With Credit Frozen, Developers in Westchester Shift Gears on Major Projects

Abstract: LESS than a year ago, New Rochelle leaders were banking their city’s future on a new wave of development, a multitude of projects designed to restore vibrancy to downtown. The plans included apartment towers with brand names like Trump and a Long Island Sound shoreline with high-end housing and canals for small boats. Across the county in Yonkers — where much of the riverfront has been developed only for industry — local leaders had their hopes pegged to big-name builders’ proposals to overhaul the downtown and waterfront, creating neighborhoods with perks like water taxi service to New York City and a minor league baseball park. At the same time, White Plains, the epicenter of Westchester retailing, was benefiting from having its large-scale projects completed before the full effect of the current economic crisis hit. “Most of our primary development, thank God, was finished just under the wire,” said Paul Wood, the White Plains executive officer. With destination stores from Neiman Marcus to Wal-Mart, a Ritz-Carlton hotel and desirable downtown apartments, White Plains was on a roll and other developers wanted in, officials said. Today, however, such visions of Westchester’s future do not look as rosy, primarily because of the financial meltdown that, in some cases, has brought the business of construction to a halt, developers and local leaders said. “It’s a mess,” said Geoffrey Thompson, of the public relations firm Thompson & Bender and a spokesman for Cappelli Enterprises, Core Plus Properties and other developers. “No one saw anything of this magnitude coming.” With banks not lending money readily, retailers facing dismal sales and the housing market woefully hurt, now is hardly prime time for investors to spend millions or billions creating a new vision of Westchester, developers said. Though some large-scale projects, most notably those aimed at turning around sections of New Rochelle and Yonkers, are still working their way through the cities’ approval processes, developers say they are more likely now to delay timetables, tweak proposals to better reflect market conditions and hunker down for a while until the financial storm blows over. With many projects already delayed by at least a year, the development community is bracing to see what happens this spring, when activity typically picks up after dormant winter months. One of the biggest developers weathering the turmoil is Cappelli Enterprises, which is in the midst of repositioning New Roc City in downtown New Rochelle as a retail center more than as an entertainment complex; is pursuing its plan to build office, retail and hotel space at LeCount Square, also in downtown New Rochelle; and is a partner in the $1.6 billion redevelopment plan for downtown Yonkers. Having already spent millions of dollars and several years on getting such projects approved, Cappelli is moving ahead as planned, said Joseph V. Apicella, its executive vice president. Doing so in these tough times, however, means proceeding cautiously to reduce the risks associated with such projects, thus making them more viable when conditions improve, he said. “Smart money positions itself to be able to withstand the storm while at the same time laying the groundwork for when the storm blows over,” Mr. Apicella said. Altering proposals to reflect market demand, initiating or financing projects in stages and creating partnerships with public agencies are some of those steps, he said. So is slowing down the process. The developer Forest City Ratner has asked New Rochelle to formally delay approval of its proposed $450 million Echo Bay waterfront revitalization project. That means the mixed-use project will most likely break ground in early 2011 rather than 2010, officials said. In White Plains, the developers of three residential projects have asked for extensions, Mr. Wood said. Another, the developer LCOR’s construction of 538 apartments, including 100 affordable units, on Bank Street near the train station, appeared to be in jeopardy when its primary investor, Lehman Brothers, went out of business, Mr. Wood said. That project was salvaged by securing financing in stages from other lenders, he said. “It’s not that progress and development and new business can’t happen,” Mr. Apicella said. “It’s just more of a laborious process, it’s much more expensive and it needs to be approached much more creatively.” For Cappelli, that also means making concessions, like accepting tenants at lower rents rather than having no tenants, Mr. Apicella said. After spending $50 million so New Roc City could accommodate tenants like Target and Kohl’s, it would be bad business to let the space sit empty rather than get business moving, even if at a reduced rate, he said. “I’d rather get $18 a square foot for the next 10 years than zero for the next two,” he said. Some sites may stay as they are for the time being. For example, the former United Hospital site in Port Chester, a redevelopment candidate, will most likely stay dormant in the immediate future, real estate analysts said. And in New Rochelle, plans to build a condominium tower on the site of a downtown parking garage were scrapped when the housing market crashed, Mayor Noam Bramson said. “We are in the midst of a generational effort to revitalize our economy and have made great progress in the last decade,” he said. “We always understand, though, that the pace of progress can quicken or slow based on the overall economic environment, and it is reasonable to expect that the current down cycle will impact us to some degree.” Even projects already under construction — Forest City Ratner’s $600 million Ridge Hill development in Yonkers, for example, with shopping, entertainment, office and hotel space — are facing less certain futures than they were a year ago, real estate analysts said. With the retail outlook bleak, many stores are more apt this year to scale back or close than expand, meaning not only will new space be hard to fill, but there may also be new vacancies in existing space as well, real estate developers said. Businesses that do move into new space will most likely pay rents far lower than originally expected, so developers, municipalities and investors may not recoup their investments as planned, some developers said. At the same time, consumers are not spending as much, casting doubts on the premise that new construction will bring jobs, tax dollars and vibrancy to Westchester with it. “The wealth destruction that has taken place has created a black hole that has sucked a lot of purchasing power into it,” said G. Lamont Blackstone, a Mount Vernon-based consultant and developer who works with municipalities on development issues. Still, developers, analysts and municipal officials say they still believe in the merits of development and plan to continue their pursuits once flusher times return. In White Plains, Core Plus Properties still intends to start building the Venue, a high-end shopping destination for about 15 tenants, said Frank Gallo, its managing partner. He expects to start construction this spring. Chuck Lesnick, the Yonkers City Council president, said that despite uncertain times he was confident that the new space being created by developments already under way, like Ridge Hill, would ultimately be filled, though by which companies and retailers may ultimately be decided by the whims of the marketplace. Real estate officials said that despite current economic hardships, models of new development, which create places where people can live, work and play instead of isolated shopping centers and office parks, have already proved themselves in places like White Plains, which has both transformed its downtown and become the area’s No. 1 shopping destination. In turn, moving forward still makes sense, they said. “To do anything other than that would be just plain bad business,” Mr. Apicella said.

Area Planning and Renewal
Buildings (Structures)
Recession and Depression
Westchester County (NY)


