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BY GEORGE RUSH AND JOANNA MOLLOY WITH MARCUS BARAM Tuesday, January 27th 1998, 2:03AM Not rain, nor hail, nor a busted nose would keep Billy Baldwin from the Super Bowl. The star of the upcoming film "Virus" and his brother Daniel had a prized pair of tickets to the championship, and headed to San Diego early to soak up some rays. On Saturday, the brothers hit the links at the Coronado Municipal Golf Course. They were on the sixth hole and life was good until bonk! Billy got hit square in the face by a golf ball. A member of the foursome on the seventh hole, headed up by ESPN Magazine editor John Papanek, hit a tee shot that went right into a tree, and ricocheted off Billy. "His nose was smashed there was blood everywhere," says a source. "The marshal brought him in from the golf course," Coronado Pro Shop manager Neal Patton told us. "Billy's nose was just peeled open. They asked us to try to find the best plastic surgeon in San Diego and we couldn't find him. So they decided to drive to L.A. to find a plastic surgeon up there." After all, his mug is his livelihood. But the brothers Baldwin went to the chief of plastic surgery at the Scripps Clinic and the devoted pigskin fans were at Qualcomm Stadium in time for the Super kickoff with Billy sporting a huge bandage across his proboscis. "He got a concussion and tons of stitches," said his spokeswoman, Mara Buxbaum. "But he's a Denver fan." Meanwhile, a certain Long Island Ford dealer who needs work on his swing and who undoubtedly doesn't want a visit from the four burly Baldwin brothers made everyone in the foursome swear not to reveal his name, said a source. Perhaps he could lay a Mustang on Baldwin to make up for it. ROBERTS IS STILL BOWLED OVER Julia Roberts' romance with "Law and Order" star Benjamin Bratt appears to have legs. The couple, who started canoodling in November, showed up at Sardi's on Sunday for "Les Miz" producer Pierre Cossette's Super Bowl party. The twosome wouldn't pose for a picture but otherwise had a great time sitting with Bratt's co-star Jerry Orbach. Among the party's Packer fans were Wayne Rogers and ousted ITT chairman Rand Araskog, sporting one of those goofy "Cheesehead" hats. Most of the crowd, though, was bucking for the Broncos. All told, they pumped $800 into the betting pool, which was won by, hmmm, Cossette's wife, Mary. Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker are as stung by Lewinsky Fever as the rest of us. An eyewitness says the couple sat in Blue Ribbon Sushi on Sullivan St. for two hours poring over the newspapers, barely saying a word to each other . . . Naughty Wall St. Joke No. 466: What's the difference between the Titanic and President Clinton? Only 1,500 people went **** on the Titanic. . . . Why do Adam Sandler's lyrics from his Chanukah song, "Tell your best friend Monica, please don't play that harmonica," keep buzzing in our heads? . . . Our favorite part of the scandal, besides Ted Koppel discussing whether oral sex is adultery and Peter Jennings leading his nightly broadcast with the story of semen on a dress, is picturing Monica Lewinsky and the FBI agents watching Ethel Merman sing "There's No Business Like Show Business" together in a hotel room during her interrogation. LEGAL MOVES IN AND OUT Actress Patti D'Arbanville has been named as the other woman in a messy divorce action. Lawyers for Linda Landi, the wife of an electrician who worked on "New York Undercover" with D'Arbanville, charges in court papers that Linda's husband, Tom, "abandoned her and her two children in favor of living with and conducting an adulterous affair" with D'Arbanville. Yesterday, Linda's lawyers went to Manhattan Supreme Court to get a judge to order D'Arbanville to testify in the Landis' divorce action, The News' Sal Arena reports. D'Arbanville is going through her own split, from fireman and restaurateur Terry Quinn, who tells us that Tom Landi has "moved into" his old house. "I'm sick about it," says Quinn, "but I'm trying to move on." D'Arbanville and Tom Landi didn't respond to calls by deadline. "BOOGIE NIGHTS" star Mark Wahlberg was under police supervision Sunday. No, he wasn't in trouble again. (Back in 1987, cops picked up Wahlberg, then known as Marky Mark, for turnstile-jumping.) The rapper-turned-actor was just researching his next movie, "Corrupter," in which he plays an Internal Affairs officer. Wahlberg, who spent Sunday at the Elizabeth St. station, is due to meet with IA's corruption sleuths this week . . . THERE'S ONE investigative reporter who won't be looking into Mark Green. The N.Y. Observer's Katherine Eban Finkelstein just got engaged to the Senate candidate's press secretary, Joe DePlasco. CICELY TYSON was styling Saturday as she pored over gewgaws at Tender Buttons. The actress wore a fur bomber jacket, head wrap and patent-leather gym shoes. LUCIANO PAVAROTTI may or may not sing on Thursday at the Met. The tenor's manager, Herbert Breslin, told us yesterday that the 62-year-old singer was "feeling normal" after bowing out of a Sunday performance after becoming dizzy. But Breslin said doctors were waiting to see if Pavarotti is up to performing later this week. Breslin blamed Pavarotti's lightheadedness on his blood pressure, which some friends suspect may have something to do with his dropping almost 40 pounds in the last few months. . . . MARIAH CAREY is a magnet for lawsuits. Just as the songstress won a dismissal of a 1996 suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District, claiming she stole the lyrics to the song "Hero," another case has landed in her lap. Carey is party to a lawsuit brought by Cole/Clivilles Music Enterprises, in L.A. Superior Court, alleging that her label, Sony Music, failed to fork over $50,000 they owed.

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BILLY BALDWIN: BE-`FORE' - AND AFTER

Not rain, nor hail, nor a busted nose would keep Billy Baldwin from the Super Bowl. The star of the upcoming film "Virus"and his brother Daniel had a prized pair of tickets to the championship, and headed to San Diego early to soak up some rays. On Saturday, the brothers hit the links at the Coronado Municipal Golf Course. They were on the sixth hole and life was good until bonk! Billy got hit

20120512015728

The excitement surrounding Facebook Inc.’s forthcoming Wall Street debut arrived in Boston Tuesday as the company’s top executives pitched the massive social media company to hundreds of potential investors, and Mark Zuckerberg, its 27-year-old celebrity chief executive officer, met privately with some of the city’s premier money managers. It was the second stop in a nationwide “roadshow’’ ahead of the social network’s initial public offering, when it will sell shares on public markets for the first time. The company could begin trading as early as May 18, and is expected to raise up to $11 billion in the biggest-ever stock launch for a technology company. Last week, it set a $28-to-$35 price range for its shares. Zuckerberg skipped Tuesday’s main presentation of the roadshow, an hourlong question-and-answer session held over breakfast at the Four Seasons Hotel, but he did attend local meetings with larger potential buyers of Facebook stock, including Fidelity Investments and Wellington Management, according to people briefed on the meetings but not authorized to discuss them. A small group of Facebook executives also met with BlackRock Inc. The investment firms and Facebook declined to discuss the meetings. Fidelity is already a significant investor in Facebook, and stands to profit handsomely when the company goes public. About two dozen of Fidelity’s investment funds own a combined stake in Facebook worth at least $300 million, according to Fidelity Insight, a Wellesley firm that tracks Fidelity funds. The invitation-only morning meeting at the Four Seasons, led by Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and chief financial officer David Ebersman, drew about 200 investment bankers and potential investors eager to hear how the eight-year-old social network will continue growing its user base and ad revenue. The vast majority of the company’s $3.7 billion in 2011 revenues came from ads placed on Web pages. Investors also asked about Facebook’s efforts to adapt to the rising use of mobile devices like smartphones to access social media, and how the company can compete against search giant Google Inc., which also makes money from placing online ads, according to several attendees as they left the meeting. Zuckerberg’s absence from the crowded presentation disappointed many in Boston, particularly since he had attended the New York meeting on the previous day, showing up in his trademark hoodie sweatshirt. Many of the investors who gathered early Tuesday morning amid tight hotel security had hoped to see Zuckerberg, who famously cofounded Facebook in a Harvard University dorm room in 2004, then dropped out to run the company in Silicon Valley. In Boston, Facebook dropped a video component of its roadshow that was criticized for taking up too much of the New York presentation on Monday. Leaving it out left more time for questions during Tuesday’s meeting. The appearance in Boston did not satisfy some reluctant potential investors. Michael Mullaney, chief investment officer at Fiduciary Trust Company, a private wealth-management firm in Boston, questioned the company’s stated valuation of $95 billion. That seemed high, he said, even for a company that claims 900 million users and 500 million daily visitors to its website. “Those are pretty remarkable numbers, but the question is, how do you monetize that?’’ asked Mullaney. “It’s a little bit of a leap of faith [to believe] that they can grow into their valuation.’’ Doubts or no doubts, Mullaney said, he has clients who will still want to buy into the Facebook offering, the most anticipated from a technology company since Google went public in 2004 and raised $1.9 billion. Some of the same questions raised about the Mountain View, Calif.-based Google then are being raised about Facebook now, said Paul Deninger, senior managing director at Evercore Partners, an independent investment advisory firm in Waltham. Google, which is today valued at $200 billion, may be a smarter buy for investors than Facebook despite the hype of the moment, according to Deninger, who did not attend the Facebook presentation in Boston. “If I had a choice between buying Google today or Facebook at the IPO price, I might be inclined to buy Google,’’ he said, noting that Google’s ratio of share price to earnings, a key metric for investors, is much lower than Facebook’s. “In Google, you’ve got a tested company with strong growth and profits,’’ he said. Facebook has the rest of its roadshow to persuade investors to buy. It is expected to make a repeat stop in New York, along with meetings in Chicago and Menlo Park, Calif., where the company is based, before hitting the open market.

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Facebook makes pitch to likely Boston investors

The excitement surrounding Facebook Inc.’s forthcoming Wall Street debut arrived in Boston Tuesday, as the company’s top executives pitched the massive social media company to hundreds of potential investors and its 27-year-old celebrity chief executive officer, Mark Zuckerberg, met privately with some of the city’s premier money managers. It was the second stop in a nationwide “roadshow’’ ahead of the social network’s initial public offering, when it will sell shares on public markets for the first time.

20131001102656

ANDOVER — “Family” is one of those words that’s so elastic it can cover pretty much anything: nuclear families, Mafia families, the family of man, “Family Guy.” Then, when you least expect it, the elastic can snap, and ouches (both conceptual and otherwise) ensue. So a title like “the kids are all right: an exhibition about family and photography” (lower-casing isn’t a typo) is a bit of a cheat. Such a porous construct might as well be called “The Way We Live Now in These United States,” which would work just as well (maybe even better). Looking at the way we live now is certainly useful, and as with any show what matters is the quality of the images. Some here are very good indeed. Kathleen Robbins’s photograph of her son “Asher on Belle Chase.” The show, which runs through Jan. 5 at the Addison Gallery of American Art, at Phillips Academy, includes nearly 70 photographs, two videos, a slide show, and an installation consisting of more than 300 small photographs. Those photographs are drawn from the daily portraits Betsy Schneider took of her daughter, from her birth to her 11th birthday. Would that all mothers were as devoted — and all artistic regimens as straightforward. There are 38 photographers in the show, most of them young or youngish. The only name you’d likely recognize belongs to Catherine Opie. She has one picture in the show, a nude self-portrait of her breast-feeding. Managing to be both traditional and transgressive (it’s the tattoos), the image sets a tone for the show as a whole. Most of the photographs are in color, and most are large. Both of those facts contribute to a certain staginess being often evident. The self-awareness that can come with that staginess is apparent in Julie Mack’s two photographs. “Self-Portrait With Family in Minivan, Michigan” presents five people watching themselves being watched (through a windshield, no less). The sight is a bit unnerving, albeit in a good way. With “TV: Academy Awards Night, NYC,” there’s very much a sense of the viewers performing for the camera no less than the Oscar presenters must have been. Lucas Foglia’s “Rita and Cora Aiming, Tennessee.” Certain standard familial activities or events figure in the show: nursing (as with Opie), weddings, meals (formal and otherwise), holiday gatherings, hospital visits, and so on. There’s nothing standard about Lucas Foglia’s “Rita and Cora Aiming, Tennessee,” one of five photographs in the show from Foglia’s “Re-Wilding: Southeastern United States” series. We see two women in old-fashioned garb standing in some woods peering down the barrel of a rifle. Fortunately, the viewer is perpendicular to the gun. Perpendicular is how the man in Justin Kirchoff’s “Burning Tree” faces the title object. A small evergreen, it has a distinctly Christmas-tree look, which makes the whoosh of flame and smoke enveloping it all the more alarming. It also makes for a startling, if unintended, echo of the actual, heavily decorated Christmas tree in Deana Lawson’s “Coulson Family.” Conversely, the distant trees in “Asher on Belle Chase” make the emptiness of the field the little boy is standing in (he’s the son of the photographer, Kathleen Robbins) all the starker. There’s humor in “the kids are all right,” but always with a twist. Janine Antoni’s “Inhabit” is hilarious and horrific all at once. Antoni is in her daughter’s room. It’s filled with toys and other colorful objects. What’s peculiar is that Antoni is suspended from ropes, like a marionette or a creature caught in a web, and she’s “wearing” her daughter’s dollhouse. The structure is part skirt, part prison. Much funnier, if less effective, is Guy Ben-Ner’s “Stealing Beauty” video. He and his ex-wife have snuck into an Ikea display room and started behaving as they would in their own home. Sort of brilliant and sort of awful, it’s more than a little self-involved. Of course what performance art isn’t? A distinct sense of disconnection informs much of the show, as well as a frequent affectlessness that can be a bit creepy. There’s a fair amount of nakedness, too, though not of the emotional sort. One of the few things that pretty much every type of family generates is heat. So it’s odd that “the kids are all right" feels so cold. You don’t need to have a Norman Rockwell, traditional-values view of family to feel a bit put off by the show. Cool and shorn can mislead as much as warm and fuzzy.

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Family matters, photographic and otherwise

ANDOVER – “Family” is one of those words that’s so elastic it can cover pretty much anything: nuclear families, Mafia families, the family of man, “Modern Family.” Then, when you least expect it, the elastic can snap, and ouches (conceptual and otherwise) ensue. So a title like “the kids are all right: an exhibition about family and photography” is a bit of a cheat. It’s so porous a construct it might as well be called “The Way We Live Now in These United States,” which would work just as well (maybe even better). But what matters is the quality of the images, and some are very good indeed. The show runs through Jan. 5, at the Addison Gallery of American Art, at Phillips Academy, in Andover.

20131223191847

Maroon tie flying from his pale blue school shirt, Kieron Williamson hurtles along the lane outside his new home wearing a pair of hand-me-down inline skates. It is not how you might expect to find an artistic prodigy on the cusp of an exhibition that will earn in excess of £100,000. Two years ago, when I first met Kieron, he was a sweetly monosyllabic seven-year-old whose unusually proficient pastels and acrylics of the countryside around his Norfolk home had attracted praise and a waiting list of 680 buyers. Now there is a waiting list of 6,000, as Americans, Chinese and Germans clamour for a Kieron original. Paintings he sold for £2,000 have been resold for £10,000. His fifth exhibition opened yesterday at his local gallery in Holt and sold out in 10-and-a-half minutes, one painting fetching £15,595. Two years is a long time for any child, let alone a prodigy. I wondered how nine-year-old Kieron would have changed, and how this unhealthy concoction of money and media hype might affect him. "Oh, he's a little lord of the manor now," laughs his mother over the phone when I first call. Kieron, his sister Billie Jo, mum Michelle and dad Keith were squeezed into a two-bedroom flat next to a petrol station but, thanks to sales of his paintings, Kieron this year bought the family a detached house, an attractive former post office by a village church on the Norfolk Broads. Kieron wanted to move close to the home of his hero, the 20th-century landscape painter Edward Seago, so they did, and Kieron will take possession of the house when he is 18. This is a major life change for the family, so it is a relief to find Kieron skating outside with Billie Jo and friends after school, like any country village kid. He is polite but also nicely self-contained; he has grown in confidence but is not unnervingly eloquent. His "yeps" of two years ago have been replaced by agreeable "uh-hums" and it is still a surprise when he suddenly offers three or four carefully considered sentences about his work. The wellspring of prodigious gifts is endlessly fascinating. From Mozart to Picasso, we have debated whether genius is born or made, and how. Kieron's talent seems particularly miraculous. His parents worked as an electrician and a nutritionist, neither remotely artistic, and Kieron was an energetic five-year-old until they visited Cornwall on their first family holiday. As they admired the view of a bay, Kieron asked for pencils and produced a striking drawing. But perhaps Kieron's passion for landscapes had been quietly ignited by all the paintings collected by Keith and hung on their walls at home. "You can't see gifted children in isolation. It's all within the context of the family," says educational psychologist Susan Lee-Kelland. "Picasso always used to say it's very important not to teach a child how to draw, which is interesting, because his father was a renowned artist, so Picasso learned at home, perhaps without realising it. The same is true of musical prodigies – they often come from parents who may be choir masters, or musical in some way." Kieron used to paint on the kitchen table. Now, step inside his cosy, low-beamed home and the first room is his studio, cluttered with easels and paints precariously balanced on palettes. "I like painting stormy skies and I've painted lots of the marshes, and I like painting the windmills," says Kieron. His work looks freer and more sophisticated than two years ago. He points to a painting of a huddle of marshland cattle under a glowering sky. "This is my favourite picture. I like the sky. That's the favourite sky I've done. I did a watercolour out on location and that night I wanted to do an oil. It's just down the road. The cows were tucked behind the tree so I decided to move them over there. I don't like moving things around because I don't like to do made-up things. I like painting what I see." I assume the painting is a few months old. When did he finish it? "Yesterday," he nods. As well as filling books with intricate sketches, he is painting in oils, pastels and watercolours. "I couldn't stop painting with pastels, but then I had started a picture and I didn't feel like doing it, and that tells me to do something different," he says. He paints most days. "I have to do something every day," he says, although life gets in the way. "I have this school project to learn about the planets and I have to do 68 star constellations, and that is taking up a lot of my time." He wishes he could wake up earlier than he does (6am) so he could paint more. "Painting is like my best friend," he says. Kieron calls his media duties "fun" – he is being filmed by German, Danish and French TV crews this week – and if it wasn't, Michelle and Keith would stop it. In fact, they tried. Stressed and struggling to come to terms with the fact that Kieron had created a proper business – and needed his own specialist children's solicitor and accountant – Keith became ill. They asked Kieron if he would consider continuing painting but stop selling his work for a bit. "Kieron said, 'If dad is not well enough to support me, then can you support me mum?'" says Michelle. So she is now his full-time manager. They have resisted agents that could lock Kieron into contracts and are determined that he only paints when he wants to, and is not forced to paint on demand. Do they worry about protecting Kieron's gifts while ensuring a "normal" childhood? "As parents, you're running through those ethical debates every day. Other people have the luxury of dipping into this with judgments and opinions," says Michelle wryly, "which they freely share." Keiron is in Year 5 at the village primary school, and he fancies being home-schooled so he could devote more time to painting, but Michelle disagrees: "I don't think that would be fair to him, because he has to relate to people and school offers a huge amount in terms of social networking and things like that." If a talented child is determined to pursue their talent to the exclusion of all else, how much of their development should be decided by them? Should parents allow a gifted child to choose their own school? "The child's voice is really important. It's got to be part of the process but that's the key word – 'part'," says educational psychologist Dr Kairen Cullen. "The child is able to communicate what they need, but they've not had the life experience that others bring to the table." Parents may be concerned that early promise does not fizzle away, but Lee-Kelland cautions against accelerating the intellectually gifted through their education, a popular view reinforced by the desperately sad experiences of various prepubescent Oxbridge geniuses from recent decades. Peter Congdon, an educational psychologist who has been assessing gifted children for more than 30 years, says research shows acceleration or "premature promotion" is overwhelmingly positive for children. Many young people with high IQs "relate better to adults and older children", he argues. However, Congdon agrees that "accelerating mental development is sometimes bought at the expense of social and emotional growth". "Try to keep things as normal as possible," is Lee-Kelland's advice. "Not to keep the talents under wraps, but don't make it the be-all and end-all. It doesn't do the person any good at all to be deprived of their childhood." She cautions against gifted children becoming too specialised – a talented musician or footballer who suffers an accident may never be able to play again. "It's about creating a rounded person and giving them lots of opportunities. An artist is fostered by the whole of their lives and experiences. When you look at a great painting – or a piece of music – it contains emotions and feelings," she says. Kieron, it is clear, has an acute sensitivity towards the countryside around him, and is profoundly aware of the shape and the order of things. His current enthusiasms are Romantic: wild landscapes and ruins. His parents took him to How Hill, a beautifully preserved historic house nearby, and Kieron "was mortified, it was so well maintained," says Michelle. He prefers St Benets Abbey, a desolate relic on the Norfolk Broads. Kieron meticulously notes the changes in the sky, air and autumn colours when walking – and taking photographs – in their neighbourhood. "Everyone keeps saying there's no wildlife on the Broads but there's marsh harriers and kestrels and deer," says Keith. "Chinese water deer," adds Kieron. He loves the changing of seasons. What's his favourite? "Winter," he says decisively. He can't wait to see the marshes flood and the snow fall. At nine, this artistic intensity is still combined with complete normality. Kieron loves football and watches Formula 1 with his dad. What would Kieron like for Christmas? "The new Leeds away kit," he says. "I want '4' and 'Kieron' on the back as well." (His dad is a huge Leeds and Billy Bremner fan.) "We don't want art to be his only passion," says Michelle, turning to Kieron. "I think you will have a varied life, because you'll want that." Is he excited about his exhibition? "Yep," he says. "I don't mind what will happen as long as people like my work and they give some comments." And with that, Kieron hits the button on the remote control and settles down to watch The Simpsons. Kieron Williamson is the kind of child prodigy who makes us marvel at the miracle that is human creativity. In the week that an exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci's works opened in Britain, here's a homegrown example of the kind of gift that made Leonardo's 16th-century biographer Vasari call him a "truly celestial". Williamson's paintings are triumphs of observation, skill and imagination. For a child of nine to paint such sensitive and accomplished landscapes is an awe-inspiring achievement. He displays not just a stunning mastery of drawing and painting but an emotional maturity, which is still more staggering. Prodigies are rare in the arts because to write a poem or compose a symphony requires emotional maturity. Children who excel at the highest level are, for this reason, often musicians, because the technical mastery of an instrument does not in itself demand a diverse experience of life. Yet even Mozart, the most famous of all musical prodigies, evolved audibly from his youthful compositions to his truly great and profound adult works: his art gained power as it gained sadness, darkness, dread; all the adult things. What makes Williamson so impressive is, therefore, the passion as well as technique of his art. He responds intensely to the landmarks and light of his native Norfolk, just as great East Anglian predecessors such as Gainsborough and Constable did. St Benets Sunset is a wonderful painting, with its brooding tower against a reddening sky. At nine, he's a Romantic. He seems fully aware of such comparisons, intimate with the masters of landscape painting: he has looked hard at Turner. To respond to such art at his age is in itself amazing – to emulate it, sublime. But he is not painting pastiches. His interpretations of the masters are creative, his vision genuine. What happens to child prodigies when they grow up? In medieval Italy, according to Vasari in his 1550 book The Lives of the Artists, the famous painter Cimabue met a shepherd boy drawing with a stick in the dirt. He was so impressed with the boy's dirt drawings that he took him to Florence to train. The child was Giotto. He grew up to become one of the greatest painters of all time. Giotto, and Leonardo for that matter, could rely on the unique training system for artists offered by an apprenticeship to a Florentine master. Let's hope our education system serves Williamson as well, for he is a very special talent. • This article was amended on 14 November 2011. The original caption referred to Ludham, Suffolk. This has been corrected.

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Kieron Williamson: Boy wonder

Kieron Williamson's extraordinary gift as a painter has been likened by our own art critic to that of the Old Masters. But he's still only nine. What does the future hold for such a prodigy, asks Patrick Barkham

20131228033941

It’s 24 hours later. Santa has safely cleared US airspace, and the blizzard of ripped wrapping paper has been shoveled away. Mission accomplished. But what’s a technology buff to do on the day after Christmas? There’s football, of course. Who can resist the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl? But learning how to use your new tablet or smartphone might be a better use of time. Besides, the stores are open, and there are still some decent deals to be had. You might even consider whether to get a little extra warranty protection for your costly new gadgets. There will be the usual spate of after-Christmas sales, including a few technology bargains. For example, the electronics retailer Best Buy is giving away iPhones — specifically, the iPhone 5c, the plastic-sheathed little brother of Apple Inc.’s flagship, the iPhone 5s. Sign a two-year service contract with any of the major phone carriers, and you get the 5c at no charge. The deal, which runs through Dec. 28, confirms those rumors that few people are buying the 5c. But it’s basically Apple’s excellent iPhone 5 in a cheaper case, and that makes this Best Buy offer a very good deal, indeed. Meanwhile, Apple itself is handing out freebies to its loyal customers. For 12 days after Christmas, the company will give away one goodie — a song or a movie, an e-book or an app. Each free item is available for just 24 hours. To get in on the fun, download Apple’s 12 Days of Gifts app for free at the App Store. Digital gifts almost never include all the little accessories you’ll eventually need — extra batteries, cases for the new smartphone or tablet, flash memory cards for the camera, spare cables. Find them at the mall, if you must. But if you can afford to wait a few days for delivery, such simple items are best purchased online, where prices are lower. EBay.com is a good place to look for cheap accessories. Never mind its reputation as an auction site; these days most eBay products are sold at fixed prices, and pretty good ones, too. But there’s another great place to shop for digital accessories. Amazon.com has created a service called Amazon Basics that specializes in this kind of thing. A standard Lightning cable for connecting an iPhone to a computer costs $19 at an Apple store, but the Amazon Basics version is $14. A six-foot HDMI cable for plugging game machines into your HDTV sells for $15 to $20 at a retail store; Amazon Basics sells them for $5.79. You should also consider buying an extended warranty on your devices, to make sure you’re covered in case of loss or damage. I generally frown on paying extra for such coverage. Electronic devices tend to be very durable, and if they don’t break down during the first year, they will probably last a lot longer. But my faith in this principle was shaken quite a bit this year when our four-year-old Samsung flat-panel TV suffered a major malfunction. It goes to show that even reliable machines like TVs can go south without warning. My wife insisted on paying about $180 for a five-year warranty on our new set, and I didn’t have the heart to argue. Besides, I’ve bought such warranties myself, for my smartphones. I’ve always made exceptions for portable devices because it’s so easy to lose or break them. So my HTC One phone carries a three-year insurance policy issued by SquareTrade, the biggest and best of the online warranty sellers. I used to insure Apple iPods with them, and filed two claims on damaged devices. I got paid promptly and cheerfully. You can buy SquareTrade protection for all kinds of electronic devices, including items received as gifts. If your digital gift isn’t working quite right, get help. The best first move is to run a Google search to find others who had the same problem. This gets me the right answer about 90 percent of the time. But if you must phone the manufacturer’s customer service hot line, the best way is on a smartphone equipped with Zappix, a free app developed by a Burlington company. Zappix, available for iOS or Android devices, includes the correct phone numbers for dozens of retailers and consumer products companies. Instead of wading through a tiresome menu of choices — press “1” for sales, “2” for repairs, and so on — Zappix is preprogrammed with the right choices for many customer service lines. Having a problem with that new iPad? Launch Zappix, look up Apple, and touch the iPad tech support menu item. While Zappix makes it easy to track down tech support, it can’t reduce the time spent on hold. But at least you’ll have something to do while waiting for the next bowl game.

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Where to get the best tech bargains after Christmas

It’s 24 hours later. Santa has safely cleared US airspace, and the blizzard of ripped wrapping paper has been shoveled away. But what’s a technology buff to do on the day after Christmas? There’s football, of course. But learning how to use your new tablet or smartphone might be a better use of time. Besides, the stores are open, and there are still some decent deals to be had. You might even consider whether to get a little extra warranty protection for your costly new gadgets. There will be the usual spate of after-Christmas sales, including a few technology bargains. And Apple is handing out freebies to its loyal customers. To get in on the fun, download Apple’s 12 Days of Gifts app.

20140815064657

Is Wall Street’s savviest trading firm leaving a LinkedIn fortune on the table? The LinkedIn lnkd buying frenzy Thursday is a windfall for most of the business networking company’s longtime shareholders, led by founder Reid Hoffman and his private equity backers. The 115% surge in LinkedIn shares at midday Thursday sent the value of Hoffman’s stake, for instance, soaring from a merely huge $852 million to a surreal $1.8 billion. But one sizable LinkedIn investor, Goldman Sachs GS , decided to sit out the secondary-market fun. Practically alone among big holders of the stock, Goldman decided to dump it all in Thursday’s debut, selling its entire 871,840-share stake at the IPO price of $45 a share. What gives? Goldman declined to comment, and it’s not like the firm is taking a bath by selling out. Goldman stands to make something on the order of $34 million by selling the LinkedIn shares at the IPO price, three years after it bought the shares. In mid-2008 LinkedIn was paying $5.56 a share to buy back stock from its chief technology officer, so it stands to reason Goldman’s per-share profit on this deal is around $39. Yet Thursday’s blastoff says Goldman could have made even more. The firm’s supposed to excel at this sort of value-maximizing activity, after all. And even if LinkedIn’s valuation is on the bubbly side, the massive for the stock this week seems to suggest that particular bubble is in no danger of imminent collapse. Or is it? Goldman may be banking on a replay of this month’s other hot IPO, the May 4 debut of Chinese social networking company Renren renn . Its shares jumped more than 70% (see chart, right) when trading started, topping out at $24 early on their first day after pricing at $14. But how quickly the Renren craze faded. The stock dropped 25% from its peak on opening day to close at $18, then dropped in each of the next six trading sessions before bottoming out at $12.60, 10% below the IPO price. The stock was up 4% in Thursday’s social networking party but is only just above $14. LinkedIn mania may well last longer than Renren’s run did. But it’s easy enough to see the case for selling any stock that is trading, as LinkedIn is at a recent $108.55, at 666 times earnings.

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Goldman leaves LinkedIn party early

Is Wall Street’s savviest trading firm leaving a LinkedIn fortune on the table? The LinkedIn buying frenzy Thursday is a windfall for most of the business networking company’s longtime shareholders, led by founder Reid Hoffman and his private equity backers. The 115% surge in LinkedIn shares at midday Thursday sent the value of Hoffman’s stake,…

20140907134256

FORTUNE — Words tumble from Scott Gerber’s mouth so passionately that he gasps every few sentences for air. The topic: American entrepreneurship. Launched less than two years ago, the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is the brainchild of the baby-faced 28 year-old and is now the driving force behind the #FixYoungAmerica campaign, which launched Monday on fundraising website IndieGoGo. “We live in a very partisan society, where unfortunately not much gets above the fray if it’s not headline news,” says Gerber. “The real issues oftentimes fall by the wayside.” Gerber and his crew think that the importance of entrepreneurship often slips through the cracks. In response, the YEC has launched a campaign with over 40 partner organizations to promote entrepreneurial education, increase access to capital for startups, and encourage entrepreneurship within the Fortune 500 — all in hopes of addressing youth unemployment. (The campaign tagline: “A solutions-based book and movement that aims to end youth unemployment and put young Americans back to work — for good.”) Indeed, youth unemployment has remained stubbornly high. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 23% of 16-19 year olds, 13% of 20-24 year olds, and 9% of 25-34 year olds are jobless, as of January 2012. Since 2010, unemployment has decreased across the board. But the jobless rate for younger Americans is still higher than it is for those above the age of 34. The foundation of YEC’s campaign is an ambitiously entitled book called #FixYoungAmerica, the first release under the nonprofit’s new publishing imprint YEC (thanks to a partnership with Advantage Media Group). With 33 contributors, the book — which will be released in May — covers entrepreneurship from several angles: Babson College President Len Schlesinger provides a blueprint for public and private colleges to build entrepreneurship programs; The Education of Millionaires author Michael Ellsberg discusses entrepreneurship as an alternative to college; Jack Kosakowski explains how his nonprofit Junior Achievement has worked to produce more entrepreneurs and entrepreneurially-minded students. Gerber hopes that the IndieGoGo campaign will raise enough funds to put a copy of #FixYoungAmerica in the hands of every U.S. politician, college president, and major education leader. “[The contributors] have all proven that something works. And now we just need to copy and paste.” Gerber, who published Never Get a Real Job last year, believes youth unemployment conversations don’t have to be negative. “We’ve done a fundamental disservice to young people throughout their lives, because we’ve taught them about the traditional ‘work hard, go to school, get good grades, get a good job’ mindset,” he says. “Frankly, it’s on its way out or no longer applies in the new economy.” What does apply, he says, is this new entrepreneurial model the YEC’s proposing. Is this an education problem? Educating America’s younger generations about entrepreneurship certainly sounds nice, but it’s not the only thing (or even the primary issue) keeping young Americans from going out on their own. Scarce access to startup capital causes a chicken and egg dilemma. One response to this problem: Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC), a contributor to #FixYoungAmerica, has been pushing for legislation that would allow crowd-funding for companies hoping to raise $1-2 million. In November, McHenry’s Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act passed in the House, loosening the Securities Act of 1933 that strictly defines investor eligibility. (As an individual, your salary must be $200,000 or your net worth over $1 million to be eligible. “The chairman of the Federal Reserve,” says McHenry, “doesn’t make enough money to be an accredited investor.”) To address the potential risks of such a move, the bill limits potential crowd-funder investments to $10,000 or 10% of an investor’s annual income. McHenry’s bill has been reshaped to fit into new House legislation, packaged as the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act. Sponsored by House majority leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), the legislation includes four stand-alone bills like McHenry’s that have already been passed, as well as additional bipartisan ideas. “We need to update significant portions of our federal regulation. But legislation is slow…. Online activists can raise their voices and get broader support,” says McHenry. Ingredients of an able entrepreneur YEC partner Babson College is consistently ranked as a top entrepreneurship school, yet its president has no experience in starting his own business. Since taking the reins at the school amid a down economy in 2008, Schlesinger says he has learned the importance of understanding the mindset of entrepreneurs — they think and behave differently, he says — and hopes to spread this idea to other colleges. “The vast majority of peer institutions have a very narrow view of entrepreneurship; entrepreneurship is a life skill,” he claims. “We need to teach the power of adapting and reshaping to current times.” Working with the YEC, Schlesinger wants to raise awareness that entrepreneurs are made, not born. Stories about uber-successes like Facebook and Google GOOG create hero worship, intimidating those without the nerve to “hang on a mountain by a fingernail,” as Schlesinger puts it. An NYU film major turned serial entrepreneur, Gerber is no wilting flower. He has little issue cold calling a potential new business contact multiple times before he gets what he wants. This unwavering persistence is partly how he’s been able to get so many entrepreneurs to join the YEC (from Living Social CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy to Mint founder Aaron Patzer), but Gerber shrugs it off. “Everybody’s like, ‘My God, how did you pull this momentum so quickly?’” he laughs, before growing serious “Well, because I have incredible members that take the ball and run with it. They believe YEC is like a badge of honor.” Plenty of ideas to go around… #FixYoungAmerica includes countless opinions and goals on what can help young Americans find their economic way, with one man holding them all together. Gerber recently locked down legal document services firm LegalZoom as the first sponsor of the campaign — with a $20,000 check; he hopes to sign on several other companies. His energy is obviously contagious, but is it enough to keep this web of different partners intact? Those uninvolved with the campaign, like Next Street Financial founder Tim Ferguson, certainly support the idea of raising awareness about entrepreneurship. Ferguson notes, “America is already pretty entrepreneurial. But not everyone is an entrepreneur. So I don’t see this campaign fundamentally changing that.” Ferguson does believe that the conversation should be skewed more toward improving financial literacy and expanding the types of available capital that Rep. McHenry’s legislation addresses. After Gerber brings up yet another venture of his (startup accelerator GenY Capital Partners, which is currently funded by YEC members), seconds after talking about Dell dell entrepreneur-in-residence Ingrid Vanderveldt’s involvement in #FixYoungAmerica, he responds to my where-is-this-campaign-going look of bewilderment. In simple terms: “My priorities are to first change the national discussion surrounding youth unemployment. Second, we’re going after the decision makers — the educators, the policy makers.” Armed with a somewhat vague but ambitious strategy, Gerber is determined to make his project more than just an awareness campaign. (Though a 10-city promotional tour is already in the works.) With a catchy name like #FixYoungAmerica, it’s sure to gain some attention. But for the campaign to offer tangible solutions to this complicated problem, Gerber faces quite the organizational challenge. “I’m in this for the long slog. We can keep people engaged, because there’s a lot on the line,” Gerber says. “What I am doing personally is my calling; it’s what I live for. I will not let this campaign fail.”

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What will “fix” young America?

Scott Gerber is leading a movement to promote entrepreneurship as a solution to youth unemployment. But is one man's enthusiasm enough to keep such a campaign together?

20140909184624

When it comes to U.S. tech employers, there’s Google, and then there’s everybody else. Perched atop our list of the best places to work for the fifth straight year, the company attracts more than 2 million job applicants a year and hires only about 4,000 of them. “It’s easier to get into MIT than it is to get hired by Google,” notes Tom Leung, who spent three years there as a product manager. “Google is very, very picky, because they can afford to be.” Leung is founder and CEO of Poachable, a job site launched just two months ago that aims, as the name suggests, to match companies that have IT job openings with “passive” candidates who are already working elsewhere but might be open to better offers. When Leung’s team surveyed thousands of techies to ask who they’d most want to be poached by, 55% picked Google—five times as many as would entertain an offer from second-place Apple (11%), and seven times the 8% who want to work for Amazon. Says Leung, “I expected Google to come out on top, but I was surprised by how huge the gap is.” A big part of Google’s appeal is that it’s “an engineer’s dream,” says Leung. “Engineers really want to work on hard technical challenges, like self-driving cars, drones, and wearable technology.” Obviously, most companies aren’t making those things. Even so, any company can match Google, or at least come close, in other respects. Leung says almost all the 2,000 techies who have signed on to Poachable so far are looking for three things: work-life balance, generous pay, and a clear career path. “When we ask IT people, ‘What are your must-have criteria for a new job?’ almost all of them mention time for a life outside of work,” says Leung. “Certain tech companies are known for expecting everyone to work 70 hours a week and sucking all the energy right out of people so they have nothing left over.” To attract tech talent, don’t get that reputation, Leung suggests. “Keep an eye on the number of hours people are working.” Below-market pay is another reason techies sign up to be poached, as is the lack of “interesting career prospects,” he says. Google gets high marks for both—but so can other employers, many of whom aren’t even tech companies. The biggest reason not to worry about competing with Google, Leung says, is simply that you probably don’t need the same people. “Google is like the Olympics, but not every team does better with an Olympic athlete on it,” he points out. “You may be better off with a strong, seasoned player who has the particular skills you happen to need.” Employers will also have to get used to the idea that “talent is temporary these days. IT people get so many job offers that any company has to be prepared to lose some of them,” he says. “The employers on Poachable have told me they feel a little guilty about ‘stealing’ talent from other companies. But then, they’re well aware that some of their own employees have signed up, too.”

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Yes, your best tech staffers really do wish they worked at Google

But that's okay, says a former Google executive, because companies that need tech talent aren't competing for the same people.

20141027142859

Think of: Justin Bieber, if he could play guitar like B.B. King and looked up to Buddy Guy instead of Usher. What caught our eye: His appearance earlier this month on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.” He has been sharing the stage with Buddy Guy for years, at venues like the Beacon Theatre and the Hollywood Bowl, and he made an appearance on the blues legend’s Grammy-nominated 2008 album, “Skin Deep.” Light-bulb moment: “When I was 3, my parents got me a small guitar for Christmas. It was one of those things that just clicked from the start.” Biggest thrill: “Playing Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in April this year. It was an incredible experience and I got to meet so many of my heroes and play at Madison Square Garden.” Biggest surprise: “I met Buddy [Guy] at a theater called Zeiterion in New Bedford when I was 8. He was a really nice gentleman. I shook his hand. I had my little guitar. It was so cool to meet such a legend. He signed my guitar, and a few minutes later he asked me to play a couple licks, so I did. He told me, ‘You be ready when I call you.’ I’ve been playing with him ever since.” Inspired by: “Eric Clapton, John Lennon, of course Buddy Guy. Buddy is my mentor, and he’s the reason I do what I do. Derek Trucks, Jeff Beck, Gary Clark Jr., Carlos Santana, Frank Zappa. I would really love to meet Paul McCartney.” Aspires to: “I’ve played with some of the great blues and rock guitar players. That’s the level I’d like to be at when I’m their age.” For good luck: “I jam for a few minutes with my guitar before I go on. I do some vocal exercises. I started playing at a really young age, and I’ve been performing for a long time, so it’s not something I would get nervous about.” What people should know: “Even though I play guitar and sing, I’m just an ordinary kid.” Coming soon: Sullivan is currently on a two-month tour in support of his second album, “Getting There,” released on June 18. Tom Hambridge, who has worked with Guy, B.B. King, and Bo Diddley, produced the album and wrote most of the songs. In September, Sullivan will enter high school.

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New Bedford guitar wunderkid making friends in high places

Age: 14 Hometown: New Bedford Think of: Justin Bieber, if he could play guitar like B.B. King and looked up to Buddy Guy instead of Usher. What caught our eye: His appearance earlier this month on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.” He has been sharing the stage with Buddy Guy for years, at venues like the Beacon Theater and the Hollywood Bowl, and he made an appearance on the blues legend’s Grammy-nominated 2008 album, “Skin Deep.” Lightbulb moment: “When I was 3, my parents got me a small guitar for Christmas. It was one of those things that just clicked from the start.” Biggest thrill: “Playing Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in April this year.”

20150126013919

MFA director Malcolm Rogers took a selfie at the museum and shared it on Twitter. On Wednesday, art lovers around the world turned their smartphone cameras on themselves to celebrate #MuseumSelfie day, an annual happening started last year by a group of clever museum professionals. And though it’s not as if they needed an excuse to hold up their phones and pose, Bostonians did their part to contribute — even Museum of Fine Arts director Malcolm Rogers chimed in. But the presence of tech within such hallowed halls belies a broader question that museums across the country are grappling with. For these keepers of history, what’s the best way to integrate cutting-edge technology with their exhibits? “People don’t necessarily come to the museum to come for the content,” said Mark Check, vice president of information and interactive technology at the Museum of Science in Boston. “Our studies are showing us that people are coming for a social experience.” Check describes the Museum of Science as a “very hands-on, very engaged, very kinetic type of institution,” with a vibe that is somewhat at odds with advanced smartphone addiction. So the museum is leaning in, using the technology already in their visitors’ hands to enhance their experiences. A collaboration is underway with ByteLight, a Boston company, to design location-aware exhibits that activate a phone or tablet when a visitor approaches. Check envisions visitors using their devices as a digital treasure map to track down exhibits that match the themes they are most interested in. The Boston startup Spotzer raised a round of funding early this year to sell exactly that kind of experience, powered by bluetooth technology to connect smartphones with exhibits. Spotzer has run tests at the Boston Athenaeum, MIT’s List Visual Arts Center, and New York’s Neue Galerie. At the Boston Children’s Museum, project director Tim Porter has been lobbying for a smartphone app since 2008, barely a year after the first iPhone was launched. This year, the museum will deploy an app visitors can use to experience a new exhibit on Asian cultures. “There’s this tension between wanting to connect with visitors and wanting to give them experiences to connect outside of the digital realm, [and] provide connections to the real world,” Porter said. Museums have social media teams for expert outreach, promoting new exhibits and openings on Twitter and Facebook. But recently, the MFA decided to use Instagram, inviting a group of high-profile Instagrammers to shoot smartphone pictures two hours before its 10 a.m. opening. (It borrowed from photographer Dave Krugman’s project #EmptyMet, in which Instagrammers posted photos of one another in an empty New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.) Such efforts are all in keeping with MFA director Rogers’s vision for the museum. In a lecture last year celebrating his 20 years with the institution, he told the audience that Tim Burners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, was among his many influences. The reason? Lee has provided us with limitless possibilities to share art with the world. All of which means that selfies are welcome at the MFA. The museum encourages them, in fact, a spokesman said. After all, it means people will spend a bit more time with a piece of art.

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Do selfies and smartphones belong in museums? Many curators say yes

Museums across the country are grappling with how best to incorporate technology into their hallowed halls. Many curators are encouraging selfies as a way of sharing the art experience.

20150308154910

Like most regulation, the rules were designed to protect investors. Now they’re just keeping them in the dark. FORTUNE — In June, Groupon chairman Eric Lefkosky defended his money-losing company by predicting that it would become “wildly profitable.” His comment sparked a Wall Street brushfire, because it arguably violated “quiet period” rules that prevent private companies from discussing themselves while in registration to go public. The reaction was to be expected. Back in 2004, Salesforce.com CRM was forced to delay its IPO after cooperating with a New York Times profile of the company and its founder, Marc Benioff. Just a few months later, Google took SEC heat after its founders gave an interview to Playboy that was published after Google had submitted its IPO paperwork. But the restrictions were ridiculous seven years ago and remain ridiculous today. Neither Groupon nor any other IPO candidate should be forced to deal with antiquated investor-protection rules that defy common sense and ultimately protect one set of investors at the expense of another. It’s worth noting that the pre-IPO “quiet period” doesn’t actually exist, at least not officially. The phrase is entirely absent from the SEC’s reams of regulations. Instead, it’s legal shorthand for a series of securities laws drawn up in the 1930s, when information-starved investors kept getting fleeced by snake-oil salesmen. Basically, let the IPO registration speak for itself. The SEC tried loosening things up a bit in 2005 — partially in response to the Google GOOG fiasco — but the changes were largely cosmetic. Companies suddenly were allowed to talk with the media, but only if their statements tracked almost exactly with the offering documents. “When I have conversations with CEOs who want to make public statements, I first want to know if they’re trying to sell their product, which is allowed, or if they’re really trying to sell their company, which isn’t,” says corporate attorney Mark Bettencourt. 13 startup stars on the verge of an IPO Keeping your mouth shut may work for many IPO candidates, but it seems to be failing a high-profile issuer like Groupon. The company has become a media punching bag since registration, getting attacked for everything from its accounting practices to its vendor relationships to its long-term viability. It’s the kind of drumbeat that could scare off potential investors or dissuade new users from signing up — hurting both the company and its product. Groupon certainly deserves some of the knocks — particularly for an accounting gimmick that underplayed marketing expenses — but the company also has been forced to remain silent in the face of more specious critiques. The only exceptions came when Groupon amended its registration statement to disavow Lefkosky’s “wildly profitable” quote, a leaked memo to company employees, and a sarcastic corporate blog post about quiet periods. The irony, however, is that while Groupon cannot easily defend itself in public, it will soon be able to do so in front of a select, private audience of institutional investors who may participate in the IPO. Companies going public typically produce an electronic road show, in which the CEO and other company executives make a presentation about the company and then take questions from prospective investors. It is available to the public online until the stock begins trading. In these sessions CEOs are instructed to keep referring to the IPO prospectus and not speak too much off the cuff. What follows are private meetings with the money managers. Transcripts are rarely kept, and some sources say that a comment like Lefkosky’s would not be unusual. Neither would an answer to a question that the CEO declined to address during the electronic road show. Even if CEOs stick to the script, hedge fund managers can watch body language and other nonverbal cues that the public never sees. It’s time for the SEC to let companies communicate more freely with everyone, not just the chosen few. Today’s investors have easy access to all sorts of information — including SEC filings — and are unlikely to be suckered by just a few optimistic syllables uttered to a reporter. It’s too loud a world to keep these companies so quiet. This article is from the September 26, 2011 issue of Fortune.

