there hadn’t been an “outstanding political leader” anywhere in the democratic world for the first time since the second world war. “Some people talk about Merkel and I do not run her down in any sense at all; I simply make the point that if you compared Angela Merkel with the chancellors of Germany in the postwar period, she’d rate about sixth,” he said in the 20-minute speech. Hawke also said it was time for Australia to shake off the shackles of former British rule, including rethinking the country's state political borders. He called for the abolition of states and an immediate call to action on climate change to prevent the "total destruction of mankind on this planet". "What we have today basically represents the meanderings of British explorers across the Australian continent more than 200 years ago," Hawke said. "Lines were drawn on a map and jurisdictions and governments followed. And so you have 13 governments dealing with much the same issues and I believe that the simple fact is that the states should be abolished." The 87-year-old urged the audience to consider and support nuclear power as a cleaner alternative fuel source to help reduce Australia's carbon emissions. "Nimby (not in my backyard) ignores the fact that the world’s leading geologists have said that we have geologically the world’s safest backyard and we cannot ignore that fact if we are to be serious to ourselves, our children and our grandchildren," he said. "It would be a win for the global environment and it would be a win for Australia," he said adding that power stations “would pay well for the storage of nuclear waste". © Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2016

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Bob Hawke has blamed a decline in the quality of political leadership in recent decades on the “increasing intrusiveness” of the media which he says has kept the best out of politics.

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ere's a Hollywood riddle: If a car leaves Los Angeles at 9 a.m. traveling toward Reno at 30 miles per hour and another car leaves from Reno for Los Angeles at 40 m.p.h., when will the two meet? Answer: We're not obligated to divulge that information. It has always been hard to pry reliable numbers out of Hollywood, even when the numbers tell a happy story. The latest example of this is the growing influence of international DVD sales. For the last two years, the Motion Picture Association of America, the lobbying group for the studios, has claimed that Hollywood loses $3.5 billion every year, almost all of it overseas, to the sale of illegally copied films, mainly on bootleg DVD's and their cheaper Asian equivalent, video compact discs (VCD's). But the M.P.A.A. is far less forthcoming when asked how much money the Hollywood studios are making on legitimate foreign sales of home video (a category that includes DVD's, VCD's and VHS tapes). "Those figures are confidential, and we don't release them," said Barbara Berger, a spokeswoman for the M.P.A.A. By most estimates and anecdotal evidence, revenues from international home video sales are the fastest-growing part of Hollywood's business. The most reliable estimate comes from Screen Digest, a British data company, which calculated that the home video divisions of the United States studios garnered $11.4 billion in wholesale revenues from the $24.6 billion that overseas consumers spent buying and renting home video products in 2004. What is more certain is that the windfall from overseas home video sales is affecting how the movie business is run. It is inflating budgets for films with big international potential (like the upcoming "Batman Begins"), changing how top stars negotiate their take of the profits and prompting studios to spend millions fighting piracy - particularly in Asia and Russia - that they fear will threaten lucrative developing markets. "International home video is the last great profit center for the studios, and they are going to keep those numbers as smoky as they can for as long as they can," said Ron Bernstein, who runs the West Coast book department at International Creative Management, negotiating a piece of the net profit from films for authors. The question of how to share the DVD windfall has been a sore subject among Hollywood's labor negotiators for the last year, but the studios have been able to hold their ground. The writers' and directors' guilds recently agreed to new contracts with no gains on the DVD issue. On Saturday, the national board of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists voted by a 2-to-1 ratio to recommend to members that they accept a new contract with the producers that had no gains for home video residuals. No one argues that the studios are purposely underreporting international home video gross revenues or misrepresenting those figures to Hollywood artists who have back-end deals for a share of profits. But the accounting of film and television syndication revenues obtained internationally has long kept auditors busy. Almost none of the multinationals that own the studios break out numbers for their home video divisions in Securities and Exchange Commission filings, preferring to lump them with feature film revenues into a single category called "filmed entertainment." "The thing about studio accounting is that it's always tricky, but usually legit," said Ed Limato, the co-president of International Creative Management, who represents Mel Gibson, Richard Gere and Steve Martin. "Until we do an audit - and everybody does one nowadays - we don't get the video numbers broken out between domestic and international gross revenues." For Mr. Limato and other agents for top talent, 2004 was a banner year. Stars are able to negotiate their own portion of home video revenues, unlike rank-and-file guild members who are locked into a royalty fee schedule. As a result, the star pulls in up to 7 percent of gross revenues from video distribution as a royalty - about a dollar for every DVD version of the films sold. The rest of a movie's cast typically shares in just 1.1 percent. But don't expect the studios to gladly increase the portion not already going to top Hollywood actors. "For a long time, the film business was a single-digit business on investment return," said Charles Roven, the producer of "Batman Begins" from Warner Brothers, a division of Time Warner. "Now, because of home video, it's a low double-digit business, and the studios want to make sure it doesn't go back into the single-digit business."

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Video Sales Abroad Are Good News in Hollywood. Shhh.

International home video sales are the fastest-growing part of Hollywood's business, but the studios don't want to discuss it.

20100825175534

By HELEN KENNEDY With News Wire Services Tuesday, July 15th 1997, 2:02AM The raging fire that gutted a palatial $2.9 million house owned by Indiana Pacers superstar guard Reggie Miller in May was set by an arsonist, investigators said yesterday. Calling the arson a "twisted act," Miller offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. "It saddens and amazes me that anyone could do such an ugly and hateful thing," Miller said. "No amount of money can ever right this wrong, but bringing the guilty to justice will allow my wife and I the chance to put this matter behind us." Miller and his wife, Marita, were not home when the blaze broke out in the pre-dawn hours of May 15. They had just bought the house in Fishers, Ind., northeast of Indianapolis, and were renovating it. Neighbors reported hearing a car speeding away from the area on the shores of Geist Reservoir just before flames were spotted on Miller's 6-acre estate. Police had no suspect or motive. Several items, including Marita Miller's $45,000 wedding ring, weren't found in the rubble, suggesting that the fire could have been set to cover evidence of a burglary, said Sgt. Eddie Moore of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department. But he said the items also could have been destroyed by the intense blaze. Officials would not say what evidence they have that the fire was deliberately set. The ruins were searched by dogs trained to sniff accelerants like gasoline. Debris collected over several days was tested by a private laboratory. "I cannot say what evidence [the dogs] found, but at several locations throughout the house they indicated the possibility of something there," Moore said. The estate included a gazebo, basketball court and tennis court. The 14,000-square-foot house featured a library, walnut parquet floors and a garden room with a 30-foot ceiling. Lt. Chad Abel said the lack of fire hydrants anywhere near the estate slowed firefighters' efforts. Firefighters had to pump water from a reservoir and tanker trucks. Miller signed a four-year contract with the Pacers last year for a reported $36 million.

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PROBE: HOOPSTER HIT BY ARSON

The raging fire that gutted a palatial $2.9 million house owned by Indiana Pacers superstar guard Reggie Miller in May was set by an arsonist, investigators said yesterday. Calling the arson a "twisted act,"Miller offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. "It saddens and amazes me that anyone could do such an ugly and hateful thing,"Miller said. "No amount of money can ever right this wrong,

20100911094222

December definitely started off on the wrong foot, but stocks bounced back from the worst of their losses amid grim economic reports that had the potential to send the market down to new lows. Job cuts plagued the Street last Thursday, as AT&T (nyse: T - news - people )DuPont (nyse: DD - news - people ), State Street (nyse: STT - news - people ), Credit Suisse (nyse: CS - news - people ) and Viacom (nyse: VIA - news - people ) all announced plans to trim their respective workforces. Friday revealed additional evidence that the job market is worsening, as non-farm payrolls suffered their sharpest monthly decline in 34 years. The Dow closed the week with a loss of 2.2%. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) finished the week with a 2.3% loss, and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) shed 1.7% for the week. The 850 area on the SPX has established itself as an important region of support following the break below the critical 160-month moving average in the first week of October. Why are we viewing 850 as significant? First, this area marked the lower rail of the index's trading range during the final three weeks of October. Moreover, despite considerable movement around the 850 level since Oct. 10 (the date this support was first tested), the SPX has logged only six closes below this level during this time frame. Friday, Oct. 10, was also the day that the CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX) traded at its greatest premium to the SPX's 20-day historical volatility, since the break of the latter's 160-month trend line. It remains to be seen whether this premium is significant enough to mark a fear-based bottom. So why is the market finding support amid dismal economic reports that could have been a catalyst to send the broad market plunging through these important areas? First, the action in the home building and financial sectors has been impressive after the government's announced $200-billion Term Asset-backed Securities Loan Facility and the $600 billion Government-Sponsored Entities Purchase Program. There were additional reports last week of plans to push mortgage rates down to 4.5%, which could help spur housing activity. Additionally, it appears that short-term market players have grown pessimistic relative to the recent price action in the stock market, suggesting muted or short-duration declines on negative headlines and positive price action on news that offers a glimmer of hope. An example of this short-term negativity is reflected in the International Securities Exchange data that we monitor. Through Tuesday of last week, the SPX had lost 0.23% during the previous 10 days. When the SPX's 10-day return ranges between 0.0% and -2.5%, the 10-day ISE all-equity call/put ratio averages 136 (implying 1.36 calls purchased to open for every put purchased to open on this exchange). Through Tuesday, this ratio was 1.16, significantly below the norm. We have found that, during the past couple of years, when the 10-day SPX return falls between 0.0% and -2.5%, and the 10-day all-equity ISE call-put ratio comes in below 120--indicating more pessimism than usual--the SPX averages a 1.61% return in the following 10 days. However, when the 10-day all-equity ISE call/put ratio is 140 or higher at the same time the 10-day SPX return falls between 0.0% and -2.5%, the SPX averages a -2.09% return over the following 10 days. So while the broad market finds itself trading just above major support as we enter the new trading week, there are potential headwinds. Specifically, the SPX's 900 century level resides slightly above the index's close on Friday, and its 50-day moving average is declining quickly. This trend line comes into the week sitting at 929.64, down from 964.57 the previous week. Moreover, the VIX comes into the week at 59.93, significantly below the SPX's 20-day historical volatility of 74.00. During the past few months, the market's best short-term rallies have occurred when the VIX is trading at a premium to the 20-day historical volatility of the SPX. We continue to favor home building stocks, and select financial stocks, such as Wells Fargo (nyse: WFC - news - people ) and M&T Bank (nyse: MTB - news - people ). Continue to avoid the crowded energy, gold and technology sectors. Here is a brief list of some of the key events for the upcoming week. All earnings dates listed below are tentative and subject to change. Please check with each company's respective Web site for official reporting dates. Tuesday: The economic calendar is sparse, with only October's pending homes sales on the docket. On the earnings front, AutoZone (nyse: AZO - news - people ), Kroger (nyse: KR - news - people ) and Pep Boys (nyse: PBY - news - people ) will step into the earnings confessional. Wednesday: The calendar picks up today, with the release of October's wholesale inventories, the weekly crude-oil inventories and the November Treasury budget. In earnings news, CKE Restaurants (nyse: CKR - news - people ), FuelCell Energy (nasdaq: FCEL - news - people ) and Multimedia Games (nasdaq: MGAM - news - people ) will report their quarterly results. Thursday: Thursday will see the release of import and export prices for November, initial jobless claims and the October trade balance. Stepping into the earnings limelight on Thursday are Ciena (nasdaq: CIEN - news - people ), Costco Wholesale (nasdaq: COST - news - people ), Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (nyse: KKD - news - people ) and lululemon athletica (nasdaq: LULU - news - people ). Friday: The week concludes with the release of the producer price index, November retail sales, October business inventories and the preliminary University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for December. Only ADDvantage Technologies Group (amex: AEY - news - people ) and Duckwall-ALCO Stores (nasdaq: DUCK - news - people ) report earnings. Click here for more ideas and recommendations, and to learn more about Bernie Schaeffer's Option Advisor.

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Market's Moving On Up

Last week's stock rally on horrible employment news could be a good signal that we've found a bottom.

20101221021708

By ISAAC GUZMAN DAILY NEWS FEATURE WRITER With George Rush and Lola Ogunnaike Tuesday, July 9th 2002, 1:81AM Michael Jackson has ruined his own career with his bizarre antics and reputation as an accused child molester, a top honcho at the pop superstar's record company said yesterday. "Charges of pedophilia have really spooked a lot of American record buyers," said the top-ranking Sony Music executive. "There are a lot of parents who don't think he's a wholesome entertainer. It's shadowed him." Pedophilia allegations against Jackson first surfaced in August 1993, when a then 13-year-old boy complained to a therapist that he had been fondled and sexually molested by the entertainer. The therapist took the information to the cops, who investigated but declined to file charges because the alleged victim refused to testify. The boy's father later filed a civil suit against Jackson, who settled the case out of court, reportedly for $15 million to $24 million. The exec also accused the Gloved One of playing the race card against Sony chief Tommy Mottola - who has a track record of backing black artists - to wiggle out of financial woes stemming from the flop of his latest release, "Invincible." "He's trying to wage this bizarre campaign to rearrange his financial obligations," said the Sony executive, who asked not to be identified. "It's not going to happen." The remarkable counterstrike came as Jackson prepared to attend a music biz "summit," along with lawyer Johnnie Cochran, at the Rev. Al Sharpton's Harlem headquarters this morning. The three and a panel of musicians, including rap artist Doug E. Fresh, will discuss how best to end what they see as inequities in record labels' treatment of musicians. Jackson repeatedly accused Mottola of being a "devilish" exploiter of black talent Saturday, once at Sharpton's headquarters and again at a rally with about 150 of his fans outside Sony Music headquarters on Madison Ave. The superstar held up a sign depicting Mottola with Devil's horns. Sharpton backed away from Jackson's outburst yesterday, saying racism "has never been my experience with Tommy Mottola." But the activist added: "Jackson has a right to speak his mind, and Tommy Mottola should answer." Mottola has not responded to Jackson's charges. Music insiders are convinced Jackson is trying to force Sony to spend more cash promoting "Invincible," which has sold an anemic 2 million copies in the United States. Sony insiders said the label has poured $55 million into the album. Insiders also ridiculed the racism charges leveled against Mottola, noting that he has signed and nurtured some of the best-selling black artists in history. "It's just ridiculous," one source said. "It's like going up to Mother Teresa and saying she's not charitable." Sharpton and Cochran waded into the dispute last month, when they announced the initiative with Jackson to push for greater rights for recording artists. At the time, they noted that Mottola had been open to talking with them. Sharpton insisted the protest movement is about much more than Jackson's career. Jackson, he said, is a selfless star who wants to help others avoid being trapped in bad contracts. "Here's a man that's sold 60 million records," Sharpton said. "Who better to shine a light on these practices than Michael Jackson?"

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SONY HITS JAX BACK Pedophilia charges ruining his career, says music exec

Michael Jackson has ruined his own career with his bizarre antics and reputation as an accused child molester, a top honcho at the pop superstar's record company said yesterday. "Charges of pedophilia have really spooked a lot of American record buyers,"said the top-ranking Sony Music executive. "There are a lot of parents who don't think he's a wholesome entertainer. It's shadowed him."Pedophilia allegations

20110210110002

BY MITCHELL FINK WITH LAUREN RUBIN Friday, December 14th 2001, 2:24AM Arnold Schwarzenegger's motorcycle accident in Los Angeles may have left him with more serious injuries than he admitted. When the story broke Sunday, a rep for the 54-year-old actor said he had sustained "several broken ribs," but was "in good spirits [and] otherwise fine." Maybe not so fine: Sources on both coasts now tell me that Schwarzenegger suffered a punctured lung. "He's in a lot worse shape than anyone knows," said one source. A report in Army Archerd's Daily Variety column suggested that Schwarzenegger was back in his Santa Monica production office yesterday doing interviews in connection with the Feb. 8 release of "Collateral Damage." Arnold's rep backed up the item. But one of my sources insists that "The Terminator" won't be out of the hospital until the weekend. "I spoke to him [Wednesday]," said the source, "and he was still in the hospital." Wherever he is, Schwarzenegger missed his production company's annual office party Tuesday night. His wife, Maria Shriver, put in an appearance. Jason Giambi may have a reputation as a party animal, but when choosing between Champagne and water Wednesday, the newest Yankee multimillionaire said no to the harder stuff. Giambi was celebrating his new $119 million contract at Bruno Ristorante with a group including fiancee Kristin Rice, agent Arn Tellem and three members of the Yankees front office: president Randy Levine, vice president Mark Newman and scouting chief Gordon Blakely. During the feasting, Giambi polished off a steak - and politely turned down offers of wine. ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE To paraphrase the Beatles' first hit in America, Paul McCartney wanted to hold George Harrison's hand. Speaking to BBC Radio yesterday in London, McCartney poignantly recalled how he took the ailing Harrison's hand as they reminisced two weeks before his Nov. 29 death from cancer. "The best thing for me was seeing him for a couple of hours and laughing and joking and holding his hand," said McCartney. "Afterwards I realized I'd never, ever held his hand. " The moment was difficult, but comforting, he said. "He was rubbing his thumb up and down my hand, and it was very nice." Now that we've seen those TV commercials showing Woody Allen doing a triple lutz and Henry Kissinger sliding into home plate, we're starting to hear from other celebrities who love New York. Whoopi Goldberg, Charlie Sheen, Bernadette Peters, David Hasselhoff, chef Daniel Boulud, Fran Drescher, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee have recorded 30-second sound bites for NYC & Company, the city's convention and tourism bureau. Launched last week, the "Come Back to New York" campaign can be heard when a telephone caller to the bureau is put on hold. Instead of "elevator" music, callers hear: • Robert Wuhl ("Arliss") - "It doesn't matter if you root for the Mets, the Rangers, the Knicks or the Yankees. Well, okay, maybe it does." • Charlie Sheen ("Spin City") - "You've probably seen all the press conferences on TV recently with the mayor of New York. And I know what you're probably thinking. Where's the deputy mayor? Where's Charlie? How can the mayor keep it under control without Charlie?" • Fran Drescher ("The Nanny") - "You probably can tell from my voice, but I'm a New Yorker. Don't worry, we don't all sound like this. Well, okay, most of us do." To get the full effect, just call (212) 484-1200 and ask to be put on hold. Harvey Weinstein's mother, Miriam, proved yesterday that she could work a room as well as her son. The Weinsteins were at the New York Hilton to watch Harvey's colleague Meryl Poster, Miramax' co-president of production, as she was honored by the New York Women in Film & Television. Poster received a Muse Award, as did Liv Ullmann, Phylicia Rashad and film editor Dede Allen. Before the speeches started, Miriam schmoozed Marisa Tomei and tried to fix her up with some single men she knows. Tomei later told me that Miriam's "full-court press" was reminiscent of Harvey when he's trying to cast a movie. I asked Tomei whether any doctors or lawyers were on Miriam's date list. "Mostly," she said, "they were Miramax employees." • The Ramones and the Talking Heads, two bands that helped define the punk sound, are among the artists who will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for 2002. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Isaac Hayes, Brenda Lee and Gene Pitney were also named to the honor roll yesterday by Suzan Evans, executive director of the foundation that runs the Hall. The induction ceremony, scheduled for March 18, will take place almost a year after Joey Ramone, the Ramones' lanky, leather-jacketed lead singer, died of lymphoma at age 49. • Ashley Judd and Scot race-car driver Dario Franchitti were married Wednesday in the same Scottish castle where Madonna and Guy Ritchie were wed. • China Club owner Danny Fried and his fiancee, actress Mary Fox, will marry in Montego Bay, Jamaica, in February. The two celebrated their coming nuptials the other night at the midtown club with a group of friends who included Alex Rodriguez and New York's most famous fiancee-of-the-moment, Liza Minnelli, who was with her next • Singer Foxy Brown, whose uncle was among the victims of American Flight 587, headed a toy drive Wednesday at Halo for other children who lost relatives in the Belle Harbor, Queens, crash. To each of the 20 kids who came to the downtown club with her, Brown gave either a PlayStation or Barbie doll. To the children who were not there, the $5,000 in toys donated by Target in Hackensack, N.J., will be distributed in time for Christmas by the Alianza Dominicana foundation in Washington Heights.

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ARNOLD'S 'DAMAGE' UNDERSTATED?

Arnold Schwarzenegger's motorcycle accident in Los Angeles may have left him with more serious injuries than he admitted. When the story broke Sunday, a rep for the 54-year-old actor said he had sustained "several broken ribs,"but was "in good spirits [and] otherwise fine."Maybe not so fine: Sources on both coasts now tell me that Schwarzenegger suffered a punctured lung. "He's in a lot worse shape

20111211115929

WELLESLEY, Mass.— THERE was a doctor from Boston and a lawyer from Chicago, a philosopher from Australia and an engineer from France. There were people who had Ph.D.'s in mathematics, sociology and astronautics. In fact, in the tiered classroom filled with 50 clean-cut, casually dressed people in their 20's and 30's, there seemed to be just about every graduate degree imaginable, except one: the M.B.A. Yet within a few weeks, this hyper-educated crowd would go forth as certified management consultants, advising the executives of multibillion-dollar companies. Their projects would, most likely, have little to do with their academic backgrounds. Lawyers would help packaged-foods companies develop new products, and physicists would tell Internet start-ups how to stand out from the crowd. To prepare, the neophyte consultants had come to the campus of Babson College here in this western Boston suburb for a three-week crash course in the basics of business. It was run by their new employer, the Boston Consulting Group. When it was over, the class would be unleashed on corporate America. ''This,'' said one student, Susan Meine, a lawyer from Atlanta, ''allows me to get a business education without getting a degree.'' To a growing and surprising extent, this is also how the entry level looks at the most prestigious management consulting firms, ones that count the world's biggest companies among their clients and that have long been dominated by M.B.A.'s. More than half of the consultants at McKinsey & Company do not have a Master of Business Administration degree, a share that is up sharply from a decade ago. Some 20 percent of Boston Consulting's new hires in the United States fall into the same category this year -- four times the level in 1995. Other firms are following suit. Perhaps most striking are the results: the lawyers and doctors and philosophers perform no worse than their business school counterparts, according to internal studies done by the firms. If anything, they are promoted faster, on average. All of this raises an interesting and disquieting question: What is the point of an M.B.A., anyway? If there is a single job for which business school -- with its broad curriculum and a teaching method heavy on case studies -- prepares someone, it is consulting. Yet the very consulting firms that are most popular among M.B.A.'s -- as well as with companies -- are now turning increasingly to people with none of this training. Part of the explanation is simple. With the tightest labor market in at least 30 years, particularly so for high-paying professional jobs, companies of all kinds are searching in new places for talented people. Consulting firms are especially hungry; they have seen their revenues nearly double in the last four years, according to Kennedy Information, which tracks the industry. The consulting firms still hire hundreds of M.B.A.'s and say they would sign up even more if many of the most desirable candidates were not instead joining dot-com companies that can lure them with equity stakes. But another aspect of the shift is more complex. Partners at places like Bain & Company and McKinsey have increasingly recognized that their profession does not require much specific training. ''Frankly, business is in some ways not that difficult to learn,'' said Rajat Gupta, McKinsey's managing partner. ''We can pick up people who have not studied business and can teach them, if they have the intellectual firepower.'' THE underlying issue -- whether business practices are best taught in an academic setting or should be learned on the job, as they are in an apprenticeship -- is at least as old as the M.B.A. Since Harvard started awarding the degree in 1910, some educators have derided business schools as intellectual deserts. The harshest critics say the two years spent earning an M.B.A. are little more than an extended job search and a chance to build of network of contacts. The skeptics note, for example, that Harvard Business School offers business cards bearing the school's crest to its students shortly after they arrive. Stanford, the nation's most selective business school, does not even hold classes on Wednesdays -- which allows many of the students to hit the university's immaculate golf course.

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A Matter of Degree? Not for Consultants

THERE was a doctor from Boston and a lawyer from Chicago, a philosopher from Australia and an engineer from France. There were people who had Ph.D.'s in mathematics, sociology and astronautics. In fact, in the tiered classroom filled with 50 clean-cut, casually dressed people in their 20's and 30's, there seemed to be just about every graduate degree imaginable, except one: the M.B.A. Yet within a few weeks, this hyper-educated crowd would go forth as certified management consultants, advising the executives of multibillion-dollar companies. Their projects would, most likely, have little to do with their academic backgrounds. Lawyers would help packaged-foods companies develop new products, and physicists would tell Internet start-ups how to stand out from the crowd.

20120414002520

WASHINGTON, March 11— In the largest judgment under a 1996 antiterrorism law, a Federal district judge ordered the Government of Iran today to pay $247.5 million in damages to the family of a 20-year-old New Jersey exchange student who was killed in a terrorist bombing in Israel three years ago. The student, Alisa M. Flatow, died in April 1995 along with seven Israeli soldiers when a suicide bomber drove a van filled with explosives into their bus, which was traveling through Gaza to a Jewish resort settlement for Passover. Islamic Holy War, a militant group with ties to Iran, took responsibility for the bombing. In his ruling today, Judge Royce C. Lamberth of United States District Court said that evidence presented in the two-day trial, in which Iran did not defend itself, demonstrated that the Iranian Government had financially aided Islamic Holy War, and so could be held responsible for Ms. Flatow's murder. Judge Lamberth's decision was the second under the Antiterrorism Act of 1996, which allowed American citizens to sue foreign governments for criminal acts committed outside the United States. The case is the first to involve a government accused of terrorism. The law is intended to deter terrorism in the same way American tort law can force companies to improve faulty products: by putting financial sting into litigation. ''I hope the rule of law can contribute ultimately to solving the problems presented in this case, where an innocent girl was killed for no reason, in a way that served no purpose,'' Judge Lamberth said from the bench. ''The court cannot be stronger in condemning this sort of action. It has no place in civilized society.'' It is far from clear whether the family will be able to collect any money from Iran, which does not have diplomatic relations with the United States. State Department officials said Iran has almost no assets in this country, though a lawyer for the Flatow family contended that Iran has well over $1 billion in holdings here. The lawyer, Steven R. Perles of Washington, also said that he would try to seize or freeze Iranian properties in other countries, which some legal experts said would be difficult to do. Ms. Flatow's father, Stephen, flanked by his four surviving children and his wife, Rosalyn, said the money was less important than the message the judgment would send to the Iranian Government and to terrorists worldwide. It was with Alisa Flatow in mind that Senator Frank R. Lautenberg offered an amendment to the 1996 law allowing Americans to receive punitive damage awards from other nations, putting financial teeth into the law. Of the Flatows' $247 million judgment, $225 million was for punitive damages. ''These people are not heroes. They are not martyrs. They are traitors to the human race,'' Mr. Flatow, a lawyer from West Orange, said after the decision, his voice cracking with emotion. ''We call upon the people of the world who, like us, refuse to be intimidated by what happened to Alisa. We call upon them to say 'Enough blood shed such as this.' '' Senator Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat, said today's ruling would set an important precedent for other Americans seeking retribution from foreign governments for terrorist acts, particularly families of the victims of Pan American Flight 103, which was destroyed by a bomb over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. The United States contends that Libyan agents planted the bomb, which killed all 259 people on board and 11 on the ground. ''An opinion like this says to these countries: You will not do these things with impunity,'' Mr. Lautenberg said. ''I think the size of the award is significant enough to make a dent, even for a country like Iran. And we think with Libya, it would do it as well.'' Jamie Rubin, a State Department spokesman, said today's ruling would not affect American policy toward Iran. The best way to resolve differences between the two countries, he added, would be through ''direct dialogue.'' Before the Antiterrorism Act of 1996, Americans could sue only individuals, not governments, for terrorist acts committed beyond American soil. The 1996 law allows lawsuits only against seven nations the State Department says officially sponsor terrorism: Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Libya, the Sudan, Cuba and Syria. In the first ruling under the law, a Federal judge in Miami ordered the Cuban Air Force in December to pay $187.6 million to the families of three pilots from an exile group, Brothers to the Rescue, whose unarmed planes were shot down by Cuban fighter jets over international waters two years ago. It remains unclear whether the families will be able to collect any money. Legal experts said it would be difficult for the Flatows to receive any of their award as long as there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries. But if relations and commerce resume, the family could try to tie up any Iranian property here, from bank accounts to airplanes to buildings to treasury bonds. ''There are creative ways to make life difficult if the country has any kind of economic relations with the United States,'' David Cole, a professor of law at Georgetown Law School, said. Unrelated to the new Federal law, governments have agreed, on a few occasions, to settle damage claims with individual families. In 1996, the United States paid $131.8 million to the families of 250 Iranians killed aboard an Iran Air jet that was shot down by an American warship in 1988. And in 1997, the Palestinian Liberation Organization agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to the family of Leon Klinghoffer, a Jewish passenger who was shot in his wheelchair and thrown overboard by terrorists on the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985. Mr. Flatow, an Orthdox Jew whose 18-year-old daughter, Francine, is now studying in Israel, said the ruling could not end his family's pain. But, he added: ''I think Alisa is smiling on us today. I think she is having a good laugh today.'' Photos: Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, right, in Washington yesterday with Stephen and Rosalyn Flatow, whose daughter Alisa was killed in 1995. (Stephen Crowley/The New York Times); Alisa M. Flatow, 20, of West Orange, N.J., was killed April 9, 1995. (Associated Press)

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Judgment for Terrorism Is $248 Million

In the largest judgment under a 1996 antiterrorism law, a Federal district judge ordered the Government of Iran today to pay $247.5 million in damages to the family of a 20-year-old New Jersey exchange student who was killed in a terrorist bombing in Israel three years ago. The student, Alisa M. Flatow, died in April 1995 along with seven Israeli soldiers when a suicide bomber drove a van filled with explosives into their bus, which was traveling through Gaza to a Jewish resort settlement for Passover. Islamic Holy War, a militant group with ties to Iran, took responsibility for the bombing.