A Veteran Unbowed by His War Injuries

Abstract: At Madison Square Garden on Saturday, John Fernandez will enjoy the utter normalcy of being whacked with a lacrosse stick — exactly what a West Point grad would expect from Annapolis grads, and vice versa, to be sure. “I may not be the one taking the ball behind the crease, but I will be hanging around the crease,” Fernandez said. “It’s hard to turn without ankles,” he added, matter-of-factly. Fernandez lost the lower portion of his legs in Iraq in 2003. He has fought back with an inspiring amount of good will and courage. Using prosthetic limbs, he works and shares the parenting of two, soon to be three, children with his wife, Kristi — “a rock,” he calls her. “I do everything I used to do,” he said the other day. “I ski, I hunt, I fish, I snowboard.” And he plays lacrosse with the same wicked shot he used as captain at West Point. On Saturday, Fernandez will join Army alumni against Navy alumni in the Heroes Cup at 5 p.m. before the New York Titans’ professional game. Some of the proceeds will go to the Wounded Warrior Project, the association of injured Iraq and Afghanistan veterans for whom Fernandez is the alumni director. Thousands of veterans help one another cope with the pain, the fears, the bureaucracy. “When we get together, it’s like a car show,” said Fernandez, 30, demonstrating how the vets roll up their pants or sleeves and observe each other’s devices, saying, ‘Hey, I tried this” or “Hey, I didn’t like that.” Fernandez was chosen captain at West Point even though he was not a starter. (“I never had quick feet to begin with,” he said.) His leadership continues with the Wounded Warrior Project, which will hold a fund-raiser at Cipriani in Manhattan on May 1. “We use the front-porch concept,” Fernandez said, discussing the superb World War II documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick called “The War,” which described how millions of returned veterans sat on their front porches and talked to one another. Now, the smaller band of vets keeps in touch via phone or computer or occasional reunions.  Fernandez eagerly chose West Point. His two grandfathers had served during World War II, and he understood the possibilities of war. “I would do it again,” he said. “It made me the person I am.” After his graduation in 2001, Fernandez was a first lieutenant commanding a field artillery unit in the early days of the Iraq invasion, south of Baghdad, being asked to perform tasks for which he said the soldiers had not been trained. On April 3, 2003, his platoon was hit by a bomb, and three soldiers were killed alongside him. Eight days later, he was at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. “I flew from Seattle to Washington to see him the day after the second lower leg was amputated,” said Alex Fyfe, his friend and a teammate both at Rocky Point High on Long Island and later at West Point. “He said, ‘Hey, man, it’s going to be all right.’ He has the most positive attitude.” Later, Fernandez learned that the bomb had been mistakenly dropped from a United States Air Force jet — friendly fire, as it is known. “We call it fog and friction,” Fernandez said. “It’s just like on the athletic field. There are so many variables. Who’s to say I would not have been shot in the head the next day?” Accepting the loss of his feet, Fernandez had to fight off another challenge — from the military that was pressuring him to resign. He resisted, insisting on the pay and benefits to which he was entitled. He says he worries about veterans who have brain injuries or do not have a family or a West Point education to get them through what is, at best, a bureaucratic maze.  When Fernandez got home to Shoreham, his grandfather, Frank Fernandez, a Navy veteran, “talked more with me than he ever had with anybody,” the grandson said. “We had a bond between us.” Fernandez had promised his college coach, Jack Emmer, that he would play in an alumni game. A year later, he did. “He’s got a little hop in his step,” Fyfe said. “At first, we worried that he might fall over, but he doesn’t, and if he did, he’d just get back up.” Fyfe has also been in Iraq, where he distributed soccer balls to children. Now working for Bear Stearns in New York, Fyfe volunteers for Soccer for Peace, which sponsors programs for Jewish and Arab children in Israel. That group will hold a dinner at Chelsea Piers on June 19. These two friends are among America’s many best and brightest in this volunteer military, making the most of the mission they were handed. Fyfe and Fernandez spoke proudly of each other — how Fyfe climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, how Fernandez fixes up his house and plays with his children. Once in a while, Fernandez takes a whack from some Navy defender. And whacks back.

Veterans
Lacrosse
Iraq
United States Armament and Defense


Man Who Helped Image of Wal-Mart Steps Down

Abstract: The chief burnisher of Wal-Mart Stores’ reputation is leaving the company as its image is under new strains. Wal-Mart said on Friday that Leslie Dach, a former aide in the Clinton administration who is credited with polishing the company’s image through energy conservation, environmentally friendly packaging and philanthropy, is resigning after almost seven years. He is leaving as the company deals with international bribery investigations, questions about factory safety among its global suppliers and scattered protests at stores. Mr. Dach said that his decision was not related to the global giant’s recent problems but that he believed he had accomplished many of the goals of making Wal-Mart palatable to a range of groups. “When things are going really well, that’s the right time to do it,” said Mr. Dach, who will stay on until June. As the executive vice president of corporate affairs, his duties included overseeing government and public relations and the Walmart Foundation. The president of the foundation, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, was nominated this month by President Obama to lead the Office and Management and Budget, potentially leaving another gap at the company. Even critics of Wal-Mart give Mr. Dach some credit. “Wal-Mart became much more adept at constructing a public image that would appeal to liberal audiences after he came on board,” said Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which encourages environmentally conscious development and frequently opposes Wal-Mart’s policies. Mr. Dach arrived at the company in August 2006 as public opinion soured with criticism of its pay and benefits and claims that its pressure on vendors to cut costs was sending jobs overseas. According to the YouGov BrandIndex Buzz index, which measures whether people have recently heard positive or negative things about a company, in mid-2007, the earliest data available, Wal-Mart’s score was about a negative 5 on a scale of negative 100 to positive 100, but it rose to the 20s in 2009. After an article in The New York Times last April reported that executives had ignored evidence of bribery in Mexico, it sank to about 7. It recovered before falling again around the holidays, when unions threatened a Black Friday protest and another New York Times article about bribery in Mexico was published. Its score is now around 10, in line with discount retailers as a whole. Image Leslie Dach, executive vice president of corporate affairs, is leaving after seven years. Credit Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press “He helped position them as being good — good for seniors, good for families, good for the community — and they really were perceived as bad,” said Michael W. Robinson, executive vice president of Levick, a public relations firm based in Washington. Shares closed on Friday at $73.03, well above the $45 range when Mr. Dach was hired. Mr. Dach was a Clinton aide who went on to run the Washington office of the public relations firm Edelman. At Edelman, he advised Wal-Mart executives on strategy, including a surprising speech in 2005 in which H. Lee Scott, then the chief executive, said Wal-Mart was going to become more environmentally friendly. When Mr. Dach began working with Wal-Mart, he said in an interview on Friday, Wal-Mart wanted “to open itself up to those who it might’ve kept at arm’s length before.” Until then, the company largely closed ranks when it was criticized, and unions, environmentalists and other foes were creating ever-louder opposition to the company. Mr. Dach steered Wal-Mart toward setting energy-reduction goals, pushed some of its vendors like Procter & Gamble to redesign products to make them more environmentally friendly, and added more sustainable products, like fluorescent bulbs and concentrated detergent. On the environmental front, the company has not met all of its goals — Mr. Scott wanted 100 percent of store waste to be diverted from landfills, and 80 percent now is — but it has made progress. While critics say Wal-Mart is, by definition, environmentally unfriendly — as a brand-new big-box store selling disposable goods largely from overseas — others say its size can force real change. And on other issues, like selling $4 generic prescriptions and healthier food, and donating to hunger prevention and veterans and women’s causes, it has gained allies, including Michelle Obama and the World Wildlife Fund. Labor groups continue to criticize Wal-Mart for unfair wages and poor labor practices overseas, among other issues. The Mexico inquiry continues to loom over the company, and Wal-Mart was shown to be using suppliers in a Bangladesh factory where a fire killed more than 100 workers in November. John Podesta, chairman of the Center for American Progress and a longtime friend, said Mr. Dach “has had a career both on the civil-society side and in the business world, and I think he wants to do a little bit more of the former.” Mr. Dach, whose compensation is not disclosed, said he was looking forward to avoiding the commute from Washington to Bentonville, Ark., which he now makes weekly. He will continue consulting for Wal-Mart, its chief executive, Michael T. Duke, said in a note to employees.