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It’s time to kill the IPO quiet period

Like most regulation, the rules were designed to protect investors.  Now they're just keeping them in the dark. FORTUNE -- In June, Groupon chairman Eric Lefkosky defended his money-losing company by predicting that it would become “wildly profitable.” His comment sparked a Wall Street brushfire, because it arguably violated “quiet period” rules that prevent private…

20150521233255

Savvas Savopoulos and his wife Amy 05/20/2015 AT 12:00 PM EDT As police continue to investigate the Washington, D.C., that claimed the lives of a CEO, his wife, their 10-year-old son and a housekeeper, neighbors are terrified that they may be next. "I'm scared," a housekeeper in the upscale Woodley Park neighborhood tells PEOPLE. "Everyone is scared." "The family were nice people," she added. "They never hurt anyone. Who would do this? Why hurt a nice family and the lady who works for them?" Savvas Savopoulos, the 46-year-old CEO of , his wife Amy, their son Philip and their housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa were all found dead inside their $4.5 million home on Thursday. Police said at least three of the victims had suffered stab wounds or blunt force injuries prior to the fire being set, indicating the blaze was no accident. And sources familiar with the investigation told that the four were likely on Wednesday evening. They were "bound and threatened," according to the report, until Savopoulos gave the killers what they wanted sometime on Thursday afternoon. Authorities have released little information in the case. The only clue seems to be the family's blue Porsche, which was found torched in the parking lot of St. Christopher's Episcopal Church in Lanham, Maryland. Person of interest in the house fire that killed four Just a short distance away, a camera captured footage of the one in the case, a hooded individual carrying a bucket. That person has not yet been found – and that has the Savopouloses' neighbors concerned. "It scares me," adds the housekeeper, who asked not to be identified. "If it could happen to them, what's to say we are not next? "This is a good neighborhood," she says. "We think we are safe. Now this." She couldn't hold back her tears as she spoke about the events of last Thursday. "The way I found out was the sirens," she says. "The fire trucks came. It was bad, having a fire. Then I found out the people died. Everyone in the house. Even the little boy." The Savopouloses had two daughters, Abigail and Katerina, in addition to their son. The girls were away at boarding school at the time of the fire and are now thought to be staying with their grandparents. Vance Wilson, headmaster of St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., which Philip attended, released a statement following his death. "We extend our deepest condolences and offer our prayers to Philip's sisters, grandparents, and extended family and friends," he said. "The school will continue to do everything we can to support our students and their families during this most difficult time." page has been set up to pay for Figueroa's funeral. A funeral for the three Savopouloses is scheduled for June 1.

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Neighbors Say They're Living in Fear : People.com

"Why hurt a nice family and the lady who works for them?" a housekeeper in the upscale neighborhood tells PEOPLE

20150524081517

GOLETA, Calif., Aug. 13— President Reagan signed his historic package of tax and budget reductions into law today, and for the first time he acknowledged that changes Congress made in his program raised the possibility of future Federal budget deficits even wider than those he originally projected. Mr. Reagan said that the possibility of increased deficits in the coming years meant that his Administration would Transcript of news session, page A10. have to work harder ''to try to get more additional cuts than we might have had to get before.'' But he offered no specific details. Aides said Mr. Reagan planned to begin his budget review for next year at a meeting with budget officials in Los Angeles next week. Taking time out from his vacation in the Santa Ynez Mountains here, the President appeared this morning in front of his white stucco ranch house, which was built in 1872, to put his signature on two thick stacks of legislation that represented the fruits of his sixmonth lobbying campaign in Washington. Half-Hour News Session In the capital today, a White House official said the Administration had begun to seek ways to give state governments major responsibility for welfare programs, a move that the official defended as not constituting ''dumping'' welfare on the states. (Page A10.) After the signing ceremony here, the President took questions and answers for a half hour in what amounted to an unusual full-scale news conference, his second since the attempt on his life last March 30. Among other things, Mr. Reagan commented on his recent decision to produce neutron warheads, saying the weapons were defensive in nature and that they would not be deployed in Europe without ''full consultations'' with America's allies. (Page A11.) Strike Stance Affirmed The President also reiterated his unwillingness to negotiate with striking air traffic controllers, saying he felt the strike had caused little inconvenience to travelers. Wearing faded jeans and a denim jacket and cowboy boots, the President grinned broadly and looked relaxed and tanned, but he apologized to reporters because clouds of fog had enshrouded his 688-acre retreat all morning, reducing visibility so much that his horses could only be seen dimly in the mist 30 feet away and the surrounding terrain could not be seen at all. Using 24 pens, Mr. Reagan sat at a table outside in the fog and signed the bills that he said would bring $130 billion in budget cuts in the next three years and $750 billion in tax cuts in the next five years. ''And this is only the beginning,'' he said, ''because from here on now we are going to have to implement all of these, and it's going to be a job to make this whole turnaround work.'' Mr. Reagan used the occasion of his news conference to offer a defense of Interior Secretary James G. Watt, an advocate of greater use of Federal lands for commercial purposes and mineral exploration. The President said Mr. Watt was doing ''what I think is a commonsense job in the face of some environmental extremism that we've suffered from, and I can assure you Jim Watt does not want to destroy the beauty of America.'' Any Evidence of Plague? At one point Mr. Reagan hoisted his leg to show that, contrary to what his press office had said earlier in the week, he was not bothering even to tuck his trousers into his boots to avoid being bitten by fleas suspected of carrying bubonic plague in the area of his ranch. Asked if he had seen any evidence of plague, traces of which have been reported in dead animals in the vicinity, Mr. Reagan laughed and said ''no.'' Mr. Reagan was also asked whether his daughter Maureen would run for the United States Senate in California next year. ''I hope not,'' he replied, smiling. He added quickly: ''I know she's talked of it. I don't know how serious she is about it.'' Off to the side, Mr. Reagan's wife, Nancy, joked with reporters that, despite published reports that she did not enjoy staying at the ranch, she was very happy vacationing there. ''I love it, I love it,'' Mrs. Reagan shouted. 'This Soft and Soggy Economy' On the subject of the economy, the President warned that, even with the program of budget and tax cuts he had just signed, ''our own projections have been that for the next several months, this soft and soggy economy is going to continue, and that we shouldn't be fooled by these last couple of months of seeming upturn.'' Mr. Reagan was interrupted as a small child, the son of a news photographer, screamed in fright when Mr. Reagan's dog, Millie, wandered up. Before returning to his subject, the President took pains to assure the boy that the dog would not harm him. The President noted that neither his tax cuts nor budget cuts would take effect until Oct. 1 and that any improvement they offered to the economy could not begin to work until then. Several economic experts have projected an economic decline because of a possibility that high interest rates could choke off recovery. These experts have said further that the lagging economy would have the effect of increasing the Administration's original projections for budget deficits in the years ahead because of the higher borrowing cost to the Federal Government and lagging revenues. However, Mr. Reagan today attributed the chances of increased deficits to what he said was the fact that Congress had not enacted all the budget cuts he originally sought and had enacted a tax reduction program larger than what he had asked for. The reductions enacted for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 include more than $35 billion in trims from the budget and $38 billion in personal and corporate tax cuts. However, most of the tax program takes effect in following years. New Targets Uncertain ''Now the possibility of increased deficits in the coming year over our previous figures,'' Mr. Reagan said, ''are due in part to not getting totally what we had asked for in the budget cuts, but also that the tax package finally came out with additional reductions.'' The Office of Management and Budget originally said that Mr. Reagan would have to achieve an additional $29.8 billion in reductions from projected spending levels in the fiscal year 1983 and $44.2 billion more in cuts in 1984 to balance the budget by 1984. Mr. Reagan said in effect today that these numbers had increased, but a spokesman for the budget office said it was not yet known what they had grown to. ''Remember that we always said that there were further budget cuts for the coming years, for '83 and '84,'' Mr. Reagan said. Then, pointing to the stack of legislation he had just signed, he said, ''These are the ones that go into effect in '82.'' The President expressed the hope that his economic program would actually create more growth in the economy than he had projected and that, as a result, more tax revenues would lessen the need for further budget cuts. Illustrations: Photo of President Reagan relaxing at his California home

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PRESIDENT SIGNS ECONOMIC PROGRAM WITH A WARNING

President Reagan signed his historic package of tax and budget reductions into law today, and for the first time he acknowledged that changes Congress made in his program raised the possibility of future Federal budget deficits even wider than those he originally projected. Mr. Reagan said that the possibility of increased deficits in the coming years meant that his Administration would Transcript of news session, page A10. have to work harder ''to try to get more additional cuts than we might have had to get before.'' But he offered no specific details. Aides said Mr. Reagan planned to begin his budget review for next year at a meeting with budget officials in Los Angeles next week.

20150524083239

EXPIRATION By LEE A. DANIELS As they usually do in June, tenant groups and landlords are once again arguing about the effect of the city and state's rent stabilization laws. But this year there is a difference: next Tuesday New York State's Emergency Tenant Protection Act is due to expire. The State Legislature is only now beginning serious negotiations on five proposals to revise the seven-year-old law, which applies to 900,000 rentstabilized apartments in New York City and 75,000 more in Nassau, Rockland and Westchester Counties. About 300,000 other apartments in the city's rent control program and 60,000 more in the state program are not under the jurisdiction of the Emergency Tenant Protection Act. The preliminary rounds of the debate were played out in hearings held in the metropolitan area by the Assembly's Standing Committee on Housing. Tenants groups and their allies contended that the law had not protected renters from avaricious landlords and should be amended to offer tenants more protection. Landlord groups and their allies asserted that the law must be changed because it had made it difficult for owners to maintain their properties. Legislature Is Divided But working against the kind of broad revision hoped for by both tenant and landlord advocates is a sharp division in the Legislature. While there is strong sentiment in the Democraticcontrolled Assembly for strengthening the bill's protections for tenants, there is opposition to such action in the Republicandominated Senate. That division, coupled with the approaching deadline, may result in the Legislature renewing the act largely as is, according to lobbyists for both sides. The Legislature did this in 1977, when the act last came up for renewal. Peter Beitchman, an aide to Alexander B. Grannis - a Democrat-Liberal of Manhattan who is chairman of the State Assembly's Standing Committee on Housing - said yesterday that he was confident the act would be renewed by the June 30 deadline. Frank Rinaldi, counsel to the Senate majority leader, Warren M. Anderson of Binghamton, said that ''we in the Senate would like to see a return to the free market system,'' but he added that there was not even a slim possibility of that this year. The five proposals are by the Rent Stabilization Association, a New York City landlord group that finances the city's rent stabilization system; the Temporary State Commission on Rental Housing, impaneled two years ago to investigate rental housing in the state and since disbanded; Assemblyman John C. Dearie, Democrat of the Bronx and a candidate for City Comptroller, along with another sponsor, State Senator John E. Flynn, Democrat of Yonkers and the Bronx; the New York State Tenant and Neighborhood Coalition, a tenant lobbying group; and Assemblyman Grannis. The proposal of the landlord group incorporates many of the provisions of the present act. But it would limit the act's jurisdiction to New York City alone and would allow landlords to charge market-level rents on vacant apartments, something they cannot now do. The four other proposals, in varying degrees, urge greater protection of tenants against rental overcharges and an expansion of the act's jurisdiction. Both Sides Seek Change The State Legislature initially voted the act in an effort to protect tenants against excessive rent increases while allowing landlords a fair profit. Since then both tenants and landlords have assailed it. Behind the jockeying in the State Capitol is the major question affecting millions of apartment renters, a far smaller number of landlords and the quality of housing in some of the state's bigger municipalities: How much rent should tenants pay? Many issues are involved in the answer. To identify a few: Are the rent increases levied by the Rent Guidelines Board justified by the landlords's economic needs of landlords? How widespread is overcharging for rent-stabilized apartments in New York City, and does it occur in part because the system's enforcement agency has too great a backlog to investigate complaints promptly? Should landlords be allowed to pass along to tenants the higher costs of refinancing mortgages? In New York City the rent stabilization law applies to the following: all rental apartment buildings of six units or more; all rental apartments except those covered by rent control; rental apartments in buildings constructed after Jan. 1, 1974 and that have not received tax abatements; and rent-controlled apartments that have been vacated. In addition to the basic rent for an apartment, the law governs the sum a landlord can add to the rent for major capital improvements, new equipment, furnishings and fuel costs. The nine-member Rent Guidelines Board sets rent levels, and a nine-member Conciliation and Appeals Board adjudicates disputes. The appeals board, by law, gets its funds to operate from the Rent Stabilization Association, to which the owners of rent-stabilized apartments must belong. The association collects about $4 million in dues and contributes about $2.5 million to the appeals board.

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RENT STABILIZATION ATTACKED BY 2 SIDES AS STATE LEGISLATION NEARS proposed rent increases

EXPIRATION By LEE A. DANIELS As they usually do in June, tenant groups and landlords are once again arguing about the effect of the city and state's rent stabilization laws. But this year there is a difference: next Tuesday New York State's Emergency Tenant Protection Act is due to expire. The State Legislature is only now beginning serious negotiations on five proposals to revise the seven-year-old law, which applies to 900,000 rentstabilized apartments in New York City and 75,000 more in Nassau, Rockland and Westchester Counties. About 300,000 other apartments in the city's rent control program and 60,000 more in the state program are not under the jurisdiction of the Emergency Tenant Protection Act. The preliminary rounds of the debate were played out in hearings held in the metropolitan area by the Assembly's Standing Committee on Housing.

20150524111024

A 43-year-old woman who stood to inherit hundreds of millions of dollars from her father's estate was arrested at her Upper East Side apartment yesterday on charges that she conspired with her son in the murder of her father. The woman, Frances Bernice Schreuder, was charged with arranging the shooting death of her father, Franklin Bradshaw, a 76-year-old auto parts dealer in Salt Lake City, on July 23, 1978, the police said. On that date, according to a Salt Lake City homicide warrant, her son, Mark F. Schreuder, who was then 16, shot his grandfather with a .375 magnum. Her son was arrested on the murder charge in Manhattan last October. The warrant also charges Mrs. Schreuder with having obtained the murder weapon and given it to her son because Mr. Bradshaw was reportedly disinheriting them both from his estate, which was worth more than $500 million. Mrs. Schreuder was not in Utah at the time of the killing, the police said. Lived Near Gracie Mansion Mrs. Schreuder was arrested yesterday morning in her apartment at 10 Gracie Square, near Gracie Mansion, as the culmination of a year and a half of joint efforts by prosecutors in Salt Lake City and Manhattan, according to Robert Morgenthau, the Manhattan District Attorney. ''It was for the murder of her father, who was shot by her son in 1978,'' Mr. Morgenthau said. The arrest of Mrs. Schreuder came after the Salt Lake City police said they were able to confirm through ballistics tests that a gun she had obtained here and subsequently asked friends to hide was the murder weapon, according to New York City detectives familiar with the case. Doorman Refused Entrance Mrs. Schreuder - whose arrest was delayed by one day when the doormen at her exclusive apartment building refused entrance to detectives on Thursday because they had no search warrants - became distraught yesterday while being questioned at the 19th Precinct station house on East 67th Street and had to be ''restrained,'' said Mr. Morgenthau. The District Attorney said she had been taken to Bellevue Hospital for psychiatric observation. Mr. Morgenthau said that after the results of the observation were reviewed, Mrs. Schreuder would have an extradition hearing to determine if she should be sent to Salt Lake City. Employees at Mrs. Schreuder's apartment building said she had lived there for about a year and a half with a daughter, who is 9 or 10 years old, and that her son had visited her occasionally for long periods.

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WOMAN HELD IN SLAYING OF HER WEALTHY FATHER

A 43-year-old woman who stood to inherit hundreds of millions of dollars from her father's estate was arrested at her Upper East Side apartment yesterday on charges that she conspired with her son in the murder of her father. The woman, Frances Bernice Schreuder, was charged with arranging the shooting death of her father, Franklin Bradshaw, a 76-year-old auto parts dealer in Salt Lake City, on July 23, 1978, the police said. On that date, according to a Salt Lake City homicide warrant, her son, Mark F. Schreuder, who was then 16, shot his grandfather with a .375 magnum.

20150524112134

NEWARK, March 22— Peter Shapiro was elected Essex County Executive as an insurgent Democrat in 1978. For three years the former State Assemblyman and Harvard graduate has been resposible for adminstering basic services in New Jersey's most populous county, which includes Newark, the state's largest municipality. In a two-hour interview with Michael Norman of The New York Times, the 29-year-old Mr. Shapiro talked about issues ranging from suburban attitudes on the problems of the inner cities to the past mistakes of his party and the new posture of the young politicians that might one day lead it. Q. Essex County encompasses affluent suburbs like Livingston and Short Hills and depressed urban centers like Newark and East Orange. Obviously the interests of the two come into conflict. In what ways do they compete? A. You do occasionally hear someone in the suburbs say, 'Aren't our county property taxes high as they are because we're subsidizing things in the city of Newark?' That is a misperception. It is not true that they are subsidizing municipal operations, basic services in Newark. Problem of the Poor It is true, however, that our property taxes are high because we have the largest concentration of poor in the state and that does mean there is some redistributive effect between the wealthier areas and the poorer areas. But it's not an area-to-area thing. It's really that we're supporting a large judicial system because we have a high crime rate, also because we have a large concentration of corporations and there's a lot of litigation that stems from that. Also we're supporting a big welfare system. Compare Essex to Bergen, similar populations. We're paying about 11 times as much per capita as Bergen County does for welfare. Bergan County has no city in it, no public housing for the poor. We're paying for the cost of poverty, that's a true perception. Its not true that we're paying for any kind of fancy services in Newark. And it really is the way welfare is funded. It should be funded ideally on the national level. It should be just like Social Security or Medicare. It shouldn't be something which creates an incentive for the middle class to move away from the poor. Q. Should it be administered on the national level as well? A. I think we could do a better job administering the socialservice side of it. It wouldn't bother me if the Federal Government wanted to administer the actual income maintainence payments. Newark Office Project Cited Q. What have you done to create jobs for people who live in the distressed areas of the county.? A. There are two sides to it: One is the development within the urban areas itself, the other is the development in the overall region. Put it this way: One thing we could do to try to act like we were helping our urban areas is to say 'no' to development in our nearby suburbs. The result would be that the other counties would simply takes those businesses. There would be less chance for our urban residents to get jobs nearby. Realistically, the greatest help we have to give is in our urban areas. We're working, for one example, with the business community's efforts in what is called Renaissance Newark, which is concentrating on major office development in the city, the biggest potential for growth that we have. That's really looking like it's a big success. Q. It has been argued that the new office buildings coming into Newark are simply cosmetic, that the people who work in them are the skilled people from the suburbs who go home at 5 o'clock. What real benefit is there to the people who live in the city? A. We want to keep jobs in the cites, there's no question about that. We have a critical skills problem. The new jobs which are being created are semi-skilled and skilled jobs. We need to bridge that gap. We have to do more job training. That's absolutely critical. Our education systems have to work better. We have to have a continued federal presence in job training. Without that, we're going to be dead in the water. Q. Are you saying that the future for Newark isn't particularly bright? A. I'm afraid that the depressing image you suggest may in a sense become a reality if we don't come to grips with the job training needs that we have. We may have what some people have referred to as a a permanent underclass of people who don't fit into our economy. But it doesn't have to be the case. Q. What about the crime problem countywide? A. One of our biggest problems is a lack of coordination - everyone with a little bit of responsibility, but no one with full accountability. The cities run the police departments by and large. The county funds the judicial system, the Prosecutor's office and the Probation Department, but doesn't have accountability over them. The state appoints the judges, appoints the Prosecutor. The state government passes the criminal laws. Criminal-Justice System Q. Are you saying you'd like to see a restructuring of the criminal-justice apparatus in the state? A. I would think very strongly. Q. How would you change it? A. I honestly don't have a simple answer on that one. Q. The cost of housing in any suburb is getting to be prohibitive. Is there anything state or local government can do? A. What principly has to be done is a Federal approach to this. I think we need to balance the Federal budget. If the Federal Government were to withdraw a hundred billion dollars of borrowing from the marketplace, that would have a dramatic effect on lowering interest rates. Q. You recently lost a court challange that questioned the accuracy of the 1980 census. How did you determine that there had been an undercount in Essex? A. Our approach was to say we don't know how great an undercount there is, but we want access to the list of addresses so we can check to see if they missed whole buildings. We have squatters in some buildings. What's at stake is Federal aid in the terms of $200 per individual that's undercounted. We lost in the census count 85,000 people. That means a loss of $17 million on an annual basis. If you subtract a true loss of population, it comes to about $10 million. Q. Does New Jersey's long tradition of home rule lead to a duplication of muncipal services? A. Home rule is a tremendous illusion in a lot of ways. Given state and Federal regulations - as one mayor once put it to me - I feel like the main requirement that the state and Federal governments want from me is the ability to sign my name on one of their forms. There is a feeling that people get that home rule doesn't exist anymore. We need to do more with regionalization. A good example of that is fire protection - not on a countywide basis, there's too much of the worry of response time. But you could set up a fire protection region for the six west Essex towns. Insurance pooling is also one of the things we're trying to move into. Q. Tax assessment is an issue much talked about in the suburbs. What are your thoughts about changing the system? A. I think we ought to be moving toward a system more like what California has. The idea there basically is annual computerized reassessment so that everybody's assessment is kept more up to date. You don't have the sudden shocks of reevaluation which make it such a political hot cake. Newark hasn't had a re-evaluation since 1961. Q. Is it possible to be a fiscal conservative and a social liberal? A. I think it's very possible to both care about the way things are run and what the programs do. Many people in my own party managed for a long time of simply winking at clear abuses that were going on, that allowing for a certain amount of waste within the programs was sort of part of the necessary grease that made the political process run. The reality of of it was that maybe that was true in the dickering back and forth of legislatures, but in terms of losing the confidence of the people of the county, that was one of the greatest areas my party sadly has to bear responsibility for. I think there's a younger generation of Democrats that care about social programs but want to see them run right. Illustrations: photo of Peter Shapiro

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EXECUTIVE OF ESSEX COUNTY OUTLINES VIEWS ON SUBURBS, CITIES AND POLITICS

Peter Shapiro was elected Essex County Executive as an insurgent Democrat in 1978. For three years the former State Assemblyman and Harvard graduate has been resposible for adminstering basic services in New Jersey's most populous county, which includes Newark, the state's largest municipality. In a two-hour interview with Michael Norman of The New York Times, the 29-year-old Mr. Shapiro talked about issues ranging from suburban attitudes on the problems of the inner cities to the past mistakes of his party and the new posture of the young politicians that might one day lead it. Q. Essex County encompasses affluent suburbs like Livingston and Short Hills and depressed urban centers like Newark and East Orange. Obviously the interests of the two come into conflict. In what ways do they compete?

20150524123306

In the 35 years since Kurt Weill wrote his closest approach to an American operatic score for ''Street Scenes,'' this ''dramatic musical,'' as it was originally billed, has been performed occasionally as opera - by the New York City Opera - and has not had a musical-theater production until the one that opened Thursday at the Equity Library Theater. To some extent, this production suggests why it has not received more attention despite Weill's skillfully crafted and varied score and lyrics by Langston Hughes, which have moments of banality but catch the moods of the street-scene setting. The basic problem is Elmer Rice's book, which he adapted from his 1929 Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Trimming the play to fit musical demands reduced most of the characters to one-dimensional figures, which only serves to emphasize the elementary nature of the plot and to make it seem dated but not a period piece, which it might have been. What we are offered is a slice of life taking place on the steps and street in front of a fading brownstone. The residents gossip, complain of the heat and watch with fascination a triangle developing among a truculent, jealous man, his neglected wife and a neighbor who offers her affection while the couple's daughter and a young law student in the building are working out their own emotional involvements. The musical dawdles along for a long time, focusing on minor characters while the seeds of the climactic confrontation are being planted with all the subtlety of a 1920's or 30's melodrama. But Weill and Hughes have used these preliminaries to offer a kind of musical vaudeville - a chattering ensemble of gossipers carried on some of Weill's typically angular musical lines, a joyous celebration of ice cream, a catchy little blues, a bland pop song that might be parody if it were not treated seriously and an exhilaratingly rhythmic dance tune, ''Moon-Faced, Starry-Eyed.'' Weill's music keeps shifting between operatic and pop techniques, and the cast in this production is usually able to keep up with the changes. The ensemble of neighbors, under Jeffrey Lewis's direction, sing with spirit, verve and precision, and one singer, Nancy Cameron, manages to flesh out an essentially stock role to believable dimensions. The four leads have the most demanding singing roles, and Sue Anne Gershenson has both the voice and the acting talent to give Rose, the daughter, a fully rounded p resence. Jane Seaman, as her mother, rises to the occasion in her more dramatic ar ias but is less convincing when she is just dealing with word s, while Casper Roos andD. Michael Heath do what they can with the on e-dimensional roles of the father and the young lawyer. Robert Brink's staging is largely concerned with set pieces, but he has built up the reaction on the street to the climactic murder of the wife and lover in vivid fashion The 36-member cast, one of the largest the Equity Library Theater has ever assembled, keeps providing bright, brief vignettes, notably Jak Brami as a hulking lout on the make, Don Harrington and Tom Cipolla as two of the residents, and Katherine Meloche and Joe Antony Cavise, whose energetic dancing to ''Moonfaced, Starry-Eyed,'' choreographed by Piper Pickrell, evokes the spirit of the 30's. One of the stars of the show, a very essential one, is James Morgan's set, a very realistic representation of a brownstone that looms broodingly over the entire performance. The Cast STREET SCENES, book by Elmer Rice; music by Kurt Weill; lyrics by Langston Hughes; directed by Robert Brink; musical director, Jeffrey Lewis; choreographer, Piper Pickrell; scenic design, James Morgan; costume design, Karen Gerson; lighting design, Jeffrey Schissler; production stage manager, Mark Schorr. Presented by the Equity Library Theater, 310 Riverside Drive. Abraham Kaplan ......................Albert S. Bennett Greta Fiorentino .........................Mimi Sherwin Carl Olsen ..............................David Dollase Emma Jones ..............................Nancy Cameron Olga Olsen .............................Sandra Wheeler Shirley Kaplan ..............................Jane Ives Henry Davis ..............................Bruce Butler Willie Maurrant ...........................Robert York Anna Maurrant .............................Jane Seaman Sam Kaplan ...........................D. Michael Heath Daniel Buchanan .......................Steve Gunderson Frank Maurrant ............................Casper Ro os George Jones ...........................Don Harrington Steve Sankey .............................Fred Barrows Lippo Fiorent ino ..........................Tom Cipolla Jennie Hildeb rand ......................Gloria Boucher Laura Hildebr and ...........................Dawn Spare Charlie Hilde brand ........................Robert Weed Mary Hildebra nd .........................Leslie Anders Rose Maurrant .....................Sue Anne Gershenson Harry Easter ..........................Howard Pinhasik Mae Jones ... ........................Katherine Meloche Dick McGann . ........................Joe Antony Cavise Vincent Jones ...............................Jak Brami Officer Murph y .........................Michael Cullen City Marshall Henry ......................Terry Greiss Fred Cullen . ............................Frank Stoeger First Nursema id ........................Deborah Moldow Second Nursem aid .........................Gail Titunik First Workman ...........................Michael Brian Neighborhood Woman ...................Jenifer Burkhart Third Workman ............................Greg Everett Harry ....... ..........................Jim Fitzpatrick Old Clothes M an .......................Bruce W. Fuller Second Workma n ........................Robert Stillman Queenie ....................................Touchstone Illustrations: photo of D. Michael Heath

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STAGE - 'STREET SCENES' AT THE EQUITY LIBRARY - NYTimes.com

In the 35 years since Kurt Weill wrote his closest approach to an American operatic score for ''Street Scenes,'' this ''dramatic musical,'' as it was originally billed, has been performed occasionally as opera - by the New York City Opera - and has not had a musical-theater production until the one that opened Thursday at the Equity Library Theater. To some extent, this production suggests why it has not received more attention despite Weill's skillfully crafted and varied score and lyrics by Langston Hughes, which have moments of banality but catch the moods of the street-scene setting. The basic problem is Elmer Rice's book, which he adapted from his 1929 Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Trimming the play to fit musical demands reduced most of the characters to one-dimensional figures, which only serves to emphasize the elementary nature of the plot and to make it seem dated but not a period piece, which it might have been.

20150702234042

Boston should offer developers hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax breaks — probably the largest deal of its kind in the city’s history — to entice the construction of a new neighborhood at the heart of Boston 2024’s Olympics proposal, bid organizers said Monday. Under the new Boston 2024 plan, the city would seek a single master developer to lay the groundwork for an entirely new neighborhood to be known as Midtown on the site of Widett Circle, sandwiched between South Boston and the Southeast Expressway. The site would serve as the home of the main Olympic stadium during the Games, to be transformed into a nearly 8-million-square-foot mixed-use development after they end. But to attract a developer willing to spend the $1.2 billion needed for site preparation costs that include erecting a massive deck over the existing train tracks on the site, 2024 organizers are asking the city to sweeten the pot with an unusual tax break stretching over the next four decades. “Without incentives, maybe this area wouldn’t be built out for 20, 30, 40, 50 years,” said Steve Pagliuca, Boston 2024’s chairman. “The public policy question is, how do you want to use these tax deals to incentivize development in areas that are generating very little tax revenue right now?” Property tax breaks are a common tool to spur development in the city, and there are more than 100 in place today, city officials said. Boston 2024 floated a particularly aggressive tax-break plan Monday, aimed at providing a master developer with a 12 percent return. The Boston Olympic bid has been recast as a city development proposal too good to pass up. The Widett Circle developer would get property tax breaks starting at an 85 percent discount and phased out over the course of 40 years, far longer and more generous than has been typical in Boston in recent years. As a point of comparison, Liberty Mutual received tax breaks about five years ago to expand its headquarters complex. The deal lasted 20 years and didn’t include a discount of more than 50 percent in any one year, according to the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a watchdog group. Boston 2024 offered only hypothetical examples of how such a deal might work. The particulars of any tax breaks would need to be negotiated between the city and whichever developer wins the anticipated bid for the project. But critics are skeptical that the benefits of such a grandiose proposal would be worth this much of a significant taxpayer investment. “This is a very optimistic illustration and not consistent with the city’s practice over the past several years,” said Sam Tyler, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau. “It seems overly ambitious or optimistic from a developer’s perspective of what the city would agree to, given their past experience.” For now, though, Mayor Martin J. Walsh is saying he’s open to the proposal. Currently, the land at Widett generates about $850,000 a year in property taxes, primarily from the food wholesalers at the New Boston Food Market. Even if the proposed tax breaks are enacted, the large number of new buildings would increase the tax base so much, organizers said, the city could expect to reap $7 million in annual taxes from the site by 2030, and $27 million in annual taxes by the time the development is projected to be done in 2040. Walsh said future generations would see the benefits from the tax breaks. Building a massive deck over the area, the mayor said, would allow existing operations on the site — a public works yard, the city’s tow lot, and MBTA and Amtrak facilities — to continue to operate while a new neighborhood is built above. “Put the Olympics aside for a second,” Walsh said. “If we can put a deck on it and develop it and make hundreds of millions in tax revenue over the course of the next 50 years, as compared to $800,000 a year? And keep the services in place? I think that’s irresponsible for me as mayor not to explore that.” Boston 2024 officials said that with sea levels rising, the low-lying property is also vulnerable to flooding during storms, and therefore would be more expensive to develop and insure without the elevated platform in place. Matthew A. Cahill, executive director of the Boston Finance Commission, a fiscal watchdog, countered that development is booming in Boston and that a tax incentive is unnecessary to spur construction on a large, attractive swath of land close to downtown. “They keep talking about not giving any taxpayer money to these developments,” Cahill said. “This is taxpayer money. A tax incentive is taxpayer money.” But David Begelfer, chief executive of the real estate trade group NAIOP Massachusetts, said he doubts that a developer would invest the $1 billion-plus needed for site work at Widett Circle without assurances in the form of tax breaks, zoning, and permitting. “Would there be developers that are interested? Absolutely,” Begelfer said. “[But] no one is going to come down tomorrow and slam one billion dollars down for infrastructure and say, ‘I will roll the dice.’ They need to know a lot more about what can be done there.” Matthew Kiefer, a land-use lawyer at Goulston & Storrs, said the Prudential Center was built over train tracks during the 1960s in the Back Bay with a similar incentive. “A big tax break was necessary to get the Prudential Insurance company and others to invest in transforming that rail yard into what we have today,” Kiefer said. The Widett project “would be transformational, and maybe that justifies a larger degree of public attention and support. It certainly stands to reason that you need some kind of incentive to make it work. The question is, ‘Are the long-term benefits to the city sufficient to warrant that?’ ”

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Boston 2024 envisions a tax break of unprecedented scope to redevelop Widett Circle

Boston 2024 wants the city to offer a tax break totaling hundreds of millions of dollars to a developer in Widett Circle.

20150812151029

08/12/2015 AT 09:00 AM EDT has been laid to rest. Several hundred people gathered at a gymnasium in Liberal, Kansas, on Tuesday to say one last goodbye tp the . Kaiser died on Aug. 2 after he was accidentally hit in the head by a player's warmup swing at a Liberal Bee Jays baseball game in Wichita. Kaiser was dressed in his blue Bee Jays uniform as his family and friends paid their respects. Among the mourners were Bee Jays players, who donned light blue shirts with "KC" on the front, the Kaiser's parents Chad and Gayle thanked funeral attendees for their support. Chad even directed comments to the player whose practice swing killed his son. A funeral for 9-year-old Kaiser Carlile Earl Watt / Leader & Times / AP "Thank you all from the bottom of my heart," Chad said. "You guys have also shown a lot of support for us. Our daughter, I couldn't express how much she loves you. I might have lost a son in this tragedy, but I feel like I've gained a family." Kaiser was running to bring a bat to a player after an out at a Bee Jays game on Aug. 1 when he was struck in the head by the batter. He died later at a hospital from his injuries. Liberal, Kansas Bee Jays players at funeral for Kaiser Carlile, 9 Earl Watt / Leader & Times / AP The team, which is part of a summer college league, recently remembered the 9-year-old at a , calling him their "little spark plug." A group of the players postponed heading back to college in order to attend the funeral for Kaiser, the Eagle reports. A slideshow featuring photos of the boy closed out the hour-long funeral. Near the end of the service, Pastor Rex Patty said Kaiser touched many people during his life. "Kaiser lived well, and he lived too short," Patty said.

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Kaiser Carlile, 9-Year-Old Bat Boy, Laid to Rest : People.com

The 9-year-old bat boy donned his blue Liberal Bee Jays uniform on Tuesday as many gathered to say one last goodbye

20150820011514

In late July, Huang Xiuyuan, the 28-year-old CEO of Chinese startup carmaker Youxia Motors, unveiled the design for a high-performance electric sedan. Called Ranger X, the car is attractive, nicely proportioned, sporty looking. It will be instantly familiar to anyone who has seen a Tesla Model S – but we’re no longer surprised by Chinese carmakers paying legally questionable homage to successful Western models. The car is weird, but its story is weirder. First, its most useless innovation: The Ranger X has a holographic display in place of a front grille. Yes, a holographic display. It can show Youxia’s name and ‘Y’ emblem (which looks suspiciously like Tesla’s ‘T’ emblem), or a snippet of driver-inputted text, or emoji, or that red Pong display from the front of Knight Rider’s KITT. Second, the car’s Google Android-based systems and infotainment operating system is actually called “KITT,” after the Pontiac Trans Am co-star of the awful ‘80s television series (which we watched every episode of, even the ones with Michael Knight’s evil twin Garth). The driver interacts with that system through a vertically oriented 17in touchscreen display, much like the driver of a Model S would interact with that car’s vertically oriented 17in display. Small world. From here, the Ranger X driver can choose which throaty sports car growl (from a list that includes mostly Jaguars and Ferraris) should be artificially piped into the cabin. Third, the very name “Youxia” roughly translates as “traveling knight,” furthering the Hasselhoffian connections. Huang Xiuyuan openly admits to being a Knight Rider fan, and claims the idea for the car came to him in a dream. And fourth… well, according to CarNewsChina.com, there might not even be a Youxia Ranger X. The Shanghai-based company had promised to unveil an electric sports car called the Youxia One at the July event, which was to be built on a Hyundai Genesis chassis, but the One (and the investor money behind it) didn’t show. That investor money instead went to buy a Tesla Model S, which was then reverse-engineered (with no little help from Tesla’s open patents) to create the Ranger X. Or maybe it wasn’t. CarNewsChina did a little comparison and came away convinced that everything more than fender-deep on the X is actually an S, based on the wheelbase, the door pillars, and the interior that no one was actually allowed to see. The previously mentioned investors are reportedly unhappy. They might be buoyed by the specs of the Ranger X, however, if Youxia Motors can make it happen. The car promises a 285-mile range on a charge, zero-to-60mph in under six seconds with 348 horsepower, half-hour charging, and – most shockingly – a price tag that starts at about 200,000 yuan – just over $30,000. That last bit, actually, may be the hardest thing to believe about the Ranger X. If you would like to comment on this or anything else you have seen on BBC Autos, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.

http://web.archive.org/web/20150820011514id_/http://www.bbc.com:80/autos/story/20150818-youxia-ranger-x-is-totally-not-a-tesla

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Youxia Ranger X is totally not a Tesla

Equal parts Model S and KITT from Knight Rider, this sleek sedan is China's electric car of the future. Maybe.

20150824204945

Read MoreThe young & the restless: Activism's rising stars People in and around the investment world figure prominently in the class of 187 hotshots under the age of 40. From private equity, there's Sean Klimczak, a senior managing director at Blackstone Group who focuses on power projects. Klimczak helped lead the firm's investment in the Bujagali hydroelectric dam in Uganda, for example, a project that boosted economic growth by nearly doubling the country's electricity capacity. Also from the PE industry is Hua Fung Teh, a former F16D fighter aviator in the Singaporean Air Force who's now a vice president at PE giant TPG Capital who helps find investments in Southeast Asia. There's also Genevieve Sangudi, a Tanzanian who grew up in Boston and is now head of West Africa for the Carlyle Group. Sangudi is based in Lagos, Nigeria for Carlyle, one of the large private equity firms starting to invest on the continent. From banking, there's Max Neukirchen, a finance PhD who became the head of corporate strategy at JPMorgan Chase in 2013 after more than a decade as a banking expert at consulting giant McKinsey & Co. There's also Karen Fang, a managing director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch who helps clients hedge their risk across asset classes. Fang, born in China, is a former ballerina who went to college in Japan and then started at Merrill Lynch in 1998 working to structure derivatives. And there's Kathryn Koch, the head of global portfolio solutions at Goldman Sachs. Koch worked under former asset management head Jim O'Neill and helped him promote the idea of the "BRICs"—Brazil, Russia, India and China—as important growth markets starting in the early 2000s, according to a profile in The National. From hedge funds, there's Ashish Goyal, a portfolio manager at London-based BlueCrest Capital Management. Goyal, who is blind, used to manage risk for JPMorgan. He calls himself a "thinker by obsession, and lover of good things in life as a passion" on his Twitter account, @insaneodyssey. And for venture capital, there's Connie Chan, the head of Asia and consumer-related technology investments for prominent Menlo Park, California-based investor Andreessen Horowitz. A Stanford educated partner at the firm, her LinkedIn profile says she seeks "industry experts, great entrepreneurs and very cool ideas!" Read MoreHow much? $43 hot dogs at Davos

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Can these young financiers change the world?

The World Economic Forum has named its "Young Global Leaders"--including many financial types--and expect them to be forces for global good.

20150906110859

This release should be read with the unaudited financial statements and management's discussion and analysis available at www.cumtn.com and filed on www.sedar.com. Our financial results are prepared in accordance with IFRS and expressed in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise noted. Sales and production volumes for the Company's 75%-owned Copper Mountain mine are presented on a 100% basis unless otherwise indicated. VANCOUVER, Aug. 10, 2015 /CNW/ - Copper Mountain Mining Corporation (TSX: CUM) (the "Company" or "Copper Mountain") announces second quarter revenues of $56.8 million after pricing adjustments and treatment charges from the sale of 18.4 million pounds of copper, 6,300 ounces of gold, and 66,700 ounces of silver. Total cash costs for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 was US$1.81 per pound of copper sold, net of precious metals credits. Q2 - 2015 Highlights (100% Basis) Copper, gold and silver production for the second quarter of 2015 at Copper Mountain Mine (100%) was 19.5 million pounds of copper, 7,800 ounces of gold and 71,100 ounces of silver. Revenues for the second quarter of 2015 were $56.8 million from the sale of 18.4 million pounds of copper, 6,300 ounces of gold, and 66,700 ounces of silver, net of pricing adjustments. Adjusted earnings were $3.5 million for the quarter. Cash flow from operations was $15 million for the quarter. Cash on hand at the end of the quarter was $22.4 million, an increase of $7 million over the first quarter ending cash position. Mine production continued at a mining rate of 167,000 tpd moved. In early April 2015, the SAG mill achieved an all time daily throughput record of 45,939 tpd. Site cash costs for the quarter were in-line with expectations at US$1.36 per pound of copper produced net of precious metal credits. Total cash costs for the quarter were in-line with expectations at US$1.81 per pound of copper sold net of precious metal credits and after all off-site charges. Realized prices on metal sales for Q2 2015 were US$2.74 per pound of copper, US$1,196 per ounce of gold and US$16.41 per ounce of silver. Jim O'Rourke, President and CEO of Copper Mountain, remarked "Cost reductions and increased production are our continued focus. The disciplined dedication to our goals is reflected in the increased operating performance and the reduced costs achieved in the second quarter. This continuing drive for improvements at the mine is positioning the Company well to weather current global market conditions. In addition, Copper Mountain's bottom line continues to benefit from a weaker Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. dollar, as approximately 88% of the Company's operating costs have a Canadian dollar cost basis". Mr. O'Rourke continued, "Copper Mountain Mining generated positive free cash flow during the second quarter, helped by increased productivity and lower costs. In keeping with this trend, no major capital expenditures are planned for the second half of 2015 and production improvements are expected to continue through to the end of the year". (CDN$, except for cash cost data in US$) Adjusted earnings (loss) per share2 Cash Flow from operating activities before working capital items Site cash costs per pound of copper produced (net of gold, silver credits) (US$) Total cash costs per pound of copper sold (net of gold, silver credits) (US$) During the quarter, the company completed three shipments of concentrate containing approximately 18.4 million pounds of copper, 6,300 ounces of gold, and 66,700 ounces of silver to Japan for smelting and recorded revenues, net of smelter charges and pricing adjustments, of $56.8 million, realizing a gross profit of $1.2 million. The total cash cost of copper sold for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 were in-line with expectations at US$1.81 per pound of copper net of gold and silver by-product credits as a result of ongoing cost cutting measures taken at the mine site. During the quarter, mining activities continued in the Pit 2 area where the majority of the ore will be mined from for the balance of 2015. At the same time the Company continued with the Phase 3 pushback on the west side of Pit 3. Copper head grade for the year is forecasted to be on average 0.33% copper or approximately 0.41% copper equivalent. During the quarter a total of 14.2 million tonnes of material was mined, including 5.7 million tonnes of ore and 8.5 million tonnes of waste, realizing a strip ratio of 1.48. The mining rate at the end of the period was in the range of 167,000 tpd moved. As a result of cost cutting measures taken early in the year site cash costs were in-line with expectations at US$1.36 per pound of copper after gold and silver by-product credits. Mill throughput from the concentrator continued to improve month-over-month, averaging 35,600 tpd during the second quarter, which was an improvement of approximately 7% during the quarter as compared to the first quarter of 2015. This is a milestone for the operation as it was the first time that the concentrator has exceeded design capacity of 35,000 tpd for an entire quarter. This improvement continued into July 2015, as throughput averaged 39,100 tpd for the month, thus providing management with confidence that the targeted rate of 37,500 tpd is achievable on a consistent basis. This increase in throughput is directly attributable to the installation of the secondary crusher and mine site management's ability to optimize the crushing and grinding circuit. During the quarter the mill processed a total of 3.2 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 0.33% copper to produce 19.5 million pounds of copper, 7,800 ounces of gold, and 71,100 ounces of silver. SAG Mill availability was 90.7% during the second quarter as a result of planned maintenance during the period. Copper recovery averaged 82.4%, which was in-line with the Company's plans. The following table sets out the major operating parameters for the mine for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015. Copper Mountain Mine (100% Basis) Site cash costs per pound of copper produced (net of precious metal credits) (US$) Total cash costs per pound of copper sold (net of precious metal credits) (US$) Listed below is a summarized balance sheet and income statement as well as details for our conference call schedule: Pricing adjustments on concentrate and metal sales Deferred income and resource tax recovery (expense) Pricing adjustments on concentrate and metal sales Unrealized gain (loss) on interest rate swap Unrealized gain (loss) on foreign exchange Net Income (loss) comprehensive income (loss) for the period Net income (loss) and comprehensive income (loss) attributable to: Adjusted (loss) earnings per share The full set of financial statements and accompanying MD&A are posted on Sedar.com. Exploration Update:As part of efforts to minimize capital expenditures during the period of lower copper prices, exploration activities at the mine site during the quarter were limited to a continuation of geotechnical mapping and compilation of geological data. In addition three dimensional computer assisted modelling of the dykes and other geological zones were carried out. Planning and optimization of drill hole placement and orientation for deep drilling in the Pit 3 area was undertaken and integration of the recently completed magnetic survey inversion with deep penetration induced polarization data for the purposes of defining blind exploration targets was continued. During the quarter the Company issued an updated 43-101 report for the mine, including a ten year production forecast. Over the next ten years it is anticipated that the mine grade will average 0.43%Cu equivalent grade. Production rates will be set each year as part of the annual budgeting process. Upgrading of inferred resources to reserve status with additional drilling has been very successful and is the major goal of the long-term exploration plan. Discovery of new mineralized areas continues as a focus of the on-going exploration program; however, exploration activities will be sensitive to copper price. About Copper Mountain Mining Corporation:Copper Mountain's flagship asset is the 75% owned Copper Mountain mine located in southern British Columbia near the town of Princeton. The Company has a strategic alliance with Mitsubishi Materials Corporation who owns the remaining 25%. The Copper Mountain mine commenced production in the latter half of 2011, and has continued to improve its operations. The key development for 2014 was the installation of the secondary crusher as a permanent solution to maximize concentrator throughput and improve overall efficiencies for the company. Secondary crusher construction was completed by the end of July 2014 on budget and on schedule. The 18,000 acre site has a large resource of copper that remains open laterally and at depth. The mine has significant exploration potential that will need to be explored over the next few years to fully appreciate the property's full development potential. Additional information is available on the Company's web page at www.CuMtn.com. Conference Call Details:A conference call and webcast will be held on Monday August 10th, 2015 at 7:30 am (Pacific Daylight Time) for management to discuss the results. This discussion will be followed by a question-and-answer period with investors. Live Dial-in informationToronto and international: 416-764-8688North America (toll-free): 888-390-0546To participate in the webcast live via your computer go to: http://www.newswire.ca/VmoA8 Replay call informationToronto and international: 416-764-8677, passcode 290698North America (toll-free): 888-390-0541, passcode 290698The conference call replay will be available from 10:30 am (PST) on August 11, 2015, until 11:59 pm PST on August 24, 2015Participant audio webcast will also be available on the company's website http://www.cumtn.com On behalf of the Board ofCOPPER MOUNTAIN MINING CORPORATION"Rod Shier"Rodney A. Shier, CA.Chief Financial Officer Note: This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events or results. Readers are referred to the documents, filed by the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, specifically the most recent reports which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to review or confirm analysts' expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statement. _______________________1 Adjusted earnings (loss) is a non-GAAP financial measure which removes unrealized gains/losses on interest rate swaps, pricing adjustments on concentrate metal sales and foreign currency gains/losses.2 Calculated based on weighted average number of shares outstanding under the basic method based on adjusted earnings.3 Excludes ore re-handle from stockpile4 Tonnes per day5 Cost of sales consists of direct mining and milling costs (which include mine site employee compensation and benefits, mine site general and administrative costs, non-capitalized stripping costs, maintenance and repair costs, operating supplies and external services), depreciation and offsite transportation costs.6 Adjusted earnings (loss) is a non-GAAP financial measure which excludes unrealized gains/losses on derivative instruments, changes in fair value of financial instruments, foreign currency gains/losses, pricing adjustments related to metal sales and non-recurring transactions. SOURCE Copper Mountain Mining Corporation

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Copper Mountain announces positive Q2 2015 results

VANCOUVER, Aug. 10, 2015/ CNW/- Copper Mountain Mining Corporation announces second quarter revenues of $56.8 million after pricing adjustments and treatment charges from the sale of 18.4 million pounds of copper, 6,300 ounces of gold, and 66,700 ounces of silver. Total cash costs for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 was US $1.81 per pound of copper sold, net of...

