If you’re a fan of Goldberg’s Famous Bagels living in the eastern portion of Riverhead Town, your morning breakfast run just got a bit more convenient.
The bagel and deli chain moved into its fourth North Fork location this week, taking over the former Lenny’s North Fork Bagelry & Cafe.
Goldberg’s now has 11 locations across the East End, including one in downtown Riverhead.
The pair decided to keep news of the new location quiet until they opened on Monday. Lenny Lubrano is still operating Lenny’s Pizza next door.
The new location is full of familiar faces, with staff brought over from the Mattituck store and former Lenny’s employees. Ms. Goldberg said both Goldberg’s and Lenny’s staff have their own group of followers that now can merge into one and keep that “hometown feel” when customers come in.
Like the other locations, the Jamesport store will offer healthier options like acai bowls and healthy lunch sandwiches. They will also offer a variety of baked goods and will adjust the menu as they get to know the clientele.
Ms. Goldberg said she wants it to be a destination where there is something for everyone and not just a place to get a bagel. She said she’s happy to hear feedback from customers that the new spot in Jamesport is more accessible for them on their morning commute to work.
“I’m excited that we have a great reputation in Mattituck and we just made it a little bit more convenient for a demographic of people,” she said, adding that she’s humbled to be able to continue to run and expand her family’s “mom and pop” business.


Our characters are actually not as present in the book as they are in the show. And one of the things that is different from the book is that. That's because Laeta wanted to know more about our characters as women. I think she did an incredible job. And her and Richard (Morgan) collaborated on the scripts too. But just the strength in the women, and the intention, the clarity of what they want and what they're driving and fighting for is so clear. It's just incredible.
Well, she definitely makes a great point. Considering that the novel almost completely focuses on the journey of protagonist Takeshi Kovacs (Joel Kinnaman in the show), the supporting and tertiary characters got less of a focus. But Altered Carbon is an ensemble piece, and therefore characters like Dichen Lachman's Reileen are able to become more significant roles in the new TV series.
Dichen Lachman's comments come from my conversation with her at Netflix's junket in New York City, and will no doubt excite the literary fans out there. Because the Altered Carbon novel is told through the first person perspective of Takeshi, the other characters don't necessarily get a chance to shine. In particular, his sordid history as a mercenary couldn't really be explored the way it is in the show. Lachman's character Reileen, she functions mostly in Takeshi's past. So rather than simply referencing his history, fans can watch it play out. This also applied to his relationship with Hamilton alum Renee Elise Golsberry's badass character Quellcrist.
Transforming Altered Carbon into an ensemble piece will no doubt benefit the new series, as Netflix subscribers will be able to slowly peel away the layers of Takeshi's history and psyche. Rather than simply focusing on Joel Kinnaman and his general badassery, we have way more players to get to know. And these re-writes have particularly served female characters, allowing for more inclusion and representation in the new series.
Altered Carbon is currently streaming its first season over on Netflix. In the meantime, check out our midseason premiere list to plan your next binge watch, and our cancellation list to see if your favorite show got the chop last year.


Friends of Buford Pk & Mt Pisgah is located at 338 W 11th Ave Ste 100, Eugene, OR. This location is in the Downtown neighborhood. This business specializes in Trucks.


Matt Willig Cast As Lash in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Marvel Entertainment has revealed that actor Matt Willig will play the Inhuman character Lash in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. third season.
And now, we know whose face will go under all that Inhuman makeup. Willig is a former NFL football player, who’s filled a number of minor action-heavy roles in film and television. His resume includes Cold Case, Chuck, NCIS, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Year One, and We’re The Millers.
Lash was created in 2014's Inhuman #1 by writer Charles Soule and artist Joe Madureira. A hulking beast of an Inhuman, Lash hails from Orollan, a hidden city of Inhumans who believe the bloodline - and those who get exposed to the Terrigen Mists - must be kept pure (somewhat similar to the city of Inhumans in season 2 of the show). Strong and agile, Lash also has the ability to absorb and expel energy.
Marvel has not revealed when Willig will appear on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., though with the "Secret Warriors" tag and the idea that Skye will be out looking for other powered people (including Inhumans), he debut shouldn’t be too far along.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” returns for an action-packed third season, with Director Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Agent Daisy Johnson (Chloe Bennet) leading the charge as S.H.I.E.L.D. searches the world for more powered people in the aftermath of their epic battle with Jiaying and her army of Inhumans. However, Coulson and the team soon find out that they are not the only group looking for these new Inhumans.
Many months after their war with a rogue group of Inhumans, the team is still reeling. Coulson is again trying to put the pieces of his once revered organization back together while also dealing with the loss of his hand. His confidante and second in command, Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), has yet to return from an impromptu vacation with ex-husband Andrew (Blair Underwood); deadly superspy Agent Bobbi Morse (Adrianne Palicki) is recovering from her traumatic torture at the hands of Grant Ward (Brett Dalton); Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) is obsessed with discovering the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge); and all are on high-alert for the next move from Ward and Hydra.
Ever since the existence of Super Heroes and aliens became public knowledge after the Battle of New York, the world has been trying to come to grips with this new reality. Coulson assembled a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division). S.H.I.E.L.D.’s mission: to protect those who cannot protect themselves from threats they cannot conceive.
But bigger threats loom ahead, setting the stakes even higher for the Agents, including the spread of Terrigen, an alien substance that unlocks superhuman abilities in select individuals; the emergence of new Inhumans who cannot yet control nor understand their powers; the rise of a new government organization that will go toe-to-toe with S.H.I.E.L.D.; the unknown properties of the massive alien Kree monolith, which has taken one of their own; and the constant threat of a rebuilt Hydra terrorist organization under S.H.I.E.L.D. traitor Grant Ward, who is making it his personal mission to take down Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D.
New faces, both friend and foe, will join the series, including the no-nonsense, highly-skilled and somewhat mysterious leader (Constance Zimmer) of the ATCU (Advanced Threat Containment Unit), her intimidating partner, Banks (Andrew Howard), Lash (Matthew Willig), a monstrous Inhuman whose loyalties remain ambiguous, and new Inhuman Joey (Juan Pablo Raba), who is struggling to harness his newfound abilities, among other surprising characters.
Coulson, with the help of Daisy and Mack (Henry Simmons), will work to slowly assemble a team that is stronger than ever before, combining the highly skilled Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with powered individuals in the hopes of protecting the innocent in a world where the balance of power is ever-shifting, and new dangers are constantly emerging.
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” was co-created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen, who also serve as executive producers along with Jeph Loeb and Jeffrey Bell. “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television, and is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format, with 5.1-channel surround sound.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season Three premieres September 29 at 9:00 on ABC.