As Stability Eludes Region, Western Oil Giants Hesitate

Abstract: LONDON — Political instability and violent protests in North Africa are taking their toll on the region’s energy sector. In Libya, which has the largest proven oil reserves in Africa, heavily armed militias and striking oil workers have shut down many of the largest export terminals and oil fields, cutting production to about a tenth of normal output. A number of Western companies have experienced delays in their oil and natural gas projects in an unsettled Egypt, whose government still owes many of these energy developers billions of dollars in back payments. Analysts also warn that the continued standoff over Syria could weigh on the oil and gas production in both North Africa and the Middle East, as any potential military conflict could easily spill over into surrounding major oil-producing countries like Iraq. “The prospects for the oil and gas sector in countries like Libya are nonexistent for the next few years,” said Riccardo Fabiani, a North African analyst at the risk consultants Eurasia Group in London. “The main problem is that many of these governments are just not in control on the ground.” The renewed uncertainty represents a serious setback for countries like Libya and Egypt, where governments remain dependent on earnings generated from their large energy reserves. In Algeria, the biggest gas producer in the region, the energy industry still represents about 60 percent of the country’s annual budget revenue. The protests and oil field disruptions also have raised questions about whether Western companies will continue investing in North African oil and gas projects. While the prospects of developing proven energy reserves remain attractive for companies like BP and Statoil of Norway, analysts warn that companies are likely to postpone new investments until the political situation in these countries has become more stable. “The oil and gas industry is used to dealing with uncertainty and volatility, but the speed of some of these protests has been unprecedented,” said Julie Adams, head of global energy research at Accenture, a consulting firm in London. “Companies may rethink their capital investment plans.” The impact of countrywide protests has been most pronounced in Libya. In August, militias and oil workers in widespread protests accused Libya’s national oil company of corruption. They also called for greater autonomy for the eastern part of the country, where the rebellion against the dictator Muammar el-Qaddafi began. The strikers have seized many of Libya’s major oil fields and export terminals, cutting daily output to less than 200,000 barrels a day, compared with about 1.6 million barrels per day at the start of the year. The sharp fall in production, which is costing the country’s government more than $100 million in lost revenue each day, has led to widespread power failures across Libya and forced local politicians to look for ways to appease the protesters. In early September, the Libyan Parliament agreed to a 20 percent salary increase for civil servants, including the striking oil security guards. Despite the concessions, analysts say the government’s lack of control over parts of the country and the limited resources of Libya’s security forces could leave many oil and gas installations vulnerable to future demonstrations. “The oil and gas sector has become a huge target for anyone looking to extract something from the government,” said Oliver Coleman, a Middle East and North Africa analyst at the research organization Maplecroft in Bath, England. “As oil exports drop, the government’s problems will increase.” The disruptions also are hitting Western energy companies’ operations in the country. Libyan oil, when not facing disruptions, accounts for at least 10 percent of global production for companies like Repsol of Spain and OMV of Austria. In response to the country’s problems, some Western companies, including Exxon Mobil, are now cutting back on staff and operations in the North African country because the instability does not justify the major investment needed to develop oil and gas resources. Tough terms on oil contracts, including the Libyan government’s retaining as much as 90 percent of revenue generated from oil sales, also have put off international investors. “All major exploration seems to be on hold in Libya,” said Femi Oso, an analyst at Wood Mackenzie, an energy consulting firm in Edinburgh. In Egypt, the military government has given priority to the protection of large oil and gas fields, as well as infrastructure sites, including the Suez Canal and the Sumed pipeline, which runs across the country. While a relatively small player in the global oil and gas industry, Egypt remains dependent on billions of dollars of annual revenue generated from the sector, which helps to subsidize domestic energy use at the low prices. Local concessions for diesel and oil consumption currently eat up just under a quarter of the country’s annual budget. The subsidies also have led the Egyptian government to rack up debts estimated at $5 billion to $7 billion in back payments owed to Western oil and gas companies for oil and gas that they have produce in Egypt. “The big problem is that companies are not being paid by the government,” said Mr. Coleman of Maplecroft, the research organization. “If Egypt finds it hard to pay oil and gas companies, it will struggle to entice future investment.” The country’s political instability also remains a concern for some Western companies. In mid-September, for example, the British oil and gas company BG Group said continued social unrest across Egypt had delayed the development of one of its new offshore gas facilities in the Nile Delta by about four months. . BG Group, which generated about 20 percent of its total global production from the North African country last year, also is owed about $600 million in back payments by the Egyptian government for energy deposits that it has delivered to the state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation. In late August, China Petrochemical Corporation, the state-owned oil and refining giant better known as Sinopec, took advantage of investor unease over the Houston company Apache’s heavy exposure to Egypt by buying a one-third stake in the Egyptian assets of Apache’s oil operations are mostly located in the western desert, far from Egypt’s major cities and have not been directly affected by the country’s social problems. “Apache holds a lot of the power in its relationship with Egypt,” said Mark Hanson, an analyst at Morningstar in Chicago. “Without Western capital and technical expertise from firms like Apache, Egypt would be unable to meet” its energy needs. But the deal allows Apache to hang on to what it considers a prize while cutting debt and freeing up capital for investments in North America.

Libya
Egypt
Iraq
Algeria
Arab Spring
Oil and Gasoline


Europe Seeks More Taxes From U.S. Multinationals

Abstract: PARIS — Google reported sales of more than $4 billion in Britain last year. It paid less than $10 million in taxes. Some tax collectors, lawmakers and competitors of Google in Europe say this is unfair. As governments throughout the region seek to close gaping holes in their budgets, they are taking aim at United States multinational companies, especially Internet giants like Google and Amazon.com , which pay little or no taxes in Europe, despite generating billions of dollars in revenue on the Continent. “Why on earth do you manipulate your accounts so that you get away with not paying corporation tax in the U.K.?” Margaret Hodge, a member of Parliament, asked representatives of Google, Amazon and Starbucks last week, during a heated committee hearing in London. In France, tax collectors have gone further. Amazon says it has received a bill from France for taxes and penalties related to the “allocation of income between foreign jurisdictions” from 2006 through 2010. Other companies, including Google, are also reportedly in the French authorities’ sights. “Even if the Internet is a zone of freedom, it shouldn’t be a lawless zone,” Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, a spokeswoman for the French government, said last week. “Fiscal rules should be able to be applied to those activities as well.” Google, Amazon, Starbucks and other American companies facing tax scrutiny say they are doing nothing wrong. They use complex accounting strategies to exploit national differences across Europe in corporate tax rates, which range from less than 10 percent to more than 30 percent, and loopholes that can reduce their effective European tax levies to almost nothing. Google, for example, records most of its international revenue at its European headquarters in Ireland, where the corporate tax rate is 12.5 percent. Across Europe, customers who buy advertising, Google’s primary source of revenue, sign contracts with the company’s subsidiary in Ireland, rather than with local branches. Google ends up paying Irish taxes on only a fraction of the billions of euros that course through its Dublin office. That is because the company uses a variety of methods, including royalty payments to a unit in Bermuda, to reduce further the amount of money exposed to tax liability. So, while Google told the Securities and Exchange Commission that it generated more than $4 billion in sales in Britain last year, it reported revenue of only £396 million, or $629 million, in its official filings there. The total, the company said, reflected the amount that Google’s British unit billed Google Ireland for promotional work, consulting and other activities. Google declared a profit of £31 million in Britain, resulting in a British tax bill of only £6 million. “We pay the tax we are required to pay in every country in which we operate,” Matt Brittin, Google vice president for North and Central Europe, told the parliamentary panel. Ms. Hodge, chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee, acknowledged that she thought Google, Amazon and Starbucks were probably complying with the law. “We are not accusing you of being illegal, we are accusing you of being immoral,” she said. In France, more than morality is at stake. In his testimony to the parliamentary panel, Andrew Cecil, director of public policy for Amazon in Europe, confirmed that the company had received a demand for $252 million from the French tax collection agency. He said Amazon was contesting the claim, which was originally disclosed in an American regulatory filing. Amazon, which has European headquarters in Luxembourg, another small country with favorable tax conditions for multinational companies, reported 9.1 billion euros, or $11.6 billion, in revenue across Europe last year. It posted an after-tax profit of 20 million euros on those sales, and paid about 8 million euros in tax, Mr. Cecil said. Mr. Cecil told the parliamentary committee that when customers across Europe bought books from Amazon, they were actually buying them from the Luxembourg-based Amazon entity, rather than their local subsidiaries. That response was met with incredulity by Ms. Hodge, who noted that when she ordered a book from the company, she used a British Web site, Amazon.co.uk , and the goods were delivered from a British warehouse via the British Royal Mail. News reports in France note that French fiscal authorities are also seeking back taxes and penalties from Google, amounting to 1.7 billion euros. Ms. Vallaud-Belkacem told reporters that she could not comment on individual companies for privacy reasons. Google, in a statement, said the reports were premature. “Google has not received any tax assessment from the French tax administration,” the company said. “We have and will continue to cooperate with the authorities in France.” Europe is not the only place where the complex tax arrangements of United States multinationals are being questioned. The authorities in Australia have sent Apple a bill for 28.5 million Australian dollars, or about $29.5 million, in back taxes, according to news reports Friday. Apple could not be reached for comment. In an era of globalization, determining the tax liability of multinational companies has long vexed policy makers and tax collectors. International agreements generally state that commerce should be taxed in the physical location where profit-making activity occurs, not necessarily where a customer is based or where a transaction takes place. Determining the appropriate jurisdiction for taxation is especially difficult with Internet businesses, because of the intangible nature of many of the goods and services that change hands and the ease with which transactions can cross borders. Google says that most of the economic value it creates is generated in Silicon Valley, where its engineers toil away at the computer algorithms behind its search engine and other services. So the company says it is fair that most of what it pays in taxes goes to the United States Treasury, not its foreign counterparts. While Google’s United States taxes have come under scrutiny, too, the company pays substantially more in the United States. In 2011, the company’s annual report shows, it made a provision of $2.6 billion for income taxes, all but $248 million of that going to the state and national treasuries in the United States. Based on pretax income of $12.3 billion, that amounted to an effective rate of 21 percent. “If Google was a British business, if Google had been founded in Cambridge by Larry and Sergey, I think we’d be in a very different place here, because the profitability would rightly sit where all the technology and innovation take place, which is not here,” Mr. Brittin said. He was referring to Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the co-founders of Google. Though Google employees across Europe advise clients on the use of the company’s services, advertisers sign contracts with the company’s subsidiary in Ireland. This has shielded Google from tax liability in France, Britain and other European countries, at least so far. “Google is saying, ‘We just float around freely above this useful aircraft carrier, Ireland,’ ” said Richard Murphy, founder of the Tax Justice Network, an independent organization that campaigns against what it calls tax “loopholes and distortions.” “What France is saying is, ‘We don’t think you float around over Ireland, we think you are in France.’ ” If Google believes that its profit-making activity — that is, its taxable work — occurs in the United States, Mr. Murphy said, then it ought to take its European earnings home and expose them to the Internal Revenue Service. Yet, like many other American multinationals, it has been reluctant to do so. Instead, Google said it had accumulated $24.8 billion as of the end of 2011 outside the United States — part of a cache of stored American corporate cash that Citizens for Tax Justice, an American advocacy group, estimates at more than $1.5 trillion. The money has been accumulating in Bermuda and other offshore havens since a 2004 United States tax holiday for the repatriation of corporate profits. While some American corporate leaders have been lobbying in Washington for another tax holiday, lawmakers in Europe are moving to collect a greater share of multinationals’ taxes. Last spring, the European Parliament threw its support behind a proposal to create a single set of European Union-wide accounting rules for calculating multinational corporations’ tax liabilities. But policy makers are divided over whether the standards should be voluntary or mandatory. Ms. Vallaud-Belkacem said last week that the administration of President François Hollande of France was discussing with other European governments ways to crack down on tax avoidance by international companies. After a meeting this month, George Osborne, the British chancellor of the Exchequer, and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble of Germany called for “concerted international cooperation to strengthen international standards for corporate tax regimes.” Mr. Osborne said in a statement, “We want competitive taxes that say Britain is open for business and that attract global companies to invest in and bring jobs to our country, but we also want global companies to pay those taxes.”