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When I do business dining etiquette programs, people want to know what to do with their napkins. Do they put them in their laps right away? Where do they put them if they excuse themselves from the table during the meal? What about at the end of the meal? And what do you do with that gnarly piece of fat you have in your mouth — put it into the napkin? Let’s start at the beginning. You take your seat at the table. Do you wait for your host to pick up his napkin? No. You should place your napkin in your lap right after you sit down. Some restaurants like to place napkins in places like a glass. They will block the view of anyone who is seated. Putting the napkin in your lap gets it out of the way. At the start of the meal, your waiter may ask if you’d prefer a black napkin if you’re wearing black clothing. Some people worry a white napkin will leave white lint on black clothes. If it’s not offered and you want one, you can ask. But do so discreetly and understand that not all restaurants offer them. If you need to excuse yourself during the meal, the best thing to do with your napkin is to loosely fold it so no food stains show and place it to the left of your place setting. I don’t like the alternative of placing it on your chair because food particles could get on the seat and then on your clothes when you sit down again. The left of the place setting is also the place you leave your napkin at the end of the meal. Finally, don’t use your napkin as a place to put food you have removed from your mouth. You would not want that food to fall into your lap the next time you use your napkin. If you have something in your mouth that is simply too gross to put on the edge of your plate, the better alternative is to excuse yourself from the table and go to the restroom where you can dispose of it in a trash can. E-mail questions about business etiquette to etiquetteatwork@emilypost.com.

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Quick pointers on how to use your napkin

When I do business dining etiquette programs, people want to know what to do with their napkins. Do they put them in their laps right away? Where do they put them if they excuse themselves from the table during the meal? What about at the end of the meal? And what do you do with that gnarly piece of fat you have in your mouth — put it into the napkin? Let’s start at the beginning. You take your seat at the table. Do you wait for your host to pick up his napkin? No. You should place your napkin in your lap right after you sit down, regardless of what your host does.

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Sophie Matisse in front of her great-grandfather's The Parakeet and the Mermaid. Photograph: Nils Jorgensen/Rex Features There are several striking firsts at Tate Modern's new Matisse show: it is the first big exhibition in a generation to examine his vibrantly coloured paper cutouts, the first in the UK to display four important blue nudes together, and the first Tate show to be shown at the cinema. It is also the first time the Tate will allow one its star attractions, its prized Matisse cutout The Snail, to leave the country. It will travel to New York in October – a measure of the importance of the exhibition, said the Tate director, Sir Nicholas Serota, one of the co-curators. "This kind of show just doesn't happen more than once in a lifetime," he said. "This is the largest show of this body of works and contains most of the major works." The show explores the paper cutouts that Matisse, one of the greatest of all 20th-century artists, began making in his later life, between 1937-54. It brings together 130 gloriously coloured works, more than any before, and explores how and why Matisse began to make work in a new way so late in life. The show, which opens to the public on Thursday, argues that the artist's techniques might look simple – paper, scissors, glue – but they were both "radical and groundbreaking". The Matisse family have been closely involved in an exhibition that Serota said he had wanted to do for more than 30 years. Sophie Matisse, the artist's great-granddaughter and an artist herself, said: "It is such an amazing moment for me to see all these pieces together. It's just very moving … maybe I'll be able to talk about it better in a week when I've absorbed more." She said she was particularly moved to see film footage of Matisse – old, wheelchair-bound, grumpy – at work. "To see him cutting … his scissors look like they just swam through the paper. To see his intent, his focus, it was like he'd done it a million times before. It's very beautiful and surprising." Matisse was often ill or confined to bed during these years and was expected to die much sooner than he did, hanging on and defying medical predictions. What emerges from the show is how vital Matisse was in his late years. He was "completely electric and alive and young," said Sophie. "He knew he only had another five minutes and he was going to make the best of it. You look at the works and he is not old at all." Sophie, who has remarkable artistic forebears – her grandmother's second husband was Marcel Duchamp – recalled her family not talking about Matisse a great deal when she was young. "The presence was so intense, like a giant pink or red or purple elephant in the room, nobody really needs to talk about it, it's just there." Serota said it had taken all the Tate's powers of persuasion to get galleries to lend what are often some of their star works. The gallery is particularly pleased to be showing together works that are considered among the artist's most important: four blue nudes made in 1952. The works – two from the Pompidou, one from the Matisse Museum in Nice and one from the Beyeler Foundation in Basel – have been displayed together only a handful of times, and never in the UK. There are some massive works in the show, not least Large Composition with Masks, from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, which is nearly 10 metres by 3.5 metres and is meant as a ceramic tile decoration for a Los Angeles couple's patio. The co-curator Nicholas Cullinan said: "Matisse got very excited and this was his first attempt to meet the commission, he just filled one wall of his studio and it is an incredible composition that harks back to Islamic tile decorations in the Alhambra." The couple loved it but admitted it was three times too big. So he had another go, and another – "bear in mind it was the last year of his life," said Cullinan – and the fourth was accepted. "His appetite for work was really astonishing." Tate is expecting big crowds. Serota said: "For many people [it] will be the most evocative and compelling show that London has ever seen." For those who do not make it, Tate is collaborating with Seventh Art Productions – responsible for Leonardo Live from the National Gallery in 2011 – to bring the exhibition to cinema audiences. Matisse Live on 3 June will include a live tour as well as interviews with experts, friends of the artist and archive footage of Matisse at work. • Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs is at Tate Modern from 17 April to 7 September, and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from 14 October to 15 February.

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Tate Modern opens 'once-in-a-lifetime' Matisse show

Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs brings together 130 colourful works including four blue nudes never before displayed together in UK

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Elizabeth Long hardly fit the profile of a technology geek. She had a degree in recreation, wrote newsletters for nonprofits, and later worked as a legal assistant. But she wanted to code. She began taking coding classes at the nonprofit Girl Develop It, then in April completed an intensive, two-month program at the Startup Institute, a firm providing technology training in Boston. The result: a new job, a raise of more than $10,000 a year, and a new career. “When you understand how things work, it changes your perception of the world,” said Long, 29, an application specialist at MOCA Innovation, a construction management firm in Newton. “The Internet is not this thing that’s separate from you any more. You can be part of it.” Coding is becoming the must-have job skill of the 21st century, and, as Long shows, it’s not just for computer science majors and other byte heads. Groups like Girl Develop It and Startup Institute, as well as a growing list of educational startups are teaching programming languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to people without technical backgrounds. Universities, colleges, and continuing education programs are getting into the act, too. MassBay Community College in Wellesley, for example, offers courses that teach the Scripting programming language and Web design. Talia Whyte, a journalism major who planned to write for newspapers and magazines, is studying Web design at MassBay, learning to build interactive e-commerce websites. Before enrolling, Whyte, 34, of Roslindale, taught herself basic programming languages through the free, online tutorial offered by Codecademy, an educational technology startup in New York. “You have to stay on top of the technology because it’s very competitive in the job market,” said Whyte, who has launched her own e-book publishing and media consulting businesses. “That’s the future. Many creative professionals need to know how to do the technical stuff.” Based on data from the US Labor Department, College Board, and National Science Foundation, the educational nonprofit Code.org estimates that there will be 1 million more computing jobs than graduates in computer science by 2020. Two-thirds of open computing jobs, Code.org says, fall outside of the tech sector in fields such as journalism, finance, medicine, and entertainment. Even if you’re not planning to become a programmer or developer, knowing and understanding computer code can enhance resumes and help careers. At WGBH, the public broadcasting station, producers and designers recently took classes in HTML to get a better understanding of how the programming end of their projects work. Long just graduated from a coding bootcamp run by Startup Institute, where she hugged director Allan Telio. Such training helps to create not only “higher quality products for our audiences” but also “a stronger, happier, more inspired, and collaborative culture,” said Alexis Rapo, vice president of WGBH digital. Which computer languages you learn depends on your goals, said Zach Sims, the 23-year-old cofounder of Codecademy. As a general rule of thumb, he said, learn HTML and CSS for the Web; JavaScript for games or apps; and Ruby or Python if you want to process data or explore databases. “We think of programming as literacy for the 21st century,” said Sims, a onetime political science major. So how do you become literate? Learning computer languages has been compared to studying foreign languages, so a lot depends on your style of learning. Some people prefer working independently at their own speed, so online programs such as Codecademy, Codagogy, or Code Avengers work best. Others may learn better in traditional classroom settings. An array of meetup groups can also help newbies get coding. Some groups, such as RailsBridge Boston, focus on one programming language like Ruby on Rails. Others, such as Code Mentors Boston, offer several languages, connecting coding beginners with willing experts. Girl Develop It, an international organization with chapters around the country, organizes monthly “Code & Coffee” nights in Boston. The group also offers affordable classes, such as Introduction to HTML and CSS ($90 for four Wednesday night sessions) The Women’s Coding Collective, was founded in 2011 by Nicole Noll, 33, a lecturer in psychology at Harvard and Susan Buck, 29, a Web programmer, designer, and educator, to cultivate a “supportive, no-stupid-questions environment where women can learn, build, and code together.” The group offers classes such as “Wrangling HTML” (Two-class series, $50). “For the college graduate,” said Buck, “having the ability to put HTML and CSS on a resume is a real perk.” Another option: coding bootcamps. Although unaccredited, these two- to three-month programs, ranging in price from $4,750 to $12,500, offer a more hands-on, real-world experience than traditional classrooms. Admission is competitive, but open to people from nontechnical backgrounds. None of the coding bootcamps can promise a job at the end, but they all tout career support and networks of companies that hire their students. Among the bootcamps with campuses in Boston: General Assembly, Launch Academy, Metis, and Startup Institute. Jamie Connor, 26, of Newburyport, who has a degree in graphic design from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, was working as a print designer for a large consulting firm when she decided to learn to code. She started by studying on her own, then enrolled in classes at General Assembly in Boston last year. The classes met two evenings a week for about three months It wasn’t always easy, she said. Learning JavaScript, a more complex language that makes Web pages interactive and demands higher logic and problem-solving skills proved particularly challenging. “I wish I had more of a math background,” she said. The General Assembly classes helped Connor get a job as a web developer at Consumer Focus Marketing, a Portsmouth, N.H.-based marketing and design firm for the fuel industry. “Learning to code is hard,” she said, “but once you get past the initial learning phase, and you start to enjoy coding, you’re excited about what you can build. It’s awesome.”

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Literacy for the 21st century

Coding is becoming the must-have job skill of the 21st century, and it’s not just for computer science majors and other assorted byte heads

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Warning: This article contains “Gone Girl” spoilers. Lots of them. “Till death us do part” used to be a promise. In movies these days, it’s a life sentence. With the release of the David Fincher thriller “Gone Girl,” the debates flaring around Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel go wider than ever. Is this story misogynistic? A number of readers and commentators have thought so. Does it play fair by its characters? (It definitely doesn’t play fair by readers or movie audiences — which is kind of the point.) More critically, is the view of modern marriage promulgated by “Gone Girl” hopelessly bleak or more honest than a lot of us care to admit? Does love really mean war? If so, who gets to call the shots? What this story brings out, to its credit, is an uncomfortable but often true cultural subtext: Behind every relationship is a battle to control the narrative. Here’s where I tell you as much of the plot of “Gone Girl” as I dare, and if you want to keep the surprises intact, flip (or click) over to Sports or the comics right now. The novel and the movie that has been made from it tell the story of Nick (Ben Affleck), a more or less average schmo whose wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), disappears from their small-town Missouri home one morning. Suspicion falls on him, naturally, and since Nick is a glib charmer who doesn’t know how to play sincere on TV, he’s soon a favored villain of the 24-hour cable news cycle. In flashbacks taken from her diary, we see Amy — slim, blonde, perfect — paint a portrait of a marriage that started with big-city yuppie bliss before foundering on the rocks of economic recession and growing resentments. Did Nick kill his wife? Everyone who doesn’t know him thinks so. Even his level-headed twin sister (Carrie Coon) begins to have doubts. And this is just the setup. Things get weirder from here. At a certain point — here’s the big spoiler — Amy is revealed to be not a nice person at all. In fact, you could say she becomes the embodiment of every husband’s worst-case-scenario about waking up one morning to a demon wife. Before I go any farther, this full disclosure: Gillian Flynn is a former colleague of mine from another publication; we remain friends. That’s relevant only because I know where some of the influences for her work come from. Rather than recycling figures of male panic like Glenn Close’s psycho in “Fatal Attraction,” Flynn draws from a tradition of classic film noir bad girls — the home-wreckers, the sirens, the sweet little things who know their way around a knife or a gun. Such antiheroines are wrinkles in the smoothly ironed contours of post-World War II normality, boogey(wo)men for the patriarchy, and they can be juicily, transgressively enjoyable. They write their own plot lines; above all, they have style. Adam Sandler and Rosemarie DeWitt play a couple who create secret selves in “Men, Women, & Children.” And writing one’s own plot is what “Gone Girl” is really about. It begins with two versions of “the story of Nick and Amy” that quickly diverge, the audience kept in suspense as to which one is “real.” Nick’s, expressed only to his sister, is that of a couple forced to move out of glamorous Manhattan and back to the heartland, where the wife becomes bitter and angry. Amy’s, written apparently to herself in the pages of her diary, is of the good spouse who follows her husband back home only to see him turn brutal, possibly homicidal. Both of them then have to take even more countervailing narratives public, Nick through working with hotshot lawyer Tanner Bolt (Tyler Perry) to game the talk show circuit and Amy — well, never mind. Suffice to say that she’s an ace screenwriter for the hordes following her story on TV and in the weepy women’s magazines. Who has the better melodrama? That’s who wins “Gone Girl.” This is a view of coupledom that’s less misogynistic than misanthropic; it also has its acrid truths. Think of those couples who correct each other’s version of events during dinner parties. Think of the husband and wife who look rock solid for years before splitting into take-no-prisoners warfare, each lining up their respective audiences. Think of the little tiffs you have with your own spouse about who said what when, the lower-case grievances, the wondering why he or she just can’t see it your way. We all write our own scripts and try to convince others that they’re sound. And cowriting — collaborating on a life together — is hard. “Gone Girl” rather gleefully says it’s not only impossible but dangerous to one’s health. Perhaps we need the outlier stories, if only to have something to work back from. This is not a message that crops up in our sentimental culture very often. Playwright Edward Albee gave it a thorough workout in 1962’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” where the only thing that keeps George and Martha together is the fictitious son on which they both agree (until one of them decides to change the story). Sarah Polley made a brilliant sort-of-documentary in 2012, “Stories We Tell,” that puts the ways family histories can hinge on who’s talking right there in the title. More often, our movies and TV shows chicken out in the interests of reassurance and closure. “Men, Women & Children,” the Jason Reitman drama also opening in Boston area theaters this week, features among its many plots the tale of Don and Helen (Adam Sandler and Rosemarie DeWitt), a suburban couple so bored with the story of their own marriage that they each go online in search of other partners, creating secret selves and separate dramas that make them feel alive again. The movie resolves that dilemma with a shrug, a homemade omelette, and a shared pledge to never talk about it again. That’s healthy. “Gone Girl,” by contrast, is a horror story in which one narrative wins out in the public eye, forever and ever, until death do them part. Thankfully, the reality for most of us is much more boring: two tales traveling side by side, sometimes overlapping, at other times widening far apart, and — if we’re lucky — strengthening and supporting and listening to each other. • More from Ty Burr

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In ‘Gone Girl,’ a twisted view of modern marriage

With the release of the David Fincher thriller “Gone Girl,” the debates flaring around Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel go wider than ever. Is the view of modern marriage promulgated by “Gone Girl”hopelessly bleak or more honest than a lot of us care to admit? Does love really mean war? If so, who gets to call the shots? What this story brings out, to its credit, is a uncomfortable but often true cultural subtext: Behind every relationship is a battle to control the narrative.

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Fortune’s curated selection of tech stories from the last 24 hours. Sign up to get the round-up delivered to you each and every day. “Regardless of how you feel about digital ecosystems or about Google, please do not take the free and open internet for granted from government intervention. To the extent that free flow of information threatens the powerful, those in power will seek to suppress it.” — Google co-founder Sergey Brin (Google+) * During several days of secret negotiations between Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom, both founders tossed around numbers, including a potential value of $104 billion for Facebook. As for the social network itself, the company may go public on May 17. (The New York Times and TechCrunch) * A court battle between Oracle ORCL and Google GOOG has begun, with the former claiming the latter’s popular Android operating system infringes on several patents and copyrights. (CNNMoney) * Ebay’s EBAY latest quarterly sales and profits topped analyst estimates, with revenues climbing 29% to nearly $3.3 billion compared with the quarter before. (Bloomberg) * Director James Cameron and Google executives Larry Page and Eric Schmidt are among several backers who are reportedly behind a new project that will “create a new industry and a new definition of ‘natural resources.'” Could that new industry be asteroid mining? (The Verge) * Tim Cook, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg made Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential” list this year. (Fortune) * Black car app Uber is testing out lower-priced taxi options in Chicago. (TechCrunch) * Why we need a “fresh paradigm” for tech start-ups. (The Atlantic) * Fun factoid: Video game consoles consumed nearly 70% of their energy in 2010 while idle. (The Verge) Don’t miss the latest tech news. Sign up now to get Today in Tech emailed every morning.

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Today in Tech: Is Facebook worth $104 billion?

Fortune's curated selection of tech stories from the last 24 hours. Sign up to get the round-up delivered to you each and every day. "Regardless of how you feel about digital ecosystems or about Google, please do not take the free and open internet for granted from government intervention. To the extent that free flow of information threatens the…

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FORTUNE — Of all the numbers that have been thrown around regarding the $9.4 billion acquisition of Safeway SWY by Cerberus Capital Management, the private-equity company that owns rival grocery chain Albertson’s, one metric stands out: market share. After the merger, the combined companies’ share of the American grocery market will rise by 42%. Safeway’s 1,335 stores racked up $36 billion in sales in 2013. Adding Albertson’s stores will create a company that’s almost on a level with the larger Kroger KR , the leader among conventional supermarkets. But the combined companies’ market share post-merger will be just 5.4% (likely less since some stores will likely be divested to forestall antitrust action), and Wal-Mart’s share of the grocery business is nearly 30%, according to Euromonitor International. Kroger has 9.6% of the total market and $98 billion in 2013 sales. Kroger and Safeway, though, are both facing the same set of challenges, not only, on one side, from Wal-Mart WMT , Costco COST , and other large discounters and warehouse stores, but also, on the other side, from natural grocers and specialty stores like Whole Foods WFM and Trader Joe’s. And it doesn’t end there: Changing shopping habits are sending more people to drugstores, dollar stores, and, increasingly, websites to buy their groceries. The traditional chain grocery store as we know it is over, and the remaining players must either adapt or die. MORE: Undressing today’s man: Men’s fashion enters a renaissance The need for transformation, which was brought into stark relief by the recession and its aftermath, is what spurred this merger. Safeway has been a poor performer, not doing enough to adapt to changing shopping habits or to alter its top-down management approach. This is reflected in its flat earnings in 2013, after a drop of more than 17% in 2012. The deal is valued at about 5.5 times the past year’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization — just a little over half what similar deals command, according an analysis by Bloomberg News. Albertson’s CEO Bob Miller told the Wall Street Journal that there are no plans to close any stores after the merger: “We intend on keeping the existing retail footprint of both companies,” he said. But to succeed, those feet will have to be shod in different shoes — Safeway needs to kick off its sensible loafers. The question is what to replace them with. “Although supermarkets remain the majority force in food shopping, they are no longer calling the shots,” concluded a report last year by Packaged Facts. The shots are increasingly being called by consumers, who are looking for either lower prices or healthier choices — and, in either case, more variety. As much as mid-market grocers like Safeway have to fend off competition from natural and specialty stores, the impact of Wal-Mart on the retail food industry should not be underestimated. Its share of the grocery market has risen from 4% just 16 years ago to nearly 30% today. Groceries now represent half of Wal-Mart’s revenues. A 2011 report on the grocery industry by the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund paints the picture: The top 10 grocery chains in the United States accounted for about 35% of the total number of stores, but about 68% of total industry revenues. The disparity there is almost entirely because of Wal-Mart, which is able to stock many more products in each of its huge stores than most of its competitors. (Costco is also a factor.) MORE: Will millennials kill Costco? Hence, there is consolidation and asset-shedding among traditional grocery chains. Putting Safeway and Albertson’s (and their many branded chains) together — and combining their procurement and distribution systems — won’t result in parity with Wal-Mart’s purchasing power, or allow the company to match Wal-Mart’s prices, but it will at least help it compete with Kroger for the middle market. Kroger will still be tops in that category, with more than 2,600 stores to Cerberus’s more than 2,400 under 16 different names, including Albertson’s, Von’s, Randall’s, and Jewel-Osco. Kroger has moved more aggressively than Safeway in recent years to make needed changes. Its strategy has been to diversify as a way to fend off challenges from both the high and low ends. In January it completed its purchase of the Harris Teeter chain, giving it about 200 upscale stores and enlarging its presence in the southeast. At the same time, it deftly navigated the economic downturn by making its existing stores more value-oriented and by launching a rewards program to appeal to price-conscious shoppers. Kroger’s decade’s worth of same-store sales growth continues unabated. That number grew by 4.3% in the fourth quarter of 2013, while Safeway’s same-store sales grew by just 1.6%. Safeway has been a bit slower than Kroger to respond to a changing market. While it has made its stores more appealing in recent years by, among other things, adding more organic and fresh foods, industry observers say that hasn’t given local managers enough leeway to adapt to local consumers. And indeed there is a sameness about Safeway stores: One in the tony Oakland hills is pretty much the same as one in urban San Francisco. Its biggest recent strategic moves have involved shedding assets. Last year it announced it was pulling out of the Chicago market by closing all 72 of its Dominick’s stores. Many of the locations were sold to competitors, but the fact that the chain wasn’t salable as a whole is a sign of the challenges faced by conventional supermarkets. (Whole Foods purchased some of the stores.) MORE: 5 alternatives to Amazon Prime Last year, Safeway unloaded its Canadian operations in a $5.7 billion sale of 1,300 stores to Empire Co. Also last year, it spun off its Blackhawk Network Holdings HAWK gift-card business in a public offering. Though it retains 72% of Blackhawk, proceeds from the eventual sale of that stake are part of the Cerberus deal. And it is looking to shed its 49% stake in Casa Ley, a 185-store Mexican chain it has owned since 1981. While there are worries that Cerberus will continue the slice-and-dice, perhaps cutting into Safeway’s core operations, those are mostly unfounded. Cerberus is generally known as an operator, not just a margin-focused financier, and taking Safeway out of public ownership will give it breathing room to take a slower, more strategic approach. The fact that Cerberus made a play for Harris Teeter before Kroger snapped it up is an indication that it wants to pursue a strategy similar to its bigger competitor: playing both ends of a rapidly splitting market. Whether either company will succeed this way is still open to question. What’s beyond a doubt is that steering a middle course is bound to end in a tragic crash.

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Say goodbye to your supermarket

Under assault from Wal-Mart and Costco on one side, and Whole Foods and Trader Joe's on the other, the traditional supermarket must transform or die.

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The U.S. is now selling more petroleum products than it is buying for the first time in more than six decades. Yet Americans are paying around $4 or more for a gallon of gas, even as demand slumps to historic lows. What gives? Americans can be forgiven for doubting the U.S. is producing more oil today than anytime in the last eight years – a fact President Obama has hammered home again and again in his latest rounds of campaign stumping. Meanwhile, Republicans point to the rising price of gas, which seems to indicate a less-than-plentiful oil supply. Despite all appearances, Obama is telling the truth. The U.S. is enjoying an energy boom. In North Dakota alone, shale oil drilling over the past year led to a greater volume of crude oil production than at least one OPEC country. Americans have been told for years that if only we drilled more oil, we would see a drop in gasoline prices. (Speaking to voters last month, Newt Gingrich made the curious assurance that more oil drilling could drive down gasoline prices to $2.50 a gallon, prompting the White House to accuse him of “lying.”) But more drilling is happening now, and prices are still going up. That’s because Wall Street has changed the formula for pricing gasoline. MORE: 4 key signs to watch this earnings season Until this time last year, gas prices hinged on the price of U.S. crude oil, set daily in a small town in Cushing, Oklahoma – the largest oil-storage hub in the country. Today, gasoline prices instead track the price of a type of oil found in the North Sea called Brent crude. And Brent crude, it so happens, trades at a premium to U.S. oil by around $20 a barrel. So, even as we drill for more oil in the U.S., the price benchmark has dodged the markdown bullet by taking cues from the more expensive oil. As always, we must compete with the rest of the world for petroleum – including our own. This is an unprecedented shift. Since the dawn of the modern-day oil markets in downtown Manhattan in the 1980s, U.S. gasoline prices have followed the domestic oil price (which, for the most part, has been more expensive than oil from the North Sea, a slice of the Atlantic between Great Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, Belgium and the Netherlands). However, heightened drilling in the U.S., combined with the flood of oil from the tar sands in Canada, has consistently pressured the U.S. oil price below its counterpart in the North Sea. The two types of oil once traded in lockstep, but have recently deviated so much that many do not believe they will trade neck-and-neck again. In the past year, U.S. oil prices have repeatedly traded in the double-digits below the Brent price. That is money Wall Street cannot afford to walk away from. To put it more literally, if a Wall Street trader or a major oil company can get a higher price for oil from an overseas buyer, rather than an American one, the overseas buyer wins. Just because an oil company drills inside U.S. borders doesn’t mean it has to sell to a U.S. buyer. There is patriotism and then there is profit motive. This is why Americans should carefully consider the sacrifice of wildlife preservation areas before designating them for oil drilling. The harsh reality is that we may never see a drop of oil that comes from some of our most precious lands. MORE: Cut oil subsidies, but don’t decry profits With the planned construction of more pipelines from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, oil will be able to leave the U.S. in greater volumes. This may eventually smooth out energy prices globally, but in the short term it will probably mean more of our North American petroleum products will be lost to competition from abroad. Demand for oil in the U.S. has eased with this year’s higher prices – a situation dubbed “demand destruction” by industry insiders – but overseas demand has not cooled. That means America will have to fight to keep oil on its shores instead of seeing it shipped to another country – by paying dearly for that privilege. Energy independence may be within our reach. But it comes at a price. Leah McGrath Goodman is the author of The Asylum: The Renegades Who Hijacked the World’s Oil Market.

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If the U.S. is now an oil exporter, why $4 gas?

Today’s high gasoline prices prove that drilling for more oil in the U.S. doesn’t lower energy costs. We have Wall Street to thank for that.

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Some technology advances change everything for their users in a way that is deeply visceral and memorable. I still remember, for instance, when I started using a Palm Pilot in 1997. The clunky device certainly was radical and all, but the epiphany for me was the sync-able desktop software that went with it, digitizing my calendar and contacts (but not email). I immediately realized that Palm had re-invented and obsoleted my Rolodex and Filofax, constant professional and personal companions for me at the time. I had the same feeling recently when I saw an iPad app from Inkling that replicates a college textbook in a digital format. Inkling, a San Francisco startup, recently added textbook giants McGraw-Hill MHP and Pearson PSO to its roster of investors, which includes Sequoia Capital as well as Felicis Ventures, Kapor Capital and Sherpalo Ventures. Interesting though the business story of Inkling is, what’s amazing is how the company has re-invented the textbook experience. Or, in the words of company founder and CEO Matt MacInnis, Inkling is “gently deconstructing the textbook and rebuilding it.” Inkling’s app, which for now works only on the iPad, is the college textbook you wish you had in college. It’s all digital but is more than a copy of a textbook page slapped onto a flat screen. The pages of the book scroll in a way that is optimized for a tablet, yet a feature allows the student to “jump to” a specific page number if, say, the professor says to do so. Interactive elements are seamlessly woven into the educational experience. In the venerable “Music: An Appreciation” by Roger Kamien, for example, a section on Beethoven allows the reader to listen to a symphony without leaving the text. While studying a graphic of the eyeball in Chapter 12 (on vision) in “Ganong’s Review of Medical Physiology,” a standard for medical students, the Inkling app allows the reader to use iPad’s multi-touch functions to zoom in and see every last capillary. The possibilities are endless. Inkling lets readers electronically highlight passages, which automatically are saved in the cloud. Then, when the owner of the chapter logs into the app from another device in the future — say, a different iPad or the Web — the highlights will show up. It allows a professor to annotate a chapter, a kind of “director’s cut” version for students. Inkling also went back to the authors of the 14 titles it has recreated so far and persuaded the authors to contribute “test yourself” material, including wrong answers, so that their once static textbook now is an interactive learning guide. Inkling’s business model is revolutionary too. Students can buy single chapters of books for $3, allowing them to spread out the cost of expensive textbooks. Publishers will like this model as well because, if Inkling’s technology is widely adopted, the market for second-hand books will go away. Today, publishers only make money selling new books. In an Inkling future their revenue streams will recur with each new class. MacInnis, who worked on education products at Apple AAPL before founding Inkling, says the company has forged relationships with all the major textbook publishers. It intends for iPad to be just the beginning, he says. Inkling will produce versions of its books for Google’s GOOG Android and other platforms well utilizing HTML 5 web software. College students already are using Inkling, and it’s not a stretch to envision a classroom in the not so distant future where every student has a tablet in her book bag. “The big story is that publishers are moving beyond flat-panel PDFs,” says MacInnis. He says Inkling will focus on the 2011 back-to-school season but that “the market is to be won in fall, 2012.” He had me wishing I could go back to school as soon as the Beethoven symphony started playing.

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Inkling: The tablet textbook breakthrough

The Silicon Valley startup reveals its establishment investors, an intriguing business model, and the future of interactive textbooks -- on iPads and beyond.