Trump International Hotel is the epicenter of the President’s business interests in D.C.
At the bar of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, you can order a crystal spoonful of Hungarian wine for $140. Cocktails run from $23 for a gin and tonic to $100 for a vodka concoction with raw oysters and caviar. There’s a seafood pyramid called “the Trump Tower” that costs $120, or you can hit BLT Prime, a restaurant where the $59 salt-aged Kansas City strip steak comes with a long-shot chance of seeing the President sitting nearby. It’s the only restaurant in town where he has dined.
If the urge to shop strikes, there’s a Brioni boutique in one corner that offers the same Italian suits the President favors, starting at a few thousand a pop. Downstairs, a 90-minute couples massage at the Spa by Ivanka Trump will set you back $460—roughly the rack rate for a recent night in a standard room, where the Trump brand adorns everything from the shampoo bottles to the wine in the minibar.
People pay these prices for more than just booze, caviar and back rubs. This is the new town square in Donald Trump’s Washington. Tourists perch on the blue velvet sofas in the lobby, snapping cell-phone pictures as power players stream across the dark marble floors and cream carpets: international businessmen, Republican operatives, wealthy donors, foreign diplomats, former Trump campaign aides, the occasional Administration official.
Guests can order pricey cocktails and mingle with Washington power brokers at Benjamin’s Bar & Lounge in the hotel.
Foreign governments seem particularly keen to patronize Trump’s property. Between Oct. 1 and March 31, lobbyists working on behalf of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia ran up a $270,000 tab on rooms, catering and parking, according to foreign lobbying disclosures filed at the end of May and first reported by the Daily Caller. That stretch coincided with a Saudi lobbying push against legislation that would allow victims of terrorist attacks to sue foreign governments. In May, Trump chose Riyadh as his first foreign stop as President, where he announced an arms deal, gave a major foreign policy speech and participated in a traditional ceremonial sword dance.
The Old Post Office Pavilion is the second tallest building in D.C., after the Washington Monument.
Yet domestic groups have found reasons to do business there as well. Last year, evangelist Franklin Graham planned a global conference on Christian persecution at the Mayflower Hotel for this May. Two months after Trump was inaugurated, Graham decided to add a closing banquet at Trump International, where he also reserved rooms for select guests, which meant ferrying them between hotels in a fleet of black SUVs. Among the guests was a delegation from Moscow headed by Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, a top cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church and a close ally of Vladimir Putin, who met during the conference with Pence. A spokesperson for Graham said neither the Mayflower nor a nearby Hilton could accommodate the banquet, and up to 40 rooms came as part of the package.
Which doesn’t mean it’s illegal. Trump does not seem bothered by the appearance of conflicts, often doing his public business in his private holdings. During the campaign, Trump visited his properties across the U.S. as well as his golf courses in Scotland. He used televised campaign events to promote Trump products, including bottled water and wine. As President, he decamps on many weekends for his golf courses in Virginia and New Jersey, trips that guarantee free publicity from the press corps. He took Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping on separate trips to his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, where the club entry fee doubled after his election, to $200,000.
Trump denies any impropriety. “The law’s totally on my side,” he said in November. “The President can’t have a conflict of interest.” Or rather, as his lawyers point out, as President he is not subject to federal conflict-of-interest laws, which offer broad latitude for the Commander in Chief. And his sprawling business empire was front and center on the campaign trail, with aides highlighting a track record of delivering projects under budget and ahead of schedule.
The firewall between the Trump presidency and the Trump Organization has turned out to be less than airtight. His sons have participated in political meetings and are sought-after speakers at Republican functions across the U.S. Eric Trump’s wife Lara is employed by the digital firm working for Trump’s re-election campaign. Meanwhile, the company, according to internal documents released in May by Democrats in Congress, has since determined that it is not practical to segregate all foreign sources of income, arguing that such an effort would not “even be possible without an inordinate amount of time, resources and specialists.” The donation will be made on an annual basis at the end of each calendar year, according to a Trump Organization spokesperson. It’s unclear who would ensure that the company complies with its pledge.
In response to the unusual arrangements, multiple groups have filed civil lawsuits against Trump, aiming to force the courts to step in. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a progressive watchdog group, filed suit alleging that he has violated the Constitution by accepting emoluments. Cork Wine Bar, a D.C. restaurant, filed another suit that claims Trump’s stake in the hotel’s restaurants gives it an unfair competitive advantage in the city’s fine-dining market. House and Senate Democrats are also planning to sue Trump to stop emoluments violations, according to Politico, arguing that he is breaking the law by continuing to profit from his businesses while serving as President.
Luxury SUVs line up outside of the hotel’s presidential ballroom.
The story of Trump and the Old Post Office Pavilion is a tale of grand ambition, outsize promises and a complex deal that left a trail of criticism. Built in the 1890s, it is the capital’s second tallest structure, a landmark of gray granite and steel girders with a glass atrium and an iconic clock tower that overlooks Pennsylvania Avenue and the Mall. Over the years, it had become an aging orphan nobody wanted, scheduled for demolition several times over the past century, only to be spared by preservationists.
With a nudge from Congress, the General Services Administration (GSA), began soliciting bids in 2011 from private companies looking to redevelop the building. Trump put together an appealing proposal, promising to pump some $200 million into a renovation and partnering with a venerable D.C. architect who had worked for years to save the building. Trump lined up financing from Colony Capital, a major developer run by his close friend and future inaugural committee chairman, Tom Barrack. And he promised to pay the federal government $3 million annually in rent for 60 years. GSA picked Trump from a crowded group of bidders, including such hotel chains as Hilton and Hyatt.
And so, shortly after the election, congressional Democrats summoned a GSA official for a briefing about how it would handle the situation. During the meeting in the Rayburn Building on Capitol Hill, the GSA official said the agency had concluded that Trump would be in breach of contract upon Inauguration, according to a letter signed by four House Democrats and confirmed by two other people present.
In late May, Tang took TIME on a tour of the hotel’s gilded spaces, from the townhouse suite—replete with a gym and private dining room—to the ballroom where workmen were breaking down the remnants of a wedding. Privacy is part of the package, she noted. There are no public boards listing the day’s conclaves, and there are separate entrances for VIPs. As a policy, the hotel doesn’t reveal who has held events or booked accommodations.
As its hotel in Washington flourishes, the Trump Organization is working to find new ways to extend the brand. On June 5, it unveiled a new midscale hotel chain, under the patriotic name of American Idea. It plans to debut it in Mississippi. The target demographic includes some of the same voters who lifted the President into the White House.
The heart of the hotel is a nine-story atrium under a skylight.


Philadelphia, PA – What started as one of the worst periods of Miguel Maysonet's football career quickly led to his best opportunity.
When Hofstra University dropped its football program after Maysonet's freshman season in 2009, Stony Brook University wasn't far away on Long Island, N.Y., and it offered the scholarship that it first extended to the running back when he was a high school senior starring in Suffolk County at Riverhead High School.
"Hofstra dropping the program was probably the best thing that ever happened to me," Maysonet said today.
Some would say it was the worst thing to happen to defenses in the Big South Conference.
Maysonet has been a dominant force in all three of his seasons at Stony Brook. But he saved his best for last this year while the senior became a finalist for the 26th Walter Payton Award, which will be presented Monday night to the outstanding player in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Wofford fullback Eric Breitenstein and Old Dominion quarterback Taylor Heinicke are the other two players invited to the announcement of the award.
Maysonet became the first Stony Brook player to go over 1,000 rushing yards in three consecutive seasons and led the Seawolves to a share of their fourth straight conference title and into the FCS playoffs for the second straight season. They won a first-round game for the second straight year as well.
"Everyone is a team player and everyone has bought into what we're doing," Maysonet said. "A lot of them on the team, they're more excited for me about this Walter Payton Award than I am. I'm not really worried about it, I'm just going out there just trying to have fun and do what I do to help us keep winning."
After arriving at Stony Brook, coach Chuck Priore had a unique plan for Maysonet - he put him in a running back rotation, first with fellow Hofstra transfer Brock Jackolski in 2010 and '11, then with Iowa transfer Marcus Coker this season. But it's not as though the Seawolves failed to feed the ball to Maysonet continuously - he had over 250 carries in each of the past two seasons. They just knew how to keep Maysonet fresh and make him even more dangerous.
The 5-foot-10, 210-pounder with the shifty running style became the Big South's all-time leading rusher, was the FCS' leading rusher during the regular season, averaging 156.5 yards per game. He had 1,721 yards, scored 21 touchdowns and averaged over 7.7 yards per carry during the regular season.
Including two FCS playoff games, Maysonet rushed for a Stony Brook and Big South record 1,964 yards on 267 carries with 23 total touchdowns.
"At the end of the day, I just want to win, whether I take two carries a day or 40 carries a day," Maysonet said.
"I'm just looking for the holes that our amazing offensive line creates for us. It shows we have a great offensive line because we have two backs out there, and when one of us is in, we don't miss a beat. We're both having great years, getting over 100 yards a game together at the same time. It shows that we have a great O-line. When I'm out there, I'm just trying to do what the coaches ask of me, just do my job out there, gaining yards and doing positive plays for us."
Maysonet is hoping to become the first player in Big South history to win one of the four major FCS awards. The other three awards are the Buck Buchanan (FCS outstanding defensive player), the Jerry Rice (FCS freshman of the year) and the Eddie Robinson (FCS coach of the year).


DAEGU, Korea " Col. Michael Lopez assumed command of the 403rd Army Field Support Brigade from Col. Barry Diehl July 8 during an indoor ceremony on Camp Walker.
Maj. Gen. Yves Fontaine, Army Sustainment Command commanding general, presided over the ceremony. The 403rd AFSB is a subordinate unit to ASC, located at Rock Island Arsenal, Ill.
In a ceremony that dates back to the 18th century, Diehl passed the unit colors to Fontaine, who then passed them to Lopez. The passing of the colors, witnessed by the members of the unit, signifies the transition of command to a new leader.
The event took on an international flair through participation by the 36th Korean Service Corps Company, assembled in formation, and the Korean 50th HRD Band, which provided the music.
“This ceremony would not be the same without you,” Diehl said of his host-nation comrades.
Diehl thanked the leaders, civilian employees, and service members he served with for two years and acknowledged the importance of the Koreans who helped the brigade succeed in its mission. He cited the Korean civilians, Korean Service Corps personnel, and Japanese master labor contractors.
Addressing the brigade for the first time, Lopez thanked Fontaine, Diehl and Diehl’s wife, Preeya, for a warm welcome to the unit.
“To the 403rd, your reputation precedes you " your commitment to the Warfighter is unmatched " your quality of support is outstanding,” he said.
Before the ceremony, Diehl and his wife received several awards. He received the Legion of Merit and a Korean Ministry of National Defense letter of commendation. She received the Commander’s Award for Public Service as well as the Dr. Mary Walker Award and the Helping Hand Award from Eighth U.S. Army.
Diehl is returning to the United States to attend the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa.
Lopez comes to the 403rd from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, where he earned a master’s degree in National Resource and Security Strategy.


LITTLE more than 18 months ago, Timothy Riley was a happy, active young man.
But a diagnosis of leukodystrophy - a rare degenerative disease that affects around one in 175,000 people worldwide - brought all that crashing down.
The disease affects the nervous system, stripping people of their ability to perform everyday functions, eventually resulting in death.
Despite being wheelchair-bound and fed by a nasal gastric tube, it was impossible to wipe the smile from Timothy's face on Saturday, as more than 200 people from the Darling Downs biking community headed to Esk to celebrate his 16th birthday.
Timothy was treated to a motorbike ride as part of his birthday celebrations - one of the many highlights on the day.
The community also organised bands on the day and donated money toward Timothy's medical expenses.
"The weekend was absolutely amazing... To see the joy on his face meant absolutely everything to me. It's a great milestone that we never thought we would actually manage to get to,” Timothy's mum Pauline Pesak said.
"I just want to say a huge thank you from the bottom of my heart. Without the support of everyone involved with us I don't think it would be very possible to live and cope with.
Mrs Pesak said if there was one thing people could do - it would be to observe and remember Rare Disease Day, held on February 28 each year. She hoped there would one day be a cure for leukodystrophy.
"It's pretty scary stuff to see your child dwindle in front of you, and to know that you're going to have to potentially bury your own child because of how cruel this disease is... It just rips everything away from you,” she said.