Europe
Corporate Taxes
Corporations
Google Inc
Amazon.com Inc
Starbucks Corporation


Fantasy Football: Week 15 Matchup Breakdown

Abstract: The fantasy football playoffs are in full swing this week. It’s worth noting that three of the best fantasy running backs get three of the best running back matchups in Week 15. Le’Veon Bell of the Steelers, coming off a monster 41-point performance, gets the best matchup, against the Falcons in Atlanta. Bears running back Matt Forte plays at home against a Saints defense that allows the third most fantasy points to the position. The Chiefs’ Jamaal Charles has the fourth best matchup at home against the Raiders. But those are easy starts any week. How about Eli Manning? Continue reading for more favorable and unfavorable matchup picks. If you have a tough lineup question for Week 15, ask us a question on Twitter at @5thDownFantasy, or consult our Week 15 player rankings. 2014 Fantasy Football Weekly Player Rankings Jason and Justin Sablich provide weekly player rankings for standard and PPR scoring formats. They will be updated throughout the season. Favorable Matchups Image Eli Manning has not been the most reliable quarterback, but he should produce against Washington. Credit Wesley Hitt/Getty Images Quarterbacks Eli Manning (NYG) vs. Washington (24.8 F.P.P.G., No. 1 QB Matchup) — Washington, as the worst team in pass coverage according to ProFootballFocus.com, is a fantastic matchup for any quarterback, even if that quarterback is Manning. He actually had a monster game against the Redskins in Week 4, with 300 yards passing and four touchdowns (37 fantasy points). Jay Cutler (CHI) vs. New Orleans (22.9 F.P.P.G., No. 5 QB Matchup) — The Saints have permitted back-to-back 30-plus fantasy point performances to Ben Roethlisberger and Cam Newton. After a strong start to the season, Cutler’s inconsistency of late is concerning, but in this matchup we’d feel confident starting him. Matt Ryan (ATL) vs. Pittsburgh (22.2 F.P.P.G., No. 7 QB Matchup) — Pittsburgh has permitted an average of 32.8 standard fantasy points a game to the position over the last three weeks. Ryan, meanwhile, has had a nice uptick in fantasy production late this season, with 24 points against a tough Cardinals secondary in Week 13 and 39 points at Lambeau Field last Monday night. Ben Roethlisberger (PIT) vs. Atlanta (19.7 F.P.P.G., No. 16 QB Matchup) — Roethlisberger is fresh off one of his best games this season, completing 25 of 39 passes for 350 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and no sacks against a tough Bengals defense. He has thrown for at least 300 yards in five of his last six games, but he has had a knack for doing the total opposite of what you would expect this season. So he should do well against the Falcons, who rank dead last against the pass (287 passing yards per game), but don’t be shocked if he doesn’t. Running Back Chris Ivory (NYJ) vs. Tennessee (23.4 F.P.P.G., No. 2 RB Matchup) — The Titans have permitted five straight 100-yard games to running backs and rank last in the N.F.L. against the run. Chris Johnson continues to steal carries from Ivory, but Ivory has posted 16 carries in each of his last two games. Against this defense, that puts him in the fantasy RB2 conversation. Justin Forsett (BAL) vs. Jacksonville (21.8 F.P.P.G., No. 6 RB Matchup) — This run defense has been exploited in back-to-back weeks, with 20-point fantasy performances for Rashad Jennings and Arian Foster. Forsett has been on a roll, scoring at least 10 standard fantasy points in eight of nine games. Alfred Morris (WAS) vs. Giants (20.4 F.P.P.G., No. 10 RB Matchup) — Morris has been the definition of disappointment in recent weeks, but with the Giants’ 30th-ranked run defense (136 Y.P.G.) on deck and the likely return of Robert Griffin III at quarterback to help open up the running lanes, he is worth another start. Morris totaled 90 yards and a touchdown against the Giants in Week 4. Latavius Murray (OAK) vs. Kansas City (16.4 F.P.P.G., No. 22 RB Matchup) — Not a great matchup on paper, but Murray is now the main back in Oakland after his 23 carries for 76 yards in Week 14, compared with Darren McFadden’s four total touches. On just four carries in Week 12, Murray burned Kansas City for over 100 yards and two touchdowns. Let’s see what he can do with many more opportunities. Image Bills receiver Sammy Watkins is coming off his best game in over a month. Credit Ron Chenoy/Reuters Wide Receiver Sammy Watkins (BUF) vs. Green Bay (26.1 F.P.P.G., No. 4 WR Matchup) — He’s coming off his best game in more than a month, catching seven passes for 127 yards. Buffalo will need plenty of air time to keep up with Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, who just served up 312 yards and four touchdowns to Atlanta’s wideouts and are on the hook for the fourth most fantasy points allowed to the position this year. Odell Beckham Jr . (NYG) vs. Washington (27.7 F.P.P.G., No. 9 WR Matchup) — Beckham, with 49 receptions on 67 targets for 723 yards over the last six weeks, is a flat-out stud receiver in all formats. He should benefit the most from Manning’s fantastic matchup this weekend. Roddy White (ATL) vs. Pittsburgh (24.0 F.P.P.G., No. 13 WR Matchup) — White could be in line for extra targets if Julio Jones misses this game. The Steelers were burned for 162 yards and a score by Kenny Stills in Week 13 and 224 yards and a touchdown by A.J. Green last weekend. They have allowed six straight games of 10-plus fantasy point production to individual receivers. Eric Decker (NYJ) vs. Tennessee (23.1 F.P.P.G., No. 15 WR Matchup) — He’s coming off six receptions for 89 yards against the Vikings. Percy Harvin’s likely absence because of an ankle sprain will make Decker the featured option in the Jets’ passing game once again. The Titans’ terrible secondary goes from bad to worse with cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson heading to injured reserve with a dislocated shoulder. Fantasy Football: 2014 Matchup Analysis, Wide Receiver (WR1) This chart indicates what kind of fantasy matchup a team’s top receiver, or WR1, will have. Tight End Larry Donnell (NYG) vs. Washington (10.7 F.P.P.G., No. 2 TE Matchup) — Donnell had his breakout game against Washington back in Week 4, when he caught seven of eight targets for 54 yards and three touchdowns. The Redskins have yielded consecutive two-touchdown performances to tight ends Coby Fleener and Jared Cook over the last two weeks. Antonio Gates (SD) vs. Denver (9.3 F.P.P.G., No. 8 TE Matchup) — Gates gashed Denver for 54 yards and two touchdowns when these teams met in Week 8. The Broncos are permitting 9 standard fantasy points a game to tight ends this year. Defense/Special Teams Seattle vs. San Francisco, Detroit vs. Minnesota, Baltimore vs. Jacksonville Unfavorable Matchups Quarterback Colin Kaepernick (SF) vs. Seattle (14.5 F.P.P.G., No. 32 QB Matchup) — Not that you needed much more of a reason to avoid Kaepernick, but he gets the worst matchup for quarterbacks this week. He was just 16 of 29 for 121 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions two weeks ago against Seattle. Russell Wilson (SEA) vs. San Francisco (17.1 F.P.P.G., No. 27 QB Matchup) — Wilson will be up against PFF.com’s fourth best pass coverage team this weekend. He has averaged 192 passing yards to go along with three total touchdowns against the 49ers in their last three meetings, but his legs will keep him in the low-end QB1 conversation this week. Andy Dalton (CIN) vs. Cleveland (17.1 F.P.P.G., No. 26 QB Matchup) — Dalton had a miserable game against the Browns in Week 10, completing 10 of 33 passes for 86 yards and three interceptions. This time the game is in Cleveland. Ryan Tannehill (MIA) vs. New England (19.0 F.P.P.G., No. 20 QB Matchup) — He was a major disappointment in favorable matchups against the Jets and the Ravens over the last two weeks. The Patriots, meanwhile, have limited quarterbacks Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers and Philip Rivers to a 17-point fantasy average over the last three weeks. In Week 1, they held Tannehill to 178 yards, two touchdowns and one interception (16 F.P.s). Running Back Rashad Jennings (NYG) vs. Washington (13.1 F.P.P.G., No. 31 RB Matchup) — Expected to be in for a bigger workload Sunday but has to face Washington’s above-average run defense, which has allowed the second fewest fantasy points per week. Washington has permitted just one double-digit fantasy point day to the position over the last four weeks. Ryan Mathews (SD) vs. Denver (14.3 F.P.P.G., No. 28 RB Matchup) — Denver has the second-ranked run defense in the N.F.L. (3.5 Y.P.C.). Making matters tougher is an ankle injury that should limit Mathews on Sunday, or possibly keep him out of the lineup. Fantasy Football: 2014 Matchup Analysis, Running Back This chart indicates what kind of fantasy matchup a team’s top running back will have each week. Wide Receiver Anquan Boldin (SF) vs. Seattle (14.5 F.P.P.G., No. 32 WR Matchup) — Michael Crabtree will have an even tougher matchup with Richard Sherman, but the Seahawks’ Byron Maxwell is no slouch either, as he helped limit Boldin to three catches for 18 yards the last time these teams met. Mike Wallace (MIA) vs. New England (18.8 F.P.P.G., No. 29 WR Matchup) — Wallace and his quarterback have been struggling to connect in recent weeks, which has led to fantasy disappointment for his owners in tantalizing matchups with the Jets and the Ravens. New England’s secondary is much tougher and has held T.Y. Hilton, Jordy Nelson, Calvin Johnson and Keenan Allen to an average of 34.5 receiving yards and one touchdown over the last four weeks. Doug Baldwin (SEA) vs. San Francisco (19.3 F.P.P.G., No. 27 Matchup) — Baldwin hauled in two catches for 28 yards on four targets two weeks ago against San Francisco. A wideout hasn’t cleared more than 3 fantasy points against the 49ers over the last three weeks. Mohamed Sanu (CIN) vs. Cleveland (22.8 F.P.P.G., No. 18 WR Matchup) — Just two catches for 20 yards on seven targets against the Browns in Week 10. He is averaging just 3 fantasy points per game over the last five weeks. The Browns grade out as PFF.com’s best pass coverage team this year. Tight End Jason Witten (DAL) vs. Philadelphia (5.5 F.P.P.G., No. 26 TE Matchup) — Witten had one reception for 8 yards against the Eagles two weeks ago. Philadelphia is permitting just 5 points per game to tight ends this year. Heath Miller (PIT) vs. Atlanta (5.1 F.P.P.G., No. 30 TE Matchup) — The Falcons have allowed a tight end to top 10 fantasy points just once this year. Defense/Special Teams Dallas vs. Philadelphia, Miami vs. New England, Buffalo vs. Green Bay, Denver vs. San Diego

