American Marathoners Can Reach the Olympics One Way: Going the Distance

Abstract: LOS ANGELES — America’s top runners will gather on Saturday for the highest-stakes long-distance event in the nation: the Olympic marathon trials. “Short of being at the Olympics, this is the highest stage for American marathoning,” said Shaluinn Fullove, a 38-year-old executive at Google who overcame thyroid cancer in 2005 to qualify for the trials. “To be included among them is the culmination of everything we do in running in this country. It’s proving that we can overcome.” The event is a uniquely American tradition. Most countries determine their Olympic running teams through a committee. Since 1968, U.S.A. Track & Field has chosen its team solely through the top three finishers of the crowded, looping, egalitarian race. Tactics, patience and perseverance can help outrun even the most exceptional degrees of natural talent. “Once every four years, the top runners in America come together for a race that requires no pedigree and gives no appearance fee,” said Amby Burfoot, an editor at Runner’s World. “Each of our runners must earn his or her bid for the Olympics — we tell them to line up, we’re going to shoot the gun, and you decide for yourself. It feels very American. One athlete, one vote.” It often leads to a race that is uncommonly slow, as racing tactics tend to outweigh sheer speed. “When the gun goes, it could be poetry in motion or it could be a horror story,” said Lee Troop, a coach of several entrants from Boulder, Colo. “You can’t write a script for it.” Top athletes calibrate their speed to what they hope is 95 percent fitness, mindful that their real race is on the global stage in Rio in August. (In 2004, neither Meb Keflezighi nor Deena Kastor won a marathon trial, but he won the silver and she won the bronze at those Olympics in Athens.) With about 375 competitors, this is the largest Olympic marathon trials field. U.S.A.T.F. changed its standards at the last minute, so many athletes found out in mid-December that they suddenly had a ticket to the most coveted event of their lives. Lauren Fog was one. A former elementary school teacher who worked as a nanny and a Starbucks barista while training in Boulder to qualify, Fog qualified on a technicality, being two seconds over the 2-hour-45-minute threshold, which qualified after the track and field group lowered the qualifying standard in December. She found out she was the last one to qualify while she was in the security line for a flight to Hawaii (and went anyway). She spoke gleefully of being mentioned in the same sentence as Shalane Flanagan, who has the top qualifying time. “That’s like watching a winner on the red carpet at the Oscars and then finding yourself in the same sentence as the actress, your hero,” Fog said. The race is being broadcast for the first time nationally, and athletes like Fog will be followed accordingly by a burgeoning community of distance running enthusiasts, who are organizing viewing parties and betting pools on a scale usually reserved for events like March Madness or the Super Bowl. The difference is that the runners they are cheering are a mixed gender pool of largely middle-aged amateur athletes from across the country with families and day jobs who uniformly proclaim that it is simply an honor to be there. Troop, the coach from Boulder, spoke of his athlete Curtis Begley, who has an excruciating knee injury but has postponed surgery until after the race. He will run one mile on Saturday and then will drop out to have his surgery. Sarah MacKay Robinson, the creative director for the women’s running company Oiselle, said the Olympic qualifying race was the apex of her decades-long athletic career. She is 32 and has been running since she was 12. “This is bigger than money or cash prizes; the top finisher has to earn her spot as much as I do,” Robinson said. “I’ve had three knee surgeries, have broken my back, have a toddler and husband, and work over 40 hours each week. I’ve thought about quitting so many times, and then I remember this race, and now I’m finally here. This is my Olympics.”

Marathon
Olympics
Running
2016 Summer Olympics


From High Street to SoHo, a Club Ethos

Abstract: “Let’s not panic,” Sir Philip Green, the proprietor of Topshop, the fashion behemoth that dominates Main Street retailing in England said Thursday morning. The retailer was pep-talking his staff moments before the doors were flung open to the hordes lined up on Broadway for the long-delayed opening of Topshop’s first American store, a 25,000-square-foot emporium in SoHo. “Let’s try to keep a nice even flow,” Mr. Green added, words that could easily serve as a mantra for the many American retailers struggling to lure warm bodies into stores during a recession, which the British merchant claimed has left his business untouched. “All journalists want to talk about is the recession, but somebody must be shopping, because we’re doing a couple of billion dollars of volume,” said Mr. Green, whose privately held Arcadia Group reported operating profits of $502 million for the year that ended in August, a decline of 6.1 percent from the previous year. Part of that owed to the volume of customers drawn into Topshop’s London flagship (as many as 250,000 pass through the doors of the Oxford Circus store every week, Mr. Green said). Replicating those numbers here would be a feat in any economy, let alone in a time of unrelenting doldrums. So to stir up crowds for the opening, Mr. Green dispatched promoters around the city, offering Topshop totes and gift cards redeemable for up to $500 to anyone who looked vaguely cool. Thus the crowd at the store smacked of hipster central casting: men wearing skinny jeans and asymmetric haircuts, and wayward “Gossip Girl” types whose studied dishevelment suggested they were on the walk of shame. It happens that this is exactly the look that Topshop has purveyed for the mainstream over the past decade, with styles that are both reasonably priced (most items cost $45 to $100) and of this precise moment, if not always of the one to come. Since Topshop opened its first store, in 1964, “fashion has changed dramatically” said Mary Homer, the company’s managing director, on Thursday. “It has been democratized, in a way.” One sign of that is the Topshop collaboration with the model Kate Moss. Originally a working-class girl from Croydon, London, the millionaire model’s personal style mirrors Topshop’s: an offhand mash-up of designs that draw equally from Paris runways, vintage stores and the street. When it was introduced at Topshop’s London store, Ms. Moss’s signature collection sold out in an hour. “I came in from L.A. just for this,” said Yvette Hartnett, a freelance stylist, when the doors in SoHo opened at 11 a.m. amid a flashbulb barrage. Separating herself from the herd, Ms. Harnett swiftly homed in on a rack of $85 sequined dresses and T-shirts with a kind of “Hee Haw” chic. Topshop, unlike such competitors as the Swedish retailer HM , trades as much on clubhouse atmospherics as design. And unlike its SoHo neighbor the bargain-priced Japanese retailer Uniqlo , Topshop makes no claim to providing wardrobe basics. Its fashions are inherently and unabashedly disposable. Or they are unless one has miscalculated the shelf life of spike-heeled patent leather platform shoes ($135). “Topshop is not as cheap as H & M, but it is fantastic visually and the store looks fun,” said Fern Penn, a SoHo retailer who, driven back by the streetside chaos, said she would return after the initial hubbub had died down. Late last year, Ms. Penn, who runs a clothing store called Rosebud, organized a coalition of 90 local merchants to try to do what Topshop had already accomplished on Day 1 — stimulating consumers again and getting them back into stores. Topshop, with its numerous designer “capsule” collections, D.J. booth, 32 changing rooms, V.I.P. suites, neon signs and a posse of stylists either locally hired or imported to assist fashion-challenged consumers, did appear to excite people. “It feels like a club,” said Julie Konig, as she headed for the cash register with a fringed leather purse ($135) and a $100 floral “Kate Moss for Topshop” dress (one of which Ms. Moss wore for an appearance on the “Today” show). “It’s got an energetic atmosphere,” said Barbara Hulanicki, a Topshop collaborator and the founder of Biba, a legendary London boutique. Biba, along with the old Fiorucci in New York, are clear forerunners of Topshop’s frenetic style of retailing, one so reliant on novelty (and low wage manufacture in Cambodia, Brazil and China) that as many as 300 new items are introduced at the London store each week. “The price points hit the sweet spot between $45 and $100,” said Ms. Penn, the SoHo merchant. “That’s not cheap-cheap, but it’s brilliant pricing because the consumer gets a fashion hit without going broke.” By mid-afternoon, the line to get into the store snaked north on Broadway, east on Broome Street and back down Crosby. As Ms. Hartnett, the stylist from L.A., said: “Recession or not, women will still always want to spend on clothes, cosmetics and having their hair done. That will never change.”

Topshop
SoHo (NYC)
Fashion and Apparel
Shopping and Retail


Reid Is Home After Surgery for Injuries

Abstract: Senator Harry Reid of Nevada was back at his home in Washington on Monday after surgery for injuries sustained in an exercise accident on Jan. 1. Mr. Reid, the Senate’s Democratic leader, was “sitting in his living room with Mrs. Reid, cracking jokes and asking about the whip count for this evening’s vote on the Keystone pipeline legislation,” his office said. Doctors removed a blood clot from Mr. Reid’s right eye and repaired bones in his face, his office said. The surgery took three and a half hours, and Mr. Reid was under full anesthesia. Doctors say they are hopeful that he will regain sight in the eye. Mr. Reid is expected to monitor Senate business from home this week.