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The debate over cannabis has been burning strong for decades. “The idea you could arrest and destroy someone because of a plant is so absurd,” says marijuana advocate Chuck Ream. As more and more communities vote to legalize the drug, the debate is only speeding up and hitting closer to home. The executive director of the Michigan Sheriffs Association Terrance Jungel says, “All you are doing is introducing another mind altering substance into the quagmire of mind altering substances we already have.” In 2009, Ream and Tim Beck formed the Safer Michigan Coalition to help Michigan communities get marijuana reform on their ballots and get it decriminalized in their city limits. “We hardly regard this as relating to marijuana anymore it relates to freedom, it relates to whether or not a person is a patriot because anybody who’s a patriot is not going to vote to destroy someone’s life because they enjoy a plant, that’s twisted, that’s sick,” says Ream. Prior to this year, nine Michigan communities have passed measures to decriminalize recreational marijuana to some extent. This year another 11 took a shot at it — five of them in Northern Michigan. Ream says, “Our goal is to just give the voters a voice about this policy, in no other way do they get to vote directly or express their opinion on this policy that is a travesty of everything America was based on.” Never before had the Safer Michigan Coalition failed in their attempts at passing a measure. This year six of the eleven were voted down. Four of the five in Northern Michigan said no. Mt. Pleasant was the only local town to approve decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana. Jungel says, “I think the silent majority is waking up to the fact they may become victims to those that use marijuana, if you’re not using it you may not think it effects you. You need to care about it because when they cause a car accident, they aren’t hitting other people smoking marijuana, they’re hitting us.” He says it may sound simple enough to throw words like freedom around and just let people smoke what they want, but this is a complex issue that needs to be thought through. “I guess the question the public needs to ask themselves is what is the social redeeming value of legalizing marijuana? How does that benefit society in any way? And if you are doing it for economics then we are using economics and emotion to drive a decision on public safety and that is never a good idea.” As for Northern Michigan’s lone marijuana sanctuary, Mt. Pleasant police don’t expect the city to go up in smoke. “Nothing for us will change. For us we have never targeted individuals for possession of marijuana we’ve never focused our enforcement efforts on those individuals and we will continue not to,” says Mt. Pleasant Police officer Jeff Browne. The new law allows for a 21 year old to have up to an ounce of pot on them while on private property. But it’s important to remember this is only a city ordinance. It is only allowed in Mt. Pleasant city limits and there are still state and federal laws banning marijuana. “The city police department could technically still follow state law as well. This does not give anybody free reign to walk down the sidewalk, read the ordinance but even still there is state law that follows this as well.” “It will not apply to CMU’s campus because they receive federal funds so their law enforcement personnel would still have to prosecute under federal law,” adds city clerk Nancy Ridley. An ounce isn’t a lot. The overlapping laws don’t give cannabis fans much more freedom than they have now but it’s a statement. “The effect wont be much but the message will be there, it will be great.” Ream, like many cannabis supporters, expect it’s only a matter of time before the state of Michigan legalizes it statewide. Every year, more cities will have their vote to show support. Traverse City is scheduled for next year. Or maybe Northern Michigan doesn’t want it, as this year’s races showed. “We have the Food and Drug Administration who has been tasked specifically to determining what’s safe and what’s not safe to put in our bodies. Why are we turning that responsibility over to a popularity vote?” says Jungel. But Ream disagrees,”The average voter in Michigan cities knows in their heart and in their mind that its wrong — not because they love cannabis but because they know it’s wrong.”

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The Marijuana Debate

The debate over cannabis has been burning strong for decades. As more and more communities vote to legalize the drug, the debate is only speeding up and hitting closer to home. 9&10 News has th...

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Canada-based cell phone maker BlackBerry BBRY reported a net loss for its third quarter Friday, but said it eked out a small adjusted profit and saw positive cash flow in the period. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company reported a net loss of $148 million, or 28 cents a share in the quarter ended Nov. 29. That compared with a year earlier loss of $4.4 billion, or $8.37 a share. Excluding one-time items the company earned 1 cent a share. Investors are eager to know how CEO John Chen is balancing the task of taking the company toward the cash flow breakeven mark, even as its revenue continues to slide. Chen is about halfway through a complex turnaround plan that will see the one-time smartphone pioneer transition into a less hardware-focused player. Many analysts are still on the sidelines about BlackBerry’s prospects, as revenue is likely to begin ticking higher only from next year on the back of the newly launched Classic device and new revenue streams from the BES12 platform. BlackBerry also said Friday it has completed its acquisition of Secusmart, a privately held firm that specializes in voice and data encryption. Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry agreed to buy the German maker of encryption and anti-eavesdropping services in July, in a move to burnish its credentials with highly security-conscious clients like government agencies. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Secusmart’s technology is being used to protect the devices of government officials in both Canada and Germany, including the BlackBerry device used by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. —Reuters contributed to this report.

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BlackBerry reports a small adjusted profit, positive cash flow

Company also completes its acquisition of Secusmart, a privately held firm that specializes in voice and data encryption.

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AutoTrader.com has agreed to acquire VinSolutions, a provider of auto dealer solutions, including CRM, Internet lead management and inventory management. No financial terms were disclosed. Deckers Outdoor Corp. (Nasdaq: DECK) has agreed to acquire Sanuck, an Irvine, Calif.-based shoe and sandal brand, for $120 million from Sanuk USA and C&C Companies. Sophia, an online social teaching and learning platform, has acquired Guaranteach, a Baltimore-based online provider of short-form tutorials. No financial terms were disclosed. Guaranteach had been sponsored by Innosight Ventures, NewSchools Venture Fund and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. www.guaranteach.com Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) has agreed to acquire Clearwell Systems Inc., a Mountain View, Calif.-based e-discovery management platform for the enterprise. The deal is valued at approximately $390 million, net of Clearwell’s $20 million existing cash balance. Clearwell has raised around $30 million in VC funding, from firms like DAG Ventures, Northgate Capital, Redpoint Ventures and Sequoia Capital. www.symantec.com Emcor Group (NYSE: EME) has agreed to acquire USM Services Holdings, a Norristown, Penn.-based provider of facilities maintenance services, from Australia’s Transfield Services LTd. (ASA: TSE). The deal is valued at $255 million in cash. Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. (NYSE: DTG) said that it has adopted a “poison pill,” which could slow down a proposed $2.08 billion buyout offer from Hertz Global Holdings. Glencore, a Swiss commodities trader, raised $10 billion in a London IPO, selling 1.14 billion shares at $8.60 per share. It is the largest IPO so far this year. www.glencore.com Histogenics Corp., a Waltham, Mass.-based regenerative medicine company focused on cartilage, has acquired Israeli regenerative medicine company ProChon Biotech Ltd. No financial terms were disclosed. Boston Equity Advisors managed the process. Histogenics shareholders include Boston Millennia Partners, Foundation Medical Partners, Altima Partners and Inflection Point Partners. www.histogenics.com Thermo-Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) has emerged as a bidder for Phadia AB, an allergy-testing company owned by Cinven, according to the Wall Street Journal. The deal could be valued at upwards of $3 billion. Thermo-Fisher also is a reported bidder for Gen-Probe Inc. (Nasdaq: GPRO), which has a market cap of around $3.8 billion. www.thermofisher.com Takeda Pharmaceutical Corp. (Tokyo: 4502) has agreed to acquire Swiss drug-maker Nycomed for €9.6 billion in cash. Sellers include Nordic Capital, DLJ Merchant Partners, Coller Capital and Avista Capital Partners. www.nycomed.com Abertis (Madrid: ABE) has sold its car parking and logistics businesses to an investment group led by Torreal for €400 million. Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL) has agreed to acquire Esurance and Answer Financial for approximately $1 billion from White Mountains Insurance Group (NYSE: WTM). The deal value includes $700 million in cash, plus the book value of acquired assets. www.allstate.com South Korea has restarted the sale process of a 57% stake in the nation’s largest bank by assets, Woori Financial Group. Toshiba is expected to acquire Landis+Gyr, a Swiss maker of smart meters, for approximately $2 billion after two private equity firms dropped out of the process, according to the FT. Current Landis&Gyr shareholders include Australia’s Bayard Capital. www.landisgyr.com Skyworks Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: SWKS) has agreed to acquire SiGe Semiconductor Inc., an Ottawa-based supplier of RF front-end solutions for wireless systems. The deal is valued at up to $275 million, including a $210 million up-front cash payment and $65 million in potential milestone patyments. SiGe is currently in registration for a $143.75 million IPO, and has raised around $132 million in VC funding since 1999. Current shareholders include Prism VentureWorks (19.8% stake), VenGrowth (15.5%), W Capital Partners (11.2%), TD Capital and Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec. www.sige.com Publicis (Paris: PUBP) has agreed to acquire Rosetta Marketing Group, a Hamilton, N.J.-based digital marketing agency. The deal is valued at $525 million in cash, plus the possibility of future earnouts. www.publicis.com Vietcombank, a state-owned bank in Vietnam, has hired Credit Suisse to manage the sale of a 20% ownership stake to foreign investors. Credit Suisse had a similar mandate in 2007, but the deal never went through. Autonomy Corp. (LSE: AU) has agreed to acquire certain digital division assets from Iron Mountain Inc. (NYSE: IRM), including archiving, eDiscovery and online backup. The deal is valued at $380 million in cash. www.autonomy.com Daimler AG and Rolls-Royce Group PLC have sweetened their offer to acquire German engine-maker Tognum AG to €2.4 billion, according to Bloomberg. This is an 8.3% increase from an earlier bid. Joy Global (Nasdaq: JOYG), has agreed to acquire LeTourneau Technologies Inc., the mining equipment making unit of Rowan Companies Inc. (NYSE: RDC), for $1.1 billion in cash. www.rowancompanies.com Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., a Vancouver-based firm and television studio, is seeking buyers for Carl Icahn’s 33% stake in the company, according to Bloomberg. Stryker Corp. (NYSE: SYK) has agreed to acquire bio-surgery products maker Orthovita Inc. (Nasdaq: VITA) for around $316 million in cash. The $3.85 per share deal represents a 41% premium to Friday’s closing price for Orthovita shares. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to acquire a minority stake in Yihaodian, a Chinese e-commerce company whose offerings include groceries and electronics. No financial terms were disclosed.

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M&A Deals - Fortune

AutoTrader.com has agreed to acquire VinSolutions, a provider of auto dealer solutions, including CRM, Internet lead management and inventory management. No financial terms were disclosed. Deckers Outdoor Corp. (Nasdaq: DECK) has agreed to acquire Sanuck, an Irvine, Calif.-based shoe and sandal brand, for $120 million from Sanuk USA and C&C Companies. Sophia, an online social…

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Samantha Mutschler with one of her hat recipients Courtesy Unraveled by Samantha Dawn 03/23/2015 AT 03:10 PM EDT Samantha Mutschler has turned her hobby into a way to help others. The West Orange, Florida, resident spends as much time and money as she can creating colorful and cozy hats for children fighting cancer, reports the Mutschler's mission to cover the head of every young cancer patient began when her family friend, Katie Karp, was diagnosed with bone cancer. Wanting to comfort the 12-year-old in some way, Mutschler, 24, decided to make a blanket for the girl. The creation was such a hit that soon Mutschler was being asked to make wraps for the patients of the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children through , a nonprofit set up by Karp's family that works to keep kids with cancer optimistic. Wanting to give more to the children she was cheering up, Mutschler began crocheting in 2011, making simple hats to include with her blankets. In a few months Mutschler had created her own cancer support program, Unraveled by Samantha Dawn, and was taking requests from young patients and their families for hats. From SpongeBob SquarePants to sharks, she has crocheted beanies featuring all kinds of characters and animals, with Disney princesses being a big favorite. Mutschler has donated more than 160 of her hats so far, sending some as far as Holland and Australia. Mutschler is willing to add and alter any details a child desires in order to make their hat perfect for them. To add even more magic to her gifts, she often makes care packages with stuffed animals and dolls to send along with her hats. Mutschler is currently working on turning this passion project into a nonprofit, and she has a to help support her drive to bring smiles to young cancer patients. "It brings joy to them; it brings joy to me," Mutschler said. "I know I'm doing what God wants me to do. My dream is to one day see a team of ladies working for me in getting more hats out to these precious warriors." If you would like to commission a hat from Mutschler or donate to her work, visit

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Crocheter Makes Disney Hats for Kids Fighting Cancer : People.com

Samantha Mutschler crochets hats that look like animals, superheroes and princesses to help keep kids with cancer smiling

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SAN FRANCISCO — California almonds are becoming one of the world’s favorite snacks. But the crop extracts a staggering price from the land, consuming more water than all the showering, dish-washing, and other indoor household water use of California’s 39 million people. As California enters its fourth year of drought, the $6.5 billion almond crop is helping to drive a sharp debate about water use, agricultural interests, and the state’s economy. Almonds are now ‘‘the poster child of all things bad in water,’’ almond grower Bob Weimer said. Last year, almonds became the top export crop in the nation’s top agriculture state. China’s booming middle class is driving much of the demand. Almond trees now cover nearly 1 million acres in California. Since each nut requires a gallon of water, almonds are consuming 1.07 trillion gallons annually in the state, one-fifth more than California families use indoors. So when Governor Jerry Brown ordered municipalities to cut water consumption by 25 percent but exempted farms, almonds got toasted in the debate that followed. ‘‘Drought villains?’’ the Los Angeles Times asked. National Public Radio called almond farmers ‘‘a rogue’s gallery’’ of water users. Now farmers and investors are on the defensive. ‘‘The tomato growers use a lot more water than we do. You should go after those guys,’’ said Ryon Paton, a principal of Trinitas Partners. California growers provide 80 percent of the global supply of almonds. As big a global money-maker as California’s agriculture is, though, it is little more than a blip in the state’s economy. And that’s driving the debate on water use. In all, agriculture uses 80 percent of the water Californians draw from ground water and surface supplies but produces just 1.5 percent of the state’s gross domestic product, said Christopher Thornberg, an economist. Strong prices have some growers rushing to plant still more trees. The governor and his cabinet defend almonds as a high-value crop. ‘‘We’re going to try to maximize all beneficial uses, not pick one we like better than the others,’’ said Felicia Marcus, head of the Water Resources Control Board. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Almonds get roasted in debate over California water use

California almonds are becoming one of the world’s favorite snacks and creating a multibillion-dollar bonanza for agricultural investors. But the crop extracts a staggering price from the land, consuming more water than all the showering, dish-washing, and other indoor household water use of California’s 39 million people.

20150509155234

“Today was all about why location matters. Silicon Valley versus Las Vegas,” says Damien Patton, the animated chief executive of Banjo, as he steps out of his car, phone to his ear. Patton is referring to the speech he just delivered at Collision, a popular tech industry conference held at the World Market Center in Las Vegas. Minutes earlier, he was on stage and preaching to the technorati. Now, having returned to his company’s office, a stone’s throw from McCarran International Airport, he’s feeling quietly optimistic. “It’s going to help all the startups in Vegas and what they should be thinking and what they should not be thinking,” he says. “I hope my experience running a startup might help them. A lot of people have helped me out with their experience. I’m doing the same.” Patton has certainly learned many lessons as he grows his almost four-year-old company, which makes software that analyzes social media activity on the Internet. On Wednesday, Patton revealed that the company had raised $100 million from Softbank and BlueRun Ventures, five times more money than the young company had raised to date. “Banjo will become the world’s premier real-time data platform,” Patton wrote in a triumphant blog post. “Our technology will fuel other organizations and entire ecosystems.” The news comes during the same week as the announcement that Secret, an anonymous messaging service and Silicon Valley darling, would return the tens of millions of dollars it had raised from its own investors. Banjo and Secret have little in common besides a fast-growing technology product: Secret served a place for digital gossip, vitriol, and emoting; Banjo serves as a tool to give executives a detailed understanding of what’s happening anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice. But Secret’s demise was a small reminder that, in this Age of Unicorns, investor money isn’t free money. Patton says he feels “a great sense of responsibility” by raising so much additional funding. “I don’t take taking money lightly,” he says. “We had a lot of opportunity in this round. The hundred million is nowhere near the opportunity that was in front of us in this round. We didn’t take the biggest offer in this deal—not by a long shot. But it’s not about valuation; it’s not about exact dollars raised. “I’m trying to hire the smartest data engineers on the planet to solve the hardest problem on the planet today. These are the best minds in the world. We need them. When you raise a round like this, it encourages people to leave their job and work for a company that has the resources to go and create and build a data science lab. The B round, the A round—I never announced them. It’s not about valuation. It’s about execution. The self-pressure is greater now, and if it’s not, you’ve gotta rethink being an entrepreneur.” “There’s no F’in two ways about it.” Banjo employs about 60 people across Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Redwood City, Calif. The company, about which Fortune‘s Heather Clancy wrote more extensively in April, is growing by two to five employees per week. The dual burdens of blazing a new path and managing scale weigh on Patton’s shoulders. Today, he still handles most company functions—engineering, product, accounting, facilities. That’s not sustainable at the company’s current growth rate. “Some of this goes toward scaling out myself,” Patton says with a touch of exasperation. “That’s one of the biggest challenges of the company—scaling me and my responsibilities to other people.” Patton praises Masayoshi Son, Softbank’s founder and CEO, for proving to be a model entrepreneur. “He has been in my shoes before. He’s done it multiple times. He’s seen what works and what not works,” Patton says. “We’re trying to do something so technically innovative that it’s not been done before. It’s exponentially challenging; there’s no roadmap. Getting partners that have been through that and been successful multiple times? I don’t know if you can put a value on that. It’s not about the cash. It’s about what’s behind it. And sometimes that’s more important.” “We’ve got a business to build here,” he adds. “There’s a lot of responsibility on our shoulders.”

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Banjo raises $100 million, but the pressure comes from within

The four-year-old company, which makes data analytics tools for social media analysis, is newly flush with cash and knowledge from investor Softbank.

20150524075606

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31— Two major weapons proposed by President Reagan, the MX missile in hardened silos and the B-1 bomber, are in jeopardy in Congress, according to Congressional, Reagan Administration and defense industry officials. At the same time, high-ranking Administration officials say that because of budgetary pressures, the Administration would not be averse to having the weapons proposals trimmed back. The fundamental reason both weapons are under close Congressional scrutiny is that they are expensive and are interim solutions, the officials said. Influential Senators and members of the House have asked with increasing insistence why huge sums should be spent in a time of fiscal austerity when better and longer-range solutions are in sight. ''Money is the key to all this, not strategic doctrine,'' said an aide to Senator Mark O. Hatfield, Republican of Oregon, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, which will vote on funds for the programs. Warnings in House In addition to Senator Hatfield, Senator John Tower, Republican of Texas, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Senator Ted Stevens, Republican of Alaska, chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, have questioned aspects of the proposals. In the House, Representative Melvin Price, Democrat of Illinois, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Representative Joseph P. Addabbo, Democrat of Queens, chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, have warned the Administration that the proposals are in trouble. Mr. Addabbo has already engineered a subcommittee vote against the MX. Well-placed Administration officials said privately that Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger and other senior Administration officials, especially in the Office of Management and Budget, would not be upset if Congress voted down the plan to base the MX in hardened silos. But the Administration insists that the missiles themselves should be built, with a decision on basing to be made in 1984. The Administration officials, who declined to be named, suggested that the Administration would fight harder for the B-1 bomber. But even there, some of them indicated, their concern could be eased by pushing ahead the radar-evading Stealth bomber, which is to follow the B-1. No Administration official would be willing to publicly admit willingness to accept trims, senior officials said, because the Administration wants to persuade the Soviet Union that the United States intends to rearm to deter Soviet aggression and to negotiate arms reductions from a position of strength. Would Help Balance Budget Moreover, the officials suggested, the Administration would publicly advocate spending for the programs in an effort to placate its constituency in the Air Force, which would be in charge of both weapons. But the money saved could help balance the Federal budget by 1984, an objective that Secretary of the Treasury Donald T. Regan said yesterday was ''not probable.'' Both the MX and B-1 programs call for spending large sums within the next three years. In addition, longer-term bases for the missile and the Stealth bomber would not require heavy spending until after 1984, an election year. One Administration official, noting that Mr. Weinberger had promised a decision on new MX bases by 1984, said: ''You'd have to be awfully naive if you thought that date just fell out of the sky.'' The overall cost of the MX program has been set at $34 billion, with $7 billion of that to be spent to harden 50 silos in which Titan or Minuteman missiles are currently based. The cost of the B-1, which would be an advanced version of the aircraft canceled by President Carter in 1977, would be about $22 billion, according to the Administration, and as much as $30 billion in the eyes of some Congressmen. The Stealth, or advanced technology bomber, would cost $30 billion to $40 billion. A conference of members from the Senate and House Armed Services Committees agreed yesterday on a measure that could be used to stop the Administration from deploying the MX missiles in the hardened silos or from producing the B-1 bomber. Both houses of Congress would have to vote them down by majority vote. The conference also trimmed the programs' funds slightly. Earlier, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense voted not to provide funds at all for the MX missile in 1982. The subcommittee chairman, Representative Addabbo, said he would also try to have funds for the B-1 cut off when the measure reaches the floor. The subcommittee voted to build the plane. A subcommittee official said there was increasing sentiment in the House to cut out the interim step in the MX basing and force the Administration to make up its mind on permanent basing. The official said he thought the House would provide money for that research but not for the hardened silos. The Air Force, which would operate the missiles, helped to stir Congressional opposition by less than eager testimony in support of the Administration's plan. The Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Lew Allen Jr., told senators that the plan ''has not received a great deal of enthusiasm.'' Some defense industry executives have asserted that the Administration has underestimated the potential opposition to the B-1 bomber on Capitol Hill and has failed to nurture support there. Specifically, those industry sources said, the Administration has failed to make clear that the version of the B-1 currently under consideration has been improved over the version canceled by President Carter. General Allen has testified that the new B-1, called the B-1B, is about 80 percent the same as the older model but would include new design features and electronic jammers to enable it to reduce its image, or cross section, on enemy radar. Other Air Force officers said the radar cross section would be onetenth that of the 1977 B-1 and one-100th that of the B-52, the present workhorse of the bomber fleet. Senator Stevens seemed to have stunned Mr. Weinberger during a hearing Wednesday by asserting that information from the Central Intelligence Agency indicated that the B-52 would continue to be effective against Soviet air defenses until 1990, when the Stealth bomber would come along. Mr. Weinberger, however, fought back later by having top officials of the Pentagon brief reporters on the state of Soviet air defenses and assert the shortcomings of the B-52 and the advantages of the new B-1. The president of Rockwell International's aircraft group, Bastian J. Hello, told reporters in Pittsburgh that his firm, the prime contractor for the B-1, expected to conclude negotiations on the contract within the next 30 to 60 days.

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2 WEAPONS FACING CAPITOL QUESTIONS

Two major weapons proposed by President Reagan, the MX missile in hardened silos and the B-1 bomber, are in jeopardy in Congress, according to Congressional, Reagan Administration and defense industry officials. At the same time, high-ranking Administration officials say that because of budgetary pressures, the Administration would not be averse to having the weapons proposals trimmed back. The fundamental reason both weapons are under close Congressional scrutiny is that they are expensive and are interim solutions, the officials said. Influential Senators and members of the House have asked with increasing insistence why huge sums should be spent in a time of fiscal austerity when better and longer-range solutions are in sight.

20150524080449

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7— To the surprise of demographers, progress in reducing mortality in the world's poorer countries over the last generation, which had been considered remarkable, now appears to be faltering. Death rates in these developing countries had been expected to continue to drop rapidly until life expectancy, still quite low, reached 60 or 65 years, just as they had done in the industrialized world earlier in this century. The trend that has apparently developed, however, offers a troubling explanation for the recent reports that the rate of population growth in the poorer lands had begun to drop, according to Davidson R. Gwatkin, a demographer with the Overseas Development Council. It now appears, he said, that this drop is attributable in considerable part to persistently high death rates, not just lower birth rates. As a result, Mr. Gwatkin said, the encouraging trends that began after World War II have given way to a ''more confused, ambiguous and diverse'' situation in which further improvements may depend on economic and health advances that will not easily be accomplished. Two Factors Cited as Cause He theorized that two factors underlay the faltering mortality picture. First, advances in controlling infectious diseases have had their effect, and the leading causes of death in the poorer countries now are diarrheal diseases, respiratory infections, malnutrition and other problems that do not yield easily to modern medical technology. Second, progress in social and economic development has slowed in many places. Mr. Gwatkin's findings on the mortality trends, based on United Nations and other data, are published in the current issue of the Population and Development Review, issued this month but dated December 1980. The journal is published by the Population Council in New York. After World War II, life expectancy began to increase dramatically by as much as two years annually in Mexico and in countries that are now the sovereign nations of Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Jamaica and Taiwan. In that period, the average infant in these countries could expect to die 15 to 30 years before the average American or European. Since then the gap has narrowed considerably. Though the situation varies from country to country, it is difficult to be optimistic, according to Mr. Gwatkin. Sri Lanka, which was Ceylon until 1972, had made dramatic gains earlier but has suffered an increase in mortality in the late 1960's and early 1970's, as did Bangladesh, which was East Pakistan until 1971. Progress has slowed too in India. The average annual increase in life expectancy in Asia as a whole dropped from 0.7 years in the early 1950's to 0.5 years in the early 1970's. Africa and Latin America Hopes that the gains in life expectancy in Africa, still extremely low, would be the greatest ever have not been fulfilled. In Latin America, the picture is mixed, but the average rate of mortality decline is down there too. Mr. Gwatkin conceded that vital statistics from less developed countries were not consistently reliable. But, he wrote, ''There are too many of them, from too many sources - from independent empirical observations about mortality levels and trends, about disease patterns, about public health measures, about social and economic development relevant to health conditions - simply to be ignored.''

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GAINS IN LIFE EXPECTANCY IN POOR NATIONS

To the surprise of demographers, progress in reducing mortality in the world's poorer countries over the last generation, which had been considered remarkable, now appears to be faltering. Death rates in these developing countries had been expected to continue to drop rapidly until life expectancy, still quite low, reached 60 or 65 years, just as they had done in the industrialized world earlier in this century. The trend that has apparently developed, however, offers a troubling explanation for the recent reports that the rate of population growth in the poorer lands had begun to drop, according to Davidson R. Gwatkin, a demographer with the Overseas Development Council. It now appears, he said, that this drop is attributable in considerable part to persistently high death rates, not just lower birth rates.

20150524080545

-------------------------------------------------------------------- The Hers column was designed as a forum for writing by women. For several weeks it will be written by Laura Cunningham, whose most recent novel is ''Third Parties'' (Coward, McCann). WHENEVER I hear someone say that sex roles are learned early in the home I have to grin. On this subject I must stand forever off to the side, on a mezzanine reserved for those who must always view life at an angle. I grew up under unusual circumstances: I was raised by men - specifically, two men, my uncles Ben and Abe. Sometimes an acquaintance, hearing that I grew up in the care of uncles, will pin a popular label to the experience: ''Oh, you lived in an extended family.'' Actually my family was not so much ''extended'' as it was reduced - by death and by desertion. The death was my mother's, the desertion my father's (he had never lived with us). In June 1955, when I was 8 years old, I found myself alone in the apartment I had shared with my mother. In the social flurry that followed the funeral, relatives and friends of the family came and went, carrying fruit, cards, coffee cakes. Everyone left but my uncles Ben and Abe. I was too young and had been too much loved by my mother to grasp the magnaminity of my uncles' continued presence. I was so smug, so sure that I must always be loved, that it would be years before I could understand what they had done. At the time I recall boasting to a girl friend: ''I don't just have one uncle coming to live with me. I have two!'' Twenty-six years later I am more impressed. They had not lived together since their own youth; both had been close to my mother, so they reunited to form a home for me. They were the least likely candidates to become my guardians. Uncle Ben was 41, Abe was 39, and both were unmarried. They had been living similar existences in different boroughs - Ben in Manhattan, Abe in Brooklyn. Both wanted to be writers, but of different sorts. Ben wrote about Abe Lincoln, whom, at 6 feet 4, he resembled. Abe, who was somewhat shorter and wore his hat tipped back in the style of the practicing Jew that he was, composed gospel songs and ''nature'' poems. I doubt that they would ever have shared an apartment had my mother not died and left me up for grabs, more or less. When I look back - and I do daily - I wonder how they decided to take the responsibility for an 8-year-old girl and why they chose to do it together. There were other possibilities within my mother's family: a childless aunt and uncle, a widowed aunt and several adult cousins with established households. I can only guess at a truth my uncles are far too sensitive to confirm: They were the only ones who wanted me. All that mattered then was that they did want me. They arrived with their few suitcases and their enthusiasm. It interests me now that it was they who moved in with me and not the other way around. They've never explained why they chose to do it that way. ''My'' apartment was inconveniently situated within megaphone distance of Yankee Stadium and offered them nothing but the dull routine of a two-hour round-trip subway ride to their respective jobs. Yet they came to me. And knowing them, I know why: they had decided to disrupt their own lives to avoid destroying mine further. I would be allowed to remain in the same building, attend the same school, keep the same neighborhood friends. Eavesdropping, I overheard Ben tell Abe: ''We don't want her to be insecure.'' I went out to play, wondering: ''What does 'insecure' mean?'' During our first days together I busied myself with the domestic arrangements. I spent entire evenings instructing both uncles on how ''we'' did things. I told them how to prepare my favorite foods, tuna croquettes and hamburgers. Both Ben and Abe learned how to cook those foods, but neither made any distinction as to the hour that those items would appear on the menu - so tuna croquettes and hamburgers could and did appear at breakfast. There were other details to setting up our household in those days. We needed a foldout sofa and another bed. In this arena the uncles deferred to me, so I was bused to a Castro Convertible outlet and given free choice. I also selected other items we needed -kitchen curtains, bedspreads, a ''dinette'' set. The resulting interior decoration looked exactly like what it was - an apartment done by an 8-year-old. The color scheme was orange and white, the sofa was covered in laminated golden upholstery. After these purchases had been made Ben added a few touches in deference to my femininity: He painted everything that could be painted - pink. Including the television set. Ben's interior design featured certain utilitarian pieces: He favored metal filing cabinets over ordinary chests of drawers. I was given my own cabinet and told to file my clothes alphabetically. My cabinet was different from my uncles' in only one respect: It was pink. In many ways the life we shared in our orange-white-and-pink apartment was as different from a conventional household as it appeared. At times we were almost a parody of a ''normal'' family. Without the possibility of assigning duties according to traditional Mom and Dad patterns, my uncles played either parental part. On Mother's Day one or the other might appear at my school and certainly both would receive cards from me. The same applied on Father's Day. And I can recall at least one parents' day open house when both Ben and Abe appeared at school, lined up with the parents. Within our home there were occasional gender-related panics. I remember the first crisis - the night I had to take my first nonmother-assisted bath. Ben and Abe discussed the situation and worked toward typically urban bachelor solutions: They suggested that an aunt come by taxi for the evening. I insisted that I could do the job alone, and I did take my first solo bath, unattended, although I recall that I left the bathroom floor under a two-inch flood and that Abe performed the first in a series of ''cleanups.'' My uncles took their homemaking duties to heart, always working with elaborate schedules. They arrived, early on, at a division of chores: Abe did the housecleaning and Ben preferred to cook. As hard as they both worked, neither had the faintest idea how those tasks were usually done, and the result was, shall we say, offbeat. Ben's cooking was savory but adhered to no known timetable. Meanwhile, Abe cleaned with a vengeance, almost violent in his mop-and-pail-swinging attacks on grime. Abe was especially innocent of the standard ways of home maintenance. After a year of his scouring of wooden floors with Ajax and Clorox, the entire apartment seemed to list, following, in a physical way, the social warp of our lives. We lived together for eight years, and I suppose we appeared in public as an odd lot. But in our apartment we enjoyed our own rituals, a secret language and a repertoire of songs and jokes. The differences, I think, proved the rule: we were a family. What I may have missed by not having the usual set of parents I can never know. I suspect that I also missed some of the sexual stereotyping of that period. Certainly I gained great love and benefited by being raised not merely by men but by those two special men. As a bonus I may have an added appreciation of the uniqueness inherent in all human connections, a belief in the individual beyond the ''role.'' What else I may have gained - or escaped - I'm still discovering. Illustrations: drawing of the 2 uncles serving the little girl

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-------------------------------------------------------------------- The Hers column was designed as a forum for writing by women. For several weeks it will be written by Laura Cunningham, whose most recent novel is ''Third Parties'' (Coward, McCann). WHENEVER I hear someone say that sex roles are learned early in the home I have to grin. On this subject I must stand forever off to the side, on a mezzanine reserved for those who must always view life at an angle. I grew up under unusual circumstances: I was raised by men - specifically, two men, my uncles Ben and Abe. Sometimes an acquaintance, hearing that I grew up in the care of uncles, will pin a popular label to the experience: ''Oh, you lived in an extended family.'' Actually my family was not so much ''extended'' as it was reduced - by death and by desertion. The death was my mother's, the desertion my father's (he had never lived with us). In June 1955, when I was 8 years old, I found myself alone in the apartment I had shared with my mother.