Will the GDPR affect your business?
Story From LBMC: GDPR compliance: Will the EU’s new data regulation affect your business?
Prepare for major changes in personal data sharing. The new regulation begins May 25.
GDPR compliance: Will the EU’s new data regulation affect your business?
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect on May 25, and it’s going to have a bigger impact on U.S. organizations than you might think.
The GDPR replaces the EU’s former directive for protecting online personal data and will regulate data protection policies for residents of EU member nations and businesses across the globe who offer services and products to EU residents.
Penalties for violations are steep, so you will want to be prepared. But many organizations don’t know if the GDPR applies to them and, even worse, are unsure how to find out. You might be wondering, “Does the GDPR apply to my company?” If so, here are four questions you should ask.
Is my organization established in the EU?
If your organization is physically operating anywhere in the EU, then yes, the GDPR does apply to you, and you must abide by its requirements. Some organizations may be operating in a “shell” within the EU but might not truly be offering services there. These circumstances vary and should be discussed with a privacy professional to determine applicability of the GDPR to your organization.
Is my organization a controller or processor under GDPR (or both)?
Article 4 of the GDPR identifies the different roles and responsibilities of controllers and processors for organizations who harbor personal data.
As it can sometimes be difficult for organizations to determine which of these roles (if not both) best describes them, an information security partner can be helpful in making a clear distinction. Organizations must know their role to comply with their specific GDPR responsibilities.
Does my organization offer services to people who live in the EU?
“Offering” means specifically targeting customers in the EU.
“Selling” means you are not targeting EU residents, but, if an EU resident wants to purchase your product or service, you will still sell to them.
If you are offering to EU residents, you are responsible for adhering to the GDPR. However, if you are simply selling to EU residents, the GDPR may not be applicable to your organization.
If you are selling to EU residents, the applicability of GDPR to your organization depends on how much business you are doing there. If EU residents are a very small percentage of your revenue, you are more likely to fall out of the GDPR’s scope. However, if a significant part of your company’s revenue comes from EU residents, you are more likely to fall under the GDPR’s scope.
You may not feel like you’re offering or selling services to EU citizens. Some organizations are simply ingesting lots of data for analytical and technical research or other reasons. If this data contains information from EU citizens, the GDPR may apply. GDPR would also likely apply to you if you are processing information for an EU company.
Are you monitoring activity or behavior within the EU?
If your company provides an app, for example, that includes any level of monitoring, and you have users residing or even visiting the EU, you are in scope of the GDPR. Even if an app is only available in the U.S. but you track users while they are in the EU, you likely need to comply with the GDPR.
Map out the entire data flow of your organization and take inventory. Classify all data according to type, if you have not already. You will need to locate all network locations storing or transmitting personal data.
Once you have determined where this data resides, it is time to implement policies, procedures, technical measures and processes to allow your organization to comply with any of the regulations of the GDPR.
While the GDPR presents new challenges for organizations storing or processing personal data, compliance is possible, especially with the right guidance. For more information, download an LBMC Information Security webinar or contact a data privacy professional, who can analyze and classify your organization’s data to determine GDPR applicability. Whether the GDPR applies to your organization or not, after working with an expert, you will know for certain.
Caryn Woolley is a director of quality assurance & professional development for LBMC Information Security, a leading Tennessee-based IT security firm. Reach her at 615-309-2478 or cwoolley@lbmc.com.


Don’t say we’re not helpful: Get ready to click your way to satisfaction at 11 this morning, when tickets go on sale to the general pubic for the Strokes show at Madison Square Garden on April 1 (one day before LCD Soundsystem play their farewell show at the Garden), as we told you back on February 16.
Other dates of note: The boys will play Saturday Night Live on March 5; a couple weeks after that, on March 22, they’ll release their new album Angles on RCA records, all before heading to Coachella to play an (already sold-out) show on April 15.
Your link for tickets this morning is over at Ticketmaster, here.


The president had a solid showing among his key ’08 demographic constituencies.
A solid showing among his key ’08 demographic constituencies —coupled with a small dose of economic optimism — and a feeling that Mitt Romney was out of touch with the middle class helped propel President Obama to reelection, according to exit polling conducted Tuesday.
Compared with the results four years ago, Obama was able to maintain his leads among women, young voters, African-American voters and Hispanics in his campaign against Mitt Romney.
After all the discussion of Obama’s play for women — and his effort to make Romney appear extreme on women’s issues — the president won among female voters by 12 points. He took 55 percent of the demographic, compared with 43 percent for Romney — not far off from 2008, when he won women by 13 points.
In particular, the president won big among unmarried women, who backed the president by a whopping 38 points, 68 percent to 30 percent.
But unlike 2008, when Obama won men by one percentage point, the president lost men to Romney this year. He took 45 percent of their vote, compared with 52 percent for Romney, according to the exit polls.
Obama prevailed among the two minority groups that supported him in large numbers in 2008: Latinos and African Americans.
Ninety-three percent of African-American voters backed Obama, while just 6 percent who backed Romney. Turnout among the demographic remained steady at 13 percent of the overall electorate.
Obama’s support increased with Hispanic voters: he won 69 percent of the demographic, compared with 29 percent for Romney. That 40-point deficit is slightly higher than his 36-point victory among Hispanic voters in 2008.
And the president saw higher backing among Asian voters, who sided with him by a 49-point margin, 74 percent to 25 percent. The margin was 27 points in 2008.
Although he again lost Protestant voters to his GOP opponent, Obama held onto his advantages among Catholic and Jewish voters. He won 70 percent of the Jewish vote, down from 78 percent in 2008, and he won Catholic voters 50 percent to 47 percent. Romney carried Protestant voters by a 13-point margin, 56 percent to 43 percent.
While Obama’s previously huge margin among 18 to 29-year-olds dropped slightly – he won the age group by 34 points in 2008, compared with 24 points this year — the overall turnout was up slightly among young voters, certainly a factor in his victory.
Like McCain, Romney won older voters: he took 51 percent of 45- to 64-year-olds and 55 percent of voters 65 and older.


On this day — does a religious revival in Houston signal an increasing interest by Perry in the presidency; the House prepares to vote on a school finance proposal and teachers groups promise a large rally against the proposed cuts; the Chronicle’s Nick Anderson cartoons about John Edwards love child; Sen. Wendy Davis gets profiled in ‘The Clips;’ and in ‘EXTRA!,’ how tax cuts became GOP orthodoxy.
Wherever you are, whenever you need it — get the latest from the Houston Chronicle/San Antonio Express-News Austin Bureau by subscribing to our RSS feed, following us on Twitter and Tumblr, and get the latest in your Facebook newsfeed by liking us on Facebook.
The Dallas Morning News’ Wayne Slater reports that Gov. Rick Perry has invited the country’s other 49 governors and evangelical leaders for a ‘non-political’ event to pray for the nation.
“Given the trials that beset our nation and the world, from the global economic downturn to natural disasters, the lingering danger of terrorism and continued debasement of our culture, I believe it is time to convene the leaders from each of our United States in a day of prayer and fasting,” Perry said in the letter.
East Texas evangelical leader and Perry supporter Rick Scarborough said the governor has support among religious conservatives, an important constituency in picking the GOP nominee.
“Once the word gets out that he’s doing this, evangelicals and anybody with the same moral perspective will be on his bandwagon,” Scarborough, president of Vision America, said, referring to the Houston event.
House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, said he understands the concern about school budget cuts.
“This is a work in progress. We continue to see what we can do to fund public schools,” Pitts said after the protesters chanted noisily outside his committee room.
For the first time in modern history, the state is not adding funding for the additional 170,000 students expected to enter public schools over the next two years. In fact, the proposal cuts money for school districts by $4 billion over the next two years from what they would get under current law.
“There’s not enough money, if we don’t,” committee member Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, emphasized.
– The Texas Tribune’s Emily Ramshaw profiles Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, (pictured right) who has become on of the few Democratic stars to emerge from this session even though she’s lost her district.
– The Tribune’s Ross Ramsey writes about how things really haven’t changed all that much from the state of the session.
– The Houston Chronicle’s Patti Hart writes that the proposed changes to public education are symbolic of a much bigger shift afoot.
The GOP leadership has downplayed the impact of this change, arguing that lawmakers have always made public schools a priority. But the very reason this school finance bill is necessary is to free the state from owing about $4 billion under current formulas.
Note the use of that dirty word — entitlement — as if public education is some kind of welfare, not the underpinning of democracy envisioned by Thomas Jefferson.
This school finance bill is a tipping point for the Texas public education system. If the state’s obligation to local schools is no longer carved in statute, public education funding becomes vulnerable to last-minute budget balancing by 10 lawmakers on a conference committee. If they decide to trim a couple of billion from education, the other 171 members of the Legislature have little voice.
– The Washington Post looks at how cutting taxes became even more important than balancing the budget in mainstream Republican circles.
– The San Francisco Chronicle takes a look back at the HIV/AIDS epidemic, 30 years after the first cases were diagnosed.
The tapestry of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has changed dramatically since that first report, and in the United States at least, doctors and patients have begun to consider HIV infection a chronic condition instead of a death sentence. More than 30 drugs are available to treat HIV infection, and those drugs in most people can almost completely suppress the virus to the point that it’s virtually undetectable in the blood.
The development of antiretroviral drugs completely turned around the AIDS epidemic in the United States. The worst of the illness is now in Africa, where roughly two-thirds of the world’s HIV cases are located.
Much recent research into the epidemic has turned toward prevention, with several major successes reported in recent years, doctors and patient advocates say. In the United States, there’s a new, sometimes-reluctant sense of optimism and anticipation, they say. There is serious talk about ending the epidemic in the not-too-distant future.
– Gawker reports that an Oklahoma family shot-up with meth during a get-together in the back of their car and that their daughter died from an overdose stemming from the drug usage. The mother and her boyfriend have been convicted of various charges stemming from the incident.