20150923172347

Such an effort would thrust Washington's traditionally cautious and pragmatic business lobby into open warfare with the Tea Party faction, which has grown in influence since the 2010 election and won a series of skirmishes with the Republican establishment in the last two years. "We are looking at ways to counter the rise of an ideological brand of conservatism that, for lack of a better word, is more anti-establishment than it has been in the past," said David French, the top lobbyist at the National Retail Federation. "We have come to the conclusion that sitting on the sidelines is not good enough." (Read more: Obama seeks opening with GOP leader) Some warned that a default could spur a shift in the relationship between the corporate world and the Republican Pary. Long intertwined by mutual self-interest on deregulation and lower taxes, the business lobby and Republicans are diverging not only over the fiscal crisis, but on other major issues like immigration reform, which was favored by business groups and party leaders but stymied in the House by many of the same lawmakers now leading the debt fight. Joe Echevarria, the chief executive of Deloitte, the accounting and consulting firm, said, "I'm a Republican by definition and by registration, but the party seems to have split into two factions." While both parties have extreme elements, he suggested, only in the G.O.P. did the extreme element exercise real power. "The extreme right has 90 seats in the House," Mr. Echevarria said. "Occupy Wall Street has no seats." (Read more: Stocks seem to be signaling a debt deal) Moreover, business leaders and trade groups said, the tools that have served them in the past — campaign contributions, large memberships across the country, a multibillion-dollar lobbying apparatus — do not seem to be working. "There clearly are people in the Republican Party at the moment for whom the business community and the interests of the business community — the jobs and members they represent — don't seem to be their top priority," said Dan Danner, the head of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, which spearheaded opposition to President Obama's health care law among small businesses."They don't really care what the N.F.I.B. thinks, and don't care what the Chamber thinks, and probably don't care what the Business Roundtable thinks." The lawmakers seem to agree. Representative Randy Neugebauer, Republican of Texas and a Tea Party caucus member, said in an interview on Wednesday that if American corporations wanted to send their money elsewhere, that was their choice. "We have got to quit worrying about the next election, and start worrying about the country," said Mr. Neugebauer, who sits on the House Financial Services Committee and is a recipient of significant donations from Wall Street. Few of the most conservative House lawmakers draw substantial support from business political action committees, and business lobbyists acknowledged that the mere suggestion they were considering backing primary challenges next year could enhance grass-roots support for the very lawmakers they want to defeat. But the dysfunction in Washington has now turned so extreme, they said, that they had few other options. (Watch: Does Obama want to break the GOP?) "What we want is a conservative business person, but someone who in many respects will be more realistic, in our opinion," said Bruce Josten, the top lobbyist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the single biggest lobbying organization in Washington. In the two previous battles over the debt limit many chief executives were reluctant to take sides, banding together in groups like Fix the Debt, which spent millions of dollars on a campaign urging Democrats and Republicans to work toward a "grand bargain" on the budget. But with shutdown a reality, and the clock ticking toward default,some of those same executives now place the blame squarely on conservative Republicans in the House. "It's clearly this faction within the Republican Party that's causing the issue right now," said David M. Cote, the chief executive of Honeywell and a steering board member of Fix the Debt. The rift, these industry executives acknowledge, reflects longstanding tensions that sometimes emerge between the agendas of corporate executives and those embraced by the conservative wing of the Republican Party. "We ask them to carry our water all the time," said one corporate sector lobbyist, who demanded anonymity in order to speak frankly about the relationship with Republicans. "But we don't necessarily support them 100 percent of the time.And what has happened is the rise of an ideological wing that is now willing to stand up to business interests." Despite their diminished leverage, business leaders said they would step up their appeals for an agreement. (Read more: Europe stocks higher on US budget progress) Most of the officials said they agree in principle with conservative lawmakers about the need to cut federal spending or roll back parts of Obamacare, but said using the threat of shutdown — or worse, of a debt default — to extract those concessions was both ineffective and dangerous. Mr.Josten said he had been on Capitol Hill every day this week counseling compromise. "The name calling, blame gaming — using slurs like jihadist, terrorist, cowards, that kind of language — it does not get you to a deal," Mr. Josten said of the advice he is giving to Democrats and Republicans. "The problem is everybody is in the same corner here and everybody has to try to save some face." To some extent, the Chamber itself, along with other lobbying groups, helped create the conditions for Washington's impasse. (Read more:Boehner to ask House for short-term debt deal)

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Business groups see loss of sway over House GOP

With the federal government pushing toward a budget default, big business groups are worried they have lost sway over the GOP majority in the House.

20150924171455

As the United States transitions its eating habits to embrace more organic and natural foods, Warren Buffettmade a wholehearted endorsement of junk food at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting this weekend. Jim Cramer could see how this makes sense for the Oracle of Omaha, given Berkshire's ownership of Dairy Queen and sizeable positions in Heinz, Coca-Cola and Kraft. "All of which are great brands, but they're also old-fashioned, non-natural, non-organic pantry brands," the "Mad Money" host said. In this case, Cramer thinks Buffett could be missing the bigger picture. Everywhere around us are stories swirling about how the food industry has embraced healthy eating and natural foods. One person who has embraced this movement is Ali Partovi, a visionary angel investor, start-up advisor and entrepreneur. Partovi's views on food and technology are basically the complete opposite of Buffett's. When he last spoke with "Mad Money" in March, Partovi confirmed his belief that organic farming can actually be more profitable and efficient than the current infrastructure in place for agriculture. Can organic farming really feed the world? Cramer sat down with Partovi to discuss the major trends that are flipping the table on how the world eats today. Read MoreClick here to watch Ali Partovi's full interview Wal-Mart recently surveyed its shoppers, and revealed that 91 percent of customers want to eat organic food. Yet, only 1 percent of America's farmland is certified organic. Partovi pointed to this large discrepancy as the reason why organic food so expensive. "You can't make a generic statement, but organic food is more expensive. Not because organic farming is more expensive but simply because of supply and demand," he said. So why doesn't every farmer in the U.S. just switch its crops to growing what people want? Partovi explained that it is more profitable to farm organically because farmers don't have to foot the bill for chemicals and fertilizers. And there's always a short supply of organic produce. However, many are deterred by the three-year period that is required to grow crops without chemicals without an organic premium. "That creates some fear, but that is what makes a great investment opportunity. You need some capital investment, and it's a very profitable return on investment," he added. ---------------------------------------------------------- Read more from Mad Money with Jim Cramer Cramer Remix: How to play Whole Foods Cramer: Buffett to work his magic Cramer: Quit crying! This group's ready for buying ---------------------------------------------------------- Ultimately, Partovi attributed the change in perspective in eating habits to three major trends that are happening in the food space. First is the rapid growth of the world population. Second is an increased consumption of meat, especially in growing countries like China. He named the third trend as the growing consciousness about food. People not only in the U.S., but in developing countries around the world are demanding food that is healthier, sustainable and better for both their body and the planet. "I think that is the challenge that our food system faces: to produce more food for more people, but also to do so in a way that is healthier and more sustainable while keeping it affordable," Partovi said.

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Warren Buffett's biggest diet nightmare

Jim Cramer talks to Ali Partovi on the growing trend of organic farming and three major trends flipping the table on how the world eats.

20150926232020

* Islamic State advances in Iraq, Syria raise supply worries * U.S. crude futures set for 10th consecutive weekly rise * Book-squaring reported ahead of long holiday weekend * Coming up: Baker Hughes rig count at 1700 GMT (Updates throughout, changes dateline, previous SINGAPORE) LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Friday as worries over the impact on crude supplies of war in the Middle East were balanced by reports of profit-taking ahead of a long weekend. Monday, May 25 is Memorial Day in the United States and a public holiday in much of Europe, closing many markets. "No one wants to hold open positions ahead of a long weekend so books are being squared, bringing some consolidation," said Carsten Fritsch, senior oil and commodities analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. July Brent crude was down 25 cents at $66.29 a barrel by 0800 GMT after closing up 2.3 percent on Thursday. U.S. crude futures are experiencing their longest winning streak since records began in 1983, helped by a drop in U.S. crude and product stockpiles last week, reflecting better demand in the world's largest oil consumer. U.S. crude for July was down 27 cents at $60.45 a barrel, but poised to post gains for the 10th week in a row. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration this week showed a big decline in U.S. oil product stockpiles, suggesting end-user demand has been strong. "With U.S. travel expected to reach a 10-year high over Memorial Day, according to AAA (American Automobile Association), product inventory is expected to decline even further over coming weeks," ANZ analysts said in a report. Fighting in Iraq has increased geopolitical tension in the Middle East with concern that conflicts in the region could disrupt supply. Islamic State fighters tightened their grip on the historic Syrian city of Palmyra on Thursday and overran Iraqi government defences east of Ramadi, the provincial capital that they seized five days earlier. Government forces have been routed across large parts of central Iraq, the second largest oil exporter in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. "The headlines from the Middle East have been worrying, although the fighting probably won't affect oil supply," said Fritsch at Commerzbank. U.S crude was also supported by expectations of lower shale oil production, said Ric Spooner, chief analyst at CMC Markets. "If we were to see prices $5 to $10 higher, that would attract new production, so the upside is capped," he said, adding that this encourages traders to sell when prices rallied. U.S. crude stocks in delivery hub Cushing, Oklahoma, fell by almost 740,000 barrels between Friday and Tuesday, trade sources said, citing a report by market intelligence firm Genscape. (Additional reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Susan Thomas)

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UPDATE 3-Brent crude oil steadies near $66 before long weekend

*Islamic State advances in Iraq, Syria raise supply worries. LONDON, May 22- Oil prices steadied on Friday as worries over the impact on crude supplies of war in the Middle East were balanced by reports of profit-taking ahead of a long weekend. "No one wants to hold open positions ahead of a long weekend so books are being squared, bringing some consolidation," said...

20150928172318

GREGORY SPEARS: “Requiem’’ (New Amsterdam, CD) Gregory Spears’s “Requiem’’ is some of the most beautifully unsettling music to appear in recent memory. Originally commissioned to accompany a dance by choreographer Christopher Williams, the piece has a hybrid text that mixes bits of the standard Latin Requiem sequence with poems in French and the Celtic language of Breton. It’s part fairy tale, part prayer for the dead. The music is a fusion as well. Scored for an unusual instrumental ensemble - recorder, chimes, harps, organ, and viola - and six voices, the music sounds like a Renaissance madrigal remixed for the postminimalist age. The vocal lines swirl like high-flying birds - they don’t harmonize so much as spin perilously in and out of each other’s orbit. The harmonies in the instrumental ensemble move slowly, close to stasis, as if trying to drag the voices out of the ether and down to earth. It’s hard to know what to call this music, though it must be a challenge to perform, and the musicians on this recording do exemplary work. It is harder still to explain the cold shiver it induces. Perhaps it’s due to all the space in the music. “Requiem’’ does not work by overwhelming a listener; a simple chord from a harp, a piercing entrance by a soprano, or a simple change from major to minor each carry an outsize emotional charge. Whatever the secret, do not be surprised if its seemingly simple songs about swans, witches, and death remain in your memory to haunt your dreams. DAVID WEININGER SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 4; MAHLER: ‘‘Das Lied von der Erde’’ BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (ICA Classics, DVD) The difference between Kurt Sanderling and Erich Leinsdorf is black-and-white — or it would be if this ICA Classics DVD weren’t in color. On the podium, Sanderling (who died in September, two days short of his 99th birthday) resembles a deftly dancing walrus — Pierre Monteux without the mustache. He slashes away with his baton as if he were auditioning for an Errol Flynn movie. This Schumann Fourth (from 1988) opens with a kind of sigh, and it has more sweep than Leinsdorf’s reading, and more of a sense of tension and release. Yet it doesn’t necessarily build to a bigger effect. What really distinguishes this release from ICA’s Leinsdorf DVD is the camera, which tries to focus on every orchestral detail. That can be distracting, though it pays dividends in Mahler’s ‘‘Das Lied von der Erde’’ (also from 1988), particularly when it’s spotlighting the trumpet in ‘‘Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde’’ or the oboe in ‘‘Der Einsame im Herbst’’ or the English horn in ‘‘Der Abschied.’’ There are many beautiful details here, like the orchestra’s pitter- patter in ‘‘Von der Jugend,’’ and the tenor, John Mitchinson, is a jowly bear of a singer who lights up his drinking songs with easy, good-natured grace. But the mezzo-soprano, Carolyn Watkinson, is closed, heavy, and unsmiling (she does open up in ‘‘Der Abschied’’), and Sanderling’s interpretation, though sensitive, doesn’t reveal any new Mahler worlds. JEFFREY GANTZ If you didn’t already believe that Johann Sebastian Bach is the greatest composer who ever wrote on planet Earth, you probably will after viewing this loving, informative, and insightful documentary. Director Michael Lawrence (he also edited and produced) conducted in-depth and surprisingly intimate interviews with an impressive array of Bach interpreters: violinists Joshua Bell and Hilary Hahn; composer Philip Glass; pianists Mike Hawley and Simone Dinnerstein; cellists Matt Haimovitz and Zuill Bailey; the Emerson Quartet; and jazz musician Bobby McFerrin, to name a few. The conversations appear in accessible bite-size pieces, artfully interspersed with intense excerpts of excellent sound quality from the speakers’ performances. The editing has a natural, lively rhythm — wisely Lawrence doesn’t use a narrator — that avoids platitudes and poetically illustrates the musicians’ ideas. One dominant theme is that Bach was not only a composer, but also an engineer, mathematician, and scientist completely aware of the technical capabilities of the music and instruments of his day. Many marvel at Bach’s astounding rate of productivity, even under frequently trying personal circumstances; Glass describes him as a fountain of musical ideas that ‘‘arrived in his mind complete.’’ Among the musical highlights is Bell’s spiritual performance of the Chaconne from the Partita No. 2. Included is a bonus DVD with complete performances of works heard in part in the documentary. HARLOW ROBINSON SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 9; SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 4; WAGNER: Good Friday Music from ‘‘Parsifal’’ Erich Leinsdorf; Boston Symphony Orchestra (ICA Classics, DVD) Has there ever been a conductor stranger to watch than Erich Leinsdorf? He’s Mr. Minimal on the podium, and Mr. Phlegmatic, and Mr. Eternally Perplexed. He can look at his players as if they were Professor Hill’s kids from ‘‘The Music Man’’ and he were trying not to listen. When he holds his elbows out and lets his wrists and hands dangle, he’s like a clockwork doll. There are times on this black-and-white ICA Classics DVD when his hands seem to be doing the fish. The Schubert and Schumann symphonies were shot in Sanders Theatre in 1963 and 1962, respectively, back when the BSO was a regular visitor to Harvard; the Good FridayMusic from Wagner’s ‘‘Parsifal’’ was shot in 1964 at Symphony Hall. Conducting with no baton and no score, Leinsdorf builds these performances as if he were working with LEGO blocks: some precision oboe here, some pellucid counterpoint there. You’re reminded that he was born in Vienna during the rise of the Second Viennese School; these are clear-headed readings right out of the Wiener Werkstätte. The one oddity is the funereal tempo for the second movement of the Schumann, which is marked ‘‘Romanze.’’ Yet it builds into something like passion. And Leinsdorf always leaves you wondering whether what he has created is less than the sum of its parts or more. The Good Friday Music seems an afterthought. Leinsdorf was a renowned Wagnerian who conducted ‘‘Parsifal’’ 19 times at the Met, but this performance has no portent, only reverence.

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Reviews: Classical music CDs and DVDs

Reviews of recently released classical music CDs and DVDs, including Gregory Spears: Requiem (New Amsterdam): some of the most beautifully unsettling music to appear in recent memory. Originally commissioned to accompany a dance by choreographer Christopher Williams, the piece has a hybrid text that mixes bits of the standard Latin Requiem sequence with poems in French and the Celtic language of Breton.

20151012105010

Today’s deal decreases the chances of an Alibaba Group IPO, but may boost the odds of a Yahoo takeover. Silver Lake Partners announced today that it is leading a $1.6 billion investment in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, alongside DST Capital, Yunfeng Capital and existing Alibaba shareholder Temasek. The deal is designed as a tender offer to provide liquidity for Alibaba employees, and values the company at approximately $32 billion. More importantly, it seems to signal that an Alibaba Group IPO is a long ways off. Chairman Jack Ma, who participated with the investor group, suggested earlier this year that an IPO for the unlisted parent company was possible. But this deal seems to have removed the impetus for such a transaction, since Alibaba would have accessed the public markets for liquidity rather than capital. Silver Lake and its investment partners will no doubt need liquidity of their own one day, but that could mean five or six years from now. And, even at that late date, their exit could come via a share sale, either to a third-party or to the company itself. Moreover, Silver Lake and DST will not have any voting rights at Alibaba following the tender, in order to comply with China’s foreign ownership rules. The flip side of this coin is Yahoo YHOO , which acquired a 40% stake in Alibaba in 2005 for just $1 billion. Silver Lake reportedly has been considering an acquisition offer for Yahoo, which would be financially impossible were Yahoo’s Alibaba position not simultaneously divested (Alibaba has first dibs, per terms of the original agreement). Sources familiar with the situation say that today’s deal has been in the works for months, and that it was not at all affected by the prospect of a Yahoo bid. “It would be irresponsible, and arguably a breach of fiduciary duty, to ask investors for hundreds of millions of dollars to help facilitate another deal that may or may not happen,” one source said. So Silver Lake’s Alibaba deal time was driven by prospective IRR, not Yahoo. But what if we look at it from the other direction: Is Silver Lake’s Yahoo deal team affected by Alibaba? Silver Lake has known about the burgeoning Alibaba relationship for a while, which perhaps makes them more confident than are other suitors that they could work out a divestiture. The whole thing still remains a long-shot — Silver Lake’s largest-ever deal was Skype, which was tiny compared to Yahoo — but perhaps a bit more possible today than it was yesterday… Sign up for my daily email newsletter on deals and deal-makers: GetTermSheet.com

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What Silver Lake deal means for Alibaba and Yahoo

Today's deal decreases the chances of an Alibaba Group IPO, but may boost the odds of a Yahoo takeover. Silver Lake Partners announced today that it is leading a $1.6 billion investment in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, alongside DST Capital, Yunfeng Capital and existing Alibaba shareholder Temasek. The deal is designed as a tender…

20151012154357

* China copper imports at 350,000 T, flat on month, up on year * JPM to depart LME ring as electronic trade gains sway * Coming Up: Eurozone Revised Q2 GDP at 0900 GMT (Adds comment, detail, updates prices) MELBOURNE, Sept 8 (Reuters) - London copper held its ground on Tuesday after China's August trade data showed copper imports holding steady in the world's top metals user despite signs of broader struggles for growth. China's total exports fell less than expected last month but a steeper slide in imports pointed to continuing economic weakness, adding to concerns over the world's second-largest economy that have been rattling global markets. The country's copper imports, though, were flat to July and up 2.9 percent from a year ago at 350,000 tonnes. "It's a positive sign. Within any recovery you want to see signs of a pick up in demand, a firming in premiums. We're seeing those imports pick up so that's relatively positive for copper," said Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer at Sydney's Ayers Alliance. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was little changed at $5,143 a tonne by 0437 GMT after ending a tad firmer in the previous session. Shanghai Futures Exchange copper firmed by 0.3 percent to 39,380 yuan ($6,185) a tonne. China's foreign exchange reserves posted their biggest monthly fall on record in August, reflecting Beijing's attempts to halt a slide in the yuan and stabilise financial markets following its surprise move to devalue the currency last month. Helping to support copper were a series of supply cuts. London-listed mining giant Glencore said it plans to suspend 400,000 tonnes of output at its Katanga Mining unit in Democratic Republic of Congo and at Mopani Copper Mines in Zambia over the next 18 months. But significant price gains are unlikely because supplies are still adequate and growth in demand is weak, particularly from top consumer China, analysts said. Also, the investment plans of Chile's state copper producer Codelco are in tatters as it faces delays to mine expansions and keeps at least one unprofitable project running with global copper prices plumbing multi-year lows. Elsewhere, China's aluminium exports dropped again, after global premiums collapsed this year, making shipments to global markets less competitive. Global prices had been depressed by a flood of semi-manufactured exports out of the country. In news, U.S. bank JP Morgan is quitting open outcry trading on the London Metal Exchange after cutting back on its commodity business, a move that also shows the increasing importance of electronic dealing in metals. Most active ShFE tin ($1 = 6.3667 Chinese yuan) (Editing by Richard Pullin and Tom Hogue)

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METALS-London copper holds ground after China trade dims

MELBOURNE, Sept 8- London copper held its ground on Tuesday after China's August trade data showed copper imports holding steady in the world's top metals user despite signs of broader struggles for growth. China's total exports fell less than expected last month but a steeper slide in imports pointed to continuing economic weakness, adding to concerns over...

20151211082245

By now, the whole football world should know Cam Newton's touchdown tradition. The MVP candidate has a habit of handing touchdown balls to kids in the stands. It's a selfless move that makes one of the NFL's most exciting players an even more likable character. Field judge No. 67, identified as Doug Rosenbaum, must have gone out of his way to avoid learning Newton's "Sunday Giveaway" ritual. When Newton threw a touchdown pass to Ted Ginn, Jr. in the third quarter Sunday, Ginn left the ball in the end zone. Rosenbaum picked up the ball, and when Newton attempted to retrieve it, Rosenbaum refused to hand it to the quarterback. Apparently refs are in on the conspiracy to prevent Cam Newton from giving footballs away. https://t.co/LBOszPPPNs pic.twitter.com/BTcwpQL67d — SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF) December 6, 2015 Newton is persistent, following the referee until he hands the pigskin to a ball boy. He then hands it to a Panthers fan displaced in New Orleans for the afternoon. Another Sunday Giveaway! #CARvsNO pic.twitter.com/eZDI45jDAS — Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) December 6, 2015 When Ginn scored later in the game, he did not put things in the official's hands. Sunday Giveaway courtesy of @TedGinnJr_19! #CARvsNO pic.twitter.com/PRC7YVoX62 — Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) December 7, 2015 The Panthers won, 41-38, to go to 12-0. Newton has 2,797 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns, 476 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns this season. Look at these dorks try to ruin Cam's Sunday giveaway to no avail. pic.twitter.com/MnbAmR9kbY — Brandon (@BPayton216) December 6, 2015 Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers, Football, New Orleans Saints, NFL, Ted Ginn Jr.

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Grumpy Official Tries To Block Cam Newton's Giveaway

By now, the whole football world should know Cam Newton's touchdown tradition. The MVP candidate has a habit of handing touchdown balls to kids in the...

20160129093325

In a move that has even the most experienced US political observers scratching their heads, Donald Trump says he won't show up for today's Republican debate — the last one before next week's Iowa caucus. The absence of the Republican front-runner in a presidential debate is almost unprecedented – but then again, just about everything Trump has done so far has confounded the conventional wisdom. Once again the billionaire real estate mogul has the US wondering whether he's crazy or brilliant. His long-running feud with Fox News host and debate moderator Megyn Kelly has been cited as the reason for his absence before a potential audience of over 13 million would-be voters. But the likely motivation for Trump steering clear of the debate is much less personal — he's already winning, so why take the risk? Trump has opened up a wide lead over his opponents in both Iowa and nationwide, and short of an immense scandal, he'll get the Republican nomination. Staying out of the debate means staying out of trouble, and any criticisms levelled at him by the other opponents will be blunted for the simple reason that he isn't there. And there's an even smarter reason Trump might have for skipping the debate — he's thinking ahead to the general election. Trump has won over plenty of Republicans with his blustering, politically incorrect style, but the rest of the country isn't impressed. Believing he already has the Republican nomination tied up, Trump is now avoiding situations where he might alienate independent voters, who hold the key to the White House. A televised confrontation with a reporter like Megyn Kelly is one such situation. The feud all began with Kelly asking Trump a series of hardball questions during the first debate in August, questioning his past statements disparaging women. Trump batted the questions away successfully during the debate but then started mocking her on Twitter, calling her a "bimbo" and singling out her moderation as "not very good or professional". Perhaps his desire to win over independent, moderate voters is why he's picked a fight with Fox News. The 24-hour news channel is now almost entirely watched by conservative audiences, and to independent and Democratic voters it represents the worst of the far-right wing. In a statement released after Trump announced he wouldn't debate, Fox News criticised the billionaire for his "vicious attacks" on Kelly. "Capitulating to politicians' ultimatums about a debate moderator violates all journalistic standards, as do threats, including the one levelled by Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski toward Megyn Kelly," the statement read. "In a call on Saturday with a Fox News executive, Lewandowski stated that Megyn had a 'rough couple of days after that last debate' and he 'would hate to have her go through that again.' "Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats, but he continued to do so. We can’t give in to terrorisations toward any of our employees." Strong words from Fox News, but given the channel's unpopularity with independents, they may work in Trump's favour. It's not the first time a frontrunner has skipped a debate. Both Ronald Reagan in 1980 and George W Bush in 2000 skipped debates, but they ended up losing the states they took place in. Mind you, they went on to win the Republican nomination and then the presidency. Trump's skipping the debate is a gamble, but when he's holding far more chips than everyone else, it may not really matter. Read more: Ted Cruz: The frontrunner everyone hates Read more: Bernie Sanders: The grouchy socialist who could be the next president Read more: Why Donald Trump's constant gaffes haven't hurt his campaign Read more: Donald Trump gains support at home while world leaders turn against him Read more: Why the impossible might happen and Hillary Clinton may never be president

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Donald Trump's reason for skipping Fox News debate is smarter than it seems

The absence of the Republican front-runner in a presidential debate is almost unprecedented – but then again, almost everything Trump has done so far has confounded the conventional wisdom.

20160308103313

Turkey is under pressure from the European Union, which it hopes to join, to improve the cultural rights of its ethnic minorities, especially the 12 million Kurds who until the 1990s were banned from using their language in public. Private television channels will begin Kurdish language broadcasts on Thursday, but they will be limited to 45 minutes a day, or four hours a week, and must carry Turkish subtitles. They are also prevented from airing educational programmes teaching the Kurdish language or broadcasting programmes directed at children, such as cartoons. Cemal Dogan, director of Gun TV, one of three broadcasters now allowed to show Kurdish language programmes, said: "After many bureaucratic setbacks, we have finally won the right to broadcast in Kurdish. "It is a small step, we still face many restrictions. But it is very important for Turkey and we are happy." Gun TV hopes to attract 1.5 million viewers in Diyarbakir, the biggest city of Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast region, with programmes about history, culture and health. Soz TV and a radio station will also be broadcasting in Kurdish. Turkish state television and radio already provide limited broadcasting in Kurdish and several other minority languages including Arabic, but Dogan says nobody watches them as they consist almost entirely of news items from the previous week. Ankara has been slow to allow Kurdish language broadcasts due to fears this could fan political separatism. Turkish security forces have battled Kurdish rebels since 1984 in a conflict which has cost at least 30,000 lives. Dogan said the broadcasts would be a positive thing. "With time, people will see there is nothing to be afraid of, that allowing these broadcasts can help to resolve the Kurdish problem." Others are less optimistic. They say Ankara's slow, grudging broadcasting reforms are symbolic of its wider approach to the Kurds, and say Turkey only acts because of heavy EU pressure. Sezgin Tanrikulu, the head of the Diyarbakir bar association and a lawyer, said: "If I were [Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip] Erdogan, I would allow free, unlimited broadcasting in Kurdish, except for politically sensitive material." But rising Turkish nationalism, along with looming elections due by 2007, make it harder for Erdogan to act, he said.

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Turkey to get Kurdish television

<P>Private television channels will begin airing Kurdish language programmes in Turkey on Thursday, but must steer clear of showing children's cartoons and can only broadcast for 45 minutes a day.</P>

20160525025810

FAIRFAX , Va.— GRAHAM McMAMEE stood at a counter in a classroom kitchen at his school preparing lunch for a group of hungry toddlers. "Hopefully, I will work with children, maybe in day care, after I graduate," said Mr. McMamee, an 18-year-old senior at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, Va., a suburb of Washington. Some of the boys at Robinson still wouldn't be caught dead in them, and many still think they're only for girls. Yet, slowly but surely, home economics classes at other schools across the country are attracting boys who want to learn how to become good parents, improve their communications skills, cook pasta or have better relationships with their families. Stereotyped for decades as "girls' classes," for teen-agers preparing to be good wives, home economics has a new focus and, in some parts of the country, even a new name -- Work and Family Studies or Life-Management Education. And with those changes has come a new following. Nick Rhoton, 17, a senior at Gate City (Va.) High School, likes to play tennis and basketball and acts in community theaters in his spare time. But Mr. Rhoton has an unusual item on his resume: he is the national president of a somewhat forgotten student organization, the Future Homemakers of America. He is the third young man to hold that office in the last eight years. "Males are realizing their roles in society," Mr. Rhoton said. "Everyone is a homemaker. Everyone will run a home. Home economics isn't just a class: it shows how to live in your society." Of the estimated 5.3 million students in the United States enrolled in home economics classes this year in grades 7 through 12, 41.5 percent are boys, compared with 4.2 percent of 2.2 million students in 1968, said Alan T. Rains Jr., the executive director of Future Homemakers, in Reston, Va. The group that Mr. Rains oversees started out in 1945 as a sister organization to the Future Farmers of America. Back then, its purpose was to use extracurricular activities to teach girls how to become better cooks and seamstresses. Future Homemakers has changed with the times, and since the early 1970's has aimed its programs at both boys and girls, teaching how to "balance work and family roles," Mr. Rains said. The number of boys who call themselves Future Homemakers has risen steadily since 1965, from less than 1 percent of the group's membership to 16 percent this year. Nonetheless, the group is struggling to keep going, as overall membership has fallen steadily, from a high of 549,488 in 1965 (when the group merged with the New Homemakers of America, which operated in black schools in the segregated South) to 262,239 this year. Mr. Rains attributed the drop in part to a declining high school population, lingering stereotypes about women who stay at home and what he said was a "decrease in the amount of extracurricular time a student has." In 1971, to increase its membership, the group started its Home Economics Related Occupations division, which helps schools develop a broad array of courses in skills that range from resume writing and preparing for interviews to entrepreneurship, family problem solving and financial management. And to recruit more boys, it has also been stressing subjects that take into account the multiple roles that men can play in the family, with classes like Family Communications Skills. Although the organization's overall focus, the family, has not changed, the "definition of what family is has changed," Mr. Rains said. In some places, not just the curriculum, but even the course name is different. Last year in Virginia, Home Economics was changed to Work and Family Studies. "The change is going on in junior high, high schools and universities all over the country," Mr. Rains said. "Some school systems are calling it Life-Management Education, Family and Consumer Sciences or Human Environment Ecology." Even Future Homemakers has debated over the years whether to change its name. Whatever home economics is called, more boys are finding that so-called girls' classes can be interesting and helpful in their pursuit of an occupation or in their everyday lives. "I'm learning how to coordinate my wardrobe and my room," said Vinnie Johar, a ninth grader at Robinson Secondary School who is taking Housing and Interior Design, a course that helps students make decisions on selecting, furnishing and decorating a home. "I don't want it as a career," he said. "I wanted to learn something new." The idea that learning how to cook and manage a household might involve a process of education beyond the folkloric learning at one's mother's knee was largely an American invention. In 1841, a domestic reformer, Catherine Beecher, whose younger sister was Harriet Beecher Stowe, published her "Treatise on Domestic Economy," in which she complained that "women are not trained for their profession," and offered details on techniques for cooking, cleaning and furnishing a home. The outlines of homemaking and home economics as a quasi science emerged early in this century. Two women whose husbands were disciples of the industrial-efficiency expert Frederick Winslow Taylor offered guides to rationalizing and "scientifically" simplifying the work of the homemaker along the lines of more tangibly productive work, like farming and manufacturing. Christine Frederick wrote "Household Engineering" in 1915 and later created a correspondence course based on its ideas.

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Where The Boys Are

GRAHAM McMAMEE stood at a counter in a classroom kitchen at his school preparing lunch for a group of hungry toddlers. "Hopefully, I will work with children, maybe in day care, after I graduate," said Mr. McMamee, an 18-year-old senior at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, Va., a suburb of Washington.

20160529225052

SOME customers said they were originally from Cuba, others from Italy, Spain and Puerto Rico, and some said they have been driving from as far away as Trumbull and Bridgeport to do their regular shopping at Bongiorno Supermarket in Stamford for years. One after another on Tuesday, shoppers drove through what was, until last weekend, the parking lot of Bongiorno's, leaving in disbelief when told the store was closed and would be reopened soon as a Stop & Shop supermarket. ''Where will I get my Terra Nova bread now?'' asked Maria Joyce of Trumbull, who said she had been shopping there since her family immigrated from Italy. ''I guess I'll have to go to Arthur Avenue,'' she said, referring to the street in the Bronx. After more than 50 years in the city, and with hardly any notice, the family-owned and operated Bongiorno's was bought by Stop & Shop of Quincy, Mass., for an undisclosed amount late last month, and then shut down at the close of business on July 31. After a frenzied four days of renovations, the store reopened as a Stop & Shop on Thursday morning. Faith Weiner, a spokeswoman for Stop & Shop, said the company is also seeking approval to build a new store at West Main Street and Alvord Lane in Stamford, across from a Shop Rite store now under construction. She said the current location would remain open until a new Stop & Shop store is completed. She also said that the store's 160 employees were invited to work at Stop & Shop. When asked if Stop & Shop was trying to gain a foothold in the neighborhood before Shop Rite, Ms. Weiner said: ''An opportunity to serve the market was presented to us and we decided to pursue it. Our focus is on how to bring our version of one-stop shopping to customers served by our market.'' Maurice Nizzardo, the director of operations for Bongiorno Industries and the son-in-law of George Bongiorno, the store's founders, said the company is leasing the land on which the store sits to Stop & Shop. He said Bongiorno Industries owns 1 million square feet in the city and will continue to own and operate a liquor store, gas station and car wash near the store. Mr. Nizzardo said Bongiorno Supermarket was special because of the Eastern European, Hispanic, Italian, Asian and other ethnic foods it carried. He said the store paid particular attention to its fish, meats and produce. ''We would send our own trucks to the Fulton Fish Market and Hunts Point produce and meat terminals in New York on a daily basis Mondays through Fridays,'' he said. Berbely Zayas, 15, of Stamford, said her family had been going to the store for its meats since they came from Puerto Rico eight years ago. ''They had the best prices, too,'' she said. ''We really don't know where we're going to shop now.'' Mr. Nizzardo said he hoped that Stop & Shop would retain some of Bongiorno's inventory. Ms. Weiner said Stop & Shop stores carries some items specific to its market. A quick look inside the store on Thursday morning after it had opened did indeed find Terra Nova bread, but the meat selection had changed and the special on jumbo eggs that Bongiorno's continually ran was gone. Mr. Nizzardo said Bongiorno Supermarket was doing about $500,000 in sales each week. In the last 10 years, there were many people who were interested in the business,'' he said. ''Stop & Shop was the only company, pretty much, that was willing to take on the employees, which was a major concern for us. We wanted to give our employees stability and benefit packages, so that they wouldn't be left in the lurch.'' In a statement, George Bongiorno said the sale would benefit everyone. ''We thought this might be an opportunity to enable our employees and our customers to be well-served today and in the future and also allow the family to pursue other interests,'' he said. Dannel Malloy, the mayor of Stamford, said it meant the city was losing a ''great store.'' ''It's been very community-minded,'' he said. ''It's a great family and we look forward to having them in the community, just not in the supermarket business.'' But for many, like Clyde Nicholson of Bridgeport, who said he regularly pulled off Interstate 95 to get lunch at Bongiorno's, finding the store closed was disheartening. ''I passed by many other stores to come here,'' he said. ''This was my store. This is one of the saddest days of my life.'' To others, it was a sign of the times. ''It's kind of sad because its was a real community establishment,'' said Klaus Schmidt, a Stamford restaurant owner who said he knows the Bongiorno family and was a regular customer. ''But I guess the big boys are taking over.'' Mr. Nizzardo said the family did have an emotional attachment to the store and its customers, but he said closing quickly was best. ''We feel we made a good decision,'' he said. ''Once the final agreement was made, we didn't see any advantage in letting the store linger.''

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After Decades, Bongiorno's Says Goodbye

Bongiorno Supermarket in Stamford, Conn, closes; customers fear they will not be able to find favorite items when store reopens as Stop and Shop; photo (M)

20160603123942

The 2014 murder of Florida State University law professor likely stemmed from his ex-wife's family's desire to pave the way for her to move away and take the couple's two young children after a "bitter divorce" with still-unresolved custody issues, investigators allege in a newly released court document obtained by PEOPLE. The probable cause affidavit lays out the allegations that led to the May 25 of Sigfredo Garcia, 34, of Miami Beach, which suggested an answer to the long mystery of who shot the popular and nationally respected professor execution-style as he sat in his Honda Accord in the garage of his suburban Tallahassee home on July 18, 2014. Markel's wife, Wendi Adelson, had been a member of the Florida State University law school faculty along with her ex-husband. She filed for divorce in September 2012, the divorce was granted in July 2013, and she formally resigned from her post in January 2015. She currently lives in South Florida. Markel was killed ahead of an unscheduled court hearing where he planned to ask the court to limit their children's contact with Adelson's mother, Donna, whom he claimed had "made disparaging remarks about him to his sons," the affidavit states. "Investigators believe motive for this murder stemmed from the desperate desire of the Adelson family to relocate Wendi and the children to South Florida, along with the pending court hearing that might have impacted their access to the grandchildren," according to the document. Although only Garcia has been charged – he pleaded not guilty Thursday – the document alleges that he and another man, Luis Rivera, murdered Markel. Rivera, 33, is currently in a federal prison in Florida on unrelated charges, said Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo in a news conference Thursday. Charges against Rivera in the Markel case are forthcoming, he said. He added that it's "more probable than not" there will be additional arrests. He did not address whether any of the Adelsons are suspects, nor whether he knows their current whereabouts. "We aren't on speaking terms," he said. Garcia and Rivera match descriptions of suspects seen in the area at the time of the murder, their movements place them in Tallahassee on that day, and they had rented a silver Pine Mica Toyota Prius for their travel from South Florida, which further matched descriptions of a vehicle seen leaving the area after the shooting. The document further states that around the time of the murder, Wendi Adelson's brother Charlie "was involved in a personal relationship" with the mother of Garcia's children, Katherine Magbanua, who was also listed as a business associate of Garcia's. Prosecutors would not comment on whether Charlie or Wendi Adelson are being considered as suspects, Authorities tied Garcia and Rivera to the case using cell phone data, ATM transaction records and a Tallahassee eyewitness, who met with Garcia and Rivera a month or more before the murder, according to the affidavit. The eyewitness was asked, and agreed, to rent a motel room in the witness's name for Garcia and Rivera on the night preceding the murder. The witness also recalled Rivera having in his possession "a silver finish, short-barrel revolver handgun" at the time they met. "Recovered evidence from the crime scene indicates the caliber of firearm used in this murder is consistent with revolver ammunition and no spent casing was found at the scene," according to the affidavit. "This investigation did not reveal any other legitimate purpose for either suspect to be in Tallahassee at the time of the murder." The document describes a contentious relationship between Markel and his ex-wife's family. Wendi filed for divorce on Monday, Sept. 10, 2012, it states. "Markel reportedly returned home from a business trip to find his family gone, a majority of the contents of the house missing and the paperwork for dissolution of marriage displayed on his bed," it says. After learning she and the children had relocated to her parents' home in South Florida, he "protested" and she returned to Tallahassee with the childen "until legal arguments could be heard." In June 2013 a judge denied Wendi's motion to relocate with the children. "Email evidence indicates Wendi's parents, especially her mother, wanted Wendi to coerce Markel into allowing the relocation to South Florida. Additionally, Wendi's brother Charles reportedly did not like Markel and did not get along with him," the document reads. In March 2014, Markel filed a motion regarding provisions of the divorce settlement agreement. "One of the points of contention in this motion was Wendi's mother, Donna Adelson, and her reported negative interaction with the children," according to the document. "Markel claimed Donna made disparaging remarks about him to his sons." "Markel sought relief in this motion by asking the court to prohibit Donna from having unsupervised time with her grandchildren and to impose limitations to prevent the children from being subjected to disparaging comments about their father," it states. The motion was scheduled to be heard in court, but the hearing was delayed and had not yet been rescheduled at the time Markel was killed.

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Investigators : People.com

Dan Markel was shot in his driveway in 2014 ahead of a hearing tied to child custody issues

20160604223122

The most remarkable part of Lena Dunham’s new memoir Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned” begins with a seemingly unremarkable story. Dunham writes a darkly humorous essay about a time she realized in the middle of sex that a condom she thought her partner had put on was hanging from a nearby plant. “I think…? the condom’s…? In the tree?” I muttered feverishly. “Oh,” he said, like he was as shocked as I was. He reached for it as if he was going to put it back on, but I was already up, stumbling towards my couch, which was the closest thing to a garment I could find. I told him he should probably go, chucking his hoodie and boots out the door with him. The next morning, I sat in a shallow bath for half an hour like someone in one of those coming-of-age movies.” It’s an experience similar to a scene you might see on her HBO show Girls: a little disturbing and a little funny with a lot of nudity. But then Dunham does something interesting: after finishing out the chapter, entitled “Girls & Jerks,” she forces the reader to double back. “I am an unreliable narrator,” she writes. And with those words, we dive back into the story of Barry, the guy who flung the condom into the tree. “[I]n another essay in this book I describe a sexual encounter with a mustachioed campus Republican as the upsetting but educational choice of a girl who was new to sex when, in fact, it didn’t feel like a choice at all.” Lena Dunham says she was raped, though she didn’t immediately know that it was rape. Like many college girls, a mix of alcohol, drugs, unspoken expectations and shame may have kept her from using the “r” word to refer to the act until years later. She says that she rewrote history in her head, coming up with many versions (including the one above). The real tale — or what she remembers of it — is much more painful. It begins at a party where Dunham is alone, drunk and high on Xanax and cocaine. It’s in that state that she runs into Barry, who she describes as “creepy,” and who sets off an alarm of “uh-oh” in her head as soon as she sees him. Barry leads me to the parking lot. I tell him to look away. I pull down my tights to pee, and he jams a few of his fingers inside me, like he’s trying to plug me up. I’m not sure whether I can’t stop it or I don’t want to. Leaving the parking lot, I see my friend Fred. He spies Barry leading me by the arm toward my apartment (apparently I’ve told him where I live), and he calls out my name. I ignore him. When that doesn’t work, he grabs me. Barry disappears for a minute, so its just Fred and me. “Don’t do this,” he says. “You don’t want to walk me home, so just leave me alone,” I slur, expressing some deep hurt I didn’t even know I had. “Just leave me alone.” He shakes his head. What can he do? After the two return to her apartment, Dunham does everything she can to convince herself that what’s happening is a choice. “I don’t know how we got here, but I refuse to believe it’s an accident,” she writes. She goes on to describe the event in graphic detail. Once he has forced himself on her, she talks dirty to him, again, to convince herself that she’s making a choice. But she knows she hasn’t given her consent. When she sees the condom in the tree — she definitely did not consent to not using a condom — she struggles away and throws him out. Dunham — drunk and high — was in no condition to consent according to the new rules being implemented at many campuses across the country. And in Dunham’s second story, the thrown away condom and Barry’s aggressiveness make it clear that he did not care about what Dunham wanted. It’s her roommate that first tells her the encounter was a rape, though Dunham doesn’t believe her: “Audrey’s pale little face goes blank. She clutches my hand and, in a voice reserved for moms in Lifetime movies, whispers, ‘You were raped.’ I burst out laughing.” Though for decades we’ve thought of the rapist as a man who lurks in alleyways, the data shows he’s more likely an acquaintance, friend or even a boyfriend. Approximately two-thirds of rape victims know their attacker, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. That makes it all too easy for skeptics to accuse women of making false claims of rape: “Despite hysterical propaganda about our ‘rape culture,’ the majority of campus incidents being carelessly described as sexual assault are not felonious rape (involving force or drugs) but oafish hookup melodramas, arising from mixed signals and imprudence on both sides,” writes Camille Paglia for Time. Such statements suggest that anyone can be a rapist if they’ve had enough to drink. But one study found that nine out of 10 men who described committing acts of sexual assault on college campuses to researchers said they had done so more than once: on average, a perpetrator will assault six people. “Part of the problem is a pure lack of understanding of the true nature of campus sexual assault. These are not dates gone bad, or a good guy who had too much to drink. This is a crime largely perpetrated by repeat offenders,” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand wrote for Time. And given how difficult it is to report a rape — it can involve an invasive rape kit exam, an investigation and trial that can last for years and accusations that you are a liar — there seems to be little motivation to fake such an event. Filing a complaint with the university or police forces victims to deal with the fact that someone had control over them, over their bodies. Denial is simpler, at least in the beginning. Perhaps that explains Dunham’s laugh. It certainly explains why, according to the Rape and Incest National Network (RAINN), 60% of rapes go unreported. It’s not until she pitches the first, tamer version of the story in the writer’s room of Girls that Dunham comes to the realization that she was raped. Here’s how she describes the reaction to her suggested plot line: Murray shakes his head. “I just don’t see rape being funny in any situation.” “Yeah,” Bruce agrees. “It’s a tough one.” “But that’s the thing,” I say. “No one knows if it’s a rape. It’s, like, a confusing situation that…” I trailed off. “But I’m sorry that happened to you,” Jenni says. “I hate that.” Dunham has since become a fierce advocate of campus reform when it comes to matters of sexual assault. Dunham’s sister wrote “IX” on the top of her graduation cap during the #YesAllWomen Twitter campaign this year in honor of Title IX, the federal statute that mandates schools protect victims of sexual assault (among other things). But sharing her own story is perhaps her bravest work of activism yet. We are still in a culture where women are told that they are to blame for anything that might happen if they drink and bring a man home. “I feel like there are fifty ways it’s my fault…But I also know that at no moment did I consent to being handled that way,” Dunham writes in the book. Dunham has come under fire for being too self-indulgent, revealing too much. But in this case, her candor may become a lifeline for women who’ve been through something similar and are feeling confused and alone. Read Roxane Gay’s review of Not That Kind of Girl, which hits bookstores on September 30th, here.

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Lena Dunham 'Not That Kind of Girl' Story on Rape Is a Must-Read

In 'Not That Kind of Girl' Dunham tells us why denial is simpler, at least in the beginning

20160605163309

May 31, 2016 5:05 PM EDT World EDMONTON, Alberta -- A phased return of more than 80,000 residents of the fire-damaged oil sands city Fort McMurray will begin Wednesday as planned, Alberta's premier announced Tuesday. Rachel Notley said that the wildfire is no longer an imminent threat to the city and critical infrastructure has been repaired. The massive wildfire destroyed about 2,400 structures almost a month ago in Fort McMurray but 90 percent of the city remains intact. Residents of three neighborhoods won't be able to return because of environmental concerns. A boil water advisory remains in effect and many businesses will not be open. Notley urged residents to bring food, water and any other supplies needed for the next two weeks. Scott Long, executive director of the Alberta emergency management agency, pleaded for patience and asked residents to respect their zone date for an orderly return. He estimated that 40 to 50 percent of residents will return this week and warned of travel delays. The fire and mass evacuation forced a quarter or more of Canada's oil output offline. Canada's central bank said last week the Canadian economy will shrink in the second quarter because of the wildfire. The Alberta oil sands have the third-largest reserves of oil in the world behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Its workers largely live in Fort McMurray, a former frontier outpost-turned-city whose residents come from all over Canada. Kevin Lewis is anxious to get back into his apartment in Thickwood, a relatively undamaged neighborhood that's slated to reopen on Friday. Lewis has been unable to run his transportation brokerage business since the evacuation and he figures he's lost some $40,000 over the last month. "I definitely need to get to work," Lewis said from Lac La Biche, Alberta, a small town about 2 1/2 hours southeast of Fort McMurray that's taken in thousands of evacuees. Lewis knows it's a possibility that smoke damage may have rendered his place uninhabitable. "If it's not really livable there yet, I could at least be able to grab my computers and I'll be able to work," he said. Jim Mandeville, senior project manager with FirstOnSite Restoration, has been in Fort McMurray since May 8 to help critical businesses such as banks, grocery stores and pharmacies get running again. Dozens of FirstOnSite workers have been working long days disposing of spoiled food, cleaning ventilation systems and removing smoky odors from upholstery and carpets. Mandeville said provincial and municipal officials aren't underplaying how challenging it will be for residents to return. "When they say to bring 14 days worth of food and water, they mean it. And when they say people with respiratory conditions shouldn't come up here, they mean it -- and they have a really good reason why," he said. "It is not a clean, safe, normal environment that you're walking into."