20150524112129

CHICAGO, Feb. 20— Poverty may be the reason why women in minority groups are more likely than whites to bear small babies with a high risk of death, a new study says. The higher infant death rate among minorities gives the United States one of the highest overall infant mortality rates among developed countries, and the researchers suggested that the higher death rate is tied to income rather than race. J. David Erickson of the national Centers for Disease Control, who conducted the study with Dr. Tor Bjerkdal of the University of Oslo in Norway, said studies have shown that infant mortality rises as income levels fall, and that poverty was a possible cause of low birth weight. The study, published in the new issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, compared infant death rates in the United States and Norway and indicated that birth weight is a primary factor in infant mortality. ''My suspicion is that it could have something to do with nutrition or less prenatal care,'' Dr. Erickson said. ''It's a possibility, but we don't know that for a fact.'' 'The Central Problem' In an editorial accompanying the study, Dr. Nigel Paneth wrote, ''Put simply, poorer mothers have smaller babies, and smaller babies are at a higher risk of early death. ''I think it's well documented that poorer people have higher infant mortality rates. Now, with the implication that low birth weight is the central problem with infant mortality in the United States, the question is, 'What is it about poverty that causes low birth weight?' '' The 1977 United States infant mortality rate of 14.1 deaths per 1,000 births ranked 16th from lowest in the world, while Norway's rate of about 9.2 deaths per 1,000 births was fifth. The study also says an infant weighing between 5.5 pounds and 6.6 pounds is more than five times as likely to survive its first day of life than a baby weighing 4.4 pounds to 5.5 pounds. Twice as many babies weighing less than 5.5 pounds are born to minority women in the United States than to white women in the United States or in Norway, according to the study. In 1976, almost 13 percent of the infants born to minority women in the United States weighed less than 5.5 pounds, the study said, compared to 6.5 percent for white United States women and 5 percent for Norwegian women. The report did not specify which minorities were studied.

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POVERTY AND INFANT MORTALITY

Poverty may be the reason why women in minority groups are more likely than whites to bear small babies with a high risk of death, a new study says. The higher infant death rate among minorities gives the United States one of the highest overall infant mortality rates among developed countries, and the researchers suggested that the higher death rate is tied to income rather than race. J. David Erickson of the national Centers for Disease Control, who conducted the study with Dr. Tor Bjerkdal of the University of Oslo in Norway, said studies have shown that infant mortality rises as income levels fall, and that poverty was a possible cause of low birth weight.

20150524115957

BAGHDAD, Iraq— Nothing in the sounds and sights of Baghdad would indicate that this is the capital of a country at war. The city looks like a single immense construction site. From a hotel window a visitor can count more than two dozen giant cranes. Bulldozers, steamrollers, concrete mixers and other industrial machinery are on the move everywhere. Old streets are being torn up to be widened and to accomodate sewers, power lines and pedestrian underpasses. New avenues are cutting through once picturesque neighborhoods that had consisted of small homes with latticework alcoves and palm trees in the yards. Tall, Western-style apartment buildings are going up to house the tens of thousands of people who lost their homes to modern urbanism. Four or five high-rise luxury hotels are nearing completion. So is a huge complex of conference facilities and government buildings. A new bridge is being thrown across the Tigris River in the center of town. A September Deadline Most of this activity is part of a feverish rush to get the city ready for the meeting of nations professing nonalignment that is scheduled in September. The builders - mostly Japanese, British, French, German and Yugoslav -have signed contracts committing them to the nearly impossible task of finishing on time or paying fines of tens of thousands of dollars for every day of delay. Their crews work through the nights under floodlights. In the countryside, along the highways and back roads, there are frequent signs of sweeping industrial and agricultural development. New housing and plants of various kinds are under construction everywhere, and brand-new irrigation canals cut through newly planted fields and orchards. The country's investment program has been around $25 billion a year, according to diplomatic sources. The central ambition of the Baathist regime of President Saddam Hussein is to turn this ancient oriental land into a modern, Western-style nation and assume the role of the leading military and political power in the region. Many Factors Favored Iraq Iraq seemed to have everything needed for such a role. Its oil reserves are comparable to those of Saudi Arabia. But unlike the desert countries of the Persian Gulf, it has plenty of water from its two famous rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, and hence the potential for large agricultural and industrial development. Unlike Egypt, it has no problem of overpopulation; its population is a healthy 14 million. And it has had political stability under a harsh but corruption-free regime. The Iraqi leaders seemed to be within grasp of their ambitious objectives when the war with Iran started. It was set to inherit Egypt's leadership role in the Arab world after Camp David and had become the dominant power in the Gulf after the apparent selfdestruction of Iran. Now, after 20 months of a costly war that was supposed to be a walkover, these objectives are once more remote. Until recently, Iraq kept pushing its development program as if the war did not exist. It borrowed a reported $22 billion from Persian Gulf countries that see Iraq as their only protection against the spread of the Islamic fundamentalism of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. But the cost of the war has been about $1 billion a month, according to Western diplomats here. And Iraq's oil revenues, once estimated at about $30 billion a year, are believed to have dwindled to somewhere around $5 billion. The latest disastrous cut came last month when Syria, which is allied with Iran, closed the Iraqi pipeline running through its territory. Soon after the Syrian move, President Hussein, for the first time, proclaimed the need for austerity, and officials began to concede that the pace of development would have to slow. Foreign contractors were told that existing contracts would be fulfilled but that no large new contracts would be signed for some time. Even after the Iraqis' latest military setbacks, however, Western diplomats here say that the war has so far had suprisingly little impact on the popular mood, including the Shiite community, which makes up just over half of Iraq's Islamic population. The others are Sunnis. Christians make up about 5 percent of the population. The Baath Party, which has been in power for 14 years, controls all the levers of power and uses them harshly, even brutally, when it feels the need. Fundamentalists Stopped It summarily dealt with Shiite fundamentalists early on. The only organized pro-Khomeini group, Al Dawa (The Call), was effectively destroyed by security forces two years ago when its spirtitual head, Sheik Mohammed Bakr al-Sadr, was executed along with other leaders of the movement. Al Dawa is banned, and membership in the group is punishable by death. It has not been able to reconstitute itself as an organized force, according to most diplomats here. A large number of Shiites of Iranian descent have been deported, and the deportations are reportedly continuing. If there have been religious clashes between Shiites and Sunnis, they have not been on a scale to come to the notice of foreign embassies. The majority of Iraq's Shiites, Western and nonaligned diplomats here say, accept the Government's conviction that a secular state is the only solution for Iraq. Sixty miles south of Baghdad, in the city of Karbala, which is one of the holiest shrines for Shiite Moslems, costly restoration works are under way. Artisans are redrawing and restoring the ornamental gold and silver inlays in the dome of the mosque, and new floors are being laid with imported Italian marble. This is one project that is not likely to be canceled. Iraqis Counting on Meeting With the war going badly, President Hussein and his colleagues are putting greater hopes than ever in the meeting of nonaligned nations. The meeting was supposed to be the consecration of Iraq's rise to power on the world stage. Nonaligned meetings are held every three years, and the host Government takes over the presidency of the movement for the next three years. The last meeting was in Havana. The Iraqis, who have taken an increasingly independent line from Moscow, feel that under Cuban influence the movement has become too closely identified with Soviet policy. The Iraqis' professed ambition is to correct this with a tilt toward more genuine nonalignment. Several other nonaligned countries are also unhappy with the Cuban influence in the movement. The Iraqis reason that if they are seen to be taking the lead in shifting the orientation of the movement, they will be recognized as an international power comparable to such third world leaders as Yugoslavia, Cuba, India and Egypt. But if, with the war only 200 miles away, the meeting had to be canceled or was shunned by many leading third world figures, it would be a major defeat for the Hussein regime. Illustrations: photo of high rise apartment in Baghdad

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IN BOOMING BAGHDAD, BULLDOZERS DROWN OUT WAR

Nothing in the sounds and sights of Baghdad would indicate that this is the capital of a country at war. The city looks like a single immense construction site. From a hotel window a visitor can count more than two dozen giant cranes. Bulldozers, steamrollers, concrete mixers and other industrial machinery are on the move everywhere.

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CORTLANDT, N.Y., Jan. 21— Neighbors of Indian Point have strong fears about its two nuclear power plants. Some are frightened that the plants will continue to operate; others are worried that they will not. Dale A. Saltzman of Yorktown Heights has made preparations to flee from advancing clouds of radioactive gas, he told a three-man panel from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this evening. ''I have my car always packed with sleeping bags, a tent and supplies'' Mr. Saltzman said. He added that, whenever he heard firehouse sirens, he wondered whether it was a nuclear accident. 'It Is Our Tax Base' But Charles G. Di Giacomo, the Supervisor of the Town of Cortlandt, in which the plants are situated, testified that shutting them down would be a heavy blow. ''It is our electricity, our least expensive source, you are discussing,'' he said. ''It is our tax base, our largest tax ratable, you are talking about so abstractly.'' Mr. Saltzman and Mr. Di Giacomo were among dozens of speakers at an unusual hearing on whether the plants - in the village of Buchanan - were safe, and what the effect would be of shutting them down. The public is often invited to testify when a new plant is proposed or licensed, but the N.R.C. rarely solicits opinions on the wisdom of licensing decisions. The hearings, which will end Saturday in New City, N.Y., are part of a proceeding initiated by the Union of Concerned Scientists to close the plants for safety reasons. These are not the technical sessions, explained Karl Abraham, an N.R.C. spokesman, but ''a town hall-type thing.'' A Testimonial Song The three administrative judges, seated at a long table under a basketball hoop in the Cortlandt recreation building, heard mothers carrying their babies plead for the shutdown of the plants, and businessmen and municipal officials argue that the area's largest employer should not be driven out. Anyone who walked through the door could speak for five minutes. As testimony, one woman sang an antinuclear folk song, and members ofa radical political party took the microphone to say that proposals to shut the plant were part of an internation al conspiracy to slow the development of the third world. The audience was not a cross-section of the public, but a selfselected group of those willing to brave the cold to make a point. For some, the point was that power from the nuclear plants - the 873-megawatt, nine-year-old Unit 2, owned by Consolidated Edison Company, and the seven-year-old, 963-megawatt Unit 3, which belongs to the Power Authority of the State of New York - is substantially cheaper than electricity from oil-fired plants. Besides saving money for customers, the plants also provide jobs and tax revenues for Cortlandt. Most of the speakers, however, viewed the plants as an uncontrolled menace, a Trojan horse waiting to disgorge radioactivity to strike health and home. The disagreements were sharp. ''I have no fear, and neither does my family, including my five grandchildren, from this plant,'' said Willard Lancaster, who owns Lancaster and Son Pest Control in Peekskill. ''I am a small-business man. I do rely on some degree to the Indian Point plant.'' The Unbearable Trades Mr. Lancaster explained that the installation had stimulated the economy in the area. Susan McKeon of Peekskill disagreed. ''None of this compares one fig with one child that 20 years from now gets cancer,'' she said. ''Who would trade their paycheck for cancer in retirement? Who would trade their job for their grandchild's leukemia?'' The panel listened quietly. The testimony of a few witnesses, however, caught their interest. Fern Narod-Sheik, for example, drives a school bus in Mahopac, which is outside the 10-mile emergency evacuation zone. She said she had heard at an earlier session that in case of nuclear accident, Mahopac buses were to pick up children from Putnam Valley, inside the zone. She had asked her superiors, she said, and they knew nothing of the plan. Besides, she said, the plan could not work. ''I would not go back two or three times to Putnam Valley,'' said Mrs. Narod-Sheik. ''I would take care of my children.'' Dentist Questions Plans Dr. Daniel Salzberg, an orthodontist from Croton-on-Hudson, wanted to know how long he would have to stay away from his home and office, and what would happen to the 150 children he treats if an evacuation scattered them to other areas. ''If their appliances aren't checked, permanent damage can result, assuming they don't have some worse damage,'' he said. ''Is it presumed that the evacuation plan is so unworkable that there's no sense making these plans?'' The judges, led by Louis J. Carter, chairman of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, asked for more details on two other matters raised by speakers at the hearing - the capacity of the telephone system and the roads in the area of Indian Point. The completion of the technical safety arguments and a recommendation from the Atomic Safety Licensing Board on whether to revoke the plants' licenses were originally due by Jan. 8. But the N.R.C. has extended the deadline to Sept. 18. Illustrations: photo of Louis Carter photo of Susan McKeon

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AT A HEARING ON INDIAN POINT, FEAR HAS A DOUBLE EDGE

Neighbors of Indian Point have strong fears about its two nuclear power plants. Some are frightened that the plants will continue to operate; others are worried that they will not. Dale A. Saltzman of Yorktown Heights has made preparations to flee from advancing clouds of radioactive gas, he told a three-man panel from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this evening. ''I have my car always packed with sleeping bags, a tent and supplies'' Mr. Saltzman said. He added that, whenever he heard firehouse sirens, he wondered whether it was a nuclear accident.

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Fugro, which was contracted by the Australian government to operate three ships pulling sonar across the vast 60,000-km search zone, has rejected claims it is using the wrong equipment, saying its gear is rigorously tested. Still, Nargeolet's concerns are echoed by others in the tightly held deepsea search and rescue industry, who are worried that unless the search ships pass right over any wreckage the sonar scanning either side of the vessels won't pick it up. Experts also question the lack of data released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) on the activities of the Fugro ships. Three of the bidders rejected for the MH370 contract, U.S. firm Williamson & Associates, France's ixBlue SAS and Mauritius-based Deep Ocean Search Ltd, have taken the unusual step of detailing their concerns - months down the track - directly to Australian authorities in correspondence viewed by Reuters. Several other experts are also critical, including some who requested anonymity, citing the close knit nature of the industry which has just a few companies and militaries capable of conducting deepwater searches. Read MoreMalaysia Airlines: One year after MH370 "I have serious concerns that the MH370 search operation may not be able to convincingly demonstrate that 100 percent seafloor coverage is being achieved," Mike Williamson, founder and president of Williamson & Associates told Reuters. Australia took over the search for the missing plane from Malaysia in late March last year, three weeks after MH370 disappeared off the radar during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The search area was determined by satellite data that revealed the plane turned back sharply over the Malaysian Peninsula and flew undetected for another six hours before crashing into the inhospitable southern Indian Ocean. The unchartered waters, buffeted by the Roaring Forties winds, stretch as deep as 6 km, hiding old volcanoes and cliffs in their depths. Australia, Malaysia and China earlier this month agreed to double the search area to 120,000 sq km. Whether Phoenix International, which has U.S. navy contracts and found AF447, will be part of that extended search area is unclear after the ATSB said that Go Phoenix, owned by Australian firm Go Marine, will cease operating on June 19. Phoenix International, which was contracted separately by the Malaysian government, did not immediately return calls about its position. The Malaysian government also did not reply to requests for comment. Two of the Fugro ships traverse up and down 2.4 km-wide strips of the sea floor, pulling via a cable a "towfish" that contains sonar equipment, in a technique often called "mowing the lawn". The towfish coasts around 100 meters above the sea floor, sending out sound waves diagonally across a swath, or broad strip, to produce a flattened image of the seabed.

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MH370 search by Australia coming under scrutiny

Nearly a year after the disappearance of MH370, authorities and search teams are being criticized over their search approaches.

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Philippe Huguen | AFP | Getty Images The logo of the French bank BNP Paribas on June 24, 2014 in Lille, France. The bank said the appreciation of the dollar against the euro had contributed to the strong results. Over the past three months, the dollar has risen 2.4 percent against the euro, and over the year to date it's gained 9.5 percent against the single currency. Revenue in the French retail banking division declined by two percent in the second quarter, however, which Machenil attributed to the continuing low interest rate environment. "If you are in a low interest rate environment, you have to constantly adapt yourself to it. That means you have to do things like repricing to reflect these low interest rates and at the same time you have to follow your clients' needs, and of course, (pursue) ever-continued cost-reduction and low cost of risk," he said. Highlights in the retail banking side of the business were the personal finance and international retail banking, he added. "This strong second quarter adds to the first strong quarter. When you look at the first six months, we basically have a return-on-equity of 10.1 percent," he said. In the second quarter, the cost of risk increased by 5.6 percent from the same period last year, which Machenil attributed to the acquisitions the bank had made. Despite a volatile quarter for the euro zone - with Greece teetering on the edge of the single currency bloc - the CFO said he saw "green shoots" in the region, and was confident about the global economic outlook. "What we do see is that we have green shoots, we will see if they materialize further going forward. And for the rest we are very focused on executing our industrial plan, as you can see from the results," Machenil added.

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BNP Paribas net profit beats forecasts

BNP Paribas reported better-than-expected profit on Friday, as the strong dollar gave the French bank's earnings a boost.

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"The thing that is somewhat peculiar is we have a situation where we have significantly improved prospects in the U.S.," said Torsten Slok, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank and a former World Bank official who used to help draft the statement the organization released Wednesday cutting growth estimates. "Obviously, the rest of the world is wrestling with hangover issues from the financial crisis. It looks like more healing is needed." Read MoreWhy in the world do people keep buying Treasurys? Generally speaking, Slok adheres to consensus belief that U.S. growth will accelerate through the year, just not at a fast enough pace to match the lofty Fed expectations. "Two percent is not bad, it's just not three," he said. "What took us all by surprise was we had GDP growth in the first quarter that was so weak and is likely to be a significant drag on the annual number." In a statement outlining the growth downgrades, Kaushik Basu, the bank's senior vice president and chief economist, advised global policymakers to "prepare for the next crisis" by enacting structural reforms and tightening fiscal policies. Read MoreWorld Bank: 'Prepare for next crisis now' In that vein, Slok said he has two primary concerns that could get in the way of a sustained U.S. recovery: Housing weakness—and a policy mistake from the Fed as it seeks to unwind its monthly bond-buying program and, eventually, normalize interest rates. The central bank has kept short-term rates near zero throughout the recovery and is buying $45 billion a month in Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities as part of a quantitative easing program that has sent its balance sheet to nearly $4.4 trillion. "Should they rattle the tree now or...say we still need more healing?" Slok said. "The risk with the second strategy is they will stretch the rubber band even further so therefore the snapback will be even more quick. I don't have the answers on this, but this is what I am debating with investors all over the world." He is not alone in these concerns. Capital Economics, which has a generally sanguine view on the economy, said Wednesday it will be revising down its projections for 3 percent U.S. growth this year and expects the Fed to do the same. In something of a paradox, the firm also believes the Fed will have to lower its unemployment rate projection of 6.1 percent to 6.3 percent, where the rate already sits, and ratchet up its core inflation expectations, currently anchored at a benign 1.4 percent to 1.6 percent. Read MoreAmericans feeling better about economy The result, senior U.S. economist Paul Dales said, is that the Fed may have to raise rates more quickly than it currently projects, despite the 2014 disappointment. Capital's Julian Jessop said the current level of complacency about Fed policy and its ability to manage the economy and markets could prove dangerous. "Admittedly, there are no obvious triggers on the horizon for a major correction," Jessop said in a note. "However, the omnipotence of policymakers may be tested and found wanting by some new economic or financial shock, as yet unknown." It is, of course, always the unknown that poses the biggest danger to markets, and a Fed slip-up based on its misunderstanding of what's happening in the various economic crosscurrents is the greatest potential shock of all in the current climate. "The potential for significantly higher U.S. yields is likely to cause a re-run of last year's emerging market turmoil as the firmer borrowing costs are rudely blown offshore," Andrew Wilkinson, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers, said in a note. "As U.S. markets recoil from record highs, we're pretty sure we can hear investors complain that this isn't the way the recovery was supposed to work."

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Most economists say the Fed is wrong about growth

As if the Fed doesn't have enough to worry about, now it has to contend with the notion that its expectations for growth are too optimistic.

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Over the past few years the Australian dollar has moved between broad trading bands defined by support and resistance levels. These bands provide a method to set the potential downside targets for the move below $0.8650. The weekly AUD/USD chart shows a strong support level near $1.0150. This level was broken in May 2013. The Australian dollar then tested support near $0.94. The width of the trading band between $0.94 and $1.015 was projected down to give the downside support target near $0.865. The fall below support at $0.865 was a critical move that showed a failure of a double bottom support pattern. The width of the trading band was again projected lower to locate the next support level near $0.79. This technical target was validated on a monthly chart. It acted as a strong resistance level in March and October 2004, from February to March 2005 and again from December 2006 to February 2007. The long-term chart confirms that $0.79 is a reasonable historical support level. This is well above the level around $0.62 achieved in late 2008 and early 2009. The Reserve Bank of Australia has a target near $0.75, so there is a possibility of some consolidation below $0.79 and above $0.75 This Australian dollar's fall is traded as a long-term trend. Our preference is to trade this downward pressure on an intraday basis using the ANTSSYS approach to limit risk. The continued collapse of the Aussie confirms its re-transition from a profitable carry trade between 2011 and 2013 to a currency at the mercy of commodity prices. The fall to the technical target of $0.79 confirms a significant structural change in the Australian economy as the commodity engine stalls. Daryl Guppy is a trader and author of Trend Trading, The 36 Strategies of the Chinese for Financial Traders – www.guppytraders.com. He is a regular guest on CNBCAsia Squawk Box. He is a speaker at trading conferences in China, Asia, Australia and Europe.

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Charts: Australian dollar faces test of key support

A drop in commodity prices and waning demand from China pushed the Australian dollar to fresh lows, and now the currency faces a test of key support.

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"We've had great cooperation from our players on the field. That's the key to moving the game along," Manfred said. Some have said the faster pace of play has hurt veteran players at the expense of younger players. Twenty-six first-time All Stars made the team this year, with big names like Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz missing out. Manfred said he was "neutral" on whether A-Rod should have made the team, despite his productive season so far: "The fans didn't pick him and the managers decided they had other qualified players." In addition to pace of play, Manfred has also been an advocate for growing the game through youth participation. On Monday, MLB announced $30 million towards youth programs, a small fraction of the league's $9 billion in revenue last year. In effort to draw in a new, younger demographic, Manfred is trying to get fans hooked on baseball early on. Last year's attendance was 74 million, which was the seventh-best attendance in history for the league, but an aging fan-base has has meant baseball must turn its focus on a younger generation. Read MoreNo IPO for MLB's digital arm: League media boss "It's important for us to use our players. They are a great asset to encourage youth participation in the game," he said, adding: "We need parents to take kids to the ballpark, because that's where they get hooked." One area where he won't be so aggressive in reaching young fans is through a direct-to-consumer app for watching games without needing a cable subscription. "We have been at the forefront of over the top for over a decade," said Manfred. "Our delivery with consumers will continue to evolve as the cable environment continues to evolve." With collective bargaining one year away, the Commissioner says one issue he's looking at is the rise of lengthy player contracts, with some, including those of Albert Pujuols and Robinson Cano, even lasting a decade. Manfred says these contracts "are a huge risk economically" and create disparity among teams. "Because we have teams in vastly different markets, some teams can afford to do 10 years and other teams can't. That's my biggest problem."

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Worried by bloated player contracts, not A-Rod

In his first All-Star game as MLB commissioner, Rob Manfred says he is encouraged by the efforts to speed up the game of baseball.

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TAG Heuer's CEO said Thursday that the Switzerland-based company will have another record year despite the introduction of Apple Watch and a strong Swiss franc. "Of course, not with a growth of five or 10 percent, but if you grow 2 percent on a record year, it means you do another record year, and each time you have a record year, you can't complain," Jean-Claude Biver told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street". "We know how to cope with the franc…When I started 40 years ago, one dollar was 4 Swiss francs. Today, one dollar is less than one, and we are still selling watches in America." TAG Heuer announced Thursday that it will launch its own smartwatch in partnership with Intel and Google. Biver withdrew some of his earlier criticism of the Apple Watch, which he said last year had no sex appeal. "All in all, I think it's a brilliant design for Apple, even if for my own tastes, I prefer (something) a little bit more sexy," Biver told CNBC. "We with TAG Heuer, and Google and Intel, we're going to try to design a watch with a lot of emotion, with a lot of tension, with a lot of design and harmony." Read MoreDollar rallying Thursday after sharp losses Biver made his remarks a day after the LVMH-owned watch-maker announced it plans to cut or freeze prices in some markets as a way to hedge against challenges presented by the Swiss franc. TAG Heuer said its prices would drop by an average 8 percent in Switzerland, China, the United States, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. They'll decline by 7 percent in the U.K .and 13 percent in Hong Kong. The company added that it will not increase prices in the euro zone, Japan or Singapore. "When a currency goes down by 20 percent, you can't sell your watches at the same price, which means you're going to do 20 percent more margins. The customer wants to buy the right price, and if the (euro) has dropped by 20 percent, how can we sell our prices at the same prices?" he added. Biver also said that American consumers would be dissuaded from purchasing TAG Heuer watches without a price adjustment: "We must reduce our prices. We must adapt to the currency. If not, all the Americans will fly to France or elsewhere to buy their watches."

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TAG Heuer will have another record year, says CEO Jean-Claude Biver

TAG Heuer's CEO said the company will have another record year despite Apple Watch and recent currency headwinds.

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But other states may move onto HealthCare.gov because of the cost of running a standalone exchange, Archambault said. Officials in Colorado, whose exchange was built in part by hCentive, are currently trying to figure out how that martkeplace will sustain itself financially after federal funding runs out. In the state house of Rhode Island, whose own exchange is faced with a similar problem, there is "a bipartisan bill to push their exchange to the federal exchange," Archambault said. He added, it could take several years for all of the states who end up moving to HealthCare.gov to decide to make that move. Read MoreObamacare hasn't freed up ERs: Hospital CEO Dan Mendelson, the CEO of the Avalere Health consultancy, said those coming years might offer even more incentive for some states to drop their exchanges and move to the federal marketplace. Over that time, Mendelson said, the federal government will "update their own systems" on HealthCare.gov to accommodate rule changes or to accomplish technological efficiencies. "The states will have to do that" on their own exchanges as well, he said. By turning over enrollment functions to HealthCare.gov, Mendelson said, those states will be off the hook for those system tweaks. If more than a handful of states end up chucking their own exchanges in favor of the federal exchange, it would further underscore the dramatic turnaround at HealthCare.gov. In its first two months of operation last fall, the federal site's technological troubles delayed enrollment for thousands. "It's interesting, because this federal system was really intended as a backup in case the states did not go down the road themselves" and build their own exchanges, Mendelson noted.

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Massachusetts drops Obamacare exchange, others could follow

Massachusetts' crippled Obamacare exchange is the latest to scrap its existing software, but experts said Tuesday, it likely won't be the last.

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09/30/2015 AT 04:00 PM EDT The attorney for a sailor accused of murdering her fiancé's 20-month-old daughter has suggested that the toddler's 8-year-old sister is responsible for her death, Emily Defries, 25, is currently on trial in Norfolk, Virginia, for the second-degree murder and malicious wounding of Anna Bell. Defries was looking after Anna in May 2014 when prosecutors allege that she murdered the child by smashing her skull intentionally, Commonwealth Attorney's Office spokeswoman Amanda Howie tells PEOPLE. The doctor who performed Anna's autopsy has said that Anna had injuries all over her body, including on her stomach and back, and said, "The child most likely died from being shaken and slammed," . Howie tells PEOPLE that many of Anna's injuries occurred before the fatal injury, and are being prosecuted in the malicious wounding charges. Defries told investigators that she believed Anna fell down the stairs, but prosecutors contend the injuries couldn't have come from a fall on a 13-ft. carpeted staircase. In his opening argument, Defries' defense attorney, James Broccoletti, said Anna's 8-year-old sister had violent outbursts at Anna prior to her death. The 8-year-old sister, who is not being identified because she is a minor, took the stand on Tuesday while holding a stuffed animal, . When asked if she ever hit Anna, the sister said, "I don't remember. No." During the time period in which Anna's father became romantically involved with Defries, Anna began having unexplained injuries, prosecutors allege. An employee of the daycare center Anna attended testified that she noticed bruising and unusual scratch marks at least twice during this period. The employee also testified that when Defries picked Anna up from the center four days before she died, Anna began screaming and clinging to an employee. reports that Defries served on the USS George H.W. Bush and was honorably discharged from the Navy in March.