Football
Jamaal Charles
Eli Manning
Russell Wilson
Fantasy sport
Le'Veon Bell
Matthew G Forte


Court Ruling Clears Mother in Son’s Suicide

Abstract: STAMFORD, Conn, Aug. 28 — The Connecticut Supreme Court on Monday overturned the conviction of a woman who prosecutors said had kept such a messy home that it endangered the safety and mental health of her 12-year-old son, who killed himself in 2002. The case had sparked a national debate over parental responsibility for a child’s suicide. The case of Judith Scruggs, a single mother from Meriden, and her son, Daniel, was the first in which a Connecticut parent was charged criminally in a child’s suicide, experts said. It also brought national attention to the issue of child bullying after it was revealed that Daniel had been abused repeatedly by his classmates. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that prosecutors could not point to “objective standards for determining the point at which housekeeping becomes so poor that an ordinary person should know that it poses an unacceptable risk to the mental health of a child.” Justice William J. Sullivan wrote the majority opinion, and a separate concurring opinion was signed by two justices. The ruling reversed Ms. Scruggs’s conviction on one felony count of putting her child at risk by creating an unhealthy and unsafe home. She was sentenced to probation and 100 hours of community service in 2004. Ms. Scruggs did not return messages left with her lawyer and a friend on Monday, but the friend, Lisa Toomey, said she spoke to Ms. Scruggs after the decision was released and described her as “ecstatic.” During the trial, prosecutors were careful to separate the charges against Ms. Scruggs from Daniel’s death, noting that they were not seeking to prove that Ms. Scruggs’s conduct led to her son’s suicide. Nonetheless, the trial presented a narrative of Daniel’s misery, which ended on Jan. 2, 2002, when he hung himself in his bedroom closet. Witnesses testified that Daniel was punched, kicked and spat on in school and that he regularly skipped classes and even defecated in his clothes so he could be sent home. The Scruggs home was opened up for jurors through photographs and witnesses’ accounts; investigators testified that clothes, household items and debris were piled throughout the house, and that there was no clear surface in the kitchen to eat or prepare food. One police officer testified that the house smelled like a “dirty clothes hamper” and had “an odor of garbage.” In the closet where Daniel was found, the police found a spear and three long knives. M. H. Reese Norris, Ms. Scruggs’s lawyer, argued in the trial that Daniel was far more traumatized by his experiences in school than by the mess at home. A state report later found that Daniel had been let down by numerous agencies, including the state Department of Children and Families, which had closed an investigation into Daniel’s situation just days before he died. Ms. Scruggs is suing the Meriden school system and the city in connection with her son’s death. That case is pending, lawyers said. At her sentencing, Mr. Norris described Ms. Scruggs, who is in her mid-50’s, as a struggling single parent who was working 60 hours a week at two jobs when Daniel died. The judge faulted her for failing to show remorse and for blaming her problems on others. Douglas Nash, who represented Ms. Scruggs in her appeal, said the charges had placed blame where it did not belong. “All you had here was a cluttered house,” he said. Ms. Toomey, a business owner from Wallingford who started an anti-bullying advocacy group after reading about Daniel’s suicide, said the Supreme Court’s ruling showed prosecutors had “taken the attention off the root of the problem.” She said, “She absolutely should not have been charged, because it wasn’t the cause of his suicide.” Ms. Toomey’s group worked to get legislation passed in the state legislature holding schools accountable for bullying and making it easier for students to report abuse. She said Daniel’s case made parents more willing to speak out about bullying. Lawyers and legal experts said the court’s opinion would probably not shift precedent in cases in which a parent is accused of neglecting a child’s needs. Still, prosecutors will be hard pressed to charge another parent whose home is unsuitable for children, said Leon F. Dalbec, who prosecuted the case. “It’s going to be difficult because of this decision,” he said. “It’s got to be really, really bad conditions. It’s got to be so obvious that there would be no other opinion on the matter.”