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Fort McMurray: ​Homecoming begins for residents of fire-ravaged Canadian oil city

Massive wildfire destroyed about 2,400 structures in Fort McMurray but 90 percent of the city remains intact, Alberta's premier says

20160613004348

PATCHOGUE— STANDING behind the wheel of a 21-foot powerboat one Tuesday last month, Amy Rheault gunned the throttle and surged into the chop of the Great South Bay. Heading southeast, straight into a blasting 22-mile-an-hour wind, the spray cooled her down. Twenty minutes later, she pulled up to a small pier that belongs to the National Park Service in the Old Inlet section of Fire Island, near Hospital Point. Before climbing out, Ms. Rheault gathered her work gear: nets, batteries, gloves and a jar of fermented goo. The white Tyvek jumpsuit lined with a protective plastic coating served a particular function. ''You wear this so you can see the ticks climbing all over you,'' she explained, zipping it up so that she was encased in what amounted to a sweatsuit in 85-degree heat. Ms. Rheault pulled on a pair of heavy rubber hip waders, ducked her head into a green headdress made of mosquito netting and pulled on a pair of work gloves. Shouldering a backpack, she started her march eastward through the dunes. Her job, as a field biologist for the park service, is to monitor the mosquito population at the Fire Island National Seashore. Her mandate is to collect samples of gravid Culex pipiens, the female egg-bearing mosquitoes considered the most likely candidates for carrying and spreading the West Nile virus. Monitoring the Fire Island mosquito population will cost the park service $75,000 this year. No one on Long Island has been infected with West Nile virus so far this year, but the outbreak of West Nile infections in Louisiana, the worst ever in the United States, has recently been front-page news. The worst year on Long Island for West Nile was 1999, the first year the virus showed up in the Western hemisphere; one Nassau resident died, and five other cases were reported. There were no reported cases in Suffolk that year. Last year, there were four confirmed cases in Nassau and one in Suffolk; no one died. Dr. David G. Graham, Suffolk's director of public health services, said that the illness West Nile causes is usually mild, but not always. ''The majority of people who have West Nile virus have mild flulike symptoms,'' he said. ''The more serious clinical manifestations of West Nile virus include inflammation of the brain and the lining of the brain, leading to encephalitis or meningitis. Though rare, this is a serious threat for the elderly and anyone with a compromised immune system, including persons on chemotherapy.'' Perhaps because so few cases of mosquito-borne diseases like West Nile and malaria have shown up on Long Island, there is growing debate over whether mosquitoes or pesticides pose a greater health risk to humans and marine life. ''Mosquitoes are a potential vector of disease,'' said Leslie Mitchell, Suffolk County's deputy commissioner of public works. In this year's budget, Suffolk has allocated $2.7 million for mosquito surveillance and control, with $365,000 of that amount earmarked for pesticides. In Nassau, this year's mosquito control budget is $1.7 million. So far this year, eight dead birds infected with West Nile virus have been found in Suffolk, and four in Nassau. The birds had been infected by mosquitoes carrying the virus, and although the infected birds do not pose a health threat to humans, they are an indication of the presence of infected mosquitoes in the area. ''This is about the same time the West Nile virus appeared in Suffolk County over the past two years,'' Ms. Mitchell said. ''We are not all that concerned.'' On Fire Island, after 15 minutes of trudging through a sticky haze, Ms. Rheault arrived at one of nine traps set up along a 26-mile stretch. A homemade contraption that looked like a moonshine still, it was formed from white PVC pipe with a motor and fan set in a blue plastic basin. Ms. Rheault poured three-quarters of a gallon of water into the trap to activate the fermented goo, which smelled disturbingly like a train car without air-conditioning in mid-August. ''The formula consists of tap water, sod and rabbit chow,'' said its inventor, Dr. Scott Campbell, the chief entomologist at Suffolk County Vector Control in Yaphank. ''It pro duces an odor mosquitoes cannot resist.'' Perhaps so, but Ms. Rheault has observed a different reaction. ''People back away from me when I get back to the office,'' she said. Ms. Rheault spends four 10-hour days in the field every week during a research season, which runs from May through October. ''It takes four days to set all nine traps,'' she said. ''Usually I set them in the morning, leave them overnight, and pick them up the next morning. I bring the mosquitoes to the lab and put them on dry ice so they get sleepy. Then I put them in a petri dish to count and sort them by species.'' Every mosquito is then sent to Dr. Campbell at Suffolk County Vector Control, where it is analyzed and if necessary, sent to the State Health Department for further testing. ''The purpose of this mosquito monitoring program is to set in place a process to be aware of a public health risk so that we have a plan,'' said Constantine Dillon, the superintendent of Fire Island National Seashore. Mr. Dillon said he supported the survey program but was an opponent of wholesale pesticide spraying, which would contradict the park service's mandate to protect wildlife. ''Mosquitoes are part of the food chain,'' he said. ''They pollinate grasses. You can't start killing wildlife because you don't like it.''

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Mosquito Control - Weighing Costs Versus Benefits - NYTimes.com

STANDING behind the wheel of a 21-foot powerboat one Tuesday last month, Amy Rheault gunned the throttle and surged into the chop of the Great South Bay. Heading southeast, straight into a blasting 22-mile-an-hour wind, the spray cooled her down. But not for long.

20160614085101

THE GIRL NEXT DOOR With Emile Hirsch, Elisha Cuthbert, Timothy Olyphant, Chris Marquette, Paul Dano. Director: Luke Greenfield (1:48). R: Nudity, adult situations. 3 STARS. Once in a very long while, a truly memorable romantic teen comedy comes along. "The Girl Next Door" is one. This funny, surprising gem joins the ranks of "Risky Business" and "Say Anything," comedies with heart and charisma that make it possible to weather their innumerable imitators. You wouldn't have suspected such overall satisfaction from this movie's premise - a straight-laced, virginal high-school senior falls for the girl next door, who turns out to be an ex-porn star. But an engaging cast and the work of director Luke Greenfield and screenwriters Stuart Blumberg, David T. Wagner and Brent Goldberg ensure that this "Girl" will soon be the talk of the town for all the right reasons. Emile Hirsch plays Matthew Kidman, who realizes as graduation approaches that although he's smart, industrious and knows right from wrong, he never engages deeply with life. He lacks a wild streak. He always buckles up. He won't even cut class to play beach-blanket bingo with the other seniors. Life is perfect, but oh so dull. That's all about to change now that Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert) is housesitting next door. She's gorgeous, sweet and mischievous. She has the power to get Matthew to loosen up a little. And, it turns out, she's also the porn star known as Athena. (One of Matthew's more alert friends does the homework necessary to make the connection.) You can see where a movie might go with this premise, but "The Girl Next Door" offers well-considered twists and turns, veering discreetly from some of the ickier aspects of the subject matter. Along the way, it proves that prom-night sequences don't have to follow the same formula. Matthew's attempts to reconcile Danielle's past with his rosy-tinted view of her - and how this affects his preparations to deliver a "moral fiber" speech to qualify for a college scholarship - provide a structure for organic, character-based humor. Peripheral characters also get to break out and try different things, so it's not just Matthew learning new tricks. His nerdy friends, well played by Chris Marquette and Paul Dano, get starring moments of their own. Timothy Olyphant dominates some unusual scenes as Danielle's former, uh, business associate. The casting works perfectly, including the oddball additions of James Remar (of "Sex and the City") as a slick porn producer and Ulysses Lee in an effective subplot as a genius exchange student from Cambodia. This modest comedy from an overcrowded, often tasteless genre deserves its cap and gown. E-mail: jamibern@aol.

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A NAUGHTY, NICE 'GIRL'

HHH THE GIRL NEXT DOOR With Emile Hirsch, Elisha Cuthbert, Timothy Olyphant, Chris Marquette, Paul Dano. Director: Luke Greenfield (1:48). R: Nudity, adult situations. Once in a very long while, a truly memorable romantic teen comedy comes along. "The Girl Next Door" is one. This funny, surprising gem joins the ranks of "Risky Business" and "Say Anything," comedies with heart and charisma that make it possible to weather their innumerable imitators. You wouldn't have

20160617145316

Google has announced a research group in Switzerland that will be dedicated to the field of machine learning. As its name suggests, machine learning involves systems that can learn things and come up with predictions from sets of data, without being specifically programmed to do so. It’s essential to what we currently think of as “artificial intelligence.” Google uses machine learning to power its translation engine, its image-recognition systems, and its Inbox “smart reply” feature. Machine learning improves spam recognition in Gmail and helps Google’s driverless cars figure out what’s going on around them. Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter. Google goog already has its largest engineering office outside the U.S. in Zurich. Emmanuel Mogenet, the head of Google Research in Europe, said in a Thursday blog post that the location was ideal due to Europe being “home to some of the world’s premier technical universities.” “We look forward to collaborating with all the excellent computer science research that is coming from the region, and hope to contribute towards the wider academic community through our publications and academic support,” he wrote. The new research group will focus on machine intelligence (covering everything from speech recognition to ranking), natural language processing and understanding (not only useful for things like translation, but also search), and machine perception (tasks like searching for things in photos and recognizing handwriting). For more on machine learning, watch: “Researchers in the Zurich office will be uniquely able work closely with team linguists, advancing natural language understanding in collaboration with Google Research groups across the world, all while enjoying Mountain Views of a different kind,” Mogenet wrote.

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Google Has a New Machine Learning Research Group

The new "Google Research, Europe" group in Zurich, Switzerland, will focus on various aspects of machine learning research.

20160618010403

SANFORD, Fla. — The controversy surrounding the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin took a new turn Monday when the Orlando Sentinel reported Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman told police Martin decked him with a single punch, then repeatedly slammed his head into the sidewalk. The Sentinel said much of Zimmerman’s account had been corroborated by witnesses, according to authorities. As Zimmerman’s version of events surfaced, rallies were planned in Sanford and other cities to mark the one-month anniversary of 17-year-old Martin’s death. But as time passed, questions have only multiplied about what happened the night of February 26 as Martin walked home from a 7-Eleven in a gated community in Sanford, about 20 miles north of Orlando. Zimmerman, who reportedly is in hiding, has claimed he shot Martin, who was unarmed, in self-defense. Martin’s family and thousands who have turned out at rallies on his behalf nationwide claim he was murdered without provocation and raised questions about racism and police handling of the case. Ben Crump, the Martin family’s attorney, told MSNBC, “if George Zimmerman had done what a neighborhood watchman is supposed to do – watch – Trayvon Martin would be alive today.” The Sentinel said Monday that authorities had provided the paper with Zimmerman’s account of events, in which he said he called police after spotting Martin, then lost sight of him and was returning to his SUV when the teen allegedly approached him from the left rear and they exchanged words. Zimmerman said Martin punched him in the nose, then as he fell to the ground, got on top of him and slammed his head into the sidewalk, causing Zimmerman to yell for help. The paper said at least one witness told police he saw Martin pounding Zimmerman. Reports had surfaced earlier of people hearing cries for help but it was not clear if they came from Zimmerman or Martin. A woman who said she and her roommate witnessed the last moments of Martin’s life told Dateline NBC they heard the voice of what sounded like a young person in distress just before hearing a gunshot. “It sounded young,” Mary Cutcher said. “It didn’t sound like a grown man is my point.” She added that they also saw Zimmerman straddling the teen’s body with his hands pressed on his back, making no effort to aid him. Zimmerman’s lawyer, Craig Sonner, and a close friend, Joe Oliver, appeared on NBC’s “Today” show Monday to defend him, claiming he was not racist and that he had received a broken nose and gash on the head in the confrontation.

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Trayvon Martin’s killer claims teen punched him, slammed his head into ground

SANFORD, Fla. — The controversy surrounding the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin took a new turn Monday when the Orlando Sentinel reported Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman tol…

20160621210415

The Palace of Versailles, one of France’s most noted landmarks, has fallen upon hard times. So, the French government has announced it is building a five-star property with the Palace, once the seat of the French monarchy. Three neglected mansion buildings that date back to the 1680s and sit 200 yards outside of the palace gates will be turned into luxury lodging, according to a report by Reuters. Though the nearly 400-year-old palace 12 miles southwest of Paris is a wildly popular tourist destination—attracting 7 million many visitors a year—the French government has slashed its funding from about $54 million in 2013 to about $46 million this year. The maintenance-intensive complex needs to make up the shortfall somehow. The renovation of the buildings and the construction of a hotel within Versailles’s walls would cost roughly $4.44 million to $7.77 million, according to French newspaper Journal du Dimanche. A percentage of the profits would go towards the maintenance of the palace as a whole. The management of the Château de Versailles, as the palace and grounds are known locally, is looking for a private firm that can create and fund the construction and run the hotel. The transaction is being negotiated by the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant (Living Heritage Company, or EPV), which is a state-run agency that promotes traditional French businesses. Attempts to build hotels at Versailles have been tried, unsuccessfully, before. According to HotelChatter.com, a travel-industry insiders’ site, one deal was nearly sealed in 2012. This latest iteration, to be called Hotel de l’Orangerie, will boast 23 rooms with views of the former palace. Guests will likely be able to gaze out at the palace’s famous Orangerie, home to Louis XIV’s famous citrus trees, designed by baroque-architecture master Jules Hardouin-Mansart between 1684 and 1686.“There will be no other hotel in the world like this one,” a palace spokesperson told The Daily Telegraph. “This is an emblem of French history and a cultural landmark. It will be an authentically royal experience.” According to the Daily Telegraph, the successful bidder will be given a 60-year license to operate the hotel. The move comes as the French government recently began a major initiative to boost tourism. Tourism accounts for 7% of the European nation’s economy, and revenue has been falling, trailing China, Spain, and the United States. Laurent Fabius, France’s foreign minister, has set a goal of attracting at least 100 million international visitors by 2020—a boost from 84 million in 2014—through improving customer service. Already a popular tourist attraction, this hotel would seem to be a good bet. Originally a stone hunting lodge, Versailles saw an elaborate renovation beginning in 1682, when the notoriously over-the-top King Louis XIV got ahold of it. The buildings—including the epic Hall of Mirrors—and park-like grounds of Versailles remained the seat of France’s royal power that ended abruptly in 1789. The French Revolution began in Paris in October of that year, and France’s monarchy toppled shortly thereafter. Slated to open in 2016, new hotel will provide a taste of the royal life to the very first overnight guests inVersailles since the days of Marie Antoinette. Laura J. Vogel is a freelance writer and editor based in New York’s Hudson Valley. She has written for the New York Times, Travel + Leisure, and The New York Post. Here’s a look at the Palace of Versailles: An earlier version of the story contained an incorrect lead photo.

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France's Palace of Versailles, short of cash, to seek paying guests

Faced with budget cuts, France's iconic Palace of Versailles is seeking to build a luxury hotel within its walls.

20160628134922

Britain could have a new prime minister by early September, the ruling Conservative Party says, after David Cameron started laying the groundwork for his successor to trigger the country's exit from the European Union. The government is under pressure to fill a vacuum left when Cameron announced he would resign by October after Britain ignored his advice and voted to leave the 28-member bloc in last week's referendum. Triggering a leadership battle that could draw in some of his closest advisers, Cameron urged ministers to work together in the meantime. But he also formed a separate unit, staffed by public servants, to help advise Britain on its departure and its options for a future outside the EU. Asked about the possibility of a second EU referendum, Cameron said the result of Thursday's vote must be accepted. Graham Brady, chair of the "1922 Committee" of Conservative lawmakers said the group had recommended that the leadership contest should begin next week and conclude no later than September 2. That recommendation will almost certainly be passed. He said there should be no new parliamentary election before Britain had negotiated exit terms. Several Conservative lawmakers have urged leadership candidates to try to broker a deal quickly to make sure that any campaign is as painless as possible, and to avoid deepening divisions exposed during the referendum campaign. Work and pensions minister Stephen Crabb is considering a bid to succeed Cameron and is canvassing Conservative lawmakers for support along with Business Secretary Sajid Javid, who is seeking to become finance minister, Sky News reported, citing sources. The editor of the Spectator magazine tweeted that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt was also "highly likely" to launch a leadership bid. But all eyes are on former London mayor Boris Johnson, the most prominent of the "Leave" campaigners and now bookmakers' favourite to succeed Cameron. But not all party members back him and many are pressing for "Anyone But Boris", seeing his decision to back the Leave campaign as a betrayal of his former ally Cameron, according to media reports. Cameron's spokesman said the prime minister would not endorse any candidate to succeed him. Cameron told parliament he would not put up with intolerance, after reports that migrants, particularly those from Poland, had been told by some Britons to "go home" since the referendum.

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Britain may see new PM by Sept

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has established a working group to manage the country's exit from the EU, and a new PM will be installed by September.

20160630193601

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A hero and his horse won the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. Undefeated Barbaro stormed into the lead at the top of the stretch and won convincingly -- by 6 1-2 lengths -- to give trainer Michael Matz his first Derby victory and jockey Edgar Prado his first winning ride. Matz' joyous day came nearly 17 years after he led three children to safety following the crash of United flight 232 from Denver to Chicago into an Iowa cornfield. The two brothers and their sister are now grown and joined Matz in the grandstand at Churchill Downs, where they cheered the strapping bay colt onto his sixth consecutive win. Given a masterful ride by Prado, Barbaro beat a full field of 20 3-year-olds -- considered one of the toughest in years. With Sinister Minister and Keyed Entry setting the pace, Barbaro settled in right behind and made his move around the far turn, just as he had in winning his first five races. The Florida Derby winner, making his first start in five weeks, had plenty left in the tank to hold off Bluegrass Cat. Steppenwolfer was third, and there was a dead heat for fourth between Brother Derek and Jazil. Barbaro becomes the sixth undefeated winner, following Smarty Jones in 2004. Sent off as the 6-1 second choice by the crowd of 157,536 -- the second largest in Derby history -- Barbaro covered the 1.25 miles in 2:01.36, well off Secretariat's record of 1:59 2/5 in 1973. The son of Dynaformer, owned by Gretchen and Roy Jackson's Lael Farm, in West Grove, Pa., returned $14.20, $8 and $6. Bluegrass Cat, trained by Todd Pletcher, returned $28.40 and $15.40. Steppenwolfer paid $7.80 to show. Sweetnorthernsaint, the surprise 5-1 favorite, finished seventh. Lawyer Ron finished 12th. Barbaro overcame a scary start, when he stumbled briefly but quickly righted himself. By the first turn, he was racing among the leaders, and in perfect position to make his winning move. "This is a very excellent horse," Prado said. "All the time he showed me the quality horse he is. ... Dreams come true." The margin of victory was the largest since Assault won by eight lengths in 1946. The 55-year-old Matz left the equestrian world to train thoroughbreds eight years ago and took an unconventional route to his first Derby. Barbaro won the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 4 in his first start on the dirt. It wasn't until eight weeks later that the colt raced again, winning the Florida Derby. With the win, Barbaro became the first horse since Needles in 1956 to win without a prep race four or more weeks before the Derby. Matz also became the fourth straight first-time Derby trainer to win the race, following John Shirreffs with Giacomo, John Servis with Smarty Jones and Barclay Tagg with Funny Cide. "It's a great, great, great feeling," Matz said. As he watched his colt coming down the stretch, the trainer said he had one thought: "Don't fall down."' Showing Up was sixth, followed by Sweetnorthernsaint, Deputy Glitters, Point Determined, Seaside Retreat, Storm Treasure, Lawyer Ron, Cause to Believe, Flashy Bull, Private Vow, Sinister Minister, Bob and John, A.P. Warrior, Sharp Humor and Keyed Entry. If Barbaro goes on to win the Preakness in two weeks, the stage would be set for a fourth Triple Crown try in the past five years at the Belmont Stakes on June 10. War Emblem in 2002, Funny Cide in '03 and Smarty Jones in '04 each won the Derby and Preakness, but came up short in the last race. All week, Matz patiently answered questions about the crash of the DC-10 that killed 111 of the 296 passengers and crew members. His fiancee, D.D. Alexander, now his wife, also survived the crash. "I think Michael is one of those rare people who does amazing things and doesn't showboat or take a lot of credit," Melissa Radcliffe, now 29 and one of the children Matz saved, said earlier this week. "In the plane crash, we knew him but we had no idea he was an Olympic equestrian rider. He said he was just a guy who likes horses."' Barbaro earned $1,453,200 to boost his career earnings to $2,302,200. "I thought it was the best race I've ever seen," Gretchen Jackson said. Earlier in the day, George Washington, a 3-year-old bred by the Jacksons won the 2,000 Guineas race in England. Barbaro began his career on the turf, winning an allowance race at Delaware Park and then taking the Laurel Futurity before being shipped to Florida. He won the Tropical Park Derby on Jan. 1 before his wins in the Holy Bull and Florida Derby.

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Barbaro Wins the Kentucky Derby

Barbaro won the 132nd Kentucky Derby, capturing the 1 1/4-mile first leg of American horse racing's Triple Crown.

20160702023711

IT WAS always dangerous to be a journalist or government critic in Tajikistan. But, until recently, the predatory and paranoid regime of Emomali Rakhmon, the president, left graduate students alone. That changed June 16th when Alexander Sodiqov, a Tajik political science student in Canada who is employed by Britain’s University of Exeter, was detained by the secret police (still known colloquially as the KGB). He is being held incommunicado, but was reportedly charged with treason for interviewing an opposition leader shortly after meeting the British ambassador at a party. He faces 20 years in jail. Colleagues and rights activists have called the allegations farcical. Mr Sodiqov, 31, was detained in the restive eastern mountainous region of Gorno-Badakhshan while researching conflict resolution and civil society. The sparsely populated region is home to minority Pamiri ethnic groups marginalised by the nationalistic Mr Rakhmon in the far-off capital, Dushanbe. It is also awash with Afghan narcotics from across the long, porous border. In 2012 government troops tried to unseat local warlords, leaving dozens dead in what looked more like a turf battle than the anti-narcotics operation authorities claimed it to be. Last month violence flared again after a midday shootout between police and alleged drug dealers. In response rampaging locals torched government buildings, demanding a stop to the violence. Known formally as the GKNB, the security service is the state’s principal tool for political repression and has tried to thwart inquiries, preventing, for example, the British ambassador from meeting local activists this month. YouTube has been blocked for weeks, supposedly for hosting inflammatory videos. Mr Sodiqov’s "arrest looks like another effort by the government to blame outside forces for Tajikistan's internal problems," says Susan Corke of Freedom House. There is compelling evidence to suggest the GKNB controls much of the country’s lucrative narcotics trade. Yet the unaccountable body has been financed by the United States, which annually spends millions of dollars training and equipping the secret police to fight drugs and potential spillover from Afghanistan. The United States has spent over $200m on Tajikistan’s security forces since 2001, according to the Center for International Policy, an American NGO that tracks such things through a project called Security Assistance Monitor. That is supposed to buy an ally in a tricky neighbourhood, not more instability. “Our authorities find it easier to concoct mysterious foreign plots than address the numerous social problems in the region,” says Ravshan Abdullaev, the director of the Eurasia Foundation’s Dushanbe office, of Mr Sodiqov’s arrest. “The allegations are absurd and show how out-of-touch our authorities are.” The treason charge, which will be difficult for authorities to walk back without losing face, is a stark warning. One local journalist compared the atmosphere to Stalin’s terror: “It’s horrifying. Any of us could find ourselves in this situation.” Self-censorship may be the goal. The Rakhmon regime looks to Russia for inspiration and appears emboldened by the Kremlin’s effective persecution of free thinkers. Immediately after Mr Sodiqov’s arrest, the security chief said foreign governments are collaborating with NGOs and “organised crime” to destabilise Tajikistan. Parliament has proposed tightening already strict laws on public protest. For bosses in the security service, Mr Sodiqov’s brief meeting at a reception with the British ambassador—arguably the most open and affable diplomat in town—was apparently enough to claim a British conspiracy. That is implausible. Western governments are terrified of another failed state in Central Asia and worry poorly governed Tajikistan could easily head down that road. But the Tajik government's refusal to allow questions in Gorno-Badakhshan, so vividly highlighted by Mr Sodiqov’s detention, is breeding domestic resentment. The problems Tajikistan faces come from within, not from a phantom external plot.

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Studying Tajikistan turns dangerous

The case of a scholar detained in Tajikistan and reportedly charged with treason highlights the predatory and paranoid nature of President Emomali Rakhmon's regime

20160702024817

San Francisco would have to stop entering into contracts with companies based in states that bar civil-rights protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people under legislation introduced Tuesday at the Board of Supervisors. The proposed ordinance, by Supervisor Scott Wiener, is another effort to increase pressure on North Carolina and Mississippi to rescind recently enacted laws to limit transgender rights. It builds on Mayor Ed Lee’s directive barring publicly funded city-employee travel to North Carolina or Mississippi, except in emergency situations. Wiener’s legislation is forward-looking: It prohibits the city from entering into future contracts with companies based in those states. “By banning the use of taxpayer dollars in these states, we can set an example for other jurisdictions and build momentum to put an end to this nonsense. Our LGBT community does not deserve to be attacked like this,” Wiener said in a statement. One company, Bank of America, would bear the biggest impact should the legislation pass, as expected. The North Carolina bank has an $8 million contract with San Francisco to provide depository and payroll services, among other things. The contract expires on Aug. 31, 2018. In a statement, Bank of America said, “We understand the concerns expressed by the City and County of San Francisco, and Bank of America has been very clear in calling for the repeal of North Carolina’s (law) based on concerns about the impact of the legislation on our employees and our customers.” Bank of America was founded and formerly headquartered in San Francisco. Other prominent companies based in North Carolina are Hanes and Lowe’s Home Improvement, although the city does not appear to have contracts with either company. Also on Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors passed trailing legislation for Proposition C, an initiative on the June ballot that would double the city’s affordable-housing requirements to 25 percent on-site or 33 percent off-site. While Prop. C would apply to any project filed after Jan. 12, the trailing legislation deals with the hundreds of projects in the development pipeline that have not started construction. Under the legislation, developments proposed in 2013 would be required to add 1 percent affordable units, 2014 projects would add 1.5 percent and 2015 projects would add 2.5 percent. Those figures are on top of the 12 percent the developers were required to include under current city law. “Your vote today is a vote for more affordable housing but in a way that ensures fairness for projects that are in the pipeline,” said Supervisor Jane Kim, who authored Prop. C. But the legislation wasn’t without controversy, as Supervisors Mark Farrell and Wiener voted against it. Farrell said the trailing legislation could “significantly curtail new housing in our city and that is not something I’m willing to support.” Emily Green is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: egreen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @emilytgreen

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SF could ban business with firms in states hostile to LGBT rights

San Francisco would have to stop entering into contracts with companies based in states that bar civil-rights protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people under legislation introduced Tuesday at the Board of Supervisors. The proposed ordinance, by Supervisor Scott Wiener, is another effort to increase pressure on North Carolina and Mississippi to rescind recently enacted laws to limit transgender rights. By banning the use of taxpayer dollars in these states, we can set an example for other jurisdictions and build momentum to put an end to this nonsense. In a statement, Bank of America said, “We understand the concerns expressed by the City and County of San Francisco, and Bank of America has been very clear in calling for the repeal of North Carolina’s (law) based on concerns about the impact of the legislation on our employees and our customers.” C would apply to any project filed after Jan. 12, the trailing legislation deals with the hundreds of projects in the development pipeline that have not started construction. “Your vote today is a vote for more affordable housing but in a way that ensures fairness for projects that are in the pipeline,” said Supervisor Jane Kim, who authored Prop.

20160702151209

While Europe agonizes over the Greek debt crisis, the United States is saddled with one of its own. Individual investment portfolios are replete with $72 billion in bonds issued by Puerto Rico’s government and its agencies, and since August this US Commonwealth has been in default. While federal law allows municipalities to restructure their debts under Chapter 9 that option is unavailable to states or US territories. The latest proposal designed to remedy the Puerto Rico debt calamity is a so-called “superbond” plan. The details are still sketching, but one scenario entails swapping existing bonds for new ones managed by the federal Treasury. While the Treasury would not guarantee the debt it would be responsible for managing some of Puerto Rico’s tax revenues, thus decreasing the likelihood of a default on the replacement bonds. It is unclear, however, whether the old bonds would be exchanged for new ones of equal value. Assuming this scheme can leap over the numerous political and legal hurdles necessary for implementation there remains the question of how much of a dent this could make in $72 billion in unpayable debt. Although a noble effort this strategy amounts to affixing a very small bandage over a rather deep financial wound. To begin with, how did Puerto Rico get into this mess? Investors bought Puerto Rico’s bonds at a time when its finances, by all appearances, were strong enough to repay its debts. Government budgets ultimately rest atop the employment base sustaining them. While tourism and agriculture employ thousands those sectors are too small to absorb all able-bodied workers. One remedy for the island’s unemployment woes has been fostering other economic sectors, such as manufacturing. Due to the federal minimum wage Puerto Rico’s payroll costs are high compared to its Caribbean neighbors. Federal health and safety regulations also add to the cost of doing business. And under the 1920 Jones Act, goods exchanged between Puerto Rico and the US mainland must be shipped via U.S.-flag carriers – among the most expensive in the world. Thus, it has not been easy to attract manufacturing plants to Puerto Rico. In a bid to stabilize, if not bolster, Puerto Rico’s economy the federal government provided enterprises operating in Puerto Rico with industrial tax incentives. These enticements, under Section 936 of the Internal Revenue Code, the cornerstone of the island’s manufacturing base, were dismantled with devastating economic consequences. Deemed “corporate welfare” by many, the federal government instated a ten-year phase out for these 936 incentives beginning in 1996. The numbers speak for themselves. The Bureau of Labor statistics reported that in 1995, the year before Section 936 was put on the chopping block, there were 159,000 manufacturing jobs in Puerto Rico. Twenty years later there are fewer than 75,000 employees in this sector — a decrease of more than fifty percent. Fewer manufacturing jobs translates into declining tax revenue for a debt-ridden Puerto Rican government. The decimation of Puerto Rico’s manufacturing base has yielded other economic consequences. Unable to find work hundreds of thousands of islanders, particularly the young and college educated, have migrated to the US mainland in the past decade. As US citizens there is no legal impediment to their relocation. Whereas New York City was the prime destination for the great migration of the 1940s and 50s today’s preferred terminus is Orlando, Florida. A critical section of the next generation, the very people needed to lead the island out of its economy morass, are departing. The consequences of their departure will be felt for decades to come. Despite the gravity of this situation there’s been, so far, an eerie silence from Capitol Hill. For the time being Republican lawmakers, consumed by internecine warfare, have shown little interest in touching Puerto Rico’s debt disaster. Individual investors are paying the price as are the tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans who are packing their bags to head stateside. This migration, a rather quiet exodus when compared to its counterpart in Europe, further erodes Puerto Rico’s capacity to put its financial house in order. The “superbond” idea, a laudable effort, is simply too meagre a remedy to fully tackle this crisis. A more realistic short-term solution is amending federal law to allow the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to file for Chapter 9. In the long haul the island’s economy cannot recover to the point where it can repay its debts without a restoration of tax incentives that attracted industries there in the first place. Both remedies, sadly, are unlikely in Washington’s current climate. Given the current state of affairs the most likely scenario is a continued decline in Puerto Rico’s economy and Puerto Ricans displacing Cubans as the largest Latino community in the State of Florida. Amílcar Antonio Barreto is an associate professor of political science, international affairs and public policy at Northeastern University. He is also the director of its MA Program in International Affairs.

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Forget the U.S. Treasury's help

As U.S. officials talk about ways to save the debt-trouble territory, it should consider changing laws to allow states and territories to file for Chapter 9.

20160713000845

The number of U.S. police officers charged in fatal shootings has hit the highest level in a decade in 2015, new research shows, driven by greater scrutiny over use of deadly force. Public outrage over the deaths of black men at the hands of police in New York, Missouri and elsewhere have spurred prosecutions. Police body cameras and bystanders' videos also have helped bring cases, but even with the upturn, only a small percentage of police killings result in charges, lawyers and analysts say. SEE ALSO: Canadian whale-watching boat sinks, killing 5 with 1 missing A dozen officers have been charged with murder or manslaughter this year resulting from shootings, up from an average of about five a year from 2005 to 2014, said Philip Stinson, an associate professor of criminology at Ohio's Bowling Green State University. He sifted court records and media reports as part of research for the Justice Department on police crimes and arrests. The 2015 number does not include six Baltimore officers facing trial for the death of Freddie Gray. The 25-year-old black man died in April from a spinal injury after he was arrested and bundled in a transport van. Four of the officers face murder or manslaughter charges. Prosecution of US police for killings surges to highest in decade FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015, file photo, a protester holds a sign as people rally for 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times by Chicago Police Department Officer Jason Van Dyke in Chicago. McDonald, whose name demonstrators are shouting as they march the streets and plan to shut down the cityâs glitziest shopping corridor on Friday, lived a troubled life full of disadvantages and at least one previous brush with the law. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty, File) In this frame grab image made from an Oct. 12, 2014 video released by Chicago Police Department, Ronald Johnson, right, is seen running from police officers just a second before he was shot by an officer. Prosecutors say a Chicago police officer will not be charged in the shooting of the 25-year-old black man who authorities said was armed with a gun as he ran away from officers. (Chicago Police Department via AP) Matthew White protests the shooting death of Michael Brown by police nearly a week ago Friday, Aug. 15, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo. A suburban St. Louis police chief on Friday identified the officer whose fatal shooting ignited days of heated protests, and released documents alleging the teen was killed after a robbery in which he was suspected of stealing a box of cigars. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) CORRECTS THE ID OF THE MALE ON POSTER TO TAMIR RICE - Tomiko Shine holds up a picture of Tamir Rice, the 12 year old boy fatally shot on Nov. 22 by a rookie police officer, during a protest in response to a grand jury's decision in Ferguson, Mo. to not indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, at the Department of Justice in Washington, Monday, Dec. 1, 2014. Protesters across the U.S. have walked off their jobs or away from classes in support of the Ferguson protesters. Rice's death has also sparked community demonstrations against police shootings. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) FILE - In this July 19, 2015 file photo from a body camera video provided by the University of Cincinnati Campus Police, university Officer Ray Tensing stands next to motorist Samuel DuBose during a traffic stop for a missing front license plate in Cincinnati. DuBose was fatally shot by the officer after a struggle ensued when he refused to provide a driver's license and get out of the car. Tensing was indicted Wednesday, July 29 on a murder charge. (University of Cincinnati Campus Police via AP, File) Muhiydin D'Baha leads a group protesting the shooting death of Walter Scott at city hall in North Charleston, S.C., Wednesday, April 8, 2015. Scott was killed by a North Charleston police office after a traffic stop on Saturday. The officer, Michael Thomas Slager, has been charged with murder. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton) A protestor carries a casket-shaped sign that reads "Justice for Antonio Zambrano Montes" as she takes part in a protest against recent shootings of unarmed civilians by police Tuesday, April 14, 2015, in Seattle. Zambrano-Montes was shot Feb. 10, 2015, by police in Pasco, Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) FILE - In this Dec. 4, 2014 file photo, demonstrators participate in a rally against a grand jury's decision not to indict the police officer involved in the death of Eric Garner, in New York. In the days since grand juries in Missouri and New York decided against indicting white police officers in the deaths of black men, protesters nationwide have demanded a reckoning and an acknowledgement that âblack lives matter.â Yet so far, there are few signs such a conversation will come in the place where it might most make a difference: the next campaign for president. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) FILE - This undated photo released by his sister Javille Burns shows Jamar Clark. Clark was involved in a Nov. 15 confrontation with police and died later. Officers said Clark was shot after a struggle. Others say Clark was handcuffed. His death sparked weeks of protests.(Jamar Clark/Javille Burns via AP, File) NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 06: Demonstrators march through the streets protesting the Staten Island, New York grand jury's decision not to indict a police officer involved in the chokehold death of Eric Garner in July on December 6, 2014 in New York City. Protests are being staged nationwide after grand juries investigating the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in New York failed to indict the police officers involved in both incidents. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images) A protest sign showing and image of Ezell Ford as members of the 'Black Lives Matter' alliance stage protest outside the Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's home as they try to force him to fire LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck, in Los Angeles, California on June 7, 2015. The alliance have renewed protests after a recent report from an LAPD watchdog determined that the August 11, 2014 officer-involved shooting death of 25-year-old Ezell Ford in South Central was justified. AFP PHOTO/ MARK RALSTON (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images) Protestors stand outside of the Baltimore Police Department's Western District police station during a march and vigil for Freddie Gray, Tuesday, April 21, 2015, in Baltimore. Gray died from spinal injuries a week after he was arrested and transported in a police van. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) In this undated photo provided by the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, Najee Rivera is shown. Philadelphia Police Office Sean McKnight and Kevin Robinson face brutality charges after prosecutors say they knocked a Rivera off a scooter and beat him so severely another officer thought the bloodied man had been shot. McKnight and Robinson were charged Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015 with assault, criminal conspiracy and reckless endangerment. They're also charged with lying about the May 2013 incident. (AP Photo/Philadelphia District Attorney's Office) Two men are detained near Pioneer Court on Friday, Nov. 27, 2015, in Chicago. Community activists and labor leaders held a demonstration billed as a "march for justice" in the wake of the release of video showing an officer fatally shooting Laquan McDonald. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) None of the officers has been convicted, and over the previous decade just one in five officers charged was found guilty, said Stinson, a former police officer. Stinson, attorneys and criminologists say it is too early to tell if the upturn indicates a permanent change or is a statistical fluke. "We can tell for one year, but is that just an anomaly or is it a trend?" said Stinson. The prosecutions represent only a small fraction of the killings by U.S. police. A Washington Post database last week showed 796 fatal police shootings this year, and one maintained by the Guardian newspaper recorded 927 deaths from all causes. The United States has lacked official numbers on police-related deaths, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch said this month that the Justice Department was trying to improve data on the use of force by police. A study for the department said in March that less than half of arrest-related deaths had been reported under two programs. At least two states, California and Texas, and several local jurisdictions, including Houston, Dallas and Fairfax County, Virginia, have started public databases on police-related shootings or deaths. Ezekiel Edwards, director of the criminal law reform project at the American Civil Liberties Union, said mayors, prosecutors and lawmakers were under increasing public pressure to act when a questionable police shooting occurred. "It's not that there has been this massive uptick in civilian deaths. It's just that there has been this massive uptick in scrutiny and protests," he said. Widespread protests over police brutality exploded over the August 2014 shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by an officer in Ferguson, Missouri. A grand jury declined to indict the officer, Darren Wilson, and the Justice Department cleared him of civil rights violations. Besides the Baltimore police, the officers charged this year include: -- Michael Slager, a former North Charleston, South Carolina, patrolman facing trial over the death of a black man who ran from a traffic stop and was shot in the back. A bystander caught the incident on video. -- Ray Tensing, an ex-University of Cincinnati officer, charged with murder for the July death of an unarmed black motorist during an off-campus traffic stop. Tensing's body camera showed the stop and the shooting. -- Stephen Rankin, a former Portsmouth, Virginia, officer, faces a first-degree murder charge for the April shooting of a black teenager in a Walmart parking lot. Lawrence Grandpre, with the Baltimore think tank Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, which organized protests over Gray's death, said prosecutions alone were not enough. Police departments resolve most brutality allegations internally, and officers in Maryland and many other states are shielded by special legal protections, he said. "Cops are going to have a massive incentive to, when in doubt, punch first, hit first, shoot first, and ask questions later," said Grandpre, whose father was a Baltimore police officer. Stuart Slotnick, a former state prosecutor in New York, said getting a conviction in cases involving police is difficult since officers are empowered to use weapons. Police cases generally involve split-second decisions made during interactions with civilians that go tragically wrong, he said. That can make prosecutors reluctant to bring charges and judges and juries to appear to second-guess officers. "Most of the cases are not clear-cut incidents where a police officer goes totally rogue and commits a clear-cut crime," said Slotnick, a partner with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. Stinson, the Bowling Green professor, said 11 of the 47 officers charged from 2005 to 2014 had been convicted. Former Eutawville, South Carolina, Police Chief Richard Combs is the most recent officer to be convicted. He pleaded guilty in September to misconduct in the 2011 death of a black man over a traffic ticket. Prosecutors dropped a murder charge against Combs after two mistrials. He received a suspended sentence of 10 years in prison, with one year of home detention and five years of probation. James Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, the biggest police union, said officers face unjustified criticism as they carry out a crucial job. "The important and telling statistic is the conviction rate," he said. More from AOL.com: Processed meat can cause cancer, red meat probably can: WHO Lebanon busts 2 tons of amphetamine on Saudi private jet Family stunts disabled daughter's growth to expand her world

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Prosecution of US police for killings surges to highest in decade

The number of U.S. police officers charged in fatal shootings has hit the highest level in a decade.

20160713162125

A grand Neoclassic estate with a rich pedigree and a colorful past - - but in need of some TLC -- is on the market in Piedmont. The Willis Polk-designed house and gardens at 86 Sea View Ave. was built for $30,000 in 1912, roughly $600,000 in today's dollars. Asking price is $8. 185 million, a record listing price for Piedmont, although another property listed at $7.6 million sold for $8.8 million last year. The house, built in 1912, has had just three owners in its nearly 100 years. It was occupied from 1912 until 1955 by James Kennedy Moffitt and Pauline Fore Moffitt. Moffitt, scion of a prominent San Francisco family, was owner and president of the Bear Gulch Water Co. and served on the executive committee of Crocker First National Bank of San Francisco. He was a UC Berkeley regent for most of the first half of the 20th century but is perhaps best remembered for his mountain climbing exploits. Moffitt climbed before the advent of now-standard equipment such as carabiners and pitons and made it into the history books with some of the first recorded ascents of the principal peaks of the Sierra. The gift of his classic book collection to UC Berkeley was acknowledged by bestowing his name on the Moffitt Library. Moffitt selected the east side of the street to site the house because, at the time, it had a view of the water. Built long and narrow, like a railroad car, the house is oriented on a north/south axis so that the rooms had bay views from the front, and overlooked acres of poppy fields in the rear. There were so few homes in Piedmont in 1912 that new taxpayers picked their address. Moffitt selected 86, because he was a Cal grad, class of 1886. The exterior gives little hint of the grandeur inside, but it does display some of Polk's signature touches: a Tuscan portico, a hand-carved Baroque cartouche above the entry and a tiled hipped roof. Inside, a long Italian renaissance entry divides the house into north and south wings. With arched, high ceilings, matching pendant chandeliers supported by symmetrical decorative colonnades and ornately carved porticos at each end, the entry hall looks through the house to the formal gardens behind. In the south wing is a salon-style living room, with an intricate coved ceiling, multilayer crown molding, floor-to-ceiling windows, stone fireplace and a card room alcove. The library features a carved fireplace, mahogany paneling and custom- built wraparound cabinetry. Pauline Watts, Moffitt's great-granddaughter, remembers him filling the library shelves with the classics and teaching himself Latin so he could read Horace in the original. When the house was designed, French doors led to a solarium that opened to a reflecting pool and the wooded hills beyond. Moffitt, an avid gardener, tended the grounds with the help of three full-time staff. In those days, garden tours were all the rage and 86 Sea View was on the circuit. Disguised by a large sun hat, Moffitt would say when asked whether he was well compensated for his labors, "No, but I am given room and board." Today, although the reflecting pool is gone and nearly half the acreage has been sold, it remains one of the finest private gardens in the Bay Area. The grounds include a swimming pool, terraced patios, manicured lawns, marble benches, cherubic statues, boxwood hedges, a fountain, a sundial, and flower gardens galore. Polk was highly regarded for his elegant designs of mansions in the Georgian Revival style for wealthy San Franciscans. In 1915, William Bowers Bourn II commissioned him for the 654-acre Filoli estate in Woodside, which was donated to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1975. Polk also designed the Carolands estate in Hillsborough, which at one time was the largest residence west of the Mississippi. In 1917-18, Polk designed the Hallidie Building, the first high-rise structure with a glass curtain-wall construction. It would serve as the architect's most important civic effort and his last major project of note. He died in 1924 at the age of 57. In 1956, the property was sold to the Stanley Dollar family. Dollar was president of the Robert Dollar Co., Dollar Steamship Line and Globe Wireless Ltd. In 1970, the Dollars sold it to former Bank of America President Rudolph Arvid Peterson and his wife, Barbara, who lived there until they died, he in 2003, she in 2004. The last owner, Rudy Peterson, was another Cal alum. An immigrant Swedish farm boy, he became president of Bank of America, overseeing its growth from 16 international branches to nearly 100 and almost doubling the firm's operations. After retiring in 1970, he served as chairman of several presidential commissions and headed the U.N. Development Program for three years. The Petersons subdivided the property in 1986, selling a 1.2-acre parcel at the rear of the property. The house's 8,328 square feet of living space includes five bedrooms, five baths and two half-baths. The lot is nearly 1.5 acres. The interior of the house has been somewhat neglected by current standards and the finishes and fixtures show their age. Even the listing agent, Angela Wei Grubb, acknowledges this, but is quick to point out, "with a garden like this, it's the opportunity of a lifetime. I'm sure preservationists hope the new owners merely restore it to its original grandeur."

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86 Sea View / $8.2 million gardener's delight / 1.5-acre Piedmont estate the work of renowned architect Willis Polk

The exterior gives little hint of the grandeur inside, but it does display some of Polk's signature touches: a Tuscan portico, a hand-carved Baroque cartouche above the entry and a tiled hipped roof. With arched, high ceilings, matching pendant chandeliers supported by symmetrical decorative colonnades and ornately carved porticos at each end, the entry hall looks through the house to the formal gardens behind. In the south wing is a salon-style living room, with an intricate coved ceiling, multilayer crown molding, floor-to-ceiling windows, stone fireplace and a card room alcove. The library features a carved fireplace, mahogany paneling and custom- built wraparound cabinetry. When the house was designed, French doors led to a solarium that opened to a reflecting pool and the wooded hills beyond. The grounds include a swimming pool, terraced patios, manicured lawns, marble benches, cherubic statues, boxwood hedges, a fountain, a sundial, and flower gardens galore. An immigrant Swedish farm boy, he became president of Bank of America, overseeing its growth from 16 international branches to nearly 100 and almost doubling the firm's operations.

20160715010517

When it comes to spring allergies, the amount of Kleenex one goes through varies year to year, often depending on Mother Nature, personal triggers and where you live. Worst place for sufferers? Tulsa, Okla. That’s according to a report out today from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. A not-for-profit organization that provides information, community-based services and a support network, it has culled 2006 data and ranked the worst cities for spring allergies based on three factors: pollen counts, medication usage by allergy patients and the number of board-certified allergists per patient. Tulsa-based Dr. Rollie Rhodes, allergy director for the Eastern Oklahoma Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic, isn’t surprised his area tops the list. He estimates that he and his colleagues saw several hundred more patients than usual last year because of the mild 2005-06 winter, which allowed the ragweed season to last longer than normal and the spring tree season to start up in February. “The milder the winter,” he says, “the more problems.” Dallas-Forth Worth, Texas, which had a couple of mild winters in recent years that helped plants thrive, came in second. Last year, based on data from 2005, Hartford, Conn., had the worst spring allergies, according to the list. That could have been due to temperature changes or too few allergy doctors to handle a particularly heavy patient load. But normally, Southeastern cities rule. Trees that produce lots of pollen, such as oak, maple and elm, are popular in the Southeast, and the open environment makes it easy for lightweight spores to travel once they’re airborne, says Angel Waldron, spokeswoman for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. And then there’s the weather–short, mild winters and long springs don’t help. Time to Move? One of the reasons the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America first began tracking in 2003 the intensity of seasonal allergies was because the group was getting so many calls from people asking where they should move to avoid them. The goal was to put research behind its answers. “They’d say, ‘I moved to Atlanta, and I never had troubles before. Now I’m miserable,’ ” Waldron says. But while it’s helpful, for instance, for people with tree pollen allergies to know that the Southeast might not be a great place for them to live, relocating won’t solve most sufferers’ problems. Most people tend to have more than one trigger, something they may not realize until they move to another city and are exposed to different allergens. People with tree pollen allergies could move to Seattle, for example, where the tree pollen count is much lower, only to find out they’re also allergic to mold, a significant problem in the Northwest. Some seek solace in Arizona. But Dr. Michael Daines, an immunologist and assistant professor in pediatrics at the University of Arizona in Tucson, says the people who initially moved to the desert to escape their allergies basically brought allergens with them, planting Bermuda grass and other non-native plants. Tucson, the fifth worst city for spring allergies, is having another bad spring so far this year, he says. Allergy Busters If allergies are making you miserable, experts recommend avoiding unnecessary exposure to allergens; consistently taking medication, such as an antihistamine or decongestant; or seeing a doctor–if you can get an appointment this time of year. The wait time to get into Daines’ allergy clinic, for instance, is currently months long. “It’s nice to be in demand, but our main goal is to get rid of the suffering,” he says. “Patients are really suffering.” Comments are turned off for this post.