Senate
Harry Reid
Nevada
Democrats
US
Congress
US Politics


Kings’ Streak Ends at 4 Games as Rangers Stretch Theirs to 6

Abstract: The Rangers passed a stern test at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night, stretching their winning streak to six games with a 4-2 victory against the stubborn Los Angeles Kings . Vinny Prospal struck twice, Brian Boyle, a former King, scored the decisive goal and Marian Gaborik notched his sixth of the season. All of Gaborik’s goals have come in the third period. He and Prospal are tied for second in the league with 10 points each, two behind Alex Ovechkin. Gaborik’s goal Wednesday night was the Rangers’ only shot in the final period, when they were outshot by 10-1 as the Kings racked up a 36-21 overall shooting advantage. “We just couldn’t catch up to them,” Rangers Coach John Tortorella said. “I don’t know if it was a function of us playing three games in four nights, but we looked like a tired team.” Like the Rangers, the Kings rebounded from an opening-night loss with a winning streak, putting together four straight. Like the Rangers, they stood second in their conference. The Kings’ big line — Anze Kopitar, Ryan Smyth and Justin Williams — had combined for nine goals before Wednesday’s game, one more than the Rangers’ top line of Brandon Dubinsky-Gaborik-Prospal. But the Rangers’ top three outscored them, 3-1. The coup de grâce was delivered by Gaborik, who took Prospal’s long pass, nonchalantly reaching back with one hand on his stick as he crossed the Kings’ blue line, and snapped a laser shot to the top corner that beat goaltender Erik Ersberg to make the score 4-2. Gaborik has scored at least a point in every game. “That is what a world-class player does,” said Henrik Lundqvist, who made 34 saves. “They step it up at the right time.” The Rangers’ power play did the damage in the first period, with Prospal tipping in a shot from the point-a-game rookie defenseman Michael Del Zotto at 3 minutes 11 seconds, and Prospal scoring again off a goalmouth scramble at 13:03. Tortorella had five forwards on the power play for that second goal, the 200th of Prospal’s career. Gaborik retrieved the puck as a keepsake for Prospal. “He knew,” Prospal said afterward. “Guys read the stat sheets.” Boyle’s score came at 2:17 of the second period on only his third shift of the game. His shot hit the post and caromed in off Ersberg. A 6-foot-7 fourth-line center, Boyle was acquired by the Rangers for a third-round draft choice over the summer after playing only 36 games the last two seasons for the Kings, which he called frustrating. But Boyle was sent off at 5:53 for hooking, and Michal Handzus scored on the power play to make the score 3-2. SLAP SHOTS The N.H.L. responded Wednesday to allegations made by Theo Fleury in his newly released memoir , “Playing With Fire,” that he failed several league-administered drug tests as a Ranger in 2001 without consequence. “The terms of our program preclude us from responding with specifics to Mr. Fleury’s assertions,” the N.H.L. deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement. “However, we are prepared to say that his general recollection of that time period is factually inaccurate in a number of respects.”

Los Angeles Kings
Hockey Ice
New York Rangers


The Best of Week 1 in the N.F.L.

Abstract: Defensive end J. J. Watt had a sack, blocked an extra-point attempt, recovered a fumble and swatted down a pass in his first game for the Texans since signing a six-year, $100 million contract on Monday. Watt blocked the extra-point attempt after the Redskins’ first touchdown and pounced on a fumble in the third quarter for the seventh recovery of his career. Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer threw for 230 yards and a score and played brilliantly at times in the second half against the Steelers in a performance that should strengthen his grip on the starting job over the rookie Johnny Manziel. Hoyer held off Manziel, a Heisman Trophy winner, during an uninspired training-camp battle, and Coach Mike Pettine promised the well-traveled Hoyer he would not have to look over his shoulder. Titans kicker Ryan Succop was perfect on four field-goal attempts against the Chiefs, who released him last weekend. His performance included a field goal just before halftime that put the Titans up by 10-3, and the fourth-quarter kick that capped the 26-10 victory. INJURY REPORT The Texans’ Jadeveon Clowney , the top overall pick in this year’s draft, injured a knee in the second quarter against the Redskins. ... Rams quarterback Shaun Hill left the game against the Vikings with a thigh injury. Austin Davis replaced him to start the second half, making his N.F.L. debut. ... Two Chiefs, the Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Johnson and the starting defensive tackle Mike DeVito , sustained Achilles’ tendon injuries against the Titans. ... The Eagles’ All-Pro left guard Evan Mathis left the game against the Jaguars in the second quarter with an injured left knee. ... Browns running back Ben Tate injured a knee in the second quarter against the Steelers after making six carries for 45 yards. MONDAY’S MATCHUP Chargers at Cardinals 10:20 p.m., ESPN Line: Cardinals by 3 Each of these teams experienced a renaissance last season, with the Chargers returning to the playoffs and the Cardinals winning 10 games for only the second time since relocating to Arizona. Both teams like to use an aerial offense, but Philip Rivers of the Chargers is a far more efficient quarterback than Carson Palmer. San Diego’s stable of running backs also provides enough balance that the Cardinals’ defense, which performed well last season, should struggle to keep up. Losing Karlos Dansby to free agency and Darnell Dockett to injury will not help Arizona in that regard. Pick: Chargers BENJAMIN HOFFMAN


New Scrutiny for Diabetes and Sweeteners

Abstract: A new study that found a higher prevalence of diabetes in countries with a high level of fructose corn syrup in their food supplies came under attack before it was even released Monday, highlighting the rising controversy over sweeteners and the role they play in the nation’s health. The study found that type 2 diabetes occurred 20 percent more often in countries where high-fructose corn syrup was in common use, compared with countries where it was rarely — or never — added to food. The study’s authors reached their conclusion by evaluating existing statistics on body mass index, diabetes rates and global food consumption. But the correlation increased after adjustments were made for country level differences in body mass, population and gross domestic product. “We’re not saying that high-fructose corn syrup causes diabetes or that it is the only factor or even the only dietary factor with a relation to diabetes,” said Dr. Michael I. Goran, a professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and an author of the study. “But it does support a growing body of evidence linking high-fructose corn syrup and diabetes.” The study included 43 countries where the availability of high-fructose corn syrup ranged from zero kilos per capita, like in India and 13 other countries, to 24.78 kilos (54.6 pounds) per capita in the United States. Food makers have increased their use of high-fructose corn syrup as an alternative to sugar in sodas, breakfast cereals and baked goods, and its use is expanding globally, although it still is hard to find in foods in many European countries and India. The study, co-authored by Stanley J. Ulijaszek, director of the Unit of Biocultural Variation and Obesity at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Oxford, and Emily E. Ventura, a research associate at the Childhood Obesity Research Center at U.S.C., was scheduled for publication Tuesday in the journal Global Public Health . But a copy reached the Corn Refiners Association , the industry group representing the companies that produce high-fructose corn syrup, which on Monday fired off a rebuttal . “This latest article by Dr. Goran is severely flawed, misleading and risks setting off unfounded alarm about a safe and proven food and beverage ingredient,” Audrae Erickson, president of the association, said in a statement. Marion Nestle, the author of “Food Politics” and a blog of the same name and a professor at New York University, also was critical of the study. “I think it’s a stretch to say the study shows high-fructose corn syrup has anything special to do with diabetes,” Dr. Nestle said. “Diabetes is a function of development. The more cars, more TVs, more cellphones, more sugar, more meat, more fat, more calories, more obesity, the more diabetes you have.” She noted that the study “falls right in the middle of the Corn Refiners fight with the Sugar Association,” a reference to the legal war being waged between the two industry groups over the marketing of high-fructose corn syrup. Dr. Goran said he was prepared for criticism of the study, because the Corn Refiners attacked previous research he did on high-fructose corn syrup in soda. At a two-day workshop earlier this month on clinical research strategies for fructose metabolism hosted by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Dr. Goran said representatives of industry groups and food companies participated along with the scientists. “There was definitely some electricity in the air,” Dr. Goran said. “Scientists were around the tables, but industry people were in the galleries — corn refiners, soda people, sugar people — and they were able to make comments and ask questions. I got shouted down a few times, which made me uncomfortable.”

Diabetes
Food
University of Southern California
Research
Global Public Health
Artificial Sweeteners
Diet and Nutrition
Corn Syrup and Sweeteners
Soft Drinks
Corn Refiners Assn