LOS ANGELES (AP) - Steven Spielberg teased Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall about the beginnings of their relationship, actress Cicely Tyson brought more than a few people to tears while proudly clutching her Oscar and publicist Marvin Levy sang a few lines from “Hamilton” to an audience that included Lin-Manuel Miranda at a lively Governors Awards Sunday night in Los Angeles.
For the 93-year-old Tyson, it was a half lifetime coming. It had been 45 years since her first and only nomination, for “Sounder” in 1972.
“This is a culmination of all those years of haves and have nots,” Tyson said, noting that she’ll be turning 94 next month.
The private, untelevised dinner gala at the Hollywood & Highland complex has also become an important stop on the campaign trail to the Academy Awards for some of the year’s awards hopefuls, making the event one of the most star-studded of the season. In a spin around the room, you can see Nicole Kidman chatting with “First Man” director Damien Chazelle, Disney CEO Bob Iger leaving his seat next to Ford to meet Lady Gaga, “Eighth Grade” director Bo Burnham and “Roma” director Alfonso Cuaron deep in conversation, Hanks and Rita Wilson stopping to greet Melissa McCarthy, John Krasinski and Emily Blunt saying hello to Hilary Swank, the cast of “Black Panther” posing for a photo with Marvel chief Kevin Feige and Lin-Manuel Miranda hanging out with the “Crazy Rich Asians” cast and, later, Jonah Hill.
But all turned their full attention to the stage and the titans being honored when the time came. For while the event may be in its 10th year, and the honorary Oscar itself in its 60th, there was still room for a few firsts. Levy became the first member of the public relations branch of the film academy to win an honorary Oscar, while Kennedy became the first woman to win the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Memorial award - an honor that she shared with her husband and partner Marshall.
The director did, however, make his Amblin Entertainment co-founders blush by telling a story about discovering that the two were in a relationship when he caught them “making out on my couch.” Kennedy and Marshall have been married now for 32 years and have two daughters.
Schifrin, who composed the themes to “Mission: Impossible” and “Dirty Harry,” had to have a little humor in accepting his award from Eastwood. Eastwood, who said he couldn’t read the teleprompter, called Schifrin up to the stage early because he wanted to ask him some questions.
On stage, Schifrin and Eastwood talked about jazz and how many movies they’d worked on together.
“You’re sabotaging my speech,” Schifrin said in good humor when Eastwood lingered. But Schifrin took hold of his moment of glory after going home from the Oscars empty handed six times in his long career.
And Levy, who has been Spielberg’s publicist for over 40 years, since “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” said his job has always been a little hard for people outside the business to understand. “At least now they know I got an Oscar for it,” he laughed.


The Navy plans to install a laser weapon prototype on a ship this summer for at-sea testing in the Persian Gulf.
The technology, called the Laser Weapon System, will be the first of its kind to be deployed, the Navy said.
The idea is that the laser could zap dangerous swarming small boats and flying drones while on the USS Ponce in the Persian Gulf. Its power also can be scaled down, presenting the Navy a non-lethal alternative to ward off threats such as pirates, terrorists and smugglers.
Officials say the system offers the Navy a weapon at a fraction of the cost of its traditional arsenal — cruise missiles, as well as rapid-fire Gatling guns. Since 2007, the Navy has spent $78 million on the program.
"This is a revolutionary capability," said Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder in a statement. "It's absolutely critical that we get this out to sea with our sailors for these trials, because this very affordable technology is going to change the way we fight and save lives."
It was developed by engineers and scientists from the Navy, defense industry and academia. It involves commercial fiber solid-state lasers and has already successfully shot down flying targets.
Data from the Ponce deployment will guide the development of a Navy program for combat-ready lasers installed on vessels, such as guided-missile destroyers and the Littoral Combat Ship, by 2016.
The Navy plans to spend $110 million with Northrop Grumman Corp., BAE Systems Inc. and Raytheon Co. over the next two years for development work on the program.
The announcement to deploy the laser comes as military researchers continue to try to make progress on directed-energy weapons. In 2012, the Laser Weapon System downed several drones in tests.
In 2011, the Navy had success with another laser system mounted on a warship when it fired and set fire to an empty motorboat as it bobbed in the Pacific Ocean. It was the first time in history the Navy pulled off the feat.
In what was once considered the stuff of science fiction, the development of laser technology has been fraught with setbacks.
Last year, the Missile Defense Agency's airborne laser program was canceled after more than 15 years of development and $5 billion in federal funding.
The program involved a Boeing 747 jumbo jet equipped with an advanced tracking system and a massive laser gun on its nose to identify and obliterate enemy missiles as they blast off. But the program experienced a series of cost overruns and delays. It never went beyond testing.
The Navy’s desired targets with the Laser Weapon System are far smaller and slower.
Following the USS Ponce testing — which comes two years ahead of schedule — Navy and Pentagon officials said they will continue to research ways to integrate affordable laser weapons into the fleet.


DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — Police in Westchester County were searching Monday for the person who has been sending disturbing mail to several women in Dobbs Ferry.
As CBS 2’s Scott Rapoport reported, the women said the letters contained threatening and sexual comments.
“I think it’s dreadful,” said resident Janet Rosenberg.
Police said several women in the quaint, quiet village have received the creepy and sexually disturbing letters in the mail. But police would not discuss the incidents on camera.
Police sources told CBS 2 the letters have been appearing in Dobbs Ferry for five years now. The letters have been sent sporadically, with the most recent one having been received in the last few weeks, police said.
Authorities would not say how many letters there have been, or how many women have received them. But another law enforcement source told CBS 2 the letters have also been sent to women in other parts of Westchester County over the years.
Hundreds of letters may have been sent in all.
CBS 2 was told authorities have spoken to a person of interest on several occasions, but have not been able to prove he is the one who sent the letters.
“Whoever’s doing it, I think, should be caught,” Rosenberg said.
Authorities said they hope to find fingerprints or DNA on the letters to help catch whoever sent them.


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Skateboarder Jean-Marc Johannes will add another accolade to his list of achievements when he receives special recognition at the Cape Town Sports Council Awards at UWC today.
The annual event honours athletes' achievements within all sporting codes that fall under the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs. As South Africa's most decorated skateboarder, Johannes joins a list of top athletes from across the sporting spectrum.
Johannes's love for the sport started at the age of 11 and since then he has begun competing around the world, becoming a regular on international podiums the past three years.
Prior to the awards, he collected gold, silver and bronze medals across Asia and in France, along with being a current Guinness World Record holder.
At the Cape Town Sports Council event, Johannes's achievements over the past two years will be highlighted with a special presentation.
This is the first time in the Cape Town Sports Council Awards' history that skateboarding has been honoured at the event and it is testament to the sport's growing impact. This is reflected in skateboarding’s recent inclusion as a code at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
“It is humbling to be recognised and honoured at this event by the Cape Town Sports Council prior to the Olympic Games in 2020. It is a huge milestone in my career to be the first skateboarding athlete to be honoured at the Cape Town Sports awards and I know it will bring inspiration and opportunity to the sport in South Africa,” he said.


Will deliver nine Phalanx systems for installation aboard ROK warships.
Raytheon (NYSE:RTN), one of America's premier defense contractors, is going overseas to help keep the South Korean Navy out of harm's way.
On Monday, Raytheon confirmed that late last year, it received a $123 million contract from the Republic of Korea Navy to supply the latter with nine Phalanx Block 1B Close-In Weapon Systems for installation aboard ROK FFX Batch II frigates and AOE II-class fast combat support ships.
More built and sold more than 890 Phalanx systems to the navies of 25 different nations around the globe. Deliveries of this latest batch of Phalanxes are expected to begin in 2016, and to continue through 2022.
Raytheon's Phalanx gun system. Source: Raytheon.


Bright green indicates areas with few large rocks on this shaded relief map of the area in and around the targeted landing site for NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander.
When NASA?sPhoenix Mars Lander sets down in the Martian arctic on Sunday, it will open anew, icy frontier for scientists back on Earth.
Phoenix, astationary lander set to make a plannedMay 25 descent to the Martian surface, is going to where no probe has gonebefore - the northern plains of Vastitas Borealis on Mars.
"Ten yearsago, you wouldn't have chosen this spot at all because it looks just like everyother part of Mars,? said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of theUniversity of Arizona. ?A lot of the features aren't even named up there."
But it?sthe promise of whatlies beneath the frozen surface features, signs of untouched Martian waterice first spotted by orbiters in 2002, which spurred NASA engineers andresearchers to launch the $420 million Phoenix last August.
Wieldingits robotic arm like a backhoe, Phoenix is designed to dig down in to theMartian soil to collect water ice samples. It will feed them into small onboardovens and beakers to determine if its landing site may have once been habitablefor microbial life.
?We believethat the ice is somewhere between 4 and 6 centimeters (1.5 to 2.3 inches) belowthe surface,? Phoenix deputy principal investigator Deborah Bass of NASA?s JetPropulsion Laboratory (JPL) told SPACE.com. ?It?s not going to be iceskating rink-pure, white, shiny ice. It?s going to be permafrost - dust, dirtand ice all mixed together.?
Only oneNASA spacecraft - the ill-fated Mars Polar Lander - has ever targeted a polarregion of Mars for study, but that spacecraft crashed just before landing nearthe planet?s south pole in December 1999. NASA?s past successful Mars landers,the two Viking probes of the 1970s and ?80s, and the hardy Spirit andOpportunity rovers that still explore the Martian surface today, set down nearthe planet?s equatorial regions.
The historyof Earth?s own climate change and the building blocks of life are preserved inthe ices near the Arctic Sea, Smith said during a Thursday mission briefing atthe Pasadena, Calif.-based JPL.
?We?rewondering if this is true on Mars,? he added.
Phoenix?s targetedlanding zone lies within an ellipse about 50 miles (80 km) long and 12.4miles (20 km) wide, with the bull?s eye sitting in a broad, shallow valley some800 feet (250 meters) deep.
It?s ratherchilly, with the average temperature expected to range between minus 110 to 28degrees Fahrenheit (minus 73 to minus 33 Celsius) during Phoenix?s primarysix-month mission. The probe is landing during the late Martian spring at itstarget site to take advantage of long, sunlit days for its solar arrays.
But thelanding site, known as Region D, was not the Phoenix mission team?s firstchoice. It was selected only after high-resolution images from NASA?s MarsReconnaissance Orbiter spotted fields of large boulders that could topple Phoenix during landing in 2006.
"Ithad to be safe, there had to be ice,? Smith told SPACE.com of the landingsite selection. ?We wanted some sort of surface features that showed therewas ice so we weren't just going by other measurements, and those are thepolygons that we see, which are the same as you see in the Arctic and Antarctic[on Earth]."
Polygonsare crack features created by changes in subsurface ice, he added. Phoenix?sRegion D has those features in spades.
?What wesee is a mottled terrain, caused by ice expanding and contracting underneaththe soil, and it shapes the surface,? Smith said Thursday.
Of keyinterest is whether the Martian soil will contain leftover salts fromevaporated liquid water, which Mars researchers have long held as a basicingredient for life, in the relatively recent past, Smith said. TheSpirit and Opportunity rovers have found solid evidence that liquid water oncesoaked regions of the Martian equator in the ancient past, he added.
Butevidence of recent liquid water near the Martian north pole, he added, would bea boon for researchers studying the planet?s water history, as well as for futuremissions designed specifically to seek out signs of life.
?We aregoing in blind into the northern plains,? Smith said. ?So we are just looking forevidence that it was habitable.?
NASA's will broadcast the Phoenix Mars Lander?s red planet arrival live on NASATV, with the next mission briefing set for 3:00 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) onSaturday, May 24. Clickhere for SPACE.com's Phoenix mission coverage and a linkto NASA TV.
SPACE.comSenior Writer Andrea Thompson contributed to this story from Pasadena,California.