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Attorney for Former Sailor Accused of Murdering Toddler Blames Girl's Sister : People.com

The doctor who performed child's autopsy told a grand jury, "The child most likely died from being shaken and slammed"

20151003025842

Once upon a time, there was no Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube. Our lives did not revolve around a stream of status updates, tweets, videos and filtered photos. That was just 10 years ago. Since Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook in his Harvard dorm room on Feb. 4, 2004, we've seen social media evolve from a fad to a phenomenon that has triggered a paradigm shift in the way the world communicates. It has empowered individuals to voice their opinions and concerns and share content on their mobile devices in ways no one could have imagined. Along the way, geopolitics and the world of business has been radically transformed. We saw the dramatic impact social media wielded four years ago. It was a tool that helped spark the Arab Spring—a democratic civil uprising in the Middle East that began in Tunisia in December 2010 that helped force rulers from power in such countries as Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Thanks to Twitter and other social media, people were able to protest and raise awareness in the face of repression. The revolution continues. No doubt, the power of social media is exponential. Numbers tell the story. Today there are 1.3 billion active Facebook users, with 82 percent of them coming from outside the U.S. and Canada. Twitter boasts 270 million active users that send 500 million tweets per day. And each day, 4 billion videos are viewed on YouTube (that's 46,296 per second) and 60 million photos are uploaded on Instagram. The trend has helped these tech disruptors go public at hefty valuations. Facebook, for example, went public in 2012. At the time, it was the biggest in technology and Internet history, with a peak market capitalization of more than $104 million. At press time it had reached a whopping $206.4 billion.

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11 Predictions on the future of social media

What will social media look like in 2039? Experts say by then it will be integrated into wearables that will track our daily habits.

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The economic data Thursday will be watched for what it might mean to the Fed. Claims are expected to be the same as last week, at 270,000, and retail sales, released at 8:30 a.m., are expected to be up 0.6 percent. Without autos, sales are expected to rise 0.4 percent and core is expected at 0.45 percent. Import prices are also released at 8:30 a.m., and business inventories for June are expected at 10 a.m. "We're actually looking for a pretty good number mainly because of the solid auto sales report," said Michael Gapen, chief U.S. economist at Barclays of the retail sales number. "The headline is mainly driven by the solid increase in both core sales and motor vehicle sales." "Auto manufacturing did 17.5 million units and that we think should carry over into retail sales," Gapen said, adding gasoline sales should be slightly lower. Read MoreThis could be correction stocks are waiting for Gapen said he does not expect the retail sales to be a factor for the Fed. "I think they will discount retail sales just broadly as an indicator. I think the auto sales number is more indicative for them," he said, noting the Fed is more interested in employment data and inflation. Gapen said the fallout from China is not enough to change the Fed's course at this point, and he expects a September rate hike. The futures market, however, shifted bets away from September, and the odds of a rate hike in September fell below 50 percent from Friday's 56 percent. Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at Lindsey Group, said the market is coming to grips with a view of the Fed hiking in September. "We're at a point where the Fed collected a lot of data and I don't expect much to change in the next month and a half to affect them either way…. I don't think it's the beginning of rate hike at every meeting. We're going to get barely any hikes. I think the market is sniffing out right now that even if they raise in September, it's not the start of an aggressive cycle."

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Markets turn back to US data, Fed

Markets switch their focus to U.S. matters Thursday, with fresh reports on July retail sales, business inventories and weekly jobless claims.

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"If these improving trends continue, as is our central case, we expect that the RBA will not need to deliver further cuts in this easing phase," said Bloxham. "However, low wages growth means that inflation is likely to remain benign, which is likely to leave the RBA with an 'easing bias'," he said. HSBC's expectation is for central bank to hold its key cash rate at a record low 2.0 percent for the next 18 months. While there are encouraging signs, the economy is not out of the woods just yet, with continued pockets of weakness in the mining and retail sectors. Retail sales rose just 0.3 percent on month in May, below the 0.5 percent forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. The Australian dollar also remains a sticking point for the central bank, which would be more comfortable with the currency at around $0.68-$0.70 or roughly 10 percent lower than current levels, according to Bloxham. Other market watchers, however, agreed that the RBA was likely to hold fire on rates for some time. Read MoreThe Bufferoo portfolio: What Buffett would buy in Australia "The central bank has injected a significant level of stimulus into the economy, with the latest cut in May. Even though the economy is underperforming, there is reluctance to inject additional stimulus for fear of igniting already‐worrying pockets of the property market," Moody's Analytics wrote in a note. "The RBA maintains an easing bias to keep the shine off the Australian dollar, its preferred method of helping the economy rebalance away from mining investment." It would take a significant deterioration in economic activity to push the central bank to lower borrowing costs further, added Nizam Idris, head of fixed income and currencies strategy at Macquarie Group. "Economic data has stabilized somewhat so they have room to wait and see."

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With rates at record low, where does the RBA go next?

The RBA meets on Tuesday against a backdrop of improving economic conditions at home but increased uncertainty abroad as Greece drama continues to unfold.

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08/17/2015 AT 01:30 PM EDT girl in recent years, but the British model says she's ditching the world of modeling for the big screen – and she can't get out fast enough. In a recent interview with London's divulged that she is "not doing fashion work any more." The reason? It made her "feel a bit hollow." "It didn't make me grow at all as a human being," she said. "And I kind of forgot how young I was. I felt so old." shot into the fashion stratosphere in 2011 when she landed a Burberry campaign and posed in a trench coat for a sultry shoot with Eddie Redmayne. But living in the limelight "wasn't a good time." "I was, like, fight and flight for months. Just constantly on edge," Delevingne said. "It is a mental thing as well because if you hate yourself and your body and the way you look, it just gets worse and worse.” And worsen it did. Delevingne said her demanding schedule led to a psoriasis breakout, a skin affliction other stars have also . Describing her struggle with the condition, she said crews were painting her body with foundation "every single show" in order to hide it. "People would put on gloves and not want to touch me because they thought it was, like, leprosy or something," she said in the interview. Delevingne also spoke of the sexually suggestive poses she was asked to do when she was just a teen. As a newbie in the industry then, Delevingne said she felt she couldn't say no to nudity or sexual poses. "I am a bit of a feminist and it makes me feel sick," she said. "It's horrible and it's disgusting. [We're talking about] young girls. You start when you are really young and you do, you get subjected to … not great stuff." She realizes, though, that this facet of the industry will likely be present in her new line of work. The actress (who starred in John Green's and has four more movies coming out this year), says she has already experienced sexual harassment in the movie business – although it's "worse in modeling." But Delevingne says she doesn't brush these encounters under the carpet. "I am very good at standing up for myself now, and for other people," she said. "If there is injustice I will flip out. If someone is crossing a line, they will know about it and so will everyone else." While the star, who boasts famous friends like Rihanna and Taylor Swift (she's a card-carrying member of the ), spoke of the perils of making it in the modeling industry, she acknowledges her time in the fashion world prepared her for her new career in acting. "I am a lot harder than I was and I feel like all of that modeling, life, rejection, everything, was preparation for this, and now that I am doing this I am the happiest person in the whole world."

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Cara Delevingne Reveals that Modeling Made Her Hate Her Body : People.com

The model, 23, opened up about the drawbacks of modeling – and why she can't wait to get out

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Is the Steve Sarkisian era at USC already over after 18 games? USC athletic director Pat Haden put Sarkisian on indefinite leave Sunday to seek treatment for personal health issues, handing the reins on an interim basis to offensive coordinator Clay Helton. According to unconfirmed reports Sarkisian's drinking problems had grown worse during the season, spilling over into games, and the last straw was Sunday's practice. Sarkisian's issues first surfaced in August at the "Salute to Troy" booster event during which he showed up inebriated and acted inappropriately, including his use of language. But Haden chose to take no action at the time except to say that Sarkisian would seek unspecified treatment. But now, with USC's season on the brink after Thursday night's debacle against Washington -- in which the listless Trojans lost at home, 17-12, despite being double-digit favorites -- Sarkisian's relapse may offer just the opportunity for USC to sever ties with him. Make no mistake, Sarkisian is Haden's guy. The AD picked the former USC assistant despite his less-than-glittering 34-29 record at Washington. Sark was brought back to Troy even though there was pressure on Haden to keep popular interim coach Ed Orgeron or hire other candidates. From Day 1, Haden had been Sarkisian's staunchest defender even as USC went through an uneven and disappointing 9-4 campaign in 2014. But now it might be time for Haden to finally cut bait. USC's boosters and fan base have lost confidence in Sarkisian, the ugly loss to Washington was the final confirmation anybody needed. Despite two top-10 recruiting classes and being the media's pick to win the Pac-12 this season, the Trojans have squandered their immense amount of talent and now are reduced to play for another second-tier bowl berth. If Haden wasn't ready to pull the trigger after the Washington game, Sunday's bombshell likely forced his hand. While the school isn't officially cutting ties with Sark, it seems highly likely that he's coached his last game at USC. That leaves Haden with another chance to get the coach who can return Troy to glory, a chance he can ill afford to whiff on again. Given what's happened at Michigan and the amazing job Jim Harbaugh has done in Year 1, USC fans will demand similar results, especially with the Trojans' loaded roster. Can Haden deliver? Given his track record as USC's AD, that's hardly a sure thing. By picking off Cal quarterback Jared Goff five times, Utah survived the showdown of the remaining Pac-12 unbeatens in a 30-24 nail-biter Saturday night. While the Utes (5-0) are the highest-ranked Pac-12 team with a 2-0 conference record, they have yet to play a single opponent in the Pac-12 South, considered by most the toughest division in college football. For now, Utah deserves its place in the top 5 and that season-opening win over Michigan is looking better every week. But will the Utes survive the gauntlet that still includes wounded but talented USC, UCLA and Arizona State? And if not, what does that leave the Pac-12? Commissioner Larry Scott, who attended the Cal-Utah game at Salt Lake City, sounded like someone very concerned. In fact, he didn't hold back in attacking the scheduling disparity among Power 5 conferences. "There's always going to be differences between conferences in terms of strength of schedule," Scott told the media at the game. "I think that would be a big step forward for college football if every conference had to play nine conference games, play at least one marquee non-conference game and have a conference championship game. It'd be great if we could mandate that, but that’s not the way the governance works right now." With preseason favorites USC and Oregon already out of the playoff picture, will the playoff selection committee pick a surprise Pac-12 champion with one or even two conference losses for the four-team playoff? Scott is already lobbying: 'Certainly this season there’s no champion that will emerge from conference with a tougher pathway than what we’ve got." He hopes the committee agrees. Heisman Race Is Already Over The biggest upset of the weekend -- aside from Texas shocking Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl -- was that Leonard Fournette failed to rush for 200 yards. LSU's sensational sophomore running back ran for a season-low 158 yards on 20 carries, but played only three quarters in the Tigers' 45-24 rout of South Carolina. The reality is that Fournette, who already eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark through five games, is going to win the Heisman Trophy this season, barring injury. About the only other player who's still faintly in the race is TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin, who continues to put up video-game like numbers out of necessity. TCU 52, Kansas State 45: The once-vaunted TCU defense was shredded once again, giving up at least 37 points for the third time this season. Trailing 35-17 at halftime, the Frogs had to overcome a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to pull out the victory in Manhattan. Boykin passed for 301 yards and ran for another 124, connecting with Josh Doctson on a 55-yard strike with 1:10 to play to run TCU's record to 6-0. Michigan defense: We're awarding this to an entire unit, under the charge of defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin, who deserves a mountain of credit in Jim Harbaugh's fast turnaround job in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines defense pitched its third consecutive shutout in a 38-0 demolition of Northwestern. It's the first time Michigan has shut out three straight opponents since 1980. The nation's top defensive unit now has not allowed a score in 41 consecutive possessions. 1. Utah, 2. Clemson, 3. LSU, 4. TCU, 5. Baylor, 6. Ohio State, 7. Michigan State, 8. Michigan, 9. Notre Dame, 10. Florida, 11. Texas A&M, 12. Florida State, 13. Ole Miss, 14. Alabama, 15. Northwestern. -- Samuel Chi is the managing editor of RealClearSports.com and proprietor of College Football Exchange. Follow him on Twitter at @ThePlayoffGuru. Cal Bears, California Golden Bears, College Football, College Football Playoff, Leonard Fournette, LSU Tigers, Michigan Wolverines, NCAAF, Pac-12, Steve Sarkisian, TCU Horned Frogs, USC Trojans, Utah Utes, Washington Huskies

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Sarkisian Era Likely Over: What's Next At USC?

Is the Steve Sarkisian era at USC already over after 18 games? USC athletic director Pat Haden put Sarkisian on indefinite leave Sunday to seek treat...

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In this era of social media, where we are all super-connected, the most ingenious do-good movements can begin with a tiny idea. Make ’em viral and they will spread. It happened with “The Last Text,” the riveting video that AT&T ATT produced to coax people like you and me not to text and drive. The 10-minute film, which I wrote about on Postcards last month, has drawn more than two million views. And no doubt, it has saved lives. I love the notion of building a big movement from a small idea. I discovered another example last evening, at a dinner hosted by Desiree Gruber, whose stock and trade is building big from small. (Her New York-based marketing firm, Full Picture, came up with the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show to buff that client’s brand image and created Project Runway to elevate another client, model Heidi Klum, who co-produces the TV hit with Gruber.) Last night Gruber was in full philanthropic mode, “marketing” Caryl Stern, the U.S. CEO of UNICEF, whom I sat across from at dinner. UNICEF has built many programs from simple ideas to save young lives. This week: During World Water Week, UNICEF is urging restaurant patrons to donate a dollar for each glass of tap water that typically comes free. The nationwide campaign is called the Tap Project. (“When you take water, give water.”) Ever since an ad man named David Droga of Droga5 dreamed it up for UNICEF in 2007, it has helped raise $2.5 million to supply safe drinking water to children around the world. This year’s twist taps celebrities like Taylor Swift, Robin Williams, Selena Gomez and Rihanna. They’ve bottled tap water at home and poured it into fancy bottles. The “Celebrity Tap Packs” help raise more funds for the most needy children worldwide. And how great is the need? Of the 22,000 children who die every day, 4,100 would not if they had safe water, Stern told us. This past week, Stern has had some very late nights, trying to help Japan, where contaminated water is just one of a million needs. Japan happens to be the world’s No. 1 donor to UNICEF, Stern told me. Despite that generosity, UNICEF’s efforts to persuade people to give to the Japan relief fund has been very difficult. “There’s an impression that Japan doesn’t need our dollars,” she explained, adding that she’s spending a lot of time assuring skeptics that UNICEF is not taking money from children in Africa to aid children in Japan. All the money that UNICEF takes in for Japan will go to Japan, Stern says. Though $2.5 million to date pales to the donations that flowed in last year to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti. What to do? Well, you can help. You can give to UNICEF’s Japan fund. Or get creative. Think up a campaign that could help bring in donations for thousands of Japanese kids who have, in an epic moment, become orphans — and for many more kids who lost their homes and their schools. You can send your idea by posting a comment below. Remember, a big movement begins with a small idea. Make it viral.

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How to help Japan: Start a movement

by Patricia Sellers In this era of social media, where we are all super-connected, the most ingenious do-good movements can begin with a tiny idea. Make 'em viral and they will spread. It happened with "The Last Text," the riveting video that AT&T produced to coax people like you and me not to text and…

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Apple is the king of simplicity. A huge amount of engineering and thought goes into making every aspect of every product — from how the thing works, to how it’s packaged — simple. One could argue that’s Steve Jobs’s greatest gift: taking the enormous complexity out of technology, and making a tool work as it should. Luckily, lots of companies are finally starting to get this. A smart, new product I’ve been fooling around with lately, the Eye-Fi Card, is a great example. The gadget takes something complex (uploading digital photographs) and let’s you do it simply (on most cameras, via Wifi). The $99, 2-gigabyte WiFi-enabled memory card goes on sale today at online stores such as Amazon and Wal-Mart. Perhaps uploading photographs isn’t complex so much as it is too-many stepped and annoying. Either way, people simply don’t do it: Some 4 out of 5 pictures are never uploaded and languish, forgotten, on digital cameras. Eye-Fi solves the problem by converting most digital cameras to WiFi, and allowing them to transmit photos over home wireless networks. The card works on any digital camera that has a slot for an SD memory card — that would be more than 60% of digital cameras out there. The Eye-Fi Card looks like a garden-variety SD card, but contains a tiny WiFi transmitter. It’s a real feat of engineering, given that the entrepreneurs who founded the company two years ago figured out how to embed a WiFi chip on an SD card without drawing too much battery power or adding an external antenna. Try doing that for under $100. Some half-dozen patents (pending) flowed from that work. (See Fortune writer Michal Lev-Ram’s report on Eye-Fi, “New WiFi camera technology a boon for photo-sharing sites.”) While setting up WiFi networks can be an exasperating exercise, installing the Eye-Fi Card may be the simplest tech chore I’ve ever performed. It was Apple-like, starting with the packaging: There’s only one way to open the box — via a tiny tab that juts out on the side. Pull the tab and the card slides out on the left side, and a Quick Start Guide slides out on the right side. Follow four steps — which take about two minutes — and you’re good to go. The Eye-Fi Card slots into a USB reader, which fits into your computer during configuration. (PCs and Macs are supported.) During the config process, you can choose whether to automatically upload your pictures to your computer and to most major, photo-sharing sites, including such Web 2.0 stalwarts as Facebook, Flickr and Typepad. When you’re done with the setup, simply remove the USB reader, pull out the 2-gigabyte card, and put the card in your camera. The rest is automatic. When you take a picture, it flows to your computer and to any photo-sharing sites you selected, as well as to your free, online Eye-Fi account. It’s pretty fast, too. The picture above was taken with a 5-megapixel Casio Exilim; it took 10 seconds to stream from my camera to my MacBook Pro. Some tweakage may be required. I had to adjust the power settings on my camera to ensure it stayed awake long enough to transmit the images. Emboldened by how easy it was to use, I took the Eye-Fi on the road and attempted to add a public WiFi network at a conference, and then my local network at work. Inadvertently, I had stumbled onto two things that the system cannot currently do. The public WiFi network had a “landing page” — as do many sites that offer free Wifi or sell it at airports so users can sign up for the service. Eye-Fi can’t handle landing pages. And in the case of my office wireless network, Eye-Fi can’t deal with so-called transparent proxies — a common protocol used on such networks for security reasons. A company spokesman said that future versions would address those issues. But for now, the Eye-Fi works quite well on home networks, and you can add as many of them as you can access. I predict this will be a huge hit at the holidays. Indeed, it may be the first holiday season to actually be seen by future generations in too many awful digital photos.

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By Josh Quittner Apple is the king of simplicity. A huge amount of engineering and thought goes into making every aspect of every product -- from how the thing works, to how it's packaged -- simple. One could argue that's Steve Jobs's greatest gift: taking the enormous complexity out of technology, and making a tool…

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What can anyone say about New York City that has not already been expressed by Hart Crane, Elizabeth Bishop, Lorca, Whitman, Lou Reed, Langston Hughes, Martin Scorsese, Patti Smith, Kurtis Blow and a thousand other writers, musicians, filmmakers, painters and, yes, photographers? Like London, Paris, Rome and a handful of other great cities, Gotham seems to consciously challenge artists of every stripe to somehow convey even a sliver of the ceaseless, panoramic multiverse it contains—while confronting the poet, painter, filmmaker and photographer with a living tableau that, by its nature, defies definition. And still . . . every day, in every medium, men and women address the world of New York, hoping to somehow witness and share something of its great spirit. Does the New York that Whitman celebrated in Leaves of Grass (“The beautiful city, the city of hurried and sparkling waters! the city of spires and masts!. . . my city!”) bear any resemblance to the melancholic landscape Lou Reed evoked in “Perfect Day” or the intoxicating dystopia Scorsese and Schrader brought to life in Taxi Driver? Of course it does—in that these and countless other visions of New York have forged the complex, contradictory idea of the city that most of us carry around in our minds and our hearts. [See a LightBox feature on Mohawk ironworkers rebuilding the New York skyline] For those of us who were in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, and for billions more who watched 9/11 unfold on TV and online, that 20th-century idea—of what the city meant to New Yorkers and to the rest of the world—will likely never hold sway again. It has been changed, changed utterly. Moreover, for some who witnessed the 2001 attacks on New York—and on the Pentagon and the plane that went down in Pennsylvania—the scale of the carnage in Lower Manhattan transformed the entire city, in an instant, from a place they called home to a ruin they had to leave behind forever. For countless others, the love we always had for New York only grew stronger after seeing it so savagely attacked. Our connection to the city, and to other New Yorkers, now had about it a sense of defiance coupled with a kind of rough tenderness: the metropolis that had always felt so huge and indomitable suddenly seemed painfully vulnerable and in need of protection. Our protection. Here, LIFE.com pays tribute to New York—specifically, to the storied landscape of Lower Manhattan, where 400 years ago New York was born—in photographs made in the decades before the Twin Towers anchored the foot of the island. Wall Street, Battery Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, Trinity Church, the Statue of Liberty and the vast, shimmering harbor—they’re all here: landmarks that, despite everything, retain their place in the collective imagination, captured by some of the finest photographers of the 20th century. WATCH an audio slideshow of this LIFE.com gallery:

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Vintage Photos of Lower Manhattan

Classic photos of Lower Manhattan -- where New York was born -- from the decades before the Twin Towers anchored the island.

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On May 10, 1940, as Hitler’s Germany was invading Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg, the British Conservative leader Winston Churchill took the reins of a coalition government after his predecessor, Neville Chamberlain, stepped aside. Churchill would, of course, ultimately help lead England and the Allies to a brutally fought, costly victory over the Axis Powers in World War II. But in the early years of the conflict, England stood alone against the Reich after Nazi forces swarmed across border after border in Europe. Churchill’s defiance in the face of what seemed, at the time, an invincible Wehrmacht juggernaut earned the aristocratic, independent-minded PM his enduring reputation as one of the greatest war-time leaders in history. Here, LIFE.com presents a selection of photos that portray Churchill the private man: painter, animal lover, country gentleman. The Churchill of these pictures is no less impressive, no less formidable than the man who so tenaciously defied Hitler during England’s darkest days. But there’s also a tenderness here — a soulfulness — that only adds to the great man’s singular, somewhat ornery charm. [Read an excerpt from Thomas Maier’s latest book, When Lions Roar: The Churchills and the Kennedys] Now . . . as a reminder of Churchill at his greatest — at his most Churchillian — here are some deathless words from one of his most celebrated addresses, delivered quite early in the war, on June 4, 194o, and popularly known ever since as the “We Shall Fight on the Beaches” speech. If more stirring words were uttered by any leader, Allied or Axis, during the entire course of the Second World War, they’ve been lost to history. In phrases that range, brilliantly, from soaring to bracingly blunt and back again, Churchill lionized, galvanized and challenged the citizens of his “Island home” like no Briton before him, and certainly none since: I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty’s Government-every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old. Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizabethRonk.

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Photos of the Great British Leader at Home

Photos of the British leader Winston Churchill in quiet, private moments, far away from the world of governance

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By ANGELA DELLI SANTI and DAVID PORTER TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- The former appointee of Gov. Chris Christie who directed lane closures that backed up traffic for hours in one New Jersey town is reiterating that he is ready to share more information if he can be granted immunity from prosecution. Meanwhile, 17 other people and three organizations are being issued subpoenas as lawmakers try to learn exactly how the September lane closures on an approach to the George Washington Bridge from the community of Fort Lee happened and why. David Wildstein, whom Christie appointed to a position in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has already supplied a legislative committee with the most damning documents in the case so far, including an email from a Christie aide saying it was "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," a sign that the lane-closing plot was hatched by Christie's aides as a political vendetta. Wildstein's lawyer Alan Zegas told The Associated Press on Friday that there has not been any offer of immunity from the U.S. Attorney's Office, which is reviewing the matter. "If he has immunity from the relevant entities, he'll talk," Zegas said. Wildstein, who resigned in December, appeared last week before a legislative committee investigating the closures but refused to answer any questions. He cited his right not to incriminate himself. The committee found him to be in contempt and referred the case to a prosecutor. On Thursday, both chambers of the Legislature passed resolutions authorizing special investigative committees to continue the probes. John Wisniewski, chairman of the Assembly's committee, announced that 20 subpoenas were being issued seeking documents related to the bridge closure. He previously indicated that two former Christie aides who have been fired would be among them. But he said he would not release the full list until the subpoenas are served. Matt Mowers, Christie's former regional political director for his re-election campaign, was among those subpoenaed. The New Hampshire GOP, where Mowers recently started work as executive director, released a statement saying Mowers had been subpoenaed and offering support for him. Christie has apologized but denied any knowledge of the plot. On Thursday, his administration announced it had hired a legal team to deal with investigations by state lawmakers, a U.S. senator and federal prosecutors. Christie himself, meanwhile, gave a speech at an event outside those at the State House for the first time in more than a week, telling people in a community devastated by Superstorm Sandy in 2012 that storm recovery remains his top priority. "I am focused as completely this morning as I was when I woke up on the morning of Oct. 30, 2012, and nothing will distract me from getting the job done," he said. "Nothing." On Friday, he's scheduled to administer a ceremonial swearing-in for a new justice on the state Supreme Court and then head to Florida for multiple political fundraisers. David Wildstein, player in NJ bridge scandal, will talk for immunity Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric, left, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie participate in the morning session of the National Governor's Association Winter Meeting in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 31: Howard Stern, Jimmy Kimmel and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie attend "Howard Stern's Birthday Bash" presented by SiriusXM, produced by Howard Stern Productions at Hammerstein Ballroom on January 31, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for SiriusXM) NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 31: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Jon Bon Jovi attend 'Howard Stern's Birthday Bash' presented by SiriusXM, produced by Howard Stern Productions at Hammerstein Ballroom on January 31, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for SiriusXM) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie waits for the start of a ceremony to pass official hosting duties of next year's Super Bowl to representatives from Arizona, Saturday Feb. 1, 2014 in New York. Fellow Republicans are assessing the damage of new allegations that Gov. Christie knew about a traffic-blocking operation orchestrated by top aides.(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, center, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, right, display different reactions as Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, left, speaks during a ceremony to pass official hosting duties of next year's Super Bowl to Arizona, Saturday Feb. 1, 2014 in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks during a ceremony to pass official hosting duties of next year's Super Bowl to representatives from Arizona, Saturday Feb. 1, 2014 in New York. Fellow Republicans are assessing the damage of new allegations that Gov. Christie knew about a traffic-blocking operation orchestrated by top aides. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie waits for the start of a ceremony to pass official hosting duties of next year's Super Bowl to representatives from Arizona, Saturday Feb. 1, 2014 in New York. Fellow Republicans are assessing the damage of new allegations that Gov. Christie knew about a traffic-blocking operation orchestrated by top aides. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delivers his State Of The State address at the Statehouse, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, in Trenton, N.J. Faced with a widening political scandal that threatens to undermine his second term and a possible 2016 presidential run, Christie apologized again Tuesday, saying his administration "let down the people we are entrusted to serve" but that the issue doesn't define his team or the state. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie arrives to deliver his State Of The State address at the Statehouse, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, in Trenton, N.J.Faced with a widening political scandal that threatens to undermine his second term and a possible 2016 presidential run, Christie apologized again Tuesday, saying his administration "let down the people we are entrusted to serve" but that the issue doesn't define his team or the state. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delivers his State Of The State address at the Statehouse, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, in Trenton, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, center right, delivers his State Of The State address at the Statehouse, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, in Trenton, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delivers his State Of The State address at the Statehouse, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, in Trenton, N.J. Christie apologized again Tuesday, saying his administration ?let down the people we are entrusted to serve? but that it doesn?t define his team or the state. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delivers his State Of The State address at the Statehouse, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, in Trenton, N.J. Christie apologized again Tuesday, saying his administration ?let down the people we are entrusted to serve? but that it doesn?t define his team or the state. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, second left, arrives at Fort Lee, N.J., City Hall, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014. Christie traveled to Fort Lee to apologize in person to Mayor Mark Sokolich. Moving quickly to contain a widening political scandal, Gov. Chris Christie fired one of his top aides Thursday and apologized repeatedly for the "abject stupidity" of his staff, insisting he had no idea anyone around him had engineered traffic jams to get even with a Democratic mayor. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) FORT LEE, NJ - JANUARY 09: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie enters the Borough Hall in Fort Lee to apologize to Mayor Mark Sokolich on January 9, 2014 in Fort Lee, New Jersey. According to reports Christie's Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly is accused of giving a signal to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to close lanes on the George Washington Bridge, allegedly as punishment for the Fort Lee, New Jersey mayor not endorsing the Governor during the election. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) FORT LEE, NJ - JANUARY 09: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie leaves the Borough Hall in Fort Lee where he apologized to Mayor Mayor Mark Sokolich on January 9, 2014 in Fort Lee, New Jersey. According to reports Christie's Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly is accused of giving a signal to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to close lanes on the George Washington Bridge, allegedly as punishment for the Fort Lee, New Jersey mayor not endorsing the Governor during the election. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Governor Chris Christie talks to a reporter following a visit to Fort Lee Borough Hall Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, in Fort Lee, N.J. to apologize to Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich about the governor's staff allegedly closing lanes to the George Washington Bridge last September. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) TRENTON, NJ - JANUARY 9: David Wildstein (R) former director of interstate capital projects for the Port Authority and his attorney Alan Zegas (L) is sworn in to testify at a hearing held by the Assembly Transportation Committee January 9, 2014 in Trenton, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. The committee has subpoenaed David Wildstein former director of interstate capital projects for the Port Authority to testify about the agency's decision to temporarily close some access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee in September 2013. (Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks during a news conference Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014 at the Statehouse in Trenton. N.J. Christie has fired a top aide who engineered political payback against a town mayor, saying she lied. Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly is the latest casualty in a widening scandal that threatens to upend Christie's second term and likely run for president in 2016. Documents show she arranged traffic jams to punish the mayor, who didn't endorse Christie for re-election. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks during a news conference Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, at the Statehouse in Trenton, N.J. Christie has fired a top aide who engineered political payback against a town mayor, saying she lied. Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly is the latest casualty in a widening scandal that threatens to upend Christie's second term and likely run for president in 2016. Documents show she arranged traffic jams to punish the mayor, who didn't endorse Christie for re-election. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks during a news conference Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, at the Statehouse in Trenton, N.J. Christie has fired a top aide who engineered political payback against a town mayor, saying she lied. Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly is the latest casualty in a widening scandal that threatens to upend Christie's second term and likely run for president in 2016. Documents show she arranged traffic jams to punish the mayor, who didn't endorse Christie for re-election. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie walks to the podium before a news conference Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, at the Statehouse in Trenton, N.J. Christie has fired a top aide who engineered political payback against a town mayor, saying she lied. Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly is the latest casualty in a widening scandal that threatens to upend Christie's second term and likely run for president in 2016. Documents show she arranged traffic jams to punish the mayor, who didn't endorse Christie for re-election. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks during a news conference Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, at the Statehouse in Trenton, N.J. Christie has fired a top aide who engineered political payback against a town mayor, saying she lied. Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly is the latest casualty in a widening scandal that threatens to upend Christie's second term and likely run for president in 2016. Documents show she arranged traffic jams to punish the mayor, who didn't endorse Christie for re-election. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks during a news conference Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, at the Statehouse in Trenton, N.J. Christie has fired a top aide who engineered political payback against a town mayor, saying she lied. Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly is the latest casualty in a widening scandal that threatens to upend Christie's second term and likely run for president in 2016. Documents show she arranged traffic jams to punish the mayor, who didn't endorse Christie for re-election. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) In a Monday, Sept. 2, 2013 photo, traffic moves across the George Washington Bridge, in Fort Lee, N.J. A top aide to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is linked through emails and text messages to a seemingly deliberate plan to create traffic gridlock in a town at the base of the bridge after its mayor refused to endorse Christie for re-election. "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," Christie aide Bridget Anne Kelly wrote in an Aug. 13 email to David Wildstein, a top political appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the George Washington Bridge connecting New Jersey and New York City. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) A car uses an onramp to the George Washington Bridge toll plaza in Fort Lee, N.J., Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014. The onramp was closed for three days in September 2013 snarling traffic at one of the world's busiest bridges, which links New Jersey and New York City. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie faces political fallout over the traffic jam that caused hours-long backups for commuters and others as children started the school year.(AP Photo/Richard Drew) Capitol Hill reporters watch a news conference with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie while waiting for House John Boehner's of Ohio news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014. Boehner said he believes Gov. Chris Christie remains a serious contender for the Republican 2016 presidential nomination, despite the traffic jam scandal engulfing the New Jersey governor. This June 12, 2013 photo released by NBC shows host Jimmy Fallon, right, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Chistie during a taping of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," in New York. (AP Photo/NBC, Lloyd Bishop)