Roger Federer Rallies to Defeat Gaël Monfils in U.S. Open Quarterfinal

Abstract: Gaël Monfils very nearly did enough on Thursday night to break up the all-star coaches reunion. Mixing speeds, spins and bright ideas in the gusting winds that are part of the Arthur Ashe Stadium experience, he won the first two sets against Roger Federer. Monfils, rarely losing focus for a change, hardly stopped there, earning himself two match points on Federer’s serve in the 10th game of the fourth set. But the standing ovation that soon followed would be for Federer, and when this plot-twisting United States Open quarterfinal reached its conclusion shortly before midnight, Federer had typed another exclamation point into the story of his resurgent season, rallying to win 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in 3 hours 20 minutes, brisk for a five-set match “I feel lucky to be able to do a press conference as the winner instead of the loser,” Federer said later. “But I’m also proud that I fought and stayed with him. The problem was that I was just one point from the end.” Federer has now come back to win on nine occasions from a two-set deficit, but he has been more the ultimate tennis artist than the ultimate escape artist. According to the ATP Tour, Thursday night was the first time since the first round of the 2000 United States Open that Federer has rallied from match point down in singles to win in a Grand Slam tournament. “The margins are so, so slim at that point,” Federer said. “It’s not really in your control really anymore. He needs one net cord or something so silly. When guys wish you good luck before the match, that’s when you hope it’s gonna kick in.” Image Monfils was ahead, 5-4, in the fourth set and had two match points before Federer seized control. Credit Barton Silverman/The New York Times Kick in it did, and while Monfils has the stuff of a showman, Federer – even at age 33 with millions of dollars and 17 major singles titles in the bank – still has the desire of a champion. Instead of Monfils making a late breakthrough at Flushing Meadows, it will be Federer making a return to the semifinals for the first time since 2011, leaving Monfils to trail 2-8 in career head-to-head matches against Federer. He will do so in the company of his new co-coach Stefan Edberg, the elegant, net-rushing Swede who won back-to-back U.S. Opens in 1991 and 1992 and who joined Federer’s team this season. Federer’s opponent on Saturday will be the 14th-seeded Marin Cilic, the Croatian veteran who is now coached by his compatriot Goran Ivanisevic, a former Wimbledon champion. In the other semifinal, Novak Djokovic, now coached by former No. 1 and Wimbledon champion Boris Becker, will face Kei Nishikori, now coached by former French Open champion Michael Chang along with Dante Bottini. Edberg, Ivanisevic, Becker and Chang all played against each other when they were winning major titles. And after nearly a full season, the evidence — already considerable when Ivan Lendl worked with Andy Murray — appears indisputable: Star players turned star coaches do make a difference (Tomas Berdych, beaten soundly by Cilic on Thursday, is already talking hopefully about finding a way to hire Lendl). “It’s crazy and it’s fun and it’s great to see Michael, Stefan and Boris all in the semifinals,” Ivanisevic said. “We had so many great matches against each other, and now we are sitting there and we can’t do anything, just clap and hope our guys are playing well and winning. Now one of us is going to win a Grand Slam again as a coach. Who? It’s going to be interesting.” The only man who could have spoiled the symmetry was Monfils, who has no formal coach for the moment and seemed none the worse for the lack of guidance as he swept through his first four matches here without dropping a set. He won the first two sets against Federer despite rolling his right ankle while changing direction in the second game of the second set. But he continued without apparent difficulty after being examined by a trainer on the next changeover. Meanwhile, Federer was the one looking sluggish despite his attempts to push forward. His repeated attempts to drop shot the speedy Monfils looked more like wishful thinking than clear thinking. Monfils’s difficult-to-read blend of offense and defense, of raw power and conservative shotmaking, was also making it tough for Federer to find his bearings. And though the Swiss did lift his game to win the third set with the big, boisterous crowd audibly in his corner, Monfils then managed to shake off an early break of serve in the fourth by breaking back to 2-2. But Monfils’s biggest break could have come with Federer serving to stay in the match at 4-5. Federer quickly fell behind 15-40 after making two forehand unforced errors and looking as if he would again go out of the tournament meekly, just as he had last year in straight sets against Tommy Robredo of Spain, another veteran he had long dominated. Federer won five straight U.S. Open titles from 2004 to 2008, but the tournament has lately become a place that has brought him more pain than joy. It was here in cavernous, blustery Ashe Stadium that he lost a lead against Juan Martin del Potro in the 2009 final; here that he cracked after holding two match points of his own against Novak Djokovic in back-to-back semifinals in 2010 and 2011. But Federer has been playing with renewed verve and confidence throughout the summer — reaching the final in Wimbledon and winning in Cincinnati — and in a time of deep tennis trouble, he managed to come up with solutions. He did it by sticking to the Edberg playbook and staying aggressive. On the first match point, Federer ripped a fine first serve wide that would have been a winner against less agile opposition. But Monfils lunged to his right and put the return in play as Federer swooped forward and hit a swinging forehand volley in midcourt. The shot was not a clean winner but it did force Monfils to stretch for his two-handed backhand passing shot, one of his best weapons throughout the evening. But this passing shot under duress sailed long. On the second match point, Monfils held up his hand with Federer preparing to serve, forcing him to reload. But the Swiss calmly slammed another first serve into play, which Monfils read correctly and sliced deep with his forehand. Monfils then retreated several steps as Federer lined up his forehand, which he struck crosscourt. Monfils, now far behind the baseline, reached it but hit a weak forehand that bounced inside the service box. Federer pounced and hit a forehand winner down the line. Crisis averted, and when Federer won the next two points to get to 5-5, many in the crowd rose to their feet and applauded. Video For some tennis fans at the United States Open, chasing down players for autographs is as fun as watching the matches. Credit Credit Matt Rourke/Associated Press “He really played the match points well,” Monfils said. “I had the feeling I couldn’t do much.” Monfils may regret not playing the second one more aggressively, and he will definitely regret serving two double faults to lose his serve in the next game and allow Federer to serve successfully for the fourth set. “I felt I had more chances throughout the fourth than he did, so it would have been an unbelievable letdown for me to get broken at 5-4 and lose a match like that,” Federer said. The rest, to borrow a French word, was dénouement, as Monfils, understandably rattled, lost his serve to start the fifth set and Federer started rolling in earnest with the crowd at his back and the once tricky wind now a whisper. “It was really an emotional match,” Federer said. “I really felt so much warmth from the fans. Even the final at Wimbledon was marvelous even though I lost in the end. To get this kind of support around the world really means a lot, and to feel that in the biggest tennis arena in the world, you can only say that was an incredible feeling.” Monfils won a greater percentage of the baseline rallies in the match as Federer struggled, particularly early, to find his range. But Federer, despite Monfils’s reach and athleticism in defense, was able to control the forecourt, just as Edberg once did on these grounds. The Swiss won 53 of 74 points at net and may need a similar strike rate against Cilic, who is a tall, rangy and a powerful force from the baseline himself. “I’m happy I’m spending some time at the net, because that’s going to keep giving me confidence to keep on doing that as we move along in the tournament,” said Federer. “I’m happy I kept on pressing, and that I got a reward for it tonight.” It was, however, a matter of inches, or centimeters to a couple of Europeans like Monfils and Federer. Monfils took the reversal of fortune with surprising equanimity, but his eyes did flash when he was asked if a defeat like this made him think it was time to get in tune with his times and hire a former Grand Slam champion as his own coach. “It’s easy to say,” Monfils said. “But if Roger misses that swing volley on match point or hits it off the frame or hits it a bit slower so I can control the backhand pass, I don’t think you’d be asking me that kind of question.”

Roger Federer
Tennis
Gael Monfils
US Open Tennis


When New York, Leery of Losing Business, Leaned Dixie

Abstract: “Because of cotton, no city in the North was more pro-South, anti-abolition or anti-Lincoln,” John Strausbaugh writes in justifying the title of his new book, “ City of Sedition : The History of New York City During the Civil War” (Twelve Books, $30). Mr. Strausbaugh, who previously delivered an exuberant history of Greenwich Village (“The Village,” in 2013), flanks the era’s familiar protagonists with a boisterous chorus of idiosyncratic New Yorkers who together express ambivalence over a conflict that threatened a highly lucrative partnership between Wall Street financiers (“rich Jews and other moneylenders,” Horace Greeley called them) and Southern planters. Tobacco had been the crop of choice, Mr. Strausbaugh writes, until Eli Whitney, a Northerner, perfected a gin that eventually could remove the seeds from a thousand pounds of sticky cotton fibers daily (compared to just one pound a day by hand). Suddenly the crop, and the slave labor to harvest it, became economical. As a result, in part because of cotton passing through the port, the Custom House in New York (now Federal Hall) generated the federal government’s largest source of income by 1860. More goods were manufactured in the city than in the entire South. The city’s hospitality industry depended on Southerners and their slaves. Importing slaves had been considered piracy since 1820, but the practice was winked at. Of about 125 ship captains and crew members tried for slavery in federal court in New York, only one was hanged, and only after the Civil War had begun. In cotton, the South “possesses a weapon more formidable than all the inventions of modern warfare,” a Southern business journal wrote in May 1859, and without the trade, “the glory of New York, like that of Babylon and Rome, would be numbered with the things that are past!” City officials seriously contemplated secession as a free city-state as late as 1861, but once Southerners fired on Fort Sumter, resilient New York businessmen adapted. Manufacturers even successfully lobbied Congress to allow the purchase of cotton from the Confederacy to replace the shoddy uniforms they were making for Union troops. “New Yorkers would react to Lincoln’s wartime policies with the deadliest rioting in American history,” Mr. Strausbaugh writes. Indeed, after the 1863 Draft Riots, New York became an occupied city guarded by 10,000 federal troops. And still, the author notes, “the city’s political leaders would create a bureaucracy solely devoted to helping New Yorkers evade service in Lincoln’s army.” Readers even learn in this kaleidoscopic, detail-filled account that “Dixie,” which became the anthem of the South, was first performed in New York and that Varina Davis, first lady of the Confederacy, settled in the city after the war. No wonder New York might have seemed seditious, although more examples of what was happening in other cities would have added perspective. Yet Lincoln’s 1860 speech at Cooper Union and his campaign photograph at Mathew Brady’s Broadway studio proved crucial to his presidential campaign. Though he would lose the city by two to one, he carried the state. “Without his New York supporters,” Mr. Strausbaugh writes, “it’s highly unlikely Lincoln would have made it to the White House.” Once war was declared, New York would provide more Union troops than any other state (a quarter of them immigrants, many of whom enlisted for the pay), and suffer the most casualties (including the first Union officer to fall). John Wilkes Booth would be captured (and shot) in a Virginia tobacco barn by a New York cavalry detachment. New Yorkers were typically defiant, but patriotic, too.

City of Sedition: The History of New York City During the Civil War


Can Apple Find More Hits Without Its Tastemaker?