Fiscal Year Gross Domestic Product, Current Prices for Ireland is EUR 214.623 Billions. Gross domestic product corresponding to fiscal year is the country's GDP based on the same period during the year as their fiscal data. In the case of countries whose fiscal data are based on a fiscal calendar (e.g., July to June), this series would be the country's GDP over that same period. For countries whose fiscal data are based on a calendar year (i.e., January to December), this series will be the same as their GDP in current prices.
In the previous year, 2014, Fiscal Year Gross Domestic Product, Current Prices for Ireland was EUR 189.05 Billions Fiscal Year Gross Domestic Product, Current Prices for Ireland in 2015 was or will be 13.53% more than it was or will be in 2014.
In the following or forecasted year, 2016, Fiscal Year Gross Domestic Product, Current Prices for Ireland was or will be EUR 229.23 Billions, which is 6.81% more than the 2015 figure.


The National won big at the 60th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night.
The Brooklyn-based, Cincinnati-bred group won Best Alternative Music Album for "Sleep Well Beast."
The album was also nominated in the Best Recording Package category.
It's not the group's first run at the Grammys. In 2013, The National received a nomination in the Best Alternative Music Album category for "Trouble Will Find Me."
The National will perform two unique sets during the festival at Smale Park on April 28 and 29. The band will be joined by more than 20 acts across two stages featuring music from Father John Misty, Feist, Future Islands, the Breeders, Lord Huron, Julien Baker, Moses Sumney, Alvvays and Big Thief.
The festival will coincide and coordinate with MusicNOW Festival, which was founded by Cincinnati native Bryce Dessner, a composer and musician with the National.
Tickets for the Homecoming Festival start at $129. Visit ntlhomecoming.com.
For more information on MusicNOW, visit musicnowfestival.org.


Like a horror-film villain, “pink slime”—the cheeky nickname for scraps of slaughtered cow that have been pulverized, defatted, subjected to ammonia steam to kill pathogens, and congealed into a filler for ground beef—takes a pounding but keeps coming back.
Last month, McDonald’s announced it would stop using the stuff. But just this week, pink slime got a de facto endorsement from none other than the USDA, which—the online journal The Daily reported—plans to keep buying millions of pounds of it for use in the National School Lunch Program.
These developments are just the latest installments of a long-playing drama. The product first entered my consciousness in the 2008 documentary Food, Inc., when the product’s maker, Beef Products International, was proud enough of its now-infamous burger extender to do what no other meat company would: invite filmmaker Robert Kenner into its factory to film its shop floor in action.
The scene, video below, features a Beef Products executive talking over a milieu straight out of Chaplin’s Modern Times: a vast network of steaming tubes, with people in protective gear and face masks wandering about fussing with dials. Pale chunks of fat and sinew are whisked up on a conveyor belt into a machine, from which they emerge as a coarse paste before entering more machines. “From the food safety standpoint, we’re ahead of everybody,” the exec says, touting his firm’s ammonia process. “We think we can lessen the incidence of E. coli O157:H7″ (a deadly strain). The clip ends with those heavily protected workers carefully shutting the finished product—uniform, flesh-colored blocks—into boxes. Over that image, the exec claims that the product ends up in 70 percent of hamburgers served in the US. “In five years we’ll be in 100 percent,” he predicts.
Before the exec’s prophesy could be tested, the product received a devastating blow in the form of an investigative report from the New York Times’ Michael Moss. This article brought the phrase “pink slime” into public view. The nickname emerged, Moss reports, from an internal 2002 email by a USDA microbiologist, who declared he found the practice of labeling the stuff as ground beef to be “fraudulent.” But the real scandal uncovered by Moss was that “Lean Finely Textured Beef”—the USDA’s preferred phrase for you-know-what—wasn’t performing as advertised.
Yet that premise was false. Rather than eliminating pathogens from burger mixes, pink slime was often actually adding pathogens, Moss revealed. Beef Product International’s raw material, fatty trimmings that come mainly from the outside of the carcass, tend to be loaded with E. coli and salmonella. The company had been lowering its ammonia dose based on complaints about flavor. Possibly as a result, in tests conducted by the National School Lunch Program between 2005 and 2009, pink slime tested positive for salmonella at a rate four times higher than the conventional burger mix it was supposed to sterilize, Moss revealed.
The USDA had kept purchasing huge amounts of pink slime for schoolchildren despite the positive tests, Moss noted, precisely because it was cheaper than pure ground meat. “School lunch officials said they ultimately agreed to use the treated meat because it shaved about 3 cents off the cost of making a pound of ground beef,” Moss reported.
His report generated outrage in some circles. “Three cents off the cost of making a pound of ground beef,” a certain blogger for Grist magazine groaned. “Under the severe fiscal austerity that school cafeteria administrators operate under, pinching those three pennies is a rational decision, even if it means subjecting children to ammonia-ridden slime that may contain pathogens.” But the company shook off such high-profile derision, and the School Lunch Program and the company’s fast-food customers remained loyal buyers.
That is, until Jamie Oliver took up the cause on his Food Revolution show last spring. He endeavored to make pink slime from butcher scraps in front of a live audience, theatrically brandishing a jug of ammonia and pouring a huge dash into a bowl of ground scraps. “Imagine how happy an accountant is, you just turned dog food into what can potentially be your kids’ food,” Oliver declared.
McDonald’s denies any connection to the uproar caused by Oliver’s nationally televised show, but the fast-food giant recently joined Taco Bell and Burger King in announcing an end to its use.
And that leads us back to the National School Lunch Program, which, the The Daily reports, plans to buy 7 million pounds of pink slime over the next several months. Last year, The Daily adds, the stuff made up 6.5 percent of the beef purchased by USDA for the school lunch program. A USDA spokesperson speaking to me on background could not confirm the 7 million pounds number but did confirm that 6.5 percent of last year’s purchases were LFTB (Lean Finely Textured Beef). He insisted that it’s a high-quality, safe product and claimed that it had showed no food-safety problems since the 2009 Times article. Nor, he added, does price play a role in the department’s decision to buy it.
Both men say the product was approved as safe by the USDA over their objections.
Meanwhile, the problem pink slime was originally intended to solve, pathogens in meat, continues apace. Wired‘s Maryn McKenna recently broke down the FDA’s annual report on the bacteria it finds on the retail meat it tests each year. “Almost 29 percent of ground-beef samples carried Salmonella strains that were resistant to six [antibiotics],” McKenna reports.


Chelsea defender Gary Cahill has been ruled out of England's World Cup qualifier with San Marino on Friday.
Cahill hurt his knee in Sunday's game against West Ham and will not play in Rimini but will be reassessed ahead of next Tuesday's game against Montenegro.
Newcastle centre-half Steven Taylor has been called up following some impressive recent performances in the Barclays Premier League.
Cahill's absence adds to coach Roy Hodgson's defensive woes. Spurs' Michael Dawson pulled out on Sunday, to be replaced by Joleon Lescott, while Rio Ferdinand also pulled out of the squad on Monday as he continues to follow an intricate fitness programme.
Steven Caulker was Ferdinand's replacement with the Manchester United man and Dawson ruled out of both matches over the next week. Whilst Hodgson's defensive formation for Friday's encounter with San Marino may not be a concern, next week's clash with Montenegro in Podgorica certainly will be.
Unless Cahill's knee injury eases sufficiently for him to be made available, England face the uncomfortable scenario of selecting between players who have next to no international experience - Taylor and Caulker have one cap between them - and Joleon Lescott, who is out of favour at Manchester City.
England currently trail Montenegro by two points in Group H, although have a succession of home games next season meaning a draw next week would not be a disaster.
Taylor was delighted with his call-up, and he told www.nufc.co.uk: "It's a dream come true. I am so happy to have received a call-up to the full squad. It is every player's ambition to represent their country and it is the greatest honour in professional football.
"If I am lucky enough to be given that chance over the next seven days it will be one of the proudest moments of my playing career."
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew added: "This is a fully deserved call-up for Steven. He missed part of the season but since his return he has been outstanding. He has a great chance, on this form, of going to the World Cup."