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By ANGELA DELLI SANTI and DAVID PORTER TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- The former appointee of Gov. Chris Christie who directed lane closures that backed up traffic for hours in one New Jersey town i

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Charges have been dropped against a Melbourne man who was accused of trying to fight with Kurdish rebels in Syria and Iraq after the attorney-general, George Brandis, withdrew his support for the case. The decision to abandon the charges against Jamie Williams – who police say admitted he was travelling to Syria to fight with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) – raises questions over whether any Australians will be prosecuted for fighting with the group. Others allegedly linked to the militia, including the Brisbane man Ashley Dyball and the former Labor party official Matthew Gardiner, have been interviewed by police upon their return to Australia, but not charged. Related: Landmark defence planned if Ashley Dyball charged with foreign offences Williams, 28, was charged in July with foreign incursion offences after being stopped at Melbourne airport in December 2014 trying to board a flight to the region. His lawyer Jessie Smith, from Stary Norton Halphen, had planned to argue a landmark defence that the YPG should be considered a legitimate government because it exercised “effective control” over its territory in north-eastern Syria. The Democratic Union party, the political party that formed the YPG, last year declared three Kurdish cantons in northern Syria to be a de facto autonomous region named Rojava, or western Kurdistan. Foreign fighter legislation allows Australians to enlist overseas in the armed forces of legitimate states. A discontinuation motion filed by Williams’ defence also argued there was no public interest in prosecuting their client for joining a de facto ally in the fight against Islamic State. A spokesman for George Brandis said that in deciding whether to consent to a prosecution the attorney-general “has a broad discretion and is able to take into account a number of factors”. “On this particular occasion, the Attorney-General did not consent to the prosecution. It would be inappropriate to comment further,” he said. A Gold Coast man, Reece Harding, was killed fighting with the YPG in June 2015. A Canadian citizen was held in immigration detention in Brisbane last week over suspicions he had been fighting with the Kurdish group. Amnesty International has accused the YPG of forcibly displacing and demolishing the homes of Arab and Turkmen civilians in the areas it controls.

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Foreign fighter case dropped against man accused of trying to fight with Kurdish rebels

Police say Jamie Williams admitted he was travelling to Syria to fight with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units after being stopped at Melbourne aiport

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LANZHOU, China — One difference between China's remote west and the rest of the country is what people choose to put in their stomachs. Noodles, not rice, are the favorite dish, none more so than the steaming bowl of beef noodles named after this decaying provincial capital on the Yellow River. Du Bin for The New York Times Maya Gubo, 23, of a noodles restaurant in Lanzhou, China, showed off his noodle-making skills recently. Photographs by Du Bin for The New York Times Noodle-making performance art: Maya Gubo swung, stretched and slung the stuff that would feed Lanzhou. So in February, as noodle patrons across the city arrived for their morning fix, an unexpected notice awaited them: The price of a bowl of Lanzhou pulled beef noodles was going up. A large bowl, once only 27 cents, would now cost almost 31 cents. "Beef Noodle Price Hike Touches Off Nerves Everywhere!" declared The Western Economic Daily, a feisty local paper. And so it did. A full-blown noodle controversy arose, with price fixing by a noodle cartel being alleged. Polls gauged public opinion (Answer: not pleased). Even People's Daily, chief mouthpiece of the Communist Party, registered its indignation. Local officials promised to investigate. But on the streets of the city's Anning District, where more than 70 noodle shops are crowded into several square blocks, the noodle contretemps was also a reminder of the millions of Chinese who still live on margins so slender that a bump of 4 cents for a bowl of noodles constitutes real money. "There is nothing I can do about it," said Yu Songling, 50, a manager at an outdoor market in Anning. The neighborhood, in the midst of being rebuilt, is like a carcass left over from the old socialist economy: decrepit state-owned factories, many of them now closed, and vast numbers of laid-off workers, many scraping by on minimal welfare benefits. "There are a lot of wolves," said Mr. Yu of the struggle faced by many people in the neighborhood, "and not enough meat." There have always been enough noodles, though. Noodles served in a scorching, spicy broth in the winter or al dente in the summer, tasty, warm, filling and cheap. Lanzhou beef noodles call for chives, red peppers, beef bouillon and noodles, a recipe that to the unschooled seems mundane but one that many locals consider a subtle art. "There is a big difference between noodle shops," said Wang Xiaoxia, 29, a taxi driver. "The taste, the color, the aroma. On days I drive, I always eat noodles. It makes me feel good." For people in Anning, the Black Sunday of the noodle controversy was Feb. 12. Posters suddenly appeared in noodle shops announcing a price increase of 3 mao, or about 4 cents. Higher costs, wage increases, taxes — even China's embrace of market economics — were blamed. A day later, the price rose. Inside one of the biggest shops in the neighborhood, the Gazhang Halal Beef Noodle Shop, the poster with the price increase hung beside a small table where the manager sold boiled eggs and tickets for noodles. In the small kitchen, a cook in a blue smock pulled noodles into long strands, twisting them in his hands like yarn before tossing them into a cauldron of boiling water that filled the room with steam. Kitchens like this one can be a first step out of rural poverty for some migrant workers. At the Gazhang shop, all the workers are from the owner's home village, a typical arrangement. An owner gets cheap, reliable help; a migrant worker gets a trade and a start. But where last year a trained cook made $60 a month, the rate is $90 or higher this year because of increased competition for low-wage workers. At the same time, the price of flour also has risen. "All the expenses are going up," said Zhang Yuxiao, 31, the owner of the Gazhang shop. "We're just following the market." But was it really just the market? The number of noodle shops in the city has risen, increasing supply. In early February, price increases in other districts of the city had already attracted attention. Then a day after the increase in Anning, The Western Economic Daily broke a major scandal: "The Beef Noodle Price Hike, a Price-Fixing Scheme." The paper documented a coordinated pricing scheme, led by a small group of noodle shop owners, who had made threats against any owners who resisted.

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Noodle Prices Rise, Along With Chinese Tempers

Costlier noodles in Lanzhou, China, have prompted a full-blown controversy, with price fixing by a noodle cartel being alleged.

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Google has been energetically pushing its cloud as a viable alternative to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure when it comes to big, burly computing jobs. As part of that effort, on Tuesday it made previously announced “preemptible virtual machines” available to customers and said that the Broad Institute will be able to use these computing instances, along with software services from Cycle Computing, to perform complex cancer research. Pre-emptible VMs is tech talk for deeply discounted (70% off!) cloud computing processors which can be applied to big research projects or other tasks as needed. Amazon AMZN has long offered “spot instances” that customers can bid on in an auction-like format. The Broad Institute’s Cancer Group in Cambridge, Massachusetts has data sets on cancer cell lines, “gene expression data,” and information about how various molecules interact with that gene expression. Gene expression data provides clues as to how often a given gene in a creature’s DNA is actually used by a cell. “This is a cool workload from a science perspective in that it uses machine learning to understand the relationships between cell lines and cancer,” said Jason Stowe, chief executive of Cycle Computing. Scientists can then look at the expressions of those gene mutations and how they interact with those molecules. “They build a map of the relationships so a researcher on a particular mutation will know what else they should look at, what other data points in Broad’s data set should be examined.” Machine learning is an advanced form of pattern recognition that applies algorithms to tough data problems without having to be programmed specifically to do that work, and then makes predictions based on that work. New York-based Cycle is an ideal partner for public cloud companies that want to show that their massive shared compute and storage resources can be corralled, scheduled, and deployed efficiently into high-performance computing (HPC) dynamos. That coralling, scheduling and deploying is Cycle Computing’s specialty. So, Tuesday’s news is that Broad Institute will use Google GOOG Google Compute Engine (GCE) along with Cycle Computing for this key work and that pre-emptible VMs can be applied as needed. More broadly, Cycle Computing’s cloud orchestration services will run on GCE as well as AWS from here on. That’s a win for Google over its competitors. Google and Broad are already cooperating to run Broad’s genomic analysis as a service on GCE. The fact that Cycle Computing will now run on GCE is a plus for Google, but should not be surprising given that Cycle Computing was fully on board a Google-led container management effort announced in July. Until now, Cycle hs worked on big high-performance computing projects with customers running on AWS, but Stowe said this move is no reflection on Amazon. “We followed the customer. Google’s pre-emptible VMs are very cost performant and our customers need to be able to use the best cloud services for their project,” he told Fortune. In short: Researchers need to be able to use whatever cloud gives them the most usability for their money in any given project. The implication being that sometimes that optimal cloud may be from Google, sometimes from Amazon, and sometimes from Microsoft MSFT . For more on cloud computing, see the video below. Subscribe to Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the business of technology.

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Google, the Broad Institute, and Cycle Computing take on cancer

The Broad Institute will use Google Cloud Engine's pre-emptible VMs, Cycle Computing's orchestration, and machine learning to parse cancer cell and genetic data.

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AT 6 feet tall and 300 pounds, V.J. Bertrand needs a whole lotta car. He said his sumptuous Lincoln Mark VIII gives him all the room he needs up front, plus a bonus: a seat belt that fits. But earlier this year, the Waterbury auto parts salesman was driving a borrowed Oldsmobile Cutlass with a less accommodating safety restraint. As Mr. Bertrand was getting on the entrance ramp for Route 84 in Thomaston, he saw State Police officers posted at the exit ramp conducting a seat-belt spot check. ''I figured I was O.K.,'' Mr. Bertrand said. ''They were on the other side of the highway.'' But the officers waved for Mr. Bertrand to pull over and issued him a $37 ticket for not wearing a seat belt. ''I said to the officer, 'Listen. I'm a big guy. It just doesn't fit,''' Mr. Bertrand said. ''But the officer said, 'There's nothing you can do. You've got to get an extender.''' Mr. Bertrand's recent run-in with Connecticut's seat-belt law, which mandates that drivers and front-seat passengers buckle up, highlights a frustrating and often-embarrassing problem for obese people who don't drive late-model or luxury vehicles that now come with larger seat belts. Obese drivers said they have found that seat-belt extensions aren't always available from all car manufacturers and trying to find them in auto parts stores is next to impossible. Connecticut is one of 19 states in which drivers and front-seat passengers can be arrested solely because they aren't wearing safety belts. John Ditta, law enforcement liaison with the State Department of Transportation, said that from May 19 to June 1, during the state's most recent ''Click It, or Ticket'' seat-belt crackdown, 78 percent of the drivers stopped were wearing seat belts, slightly lower than the national average of 79 percent. But almost 10,000 people were fined for not wearing them, Mr. Ditta said. The state does not keep statistics relating to obesity and noncompliance. ''I've received three or four tickets because I couldn't fit into my seat belt,'' said Ken Turcotte, 48, of West Haven, who drives a 1995 Chevrolet Lumina van. Mr. Turcotte, who weighed 420 pounds a year ago, now weighs 240 pounds and can easily wear the restraint now. ''But at that point, I could barely fit into any vehicle,'' he said. ''The cops said it was no excuse for not wearing my seat belt.'' In fact, obesity is an excuse for not wearing a seat belt, said Sgt. J. Paul Vance, spokesman for the State Police, although it may not be widely known. Connecticut State Statute 14-100A says that drivers with physical disabilities or impairments can operate a motor vehicle without wearing a seat belt if they obtain a letter from a doctor stating that wearing one would be a hardship. ''Sometimes the situation will arise when someone will get a ticket from a police officer, but they can fight it in court with a doctor's certificate,'' Mr. Ditta said. National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration regulations require that automakers manufacture seat belts to fit the standard crash dummy, which, according to the agency, represents the size of the majority of men and women in the United States. But agency statistics show that test dummies are built according to statistics from 1960 when 95 percent of the population weighed 215 pounds or less. Recent findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta state that 95 percent of men weigh 244 pounds or less, while 99 percent of women weigh 226 pounds or less.''It seems to me that there's not a lot of empathy for large people because we're seen as not being in control,'' said Nora Mills, 49, of Canton. Ms. Mills said she had become more concerned about the issue since the police have publicized that they are cracking down on seat belt scofflaws. ''There's a lot of large people who drive cars and the law says you must wear a seat belt,'' she said. ''When car manufacturers don't provide belts that fit, then you're really stuck. But I feel strongly that if it's a serious enough issue to enforce the law that everyone has to wear seat belts, then they should think it's a serious enough issue to make seat belts that fit.'' Obese drivers argue that being exempt from the seat belt law because of their weight is tangential to the more critical issue of keeping themselves and others in the car safe during an accident. ''I have a seat belt in my car that fits me,'' Ms. Mills said. ''But what if I'm riding in someone else's car and can't wear a seat belt? I worry for others in the car because if we got into an accident, there would be an unrestrained 300-pound person flying at them.'' Ms. Mills and her husband, Neil Osbourn, who is of average weight, have been aware of the seat belt-size issue for a number of years. ''I've always been large and seat belts never fit me, especially the American-made cars,'' Ms. Mills said. ''I bought a 2001 Honda four-door car specifically for the seat belts.'' But finding the right car wasn't easy, she said. ''When I told salespeople that I couldn't find a car whose seat belt fit me, they were surprised and supportive, but didn't offer any options.''

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AT 6 feet tall and 300 pounds, V.J. Bertrand needs a whole lotta car. He said his sumptuous Lincoln Mark VIII gives him all the room he needs up front, plus a bonus: a seat belt that fits. But earlier this year, the Waterbury auto parts salesman was driving a borrowed Oldsmobile Cutlass with a less accommodating safety restraint. As Mr. Bertrand was getting on the entrance ramp for Route 84 in Thomaston, he saw State Police officers posted at the exit ramp conducting a seat-belt spot check. ''I figured I was O.K.,'' Mr. Bertrand said. ''They were on the other side of the highway.''

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Jun 8, 2016 12:21 PM EDT MoneyWatch By Aimee Picchi / MoneyWatch The Keurig Kold may not have lived up to the hype, but at least its owners will receive their money back. Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR), which had billed the soda-making machines as its next big thing, said it will provide refunds for people who bought the clunky counter-top appliance. The $370 Kold fizzled after consumers complained that it was too slow, too big and too expensive. The Kold machine debuted late last year in time for the holiday season, but it was clear early on that the device wasn't likely to add any froth to the company's sales. Early reviews were harsh, with consumers complaining about malfunctioning soda pods, inconsistent taste and loud noises. The pods cost more than $1 to brew an 8-ounce drink, making it more expensive than buying soda at the store. "Our initial execution of Kold did not fully deliver on [consumer] expectations, particularly around size, speed and value," Keurig said on its refund site. The company stopped selling the machine and its accessories on June 7, although it will continue to sell Kold pods at a discount until the company runs out of them, it said. Keurig said it's offering a refund for the device because after it runs out of pods, the device won't be useable. "We ... believe that offering a refund is the right thing to do," the company said. To receive a refund, consumers should visit DrinkMakerRefundProgram and upload a photo of their Kold's serial number. Customers will also need a receipt or other proof of purchase. The company said the refund process also works for people who received the Kold as a gift. Refunds will take about two to three weeks to arrive. About 130 Keurig employees will be impacted by the Kold's discontinuation, with about 100 workers losing their jobs in Vermont, where Keurig Green Mountain is based. Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin said other jobs at Keurig won't be impacted by the decision. © 2016 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

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​Here's how to get your Keurig Kold refund

With its sudden nixing of the $370 soda-making machine, Keurig says giving refunds is "the right thing to do"

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When Mae West starred on Broadway in her critically panned but crowd-pleasing entertainment ''Catherine Was Great,'' she apologized nightly for omitting many events in the rich and ribald life of the brilliant 18th-century Russian sovereign: ''Catherine was a great empress. She also had 300 lovers. I did the best I could in a couple of hours.'' In fact, according to Simon Sebag Montefiore, the reliable count of Catherine's lovers was more like a baker's dozen. But about which lover occupied the No. 1 spot there is no doubt, as Sebag Montefiore makes abundantly clear in ''Prince of Princes,'' a discursive, meticulously researched and mostly absorbing new biography of Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin. For nearly 20 years, until his death, Potemkin (1739-91) labored with superhuman gusto as Catherine's ingenious bed partner, sex toy, soulmate, military strategist and commander, party planner, empire builder, naval architect, diplomat, nurse, correspondent, literary adviser, art collector and even pimp, far outlasting other handsome and witty ''favorites'' in the perilous environment at the empress's glamorous yet crude court in St. Petersburg. Catherine (1729-96, reigned 1762-96) and Potemkin may even have been man and wife, although Sebag Montefiore, like others before him, has not found ''conclusive proof'' that they were ever married, as legend would have it. So formidable did Potemkin's personal and political power become that a memoirist who worked on his staff could reasonably call his boss ''czar in all but name.'' Others coined less flattering labels. The first book about Potemkin, published in Germany in 1794, was called ''Prince of Darkness,'' reflecting the strongly disapproving attitude most Europeans held toward this brilliant, scheming and ruthless statesman -- and even more toward his dissolute, debauched and ''immoral'' private life. (Among other indiscretions, his longstanding sexual involvement with his five comely nieces -- under Catherine's approving eye -- especially grated on less indulgent European sensibilities.) But an admiring Jeremy Bentham, the creator of utilitarianism, who was brought to Russia by Catherine and Potemkin to provide technical expertise in the newly conquered Crimea, overlooked Potemkin's excesses and extolled his friend as ''Prince of Princes.'' The poets Gavril Romanovich Derzhavin and Aleksandr Pushkin devoted many pages to Potemkin's exploits, while Lord Byron developed a near obsession with this larger-than-life ''natural'' personality, who so epitomized the values of Romanticism. Across the rapidly expanding Russian Empire Potemkin was known simply as ''Serenissimus.'' Serenity is not the trait I would ascribe to this restless, egotistical, voracious, gigantically energetic and boundlessly ambitious character after reading this monumental, densely detailed and at times dizzily panoramic biography. But then, Russians take a different view of serenity -- and of how rulers should behave. In his introduction, Sebag Montefiore, a British journalist and the author of two novels, points out how Potemkin's reputation has suffered ever since his death, owing to several factors. Most important was his ambiguous status. Although Catherine lavished numerous titles on him (Prince of Taurida, field marshal, commander in chief of the Russian Army), his real position was impossible to categorize. Initially, he was just one of Catherine's sexual ''favorites,'' or mignons. Later their relationship grew into what the French call an ''amitie amoureuse.'' ''Their love affair and political alliance was unequaled in history by Antony and Cleopatra, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Napoleon and Josephine, because it was as remarkable for its achievements as for its romance, as endearing for its humanity as for its power,'' Sebag Montefiore claims. Arguably Potemkin's greatest achievement was to lead Catherine's armies -- and new Black Sea Fleet -- to victories against the Ottoman Empire along the Black Sea coast and in present-day Romania and Moldova. He solidified these gains by designing and overseeing the construction of many new seaports (like Kherson and Odessa) that established Russia as a power in the Levant for the first time and set the stage for itss grand entrance into the center of European power politics in the Napoleonic era. After Catherine's death, her son Paul came to the throne. He hated Potemkin even more than he despised his mother, and set about besmirching his reputation. During the 19th century, succeeding Romanov rulers maintained a much more prim and rigid court life than Catherine, and regarded her highly publicized sexual adventures with distaste and embarrassment. After the Russian Revolution, and especially in the puritanical atmosphere of Stalinism, Soviet historians were forced to take an even dimmer ideologically driven view of Catherine and her entourage. So only now is it finally possible, Sebag Montefiore argues, to give Serenissimus ''his rightful place in history.''

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'Prince of Princes' - Potemkin, Imperial Boy Toy - NYTimes.com

Sebag Montefiore has written a life of Potemkin, Catherine the Great's military strategist, literary adviser, party planner and all-around main squeeze.

20160623063247

Has the outcome of a professional basketball game ever meant so much to a city? With the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 93-89 NBA Finals Game 7 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, a 52-year drought ended, five decades of inept performances and laughably bad luck were forgotten, and a city was, finally, blissfully, redeemed. Good for Cleveland, of course. But bad for a handful of other major American cities, whose own streaks of athletic ineptitude have — up to now — been overshadowed by Cleveland’s other-worldly woes. Now that LeBron James has pushed Cleveland off the “Most Pitiful” sports cities list, it seems as good a time as any to see which metropolis might assume the mantle. Here’s a look at four places that make a good case. Cleveland can now forget about The Decision, and forget about the city’s reputation as the Mudville of American sports. In examining America’s newest worst sports city, you might as well start just 250 miles down the road. The memory of Marge Schott — whose racist remarks and miserly ways made her one of the most notorious owners in sports history — might have faded, but so, too, have memories of Cincinnati’s last championship, which came courtesy of the Cincinnati Reds’ 1990 squad. Yes, the Bengals are perennial participants in the NFL playoffs. And sure, the Reds have occasionally weaseled their way into contention in the National League’s Central Division. But consider this: The city’s most recognizable athlete, Pete Rose, is barred from Major League Baseball forever; the Reds are currently in last place; and the Bengals have become known as much in the past decade for their habit of signing criminally inclined players as for any postseason exploits. But, hey, at least there’s a cool zoo. The city of Buffalo might have made one of the most notable contributions in sports history when it invented the Buffalo wing in 1964 — but that’s about where the athletic-related prowess ends for the Queen City. Buffalo, bless its heart, has never won a title in any sport, ever, though the NFL’s Bills did make history by competing (and losing) in four straight Super Bowls. Buffalo, of course, is a small market, competing against teams and cities with far greater resources and appeal. But even the city’s best moments seem to be tinged with some sort of underlying awfulness. Back in 1973, for instance, the city — and nation — got behind a talented Bills running back who was chasing history. Entering the final week of the 14-game season, the player needed 197 yards to become the first man in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. In the season finale, he rushed for 200, breaking Jim Brown’s single-season rushing record and finishing the year with 2,003 yards. For all the things working against the Twin Cities — St. Paul was once named the best place in America to hire a hit man; and then, you know, the snow — you’d think they’d at least catch a sports-related break every now and then, what with four professional sports franchises. Instead, the most notable sports moment since the Twins won a World Series title back in 1991 was probably the cities’ role in the junior-hockey comedy “Mighty Ducks” film franchise. The current iteration of the city’s hockey team, the Minnesota Wild, has never played in the Stanley Cup Finals. The NBA’s Timberwolves’ two most notable players of the past couple decades — Kevin Garnett and Kevin Love — have both left the city only to win championships elsewhere. And most recently, the Vikings’ all-everything running back, Adrian Peterson, missed most of the 2014 season after he was charged with physically abusing his young son (he eventually accepted a plea deal). Some cities have an excuse for a lack of athletic accomplishment: Nashville is relatively small; San Diego boasts only two “big four” pro sports teams. But D.C. is the nation’s capital, a major American city with (allegedly) a lot to offer. Which hasn’t stopped its teams from routinely wetting the bed. The city hasn’t won a championship in a quarter century, and in that time, it has managed to put together a rather astonishing highlight reel of blunders. Nationals’ slugger Bryce Harper, maybe the best player in baseball, was beaten up by a teammate in the dugout last season. The hometown football team’s name is a racial slur — while its owner, Dan Snyder, is routinely featured prominently on “worst owner in sports” lists thanks, in part, to his questionable personnel decisions. For the moment, at least, there appears to be some hope. The Nationals boast a roster of talented young stars, and are among the league’s best teams. Wizards fans, meanwhile, are crossing their fingers that their own prodigal son — Kevin Durant — will ditch Oklahoma City this offseason to try and do what LeBron James did for Cleveland. Who knows how it will all play out? If nothing else, though, maybe the orange-y guy with a shot at becoming America’s next president — a man who has routinely voiced his displeasure with “losers” — could bring some competitive fire to the nation’s capital. . .

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With Cleveland off the hook, what city assumes the role of most pitiful sports town?

Now that LeBron James has pushed Cleveland off the “Most Pathetic” sports cities list, it seems as good a time as any to see which other fan bases might assume the mantle.

20160629052335

C.D. Wright was among the small handful of truly great poets of our time. Though she spent much of her adult life in Rhode Island, where she taught at Brown and was married to the poet Forrest Gander, Wright was born in the Ozark mountain region of Arkansas, and her poetic voice never really left the South; it cradled something old and distinctly American within it. Wright, who died suddenly in January of a blood clot at 67, was also one of the major poetic innovators of the last quarter century. Her books — 15, not including the new "Shallcross" — form an encyclopedia of contemporary poetic techniques and a primer on the breadth of what a poet can accomplish. Her work is deeply concerned with social justice, with the necessity of fighting for fair treatment of all peoples on a large scale. Her book-length sequence "One Big Self" is a journalistic investigation of life inside several Southern women's prisons; her National Book Critics Circle Award-winning "One With Others" is a poetic biography of one of Wright's activist role models. Among her innovations, over the last decade Wright explored the intersection of journalism and poetry, conducting interviews, quoting subjects, and folding it all into complex, impressionistic poetic sequences. Her poems are concerned with upholding the peculiar integrity of the individual: over and over again, she shows the people she observes — those prisoners, the families of murder victims, activists, strangers on the street, herself — at their most particular; no two people are alike under her gaze, and each deserves — and gets — a close look. "Shallcross," Wright's first posthumous book (it follows a collection of prose about poetry published just days before she died) was by no means intended as her last. In fact, she had submitted her next manuscript to her publisher already. So this extraordinary collection of poems should not be read as any kind of a final statement but instead as the next installment in a series of books by a poet at the height of her powers. After years of writing extended works that span all or most of a book, Wright returned to shorter lyrics here (mostly written in series), though still with an eye on the big picture. A sequence of brief poems, Southern American miniatures, shows the range of Wright's aesthetic powers and poetic interests with haiku-like associative leaps. One, "Poem With a Dozen Cherries on a Ledge," is a haiku: a woman sweeping moths from a corner straw coming out of the broom in handfuls This is Wright focusing on the particulars. Traditional haiku study nature; for Wright, the natural world has some people in it, and their behavior — "sweeping moths" — blends seamlessly with the broom and the sky; she doesn't need to take the people out to see nature, nor to ignore nature to see the people. These little poems, a group called "40 Watts" near the front of the book, are most exciting when they shrink what Wright has previously done on a larger canvas: show how strange and true people really are. Here's all of "Poem With No Up or Down": she is telling her husband that he is dead and he is telling her he is no such thing she tells him where he is buried and he assures her that he is seated directly across the table from her she tells him she is going to call their son and settle this and he'll need to cough up $$$ for rent Is he dead or isn't he? Is she nuts? Or just grieving? Does it matter? Wright doesn't care to explain. But in Wright's world — which, after all, is the real one — people who see ghosts still have to pay the rent. These tiny pieces are like a bunch of seemingly candid photos that actually add up to a manifesto: the ineffable doesn't excuse one from the mundane; nothing does. At the center of the book is "Breathtaken," one of Wright's nonfiction projects, a chronicle of violence and murder in New Orleans. As in the books mentioned above, Wright's method here is to force us to look at the facts, or the language used to describe the facts — she is a master of the emotionally loaded list — to count up, to see just how much there is, how overwhelming. The 20-page poem is a relentless stack of fragmentary descriptions of murders lifted from "the NOLA.com Crime Blog … with contributions from an extended cast of reporters for the Times-Picayune." The descriptions begin midway, bleed together, add up to a disturbingly incoherent yet somehow unified whole: New Year's Day / in front of his grandmother's house, 6th Ward / shot 14 times … / at a graduation party in the backyard / a girl totally in love with poetry/ mother of a 30-month-old ... the father ambushed in his car/ a few days after she learned he was pregnant. Who are these people? Wright gives them their humanity without their names, as if to remind us that even statistics have mothers, lovers, children. She transforms journalism into poetry, leaving us with feelings rather than thoughts, with a sense of culpability and responsibility that, as observers of injustice, we share. That's Wright's most remarkable power, to make her readers feel both culpable and capable. Compassion, which her poems engender almost instantly in anyone who pays attention, can become a form of action, even activism in her work. And how deeply we need compassion now, amid this weird election and weekly reckonings with terror — how we need the capacity to see others on their own terms. We need C.D. Wright's poems, which "turn our maudlin concerns / Into moments of incandescence," and luckily we still have them. Teicher is a poet and critic and also the editor of "Once and for All: The Best of Delmore Schwartz." His website is www.craigmorganteicher.com. Copper Canyon Press: 140 pp., $23

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In 'Shallcross,' C.D. Wright was at the height of her powers

C.D. Wright was among the small handful of truly great poets of our time. Though she spent much of her adult life in Rhode Island, where she taught at Brown and was married to the poet Forrest Gander, Wright was born in the Ozark mountain region of Arkansas, and her poetic voice never really left the South; it cradled something old and distinctly American within it.