Abstract: Shortly before the iPad tablet went on sale last year, Steven P. Jobs showed off Apple ’s latest creation to a small group of journalists. One asked what consumer and market research Apple had done to guide the development of the new product. “None,” Mr. Jobs replied. “It isn’t the consumers’ job to know what they want.” For years, and across a career, knowing what consumers want has been the self-appointed task of Mr. Jobs, Apple’s charismatic co-founder. Though he has not always been right, his string of successes at Apple is uncanny. His biggest user-pleasing hits include the Macintosh, the iMac , iBook , iPod , iPhone and iPad. But as he takes a medical leave of absence, announced on Monday, the question is: Without him at the helm, can Apple continue its streak of innovation, particularly in an industry where rapid-fire product cycles can make today’s leader tomorrow’s laggard? There is no near-term danger. Apple’s surging sales and profits have made it the world’s most valuable technology company, surpassing Microsoft last year. Apple reported on Tuesday that its profits and sales jumped more than 70 percent in the fourth quarter, exceeding high expectations. Apple is on a roll, with new models of products in the pipeline. Yet there would be concern, analysts say, if Mr. Jobs does not return full-time to the company, given his unique role in shaping Apple’s products. “Steve Jobs has this extraordinary ability to see into the future and instinctively see what people want,” said Michael A. Cusumano, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management. “He’s done that consistently, in a way no one else has.” Mr. Jobs, by all accounts, relies on intuition and his own sense of taste, in decisions ranging from hiring to matters of product design. “Steve is one of the most instinctive people I know,” observed Michael Hawley, a computer scientist at M.I.T. who worked for Mr. Jobs at Next, a pioneering but commercially unsuccessful computer company. That was during the period after 1985, when Mr. Jobs left Apple; he returned in 1997. As the final arbiter on product decisions, Mr. Jobs, colleagues say, is uncompromising. Prototypes and early working products are produced and constantly refined. They are shown not to focus groups or other outsiders, but to Mr. Jobs and a few members of his team. Three iPhone prototypes were completed over the course of a year. The first two were tossed out, said a former Apple manager, while the third passed muster. The product shipped in June 2007. The iPad tablet, at Mr. Jobs’s insistence, relies on only touch-screen navigation — even though industry analysts said business users, in particular, would want a stylus. With the iPad tablet, Apple jump-started a product category. But with the iPod (a music and media player) and iPhone (smartphone), Apple moved into markets with many millions of users using rival products, but he gave consumers a much improved experience. “These are seeing-around-the-corner innovations,” said John Kao, an innovation consultant to corporations and governments. “Steve Jobs is totally tuned into what consumers want. But these are not the kind of breakthroughs that market research, where you are asking people’s opinions, really help you make.” Regis McKenna, a Silicon Valley investor and marketing consultant, said employees at Apple stores provide the company with a powerful window into user habits and needs, even if it is not conventional market research. “Steve visits the Apple store in Palo Alto frequently,” said Mr. McKenna, a former consultant to Apple. The design decisions made by Mr. Jobs, Mr. McKenna said, are informed by his grasp of users’ desires, technology trends and popular culture. In the end, he added, Apple products also reflect Mr. Jobs’s personality. “Steve’s a cool guy and he designs cool products,” Mr. McKenna said. Such skills, analysts say, cannot be easily replaced. “There are lots of creative ideas in any good company, but ultimately choices have to be made,” said David B. Yoffie, a professor at the Harvard Business School. “Steve Jobs has made great choices and then refined those. That’s a real art, not a science.” Mr. Jobs prides himself on being a leader more than a manager. An important part of his leadership ethos, he has said, is to select lieutenants that share his persistence and passion for the business. And the people he has recruited have given him plenty of help since he returned to Apple in 1997. During his medical leave, Apple will be led by Timothy D. Cook, the chief operating officer, who Mr. Jobs recruited from Compaq in 1998. Mr. Cook stood in for him during an earlier absence. Mr. Jobs, who has battled pancreatic cancer and had a liver transplant a year and a half ago, has taken two previous leaves of absence. “This is a guy who has wrestled the angels to a stop before,” said Paul Saffo, a managing director of Discern Analytics, a research firm. “His most lasting creation is the company, not individual products, and you have to believe he has done everything he can to ensure Apple will have a long life.” In a conversation years ago, Mr. Jobs said he was disturbed when he heard young entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley use the term “exit strategy” — a quick, lucrative sale of a start-up. It was a small ambition, Mr. Jobs said, instead of trying to build companies that last for decades, if not a century or more. That was a sentiment, Mr. Jobs said, that he shared with his sometime luncheon companion, Andrew S. Grove, then the chief executive of Intel. “There are builders and traders,” Mr. Grove said on Tuesday. “Steve Jobs is a builder.”

Jobs Steven P
Executives and Management
Apple Inc
Computers and the Internet


Hibbert Goes From Scoreless to Relentless, Helping Pacers Win Game 7

Abstract: INDIANAPOLIS — Roy Hibbert wanted the ball early in Game 7. Hibbert camped out in the post, his arms in the air to signal to his teammates. Then he yelled at them for the ball, and they obliged. The Pacers fed Hibbert, their All-Star center who had gone scoreless in the previous two games, again and again. Hibbert banged away with purpose against the smaller Paul Millsap for 8 points in the first quarter. Each successive basket chipped away at the pressure brought by Hibbert’s recent struggles — and those of his team. Hibbert scored 13 points, his re-emergence helping the Pacers skirt disaster and finally finish off the Atlanta Hawks, 92-80, in Game 7 of their first-round series on Saturday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Pacers, who avoided becoming the sixth No. 1 seed to lose to an eighth seed in the N.B.A. playoffs, will face the Washington Wizards in the second round beginning Monday night. “He stayed the course,” forward David West said of Hibbert. “He just figured out how to work himself into a good game. He’s a part of who we are, and he’s a big key for us.” Indiana players talked all season about the importance of home-court advantage. The idea was that if they could secure the top seed in the Eastern Conference, they would play Game 7 of the conference finals against the Miami Heat at home, after losing that game in Miami last year. Game 7 here, though, came much earlier in the playoffs than they had expected. The Hawks won only 38 games in the regular season, but they frustrated the Pacers, whose struggles in the second half of the regular season carried into the playoffs. During Game 5, the Pacers were booed by their home fans when they fell behind by 30 points in a loss that put them down by three games to two. No one was more criticized than Hibbert, who played just 12 minutes and attempted only one shot in Game 6, as Coach Frank Vogel opted for a smaller, more athletic lineup. “You guys questioned whether I’m starting or not doing that and the other,” Hibbert said to reporters. “Coach talks to me, so I know what’s up. I could really care less about the criticism.” On Saturday, the Pacers got back to the type of basketball that helped them to a 46-13 record before they limped to a 10-13 finish. Their trademark defense was back, as they blocked 13 shots and held the Hawks to 30.4 percent shooting from the field (28 of 92). Paul George found his early-season form, carrying the offensive load for a playoff career high of 30 points. Lance Stephenson added 19. Kyle Korver led the Hawks with 19 points. The Pacers broke open a tight game in the second quarter, using a 13-0 run to pull away just before halftime. The Pacers pushed the lead in the third quarter to 17 before a spurt by Atlanta closed the gap to 8 heading to the fourth. But the Hawks got no closer. When Hibbert was replaced late in the third quarter, he received a standing ovation. The Pacers’ architect, the team president and Indiana native Larry Bird, assembled the team to compete for a title this season. Indiana progressed from a first-round playoff exit three years ago to the conference semifinals to the conference finals a year ago. During the off-season, Bird added Luis Scola, the former Knick Chris Copeland and C. J. Watson — scorers to complement a jelling core of Hibbert, George, West and Stephenson. But over the last two months, the fabric of the team came apart as if a loose sweater strand had been tugged. “Being tested late in the season, being tested early in the playoffs definitely strengthens you if you’re able to prevail and persevere,” Vogel said before the game. “I’ve never lost belief in these guys.” THUNDER 120, GRIZZLIES 109 Kevin Durant scored 33 points, Russell Westbrook had a triple-double, and host Oklahoma City beat Memphis in Game 7 to win their first-round Western Conference playoff series. Westbrook had 27 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds. His assist total tied the franchise record for a playoff game set in 1987 by Nate McMillan when the team was still in Seattle. The Grizzlies, playing without Zach Randolph, their leading scorer, because of a suspension, led by 11 points in the first half before the Thunder overwhelmed them, shooting 66 percent after the break. Marc Gasol led Memphis with 24 points. Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley had 20 points and 9 assists while playing with a strained right hamstring. It was Westbrook’s second triple-double in the past three games. He made 10 of 16 shots from the field, both of his 3-point attempts and five of his six free throws. Durant, the regular-season scoring champion, who was slowed for much of the series, looked like his usual self. He made 12 of 18 field goals and all five of his 3-point attempts after struggling from long range throughout the series. Guards Tony Allen and Mike Miller started for the first time in the series in place of Randolph and Tayshaun Prince, and the Grizzlies beat the Thunder at their fast-paced game in the first quarter. Memphis shot 60 percent in the opening period to take a 36-27 lead. Oklahoma City chipped away in the second quarter, and the Thunder finally took a 51-50 lead on a 3-pointer by Durant. Durant hit another 3-pointer with 3.7 seconds left in the half to give the Thunder a 61-58 lead at the break. He scored 21 points in the first half and Westbrook had 13 points and 8 assists. (AP) CLIPPERS 126, WARRIORS 121 Blake Griffin scored 24 points, Chris Paul had 22 points and 14 assists, and host Los Angeles outlasted Golden State in Game 7 to win their thrilling first-round series. Jamal Crawford added 22 points for the third-seeded Clippers, who earned the franchise’s third playoff series victory in 38 years after persevering through two tumultuous weeks. The Clippers’ owner, Donald Sterling, was banned for life from the N.B.A. on Tuesday after a recording of racist comments by Sterling, an 80-year-old billionaire, was made public last week. Los Angeles advanced to a matchup with Oklahoma City, which eliminated Memphis earlier Saturday. Stephen Curry had 33 points and 9 assists for the Warriors, who blew a late lead in Game 7. (AP)

Pacers
Roy Hibbert
Atlanta Hawks
Playoffs
Basketball


An Auction That Google Was Content to Lose

Abstract: SAN FRANCISCO — Google had little desire to own a premium slice of the nation’s airwaves, but a week into a federal auction for wireless licenses, it found itself at risk of being the winning bidder for the coveted spectrum. The spectrum would have cost $4.7 billion, Google’s biggest single investment. Winning would have thrust the company into the wireless business and could have sent Google’s battered shares even lower. Google and other companies began publicly discussing some of the auction’s behind-the-scenes action after an anti-collusion rule prohibiting participants from commenting was lifted Thursday. Google bid in the auction to honor a promise made to the Federal Communications Commission . Last summer, the company vowed to bid a minimum of $4.6 billion, the reserve price, for a set of frequencies known as the C block as long as the F.C.C. imposed some “openness” conditions on it. The F.C.C. imposed two conditions, requiring the owner of the spectrum to open its network to devices and services from third parties. Google’s main goal, however, was not to win, but to make sure the reserve price was met so that the openness conditions would become effective, ensuring that its search, e-mail, maps and other services would be easily available on phones operating on those frequencies. And while the company had willingly taken the risk that it could end up winning, it was not without trepidation. “Our primary goal was to trigger the openness conditions,” said Richard Whitt, Google’s Washington telecommunications and media counsel. The auction raised more than $19 billion, far more than expected. Still, some critics said the auction failed to promote competition, as it solidified the positions of AT&T and Verizon Wireless, the two biggest carriers, who won a majority of the licenses. Some economists and others remain critical of the way the auction was set up, pointing out that among other things, two groups of frequencies, known as the A and B blocks, sold at much higher prices than the C block. Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive of AT&T’s wireless unit, said in a news conference Thursday that his company was pleased with the auction’s outcome. But he noted that the Google-backed conditions on the C block had an effect on pricing. “People put a premium on spectrum that is not encumbered by excessive regulations,” Mr. de la Vega said. Verizon Wireless has scheduled a news conference for Friday morning to discuss its plans. In an interview late Thursday, the F.C.C. chairman, Kevin J. Martin, once again called the auction a success. “What was important was not only the success of the auction from a money standpoint but also the ability to have an open-access platform that I think is going to transform the whole wireless industry,” Mr. Martin said. From a windowless “war room” at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., the small auction team placed bids electronically. Eric E. Schmidt, the chief executive, and the founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, visited frequently. For much of the first week, Google gradually topped its own bids. With no competitors emerging, anxiety grew. “There were definitely some people at the company that had cold feet,” said Larry Alder, a product manager in Google’s auction team. The team, which had persuaded Google’s board last summer to back the company’s bid, was asked again to make its case to top executives and the board. “People had to be convinced that it was the right business decision,” Mr. Alder said. Google declined to discuss what it would have done had it won the licenses. But it strongly suggested that it would not have become a wireless operator. Instead it would have formed partnerships with other companies. Still, after placing a $4.71 billion bid early on Jan. 24, meeting the reserve price, members of the team remained in a state of high alert and anxiety. “We kept hitting the ‘refresh’ button on the browser” to see if others would bid higher, said Minnie Ingersoll, another product manager on the auction team. No one topped Google’s bid that day or the following day, a Friday, and Google executives went into the Super Bowl weekend thinking they might end up owning the C block licenses after all. “There was a feeling that we were picking up something at a great price,” Mr. Alder said. If Google felt it had a bargain, it wasn’t by much. The company declined to top the $4.74 billion bid that Verizon finally placed the following Tuesday. “If Google had won a license, there was only downside risk for them,” said Gregory L. Rosston, a former F.C.C. official and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. “Now they can just spend $1 million a year on a law firm to ensure Verizon lives up to the openness requirements.”