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Top 100 Worst Cities For Spring Allergies

Sneezing up a storm? Find out why where you live has a lot to do with the amount of tissues you go through.

20160723164319

There’s not much point in trying to get rid of a gecko. They're lightening fast and even if you manage to grab one by the tail, the amazing gecko has evolved to self-amputate for a quick getaway, and grow another tail to be pulled off another day. Verdict: Let the curious little creatures stay to keep the mozzies at bay. When it comes to crawly things, it doesn’t get much creepier than a cockroach. The first time one of these huge armour clad bugs scuttled out of my kitchen bin, I shot over to my neighbour fearing thousands were lurking in the cavities of my newly rented home, about to swarm me at any moment. My neighbour assured me that I didn't necessarily have an infestation and that cockroaches are common insects in Australia, getting into houses through any crack or vent. As it turned out, she was right. Still, the fact that even one creature can live for a week after it’s been beheaded, and give birth to offspring without copulation, is one freak too many for me. With no mouth to drink with, a cockroach will die from a lack of water before it dies from lack of a head. They thrive in all conditions from the desert to the Arctic and have done so for 300 million years, scientists say. Clearly, cockroaches are aliens that belong in science fiction movies and not in my home. Verdict: Spray it with insecticide and dispose of the carcase once a CSI investigator has confirmed its death in triplicate. Paper wasps live in small colonies of around 20 and are non-aggressive unless their nests, which have a papery appearance, are threatened. So it's best to leave well alone unless someone in your household is allergic to the sting of wasps. When wasps moved into my porch, my neighbour came to the rescue, once again, with a can of insecticide, a big broom and a pair of stilettos. First she sprayed the nest until the wasps dropped out. "It’s best to deal with the wasps after sunset when they're docile," she advised before swiping the nest down with her broom and making dust of it under her sharp shoes. Verdict: Destroy the nest if it’s in a high traffic area or if you, or any member of your family, are prone to anaphylactic shock. But get someone else to do it, like a neighbour with a mean pair of shoes. Huntsmans are frighteningly large hand-sized arachnophobia-inducing creatures that hang out in houses. According to the National Museum of Australia, hairy huntsmans are more likely to run away and are not considered dangerous. However, as with many spiders, their bite is venomous and may cause some nasty effects. I prefer to coax these large insect-eaters outside where they can stand guard against alien cockroach invasions. Verdict: Carefully release them back into the wild with rubber gloves, several brooms and a Tupperware box. Possums are too shy to come into the house, but after dark these nocturnal fat-bottomed cuties waddle along my balcony rail with a clumsy trepidation before dropping onto my deck with a "hello there" doof. If only Australian houses didn't have tin roofs. That's where possums like to play their middle-of-the-night games of tag, or whatever it is they do. Skipperty ...bumperty ...doof doof doof . . . back and forth they go across the roof. Be careful not to mix up your antipodean rules. Possums are pests in New Zealand but they are protected in Australia. Verdict: Too cute to mute. Get earplugs. It started soon after I arrived in Queensland. I felt a nip. I swatted, swiped or flicked, then inspected the skin to find nothing. No black and red splat, no mark, no swelling, no pinprick, no trace of any micro insect whatsoever, except a persistent nip, nip, nip. The ghost bug attacked me randomly for around a year. I thought I'd lost more than my electrolytes in the heat until I noticed visitors and other newbie expats displaying the same behaviour. They confirmed they could feel the ghost bug too. Phew. It's a phantom nipping phenomena that disappeared once I acclimatised to the humidity. I've never managed to unravel or resolve the mystery. Verdict: Open to any suggestions in the comments box below. Tracey Croke is a Manchester-born, Australia-based freelance journalist. Her website is at www.traceycroke.com and you can also follow her on Twitter.

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A Pom versus the pests

Our reader was ready to live in Australia - but she was not ready to share her home with some uninvited guests. Here's her lighthearted guide to handling an onslaught of pests.

20160810081858

The amount of occupied U.S. office space increased for the first time in nearly three years during the fourth quarter of 2010 as more companies that had been postponing real-estate decisions got back into the leasing market. Average office rents also rose by 0.2%, to $22.09 per square foot, registering their first uptick since the second quarter of 2008, according to property-research firm Reis Inc. While the 79 metropolitan areas tracked by Reis vary greatly, the national trend means that in many regions the balance of power is shifting to landlords from tenants. The office market has been hard hit by job losses. From January 2008 to September 2010, businesses vacated 137.8 million square feet of office space—more than the inventory in Chicago's central business district. In the final three months of 2010, however, occupied office space in the U.S. grew by 2.5 million square feet. On the whole, the office-market recovery remains weak. The national vacancy rate of 17.6%, which remained unchanged from the third quarter of 2010, is the highest since 1993, according to Reis. Average rents are still well below highs of more than $25 per square foot in mid-2008. Real-estate developers expect further pain this year as more debt comes due, refinancing options remain limited for many, and supply continues to exceed demand in overbuilt markets such as Phoenix and Las Vegas. But as businesses gain confidence about their growth prospects amid a strengthening economy, markets across the U.S. are seeing signs of improvement. The biggest increases in average rents in the fourth quarter came in Pittsburgh, New York City and San Francisco, thanks in part to demand for space from financial-services and technology firms. French financial giant Société Générale last month announced a 20-year, 444,000-square-foot lease on Manhattan's Park Avenue, the biggest office lease in Manhattan in 2010. In Cleveland, closely held technology provider MCPc Inc. last week announced a 98,000-square-foot, 10-year lease in a downtown building. To accommodate growth in recent years, MCPc had been adding satellite facilities, accumulating 65,000 square feet in the suburbs. Now the company wants to consolidate in a more visible location. "It's been inefficient, but it's got us through the recession," said Chief Executive Mike Trebilcock. "It's time to come out of the comfort of the suburbs and put ourselves front and center." Deep-pocketed real-estate investors are taking note of signs of stability in the office market and making bets in cities where office buildings were hit hard by the recession. In Atlanta, Parkway Properties Inc. said last month it was under contract to buy the office and retail portion of a 50-story tower in the upscale Buckhead neighborhood for $167.3 million, or about $346 per square foot. It is one of the priciest office-building deals Atlanta has seen in years, and comes despite a glut of new office space in Buckhead. Meanwhile in Miami, a real-estate fund managed by an affiliate of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., the commercial real-estate brokerage, is paying $105 million for the landmark Miami Tower. "Miami is a cyclical market that, we think, will recover sometime," said Jim Hutchinson, who runs the fund. Miami's 15.9% vacancy rate is slightly below the national average. Other Sun Belt metropolitan areas are suffering from even greater oversupply, with vacancy rates still hovering around 25% in Las Vegas, Phoenix and California's Inland Empire. Write to Anton Troianovski at anton.troianovski@wsj.com

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Office Market Shows Some Life

The amount of occupied U.S. office space increased for the first time in nearly three years during the fourth quarter of 2010 as more companies that had been postponing real-estate decisions got back into the leasing market.

20160811151924

Long Tan commander Harry Smith has claimed a partial victory in his fight to have the heroism and sacrifice of his men honoured 50 years after one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Harry Smith, 83, has campaigned for decades to rectify deficiencies in what he believed was a shambolic system for military awards. He was commander of Delta company during the Battle of Long Tan and was not satisfied with the level of recognition awarded to soldiers at the time. The Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal was tasked with considering the cases of 13 of his soldiers. Veterans Affairs Minister Dan Tehan announced on Wednesday he would write to the prime minister and governor-general seeking approval to accept the tribunal's recommendations in full. The tribunal has recommended military honours or upgrades for 10 soldiers but Mr Smith's bid for the late Jack Kirby to receive a Victoria Cross was rejected. The tribunal decided that the distinguished conduct medal awarded to him in 1966 was appropriate to recognise his leadership in the battle. Mr Smith said he had done his best to put a strong case to the tribunal. "Justice has been done," he told reporters in Canberra. "I believe that the outcome has been excellent, compared with what has been done before." The tribunal recommended medals of gallantry for Lieutenant Adrian Roberts, Sergeant Frank Alcorta and Lance Corporal Barry Magnussen (deceased) and commendations for gallantry for Second Lieutenant Gordon Sharp (deceased), and Privates Neil Bextrum, Ron Brett (deceased), Ian Campbell, William Roche, Geoffrey Peters and Noel Grimes. The tribunal also backed a previous decision not to award an honour to the late Corporal William Moore and Private Allen May. Mr Smith expressed some disappointment over the Kirby decision. He said Kirby had run around under fire distributing ammunition to troops and joking with soldiers as they fought for their lives. "Jack was a man who had no regard for his own safety," he said, describing him as an inspiration. "Great big man he was, how he never got hit surprises me to this day." Kirby died in February 1967 when a shell from a New Zealand gun accidentally landed on the Australian position. Next Wednesday and Thursday there will be commemorations of the battle at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

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Justice after fight for Long Tan honours

Labor leader Bill Shorten believes there should be more recognition for Vietnam veterans involved in the Battle of Long Tan.

20160819195235

Owen Smith, the Labour leadership challenger, sparked controversy on Wednesday by suggesting a British government would have to negotiate with Isis to end the conflict in the Middle East. Asked in a televised debate whether the terrorist group, which controls large areas of Iraq and Syria and has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in the west, should be allowed to join talks about resolving the conflicts in the Middle East, Smith said “all actors” should be involved. Related: Owen Smith suggests Islamic State needs to 'get round the table' – live By contrast, the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who has sometimes been accused of being too willing to associate himself with extremist groups, said Isis should not be allowed to take part in talks. “No, they are not going to be round the table, no.” Later a spokesman for Corbyn criticised Smith’s remarks as “hasty and ill-considered”. Smith, who was a special adviser to Paul Murphy, Northern Ireland secretary in Tony Blair’s government, said: “I worked on the Northern Ireland peace process for three years; I was part of the UK’s negotiating team that helped bring together the loyalist paramilitaries. “My view is that, ultimately, all solutions to these international crises do come about through dialogue, so eventually if we are to try to solve this all of the actors do need to be involved. But at the moment Isil [Isis] are clearly not interested in negotiating. At some point for us to resolve this, we will need to get people round the table.” He later clarified the remarks in a Facebook Q&A, saying Isis would have to “renounce violence, cease all acts of terror and commit themselves to a peaceful settlement”, before any talks could take place. But his comments were seized on by the Conservatives, with Johnny Mercer, the MP and member of the defence select committee, saying: “His desperate attempts to out-Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn have led him to the view that barbaric murderers who behead journalists and lynch homosexuals are now the sort of people that we should negotiate with. “It shows that whoever wins this increasingly bizarre leadership election, I’m afraid Labour just cannot be trusted with keeping us safe.” Corbyn has previously suggested a back-channel to Isis should be maintained as part of efforts to resolve the Syria crisis. “The British government maintained a channel to the IRA all through the Troubles,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show in January. “I don’t condemn them for that. I don’t condemn them for keeping a back-channel to the Taliban. But a spokesman for Corbyn’s campaign said : “Jeremy has always argued that there must be a negotiated political solution to the war in Syria and the wider Middle East, and that maintaining lines of communication during conflicts is essential. But Isis cannot be part of those negotiations. Instead, its sources of funding and supplies must be cut off.” Smith, the MP for Pontypridd and former shadow work and pensions secretary, announced that he would challenge Corbyn after the Labour leader was hit by a series of resignations from his shadow cabinet, and lost the confidence of 172 of his MPs. The battle for the future of Labour has become increasingly ill-tempered, with the deputy leader, Tom Watson, claiming last week that Corbyn’s leadership has encouraged hard left “Trotsky entryists” to seek to infiltrate the party. Smith and Corbyn locked horns repeatedly in Wednesday’s two-hour-long debate, clashing over Smith’s claims that the Labour leader has failed to do enough to crack down on bullying and antisemitism. One young party member in the audience, Francesca, said she had witnessed intimidating behaviour at a recent Labour youth meeting, and suggested she would feel safer as a Labour supporter at a Tory conference than a non-Corbyn supporter at a Labour conference. Victoria Derbyshire, who hosted the debate on the BBC News channel, suggested the atmosphere in the Labour party had become “toxic”; but Corbyn shot back: “Well how do you know?” He added: “I attend large amounts of events all over the country where there are people of all shades of opinion having a respectful and intelligent debate; that’s how we should do things at all time.” Europe marked another dividing line, with Smith repeating his promise to offer the electorate a choice about whether to accept whatever Brexit deal Britain managed to negotiate, with a second referendum or a general election. He described the decision to leave the EU as “a desperate mistake for our country”. Student fees were another area of contention, with Corbyn saying he would scrap them, while Smith would fund university education through a graduate tax. Britain’s nuclear deterrent was another issue over which the pair set out differing positions, with Corbyn saying he would arm the Trident submarines with conventional weapons instead of nuclear warheads, while Smith said he believed in multilateral disarmament. Smith said he had been a unilateralist in the past, saying: “I used to hold that view, I don’t any longer. I think we should negotiate our way to get rid of nuclear weapons. The country wants the Labour party to be serious about the security of our country.” Corbyn, by contrast, described nuclear weapons as, “unconscionable”.

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Isis should get round the table with UK, says Owen Smith

Smith’s comment that ‘all actors’ need to join talks on Middle East conflicts is criticised by Corbyn camp as hasty and ill-considered

20160820171015

The Olympic Games are must-see TV, but don't tell that to millennials. While the competition in Rio continues to draw strong ratings, even for its tape-delayed primetime events, the millennial generation isn't helping out that trend. In fact, when you pick apart the numbers, a glaring problem reveals itself. For a competition whose top stars fall into the millennial crowd, their generational peers aren't paying too much attention. Even on a superficial level, Olympic broadcasts are suffering from declining viewership. As The Wall Street Journal reports, NBC averaged nearly 28 million viewers for each of the first nine nights of Olympic broadcasts. That's a staggering number on its own, but it's still 15.5 percent down from viewership in 2012, and even farther behind the average from the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. If you're going to blame anyone, blame millennials: The 18-to-34 audience has declined by 30 percent for these Olympics in Rio, and NBC is rightfully worried about the trend. While cable subscriptions in general have declined in recent years, millennial embrace of the Olympics has plummeted. The Olympics increasingly seem to cater best to the interests of older generations. During the past few Games, the average viewer age has ranged from the high-40s to the low-50s. Declining millennial interest is inching that number higher. Millennials are quicker to cut the cord on cable than other generations, but that doesn't entirely explain their lagging interest. After all, even when you add in the 2 million viewers who watch the Olympics online every night, the viewership still isn't reaching London's levels from four years ago. The Olympic Games have made several attempts to get hip to the young crowd. Bringing in Ryan Seacrest for late-night coverage was seen as a move to appeal to a younger demographic, and even additions like skateboarding to the Olympics were geared more toward millennials than older fans. And still, millennials aren't tuning in. So what gives, and what does it mean for the Olympics? For one thing, lagging interest is a product of increased competition. With millennials occupied by more streams of media than any other demographic, they simply have less time to spend on any particular channel. Social media offers a variety of distractions: Imagine the Olympics battling for millennial attentions with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, among other platforms. It's easy to see how millennials are too busy to pull up Olympics on the boob tube. NBC tried to counter this by diving deep into social media influence: Seacrest's nightly broadcasts feature social media coverage from the day, and NBC also invested heavily into social media influencers who could help promote the Olympic Games to a younger audience. Consider even comedian Leslie Jones' surprise trip to Rio, earned through her engaging social media live-tweeting. Jones is a hit with younger audiences; bringing her to Rio was an easy way to increase engagement among millennials back home. According to Variety, NBC has dropped roughly $100 million on marketing its Olympic Games broadcasts. Despite that spending, its losing millennial audiences faster than ever before. The question, of course, is how to fix it. For starters, NBC and the Olympics might consider dispensing with its archaic primetime broadcasts -- or, at least, opening up new media consumption options that are more flexible for millennials and meet younger audiences where they're at. NBC's livestreams online have been popular, but the network may want to consider emerging forms of video streaming, such as partnerships with Twitter and Snapchat, to make Olympics broadcasts more accessible while also supporting a better multi-screen experience. In fairness, such partnerships are still in their infancy, and by the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, experimental partnerships with other professional sports leagues will give Olympic officials a better sense of how social media can be used to deliver broadcasts. Then there's the issue of its packaged primetime broadcasts, which frustrate many younger viewers who find out the results beforehand, or simply don't care to hold their suspense until the wee hours of the night. This is a strategy that simply can't survive with the times. As the American public and the world population consume media through an ever-increasing number of channels, the suspense of a tape-delayed primetime broadcast will dissolve to near-nothing. Instead, NBC should do a better job of promoting live events as they're happening, while also providing an alternative tape-delayed package where fans can watch broadcasts in the evening. Of course, all of these changes may overlook a more fundamental truth that the Olympic Games might not be able to fix. The media landscape is packed, and competitive for consumer attention is fierce. The Olympics is a revenue-generating titan that relies on a massive, plugged-in audience to generate its mammoth earnings. But as the American culture becomes more and more fractured by competing interests, even something as large as the Olympic Games might have to rethink its strategy. Millennials aren't making some brave stand against cable or blazing a promising new path for the future of media: They're just reacting to what's been made available to them. And as the options proliferate, missing out on the Olympic Games just doesn't seem like that big of a deal. More Olympics: -- Kenyan Runners: How They Became So Good -- Michael Phelps Teaches Katie Ledecky Proper Medal-Wearing Technique -- Olympians In The NFL Millennials, NBC, Olympic Games, Olympics, Rio Olympics, TV ratings

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Millennial Viewers Not Watching Olympics

The Olympic Games has struggled to draw in a large millennial TV crowd, suggesting it may have no change its strategy in the future.

20160909024159

Photo: Ben Margot, Associated Press 49ers’ CEO Jed York said his team will partner with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation 49ers’ CEO Jed York said his team will partner with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation 49ers’ Jed York: $1 million donation to ease racial inequality 49ers CEO Jed York has announced that his team will make a $1 million donation to “the cause of improving racial and economic inequality and fostering communication and collaboration between law enforcement and the communities they serve here in the Bay Area.” Thursday afternoon’s statement comes amid quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s ongoing protest in which he declined to stand for the playing of the national anthem during the preseason to bring attention to what he says are racial inequities in this country, in particular when minorities encounter local law enforcement. Kaepernick earlier said he would donate the first $1 million of his nearly $12 million salary to community organizations. York’s statement went on to say: “We are partnering with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation in this effort. We have chosen to work with these two organizations because they have proven track records of affecting change in the face of challenging problems and have the collective reach to make the greatest impact. Silicon Valley Community Foundation is the largest community foundation in the world, managing $7.3 billion in assets and more than 1,800 philanthropic funds globally. The San Francisco Foundation has served the people of the Bay Area since 1948, almost as long as the 49ers’ franchise. We are excited to work with these two renowned foundations over the coming months to develop a giving plan to help our community find unifying solutions to these pressing issues.” Kaepernick sat during the playing of the anthem during the first three preseason games and then opted to kneel during the exhibition finale in San Diego last week. The 49ers open the regular season against the Rams at Levi’s Stadium on Monday night .

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49ers’ Jed York: $1 million donation to ease racial inequality

49ers CEO Jed York has announced that his team will make a $1 million donation to “the cause of improving racial and economic inequality and fostering communication and collaboration between law enforcement and the communities they serve here in the Bay Area.” Thursday afternoon’s statement comes amid quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s ongoing protest in which he declined to stand for the playing of the national anthem during the preseason to bring attention to what he says are racial inequities in this country, in particular when minorities encounter local law enforcement. Kaepernick sat during the playing of the anthem during the first three preseason games and then opted to kneel during the exhibition finale in San Diego last week.

20161021131011

An Iranian asylum seeker who smuggled 1.8 kilograms of opium into Melbourne through the mail claimed the package was for personal use. Behrus Miri Kalaniki had a one gram-a-day addiction, which meant the almost $1 million package would have taken him up to five years to get through. He pleaded guilty to attempting to posses the drug, and had his bridging visa cancelled when he was charged in October last year. County Court Judge Carolyn Douglas described Kalaniki's plan to smuggle the drug into Australia in rubber rolls hidden inside car parts as "sophisticated". But Judge Douglas found it difficult to believe Kalanaki's claims that he planned to use the entire package for personal use. "Opium loses its form over time, so that amount wouldn't last 900 days - even if you were to share it. And as a regular user you would know that," the judge said on Thursday. She did accept his one gram-a-day addiction led to his poor decisions. The judge said the Werribee resident, supported by his wife in court, began smoking opium in Iran before he illegally arrived in Australia by boat from Indonesia. Kalaniki sought refuge in Australia because he feared persecution in Iran for his family's links to the Kurdish Democratic Party. He started using the drug again because he was "feeling bored and frustrated" at being unable to work - a condition of his bridging visa. Kalaniki was sentenced to 10 months in jail with no parole period - less than the 373 days he has already spent in pre-sentence custody. Despite already serving his sentence, Kalaniki won't walk free, with both the judge and his lawyer conceding he will be released into the custody of immigration officials. His defence counsel Colin Ham said his client would go "straight to (detention centres in) Maribyrnong or Nauru".

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Iranian sentenced over Vic opium plot

An Iranian man who pleaded guilty in a Melbourne court to attempting to possess almost 2 kilograms of opium has been given a jail term.

20161218200626

As Tyson Fury upset Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua was skillfully guided to a world title trinket, Luis Ortiz — who many view as the most dangerous heavyweight in boxing — was forced to sit idle, which frustratingly wasted the momentum garnered from a sensational TKO of top contender Bryant Jennings on HBO in December of 2015. Still, a title shot for the feared Ortiz appeared elusive, especially with Fury and former champion Wladimir Klitschko locked into a mandatory rematch, which has obviously since gone awry. But by signing with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, Luis Ortiz (25-0, 22 KOs), who will fight Carlos Takam on November 12, finally has the inside track on some major fights. Here are some details about Ortiz’s signing, courtesy of ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael: Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the signing comes six weeks after Ortiz’s camp paid $1 million to Golden Boy Promotions to buy out his promotional contract because they were unhappy with the agreement. The signing comes as a bit of a surprise because Ortiz was close to signing a deal with Roc Nation Sports that would have commenced with an appearance on the HBO PPV undercard of the Sergey Kovalev-Andre Ward light heavyweight title fight on Nov. 19 in Las Vegas. Now Ortiz is with Eddie Hearn’s company, which could pave the way to an eventual fight with world titleholder Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs). It’s hard to imagine that Hearn will be overly eager to match Anthony Joshua and Luis Ortiz, especially with the fracturing of heavyweight titles following Tyson Fury’s positive drug test. Ortiz should be able to dust off some ring rust against fringe contender Carlos Takam, which could provide an intriguing springboard to a fight against someone like Dillian Whyte, who Ortiz should handle. David Haye also lingers as an intriguing target on the UK heavyweight scene, and Europe in general is littered with capable, if unspectacular, big men. In any case, the point is that Luis Ortiz is probably better served with a UK promoter at this stage when it comes to fighting with any consistency. A Joshua-Ortiz fight is mouthwatering from a fan’s perspective, and one figures that Joshua will take a major step up in 2017, whether it comes against David Haye, Waldimir Klitschko or Luis Ortiz. And with Joseph Parker zeroing in on the WBO title, Ortiz has another path to a major fight with Hearn at the helm of negotiations. It should also be said that Luis Ortiz dodged a massive bullet by not signing with Roc Nation Sports, a promotional outfit that has a paltry track record of keeping its fighters active since it burst onto the scene with signings of Andre Ward and Miguel Cotto. At 37, Ortiz doesn’t have time to waste, and it’s likely that he will finally get the opportunity he deserves in 2017. This article originally appeared on

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Luis Ortiz can regain momentum with Matchroom Boxing

Luis Ortiz, the supremely talented heavyweight who came up through Cuba's vaunted amateur system, has signed a promotional deal with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing after severing ties with Golden Boy Promotions. This is a move that could help Ortiz regain lost momentum.As Tyson Fury upse...

20161220215202

Ed Clark, 50, admits he has virtually no chance to win the U.S. presidency, but tilting at windmills comes naturally to his increasingly pesky, 1.3 million-member Libertarian party. Besides, as he points out, “A recent poll shows that 55 percent of the registered voters are not interested in Carter, Reagan or Anderson. They could want me. It’s not probable but possible.” Improbable indeed. Clark envies even John Anderson’s tenuous recognition by the League of Women Voters, and if invited would truly muddy any debates. Clark’s party, founded only eight years ago, has a motley, controversial creed that attracts extremists of the left and right—and confounds them both. In general, the platform is seductive—less government, more freedom—but in specifics it becomes less so. Libertarians call for an end to mandatory public education; phasing out of social security and welfare; dismantling of all federal regulatory agencies plus the FBI and CIA; a neutralist foreign policy; and the repeal, among other things, of laws against abortion, gambling, drugs and prostitution. “I’m not going to use drugs or see prostitutes,” Clark has stressed, “but I don’t think we should legislate morality.” Says his communications director, Ed Crane, with a smile: “We have something to offend everyone.” Yet this year the Libertarians are mounting their most credible campaign to date, packaging Clark in five-minute network spots for which they plan to spend a third of their $3.5 million budget (raised mostly through small contributions). Clark’s Reaganesque pompadour has been made over by John Travolta’s hairstylist, and he has moderated his pitch to suit a wider audience. “I think it’s important not to repackage your personality or change your ideas,” argues Clark. “We’re just trying to communicate more forcefully.” His party has found a small but receptive audience. In 1972, the year it was launched, its presidential candidate won only 5,000 votes in two states. In 1976 the Libertarian candidate ran in 32 states and collected some 170,000 votes. In 1978 the party fielded 200 candidates for a variety of offices and amassed 1.3 million votes, even winning a seat in the Alaska legislature. In California’s gubernatorial election that year, Clark himself got 5.5 percent of the vote against Jerry Brown’s 56 percent. “I decided to become a presidential candidate after that showing,” Clark says proudly. This year his party expects to be on the ballot in all 50 states. Clark’s credentials are first-rate. The son of a Massachusetts judge, he graduated from Dartmouth in 1952, served as a Navy gunnery officer during the Korean war, then earned his law degree from Harvard in 1957. He joined a fancy Wall Street law firm and specialized in antitrust cases. A liberal Republican then, Clark traces his sudden change of heart to Nixon’s wage-price freeze in 1971. “That was a great blow to the free market system,” he says. “I felt betrayed and said, ‘Never again.’ ” Soon after, he joined the fledgling Libertarian party. A bachelor most of his life, Clark married Mexican-born textile executive Alicia Garcia Cobos in 1970 and four years later moved to Los Angeles to take over the legal department of Atlantic Richfield. Now on leave of absence “so I can devote my time to the campaign,” he lives in San Marino, a chic L.A. suburb, with Alicia, 52, and their adopted son, Edward Jr., 6. How can he expect U.S. voters to follow a party line as extreme as the Libertarians’? “People who vote for us are attracted by a desire for freedom in a particular area,” he explains. “The parent of someone facing the draft might vote for us, or a retired person whose savings are being eroded by inflation.” Clark is convinced he has the makings of a “major new coalition” in such special grievances. If that means relying more on the piecemeal failures of others than on a generally attractive program of his own, so much the better. “As government screws up more and more,” Clark says cheerfully, “we’ll grow and grow.”

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Ed Clark Is the Libertarian Party's Headstrong Candidate for the White House

Ed Clark, 50, admits he has virtually no chance to win the U.S. presidency, but tilting at windmills comes naturally to his increasingly pesky, 1.3 million-member Libertarian party. Besides, as he …

20161231193901

For many thinking Americans, the anti-intellectual core of Republican Party policies was made real during a 2007 primary debate among its 11 presidential candidates, when three raised their hands to say they doubted the theory of evolution. More recently we've had climate-change deniers and skeptics placed in top GOP posts in Congress. Among them is Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, whose efforts to inject politics into government grantmaking procedures as chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology we've reported on here and here. But Josh Krisch reports today for Scientific American that there are glimmers of light in what writer Chris Mooney memorably described as "The Republican War on Science." The glimmers come from the appointments for 2015 of Reps. Tom Cole, R-Okla., and John Culberson, R-Texas, as heads of two subcommittees of the House Appropriations Committees -- respectively, Health and Human Services; and Commerce, Justice and Science. These posts as all-important "cardinals" of those subcommittees give Cole jurisdiction over the National Institutes of Health and Culberson oversight of the National Science Foundation, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Inevitably, these appointments are a mixed bag. Cole's record, Krisch observes, includes support for a national childhood cancer database, funding for the battle against AIDS and malaria, and pediatric disease research. But he has also voted against some protections for endangered species and against environmental education grants, which fall within his responsibilities for the education budget. Culberson has long been a friend of NASA--unsurprising, since the agency's Johnson Space Center is located near his Houston district. Krisch labels his record on NSF grantmaking "exemplary." However, Culberson in 2013 introduced an amendment to an appropriations bill prohibiting the EPA from applying carbon emission costs in its regulatory deliberations. Applying those costs would make it easier for strict emissions standards to pass cost-benefit tests. As Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Beverly Hills, put it in an open letter at the time, "The Culberson amendment says that the cost of carbon pollution is zero. It says there is no harm and no costs. That's denial of science at its worst." Culberson has resolutely opposed emissions regulations as well as subsidies for renewable and alternative energy production, while backing subsidies for oil and gas--also unsurprising, since his district also is home to oil and gas interests. In sum, it's not yet time to declare an end to the GOP war on science. Lamar Smith still heads the House science committee, and his campaign against the NSF is unrelenting. The infiltration of creationism into science teaching in the schools remains a favored GOP social values plank in some parts of the country. At least one GOP pundit defended the display of ignorance at that 2007 candidates' debate by observing that "remarkably, only three" candidates--Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, and Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado--raised their hands to question evolution and that none was a frontrunner. But Huckabee remains a significant GOP figure and Brownback just won reelection as governor of Kansas. Climate change denialism, which is rife in the GOP, should be seen as essentially an economic sop to powerful interests who don't want to face the short-term costs that climate remedies would impose on them. But it uses the vocabulary of science, not economics, to make its threadbare case. As long as the GOP's political and financial patrons benefit from its anti-science stance, that stance won't fundamentally change. Keep up to date with the Economy Hub. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see our Facebook page, or email mhiltzik@latimes.com.

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New House GOP better for science -- by a micron

For many thinking Americans, the anti-intellectual core of Republican Party policies was made real during a 2007 primary debate among its 11 presidential candidates, when three raised their hands to say they doubted the theory of evolution.

20060613034824

PARIS, June 8 — Apple's popular iTunes music-download service is facing fresh legal attacks in Europe. Government consumer protection agencies in Norway and Sweden want Apple to remove restrictions that prevent customers from playing music they bought through iTunes on devices made by other companies. And in Britain, one of the largest digital music markets, the British recording industry's trade association, known as B.P.I., told a Parliamentary committee on Tuesday that iTunes music should be made compatible with other portable music devices. It was the first time the group had taken a public stance on the issue. Early last year, European Union competition regulators opened an investigation into Apple's pricing practices at the behest of Britain's Office of Fair Trading. Users of the British iTunes Web site are charged 99 pence, or $1.82, for most iTunes tracks, while French users are charged 99 euro cents, or $1.25. "European regulators are clearly concerned that consumers need to get a fair deal when they buy music online," said Struan Robertson, a British-based technology lawyer at Pinsent Masons. "Since we share very similar competition laws across the E.U., a domino effect could cause changes across the Continent." Apple representatives in Norway and Britain declined to comment for this article. But a major Norwegian news Web site quoted a company official as saying that Apple was seeking a settlement of the complaints. "We want to resolve this without closing down our operations in Scandinavia," the Apple spokesman, Fredrik Hallstan, told the Web site, Forbruker.no. The site said he would not comment on whether Apple had discussed allowing iTunes music files to be used on non-Apple portable players. Apple dominates the legal music download market in most countries. Consumers spent about $1.1 billion on music online in 2005, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry; Britain accounted for about 7 percent of that figure, and the three Scandinavian countries less than 1 percent. Apple does not release sales breakdowns by country. The Consumer Ombudsman's Office of Norway, a government authority with power to fine companies for marketing and business practices that it deems unfair, said on Wednesday that some parts of the iTunes user agreement violate Norwegian law. It cited, among other provisions, Apple's reservation of the right to change the terms of the agreement without notice and its disclaimer of responsibility for computer viruses or other damage that might result from downloading music from iTunes. Bjorn Erik Thon, director of the ombudsman's office, said those provisions must be changed by June 21, or Apple could be fined. As for making iTunes music compatible with non-Apple players, Mr. Thon said that his office expected a response from Apple by June 21, and would rule on the matter after that. "We are likely to rule against Apple, but it is fair to hear their point of view," Mr. Thon said. "Consumers should be able to play music they have purchased on any device they want." Mr. Thon said that he himself had bought a large number of songs from iTunes for about 1 euro apiece, and now wanted to transfer them to his new Nokia N80 cellular phone, but could not. "I just cannot imagine an argument in favor of stopping someone from using a song they purchased," he said. He dismissed the claim Apple has often made that its policy helps combat copyright violation. "They are not protecting against piracy, but instead encouraging it," Mr. Thon said. "When consumers cannot copy an iTunes song onto their mobile phone, they will get a download of it free from Napster." Consumer protection authorities in Sweden echoed Norway's action today, and Denmark is expected to do the same. "We have a common position with Norway and have written a parallel letter to iTunes," said Marianne Abyhammar, deputy consumer ombudsman at the Swedish agency. "We will discuss our position when we have Apple's response to our queries and those of Norway." In Britain, record companies raised the pressure on Apple during a hearing on digital media issues before a committee of the House of Commons. "It's not particularly healthy for any one company to have such a dominant share," said Peter Jamieson, the chairman of the committee. "We would advocate that Apple opts for interoperability."

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Apple Faces Fresh Legal Attacks in Europe

European agencies want Apple to remove restrictions that prevent customers from playing music they bought through iTunes on devices made by other companies.

20100514141307

BY GEORGE RUSH AND JOANNA MOLLOY With Suzanne Rozdeba, Ben Widdicombe and Sean Daly Monday, October 28th 2002, 8:08AM Audrey Hepburn's son says his mother would be heartbroken if she were alive today. Sean Ferrer tells us there's a battle erupting in the small town of Tolochenaz, Switzerland, where the "Breakfast at Tiffany's" actress lived for the last 30 years of her life - and where she is buried. At the Audrey Hepburn Pavilion, a few yards from the cemetery, locals are outraged that Ferrer and his brother Luca Dotti - Audrey's sons from her marriages to actor Mel Ferrer and Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti - want to close down a seven-year exhibition of the actress' memorabilia. "The original plan under the agreement was for five years," Ferrer told us . "And they went bananas. I'm suspecting that fame got to them, with all the Japanese tour buses." The producer, who helps run the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund in Beverly Hills, says "My mother chose this place because it is a simple, quiet country place. It's one thing to do a lovely memorial but not to turn it into a commercial mausoleum," he said. Hepburn, an amazing woman who suffered from malnutrition as a child under the Nazis, later became a special ambassador for UNICEF, all while acting and setting style trends. The exhibition won't last much longer. "We're going to have to close it down" next month, Ferrer said. "It's a heartbreaking ending to a whole part of my life, and certainly a part of my mother's life." It was definitely "worth the wait," says NBA great A.C. Green. The 39-year-old star claims he was a virgin when he married a green-eyed beauty he would identify only as Veronique last April. "The quest was nothing more than something personal I wanted to do," said the former L.A. Laker, who was in town to promote his new beverage, Biosport Vitamin Waters. "It was not about my friends or my family, or religious reasons. It was something that I personally felt was right for my own life." The 6-foot-9 Green fairly melted as he talked about the Texan who lassoed him. "She's exceptionally beautiful, and she has a great sense of character," he told us. "She's an accountant, she teaches dance and she's a singer." Just to be sure, though, the Greens were friends for four years before they started dating. "We were able to have fun together, to laugh together, struggle and cry together," said Green, who holds the NBA record for most consecutive games played - 1,142. "We were able to develop a friendship before it became physical, before it was a sex interaction. Now, we're committed - for life." Veronique plans to do some shopping to celebrate the couple's six-month anniversary this week. Now that's a good marriage. Execs at USA Networks have found the perfect place to shoot their TV movie about Rudy Giuliani and the attack on the World Trade Center: Montreal! "It is disappointing," says Screen Actors Guild spokeswoman Ilyanne Kichaven, who notes that this city's film business has been trying to recover after the terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, as James Woods prepares to star in "Rudy!," the real guy continues to draw big crowds. Even in Chicago, 2,000 people showed up last week at a Borders bookstore where he was signing copies of "Leadership." America's Mayor has become such a folk hero, some people seem to have for gotten he's a Republican. He recently received an invitation to tomorrow's fund-raiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Sens. Hillary Clinton, Tom Daschle and Jon Corzine are due to join Caroline Kennedy, Karenna Gore Schiff and others at the "Art Exit," where works by major painters will be auctioned to help the party. Maybe somebody figured Rudy and galpal Judith Nathan needed a Warhol to hang in their new multimillion dollar East side apartment. Don Imus doesn't like his guests flirting with pretty talk-show hosts. The MSNBC jock recently fired off an angry E-mail to Bo Dietel, the private eye who reviews movies for the I-man, because Dietel appeared with Paula Zahnon CNN. Dietel wrote back that he'd chatted with the competition only because, "I have been dating Paula for the past couple of weeks." The always-sensitive Imus replied: "You're [bleeping] this wrinkled old prune?" Dietel admits he does have a "huge crush" on Zahn, but he woefully acknowledges she's happily wed to real- estate developer Richard Cohen. "He's much richer than I am," says Dietel. Meanwhile, the shamus is working on a series of detective novels based on his cases. COURTENEY COX needs another house to fix up. Having finally finished renovating the L.A. manse she they bought in 1996, Cox and husband David Arquette have put the five-bedroom pad up for sale at just under $6.5 million. As they start looking for a new nest, Arquette thinks it's time to clear up an oft-told tale that Brad Pitt used to clean the Arquette family's pool before he hit it big. "It's a complete urban legend," Arquette tells Webster Hall curator Baird Jones. Okay, but is Brad available to do it now? SHARON STONE showed the right stuff at the Whitney Museum's "Black and White" gala last week when another woman showed up wearing an identical Vera Wang blouse and black tuxedo pants. Stone, accompanied by designer Wang, went up to the woman (who probably paid retail) and told her how good she looked. The party raised $1.7 million for the museum BERGDORF GOODMAN jeweler Paul Morelli may have given former prima ballerina Darcy Kissler, wife of New York City Ballet Director Peter Martens, the right necklace to wear to his party for the ballet's new season, which began on Saturday. The chain was hung with three diamonds representing past, present and future.

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CRYING FOUL OVER 'FAIR LADY'S' MEMORY

Audrey Hepburn's son says his mother would be heartbroken if she were alive today. Sean Ferrer tells us there's a battle erupting in the small town of Tolochenaz, Switzerland, where the "Breakfast at Tiffany's"actress lived for the last 30 years of her life - and where she is buried. At the Audrey Hepburn Pavilion, a few yards from the cemetery, locals are outraged that Ferrer and his

20110319231647

Tuesday, December 8th 1998, 2:05AM Tentative schedule for testimony by 14 White House witnesses and presentations by President Clinton's lawyers today and tomorrow: Gregory Craig: special counsel to Clinton, makes opening statement on Clinton's factual and legal defense. Panel No. 1: Historical precedents and constitutional standards Nicholas Katzenbach, former U.S. attorney general under President Lyndon Johnson. Prof. Bruce Ackerman, Yale University, will argue that Clinton's conduct is nonimpeachable and that any bill of impeachment voted by current House would expire Jan. 3. Prof. Sean Wilentz, Princeton University, will discuss standards for impeachment as intended by the framers of the Constitution. Prof. Samuel Beer, Harvard University, will contend that independent counsel Kenneth Starr's case does not meet impeachment test for high crimes and misdemeanors. Panel No. 2: Abuse of power The following veterans of the 1974 House Judiciary Committee impeachment inquiry against President Richard Nixon will compare Nixon's and Clinton's conduct with respect to alleged abuse of power. Former Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman (D-Brooklyn) Former Rep. Robert Drinan (D-Mass.) Former Rep. Wayne Owens (D-Utah) Panel No. 3: How to evaluate the evidence James Hamilton, Washington attorney, lawyer on 1973 Senate Watergate Committee, will argue that evidence of abuse of power against Clinton does not warrant impeachment. Richard Ben-Veniste, House Watergate lawyer, will compare evidence-gathering methods in impeachment inquiries then and now. Panel: Prosecutorial standards for obstruction of justice and perjury The following lawyers will argue that Clinton's conduct does not meet standards for prosecuting perjury and obstruction of justice: Thomas Sullivan, former U.S. attorney for northern Illinois. Richard Davis of New York, served on staff of Watergate special prosecutor. Edward Dennis of Philadelphia, former Justice Department official. William Taylor, former chairman of American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section. Prof. Ronald Noble, New York University, former undersecretary of treasury for enforcement. Charles Ruff, White House counsel, makes presentation on behalf of the President.

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WITNESSES FOR THE PRESIDENT

Tentative schedule for testimony by 14 White House witnesses and presentations by President Clinton's lawyers today and tomorrow: Today, 10 a.m. Gregory Craig: special counsel to Clinton, makes opening statement on Clinton's factual and legal defense. Panel No. 1: Historical precedents and constitutional standards Nicholas Katzenbach, former U.S. attorney general under President Lyndon Johnson. Prof. Bruce Ackerman, Yale University, will argue that Clinton's conduct is nonimpeachable and that any bill of impeachment voted by current

20110613165535

Sunday, April 6th 1997, 2:02AM There are 999 days left until the year 2000 and the forecast for the future calls for a second baby for Madonna, a cure for cancer (possibly in pill form) and a mixed prognosis for New York. So say some of the 20 psychics, astrologers and tarot card readers who gathered in Manhattan recently for a millennium festival organized by the Riese Organization (which also runs the millennium countdown clock at 34th St. and Seventh Ave.) While "love psychic" Kim Allen says Britain's Princess Diana can look forward to a happy second marriage, what's in store for New Yorkers is less certain. "I definitely think it has had its moment in the sun," claims Tracy Williams, who foresees the rise of Arizona and the Midwestern states. Moreover, even if the city is not hit with the earthquake predicted by Kathleen Graves DeKoeyer, astrologist Mark Seltman says New Yorkers will be billed for garbage removal in the near future. But tarot reader Jack (who goes only by his first name) predicts a cleaner and safer (as well as kinder and gentler) city. "A major studio will be very important in moving up the city it could be Disney." Still, Michael Lutin, an astrologist for Vanity Fair magazine, cautions: "Everybody likes to think tomorrow is going to be more interesting than today and it never is." Sallie Han Look for more and more cosmetics ads that target Hispanics. Surveys by Simmons Market Research Bureau found that Hispanic women in the U.S. spend 43% more on fragrance products and 27% more on makeup than the average American woman. The Census Bureau also reports that Hispanic households increasingly outspend non-Hispanics on personal-care products, having bought an average of $454 worth in 1994, compared to $392 for non-Hispanics. Is Fido finicky? Your picky pooch will love doggie delicacies from the Bow-Wow Bakery treats like sauteed chicken liver cupcakes, jumbo dog bones, whole-wheat scones and howling good cat-shaped soy cookies. Owners Adrienne Savino and Stacie Caplan have been baking for four-legged New Yorkers since July and offer treats made from fruits, vegetables and other natural ingredients. They even offer salt and sugar-free foods. Celebrating canines can enjoy a chicken-flavored birthday cake with peanut butter frosting, topped off with vanilla cookies, while cat lovers can choose from liver logs, tuna muffins or a gift basket of assorted treats that are made to order. The bakery is located at 336 E. 54th St. between First & Second Aves. Open Mon.-Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sun., noon-5 p.m. (212) 230-1988. Ed Tahaney Sew much to see and do A new little shop tucked away on a side street in Chelsea is fast becoming a haven from the hustle and bustle of big-city life. The City Quilter, which opened a month ago on W. 24th St., is a quiet place where you can learn a new skill and let the artist in you find expression through thread and fabric. Open the door and the first impression is a rainbow of colors: Row upon row of cotton textiles, in prints and solids, are arranged by color family, and these are indeed extended families. On one shelf we counted 13 bolts of orange fabric in shades that ranged from cantaloupe to brick. There are a number of whimsical prints that are perfect for a baby's room, as well as a wide selection of sophisticated designs that will set your fingers itching to start stitching. Of course, there is everything else you need to start quilting, from threads (including a sparkling collection of metallics), notions (we saw a clever snap-apart 17-inch square frame for pillows and quilt blocks, fabric erasers, cutting boards and specialized quilt rulers) and dozens of books on all aspects of quilt making. But you don't have to rely on books to learn how to quilt. There are long tables set up in a back room where classes for all levels of expertise are held. Once you have the basics down, consider signing up for sessions on photo memory quilts, making fabric postcards, silk ribbon embroidery or string quilting. The City Quilter, at 157 W. 24th St., is open Tues.-Fri., 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sun., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, call (212) 807-0390. Brides-to-be, make sure your big day isn't a bad hair day. The most common hair mistake a bride makes is picking a totally different style for her wedding, New York hair guru Frederic Fekkai tells Bride's magazine. "A bride," he says, "should look like a more graceful, glamorous version of her everyday self, not like a cliche or an overdone Barbie doll." (Supplemented by wire reports)

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MISC . . . NEWS, TRENDS AND PRACTICAL TIPS

Apple predicting time There are 999 days left until the year 2000 and the forecast for the future calls for a second baby for Madonna, a cure for cancer (possibly in pill form) and a mixed prognosis for New York. So say some of the 20 psychics, astrologers and tarot card readers who gathered in Manhattan recently for a millennium festival organized by the Riese Organization (which also runs the millennium countdown clock at 34th

20120126150920

By Al Yoon - Analysis NEW YORK | Fri May 29, 2009 5:29pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A dizzying rise in U.S. mortgage rates this week has left homeowners worried about the government's ability to revive the housing market as a means to economic recovery. Higher mortgage rates could hinder a nascent rebound in housing this year, where cheaper loans and lower prices have enticed buyers to cut into the inventories of unsold homes. Loan refinancings to take advantage of lower rates have also been key supports of the housing market in 2009, providing a rare bright spot for a market buffeted by rising defaults, foreclosures, and falling prices. The level of interest rates is central to President Barack Obama's efforts to break the decline in housing, where prices which have fallen more than 30 percent since the 2006 peak are causing a vicious cycle of foreclosures. Housing is also seen as a driver of a recovery in the U.S. economy which is hanging in a delicate balance between growth and a deeper recession. "The interest rate rise this week is very troubling for the housing market," said Ronald Temple, co-director of research at Lazard Asset Management in New York. "It raises the cost of purchasing a home at precisely the time when we have large excess supply of homes hitting the market." The surge in 30-year mortgage rates to as high as 5.5 percent this week from 4.875 percent a week ago doused refinancing activity by homeowners who had been making applications at their fastest pace since 2003, brokers said. A bond market rally on Friday softened the blow, but the magnitude of the mortgage rate spike this week could mean record low rates near 4.5 percent seen earlier this year will not be seen again. Many American homeowners may have been caught by surprise, having been told for months that the Fed would keep interest rates low. Some, perhaps with unrealistic expectations that rates would dive to 4.0 percent, are "freaking out" since they feel they missed the opportunity, said Bob Moulton, president of Americana Mortgage Group in Manhasset, New York. "If people had let their (prospective) rate float because they thought rates were going lower, or their bank was taking a lot of time to approve a loan, it's been mayhem," he said. The rise in rates to 5.5 percent leaves half of U.S. mortgages with at least a 0.4 percentage point incentive to refinance, down from about 90 percent when rates were at 5.0 percent, said Scott Buchta, a strategist at Guggenheim Capital Markets in Chicago. Rates on 30-year fixed home loans soared this week as concerns of rising U.S. government debt yields increased investors' risks of owning mortgage-backed securities. The worry offset a so far successful program by the Federal Reserve to lower mortgage costs through weekly purchases of more than $20 billion in mortgage backed securities (MBS) since mid-March. The Fed has spent more than $500 billion of its pledge to buy up to $1.25 trillion of the securities in total. Analysts now assert the Fed will have to get more aggressive to hold rates down, perhaps by boosting purchases of U.S. Treasury securities in an effort to reduce those yields which are a benchmark for home mortgage calculations. Such a further move by the Fed could have a counterproductive effect on mortgage rates though. Investors this week worried that Fed MBS and Treasury purchases will expand the money supply and fuel faster inflation and so they have demanded higher yields. Accelerated Fed buying may only feed that cycle, said Thomas Lawler, founder of Lawler Economic & Housing Consulting in Leesburg, Virginia. "The Fed can't really control long-term interest rates," Lawler said. "It can have short-term effects, but if it is buying Treasuries by creating money, they are going to be the only buyer." The stakes are high for the housing market, which in fits and starts is trying to extricate itself from a downturn not seen since the Great Depression. One industry report this week illustrated a mixed market, showing sales of existing homes rising but inventories also up and home prices falling. Interest rate reductions had reduced likely house price declines for the remainder of 2009 to around 20 percent, from 39 percent, according to a Lazard Asset Management estimate before this week's Treasury and mortgage bond routs. Home prices fell 7.0 percent in the first three months of 2009, per Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes. Fed purchases of mortgage bonds have helped reduce rates between 1.6 and 2.2 percentage points, cutting monthly payments to the typical borrower by 16 percent to 22 percent, Lazard's Temple said in a research note earlier this week. That savings has since been reduced significantly. Lower mortgage rates not only increased housing demand but also freed cash for consumer debt reduction or spending.