20160629182142

Prince was such a prolific composer, he left behind enough unpublished music in a vault inside his Minnesota estate to fill 26 albums. “I’ve vaulted so much stuff, going way back to the ’80s, because I didn’t want people to hear it — it wasn’t ready,” he told The Post in 2015. “One day I’ll go back and finish it, and it’ll feel like no time has passed. To me, time folds back on itself.” The vault is located in the basement of his Paisley Park mansion — and is said to be filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of tracks. “We would just write, write, write and then put things to the side and fix them later. Some of his best stuff is in the vault,” his former protégé and muse Cat Glover told reporter and filmmaker Mobeen Azhar, who made the documentary, “Hunting for Prince’s Vault.” Warner Music Group now co-owns the rights to all the unreleased music Prince recorded between 1978 and 1996, along with whoever takes control of the estate. It remains unclear who that person will be. “It’s not obvious who’ll be in charge,” a music insider told The Post. “He was an enigma.” The estate will control all the music he made when not under contract with Warner, the insider said. Fans likely won’t get to listen to all of Prince’s immense musical output, since his estate and Warner will have to agree on what gets released. Some of the tracks may be deemed “not up to Prince’s standards,” the insider said. Susan Rogers, Prince’s former sound engineer, told the BBC in 2012 that Prince was constantly creating. “With Prince, we recorded all the time,” she said. “As long as the guy was awake and breathing, we would be playing music. And most of that time, he was recording that music.” Rogers told Azhar last year that she was the one who put all Prince’s tapes together in the vault so they wouldn’t get lost. “I realized it would be smart for me to get his tapes together in one place,” she said. “I was aware there were a lot of pieces missing. It became an obsession. I wanted us to have everything he’d ever recorded.” “I called up the studios he’d been using and said: ‘Have you got any Prince tapes?’ This is his legacy. We need to protect these things,” she continued. “It’s an actual bank vault, with a thick door . . . When I left in ’87, it was nearly full. Row after row of everything we’d done. I can’t imagine what they’ve done since then.”

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Prince’s vault jam-packed with unpublished music

Prince was such a prolific composer, he left behind enough unpublished music in a vault inside his Minnesota estate to fill 26 albums. “I’ve vaulted so much stuff, going way back to the ’80s, becau…

20160704053042

Living history. It’s such an evocative phrase, whether it refers to a person who has survived long enough to act as a kind of flesh-and-blood conduit to the past, or an environment — Normandy, for example, or Gettysburg or Agincourt — so steeped in lore that decades and even centuries later one can still see, hear and feel what took place there. The notion of “living history” comforts us, somehow, helping us believe that, just maybe, we’re not such little fish in a huge sea of time, after all. But what happens when those celebrated surviving emblems our collective past prove to be … well, perhaps not so authentic? What happens when they’re just plain hoaxers? In the middle part of the last century, LIFE magazine (and numerous other publications) featured photos and stories from a number of men who not only claimed to be extraordinarily old, but also claimed that they were the last surviving veterans of the American Civil War. Subsequent investigations by reporters like Lowell Bridwell, Bill Marvel and others, however, largely debunked the claims made by these and more than a few other self-proclaimed Civil War vets. And yet, to the end of their days, most of these men continued to play the roles they’d created for themselves — i.e., living, breathing links not merely to the country’s past, but to the most critical, convulsive period of America’s life as a nation. Every war has its share of fake heroes, of course, and people play their parts for reasons as thorny and as varied as the reasons legitimate warriors enter battle. Some hoaxers seek fame; some seek military pensions; some seek nothing more and nothing less than a lifetime of free drinks at their local bar, earned by telling stories of firefights and campaigns they never witnessed. Here, on the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, LIFE.com offers up a few of those old portraits of self-proclaimed Civil War vets — pictures that not only serve as reminders of the healthy skepticism with which astonishing assertions should always be greeted, but as tributes to the men, young and old alike, who actually did serve in the one war that most indelibly shaped the modern United States. [Buy the TIME book, Gettysburg.] [See the TIME.com gallery, “Gettysburg: In the Footsteps of Mathew Brady.”]

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Portraits of the Last Surviving Civil War Veterans? Not So Much

On the 150th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Gettysburg, LIFE.com presents portraits of self-proclaimed Civil War vets whose claims were later debunked.

20160708084258

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell put on a pair of Oculus Rift goggles last summer and was immersed in a brave new world -- remarkably similar to our own. Goodell was at Jeremy Bailenson's Stanford University lab to learn more about virtual reality empathy training. "The immersion in virtual reality was so convincing and compelling," said Michael Huyghue, a confidante of Goodell who accompanied him on the trip. "Roger was tremendously impressed." Goodell visited along with Huyghue and several executives -- including Patriots president and chair of the NFL's digital committee, Jonathan Kraft. The commissioner was so impressed that he had NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent tour the Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL) a couple months later. Huyghue, a former Jacksonville Jaguars senior vice president, NFL Diversity Committee member and United Football League commissioner, suggested to Goodell that the empathy training, which promotes tolerance and helps counteract biases of ageism, race, gender, disability, etc., would be useful to the league. During his visit Goodell experienced multiple empathy-training demos. In one demo, his avatar became a black female, and he observed the way she was discriminated against in the workplace. In another, he saw himself as much older and overweight, allowing him to experience how obese people are treated in society. "Across many, many experiments, becoming someone else and experiencing prejudice firsthand," Bailenson said, "is more effective at changing attitudes and behavior than controlled conditions, for example, role playing or watching a movie." The NFL declined to make its executives available for interview, but such therapy could have particular meaning for the league, considering its off-the-field issues, particularly the high-profile domestic abuse cases of Greg Hardy, Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice. The Chiefs drew criticism for drafting Tyreek Hill, who pled guilty in 2015 to punching and choking his pregnant girlfriend while at Oklahoma State, in the fifth round this year. This cutting-edge virtual reality technology could help with NFL player treatment and assessment. And it could extend to coaches, front-office executives and league personnel. "(The NFL) is in the lead," Huyghue said. "I think they'll be the first to put a real comprehensive program together and I think the other leagues will follow." Virtual reality empathy training is a three-step process. The first step of body transfer involves physically moving around the room and seeing that the virtual body is moving with you. It can include a four-minute exercise where you extend your arms and see the different pigmentation or go to a virtual mirror to observe how your face has aged. "You need to feel like the avatar body is yours," Bailenson said. Then the treatment phase occurs, where the individual experiences some form of discrimination or hardship. In an ageism study, for example, there was a job interview, where it became very clear that the interviewer would not hire the applicant because of his or her age. Finally, it concludes with measurement or a way to test the effect of the simulation on changes in attitude or behavior. Sometimes the participant is measured by a reaction contest or a subsequent social interaction. "It's always a challenging thing to do because you can't just ask somebody," Bailenson said. "You've got to come up with creative and scientifically valid ways of measuring reducing bias." This process, which Bailenson has honed for more than a decade, is not intended to replace current diversity training methods. It's more about augmenting it with one empathy-training session lasting 15 to 20 minutes on an infrequent basis. "That's really enough to make you rethink things," Bailenson said. "It's really intense ... You wouldn't want someone to experience that intensity and drama in the physical world once a month." Because of the advances by the HTC Vive and the Oculus system, a team or an organization only needs a high-end laptop and some open space to conduct the training. Bailenson has provided demos to various organizations -- ranging from consulting firms to, as surprising as this sounds, the Russian government -- that have expressed interest in virtual reality empathy training. That includes representatives from other sports leagues like NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who has visited Bailenson's VHIL and studied empathy training. "Everyone is looking," Bailenson said. "The NFL, in my opinion, is really close to actually doing it." The Cowboys, 49ers and Vikings have signed deals with STRIVR (Sports Training in Virtual Reality), and the Patriots and Cowboys already have their own in-house VR labs. Bailenson, former Stanford and Bills quarterback Trent Edwards and former Stanford kicker Derek Belch co-founded STRIVR, a start-up that shoots 360-degree high definition video from a player's-eye-view, so that players can simulate plays without taking hits. While at the Stanford lab, Goodell also learned the details of that virtual football experience. Other VR applications for the NFL could include recreating the view from the sideline for fans or building a training suite for referees to prepare for game situations though repeated simulations. The empathy training, though, was the focus of the NFL's visit. "We are looking at a variety of ways to help train and educate our players on important issues," NFL vice president of communications Brian McCarthy wrote via email. In addition to potentially helping players avoid domestic violence, Bailenson's innovative technology could, among other possible benefits, help them better relate to teammates from different socioeconomic backgrounds or deal with raucous fans. If the NFL chooses to use empathy training, one challenge is that the technology is so sophisticated that it's not easily mass produced. It takes months to build a demo, and you have to specifically construct the storyboard, the avatar and situation to the person. Right now, they're being tailored to the 19-year-old Stanford students who are the main test subjects undergoing the empathy training. "The secret sauce is the details," Bailenson said. "The magic is sitting there with an organization, understanding the issues they're concerned with and than crafting a perfect scene that really encapsulates that, and that's hard." Given its interest, the NFL may become the first to pilot virtual reality empathy training, as no company or organization has implemented it yet. "It's not if," Bailenson said, "but when." More By Jeff Fedotin -- Will McDonough's Uniquely Accomplished Three Sons -- When Packers Considered Putting Dome On Lambeau -- Why Baseball Managers Wear Uniforms Follow Jeff Fedotin on Twitter @JFedotin. Empathy Training, NFL, Roger Goodell, Stanford Cardinal, Virtual Reality, VR

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NFL: VR For Empathy Training Considered

Roger Goodell visited a VR lab at Stanford, and the demonstration was such an eye-opener that he wants the NFL to use it for empathy training.

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More than 31 million people tuned in to television coverage of Michael Jackson's memorial service yesterday, and millions more watched on computers at work, in parks and elsewhere. Measuring viewership on 18 networks that carried the live coverage, 1-4 p.m., the ratings service Nielsen calculated the average audience at 31.14 million viewers. That makes it the second most-watched daytime funeral Nielsen has ever measured. Princess Diana's funeral, which began at 6 a.m., drew an estimated 33.25 million viewers spread across eight networks on Sept. 6, 1997. Former President Ronald Reagan's mid-day funeral drew 20.8 million people on June 11, 2004. A prime-time program on Reagan's burial that same evening drew an estimated 35.07 million viewers. The remarkable Nielsen numbers for yesterday's Jackson memorial slightly undercount the total viewership, since Nielsen didn't release figures for local stations such as WPIX/Ch. 11 or cable networks like NY1 and Current. On-line viewership also soared yesterday, perhaps reflecting fans who were at work during the service and watched it on their computers. MSNBC reported nearly 19 million online streams, topping the network's previous high set this January during President Barack Obama's inauguration. CNN said it had the second largest streaming day in its history, with 10.5 million streams in all and 4.4 million during the memorial service. The network recorded 26.9 million streams on Inauguration Day. ABC News Digital reported close to six million live streams of the memorial service on abcnews.com and its partner sites. Foxnews.com reported 3.4 million streams. The coverage was also a hit abroad. United Kingdom rating services earlier reported that six million British viewers watched the Jackson service.

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Michael Jackson's memorial 2nd most-watched funeral ever

Almost 31 million people television coverage of Michael Jackson's memorial service yesterday, and millions more watched on computers at work, in parks and elsewhere.

20160713005946

Kaan Gunaydin knew since high school that he wanted to build start-ups. He also knew he didn't want to do it in his native Turkey, where he felt the social and career opportunities fell short. Thrilled to be accepted at Northwestern University, Gunaydin joined a fraternity, played club tennis and majored in industrial engineering and economics. Now 24, he lives in the Loop and works in business analytics at Chicago-based online lender Enova International. He also, for the third year in a row, is rolling the dice for an H-1B visa so he can stay. Gunaydin's application is among 236,000 submitted this year for the controversial and increasingly competitive foreign-worker program meant for skilled employees in "specialty occupations," often in the tech sector. Demand for H-1Bs, which was not as high as some expected this year, has nonetheless surged in recent years with the improving economy, climbing from 124,000 employer-sponsored applications submitted in 2013 to 172,500 in 2014 and 233,000 last year. The visas, which allow people to stay up to six years, are awarded through a random lottery. With 65,000 slots for foreign nationals who have at least a bachelor's degree, and another 20,000 designated for those with advanced degrees, large technology employers have called for raising the cap, insisting they can't find the right skills in the local talent pool. Critics of the program lash back that claims of a talent shortage in STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — are overblown. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have called for reform, saying abuse of the system exploits cheaper labor and displaces U.S. workers. As the debate roils and applications mount, employees such as Gunaydin face diminishing odds of securing a visa and building their lives here. "If people asked me where my home is now, Chicago is my home," said Gunaydin, who is approaching the end of the Optional Training Visa status, tied to his student visa, which permits him to work after graduation. "I would have to go out of my home if I don't get a visa." The rise in H-1B applications comes amid a rapid increase of foreign students at U.S. universities, many of whom are eager to stick around to work after graduation. There were 975,000 foreign students studying in the U.S. in the 2014-15 academic year, most of them from China and India, up 10 percent from the previous year and an increase of 78 percent since 2000, according to the nonprofit Institute of International Education. More than 40 percent of foreign students study in STEM fields, where H-1B demand is hungriest, and they dominate advanced STEM degree programs. Foreign students earn 57 percent of the doctorates in engineering and half of the doctorates in computer science and math and statistics, according to a Pew Research Center report last year. At the Illinois Institute of Technology, for instance, 65 percent of graduate students last year were international, up from 40 percent in 2005, spokesman Mark Zonca said. Lack of an easy path to legal employment makes it difficult to retain foreign-born students after they graduate, which drains local economies of talent and tax money, according to a new report from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. In Illinois, the low transition of college graduates on student visas into the local workforce costs the state $29.2 million in state income tax, the report said. David Hornthal, president of Crosly & Associates, an executive search firm based in Deerfield that recruits for analytics jobs, said he was "extremely surprised" there wasn't a steeper rise of H-1B applications this year, given the boom in foreign students and the snowball effect as people who lost in the lotteries over the past few years tried again. He had predicted 290,000 to 330,000 applications. Hornthal wonders if slower job growth last year dampened demand, or if a crackdown by federal authorities on companies that submit multiple applications for the same individual to increase their chances might have dissuaded the practice. But Dick Burke, CEO of Chicago-based VisaNow, an immigration services provider that helps workers and employers through the visa process, said he was not surprised by the modest bump. Many of his employer-clients have said they are beginning to lose faith in the program, fearing it too risky to stake a hire on it, and have begun to pursue other visa classes, he said. "A mistake would be to read the news of no (application) growth and assume that (employers) are satiated," Burke said. "The need has remained profound and it continues to grow." Whether that need must be filled with foreign-born workers is a hotly debated topic. With global consultancies filing the most applications and getting the most H-1B visas, the program has gained a reputation for swiping U.S. IT workers' jobs. Walt Disney World came under fire last year after it laid off 250 employees, some of whom said they had to train the workers brought in on H-1B visas to do their jobs, according to media reports. Two of the laid-off employees in January filed federal lawsuits against Disney as well as HCL and Cognizant, the global consulting firms that sponsored the visas. At least 30 of the Disney workers also have filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging they were discriminated against, based on their U.S. citizenship. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., a longtime advocate for reforming the program, sent a letter Friday to Abbott Laboratories telling CEO Miles White he was "deeply disappointed" that the company was laying off 150 American workers and replacing them with contractors from Wipro, an Indian outsourcing company. Hal Salzman, professor of public policy at Rutgers University and a critic of the program, estimates that only about 15 percent of the market for H-1B visas is for truly hard-to-find skill sets such as data science. The vast majority is for basic programming and tech support skills that employers could fill with U.S. workers if they were willing to pay them more. With the tech sector warning of some 300,000 layoffs this year, Salzman disputes complaints of a talent shortage, likening the scramble for H-1Bs to the fight for Black Friday deals. There are "a lot of disappointed customers but there's no shortage of TVs, just half-price TVs," he said. "Similarly, there is no shortage of IT workers, just those available at a discount." Attorneys for employers that hire H-1B workers say that's untrue. The program requires employers pay H-1B workers the prevailing wage based on the job, location and skill level, or the actual wage U.S. employees are paid for that position — whichever is higher, said Scott Fanning, a Chicago-based attorney at Fisher & Phillips. Violations can get employers barred from the program or slapped with monetary penalties, and recently there has been an increase of audits and investigations, Fanning said. Given the consequences, and that it costs employers $5,000 to $10,000 to file a single H-1B application, including attorneys and filing fees, "they wouldn't be doing it if there wasn't a need for it," he said. But Ron Hira, associate professor of public policy at Howard University, said loopholes in the law give employers flexibility to define the job and skill level so they can pay less and save significant money. More than 40 percent of the workers approved by the government last year for H-1Bs were at the lowest prevailing wage level, meant for beginning-level employees such as research fellows or workers-in-training, and were paid 40 percent less than what Americans would earn in the same occupations, he said. John Pollak, senior director of people resources at Enova, said such pay concerns don't apply in his business, where "if we're not paying highly competitive wages, we're just not in the conversation." The demand for quantitative skills at the company, which handles heavy amounts of data from its nearly 4 million customers, far outstrips the supply, he said. "Some of that stretch is self-imposed because we have a really high bar for how we recruit," Pollak said. Gunaydin said an Enova recruiter found him through a resume book published by an elite undergraduate certificate program he participated in through Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. He interned there after his junior year and knew he wanted to start his career at Enova, which he said has helped him throughout his H-1B process. About 15 percent of Enova's 1,100 employees are foreign nationals, who work mostly in analytics, product management, software engineering, and strategy and operations, Pollak said. The company has a robust immigration program, which puts employees on a path to permanent residency as soon as they start and includes securing visas for spouses so they also can work. Enova submitted about a dozen H-1B applications for employees this year — most years it submits between 10 and 25 — which Pollak says is a risky investment given the time and cost of training and developing people who might not be selected. It is worth it not only for the talent but for the cultural diversity, he said, a value that often gets overlooked in conversations about foreign employees. "It's a must that we have folks from a lot of different backgrounds and schools of thought for us to be able to think creatively," Pollak said. Gunaydin's boss, Joe DeCosmo, chief analytics officer at Enova, said the data science skills Gunaydin brings are "vital to our success." "It's tough to think about losing that kind of top talent," DeCosmo said. As a Plan B, Gunaydin applied to and was accepted to computer science master's programs so he can stay as a student. Still, he is frustrated that the inflated applicant pool driven by some companies' abuse of the H-1B program could take him from the American friends he has amassed and a job he says he couldn't have dreamed of in Istanbul. Advocates on either side of the issue are pushing legislation to reform the system. A bill co-sponsored by Durbin and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, would require employers seeking H-1Bs to first make a good-faith effort to recruit American workers and would give priority to advanced degree-holders, those being paid a high wage and those with valuable skills. On the other side, the Immigration Innovation Act, known as I-Squared, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., and backed by Microsoft and Facebook, would lift the cap of H-1Bs to between 115,000 and 195,000 visas a year, depending on market conditions and existing demand. People with advanced STEM degrees would be exempt from the cap. Not-for-profit universities and research organizations are already exempt from the cap. Neither bill is expected to move forward in this election year, when the issue has been hot-button in the presidential debates. As for Gunaydin, he should find out within the next month if he won the lottery.

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Foreign workers waiting to win the H-1B lottery

Kaan Gunaydin knew since high school that he wanted to build start-ups. He also knew he didn't want to do it in his native Turkey, where he felt the social and career opportunities fell short.

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President Barack Obama criticized the Black Lives Matter movement, saying that activists should be willing to sit down and discuss their agenda with leaders in power rather than “yelling at them.” At a youth town hall in London on Saturday, the president lauded the movement for effectively bringing attention to racially motivated police violence across the country, but he said the harsh tone activists are using is troubling. “You can’t just keep on yelling at them and you can’t refuse to meet because that might compromise the purity of your position,” Obama said. “The value of social movements and activism is to get you at the table, get you in the room and then start trying to figure out how is this problem going to be solved. You then have a responsibility to prepare an agenda that is achievable —that can institutionalize the changes you seek and to engage the other side.” RELATED: The complex history of the controversial 1994 crime bill Obama’s remarks come weeks after activists from the movement protested at presidential candidates’ campaign events, including Hillary Clinton —the Democratic Party’s front-runner. In Philadelphia earlier this month, when former President Bill Clinton was campaigning for his wife, Hillary, he engaged in a heated back and forth exchange with activists who slammed him for the 1994 crime bill he enacted. The Clintons have faced intense scrutiny from Black Lives Matter activists and other protesters over the law, which they say unfairly put a high number of black and Latino Americans in prisons and allocated billions of dollars for prison grants and police expansion. And at a South Carolina private fundraiser in February, an activist from the group interrupted the event, calling out Clinton for the “super predators” term she had used to advocate for the 1994 measure as first Lady. Some say the racially-charged term targets young people of color. Clinton had recently said he regrets using the term. At the London youth forum, president Obama called on activists to compromise with those they disagree with. “Too often what I see is wonderful activism that highlights a problem, but then people feel so passionately and are invested in the purity of their position that they never take that next step and say, ‘well now I have to sit down and try to actually get something done ?’” he said.

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President Obama calls out Black Lives Matter activists for 'yelling'

"You can't just keep on yelling at [political leaders] and you can't refuse to meet because that might compromise the purity of your position," Obama said.

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The withdrawal of this account is yet another blow to beleaguered savers across the country who are in desperate search of an account that will give them a decent return on their savings. Over the past three years, the average rate on a one-year cash Isa has fallen by 40pc, while there has been a 60pc fall in the interest paid on one-year fixed-rate bonds over the past five years. This has come despite no movement in the Bank of Engalnd Bank Rate, which remains at 0.5pc. Easy access rates have also fallen dramatically (see graph below). Why savings rates keep falling Banks and building societies have less need for customer deposits as they emerged from the financial crisis of a few years ago. They have also been handed cheap money through the Treasury's Funding for Lending Scheme. Banking analysts say it is a process of returning to normal: before the crisis, savings rates were close to the Bank Rate. Because banks don't want the money (and it is costly to sit on deposits they can't use) they are keen to keep off the top of the best buy tables. Any time a deposit taker steps forward with a decent rate on a fixed rate bond, it is swamped with demand and the bond closes almost immediately. Recently, Yorkshire Building Society released a one-year Isa paying 2pc, the highest rate offered for almost a year, but had to pull the product after three weeks. Banks and building societies have been cutting their rates steadily over the past few years as their appetitive for savers' cash has waned. This means that today, savers have to settle for Isas or bonds paying low rates of interest, or find alternative savings accounts, such as current accounts, to earn a higher income. This article offers some advice: 'I get 3pc interest without tying up my money': meet the ingenious saver with 11 current accounts. >> More: The best cash Isa 'Nisa' rates >> Get a weekly alert on new savings best buys: Click here and enter your email

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2.75% 'best-buy' savings bond pulled in a day

In another blow to savers, a two-year bond paying 2.75pc has been withdrawn after less than 48 hours due to huge demand

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Eventually, a man was spotted out walking a German Shepherd with a bandaged leg. When he was identified as the Good Samaritan, he was thanked for his – and his dog’s – bravery on behalf of all of us. Ivory chess figurines for sale at the Panjiayuan Market, Beijing (Photo: Alamy)  Apparently, many people in China believe that elephant tusks are simply shed by their owners – in the way that lizards lose their tails – and therefore there is no harm in buying trinkets made from ivory. It’s one of several misconceptions that the anti-poaching lobby is trying to tackle by harnessing the power of celebrity, both in China and in Africa. In China, the adored former NBA basketball player Yao Ming has been talking about a visit to Kenya during which he saw elephants’ faces chain-sawed away for their precious tusks. Yao Ming has an impressive track record – his work with the US charity WildAid to raise awareness about the evils of shark fin soup prompted the Chinese government to ban it from state banquets and led to a 50 per cent drop in the price as demand fell. In East Africa, WildAid is now trying the same tactics to engage public sympathy for the plight of elephants. Actress Lupita Nyong’o, best known for her role in 12 Years a Slave, popped up in her native Kenya in June as WildAid’s new elephant ambassador. Such campaigns are great if they can swing the public behind the decision-makers. But anti-poaching efforts often come into conflict with powerful vested interests in government. Until that issue is dealt with, celebrity tears can only do so much. South Africa's immigration officials are over zealous (Photo: REUTERS/Mike Hutchings)  An American doctor and her three children recently had an unnerving encounter with the South African immigration authorities after being pulled over at Johannesburg airport at the start of what should have been an idyllic family holiday. Martina Mookadam had been due to travel with her husband – like her a doctor at the private Mayo Clinic in Arizona – but as they changed planes in London he had been called back to the US to provide urgent treatment to a member of a Middle Eastern royal family. As a result, Mrs Mookadam travelled as a lone parent and fell foul of strict new rules in South Africa designed to prevent child trafficking. She should have had all three children’s unabridged birth certificates, plus a signed police affidavit from her husband. After 48 hours of travel, and half a day in airport custody, the Mookadams were told they would be deported back to the US. Only when relatives of the family contacted Gift of the Givers (GotG), a major South African charity, were they allowed to get on with their holiday, after it put out a furious statement about the “huge embarrassment” caused to the country. GotG applauded the climbdown but noted that had Mrs Mookadam been a “street vendor from Chad” she might not have been so lucky.