Auctions
Federal Communications Commission
Google Inc
Wireless Communications


To Wimbledon Wild Card, Life Feels Lifted From a Hollywood Script

Abstract: WIMBLEDON, England — “Wimbledon,” a movie released 12 years ago, was a romantic comedy about a British tennis player on the verge of retirement who finds love, and then unlikely success at the tournament. Over the past four months, Marcus Willis, a 25-year-old from Slough, England, has starred in a real-life version of the film, all but re-enacting its implausible plot points on the way to his unlikely spot in the Wimbledon main draw, scheduled to begin Monday. Willis, ranked 775th before the qualifying tournament, had nearly given up on his dreams of reaching Wimbledon and was planning to move to Philadelphia, where offers of coaching jobs were waiting. “I was adamant I was going to go to America to coach,” Willis said. “I had called up someone about the visa — and then I met a girl. She basically told me I was an idiot and that I should keep going, and I’m very grateful for that.” Shortly before he had planned to leave in February, Willis met Jennifer Bate, a dentist and a mother of two. Bate said she was out on the town with a cousin as each tried to shake off “wrong relationships” that had just ended. “We just met, and honestly, it was a blur after that,” Bate said. “We went on a little walk to get some fresh air before we’d get a cab. He said, ‘I’m meant to be going to America soon,’ and I was like: ‘What? You can’t go to America.’ The night we met, I said, ‘You’ve just met me; you can’t just move to America.’ I said it jokingly, and then he told me he was a tennis player. I thought, ‘Yeah, right, whatever.’ ” After experiencing what she called “love at first sight,” Bate rushed home to tell her mother she had met “the one,” and Willis postponed his plans to leave England. With Bate’s encouragement, Willis rededicated himself to tennis, despite having endured injuries and financial hardships in recent years. In 2014, struggling with touring expenses, Willis had started a crowdfunding campaign seeking support in getting to his “childhood dream” tournament. In 2016, he had played only one event, a January tournament in Tunisia at the lowest rung of sanctioned professional tennis, earning just $356. But his falling ATP ranking was just high enough to get him the last direct entry into a Wimbledon qualifying wild-card playoffs for British players. Once there, he won three matches to reach the tournament’s main qualifying event. Though British wild cards often prove to be overmatched cannon fodder in the qualifying tournament, Willis played with confidence. In his first match, against the 99th-ranked Yuichi Sugita, Willis came back from losing the first set, 6-1, to notch his first career victory over a top-100 opponent. With his unorthodox left-handed barrage of chunked slices and serve-and-volley, Willis continued his winning ways in the next two matches, beating the Russians Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev and becoming the first British player to reach the Wimbledon singles main draw through qualifying since 2008. By doing so, he guaranteed himself prize money of at least 30,000 British pounds. Andy Murray, who ended 77 years without a British men’s singles champion at Wimbledon when he won here in 2013, had practiced with Willis at the Davis Cup years earlier and called Willis’s qualifying a “really cool story.” “He’s an awkward player, has got quite a different sort of game style,” Murray said. “Serve-and-volleys a little bit. He’s got really good touch, good volleys, puts a lot of slice on his slice backhand, quite a spinny forehand. He’s quite an unusual player.” Those unnerving, unconventional weapons were on display when Willis made his previous best career run, to the quarterfinals of a Challenger-level tournament in Knoxville, Tenn., in 2014. There, Willis also gained notice for his tubby physique, which inspired one Facebook heckler to call him Cartman, after Eric Cartman, the corpulent cartoon 10-year-old from “South Park.” Willis embraced the nickname, and while he is still bulkier than many in the sport, he has dropped 55 pounds. He still readily pokes fun at himself. “It’s good banter; I enjoy it,” he said. If he wins his opening-round match Monday against the 53rd-ranked Ricardas Berankis on Court 17, a possible second-round encounter with the seven-time champion Roger Federer looms. His weekend at Wimbledon playing among the game’s best — “I saw Djokovic earlier, and my jaw dropped; I’m going to act cool and pretend it’s all normal now,” he said — has proved equally invigorating. “I’m delighted, but it makes me realize I want it week in, week out now,” he said. “I’ve got to keep working, keep my head down, and get on with it.” Bate, who was unable to cancel her Monday dental patients’ appointments, will follow his first-round match from afar. She said she believed she would have many more opportunities to watch Willis continue toward a Hollywood ending. “Something in his mind has just clicked, and he’s ready now,” she said. “He’s taking it all in, and he’s got plenty more in him.”

Tennis
Marcus Willis
Wimbledon Tennis,Wimbledon


Lawyer Quits Firm to Focus on Inquiry

Abstract: William S. Lerach, a leading securities class-action lawyer who has been embroiled in a seven-year federal investigation into possible kickbacks to plaintiffs for their testimony, is retiring from his firm. Rumors that Mr. Lerach would leave had been swirling for months amid speculation that he would resign in exchange for the firm’s not being indicted. In a statement on its Web site, the firm that Mr. Lerach started three years ago — Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins — said that Mr. Lerach’s name would no longer be part of the firm’s name, effective Friday. Mr. Lerach said his retirement would allow him to focus his attention on fighting the allegations against him. He has not been indicted for anything. “I have appreciated the opportunity to fight for the victims of corporate fraud; however, I realize that my success has made me a target,” Mr. Lerach said in the firm’s statement. “These allegations have proven to be personally time-consuming, and I have decided to focus single-mindedly on putting the matter behind me once and for all.” Mr. Lerach and his lawyer John Keker, did not return calls for comment. In May 2006, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman, the nation’s leading class-action securities law firm, as well as two prominent partners, David J. Bershad and Steven G. Schulman, and accused them of making more than $11 million in secret payments to three individuals who served as plaintiffs in more than 150 lawsuits. Mr. Lerach left Milberg Weiss in 2004 to form his own firm. The 2006 indictment was a severe blow to Milberg Weiss, a firm that once dominated securities class-action lawsuits and whose name alone could send shudders down the spines of corporate leaders. Indeed, supporters of the firm often painted its lawyers as defenders of defrauded and wronged consumers and shareholders. Critics contended that many of the lawsuits were frivolous, raising the cost of doing business and delivering little or nothing to aggrieved parties. “It’s a remarkable reversal that the firm that was once the hunter has now become the hunted,” said Robert Mintz, a former federal prosecutor who now works at McCarter & English. In July, Mr. Bershad pleaded guilty to conspiracy and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. The plea put pressure on both Mr. Lerach and Melvyn I. Weiss, who remains at the helm of Milberg Weiss. Although they were the main targets of the investigation, Mr. Weiss and Mr. Lerach have not been indicted. Lawyers from Milberg Weiss have had settlement talks with prosecutors, according to a person briefed on the situation. In his plea agreement, Mr. Bershad agreed to give back $7.75 million and pay a $25,000 fine. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, though it is not clear whether he will have to serve time. “The best defense is always a unified front,” Mr. Mintz said, “and any defections, whether the defendants cooperate or not, are a serious blow to the defense.” Mr. Bershad’s lawyers, Robert D. Luskin and Andrew M. Lawler, did not return calls yesterday for comment. According to court documents, lawyers at Milberg Weiss, including Mr. Bershad, would use legal fees as kickbacks to recruit and retain plaintiffs, enabling the firm to be the first to file many class-action lawsuits. By being first, Milberg Weiss could be named lead counsel, which would entitle it to more fees. According to the indictment, in the early stages of the scheme, which lasted from the 1970s through 2005, Milberg Weiss partners provided cash to pay the kickbacks since it is illegal for a plaintiff to receive any portion of the legal fees, which could be viewed as an incentive to settle rather than act in the best interest of the class. The firm would later award those partners bonus payments equal to the amounts they had paid in. Mr. Weiss, his lawyer and Mr. Schulman’s lawyers did not return calls seeking comment yesterday. A spokesman for Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins said the firm would not be impaired by the absence of Mr. Lerach. “Absolutely not,” said the spokesman, Dan Newman. “Our vast team of talented attorneys will continue to be America’s premier firm representing shareholders and consumers victimized by powerful and corrupt corporations.”