Connecticut
Decisions and Verdicts
Suicides and Suicide Attempts
Child Abuse and Neglect
Families and Family Life


How a 2-Hour Flight Stretches Into 19

Abstract: I’M a million-mile man. Despite all my flying time, I’ve had few mishaps. But the mishaps I’ve had are memorable. Cancellations, confusion, engine trouble and a blown tire turned a two-hour flight into a 19-hour debacle as I made my way from Los Angeles to Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival . I arrived at Los Angeles Airport at 5:10 a.m. to check in for a 6:20 a.m. flight. That flight was canceled, but I was assured I could get on the 7:20 a.m. flight. Great. Except the ticket agent then said it was for the next day. After some heated discussion, the agent put me on a not-a-chance wait list for a 9:30 a.m. same-day flight. While I was drinking some much-needed tea, I found out that an 11 a.m. flight had opened up. Great. Actually, not so great. I found out at 10:30 a.m. that the agent had never booked me on that flight, and the plane was now overbooked. The same trusty agent then put me on a 2 p.m. flight, with a stop in Las Vegas. That plane was packed with screaming babies. I felt their pain. When I arrived in Las Vegas, the gate agent told me my connection was not going to arrive anytime soon. I hit a slot machine and won $400. I figured my travel karma was changing. My connection finally arrived at 7 p.m.. But as we gathered speed for takeoff, something went boom in the engine. So we headed back to the terminal. They wheeled out another plane and as we headed down the runway again, we heard another boom. A tire blew. So much for karma. I finally arrived in Salt Lake City after midnight, and met my driver who had been waiting for me for 17 hours. I wasn’t sure who looked worse. But at least I had $400 in my pocket. On a flight from Los Angeles to Panama City, my suitcase was lost, which nearly led to my arrest. My final destination was the Pearl Islands to meet my crew and report on the television show “Survivor.” I spent the night in Panama City, waiting desperately for a clothing store to open before my 10 a.m. boat left for the Pearl Islands. At 9 a.m., a store finally opened its doors and I ran inside and began shopping, which, considering the time crunch, meant frantically throwing underwear, shirts, pants and socks on the sales counter. I was harried and haggard. I looked like a fugitive on the run. The store manager, unnerved by my behavior, contacted the authorities. The police arrived, perused my passport, talked to me for a while, and then finally let me go. But not before an officer commented that one of the shirts I had picked out matched my eyes beautifully. I told him he had lovely skin. My luggage arrived three weeks later at my Burbank office. Inside the suitcase was a note, written in Spanish. The writer, who identified himself as a “farmer” in Nicaragua, liked my running shoes and wanted to know where he could get some. I feared that drug agents were looking over my shoulder. I will leave you with this thought. My flight to Panama City had a connection in Miami. The airport code for Miami International Airport is MIA. Enough said.

Airports
Airlines and Airplanes
Potts Tony
Sundance Film Festival (Park City Utah)


Turkish Official Apologizes for Force Used at Start of Riots

Abstract: ISTANBUL — Turkey’s deputy prime minister apologized on Tuesday for the “excessive violence” used by the police last week against demonstrators opposing the razing of an Istanbul park , the start of what later became nationwide protests against the pro-Islamic government. The deputy, Bulent Arinc, speaking at a news conference broadcast live from Ankara, appeared to be trying to ease mounting criticism after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday referred to the thousands who have been protesting in 67 cities for at least five days as extremists led by the main opposition party. “It is wrong, unjust that excessive violence was used against those that acted upon their environmental sensitivities in the initial event,” said Mr. Arinc, referring to the protest in Taksim Square on Friday, which ignited the widespread riots. “I apologize to those citizens.” In Geneva, the United Nations human rights office expressed concern over the use of excessive force and called for an investigation into possible violations of international human rights standards. The investigations should be “prompt, thorough, independent and impartial, and perpetrators should be brought to justice,” a spokesman for Navi Pillay, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, told journalists in Geneva on Tuesday, urging adherence to human rights safeguards in arrests and detentions of demonstrators. Plans to remove Gezi Park, the last significant green space in the center of Istanbul, and replace it with a shopping mall had energized protesters. Mr. Erdogan’s government has proceeded with disputed urban development plans with little public input during his more than 10 years in office. Mr. Arinc spoke after Mr. Erdogan left for an official tour to North Africa on Monday, which critics saw as irresponsible considering that two people have been killed, more than 300 injured and at least 1,750 detained in the clashes. Early on Tuesday, main streets in Ankara, Istanbul, Adana, Hatay and Izmir were quiet after fierce overnight riots. Around midnight, leading up to Taksim Square from Istanbul’s neighborhood of Besiktas, groups of young people stood guard next to barricades they had built and fortified with construction materials, bricks and wooden panels as police forces remained on standby in the distance. Several of the thousands who were occupying Gezi Park said they had no intention of leaving. “The apology that we have been waiting for a long time came far too late,” said one protester, Ozge Cesur, 26, as her friends nodded in agreement. “We will stay here until Erdogan himself comes up and takes us seriously in making decisions.” Image Turkish riot police use tear gas against a woman in Taksim Square. Credit Osman Orsal/Reuters In another corner of the park, where people danced, charged their phones on mobile generators and enjoyed free drinks and food as they chanted slogans against the government, a group of young engineers relaxed on a bench. “Why did they need things to turn violent before they listened to us?” asked one, Burcu Baran, 30. Responding to Mr. Arinc’s apology, another protester, Aykut Turem, 34, said, “I didn’t hear anything different than what Erdogan earlier said but in a milder tone. “People in remote neighborhoods who have no idea what’s going on here still think we are only a few crazy environmentalists.” Two leading labor unions that represent around 240,000 workers agreed to stage a two-day strike starting on Wednesday to support protests against the government and what critics say are its increasingly autocratic tendencies. Protesters have pointed to recent regulations to control the use and sale of alcohol, plans by Mr. Erdogan to have mosques built in locations around Istanbul without consultation, and his strong suggestion that families have at least three children. After mainstream news channels blacked out the riots, running beauty contests or documentaries on penguins instead of the live pictures of injured protesters shown online, protesters strongly criticized the government’s control over the media. Mr. Arinc said the information supplied by social networks, especially Twitter, was unreliable and criticized the foreign media for misrepresenting events. However, Cem Aydin, the executive editor of the Dogus Media Group, which owns NTV, one of Turkey’s most prominent news networks, apologized to the station’s reporters and audience for ignoring the protests. “Criticisms are fair to a large extent,” Mr. Aydin told his staffers at the channel’s headquarters in Istanbul, according to a report on its Web site. “I do not say this for any reason but speaking my conscience.” Although Mr. Erdogan has repeatedly said the riots were meant to destroy the growth and stability that his government has built in Turkey over a decade, Mr. Arinc acknowledged that the government could draw “lessons” from the recent events, and blamed the excessive use of tear gas in provoking nationwide reactions. “There are many paths that we walk correctly, which we will continue walking on,” he said, “but we do not have the luxury or room for making the mistake of dismissing and turning deaf ears on anyone.” “Democracy cannot exist without opposition,” Mr. Arinc said. On Monday, the fourth day of protests, Mr. Erdogan said the demonstrations were the work of “bums” and extremists led by political opponents trying to overthrow his government. He also suggested the possibility of foreign provocation, although he did not specify its origin. On Tuesday, Mr. Arinc said the police had information on 11 groups involved in organizing and provoking riots, but refused to give names.