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Crime is never far from you in Johannesburg, but it can still cause a stir

Johannesburg Notebook: A policeman told me that horrific crimes only really affect the townships, as though that made it somehow OK

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Renee Zellweger is speaking out about the recent, public back-and-forth surrounding her appearance. "I am lucky," Zellweger begins in an op-ed she penned for The Huffington Post titled "We Can Do Better." "Choosing a creative life and having the opportunity to do satisfying work that is sometimes meaningful is a blessed existence." The actress then dives into the unforeseen scrutiny that has come with her onscreen career, which includes films like Chicago, Jerry Maguire and the Bridget Jones franchise. "I am not writing today because I have been publicly bullied or because the value of my work has been questioned by a critic whose ideal physical representation of a fictional character originated 16 years ago, over which he feels ownership, I no longer meet," wrote the Oscar-winner. "I'm writing because to be fair to myself, I must make some claim on the truths of my life, and because witnessing the transmutation of tabloid fodder from speculation to truth is deeply troubling." The actress is referring to a piece written by Variety film critic, Owen Gleiberman, titled "Renee Zellweger: If She No Longer Looks Like Herself, Has She Become a Different Actress?" Read more: 'Bridget Jones' Baby' Trailer: Colin Firth, Patrick Dempsey Compete to Become a Father In an essay for The Hollywood Reporter, Rose McGowan responded to Gleiberman's assertions in her own post, writing, "Renee Zellweger is a human being, with feelings, with a life, with love and with triumphs and struggles, just like the rest of us. How dare you use her as a punching bag in your mistaken attempt to make a mark at your new job." Actress Renee Zellweger attends the 2001 VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards on October 19, 2001 at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage) Actress Renee Zellweger attends the 58th Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 21, 2001 at Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage) Actress Renee Zellweger attends the Nurse Betty New York City Premiere on September 6, 2000 at Loews East Cinemas in New York City. (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage) Actor Jay Mohr and actress Renee Zellweger attend the 16th Annual MTV Video Music Awards on September 9, 1999 at the Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center in New York City. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage) Actress Renee Zellweger attends The Bachelor Hollywood Premiere on November 3, 1999 at Pacific's Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage) Actress Renee Zellweger attends the One True Thing Century City Premiere on September 16, 1998 at Cineplex Odeon Century Plaza Cinemas in Century City, California. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage) Actress Renee Zellweger attends the One True Thing New York City Premiere on September 13, 1998 at Sony Theatres Lincoln Square in New York City. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage) Actress Renee Zellweger attends the Jerry Maguire New York City Premiere on December 6, 1996 at Pier 88 in New York City. (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage) Actress Renee Zellweger attends the Jerry Maguire Westwood Premiere on December 11, 1996 at Mann Village Theatre in Westwood, California. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage) American actress Renée Zellweger and Japanese artist, singer, and peace activist Yoko Ono attend the preview for the Matt Nye Spring 2000 collection, New York City, USA, 1999. (Photo by Rose Hartman/Archive Photos/Getty Images) |luggage, waiting, airport, conveyor belt, conveyor, person, blue, white, gray, red, brown |luggage,|waiting,|airport,|conveyor|belt,|conveyor,|person,|blue,|white,|gray,|red,|brown|TR003867 Woman Sitting on Baggage Ramp Jack Hollingsworth color, horizontal, interior, left, transportation, travel, lifestyle, woman, anticipation, adult, caucasian, american, sitting, baggage, claim, chute, suitcase, bag, luggage, waiting, airport, |TR003867|Woman|Sitting|on|Baggage|Ramp|Jack|Hollingsworth|color,|horizontal,|interior,|left,|transportation,|travel,|lifestyle,|woman,|anticipation,|adult,|caucasian,|american,|sitting,|baggage,|claim,|chute,|suitcase,|bag,|TR003867.JPG| HOLLYWOOD - DECEMBER 20: Actor Jim Carrey and actress Renee Zellweger attends the 'Man on the Moon' Hollywood Premiere on December 20, 1999 at the Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage) UNITED STATES - CIRCA 2000: Renee Zellweger is on hand for the New York premiere of the movie 'Nurse Betty' at the Loews Cineplex 19th St. East Theater. She stars in the film. (Photo by Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) Jim Carrey & Renee Zellweger (Photo by Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage) Greg Kinnear and Renee Zellweger at the photo call for the film 'Nurse Betty' at the 53rd Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, 5/12/00.Photo: Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect |VON0018.JPG|VON|American Northwest|Cascade Range|Clouds|concepts|Cumulus|Daytime|Lakes|Landscapes|Light|Loch|Low clouds|Mount|North America|North America Continent|Oregon|Pacific Northwest|Pacific States|Peaceful|Reflections|Serenity|States|Tranquility|USA|Vertical clouds|Visions of Nature|Washington|water|Western North America| Renee Zellweger and director Neil Labute at the premiere for the film 'Nurse Betty' at the 53rd Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, 5/12/00.Photo by Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect Jim Carrey and Renee Zellweger at the premiere of 'Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas' at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles Ca. 11/8/00. Photo by Kevin Winter/ImageDirect 383127 11: Actress Renee Zellweger arrives at the 10th Annual Fire & Ice Ball December 11, 2000 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, CA. (Photo by Chris Weeks/Liaison) Renee Zellweger (Photo by SGranitz/WireImage) LONDON - MARCH 10: American actress Renee Zellweger, British actor Hugh Grant and British pop star Geri Halliwell arrive at the UK premiere of the film 'Bridget Jones' Diary' at the Empire Cinema Leicester Square on March 10, 2001 in London. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images) UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 19: Renee Zellweger is on hand for the 2001 VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards at the Manhattan Center's Hammerstein Ballroom. (Photo by Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) HOLLYWOOD, : US actress Renee Zellweger arrives at the 74th Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA, 24 March 2002. Zellweger is nominated for Best Actress for her role in 'Bridget Jones's Diary.' AFP PHOTO/Lucy NICHOLSON (Photo credit should read LUCY NICHOLSON/AFP/Getty Images) Renee Zellweger relaxes after her 22-minute run during 5th Annual New York Revlon Run/Walk for Women - to Raise Funds for Women's Cancer Research, Awareness & Prevention at Time Square & East Meadow of Central Park in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Jim Spellman/WireImage) Renee Zellweger during Chicago Press Conference with Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Bill Condon and Rob Marshall at The Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, United States. (Photo by Vera Anderson/WireImage) Renee Zellweger wearing Jil Sander during Anna Wintour and Harvey Weinstein Co-host Screening of Chicago at Tribeca Grand Hotel in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by James Devaney/WireImage) Renee Zellweger during Sundance Film Festival Archives by Randall Michelson in Park City, Utah, United States. (Photo by Randall Michelson/WireImage) Renee Zellweger during Chicago Special Screening to Benefit GLAAD and Broadway Cares - Outside Arrivals at The Ziegfeld Theater in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Jim Spellman/WireImage) LONDON - DECEMBER 19: American actress Renee Zellweger poses at Cafe Royal in London in occasion of the UK 'Chicago' Premierr on December 19, 2002. (Photo by Jon Furniss/Getty Images) NEW YORK - JANUARY 10: *** EXCLUSIVE *** (ITALY OUT) Actress Renee Zellweger carries bottled water as she leaves her hotel January 10, 2003 in New York City. (Photo by Arnaldo Magnani/Getty Images) Richard Gere and Renee Zellweger (wearing Chanel) at the 2002 National Board Of Review Of Motion Pictures Annual Awards Gala at Tavern-On-The-Green in New York City. January 14, 2003. Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images Renee Zellweger at the 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, Ca., 1/19/03. Zellweger won 'Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy' for Chicago. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect) ITALY - FEBRUARY 10: Renee Zellweger in Rome, Italy on February 10th, 2003. (Photo by Eric VANDEVILLE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images) UNITED STATES - MARCH 01: Renee Zellweger in the press room at the 55th Annual Directors Guild Awards at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, CA 03/01/03 (Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images) LOS ANGELES - MARCH 9: Actress Renee Zellweger poses backstage with her Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role and Outstanding Performance by A Cast In A Theatrical Motion Picture awards for 'Chicago' during the 9th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on March 9, 2003 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) Renee Zellweger during Miramax 2003 MAX Awards - Inside at St. Regis Hotel in Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by KMazur/WireImage) Renee Zellweger wearing a Neil Lane ring at the The Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage) Renee Zellweger during Renee Zellweger Promotes 'Down with Love'Boutique at Bloomingdales at Bloomingdale's in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by James Devaney/WireImage) Renee Zellweger during 2003 Tribeca Film Festival - 'Down With Love' World Premiere at Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers Street in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by KMazur/WireImage) In the op-ed, Zellweger addresses the issue head on by calling out the tabloid media culture. "Not that it's anyone's business, but I did not make a decision to alter my face and have surgery on my eyes. This fact is of no true import to anyone at all," she writes. "Although we have evolved to acknowledge the importance of female participation in determining the success of society, and take for granted that women are standard bearers in all realms of high profile position and influence, the double standard used to diminish our contributions remains, and is perpetuated by the negative conversation which enters our consciousness every day as snark entertainment." Last month Jennifer Aniston also posted a self-penned op-ed — also published on the Huffington Post — which discussed tabloid journalism's personal affect on her life, especially in terms of perpetuated pregnancy rumors. Zellweger concludes her op-ed by writing, "Maybe we could talk more about why we seem to collectively share an appetite for witnessing people diminished and humiliated with attacks on appearance and character and how it impacts younger generations and struggles for equality." Read her full essay below. Read more: Rose McGowan Pens Response to Critic of Renee Zellweger's Face: "Vile, Damaging, Stupid and Cruel" (Guest Column) I am lucky. Choosing a creative life and having the opportunity to do satisfying work that is sometimes meaningful is a blessed existence and worth the price paid in the subsequent challenges of public life. Sometimes it means resigning to humiliation, and other times, understanding when silence perpetuates a bigger problem. In October 2014, a tabloid newspaper article reported that I'd likely had surgery to alter my eyes. It didn't matter; just one more story in the massive smut pile generated every day by the tabloid press and fueled by exploitative headlines and folks who practice cowardly cruelty from their anonymous internet pulpits. In the interest of tabloid journalism, which profits from the chaos and scandal it conjures and injects into people's lives and their subsequent humiliation, the truth is reduced to representing just one side of the fictional argument. I can't imagine there's dignity in explaining yourself to those who trade in contrived scandal, or in seeking the approval of those who make fun of others for sport. It's silly entertainment, it's of no import, and I don't see the point in commenting. However, in our current culture of unsolicited transparency, televised dirty laundry, and folks bartering their most intimate details in exchange for attention and notoriety, it seems that the choice to value privacy renders one a suspicious character. Disingenuous. A liar with nefarious behavior to conceal. "She denies," implies an attempt to cover up the supposed tabloid "exposed truth." And now, as the internet story contrived for its salacious appeal to curious minds becomes the supposed truth within moments, choosing the dignity of silence rather than engaging with the commerce of cruel fiction, leaves one vulnerable not only to the usual ridicule, but to having the narrative of one's life hijacked by those who profiteer from invented scandal. I am not writing today because I have been publicly bullied or because the value of my work has been questioned by a critic whose ideal physical representation of a fictional character originated 16 years ago, over which he feels ownership, I no longer meet. I am not writing in protest to the repellent suggestion that the value of a person and her professional contributions are somehow diminished if she presumably caves to societal pressures about appearance, and must qualify her personal choices in a public court of opinion. I'm not writing because I believe it's an individual's right to make decisions about his or her body for whatever reason without judgment. I'm writing because to be fair to myself, I must make some claim on the truths of my life, and because witnessing the transmutation of tabloid fodder from speculation to truth is deeply troubling. The 'eye surgery' tabloid story itself did not matter, but it became the catalyst for my inclusion in subsequent legitimate news stories about self-acceptance and women succumbing to social pressure to look and age a certain way. In my opinion, that tabloid speculations become the subject of mainstream news reporting does matter. Not that it's anyone's business, but I did not make a decision to alter my face and have surgery on my eyes. This fact is of no true import to anyone at all, but that the possibility alone was discussed among respected journalists and became a public conversation is a disconcerting illustration of news/entertainment confusion and society's fixation on physicality. It's no secret a woman's worth has historically been measured by her appearance. Although we have evolved to acknowledge the importance of female participation in determining the success of society, and take for granted that women are standard bearers in all realms of high profile position and influence, the double standard used to diminish our contributions remains, and is perpetuated by the negative conversation which enters our consciousness every day as snark entertainment. Too skinny, too fat, showing age, better as a brunette, cellulite thighs, facelift scandal, going bald, fat belly or bump? Ugly shoes, ugly feet, ugly smile, ugly hands, ugly dress, ugly laugh; headline material which emphasizes the implied variables meant to determine a person's worth, and serve as parameters around a very narrow suggested margin within which every one of us must exist in order to be considered socially acceptable and professionally valuable, and to avoid painful ridicule. The resulting message is problematic for younger generations and impressionable minds, and undoubtably triggers myriad subsequent issues regarding conformity, prejudice, equality, self acceptance, bullying and health. Ubiquitous online and news source repetition of humiliating tabloid stories, mean-spirited judgments andinformation is not harmless. It increasingly takes air time away from the countless significant unprecedented current events affecting our world. It saturates our culture, perpetuates unkind and unwise double standards, lowers the level of social and political discourse, standardizes cruelty as a cultural norm, and inundates people with information that does not matter. What if immaterial tabloid stories, judgments and misconceptions remained confined to the candy jar of low-brow entertainment and were replaced in mainstream media by far more important, necessary conversations? What if we were more careful and more conscientious about the choices we make for ourselves, where we choose to channel our energy and what we buy into; remembering that information — both factual and fictitious — is frequently commodified as a product, and the contents and how we use it are of significant personal, social and public consequence? Maybe we could talk more about why we seem to collectively share an appetite for witnessing people diminished and humiliated with attacks on appearance and character and how it impacts younger generations and struggles for equality, and about how legitimate news media have become vulnerable to news/entertainment ambiguity, which dangerously paves the way for worse fictions to flood the public consciousness to much greater consequence. Maybe we could talk more about our many true societal challenges and how we can do better. Read more: Jennifer Aniston Calls Out Decades of "Disturbing" Tabloid Rumors: "I'm Fed Up"

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Renee Zellweger pens response to plastic surgery rumors: "I must make some claim on the truths of my life"

The actress has had it with the plastic surgery rumors that surround her -- and she wrote a touching essay about it.

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A pedophile who sexually abused a girl pimped out by her own father will remain behind bars until at least next month when he will seek to vary his bail conditions, but prosecutors plan to oppose it. Ryan Trevor Clegg, 43, admitted earlier this month in Perth Magistrates Court he had sexually abused the girl, who was also raped by her father and other men when she was aged between 11 and 13. After pleading guilty to 61 charges, including four counts of sexual penetration, Clegg had his bail renewed ahead of sentencing later this year. But Clegg sparked outrage at the weekend when it emerged he was living close to a childcare centre, prompting Western Australia's shadow attorney general John Quigley to say it was unacceptable bail had been granted. Clegg was taken into custody after his father withdrew surety and he appeared in court on Tuesday looking tired and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. Defence lawyer Ian Hope said he would apply to vary Clegg's bail conditions on September 8, adding his client had been compliant for many months. But the police prosecutor said there would be a counter-application to revoke bail entirely no matter what conditions were proposed. Clegg technically remains on bail, but even if he got surety and was released, he would be in breach of his conditions if he stayed at the same address, so he effectively cannot be freed until after his next court date. Attorney General Michael Mischin admitted he knew on Friday about Clegg's living arrangements but said it would not be proper for him to interfere in individual court matters. "(I took) no action because the police had the matter in hand," he said. "If you're suggesting that I should have come out and started to panic people ... no, I don't think that would have been the appropriate way to go." Mr Quigley said it appeared each minister had passed the buck. "He was in breach of his bail conditions, but what is worse, he misled the court," he said. Earlier this year the girl's father, who cannot be named, was sentenced to 22-and-a-half years in jail after admitting raping his daughter and arranging for her to engage sexually with six other men. The father has lodged an appeal against his sentence, claiming it is too harsh. Photographer Benjamin Simon Clarke was previously jailed for three years over his involvement in the girl's abuse, while former pastor and father-of-two, Dawid Volmer, was jailed for 10-and-a-half years. Nicholas Adam Beer is on bail awaiting sentence in September, while Alfred John Impicciatore is also on bail ahead of a committal mention on Friday. Troy Phillip Milbourne will face a trial of issues next month and is in custody.

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Pimped girl's abuser remains behind bars

Pedophile Ryan Clegg, who sexually abused a young girl pimped out by her own father, has been taken into custody while his bail conditions are reconsidered.

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Premieres by the British choreographer Wayne McGregor and the MacArthur grant recipient Elizabeth Streb are coming to the Fall for Dance Festival at New York City Center. The annual festival, beloved for its eclectic programs and $15 tickets, runs from Sept. 26 through Oct. 8 and features 20 works, many of them New York premieres. Mr. McGregor’s currently untitled work, which was commissioned for this Fall for Dance, is a pas de deux created for the American Ballet Theater principal dancer Herman Cornejo and Alessandra Ferri, who retired from the company in 2007. The two have performed together before — recently in Ms. Ferri’s warmly received return to Ballet Theater for a performance of Kenneth MacMillan’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Other premieres include Ms. Streb’s “Airslice,” also created for the festival, and Dada Masilo’s “Spring,” inspired by Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.” Previously, Ms. Masila has turned classics on their head in postmodern adaptations that include African dance idioms, as in her “Swan Lake,” which was performed at the Joyce Theater in February. The retired New York City Ballet dancer Wendy Whelan and the Royal Ballet principal dancer Edward Watson, whose program “Whelan/Watson: Other Stories” at City Center was postponed last year with no rescheduled date, will perform “The Ballad of Mack and Ginny,” choreographed by Arthur Pita and inspired by Brecht and Weill’s “The Threepenny Opera.” Dance companies in the lineup include Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, performing the Judith Jamison classic “Cry”; Ballet Theater, presenting Frederick Ashton’s sublime “Monotones II,” set to Satie; and the Sarasota Ballet, which will also feature Ashton — his “Marguerite and Armand,” originally choreographed for Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev and inspired by the Alexandre Dumas fils novel “La Dame aux Camélias.” The full lineup is at nycitycenter.org; tickets go on sale Sept. 10. A version of this article appears in print on August 16, 2016, on page C4 of the New York edition with the headline: Fall for Dance Offerings. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

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Fall for Dance to Offer Premieres by Wayne McGregor and Elizabeth Streb

The annual festival at New York City Center runs from Sept. 26 through Oct. 8 and features 20 works.

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08/22/2016 AT 08:00 AM EDT is the new face of the Field & Stream brand – and it wasn't just his love of hunting and fishing that inspired him to take on his new role. The singer says his two daughters, Keely, 13, and Kendyl, 8, were also a big reason he got behind the campaign. "I have two daughters and getting them involved in the outdoors is really important," Aldean, 39, tells PEOPLE. "For any parent right now, there's so many other things that can keep kids distracted and keep them from wanting to go outside and do things in the outdoors. Now more than ever, that's just an important message – to get them out and get them interested in other things." But Aldean acknowledges it's not easy to keep a preteen or teenager away from technology. "No matter how bad you want them to not sit there with an iPad, sometimes it's inevitable. At the same time, you can keep it to a minimum by getting them outside and taking them fishing or even just walking around. You have to make it a point to get them off the couch and almost force them to go outside. It makes them realize there's some pretty cool things out there if you open your eyes up and look around a little bit." In Aldean's new role as brand ambassador, he shot a TV ad which kicks-off on ESPN on Monday, telling the story of his own outdoor traditions. The spot features the country music superstar, joined by his father Barry, around a campfire sharing some of their favorite outdoor memories. Aldean's latest album, , is out Sept. 9.

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How Jason Aldean's Daughters Inspired Him to Take on His Latest Role

The singer and new face of the Field & Stream brand knows first hand how difficult it is to keep kids away from technology

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If you love Sting as much as we do, it's going to be hard to accept this. The rocker is suffering from a degenerative hearing problem and might be slowly going deaf. You heard it here first. (We can only hope Sting did, too.) West Coast sources tell us that record label executives have been buzzing about this for some time now. "He's really losing his hearing," said a source, who had just finished discussing the situation with a few big-shot record people. Sadly, a spokeswoman for Sting confirmed the rumor, saying, "It's true. Sting realized he was having problems a few years ago. " She downplayed the severity of Sting's hearing problems, though, saying it's common for rockers who jam day and night to experience some sort of loss. The fact that Sting still plays electric guitar lends some credence to her feelings. Yet, the spokeswoman did admit Sting occasionally asks for things to be repeated. "He's probably gotten really good at reading lips when he has to," she concluded. Beyond that, they said they have no official statement to make. If Sting needs a shoulder to cry on, he could probably turn to Pete Townshend, a rocker who admitted he suffered significant hearing loss and even took part in a documentary produced by the San Francisco-based organization Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers (HEAR) to discuss his music-related hearing problem. Beyond that, don't believe the rumor that the Who will soon be known at t he What? Sting, meanwhile, will head into the studio next week to record a new album for a spring release. Ice storm What would possess Melanie Griffith to rent out the expansive Miami home of Vanilla Ice at $75,000 up front, no less and then bolt a few days into the lease, demanding every penny back? Would you believe it's because Ice's house came with silverware for only seven guests and not 17? Of course you wouldn't. And neither does Ice, but that's what he told us. Griffith signed the two-month lease for Ice's Star Island home last February to use while she worked on the film "Too Much. " (Frankly, we think $75,000 for two months is way too much, but that's neither here nor there.) What is of the essence, however, is that "she's saying all sorts of bad things about me," Ice told us from his brand new South Beach sports shop To The Extreme. "I did all I could to accommodate her, even put in new phone lines. There's no reason she should get a penny back when she left on her own accord. And the silverware issue is just ridiculous. " (This point in the story seems a perfect time to mention that Ice's latest album, "Mindblowing," just went platinum in Indonesia.) We think it goes way beyond knives and forks. February was the time Melanie met Miami homeboy Antonio Banderas. Sounds to us like he made her a better offer, like say, free room and board. Griffith's publicist didn't return calls. See ya, Sliwa What exactly do the people of the Polish-powered Pulaski Day Parade have against Guardian Angel chief Curtis Sliwa? And why are they denying him and his merry band of vigilantes the honor of marching with them? It's even more confounding when you figure in that Sliwa was honored as Citizen of the Year last spring by the readers of the Polish English-language paper, Polish American World. On top of that, next month Sliwa is scheduled to be honored with a Polish Heritage Award from Comptroller Alan Hevesi's office. Despite all this and the fact that he and the Angels have marched in the Pulaski Day Parade for the last six years, organizers are disinviting him this year because he is not an official member of the Pulaski Day Society. (This year's parade, held tomorrow, holds more significance since it precedes Polish Pope John Paul's NYC getaway vacation.) Sliwa isn't buying into their reasoning, since the parade is usually 100,000 strong and he doubts the organization has that many members. "Members of city high school bands, who are black, march in that parade. Have they suddenly become Polish? " Sliwa asked us. Hey, keep us out of it. Meanwhile, parade organizers didn't return calls. At the worst, Sliwa can march in the formerly all-Italian Columbus Day Parade. We hear they're letting anybody in these days. Quinn pinned The last person Anthony Quinn probably thought he'd see at the San Sebastian Film Festival, held in Spain, was journeying journalist Jesse Nash. But there he was, and before you could say "free press junket," an interview ensued. But before Big Daddy could even begin to speak, a merry Giancarlo Gianinni ambled by and barked, "The reason I love Anthony Quinn is because he is the biggest liar in the world. He tells the press he doesn't like wine, and last night he brings over two bottles to my room and says, 'Giancarlo, you must try these with me.

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STING-ING HEARING LOSS

If you love Sting as much as we do, it's going to be hard to accept this. The rocker is suffering from a degenerative hearing problem and might be slowly going deaf. You heard it here first. (We can only hope Sting did, too.) West Coast sources tell us that record label executives have been buzzing about this for some time now. "He's really losing his hearing," said a source, who had just finished discussing

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"All of it sounds kind of desperate to be honest," said one senior Democratic hand in Washington who did not want to be quoted by name disparaging his own party. "It's really going back and dusting off our old playbook." Read MoreWhy Democrats really need a stellar jobs report Friday It's also not at all clear that this "Fair Shot" agenda (which is very reminiscent of Al Gore's "the people versus the powerful" campaign) can keep Democrats from losing the Senate where they face tough races including in Louisiana, North Carolina and Arkansas where appeals to the base may not be enough to squeak out close victories. The White House on Friday was left saying what it has been saying for seemingly the last five years: This is pretty good but we'd like to see better. "This is consistent with the steady, solid recovery we've had," a grim looking White House senior economic adviser Jason Furman told CNBC from the White House lawn. But "steady" is probably not going to be good enough for a party saddled by an unpopular health-care law and unpopular president. There is also the fact that the party that controls the White House tends to lose seats in the sixth year of a two-term president's tenure. Read MoreShocked by Nate Silver's GOP Senate prediction? Don't be Since World War II, only one president has bucked that trend: Bill Clinton in 1998. But Clinton had a booming economy that was growing over 4 percent. Clinton also benefited from blowback against Republicans in the House who impeached him over the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal. Obama will likely benefit from some anger at House Republicans—the party is held in as low repute as the president—but it is the trend in the economy that will really matter in the voting booth and right now the story is not good.

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'Meh' jobs report sticks it to Democrats

Democrats badly needed a blockbuster jobs report Friday to help them with the midterm elections. They didn't get it, POLITICO's Ben White says.

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Drivers are getting a better deal at the bowser, the competition regulator's latest report on petrol prices reveals, but the NSW motorists' lobby has warned of possible price gouging these holidays. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said on Monday that petrol prices in the five biggest cities - Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth - fell by 3.8 cents to 114.2 cents per litre in the 2016 September quarter. The drop put prices below both the previous quarter and the annual average for 2015-16. "A drop in refiner margins in the last quarter has helped to push prices down locally," ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said. "Australian motorists have benefited as prices have fallen, which will be especially welcome as we move into the busy holiday period." The NRMA said the figures were encouraging but urged retailers to do the right thing by consumers as the holidays drew closer. "We're always concerned about price gouging at Christmas time and this Christmas will be no different," spokesman Peter Khoury told reporters in Sydney on Monday. "There is certainly nothing when you look at the key factors to suggest prices should go up beyond the regular cycle." The ACCC found that Brisbane's average retail price of 115.2 cents per litre was the highest out of the largest five cities. It also found that drivers in NSW, which has mandated that ethanol make up six per cent of the fuel that service stations sell, forked out for premium unleaded petrol at a far higher rate than their interstate counterparts. Premium accounted for 54 per cent of total petrol sales in Sydney in 2014-15, compared with 23 per cent of sales in other states. The ACCC said the ethanol mandate may have pushed Sydneysiders to spend an extra $85 million in that financial year. But Mr Khoury said there was no need for most drivers to pay more for premium. "The reality is, about 75 per cent of the fleet in NSW can run on E10," he said. "Unless you're driving a high-performance vehicle or something built before 1986, you don't need to use premium and you don't need to be paying all that extra money. "You really are just taking money out of your own pocket and giving it to the oil companies, and I'm not sure why."

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Petrol prices fall in five biggest cities

Petrol prices in the five biggest Australian cities fell in the September quarter, the competition regulator has found.

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The U.S. Federal Reserve says historically low inflation is transitory. The market begs to differ. Inflation has fallen short of the Fed’s 2% target for more than three years. And while the central bank is all but set to raise interest rates next week, the inflation conundrum should give the Fed pause as it weighs the pace of rate increases in 2016 and perhaps beyond. Friday’s report on producer prices... The U.S. Federal Reserve says historically low inflation is transitory. The market begs to differ. Inflation has fallen short of the Fed’s 2% target for more than three years. And while the central bank is all but set to raise interest rates next week, the inflation conundrum should give the Fed pause as it weighs the pace of rate increases in 2016 and perhaps beyond. Friday’s report on producer prices and Tuesday’s consumer-price index, out before the Fed’s monetary-policy announcement Wednesday, bear watching. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal forecast producer prices in November were flat from a month ago. They have suffered 10 straight year-over-year declines. Falling oil prices, a strengthening dollar and weak overseas demand all have contributed to low inflation. Most of those factors should stabilize in the coming months, even if they fail to retrace some of their recent path. That plays a role in expectations for rates to rise by a full percentage point by this time next year and another full point the following year, according to economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. But those liftoff projections have been wrong before and consumer sentiment suggests caution. Surveys of inflation expectations from the University of Michigan, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia are all at or near record lows. Investors feel the same way. Consider the so-called 10-year break-even rate, which measures the yield spread between the benchmark Treasury note and 10-year Treasury inflation-protected securities. It currently reflects investor expectations of 1.56% annualized inflation on average over the next decade. The figure has remained below the Fed’s 2% inflation goal since September 2014. True, the Fed’s preferred inflation indicator—the personal consumption expenditures price index less food and energy—may look somewhat different. Today, though, its year-over-year rise is well short of its target at just 1.3%. Robust jobs growth and budding signs of rising wages could light a fire under inflation in the coming months. That is what the Fed is hoping for. But until consumer and investor inflation expectations change, rate expectations should be similarly subdued. Write to Steven Russolillo at steven.russolillo@wsj.com

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As Fed Sets Pace on Rate Increases, Watch Inflation

The inflation conundrum should give the Fed pause as it weighs the pace of future rate hikes in 2016 and perhaps beyond.

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By CELIA McGEE DAILY NEWS FEATURE WRITER Thursday, April 4th 2002, 1:64AM That the producers of the two-character play "Topdog/ Underdog" are an oddly diverse group isn't just because they outnumber the actors 10 to 1. Many are first-timers and say they've decided to back the show's $1.5 million transfer from the Public Theater to Broadway because Broadway needs to attract a different - and younger - group of fans. An important draw is theatrical novice Mos Def. If you haven't heard of the rap star, your teenager has, and will be impressed. He's "the intellectual rapper," producer Elizabeth Williams' 14-year-old told her. Tony Award-winner Jeffrey Wright plays opposite Def in the production about African-American brothers named Lincoln and Booth and the gun that comes between them. Williams and her company, Waxman/Williams Entertainment, are among the more experienced producers on the team. It was after seeing the Suzan-Lori Parks play during its initial run at the Public last summer that Williams decided she had to give it a Broadway production. Directed by George C. Wolfe, "Topdog/ Underdog" opens Sunday at the Ambassador Theater. That the play attracted an unusual array of producers "is directly related to the fact that a play by a young African-American playwright is being done by two incredible actors and a director everyone admires," Williams said. She said with a laugh that one of her associates, Cincinnati-based financier Rick Steiner, "is the national poker champion, which is perfect for a play involving three-card monte." FROM TV AND MUSIC TO THEATER Another is Ira Pittelman, president of Heartland Music, who started producing only recently. Bob Boyett had a career supplying hit sitcoms before "coming on the scene," Williams said, "with something like seven projects." As a first-timer, said producer Ina Meibach, she found that the appeal was pure "rock 'n' roll in the sense that it's great writing, but modern." She formerly was executive vice president of the Warner Music Group and lawyer for Patti Smith, the Who, U2 and Billy Joel. Her investment partner is Los Angeles theater executive Susan Dietz, who in turn brought in Hits magazine. Hits, owned by Dietz's husband, will promote the show to its young readership. Dietz is candid about Hits trying "to get in major music tastemakers, who don't normally go to the theater." Meibach is lending expertise to the release of a CD featuring music from the play. She sees the disc as another way of "bringing in a whole generation that doesn't see what's relevant to them in the theater." Additionally, the theater will offer seats in the first three rows to students at $15 apiece. For mega-manager Freddy De Mann (Madonna then, Shakira now),"Topdog/Underdog" is the first full-fledged producing commitment. "This is a challenge," he said. "It's a small play about two downtrodden black brothers. But given the actors and director, for me it was a no-brainer." Maybe, DeMann said, "I won't bat a thousand." Then again, "I don't have to depend on this to make a living."

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'TOPDOG' MOVES, & ANGELS RUSH IN

T hat the producers of the two-character play "Topdog/ Underdog"are an oddly diverse group isn't just because they outnumber the actors 10 to 1. Many are first-timers and say they've decided to back the show's $1.5 million transfer from the Public Theater to Broadway because Broadway needs to attract a different - and younger - group of fans. An important draw is theatrical novice Mos Def. If