Retirement
Lerach William S
Frauds and Swindling
Suits and Litigation
Decisions and Verdicts


In Lahore, Mourning for Victims of Attacks

Abstract: LAHORE, Pakistan — With the police on high alert, hundreds of people attended funeral prayers here on Thursday for the victims of suicide bombers who attacked Shiite Muslim worshipers on Wednesday, killing dozens. Police paramilitary units lined the main route traveled by mourners, and much of this eastern city remained closed. Mourners traveled to the prayers in large groups, at times setting the victims’ bodies down to chant antigovernment slogans that reflected anger over the authorities’ failure to prevent the attacks. “We are a peaceful community, and we will not be weak because of such cowardly attacks,” said Shiite leader Haider Ali Mosovi, who led Thursday’s funeral prayers. Earlier on Thursday, the authorities raised the death toll in the attacks to 31 from around 25 and said more than 280 had been wounded. Zulfiqar Hameed, chief of the Lahore police investigation unit, said on Thursday that no arrests had yet been made. The explosions on Wednesday set off violent clashes between local police officers and protesters infuriated by the attacks. Protests over the attacks were held here and in other cities, including Karachi and Rawalpindi. Pakistani officials said two attackers detonated explosives as the gathering was dispersing on Wednesday, scattering bodies into the streets and sowing panic among the thousands observing an annual Shiite day of mourning. A third bomber struck about 20 minutes later in a packed city square as many of the worshipers were leaving. As rescuers rushed to reach the wounded, demonstrations broke out in Lahore, Pakistan ’s second-largest city and the site of regular bombings and other attacks by militant groups. Protesters set fire to police vans and tried to burn a police station. They marched through the streets, chanting slogans that condemned the Taliban, whom demonstrators blamed for the attacks, and the police, who were blamed for failing to prevent it. No one claimed responsibility for the blasts, but the timing and target of the attacks appeared to be intended to worsen sectarian tensions. Also on Wednesday, unidentified gunmen fired on a Shiite procession in Karachi, wounding seven people. The unrest and anger set off by the attacks seemed to underline Pakistan’s flagging support for local and national governments, which are struggling to cope with rising militant violence and the aftermath of the worst flooding in the country’s history.


What Happened to Jane Mayer When She Wrote About the Koch Brothers

Abstract: Out of the blue in the fall of 2010, a blogger asked Jane Mayer, a writer with The New Yorker, how she felt about the private investigator who was digging into her background. Ms. Mayer thought the idea was a joke, she said this week. At a Christmas party a few months later, she ran into a former reporter who had been asked about helping with an investigation into another reporter on behalf of two conservative billionaires. “The reporter had written a story they disliked,” Ms. Mayer recounts in “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right,” out this month from Doubleday. Her acquaintance told her, “‘It occurred to me afterward that the reporter they wanted to investigate might be you.’” As it happened, Ms. Mayer had published a major story in the magazine that August about the brothers David and Charles Koch, and their role in cultivating the power of the Tea Party movement in 2010. Using a network of nonprofits and other donors, they had provided essential financial support for the political voices that have held sway in Republican politics since 2011. “ Dark Money ” chronicles the vast sums of money from the Koch brothers and other wealthy conservatives that have helped shape public dialogue in opposition to Democratic positions on climate change, the Affordable Care Act and tax policy. Ms. Mayer began to take the rumored investigation seriously when she heard from her New Yorker editor that she was going to be accused — falsely — of plagiarism, stealing the work of other writers. A dossier of her supposed plagiarism had been provided to reporters at The New York Post and The Daily Caller, but the smears collapsed when the writers who were the purported victims made statements saying that it was nonsense, and that there had been no plagiarism whatsoever. Indeed, as one noted, Ms. Mayer had plainly credited his writing — though this was not mentioned in the bill of particulars that was passed around. There was more. Ms. Mayer would learn that these same dark forces had dug into a friend from her college years, with some notion of using the friend’s later problems against her. “I’m 60,” Ms. Mayer noted. “That was a long time ago.” (Ms. Mayer’s husband, William Hamilton, is an editor for The New York Times in Washington.) Who was behind this? Image Jane Mayer Credit Joe Kohen/Getty Images Figuring that out took three years, Ms. Mayer said, and she writes that she traced it to a “boiler room” operation involving several people who have worked closely with Koch business concerns. But the private investigation firm may be of particular interest to New Yorkers. “The firm, it appears, was Vigilant Resources International , whose founder and chairman, Howard Safir, had been New York City’s police commissioner under the former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani,” she writes in “Dark Money.” Mr. Safir served as both the fire commissioner and the police commissioner during the Giuliani mayoralty. He left public office in 2000, a year before the end of Mr. Giuliani’s term, and went to work in the kind of all-purpose consultancy in security and investigations that thrived after the Sept. 11 attacks. Mr. Safir and his son, Adam, and daughter, Jennifer, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, work at Vigilant. The former commissioner could not be reached on Tuesday to discuss his role in the investigation into Ms. Mayer. Adam Safir, however, did speak cordially, briefly and unilluminatingly. “I subscribe to The New Yorker and I read it,” Adam Safir said. “As far as what we do, we don’t talk about clients, whether we have them or don’t have them. Even answering the question would violate the policy of our business.” Two other Washington figures identified by Ms. Mayer in the operation, Philip Ellender, who heads Koch’s government affairs arm, and Nancy Pfotenhauer, who has served as president of a nonprofit advocacy group funded by the Kochs, did not respond to messages requesting comment. Asked about the campaign against Ms. Mayer and the investigation of her, Ken Spain, a spokesman for Koch Industries, issued a statement that criticized her writings on Koch and charged that they were “grossly inaccurate.” Asked if he was saying that the investigation of Ms. Mayer had not happened, Mr. Spain replied: “We stand by the statement.”

Jane Mayer
Writer
Dark Money
Charles Koch
Howard Safir
Books
David Koch


Case Against Zuma May Be Revived in S. Africa

Abstract: JOHANNESBURG — Prosecutors said Wednesday that they would appeal a judge’s ruling that set aside corruption charges against Jacob Zuma , the leader of the governing party, who is in line to become South Africa ’s next president. The decision by the National Prosecuting Authority restored the legal cloud over Mr. Zuma’s candidacy, at least for a while. More immediately, the decision further infuriated many of Mr. Zuma’s followers, who say the prosecution is a political vendetta against him by his chief rival and the man who once dismissed him, South Africa’s president, Thabo Mbeki. After the announcement, Zet Luzipho, a trade union leader, said in Durban that the decision was “a declaration of war on our people,” and he threatened strikes. Jessie Duarte, the spokeswoman for the governing African National Congress, called the appeal a “cynical and ill-considered” step in a “relentless” prosecution. The A.N.C. so dominates South African politics that its leader is virtually assured the presidency. This weekend, the party’s executive committee will decide, among other matters, whether to try to shorten Mr. Mbeki’s term so that Mr. Zuma, 66, can assume the presidency before mid-2009. Mr. Zuma publicly eschews that strategy. There is no need to “beat a dead snake,” he said recently, referring disdainfully to Mr. Mbeki, whom he bested for the A.N.C. leadership at a party conference in December. The rift between the party factions grew considerably more bitter on Friday when a High Court judge in Pietermaritzburg threw out the Zuma case. Without assessing guilt or innocence, the judge, Chris Nicholson, set aside the charges on procedural grounds. But he also chastised the Mbeki government for political meddling in the handling of the matter. To Mr. Zuma’s followers, this conferred a judicial stamp of approval on their accusations of political persecution. They cheered jubilantly outside court as their leader led them in his signature song, “Bring Me My Machine Gun.” Overlooked in the giddy victory were portions of the judge’s 115-page opinion that found it “bizarre to say the least” that Mr. Zuma had not gone to trial in 2004 along with his financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, who was convicted of plying Mr. Zuma with money in return for political favors. Bribery “is a bilateral offense,” the judge said. “It cannot be committed by a person alone.” After Mr. Shaik was sentenced to 15 years in prison, Mr. Mbeki dismissed Mr. Zuma, who was then his deputy president. In October 2005, Mr. Zuma was finally charged with corruption, a case he fended off on procedural grounds. He was charged again last December after defeating Mr. Mbeki at the party conference. The case against Mr. Zuma involves 16 charges of corruption, racketeering and money-laundering, many of them touching on a multibillion-dollar government purchase of frigates, fighter planes and submarines in the late 1990s. Allegations of corruption about these purchases reach into the highest levels of government, but Mr. Zuma is among the few who have ever been charged. Judge Nicholson also criticized what he called the lack of a full investigation into the arms deal. “Only a commission of inquiry can properly rid our land of this cancer that is devouring the body politic and the reputation for integrity built so assiduously after the fall of apartheid,” he said. The procedural matter cited by the judge in setting aside the case involved the prosecution’s denial of Mr. Zuma’s right to provide a “representation”— his side of the story — before being charged again. Tlali Tlali, a spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority, said that if the prosecutors won the appeal, they would then decide whether to allow Mr. Zuma his representation and yet again file the charges.