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U.S. mortgage rate rise threatens housing recovery

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A dizzying rise in U.S. mortgage rates this week has left homeowners worried about the government's ability to revive the housing market as a means to economic recovery.Higher mortgage

20130224003042

The New York Times Co. on Wednesday said it plans to sell the New England Media Group, including The Boston Globe and its related online properties, and has hired an investment banker to find a buyer. The move comes more than three years after the Times Co. tried unsuccessfully to sell the Globe amid the recession and mounting losses at New England’s largest newspaper. Now, after a significant turnaround at the Globe and its online sites, BostonGlobe.com and Boston.com, the Times Co. is seeking to shed its last major outside holding. “Our plan to sell the New England Media Group demonstrates our commitment to concentrate our strategic focus and investment on The New York Times brand and its journalism,” said Mark Thompson, chief executive of the Times Co., in a statement. The Times Co. has owned the Globe for two decades. Thompson said the Times Co. was “proud of our association with the Globe” and Worcester Telegram & Gazette, but “given the differences between these businesses and The New York Times, we believe that a sale is in the best long-term interests of these properties and the employees who work for them as well as in the best interests of our shareholders.” Shares of the Times Co. fell slightly on the news, which broke just before the market’s close. The stock closed at $9.03, down 4 cents. The Times Co. has hired Evercore Group, a New York investment banking firm, to help solicit bids for the Globe. Evercore has been involved in recent deals to sell other news publications, including the San Diego Union-Tribune, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, and Variety. The Globe’s publisher, Christopher Mayer, said the sale process would likely take several months. “Our business continues to change in many ways, and this process may certainly lead to a significant one,’’ Mayer said. “But what isn’t changing is our commitment to our mission and our strategy of informing, entertaining, and engaging our readers with an ever expanding variety of reading options, while we provide effective ways for advertisers to reach their targeted audiences.” The Times Co. last tried to sell the Globe in 2009, after first threatening to shut the newspaper down because it was losing money. Following wage cuts and other cost-saving concessions from Globe employees, the Times Co. decided not to sell at that time, saying the bids it received from two business groups were lower than anticipated. News of the intended sale is sure to spark a new round of speculation and uncertainty at the newspaper, which has withstood — better than many other metropolitan dailies — the challenges of more readers shifting to the Internet and a protracted drop in advertising revenues. “The Globe, like a Chicago Tribune or LA Times, is potentially attractive to a well-to-do individual or group of folks who want to do something good for the city and aren’t necessarily interested in turning a profit right away,” said Rick Edmonds, a media business analyst with the Poynter Institute, a journalism organization based in Florida. “It remains an excellent and ambitious paper on the news side.” Edmonds said few media companies are in expansion mode, and even a smaller subset would be interested in acquiring a metro newspaper. Larger chains such as Gannett Co. are reducing their newspaper holdings, he noted, making it more likely a buyer would emerge from the Boston area. In 2009, several local business people initially emerged as potential bidders, including retired advertising mogul Jack Connors; Bain Capital partner Steve Pagliuca; and a group led by Steve Taylor, a member of the family that formerly owned the Globe. The two final bids submitted came from Taylor’s group and from Platinum Equity, a Beverly Hills private equity firm that bought the San Diego Union-Tribune. Neither bid was successful. The first three parties declined to comment Wednesday on the new sales announcement; Platinum could not be reached. Nearly two years after the 2009 sale attempt, Aaron Kushner, a Wellesley businessman, expressed interest in buying the Globe. Kushner instead went on to buy the Orange County Register and other papers owned by Freedom Communications Inc. in Irvine, Calif., after failing in an attempt to acquire the Portland Press Herald in Maine. He, too, was not available for comment Wednesday. In addition, other executives have been part of groups considering buying the Globe. They include Richard Daniels, a former Globe executive, and Heb Ryan, who runs the private equity firm Boston Post Partners. Neither could be reached for comment. Some newspaper industry executives said Rupert Murdoch — head of News Corp., which owns Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post — should not be ruled out as a serious suitor. Murdoch also owns the Ottaway group of community papers that include the Cape Cod Times and the Standard-Times of New Bedford. Murdoch used to own the Boston Herald. Nathaniel Brown, a spokesman for News Corp., declined to comment. The Times Co. bought the Globe in 1993 for $1.1 billion, in what was then a record transaction in the news business. Within little more than a decade, however, the Internet began to erode newspaper revenues and subscriptions as more readers read news for free online, dramatically altering the landscape of the business. Today, the Globe’s parent is likely to make a fraction of what it once paid to acquire the then-family-owned Globe, controlled by the Taylors for 100 years. Bids submitted to the Times Co. in 2009 were low, about $35 million on top of taking on the Globe’s pension liabilities, which range from $100 million to $200 million. This time, the Times Co. is considering keeping the Globe’s pension liabilities so it can fetch a better price, according to people briefed on the matter but not authorized to discuss it publicly. Since the aborted 2009 sale attempt, the Times Co. has sold virtually all of its non-New York assets, including newspapers in Florida and California, broadcast outlets, and the website About.com. It also sold a lucrative stake in the Boston Red Sox, tripling a $75 million investment over 10 years. In addition to the Globe and Worcester Telegram, the current sale plan includes BostonGlobe.com, Boston.com, Telegram.com, and the Globe’s direct mail marketing company, GlobeDirect. It also would include the company’s 49 percent stake in Metro Boston. The Globe has a print circulation of 372,541 on Sunday, and 230,351 daily. BostonGlobe.com, a paid site started in late 2011, had about 28,000 subscribers as of the end of last year. The Globe and its online businesses, BostonGlobe.com and Boston.com, showed an operating profit in 2012, according to people briefed on the financial results, although after various accounting charges and other items there was a net loss. Those people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the results publicly. The Globe and its businesses also were profitable in 2011. The Times Co. declined to comment further on its plans to sell the Globe and the other properties.

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Times Co. hires investment banker to sell the Globe

The New York Times Co. said it plans to sell the New England Media Group, including The Boston Globe and its related online properties, and it has hired an investment banker to find a buyer. The Times Co. has hired Evercore Group, a New York based firm that has been involved in other newspaper transactions, to help solicit bids from potential buyers. “Our plan to sell the New England Media Group demonstrates our commitment to concentrate our strategic focus and investment on The New York Times brand and its journalism,” said Mark Thompson, chief executive of the Times Co., in a statement.

20130722092435

Barnes & Noble’s Kindle competitor may have been the worst-kept secret since balloon boy’s disastrous appearance on CNN last week. But the advance hype doesn’t seem to have hurt the launch of the Nook, an impressive-looking $260 device that will go head-to-head with Amazon.com’s Kindle, currently the most successful product in a small but growing market for e-book readers. Basic details of the Nook were published by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday following leaked images appearing on Gizmodo last week. And Barnes & Noble itself leaked product details hours before reporters filed into Pier 60 on in Manhattan for the announcement on Tuesday afternoon. “Simply following the leader is not in our DNA,” said Barnes & Noble president William Lynch, and indeed, Barnes & Noble’s $259 Nook device differs (.PDF) from the Kindle in a number of ways, most notably with a sharing feature called LendMe that lets users borrow certain books (depending on the publisher’s wishes), the same way they have traditionally done with paper books (as in, you can’t read it if it’s at your buddy’s house). Another Kindle-differentiator: a capacitive color touchscreen at the bottom for navigating titles and entering search terms using a virtual keyboard that goes dark while you’re reading. The Nook will be available for pre-order starting Tuesday night for $260 at Nook.com, and will ship in November. It has a six-inch, “paper-like,” 16-level grayscale display that supports up to five fonts and various font sizes, and the ability to read a user’s PDFs in addition to the one million-plus books, magazines, and newspapers that are available in Barnes & Noble’s eBook store. The device connects to the Barnes & Noble eBook store using a free 3G AT&T connection but lacks a web browser, Lynch says, “because those are clumsy” on eReaders. It includes support for the ePub eBook format in addition to FictionWise and PDF, as well as RSS feeds from the internet, which are converted into ePub before transfer to the device. Reporters and guests look at a mock-up of the in-store displays that will promote the Nook. Photo: Eliot Van Buskirk Like Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes & Noble’s Nook lets you highlight and annotate content, but Nook’s battery life is 10 hours as opposed to the Kindle’s 14, even though it weighs an ounce more at 11.2 ounces. And unlike the Kindle, the Nook has a Wi-Fi radio that customers will be able to use at Barnes & Noble’s more than 700 physical locations and 600 college stores in all 50 states. The current version does not allow connection to Wi-Fi networks outside of the stores, but will allow Nook owners to digitally flip through books while they’re in a Barnes & Noble store and read exclusive free content. The Nook runs Android OS, which Lynch said “works really well for navigating on this small device.” However, at this point, third-party developers cannot develop apps for the device, and no version of the reader for generic Android devices is available at this point. The device packs 2GB (up to 1500 books) of memory, with a microSD slot for adding up to 16GB more. In addition to e-books in the three formats mentioned above, the device supports a user’s pictures and MP3s (it includes a speaker and headphones, but there’s no text-to-speech engine). Another nice touch: the virtual bookmark feature called Reading Now, which lets you pick up where you left off on the Nook or over 100 other devices with support for Barnes & Noble’s eBook store. Perhaps the biggest difference between the Nook and the Kindle is cosmetic. The Nook, with its color icons, wide selection of designer cases, and color-customizable back panel, looks like a fashionista compared to the more bookish Kindle.

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Barnes & Noble vs. Amazon: Nook e-book readers goes head to head with Kindle

Barnes &amp; Noble’s Kindle competitor may have been the worst-kept secret since balloon boy’s disastrous appearance on CNN last week.

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Deborah Turbeville pictured on a trip to Budapest in 1982. Photograph: Bertrand Cardon/Marek and Associates I first met Deborah about 30 years ago when I was working at Lei magazine. It was a very successful youth-oriented title. I was trying to do a different take on fashion and style using younger photographers such as Paolo Roversi, Peter Lindbergh, Steven Meisel and Mario Testino, all of whom I later brought to Vogue with me. I saw these pictures she did of girls in an old school house and in a dancing school. Just so atmospheric and beautiful. I loved Deborah's work because it was original yet recognisable. She had a style, a signature. I wanted her in the mix because she was so individual and her style was timeless, even though it was black and white. She was all about atmosphere. Even when the backdrops were not beautiful, which was often the case, she transformed them and made the decay of old buildings seem dream-like. Sometimes an art director would say that her shots were out of focus, but that was her way of making the world seem otherworldly. Deborah never really had the recognition or the success she deserved. She knew Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton, but she did not get their recognition. People in the fashion world like more commercial photographers and she never cared to become commercial. Plus, she had to like what she was doing for the passion to be there. If she ended up on a shoot she didn't like, I have to say, you heard about it. It was, "I don't like this place. I don't like this model." She would complain for hours. Deborah was utterly individual, both in her work and her life. She was stylish, not fashionable: tall, slim, elegant. She wore simple things – dark pants, a T-shirt. There was a little bit of the hippy about her, too. She had a beautiful house on New York's Upper West Side and another in Mexico, and they were shabby-beautiful. She lived in her own world a little bit and you had to meet her there. She never said too much about what she was going to do when you commissioned her, but it was always her. People assumed from her name that she was French, but she wasn't. (She was born in Massachusetts.) I didn't know much about her personal life. I know she had relationships and that she never married, but she was very private. Very few people knew about her life, and that is how she wanted it. She was friendly, but in a very selective way. Everyone who worked with her loved her because she was so sweet and so passionate. Deborah was quite independent and liked to be a little mysterious. She loved Russia, the old Russia, and spent a lot of time in St Petersburg. I think, though I may be wrong, that she was a former model, but she was not of the trendy world of fashion. In fact, she was the opposite. She did not follow; she did her own thing. She never called herself an artist and when others did, she would say: "I'm a photographer." For me, though, she was an artist. She led a kind of revolution in fashion photography with her early work, with the atmosphere and locations, but she was not a fashion photographer. The term is too confining for what she did. She made these beautiful books about places and buildings, like her Versailles book (Unseen Versailles), but I do think her fashion photographs worked against her in the art world. She was always somehow in the middle – between the worlds of art and fashion. She never really fitted into either. It was great that Valentino used her in his campaigns until about two years ago. I was so glad about that. And a few days before she died, we agreed to do a book together around her pictures of the great aristocratic Italian families. It is a beautiful and sad thing to be doing now that she is not here, but I am very happy and proud to be doing it. For me, she is among the greatest photographers. She could have done so much more, but she was not prepared to compromise. That is the way of the true artist.

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Deborah Turbeville remembered by Franca Sozzani

Vogue Italia's Franca Sozzani, who worked with Deborah Turbeville for more than 30 years, recalls an uncompromising photographer

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Hometown: Marlborough, now lives in Medford. Think of: A post-Ornette Coleman version of Stéphane Grappelli (violin), with a bit of Chris Thile (mandolin). What caught our eye: The young Berklee instructor’s accomplished second CD, “Tipping Point,” on which his compositional voice is as distinctive as his virtuoso playing. Lightbulb moment: “I started playing music when I was about 6. But I think if there was one moment when I thought ‘I want to be a performer,’ it was at a Dave Matthews Band concert when I was about 15. I saw the group’s violinist playing with so much energy and the crowd was just going crazy. I thought, ‘That could be me one day.’ ” Biggest thrill: “The first time I got to play at the Montreal Jazz Festival, in 2007. The thrill of being at such an iconic festival, playing for thousands of people, was so rewarding.” Biggest surprise: “One year I was competing in a fiddle contest in Martha’s Vineyard and President Clinton and his family showed up and sat in the front row. I must have been around 13 years old. When people ask me now, ‘Do you ever get nervous when you perform?,’ I say that I got all my nerves out the day I performed in front of the president.” Inspired by: “Charlie Parker was one of the first musicians who got me into jazz. I really wanted to emulate his phrasing on the violin. Then, of course, violinist Stéphane Grappelli. On the mandolin side, Chris Thile and David Grisman.” Aspires to: “To continue performing and composing and to teach and keep growing as a musician and extending opportunities to travel the world and perform with other musicians.” For good luck: “I have practice routines before I perform, to get into the right head space and warmed up. And hopefully I’ll be lucky after that.” What people should know: “I play a French violin from 1886 from a French violin maker, [Charles Jean Baptiste] Collin-Mezin. I had been searching for one for a few years that had the right voice, a voice that really connected with me. I’ve had it for about four years.” Coming soon: Anick will have a “Tipping Point” CD release show at the Regattabar, Charles Hotel, Cambridge, Feb. 25. Tickets are $18 at 617-395-7757 or www.regattabarjazz.com

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RISE: Jazz violinist and mandolinist Jason Anick finds his voice

Age: 28 Hometown: Marlborough, MA, now lives in Medford. Think of: A post-Ornette Coleman version of Stéphane Grappelli (violin), with a bit of Chris Thile (mandolin). What caught our eye: The young Berklee instructor’s accomplished second CD, “Tipping Point,” on which his compositional voice is as distinctive as his virtuoso playing. Lightbulb moment: “I started playing music when I was about six. But I think if there was one moment when I thought ‘I want to be a performer,’ it was at a Dave Matthews Band concert when I was about 15. I saw the group’s violinist playing with so much energy and the crowd was just going crazy. I thought, ‘That could be me one day.’ ”

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The use of wind, solar, and other renewable energy resources will increase significantly over the next few decades, but fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas likely will continue to dominate the energy mix and drive the global economy, said Daniel Yergin, one of the world’s foremost energy experts. “It’s a contest, or even a battleground,” Yergin said in an interview this week. “Renewables will grow a lot, but they will still be, 20 years from now, a relatively small part of the overall mix.” Yergin is the founder of the consulting firm IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, and the author of the definitive history of the oil industry. “The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power” won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction in 1992. His most recent book, “The Quest: Energy, Security, and the remaking of the Modern World,” is a follow-up to that earlier work. Yergin on Friday delivered the keynote address at the MIT Energy Conference, an annual two-day gathering of industry insiders, academics, and policy makers. In a wide-ranging interview in his Cambridge office Thursday, Yergin tackled a variety of topics, including protecting the power grid from terrorist attacks and natural disasters; the false promise of oil independence; and the impact of cheap natural gas on power markets. Yergin’s new book, “The Quest: Energy, Security, and the remaking of the Modern World,” is a follow-up to his 1992 Pulitzer Prize-winning book. The low cost of natural gas, the result of the North American drilling boom, is driving higher-cost coal and nuclear plants into retirement, Yergin said. But with growing concerns over climate change, nuclear needs to remain part of the mix, he added, requiring the nation to figure out how to make it economical. “We’re seeing perfectly good nuclear power plants close,” Yergin said. “It’s a no-carbon source of electricity, so there is concern about prematurely losing existing nuclear capacity.” As the energy mix continues to shift, Yergin said, he expects the United States to rely on Canada for a larger share of its fuel needs. And that will happen, he added, with or without Keystone XL, the controversial pipeline project that would move Canadian oil sands crude into the United States. He said that killing the pipeline would have little impact on reducing the use of fossil fuels and the greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, that they emit. Accelerating climate change has been a key argument against the pipeline. “The Canadians, if they don’t ship it through Keystone, it’s going to come by rail,” Yergin said. “The big winner from not building Keystone is Venezuela, because their heavy oil has the same carbon footprint as the oil sands. [So] Venezuela or Canada, take your pick. Who is your favorite country and who is your neighbor?” US oil production is also booming as the controversial drilling technique known as fracking opens new reserves, Yergin noted. But he questioned whether the United States will ever be able to free itself from foreign oil producers — whether Saudi Arabia or Canada — since oil prices are set globally. “We’re not going to be independent in terms of price,” he said. “We’re still going to be part of the same global market.” Yergin said one of his biggest concerns is the security of the nation’s power grids, which use computer technologies that can leave them open to cyberattacks. Yergin said the American economy is more vulnerable than ever to such threats because of the proliferation of technology and electronic devices across industries and households, which, of course, rely on electricity. “We’re so much more dependent on it than we were 20 years ago. You don’t connect to the cloud without a grid,” Yergin said. “Until something happens, it’s fine. But something will happen. It always does.” Earlier this week, a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission urged a cautious approach to protecting the grid. Commissioner John R. Norris estimated that building walls and fences around 400,000 miles of transmission lines and 55,000 substations would rack up billions of dollars in costs.

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Fossil fuels will continue to dominate energy mix, says Daniel Yergin

The use of wind, solar, and other renewable energy resources will increase significantly over the next few decades, but fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas likely will continue to dominate the energy mix and drive the global economy, said Daniel Yergin, one of the world’s foremost energy experts. “It’s a contest, or even a battleground,” Yergin said. “Renewables will grow a lot, but they will still be, 20 years from now, a relatively small part of the overall mix.” Yergin is the founder of the consulting firm IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, and the author of the definitive history of the oil industry. “The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power” won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction in 1992.

20140628014351

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – A child as young as nine years old. A 21-year-old mother of six who, a social worker complained, “made no effort to curb her sexual desires.” A woman who, the state’s official Eugenics Board worried, “wears men’s clothing all [the] time.” People considered “feeble-minded” on the basis of dubious testing. “These people were dehumanized.” Latoya Adams The targets of that board’s 45-year reign, from 1929 to 1974, were disproportionately black and female, and almost universally poor. They included victims of rape and incest, women who were already mothers – and then their daughters, too. The state’s remedy for all of them: Forced or coerced sterilization. “These people were dehumanized,” said Latoya Adams, whose aunt, Deborah Blackmon, was sterilized under the state’s eugenics law. “They treated them like animals.” Blackmon was among the last to be sterilized, in 1972. The court documents Adams has since obtained read, “Final diagnoses: Mental retardation, severe. North Carolina sterilized 7,600 people through its sweeping eugenic sterilization program, but it wasn’t alone. Thirty states had, and enforced, eugenic sterilization laws on the books, initially on the now-discredited theory that preventing the “defective” from reproducing would benefit humanity. But North Carolina is different in some important ways. The state’s surviving victims will be the first to get compensation, provided they can meet the deadline on Monday, June 30. So far 630 people have applied for a share of the $10 million budgeted by the legislature, but the state first has to verify their claims based on documents not all survivors may be able to produce. “I always say we were the worst, and now we’re going to be the best,” said John Railey, the editorial page editor at the Winston-Salem Journal who has spent over a decade reporting on and advocating for the victims. “The worst,” because it empowered social workers to petition for the sterilization of just about anybody. Other states with sterilization programs conducted them largely through institutions like prisons and asylums. As Rutgers University historian Johanna Schoen, who has extensively documented the state’s eugenics policy, put it, “The North Carolina program reached into people’s homes like no other.” “The best,” because it’s the first to do anything about the state-sponsored encroachment on reproductive freedom. All In with Chris Hayes, 6/27/14, 9:24 PM ET Survivors of forced and coerced sterilizations in North Carolina are eligible for compensation 40 years after the program ended. Deborah Blackmon’s sister, Margaret Rankin, says she remembers the social workers coming around the house just over 40 years ago. Her parents, a truck driver and a housecleaner in a rural area outside Charlotte, were reluctantly persuaded that sterilization was the best thing for Deborah. “You don’t hardly find too many men that cry, but my daddy pulled out some tears the time my sister spent in the hospital,” Rankin said. Having since learned about the extent of the program, Rankin said, she became furious. “They labeled us as poor people, uneducated, black, being mentally retarded,” she said. North Carolina, like other states with eugenics programs, took its cues from the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1927 upheld a forced sterilization law for the supposed good of society. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote for the majority, “It is better for all the world if, instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind.” Within two years, North Carolina had amended its eugenic sterilization law to comply with courts’ desire for some nominal due process. By 1933, the Eugenics Board was formed to rule on petitions recommending sterilization, evaluating their “eugenic history,” including their IQs. “In 95% of the cases they approved it,” Schoen said. That left the people targeted by the state with few options. There was a formal appeals process, but it took “a fairly confident level of resistance,” Schoen said, adding, “Most people were so intimidated by the process that once the petition was authorized, they submitted to it.” Schoen did find cases of people moving away or taking other steps to avoid a social worker’s reach. “People who had been told by social workers that they had too many children or they would be sterilized, they would hide the children in the closet,” she said. Though men were also targeted, the vast majority of the sterilization victims were female. A 1945 fact sheet for the Human Betterment League of North Carolina counseled that “feebleminded girls are particularly in need of the protection of sterilization since they cannot be expected to assume adequate moral or social responsibility for their actions.” Castella Jefferson, now 62, said she remembers waking up at age 15, confused, and being told she had undergone surgery. It was 1969, she said, and her parents had sent her to a state institution called the Caswell Training Center after she had started running away from home and “started looking at boys,” as she put it. “I said, ‘What kind of surgery?’ ‘Well, we tied your tubes,’” Jefferson told msnbc. “I didn’t know to talk about it because I didn’t know what was going on.” Only several years later, when she was trying to get pregnant and sought medical advice, did she learn what had happened to her. “In her paperwork, she was labeled as being feebleminded,” said Jefferson’s stepdaughter, Pauline Watson. “By no means is she feebleminded.” Jefferson was also told her mother had signed a consent form, but later, “I found out after that that my mother never signed that paper,” she said. In 1935, a report by the state’s Eugenics Board contended that “none of the inmates of Caswell Training School should be released before being sterilized, except in the few instances where normal children have been committed through error.” According to Schoen, there were 572 petitions to the Eugenics Board from Caswell between 1937 and 1966. Eugenics – at least, as a practice of alleged genetic purification – officially fell out of favor after the Nazis became its best-known proponents. (Hitler’s physician and the head of his eugenics program, Karl Brandt, cited U.S. eugenics laws in his defense at trial.) But the sterilization programs remained, with new justification. “I’m so sorry it happened, but throwing money don’t change it, don’t make it go away. It still happened.” Republican state Senator Don East in 2012 Under Jim Crow, African-Americans were excluded from both state institutions like Caswell and from the welfare benefits that drew the attention of social workers. Integration brought a sickening form of inclusion: African-American women became the primary targets. In the late 1960s, despite being a minority of the population, they became the majority of sterilization victims. “The eugenic sterilization really was an attempt to control the reproduction of women on welfare more than anything else,” Schoen said. Defenders stopped talking about the gene pool and started talking about saving the state money – and even claimed it was for the women’s own good. “It turns into this notion that this is something that will save people money. It will pull them out of poverty,” Schoen said. Railey put it more bluntly: “It became a form of American genocide.” The Eugenics Board was never a secret. The state attorney general sat on the board, as did the director of public health. The program drew the attention of feminist activists in part because Nial Ruth Cox, a victim of the program, unsuccessfully sued the state in the early 1970s. (One of her attorneys was current Supreme Court Justice and then-ACLU attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg.) It has been more than a decade since Schoen’s research and Railey and his paper’s reporting put the program in glaring modern light. Still, the compensation efforts, led by Democratic state Rep. Larry Womble, hit a wall. Gov. Bev Perdue, a Democrat, spoke passionately about the plight of the victims. There was a task force. And then nothing. Once Republicans took over all of the branches of state government in 2011, Railey found another angle to push for reparations. “I would editorialize, I’d say, ‘Look, y’all care about the sanctity of life, y’all hate big government. This program ran over the sanctity of life, this program was big government run amok. Reconcile for it,’” Railey recalled. “And eventually, they came to see that.” All In with Chris Hayes, 6/27/14, 9:23 PM ET North Carolina sterilized an estimated 7,600 people from 1929 to 1974. Now some of the victims are getting some measure of justice. The issue was indeed championed by another Republican, the state House Speaker and current Senate candidate Thom Tillis. “Every once in a while,” he said on the House floor, “I feel like you have the chance to make history. This is one of those chances.” “You just can’t rewrite history,” said the late Republican state Sen. Don East, in a 2012 interview with the AP. “I’m so sorry it happened, but throwing money don’t change it, don’t make it go away. It still happened.” East was among those who openly feared that giving compensation to the sterilization victims would open the door to other reparations claims. One advocate for reparations, Daren Bakst, conceded that “there is probably no greater concern among compensation opponents than the argument that such a move could provide justification for providing reparations for slavery.” Bakst proposed a solution in his report for the conservative John Locke Foundation, which has been highly influential in North Carolina’s recent turn to the right: Limiting the funds to only living victims, and not the families of dead ones. In the end, those were the terms under the compensation funds included in the budget signed into law by Republican Governor Pat McCrory in 2013. It applies to all victims who were alive at the time of the signing. The Office of Justice for Sterilization Victims is officially in charge of outreach to victims and to help them file their claims, including direct mail; the state’s NAACP has been trying to find more victims, and University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights has been holding legal clinics for them. The process isn’t simple, and there are no extensions, though applicants can submit more paperwork if they get their first claim in by the deadline. The payments are scheduled to go out a year from now. “The state is just dragging it out,” said Frances Midgett, 46, whose mother, Dale Hymes, was sterilized after her birth. “I’m thinking, these are elder people. Are they just waiting for these people to die?” There is a budget proposal in the House to start payments as early as October. “I’m glad that she’s going to be compensated in some way, but that’s not enough. That can’t replace life,” said Midgett of her mother. “Nobody should be deprived of having children. That’s a decision they have to make themselves.”

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For eugenic sterilization victims, belated justice

North Carolina had among the worst forced sterilization programs in the country. Now it's the first to try to make amends.

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It was just about six years ago that rookie running back Frank Gore broke down after a brutal loss in what would be a 4-12 season. Gore was in the Candlestick players parking lot watching teammates laugh and joke when the tears started to flow. Coming from a winning program at the University of Miami, Gore was upset that players could be so lighthearted after yet another loss. Now Gore and the 49ers are a win away from capturing the NFC West title and securing a playoff berth for the first time since 2002. Gore is also 22 yards from surpassing Hall of Fame running back Joe Perry as the team's all-time leading rusher. "I will," Gore said Friday when asked if he would celebrate earning a playoff berth in the eventuality of a win over St. Louis at home on Sunday. "This is my seventh year, and a lot of us have been in this locker room for a while and there have been some tough times. Our goal was always to make it to the playoffs. It's the closest we have ever been - if we do it, I'll celebrate a little bit." Only a little bit, because the 49ers are in the odd circumstance of potentially securing a playoff berth with four games remaining. They need to keep winning to assure a home playoff game and a first-round bye. But first they need to get by the woeful and badly bruised Rams, the very team that ousted them from playoff contention last December. Players and coaches have reminded themselves this week of what the Rams did to them last year. "Last year we needed to beat St. Louis to get into the playoffs and it didn't happen," tight end Delanie Walker said, referring to the 25-17 loss in St. Louis on the season's penultimate week. "So we are going to take it like it's a playoff game and try to put them in the dirt." Gore isn't the only one eager to get to the playoffs after such a long drought. Quarterback Alex Smith, who was taken at the top of Gore's 2005 draft class, has also allowed himself to think of playoff spoils. It's "something we've talked about every year and now all of a sudden to have it in our hands and the chance to clinch (the NFC West), it's great," Smith said. "No question, this is what you work so hard for. We've put ourselves in a good situation and now we just need to go out on Sunday and finish it." For Gore, becoming the team's rushing champion is clearly secondary to beating 2-9 St. Louis. But he does envision a memorable day at Candlestick if his heavily favored team can prevail and he can also get the record. "The bigger picture is winning the game," Gore said. "I would be happy to (get the record) this week; it would be a blessing, especially in front of our fans who have been with us for a while. It would be great." Kevin Lynch writes for the Niner Insider blog at SFGate.com. E-mail comments to sportinggreen@sfchronicle.com.

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Run of bad years soon over for Frank Gore, 49ers?

Gore was in the Candlestick players parking lot watching teammates laugh and joke when the tears started to flow. [...] Gore and the 49ers are a win away from capturing the NFC West title and securing a playoff berth for the first time since 2002. Gore is also 22 yards from surpassing Hall of Fame running back Joe Perry as the team's all-time leading rusher. Only a little bit, because the 49ers are in the odd circumstance of potentially securing a playoff berth with four games remaining. [...] first they need to get by the woeful and badly bruised Rams, the very team that ousted them from playoff contention last December.

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When Michael Craig-Martin enrolled at Yale to study fine art in 1961, he was lucky, he says, to hit on "probably the best moment in the art school's history. There were good teachers, but more importantly there were amazing students." Craig-Martin studied alongside Richard Serra, Chuck Close and Brice Marden among others and says he learned then that "becoming an artist is a peer activity". It was a lesson he carried into his subsequent teaching career, and 25 years later, as a tutor at Goldsmiths College in London, he saw it vindicated in the most spectacular manner. "Any art school teacher will say that rarely a year goes by without coming across someone who is interesting," he says. "But at Goldsmiths in the mid-80s there were five, then 10, then 20 amazingly interesting students who overlapped each other. I didn't make it happen. If there was a formula we'd all be doing it. But I did recognise it and tried to generate an engagement between these remarkable young artists." As the YBA generation of Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Sarah Lucas, Anya Gallacio, Mat Collishaw - to name just some of Craig-Martin's students - spilled out of Goldsmiths to remake the British art scene, so Craig-Martin became increasingly influential, and was routinely described as the "Godfather of Britart". "Everyone," as one commentator put it, "listens to Michael." He also became better known as an artist in both galleries and large public commissions. His most recognised work today is his re-sized and vibrantly coloured graphic outlines of everyday objects such as chairs, cutlery or phones, but his career began, in the 60s, with a series of minimalist boxes. By the 70s he was a leading conceptualist, with his most famous work, An Oak Tree (1973), comprising a glass of water on a shelf accompanied by a text in which he asks himself questions to assert that the glass is in fact an oak tree. His entire career is brought together this month in a retrospective at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, accompanied by a lavish new monograph by Richard Cork (Thames & Hudson). The earliest work on show is his 1963 dissertation film - his only film work, and believed lost for 30 years - which is a series of static shots of the Connemara countryside. "I tried to include ripples on the wheat field, or a chicken next to an abandoned thatched cottage to show that they weren't stills," he explains. "But what that also shows is the presence of people within what might seem a barren landscape. That's always been somewhere in my work, and although I know there have been big changes to my work over the years, looking at it now I can see a continuum." The Dublin show is something of a homecoming for Craig-Martin, although he has never lived there. His Irish parents were in London during the war, but returned to Dublin for his birth in 1941. His father, Paul, was an agricultural economist at the British ministry of food who went to Washington DC after the war to work for the UN and then the newly founded World Bank. There was little interest in art at home - though, "surprisingly, we had a reproduction of a Picasso blue period painting. But it was still a bit odd when I became very interested in art." With no art taught at his Benedictine school he went, aged 13, to evening and weekend classes in painting. "The minute I learned there was such a thing as the avant-garde, I loved it. The more outrageous the better." At high school he remembers seeing a magazine designed by Duchamp and being "mesmerised that somebody had done something that was so unfamiliar and that I couldn't place". His time at Yale granted access to a New York art scene that was like "an amazing secret. The abstract expressionists were still alive and working, and then there was this extraordinary outpouring of op art, then pop art, then minimalism. There was new work from Warhol and Jasper Johns, and almost everything would knock your socks off." From his own generation he identifies Bruce Nauman as "the great artist. He has never been uninteresting. He anticipated everything and he understood everything. In the 60s there was a sense of liberation. But with that liberation came profound difficulties. Nauman, and also people like Richter and Polke, understood the new psychological response, which was a very different idea of where an artwork came from. These people found a way of sustaining an engagement. Art isn't about representing things, it is about acting things out. They acted out the problem of being an artist in the world." On leaving Yale, Craig-Martin anticipated a career as an artist, but had little expectation of making a living. To make ends meet he taught briefly in New York, before moving to the UK in 1966 to teach at the Bath Academy of Art. Three years later he staged his first one-man show in London and declared himself "speechless and delighted" when the Tate bought Four Identical Boxes with Lids Reversed. His profile raised, he took up posts at Canterbury College of Art and then as artist-in-residence at King's College, Cambridge. Yet he was also subject to the British resistance to modern art and was mocked by Scottish television reporter Fyffe Robertson in 1972, following the definitive Hayward exhibition of British conceptualism, The New Art. He was, and is, sanguine about such attacks. "The history of art is taking things that previously weren't considered worthy of concern - or maybe even beneath contempt - and pulling them into focus. Naturally people say it is terrible because that had been, until then, a normal and rational response. It takes time for people to accept that these things might be worthy of a closer look." His own foregrounding of everyday objects falls into this category and, as critics have pointed out, just considering the shape of, say, a TV set can lead to considering some of the most fundamental aspects of how a society operates. "My objects are very simple and well-known images. It's a knife. You don't have to spend any time figuring out whether it's a dagger or maybe a fork. So you can spend all your time on the other parts of it, which in one situation might be something threatening, in another comforting, or any number of meanings. People carry vast amounts of feelings and knowledge about these objects, so I get hugely differing responses from people who might love or hate something for reasons not even they are entirely sure about." He says that, while there was no British art world to speak of when he arrived in the UK, the art schools were "staggeringly important" both as educational institutions and patrons of artists by employing them. He points out how artist-teachers were defined by their art school - "I would never have been offered a job at Camberwell, whereas I was thrilled to be offered one at Goldsmiths" - and praises the freedom and comparatively generous funding of the time. "Some extraordinarily interesting work was done. But such was the indifference to art in the wider world that it was work carried out largely without an audience. Only the toughest and the best, people like Tony Bevan, survived. And it wasn't until Julian Opie became very successful very quickly in the 80s that other students saw there was a possibility of making not only a career, but also money. Then came Damien and his friends." Despite his apparently secure position within the arts establishment, Craig-Martin says he is pleased that, in part, he still feels like an outsider. "Although a Tate trustee, I will always be someone who was brought up in America." He married in 1963 and had a daughter, but has lived as a gay man since the 70s. He says he is part of - and not part of - the gay world. "I consider myself particularly fortunate to have had the experience of being a father and now a grandfather. But all artists must think of themselves as outsiders and also they must participate in the world. You can't take someone else's feelings and turn them into art. They have to be your feelings and your experiences. You can't make art out of feelings in general. They have to be specific." Looking back at his career, he says that the Britain in which he arrived in 1966 has "utterly disappeared". Part of that change has been the art boom of the past few decades, but he declares himself "complacent" about such apparently dramatic developments. "I think that everything you gain you lose somewhere else. Our lives are spent trying to improve things, but I think we just make things different. All we do is push things around. You could look at the art world of 20 years ago and say the loss of seriousness has been catastrophic, but the explosion of access has been wonderful. It's just different, not better or worse." As for the fundamental nature of artistic expression, he believes that is also largely unchanged. If you look at a 15th- or 16th-century painting, he says, you are "not being transported back to the 16th century. You are pulling the painting into now. If you have an art experience, it is a now experience, not a then experience. There is much less difference between the art of the past and present than is popularly thought." He gives the example of walking through room after room in the National Gallery without noticing much, "and then something will just zap you. It is not a history experience or a sociology experience. It is an art experience, and it is the same if the art was made yesterday or 800 years ago. Ultimately, while art has many functions, one of the major ones is to deliver that art experience. It is rare and it is hard. You can't make it happen, and it completely evades some people. But if you want to understand art, you have to look at a lot of art. And the more you look at, the better your chance of experiencing that zap." Andy Warhol Jasper Johns Bruce Nauman Gerhard Richter Sigmar Polke

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Nicholas Wroe talks to the godfather of Britart, Michael Craig-Martin

A life in art: Michael Craig-Martin, who taught most of the YBAs, is known as the 'Godfather of Britart', and his own work is celebrated in a new retrospective. So why does he feel like an outsider?

20140926135216

A dinosaur seven times the size of T-rex and with a weaponised tail would fear nothing. That's why a new titanosaur unearthed in Argentina by Kenneth Lacovara, from Drexel University in the US, and colleagues has been named Dreadnoughtus schrani. "That evokes to me a class of turn-of-the-last century battleships called the dreadnoughts, which were huge, thickly clad and virtually impervious," Associate Professor Lacovara says in a statement about the study, which is published in the journal Scientific Reports. "I think it's time the herbivores get their due for being the toughest creatures in an environment," he said. It belongs to a group of big-bodied herbivores, called titanosaurs, that lived about 66-100 million years ago. Their sizes were estimated with incomplete fossils. But now, after field seasons from 2005 through 2009, these scientists have 45.3 per cent of a skeleton and can say this dinosaur was about 59.3 metric tonnes and 26 metres long. "It weighed as much as a dozen African elephants or more than seven T. rex," Lacarova says. "Shockingly, skeletal evidence shows that when this 65-ton specimen died, it was not yet full grown. It is by far the best example we have of any of the most giant creatures to ever walk the planet." Lacovara said it probably was obsessed with eating in its temperate forest at the southern tip of South America some 77 million years ago, and wouldn't have had to move much. "You have this 37-foot-long neck balanced by a 30-foot-long tail in the back. Without moving your legs, you have access to a giant feeding envelope of trees and fern leaves. You spend an hour or so clearing out this patch that has thousands of calories in it, and then you take three steps over to the right and spend the next hour clearing out that patch." Efforts to understand this dinosaur's body structure, growth rate, and biomechanics are ongoing areas of research within Lacovara's lab. Prior to the description of this Dreadnoughtus schrani specimen, another Patagonian giant, Elaltitan, held the title of dinosaur with the greatest calculable weight at 47 tons. Do you have any news photos or videos?

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Dreadnoughtus unearthed in Argentina

A colossal herbivore, 13 times the size of an elephant, has been unearthed in Argentina, one of the most complete such skeletons ever found

20141013014646

FORTUNE — Republicans and Democrats in Congress continue to debate whether to hold down interest rates on federal student loans. The rates on the most common type, “Stafford loans,” have been low since 2007– 3.4% for this academic year. But they are scheduled to double on July 1 if Congress doesn’t act. Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a Democratic bill to extend the rate. However, there’s another mostly hidden, rarely publicized percentage rate coming out of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) that ought to be getting attention: If you default on your student loan, you’re subject to a penalty up to 25% of the amount in default. Remarkably, according to a DOE spokesperson, one in six students in default are assessed the 25% penalty after collection efforts of more than 14 months. In practice, given DOE leniency, most borrowers won’t ever have to pay the 25% penalty. But some will and, in theory, most might have to pay at least some part of the penalty. It’s the kind of draconian penalty that would have critics up in arms if it was being imposed by a private lender with the government’s dominant market share. The penalty is based not on the actual cost of collecting a particular defaulted borrower’s loans, but on an average of all collections. So, for example, if a student voluntarily and immediately rehabilitates his loans at minimal cost to the government, he may still wind up subsidizing the collection of other debt. That’s “unfair,” says Mark Kantrowitz, an expert on student financial aid and the founder of FinAid.org, a financial aid resource website. “Responsibility should go both ways.” Moreover, he says, given “the government’s strong powers to compel repayment, why are the collection costs so high — does 25% sound reasonable to you?” The DOE says many borrowers in default pay reduced penalties because they rehabilitate or consolidate their loans. Those who did pay a penalty in fiscal 2011 paid an average of 6.7%; in fiscal 2011, DOE collected from 800,000 students in default. MORE: Silicon Valley real estate: The Facebook effect Perhaps the most significant problem with the 25% penalty is that it isn’t particularly well-disclosed. Though borrowers receive ample warning about the general perils of default — getting sued, getting wages garnished, getting income-tax refunds intercepted, paying collection fees, having your credit rating pummeled — there apparently is only one Web page at the Department of Education that mentions the 25% penalty. “The amount needed to satisfy a student loan debt collected” by the DOE’s third-party collection agents “will be up to 25% more than the principal and interest repaid by the borrower,” states a Federal Student Aid page that’s one of six tabs available on the FSA’s introductory default page. Justin Hamilton, a DOE spokesperson, said the government’s disclosure of the penalty was adequate. He said “the 25% fee is a cap in place to protect students, because over the long run it costs us more to collect than to get the student back into an affordable repayment plan.” By contrast, Hamilton said, private lenders “compensate their collectors based on dollars recovered and there is no upper limit. So our listed 25% fee is more transparent.” Despite requests from Fortune, the DOE offered no examples of private collectors charging more than a 25% penalty to collect. A review of the price lists of collection agents used by the government — publicly provided by the General Services Administration — suggests that the 25% rate is roughly comparable to what private lenders charge. Of the many thousands who have been assessed the 25%, Hamilton said “a majority” have the penalty waived when they get back on the payment track. Some borrowers with public-service jobs or teaching in low-income schools may have their loans forgiven altogether; borrowers who are ill or have certain financial hardships may get to postpone their payments. For those who do end up having to pay the penalty, the DOE amortizes it over a decade and the money comes from wage garnishment. The federal government has a student-loan portfolio of roughly $800 billion, some of it dating to the 1960s. (The $800 billion represents about four-fifths of the overall $1 trillion in student-loan debt that includes private lenders.) There are 36 million students with outstanding debt on federal loans; about 16% of those students — 5.7 million — are in default. For students in default, the average amount is $8,000, though some — like those who went to medical school — might have $100,000 in default. (One of the ironies of the data is that defaulting students tend to have relatively low amounts in default because those students tend not to have completed their degrees and thereby have less earning power to pay back their loans; those borrowers in default who get bachelor’s degrees have about an average $25,000 in default but, ultimately, they are more likely to wind up paying.) MORE: The vanishing law degree The FSA handles the student-loan portfolio, making it in effect one of the largest banks in the country. And the feds are now the primary lenders to students; of new loans being granted, 93% is federal. Of the overall $800 billion, about 6% — $50 billion — is in default. And the numbers are getting worse. Of late, presumably because of hard economic times, about 12% of loans go into default. In 2011, that was more than $9 billion, which represents several hundred-thousand students. Clearly, there’s a lot of money on the line. The government ought to make it clear to students at the outset the penalties they may face for not ponying up.

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The draconian hidden penalty on student loans

If you default on your payments, the federal government may hit you with a 25% sledge-hammer. And it’s entirely legal.

20141017022950

FORTUNE — Tonight’s presidential debate is meant to focus the candidates’ attention on foreign policy, but don’t be surprised if the subject of Gov. Mitt Romney’s investments in Chinese companies comes up, as it did during a particularly heated moment during the Oct. 16 debate between the Republican candidate and President Barack Obama. When the president questioned his rival’s investments abroad, Gov. Romney responded essentially by invoking a concept that frequently comes up when wealthy men and women run for office—the blind trust. In theory, blind trusts are a sweet deal. The perfect blend of legislative aloofness and financial savvy, the construct has been routing potential conflicts of interest for America’s wealthy political elite since Lyndon B. Johnson. Almost every serious presidential candidate from Barack Obama to George Bush to Bill Clinton has had at least one blind trust at one point. When he became governor of Massachusetts in 2003, Romney set up two of them, for himself and his wife. The advantages are clear: by giving up the right to personally manage their money, public officials can deflect any allegations of insider trading or crooked investments. It also allows a trustee to invest aggressively without facing lengthy disclosure procedures or risking political blowback. But despite the perks and the recent press, only a few federal lawmakers actually have a blind trust. According to the Senate ethics committee, just 7 out of 100 U.S. Senators have gone through the approval process to set one up. In the House of Representatives, the percentage is even smaller. As of 2010, only 12 of the 435 members of the House had an official blind trust, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. And those numbers haven’t changed much in the past decade. Why so few takers? Blind trusts seem simple, but they’re actually a complex and cumbersome financial instrument. Startup costs can easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars, says Kenneth A. Gross, an ethics lawyer at Skadden Arps who has helped candidates navigate the process, and they’re generally a pain to create and maintain. Often, Gross says, with a blind trust, “You’re just making your life much more complicated for no reason.” For starters, not every blind trust is actually blind. Often, a wealthy person’s blind trust might be described as at best slightly myopic. That can bring political repercussions. Just ask Romney circa 1994. A much-circulated video of the candidate during his bid for Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat shows Romney calling blind trusts an “age old ruse.” A politician can “give a blind trust rules” about where and how to invest, Romney said at the time, undermining its blindness. Just as troublesome, once a blind trust is created, it’s impossible for a legislator to forget what went into it. That caused problems in 2005, after Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist asked his trustee to sell some $10 million in shares of HCA — the hospital company his family founded — in a deal that closed days before the stock lost a tenth of its value. Somewhat ironically, Frist said that the reason he wanted to sell the shares was to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. The Securities and Exchange Commission investigated the incident and opted not to press charges. Still, the political fallout was big, and it didn’t matter that Frist’s trusts were technically blind. It was clear that he knew management hadn’t sold his entire stake in the company he helped build. In Romney’s case, much of his finances are tied up with private equity, mostly managed by his old colleagues at Bain Capital. Through no fault of his own, Romney likely has a pretty good idea of what’s in those funds – given that Bain’s strategies are widely reported in the financial press. The bottom line: “the public should not expect too much for the blind trust mechanism,” says Robert L. Walker a lawyer at Wiley Rein LLP, who has been staff director of both the Senate and House ethics committees. Even when a politician follows the rules perfectly, some trusts are less blind than others. While the statutes are essentially the same for the Senate, the House and the Executive Branch, they’re enforced differently. On the state level, there’s even greater disparity. Romney’s money is managed by a Boston attorney, and he would likely need to create a new, stricter blind trust in order to comply with federal regulations if elected. MORE: Romney betrays his business background But besides the legal and political morass, perhaps the biggest deterrent is financial. Blind trusts are only really useful to a few politicians. And to be one of them, you must be really, really rich. “Unless you’ve got just a bajillion dollars in the kinds of investment funds that require constant management,” says Cleta Mitchell of law firm Foley & Lardner in D.C., and former campaign council to Rick Santorum. “Then really the cost of managing that is a lot.” Skadden Arps’s Gross says that he typically advises businessmen and other wealthy candidates to consider plain vanilla investments like mutual funds or index funds. Notably, Obama went this route after his own early brushes with controversy. In 2007, the then-senator came under fire after his trust invested tens of thousands in donors’ companies. His office said at the time that advisers had made the investments under the terms of a blind trust that had yet to be finalized, but the story still ran on the front page of The New York Times. Some of the country’s wealthiest politicians have eschewed blind trusts altogether. Bill and Hillary Clinton liquidated theirs and left the holdings in cash to avoid perceptions of conflict of interest when Hilary ran for office in 2008. California Representative Darrell Issa, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are other examples of extremely well-endowed legislators without blind trusts, though none of the three have portfolios bland enough to avoid occasionally pointed question from the press. Candidates with vanilla holdings, says Gross, often “do just as well, and probably better,” than those with closely managed trusts. Today’s diversified index funds have more aggressive, riskier options, Gross says. That allows politicians to pursue serious investment growth without signing up for the hassle (and giant fees) that come with a blind trust. Blind trusts do serve a purpose, though. For some candidates with assets that can’t be easily liquidated, there are few other options. “It may be the only response that someone who has extremely complicated holdings can take,” Wiley Rein’s Walker says. That might be true in Mitt Romney’s case, where a complex bundle of private equity holdings and his stake in Bain Capital would make it extremely difficult for him to simply put everything in Treasury bonds — to say nothing of the tax implications of prematurely bailing on his investments. That’s not to say only a sophisticated investor can set up a blind trust. The option is open to anyone, and it’s likely to become increasingly popular. With the passage of the Stock Act, which beefs up financial disclosure laws and explicitly bans insider trading, blind trusts may gain appeal for being both ethicist-approved and confidential. There’s even a book about it: Blind Trust, a thriller written by California Senator Barbara Boxer, follows a protagonist unjustly blamed for untoward financial dealings in a trust she didn’t control. Boxer, who has one of her own, is also the chair of the Senate ethics committee, which regulates them. The moral of the story is one both Romney and Obama are familiar with by now: Handle blind trusts with care. Not only can politicians often discern their contents, so can the public.