Turkey
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Antakya Turkey
Taksim Square Istanbul Turkey


Bill Lane, Ex-Publisher of Sunset, Dies at 90

Abstract: PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — Bill Lane, the former publisher of Sunset magazine and a philanthropist who donated millions of dollars to Stanford University and environmental causes, died here on July 31. He was 90. His death was confirmed by Stanford. Mr. Lane was United States ambassador to Australia and the Pacific island nation Nauru from 1985 to 1989, during the Reagan administration. Laurence William Lane Jr. was born Nov. 7, 1919, in Des Moines. His family moved to California in 1928, when his father bought Sunset, a travel magazine. Mr. Lane and his brother, Melvin, who died in 2007, ran the Lane Publishing Company from the 1950s until they sold to Time Warner for $225 million in 1990. A 1942 graduate of Stanford, Bill Lane donated $5 million to the university to endow the Bill Lane Center for the American West . He also contributed money to help restore an amphitheater in Yosemite National Park and to preserve open space in Silicon Valley. Mr. Lane is survived by his wife, Jean; a son, Robert; two daughters, Sharon Lane and Brenda Munks; and five grandchildren.

Magazines
Stanford University
Lane William
Deaths (Obituaries)


Gingerly, Donald Trump Tries Out Some Campaign Conventions

Abstract: In Manchester, N.H., on Monday, after a traditional town hall-style event, the candidate who prefers dashing home from speeches on his private jet stopped by the Red Arrow Diner and ordered a cheeseburger plate piled high with French fries. His debate performance Thursday night was polished , a clear result of some forethought and of absorbing lessons from debates at which he seemed to wing it. On Saturday morning, he will visit a barbecue in New Hampshire hosted by former Senator Scott P. Brown of Massachusetts. Then he will speak at a Tea Party convention in South Carolina in the afternoon. Until now, Donald J. Trump ’s campaign has broken all the rules , eschewing rope lines, diner visits and decorum in favor of one-hour rallies, Twitter commentary and one provocation after another. But now, as some polls have tightened and voting nears, Mr. Trump is, very gingerly, starting to balance his unique style with running “the Iowa way” and “the New Hampshire way,” letting his unconventional instincts accommodate certain conventions. Corey Lewandowski, Mr. Trump’s campaign manager , said that his guiding principle in the campaign’s early months was “you don’t change success — you let Trump be Trump,” and that huge rallies were a perfect fit because “he loves to be with other high-energy people.” Image Supporters waited for Mr. Trump to arrive. He is planning some smaller, more intimate events after months of big rallies and provocations from afar. Credit Max Whittaker for The New York Times Mr. Lewandowski, who has spent years working on campaigns in New Hampshire, said that the Trump operation was not abandoning its bigger-is-better approach, but that there would be an increase in smaller, more intimate events as Mr. Trump makes his final pitch to voters in as many settings as possible. “It’s the close, for lack of a better term,” he said. Winners like Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton spent considerable time in up-close settings with voters, a strategy that Hillary Clinton is now pursuing in hopes of persuading undecided voters. The risk for Mr. Trump is that too much baby-kissing, people-pleasing, Mr. Nice Guy politicking will come across as inauthentic to voters who like that he is, in their view, a tough-talking realist about perceived threats from Muslims, illegal immigrants, and budget-busting Democratic and Republican leaders in Washington. Republican strategists were divided about whether he could win the party’s nomination without embracing retail politics. “This was one of the reasons Romney lost, in my view — he just did largely rallies and stump speeches and was not seen rolling up his sleeves and talking to people where they live,” said Greg Mueller, who advised Patrick J. Buchanan when he ran in New Hampshire in 1992 and 1996. “Trump is positioning on the issues as a populist and a nationalist. He now has to connect with people where they live, not just in speeches.” Video A singing, dancing group of young girls rallied supporters of Donald J. Trump, the candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, with a special performance at a campaign event in Florida. Credit Credit Michael Spooneybarger/Reuters But Doug Gross, a Republican strategist in Iowa, said politics as usual could undercut Mr. Trump’s brand. “When you do conventional things, you take away your shtick,” Mr. Gross said. Vickie Daniels, a Republican from Plainfield, N.H., who attended a Trump rally in nearby Claremont this month, said she would be less likely to vote for him if he started “sucking up to people in diners like usual candidates.” “I love that he’s not your run-of-the-mill politician and just speaks his mind,” Ms. Daniels, 57, said. “That’s his whole appeal to me.” Donald T. Critchlow, a historian at Arizona State University and author of the coming book “Future Right: Forging a New Republican Majority,” said the only candidate who had succeeded by relying on mass rallies and oratory as Mr. Trump has was the populist William Jennings Bryan, a young Nebraska congressman who won the 1896 Democratic nomination after his demagogic “ Cross of Gold ” speech in which he denounced the gold standard. Bryan lost decisively to William McKinley in the general election, and Mr. Critchlow noted, “Bryan hung a cross of lead around the Democratic Party for years, and it took the Great Depression for the Democratic Party to recover.” When Mr. Trump flirted with running for president in 2011, he tested the waters like a typical politician. He shook hands at the Roundabout Diner in Portsmouth, N.H., visited a manufacturing plant and attended a state party fund-raiser with a congressman. The strongest hint of controversy during his stroll through Portsmouth came when a television at the diner broadcast an MSNBC report about Mr. Trump’s “birther” push against President Obama. Mr. Trump watched it silently, then moved on, and ultimately sat out the election. 2016 Delegate Count and Primary Results According to the Associated Press, Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton have each won enough delegates to claim their party’s nomination for president. Mr. Trump is proud of doing it differently this time. He frequently notes that he has been told he has accomplished something no one else has in politics: marrying social media and his celebrity to lift his political message. He amplifies his views and attacks rivals several times a day on Twitter, with his messages often shared by thousands of people. Bookers for cable and Sunday news shows follow his every word and frequently arrange for him to call in to their programs, a V.I.P. status that generates even more attention. (Most politicians are expected to show up at studios for interviews, but accommodations are regularly made for Mr. Trump so he can opine from his office or home.) Only sporadically does Mr. Trump take questions from actual voters, and even those town hall-style events have an atypical feel, with people shouting out questions or Mr. Trump answering them in lightning-round fashion. “Term limits are fine, medical marijuana is good,” he rattled off in Claremont. Initially in the campaign, Mr. Trump spent little time shaking hands on rope lines, having once described himself as a “clean hands freak.” He adapted to the custom in the fall. Most of his Republican rivals are campaigning the old-fashioned way. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey has staked his fortunes on embracing New Hampshire primary customs, like town hall-style meetings and private dinners with activists for days on end, and has been rewarded with the endorsement of The New Hampshire Union Leader. Former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio are also focused on persuading voters in smaller settings — though Mr. Trump has mocked them for it. “Usually when people do the small diners and everything is because they can’t get anybody to show up, to be honest with you,” Mr. Trump said during his Manchester diner stop, according to ABC News. He has not completely abandoned his 2015 playbook. Small gatherings, for Mr. Trump, might be on the scale of his event Friday at Living History Farms, a museum in Urbandale, Iowa, which attracted 250 people. “Maybe we’ll stop and get a slice of pizza at a Pizza Ranch,” Mr. Lewandowski said earlier in the week, a reference to the local chain that Rick Santorum used for gatherings while campaigning for the 2012 caucuses in Iowa, which he won narrowly over Mitt Romney. Mr. Trump visited one in Waukee, Iowa. Still, it was not quite the conventional eat-and-greet campaign stop. His staff ejected a New York Times reporter who had recently written an article raising questions about the campaign’s Iowa field operation. Other reporters were allowed in. According to The Associated Press, Mr. Trump delivered a pep talk to campaign volunteers and announced an endorsement from Pizza Ranch’s president and co-founder, Adrie Groeneweg. The restaurant was not open to the public, and Mr. Trump did not try a slice. Mr. Gross, the Republican strategist, said that for Mr. Trump, interacting with voters in a no-rules setting would be different. “He’s the reality TV candidate out here,” Mr. Gross said. “It’s hard to entertain people when they have fried chicken curling out of the corner of their mouths. That’s a dangerous move for him, to transition from reality TV to politics in real time.”