Europe’s Small Banks Should Be Exempt From Some Bonus Caps, Regulator Says

Abstract: LONDON — Small banks and some other financial institutions in Europe should be exempt from some of the limits on bankers’ bonuses, the European Union’s banking regulator said on Monday. The opinion, by the European Banking Authority, would still require a change in European Union law to carry out. But the guidance is meant to clarify disparity in the interpretation and enforcement of the bonus rules. The European Union’s executive arm this year determined that the bonus and related compensation rules should apply without exception to all financial firms. But some national regulators — including Britain’s — have been exempting smaller banks from the bonus cap, which limits bonuses to an amount equal to one or two times an employee’s salary and other compensation that is not based on performance. Monday’s opinion by the European Banking Authority said that some exemptions should be allowed for smaller financial firms and for staff members at banks who receive only a small amount of their annual compensation as bonuses based on performance. All employees who take risks that could affect the financial institution’s overall stability should be subject to the bonus cap, the authority said. But some financial firms should not have to comply with new requirements, set to begin in 2017, that a portion of bonus pay be deferred for several years or paid in shares or other noncash financial instruments. To allow such waivers, European law would have to be changed, which would fall to the bloc’s executive arm, the European Commission, and the European Parliament. The application of the pay provisions should be harmonized in the European Union “to achieve a level playing field and avoid distortion of the competition to attract the best and most talented staff,” the banking authority said in its opinion on Monday. “At the same time, the administrative burden for, in particular, smaller institutions should be reduced.” The European Banking Authority has jurisdiction over banks throughout the 28-nation European Union. As part of formal guidelines issued by the regulator this year, banks and other financial institutions will be required to defer at least 40 percent of annual bonuses for a period of three to five years and to pay half of those bonuses in stock or other noncash financial instruments. The authority said those requirements could be burdensome for smaller institutions and require them to hire additional administrative staff members, which would put those firms at a competitive disadvantage. The opinion was released on Monday alongside the European Banking Authority’s final guidelines on how banks can pay bonuses and which employees are affected by the bonus cap. Those formal guidelines were first issued in March and finished this month after a consultation period. The bonus cap is already in place, but the new guidelines on pay go into effect on Jan. 1, 2017, to give financial institutions time to adjust their pay policies. The bonus cap, which came into effect in 2014, limits annual performance payouts to an amount equal to 100 percent of what an employee receives in so-called fixed remuneration, or salary and other compensation that is not based on performance. The cap was intended to reduce the financial incentive for bankers to make risky bets that authorities say contributed to the financial crisis. Under the cap, annual bonuses can be raised to 200 percent of an employee’s fixed pay if an institution’s shareholders vote to approve the increase. It is up to local regulators to comply with European Union rules and banking authority guidelines or explain why they are not complying. They will have a two-month period after the new guidelines are translated and officially published to do so. As part of the rules, banks must apply the bonus cap to all bank-owned subsidiaries, including asset managers and insurance groups, if their employees take risks that could affect the financial institution’s overall stability. The guidelines were intended to quash efforts by banks to get around the bonus limits, including using a new category of compensation, known as role-based allowances. The authority determined in October 2014 that role-based pay was discretionary and should be classified as variable compensation and subject to the bonus cap. Britain’s banking regulator, the Prudential Regulation Authority, previously criticized the bonus cap. When the European Banking Authority issued its opinion last year, several regulators, including the British authority, had already approved role-based pay for the 2014 year, so it was too late to enforce that for bonuses paid in January 2015 for work in 2014. Andrew Bailey, the chief executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority, said this year that the regulator would comply with the opinion.

Prudential Regulation Authority Great Britain


The Marlins’ Ramírez Is the Unknown Shortstop

Abstract: Hanley Ramírez wears his pants and jersey with a baggy fit, as if he had to settle for the last uniform handed out. Across the chest is the word Marlins , which means he goes about his business in relative privacy. So many hits, so few fans to see them. In his second season as Florida’s shortstop, Ramírez has blossomed into a precocious offensive force, slugging home runs and stealing bases as he contends for a batting title. Acclaim for the 23-year-old Ramírez has yet to match his achievements, because he performs for the National League’s most off-the-radar team. The Marlins rarely play on national television and rank last in the league in attendance, with recent home games sometimes drawing crowds of less than 3,000. South Florida is missing a great show, as the rest of the country is gradually coming to appreciate Ramírez. Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Orlando Hudson played three games in Miami recently and came away from the series calling Ramírez the league’s most valuable player. “I’m dead serious,” Hudson said. “Look what he brings to the table. There’s nothing in the game this young man can’t do. If he doesn’t get it this year, he’ll win two or three before his career is over.” Such superlatives may astound casual baseball fans, given that Ramírez apparently has yet to make much of an impression on them. He finished eighth at his position in the N.L. All-Star voting. But Ramírez, the Marlins’ leadoff hitter, began last week leading the league in batting average (.340), hits (163) and multihit games (49). He was tied for second in total bases (277) and was third in stolen bases (38). Entering the weekend, his average was .333. “He may play for the Florida Marlins, but it’s still the major leagues,” Hudson said. “And he’s putting up some monster numbers.” Ramírez began last week with 23 home runs and ranked sixth in slugging percentage, ahead of Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard and Adam Dunn. He could become the first player in major league history to bat .340 or better with at least 20 home runs and 35 steals. “I think he’s the most talented person in the game,” his teammate Aaron Boone said. “People in the know know how great this kid has a chance to be.” Ramírez has a degree of fame. He was the N.L. rookie of the year in 2006, when he hit .292 with 17 home runs and 51 stolen bases. But Ramírez, a young Dominican, would be the toast of the town in New York, Chicago or Boston. Instead he is overshadowed even in his division by the Mets’ José Reyes, widely acclaimed as the game’s best young shortstop. The buzz on Ramírez is building, however. “I hear it from people across in the other dugout on other teams — coaches and managers going, ‘Wow,’ ” Marlins Manager Fredi González said. Florida first baseman Mike Jacobs said, “People should start paying attention, because he’s doing special things and he’s going to be doing special things for a long time.” Ramírez was a highly rated prospect when the Marlins acquired him in a payroll purge after the 2005 season. He came from the Boston minor league system with the right-hander Aníbal Sánchez. The Marlins paid dearly, giving up the right-hander Josh Beckett and third baseman Mike Lowell. “Both sides have to be happy with the trade,” Lowell said. “The Marlins were looking to get some young talent and get rid of some big contracts. Obviously, Josh and I are going to make a lot more money than what Hanley Ramírez is making.” With a $402,000 salary, Ramírez is one of baseball’s best bargains. Projecting statistics over a full season, he will be paid $1,873 a hit, compared with $101,818 a hit for the Yankees’ $21.6 million shortstop, Derek Jeter. The only knock against Ramírez is his defense. On Tuesday, he committed his 20th error, most among N.L. shortstops, to cost Florida a game. He made 26 errors as a rookie. He has a strong arm and the quickness to cover a lot of ground, but he sometimes misplays the most routine grounder. The Marlins dismiss suggestions he should move to the outfield. Ramírez has been on a tear since opening day, when he went 4 for 4. The Marlins dropped him to third from first in the order in May, but he began swinging for the fences, hit .297 in the No. 3 spot and after six weeks was back batting leadoff. “If he played in New York or Chicago or one of those big media places, he’d be on billboards,” González said. “But we like him here and hope he stays here for a long time.”

Baseball
Florida Marlins
Athletics and Sports
Pujols Albert
Boone Aaron


Mets’ Bullpen Squanders Lead as Marlins Stage a Late Rally

Abstract: MIAMI — Mets Manager Terry Collins shrugged his shoulders, pursed his lips and averted his eyes. His bullpen had blown another game, wasting a strong start from Jon Niese. Niese gave the Mets seven scoreless innings Monday, but Daisuke Matsuzaka quickly allowed the Miami Marlins to tie the game in the eighth before Gonzalez Germen surrendered the winning run in the ninth to send the Mets to a 4-3 loss. “Tonight, he didn’t have it,” Collins said of Matsuzaka. But the problem with the Mets’ bullpen had been festering for weeks. Jose Valverde had blown a save on April 12 against the Los Angeles Angels and had allowed four home runs in three straight appearances before Collins removed him as closer. And Kyle Farnsworth, who replaced Valverde, had a blown a save in Colorado on Saturday. On Monday, Collins put his trust in Matsuzaka to start the eighth and protect a 3-0 lead. In his previous seven appearances out of the bullpen this year, Matsuzaka had compiled a 1.74 earned run average. But as he warmed up Monday, he said, he felt off. He walked the first two batters he faced. Giancarlo Stanton followed with a run-scoring single. Casey McGehee then ripped a low line drive at shortstop Omar Quintanilla that knuckled on him and got through safely. Quintanilla was charged with an error and another run scored. Collins stayed with Matsuzaka, and the next batter, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, lined a double to the gap in right-center to bring in the tying run. Collins had seen enough. Farnsworth came in and prevented any further damage despite entering the game with runners at second and third and nobody out. “I couldn’t control my body well today,” Matsuzaka said through an interpreter. “I really regret taking away Niese’s win and a team win.” It would have been an impressive win, given how well the Marlins have played lately. Also given the Mets’ strong start, the National League East was perhaps the best division in baseball. Entering Monday, it was the only one with all its teams above .500. The Marlins built their own strong start on outfielder Stanton and strong play at home. Entering Monday, Stanton led the National League in home runs (10) and runs batted in (36), and the Marlins were 14-5 at home, the best in baseball. Their home record seemed all the more remarkable since they were 2-10 on the road. They hit better at home, pitched better, and Stanton produced more here, too. They had scored 6.16 runs a game here, and only 2.67 runs on the road. Last week, Braves Manager Fredi Gonzalez wondered if the Marlins were stealing signs. They swept the Braves in three games here and outscored them by 23-7. During one game, as the Marlins blasted Aaron Harang for nine runs, Gonzalez said he changed signs five times, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ultimately, Gonzalez admitted he had no proof. But Collins was worried enough that before Monday’s game, he consulted his coaches and made plans to vary their signs. “I’m not accusing anybody of anything,” Collins said. Nevertheless, the Marlins had no luck against Niese. He allowed at least one base runner in each of the first three innings, committed an error in the fifth, and allowed two singles to start the seventh. But he escaped each time. Collins removed him after seven innings and 108 pitches. In all, Niese struck out six batters and walked one. He had set the tone early, striking out Stanton on a full count and, by the end, had dropped his earned run average to 1.82. In his last four starts, he had allowed three runs in 262/3 innings. The Mets’ offense gave him three runs Monday, which seemed like enough. Daniel Murphy and Curtis Granderson had each hit a solo home run off Marlins starter Nathan Eovaldi in the first inning. It was Granderson’s second home run in four games. Bobby Abreu added a sacrifice fly in the fourth. Eovaldi, to his credit, maintained his composure and kept the game close. He lasted seven innings, on 107 pitches, and finished with a career-high 10 strikeouts. The Mets managed only two hits over the final five innings and failed to score in the ninth. In the bottom half, Christian Yelich led off with a single. Three batters later, McGehee hit a hard ball that ricocheted off Germen. The Mets could only watch helplessly as the ball trickled into right field and Yelich sprinted around to score the winning run. “It’s just a tough loss,” Quintanilla said. INSIDE PITCH The injured Nets center Brook Lopez watched the Mets batting practice Monday. The Nets open their N.B.A. Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series against the Heat in Miami on Tuesday.