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Who needs a blind trust?

Despite all the press, only a handful of legislators actually have one. The story behind a much-discussed, but little used, financial planning tool.

20150201022103

01/31/2015 AT 06:20 PM EST J.K. Simmons has been taking star not only scored an Academy Award nomination to add to his accolades, but he's even hosting But Simmons, 60, didn't become a star overnight. In fact, his résumé includes over 140 projects since 1986, some which sent us running to Netflix to refresh our memories. Without further ado, we proudly present our Nine Movies You Forgot J.K. Simmons Was In (some of which he probably wants to forget, too). The revenge comedy featured plenty of stars like , but if you look closely you can find a uniformed Simmons as a Federal marshal in the film. Kevin Costner starred as a washed-up baseball pitcher trying to pitch a perfect game. Simmons played Frank Perry, Costner's team manager, who finally gives him the shot. For Love of the Game scene from Todd Hunter on Vimeo. Any true Denis Leary fan remembers this one. In his first film role, Simmons played a military-school commander who is blackmailed by a cat burglar (Leary) holding a family hostage. You can also find a relatively unknown Kevin Spacey playing the dad in the comedy. You may remember Simmons as handyman Ray Kendall, father of 's character Candy in the John Irving classic. Simmons eventually reunited with Theron when he did the narration for her 2011 film We'll understand if you don't remember Simmons in the film, let alone the movie itself. The actor played Ted Slocum in this vehicle, which didn't exactly thrill audiences. He may be hiding under a huge cowboy hat, but that's definitely Simmons as Buffalo Bill Cody in the Viggo Mortensen film about a cowboy and his horse competing in a desert race. This is also a rare opportunity to see Simmons with a full head of hair! Simmons would probably prefer that this one remain forgotten, since it was trashed by critics. In the film, Simmons plays Tom Grady, a doctor who helps 's character cope with her terminal heart condition. People really started to pay attention to his acting chops when Simmons took on the role of Mac MacGuff, father to Juno (Ellen Page). In fast, many consider his scenes with screen wife Allison Janney as the film's biggest scene-stealers. costar Paul Rudd, playing the actor's macho father who connects more with his other son, played by Andy Samberg. Their "blow it up" fist bump is legendary. Okay, so this one isn't a film, but if you were a child of the '90s, you'll likely remember the popular Nickelodeon series. Blink and you'll probably miss Simmons , who played Barber Dan to the redheaded brothers.

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First Wives Club, Juno, Cider House Rules, More : People.com

The Oscar front-runner is set to host Saturday Night Live this weekend – did you know he also starred in The First Wives Club?

20150509192506

It was a night of transitions for the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. At its annual meeting on Wednesday, the chamber welcomed a new chief executive and a new chairman. Chamber officials also said they want a new direction for the century-old organization, one that embraces the city’s shifting economic base. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Suffolk Construction chief John Fish, who stepped down as chairman of the chamber’s board. “It is time for all of us to be thinking bigger and bolder than we ever have before.” Arguably more interesting, though, was what went unsaid in the giant ballroom at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Not once did Fish specifically mention the Olympics in his speech — though many of his quotes could be construed as applying to his efforts to bring the 2024 Summer Games to Boston. He is stepping down a year early from his two-year term to focus on the Boston 2024 Partnership, which he also chairs. On Wednesday, he handed over the chamber chairmanship to Nav Singh, managing partner of McKinsey & Co.’s Boston office. Jim Rooney, meanwhile, was in the unusual position of wearing two hats at once. He spoke as the chamber’s incoming chief executive, though he won’t officially replace Paul Guzzi until July. Rooney, currently executive director of the authority that runs the South Boston convention center, didn’t mention his big public loss last week. That’s when Governor Charlie Baker put an indefinite pause on the $1 billion in bonds that Rooney needed to expand the convention center. Nor did Rooney provide much detail about his goals as chamber CEO. Instead, he urged the crowd of roughly 1,900 people to think differently about addressing the needs of the chamber’s members and potential members and of the broader business community. “We are living in a global economy where all businesses are being transformed by innovation and technology,” Rooney said. “The demographics of our community and our workforce are rapidly changing. We all . . . need to not just embrace but embody those changes.” James E. Rooney, incoming president, spoke during the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting. Baker was in the room as well and gave a brief speech before leaving for another event. He, too, opted not to mention the halted convention center project. The governor focused his time at the podium on pushing business leaders to support his recently filed legislative package to reform the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. A well-managed and maintained MBTA, Baker said, is crucial to the region’s economy. “People talk about this choice between the roads and the T,” Baker said. “It’s all one transportation system, folks, and it’s all got to work together.” Fish also identified transportation and infrastructure as a pressing issue for the business community, as well as the hollowing out of the state’s middle class and the rising costs of housing in Greater Boston. He said the chamber needs to address the challenges facing the city’s health care and higher education industries and foster growth in newer sectors of the economy. And he echoed a speech he gave a year ago, when he became chairman, by urging those in the room to pay attention to all regions of the state, not just Greater Boston. And so it was left to Singh, the new guy, to comment about the sidelined convention center expansion — with just a touch of levity. “We are all ready for the Rooney magic in the coming years,” Singh joked. “Our first challenge to him: We have 1,900 people in this room today — and we could have had more, but we ran out of space.”

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Boston Chamber of Commerce gets new chief executive and new chairman

At its annual meeting on Wednesday, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce welcomed a new chief executive and a new chairman. Chamber officials also said they want a new direction for the century-old organization, one that embraces the city’s shifting economic base.

20150524075345

THE controversy over whether Thomas Jefferson kept a slave named Sally Hemings as his mistress, as alleged in a well-known 1974 biography and in a popular novel published in 1979, has been rekindled in a book by a prominent Virginia journalist. The book, ''The Jefferson Scandals,'' by Virginius Dabney, which rebuts the allegations made against the Founding Father, bears the endorsement of a number of prominent historians. ''The Jefferson-Sally Hemings canard is built on a complete lack of evidence,'' said David Herbert Donald, Charles Warren Professor of American History at Harvard University. ''I hope the Dabney book is the last word on this rather tiresome subject.'' ''The question whether the allegations are true is actually a peripheral one,'' writes Mr. Dabney, ''since the renown of Jefferson as an innovator in government, education, science, law, architecture, agriculture, and other fields is such that nothing can shake it. However, revival of the charges makes it highly desirable that they be appraised.'' Both Books Discounted His book quotes widely from reviews that appeared in a number of scholarly journals taking issue with the two works in question, particularly the biography ''Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History,'' by the late Fawn M. Brodie, a historian at the University of California at Los Angeles. The other book is ''Sally Hemings,'' by Barbara Chase-Riboud, which was based on that biography. Professor Donald, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, who wrote a critical review of the Brodie book in Commentary magazine in 1974, yesterday described the biography as ''the silliest book written in a long time.'' Mrs. Chase-Riboud insists that the relationship actually existed. ''It's interesting that somebody would take all the time and energy to refute this one element of Jefferson's life, especially since we both had accesss to the same material,'' she said of the Dabney book. ''The fact that Jefferson is great is not in dispute, and the fact that Sally Hemings is black is not in dispute. But the blending of great and black seems to be what makes people climb the wall. It has to do with American historical attitudes and it has to do with race. One of the ironies is that Sally Hemings was three-quarters white; she was 'black' because she was defined by her society as being black.'' Mrs. Chase-Riboud, who is also a sculptor and who is black, has lived in Paris for 19 years, where she said her book has been on the French best-seller list for the last 16 weeks. Now visiting the United States, she was awarded an honorary doctorate last week by Temple University in her native Philadelphia. 'Hemings' Is Called 'Faction' Mr. Dabney said he wrote the book because, having grown up in Charlottesville, where his father was on the University of Virginia faculty for 49 years, ''I've long been a Jefferson admirer and I knew the rumor about him and Sally Hemings just was not true.'' As editor of The Richmond Times-Dispatch until 1969, Mr. Dabney won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 1948. He has written seven books, including several works of history, and he said he was asked to write ''The Jefferson Scandals'' after his article on the subject was published in a Virginia historical journal two years ago. ''The Jefferson Scandals,'' which will be published by Dodd, Mead on June 8, is critical of Mrs. Chase-Riboud's book, which Mr. Dabney describes as ''faction,'' a literary device blending fact and fiction. Mrs. Chase-Riboud replied that she decided to publish it as fiction rather than as biography ''because I knew there was lack of supporting evidence for some aspects of the relationship that I wanted to dramatize,'' but she added that the evidence is ''quite clear'' about the principal aspects of that relationship. Both the Brodie and Chase-Riboud books allege that Jefferson seduced Miss Hemings when he was the Ambassador in Paris and that she was the very young servant of his daughter Polly, and that they had seven children. Both authors said that Sally Hemmings was the halfsister of Jefferson's deceased wife, Martha. 'Can't Prove a Negative' Mrs. Brodie contended that the secret relationship caused Jefferson to suffer from ''anxiety and guilt,'' but Mr. Dabney says that allegation was never discovered by the three leading Jeffersonian authorities: Dumas Malone, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation's biographer in residence at the University of Virginia; Merrill D. Peterson, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor of History at the University of Virginia; and the late Julian Boyd, Princeton librarian and editor of the multivolume Jefferson letters. ''It's an old charge that is not supported by the scholarly research, but you can't disprove it because you can't prove a negative,'' Mr. Malone said his sixth and final volume of the biography of Jefferson will be published on July 4. Mrs. Brodie, whose biography was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, praised the scholarship of Professors Malone and Peterson in her book but concluded that they were incapable of complete objectivity. Mrs. Chase-Riboud added: ''These men have an overwhelming investment in Jefferson, they've spent their whole lives writing about this man. I have the same emotional investment in Sally Hemings, she's a figure who has been lost and despised, and I felt the American people should know as much of the whole story as anyone could know.'' 'Psychological Speculation' Mr. Malone, the 89-year-old scholar whose first Jefferson volume appeared in 1948, said he felt no need to act as Jefferson's defender, ''because he doesn't need anybody's defense.'' He added: ''I try to explain things if I can. Nobody's completely objective, but some people are a lot more objective and a lot more fair than others. The trouble with some people is that they think you're either a prosecutor or defender.'' In a letter to Mr. Dabney, Professor Malone, who together with Profesor Peterson provided a hearty endorsement to ''The Jefferson Scandals,'' described Mrs. Brodie's books as ''psychological speculation'' that presented ''virtually no evidence that was not already known to scholars and wholly disregards testimony which I regard as more reliable.'' For her part, Mrs. Chase-Riboud said: ''I find it extraordinary that certified historians are rebutting a novel.'' Illustrations: photo of Thomas Jefferson portrait

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JEFFERSON LIAISON IS DISPUTED AGAIN

THE controversy over whether Thomas Jefferson kept a slave named Sally Hemings as his mistress, as alleged in a well-known 1974 biography and in a popular novel published in 1979, has been rekindled in a book by a prominent Virginia journalist. The book, ''The Jefferson Scandals,'' by Virginius Dabney, which rebuts the allegations made against the Founding Father, bears the endorsement of a number of prominent historians. ''The Jefferson-Sally Hemings canard is built on a complete lack of evidence,'' said David Herbert Donald, Charles Warren Professor of American History at Harvard University. ''I hope the Dabney book is the last word on this rather tiresome subject.''

20150524081938

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15— The Reagan Administration's long-awaited policy on nuclear power, to be announced next month, will specify the President's intention to ''move expeditiously but wisely'' to remove governmental barriers to the wider use of nuclear energy, according to a draft of his statement. According to the draft, which an aide said would essentially make up the final statement, Mr. Reagan will call for these policy changes: - Obstacles to the construction of the current generation of nuclear reactors would be removed. - The breeder reactor, which would produce more nuclear fuel than it consumes, would be developed. This move was signaled earlier in the Administration's efforts to win votes for its budget proposals from Congressmen from Tennessee, where the reactor would be built. - The ban on the commercial reprocessing of spent reactor fuel would be lifted. Drafted by Science Office The President's nuclear policy statement was drafted by the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy. The office's director, Dr. George A. Keyworth 2d, said he expected Mr. Reagan to approve it, with some ''final tuning,'' after returning from his vacation in California. The statement, which has been circulated in draft form in parts of the Administration and Congress, was criticized by some officials who have seen it. Peter Bradford, a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, faulted the draft because it did not mention the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, and the resulting safety concerns, as among the factors that have caused delays in licensing nuclear plants. Criticism by Udall Dr. Keyworth said that the policy statement was intended to be ''rather global in nature'' and that the concerns over Three Mile Island were too specific to be included. Representative Morris K. Udall, Democrat of Arizona, chairman of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, said he was disappointed in the draft statement. He said it did not recognize that much of the delay in starting up nuclear plants was caused not by bureaucratic problems but by the utilities' reluctance to make huge investments in reactors in the face of the slower increase projected for electrical power needs. Representative Udall and Mr. Bradford, who is also a Democrat, were joined in their criticism by two other Democratic Representatives, Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and Toby Moffett of Connecticut, both of whom head subcommittees concerned with nuclear energy. ''This is not a policy statement,'' Mr. Markey said. ''It reads like a wish list for the nuclear lobby.'' The draft of the President's policy statement declares: ''Nuclear power has become severely handicapped in the last decade by a morass of Federal obstacles, including unnecessary regulations that do not enhance safety but do cause extensive licensing delays and economic uncertainties.'' Energy Problems Predicted Because of this, the statement says, ''If nuclear power development remains stalled in this country, consumers may face electric shortfalls and far higher than necessary costs. It is important that our nuclear industry be revitalized to avoid the dismal prospect of importing this essential technology, first invented and demonstrated in America, from abroad.'' Mr. Bradford, who has advocated further study on the safety aspects of nuclear technology before going ahead with the licensing and construction of additional plants, took issue with the statement's assertion that nuclear power development ''remained stalled'' in the United States. ''We have more nuclear plants in this country than the rest of the free world combined,'' he asserted. Regarding the expressed goal of removing obstacles to the deployment of reactors, the draft policy statement says: ''It is presently taking some 10 to 14 years to proceed from the planning stage to an operating license for new nuclear power plants. The process must be streamlined with the objective of shortening the time involved to perhaps six to eight years, as is typical in many other countries. ''Consequently, I am directing the Secretary of Energy, in coordination with the Vice President as chairman of the Task Force on Regulatory Relief, to give immediate priority attention to improving the nuclear regulatory and licensing process.'' Causes of Delays Disputed Representative Moffett said in response, ''We don't think licensing procedure is the cause of the delays. Of 10 reactor applications we studied at hearings, only two are ready to go on line right now - Diablo Canyon in California, which has been delayed by labor disputes and construction problems, and McGuire near Charlotte, N.C., which has had design problems.'' Mr. Moffett said the other eight were behind schedule mostly because the utilities building them had been ''overly optimistic about completion dates.'' Mr. Moffett said that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was so undermanned that ''only 60 percent of required inspections for existing plants are being carried out now,'' and he said that this had led him to ask how new plants could then be put in service. The projected cost of the delays, Mr. Moffett said, was ''less than the cost of the T.M.I. cleanup,'' and he asserted that the Administration's plans to speed up licensing was therefore ''a narrow and short-sighted view.'' Representative Markey asserted, ''President Reagan is hooking up a government life-support system to a dead industry. He apparently will spare no effort or subsidy to prop up an industry which hasn't had a new reactor ordered for six years.'' Mr. Markey said that he would conduct a hearing on the Presidential policy, and he predicted that the proposals would be rejected by Congress.

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REAGAN LEANING TO EASING RULES FOR ATOM POWER

The Reagan Administration's long-awaited policy on nuclear power, to be announced next month, will specify the President's intention to ''move expeditiously but wisely'' to remove governmental barriers to the wider use of nuclear energy, according to a draft of his statement. According to the draft, which an aide said would essentially make up the final statement, Mr. Reagan will call for these policy changes: - Obstacles to the construction of the current generation of nuclear reactors would be removed. - The breeder reactor, which would produce more nuclear fuel than it consumes, would be developed. This move was signaled earlier in the Administration's efforts to win votes for its budget proposals from Congressmen from Tennessee, where the reactor would be built.

20150524082345

GLEN HEAD A DIRECTOR who is disenchanted with the level of local theater is determined to prove that high school students can do it better, and he has chosen a folk play with an enchanted theme, full of witches, conjurers, country songs and spooky effects, to prove his point. The play is ''Dark of the Moon,'' Howard Richardson's and the late William Berney's retelling of a hillbilly legend that played on Broadway for nine months in 1946 and surfaced briefly in 1958 and 1970 Off Broadway stagings. The director is Jim David, who teaches drama at North Shore High School, where the play will be performed Friday and Saturday at 8 P.M. and Sunday at 3:15 by the school's theatrical group, the North Shore Viking Masquers. Mr. David, who is 27 years old and an Equity card-carrying actor, said that ''Dark of the Moon'' has been neglected too long. He described it as a ''sad, folksy comedy, a 'Romeo and Juliet' of the North Carolina mountains or 'The Exorcist' of the 1940's.'' ''It's the best translation of folk material into theatrical terms that I've ever seen,'' he said. ''It doesn't date, the themes are universal, and with the Southern poetic dialect, it's totally alien to people in this area.'' For Mr. David, however, the play is a piece of his own heritage. ''I hail from those Smoky Mountains,'' he said, referring to the play's setting. ''In my hometown in North Carolina, Charlton Heston created a theater and played the leading role in this play. When I was a junior in college, I starred in it.'' ''Dark of the Moon'' concerns a witch boy who falls in love with a mountain girl. She can transform him to human status by being faithful to him for one year. But the townspeople, with their prejudices and superstitions, intrude, and the play, in which a witch baby is born and burned, ends tragically. The story was originally written and produced under the title ''Barbara Allen'' - the name of the girl - in 1942 at the State University of Iowa. The New York premiere was not favorably reviewed in The New York Times, but the revivals were. In his 1958 review, Arthur Gelb wrote that ''the color of folklore and the pathos of human yearning are effectively combined in the play.'' After a small-scale 1970 revival, which was notable for depicting male and female witches in the nude, Howard Thompson wrote that the play ''shimmered hauntingly minus the trappings.'' Working with a $2,000 budget, Mr. David is going all out with the trappings. ''We have a huge sound system rigged up,'' he said, ''and the whole mountain, which is eight feet tall and will have blue fog rolling off it, will blow up. There'll be 10 speakers throughout the auditorium, like Sensurround, and when it thunders they're going to feel it.'' Commenting on the complicated lighting effects, Mr. David acknowledged the advantage of having Barry Binder, the president of a light and sound equipment business in Huntington, as the play's technical director. ''The school auditorium, which has a 500-seat capacity, has better facilities than the average small theater out here,'' Mr. David said. On an artistic level, the director spoke critically of community theater productions. ''I saw 'Grease' recently and all they did was jump up and down,'' he said. ''It was embarrassing.'' Mr. David, who doesn't want ''to do material that's been done to death,'' will stage the George S. Kaufman-Marc Connelly comedy ''Merton of the Movies'' as the school's next production and has plays by Ionesco and Italian commedia dell'arte in mind. The director is not on the school's faculty. ''Drama isn't recognized as an independent subject,'' he said. He works with students on a first-name basis as a self-described ''combination authority figure and friend.'' For this production, 65 students, who have been rehearsing for seven weeks, will be involved. They range from freshmen to seniors; 45 are in the cast and 20 work backstage. In addition, five student musicians will play indigenous down-home songs of love and lust, such as ''All I Need Is a Pig in a Peg.'' By means of a psychodramatic technique, or what Mr. David called ''personalization,'' the student actors recall ''events in their lives as a substitute for a character's emotion they may not be able to feel.'' ''We're bringing a whole lot of kids out of the woodwork for this,'' he said. ''Theater is important for them. There's been too much emphasis on sports, but no one is paying enough attention to the importance of the arts in rounding out a teen-ager. ''They don't have to make it a career. They know the marketplace and it's bad. But if you can get going creatively, it can change you in all walks of your life. Emotional exercises get them out of their shells, get up their confidence and, after that, you watch them go crazy. ''It's fun to draw talent out of them. In my high school, it was abominable. They were a bunch of jerks. Now I can share with the kids here what I've learned as an adult. They want someone to understand them and not push them aside. Give anyone who has a horrible selfimage a role to play and have him take a curtain call, and that will do more for his ego than any psychiatrist.'' Illustrations: photo of Ricardo Gomez and Mary Keenan

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The Lively Arts - 'LITTLE MURDERS' - VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE - NYTimes.com

GLEN HEAD A DIRECTOR who is disenchanted with the level of local theater is determined to prove that high school students can do it better, and he has chosen a folk play with an enchanted theme, full of witches, conjurers, country songs and spooky effects, to prove his point. The play is ''Dark of the Moon,'' Howard Richardson's and the late William Berney's retelling of a hillbilly legend that played on Broadway for nine months in 1946 and surfaced briefly in 1958 and 1970 Off Broadway stagings. The director is Jim David, who teaches drama at North Shore High School, where the play will be performed Friday and Saturday at 8 P.M. and Sunday at 3:15 by the school's theatrical group, the North Shore Viking Masquers. Mr. David, who is 27 years old and an Equity card-carrying actor, said that ''Dark of the Moon'' has been neglected too long. He described it as a ''sad, folksy comedy, a 'Romeo and Juliet' of the North Carolina mountains or 'The Exorcist' of the 1940's.''

20150524082638

When the clients of the Executive Answering Service phoned in the other day, everyone received the same message: ''We're having a Christmas party and you're invited.'' The clients said they'd be there with bells on. After all, this was more than a Christmas party. This was a golden chance to finally see the faces behind the voices they hear every day over the telephone, to meet Nancy, Connie, Sandy and the 50 or so other operators who know a thing or two about their professional and private lives. And many clients, about 400 of them, were not about to miss the chance. ''Where's my main lady?'' asked a bearded trumpet player named Lew Gluckin on arriving at the offices of the Executive Answering Service, as well as the Radio and TV Registry, at 314 West 53d Street. ''Where's Nancy?'' He meant Nancy Grillo, a middle-aged veteran of the answering service who dotes on her clients and calls them ''my family.'' Miss Grillo soon appeared in a party dress with gold sparkles and Mr. Gluckin rushed forward to kiss her cheek. ''Nancy's been answering my phone for years,'' he said. ''She keeps all my different girlfriends apart and she covers for me with bill collectors.'' ''Everybody here knows me better than I know them,'' said Don Mertz, a tall and well-tailored figure in gray flannel. He is an account executive in the New York office of Wilson Learning, a sales management and training company with headquarters in Minneapolis. ''After talking on the phone with them all year, I came by to interface with Connie and Sandy,'' he said, raising a glass in their direction. Poinsettia as a Gift ''This is for the three girls that work on my line,'' said a business consultant, Armando Bustelo. He produced a large poinsettia. Sandy Crudup's face lit up like a switchboard. ''Oh, Mr. Bustelo,'' she murmured. ''Oh, Mr. Bustelo.'' Not that the operators had unlimited time to jolly it up with the clients who drifted in all afternoon and on into the night. This is a 24-hour answering service, mind you, fielding messages for 1,000 customers - professionals, business people and families among them. Then, too, there were 700 other customers, members of the music world who depend on the operators to perform such services as booking their dates and waking them up at odd hours to catch airplanes. Party or no party, the world could not be put on hold. And so it was that, amid the laughing and the tinkling of ice cubes, bells were ringing, buttons on the phones were blinking, and tiny electronic video display terminals were telling the operator exactly how each client wants his or her phone answered: ''Hello, Sophie Craze.'' ''Playboy Enterprises, hello.'' ''Good afternoon, Dr. Yates's office.'' ''Bay Ridge Market. May I help you?'' ''Hildegarde's residence.'' ''Audubon Plumbing.'' ''Pretty Purdie's line.'' Pretty Purdie? ''That's not his real name,'' an operator explained with a shrug. ''You know how actors are.'' Meanwhile, Rockwood Lynn was standing in front of the Christmas tree expounding on a favorite theme: ''An answering service is a soap opera.'' He is a partner in the 22-year-old business, with his father, and everyone calls him Rocky. Over the years, he said, the lives of the clients unfold before the operators in the form of messages. They know when business is good and when business is bad. They know when hearts are broken and when troths are plighted. When the baby is born, the operator is sometimes the first one to relay the word to friends and relatives: ''It's a girl.'' When the baby grows up and goes off to college there are other messages to convey: ''Your son says send money.'' ''We wake them up in the morning so they can make important meetings,'' Mr. Lynn went on. ''We remind them of important dates. If they can't be reached by phone we sometimes beep them. After a while we get to feel part of the family.'' She Remembered When Then, as if on cue, in walked Cliff and Lisa Morris with their 9-month-old daughter, Tyler. ''I remember when she was pregnant,'' Nancy Grillo, said, pointing to Mrs. Morris, a professional model who looked the part. ''The baby turned out so cute,'' said Joyce LaTassa, the service's general manager. ''When are you going to give us a picture?'' It was Mrs. LaTassa who presented the operators with red corsages for the occasion. And it was Mrs. LaTassa who first proposed the annual Christmas party three years ago. When this party was in full swing, she poured herself a drink, kicked off her shoes and talked of the answering service she once ran in Rockland County. ''This was 16 years ago,'' Mrs. LaTassa said,''and I had to fight the phone company to get a switchboard in my garage. I had 20 clients and I started giving the Christmas parties back then. Now, as you see, the switchboards are gone and we have computers. But, you know, we still need Christmas parties. We talk to these people every day of their lives and we like to see their faces. That's the nice thing about the party.'' Another nice thing about the party was that clients attending could leave messages for clients not attending. Before he departed, Al Baccili of Allan Products asked an operator to call one of his buddies at 1 A.M. with the following message: ''Jimmy, you missed a great party.'' Illustrations: 3 photos of an answering service

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ANSWERING SERVICE GALA - BELLS ARE RINGING - NYTimes.com

When the clients of the Executive Answering Service phoned in the other day, everyone received the same message: ''We're having a Christmas party and you're invited.'' The clients said they'd be there with bells on. After all, this was more than a Christmas party. This was a golden chance to finally see the faces behind the voices they hear every day over the telephone, to meet Nancy, Connie, Sandy and the 50 or so other operators who know a thing or two about their professional and private lives. And many clients, about 400 of them, were not about to miss the chance.

20150524105054

RICHMOND, May 5— With less than a month before the Democratic nominating convention in Roanoke, the party has no clear choice for a candidate to run for the United States Senate in November. Only last week, two Democrats appeared to be headed toward a divisive battle for the seat of Senator Harry F. Byrd Jr., an independent who is retiring. One of them threatened to run as an independent, causing concern that it might split the Democratic vote and give the election to the Republicans. But on Tuesday, Owen B. Pickett, a 51-year-old State Delegate from Virginia Beach who was the choice of Gov. Charles S. Robb, dropped out of the contest. His withdrawal prompted state Senator L. Douglas Wilder today to drop his plans to run as an independent. Did Not Explain Motives Senator Wilder, 51, the only black member of the Virginia Senate, never publicly explained his dissatisfaction with Mr. Pickett as the Democratic candidate. In recent weeks Mr. Wilder had expressed unhappiness with the way that the State Legislature had handled issues of importance to blacks. However, some political specialists saw the move as an attempt to give blacks a stronger voice in selecting Democratic candidates. ''What with the withdrawal of Owen Picket from the race, my concern is presently with the Republican nominee,'' Mr. Wilder said today at a news conference. State Democratic leaders were reportedly concerned that if Senator Wilder ran as an independent, he would siphon off thousands of black Democratic voters, leading to a Republican victory in a three-way race. United States Representative Paul S. Trible Jr. is the only announced Republican candidate for the Senate seat. Edward J. Rollins, President Reagan's chief political aide. has said that Mr. Trible, a young and energetic Congressman, has the full backing of the White House in the Senate race. Democratic Election Victory In January, for the first time in more than a decade, the Democratic Party took control of state government when Mr. Robb was installed as Governor. His election victory was largely a result of his support by a coalition of blacks and organized labor groups. Governor Robb has been seeking to unify his party and to assure blacks that they are not being neglected or slighted. In a speech Sunday to a predominantly black audience, Mr. Robb said he was concerned about the racial implications of the ''well-publicized events of the last two weeks.'' He was apparently referring to an incident involving the Virginia House Speaker, A.L. Philpott. Virginia's blacks have expressed dissatisfaction with the powerful network of conservative Democrats in control of the State Legislature. Many blacks were angered when Mr. Philpott referred to black members of the Legislature as ''boys'' in agreeing to meet with them to hear their complaints. Mr. Philpott later apologized for that reference. Several days later, in an attempt to keep Senator Wilder from bolting the party, Delegate Alson H. Smith Jr. invited Senator Wilder to lunch, but refused to take him to the all-white private Commonwealth Club. Praise for Governor Mr. Wilder praised Mr. Robb on Tuesday for reaffirming ''his personal commitment'' to issues of concern to blacks. Governor Robb, in turn, hailed Mr. Wilder as a ''loyal Democrat who places principle above personal ambition,'' and said his decision not to run for Senator Byrd's seat as an independent would help unite Virginia's Democraatic Party into ''the kind of powerful, unified coalition that we will need to win in November.'' Mr. Wilder said Tuesday that he would be available as the Democratic candidate should the party call on him. But Democratic Party officials also said Tuesday that Mr. Pickett could still be chosen once the party convention met in Roanoke June 5 to choose its candidate.

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DEMOCRATIC RACE IN VIRGINIA IS WIDE OPEN AGAIN

With less than a month before the Democratic nominating convention in Roanoke, the party has no clear choice for a candidate to run for the United States Senate in November. Only last week, two Democrats appeared to be headed toward a divisive battle for the seat of Senator Harry F. Byrd Jr., an independent who is retiring. One of them threatened to run as an independent, causing concern that it might split the Democratic vote and give the election to the Republicans. But on Tuesday, Owen B. Pickett, a 51-year-old State Delegate from Virginia Beach who was the choice of Gov. Charles S. Robb, dropped out of the contest.

20150524124950

By John Leonard MEMOIRS OF A SPACE TRAVELER. Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy. By Stanislaw Lem. Translated from the Polish by Joel Stern and Maria Swiecicka-Ziemianek. 153 pages. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. $9.95. IT ought to be possible - certainly I tried hard - to find something in Stanislaw Lem's new collection of science fictions that would permit us to think out loud about the Polish crisis. The mordant Mr. Lem, after all, is Poland's best-known writer in the West, a Jorge Luis Borges for the Space Age, who plays in earnest with every concept of philosophy and physics, from free will to probability theory. (In fact, in ''The Chain of Chance,'' which was published in this country during the New York newspaper strike, he wrote an entire wonderful novel that was perfectly characterized by Kenneth Klivington in The Los Angeles Times as ''a whodunit with probability as the butler.'') However. The trouble is, we have an impossible time sorting out modern history from science fiction in its lurid phase. All laws in both realms seem to be martial. When Mr. Lem introduces us to the Voluntary Universalizer of Absolute Order, a machine for harmonizing the discordances of human vagary, he must be talking about many states besides Poland. The principle of Civic Initiative - according to which a proletariat called the Drudglings is permitted to be free as long as it does not interfere with the property arrangements of the Eminent - is incorporated into the Voluntary Universalizer. As a consequence, in the Rainbow Palace, human beings are turned into hockey pucks. Is this capitalism or socialism or both? Science fiction is to the totalitarian state what Aesop's fables were to the institution of slavery in the sixth century B.C. It is, of course, subversive. By taking ideas too seriously, it ridicules people. But it depends, for its subversive power, on people who are smart enough to be afraid of laughter. Modern history, especially as it expresses itself in the totalitarian hockey puck, has an excess of almost everything except agenuine appre ciation of the ludicrous. So science fiction seems sometimes to be talking to itself, or to Sirius the Dog Star, or to the caps on o ur teeth; we receive its signals as if by light-years too late beyo nd the bend. It's all relative. Mr. Lem knows this. I can't imagine what he doesn't know. And he seldom approves. In ''A Perfect Vacuum'' he purported to review a dozen books which, thank Heisenberg, have not been written. (No wonder he reminds us of Mr. Borges; his library is a spaceship.) Modern history, on the other hand, writes these books on our skin and brain; they are not fiction. Many critics thought ''A Perfect Vacuum'' was a little heavy-handed, as are many critics. Mr. Lem must wonder how heavy his hand must be in order to get our attention. Then he would probably bite it, because he was laughing at criticism. In ''The Star Diaries,'' to which ''Memoirs of a Space Traveler'' is an appendix, he sent Ijon Tichy out into the galactic wastes to find those neuroses and psychoses we deny at home and in the laboratory. In the appendix, Ijon stays home most of the time. He likes to tell stories, and he is expected to, but what he has seen in his planet hopping and his space warp is so domestic that he worries: doesn't this tale ''sound like the complaint of a peddlar who knocks about provincial towns?'' Ijon is the one character in a book of ideas on whom Mr. Lem is willing to bestow anything like a many-faceted personality. He reminds me of Dr. Watson, open-minded, a trifle slow but willing, in search of someone to admire. His Sherlock is science, the explication of paradox by industry and verve, an imagination of possibilities and the pounce of proof. He attracts madmen - monomaniacs belonging to ''the gray brotherhood of obsession'' - and it is these he proposes to discuss. Another's mind, we ought to remember, is the most alien of planets. On occasion, those who think they are geniuses might really be geniuses, but who would want to live in their fixity of perception? And those who are not geniuses nevertheless approximate in ''their talentlessness a creative frenzy worthy of a Leonardo.'' And we we are introduced to brains in boxes, ''Leibnizan monads,'' attached to a drum full of ''shiny tapes covered with white zigzags, like mold on celluloid.'' The drum contains an approximation of the world - ''sultry Southern nights, the murmur of waves, the forms of animal bodies and the crackle of gunfire; funerals and drinking binges; the taste of apples and oranges, snowstorms on evenings spent with the family by the fireside, and the pandemonium aboard a sinking ship; the convulsions of illness, and mountain peaks, and graveyards, and the hallucinations of the delirious.'' Someone stuffed the drum; that someone thin ks he is God, and therefore allows the brains in the boxes to c hoose which tape in the drum they want to hear. Free will means that God does a vanishing act. Another madman invents the soul and then finds that it is more expensive to produce and market a soul than an airplane; besides, nobody really wants to live forever. A third invents a time machine, in which he ages and dies. A fourth improves on medieval alchemy by inventing the homunculus; oddly, the homunculus, a clone, wants to live more than his creator does. A fifth invents kitchen appliances so good at their job that they might as well be wives or slaves or both, and they demand emancipation, and they are short-circuited, and according to Mr. Lem, we are all refrigerators and washing machines. Mr. Lem, of course, merely satirizes other science fictions. None of this pertains to Poland or to modernity. Imagine workers wanting to own the means of production and share in the profits. Imagine asking a nation to vote on its ultimate economic arrangements, its imaginative constructs. Isn't that subversive? Isn't that a hallucination? There are lots of Polands and kitchen appliances. Illustrations: photo of Stanislaw Lem

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By John Leonard MEMOIRS OF A SPACE TRAVELER. Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy. By Stanislaw Lem. Translated from the Polish by Joel Stern and Maria Swiecicka-Ziemianek. 153 pages. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. $9.95. IT ought to be possible - certainly I tried hard - to find something in Stanislaw Lem's new collection of science fictions that would permit us to think out loud about the Polish crisis. The mordant Mr. Lem, after all, is Poland's best-known writer in the West, a Jorge Luis Borges for the Space Age, who plays in earnest with every concept of philosophy and physics, from free will to probability theory. (In fact, in ''The Chain of Chance,'' which was published in this country during the New York newspaper strike, he wrote an entire wonderful novel that was perfectly characterized by Kenneth Klivington in The Los Angeles Times as ''a whodunit with probability as the butler.'') However.

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John W. Polanowicz, the former state secretary of Health and Human Services, has taken a top executive role at Steward Health Care System, where he will help the company expand, Steward said Thursday. Steward, the state’s largest for-profit hospital operator, said Polanowicz will serve as executive vice president of network, insurance, and physician operations. Polanowicz was president of St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, a Steward hospital in Brighton, before joining the administraton of former governor Deval Patrick, a Democrat, in 2013. He left state government in January, when Republican Governor Charlie Baker took office. In his new job at Steward, Polanowicz oversees more than 3,000 physicians. He is responsible for Steward’s accountable care operations and for contracting. “Steward is leading the way in changing how health care is delivered in the community,” Polanowicz said in a statement. “I am excited to be a part of Steward’s continued expansion.” The statement did not explain whether Steward would expand would through acquisitions, by building the patient base at its existing facilities, or both. The company declined to provide additional details or make Polanowicz available for an interview. Boston-based Steward, which owns nine hospitals in Massachusetts, is a proponent of so-called accountable care, in which doctors and hospitals are paid not for the number of services they provide, but for the quality of care. Such models pay providers a budget to care for patients, with incentives that allow them to earn extra money when patients stay healthy. Polanowicz, a former military helicopter commander, is the former chief of Marlborough Hospital, part of Worcester-based UMass Memorial Health Care. “John’s perspective on the changing health care marketplace will be invaluable as Steward continues to grow,” Steward’s chief executive, Dr. Ralph de la Torre, said in the statement.

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Former state health secretary joins Steward Health Care

Steward, the state’s largest for-profit hospital operator, said John W. Polanowiczwill serve as executive vice president of network, insurance, and physician operations

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Protestors shout at Times Square in New York over the chokehold death of Eric Garner. (AAP) Protests have erupted in New York and other US cities after a white police officer was cleared in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man, a case that has drawn comparisons to the deadly police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. Eric Garner died as officers were attempting to arrest him for selling untaxed cigarettes on the street. The controversy has once again cast a spotlight on police tensions with African Americans, even as the nation's president and top law enforcement official are both black. Unlike the Missouri case, where the circumstances surrounding Michael Brown's death remain in dispute, Garner's July 17 arrest was captured on videotape and the case could have even wider repercussions, particularly because it happened in the nation's most prominent city and one with a liberal tradition. New York City police said on Thursday that 83 people were arrested, most for disorderly conduct. The decision on Wednesday by the grand jury in the city's Staten Island area not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo heightened tensions that have simmered in the city since Garner's death. In the neighbourhood where Garner died, people reacted with angry disbelief and chanted, "I can't breathe!" and "Hands up - don't choke!" In Manhattan, demonstrators laid down in Grand Central Terminal, walked through traffic on the West Side Highway and blocked the Brooklyn Bridge. But the demonstrations were largely peaceful, in contrast to the widespread arson and looting that accompanied the decision nine days earlier not to indict the white officer who shot and killed Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old. While legal experts note it's impossible to know how the grand jurors reached their conclusion, they say the Garner case, like Brown's death, once again raises concerns about the influence local prosecutors have over the process of charging the police officers they work with on a daily basis. US Attorney General Eric Holder says federal prosecutors will conduct their own investigation of Garner's death, while the New York Police Department also is undertaking an internal probe which could lead to administrative charges against Pantaleo, who remains on desk duty. Do you have any news photos or videos?

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Protests erupt in US after decision to not charge chokehold cop

Demonstrations have erupted in the US after a grand jury declined to charge a white police officer in the choking death of a black man.

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2 Genius Bars, 45 display tables, 3 walls of accessories, free Wi-Fi and no “public” toilets Apple is reported to have paid $5 million to Metrazur Restaurant to buy out the eight years remaining on its Grand Central Terminal lease. We suspect both sides of the deal got a bargain. Metrazur, judging from the reviews in Yelp before it closed, was famous for strange sauces and slow service. Apple AAPL , judging from a tour of the new retail store it has built on the terminal’s east and north balconies — in more than twice the space formerly occupied by Metrazur — is going to move a lot of product when the store opens Friday at 10 a.m.. (Free T-shirts for the first 4,000 customers.) Grand Central is the world’s largest train terminus (by number of platforms) and one of the busiest places in the city that never sleeps. Some 750,000 people pass through its marble halls every day, and traffic swells to more than 1 million per day during the holidays. According to the Grand Central Terminal website, 50% of its commuters’ household incomes are over $100,000, and 20% are over $200,000. Apple is cagey about the dimensions of the new store. Press accounts put it at 23,000 square feet, which would make it, by our count, Apple’s third largest. Bob Bridger, vice president of retail, real estate and development, would only say that it is “one of the biggest.” This we know for sure: The store has The other superlative, which Bridger spent a lot of time hammering home to the 3 dozen reporters and camera crew who showed up for Wednesday’s media tour, is that the store represents Apple’s largest commitment to what it calls “personal selling.” This includes 15-minute express workshops for busy commuters, two start-up rooms for hands-on instruction, a front desk where Apple’s top-telling products can be swiftly purchased, and a feature on the Apple Store App that lets you order a product on a commuter train and pick it up when you get to the city. See below for our 3-minute video, posted on YouTube, which was shot as we made our way from the south end of the east balcony to the west end of the northeast balcony.

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Inside Apple’s new Grand Central Terminal store

2 Genius Bars, 45 display tables, 3 walls of accessories, free Wi-Fi and no "public" toilets Apple is reported to have paid $5 million to Metrazur Restaurant to buy out the eight years remaining on its Grand Central Terminal lease. We suspect both sides of the deal got a bargain. Metrazur, judging from the reviews in…

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Prime Minister David Cameron's hope that Britain would join air strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria is fading due to the likely election of anti-war campaigner Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the opposition Labour Party. After parliament returns on Monday, Cameron's government had hoped to call a vote on the issue in a bid to extend Britain's current role in coalition air strikes against IS targets in Iraq. But Corbyn, a leading opponent to the 2003 Iraq war who wants to apologise over the conflict if elected leader of Britain's main opposition party on September 12, is deeply opposed to the move. "I will only proceed going further on this issue if there is genuine consensus in the United Kingdom about it before going back to parliament," Cameron said during a press conference on Friday. Cameron stressed that military action against IS was part of the "comprehensive program" he envisages to tackle the migrants crisis which has resulted in thousands of people, including many Syrians, flocking to Europe. MPs in parliament's foreign affairs committee are due to discuss possible air strikes on Tuesday. The prime minister cannot secure the necessary parliamentary approval for air strikes without opposition support due to a slim parliamentary majority and the opposition of some of his own MPs. "He thinks there is a case for taking further action against ISIL (another term for IS) but he would prefer to proceed in a consensual way," Cameron's spokeswoman told reporters recently. This looks impossible under a Corbyn leadership. "I'm not convinced that air strikes in Syria will do any good other than kill a lot of civilians and other people," Corbyn said at a campaign event last week. Cameron's government was defeated on taking military action in Syria in 2013 in one of the most damaging foreign policy blows to his previous coalition government. If Corbyn is elected Labour leader as expected, it could also pose wider and highly sensitive problems on defence for Cameron. Asked if there were any circumstances under which he would deploy military forces abroad during a debate on Thursday, Corbyn said: "I'm sure there are some. But I can't think of them at the moment." Corbyn, who was a leading figure in the Stop The War Coalition, which organised one of Britain's biggest ever rallies against the Iraq conflict in 2003, also wants to scrap Britain's nuclear deterrent. Do you have any news photos or videos?

http://web.archive.org/web/20150905194432id_/http://www.9news.com.au:80/world/2015/09/05/13/16/labour-leader-may-avert-uk-s-syria-strikes

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Labour leader may avert UK's Syria strikes

The likely election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the UK Labour Party may halt the British prime minister's plans to join air strikes against IS in Syria.

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LOS ANGELES, Sept. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- September is Hunger Action MonthTM, a nationwide campaign from Feeding America® – the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the country. In honor of Hunger Action Month, Ralphs Grocery Company is partnering with Feeding America, milk companies and more than 1,400 California dairy families to encourage its shoppers to 'Pour It Forward' by donating nutrient-rich milk to families in need in their local communities. Milk isn't just a drink—it's a nutrient powerhouse providing nine essential nutrients including eight grams of high-quality protein per serving. But it is missing at food banks in communities across the country because it is rarely donated. In fact, milk is one of the items most requested by Feeding America food bank clients each year. On average, food banks are only able to provide the equivalent of less than one gallon of milk per person, per year. But this September, Ralphs customers have the ability to help change that in their communities by donating $1, $3 or $5 at check-out. Every donation will help deliver milk to a local family facing hunger. All donations collected go directly to Feeding America food banks that service the local community where the donation was made. "Milk is the number one food item requested by our Southern California food banks," said Kendra Doyel, vice president of corporate affairs for Ralphs Grocery Company. "Through the 'Pour it Forward' program we are giving our customers, associates and company and easy way to support local food banks by offering them access to an important food – fresh and wholesome milk." To help ensure Feeding America food banks serving Southern California are able to provide nutritious milk to people in need, the California Milk Advisory Board and the dairy farm families it represents are joining Ralphs in the "Pour it Forward" program by pledging a dollar-for-dollar match for each donation sold – up to $50,000. "California dairy farmers are dedicated to providing a wholesome, nutritious product for families everywhere and to making this nutritious food available to all families, regardless of circumstances," said John Talbot, CEO of California Milk Advisory Board. "The Pour it Forward program offers a tremendous opportunity for Ralphs customers to join us in supporting people in need and ensuring this support stays in California communities." What You Can Do Today Now through the end of September, Ralphs is inviting customers to 'Pour It Forward' by donating $1, $3 or $5 at check-out to help local families get the nutrient-rich milk they're missing out on. Customers should check with their local stores for details. Donations are also collected at BringingHopeToTheTable.com/PourItForward. By entering your zip code, you can ensure that the milk is delivered to a local Feeding America food bank in your very own community. Ralphs Grocery Company was founded in 1873 and currently operates 209 supermarkets from its headquarters in Los Angeles. Last year, Ralphs contributed more than $6 million to support education, hunger relief, women's health and local nonprofit organizations in the communities served by the company's stores. Ralphs is a subsidiary of The Kroger Co., (NYSE:KR), one of the nation's largest food retailers, based in Cincinnati, Ohio. For more about Ralphs, please visit our web site at www.ralphs.com. About the California Milk Advisory Board The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), an instrumentality of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, is funded by the state's more than 1,400 dairy families. With headquarters in South San Francisco and Modesto, the CMAB is one of the largest agricultural marketing boards in the United States. The CMAB executes advertising, public relations, research and retail and foodservice promotional programs on behalf of California dairy products, including Real California Milk and Real California Cheese. For more information and to connect with the CMAB through social media, visit RealCaliforniaMilk.com, like at Facebook.com/RealCaliforniaMilk, view videos at YouTube.com/RealCaliforniaMilk, follow at Twitter.com/RealCalifMilk and Instagram.com/RealCalifMilk and pin at Pinterest.com/RealCalifMilk. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ralphs-encourages-shoppers-to-pour-it-forward-by-donating-nutrient-rich-milk-to-food-banks-during-feeding-americas-hunger-action-month-300138424.html

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Ralphs Encourages Shoppers to 'Pour it Forward' by Donating Nutrient-rich Milk to Food Banks during Feeding America's Hunger Action Month™

In honor of Hunger Action Month, Ralphs Grocery Company is partnering with Feeding America, milk companies and more than 1,400 California dairy families to encourage its shoppers to' Pour It Forward' by donating nutrient-rich milk to families in need in their local communities. But this September, Ralphs customers have the ability to help change that in their...