Linda M. LaVigne passed away at her home in Gaylord on Wednesday, March 21, 2012, at the age of 71.
Linda was born in Plainwell on April 20, 1940. On Aug. 30, 1980, she married Allen LaVigne. The couple owned and operated A&L LaVigne Trucking.
Linda enjoyed knitting and trips to the casino and loved her cats. Her true passion in life was her family. She treasured her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
She is survived by her husband, Allen; children, Christopher Marciniak and Janna (Tim) Beckwith; nine grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; her brother, Bernard Swartz; her uncle, Owen Swartz; and her aunt, Joyce Croy.
She was preceded in death by her daughter, Cinda (Marciniak) Czykoski.
Funeral services will be held today (Saturday), March 24, at 2 p.m. from the Nelson Funeral Home.
Visitation took place on Friday, March 23, from 5 to 8 p.m., and on Saturday from 1 p.m. until the time of services.
Burial will be at Fairview Cemetery.
Contributions in memory of Linda LaVigne may be made to Hospice of Michigan, through the Nelson Funeral Home, P.O. Box 1548, Gaylord, MI 49734.


MAURICIO POCHETTINO’s long wait for a goal against Real Madrid ended at the Bernabeu.
As boss of Espanyol, Pochettino endured seven matches against the Spanish giants.
He lost all of them, seeing 20 goals go in with zero for his team.
All that was forgotten in the Bernabeu as terrific Tottenham stunned mighty Madrid on their own patch in their Group H showdown.
Granted it was an own goal from French defender Raphael Varane in the 28th minute that ended Pochettino’s drought. But it was no less than super Spurs’ deserved as they stuck to their manager’s promise of having a right go at Zinedine Zidane’s Galaticos.
They were under the cosh for so much of this game but never went into their shell. Moussa Sissoko picked out the surging Serge Aurier on the overlap and his driven cross from the right was aimed at Harry Kane.
Kane tried a clever flick. It did not work but it surprised Verane who accidentally deflected in with his trailing left foot.
Pochettino sent out a side with strikers Kane and Fernando Llorente in it, shocking everyone, Madrid in particular you suspect.
Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was so close to giving Madrid the lead in the fourth minute. Marcelo’s sweeping ball picked out 18-year-old rookie Achraf Hakimi on the opposite flank and he crossed for Ronaldo.
He beat Toby Alderweireld easily in the air and smacked a header against Hugo Lloris’ left post, with Karim Benzema fluffing the rebound.
In the 17th minute Ronaldo somehow conjured some space and drilled a right-foot shot just wide of Lloris’ right post.
Two minutes later Spurs amost scored. Christian Eriksen’s corner from the right was perfect for Kane to charge at.
He outmuscled Casemiro to power a header into the ground. Unluckily for him it was too close to Keylor Navas who was able to tip over.
Two minutes after the opener, Aurier drilled a low shot from 20 yards which was creeping in at the far corner until Navas stretched to tip round for a corner.
Then Isco wriggled to shot at goal with his left foot from ten yards but Lloris was alert, pushing round for a corner.
Ronaldo was booked in the 32nd minute for what looked like a slap, with Jan Vertonghen the victim. He was perhaps lucky the card wasn’t a red one.
Benzema flopped again when a superb inviting, inswinging ball from former Spurs star Luka Modric begged to be glanced home. But he failed to get enough purchase on the ball, deflecting it the wrong side of the far post.
In the 42nd minute Aurier undid all his good work. Having felt he had been fouled, he gave the ball away then in trying to recover, when Benzema played Toni Kroos in as he dashed into the box, he lunged in an brought down the German.
Ronaldo’s penalty a minute later flashed into the net, with Lloris going the wrong way.
It certainly was not proving to be Benzema’s night. In the 54th minute Casemiro’s cross saw him inside the eight yard box and the ball their to be headed in.
But his effort hit Lloris’ outstretched left leg as he dived. Zidane could not believe it.
The outstanding Lloris was superb again in the 63rd minute sending out a strong left hand to deflect over a rasping half-volley from Ronaldo, who was left shaking his head. He denied the Portuguese star again two minutes later.
Kane and Eriksen were denied late on but it was still Spurs’ night.
Cristiano Ronaldo launches into rant at Real Madrid team-mate.


Kendrick Lamar made a special trip to High Tech High School in New Jersey recently, where he sat in with students and listened to their poetry while they talked about the importance of his albums and work. This meeting was all set up when the student's teacher, 29-year-old Brian Mooney, used Kendrick's recent album, To Pimp a Butterfly, in class to draw correlations between the message of the music and Toni Morrison's novel, The Bluest Eye.
Following the success in the class, Mooney decided to share the results of the curriculum online, where it then reached over 10,000 FaceBook shares and found its way to Kendrick and his team. “I was feeling incredibly grateful and humbled that my work received that much exposure and reached that wide of an audience that Kendrick himself read it,” Mooney said. Kendrick didn't charge the school to come speak, and the administration encouraged the involvement with students, which also included a full panel discussion in front of the entire school, with Kendrick speaking on his community interactions and message. “You identify with my community and what’s going on in the world. And I appreciate you for that,” Kendrick said to the students before pledging to come back in the near future.
Situations like this are just a small reason why Kendrick is so highly regarded in the publics and makes it clear to see why he was recently honored by the California State Senate with the "Generational Icon Award." Full details on Kendrick's trip to the school can be found here via the New York Times.


Suspended Suffern Central Schools Superintendent Douglas Adams is accusing the Board of Education and its president of going behind his back to make inappropriate decisions and taking deliberate actions to subvert his role in running the district.
In a petition filed March 6 to the state education commissioner, Adams states that board President Amany Messieha Dgheim’s actions leading up to his suspension not only violated state education law but stifled his duties as superintendent.
A day later, he filed a second petition against the board itself, stating their authorization of Dgheim's actions implicates them as well.
Illegally restricted Adams' participation in two board meetings; one where she limited his ability to speak; and another by holding a meeting when board members knew he'd be out of town.
Hired a professional service provider without Adams participation or consideration.
Signed a cross-contract agreement with BOCES without his authorization.
Modified the board agenda, without consulting Adams.
Adams' claims against the school board mirror his allegations against Dgheim in terms of restricting his participation at a pair of meetings and entering into agreements without his consent.
The petitions were filed the day the board voted 4-3 to suspend Adams with pay from his $287,764-a-year-job on a handful of disciplinary charges that are believed to be related to his response to “wrongful conduct” by a school district employee toward a student.
Adams’ lawyer Richard Ellsworth said in an interview on Friday morning that tensions had been building up between Adams and the board that culminated Feb. 5 when he says they first violated education law by restricting Adams' participation in agenda items.
Adams contacted Ellsworth shortly after to file the complaints with state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia.
Ellsworth said he was confident Elia would act to remove Dgheim from the board. Adams was out of town during Friday's interview.
Both Dgheim and the board responded to the petitions on March 15.
Dgheim said Adams “created delays” in securing needed services, had been able to speak at meetings and that “inconsistencies” in board policies made it unclear that Adams needed to be present at every board meeting.
She also says the district never received services from BOCES because the provider “withdrew his application after the public character assassination” by a staff member under Adams’ supervision.
March 25, 2019, 9:43 a.m.


My favourite indicator of market breath, the McClennan Summation Index, is finally beginning to get to a level where it is becoming interesting. A move into negative territory, though some ways to go, will herald the probability that stocks will soon begin providing price action that brings solid technical support. This is good news particularly for those who have been out of the market since the early September bull move. In my books patience is a major key to achieving above average investment returns. Those investors who relaxed and held off while the herd chased the trend should now begin to sharpen their attention. At the moment the Dow Transports (DJ-20) are showing more strength than the Dow Industrials (DJ-30). However, Technology, Mid-Caps and Small Caps all remain strong despite pull-backs. This indicates that the March 2009 bull trend is still solidly in place for the moment.
American and European stock exchanges have plenty of information to digest. The Republican victory in the lower house in Washington more than likely means there will be no Quantitative Easing mark 3, not without a fight anyway. This has implications for FED interest rates going forward. Without easy money to soak up new loan paper the FED will have to compete for funds. This action will force rates up. Bond holders beware.
Europe has the potential to turn into a basket case. Brussels still has not brought in the permanent structural systems necessary to provide bond auction stability. The inexperienced comments by Angela Merkel regarding bondholders sharing future pain rocked the Euro to its foundations. Until the matter is resolved the experience of Greece and Ireland is more than likely going to be forced upon Portugal, Spain Belgium and Italy. Strange days indeed for the Euro project. I have been saying for years that the Euro is not in totality a true currency but is in effect a sophisticated exchange rate mechanism of which the main beneficiaries are German exporters. Currently Berlin has the best of both worlds. It has access to European markets for its produce without having to worry about high exchange rates spoiling the party yet is does not really want to pay the full cost of creating a comprehensively sophisticated financial system. Much work remains to be done but how things play out will have major repercussions for the market. Currently in Germany Deutsche Bank is showing signs of major weakness and this is not good for the Euro area generally. Banco Santander, which until now was very strong, is beginning to break to the downside.
For those of us living in Ireland the events of the last two weeks have been humiliating. A team from the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the ECB (European Central Bank) agreed to grant the Irish Financial System a 3 year bailout of 85 billion Euro. However, Ireland must first draw down its last independent lifeline of 19 billion Euro that remains in its Sovereign Wealth Fund. Once these funds go the country will be left utterly broke, totally reliant on the grace of foreign credit. The rate on interest charged is an eye watering 5.8%. This rate is onerous and is an indication that potential default is being priced in. Thus the crisis in the Emerald Isle is far from over. The Parliament votes on its austerity budget December 7th. The eyes of the World will again be upon Dublin. If the vote fails, the IMF/ECB package will be put in some doubt, and all hell will break loose across European markets.
My ideal Emerging Market exchange traded fund; “EDC” is suffering a slight pullback due to the Korean crisis and its potential effect on China. When it starts to consolidate, MACD crossover and buying volume will begin to indicate the right time to jump back in. EDC is a wonderful momentum instrument to actively trade and for those who wish to micro focus their game plan I highly recommend they give this Direxion player some serious consideration. Indicators to use are Slow Stochastics, MACD, Volume and Market Breath along with our classic Bullish Candlestick Price Set-Up.