Mets
Miami Marlins
Casey McGehee
Baseball


A Memorial Inscription’s Grim Origins

Abstract: Who are “you”? When the National September 11 Memorial Museum opens next month at the World Trade Center, visitors will find a stark wall separating them from a repository containing about 8,000 unidentified human remains from the 2001 terrorist attack. On the wall is a 60-foot-long inscription, in 15-inch letters made from the steel of the twin towers: “No day shall erase you from the memory of time. Virgil.” It sounds fitting — except in the context of Book 9 of the “Aeneid ,” from which it is translated. There, a reader learns who “you” are. “You” are not nameless. You are Nisus and Euryalus. “You” do not number in the thousands. You are two. “You” are not civilians. You are Trojan soldiers. “You” have not been thrown together by cruel chance. You are a loving pair. Your deaths are not unprovoked. You have just slaughtered the enemy in an orgy of violence, skewering soldiers whom you ambushed in their sleep. For this, the enemy has killed you and impaled your heads on spears. Clearly, “you” does not fit the profile of Sept. 11 victims. “If we take into account its original context, the quotation is more applicable to the aggressors in the 9/11 tragedy than to those honored by the memorial,” said Helen Morales , a classics professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara. “So my first reaction is that the quotation is shockingly inappropriate for the U.S. victims of the 9/11 attack.” Image A sculpture by Jean-Baptiste Roman of Nisus and Euryalus, two characters from Virgil's "Aeneid." Credit Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons But Dr. Morales added that by invoking the two warriors, the quotation might also productively encourage some visitors to “wonder, as might Virgil’s readers have wondered of Nisus and Euryalus, what drives young men to commit such atrocities.” I asked a half-dozen classicists about the use of this inscription at the memorial museum. All but one questioned the choice. “Two warrior/lovers have sacrificed their lives in the interest of the future Roman state,” said John F. Makowski , an associate professor of classical studies at Loyola University in Chicago. “While the loss of all human life by violence is lamentable, the parallel between the victims of 9/11 and the Virgilian heroes is a stretch.” In an aside to the dead youths — whom Dr. Makowski has argued should be understood as a classical pair of “erastes” (a mentor and role model) and “eromenos” (his beloved) — Virgil promises that if his poetry has any power, their memory will endure as long as Rome. The National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center Foundation has known for years of classicists’ objections to the use of this line, which “ offers neither instruction nor solace ,” Caroline Alexander wrote for the Op-Ed page of The New York Times in 2011. Since then, museum officials have eliminated the word “Aeneid” from the inscription as it appears on the wall, presumably to distance the sentiment somewhat from its literary context. Alice M. Greenwald , the museum director, said last week that the quotation appropriately characterized the “museum’s overall commemorative context.” “The quote speaks to the indelibility of our memories,” she said. “In selecting this quote, our focus was not on the specific narrative of the classic story nor its characters. What resonated with us, and with everyone who reviewed its use in the context of the museum, was the reference to a single day not being able to erase the memory of those we love.” Image A keychain that will be sold at the museum bears the inscription. Credit Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times However, Shadi Bartsch-Zimmer , a classics professor at the University of Chicago, suggested that the foundation had a special duty to guard cultural history. “For a private individual to use a quotation and shrug at its source is one thing,” Dr. Bartsch-Zimmer said. “But in a public, institutional context that memorializes an event of national importance, not knowing one’s source seems irresponsible.” While acknowledging his ambivalence about the use of the line, Llewelyn Morgan , a lecturer in classical languages and literature at Oxford, allowed that its power was not limited to those who knew the story told in the “Aeneid.” “I can see that this might do the job required,” Dr. Morgan said, “and it’s perhaps a little arrogant to think that the proper perspective from which to assess it is my own, that of an academic. We don’t own Virgil, much as we might think we should.” James Zetzel , a professor of the Latin language and ancient literature at Columbia, said he was troubled by a line describing such specific characters — and “not the best role models” — used as a kind of epitaph for those whose identities are not known. “On the other hand,” Mr. Zetzel said, “the story is an example of willing self-sacrifice for somebody you love.” As Virgil tells it, Nisus realized as he was fleeing from the enemy that he had been separated from Euryalus. Rather than spare himself, Nisus returned to a scene of mortal peril in the hope of saving another’s life. Both young men died as a result. Now that sounds like a 9/11 story.


Haiti: Interim Premier Named

Abstract: Health Minister Florence Duperval Guillaume was named as Haiti’s interim prime minister on Sunday after the resignation of her predecessor a week ago. Ms. Duperval Guillaume will hold the post for a maximum of 30 days before a permanent choice is presented to Parliament by President Michel Martelly, said Enex Jean-Charles, secretary general of Haiti’s council of ministers. The former prime minister, Laurent Lamothe, resigned a week ago amid the bitter political standoff over legislative elections. Mr. Martelly was supposed to call elections in 2011. But several opposition senators have used parliamentary procedures to prevent a vote authorizing the elections while orchestrating protests to call for the president to resign. An independent commission formed to resolve the crisis had recommended that Mr. Lamothe resign, which he did after days of violent protests.


Campaign 2012: When Gingrich’s Big Thoughts Backfire

Abstract: Ideas erupt from the mind of Newt Gingrich — bold, unconventional and sometimes troubling and distracting. On Monday, Mr. Gingrich sought to do damage control on the latest of his Big Thoughts to land him in hot water — helping children bootstrap their way out of poverty by paying them to mop and clean their schools, and rolling back child labor laws that he has called “truly stupid.” Mr. Gingrich defended the idea, which critics have labeled Dickensian, as a way to introduce children in housing projects with few examples of working adults to the idea of earning a paycheck. “This is how people rise in America — they learn to work,” he said at a news conference in Manhattan. Mr. Gingrich’s tendency to speak bluntly, provocatively and sometime impulsively may be part of his emerging appeal at a time when conservatives seem intent on sending a no-business-as-usual message to Washington. It helps with his attempts to foster an image as a candidate eager to bring about change. But the fallout from his statements often traps him in lengthy digressions from his main messages, and it highlights one of the central questions about him as a candidate and potential president: is he sufficiently disciplined? Earlier this year, Mr. Gingrich attacked a proposal by Representative Paul D. Ryan , the Republican budget guru, on Medicare as “right-wing social engineering,” and it all but killed his nascent presidential campaign. More recently, he has had to explain why his proposal to legalize some illegal immigrants was not amnesty. And last week, explaining why he had no need to work as a lobbyist, he boasted that he commanded $60,000 per speech — while stumping in South Carolina, a state where the median household income is $42,600. There may be basic logic in such a remark, said Rich Galen, a former top aide to Mr. Gingrich in the House, but the comment was tone-deaf. Mr. Gingrich faced “a major obstacle,” Mr. Galen said, from off-the-cuff remarks “that are so emotionally clanging that he’ll have to back and fill and defend what he said.” Longtime aides to Mr. Gingrich said he fosters work environments where people feel free to think out loud. The ideas he offers in public are not spontaneous but grounded in such lengthy brainstorming. But because his ideas are often unconventional, they require detailed explanations; expressed as a sound bite, they backfire. “Until the underlying principle is well understood, it is risky in a campaign to offer ideas,” said Rick Tyler, a former top strategist to Mr. Gingrich, who used to counsel him to be more careful about how his ideas would be perceived. In the case of his “right-wing social engineering” remark, back in May, Mr. Gingrich was criticizing a proposal by Mr. Ryan to make Medicare a voucher system. Mr. Gingrich thought the program should be optional, which he had privately suggested to Mr. Ryan, although Mr. Ryan did not embrace that, said people briefed on the matter. Mr. Gingrich’s criticism, in a television interview, became an act of apostasy to some conservatives that nearly sank his campaign, and he was forced to apologize to Mr. Ryan. Mr. Gingrich’s campaign spokesman maintained that it was an example of an idea that, once voters took a closer look, made sense to them. Once the furor subsided, “The campaign quieted down, and people were able to ask him one on one, ‘What was that about?’ ” said the spokesman, R. C. Hammond. “Newt would say something like: ‘Paul Ryan put forward a Medicare plan. It’s a good plan, but where we disagree is he would make it mandatory for seniors. I think we should make it optional and do it next year.’ Then people are like, ‘Oh, I’m fine with that.’ ” Now something similar is occurring over Mr. Gingrich’s children-as-janitors idea. With less than a month before the first votes are cast in Iowa, he seems to recognize that he is in danger from the reaction to his proposal, which he first offered two weeks ago at Harvard in response to a student’s question. Criticism has been blistering, with some pointing to research showing that the more high school students work, the poorer their grades. At the news conference in New York on Monday, Mr. Gingrich introduced the topic before taking questions. He explained that he was thinking of children in housing projects who had few working adults as role models. He hoped to introduce them to the habit of earning a paycheck in exchange for being responsible. “How many of you earned some money doing something by the time you were 10 years old?” he asked a crowded room of journalists at the Union League Club , where he had just met privately with affluent donors. “Baby-sitting. Cutting grass. Raise your hand.” A few tentative hands went up. Mr. Gingrich said his proposal, which he had presented as a taste of his “extraordinarily radical” antipoverty ideas, had been distorted by critics. “I do not suggest children up to 14, 15 years of age do heavy janitorial work,” he said. They could work in clerical roles or do light maintenance, for instance. Mr. Gingrich, who met earlier in the day with Donald J. Trump, announced that Mr. Trump had agreed to create a program of 10 part-time paid “apprenticeships” for children in one of New York’s poorest schools. “He understood exactly what I was getting at,” Mr. Gingrich said. “It fit his own past, his own childhood, his own experience.” Mr. Trump, of course, did not grow up poor; his father was a wealthy landlord. He once told Forbes magazine that his first income came from collecting soda bottles for the deposit money. He later went around with his father’s rent collectors.

Child Labor
Gingrich Newt
Presidential Election of 2012
Speeches and Statements
Labor and Jobs
Political Advertising
Ryan Paul D Jr