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spreads@ (Adds details, quotes, background) SEOUL/HONG KONG, June 9 (Reuters) - Hong Kong said on Tuesday it would issue a red alert against non-essential travel to South Korea where eight new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) were reported, bringing the total to 95 with seven fatalities. The number of new Korean cases reported on Tuesday was a sharp drop from 23 on Monday but the number of schools closed grew to 2,199, including 19 universities. Hong Kong's number two official, Carrie Lam, told reporters just ahead of a meeting of the city's Executive Council that the red alert would be issued. A red alert is defined as a "significant threat" according to the Hong Kong government, and means people should "adjust travel plans" and "avoid non-essential travel" On Monday, Hong Kong upgraded its response to the outbreak in South Korea to "serious". Nam Kyung-pil, governor of Gyeonggi province, which surrounds the South Korean capital, Seoul, said the country was fighting two wars. "The war against the disease and the war against fear," he said. The World Health Organization began work on a joint mission with South Korean doctors and officials to review the country's response and analyse the virus. The WHO has not recommended any curb on travel, but thousands of tourists have cancelled plans to visit South Korea. South Korean President Park Geun-hye has called for an all-out national effort to eradicate the outbreak, which has been spreading since a 68-year-old businessman brought it home from a Middle East trip last month. All subsequent infections in South Korea have occurred in health care facilities and been traced to the original patient. Twenty-three new cases were reported on Monday. South Korea has the second highest number of infections after Saudi Arabia, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The seventh reported MERS death in South Korea was a 68-year-old woman who had an existing heart ailment and had been in the emergency room of a Seoul hospital, where a number of previous confirmed cases had been traced. All 95 cases of MERS infection in South Korea have taken place in health care facilities, according to the ministry. The Chinese territory of Macau required masks for people entering local healthcare facilities as a precaution against MERS, and advised residents to avoid travel to South Korea unless absolutely necessary. Some 2,892 people who may have had contact with MERS patients have been put under quarantine, some in hospitals but most at home. Authorities have said they are using mobile phones to track people who violate quarantine. South Korea's new cases bring the total of MERS cases globally to 1,244, based on World Health Organization (WHO) data, with at least 446 related deaths. (Additional reporting by Seungyun Oh; Editing by Nick Macfie)

http://web.archive.org/web/20150928091754id_/http://www.cnbc.com/2015/06/08/reuters-america-update-2-hong-kong-to-issue-red-alert-travel-alert-to-south-korea-as-mers-spreads.html

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UPDATE 2-Hong Kong to issue "red alert" travel alert to South Korea as MERS spreads

SEOUL/ HONG KONG, June 9- Hong Kong said on Tuesday it would issue a red alert against non-essential travel to South Korea where eight new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome were reported, bringing the total to 95 with seven fatalities. On Monday, Hong Kong upgraded its response to the outbreak in South Korea to "serious". The WHO has not recommended any curb on...

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I am about to enter Laure Prouvost's film installation, at East International in Norwich, when a powerful spotlight blasts me full in the face. I blunder, blinded, into the dark. There is a sudden, recorded crash. The light and noise have been triggered by my presence. I can't see a thing and almost sit on someone's head by mistake. Sorry, sorry, sorry. The film begins, with a warning that questions will be asked at the end. An American is talking, too fast, and his words are mis-transcribed in the subtitles, which flash by even faster. The guy is talking about Walter Benjamin and the language of cinema, but I am reading about someone's husband who likes hard rock, or is that hard cock – and did he just say something about enemas? A sign flashes up: CAN YOU BE QUIET PLEASE. Everyone else seems to have left, so that must mean me. The film is over before I've found my notebook. Outside, the light blasts on again and the next hapless visitor stumbles into the blackness, to the same crash. Prouvost is one of the two prize winners of this show, a biennial exhibition that forms part of the city-wide Contemporary Art Norwich. The other is British artist Stuart Whipps, whose photographs of the closed down Longbridge car plant in Birmingham show abandoned canteens with sad, drooping bunting, assembly lines with rusting car bodies and endless gantries, the whole mothballed plant left to decay. Whipps's photographs are supplemented by archival material and analysis of Margaret Thatcher's speeches, early indicators of the grim state of current British industry. East has been running since 1991, and has had financial crises of its own. But under the directorship of Lynda Morris, this biennial has always attempted to make Norwich aware of its historical, political and artistic links to Europe and beyond. It is always interesting. Chosen from an open submission, this year's exhibition has been selected by the veteran British conceptual artists Art&Language, and by Raster Gallery, from Warsaw. In a shadowy room, an elliptical conversation takes place between the surrealist Meret Oppenheim, the photographer and Picasso muse Dora Maar, and the singer Josephine Baker. Picasso's Weeping Woman – a portrait of Maar – hangs on the wall; other bits of modernist and surrealist art litter the room. Oppenheim's fur-lined teacup must be there somewhere. The conversation is stilted and unbelievably pretentious, even by pre-war Paris standards. "Do we only perceive what is past?" one character asks. "You can trace everything back to memories," says another, in clipped 1930s English. Sometimes they break into French, or swap one another's lines. This film, Lunch in Fur by Ursula Mayer, is peculiar and arresting; watching it, I am uncertain if this is old footage or new, if the lines are quotes from a movie or a novel, if the whole thing is a joke or utterly serious. These sorts of doubts continue throughout the exhibition. By the time I watch British artist David Jacques's very instructive film about the north-west of England, anarcho-syndicalism and time travel, things have slipped a few gears. I'm even less sure of what I'm being told. Jacques's film is a spoof documentary that describes numerous encounters across time and space, all occurring in Manchester, Liverpool and north Wales between 1910 and 1918, at a series of annual conferences begun in honour of the Catalan educationalist and anarchist Francisco Ferrer y Guàrdia. Ferrer was real; the rest is a fiction. There is very little sculpture or painting here. A sooty, solid cloud of resin marks the spot of a spontaneous combustion in one of the basements of the art school, where Polish artist Olaf Brzeski also shows a grainy, black-and-white film of soldiers in the snow. The men are visited by a spooky bogeyman carrying a dead rabbit. The film looks old, again as if this were archive footage. Something terrible stirs in the woods, but we don't know what. In Andrew Cranston's painted jokes about lonely painters going mad or suicidal in their grim, freezing studios, there are lots of knowing art gags about Courbet and the socially excluded painter, whose only company is a bucket of paint-hardened brushes and a giant, mouldering canvas. It reminds me why I gave up painting. Polish artist Agnieszka Kurant's work in Norwich is almost invisible. Her piece, Future Anterior, is just a couple of bleached newspaper pages presented under glass on an outside wall. Passers-by might easily miss the bad news: the Amazon rainforest has shrunk to almost nothing, Central America braces itself for an attack of ravaging moths, Los Angeles has been hit by an earthquake. On a positive note, scientists announce that the dark matter anti-gravity question has now been nailed. I stand outside in the Norwich drizzle, gasping. These are headlines on the New York Times, dated 29 September 2020. Even the words are on the verge of disappearance. But there is more to Future Anterior than make-believe journalism: to make the work, Kurant asked a clairvoyant to provide forecasts of the future, an alarming number of which have come true. She then approached a number of New York Times journalists to write the stories up, and had the pages printed using a heat-sensitive ink that only appears at a certain range of temperatures. "The print is as fragile as information distorted by rumour," she has explained, as if art and the world weren't already complicated enough. In the end, all of these scenarios are entirely plausible, and all the best art here is grounded in reality. Grace Schwindt's films are largely based on her family's recollections of Berlin during the second world war. The accounts are touching, miserable and horrifying. There is an undeniable seriousness and sensitivity to Schwindt's work. Licking Dogs, meanwhile, is a film of the British artist Angela Bartram snogging four dogs. "No dog was harmed in the making of Licking Dogs," Bartram's website informs us, "and none were forced to take part." The German shepherd is very keen, and the St Bernard slobbers away dutifully in some very wet face-on-face contact. Another mutt just won't play; the dog looks at Bartram and Bartram looks at the dog. This is the best moment in the whole farrago. None of this ever looked like it was going to go anywhere, except into the realms of the over-intellectual. There is a difference between the real and the really annoying. East International is at the Norwich University College of the Arts until 22 August.

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East International plays fast and loose with the truth

A woman kissing a dog, a deserted car plant, a blow-out in a basement – this show is not quite what it seems

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* Imposes 20 pct duty safeguards duty with immediate effect * Tax to be in place for 200 days * Reports of duty push up shares of Indian steel companies (Adds finance minister's comments and tweaks lead) NEW DELHI, Sept 14 (Reuters) - India imposed a 20 percent import tax on some steel products with immediate effect on Monday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, as the government investigates a threat to domestic companies from rising imports from China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. "Notification is being issued imposing a provisional safeguard duty effective from today on hot-rolled flat products of non-alloy and other alloy steel in coils of a width of 600 mm or more at the rate of 20 per cent ad-valorem for a period of 200 days," the finance ministry said in a statement. The products subject to the new tax together accounted for more than half of the 5.5 million tonnes of steel imported in the last fiscal year into India, the only major market that is expanding at a time when top consumer and exporter China is slowing. Indian steel companies, struggling to compete due to higher borrowing and raw material costs, have in recent months successfully lobbied to get duties on some products raised to 12.5 percent and quality checks strengthened. But those duties did not apply to Japan and South Korea, countries with which India has free-trade agreements, prompting the companies to seek a safeguard duty that applies to all. An Indian steel company executive, who declined to be named, said the so-called safeguard duty would not completely halt imports of the products but would prevent foreign suppliers from "predatory pricing" when local production is rising. Acting on a complaint lodged jointly by Steel Authority of India (SAIL), JSW Steel and Essar Steel , the Directorate General of Safeguards said last week any delay in implementing the duty would cause such damage to the local industry that it would be "difficult to repair". (http://bit.ly/1Oa7c7e) The government accepted its recommendation and reports of the duty pushed up shares of SAIL, JSW, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and Power and Bhushan Steel by between 1.2 and 3.8 percent on Monday. Imports were equivalent to 5 percent of India's total production of the under-investigation steel products in the year to end-March 31, 2014. But they have increased since then and are on course to equal 13 percent of India's output this fiscal year, or 3.4 million tonnes, according to the companies that sought the duty. (Reporting by Krishna N. Das, Additional reporting by Manoj Kumar; Editing by Anand Basu and Susan Fenton)

http://web.archive.org/web/20151013025837id_/http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/14/reuters-america-update-2-india-imposes-20-pct-duty-on-some-foreign-steel-products-as-imports-surge.html

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UPDATE 2-India imposes 20 pct duty on some foreign steel products as imports surge

NEW DELHI, Sept 14- India imposed a 20 percent import tax on some steel products with immediate effect on Monday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, as the government investigates a threat to domestic companies from rising imports from China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. The products subject to the new tax together accounted for more than half of the 5.5 million...

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CNBC has learned that in several executive branch departments, high-level staff members review individual decisions about what government activities to allow for fear of running afoul of the Antideficiency Act. One White House official said he has advised his employees not to check their email or cellphones. Under the act, even volunteering for government service is expressly prohibited. In a memo to his department employees today, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew cited the law as the reason for reduced staffing. "For the duration of this impasse, as required by the Antideficiency Act and directed by OMB, the Department will be required to operate with only the minimal staffing level necessary to execute only certain legally exempted activities," Lew wrote. The only exemptions to the shutdown concern "emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property," according to government documents. That has meant airports and the Postal Service are open, Social Security checks get paid and federal prisons and courts will operate as normal as do most national security functions including the military and the Central Intelligence Agency. But national parks and museums are closed along with big parts of the departments of Education and Commerce Congress passed the law as part of a struggle—dating back to the nation's founding—for control over the power of the purse. Some presidents, such as Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, would incur obligations for which Congress had to appropriate funds after the fact. What is ironic is that Congress in shutting down the government has to at least to some extent given up the power of the purse to the executive branch. Under the broad guidelines of what constitutes an emergency or threat to life or property, OMB now more or less decides what gets funded and what doesn't. But that latitude is limited by the fear of officials that, sometime after the event, a given decision is found to have been in violation of the Antideficiency Act. —By CNBC's Steve Liesman. Follow him on Twitter: @steveliesman

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143-year-old law puts fear in officials during shutdown

A 19th-century law could get administration officials fired, or even imprisoned if they make the wrong the choices while the government is shut down.

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The federal government will make significant changes to beef up a rating system for cars that has for years awarded high marks to almost all vehicles, even those that have been subjects of multiple safety recalls. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Tuesday its five-star rating system would be revised to include additional crash tests and new advanced crash-test dummies with more sensors. The agency also said it would make sure the rating system took into account new crash-avoidance technologies and pedestrian protections that have become more prevalent in vehicles in recent years. The rating system, whose origins date to 1978, allows the agency to award up to five stars to vehicles based on crash protection and rollover safety. They can serve as a powerful government seal of approval for automakers, which have used the ratings in their advertising. The system came under fire last year after a New York Times investigation revealed that nearly all vehicles in recent years had been awarded four or five stars. The investigation found that, for models from 2011 to the present, 92 percent of the overall safety ratings were four or five stars. In the case of Chevrolet, six of the eight cars it had trumpeted as having five stars in early 2014, would later be recalled for various safety issues, some more than once. Lawmakers blasted the agency over the rating program at a hearing held by a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. “You see five stars. You think that is the Good Housekeeping seal of approval,” Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat. “The consumer is misled.”

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US regulator to bolster its safety rating system for cars

The system has for years awarded high marks to almost all vehicles, even those that have been subjects of multiple safety recalls.

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US Senator Marco Rubio, emerging from the first presidential nominating contest in Iowa as the leading Republican mainstream contender, is portraying himself in New Hampshire as the party's best hope to recapture the White House. But Rubio, 44, a US senator from Florida, faces a strong field of establishment rivals in next week's New Hampshire primary after his stronger-than-expected third-place finish in Iowa behind front-runners Ted Cruz, 45, and Donald Trump, 69. "If I am the nominee, we are going to beat Hillary Clinton and it won't be by the flip of a coin," Rubio told supporters in Exeter, New Hampshire, taking a jab at the close Democratic race in Iowa between Clinton and challenger Bernie Sanders, where some precincts were decided on a coin flip. Other more mainstream Republicans including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Ohio Governor John Kasich and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, are expected to do better in New Hampshire than in Iowa and vie with Rubio to become the establishment favourite. Cruz and Trump also headed to New Hampshire as the presidential race shifted to the second nominating contest in the state-by-state battle to pick nominees for the November 8 election to replace Democratic President Barack Obama. Trump told a news conference before a rally in Milford, New Hampshire, that he felt "a tinge" of disappointment at losing to Cruz in Iowa.. The billionaire businessman also picked up an endorsement from former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown. Cruz told New Hampshire supporters he was like former Republican President Ronald Reagan, urging the state to help ensure his nomination by giving him a win in the February 9 primary. "Every day from now until Election Day here in New Hampshire, I'm going to continue asking for the men and women of New Hampshire to make that same fateful decision yet again so that we can reignite the promise of America," Cruz said. Cruz, a conservative US senator from Texas, beat Trump in Iowa's Republican caucuses with the help of the state's large bloc of evangelical Christians, but he might struggle to finish on top in New Hampshire, where Republican voters have a more secular and libertarian streak. Cruz apologised to rival Ben Carson over an email his campaign sent on Monday night implying Carson was dropping out of the race and his Iowa backers should switch to Cruz. "This was a mistake from our end, and for that I apologise to Dr Carson," Cruz wrote. The campaign for Carson, who finished fourth in Iowa, said the retired neurosurgeon had accepted Cruz's apology but that the incident was the sort of "dirty trick" politics that Carson was trying to fight. The Democratic presidential contenders, Clinton and Sanders, also headed to New Hampshire after their close duel in Iowa, where the former secretary of state narrowly edged out the insurgent US senator from Vermont. Vermont borders New Hampshire, and that proximity may give Sanders an advantage in next Tuesday's primary. Clinton's razor-thin margin was the smallest in Iowa Democratic caucus history. Hillary Clinton with her husband Bill and daughter Chelsea. (AAP)

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Rubio says he's the best White House hope

Hillary Clinton claimed the first victory in the Democratic presidential race with the narrowest of victories over Bernie Sanders in the Iowa caucus.

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A director who allegedly tipped off an accused insider trading kingpin knew full well that the tips breached his duty to investors, Lloyd Blankfein said. Blankfein, the Goldman Sachs GS CEO, testified for the prosecution Wednesday morning in the government’s case against trader Raj Rajaratnam. The U.S. attorney is trying to put the founder of the Galleon hedge fund behind bars for 20 years, saying he made off with $45 million via illegal insider trades on stocks including Goldman and Procter & Gamble pg . Fortune’s Katie Benner is at the trial in Lower Manhattan. Here is her dispatch: Blankfein said Rajat Gupta, the former Goldman board member accused of passing along $17 million worth of trading tips to Rajaratnam, knew he owed Goldman shareholders a fiduciary duty to keep a lid on developments in Goldman board meetings – but breathlessly called Rajaratnam on repeated occasions to fill him in anyway. The testimony is important because the judge in the case, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Holwell, has ruled that prosecutors must show Rajaratnam’s alleged tippers not only fed him confidential information, but knew that doing so was illegal. The Securities and Exchange Commission claimed in a civil complaint filed against Gupta this month that Gupta repeatedly called Rajaratnam just after getting off the phone from several Goldman board meetings during the financial crisis. Gupta has denied wrongdoing and then some. The most celebrated instance relates to a Sept. 23, 2008, board meeting at which the Goldman board approved a $5 billion infusion from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway brk.a . Blankfein testified he and Gupta were on that call. The SEC says that three minutes after that call ended, Gupta called Rajaratnam – whose funds promptly bought 175,000 Goldman shares. Gupta and Rajatnam knew the development would be good for Goldman shares — as would a decision to raise money by selling stock to the public, Blankfein said. The testimony by Blankfein, the highly compensated chief of one of the world’s most controversial banks, has been eagerly awaited since his probable appearance at the biggest insider trading trial in a generation was announced earlier this month. Blankfein may have won over some skeptical jurors with his straightforward, easy-to-follow explanation of what Goldman does and what the firm expects of its directors. He may even have prompted a smile or two with his sheepish reading of the press release announcing the Berkshire deal, which among other things obliged him to repeat the line, “said Lloyd C. Blankfein, chairman and CEO of the Goldman Sachs Group Inc.” But Blankfein didn’t let his guard down, continuing to insist in the face of all available evidence that Goldman was never at risk of failure. “No matter how safe we were, it makes us that much safer,” he said of the twin capital raises. Follow me on Twitter @ColinCBarr.

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Goldman’s Blankfein takes the stand

A director who allegedly tipped off an accused insider trading kingpin knew full well that the tips breached his duty to investors, Lloyd Blankfein said. Blankfein, the Goldman Sachs CEO, testified for the prosecution Wednesday morning in the government’s case against trader Raj Rajaratnam. The U.S. attorney is trying to put the founder of the Galleon hedge fund behind…

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A yankee in China: There's money in Beijing's filthy air A Rust Belt victim transforms himself into a successful China hand Seeking a fortune in China? Here's how to parse triumph from debacle More fundamentally, Mattel seems to have misread the market. Instead of focusing on children's dolls, Mattel assumed that Chinese consumers would want a whole range of pricey Barbie-themed clothing, foods, and goods. But, as author and business consultant Helen Wang points out, "Since Barbie is not a cultural icon in China as she is in America, Chinese consumers couldn't care less about Barbie-branded products." By the time Mattel realized its mistake, the store was bleeding money. In 2011, the House of Barbie closed. (Read more: China home prices rise for eighth straight month) If there's a lesson, it's this: Before you go in big in China, do your homework. Companies need to be flexible, adaptable, and responsive to Chinese tastes. That means experimenting before dropping $30 million on a mega-store. Spend any time in China, and you quickly learn the power of "guanxi," or social connections. Guanxi drives business deals and government contracts. It's the invisible glue that ties people together. It's the sense of connection and mutual obligation that Chinese society prizes in personal relationships. This may seem like a trivial detail for a powerful corporation. It's not. Take the case of eBay. In 2004, the San Jose online auctioning giant decided to enter the Chinese market. EBay bought a local company, Eachnet, switched it to the eBay platform, and expected to sweep China in short order. After all, they had dominated other countries' markets. Why not China's? Two years later, they shut down their portal, abandoning the Chinese auction market. A local competitor, Taobao, went on to take over 95 percent of the local market share. The problem was that eBay had no mechanism for simulating guanxi. According to a study conducted by researchers in the United States and Hong Kong, this was a crucial error. While Taobao allowed buyers and sellers to chat over instant-messaging, giving them a chance to establish a personal connection, eBay did not. (Read more: China HSBC PMI shows economic recovery intact) "Those buyers really want to get to know the sellers," Paul A. Pavlou, a professor at Temple University's Fox School of Business, told Pacific Standard. In China, business is not just business. It's social. Today, eBay says it has learned from its experience. The company has refocused away from the domestic market, toward helping Chinese sellers market directly to consumers abroad. "It's frustrating that people say we failed in China," says Daniel Feiler, a spokesman for eBay. "From our perspective, we now have a very successful, large, and continuing-to-grow export business." Google: Running afoul of the government Google's Chinese defeat is one of the most dramatic, and the most complex. The context is well known. In 2010 Google announced that it had been hacked, and would no longer be censoring at the government's behest. It moved its servers to Hong Kong. Its market share dipped from 30 percent to 3 percent in 2013. What happened? While poor decisions in Mountain View certainly played a part, politics was what killed Google. From the very beginning of its China venture, Google was hamstrung. Launched in 2006, Google.cn was a bare-bones search engine, with no Gmail, blog software, or YouTube; the company refused to keep its servers in China, for fear of having to turn over user data. (Read more: China is right to tame credit growth: Moody's) In 2008, Beijing demanded that Google more thoroughly censor its auto-fill search suggestions. In 2009, Google detected a breach of its servers that the company traced to China. The attackers not only stole corporate secrets, but also rifled through the personal accounts of dissidents and activists related to China and Tibet. By 2010, Google's chiefs had had enough. They decided that they would no longer comply with Beijing's demands. The lesson from Google's China fiasco is hard, but important. In the end, foreign companies who want to thrive in China have to abide by the rules of a repressive, autocratic government. That means either compromising with policies you may find unsavory — as Google did, at first — or getting out. "China is a tough, large market with fierce competitors," Kaifu Lee, Google's former China head, recently wrote. "To have a chance in China, the American company must empower the local team to be responsive, autonomous, localized, and ready for combat."

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Why big American businesses fail in China

Since China opened up to foreign investment, some of America's most powerful corporations have gone in confidently, only to stagger out defeated. The Global Post reports.

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Jessica Donati in Kabul and Ghousuddin Frotan in Kandahar, Afghanistan Afghan forces regained control of Kandahar’s airport on Wednesday, officials said, almost 24 hours after Taliban suicide bombers stormed the sprawling base in an attack that killed at least 37 civilians. Kandahar, the country’s second-largest city, has played a key role in the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan and remains home to thousands of troops and contractors from the international coalition that maintains a presence... Afghan forces regained control of Kandahar’s airport on Wednesday, officials said, almost 24 hours after Taliban suicide bombers stormed the sprawling base in an attack that killed at least 37 civilians. Kandahar, the country’s second-largest city, has played a key role in the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan and remains home to thousands of troops and contractors from the international coalition that maintains a presence there. Taliban fighters dressed in military uniforms stormed the airport early on Tuesday evening from two directions, security officials said, taking over a number of buildings and firing rockets at the runway. It took Afghan forces a day to clear the insurgents from the airport because of a need to protect civilians trapped by fighting, said Maj. Gen. Daud Shah Wafadar, commander of Afghan army corps headquartered in Kandahar. At least nine soldiers were killed and 20 wounded in the attack, he said. A doctor at Kandahar’s military hospital said two women and four children were among those killed. The Taliban on Tuesday published photos online of combatants it said were involved in the airport assault. One image showed 10 young men with short beards, armed with Kalashnikovs and dressed in smart, identical military uniforms. A U.S. military spokesman for the coalition said there had been no foreign casualties and that Afghan forces had handled most of the fighting. The airfield was home to 26,000 coalition forces five years ago, during the height of the U.S. military surge. That number has dropped to around 2,000 coalition troops and 5,000 defense contractors, according to figures provided by the U.S. military. The attack comes as Afghan and Pakistani officials meet at this week’s Heart of Asia conference in Islamabad, where reviving peace talks with the Taliban is expected to be a key topic of discussion. The Afghan government has long accused Pakistan of sheltering the militants and the meetings taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday are seen as a step toward mending strained ties between the two countries. Write to Jessica Donati at jessica.donati@wsj.com

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Afghan Forces Regain Control of Kandahar Airport From Taliban

Afghan forces regained control of Kandahar’s airport after Taliban suicide bombers had stormed the sprawling base in an attack that killed at least 37 civilians.

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Before you go, we thought you'd like these... 2016 Golden Globe Awards red carpet arrivals Jennifer Lawrence was an absolute knockout in a red Dior dress with sleek cutouts along the waist. She topped off her classic and glamorous look with a diamond choker, red lips and swept back locks. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) They might be the hottest red carpet couple ever! Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan Tatum looked incredible in their fancy ensembles -- with Channing in a classic tux and Jenna in a midnight blue dress with starry detailing. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) Sexy mama! Kate Hudson snapped up the opportunity to show off her flawless physique in a nude, sparkling two-piece ensemble. She added a touch of extra sexiness with a nude choker and tousled locks. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images) Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis were near picture-perfect on the red carpet, but we could have done without Sudeikis' eyesore sneakers. Wilde absolutely stunned in an oxblood sequin gown with a plunging neckline and eye-catching necklace. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) First-time Golden Globe nominee Lady Gaga didn't mess around for her first turn on the Globe red carpet and looked stunning in a black, velvet gown from Versace. Her look screamed old Hollywood glamour. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) "The Martian" actor Matt Damon kept it simple in a black tuxedo, which really left the spotlight wide open for his stunning wife, Lucy. She dazzled in a lavender, one-shoulder frock with diamond accents. Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Talk about a jaw-dropper! Rosie Huntington-Whiteley nearly stole the entire fashion show when she hit the red carpet in this stunning gold dress with a cinched waist and sparkling details. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Taraji P. Henson didn't disappoint in a strapless white dress with a dramatic cape. Alicia Vikander is easily one of the stars of this year's award season and she cemented her status as someone to watch ont in the fashion department in a classic white, Louis Vuitton dress. She continued her ethereal look with a braided updo and light lips. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Jaimie Alexander stunned in a plunging, emerald and black gown with geometric details. An edgy updo and emerald earrings completed her flawless look. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Leonardo DiCaprio continued to show he's a man of timeless taste in this elegant suit. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images) Jennifer Lopez was on-trend this award season with a bright yellow gown with draping that showcased her killer curves and featured a thigh-high slit and cape. She finished off her old Hollywood glamour look with a deep burgundy lip color and a blingy necklace. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) Queen of the sparkles! Kate Bosworth looked sexy and sparkling in a rose-colored dress with full sequins and a silver design. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Katy Perry went the 1960s mod route with sky-high locks and a bubblegum pink dress that fit her like a glove. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images) Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith were right on-trend with the jewel toned theme of the evening, with Jada looking absolutely gorgeous in a bright green gown and Will in a classic tux. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Kate Winslet was spot-on in her classic blue dress with a tie neckline. The Ralph Lauren dress was simple, understated and pretty. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) "Trainwreck" star Amy Schumer was anything but a trainwreck in a black and white dress with a billowing train. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage) "The Danish Girl" star Eddie Redmayne revealed he almost missed the red carpet after his flight ran behind -- but he got their just in time to wow us with his Gucci suit. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Hunky! Orlando Bloom rocked a classic tux and the no muss, no fuss look was a hit. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) "Empire" star Terrence Howard reminded us how cool he is with his shades and tuxedo, while his lady Mira Pak looked soft and sweet in a nude gown with floral appliques. (Photo credit should read VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images) Sweethearts! Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart made their rare red carpet debut at the Golden Globes and -- no surprise -- looked amazing. The "Star Wars" hunk looked slick in a tuxedo while his ladylove stunned in a turquoise silk dress. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images) "Orange Is the New Black" star Taylor Schilling gave us a sexy surprise with her black, sparkling tuxedo jacket and pants. It was a sexy and sophisticated look for her, indeed! (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Amy Adams showed off her colorful side in a tangerine gown with sparkling detail on the mid-section. The fruity-colored frock was gorgeously complemented her pretty locks. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Everything came up roses for Rachel McAdams, who stunned in floral dress with a strapless sweetheart neckline. She finished off the phenomenal gown with red lips. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage) Amber Heard went for a whimsical and sweet look with a cotton-candy colored gown from Gucci. The sienna and nude silk tulle multi-layered gown featuring silk flowers featured an open back and dramatic train. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images) Malin Akerman showed off her flair for the fun side in a periwinkle lace Vivienne Westwood gown with peplum detailing. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage) "Grinder" str Rob Low and his lovely wife and Sheryl Berkoff were looking good at the Globes. How do you like their gray and black ensembles? (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) Kirsten Dunst and her main squeeze Garrett Hedlund were the essence of cool in classic black ensembles. Dunst went for the plunge with her Valentino gown and Hedlund kept it slick in his tux (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) Emilia Clark went for an offbeat look in a black gown with sheer draping, cape-like shoulders and buttons down the bodice. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) Awards season darling Brie Larson shimmered in a gold sequined halter dress with ab-exposing cutouts. (Photo credit should read VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images) If looks could kill ... Kirsten Dunst was a showstopper in a flawless black gown with a plunging neckline and sexy, strappy accents. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Heidi Klum had a bit of fun in a shimmery, beaded fringe gown with a waist-accentuating black belt. (Photo by Alberto Rodriguez/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Actor Damian Lewis looked fapper and chic in a form-fitting tux. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Sophia Bush was near-perfect in a simple black gown with a plunging neckline. A fun box clutch, garnet cocktail ring and diamond necklace added a touch of glam to her sleek look. Actress Rachel Bloom rocked one of the night's hottest colors in a fab off-the-shoulder gown. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Natalie Dormer looked straight off the set of "Game of Thrones" in a red gown with draped shoulders and a black choker detail. (Photo credit should read VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images) Maggie Gyllenhaal went the avant garde look with a golde and black dress with a flower pattern. She punched up the classic colors with a red lip color. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) Julia Louis-Dreyfus kept it simple this year in a black, lace, strapless dress. (Photo credit:Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) Patrick Stewart and his wife, Sunny Ozell, went the classic route with all black ensembles. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage) Felicity Huffman threw us for a loop with her new dark 'do, but she was a knockout with the vampy new style. The "American Crime" star showed off her incredible physique in a burgundy Sarbu gown with fire-like details along the top. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) America Ferrera had us chirping with praise with this canary-colored Jenny Packham gown complete with jewel-details along the bodice. She polished off the bright dress with bright red lips and a slicked back hairdo.(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Former Golden Globe nominee David Oyelowo packed a serious punch of color with his plum-colored tuxedo with a tight checkered pattern. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Golden Globe nominee Christian Bale escorted his gorgeous wife, Sibi Blazic, to the award show. Sibi nearly outshined her man in a black dress with gold details. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images) We adore the two-toned Elizabeth Kennedy dress that Maura Tierney donned. She polished off the aquamarine and black dress with a simple choker, minimalist makeup and gold bangles. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Greek goddess! "Brooklyn" star and Saoirse Ronan looked lovely and whimsical in a white Grecian-inspired dress with delicate draping and a long, column train. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) Viola Davis was sparkling in a midnight blue Marchesa dress with starry-like detailing. The "How to Get Away With Murder" actress was absolutely beaming on the red carpet and completed her look with bright lips and a matching clutch. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Soon-to-be newlyweds Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney totally gave us the Bogie and Bacall vibes with their classic old Hollywood looks. Gaga donned Versace and her man went for a classic tuxedo. (Photo credit should read VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images) Cate Blanchett went for a surprising look in a Givenchy dress that combined tassels, sparkles and an ombre pink fade. WHat do you think of the look? (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images) Bryce Dallas Howard donned a navy lace gown with a three-quarter sleeve and plunging neckline. A simple sleek 'do completed her look. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Golden Globe-nominated singer Sam Smith went for a classic tuxedo and bow tie -- the perfect look for his Golden Globe debut. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage) Actress Jane Wu turned heads in a silver metallic gown with geometric detailing. A sleek, middle-parted updo completed her futuristic ensemble. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images) Gussied up! "Stiches" singer Charlie Puth looked handsome in a navy tuxedo and black bowtie. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage) "Cinderella" star Lily James showed off her soft and sultry side in a white gown with draping along the back. She added a little oomph with tousled locks and smoky eyes. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage) 'Empire" hottie Bryshere Y. Gray was all kinds of cute in a classic black tux and super cool shoes. The actor was all smiles at the award show. (Photo credit should read VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images) "Outlander" producer Maril Davis rocked an LBD with sheer inserts, black peep-toe pumps and tousled locks. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) "Penny Dreadful" star Eva Green looked absolutely stunning in a gold dress with sparkling details from Elie Saab. The dress, which had a vintage vibe, worked perfectly with her light skin tone and bright red lips. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Navy hottie! Gerard Butler looked sleek in a blue tuxedo. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) Alan Cumming looked dapper in a navy jacket with black lapels, chic glasses and fun black and gold sneakers. Ricky Gervais set the tone for the night by rocking mirrored sunnies on the red carpet. Nancy O'Dell looked fabulous in a coral, one-shouldered gown with a sexy, hip-high slit and a sleek 'do. Natalie Morales opted for a breezy, purple spaghetti-strap gown. Simple, pinned-bac curls, drop earrings and a metallic clutch completed her look. "Today" hosts Al Roker and Matt Lauer donned their best suits for the big night. What a handsome duo! (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) White hot! Laverne Cox was absolutely stunning a white dress with a long train and Lorraine Schwartz jewels. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) "Transparent" star Jeffrey Tambor looked slick in a black suit next to his striking wife, Kasia Ostlun who rocked a red dress with modern cutouts. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images) Judith Light wowed in a chic white organza tux, crisp shirt and layered locks. Silver pumps and glam makeup completed her sophisticated look. Sparkles are everything! "American Crime" actress Regina King shimmered on the red carpet with a Krikor Jabotian gown with silver and gold sparkles and a white train. She polished off the look with a set of chandelier earrings and a light pink lip color. Photo credit should read VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images) Paul Feig switched it up in a groovy, blue-and-purple jacket. "Mr. Robot" actress Carly Chaikin opted for an edgy, sequined halter dress with a green and black organic print. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) "Jane the Virgin" actress and nominee Gina Rodriguez wowed in a navy satin ballroom gown with a gorgeous off-the-shoulder neckline. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Bernadette Peters rocked a scarlet strapless dress with floral embroidery and a matching bracelet. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Actor Ken Jeong and Tran Jeong looked perfectly coordinated in their black and white best. The "Dr. Ken" star rocked a crisp tux, and his wife wowed in a black and white gown and floral appliques. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis donned a simple navy gown with bell sleeves and dramatic train. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Maria Menounos opted for a simple, form-fitting white gown and a unique, braided haristyle. A box clutch and drop earrings added a touch of sparkle to the easy look. She's shamelessly gorgeous! "Shameless" actress Emmy Rossum went for a classic red Armani Prive dress paired with a deep, red lip color. The touch of razzle dazzle around her neck completed the glam look. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Actor Richard Cabral rocked a double-breasted jacket with smoking loafers ... Classy! (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) "Downton Abbey" actress Joanne Froggatt was pretty as a picture in a flowing blue gown with a plunging neckline. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images) Actress Saffron Burrows kept it simple in a black tan fress. Actress Sarah Hay donned a sheer gray gown that complemented her red locks perfectly. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Chris Tucker and Cynne Simpson were on-point with their classic black-tie ensembles. (Photo credit should read VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images) "Supergirl" Melissa Benoist her husband, actor Blake Jenner were very adorable in one of their first major red carpets since tying the knot. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Michael Shannon kept his look contemporary and cool in a navy suit and skinny tie. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage) Miss Golden Globes 2016 Corinne Foxx stunned in an ethereal off-white gown with sheer bell sleeves. (Photo credit should read VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images) Actress Amy Landecker kept it casual in a simple striped tank dress and platform sandals. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images) Keltie Knight was ultra-glam in a striking emerald gown with a sweetheart neckline and flattering ruching. Screenwriter Phyllis Nagy donned a classic black and white ensemble, complete with a dressy black topcoat. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Actor Tobias Menzies donned a chic satin suit in all black. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Patrick Wilson and his wife, Dagmara Dominczyk, looked sparkly and glam in midnight blue and black ensembles. (Photo credit should read VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images) Tiziana Rocca rocked a black dress with ruffled and sparkling details. Wow! Jane Fonda showed off her fun and funky side with a white gown with a ruffled top. The cloud-like top showed off her incredibly slim physique underneath. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Actress Uzo Aduba was one of many stars to try out the cape trend. The "Orange is the New Black" star opted for a black sequin iteration of the look. John Krasinski smoldered in a slim-fit tux and fresh facial hair. Aziz Ansari went for a classic black tux with a little twist .... we spy that cool striped pattern. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage) Michelle Schumacher, left, and J. K. Simmons looked classic in a black and red combination. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) Giuliana Rancic rocked an orange gown with sexy cutouts and dramatic floor-length sleeves with a swipe of pink lipstick. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Can these two do any wrong? Steve Carell and his wife, actress Nancy Carell, had us in awe with their elegant ensembles. Nancy's black ballgown screamed sexy yet sleek while Steve was all kinds of handsome. (Photo by Alberto Rodriguez/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Welcome to award season, 2016! The Golden Globes kicked off on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016 and the fashion was absolutely stunning with leading ladies pulling out their most glamorous looks for the occasion. Jewel tones dominated the red carpet this year with gals rocking bright red, orange, emerald green, and deep azure blue gowns. "Shameless" star Emmy Rossum dazzled in a red dress with a column-like silhouette while "Blindspot" star Jaimie Alexander packed a gorgeous punch in an emerald green and black ball gown. "Jurassic Park" star Bryce Dallas Howard also went for a bold color in a midnight blue, sequined gown with peacock-like detailing. "Jane the Virgin" star Gina Rodriguez was a stunner in a navy classic ballgown from Zac Posen. For the gents, it was all about the tuxes! The two actors behind Netflix's hit "Narcos" Pedro Pascal and Boyd Holbrook got all gussied up for their big evening in classic black and navy tuxes and bow-ties. "Stitches" singer Charlie Puth was perhaps one of the most handsome men on the red carpet with a tuxedo and an oversized bowtie. And of course, there were a couple ringers like Alan Cumming who opted for offbeat ensembles like his bright blue dinner jacket. Check out all the red carpet fashions above!

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2016 Golden Globe Awards red carpet arrivals

Jewel tone dresses and classic tuxes dominated the red carpet at the gateway to the 2016 award season on Sunday.

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Former President Bill Clinton admitted yesterday that he and Hillary do not always agree politically. Speaking at the liberals-packed memorial service for Arthur Schlesinger Jr. at Cooper Union, Clinton recalled the great historian's controversial book opposing multi-culturalism. "Hillary and I had one heck of a fight about that," said the Democrat. "If she were not running for office, I would tell you which side she took." Clinton, like Sen. Ted Kennedy, Norman Mailer, Henry Kissinger, Ted Sorensen and others, spoke from the wrought-iron podium on which Abraham Lincoln launched his presidential bid with an anti-slavery speech in 1860. Clinton recalled Schlesinger's attempt to get him to write a bio of the rail-splitter. "But I have to write my memoir," Clinton told him, to which Schlesinger replied, "Yes, but Lincoln's is a better story, and shorter." Schlesinger, who died Feb. 28, served as an aide to President John F. Kennedy. But Ted Kennedy - who wore a bow tie in homage to the Harvard professor, like many of the other men at the memorial - said Schlesinger gave him a big boost in his first Senate campaign. "There was a Harvard Law professor who spoke out against me across the state," Ted said. "Arthur and I then went to meet a group of academics, and the professor said I had no qualifications at all, except ambition. And Arthur said [to him], 'Relax. Ted's a candidate for U.S. Senate, not the faculty of Harvard Law School." Mailer said that he and Schlesinger, having married "beauties considerably taller than ourselves, formed a jockeys' club of two." Carl Bernstein and his wife exchanged secret smiles during Kissinger's speech. Could he have been recalling Kissinger's embarrassment over Watergate, or reveling in the announcement yesterday that his June bio of Hillary, "A Woman in Charge," will have a 350,000 run? Guests from Ethel Kennedy to Anna Wintour were also smiling after speeches by some of Schlesinger's six children, along with stepson Peter Allan, who recalled the day he thought he was about to be punished when his headmaster sent Schlesinger a letter about Allan's bad behavior. Liberal personally as well as politically, Schlesinger told the boy that the letter was full of "pompous, overblown rhetoric and grammatical errors ... and then he just told me to stop misbehaving." Martha's guy travels in lofty circles, yet still down to Earth Martha Stewart is happy that her billionaire boyfriend, Charles Simonyi, has returned to Earth. "He called me today," the contessa of the Cuisanart reported on Sunday, a day after Simonyi, 58, had touched down in Russia after visiting the International Space Station. "He lost 8 pounds in 12 days," Stewart told a crowd that showed up at the 92nd St. Y to hear her thoughts on "Life After 50." "He still felt kind of woozy." Stewart wasn't exactly lonely while Simonyi was drifting in space. She showed everyone a photo of a cute Russian guy who "gave me a dinner in St. Petersburg at a palace." But the 65-year-old Stewart swears she's no "cougar." Her new Russian friend is "very nice," but "too young." Any man hoping to please her better like cats. After her divorce, one would-be suitor "sat down in a wing chair in my parlor and, all of sudden, there were six cats sitting all over him. … He said, ‘I hate cats.' … I didn't see him again." Stewart showed pictures of her cats, canaries, horses - and her gynecologist. She also had pics of her assorted properties. "I collect houses like other people collect paintings," she said. "I finally did sell my [Turkey Hill estate in Westport, Conn.] last week. I was very depressed after I signed the contracts and had to go home and go to sleep." But, if she got anywhere near her $4.5 million asking price, it beats bunking in a prison cell. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and some "really tall guys" hit Teddy's in L.A. on Friday night, says our spy, who admits being distracted by Michelle Rodriguez and "her crew of five biker chicks wrestling in the street outside. She was charging her girlfriends and picking them up and twirling them in the air." Vroom. Scarlett Johansson and Bjork made a night of it after their "Saturday Night Live" gig. After the official wrap party at McCormick and Schmick's, they headed to Azza on W. 55th St., tailed by paparazzi who hurled the B-word at Scarlett for not posing. Bjork, Andy Samberg, Seth Meyers and Kenan Thompson ended up at The Plumm around 4 a.m., with Johansson bailing - despite text- message entreaties from New England Patriot Donte' Stallworth. Mike Wallace came to Sunday's Broadway opening of "Frost/Nixon." But he took exception with the scene where Nixon's agent Swifty Lazar tries to squeeze more money out of David Frost for an interview with the Tricky One by claiming Wallace had offered him $450,000. "It's all bull—!" the "60 Minutes" legend told us - vouching that CBS didn't offer a cent. Lazar eventually got Frost up to $600,000. Michael Sheen, who plays Frost, said the British inquisitionist is "a much better interviewer than we portray him in the play." The real Frost called the play "brilliant." Sniff. Keith Richards' 91-year-old mum died on Saturday in Britain. The Stones' ax-man, who spent much of last week by the bedside of Doris Richards, can brace himself for new punch lines after his remark that he'd snorted the ashes of his late father, Bert. He later claimed he was joking. Let's hope … "Girls Gone Wild" flesh peddler Joe Francis wiped away tears yesterday as he pleaded guilty to contempt of court in Panama City, Fla. Francis, who is being sued by seven women who were minors when filmed, said he was sorry for calling U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak a "judge gone wild." Francis can dry his eyes during his 35 days in jail. Jennifer Lopez can't resist the rubles a Russian baby-mogul is offering her to sing at his wife's 30th birthday, according to Britain's Daily Mail. Andrei Melnichenko, a 35-year-old billionaire, is said to be paying J.Lo about $2 million for a 40-minute set at the party - $50,000 a minute. Gisele Bundchen has put her gated Hollywood home on the market for $4 million, the L.A. Times reports. Word is the Brazilian stunner wants to spend more time in New York, where her Patriot boyfriend, Tom Brady, lives.

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Bill: I'm not wedded to all of Hil's opinions

Rush & Molloy: Speaking at Arthur Schlesinger Jr.'s memorial, former President Bill Clinton recalled the historian's book opposing multi-culturalism: "Hillary and I had one heck of a fight about that."

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A shell company that does nothing but file patent lawsuits will have to summon its lawyers once again after Apple persuaded a federal judge on Tuesday to toss an eye-popping $533 million jury verdict over online media storage. The case involves Smartflash LLC, whose owner briefly sold a failed digital media player in the 1990s, but is now pursuing major tech companies for patent infringement. It claims that iTunes infringes on the storage system described in its patents, and that Apple should also pay based on the millions of iPhones, iPads and iPods the company has sold. After the jury issued the $533 million verdict in February, Apple AAPL slammed Smartflash in a sharply worded statement: “Smartflash makes no products, has no employees, creates no jobs, has no US presence, and is exploiting our patent system to seek royalties for technology Apple invented. We refused to pay off this company for the ideas our employees spent years innovating and unfortunately we have been left with no choice but to take this fight up through the court system,” the company told Fortune at the time. The decision on Tuesday is a victory for Apple, but only a partial one. In a technical ruling, U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap explains that the instructions given to the jury were flawed because they did not clearly explain whether damages should be awarded based on the total value of an Apple product or just part of it. Gilstrap thus vacated the $533 million award, and sent the matter back down for a new damages trial. This means that Apple is not off the hook for the infringement finding, but could end up paying substantially less, or possibly nothing at all. The ruling is also problematic for the rest of the tech industry because, as Ars Technica noted, the lawyer leading the Smartflash case also has his sights set on Samsung, Google and Amazon too. The lawyer in question is Brad Caldwell, who made his name as a litigator in the District of East Texas, which has developed a cottage industry as a go-to destination for “patent trolls.” Trolls are shell companies that acquire old patents in order to demand payments from productive businesses. The Apple-Smartflash fight is occurring as Congress is in the midst of trying for the third time in five years to pass a patent reform bill. The bill seeks to undercut the patent trolls’ business model, and will also determine the future of several programs that let companies challenge questionable patents at the U.S. Patent Office (Apple is presently objecting to the Smartflash patents under one of the programs, saying the “method” it describes shouldn’t have been patentable in the first place). Here is a copy of Tuesday’s ruling:

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Apple rolls back $533 million patent troll verdict

A Texas jury said Apple should pay a shell company $533 million because its media systems infringe old patents. Not so fast, said a judge.