CHATHAM — Glenwood High School’s principal has given notice that he will resign June 30 after one year on the job.
Russell Tepen, 50, whose resignation was approved Thursday night by the Ball-Chatham School District board, said he is quitting to devote more time to family responsibilities in the Jerseyville area.
Tepen, who replaced Jim Lee, Glenwood High principal for nine years, said an increase in family-related responsibilities in the past year influenced his decision.
Tepen said he first began discussing his quandary with the district’s superintendent, Douglas Wood, in January, so his resignation shouldn’t have been a surprise to the district’s leaders.
Tepen, who is single, said he needs to spend more time at his family’s farm in Jersey County, where he grew up. He said he also needs to spend more time with an 8-year-old boy in Jerseyville for whom he is legal guardian, and he needs to assist his ailing mother, also in Jerseyville.
A brother of Tepen's who lived in the area and had helped shoulder some of those responsibilities moved away over the past year, he said.
“I’ve got to support my family a little more,” he said.
Tepen, whose base salary as principal is $110,000 per year, leads a school of about 1,470 students.
Before accepting the Glenwood High job, he was an administrator in the Alton school district for five years, including a stint as principal of Alton High School.
He said he has job prospects closer to Jerseyville in the works but isn’t ready to announce anything.
Wood and officers on the school board couldn’t be reached for comment.
When asked to react to Tepen’s resignation, Kari Kath, president of the district’s teachers union, the Ball-Chatham Education Association, didn't address Tepen’s situation directly.


Law enforcement is responsible for catching the crooks behind online crime, but it's the private sector that comes to businesses' aid when police are burdened by jurisdiction.
Private companies have become the first aiders of the digital world when businesses are struck down or harassed by hackers, with Trend Micro senior manager of Strategic Products Adam Biviano telling ZDNet that his company and many others like it can be faster to respond than law enforcement.
While Biviano was clear to state that only law enforcement can prosecute criminals, he views Trend Micro and similar organisations as taking on the protector role — a role that he said multinational security companies are well equipped for.
"One of the benefits of a company like Trend and other security firms is we are cross boundary. We have the ability to shut down traffic that our customers are seeing, regardless of where our customers are."
This advantage effectively lumps the private sector with the first-responder role, helping businesses that are being affected to get immediate assistance.
"From a tactical point of view, if you're talking about shutting down a piece of traffic today that's affecting a small business, then that small business will hire Trend Micro or hire a security firm to protect it today," he said.
Going through the traditional channels of talking to local law enforcement, having them contact their counterparts in the offending country, and obtaining a court order to cease the transmission of offending traffic can be a long and drawn-out process.
But approaching it from the victim's side and putting in place IP bans can be done in real time, according to Biviano.
That doesn't mean that law-enforcement agencies are irrelevant, however. Biviano said that Trend Micro often works alongside law-enforcement agencies, sharing information as necessary.
He said that in the long term, law enforcement must be engaged to tackle the root of the problem: the criminals.
"If you're talking about bringing down the entire botnet with the specific criminal element that's controlling it, that's certainly not the job of Trend Micro. That's the job of the relevant law-enforcement agency, and we'll work with them. "


November 23, 2016 Donald Trump.
Two new Cabinet nominations have been announced Tuesday, with President-elect Trump picking Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. They are the first women picked for top-level administration jobs in Trump’s administration. Both positions require Senate confirmation.
Trump also said in a tweet he was seriously considering Dr. Ben Carson for the HUD post.
Trump arrived in Palm Beach County Tuesday evening, and settled in at Mar-a-Lago without incident. He will spend the Thanksgiving holiday here.
President-elect Trump’s meeting with the New York Times dominated much of the coverage Tuesday after he told the Times he disavowed extreme right-wing groups, would keep an open mind on climate change and would not prosecute Hillary Clinton.
The “Trump rally” on Wall Street continued with the Dow Jones industrial average breaking the 19,000-point ceiling.
Poll says Trump not honest or level headed but good for economy, security.
What did Trump tell the New York Times?
Bus crash in Tennessee so sad & so terrible. Condolences to all family members and loved ones. These beautiful children will be remembered!
I am seriously considering Dr. Ben Carson as the head of HUD. I've gotten to know him well–he's a greatly talented person who loves people!


All Master students in Teaching and Curriculum (with the only exception of those working towards their first initial teaching certification, who instead complete a Comprehensive Portfolio) need to complete a Master's Essay as the culminating assessment of their program (Px and Sx program codes). There are three possible formats for the Master’s Essay: 1. Library Research, 2. Field Research Project, or 3. Examining Your Own Educational Practice.
In the Description area above, please indicate the format chosen for the Masters Essay as well as the title. If there is public URL for the essay provided by the student, please include the URL as well.
Candidates will identify a significant issue or problem in contemporary U.S. education, do a review of the relevant literature, locate the research in a theoretical framework, state their position, and support it with conceptual arguments or empirical evidence in current educational theory and research. Candidates should also locate this position in the literature. The implications for education, educational theory, and future research must be clearly stated.
Candidates will address a specific educational issue or problem through reporting and analyzing a research project they have undertaken in an educational setting other than their own classroom. Like option 1, this essay should identify the problem they examined, locate the research in a theoretical framework and, in a review of the relevant literature, describe what has already been done to study it. The essay must also describe how the research was conducted and analyze the findings. The implications for educational practice, theory, and future research should be clearly stated. For example, how do these findings contradict or support current educational theory and research?
In this essay format, candidates conduct research that examines their own teaching practice. Candidates should locate the rationale for the research in current educational theory or research (literature review). The research question/s that candidates explored systematically during their experience should also be clearly articulated, located in a significant educational problem, and grounded in a theoretical framework. A rich and detailed description of the practices examined, how the research question was explored, and an analysis of the results should constitute the body of the essay. This section should incorporate or refer to attached artifacts, such as teacher materials, lesson plans, examples of student work, videotapes of classroom events, etc. The implications for the candidate′s own practice, in particular, and for curriculum development, educational practice, and school reform in general should be clearly stated. In other words, what are the bigger questions that come out of your research for the field?
The problem or issue being addressed is not articulated in a clear, convincing way, nor is its significance established.
The problem or issue is addressed with some degree of clarity, but without a fully compelling, convincing argument about why this research is worthy, timely, and significant.
The problem or issue is addressed with both clarity and conviction. A convincing argument is made about why the research is worthy, timely, and significant.
The review of relevant theory and research literatures is weak and unconvincing. There is insufficient evidence of a knowledge base informed by contemporary literatures in the candidate's domain of study. Bibliographic references may be missing, outdated, or only weakly connected to the research issue addressed. The candidate's command and synthesis of theory may be unconvincing or even confusing. There is little evidence of an original, critical synthesis of research literatures nor is there an under girding framework informed by theory.
The review of relevant theory and research literatures is only moderately convincing. There is moderate evidence of a knowledge base informed by contemporary literatures in the candidate's chosen domain of study. Bibliographic references are in most cases appropriately provided and connected to the research issue(s) addressed. The candidate attempts a synthesis of relevant theoretical literatures, but with mixed or moderate success. There is an attempt made to articulate a theoretical framework, but the achievement of this synthesis is partial.
The review of relevant theory and research literatures is clear, critical, and convincing. The candidate's command of contemporary literatures in his/her chosen domain of study is obvious. Bibliographic references are appropriately provided; their links to the research issue(s) address are always clear. The paper evidences a creative, original synthesis of theoretical material and research literatures that leads to the articulation of a clear, under girding framework informed by theory.
The connections between data, analyses, and the research issue addressed and arguments made are weakly articulated – if at all. There is little or no articulation of the rationale for the candidate's selection and use of particular research methodologies and forms of data analysis. Data may be presented without adequate framing information or explanation in terms of the wider goals of the paper.
The connections between data, analyses, and the research issue addressed and the arguments made are articulated with moderate success. A rationale for the candidate's use of particular research methods and forms of analysis may be provided, but the links between this rationale and the ensuing arguments made may be less than fully clear or convincing. Data are presented with some framing information and some description or explanation of their meaning.
The connections between data, analyses, and the research issue addressed and the arguments made are clear and convincing. A rationale for the candidate's use of particular research methods and forms of analysis is provided; this rationale has clear links to the candidate's synthesis of theory and research literatures and to the ensuing argument(s) made across the paper. Data are presented with appropriate framing information and description or explanation of their meaning in terms of the wider goals of the paper.
The conclusions drawn are weakly or inadequately supported by the evidence presented. There is little in the way of summation that includes discussion of the wider implications (for research, practice, policy, theory) of the work. The conclusion does not show evidence of a perspective that takes into account potential critiques and a potentially wide, diverse readership.
The conclusions drawn are supported moderately well by the evidence presented, though with partial rather than full success. There is a summation of the central points made and some discussion of the wider implications of the work. The conclusion provides some evidence of a perspective that at least considers potential critiques and attempts to reach beyond a narrowly construed readership.
The conclusions drawn are fully, richly supported by the evidence presented. There is a clear and convincing summation of the central arguments made as well as discussion of the wider implications of the work (for research, practice, policy, and/or theory). The concluding arguments show evidence of a critical perspective that takes into account potential critiques and that addresses a wide, diverse readership.
The writing reveals a lack of awareness of intended audience in terms of word choice and style, and a lack of command over the genre that is most suited to the wider goals as these are articulated in the candidate's paper. The sequencing of sections may be confusing and/or the transitions between them weakly achieved. The introductory and concluding sections of the paper may be weak or barely discernable to the reader.
The writing reveals some awareness of intended audience and some effort to match genre to both audience and the wider goals of the work. However, the writing may at times be unclear or inconsistent: the sequencing of sections may be confusing in some places, transitions may at times be weak, or word choice may be awkward or ill-matched to the genre most suited to the candidate's larger purposes for the work. The introductory and concluding sections of the paper provide only moderate support and clarification for the reader.
The writing reveals a thoughtful, discerning awareness of audience, style, and genre. The genre and stylistic choices made by the candidate are appropriate to the wider goals of the candidate, and they are consistent in terms of their use throughout the paper. The sequencing of sections and transitions are smoothly achieved; the argument built up across the paper is clear and accessible for the reader. The introductory and concluding sections of the paper provide ample support and further clarity vis-à-vis the paper's argument and its overall structure.