Donald Trump
New Hampshire
Iowa
2016 Presidential Election


Indulge, Charitably

Abstract: If pastries are part of your Valentine’s Day plans this year, you might consider buying ones that not only taste good, but do good: All the proceeds from Connie’s Bakery and General Store in Mount Kisco go to local charities. Although the three-year-old business is not yet profitable, its founder, Constance Milstein, a real estate lawyer and developer, has already funneled donations through the bakery’s nonprofit setup to county groups like A-Home Inc., which manages affordable rental housing; Food Patch, a food bank; and Back-to-School Clothes for Kids. These mainly personal contributions amounted to $36,000 over the first two years, said Deena Plotka, chief operating officer, and she expects Connie’s, which opened a new cafe and gift shop at Northern Westchester Hospital last year, to be profitable by its fifth year. In the meantime, the store’s mission has inspired the community. “We get Girl Scout troops in here and moms bringing their kids to teach them about charity,” Ms. Plotka said. Scrumptious goodies, created by the executive pastry chef, Simeon Manber, include a mini flourless chocolate cake ($3.25), crisp linzer cookies ($15 a pound) and butter-cream cupcakes ($1.25 to $2). For Valentine’s Day, all sorts of heart-shaped treats, including a chocolate cake with mousse and ganache fillings, will be available. Mr. Manber’s assistants are hired through JobSTAR, which seeks training for low-income individuals. They are paid about $5 more per hour than minimum wage and receive health benefits if full time. “Where else,” asked Mr. Manber, “could I do the work I love and also feel like I’m helping people?” Connie’s Bakery and General Store, 41 South Moger Avenue, Mount Kisco; (914) 242-2014 or www.connies.org . Open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Bakeries and Baked Products
Westchester County (NY)
Valentine's Day


At Dube Juggling Equipment in SoHo, Balls Stay Up in the Air

Abstract: WEIGHTY questions get tossed around at Dube Juggling Equipment , a third-floor shop in SoHo where visitors can get caught in a debate about local unicycling laws or a discourse on the mathematician Claude Shannon’s juggling theorem . “Not to toot our own horn, but we’ve got a community that’s fairly geeky, fairly technical, definitely artsy,” Brian Dube, the proprietor, said. “But anyone can juggle balls.” And balls line the laboratory-white walls of the small showroom: contact balls for body rolling, bounce balls for tricks, Russian balls for head balancing, illuminated balls for nightclub visibility and exerballs for bodybuilding. Clubs, whips and knives each have a section. Bowlers and derbies hang from a hat tree near the unicycle. Hula hoops are tucked inside Troo Hoops Alley. Mr. Dube, 61, stumbled into the business after he dropped out of N.Y.U. and became a juggling addict. “I was eating, drinking, thinking juggling every minute of my life,” he said. When he learned it would take six months to have custom juggling clubs made, Mr. Dube, the son of a Maine lumberjack, started building them himself in his Washington Square apartment. At his first juggling convention in Delaware he sold out of his products before he could leave the parking lot. Thirty-seven years later, Mr. Dube employs nine people in the 5,000-square-foot loft he has leased since 1991, most of it used for manufacturing, storage and office work. Only 10 percent of his sales come from walk-in customers, he said, but the showroom is lively, often becoming a stage for the children, hobbyists and performers who hang out there. On a recent afternoon, Kyle Petersen, 27, a professional juggler, occasional David Letterman guest and star of Mr. Dube’s how-to videos, wobbled across the floor on a miniature clown bike. “It becomes second nature after awhile,” said Mr. Petersen, his knees practically knocking into his ears as he rode. “Before you know it, you won’t even want a regular bike,” Mr. Dube joked. An employee, Natalie Wise, said, “My friends are often surprised to find a place where they can actually try out the products.” Ms. Wise, 28, specializes in “all things flow” — practices like hula hooping, poi and fire spinning. She said it had not been easy to impress her colleagues. “This is a serious art form,” Ms. Wise said, “but the juggling community likes to joke that we’re just a bunch of hippies in long skirts dancing around.” Mr. Dube, who these days spends less time juggling and more in the minutiae of product design, has been working on a programmable LED hula hoop. “If we don’t come out with it first, we’ve probably thought of it,” he said. Neil Abramson, a filmmaker visiting from Los Angeles, shopped while consulting by phone with his 11-year-old daughter, a performer in a youth circus troupe; he had been dispatched to find red-and-black six-panel juggling balls. Seeing Mr. Petersen spin a hula hoop from his nose, Mr. Abramson turned back to his phone and said, “You’d really like this place.” Another customer, Aidan Dunfey, who sails schooners on the Hudson River and who hoped to replace his homemade, leaking, salt-filled tennis balls with something more refined, tossed beanbags from hand to hand. “I have trouble quieting my mind,” he remarked, “but juggling seems to do it for me.” Around the corner, Mr. Dube listened from a desk piled with paperwork, light strips, a melting-clock prop and an employee’s birthday cake. “Hearing people juggle in the showroom is buried in my subconscious,” he said. Then he tossed out a question. “What is the sound of three clubs juggling anyway?”

Dube Juggling Equipment
Dube Brian
Juggling and Jugglers
SoHo (NYC)
Shopping and Retail


Eurozone’s Future Remains at Risk, Mario Draghi Warns

Abstract: FRANKFURT — In a contentious appearance before the European Parliament on Wednesday, the president of the European Central Bank said that the future of the eurozone was at risk unless member countries gave up some independence and created more Pan-European government institutions. “We have not yet reached the stage of a genuine monetary union,” the central bank president, Mario Draghi, said in a speech to the European Parliament in Brussels. Failure of eurozone countries to harmonize their economies and create stronger institutions, he said, “puts at risk the long-term success of the monetary union when faced with an important shock.” Mr. Draghi has often urged eurozone governments to do more to improve their economic performance, for example by overhauling restrictive labor regulations. But it was unusual for him to suggest that the future of the eurozone could depend on whether countries heed his advice. Although in his prepared remarks Mr. Draghi did not mention Greece, his speech came as turmoil in that country is again preoccupying policy makers and threatening to again create a crisis for the currency union. During lawmakers’ responses to Mr. Draghi’s remarks, a Greek parliamentarian suggested that the European Central Bank was profiting from its holdings of Greek government bonds. Mr. Draghi pointed out that interest from the bonds, acquired beginning in 2010 in an effort to hold down Greece’s borrowing costs, is passed back to the Athens government. The answer prompted the Greek legislator, Notis Marias, to begin shouting from his seat, drawing a rebuke from Mairead McGuinness, a vice president of Parliament who was presiding over the session. Mr. Draghi said that the European Central Bank would accept Greek government bonds as collateral again in extending loans to banks, if the country shows that it is willing to stick to the conditions of its bailout. The central bank stopped accepting Greek bonds early this month, a blow to banks which have used their holdings of Greek government bonds to borrow from the central bank at a cheap interest rate of 0.05 percent. Since then the banks, facing signs of a capital flight, have relied on emergency cash from another central bank program that carries a higher interest rate. Mr. Draghi in his speech also noted that eurozone countries have made progress in centralizing tasks like bank regulation. But without naming other specific examples, he said more institutions need to be created to make sure that eurozone countries follow their own rules. Members of the currency bloc have often violated guidelines on public spending and debt. “In the medium to longer term, we need to move from a system of rules and guidelines for national economic policy making to a system of further sovereignty sharing within common institutions so as to strengthen our economic policy governance,” Mr. Draghi said. “A common rule is only as strong as the common institution that can enforce it.” Mr. Draghi also used the appearance at Parliament to defend the central bank’s decision last month to begin buying government bonds as a way of arresting an alarming decline of eurozone inflation to levels considered bad for growth. But he said the so-called quantitative easing would work much better if countries did their part, for example by removing lengthy approvals and fees required to set up a business. After he was done speaking and while the parliamentary debate was still underway, Mr. Draghi departed, citing other commitments. Several members of Parliament expressed dismay over his early exit. David Coburn, a Scottish member of Parliament from the right-wing United Kingdom Independence Party, said Mr. Draghi’s behavior “would never be allowed in the House of Commons.” Bernd Lucke, leader of the right-wing Alternative for Germany party and normally no fan of Mr. Draghi’s, gestured to the large number of empty seats in the chamber and noted that most members of Parliament had also not bothered to show up.