Nature broke that pact Oct. 25, when a violent downpour unleashed unprecedented fury on the town of Vernazza and the surrounding hills along Italy’s northwestern coast, provoking dozens of landslides that swept a sludgy river of earth, trees, cars and debris onto the small seaside settlement. The bodies of three townspeople swept out to sea were recovered weeks later in French coastal waters.
Two months along, much of the mud and debris — which reached about 13 feet, just below the height of first-floor balconies — has been cleared from Vernazza’s main street, which was a lively succession of restaurants, bars and tourist shops.Barely a quarter of the town’s 600 residents returned by early January to their homes, but the alleys resonate with the sounds of heavy machinery, drilling and hammering. Though dressed in the neon colors of public safety workers, many of the crew members are local volunteers, men and women from Vernazza or nearby towns, come to give a hand as best they can.
Matteo Barletta, an architect mapping damage done to the town’s buildings, said that several teams were at work on the reconstruction, and that a list of priorities had been set. “The bakery, pharmacy, tobacconist, bank, fish shop and butcher, these are to reopen to reactivate the town,” he said.
Said Mayor Vincenzo Resasco, “There’s a lot of work to be done, because Vernazza is still not secure. The territory isn’t in the condition to withstand even normal rainfalls.
Securing the town includes painstakingly restoring the stone walls that delineate the terraced hilltops that surmount it. “With the stones that came down, we’ve recovered enough to build a second wall of China,” Resasco said.
These man-made terraced patches where vines and olive trees have been cultivated for centuries once ensured the survival of the five villages, best reached by water until the advent of the railway.
Tourism changed Cinque Terre, and not for the better, said Claudio Frigerio, a retired union worker and activist who has long lobbied for a more environmentally conscious approach to the area’s development. While tourism has been a lifeline, the crowds sometimes give the walking paths a rush-hour intensity. Tour groups and cruises can swell visitors here to around 2.5 million a year.
And as tourism supplanted farming and fishing as the town’s chief economy, maintenance of the terraced hills lagged, an oversight that many say was a contributing factor to the devastation of Oct 25. In 1951, about 3,500 acres were cultivated in the Cinque Terre. Today, there are fewer than 275, according to Vernazza town officials.
The Cinque Terre is one of the few rural areas in Italy where people don’t leave “because there is work here,” he said.
Angelo Maria Betta, mayor of Monterosso al Mare, another Cinque Terre town badly damaged, cannot wait to reopen flooded businesses for the spring. “If we don’t fix the Cinque Terre, we’re going to make a hole in the local economy that’s going to be hard to fill,” he said. Officials say the paths linking the towns will be open by Easter, and they vow to restore the towns as quickly as they can.


BEIJING — Mao Zedong famously dismissed the atomic bomb as a “paper tiger,” able to kill and terrify, but not decisive in war. Even so, China built a nuclear arsenal of its own, and now concerns about the effectiveness of that arsenal as a deterrent are driving it into confrontation with the United States over an antimissile system being built in South Korea. Here’s an explanation of why.
How big is China’s nuclear arsenal?
China conducted its first nuclear test in 1964, and has developed a stable of nuclear missiles. But it is not a big stable, compared with the thousands of warheads held by the United States and Russia.
China does not reveal the size of its nuclear forces. It has about 260 nuclear warheads that could be put on missiles, and by the Pentagon’s latest estimate, China has between 75 and 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles. Some estimates are lower, and one recent assessment said 40 to 50 of China’s ballistic missiles could reach the continental United States.
The United States has deployed about 1,370 nuclear warheads and has stockpiled more than 6,500, and has submarines and aircraft able to launch nuclear weapons.
China has also built several submarines that can launch nuclear missiles. But even its latest-model submarine “is noisy and quite vulnerable to anti-submarine warfare,” and therefore is not a very potent addition to its nuclear deterrent, M. Taylor Fravel, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Fiona S. Cunningham, a graduate student there, who recently published an assessment of China’s nuclear modernization, said by email.
China has also been upgrading some of its missiles so that several nuclear warheads can be placed on a single missile that then unleashes them on different targets.
China has had the ability to put multiple warheads on missiles since the 1990s, but seems to have done so only recently, when some missiles were installed with three or four warheads, said Jeffrey Lewis, an expert on China’s nuclear forces at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. This showed how China has been cautious in playing catch-up to the United States, he said.
Why has China’s nuclear arsenal stayed relatively small?
By the time China joined the nuclear club, the United States and Russia were already well ahead in building a stockpile of weapons. Mao decided to stick to a relatively small arsenal big enough to serve as a deterrent, and that decision was made a fait accompli by the political turmoil of Mao’s era, which held back the nuclear weapons program.
Ever since, Chinese nuclear doctrine has stuck to the idea of a “minimum means of reprisal,” with a force designed to survive and retaliate after an initial nuclear attack. Alongside that, China has a nuclear “no first use” policy: that it will not be the first to launch nuclear weapons against another nuclear foe, and that it will not use its nuclear weapons against a country without nuclear weapons.
Even so, China has been expanding and upgrading its nuclear forces, and that modernization may speed up if the government feels that it is falling too far behind the United States.
“China is probably confident in its ability to be able to retaliate, but given the size and sophistication of U.S. nuclear forces and the steady development of ballistic missile defenses, coupled with China’s small nuclear arsenal, the margin for error is thin,” Mr. Fravel and Ms. Cunningham said.
Why does China fear the antimissile system?
The Chinese government worries that the American antimissile system, called the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad, could erode its nuclear deterrent — its ability to scare off potential foes from ever considering a nuclear attack.
Its chief worry is not that Thaad could take down missiles: the system offers a canopy of potential protection over South Korea, but does not have the reach to bring down China’s intercontinental ballistic missiles. Instead, China’s complaint is focused on Thaad’s radar system, which Chinese experts have said could be used to track the People’s Liberation Army’s missile forces.
Deploying Thaad’s current radar system “would undermine China’s nuclear deterrence by collecting important data on Chinese nuclear warheads,” Li Bin, a nuclear weapons expert at Tsinghua University in Beijing, wrote last week.
He and other Chinese experts say the radar could identify which Chinese missiles are carrying decoy warheads intended to outfox foes. That would be like being able to see what cards China holds in a nuclear poker game, and that could weaken China’s deterrent, they say.
For China, it does not matter that the American and South Korean governments have said Thaad is meant only to foil North Korean missiles. Mr. Wu said.
Chinese experts are nearly unanimous in supporting Beijing’s criticisms. But quite a few foreign experts say those fears are overstated or unfounded. The United States already has access to radar systems in Qatar and Taiwan able to peer at China’s missile tests, and Japan has two radar systems just like the one used for Thaad, Mr. Lewis said.
“I don’t see the deployment of Thaad in South Korea as a significant improvement in the ability of the U.S. to monitor Chinese missile tests,” he said.
The Chinese government appears to have an exaggerated view of the Thaad radar’s abilities, two experts, Jaganath Sankaran and Bryan L. Fearey, wrote in a recent paper. That radar is often said to have a range of about 620 miles. Some Chinese experts say its reach could be much farther.
Even so, China’s real, underlying worry appears to be that Thaad could open the door to a much wider, more advanced fence of antimissile systems arrayed around it by America’s allies, several experts said. That would magnify Chinese worries about the effectiveness of its nuclear deterrent, and entrench Chinese fears of encirclement by a coalition knit together by a shared antimissile system.
“I think this is what really worries them, because then what you have is the basis for a common interoperable system,” said Michael J. Green, the former senior director for Asia in the National Security Council under President George W. Bush. “I think it’s more about the creation of a virtual collective security system,” he said of China’s worries about Thaad.
Will China alter its nuclear policy in response to Thaad?
Last week, the Global Times, a stridently nationalist Chinese newspaper, warned in an editorial that China could consider abandoning its “no first use” policy if Thaad leads to other antimissile systems deemed threatening to China.
But for now at least such threats are bluster, said many experts. China is far from taking a dramatic step like abandoning its bedrock nuclear policy, they said.
“I don’t see ‘no first use’ going soon — at least most responsible officers and officials stick to the policy, despite ongoing debate behind the scenes,” said Douglas H. Paal, a China expert who worked on the National Security Council under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush.
Instead, China is likely to respond by spending more on its nuclear, missile and antimissile forces “to ensure survivability of a second-strike force, and expanded penetration aids and decoys to defeat U.S. missile defenses in the event of a second strike,” Mr. Paal said.
In the shorter term, China may accelerate the introduction of a new generation of missiles, the Dongfeng-41, which can be moved around on roads and will also be able to carry multiple warheads, said Mr. Fravel and Ms. Cunningham.
China is also working on a “glide technology to alter the trajectory of a warhead as it nears its target, which could be used to overcome U.S. missile defenses in the long term,” they said.
Adam Wu contributed reporting from Beijing.